In Stoker's original novel, Mina recovers from the vampire's curse upon Dracula's death and lives on with her husband, Jonathan. However, in some media, Mina is killed at some point in the story, while in others, she becomes a full vampire and keeps her powers after the death of Dracula.

Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart to kill him, Mina's narrative describes his decapitation by Harker's kukri while Morris simultaneously pierces his heart with a Bowie knife (Mina Harker's Journal, 6 November, Dracula Chapter 27).