Topic: When was Dracula at his full power?

[theplottwist]

Hmm... not so sure about that.

Remember, unless an event outright states that something happened a certain way, it cannot be assumed that it happened a different way.
So, since the Bloodlines manual (and Iga?) state that Quincy Morris is a Belmont and helped deliver the final blow, we have to take that as canon.

Since nothing else says otherwise, it cannot be assumed that there was too much of a difference between the Dracula novel and the Bloodlines events.  IGA and others have tried to wrangle and entwine these two storylines, so we have to accept that some events are either similar enough to be the same event, or linked close enough that they can work together, and create your own headcanon by filling in the blanks.

The mere presence of the whip is already too much of a deviation from the original story, and you can draw some conclusions from that. If Quincy used a whip, then there must've been a Lecarde to unlock it. Therefore, the whip is probably the cause of Quincy's death. This is already a BIG deviation from the Bram Stoker account.

IGA said that Quincy was lifted from Bram Stoker's Dracula, but this doesn't necessarily mean that "sans the differences" the whole thing is the same. If we try to fit that story in the canon, too many conflicts arise for it to be feasible without a major overhaul, I believe.

And now there is the thing that young Eric and young John witnessed these events unfold. I'm almost 100% that his bit doesn't exist in the japanese manual, so here we go again:

Character bios from the japanese version:
http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cvbl/packaging/vkill-manual9.jpg
http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cvbl/packaging/vkill-manual10.jpg

Story:
http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cvbl/packaging/vkill-manual2.jpg

The story has been translated here:
http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cvbl/documents/CVBJ.txt

Can someone confirm if their presence there is mentioned?

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

BTW, I'm loving all of this Detective Work we're doing.

[X]

The mere presence of the whip is already too much of a deviation from the original story, and you can draw some conclusions from that. If Quincy used a whip, then there must've been a Lecarde to unlock it. Therefore, the whip is probably the cause of Quincy's death. This is already a BIG deviation from the Bram Stoker account.

Not really since it is never mentioned. And thankfully too as it helps to avoid a possible plothole. The translations you've given use says nothing about Quincy using the whip. If he did have it chances are he might have known about the "only the main family line can use it without incident" bit, and thus not used it when he confronted Dracula. Also poR never outright mentions that Quincy used the whip either. And since he died while his son was only 2 years old he never got the chance to warn him about the whip's detrimental effects if used by anyone outside of the main family line. Sadly he and Eric learned this lesson a bit too late as the story mentions it.

And now there is the thing that young Eric and young John witnessed these events unfold. I'm almost 100% that his bit doesn't exist in the japanese manual

I believe it was either Nagumo or Claimh Solais mentioning that both Jon and Eric were not at the final battle in the Japanese manual. It was a NA localization thing.

[Nagumo]

I noticed John's bio is pretty much the same as it is in the European manual. (http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cvbl/game-castlevaniabl.htm) The last sentence is slightly different, though:
Young man descendant of the Belmont family. Uses the "Vampire Killer" from the Morris family, the enchanted whip (and something about "vampire hunters" and "playing an active role" (katsuyakushiteiru).   

They seem to have taken some liberities with Eric's bio however. The part about his girlfriend being turned by Elizabeth and wanting to take revenge with the Alucard Spear are in there, but the part about being a sculptor and the mysterious old man are false. It does say he was "a youth who loved art" (keijuuwoaisuruseinendeatta).