Topic: I knew it! Castlevania: Lords of Shadow!(SPOILERS HERE, PLZ USE THE SPOILER TAG)

[Ridureyu]

You know, I really don't think that trying to shoehorn Lords of SHadow into the regular plot works well when they've said directly and many times, "This is not part of the timeline. It is a new timeline."

Anyway, Alucard will probably pop up as a one-off bad guy who gets killed, or maybe he'll just be namedropped in a flashback ("The Alucard family built this castle!")

[Renonsgoods]

Well it's not about shoehorning LoS into the original timeline....as it quite handily violates the original timeline right from the getgo.  It's a reboot, and reboots typically make their mark by taking elements and characters familiar to a series and reworking their stories and relationships to one another.  It's usually not about scrapping what makes the series unique in the first place...it's usually about rearranging the pieces to make something fresh yet familiar.

[Chernabogue]

Alucard is Gabe's father.

HOLY SHIT.

XD

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

You know, I really don't think that trying to shoehorn Lords of SHadow into the regular plot works well when they've said directly and many times, "This is not part of the timeline. It is a new timeline."

Anyway, Alucard will probably pop up as a one-off bad guy who gets killed, or maybe he'll just be namedropped in a flashback ("The Alucard family built this castle!")

That would suck balls to have him appear as a one-off bad buy who gets killed.

It would basically be a huge fart in the face towards every Alucard fan out there which is why I do not see Cox attempting to do anything in that fashion.

The way he talked about Alucard appearing its as if he would like Alucard to have a role in the story IMO.

[Ridureyu]

Or he'll be a major bad guy, something silly like a new Lord of Shadow whom Gabriel must kill.  They'll probably just call him "Adrian Fahrenheit." 
Hm. he could also be an unrelated ally who sacrifices his life to somehow turn Gabriel into more of a Draculamonster. Maybe.

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

Or he'll be a major bad guy, something silly like a new Lord of Shadow whom Gabriel must kill.  They'll probably just call him "Adrian Fahrenheit." 
Hm. he could also be an unrelated ally who sacrifices his life to somehow turn Gabriel into more of a Draculamonster. Maybe.

Funny how all your theories involves him dying some way.

You must not like him huh?

I think they could very we'll introduce him and have him filling the very same anti hero role he has always filled.

[Ridureyu]

I like Alucard a lot, but I'm trying to think how Cox is going to do it.  And this is Cox we're talking about, so anything from previous CV canon needs to either be a side reference or die really fast so the plot can go back to focusing on brand-new characters.  I mean, most pof the names really just seem copy-pasted.  Olrox and Brauner, anyone?

[Ahasverus]

You know that the man writing the story is not Cox but Enric Alvarez right?
And duh , Alucard will be Drac's son, that what HE is, just like Carmilla is a horny vampire, Cornell a werewolf and Death a man besides Dracula, Alucard is Dracula's son, there's nothing they can do to change that, otherwise it would be silly

Olrox and Brauner, anyone?

Who says they aren' going to return in "familiar" forms?

[darkwzrd4]

You know that the man writing the story is not Cox but Enric Alvarez right?
And duh , Alucard will be Drac's son, that what HE is, just like Carmilla is a horny vampire, Cornell a werewolf and Death a man besides Dracula, Alucard is Dracula's son, there's nothing they can do to change that, otherwise it would be silly

Who says they aren' going to return in "familiar" forms?

They did and Gabriel killed them.  Brauner was fought and killed in Wygol in chapter five in the stage right after the one in which you get the holy water flasks.  Olrox was fought and killed in chapter 8 between the clockwork tower and Carmilla.

[Ahasverus]

They did and Gabriel killed them.  Brauner was fought and killed in Wygol in chapter five in the stage right after the one in which you get the holy water flasks.  Olrox was fought and killed in chapter 8 between the clockwork tower and Carmilla.

I know, I've played through the game like 6 times thanks
(Side note: I always chuckle when Olrox says "Thou shall not Pass"   )

I''m talking about a resurrection, perhaps they will revive both Olrox and Brauner in (kinda) the way we know them, Olrox as a commander of a part of the castle (in a more aristocratic form) and Brauner perhaps possessing a human painter, that's it! (They are demons, not living beings, their souls are "easly" summonable)

[Flame]

If I were doing this new series, here's the route I'd go as far as explaining future Belmonts.....and yes, Alucard himself. 

"Gabe has a half brother back with his real Cronqvist family who finds out about him in his formative years.  This brother (who's name is Adrian) becomes furious when he learns that his father abandoned his own bastard child to some random monastery....and goes looking for Gabe.  Adrian finds the remnants of the Order and the monks that raised Gabriel.  They tell him of Gabriel's legacy...how he became a great holy warrior and "died" destroying the Lords of Shadow for the sake of all humanity.  Adrian, swollen with pride for his brother's accomplishments (and as an act of spite for his father) takes the name Belmont to honor his fallen hero of a brother.  He takes up arms in the name of serving the church, and helps to start rebuilding the Order of Light. 

Years later Adrian has married and has a son (or sons).  He meets a long lost high ranking member of the Order who tells him of the vampiric presence that still haunts the hills about the town of Wygol.  This mysterious figure also tells him that the castle overlooking this town is where is brother Gabriel fell during his final battle against the Lords of Shadow.  Adrian, naturally, volunteers to venture to this dark castle to try and root out all evil that still roams there........and to perhaps discover the resting place of his lost brother.

Adrian journeys to Wygol, and fights his way to the spire of the Dark Keep.  When he arrives, he meets the keep's dark lord.....who only reveals himself as "Dracul".  Dracul recognises Adrian's garb, and asks him his name.  When Adrian tells him his name is Belmont......Dracul becomes enraged.  Convinced that the Order sent this man (labeled with his old surname as an  insult) to assassinate him, he attacks Adrian.  After a brief fight, Drac is impressed with the warrior's fighting prowess...and the two begin to jaw for a bit. 

i liked it all the way up to here. VERY good way of reintroducing Belmonts, and Castlevania, to the best of my knowledge, has never had a brotherly conflict like this. (or has it?)

now, afterward, I have a problem.

Drac is just revealing his true identity to his guest (much to Adrian's horror and disbelief) when one of Drac's vampire lieutenants enters and tries to attack Adrian.  Drac intervenes.....hurling the Combat cross (previously hidden beneath a cloak near Drac's throne) at the greater vampire, impaling him and sending him through a window....where he crashes upon the mountain and tumbles down to the outskirts of Wygol.

That is assuming Gabriel can even weild it anymore, now being one of the lot who it was made to kill. Not to mention that leaves the new Belmont protagonist without a whip, something which is completely unacceptable. It would make sense that he would no longer be able to wield it, and would likely discard it, along with God and the brotherhood, taking on the name of Dracul. Who knows, maybe Adrian would encounter A mysterious old beggar who gives it to him near the beginning of his journey, (rinaldo)  or it is simply taken back to the brotherhood and he decides to take up the weapon of his brother.

Instead, Drac bites him (turning him).

Doesnt work that way. He would have to receive Gabriel's blood to become a vampire. (IOW, how it originally was with vampires, and SHOULD be) And for that matter, why would he turn his ENEMY into an immortal undead creature on the same power level as himself? he would be more likely to kill him and drain his blood, not make him his kinsman.

Also, if Alucard is not Dracula's son, then there is just no meaning to it. ESPECIALLY in Castlevania. Even in the original usage of the name, it was Dracula's son. (the Lon Chaney movie, the son of Dracula) thats where it comes from. Now if you want to name the result Joachim, then theres something we can work with. but Alucard must always be Dracula's son.

heres how i see it. it goes down as you described, brother and all that, but lets include a few more story relevant bosses. And he slowly learns of Gabriel's journey through them. In fact, you mentioned a long lost order member? Well, who better than Zobek? he fooled Gabriel, and even the brotherhood scrolls seemed to indicate he was still around, (they name him as one of the longest serving order members) Zobek meets with the Belmont, and plays a similar role as he did with Gabriel, misleading him and feeding him false information. Maybe for some ulterior motive... Who knows. perhaps he wants him to suffer the same fall as Gabriel. And eventually, he would reveal himself as who he really is, and you would get to finally fight Zobek in his true form, as lord of the Necromancers, AKA death.

you fight Gabriel, who by now, is fed up with God, (maybe with humanity too?) and declares that he will kill any who stand in his way. you fight, and upon his defeat, he proclaims he will get his revenge. And in turn, his brother proclaims he and his family will hunt him down until he dies, using His own holy  weapon against him. only issue I can see, is how we can bypass his dying for good as a boss. perhaps since Zobek is lord of the dead,Zobek has made sure that Gabriel, when dead, will never actually go to the realm of the dead, but be brought back. Maybe the castle and it's creature of chaos-ness can factor into all this too.

what do you think?

[Munchy]

some random thoughts:

I'm still wondering where Dave Cox got the idea that "masks played a big role in earlier Castlevanias"

I think some of the artwork for Drac in CV1 had him with a mask. It's entirely possible they sort of merged Dracula's features with the Phantom of the Opera, considering the heavy Universal monster flicks influence.

[Richter]

Well the old boss fight does have his face coming off before he transforms. I always assumed that was his entire head though.

[Renonsgoods]

heres how i see it. it goes down as you described, brother and all that, but lets include a few more story relevant bosses. And he slowly learns of Gabriel's journey through them. In fact, you mentioned a long lost order member? Well, who better than Zobek? he fooled Gabriel, and even the brotherhood scrolls seemed to indicate he was still around, (they name him as one of the longest serving order members) Zobek meets with the Belmont, and plays a similar role as he did with Gabriel, misleading him and feeding him false information. Maybe for some ulterior motive... Who knows. perhaps he wants him to suffer the same fall as Gabriel. And eventually, he would reveal himself as who he really is, and you would get to finally fight Zobek in his true form, as lord of the Necromancers, AKA death.

you fight Gabriel, who by now, is fed up with God, (maybe with humanity too?) and declares that he will kill any who stand in his way. you fight, and upon his defeat, he proclaims he will get his revenge. And in turn, his brother proclaims he and his family will hunt him down until he dies, using His own holy  weapon against him. only issue I can see, is how we can bypass his dying for good as a boss. perhaps since Zobek is lord of the dead,Zobek has made sure that Gabriel, when dead, will never actually go to the realm of the dead, but be brought back. Maybe the castle and it's creature of chaos-ness can factor into all this too.

what do you think?

Well your idea for including Zobek has already been noted....who did you think that "mysterious elder member of the Order" was?

Actually I originally thought up this story purely as a means of explaining future Belmonts and their relation to Drac, but originally "Adrian" was named Leon [yea, I did the name drop thing  ].  And originally I had Leon dying during his fight with Drac instead of being turned. I just fudged it up a bit here to work a new angle for Alucard's introduction....just for fun.  Seemed like it'd make for an interesting twist (regardless of how you want to have the mechanism for Drac turning him work). Interestingly enough, though, I had thought of an alternate version of events in which Leon became known as Joachim instead of Alucard....which seems to suggest that you and I may be operating on the same wavelength here.

I liked the idea of Drac using the cross just ONE more time, as it gave a good explanation for how he discarded it for future Belmonts to be able to use...without having to resort to DEM.  He only needed to grasp it for a second to hurl it across the room.  It also served as a good kicking off part for the Belmont's legacy.....it's second notable member giving his life to put an end to a powerful vampire lord. But meh, it's not a big sticking point for me.  I was more interested in how future Belmonts would come to pass, which is why I drummed up this story in the first place.  The rest of the details are just gravy.  I like the idea of him fighting Zobek/Death...maybe before encountering Drac.  I'm just a little torn on whether he should be successful in his fight against Drac (like in your version) or die during the struggle (as I had it).  I guess it comes down to whether or not this little story is presented purely as backstory (in which case, I like my version better), or if it were presented as a playable episode within the series (in which case, your version works better).

[Ridureyu]

I'm still wondering where Dave Cox got the idea that "masks played a big role in earlier Castlevanias"

Well, we all wear masks, metaphorically speaking.