Castlevania Dungeon Forums
The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: Kaneda on September 27, 2014, 05:30:30 PM
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Over time, I feel like the title Castlevania seems kind of... dumb, I guess? It's nonsensical. I mean, I understand it. But it's not a real word. It's not used in the games. The castle is called Castle Dracula. I kind of wish that Konami had translated their title to English and used that for the Western releases. Or used Vampire Killer.
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technically its a nonsense word but i like it, rolls off the tongue nicely
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And I'm pretty sure it was used in the intro of at least one game.
Plus it's telling that they later adopted it Japan for LoI.
Though in that case it probably would have made more sense for the game to have used the Vampire Killer title since that is what the game was mostly about.
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The original Japanese title for the series was Devil's Castle Dracula, I believe. It doesn't really roll off the tongue like Castlevania. When the series started going by Castlevania in Japan, I bet it ROYALLY pissed off Japanese fans.
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Well, you're in a giant castle in Transylvania... makes sense to me. The name Castlevania is used in some games. Finally while it's goofy I think a lot of CV is goofy so I'm fine with it.
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The original Japanese title for the series was Devil's Castle Dracula, I believe. It doesn't really roll off the tongue like Castlevania. When the series started going by Castlevania in Japan, I bet it ROYALLY pissed off Japanese fans.
From what I heard it did. Also earlier this year Abnormal Freak found an article ( http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php/topic,7261.msg163413.html#msg163413 (http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php/topic,7261.msg163413.html#msg163413) ) which says that the name Castlevania came about because of a Christian senior vice president of Konami of America who did not like the literal translation of the Japanese name.
Personally I like the name. It's unique, it's catchy, as has been mentioned it rolls of the tongue. Particularly for the pre-SotN games it captures the monster movie feel perfectly. Though "Demon Castle Dracula" might be a better fit for the later, more gothic games.
Also as others have mentioned I'm almost positive that Dracula's castle has explicitly been referred to as "Castlevania" in the intro to one or two games.
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Castlevania. It's very self-explanatory all in one word. Since it is now engrained in our popular culture it might as well be a real word.
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Since Sylvania means "forest land," and castle has been added to it, It kind of Means "Castle Forest Land." One could say that the castle is like a forest in ways. Like a forest of stone? With mysterious things like in a forest?
I couldn't quite figure out how to word that :P
Also it's catchy
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Since Sylvania means "forest land," and castle has been added to it, It kind of Means "Castle Forest Land." One could say that the castle is like a forest in ways. Like a forest of stone? With mysterious things like in a forest?
I couldn't quite figure out how to word that :P
Also it's catchy
Well, since "Sylvania" comes from "Transylvania", which in turn comes from "Ultra Silvam" which means "Beyond the forest", I think a better "translation" would be "Castle beyond the forest", since it looks like that the name's creator had "Transylvania" in mind, and not "Sylvania" alone.
Or maybe it's what you said, but in reverse, "Forest-land castle", as a "Castle set in a land of forests".
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Also as others have mentioned I'm almost positive that Dracula's castle has explicitly been referred to as "Castlevania" in the intro to one or two games.
In fact, only in Symphony of the Night's intro. Other mentions come from bestiary entries, one of such being Great Knight's (http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Knight) description.
Also, sorry for the double post, again. Once more I misclicked the modify button.
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From what I heard it did. Also earlier this year Abnormal Freak found an article ( http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php/topic,7261.msg163413.html#msg163413 (http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php/topic,7261.msg163413.html#msg163413) ) which says that the name Castlevania came about because of a Christian senior vice president of Konami of America who did not like the literal translation of the Japanese name.
This was always my assumption as to why they didn't go with it. But it's not like they couldn't have dropped Demon/Devil and went with just Castle Dracula. Maybe they couldn't register that as a trademark since that name belongs within a book that's public domain. I don't know much about copyright law in that regard.
Vampire Killer probably wouldn't have gone over well here in the States, particularly in the 80s and early 90s.
Again, I get what the title is meant to suggest when you hear/read it and I'll admit that it definitely works as a brand name. I used the word dumb in my first post, but I really don't think that that's the best word choice because I do like it, but there's something...
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A proper translation would've been "Dracula's Demonic Castle", which is phonetically correct (similar to "Howl's Moving Castle" or "Dick's Sporting Goods").
It's a nice title, but then you're stuck with the Dracula property.
I love the name "Castlevania" though. Great job, Konami USA Marketing Team!
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Agreed. At this point, I think to change it would make it awkward. Not that that was necessarily suggested, just sayin'...
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The real advantage is that "Castlevania" doesn't need to be translated between NA and EU. I like that name too!
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Dracula x Chronicles intro's text also mentions Dracula as "Master of Castlevania". I like the name, it's a cool name for a castle rather than the generic "demonic castle", and also a cool name for a game.
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The various translations of the Japanese title are soggy cheesebread. I like the name Castlevania as it's unique and holds it own. Seriously, when pitting Castlevania against Devil's Castle Dracula, are we really going to prefer the latter?
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I'd take the translation Demon Castle Dracula over Devil's Castle Dracula. The latter doesn't really have any flow to it as an English title.
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And the former does? :P My point is, all the translations sound far more ridiculous than Castlevania.
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I like it, it's very video gamey. It's perfectly reflective of the era it was born in.
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tbh the title "demon castle dracula" would be cool for an ongoing manga...
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I could have sworn they namedrop Castlevania in one of the cutscenes in the N64 game.
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It's in the opening narration of CV64 if I recall.
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Every instant of "Castlevania" being used as an actual place name, it's because the localization team put it there. Castlevania is fine as a title, but the English versions pretending it's an actual place is pretty dumb.
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"Demon's Castle Dracula" is too literal. "Dracula's Demonic Castle" would work better, but Nintendo probably would have had an issue with that.
Would "Dracula's Castle" be too bland?
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Every instant of "Castlevania" being used as an actual place name, it's because the localization team put it there. Castlevania is fine as a title, but the English versions pretending it's an actual place is pretty dumb.
Why dumb? Castles have names (Segovia's Alcazar, Bran Castle, Castle Sant'Angelo..). Demon Castle Dracula sounds way dumber to me, but tastes are tastes.
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I know that Drac's castle is referred to as Castlevania in the Curse of Darkness manga. I'm also pretty sure that the castle was called that elsewhere, too...
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If I were going to re-localize the whole series these would be the titles.
Vampire Killer: Lament of Innocence
Dracula: Prelude of Darkness (CVL with a heavy rewrite and no direct confrontation with Dracula)
Legend of Castlevania (CV3)
Legend of Castlevania II (CVCoD)
Castlevania: Legend of Dracula (CVtA)
Castlevania: Legend of Dracula II (CV2BR)
Castlevania: The Demon Castle (CV1)
Castlevania: Curse of Dracula (CV2SQ)
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania X: Rondo of Blood
Castlevania X: Nocturne in the Moonlight
Dracula: Circle of the Moon (rewritten to not be a weird gaiden and tie in to OoE) <- I swear I'm totally gonna make this hack.
Dracula: Order of Ecclesia
Dracula: The Un-dead (rewrite of the book CV style)
Dracula: Bloodlines
Dracula: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
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If I were going to re-localize the whole series these would be the titles.
How I'd do it:
Castlevania: Damn You Collision Damage!
Castlevania II: Everybody is a Liar
Castlevania III: WTF What do You Mean She's a Girl?
Castlevania: Alucard is Now a Belmont
Castlevania: Back to Whipping Like Crap
Castlevania: Shield Rod is All You Need
Castlevania: Dracula Finally Learns How to Walk
Castlevania: Belmont? Morris it is yupidedoo!
Castlevania: We Give You Two Characters to Control, but You'll Use Only One Anyway
Castlevania: DRACULA IS NOW JAPANESE LOL
Castlevania: Dracula is still japanese, and flamboyant dude is the final boss
And the gaiden games:
Castlevania: Yu Gi Oh!
Castlevania: Is She Trevor's Mom or Not, Dammit?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
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Some more titles:
Castlevania: How Does It Feel to Play as a Snail?
Castlevania: Imma Spank This Brat!
Super Castlevania IV: You Like This Whip? Cool, cuz' We're Never Using This Again in Years lol
Castlevania: Copypasta Galore
Castlevania: Pokémon
Castlevania: This Prequel Exists to Fix Symphony's Bullshit
Castlevania: Fake Dracula Has Pointy Forehead