Topic: Lisa's manner of death makes a tad less sense in context

[Lumi Kløvstad]

In the 1460s and 1470s, what is today Romania—primarily comprising the historical regions of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania—did not experience widespread witch trials or hunts in the way that would become common in Western Europe in later centuries (especially the 16th and 17th centuries).

In Transylvania (then part of the Kingdom of Hungary), witch trials were rare in the 15th century, as the legal and cultural framework for systematic witch-hunting had not yet developed. The region followed Canon Law and customary laws influenced by Hungarian legal traditions. The Catholic Church still had jurisdiction over heresy and witchcraft, and the emphasis was more on heresy (e.g., Hussitism) than on diabolical witchcraft. Transylvania’s multi-ethnic makeup (Romanians, Hungarians, Saxons, Szeklers) also meant different cultural attitudes toward magic and superstition, but there was no large-scale persecution at this time.

In Wallachia and Moldavia (independent principalities), the situation was notably different. These were Orthodox Christian states with relatively little formal persecution of witches during the 15th century. Folk magic (vrăjitorie) and superstitions were widespread, but they were often dealt with informally or locally, not via major judicial campaigns. The Orthodox Church had less of a doctrinal obsession with the idea of witchcraft as satanic pacts compared to the Catholic Inquisition. Accusations, when they occurred, were more about harm actually inflicted, not demonic worship.

There are few, if any, recorded formal witch trials from this time in Wallachia or Moldavia.

The witch-hunting era in the Romanian regions came later, largely in response to Western and Central European influences like the Habsburg takeover.

If someone were found guilty of being a witch in the 1460s–1470s in the regions that are now Romania—Wallachia, Moldavia, or Transylvania—execution would have been very rare, but not impossible, particularly if the charge was tied to harmful magic, poisoning, or heresy.

If execution did occur, the most likely method would have been Beheading or Hanging. These were the most probable methods for capital punishment in that era and region, especially when applied by secular authorities for crimes such as murder, treason, or sorcery. Beheading was seen as a more "honorable" execution, often used for nobles or high-status individuals, while hanging was more common for commoners. These were typical methods used in the Byzantine, Slavic, and Hungarian legal traditions that influenced the area.

Burning at the Stake was unlikely, but not strictly impossible in this period and region. Burning for witchcraft was much more common in Western and Central Europe, especially under Catholic or Protestant inquisitorial systems. In 15th-century Orthodox principalities, burning was not a common execution method for witches, but might be used in extreme cases, especially where heresy or demonic pacts were alleged—though this theological framing was not yet dominant in Wallachia or Moldavia. In Transylvania, under Hungarian rule, there are scattered records of burning for heresy, but few or none specifically for witchcraft until later centuries.

It's worth noting that the Orthodox Church in Wallachia and Moldavia had no formal Inquisition. Folk magic and divination were often treated as misdemeanors or punished with penance or local sanctions, not death.

The Catholic-influenced parts of Transylvania might have pursued harsher punishments, but witchcraft was not yet a capital crime in Hungarian law during the 1460s–70s.

So, Lisa's death as recorded in two separate canons is actually... surprisingly unlikely given her time and place in history, unless something happened earlier in the Castlevania timeline that we can't see that would have altered the local culture and laws significantly (admittedly, not exactly unthinkable).

So yeah, a tad less sense. Not impossible, but highly unlikely, and most definitely the work of writers deliberately stretching things pretty far to fit the Dark Fairy Tale mold they wanted to work with.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Oh! I didn't know those things that you've written.
I definitely agree with your last sentence.

[whipsmemory]

It's really an interesting read, although too easy to say "it's also unlikely Dracula was a vampire, afterall" , but as i said in a long post once i like to think of the series as a work of "historical -fantasy- fiction" so it's still very appropriate to find connections and mistakes in the setting and overall unfolding of the supposed "historical events" in the series, where possible. That said, in Sotn and subsequent drama, is it implied or specified she was burned, as it is in the anime (which was for the first part supervised by Iga, so I assume thats what he had in mind when he wrote the scenario of Sotn)? From what i recall from the Nightmare scene there's gallows allover the square, so its not unlikely she may have been hanged? Not to mention the fact she looks like shes in a "crucified" pose, and the implications of a possible metaphor of jesus christ dying innocent for people's sin, which is also reflected in her words in at least the english dialogue (if my death can save others i gladly surrender my life, or something along the lines of..) Does she say anything similar in the japanese dialogue?

[Gunlord]

This is a fascinating historical analysis I guess there's only so much game devs in the 90s would do, haha.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

It's really an interesting read, although too easy to say "it's also unlikely Dracula was a vampire, afterall" , but as i said in a long post once i like to think of the series as a work of "historical -fantasy- fiction" so it's still very appropriate to find connections and mistakes in the setting and overall unfolding of the supposed "historical events" in the series, where possible. That said, in Sotn and subsequent drama, is it implied or specified she was burned, as it is in the anime (which was for the first part supervised by Iga, so I assume thats what he had in mind when he wrote the scenario of Sotn)? From what i recall from the Nightmare scene there's gallows allover the square, so its not unlikely she may have been hanged? Not to mention the fact she looks like shes in a "crucified" pose, and the implications of a possible metaphor of jesus christ dying innocent for people's sin, which is also reflected in her words in at least the english dialogue (if my death can save others i gladly surrender my life, or something along the lines of..) Does she say anything similar in the japanese dialogue?

In the Nightmare, she is indeed being shown crucified, and a flashback in the Symphony of the Night prequel manga has Dracula cradling Lisa's body, looking very unburnt, but stained bloody as though she's been stabbed, and there ARE two men with spears in the Nightmare, so if these two things both reflect the reality, it's likely this is how she was killed.



It's worth noting there's NO documentation of this being done at ALL in the Christian world in the post-Roman era, as executing someone by crucifixion, even partially, would have been seen as a TERRIBLE blasphemy against Christ. By Lisa's time, crucifixion was practically extinct in Europe as a means of execution.

Interestingly, while not documented, there are some historic allusions to Ottoman forces possibly executing Christians in this way as a deliberate mockery of the faith. Considering the historic Dracula's ties to the Ottoman Empire and their long term presence in the region by this point in real history, this opens up some intriguing historic possibilities in the setting. It's entirely possible the Ottomans might have killed Lisa then, especially to punish Vlad for his barbaric methods of combat -- after all, Castlevania IS clear that "The Impaler" was one of Dracula's many identities. And thanks to Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula film already linking the Ottomans with the death of Dracula's wife and therefore his ascendancy as a Vampire, this is a REALLY neat storytelling link that honestly works better than Konami's own official napkin notes on the subject.

[EDIT] It's worth noting that the Curse of Darkness manga strongly disagrees on the matter of Lisa's death. While it does not SHOW IT outright, it VERY strongly implies that Lisa was burned. (Thanks, PlotTwist!  )

And her message to Dracula is SLIGHTLY different in the Japanese script:

ドラキュラ・ヴラド・ツェペシュ
　アルカードよ、教えてくれ。
　リサは最期に何と言ったのだ…？

アルカード
　人間を怨んではいけない。
　もし、人間が許されない存在で
　あるなら、自ら滅びの道を歩む。
　その世界の住人に在らざる者は、
　手を下すべきではないと…。
　そして、父上…。
　貴方を永遠に愛していると…。

ドラキュラ・ヴラド・ツェペシュ
　リサ…。
　私は、間違っていたのか…。

Dracula Vlad Tepes
Alucard, tell me.
What did Lisa say in her final moments...?

Alucard
"We must not resent humans.
If humans are unforgivable,
then they will walk the path to their own destruction.
Those who are not residents of this world
should not lay hands on them."
And, father...
I will love you forever.

Dracula Vlad Tepes
Lisa...
Was I wrong...?

Personally I think Lisa comes across as kinder in the English version. "Life already sucks, so please don't make it worse." is a lot kinder than "If they ARE as bad as you want to think they are, they'll destroy themselves without any need for you to get involved."

[C Belmont]

I think the method of Lisa's execution is most likely symbolic meant to draw comparisons to a saint or martyr. Similar to how how the manual compares her to the Virgin Mary.

The crucifixion in the nightmare looks a little similar to the way Japan performed them, which involved the person being bound to a cross & speared from both sides. So there may be cultural reasons why it looks the way it does.

[crisis]

Count Dankula seems to show a bit of remorse upon his defeat by Alucard in 1797, but that small piece of insight quickly went away in subsequent games. All he cares about is world domination moving forward.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Count Dankula seems to show a bit of remorse upon his defeat by Alucard in 1797, but that small piece of insight quickly went away in subsequent games. All he cares about is world domination moving forward.

My adamant working theory since Portrait of Ruin has been that Dracula's human soul moved on that day.
Unfortunately, Dracula isn't JUST Mathias. He'd spent quite a lot of time killing other vampires, absorbing their souls, adding their powers to his, never mind his singular connection to Chaos... conceivably there was quite a lot to the entity we call Dracula that was NOT human. And that would have been so evil it never would be permitted into Heaven. So it stuck around.
And if you notice in chronologically later games, Dracula gets a LOT less chatty, and when he does chat he's much more stereotypically evil. He makes borderline sexist remarks to Shanoa (claiming she must have been the one to resurrect him and she "only" would have done so so he could grant her eternal beauty, or power at his side as his consort), and in Portrait of Ruin only seems to care about getting his "full" powers back ("One day, my power will be fully revived!"), which beyond being the most generic Castlevania villain quote of all time, strongly implies that he believes that he no longer has his full powers.
That would be consistent with losing his human side, and with what Alucard told him at the end of Symphony: "You have been doomed ever since you lost the ability to love. / You lost your heart. Your soul. You'll never win without them. / When you lose those you love, and stop loving, you have already lost..."

If you want to believe so, there's enough there to claim that God pulled a sneaky, and by taking Mathias when he was asking Lisa's forgiveness, denied Chaos its greatest champion, leaving it forever with a "broken and dulled blade", doomed to lose forever hence.

And eventually, the rest of Dracula would be reincarnated into Soma Cruz, finishing the redemptive arc. When he passes, all that remains of Dracula will pass from the Earth.
Whether some other Dark Lord takes over the job? That's someone else's game now.