Topic: What's your headcanon?

[AxeLord]

What games do you consider canon? Why? Here's mine:

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Castlevania: The Adventure
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Castlevania: Order of Shadows
Castlevania Chronicles (Arrange Mode)
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest REDACTED
Super Castlevania IV
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: Dracula X
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Dracula
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Castlevania: Judgement
Kid Dracula

Yeah, mine's pretty weird... 

[X]

Hmm...tough call since I don't just leave out certain games but also some of the elements within the games themselves. Ah well, I'll try to make this easy on me.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence -Mathias is not Dracula. Instead he becomes the future King of Hungary-
Castlevania: Legends -Japanese story over US version-
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse -Japanese story over US version-
Castlevania: The Adventure -Not adventure Rebirth-
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Castlevania Chronicles -I don't recognize the feminine pink-haired Simon as canon, but his original X68000 counterpart instead-
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest REDACTED -Definitely by far a good attempt to fix the issues-
Super Castlevania IV -I count this as a sequel to Simon's Quest due to the similarities with the Dracula tombstone. That, and Slogra and Gaibon make their first appearance in this game-
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon -In my headcanon Nathan graves is the son of Richter's and Anett's daughter whom married into the Graves family-
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness -The only element I don't consider canon is Cornell defeating Dracula-
Bram Stoker's Dracula -Since the game was based off the movie which in turn is based off the novel I just had to include it-
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
1999 -Yes, it's not a game, which is the sad part. But nevertheless it is just as important to my headcanon-
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness was left out as it adds nothing to the series that's worth remembering. Plus (for me at least) it has a whole other slew of issues that just don't work out in Castlevania ie Issac's outfit, St. Germain and his time police/detective aspect, Hector defeating Dracula, devil forge masters, Trevor being stabbed way too easily and then kissed    you get the idea. Left out DoS as it's just more of AoS without advancing the story in any meaningful way.

[Nagumo]

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence + manga
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness + manga
Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy
Castlevania Chronicles (Arrange Mode)
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night + promotional comics + radio drama
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Castlevania: Ricordanza of the God Abyss (novel)
~~Bonus~~
Castlevania Judgment
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

These are all IGA approved sources. I like this order the best because the story flows very nicely (aside from a couple of holes). 

I also like to consider these games to form a story arc:

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
[end]

[theplottwist]

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence + Manga (only the portions that do not contradict details established by the game, and Walter's backstory)
Castlevania III
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness + Manga
Castlevania: The Adventure
Castlevania: Belmont's Revenge
Castlevania / Chronicles / Super Castlevania IV - Any of these works just fine. The aesthetic differences are irrelevant to the story being told.
Castlevania II
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night + Promotional comics
Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection (Radio drama)
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Bram Stoker's Dracula - Only specific details from it, not the entire storyline
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
1999
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Castlevania: Ricordanza of the God Abyss (Novel)

And now the craziest of the bunch:

Castlevania Judgment - Happens in parallel to SotN.
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - Happens inside a book between Dawn of Sorrow and 2053.
Kid Dracula - Happens in the far future.

This is the main timeline I consider as my headcanon, and of course it follows IGA's setting almost biblically. However, there is catch for my "true" headcanon that is: Some of the removed games are "also canon." They are parallel timelines that come into existence depending on certain events happening or not happening in the main timeline. For instance: Circle of the Moon is what happens if Alucard slays Richter Belmont in SotN, Lords of Shadow is what happens if Gabriel is given for adoption by the Cronqvists, Order of Shadows is what happens if Soleiyu is successfully vampirized by Dracula etc.

Think Legend of Zelda's split timeline.

[VladCT]

By the way, what do you guys think about the Belmont Legacy comicbooks in terms of canonicity?

[X]

I've never read them but I would certainly love to. If you know a website that you can read them online then by all means, please direct me to it 

[Nagumo]

By the way, what do you guys think about the Belmont Legacy comicbooks in terms of canonicity?

Well, this is based on what I heard about it and a quick skimming of the first issue, but the credits do list IGA under "Special Thanks", so I take it that he had a hand in its creation. He supposedly was consulted by the author but I'm still looking for a direct source that confirms it. Also, the Bartley family revives Dracula in the comic and that's something mentioned on Japanese timelines. The only weird thing is that before the comic the whip was safeguarded by the Totoyan family which is never brought up in any of the games.

[The Puritan]

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - Happens inside a book between Dawn of Sorrow and 2053.

What happens in 2053?

[theplottwist]

What happens in 2053?

Another eclipse from the same cycle of the 1999 one and the 2035 one. Ricordanza establishes that the seal locking the castle away inside the eclipse is damaged/cracked, and dark power/chaos from it can make it into this world. So I surmise that at the next eclipse the castle is able to return, but since it got destroyed at the end of Aria, or the seal is only cracked instead of completely broken, it returns in a crippled form, or uses another medium that requires less power to do it. And this would be through the Grimoire.

Of course, given the solar cycle thing, it could happen anywhere between 2035 and infinity, but since the castle/chaos is desperately seeking a master, I think it'd try to do so as early as possible.

And lastly, it HAS to be after Dawn of Sorrow, because Soma is present in the book. To be there, his actions would've to be recorded by someone (as IGA stated, the book contains the history of Castlevania, and when the castle ressurrects inside its pages, the recorded characters become alive to stop it).

[coinilius]

I've been doing a play through of all the Castlevania games in timeline order and have included all the games, whether they're meant to be out of the canon or not.  Because I wanted to include as much as possible, I had my own head canon for certain games so that they could be sequels instead of remakes/reimaginings.

Castlevania Adventure Rebirth - I made up my own elaborate backstory for why it was a third Christopher Belmont game rather than a replacement for Castlevania Adventure.

Super Castlevania IV - well, this one was easy as it was sort of a sequel to Simon's Quest for years in English.

Haunted Castle - out of all the games that are basically remakes/retellings of Castlevania, this one actually has a unique plot point involving Simon's wife, so I imagined it as a fourth Simon game.

Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss - I played this as an interquel between Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night.  The plot is just different enough from Rondo that it can kind of work.

For some really out of the ordinary stuff:

I also included the Wai Wai world games, by assuming they all involved Simon Belmont III who I placed as Juste's father.  And I'm including the Kid Dracula games as well.

[X]

Haunted Castle - out of all the games that are basically remakes/retellings of Castlevania, this one actually has a unique plot point involving Simon's wife, so I imagined it as a fourth Simon game.

Derp! I forgot about this title *facepalm!* Yeah Simon's wife Serena was unique as she was only ever mentioned in the one game. I'd take her character and place it in Castlevania Chronicles.

I also should have mentioned Judgement along-side CoD and how I don't recognize it either. Ah well. It's mentioned now.

[NetSphereEngineer]

I was going to start a thread but this one talks about what I wanted to know so here we go:

I played some of the Castlevania games but it was a long time ago and I want to play again others I just played never caring about the order I play them.

Now I want to try to enjoy the series using the official timeline. I THINK that this one looks good:

http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania_Timeline

For the people who know more about the series story do you see any problems in that timeline?

[theplottwist]

I was going to start a thread but this one talks about what I wanted to know so here we go:

I played some of the Castlevania games but it was a long time ago and I want to play again others I just played never caring about the order I play them.

Now I want to try to enjoy the series using the official timeline. I THINK that this one looks good:

http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania_Timeline

For the people who know more about the series story do you see any problems in that timeline?

This one is even more complete than the last one published on Konami's official site. The issues with it are the numerous holes that IGA left, and not exactly contradictions. But you'll pretty much get the most of the experience of the timeline playing these games.

[NetSphereEngineer]

OK thanks man!

I searched a lot and this one seemed the best one and I just wanted a confirmation. This a little project of mine that's been on delay for years

I will play the games in the Main Timeline like it says in the WIKI I will also play the Alternate Continuity games but just for fun and in any order since I will always consider the Main Timeline as the the real story.

If I can I will try to read books, mangas and details about the story but only if I'm blessed enough since the good stuff always stays in japan

[coinilius]

Hey NetSphereEngineer - I am currently in the middle of doing pretty much the same thing as you are!  Except I am playing everything, both canon and non-canon in chronological order.  I'm currently up to Symphony of the Night, although I've had to backtrack a little as well and am playing Lament of Innocence at the same time.  I'm playing everything on real hardware (except for Order of Shadows) and didn't have a PS2 to play it and Curse of Darkness until now.  The only game I won't be able to play will be Harmony of Despair.

I've included as many comics as I can as well - I've read the Curse of Darkness manga and pre-order bonus comic, the Belmont Legacy comic and the Symphony of the Night prequel-manga- thing that was put out (fortunately those two mini-mangas are translated on-line).  And there is a translation of the radio drama and the post Dawn of Sorrow novel on the forums here.  Unfortunately the Lament of Innocence manga adaptation and the two 'choose your own adventure' style game books aren't available in any kind of English form (unless you want to google translate a transcript of The Devil Castle Dracula: The Battle of Old Castle, which I will probably end up doing because I'm tragic like that).