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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: theplottwist on July 22, 2016, 05:25:58 PM

Title: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: theplottwist on July 22, 2016, 05:25:58 PM
Am I justified in thinking there might be an inspiration here?

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: X on July 22, 2016, 06:27:35 PM
Quite possibly! Never knew about this till now. I wonder if there's any more out there.
Title: Re: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: zangetsu468 on July 22, 2016, 08:05:29 PM
Berserk x Where the Wild Things are

All signs point to YES  8)
Title: Re: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: coinilius on July 23, 2016, 01:07:37 AM
Very interesting!

Satan was depicted with a face on his stomach in medieval art.  There is another example here:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Silvester_II._and_the_Devil_Cod._Pal._germ._137_f216v.jpg (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Silvester_II._and_the_Devil_Cod._Pal._germ._137_f216v.jpg). 

And here is a page on depictions of the Devil and the Devil card in the Tarot which includes more examples of the 'face in stomach' imagery:

http://www.tarot.com/tarot/robert-oneill/devil-cards (http://www.tarot.com/tarot/robert-oneill/devil-cards)

It also brings to mind the design of Astaroth in the Ghosts 'n Goblins series (and other bosses/characters with a similar design): http://ghostsngoblins.wikia.com/wiki/Astaroth (http://ghostsngoblins.wikia.com/wiki/Astaroth)
Title: Re: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: Shiroi Koumori on July 23, 2016, 01:34:26 AM
Wow. This is new info. Thanks for digging this up.
Title: Re: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: JR on July 27, 2016, 11:59:21 PM
That's pretty awesome. It never ceases to amaze me how you guys can find inspirations for this series on a fairly consistent basis. That's part of what makes this place so interesting.

Also, he looks like such a lovable guy in the source pic.  :P
Title: Re: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: TheTextGuy on July 28, 2016, 11:32:58 PM
This is a interesting find.  I don't think many people would've known the inspiration for the final boss until now (or that it was even inspired from mythology).  This does make me wonder where the original NES CV devs got the idea for Dracula's second form; is it just a visual pun on Dracula's name (son of dragon), is it just that "Dracula's demonic, and now he's literally a demon", or does it go deeper?
Title: Re: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: Sindra on July 30, 2016, 08:39:15 AM
Does the original image have an artist/title attached to it? I'd be interested in knowing it's origins. Looks spot-on in terms of being the inspiration, though....right down to the additional "heads" in his shoulders/arms. I think you found it.
Title: Re: Possible Inspiration Behind Dracula From Bloodlines?
Post by: theplottwist on July 30, 2016, 12:21:32 PM
Quote from: Sindra on July 30, 2016, 08:39:15 AM
Does the original image have an artist/title attached to it? I'd be interested in knowing it's origins. Looks spot-on in terms of being the inspiration, though....right down to the additional "heads" in his shoulders/arms. I think you found it.

Yes, I have also noted the similarities beyond the obvious pose and mouth-on-belly.

The image comes from a book called "Livre de la Vigne nostre Seigneur (The Book of the Vineyard of our Lord)." From what I know the picture itself doesn't have a specific author, but the book is supposed to be a manual written by Carthusian monks in the 15th century describing the end of the world. The demon on the picture is Satan himself.

All of this seems fitting considering Dracula is the analogue to Satan in Castlevania.

More about the book here. (http://paradiseandperdition.weebly.com/blog/its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-and-we-feel-fine)