But at the end of the day it is still a being, higher than Dracula. It lives in its own realm, and it has the power to chooses the next Dark lord. That tells me that it can think for its self.
Ok many things to unravel here.
On the scale of "evil beings", Dracula is at the top. Chaos is not a "being", and let's do this one next: The "realm" it lives in isn't actually a "realm" in the sense that this is where an actual "chaos individual" lives. It boggles my mind that the English localization team choose to name it "Chaotic Realm", but the original name of that level is actually "Chaos", just that. The level itself is a representation of chaos, the force Dracula draws power from, and not a "realm" where the "chaos dude who is a power source" is hiding.
That "chaos" enemy is indeed described as a being, but killing that being in no way implies that "chaos the force" has been destroyed. Aria implies even that the final boss is only a connection (that Dawn's bad ending shows that can be remade easier than it was destroyed). It's important to remember that chaos can produce "beings" that can act on their own, as is the case of Death.
Perhaps chaos can think or has some form of sentience, but chaos is nothing without humans. It exists because humans do, and its existence depends on humanity's choices. So, does that mean that humans are "higher than Dracula" in the villainy scale that Dracula belongs in? Of course not, I think you'll agree.
Humans are the "villains" in that they produce the evil matter, but Dracula is an actual agent that forges humanity's byproduct into his evil weapons against humans. We know that as "karma", "law of return", "you reap what you sow", etc.
And in the end that's were he ( Dracula) draws his power from an evil force, like how the Belmonts draw there holy power from God. as I'm to understand One of the Main themes in Cv, is the idea of A force for good and a force for evil.
I'm with you here, but I don't see how Dracula having a power source for his evil deeds is bad. His magical powers have to be made of "something", and what better than they being made of "chaos" that he weaponizes to do evil?
While Dracula On the other hand Represent All that is Evil. Choosen By Chaos
Dracula isn't "chosen",
he chose. Anyone can become Dark Lord, and it takes one hearing the calling of chaos to follow on these footsteps. This is what Aria and Dawn strived so hard to explain, but the first is seen as "nonsensical weeb fanfic" and the second as "useless filler".
Chaos is not going out of its way to pick someone to be its king. It is in fact issuing a calling to EVERYONE, but not everyone can listen or want to follow on that path. It's THEIR choice to become Dark Lord, not "chaos' choice".
Lament also played on that with Leon and Mathias. One had strength of character enough to refuse evil, the other didn't and chose to follow on that path, despite both having suffered similar tragedies. Played again on Curse of Darkness: Hector had strength of character enough to refuse evil, Isaac didn't and ended up a Dracula puppet, despite both having suffered similar tragedies (and Hector's was even similar to Dracula's). It is really a choice one makes that, when one notices was a bad choice, might be too late to undo. Evil is like that :P
As I heard that IGA said that every time the count comes back Chaos sawaps out his personly so he only feels Evil, again showing that once again he is controled by Chaos. Unlike Gabriel or my works Dracula.
It's true that Dracula's spirit is influenced by human wickedness, but that's only after he already made the choice to be chaos' champion. Castlevania explains that humans are the only ones with the power to choose their destiny, thus dooming or saving themselves. Dracula isn't human, but he was. And when he was, he chose poorly.
And, I'm pretty sure Gabriel is also a puppet. He's a puppet to
everyone from his own wife to God himself. He can't even die from holy power because God doesn't allow it. Gabriel was doomed from before he was even born, as that prophecy tells. Of the two Draculas, IGA's one is the one who had the most free-will until he gave up his humanity, on my opinion. Gabriel didn't have any free-will whatsoever even while he was human.