Topic: Haunted Castle Theory

[zangetsu468]

How long ago did you read it? We all remember things differently from our childhood, only to see it again and be baffled how different it is (happened to me with Goldeneye on the 64)

I have a many flaws like not being able to read Japanese. But my memory is not 1 of them.

All it says is "The count has waited 100 years for a rematch. He's ready. Are you?"

http://www.castlevaniacrypt.com/img/cv/manual/nes/3.jpg

What a crappy manual compared to the original

[Crying Freeman]

I have a many flaws like not being able to read Japanese. But my memory is not 1 of them.

All it says is "The count has waited 100 years for a rematch. He's ready. Are you?"

http://www.castlevaniacrypt.com/img/cv/manual/nes/3.jpg

What a crappy manual compared to the original

Oh lol, it does seem like a pretty shitty manual. Maybe for the GBA rerelease? (the link doesn't work)

[zangetsu468]

Oh lol, it does seem like a pretty shitty manual. Maybe for the GBA rerelease? (the link doesn't work)

http://www.castlevaniacrypt.com/cv/manual

Try this then click on the top link. Then pages 2-3 link.

[Crying Freeman]

There is it! You're right, no mention of Chris whatesoever. It's just some throwaway, barebones CV1 plot lol. Maybe a later release, and they cut down the story to save space in the manual?

[zangetsu468]

There is it! You're right, no mention of Chris whatesoever. It's just some throwaway, barebones CV1 plot lol. Maybe a later release, and they cut down the story to save space in the manual?

Honestly I thought the manual was so cool when I was a kid, I don't even know how I knew the protagonist's name (maybe I learned it in CVII's manual and assumed is was the same Hero). I actually think the Simon's Quest Tiger game's manual was copied, I specifically remember it having a similar layout with Dracula being worth 50,000 points or something similar.

[Crying Freeman]

Honestly I thought the manual was so cool when I was a kid, I don't even know how I knew the protagonist's name (maybe I learned it in CVII's manual and assumed is was the same Hero). I actually think the Simon's Quest Tiger game's manual was copied, I specifically remember it having a similar layout with Dracula being worth 50,000 points or something similar.

 Lol game manuals were the shit back then! Now we just get a slip of paper  And I remember wanting the Tiger game when I was younger, was so obsessed with CV 

[zangetsu468]

English manuals, god love' em

I place HC in the COTM continuum now as per my timeline below.

[Crying Freeman]

Making you own timelines is one of the most fun things to do! I even have a James Bond one as well as for CV.

[zangetsu468]

Making you own timelines is one of the most fun things to do! I even have a James Bond one as well as for CV.

James Bond with the help of Quincy Morris defeats Dracula :p

[Crying Freeman]

James Bond with the help of Quincy Morris defeats Dracula :p

Lol what a teamup

[spookyhappyfun]

Zangetsu, your timeline in your signature looks fascinating. Would you mind elaborating on it? I'd love to understand it more fully.

Thanks!

[coinilius]

Zangetsu, your timeline in your signature looks fascinating. Would you mind elaborating on it? I'd love to understand it more fully.

Thanks!

Straying from the topic but I would also like to see some elaboration on this as well - it is an interesting looking timeline!  One part I was interested in particularly - Isn't Order of Shadows generally assumed to be before the various versions of the original Castlevania, somewhere in the 17th century?

[zangetsu468]

I thought I read an IGA interview where he stated OOS was not set in the main timeline and it was a sidestory but it still included Belmonts? I don't know as I've never played it but see here nder Plot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania:_Order_of_Shadows
As for its placement it's in the 17th century so it could be before or just after SCIV Simon (in the context of my timeline) it doesn't matter I guess. I place it after because Desmond looks more similar to Reinhardt Schneider who comes after SCIV in this timeline.

Where to start... The main timeline is self explanatory:

LOI>CVIII>COD>TA/AR>BR>CVC>CVII>HOD>ROB>SOTN>OOE>BL>POR>>>AOS>DOS

Here, Legends was retconned for an all male lineage to carry the Belmont bloodline in name as well and lineage. This is taken from Iga's official timeline which was released with POR.
It should be noted that in an interview regarding CV Chronicles being ported to PS1 Iga mentioned this was the retelling of the original CV, not SCIV. SCIV is also not mentioned on Iga's official timeline.


The Parallel timeline

There is a reason I count multiple timelines, bringing me to my next point: CV Judgement.
Judgement spans across times pulling in different warriors. However, Cornell from LOD is featured as he was brought from 'the parallel universe'. In this universe LOD happens, which means CV64 happens. In CV 64/ LOD upon beating Death he calls Reinhardt Schneider "Scum of a Belmont" implying his being a descendant to Belmont clan, even if not by name.
Desmond more strongly resembles Reinhardt than the other Belmonts as previously stated, and CV64 takes place in 1852 I believe. At some point Desmond's indirect Descendants were passed the Vampire Killer which his whip definitely is, as the prologue states:

Reinhardt Schneider... Heir of the ancient Belmont clan of vampire hunters, his blood dooms him to oppose the might of Count Dracula. Wielding the holy whip of his ancestors, the young vampire killer begins his quest!!

Because SCIV is no longer in Iga's official timeline, but there is a Belmont lineage, I place the retconned CV Legends and SCIV into this timeline also. We know for certain there is a Belmont lineage, we know that this is a parallel universe to the main (Iga) timeline, this makes the most sense to me as an origin story (Legends) and the fact that there's a parallel Simon Belmont (SCIV).

I place CV Dracula X ("CV Vampire's Kiss" in Europe) at the end of this parallel timeline for 4 reasons:

1) It doesn't work/ fit in the main timeline, doesn't fit into SOTN (Maria was never a warrior in VK) nor is it canon according to Iga's official timeline
2) In the main timeline this event is known as "CV Rondo of Blood" (ROB)
3) I see this event as a parallel to ROB where Richter saves Maria and Annette
4) The Prologue in this game states that hundreds of years have passed since Simon defeated Dracula, which doesn't fit into the main timeline (as less than 200 years had passed).

Dracula X/ Vampire's Kiss Prologue is as follows:

"The country of Transylvania in the Middle Ages...

In the land which gave rise to countless legends of Dracula, a pitch-black evil has once again come...

Hundreds of years have passed since the time of Simon Belmont, the legendary hero said to have sealed away Count Dracula, and the people have grown used to peace, and corrupted it.

Now, once more, the wickedness in the hearts of some men (<-Chaos reference->) has resurrected the Dark Lord of evil, Count Dracula.

Count Dracula, now revived, plotted revenge against the descendant of the Belmont line that sealed him away, Richter Belmont.

To lure Richter to the Demon Castle, he lead his new servants in an attack on the town, abducting Richter’s lover, Annet, her younger sister, Maria, shutting them up in the Demon Castle.

To rescue Annet and Maria, and to seal away Count Dracula once again, Richter, mourning his fate, took up his ancestral holy whip and headed for the Demon Castle."

[Granted there are a couple of things wrong with this prologue, the Middle Ages were supposed to end in the 15th Century for starters i.e. 1400, but I digress and can only assume they were referring to the later period of the "Dark Ages"]

The game is placed hundreds of years after Simon's encounter with Dracula in SCIV. i suppose I could shift SCIV to earlier in the timeline if I were to put a year to it, but either way I see the 3 events involving Simon; (SCIV / CVC / HC) to parallel one another.
Why place Richter at the end of the timeline, especially when there was a Schneider (Belmont descendant) using the whip in the 1850's? Why not, the whip was passed to the Morris family in the main timeline, where the true Belmont lineage couldn't touch it for 200 years

(click to show/hide)

until Julius

. 

An important note to the chronological order of the parallel timeline and why it goes SCIV>OOS>LOD>64>VK is partly because of Malus in CV 64. After 64 in this timeline, Dracula is only able to resurrect again because of Cornell's wolf ability which gave Dracula free reign to resurrect via Malus. Malus' traits not only took on this new fom, but it showed in Dracula's 2nd form where appears human. It's the blue hair and slightly lighter eyes. In CV VK, Dracula appears similar with red eyes and blue hair. Malus' eyes were more purple but Dracula still carries strong traits of his like the blue hair. Perhaps in this timeline he took some of Malus' physical attributes which manifested in subsequent resurrections. His look and attire seem similar to Dracula form 2 from the 64 games.


With Haunted Castle (HC) I initially believed since it was made the year after CVII that it was meant to be a sequel to the "best ending" where Dracula's hand comes out of the grave. Initially because the first stage of HC is called "The Graveyard" and there seems to be Wallachian mountains in the background, like the Vrad (Vlad?) Graveyard from CVII. (which interestingly according to history should be the spot where Vlad impaled his own soldiers.. anywho) After consideration it's not part of the official timeline anyway, so I see it as one of 2 things:

- An alternate sequel to CVII as I mentioned above
- A parallel event/ occurrence to CV

I like the idea of 3 parallel Simon Belmont events in 3 different timelines, that's why it is where it is.

Seeing as HC is never mentioned again and is completely disconnected from all timelines anyway, I lump it with COTM in  that same timeline. This means that there was a Simon Belmont who has defeated Dracula in every timeline, which what you'd expect from parallel universes. In truth COTM wasn't meant to accompany any other games, but I don't see the harm in HC being in its same universe.

[Crying Freeman]

Amazing timeline, man! It really all makes sense. BTW, I'm surprised Iga even acknowledged OOS as everyone who played it calls it crap AND it was developed in the US by a team out of his control. And I remember DracX/VK mentioning it takes place a century after Simon in the intro, but it doesn't matter. I hate Judgement, but it does allow for these alternate universe timelines. Wish Judgement was 2D but that's for another discussion lol.

[zangetsu468]

And I remember DracX/VK mentioning it takes place a century after Simon in the intro, but it doesn't matter. I hate Judgement, but it does allow for these alternate universe timelines. Wish Judgement was 2D but that's for another discussion lol.

Hey Freeman, I'm sure the box of VK (which I used to own) may mention Simon Belmont and then says something about "the Count has risen after 100 years" under the subheading "Drac is back!"

But the prologue I've posted above is within the game itself (and possibly within the manual, unsure because I never owned that).
Therefore I've gone off what is stated within the game. The way the prologue has built the game up in whatever continuum it lies seems to the the final showdown between the Belmonts and Dracula. This may also mean that since no year is given to VK, it may chronologically in years happen at a later point than ROB if the 2 were compared side by side.

A couple of other things with the parallel timelines:
- If Dracula X Chronicles isn't counted (showcasing Dracula's 3rd final form) there is an incosistency with Dracula in VK's final form  and stage setting (pitfalls everywhere in the throneroom = lousy architecture ) compared to ROB/ SOTN's prologue where Richter fights Dracula.
- CVC retells CV1 again with the same final form Dracula, whereas SCIV's final form of Dracula is not consistent with this and in the context of the main timeline Dracula doesn't fit the profile of a centennial resurrection.
What I'm saying is that there seems to be less consistency in the final forms of Dracula in the alternate timeline I've made of Legends>>>VK, which I'm okay with because it's not the main timeline, less is known about that universe's workings and it's not the actual focal timeline which Iga put his work into crafting.

Also in the Japanese version of CV64, I'm certain Actrise, the Belnades descendant is supposed to be Sypha herself. I recall reading forums on this over a decade ago. Since Trevor and Sypha supposedly procreate, and since Juste is the direct descendant of the Belmont but also has Belnade's blood, one would think if Sypha's fate were to side with evil she may have never had those descendants to begin with, should this be the case. Hence, if it is, these entries happen in the alternate timeline regardless.