Castlevania

Articles about Castlevania (Franchise)	Games • Animated Series

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This castle is a creature of Chaos. With each rebirth, it takes a new form.

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For detailed information about this series, visit the Castlevania Wiki.

Summary

Castlevania, known as Demon Castle Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ Akumajō Dorakyura) in Japan, is a long-running videogame Franchise developed by Konami.

Power of the Verse

Castlevania is an incredibly powerful universe, more so than one would initially assume a story about Vampire Hunters to be. Even regular demons under Dracula's command can sink entire ships, control the weather and elemental forces, and ravage entire nations one town at a time. In addition, sufficiently powerful demons and vampires can create and sustain whole dimensions containing celestial bodies. Finally, more powerful characters such as Aeon and the Time Reaper can create parallel universes and destroy timelines, respectively.

The series' heroes and primary antagonists comfortably sit on the Low Multiversal scale. Dracula can easily sustain his entire castle, which is stated numerous times to be the product of his magic and an entire dimension that holds an entire universe inside. For the sole purpose of taking power from Dracula's Castle - which itself is a parallel dimension with the physical castle being merely the uppermost layer - Brauner built multiple dimensions with moons, suns and stars. Olrox in the novels also replicated the castle feat by making one out of infinite number of bodies and souls. Another character, Dmitrii Blinov, sought to become the Dark Lord himself by absorbing demonic souls. His death led to the collapse of the Abyss, a parallel universe containing stars and galaxies. He and other Dark Lord Candidates are notably inferior to Dracula himself.

The series is very fast for its genre. With numerous fodder tier monsters being able to attack at Speed of Light with lasers and numerous evidence that they behave like actual light, to having Massively FTL+ feats by being able to drop stars from orbit to the battle in a fraction of a second, to being able to traverse through the universe in a very short time, to having Infinite speed with Death instantly attacking his foes by killing distance itself.

Castlevania also has plenty of hax in the universe, from potent Soul Manipulation that upscales through strength, to layered Time Stop, to a wide variety of hax from the creatures of Chaos, such as Reactive Evolution, Power Mimicry, Absorption, and Plot Manipulation to name a few, with the Castle itself having the most varied amount of abilities due to its mere presence. The series' demonic entities are also incredibly hard to put down, as they are tied to the collective chaos in the hearts of humanity and are invincible to anything that isn't made to harm them, and they can regenerate and come back even if their existence is erased.

This Blog explains the cosmology in depth as well as how magic works in the series, alongside how canon is treated.

Official Timeline

These are the installments that take place in Koji Igarashi's primary Castlevania Timeline.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (1094 A.D): First game of the series chronologically. The knight Leon Belmont battles the vampire lord Walter Bernhard who had kidnapped his wife, Sara. Leon's best friend, the tactician Mathias Cronqvist, in grief over the sudden death of his wife Elizabetha, willingly transforms into a vampire as revenge against God. The creation of the Vampire Killer, the birth of Dracula, and the origin of the Belmont's feud with the Dark Lord are all shown here.
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1476 A.D): In this game, the Belmonts battle Count Dracula for the first time, with Trevor Belmont being the first to slay him, alongside Sypha Belnades, Grant Danasty, and Dracula's son Alucard.
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (1479 A.D): A direct sequel to Castlevania III. Dracula's Curse ravages the world, and Death enacts a plan to resurrect his master. Hector, Dracula's Devil Forgemaster, turns against his lord and stops evil plans.
Castlevania: The Adventure (1576 A.D): Dracula is reborn a hundred years after his defeat by the hands of Trevor Belmont. The legend of the Dark Lord's revival every century begins here. Trevor's descendant, Christopher Belmont, succeeds in defeating Dracula once again.
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (1591 A.D): Though Christopher succeeded in defeating Count Dracula, he did not properly kill him. For over 15 years, Dracula gathered his dark power and reformed. Finally, the Dark Lord returns and brainwashes Christopher's son Soleiyu Belmont, forcing the vampire hunter to battle Dracula once more.
Castlevania (1691 A.D): The original game of the story. One hundred years after his defeat at the hands of Christopher Belmont, Count Dracula resurrects once more, throwing the world into chaos. Christopher's descendant Simon Belmont battles Dracula and defeats him, but is cursed by the Dark Lord as he dies.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1698 A.D): Seven years after Simon Belmont killed Dracula, the curse begins to take effect, causing his body to slowly wither and decay. Simon learns that once he perishes, his undead body will become a vessel for Dracula's resurrection. To stop this from happening, Simon gathers Dracula's severed body parts and revives him in a ritual. He slays the Count once again and frees himself from the curse.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (1748 A.D): 50 Years after Simon halted the Dark Lord's complete resurrection, his grandson Juste Belmont now continues his family's legacy as vampire hunters. However, his best friend Maxim Kischine is corrupted by a fractured remain of Dracula's spirit, leading to the return of the Demon Castle. Juste Belmont battles his friend and stops Dracula's complete revival.
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1792 A.D): A century after Simon Belmont's legendary battle with the Dark Lord, the Dark Priest Shaft brings Count Dracula to life once more. The young Richter Belmont, the descendant of Simon Belmont, sets off on a quest to stop him. Along the way, he meets with the young vampire huntress Maria Renard, who aids him in his battle.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1797 A.D): Shaft survives his battle against Richter and Maria in Rondo of Blood, remaining alive as a disembodied spirit. Finally, after four years, he manages to take control over Richter Belmont's mind. He plans to use the vampire hunter's immense power to revive Lord Dracula once more. 5 Years after Rondo of Blood, the Demon Castle returns. Simultaneously, Alucard awakens from a 300-Year slumber, sensing the return of evil and the lack of a Belmont. In his quest, he meets and develops a bond with Maria Renard, frees Richter Belmont from his mind control, and fights his resurrected father.
Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection (1798 A.D): One year after the events of Symphony of the Night, the Incubus Magnus plots to corrupt Alucard's mind and transform him into the new Lord of Darkness. Through the combined efforts of five vampire hunters, his plans are quickly foiled.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (18XX A.D): In the 1800s, the Belmont Clan mysteriously disappears. In their place, various organizations of vampire hunters and mages are formed to keep Dracula and the forces of darkness at bay. The most prominent of these is the Order of Ecclesia. Its most powerful member, the young woman Shanoa, is imbued with the power of Dominus, a Glyph weapon said to have the capability to kill Dracula. However, the sorcerer Barlowe, the Order of Ecclesia's leader, became corrupted by Dracula's spirit. He sacrificed himself through a demonic ritual, serving as the vessel for the Dark Lord's resurrection. Shanoa journeys to the newly risen Demon Castle and faces Count Dracula by herself.
"Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1897 A.D): Quincy Morris, an American vampire hunter and inheritor of the Belmont Vampire Killer, travels to Transylvania and keeps Dracula at bay.
Castlevania: Bloodlines (1917 A.D): The vampire countess Elizabeth Bathory is revived in the early 20th century. Plotting to revive Count Dracula, she orchestrates the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, starting World War I. She hopes to use the souls of all of the war's victims to bring about the Dark Lord's resurrection. To stop her, Quincy Morris' son John Morris, and his friend Eric Lecarde, Spanish nobleman and inheritor of the Alucard Spear, join forces to stop her.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (1944 A.D): The world is in chaos due to World War II. The vampire artist Brauner, wishing to destroy the world, uses the souls of the war's dead to bring about Dracula's Demon Castle, claiming it for himself. The young Johnathan Morris, son of John Morris, and his childhood friend, the witch Charlotte Aulin, join forces to stop his evil ambitions.
The Demon Castle War (1999 A.D): The world is thrown into complete chaos as the King of Terror Dracula fully resurrects once more, as predicted by Nostradamus centuries earlier. Dracula's power is greater than it has ever been before, and no one can stop him. When all hope seems lost, the Belmonts return at last bearing the Vampire Killer. The young Julius Belmont, alongside Alucard, a descendant of the Belnades Clan, and priests/priestesses of the Hakuba Clan, will face Dracula and defeat him once and for all, imprisoning his soul in the darkness of the Solar Eclipse.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2035 A.D): Dracula's Castle returns to Japan during a Solar Eclipse in 2035. The high school student, Soma Cruz, and his childhood friend, the Shrine Maiden, Mina Hakuba, are transported into the castle. Soma allies himself with secret agent Genya Arikado (Alucard in disguise), the witch Yoko Belnades, the Ex-Military Hammer, and the amnesiac Julius Belmont to stop the sorcerer, Graham Jones, who wishes to become the new Dark Lord. However, during his journey, Soma Cruz discovers that he is the reincarnation of Dracula. To overcome his fate, Soma battles Chaos itself to free himself from its influence.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2036 A.D): One year after the events of Aria of Sorrow, the demonic cult "With Light," led by the insane priestess Celia Fortner, wish to herald the advent of a new Dark Lord, to restore the balance between Light and Chaos to the universe. Soma Cruz resists the temptations of darkness once again and stops both Celia and Dmitrii Blinov, a Dark Lord Candidate who had absorbed the souls of the Abyss to become the new Demon King.
Castlevania: Reminiscence of the Divine Abyss (2037 A.D): The Vampire Count Olrox, once a servant of Dracula, creates his own Demon Castle in an attempt to become the new Dark Lord, conquering both the world of humans and Chaos. Julius Belmont's pupil Curtis Lang and his ally Michelle Danasty fight against him and stop his evil plans.
Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls: Takes place some time after the events of Dawn of Sorrow, Arikado recieves a letter from the Eglos organization who records events of Dracula's castle inside grimoires, that their books have fallen into chaos, and requires his help. Arikado, with the help of many warriors across different time periods, are sent to prevent the chaos from spreading across the world.

These are the installments that do not occur in Koji Igarashi's timeline; thus, they are parallel universes.

Castlevania: Legends (1450 A.D): A game intended to act as the series' origin, though was later removed from continuity by Koji Igarashi with the release of Lament of Innocence. A European aristocrat makes a pact with an evil deity, obtaining great power and transforming into the Demon King Dracula. For 19 years, he terrorizes Europe uninterrupted until the young Sonia Belmont inherits a magical whip from her grandfather and swears revenge against the Count after he is killed. Along her journey, she meets and forms a romantic bond with Dracula's son, Alucard. The two defeat unite forces to defeat the Demon King. Afterward, Sonia and Alucard have a child together. This child would grow to be Trevor Belmont, the one who begins Belmont's legacy of always stopping Count Dracula with each resurrection.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (1830 A.D): In an old Austrian Castle, the vampiress Carmilla enacts a demonic ritual and resurrects her Lord Dracula. However, he is still not at full power. The vampire hunter Nathan Graves, wielder of the Hunter Whip, invades the castle to stop their plans.
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness (1844 A.D): Dracula revives, and his demonic forces begin ravaging the countryside. Ada, the sister of the Werewolf Cornell, is captured to be used in a sacrificial ritual. Cornell then journeys towards Dracula's castle to rescue her.
Castlevania 64 (1852 A.D): Dracula's spirit is reborn in the body of the young boy Malus. Dracula's forces, unaware that their lord was still alive, kidnap all the children from surrounding villages to use their souls in a summoning ritual. Belmont-descendant Reinhardt Schneider and young witch Carrie Fernandez set on a journey to stop them.
Boku Dracula-Kun (11797 A.D): A Chibi/Parody spin-off game. Kid Dracula, the son of Count Dracula, awakes from a 10,000-year long nap and learns that the world has been taken over by the demon Galamoth, who proclaims himself Dark Lord. Insulted by his title being stolen, the young vampire grabs his father's cape and goes on a journey to stop Gaalamoth and his forces.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: An alternate timeline that follows Gabriel Belmont, a warrior of the Brotherhood of light that falls into darkness and turns into the Lord of Darkness, spanning across an entire millenia of war and bloodshed against the Brotherhood he once served.
Castlevania Judgment (Outside of Time): A story that takes place outside of time, transcending canon & non-canon. In his 10,000-year plan to usurp the Dark Lord's throne, Galamoth sends the Time Reaper to destroy the fabric of time, erasing Dracula's existence in the process and allowing him to become the new Demon King. To counter this, the Time Watcher, Aeon, creates a Time Rift by merging various points in the timeline together, enlisting different historical heroes and monsters to fight the Time Reaper.

Calculations and Important Blogs/Pages

Kid Dracula casually hitting the Sun: 367c, Massively FTL
The Twinkle Rod innocent devil takes a star out of orbit: 243 million times C, Massively FTL+
Galamoth leaves the Universe: 97 Quadrillions of times C, Massively FTL+
Viewing Light as standing still: Scales to the Lords of Shadow cast, 488.46c, Massively FTL
Starry Sky Creation: Scales to Mid Tiers of the main universe, 1.688e63 joules, (Multi-Solar System level)

Supporters/Opponents/Neutral

Supporters

Opponents

Neutral

Characters

Forces of Light

Belmont Clan

Other Protagonists

Allies

Alternate Timeline Heroes

Forces of Darkness

Creatures of Chaos

Other Villains

Lords of Shadow

Discussions

Discussion threads involving Castlevania

General Discussion

General discussion thread for this verse

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