Topic: Castlevania: Umbra of Sorrow (1999 Fan Project)

[Foffy]

Does the jar have anything to do with the song you posted to YouTube?

[aensland]

Not even close

[theplottwist]

I'm just gonna say I think D9's hint is too obscure. But he seems to be having fun, soooo...

I was going to throw in the suggestion of jar of dirt, and start singing about it, Jack Sparrow style, bt I think you're right.  The ashes of Dracula, perhaps is most likely?  Or some other vampire.

I'm just gonna point out that this hint is about the mystery vampire character, not about Dracula.

[Dracula9]

IS NOT

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

"Nightmare" = Succubus?

[theplottwist]

Today is the day to reveal the vision of Dracula's second vampire general: Carmilla.



It was time she received a proper treatment ever since Judgment. Alongside with Olrox, her role will be expanded more beyond being just a powerful boss. Hers and Lenora's destinies are intertwined, with a very old score to settle.

[Foffy]

Damn, she looks classy.

I get a very Asian theme from her design. What references inspired this look?

[VladCT]

Dunno about you guys but head looks kinda small to me for some reason. Then again, it's probably the massive dress making her head look small.

[aensland]

About Nightmare and the Jar, they aren't even related, sorry for the late reply

Dunno about you guys but head looks kinda small to me for some reason.

It's about perspective, she is doing a condescending pose towards the player.

You've made a point too, the huge dress creates an illusion

[theplottwist]

Damn, she looks classy.

I get a very Asian theme from her design. What references inspired this look?

There was actually an Asian thing amongst the references, but it's not on her dress.

Carmilla's clothing is a masquerade ball's dress. On Umbra, this is her "theme", down to the battle with her, which has her dance as if she were in a ball herself. Remember those Ghost Dancers from Aria, Dawn and Portrait? More or less like that.

Her complexion is the Asian-ish part -- her skin tone is based on Hindu people. She is not Hindu, before anyone throws a fit lol. Her complexion is not white, and we used the tone of Hindu people's skin color as reference to approach her more ("more" not "completelly") to her Rondo of Blood sprite:



We wanted to not only pay homage to her last canonical appearance on the timeline, but also have a vampiress who is not the "staple pale vampire seductress" type, which is done to death and was done on Judgment to an absurd conclusion. Here, Carmilla worships Dracula as a god, but she ain't no Succubus and isn't trying to become fetish fuel. Her game is not seduction*.
 
This overt sexual/fetish concepts Castlevania (over)does with evil women are a reason why I choose her face to be concealed, too. Besides her mask being a big thing on the Castlevania lore (something that Judgment utterly ignored), she wouldn't let any human look at her purely out of vanity. So, it's not like there is a hideous visage under there or anything: She's beautiful. But it's her choice to wear this mask as a demonstration of her spiteful, vain nature. Think Vega, but a LOT less stereotypical -- same motivation, different execution.

So, the covering of her face, the ball gown and skin tone were choices made to set her apart from all other vampire-like woman enemies Castlevania has shown previously in recent times, with their cute faces and fanservicy sexual nature. Even Lords of Shadow did this. The point is to give Carmilla a proper presentation and try to restore her dignity, even if non-oficially. Carmilla IS still inhumanly beautiful, but this ISN'T the point of her character here (hence the mask). She's here to make you angry and afraid, and not give you a boner.

*="But Twist, what about Carmilla? That was pretty sexual. It's part of her character to display sexuality. Remember Laura?"

Laura is here. It's true that the Laura/Carmilla relationship doesn't work properly without the sexuality factor. This is how LeFanu envisioned her. But Castlevania missed the point of the novel, and made Carmilla into a dominatrix, and that's not how it works. It's not a matter of removing ALL sexuality, but instead of treating it with respect and making it subtle. Carmilla's intro in itself (which I cannot reveal now) is how I devised to do this. The ball gown, the mystery of the mask, her exotic complexion for an European woman, every of these aspects are working towards a goal, but all of them are also working to treat this aspect of her character with respect.

In all, it's there, but it's not the focus of her character like it was with three recent iterations of her on official Castlevania games. She must be beautiful, different and well-written before anything. Any signs of sexuality here are here to serve her character, and not to steal the focus.

Sorry for the enormous response

EDIT: Reworded this post a bit. Previously it was a bit misleading what I wanted to express.

[SecretWeapon]

I will make fanart (fanart fanart?) out of her, if you allow me. It's funny because i could tell she was going to behave like ghost dancers before reading your post just by looking at the dress, as it looks like it isnt touching the ground (which its why it looks extra huge). I did like LoS1 "Corrupted Madonna" thing tho

It'd be funny if anyone brought up the "But Twist, what about Carmilla? That was pretty sexual. It's part of her character to display sexuality. Remember Laura?" thing considering she doesnt go beyond kissing Laura in the cheek (and biting her in the chest but eh)

I'm also here for the Lenora/Carmilla thing. My headcanon is that Carmilla sparked the witch hunts which lead Sypha to hate her

Have you designed Laura already? Can you tell us a bit of her?

[Foffy]

There was actually an Asian thing amongst the references, but it's not on her dress.

Carmilla's clothing is a masquerade ball's dress. On Umbra, this is her "theme", down to the battle with her, which has her dance as if she were in a ball herself. Remember those Ghost Dancers from Aria, Dawn and Portrait? More or less like that.

Her complexion is the Asian-ish part -- her skin tone is based on Hindu people. She is not Hindu, before anyone throws a fit lol. Her complexion is not white, and we used the tone of Hindu people's skin color as reference to approach her more ("more" not "completelly") to her Rondo of Blood sprite:



We wanted to not only pay homage to her last canonical appearance on the timeline, but also have a vampiress who is not the "staple pale vampire seductress" type, which is done to death and was done on Judgment to an absurd conclusion. Here, Carmilla worships Dracula as a god, but she ain't no Succubus and isn't trying to become fetish fuel. Her game is not seduction*.
 
This overt sexual/fetish concepts Castlevania (over)does with evil women are a reason why I choose her face to be concealed, too. Besides her mask being a big thing on the Castlevania lore (something that Judgment utterly ignored), she wouldn't let any human look at her purely out of vanity. So, it's not like there is a hideous visage under there or anything: She's beautiful. But it's her choice to wear this mask as a demonstration of her spiteful, vain nature. Think Vega, but a LOT less stereotypical -- same motivation, different execution.

So, the covering of her face, the ball gown and skin tone were choices made to set her apart from all other vampire-like woman enemies Castlevania has shown previously in recent times, with their cute faces and fanservicy sexual nature. Even Lords of Shadow did this. The point is to give Carmilla a proper presentation and try to restore her dignity, even if non-oficially. Carmilla IS still inhumanly beautiful, but this ISN'T the point of her character here (hence the mask). She's here to make you angry and afraid, and not give you a boner.

*="But Twist, what about Carmilla? That was pretty sexual. It's part of her character to display sexuality. Remember Laura?"

Laura is here. It's true that the Laura/Carmilla relationship doesn't work properly without the sexuality factor. This is how LeFanu envisioned her. But Castlevania missed the point of the novel, and made Carmilla into a dominatrix, and that's not how it works. It's not a matter of removing ALL sexuality, but instead of treating it with respect and making it subtle. Carmilla's intro in itself (which I cannot reveal now) is how I devised to do this. The ball gown, the mystery of the mask, her exotic complexion for an European woman, every of these aspects are working towards a goal, but all of them are also working to treat this aspect of her character with respect.

In all, it's there, but it's not the focus of her character like it was with three recent iterations of her on official Castlevania games. She must be beautiful, different and well-written before anything. Any signs of sexuality here are here to serve her character, and not to steal the focus.

Sorry for the enormous response

EDIT: Reworded this post a bit. Previously it was a bit misleading what I wanted to express.

Posts like this are precisely why I get hyped when you drip feed us all information. <3

[X]

Remember those Ghost Dancers from Aria, Dawn and Portrait? More or less like that.

Don't forget to mention SCV4. That's when the ghost dancers were introduced 

Carmilla's look does have some bit of an asian touch to it.

[theplottwist]

I will make fanart (fanart fanart?) out of her, if you allow me.

You're allowed of course, but please credit Junki Sakuraba for the original design. And please bring the link to this post so we all can cherish the work

It'd be funny if anyone brought up the "But Twist, what about Carmilla? That was pretty sexual. It's part of her character to display sexuality. Remember Laura?" thing considering she doesnt go beyond kissing Laura in the cheek (and biting her in the chest but eh)

The lesbian overtones are there on the novel, but you mentioned exactly what I meant: LeFanu DIDN'T want Carmilla to become the dominatrix pornstar she is on Judgment, nor the seductress she is on LoS2 or the "creepy fetish fuel" she is on LoS1. He wanted it to be SUBTLE and serve a purpose. She had a very hard crush on Laura, but she was a classy, courteous, intelligent and mysterious vampire woman before that. Carmilla on Castlevania has the ingredients to recreate this character, but was overcooked to the point of unrecognizability in many cases. Her aparition on Circle of the Moon would be the most perfect for me, if it weren't for the fact she is "female Shaft". And even so, it ranks very high on my list.

I'm also here for the Lenora/Carmilla thing. My headcanon is that Carmilla sparked the witch hunts which lead Sypha to hate her

It's expanded on Judgment that Carmilla was the one to get Sypha's family killed by sparking the witch trials, so not only is your headcanon justified, but it's actual canon

Umbra will bring forth this story and a bit more than that.

[theplottwist]

Have you designed Laura already? Can you tell us a bit of her?

Forgot to respond to this:

Conceptually, she's almost ready. Most decisions about the character are ready. Graphically, she probably won't receive a concept art to be made public before the project is ready, because she's a minor character without a very long or important role. That will depend on the rest of her concept and if something changes -- her role IS a bit muddy at this point.

Now, can I tell you something about her...? Hm... I'll let Aensland tell you.