Topic: The title "Castlevania"

[Kaneda]

Over time, I feel like the title Castlevania seems kind of... dumb, I guess? It's nonsensical. I mean, I understand it. But it's not a real word. It's not used in the games. The castle is called Castle Dracula. I kind of wish that Konami had translated their title to English and used that for the Western releases. Or used Vampire Killer.

[crisis]

technically its a nonsense word but i like it, rolls off the tongue nicely

[Inccubus]

And I'm pretty sure it was used in the intro of at least one game.
Plus it's telling that they later adopted it Japan for LoI.
Though in that case it probably would have made more sense for the game to have used the Vampire Killer title since that is what the game was mostly about.

[AxeLord]

The original Japanese title for the series was Devil's Castle Dracula, I believe. It doesn't really roll off the tongue like Castlevania. When the series started going by Castlevania in Japan, I bet it ROYALLY pissed off Japanese fans.

[GuyStarwind]

Well, you're in a giant castle in Transylvania... makes sense to me. The name Castlevania is used in some games. Finally while it's goofy I think a lot of CV is goofy so I'm fine with it.

[Ratty]

The original Japanese title for the series was Devil's Castle Dracula, I believe. It doesn't really roll off the tongue like Castlevania. When the series started going by Castlevania in Japan, I bet it ROYALLY pissed off Japanese fans.

From what I heard it did. Also earlier this year Abnormal Freak found an article ( http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php/topic,7261.msg163413.html#msg163413 ) which says that the name Castlevania came about because of a Christian senior vice president of Konami of America who did not like the literal translation of the Japanese name.

Personally I like the name. It's unique, it's catchy, as has been mentioned it rolls of the tongue. Particularly for the pre-SotN games it captures the monster movie feel perfectly. Though "Demon Castle Dracula" might be a better fit for the later, more gothic games.

Also as others have mentioned I'm almost positive that Dracula's castle has explicitly been referred to as "Castlevania" in the intro to one or two games.

[X]

Castlevania. It's very self-explanatory all in one word. Since it is now engrained in our popular culture it might as well be a real word.

[Qwertyvania]

Since Sylvania means "forest land," and castle has been added to it, It kind of Means "Castle Forest Land." One could say that the castle is like a forest in ways. Like a forest of stone? With mysterious things like in a forest?

I couldn't quite figure out how to word that

Also it's catchy

[theplottwist]

Since Sylvania means "forest land," and castle has been added to it, It kind of Means "Castle Forest Land." One could say that the castle is like a forest in ways. Like a forest of stone? With mysterious things like in a forest?

I couldn't quite figure out how to word that

Also it's catchy

Well, since "Sylvania" comes from "Transylvania", which in turn comes from "Ultra Silvam" which means "Beyond the forest", I think a better "translation" would be "Castle beyond the forest", since it looks like that the name's creator had "Transylvania" in mind, and not "Sylvania" alone.

Or maybe it's what you said, but in reverse, "Forest-land castle", as a "Castle set in a land of forests".

[theplottwist]

Also as others have mentioned I'm almost positive that Dracula's castle has explicitly been referred to as "Castlevania" in the intro to one or two games.

In fact, only in Symphony of the Night's intro. Other mentions come from bestiary entries, one of such being Great Knight's description.

Also, sorry for the double post, again. Once more I misclicked the modify button.

[Kaneda]

From what I heard it did. Also earlier this year Abnormal Freak found an article ( http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php/topic,7261.msg163413.html#msg163413 ) which says that the name Castlevania came about because of a Christian senior vice president of Konami of America who did not like the literal translation of the Japanese name.

This was always my assumption as to why they didn't go with it. But it's not like they couldn't have dropped Demon/Devil and went with just Castle Dracula. Maybe they couldn't register that as a trademark since that name belongs within a book that's public domain. I don't know much about copyright law in that regard.

Vampire Killer probably wouldn't have gone over well here in the States, particularly in the 80s and early 90s.

Again, I get what the title is meant to suggest when you hear/read it and I'll admit that it definitely works as a brand name. I used the word dumb in my first post, but I really don't think that that's the best word choice because I do like it, but there's something...

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

A proper translation would've been "Dracula's Demonic Castle", which is phonetically correct (similar to "Howl's Moving Castle" or "Dick's Sporting Goods").
It's a nice title, but then you're stuck with the Dracula property.

I love the name "Castlevania" though.  Great job, Konami USA Marketing Team!

[theANdROId]

Agreed.  At this point, I think to change it would make it awkward.  Not that that was necessarily suggested, just sayin'...

[Chernabogue]

The real advantage is that "Castlevania" doesn't need to be translated between NA and EU. I like that name too!

[whipsmemory]

Dracula x Chronicles intro's text also mentions Dracula as "Master of Castlevania". I like the name, it's a cool name for a castle rather than the generic "demonic castle",  and also a cool name for a game.