Castlevania Dungeon Forums
The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: K.G. Morder on January 20, 2011, 09:55:50 AM
-
For a game where the main antagonist is Dracula and vampires LIKE Dracula, there have been a few discrepancies with the way he works.
For one, Dracula was never weak to sunlight, being able to daywalk with limited power.
For another thing, Brahamn Stoker vampires create other rvampires by sharing their blood with the victim, not just biting.
Now, Castlevania has broken BOTH of those one time or another. Mainly with Dracula being killed by a ray of sunlight, or with Walter, (more or less his predecessor) turning Sara into a vampire just by biting her.
Now i'm certain there have been other examples, but I havent played ALL castlevania games.
So, discuss?
-
Well you have to remember that Castlevania isn't Bram Stoker's novel, it's a modern vampire action game loosely based on the story. The "Modern Vampires" as they're known are different from those in the classical myths and stories. Sunlight can kill them instead of just weakening them, they are able to turn others by just biting instead of giving them their blood, and in some cases like the Blade movies or John Carpenter's vampire movie crosses are potrayed as useless against vampires (though they still seem to work in the Castlevania games).
I'm not really sure why these rules have been changed in films and games, but that is what tends to happen to a lot of myths and stories. They always change over time like the Greek myth of the Sirens starting off as bird-like women then evolving into more mermaid-like beings in recent potrayels.
-
Except Castlevania's Dracula IS the Braham Stoker Dracula. The timeline explicitly includes the book in it's timeline.
-
Check this out: http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/traits.html (http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/traits.html)
I'll bet many people have plenty of misconceptions about what was actually presented in the novel.
However, Castlevania didn't adopt the novel until Bloodlines.
Let's not forget that the series was originally inspired by the Universal/Hammer movies.
-
Just because Dracula hasn't made someone drink his blood doesn't mean he won't. Have faith! (Ew...)
There are some other folklore vampire rules. In more rural areas, they were thought to be peasants and poorer villagers. I guess CV64 kinda touched on this, but not many games have had lesser vampires. I suppose the zombies would half-assed count, as the pop culture idea of carnivorous zombies stemmed from a hybrid of these legends and the voodoo zombie, a guy turned into a brainless manservant via zombie powder.
On a pretty much totally unrelated side note, I think Barlowe of OoE was named for the main bad guy vampire in Stephen King's novel Salem's Lot.
-
Well, given the different versions of vampires in entertainment, it's fair to say that everyone has their own definition of what a vampire is as well as the weaknesses and strengths. Typically, vampires have all of the following:
they're almost always undead
superhuman strength
some form of magical powers
Regarding the whole sunlight thing, I think it depends on how powerful the vampire is. Only the strongest can withstand sunlight and when exposed to it, they are greatly weakened from the strain their bodies are under. As for how people are turned, it seems to depend on how the writer of the story wants it to happen. I've read some vampire stories in which the only way to be a vampire is to be born one.
-
I thought vampires only sparkle when caught in daylight :]
-
I know that most vampire stories involve a vampire tainting a human with their own blood, thus causing them to become a vampire. But Dracula I think is an exception. Not only can he turn people with his blood or just by biting them, but he also has the curse he creates as well. This curse can force vampirism on to humans and force them to become vampires without any of the aforementioned. The curse of Dracula is Castlevania's own law that gives Dracula these abilities. for the whole sunlight gig, I think Dracula is immune to sunlight, but only if he's fully powered up. But like in the ending sequences of SCV4 or PoR, once Dracula has been beaten down and is at his weakest, then sunlight can kill him.
-X
-
I thought vampires only sparkle when caught in daylight :]
No! The only thing that should sparkle is Lafayette!! ;P
-
Haven't you heard? Vampires today are charming stalkers looking like teenagers who sparkle in sunlight or social misfits trying to integrate into society by drinking artificial blood.
-
Also, keep in mind that Castlevania is based on the *movie* Draculas to a significant degree--remember "Christopher Bee" in the credits of the first game? XD Since the movie dracs were vulnerable to sunlight and stuff, it's not surprising the Castlevania dracs are the same way. :D
-
Except Castlevania's Dracula IS the Braham Stoker Dracula. The timeline explicitly includes the book in it's timeline.
Could you show me proof of that? Bloodlines' orginal intent was perhaps to include the book into its storyline but there is no evidence that is still the case.
-
Could you show me proof of that? Bloodlines' orginal intent was perhaps to include the book into its storyline but there is no evidence that is still the case.
Wasn't it included in the timeline?
-
Ther very timeline says it. (yknow, that image?)
1897: Belmont descendant, Quincy Morris, keeps Dracula at bay.
-
Yes, but where does it exactly say on the timeline that this event is the same as the one depicted in Bram Stoker's novel? That's the point I'm trying to argue.
-
The fact that the book was even included in the timeline.
-
It's probably just a plot hole. I mean, it's not like that's entirely unheard of in the Castlevania series...
-
Yes, but where does it exactly say on the timeline that this event is the same as the one depicted in Bram Stoker's novel? That's the point I'm trying to argue.
It doesn't say it explicitly, but in both the Portrait of Ruin & Official Konami timelines it says Quincy Morris kept Dracula at bay which is what happened at the end of Bram Stoker's Dracula. If that made it into a game, would it be exactly like the book? Of course not.
Not one of the movies made of the book are exactly like it. By including Quincy Morris and labeling him a Belmont descendant is enough to warrant the assumption that they are including at the very least some interpretation of Bram Stoker's Dracula as part of the canon.
-
About the whole Quincy Morris being a Belmont thing, I have a weird question. In the book wasn't Quincy an American cowboy? So how could he have been a Belmont when the Belmont family was supposed to live in Europe? I mean I know the majority of Americans are descended from European immigrants but still, I think saying John Harker was a Belmont would have been more plausible seeing how he was the one who finished Dracula off with his knife. :-\
-
The fact that the book was even included in the timeline.
What?
-
About the whole Quincy Morris being a Belmont thing, I have a weird question. In the book wasn't Quincy an American cowboy? So how could he have been a Belmont when the Belmont family was supposed to live in Europe? I mean I know the majority of Americans are descended from European immigrants but still, I think saying John Harker was a Belmont would have been more plausible seeing how he was the one who finished Dracula off with his knife. :-\
You'd be surprised how easily a family can spread around the planet given enough offspring and time like say about 800 years.
-
About the whole Quincy Morris being a Belmont thing, I have a weird question. In the book wasn't Quincy an American cowboy? So how could he have been a Belmont when the Belmont family was supposed to live in Europe? I mean I know the majority of Americans are descended from European immigrants but still, I think saying John Harker was a Belmont would have been more plausible seeing how he was the one who finished Dracula off with his knife.
John's friend, Eric Lecarde is also a Belmont by blood, though like John, is not direct decendant. The colonization of the Americas would've started very shortly after 1492. That's only just after CV3 took place. There would be plenty of time for other members of the Belmont clan to 'spread out' so to speak. And by the time of Bloodlines, you'd have different families of the Belmont clan scattered over the globe.
-X
-
There's no such thing as a "direct descendant". What matters is how far begotten they are from certain members of the family. If two members of the family are of the same generation, but one has the "Belmont" surname and the other doesn't, they still technically have the same amount of Belmont blood in them from the previous generation. (unless there was interbreeding of Belmont cousins, which I guess isn't that far-fetched)
Unless the games only count those with the surname "Belmont" as the most "worthy" of heirs.
-
It's likely only those with the "Belmont" surname ARE counted as the rightful heirs. Remember, especially with notable families, passing the family name down and ensuring the name's survival was considered important. Even regarding us fans, we tend to get giddy MORE when they announce a new BELMONT character rather than a non-Belmont character.
As for Bram Stoker's Novel being definative canon, it's a yes and no. Events within the novel took place in CV's timeline, but events in CV's timeline didn't take place in the novel's timeline. Get it? There's also room for these events to happen differently in CV's timeline than they did in Stoker's novel. The only thing they share, likely, are the characters. For all we know, in CV's version of the events, Quincy ventured off in traditional Belmont way, trekking through the Transylvanian countryside, through Dracula's castle and defeated him just like, say, Simon would've.