Draft:Dennis Loughran

Dennis Dracula-Loughran, also referred to as "Denisovich", is a fictional character from the Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation animated film franchise, Hotel Transylvania. He is a 5-year-old dhampir, who is the son of Mavis Dracula, a vampire, and Johnathan "Johnny" Loughran, a human, as well as the grandson of Dracula.

Voiced by Asher Blinkoff, Dennis' first appearance was in Hotel Transylvania 2 as the main protagonist. He would later appear in the next two films, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, and Hotel Transylvania: Transformania in a minor role.

In Hotel Transylvania 2
Dennis first appeared in Hotel Transylvania 2, as the main protagonist. In that film, Dennis is shown to lack any vampire traits, and this concerns Dracula. When Dracula agrees to 'babysit' Dennis, while Mavis and Johnny go to California to visit Johnny's parents, Dracula and his friends take him to Camp Winnipacaca, only for them to ditch out, due to how child-friendly the camp is.

When Mavis learned how Dracula was trying to make Dennis into a vampire in order for her to stay, she was furious and went back to the hotel, confronting her father, and told him that she and Johnny will move after Dennis' 5th birthday party. During the party, Mavis reveals that he has invited Vlad, much to Dracula's surprise, as she wants him to see Dennis before they move. Learning that Dennis is a late-fanger, Vlad possessed a stage performer dressed up as Dennis' favorite TV show character, Kakie, in order to scare Dennis, however, this didn't work, and Dracula stop Vlad.

Thinking that all of his family now arguing about how he would be happy is his fault, Dennis flees away from the hotel, with his best friend, Winnie, by his side. They eventually went to a treehouse in the forest, where Winnie decided to give Dennis a tea party to make him feel better, even telling him that he's the nicest boy she has ever known. But then, a bat-like creature named Bela, who is the main antagonist of the film, breaks through the treehouse roof and captures Dennis and Winnie.

When Bela threatens to destroy the hotel, and get rid of humans, as well as injuring Winnie, Dennis becomes furious, sprouts fangs, and roars at Bela. When Dennis' family and friends heard the sound coming from the forest, they all went there and noticed that Dennis is safe, and together (which includes Vlad) they defeated Bela and his henchmen, and the party goes as scheduled.

In Hotel Transylvania 3
Unlike Hotel Transylvania 2, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, brings Dennis into a more minor role, in the form of a subplot. In the subplot, Dennis and Winnie tried to smuggle Tinkles onto the S.S. Legacy, a monster cruise that was actually a trap set by the Van Helsings.

While the film is more centered around Dracula, Dennis is also shown to be more worrisome in this film, as he is often embarrassed in certain situations, and at the end of the film, tries to flee from Winnie, who wants to 'zing' with him.

Personality and traits
Dennis is a 5-year-old kindhearted, lovable, and innocent little boy, who shares many traits with his father, Johnny, and his mother, Mavis. Dennis has orange curly hair, and wears a yellow long-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, and blue sneakers, similar to Johnny, but has blue eyes, and vampire powers similar to Mavis. He gets along with his mother and father very well, but he mostly normally sees Drac as a role model, as Dracula is Dennis' grandfather, sometimes nicknamed, 'Papa Drac'.

Dennis isn't normally shown interacting with the other characters in the franchise, but he gets along with Winnie, a werewolf who is the only daughter of Wayne and Wanda. Dennis and Winnie are best friends, and are often seen together. A running gag in the franchise, particular in the third film, is that Winnie has a crush on Dennis. However, Dennis somewhat disallowed them to 'zing' with each other, because of how Dennis is too young, and how innocent he is.

Dennis is normally seen as a kind kid, however, that doesn't mean that he has enemies. In Hotel Transylvania 2, he and Winnie were captured by a misanthropic bat-like creature named Bela, who despises humans. When Bela threatened Dennis that he and the rest of his crew are going to tear the hotel down, as well as injuring Winnie, Dennis' courage and anger builds up, and sprouts fangs. Afterwards, Vlad, who is Dennis' great-grandfather, soon followed Dracula's word, and accepts Dennis.

In the short, Puppy, Dennis gets a giant rottweiler named Tinkles. Although the short doesn't show how he gets along with Tinkles, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, brings this idea further. In that film, he and Winnie tried to smuggle Tinkles onto the S.S. Legacy, by putting him in a trench coat and fedora, and nicknamed him 'Bob'. Tinkles is also shown to talk, but unlike the other characters, Dennis and Winnie are aware that he can speak.

Design
While developing Hotel Transylvania 2, the character designers for the film had to create Dennis to be like a combination of Johnny and Mavis. According to Genndy Tartakovsky, he explained "Once we realize that Johnathan and Mavis are going to have a son, the question is, What is he going to look like?". Tartakovsky explained that it should be a combination of the two, for example, Dennis' head and features are similar to that of Mavis, while the hairstyle and clothing is similar to Johnny.

Reception
Roger Ebert wrote in his review about Hotel Transylvania 2 about how, "The rest of this amenic mixed-marriage soap opera pivots on whether Dennis will grow to be an old chip off the old bat". He however wrote that there is an upside, which is mostly about how Dennis and Winnie get along with each other, "Also on the upside, a sweet wolf girl named Winnie who takes the shine to Dennis, delivers a rather pointed pro-female statement".

Although Dennis is known for having a major role in Hotel Transylvania 2, his importance in the franchise dwindled in Hotel Transylvania 3, and even more in Transformania. Fans and critics oddly enough criticized Transformania for not adding in the duo, as they were even honored the 'best characters in the series', according to Comic Book Resources.

In a review on Comic Book Resources, they state, "What made Dennis and Winnie pop was how they reminded everyone that humans and creatures could be good." They also explained that, "They brought heart and soul with their innocence, to the point that Dracula accepted that his daughter, Mavis, and a human, Johnny, can be soulmates".