Topic: Castlevania: Umbra of Sorrow (1999 Fan Project)

[darkmanx_429]

Oh wow the peeps already keep expecting the things 

So, here it is, Lenora Belnades! Design based on the sprite created by Donoffrio!


In this art Lenora has the Belnades Staff, but that is not her only weapon.

Plus, as explained in her bio card, she is a fundamental piece on Dracula's banishment. She has been trained by Charlotte to know how to manually separate him from his power effectively and fast.

"Why doesn't Charlotte do it herself?"

To do it, it's necessary for the person conducting the separation to have direct contact with Dracula's soul. Even if she's the strongest sorcerer of the Church by 1999, Charlotte is still very fragile due to old age, and Dracula's power could either corrup or destroy her before she achieved the objective.

Charlotte is still needed to conduct the Hakuba ritual, but Lenora has to carry on her task first.

Very awesome, I love the modernized look. I would say you should add some aura to that exposed skin, maybe some Belenades lightning being transferred to the staff?

I can't wait to see that profile piece with all the character alas Dracula's Curse.

[theplottwist]

As promised, I added the profile cards to the second post on this thread.

I also edited almost every information for the supporting cast to reflect the story's development so far.

[Dracula9]

but plot you're obviously just ripping off dracula's curse

use somebody else's OCs instead that's obviously the better choice

[theplottwist]

but plot you're obviously just ripping off dracula's curse

use somebody else's OCs instead that's obviously the better choice

Seriously, all she had to do was read the second post. I thought about asking if she thinks Yoko is a "rehashing of Sypha" but meh.

I gave all evidence I had to demonstrate why the cast was intended to be a reference to Dracula's Curse from day one (and why I believe IGA would do the same thing). If she won't listen, I can't really do anything about it.

Hell, IGA pulled the same stunt on Dawn of Sorrow.

[X]

Hell, IGA pulled the same stunt on Dawn of Sorrow.

Don't forget Aria of Sorrow, though the others weren't playable. Like the image of Lenora. Her facial features kind of give off that high aristocratic society look, but I'll assume that her attitude is nothing of the kind. Either way it's good 

[Shiroi Koumori]

I agree with plot. IGA once said that he loves the Dracula's Curse game and the characters mirroring what happened then is appropriate for Umbra.
Why is no one complaining about this mirror in Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc?

[VladCT]

Because sometimes, you just need an excuse to whine, double standard be damned. :V

[Nagumo]

Wait, who is saying this is a rehash? Did I miss something?

Anyway, very nice artwork as always. This has no relevance to anything, but since Yoko in AoS is called, well, Yoko,  it seems to imply she has a Japanese background. Were you planning on explaining that in Umbra?

[theplottwist]

Don't forget Aria of Sorrow, though the others weren't playable. Like the image of Lenora. Her facial features kind of give off that high aristocratic society look, but I'll assume that her attitude is nothing of the kind. Either way it's good 

While Julius will have rubbed off a little from Jonathan's personality, Lenora will have rubbed off a little from Charlotte's, so you know more or less what to expect.

Lenora is very confident, but she can get a LITTLE too confident sometimes, or get ahead of herself. But ultimatelly, she's gotten a very kind heart.

Wait, who is saying this is a rehash? Did I miss something?

Anyway, very nice artwork as always. This has no relevance to anything, but since Yoko in AoS is called, well, Yoko,  it seems to imply she has a Japanese background. Were you planning on explaining that in Umbra?

Over at Junki's page, a DA user accused me of rehashing Grant's and Sypha's designs, and of "ripping off" Dracula's Curse. They also said that there were Castlevania OCs better suited to fit Timothy's and Lenora's positions. Got on my nerves a little, because these characters were not choosen based on "what looks cooler and original", but more on what I think IGA wanted based on the info he shared. But I can understand this, since this thread has grown to big proportions and not every idea for this project is easily accessible or even explained at all.

I've read IGA's statements extensively, along with in-game scripts and blog entries, and I'm confident his Demon Castle War was supposed to be a "recreation", thematically speaking, of Dracula's Curse, down to the character selection. I could be wrong, but I'm not inside the man's head to know. I only have the clues he left to play with.

About Yoko's japanese background: Someone asked me the other day if Lenora was Julius' love interest. I answered there and will answer here: She's not. She's acts more like a big sister to Julius, even though she's younger.

That said, yes, Yoko's japanese heritage is getting explained in Umbra. There IS a character to be Lenora's love interest, and he's part of the Shinto ritual team conducted by Eisuke Hakuba. This ties with Aria's and Dawn's line, saying that Yoko is a long time acquaintance with the Hakubas.

[darkmanx_429]

Over at Junki's page, a DA user accused me of rehashing Grant's and Sypha's designs, and of "ripping off" Dracula's Curse. They also said that there were Castlevania OCs better suited to fit Timothy's and Lenora's positions. Got on my nerves a little, because these characters were not choosen based on "what looks cooler and original", but more on what I think IGA wanted based on the info he shared. But I can understand this, since this thread has grown to big proportions and not every idea for this project is easily accessible or even explained at all.

I've read IGA's statements extensively, along with in-game scripts and blog entries, and I'm confident his Demon Castle War was supposed to be a "recreation", thematically speaking, of Dracula's Curse, down to the character selection. I could be wrong, but I'm not inside the man's head to know. I only have the clues he left to play with.

About Yoko's japanese background: Someone asked me the other day if Lenora was Julius' love interest. I answered there and will answer here: She's not. She's acts more like a big sister to Julius, even though she's younger.

That said, yes, Yoko's japanese heritage is getting explained in Umbra. There IS a character to be Lenora's love interest, and he's part of the Shinto ritual team conducted by Eisuke Hakuba. This ties with Aria's and Dawn's line, saying that Yoko is a long time acquaintance with the Hakubas.

Considering IGA has said that Dracula's Curse is his favorite game in the series, I believe this to be the case. Additionally, Curse of Darkness originally was supposed to be a remake of Dracula's Curse  but IGA decided to fit that game into the Dracula's Curse timeline instead of making a 3D remake.

[X]

Additionally, Curse of Darkness originally was supposed to be a remake of Dracula's Curse  but IGA decided to fit that game into the Dracula's Curse timeline instead of making a 3D remake.

Really? That would explain why CoD's plot is all over the place and doesn't exactly fit with CV III. This would also explain why Hector has somewhat of the Alucard look to him as well. He would have been better-off doing the remake IMO.

[darkmanx_429]

Really? That would explain why CoD's plot is all over the place and doesn't exactly fit with CV III. This would also explain why Hector has somewhat of the Alucard look to him as well. He would have been better-off doing the remake IMO.

Yep, I remember reading about that game in particular as I bought the per-order release for that one. I do wonder what that Dracula's Curse remake would of been like though.

[Chernabogue]

Love her design!

[theplottwist]

So, as I teased before, I'm doing something (or trying to do something) about the Morris bloodline. However, I come here to ask for one opinion:

How do you feel about Jonathan not getting married and not having children?

Jonathan's views about the burden of the whip are something that goes unresolved in Portrait. Just as he is asking the right questions, Eric basically shuts him up and tells him he must do what he must do because the Belmonts cannot touch the whip until 1999. When asked the reasons for this, Eric says that this is because Nostradamus said so.

Being realistic, this answers nothing. At the end of Portrait, Jonathan has precisely zero answers about the whip and the reason for the Morris to carry it. He comes to peace with the fact that his father ultimatelly wanted to protect him, but that's about it. If Dracula rises, there is no way to defeat him without the whip, and so the burden returns.

So, thanks to that, in Umbra, it was a day one decision to have Jonathan have no children at all. The reason for this is that he doesn't want to transfer his unexplained burden upon his children like it was transferred from his grandfather Quincy to his father John, and to himself. He chooses instead to train his body and technique constantly to top condition, to face Dracula in 1999 himself (yes, fuck being an elder) in the possibility that no Belmont arises to take the whip - just so no young Morris has to do it in his place.

But as I said above, I'm doing something about this and there is one variable that can change everything. But the question remains: How do you feel about Jonathan not getting married and not having children?

[Lelygax]

IMO he surely gets married, PoR have hints thrown at our face almost all the time. Since he understood better his father motives at the end of the game I think that he could be able to have a son without making the same mistake of hiding things to protect his son. Since John wanted Jonathan to train without relying on the whip, I can see Jonathan doing the same but this time explaining why to his son (if he have one).

I would be okay if he doesn't have a child, remember that he can also have a daughter if you decide that his child will not use the whip. But this way I think that shw would end being a spellcaster.

Well, these are my thoughts and basically its okay if he doesn't become a father, but isn't if he doesn't marry you know who.