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About

Surf Dracula is a slang expression describing a trope in television shows and other media in which the character's backstory takes too long and the exciting main part of the character's arc arrives too late and gets insufficient screen time. The trope was metaphorically summarized in a viral tweet about a fictional TV show called Surf Dracula in which the entire first season is the backstory of Dracula getting his surfboard and the actual surfing only happens for five minutes in the finale.

Origin

On October 7th, 2021, X[1] / Twitter user @topherflorence made a post in which they humorously compared older television shows to those made in the streaming era. The post argued that in the past a show called Surf Dracula would have Dracula surfing in every episode, while in a modern show, the first season would be a prolonged flashback in which the viewers learn Dracula's backstory before actual surfing briefly happens in the finale. The post (shown below) garnered over 11,000 reposts and 43,000 likes in three years.

Topher Florence @topherflorence back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale 8:33 PM Oct 7, 2021

Spread

On June 18th, 2023, Urban Dictionary[2] user AOmundson cataloged the phenomenon as "Surf Dracula Syndrome," defining it as:

A phenomenon in film/television series, most notably streaming series, where the main premise is drawn out to such a point that it takes an entire season or more to get the parts of the series the audience is actually interested in seeing.

On May 24th, 2022, X[3] user @CarlosAlonzoM made the earliest found post that used the term to criticize a real show, using a screenshot of @topherflorence's post in a tweet about the Paramount+ Halo television series. The post (shown below) received over 970 reposts and 6,200 likes in two years.

Carlos Alonzo Morales @CarlosAlonzoM So this show turned out even worse than Surf Dracula DOCFUTURE @topherflore... 07 Oct 21: back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale 111 15,198 25.3K F#A#, fka @coopercooperco May 24, 2022 • Finding out the Halo TV Show did not, in fact, end with a season finale cliffhanger that shows them discovering the Halo. The season ends without them discovering the Halo. Hopefully in season 2 of Halo the TV Show, they can eventually make it to the titular setting of the games. 3:35 AM. May 24, 2022

The slang term saw more use in 2024 as it was used to make criticisms of various modern films and TV series. For example, on March 27th, 2024, X[4] user @BurstangelIn quoted a news post about the upcoming Blade film, posting a screenshot of the "Surf Dracula" tweet. The post (shown below) garnered over 1,600 reposts and 12,000 likes in one day.

BurstAngel15 @BurstangelIn Oh boy here we go again D CFUTURE @topherflorence back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale 12:33 PM 10/7/21 TweetDeck 4,753 Retweets 235 Quote Tweets 24.8K Likes Cosmic Marvel @cosmic_marvel · Mar 25 'BLADE' will reportedly be an origin story for both Mahershala Ali's #Blade and the Ebony Blade. Many of its elements will be set in the past, similar to how the structure of 'ETERNALS' was handled....

On November 26th, 2024, X[5] user @itsashotgunbaby made a post calling actor Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik / Eggman portrayal in Sonic the Hedgehog films a "surf dracula" but praising the character development (shown below). The post received over 2,000 reposts and 39,000 likes and prompted a surge in the popularity of the term online.

ryan @itsashotgunbaby one of the most prominent Surf Draculas of our time, but honestly watching him go from a relatively normal Robotnik to the modern depiction of Eggman is pretty cool SONICSTA @sonicsta_ • Nov 25 He really progressively became more... Eggman-y 5:13 AM Nov 26, 2024 996.9K Views

Various Examples

Val @VK_HM Joker 2 is like if in a sequel it turned out Surf Dracula was bad at surfing and he stopped as soon as he started • 12:34 AM Oct 13, 2024 84.8K Views •
Smart Alec @_TheSmartAlec1 Of f------ course they found a way to Surf Dracula ATLA thay @azulasmind · Feb 19 i really hope she gets the "blue fire arc" everyone's talking about GIF 7:27 AM ⚫ Feb 20, 2024 36.2K Views • AZULA
Brain Leakage @BrainLeakage03 90% of the problems surrounding modern entertainment are summed up in this all-time banger tweet. DOCFUTURE @topherflorence back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale 12:33 PM 07 Oct 21 ⚫ TweetDeck . 5,911 Retweets 312 Quote Tweets 27.7K Likes 12:31 AM May 30, 2024 1.1M Views

Alison Rumfitt @hangsawoman Interview with the Vampire is the least Surf Dracula show in ages. He interviews the vampire in episode one 7:35 PM ⚫ Jul 8, 2024 20.6K Views
Siddhant Adlakha @SiddhantAdlakha "Surf Dracula" Fellowship of Fans @FellowshipFans. Jul 28 BREAKING: "The Stranger name WILL be revealed by the end of Season 2". Showrunner Patrick McKay Via @IGN #TheRings OfPower 9:15 PM ⚫ Jul 29, 2024 23.9K Views
: ... Blake T @NeilNevins surf Dracula moment where he doesn't fly the kite with the key until the last episode 4 DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm • Feb 5 First look at Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin in ‘FRANKLIN'. Premieres April 12 on Apple TV+ 11:04 PM ⚫ Feb 5, 2024 30.4K Views

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Surf Dracula slang term image example.

Surf Dracula

Updated Nov 27, 2024 at 06:28PM EST by Zach.

Added Nov 27, 2024 at 04:17PM EST by Philipp.

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About

Surf Dracula is a slang expression describing a trope in television shows and other media in which the character's backstory takes too long and the exciting main part of the character's arc arrives too late and gets insufficient screen time. The trope was metaphorically summarized in a viral tweet about a fictional TV show called Surf Dracula in which the entire first season is the backstory of Dracula getting his surfboard and the actual surfing only happens for five minutes in the finale.

Origin

On October 7th, 2021, X[1] / Twitter user @topherflorence made a post in which they humorously compared older television shows to those made in the streaming era. The post argued that in the past a show called Surf Dracula would have Dracula surfing in every episode, while in a modern show, the first season would be a prolonged flashback in which the viewers learn Dracula's backstory before actual surfing briefly happens in the finale. The post (shown below) garnered over 11,000 reposts and 43,000 likes in three years.


Topher Florence @topherflorence back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale 8:33 PM Oct 7, 2021

Spread

On June 18th, 2023, Urban Dictionary[2] user AOmundson cataloged the phenomenon as "Surf Dracula Syndrome," defining it as:

A phenomenon in film/television series, most notably streaming series, where the main premise is drawn out to such a point that it takes an entire season or more to get the parts of the series the audience is actually interested in seeing.

On May 24th, 2022, X[3] user @CarlosAlonzoM made the earliest found post that used the term to criticize a real show, using a screenshot of @topherflorence's post in a tweet about the Paramount+ Halo television series. The post (shown below) received over 970 reposts and 6,200 likes in two years.


Carlos Alonzo Morales @CarlosAlonzoM So this show turned out even worse than Surf Dracula DOCFUTURE @topherflore... 07 Oct 21: back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale 111 15,198 25.3K F#A#, fka @coopercooperco May 24, 2022 • Finding out the Halo TV Show did not, in fact, end with a season finale cliffhanger that shows them discovering the Halo. The season ends without them discovering the Halo. Hopefully in season 2 of Halo the TV Show, they can eventually make it to the titular setting of the games. 3:35 AM. May 24, 2022

The slang term saw more use in 2024 as it was used to make criticisms of various modern films and TV series. For example, on March 27th, 2024, X[4] user @BurstangelIn quoted a news post about the upcoming Blade film, posting a screenshot of the "Surf Dracula" tweet. The post (shown below) garnered over 1,600 reposts and 12,000 likes in one day.


BurstAngel15 @BurstangelIn Oh boy here we go again D CFUTURE @topherflorence back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale 12:33 PM 10/7/21 TweetDeck 4,753 Retweets 235 Quote Tweets 24.8K Likes Cosmic Marvel @cosmic_marvel · Mar 25 'BLADE' will reportedly be an origin story for both Mahershala Ali's #Blade and the Ebony Blade. Many of its elements will be set in the past, similar to how the structure of 'ETERNALS' was handled....

On November 26th, 2024, X[5] user @itsashotgunbaby made a post calling actor Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik / Eggman portrayal in Sonic the Hedgehog films a "surf dracula" but praising the character development (shown below). The post received over 2,000 reposts and 39,000 likes and prompted a surge in the popularity of the term online.


ryan @itsashotgunbaby one of the most prominent Surf Draculas of our time, but honestly watching him go from a relatively normal Robotnik to the modern depiction of Eggman is pretty cool SONICSTA @sonicsta_ • Nov 25 He really progressively became more... Eggman-y 5:13 AM Nov 26, 2024 996.9K Views

Various Examples


Val @VK_HM Joker 2 is like if in a sequel it turned out Surf Dracula was bad at surfing and he stopped as soon as he started • 12:34 AM Oct 13, 2024 84.8K Views • Smart Alec @_TheSmartAlec1 Of f------ course they found a way to Surf Dracula ATLA thay @azulasmind · Feb 19 i really hope she gets the "blue fire arc" everyone's talking about GIF 7:27 AM ⚫ Feb 20, 2024 36.2K Views • AZULA Brain Leakage @BrainLeakage03 90% of the problems surrounding modern entertainment are summed up in this all-time banger tweet. DOCFUTURE @topherflorence back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale 12:33 PM 07 Oct 21 ⚫ TweetDeck . 5,911 Retweets 312 Quote Tweets 27.7K Likes 12:31 AM May 30, 2024 1.1M Views
Alison Rumfitt @hangsawoman Interview with the Vampire is the least Surf Dracula show in ages. He interviews the vampire in episode one 7:35 PM ⚫ Jul 8, 2024 20.6K Views Siddhant Adlakha @SiddhantAdlakha "Surf Dracula" Fellowship of Fans @FellowshipFans. Jul 28 BREAKING: "The Stranger name WILL be revealed by the end of Season 2". Showrunner Patrick McKay Via @IGN #TheRings OfPower 9:15 PM ⚫ Jul 29, 2024 23.9K Views : ... Blake T @NeilNevins surf Dracula moment where he doesn't fly the kite with the key until the last episode 4 DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm • Feb 5 First look at Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin in ‘FRANKLIN'. Premieres April 12 on Apple TV+ 11:04 PM ⚫ Feb 5, 2024 30.4K Views

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Top Comments

Sunsoft Bass
Sunsoft Bass

A Surf Dracula can be done well, tropes are tools.

Many shows are like this, they may start boring, even the fans admit that the first episodes are mild compared to what comes after, Dragon Ball and One Piece are great examples, but in retrospect, those calmer episodes were important.

The MCU is also a great example, while interesting stuff happened since Iron Man 2008, Avengers 2012 wouldn't be the same if the movie started with the Avengers assembled right in the first movie, they needed calmer movies with each of the main 4 heroes.

If Dracula only surfs for 5 minutes in the Season 1 finale, it's not that bad if there's a proper Season 2 with him surfing in every episode, the problem is so many shows getting cancelled in Season 1.

+33
LastAngryWrestleman
LastAngryWrestleman

I think it's been a problem for a while, especially in superhero movies, but at least they had origin stories to draw from. I think part of it is a want to save on budgets by having more low-key moments, and another is a lack of faith in either the modern writer to set a premise up in 2 minutes or the modern audience to pay attention.

+26

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