Maybe they all became bakers like that guy from OOE.
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From what I've gathered the human soul can bi-locate ie. be in two different places at once. But the soul itself cannot be split in half. That would indefinitely end the existence of the soul. The Japanese texts could have been referring to bi-location instead, and not actual segregation.Yes, "bi-location" is a better term than sharing, this is what I was referring to. Thanks for clarifying this.
It all depends on the writer's point of view of personal spiritual interpretation. And we also have to remember that the soul is not where evil is housed, it's the human ego. I could see the ego of Dracula being raised with the body for every post SotN resurrection.That makes sense, but the ego must have its own sentience and/or intelligence with intent. Otherwise it can't be doing things such as procuring real estate as per the Dracula novel. There is still required a level of both of these attributes to manifest a sentient being who is smart enough to "Soul Steal" Death during the final battle of POR.
That would be easier to believe as the ego itself is part of the human physical makeup and not that of the soul.Slightly off topic but how exactly is the ego a physical manifestation? It can manifest into physical actions, but the ego is thought to exist outside of the physical body and the conscious mind.
Slightly off topic but how exactly is the ego a physical manifestation? It can manifest into physical actions, but the ego is thought to exist outside of the physical body and the conscious mind.
Your ego can manifest into actions if you say for example hit someone or pull them out of the way from a moving vehicle, but it's not a physical object.
Do you mean Dracula's ego becomes part of his resurrected body, and if so where does his sentience/ intelligence come from?
I'll try to clarify this as best I can as I am no expert. I know only what I know.
The human ego is a product of the mind--the physical mind--the current identity of said individual. It does not and cannot exist otherwise. It is extremely limited, flawed, and primitive in behavior. It is also very manipulative. Now it's true that a human body cannot live without a soul inhibiting/governing it. But the ego is part of the body and helps make up our current life identity. Without our ego, our true soul identity would be all there is. If not properly governed the ego can become the worst of all enemies we, as individuals, would ever have to face. I'm sure you've heard of the age-old saying "We are our own worst enemy". The ego only serves the purpose for the current life it was designed for. And when said individual dies, the ego dies with it.
However since we're talking about Castlevania here, and with all it's magical possibilities, I'd say it could be very possible for only Dracula's ego (with the help of dark magic involved) to become more then it is, and govern Dracula's body. HoD is a good example since the power of Dracula's remains brought fourth sentience in Maxim's ego (coupled with the dark energies) thus giving rise to a separate being entirely. And this entity was strong enough to take over Maxim for brief periods of time until it used the remains to create a body for itself at the end. The Dracula Wraith.
I don't agree with this. If Dracula's ego comes from his physical mind, and he is resurrected again and again, his ego would be different each time he's resurrected.
Aside from the example of HoD (which is another being spawned from the chaos within Maxim aka his suppressed desires + Dracula's remains), there's probably few instances where Dracula doesn't know who the Belmont clan are.
His thoughts and memories have to have their impetus grounded in something, which has to be his consciousness.
Whether one believes this is part of his spirit/ soul or not is a separate debate, however the thoughts and survival mechanisms of ego, however primal, need to have precedence and logic for something.
Again the ego's manipulation depends on the mind and characteristics of the person, not all ego is manipulative and so forth - it is a survival/ defense mechanism to allow survival of the fittest.
Then who is the being who is sealed in 1999 if not the actual Dark Lord, Dracula?
The other issue I take is that Iga's timeline also states that the Solar eclipse ritual performed by the Hakuba clan, trapping Dracula and Castlevania in there is stated to be "this which ultimately seals Dracula's fate by destroying him and ending his regeneration cycle". Therefore I interpret that as long as Dracula's soul is within this realm, it can be resurrected be it by centennial or preliminary resurrection. However, without this he can not be brought back to life. His 'soul' as the Dark Lord could not resurrect by means of ritual, centenary or otherwise, which is why his soul could only be born again as Soma Cruz and his powers as Dark Lord could only be reawakened in 2035 when he was reunited with Castlevania.
I'm under the impression that I caused this thread to derail horrendously with my first response xD But I also want to offer my perspective on the subject of this conversation.
Do you guys mind if I start another thread to discuss this? Mostly so we can properly focus on Intersection's proposed subject?
One important thing that has come to mind (regardless of a slightly askew discussion) is that Julius in AOS mentions the VK's power (Sara's rage) fading but he also states he purposely left it in the castle in 1999 in order to weaken it. Of course he'd used it to defeat Dracula beforehand, he therefore left it in the Castle after this, left the Castle and the Hakuba clan performed their Solar eclipse sealing ritual. Therefore to defeat Dracula and continue to weaken Castlevania, Sara's soul and her rage were within the VK.
Maybe it was important to leave the whip inside of the castle in order to help end Dracula's regeneration cycle permanently. Unfortunately IGA never gave any real explanation for this plot element in the game's history texts. I also feel that the reason why the rage in the Vampirekiller was subsiding was due to the chaotic influence having been severed, and Castlevania itself being swallowed up into the eclipse once more. If there is a threat in the world the VK will let the user (Belmont) know about it, and probably where to locate it. I'm sure this is how all members of the family were alerted to Dracula's rise every time.