Topic: The Different Mythologies of Castlevania

[crisis]

Jesus also made a whip

You just fucking blew my mind.

[undeadknight777]

yea, i always thought it would be cool if the castlevania storyline did something with the whip that jesus made. maybe it could  have become the original 'vampire killer'' and then modified.

[Pentagram-cracker]

Also I wonder if Maria's power to summon animal guardians comes from Pagenism? The Pagens were deep lovers of nature and animals and the idea of summoning animals spirits to help you sounds like something that would be a part of their belief. I don't think Maria is a Pagen herself because she seems more like a Christian, but it's possible she inherited a Pagen's gift for understanding and manipulating nature. She uses doves as her main weapons which are a symbolic animal of Christianity, so maybe it's using Pagen powers but with a Christian view?

[uzo]

Well even when you have Christians who are OK with video games

I am a Christian, and I am OK with video games.

[Kale]

There is no reason that creatures from other mythologies would not be affected. If in Christianity considers them evil, then the items that battle evil would naturally affect them, unless they are mislabeled, which they aren't (in the case of this game) because they all follow Dracula, who is evil.

Supernatural (the TV show) follows this formula as well.

[Pentagram-cracker]

I am a Christian, and I am OK with video games.

Good for you! Now have a cookie.  *hands cookie*

[X]

The cookies again? Or was i thinking of pretzels..?

-X

[Pentagram-cracker]

lol I dunno, it was just a poor attempt at being a smart ass on my part.

I guess I was wrong and not every Christian hates video games. I just assumed they would hate Castlevania because it has a lot of real demons in it, which even if you're fighting them with holy weapons it seemed understandable at least to me that Christians would find that offensive. But I was wrong and I admit that.

[Kale]

Only people who would be offended are people who are too "religious" and probably think too highly of themselves in that religion. Or so I would think.

[Pentagram-cracker]

Anyways like I pointed out earlier, I think Maria's animal weapons she uses are influenced by Pagenism. Pagens have a deep love for nature and some believed they could do things like communicate or summon animals. I don't think Maria is really a Pagen, especially seeing how she was alive in a time where Witchcraft was extremly taboo and you could be killed if they even thought you practised it. But I think somehow she inherited a supernatural understanding of nature that combined with her own Christian faith.

The games have other references to pagenism too, such as the pentagrams found in Symphony of the Night.

[danceofgold]

Well, I'm not a Christian, and Castlevania is definitely not the most outrageous game series in terms of violence & sexual innuendo etc. But for some reason, I find it kinda unsettling when Dracula quotes the bible at the end of SotN. I mean, he was going on and on with his 'maniacal villain' stuff and then after he's got his ass kicked, he starts spouting bible verses...? 

[Alukard]

I just enjoy a pleasant romp through a "well-decorated" castle killing monsters. That's all Castlevania boils down to and it's all I ever really thought about when I played the game. There's nothing for any person (Christian or what-have-you) to be offended about here. If you think there is then you just have a wild imagination (like the loud-mouth ignorant faith-obsessed laughables that were mentioned earlier).

I like to keep things simple and easy to understand. I think your whole concept of Pagenism is interesting but your just over-complicating Castlevania's design: it really makes no difference if "Pagenism" had an impact on the game or not.

[crisis]

I get offended when the priest stabs be with like 5 swords in the confessional in SotN.


and it's PAGANISM people! /typonazi

[X]

I get offended when the priest stabs be with like 5 swords in the confessional in SotN.

He wasn't a real priest to begin with. Remember it's Castlevania. Anything in there can and will happen that's evil, including that evil disguising itself as one of god's servants just to stick it to ya. But I don't think that he was supposed to be a priest. If you look at his haircut it makes him pass as more of a friar.

-X

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

The blue one is a priest, the gray one is an evil spirit pretending to be a priest.
In the PSP version he actually says something like "In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen."  He says it in Japanese in the Saturn version.

And I think that having demons in a game where you hunt demons would be good  in the eyes of those fundamentalists.  After all, you're slaying demons, amirite?