Topic: What marks a person as a Dark Lord Candidate?

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Getting away from Shaft's INTENT, would we agree that, sans a Dracula resurrection, the Castle would accept a corrupted Richter as Dark Lord? I mean, dude's own dialog pretty clearly states that Shaft's magic was just bringing Richter's own darkness to the surface. His fears of being discarded by history due to having already played his part, of never knowing another worthy foe to properly challenge his talents, etc. All that was in Richter from the beginning. All Shaft's magic did was enable him to act on those fears and insecurities. It's highly probable that Shaft wasn't directly controlling anything Richter did. All he had to do was use his magic to give Richter a little push and let the gravity of evil do the rest. Once Alucard destroyed the orb maintaining the spell, Richter's eyes were unclouded and he was able to make an informed, reasoned choice again.

Shaft's magic was simply taking advantage of something that was already there. So the question then becomes: would the Castle have truly accepted Richter as a true dark lord? I think if Shaft was actively controlling Richter's mind it wouldn't have since Richter wouldn't be making any sort of actual choices to embrace his own inner darkness and pursue a path of wickedness. Puppets don't become Lords, after all. The fact that it obeyed him at all suggests that Richter possessed (at the time) the proper qualities to become a true dark lord.

On a related note, wasn't more or less that exact thing the reason that the Belmonts were said to temporarily retire anyway? Would the Belmonts have been "stained" if Richter had just been a magical meatpuppet?

[zangetsu468]

Richter was technically only Lord of Castle 1 though.

Do we know definitively that being Lord of Castle 1 = Lord of Castle 2
Because if not...

Also the IGA timeline states that after Richter's battle with Dracula there's something along the lines of Shaft entering into him at his most vulnerable/ weakened state.

If some evil entity enters your body, I don't care if you're mother Theresa, you will be susceptible to acting on and performing tasks that are fuelled by evil intention.
I believe the reasons Richter was 'ashamed' in the events that follow SOTN wasn't purely because of his actions but also the fact that he was vulnerable enough to allow shaft's evil/energy/whatever to enter him in the first place. It would've made him, the hero, feel helpless and weak.

Also even though Alucard only needs to break the orb in the Richter fight (where the fuck was Maria btw? No help whatsoever) If that was the real Richter fighting Alucard he could've just fucking killed him easily. The guy killed a CR Dracula just a few years before and was still in his prime.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

If that was the real Richter fighting Alucard he could've just fucking killed him easily. The guy killed a CR Dracula just a few years before and was still in his prime.

But he totally can.

If you fight Richter as soon as you can physically access the Throne Room, he will WRECK ALUCARD. With ease.

The only way you'll stand a chance statwise is to grind and get better gear, and as long as you're doing that, you tend to explore. This is the game's way of suggesting you along to the best ending, as via exploring, you are more likely to encounter Maria and get the Holy Glasses, which enables the ability to even work for the best ending.

But if you just straight up hit Richter as soon as you physically can, your triumph only nets you the worst ending. And you have to work HARD for that triumph as Richter measurably outclasses you in almost every way that matters.

It's just by the time you have the Holy Glasses, Alucard is upgraded up the wazoo, lending the impression that Richter is weak. Richter is as strong as he ever was; Alucard has just gotten more powerful by comparison as Richter has stopped advancing in strength while Alucard has been increasing in strength, which closes the gap between the two.

[zangetsu468]

Levelling up isn't a canon set of events though.

Things like Alucard acquiring his abilities and even certain specific weapons or key items such as relic, holy glasses etc is.

There's no true indication of how levelled up one can get, if at all.

Of course if the game is longer and you get the better ending then presumably your warrior would be more skilled.

[TheTextGuy]

Levelling up isn't a canon set of events though.

Things like Alucard acquiring his abilities and even certain specific weapons or key items such as relic, holy glasses etc is.

There's no true indication of how levelled up one can get, if at all.

Of course if the game is longer and you get the better ending then presumably your warrior would be more skilled.

Which makes me wonder of an alternate universe where the heroes of the Metroidvania games completed their task with high level speedrun strats.

[zangetsu468]

For the games that offer them I accept the hardest mode and Level 1 HMC to be canon

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Levelling up isn't a canon set of events though.

Things like Alucard acquiring his abilities and even certain specific weapons or key items such as relic, holy glasses etc is.

There's no true indication of how levelled up one can get, if at all.

Of course if the game is longer and you get the better ending then presumably your warrior would be more skilled.

True, but leveling up is a gameplay mechanic that represents growing stronger, and the in-story version is likely very different to due to Gameplay and Story Segregation.

Therefore, I shall treat you to a little impromptu prose describing more or less exactly how things likely went down, reimagining leveling up, save points and other gameplay elements as their more mundane, in-universe counterparts. Enjoy.

Alucard knew now that he had been a fool. It had been absurd to think that he could have taken on the man who had defeated his father -- Alucard hadn't even come close himself to being as strong as Dracula. Crawling away from the battle, bleeding and half dead, he sought a place of refuge where he could rest. He needed to mend his wounds. His fairy, a true companion, loyal from the start, tugged at his cloak trying in vain to help her best friend and master to a place where healing could begin. Alucard knew she didn't have the physical strength to actually help him move faster, but he smiled a weak smile, appreciating the efforts she made for him.

He knew why Richter wasn't chasing him. Richter had said it himself. He wanted worthier opponents. Someone to test himself against. Alucard hadn't been it. Not by a long shot.

He fumed.

"What was I thinking?!" Alucard groaned through his teeth, pulling himself into one of the many tombs he'd found throughout the castle.

In truth, he knew exactly what he'd been thinking. He'd overestimated his abilities. He'd fought a Belmont before, so very long ago. He'd overcome every challenge so far, and he'd gotten cocky. What's more, he had wanted to finish this quickly, and that eagerness had blinded him to Richter's abilities. It was a fool's call, a rookie mistake that he'd thought he'd long outgrown the capacity for.

The Belmont was just as strong, maybe even more so, as on the day he'd struck down Dracula.

Alucard sighed as he clambered into the coffin. He would rest for now, lick his wounds. And once he was recovered, he would find that girl, Maria. She seemed to know something that she hadn't let on before, and it was more imperative than ever that she tell him exactly what it was she knew, that she assist him any way she could. But even that wouldn't be enough. There would be nothing she could say to Alucard that would close that gap between his skills and Richter's.

For that to happen, Alucard would need to push himself. He needed to be faster, stronger. The only way that was going to happen was going to be by pitting himself against the legions of the castle, by besting stronger opponents than the ones he'd already overcome. There had been some relics that had unlocked some of his latent powers as well. With luck, he would find more of them, and that might give him that last bit of extra edge that he needed to win.

He'd been overconfident this time, and had paid the price.

But, if Richter wanted a worthy opponent, then with God as his witness, Alucard was going to make sure he would be that worthy opponent.

No one else was rising up to do it. Maria had to be tough to survive this Castle by herself as she had been doing, but Alucard honestly couldn't envision her being of much help against Richter. The Belmont was like her big brother, after all. Alucard would never ask a lady to strike her brother, blood relation or not. He would have to face Richter again, and he would have to do so alone.

With that thought repeating in his head, Alucard sealed the coffin, and prepared to rest and recover. He would awaken in a few hours, refreshed and recuperated for the search for Maria.

Next time, he'd be ready.

And next time, the Belmont wouldn't see it coming.

[Lelygax]

Getting away from Shaft's INTENT, would we agree that, sans a Dracula resurrection, the Castle would accept a corrupted Richter as Dark Lord?

Nope, because a Dark Lord already exists and its named Dracula with a dark priest clearly desiring for his ressurection, while controlling Richter Belmont. What Richter says while being controlled? That he wants Dracula to be revived so the battle can last for eternity!

Even if he wasn't being controlled (what contradicts the game) it wouldn't be his true desire to be evil and at the moment that Dracula ressurects, it is the same that ressurecting the actual Dark Lord so there is no room to a new one. After 1999 anyone can become a Dark Lord because Dracula is dead and his reincarnation doesn't want to be the new Dark Lord.

Lets not forget that Castlevania isn't a simple building and seems to be kinda sentient, since it is loyal to Dracula unless he doesn't desire to rule it. In Portrait of Ruin if I understood it right, it was the castle that resurrected Dracula and not Brauner.

You can then ask "Why then in Symphony of the Night or Harmony of Dissonance it didn't happened and Dracula appeared instantly?"and I think that it is because someone was already doing something about it (Shaft) or interfering in some way (Maxim).

Also in SotN the normal castle can even be some crazy Shaft's magic and the true castle is the inverted one, who knows? XD

Levelling up isn't a canon set of events though.

Things like Alucard acquiring his abilities and even certain specific weapons or key items such as relic, holy glasses etc is.

There's no true indication of how levelled up one can get, if at all.

Of course if the game is longer and you get the better ending then presumably your warrior would be more skilled.

Yeah, I also think that leveling up isn't canon, key items and some relics are.

[zangetsu468]

Your prose was interesting but I doubt this is "more or less exactly" how things went down, Bloody Rayne.

Although SOTN is a canon entry it requires plenty of assumptions in terms of exactly which events are canon and which aren't.

In terms of Alucard facing Richter, it's more than likely that Maria just happened to walk in at the moment he shattered Shaft's Orb. Occam's razor prevails.
Canonically relics, skills and armour, weapons etc give Alucard different attributes and abilities, immunity and so forth.
The way the game is designed with leveling up has nothing do with Alucard accessing the throne room asap and getting obliterated by Richter. (There are people who have speedrun the game with Alucard alone and skipped as many things as a Richter/ Maria run). The saving grace here is the final conversation with Maria and acquiring the holy glasses. This event had to be canon in order for Alucard to free Richter from Shaft's influence. Therefore everything Alucard had to do prior to this must be canon (glitching also does not exclude canon events).

Other issues such as optional bosses imo depend on the situation, if that boss is Death for example (instances of written text) then yes, if not then perhaps it happened but it's not relevant. (the sort of thing that would be left out if made into a narrative).
Having said that, the ending does change dependent on castle exploration percentage, therefore, the argument can be made that defeating optional bosses in SOTN are canon.

The next issue is the SS version being the more complete version. Not such a big issue because these areas are optional, but it can't be determined whether or not they affect the canon. I would argue that more complete versions of games perhaps should be considered canon, much like Dracula X Chronicles has now been considered to have replaced ROB.

If we take DXC as canon then the argument can be put forth that DXC Dracula form 3 (the canon final form) is much stronger than SOTN Dracula. If Richter (and Maria, even) jointly defeated DXC Dracula (according to SOTN's intro/ final stage 'bloodlines'/ROB) then canonically he should easily be able to kill Alucard. Alucard was much weaker but in the canon set of events he only had to use the Holy Goggles and destroy Shaft's invisible Orb, which is not the same thing as defeating Richter.
This is why I believe that skills etc can be acquired but strengths are static. Leveling up is a way of keeping the player bound to certain zones within the game and to assist in traversing the areas presented. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Save points need not be justified because in SOTN's context they're self-explanatory, Alucard rejuvinates vitality when sleeping in coffins.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Lets not forget that Castlevania isn't a simple building and seems to be kinda sentient, since it is loyal to Dracula unless he doesn't desire to rule it. In Portrait of Ruin if I understood it right, it was the castle that resurrected Dracula and not Brauner.

Death does it. He even says so after he kills Brauner. The castle is oddly passive in all appearances, its only real ability seeming to be resurrecting along with Dracula and being some sort of location where evil spirits gather (very likely both traits cause each other in a metaphysical paradox).

Nope, because a Dark Lord already exists and its named Dracula

Who is dead and in no condition to affect ANYTHING at the time.

with a dark priest clearly desiring for his ressurection, while controlling Richter Belmont.

Shaft never says he's outright controlling Richter. He admits to influencing, which is easy enough and he probably could have done so without magic (never underestimate an evil psychiatrist) but he was never in 1 to 1 control of Richter's actions -- Shaft may be powerful and talented but in order to assume direct control of every little thing a man does requires that all your attention be paid to that man unless he just kind of stows Richter in a cupboard when he's not using him. If you aren't paying attention to your remote control car, you're not controlling it and it will crash.

Shaft would only do what was needed to ensure Richter stayed the course and remained under the effects of indoctrination, but would have left him a certain degree of autonomy so he could focus on other designs. Furthermore, Shaft is not Richter, and doesn't have Richter's skills. To assume direct 1 to 1 command of Richter's actions would compromise his usefulness as Shaft would never be able to control Richter as effectively in a fight as Richter could himself.

Again, you guys LOVE to see patterns where none need exist; Richter isn't being directly controlled because he doesn't have to be. Why directly control when simply influencing them will do just as well or better? Shaft isn't going to spring for the most resource and time-intensive method if he doesn't have to.

All of the rationale that Richter gives Alucard was Richter talking -- Shaft didn't make him say a word of it. Richter was in control, but that isn't to say he was in his right mind; he definitely wasn't. His decision making and reasoning has clearly been compromised, but Shaft is a tactical thinker and he doesn't have the benefit of his cult anymore. He's doing all of this more or less by himself. Ghost or not, in order to revive Dracula AND keep Richter under control, this demands he divide his attention, so giving Richter as much autonomy as possible makes perfect logical and tactical sense. Meatpuppeting the Belmont (dibs on that as a band name, btw) makes absolutely zero sense as it leaves Shaft no capacity to actually revive Dracula.

Ironically, the only instance in which turning Richter into a remotely controlled puppet benefits Shaft is if my theory is correct, and he decides late in his plan to simply make Richter the new Dark Lord.

I also think that leveling up isn't canon, key items and some relics are.

DID NOBODY READ MY POST ON THIS?!

Occam's razor prevails.

Occam's Razor: "Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily."

A metaphysical expression meant to discuss whether God could be proven by reason alone, and has little if anything to do on the concept of Gameplay and Story Segregation, which the save points would fall under.

Where in my prose statement do I say specifically that Alucard kills Richter? I didn't.

You assumed that because of how I posit Alucard's thought processes, but the simple fact is canonically he DOES find Maria, and she DOES assist him by giving him information and the Holy Glasses. He DOES save Richter, but there's no way he could have known any of that was going to happen before he finds her. I don't contradict ANY of that. The prose simply argues that Alucard faces Richter initially and gets whipped to zero health (pretty much everyone does this on their first playthrough as well, which tells me the devs meant this to happen). In gameplay, this is a Game Over Screen. In canon, Alucard would retreat, realizing he made a boo-boo and is epically outclassed. In gameplay, he saves his progress by stepping into a coffin (a room containing a coffin being a "tomb" irl). In canon, he'd find such a (empty and devoid of enemies) tomb and stay there while he heals, which is what I portray.

The Razor doesn't shave off jack because there's not really anything to shave off in my statement; all I have explained is the most probable manner in which gameplay and story are desegregated.

Is my statement forever entrenched in canon? Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it. But canon would resemble it strongly. Alucard doesn't level up, but he does become more skilled. He does become stronger by exercising, and pitched combat against tough foes is one hell of an exercise like no other on Earth. He does gather more relics on his way to meet Maria, and these do expand his abilities.

You argued earlier about Richter's strength and skill trumping Alucard's yet somehow Alucard prevailed.

I illustrated the means by which that statement is true.

We are not actually arguing.

In any case, Richter being influenced, not possessed (for reasons I have already clearly stated enough times I have lost count) would mean that he'd be just as capable of doing horrific things to become a Dark Lord, and be considered culpable. Furthermore, once Shaft's orb is destroyed, and that negative reinforcement stopped, Richter would be aware of that. He'd realize what he was about to do (actually, he did realize it. Pretty much immediately. Hence his "OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE") and that shame would follow him to the grave. He wouldn't feel that guilty if he'd been possessed because he wouldn't have been in control of his actions. He'd feel a lot of emotions, but shame wouldn't really be one of them. Rage, definitely. Fear of it happening again? Absolutely. Resolve to prevent it from happening again? Certifiably. Shame? Given what we know of Richter's untampered psyche, more than likely not.

But these are things he chose. He had agency in these decisions. He wasn't entirely sane, but temporary insanity is a real thing and it's a bitch to deal with the aftermath of, because however compromised you were when you made the choices you did, you still made those choices. No one forced you to make them.

The shame and the guilt of that would eat away at Richter, and easily provoke a "what have I done" the moment he regained his lucidity.

Rather like Dracula would also do at the end of the game.

But you've all read my topic on that as well.

[zangetsu468]

Again, you guys LOVE to see patterns where none need exist; Richter isn't being directly controlled because he doesn't have to be. Why directly control when simply influencing them will do just as well or better? Shaft isn't going to spring for the most resource and time-intensive method if he doesn't have to.

http://nichegamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/timeline-side2.jpg

He didn't. The official timeline stated that Shaft's curse seeped into Richter's heart, left defenseless from his battle with Dracula.

Webster's full definition of 'curse' (in this context):
a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one

More information on curses found here: http://www.occultopedia.com/c/curse.htm

Specifically, a curse is placed so that some form of misfortune will come upon said targeted individual(s). It goes onto explain that curses were often used as explanations for misfortunes relating to/ of specific people/ locations.

That's the entire point of Shaft's curse to begin with. It's using/ invoking his supernatural power to target Richter in the sense of manifesting misfortune. How? By subjecting him to make all of the decisions to be the Lord of Castle 1 and try to resurrect Dracula. (making the battle last for eternity) 
I think I know what you're trying to say with the fact Richter was consciously making his decisions etc, but honestly it doesn't matter because he was cursed, the same way Soleiyu was "brainwashed" by Dracula and fought his father. Of course he was "awake" in the physical sense but the behaviour speaks for itself. Except that in this case Shaft's curse seeped into his heart so that he could basically control Richter rather than 1 simple "brainwash" which has failed before. 

If I'm wrong then why when Alucard smashed the orb, does Shaft cry out in anguish and then state that they're too late?
There are also a bunch of similar looking orbs in the last battle with Shaft. One was hovering above Richter which denotes shafts power over him, as soon as the orb went Richter reverts to normal again.

Castlevania has never been really deep with story, the curse is a plot point to involve a Belmont character in the game making the protagonist the antagonist and adding reasoning behind Alucard being the protagonist with the canon absence of a Belmont hero.

You argued earlier about Richter's strength and skill trumping Alucard's yet somehow Alucard prevailed.

He prevailed because he didn't need to defeat Richter, he only needed to shatter the orb.
How hard is it to shatter a discoball vs picking a fight with Tyson (in his prime) and winning? I'd say not very.

We are not actually arguing.

I know, I also didn't take it that way.

[Lelygax]

Death does it. He even says so after he kills Brauner. The castle is oddly passive in all appearances, its only real ability seeming to be resurrecting along with Dracula and being some sort of location where evil spirits gather (very likely both traits cause each other in a metaphysical paradox).

At 3:00. It is totally ambiguous since he says that the throne room is needed, but its not mentioned anywhere that Death revived Dracula and instead they mention that Death wants he being able to revived (like all of his followers and servants)

Who is dead and in no condition to affect ANYTHING at the time.

He couldn't do anything while dead, sure, but his actions while alive already did a lot. He returns every 100 years we wanting or not, naturally or by someone hands AND can be ressurected even earlier if someone interferes with his full power cycle. So yeah, indirectly someone would oppose this (Death being no. 1 for that).

Shaft never says he's outright controlling Richter. He admits to influencing, which is easy enough and he probably could have done so without magic (never underestimate an evil psychiatrist) but he was never in 1 to 1 control of Richter's actions -- Shaft may be powerful and talented but in order to assume direct control of every little thing a man does requires that all your attention be paid to that man unless he just kind of stows Richter in a cupboard when he's not using him. If you aren't paying attention to your remote control car, you're not controlling it and it will crash.

Shaft would only do what was needed to ensure Richter stayed the course and remained under the effects of indoctrination, but would have left him a certain degree of autonomy so he could focus on other designs. Furthermore, Shaft is not Richter, and doesn't have Richter's skills. To assume direct 1 to 1 command of Richter's actions would compromise his usefulness as Shaft would never be able to control Richter as effectively in a fight as Richter could himself.

Again, you guys LOVE to see patterns where none need exist; Richter isn't being directly controlled because he doesn't have to be. Why directly control when simply influencing them will do just as well or better? Shaft isn't going to spring for the most resource and time-intensive method if he doesn't have to.

All of the rationale that Richter gives Alucard was Richter talking -- Shaft didn't make him say a word of it. Richter was in control, but that isn't to say he was in his right mind; he definitely wasn't. His decision making and reasoning has clearly been compromised, but Shaft is a tactical thinker and he doesn't have the benefit of his cult anymore. He's doing all of this more or less by himself. Ghost or not, in order to revive Dracula AND keep Richter under control, this demands he divide his attention, so giving Richter as much autonomy as possible makes perfect logical and tactical sense. Meatpuppeting the Belmont (dibs on that as a band name, btw) makes absolutely zero sense as it leaves Shaft no capacity to actually revive Dracula.

I see the problem now, when I say controlling I doesn't mean Shaft commanding him to walk or use the toilet (lol). He was controlling him to be "bad" and protect this castle, while thinking that its totally normal and he wasn't even being controlled. Take your time to read my post and you will notice that I've never said anything about direct control or 1:1, I've said that he was being controlled (and if you want, he COULD be direct controlled by Shaft since he doesnt even had a body anymore or anything to do, but I don't think it is what happened, also Death could prepare things for Dracula ressurection since they even already had all body parts) and thats all, meaning that he isn't suitable as a Dark Lord since he wouldn't do these things if not by Shaft's control.

Ironically, the only instance in which turning Richter into a remotely controlled puppet benefits Shaft is if my theory is correct, and he decides late in his plan to simply make Richter the new Dark Lord.

I don't see how this would be the only instance for this since it would deviate even more from being a Dark Lord. He would be even less prone to acting as himself and making his own decisions like you said, he wouldn't be truly evil.

Now I'm trying to imagine a Dark Lord that can't do anything because his holy whip and weapons are... holy? And being all "darky" makes you weak to holy things. You would be removing almost all of strong Belmont traits to make him in a barebone guy with weaker weapons. 

DID NOBODY READ MY POST ON THIS?!

I did and that is the problem, you wrote some fanfiction/prose and expect us to argue while treating it as evidence. It not bad writing, but still isn't in the game also. I'm misunderstanding it and you only want a opinion if I like your story? I'm telling you what I see that would fit in the game while using things shown in all games that I can remember at the moment, not taking it as an adaptation of SotN story to fill the gaps in narration.

The shame and the guilt of that would eat away at Richter, and easily provoke a "what have I done" the moment he regained his lucidity.

Rather like Dracula would also do at the end of the game.

But you've all read my topic on that as well.

It is different to compare someone that did all of these kinds because he wanted (Dracula) with someone that clearly didn't (Richter).

Sorry if it sounds like I'm being a little blunt or we have some kind of misunderstanding here.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

I work with magic every day irl. I know what a curse is, and why it's a thing that shouldn't ever be done. These things seep both ways, and Shaft never figured this out before he was oblivionated.

As for holy relics in the hands of a dark lord, anything holy can be corrupted, especially if, like the Vampire Killer, they've been tied to the darkness in some way since day one.

Richter's stuff would have ceased to be holy, but it would lose none of its potency. Hell, the corruption and subversion of holy stuff is practically a hobby for every Christian demon out there.

Just saying.

As for my prose, I wasn't asking anyone to take that stream of events as canon. However, agree that a canon event, disregarding strict gameplay and instead boiling the gameplay down to a purely story narrative, it would have resembled that a hell of a lot more than "Alucard reached level 60".

He's not leveling up. He's bludgeoning Mermen, Skeletons, Axe Armors, and whatever else to death and seeking stronger opponents to hone his skills. That's what real life leveling is: practice and the constant pushing one's personal boundaries. The way everyone is wording things, it sounds as if you 're completely denying that Alucard is even capable of growing in strength conventionally in the way that literally anything that has ever had muscles has been able to do. Of course Alucard doesn't magically find himself with higher strength or endurance after a sequential kill, or respawn back in time back at the last coffin he took a nap in. That would be silly, and we can all agree that it's merely an anti-frustration gameplay measure. But he probably took a nap in a coffin while he rested (unless he found a comfy looking bed minus the demons, but that's Juste's deal really), and it would be in a room uninhabited by enemies. His muscle mass at the end of the game would be markedly higher than it was at the beginning. That much should be obvious. He may be half-vampire, but he's not a corpse. So, in game, Alucard gets sent to a game over screen when he runs out of HP (aka: his body has reached its limit). In-universe reality: Alucard retreats and lives to fight another day. The sequencing in my prose was never meant to be the point: the point is to portray a "reality ensues" bit whereby we see events as Alucard does, not a gamer.

It's not evidence.

It's a reminder of the narrative we're working within.

Also, a mod totally needs to split this topic something FIERCE because we stopped talking about the actual topic PAGES ago and I would really love this thread back on track.

[zangetsu468]

This is where I don't agree, in Alucard's reality there is no "game over" because he doesn't falter, get defeated or die unless it's part of the game's narrative. Assuming in a narrative sense that someone loses and retreats is irrational.(especially in SOTN with the Game Over screen clearly showing the bones of what is thought to be Alucard's demonic form). It's the reason why in FFVII you had Phoenix Downs, but why in FFVII Advent Children there were no Phoenix Downs used; nobody died (or got "game over"). It doesn't work in a narrative sense unless you're OOT Link entering the Hero's Downfall Timeline (which is an extrely isolated scenario that most would agree Nintendo shoehorned to make Zelda's universe seem more cohesive.)

I'm sorry if I sound negative because it's not intended this way but I must agree with Lely about his opinions and sentiments re: the prose. Fan fiction is often lovely but it's not well placed here.

I also disagree that he's fighting mermen and lesser demons to home his skill for the following reasons:
- Dude wakes up after 300 years of sleep looking fresh as fuck
- Runs through the forest, outruns birds on his way
- Storms into the castle and beats the bridge
- Gives Death the middle finger (abridged version)
Suffice to say if it were real life the mermen may just recoil in fear after the first hundred are cut down.

Back on track to the Dark Lord quota, I don't see any reason Richter couldn't have been the sacrifice. Yes he's holy and wields the VK, but it doesn't mean he can't use his holy weapon and abilities for evil. Dracula gaining dominance over the Belmonts also ends the bloodline and means that there's no direct heir to the VK.

[Lelygax]

I agree with you at the coffin part, he indeed took a nap at least one time, since he fought Succubus. I disagree about the "insert training scene here" because he didn't lost any battle in this game and didn't had time to train since it seems that the game happens in less than 24 hours. I understand and isn't ignoring the fact that anyone would get more experienced at doing something while doing it and all but something urgent was happening at the time.

I don't see the need to split this topic since all of my replies were about a Dark Lord and why I think that someone couldn't be one, but if you want you can create a new thread for these other topics so we can speak more freely

I'm with you, lets put this thread on rails again and get back on track.