The Castlevania Series

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Those of you who are new to the Castlevania series, looking to get your feet wet and find out about the series have (more or less) come to the right place. With-in this section is a breakdown of the entire Castlevania series. This section contains review and information on each of the games, as well as cross referencing to other articles on the site.

But before we get to the articles, let's cover the basics of the series:

There is a bad man named Dracula, who just so happens to be a vampire. He's a real nasty fellow; drink's the blood of virgins, tries to take over the world, kicks puppies, etc.

Once, every 100 years (if not sooner), this Dracula guys comes back from the dead in another attempt at taking over the world. He's sort of like a vampiric version of Pinky and the Brain, except, you know, he's not a couple of lab mice. He's about as effective, though.

The Belmonts are a clan of vampire hunters. They've been hunting vampires since before hunting vampires was all the rage (back when you couldn't put it on a job application). The Belmonts (and their ilk) have dedicated their life to stopping Dracula (usually while wearing leather skirts and carrying nifty whips) and ridding the world of evil (once they're done with Dracula, they plan to find a way to end the world's dedication to fossil fuels).

And so it is that Dracula rises, the Belmonts fight him, Dracula dies, 100 years (or so) pass, and the cycle begins anew.

With over 20 years of games in the series, the games, story, and just about everything else has evolved over time. Below, you find a list of the series. Among the items listed below:

Where the game takes place in the series' chronology
Game Title
A brief (hopefully humorous) summary of the game
Style of game (Platformer, Adventure, Castleroid)
Featured Hero(es)

Additionally, some games may not be in the continuity of the series any longer. These games will have their title in italics.

One final note: Any events in the series that have not been made into a game, but are proper parts of the continuity, are in the below list for completeness.

The Games:

1094 AD - Lament of Innocence

We are introduced to the Belmont clan. The preogenator, Leon, goes up against an evil vampire (who may or may not, in the long run, be Dracula) to rescue the woman of his dreams.

Game Type: 3D Action/Adventure
Featured Hero: Leon Belmont
Bonus Playable Characters: Joachim Armster, The Pumpkin Man

1450 AD - Castlevania Legends

In the first official outing for Dracula, the mean Prince of Darkness goes up against the first (and currently only) female Belmont to carry the whip.

Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Hero: Sonia Belmont

1476 AD - Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Dracula's back, which means it's time for another Belmont to rise to the occasion. Trevor (son of Sonia) is our Belmont of the day, but he won't be taking this adventure alone. Oh no, he going to have help from a weird, hunchbacked pirate, a hot sorceress, and the dark, brooding son of Dracula.

Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Heroes: Trevor Belmont, Grant DaNasty, Sypha Belnades, Alucard

1479 AD - Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Taking place only a couple of years after Castlevania III, Dracula is dead, but his minions are still terrorizing the countryside. One minion, Hector, who reformed and was trying for a new life, ends up going on a quest for revenge when another of the left-over minions, Issac, kills Hector's wife, rapes Hector's puppy, borrows Hector's car and doesn't fill it with gas, and eats the last of Hector's Hot Pockets. Oh, there will be a reckoning.

Game Type: 3D Action/Adventure
Featured Hero: Hector
Bonus Playable Character: Trevor Belmont

1576 AD - The Castlevania Adventure

100 years after the events in Castlevania III, Dracula has come back from the grave in search of the perfect margarita recipie... I think taking over the world was also an eventual plan... Whatever the case, Christopher, fearful that his secret margarita recipie was in danger, and also the sworn killer of evil vampire thingies, goes to stop Dracula.

Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Hero: Christopher Belmont

1591 AD - Castlevania Adventure II: Belmont's Revenge

Dracula, having fled at the end of The Castlevania Adventure is back, with a new plan. He's kidnapped Christopher's child and is using the kid as bait. It's up to Christopher to save the child and stop Dracula once and for all... or at least until another 100 years pass.

Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Hero: Christopher Belmont

1600 AD (?) - Castlevania: Order of Shadows

When the evil Lord Rohan Krause brings forth his plan to resurrect Dracula and cover the world in darkness (having failed at covering it in rainbows), there's only one spiky-haired man that can stop him: Desmond Belmont.

Game Type: 2D Castleroid
Featured Hero: Desmond Belmont

1691 AD - Castlevania
Alternate Releases: Vampire Killer, Castlevania (X68000), Castlevania Chronicles, Haunted Castle

Vampire Killer, Chronicles, Haunted Castle

100 years after Dracula's defeat at the hands of Christopher, the mean vampire is back. His minions (as detailed in Castlevania (X68000), a remake of the original game) have brought their master back, and only a Belmont, that being Simon Belmont, can stop Dracula's reign of terror.

Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Hero: Simon Belmont

1698 AD - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

Dracula, ever the careful planner, laid a curse upon Simon at the end of Castlevania. If Simon doesn't bring Dracula back from the dead, Simon will die. Bummer.

Game Type: 2D Platform/Adventure
Featured Hero: Simon Belmont

1699 AD (?) - Super Castlevania IV

Although many claim Super Castlevania IV is a remake of Castlevania (aided by the fact that Super Castlevania IV has the same name as Castlevania in Japan), I have my doubts. At the end of Castlevania II, Dracula is dead and buried. At the start of Super Castlevania IV, Dracula breaks forth from underneath that SAME gravestone, lending credence to the thought that it's a seperate game. Of course, the team that produced this game isn't with Konami anymore, so it's hard to say what they were planning for the game.

Whatever the case, Dracula is back after a short slumber, and Simon (sporting some new threads and nifty new skills) must once again pick up the whip and take down the mighty Prince of Darkness.

Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Hero: Simon Belmont

1748 AD - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

Simon's son, Juste, is called into action when Dracula's Castle appears... although Dracula doesn't. Odd things are afoot at the Castlevania.

Game Type: 2D Castleroid
Featured Hero: Juste Belmont
Bonus Playable Character: Maxim Kinshe, Simon Belmont (Boss Rush)

1792 AD - Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Alternate Releases: Castlevania: Dracula X, Dracula X Chronicles

Brought back by the evil priest Shaft just shy of his normal, 100 years rising date, Dracula brings out a more elaborate plan. He kidnaps various girls from around the countryside and holds them as bait for the Belmont of the era. That Belmont, Richter, has greater stake than normal in the advneture. One of the girls kidnapped is his fianceé. If he ever wants to gey laid again, he's got to save the day!

Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Heroes: Richter Belmont, Maria Renard

1797 AD - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Alternate Releases: Castlevania: Nocturne in the Moonlight

Once again, Shaft is able to call Dracula back from the grave. Makes it easy for Dracula. "Keep Shaft around and I never have to put forth any effort." However, their plan has gotten even bolder, now. They brainwash Richter Belmont into being their manslave, and (after doing kinky things to him) put him in charge of the castle. Alucard, Dracula's son, is the only hero ready and able to take down Dracula and his evil regime.

Game Type: 2D Castleroid
Featured Hero: Alucard
Bonus Playable Characters: Richter Belmont, Maria Renard (NitM)

1815 AD (?) - Dracula vs. Morris Baldwin

Morris Baldwin, caretaker of the Belmont whip, takes on Dracula. This is referenced at the start of Circle of the Moon, although no exact date is given for it. Since CotM is no longer in continuity, it's doubtful we'll ever find out what happened (or when it happened exactly).

1830 AD - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Carmilla, another of Dracula's servants, is able to bring Dracula back from the grave at her castle (thus making this one of the few games to take place entirely outside the grounds of Dracula's Castle). Morris Baldwin and his two vampire hunter trainees, Hugh Baldwin and Nathan Graves, attempt to stop Dracula, only to be stopped before the battle had even started. Only Nathan is ready and able to take another try at defeating Dracula.

Game Type: 2D Castleroid
Featured Hero: Nathan Graves

1844 AD - Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness

Dracula is brought back through the necromantic magic of his followers (because trying to bring him back through sunshine and puppies just wasn't working). However, his body is growing weak. Not even a trip to the day-spa will help him. No, he needs fresh magic and the bodies of fresh children to craft himself a new body.

When Dracul's minions kidnap Cornell's sister, Cornell (n nifty werewolf dude) goes to Dracula's castle to save her and stop Dracula.

Game Type: 3D Platformer
Featured Heroes: Cornell
Bonus Playable Characters: Henry Oldrey, Reinhart Schneider, Carrie Fernandez

1852 AD - Castlevania (N64)

Just six years after his defeat, Dracula is once again brought back. He still needs a fresh body, and so the kidnapping of children continues. New heroes, Reinhardt and Carrie, step forth to defeat Dracula, but will they be able to get through the castle in time before Dracula is able to find a new host-body? Could this be the end for Dracula?

Game Type: 3D Platformer
Featured Heroes: Reinhart Schneider, Carrie Fernandez

1897 AD - Bram Stoker's Dracula

Uniting the Castlevania series with Bram Stoker's Dracula, the events of Stoker's book act as a prelude to the next game in the series, Bloodlines.

1917 AD - Castlevania Bloodlines

The Castlevania sequel to Stoker's novel, John Morris (the son of the Stoker character, Quincy Morris) and his pal, Eric Lecard, go to stop Dracula who was brought back from the grave by his niece, Elizabeth Bartley. Historically, I don't think any of Dracula's brothers survived long enough to spawn, but we'll let it go...

Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Heroes: John Morris, Eric Lecard

1944 AD - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

A sequel to Castlevania Bloodlines, Johnathan Morris, son of John Morris, takes up the whip to fight the vampire lord Brauner, and his daughters, who are up to no good in Dracula's Castle... although Dracula isn't around to notice.

Game Type: 2D Castleroid
Featured Heroes: Johnathan Morris, Charlotte Aulin
Bonus Playable Characters: Stella, Loretta, Richter Belmont, Maria Renard, Old Axe Armor

1999 AD - Dracula's Final Defeat

Not currently a game, but this date was established in Aria of Sorrow. Dracula's body was destroyed and his castle was locked in an eclipse. How you lock something in an eclipse I can't say, but I don't have control over nifty magics. I'm sure there's some reasonable explanation...

2035 AD - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

This game takes place after Dracula is destroyed. His castle is back, however, unleashed when another eclipse occurs. The big question then remains, who did Dracula reincarnate as? Is it our hero, Soma Cruz, who's just looking for a way out of the castle, or is it someone else? Someone far more sinister... Someone who wears polyester jumpsuits and listens to disco? Oh the horror...

Game Type: 2D Castleroid
Featured Hero: Soma Cruz
Bonus Playable Character: Julius "J" Belmont

2036 AD - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

A direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow, followers of Dracula are still trying to bring the old dude back, in any body they can find. Soma is brought into the adventure yet again, but he has to watch out. If he doesn't work to keep his soul safe, he could become the new vessel for Dracula's evil spirit.

Game Type: 2D Castleroid
Featured Hero: Soma Cruz
Bonus Playable Characters: Julius "J" Belmont, Yoko Belnades, Alucard

Upcoming Games:

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Currently in development for the Nintendo DS, this is a side-story set sometime after the adventures of Richter Belmont, explaining what happened to the Belmont family, and why they disappeared for over a decade, leaving others to take up their mantle.

Game Type: 2D Castleroid
Featured Hero: Shanoa

Castlevania Judgment

Currently in development for the Nintendo Wii, this is a fighting game set in the Castlevania universe. No word yet on where, in the continuity, it fits.

Game Type: 3D Brawler
Featured Hero: Simon Belmont, Alucard, Eric Lecarde, Maria Renard, Shanoa, Aeon

Additional Titles:

The following games are not part of the the Castlevania series proper. A couple were cancelled, some were hoaxes, and, in the case of the Kid Dracula series, some were parody games never meant to be a part of the larger series

Kid Dracula

A parody of the Castlevania series, this stars a young Alucard (known in game only as Kid Dracula), on a quest to SAVE Dracula's Castle, and the world, from the evil (clawed) hands of Galamoth.

Status: Released (Parody)
Game Type: 2D Platformer
Featured Heroes: Kid Dracula

Castlevania: Bloodletting

At one time in development for the Sega 32X add-on, this game was cancelled when it was realized Sega had no clue what they were doing. Much of what went into Bloodletting eventually became Symphony of the Night.

Status: Cancelled
Game Type: 2D Platformer (?)
Featured Heroes: Hanz Belmont, Roberto, Gretchen Renard

Castlevania: Resurrection

Featuring a return for Sonia Belmont, this game also would have been the first to introduce time-travel elements into the series. Sonia, and a new Belmont from more contemporary times, Victor, would both have been transported to London, England, 1666 AD, at the time of the Great London Fire.

Status: Cancelled
Game Type: 2.5D Platformer
Featured Heroes: Sonia Belmont, Victor Belmont

Shin Dracula X

One of the earliest hoax games for the Castlevania series. Screensots appeared for Shin Dracula X sometimes after Symphony of the Night came out, but then no more news ever materialized. It was later assumed that this game was all just a hoax to begin with.

Status: Hoax

Castlevania: Dual Moons

A rather well produced hoax that occured on some forums and spread like wildfire through various media outlets. Just goes to show the power of the internet.