Topic: Uh, Dracula? I thought that story was made up, actually...

[crisis]

kinda like how Mark Hamill will always be Luke Skywalker.. or the Joker o.o;

[A-Yty]

Maybe Dracula isn't a historical person in the CV universe. Or at least not the way he is in our history.

[Odile Kuronuma]

Well, I don't think Vlad Tepes exists as a historic figure in the Castlevania universe, however. It suppose it was implied in earlier games, but I believe it has now been retconned in simply a name that Dracula took. I recall from the CoD manga that they mention he was just a mysterious count that showed up someday, and not a notorious dictator or something like that. So that would kind of be a wishy-washy way of explaining it...
   

I meant a historic person in general, not Vlad Tepes III in particular.Vlad Tepes is just a name Dracula took in the Castlevania canon, and it doesn't have much in common with the Voivod that lived during the 15th century.

[Flame]

kinda like how Mark Hamill will always be Luke Skywalker.. or the Joker o.o;

Well you dont really SEE him as the Joker, just hear him. And it's not his normal voice. So that's a bit different... if anything Id flip that around, the Joker will always be Mark Hamill, and it will be hard for the clown prince of crime to get a different voice that people will accept readily.

Personally I liked Under the Red Hood's Bender Joker. Thought it was good.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Actually, Soma DOES know about the historic Dracula.
When you have the dialogue with Genya Arikado at the beginning of Aria of Sorrow, Soma actually acknowledges this:
----------
Arikado: Why have you come here?
Soma   : Why? Well, Mina and I...hang on, where are we?
Arikado: We're in Dracula's castle.
Soma   : Huh? Dracula's Castle? Are you telling me we are in Europe?
Arikado: No, we are inside the solar eclipse.
Soma   : Inside the eclipse?! Are you insane?! Do you think I'm a fool?!
Mina   : Soma! Listen to him, he's telling you the truth!
Soma   : What the heck are you talking about? Give me an explanation!
Arikado: Well, it's like this...huh?! An enemy!
----------

So, clearly Soma knows about Dracula's Castle, so he knows the historical figure "Dracula".  He may or may not know Bram Stoker's version of "Dracula", but he certainly knows that Dracula is some kind of figure from Europe.

If Soma does not at all know that Dracula declared a War on Humanity and there was a huge conflict in 1999 in Europe, then this is most likely covered up by the parties involved.  Sort of a "Men in Black" scenario (and Genya fits this role to a T, plus with the ability to Glamour people since he's a Dhampir...).

It's likely that the Church and a few governments and organizations did their best to cover up anything regarding this event, to prevent it from causing a panic in the regular world... so most people would just not know about it.  Back in 1999 the Internet was still somewhat in its infancy and there were no big things like Youtube and Cellphone Videos, etc.  so it's somewhat more plausable that an event of such magnitude can be covered up.

If someone did spot anything, it would just be some kind of weird sighting.
Something that may cause some kind of watchgroup, such as ASFAN or something.
I'm not an ASFAN.  I'm more of a BOOBFAN.  Ha ha!  I'm here all night, folks.

[X]

I'm not an ASFAN.  I'm more of a BOOBFAN.  Ha ha!  I'm here all night, folks.

BUDUM-DUM-PHSSS!

[DragonSlayr81]

I meant a historic person in general, not Vlad Tepes III in particular.Vlad Tepes is just a name Dracula took in the Castlevania canon, and it doesn't have much in common with the Voivod that lived during the 15th century.

This happens a lot with fantasy takes on history, though. It isn't the last time Dracula would be "someone he isn't in reality". Blade III(urgh), Dracula was this old Roman warrior(or something, I forget since that movie was all sorts of horrible). In Dracula 2000, Dracula was Judas Iscariot. It's kinda like how, in Shadow Hearts, Roger Bacon's this never-dying Cryptkeeper-looking character, and in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Abraham Lincoln is a.... vampire hunter. I actually never had a problem with seeing CV's Dracula was someone unique aside from other depictions or history's counterpart. I prefer it that way. I mean, hell, in LoS's, we all know who Dracula is(and it's NOT the historic Vlad III).

[Odile Kuronuma]

This happens a lot with fantasy takes on history, though. It isn't the last time Dracula would be "someone he isn't in reality". Blade III(urgh), Dracula was this old Roman warrior(or something, I forget since that movie was all sorts of horrible). In Dracula 2000, Dracula was Judas Iscariot. It's kinda like how, in Shadow Hearts, Roger Bacon's this never-dying Cryptkeeper-looking character, and in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Abraham Lincoln is a.... vampire hunter. I actually never had a problem with seeing CV's Dracula was someone unique aside from other depictions or history's counterpart. I prefer it that way. I mean, hell, in LoS's, we all know who Dracula is(and it's NOT the historic Vlad III).

Yep this happens a lot in movies, video games etc. Also according to LoI Dracula is Mathias Cronqvist, whose name strangely ressembles that of Matthias Corvinus, a contemporary of Vlad Tepes III. Heck Vlad Tepes was his vassal at some point. I don't get why they chose this guy over the real Dracula, since both lived at the same time. Why not just go with Vlad Tepes from the start? At least it makes more sense to choose him, instead of trying to find another obscure origin for Dracula.

[X]

Why not just go with Vlad Tepes from the start? At least it makes more sense to choose him, instead of trying to find another obscure origin for Dracula.

Indeed. But if you're trying to figure out IGA's mind then save yourself the trouble and don't bother. It's all sorts of messed up.

[Sumac]

Why not just go with Vlad Tepes from the start? At least it makes more sense to choose him, instead of trying to find another obscure origin for Dracula.

My guess is to make a TWEEEEEEEST (TM).
However they failed with that for many reasons.

[crisis]

I believe it was CVAdventure's Japanese manual & a few other source materials that stated Dracula was an ancient sorceror long before he declared war on Humanity/events of CVIII. It seems IGA took this idea & ran with it. So this was canon even before IGA took reign, the only legitimate beef people can make is why his name was "Mathias Cronqvist."

[Inccubus]

I do find that bit a little odd. I remember thinking so immediately when I first found out.

Oh, and as to Donoffrio's doubts about CVA being canon. Well, there's the fact it's included on every official timeline since the game was published.

[DragonSlayr81]

My guess is to make a TWEEEEEEEST (TM).
However they failed with that for many reasons.

I'm pretty sure THIS is the reason. It's a poor reason, though. IGA stated, since before LoI was released, it was going to explain WHY Dracula was 800+ years old in RoB and SotN. So, by that alone, we know Dracula is going to appear. You couldn't be more obvious than that little nugget of info. IMO, there should've been NO mystery to WHO becomes Dracula. Mathias should've been named Vlad Tepes from the start. The question shouldn't be "Who becomes Dracula?", more than, "Why does he become Dracula?".

[Sumac]

I believe it was CVAdventure's Japanese manual & a few other source materials that stated Dracula was an ancient sorceror long before he declared war on Humanity/events of CVIII.

However there was no mention of why Drcaula wanted to wipe out humanity. It was assumed that he is just evil guy who wanted to destroy everything for generic evil reason.

IGA stated, since before LoI was released, it was going to explain WHY Dracula was 800+ years old in RoB and SotN. So, by that alone, we know Dracula is going to appear.

Wow. Never heard of this statement, but it's basically confirms IGA's "leet" skills at storytelling.

For me it was obvious that Mathias will end up as Dracula for two reasons:
1) It was predictable, givinng IGA's love for the "best friend / hero is a culprit" twist. It was done in SOTN and even more obviously in HOD. So, when you have two characters who are best friends in the IGA game (and there is no other important characters around), you certainly can be sure that one of them will end up as traitor. Trust be told this idea wasn't used only by him - it was also done in COTM and LOD in some capacity.
2) Mathias was setup as important character for the story in the intro, however he never appeared during the game (up until the end). It looked like too much story was devoted to the character who wasn't major part of the story. Giving previous experiences it made obvious who will end up as Drcaula by the end of the game.

[KaZudra]

here's a good question:
Why does every game in the near future disclude things like cell phones?

AoS I can understand but DoS Could have had a Pretty good story involving Cell phone conversations...