Topic: What do you want Dracula to look like in the 1999 game?

[Mathias Hyperion]

This has sort of been done before (http://castlevania.classicgaming.gamespy.com/forums/index.php?topic=1240&start=0) but that was a few months ago and necro=bad (and that thread sort of spiralled out of control).

Anyway, if they ever get rounding to making the 1999 game, how do you want Dracula to look? I would say most, if not all, of us would want Ayami Kojima to do the artwork. Dracula's SOTN appearance is probably his definitive CV look at the moment, so they might go with something like that, but in his last chronological appearance before 1999 - PoR - he's taken a fancy to the Bela Lugosi look. Or they could come up with something completely different.

There aren't really many CV Dracula designs which look anything like Mathias Cronqvist (64, Soma and POR are exceptions), so perhaps they could develop that look? Since it's supposed to be "the Battle of 1999", he could have a more military look - perhaps some nice, stylised, mediaeval armour? Perhaps I say the word "perhaps" too much?

[Kale]

A Cyborg Ninja with laser guns........ >.>

[James Belmont]

Well, I think it should be instantly recognizable as Dracula, but it should really look modern, circa 1999. Yes, in PoR, he took to the Lugosi look, but that was the appearance that best suited that time period. While it is my personal favorite, and I'd like to see something very similar, it should be very much a modern Dracula.

[Profbeanburrito]

I think Dracula should where a black business suit, like Alucard does in AOS and DOS

[Super Waffle]

Make him look exactly like Christopher Belmont in a cape.

Then just sit back and watch the ****fest.

[cecil-kain]

I'd like to see a nod to the source actually

There was a time ages ago when Dracula was not widely known.  Bram Stoker wrote his original novel with a flair for tension and suspense.  Dracula's identity as a vampire was a slow revelation --not common knowledge like it is today.  The count often eludes the reader (along with the heroes) by assuming several disguises --as a matter of fact Dracula's first appearance is in disguise...  Then there's the vampire lore element about how a parched vampire appears old, deathly, or even frail, while a freshly fed vampire look youthful and fresh...  F. F. Coppla's movie illustrated this very well..

So far, the N64 Castlevanias have been the only games to pick up on these important aspect of Dracula's character.  Why IGA keeps Drac locked up till the end of all his games is beyond me --get him out more and yes --in disguise...

As for the artistry Kojima is preferred --I'd like to see Dracula portrayed as in SotN for his deathly form, but I'd also like to see him youthful as LoI's Mathias.  Then of course some fresh disguises/impersonations could bring intrigue into the story --Malus was simply fascinating on the N64 --Oh and let's not forget bestial disguises like the Giant Bat, Wolf, or some kind of Arch Demon --and not just for the final battle either....

[Oralox]

If I were dracula I would dress up like Rugal from King of Fighters.

[Mathias Hyperion]

Of course, assuming that Alucard takes part in the Battle of 1999 (and, let's face it, he HAS to), Dracula would probably need to look older than him, especially if they're going to have a father-son moment.

Alucard would most likely be either in his SOTN or Arikado guise, or half-way between both (or both, as in DoS), so he looks about 25. So Dracula would probably need to look around 50 (a strong, healthy 50, but a 50 nonetheless).

[Genya Arikado]

First let me list what will be in the 1999 battle. We have ingame evidence that Julius Belmont is the belmont of the time, and that a member of the Hakuba family was involved. it is also posible that A realative of Yoko, and Alucard himself were there as well. St. Germain hinted to aiding the "last battle" so i hope he's in there. But seeing how Julius lost his memory after the battle, anyone could be there and we not know it.

I hope Kojima does the art, and i would like to see a CoD Dracula, or even a SotN looking one. Alucard has to be there and a father/son moment need to happen as well. Soma's name shoudl be mentioned as well, that way Aria of Sorrow doesn't seem like a freak accident, St Germain could do this. Next I hope that Julius falles in love w/ the Hakuba member or something, and Julius has to reactivate the whip, Vampirekiller.

Also, i want Death to play a role in this, more so than in PoR, let him be an importan character.

[Omegasigma]

the battle of 1999 will likely be either konami's trump card, or the last game in the series before its rebooted i think

[shelverton.]

Just put him in a black, simple yet elegant suit. And let his 2nd and 3rd form be pretty damn EPIC. I want the final battle against Dracula to fill multiple screens. Maybe dedicate an entire area of the castle for the finale. Dunno how they'd pull that off though. I just want something to remember.

Or maaaaaaybe.. the final battle should involve fighting the very castle itself! I mean, it has to protect its master from being defeated forever, right?

I just want the battle of 1999 to be absolutely over the top!

[Mathias Hyperion]

In Reply To #11

Never mind an entire area, how about fighting in the entire castle?

Imagine the 1999 game is a 3D Metroidvania with interesting level design and a castle which you have just spent many hours exploring. Now, as you fight Dracula through his three forms, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE! Dracula, each of his forms bigger than the last, chases you through the castle, breaking through walls as he goes. The battle could culminate on the roof of the Castle Keep itself, with the oncoming eclipse in plain sight.

[Genya Arikado]

In Reply To #12

Nah, I would prefer the battle to be in the throne room, its been that way for most Castlevania games, and changing it seems alien.

I do like the idea of seeing the ecplise in the background, so think of this:

2D side scroller.
You fight dracula in his first form, and beat him. As always, he transforms into his demon form, and you fight him, but instead of having the game end after you beat him, have the story play off that.

During the battle, the Hakuba family member (Julius' love) runs in, and Dracula reverts back to his first form. Both Julius and Draclua are at the end of thier rope, a stalemate. But then, as Dracula reverts back to  his human form and sucks the blood of the Hakuba girl, and that grants him enough energy to fight again.

Julius, being a young man seeing his lover killed before his eyes, then becomes angry, and finds renewed strength. because the battle w/ Dracula's second form was so destructive, the ecplise can be seen in the background, rising up as the battle goes on.

While the battle is going on, the Hakuba girl's brother, (Mina's father?) is trying to seal the castle away in the eclipse, like mentioned in AoS. But the Hakuba boy lacks the power to do so. That's how the Vampirekiller gets sealed into Castlevania.

As the last battle is still happening, Alucard goes to Julius, and tells him of the problem w/ sealing the Castle away. Julius agrees to use the Vampirekiller to seal the castle away as Alucard agrees to fight Dracula.

I think it'll be a good way to play the game because it'll have all the classic Castlevania feel, and gameplay, but w/ a feeling of "gotta make it before the ecplise runs out".
There will be no actually time limit, but it'll feel like the climactic scene at the end of a movie.

Anyway, in the end, Julius rushes back to see Alucard on his last leg. Dracula mocks Julius and the whip(the whip having lost most of it's power in the sealing ritual) Then at the last moment, Julius unleashes the full power of the whip that was passed down by other belmonts, the origanal power that Leon used to make the whip (it would be kinda like the PoR attack, warriors Revive, but not the same)

This could lead to a scene w/ Leon asking Dracula what he had become, and saying that he missed the friend he used to know.

In the end, St Germain leaves, having interfered w/ time, he loses his powers, and fades away. The Hakuba boy goes on to become Mina's father. Julius looses his memory due to the amout of power he used to deafeat Dracula. And Alucard slips away, being ever vigilant for the man named "Soma" to appear. the family member of Yoko may not have to be in the story, but they could be.

[Mathias Hyperion]

We shouldn't forget that Charlotte is apparently a potential "final weapon in the battle against Dracula", so she could turn up (perhaps she's the one who has figured out how to defeat Dracula by sealing him in the eclipse; she's probably also been reading up on her Nostradamus (who predicted the 1999 battle)). She would be about 71 in 1999.

[crisis]

In Reply To #14

The priest of the Hakuba Shrine, Mina's father, was the one that had the magic to seal Dracula & the castle, not Charlotte.