Castlevania — Wikipedia

Soon Castlevania .

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Platform	Amiga, Arcade, Commodore 64, DOS, Dreamcast, Famicom Disk System, Game Boy (Advance), JAMMA, Mega Drive, Nintendo 64, NES, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PC-Engine, PlayStation (PS2, PS3, PSP), Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo, X68000, Xbox 360, Wii

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Castlevania , known in Japan under the name Akumajō Dracula ( Rado Castle Dracula ^? ) , is a series of video games published by Konami, started in 1986 and which exceeded twenty episodes. This series is considered one of the most important in the history of video games.

The games take up the theme of the confrontation of good against evil thanks to the myth of the vampire: the Belmont family faces the Lord of Evil Dracula every hundred years, thanks to a magic whip and a rudimentary armament composed mainly of a Crucifix-Bomerang , of an ax, a jet dagger, a watch and a vial of holy water. Games are known to be very difficult ^{[ Ref. desired]} .

The original principle of Castlevania is that of platform / action games: the hero of the game crosses the castle of Dracula, filled with various monsters such as zombies, bats, skeletons that the player can avoid or kill. The player must also avoid falling into the many traps strewn through the castle: holes, pals of pals and other objects of torture. This castle is broken down into several parts called levels, some being recurrent such as the gardens or the clock tower. At the end of each level, the hero faces a boss who once defeated releases the passage to the next level. The killed monsters sometimes bring to the hero a weapon, a soul or an object that the player can use in his quest. The objects delivered by bosses are important for the rest of the quest. The final boss of the game is Dracula himself.

THE Castlevania have the reputation of being difficult games because they require great dexterity at the controller. In order to overcome this problem, the saga took a turning point in 1997 with the episode Castlevania: Symphony of the Night which takes up the principle of play of Metroid , hence the name “Metroidvania” when it was released. From now on, the castle is made up of a single high level, much more complex, in which the hero cannot go immediately everywhere. He must find certain objects in certain places, to go to other places which themselves allow you to advance even more in the game. This style of play allows each player to go at their own pace and is taken up in many episodes thereafter.

Dracula , Bram Stoker’s novel is the main source of the world of Castlevania . The principle of the struggle of a group of humans (the Belmont replacing the Harker) against Dracula the vampire, reigning in his castle, comes directly from the confrontation between the scientist/vampires hunter Abraham Van Helsing and Dracula.

Religious iconography, like the cross, or the notion of the vampire turning into bats, are also drawn from it. The use of various blessed weapons also refers to an aspect of the character of Van Helsing, scientist open to the irrational: the arms of the Belmont family, such as whip, holy water or the crosses, represent the alliance Between technology and supernatural.

The story of Bram Stoker is also completely integrated into the general scenario of the series, and the game Castlevania: The New Generation Stages John Morris, the son of Quincy Morris, who fought Dracula alongside Van Helsing in Stoker’s novel (it is also said in the game manual that Quincy Morris was a descendant of the Belmont clan). The Morris family is also cited in Portrait of Ruin .

Dracula’s appearance in the games is also inspired by the various cinematographic adaptations of the novel by Bram Stoker. The developers of the games were strongly influenced by the performances of Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, giving the Dracula video games the appearance of an aristocrat, in costume and cape.

Count Orlock also makes an appearance in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night , as a secondary boss, under the name “Olyx”.

Location and translation differences [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In Japan, the original title of the saga is Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城 ドラキュラ ドラキュラ), which literally means “demonic castle Dracula”. When the first game in the United States arrived, the translators had to choose a new, more western title: inspired by the main environment of the game, the castle (” castle ), And the region of origin of the Vampire Dracula, Transylvania (” Transylvania ), They invented the title ” Castlevania “, Contraction of” Castle of Transylvania ».

While the franchise bore the title Akumajō Dracula For almost 15 years in Japan, the producer, Koji Igarashi, has decided to adopt the name Castlevania As a new title, on the occasion of the release of the game Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance In 2002. Nevertheless, after the vehement protests of Japanese fans, the saga regained its original title in 2005, on the occasion of the release of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow .

Some names have also been (more or less slightly) modified, or poorly translated, during the passage in the West:

• Family names have sometimes been poorly transcribed from Japanese. Belmont and Belnades are bad transcriptions of “Berumondo” (ベルモンド) and “Verunandesu” (ヴェルナンデス), which should have been transcribed “Belmondo” and “Fernandez” because they refer to the 2 French cinema actors thus named, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Fernandel.
• In the game Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse , Le Prénom Original Du Héros Est Ralph C. Belmont (Ralph C. Belmond, RARUFU C Berumondo ), while for an unknown reason, he became Trevor Belmont in the Western version.
• In the same game, the character normally named Sypha Fernandez (サイファ ・ ヴェルナンデス, Saifa verunandesu ) is translated Sypha Belnades. If this difference is not significant at the start, it becomes it when a descendant of this character appears in the game Castlevania 64 : Carrie Fernandez (Carry Vernandes, Kyari verunandesu ). However, this time, the original name is correctly translated in the Western version, but the players could not link the character of Carrie to his ancestor Sypha, because of these 2 different translations of the same name. Another descendant of Sypha appears in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow , CETTE FOIS-CI SOUS LE NOM YOKO BELNADES EN OCCIDENT Yoko Verunandesu ), which accentuates the inconsistency.
• In Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge , the hero’s son is called Soleiyu Belmont, while his name (ソレイュ, Soreiyu ) is simply the transcription of the French word “sun”.

Some changes have also been made to the game scenario:

The basic principle of the Castlevania series is essentially inspired by Bram Stoker’s book, Dracula , published in 1897. Although Dracula was supposed to return systematically every one hundred years, several events remind it before this period throughout the saga. Over the series, the story stands out from that of Bram Stoker and has its own intrigue.

Chronology ^{[ note 1 ] , [ note 2 ]}

• 1094: Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
• 1470: Lisa, Dracula’s wife, is sentenced to death by the Inquisition, accused of being a witch.
• 1476: Castlevania 3 – Dracula’s Curse
• 1479: Castlevania – Curse of Darkness
• 1576: Castlevania The Adventure
• 1591: Castlevania 2 – Belmont’s Revenge
• 1691: Castlevania
• 1698: Castlevania 2 – Simon’s Quest
• 1748: Castlevania – Harmony of Dissonance
• 1792: Akumajō Dracula X – Chi no Rondo
• 1797: Castlevania – Symphony of The Night
• during the XIX ^{It is} century : Castlevania – Order of Ecclesia
• 1897: Quincy Morris beats Count Dracula, event reported by Bram Stoker.
• 1914: Elizabeth Bathory, Vampire niece de Dracula, is involved in the beginning of the First World War.
• About 1914-1918: Brauner, a painter, lost his daughters during the First World War, and then became a vampire, swearing to take revenge on humans
• 1917: Castlevania – The New Generation
• 1944: Castlevania – Portrait of Ruin
• 1999: Julius Belmont kills Dracula for good and a priest seals the castle in an eclipse.
• 2035: Castlevania – Aria of Sorrow
• 2036: Castlevania – Dawn of Sorrow

Out of chronology

• 1450: Castlevania Legends ( Parallel story couple iga)
• 1820: Morris Baldwin and the parents of Nathan Graves seal Count Dracula
• 1830: Castlevania – Circle of The Moon ( Another story (Sidestory) couple iga)
• 1844: Castlevania – Legacy of Darkness ( Another story (Sidestory) couple iga)
• 1852: Castlevania 64 ( Another story (Sidestory) couple iga)
• Dimensional time: Castlevania Judgment
• Unknown : Castlevania The Arcade , Castlevania – Harmony of Despair

Reboot chronology

• 1046: Castlevania – Lords of Shadow – Mirrors of Fate – Gabriel Belmont
• 1047: Castlevania – Lords of Shadow
• 1073: Castlevania – Lords of Shadow – Mirrors of Fate – Trevor Belmont
• 1101: Castlevania – Lords of Shadow – Mirrors of Fate – Simon Belmont et Alucard
• 1102-2057: Castlevania – Lords of Shadow 2

An animation television series adaptation is broadcast in streaming on Netflix. The first season, made up of four episodes, was released on July 7, 2017 ^{[ first ]} . A second season of eight episodes was released on October 26, 2018 ^{[ 2 ]} . The third season, made up of ten episodes, was released on March 6, 2020 ^{[ 3 ]} . Finally a fourth and potential last season, made up of ten episodes, was released on May 14, 2021.

The series is adapted from the third opus released in Nes in 1989, Castlevania III – Dracula’s Curse ^{[ first ]} .

Simon Belmont  (in) is also one of the main characters in the animated series Captain N ^{[ 4 ]} .

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