Two gothic icons clashed in The Batman vs. Dracula, a 2005 animated superhero film in which the Caped Crusader came face to face with king of vampires himself, Count Dracula. In a stroke of genius, Batman annihilates the Count, but not before many Gotham residents had turned into creatures of the night.
The film, based on the animated The Batman television series, opens with the Penguin and the Joker breaking out of Arkham Asylum in a race to find a stash of money hidden in a crypt in Gotham cemetery. While Joker is chased and seemingly killed by Batman, Penguin searches the crypt and opens a heavily chained coffin hoping to find the money and instead reveals a corpse inside. Penguin accidentally cuts his hand on his umbrella sword he used to pry open the coffin and a droplet of his blood falls on the corpse's heart, bringing it to life and revealing it as a vampire. Penguin attempts to flee and watches in horror as the creature feeds from a watchman and revives him as a vampire. Before Penguin can escape, the creature confronts him and reveals that he is none other than Count Dracula, brought to Gotham City from Transylvania after his "death." The Count hypnotizes the Penguin to serve as his daytime servant.
Amid mounting disappearances of Gotham City residences referred to as the Lost Ones by the media, Count Dracula begins building his army of the undead. Batman witnesses a vampire attack and attempts to intervene, but the strength of the undead creatures surprise him, and he is forced to flee after a difficult fight. He doesn't believe what he just saw, but he knows something strange is afoot. Bruce Wayne holds a corporate party at his mansion to celebrate his latest project -- a prototype solar energy storing device. Dracula arrives at the party, posing as a cultural anthropologist named Dr. Alucard who takes an interest in Vicki Vale, the reporter interviewing and dating Bruce.
Bruce, suspicious of Alucard, notices his discomfort around garlic shrimp and offers him some, but Dracula hypnotizes him and attempts to bite him on one of the mansion's balconies. Bruce is saved by the arrival of his faithful butler, Alfred. He then deduces Alucard's true identity after discovering that Alucard is "Dracula" spelt backwards. During his fight with Batman, Dracula offers the Caped Crusader a chance to join his conquest of Gotham, but Batman refuses and Dracula is forced to flee when the sun rises.
Meanwhile, Joker reappears alive in the cemetery and demands Penguin show him the treasure they initially sought. Joker chases Penguin into Dracula's tomb, and despite Penguin's pleas not to do so, he opens the coffin of Dracula only to end up as "freshly-squeezed breakfast in bed" for the Count. Now a vampire, Joker attacks and robs a blood bank, but is captured by Batman. Hoping to save Dracula's victims rather than killing them, Batman attempts to concoct an antidote using Joker's cellular structure, while Alfred discovers Dracula had a bride named Carmilla who was killed by sunlight. Batman successfully cures Joker of his vampirism, who reveals the location of Dracula and his minions. Batman mass produces a vaccine and plans to attack Dracula during the day, however the Count kidnaps Vicki in order to resurrect his bride.
Batman rushes to Dracula's lair with his vaccine and an arsenal of garlic coated weapons. In the ensuing chaos, the Dark Knight cures the Lost Ones (and discovers they have no memory of what happened to them) and frees Vicki, disrupting the resurrection ritual. Penguin chases Vicki while Batman lures Dracula into the Batcave. Dracula appears to have the upper hand and severely beats him. Alfred attempts to help his master by injecting the vaccine into Dracula, but the Count states that the cure doesn't work on a supernaturally-created vampire such as himself. With Dracula momentarily distracted, Batman incarnates him using sunlight from the prototype solar energy storing machine and leaves him as a pile of ash to be swept up by Alfred. The Penguin, freed from Dracula's control, discovers the treasure, but is arrested and blamed for the disappearances.
It's no surprise that amid his many gadgets, Batman would have a large solar energy storing machine capable of killing vampires. The undead fiends truly gave the Dark Knight a run for his money in the film, as he found he couldn't rely on his usual strength and agility.