Story FAQ list for the multiple Castlevania games.

by

ReyVGM from the http://www.vgmuseum.com

Story descriptions written by Mr.P from the Castlevania Realm

http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp

Version 0.7

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/_/_/_/_/ Enter the Nightmare _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Most descriptions, if not all, are taken from Mr.P's excellent Castlevania
website found here:

http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/

Questions at
** reyvgm at hotmail dot com **
Castlevania as subject please.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/_/_/_/_/ The Menu _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

1095 [ Castlevania: Lament of Innocence ]

1450 [ Castlevania Legends ]
1476 [ Castlevania III Dracula's Curse ]
1479 [ Castlevania: Curse of Darkness ]
1576 [ Castlevania The Adventure ]
1591 [ Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge ]
1666 [ Castlevania Resurrection ] *Cancelled*
1691 [ Castlevania ]
1693 [ Castlevania II Simon's Quest ]
1748 [ Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance ]
1792 [ Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo ]
1797 [ Castlevania: Symphony of The Night ]
1830 [ Castlevania: Circle of The Moon ]
1844 [ Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness ]
1852 [ Castlevania ]
1917 [ Castlevania: Bloodlines ]
2035 [ Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow ]
2036 [ Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow ]

_/_/_/_/_/ Dracula's Minions _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Not all Castlevania games are offical parts of the story, for example,
remember that Vampire Killer [MSX], Castlevania [NES], Haunted Castle [ARCADE],
Super Castlevania IV [SNES], Castlevania [PC], Akumajou Dracula [SHARP X68000],
Castlevania [C64], Castlevania [AMIGA] and Castlevania Chronicles [PS] all
share the 'same' storyline, they all fall into the same 1691 date, even if the
games are different.
The official 1691 storyline used by Konami is from the Castlevania [NES] game.

Same goes with Castlevania Dracula X [SNES] and Akumajo Dracula X [PCE],
they both share the same 1792 date, even if the games are different.
The official 1792 storyline used by Konami is from the Akumajo Dracula X [PCE]
game.

_/_/_/_/_/ A Castlevania Story _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1095
Offering: Castlevania: Lament of Innocence [ Playstation 2 ]
Supporting Characters: Sara Trantoul, Mathias Cronqvist, Rinaldo Gandolfi
Main Hero/Heroine: Leon Belmont, Joachim, Pumpkin
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

It was the 11th century, a time of knights and knighthood. As the system
decayed, monarchies began to weaken as local feudal lords grew in power.
The knights became their sworn protectors, the defenders of the land and those
who were brave enough to give their lives for their lords. However, there
remained a lack of any real order; as the chaos spread, rival families
continued to contend for control, in bloody fashion, at the expense of the
knights who wished only to protect them.
It was one thing to defend their masters' land--it was quite another to battle
against rival families' independent armies who were looking for nothing more
than political gain.
The disorder would ultimately call for change: The increasing power of the
Catholic Church soon brought forth the Gregorian Reforms of the 11th Century;
it was during this period of religious constitution that the knights were
elevated to the role of "protectors of the peace and the Church."
These knights valued courage and honor, and they proudly fought against
heretics and heathens in the name of God. Some knights formed brotherhoods,
sects that would fight together with a sacred trust bonding them. In this age,
one such company of knights was said to be invincible; it was these two men,
Leon Belmont and Mathias Cronqvist, who would unwittingly bring about a new
order.

Leon Belmont was a courageous young man who feared nothing and whose combat
abilities were second to none. Mathias Cronqvist was a genius tactician whose
education made him a standout in a largely illiterate society.
Together, these two men, bound by an old friendship based completely on trust,
had never suffered a loss on the field of battle. One day, however, Mathias
suffered a loss of another kind: Upon returning from yet another victorious
campaign, he was greeted with the news that his wife, Elisabetha, had died
suddenly.
Mathias became stricken with grief, and over the course of one year, his
condition worsened to the point where he became bedridden. In Mathias'
absence, it was up to Leon to represent the company on his own; Leon's
efforts proudly kept their company undefeated.
But things certainly did not become any easier for them: The reforms of the
Catholic Church were a continuing theme throughout Europe, and its burgeoning
focus on the Christian Crusades required an increased effort from the knights.
Many fell in battle as the territorial disputes became more and more petty.
Soon after, the next threat arose. Without warning, a mysterious army of
monsters suddenly appeared in Leon's domain. Because the Church had not
authorized any battles that were not against its political enemies, Leon was
helpless to prevent their sudden rising.
When Leon asked permission to sortie--to begin a military-led assault against
these terrifying besiegers--the Church had no intention of granting his wish.
One night, Mathias struggled out of bed to relay a message to Leon: He knew
for sure that the appearance of the monsters was somehow tied to a vampire who
resided in a castle within the forest they called "Eternal Knight." The more
difficult part for Mathias was informing his friend that Sara Trantoul, his
betrothed, had been kidnapped and brought to that castle. With no other
choice, his pledge to the Church binding him, Leon renounced his
title as a lord and baron so that he could attempt to rescue his beloved
without committing treason. He would now have to hurry, braving the forest,
to arrive at the site of the uninviting castle.

As he neared the outlying areas of the castle, he was overcome by an odd

sensation.
He curiously surveyed his surroundings and was taken by the voice of an old
man: "Ah, he must really like you. You won't be able leave here now."
That old man was Rinaldo Gandolfi, an alchemist who lived in this forest ruled
by vampires.
Rinaldo was surprised to learn that this was the Belmont he had heard about;
even though he considered the youth's efforts in coming to this land unarmed
to be foolhardy, he bowed with respect. The earnest Leon told Rinaldo his tale
and insisted that they were now equals, both in their rank amongst men and in
their plight.
Rinaldo knew that it was his job to help this troubled soul, so he led Leon to
the safety of his cottage.
It was here that Rinaldo supplied him with much information: This particular
forest was shrouded in eternal darkness because its vampire master, Walter
Bernhard, was in possession of something that afforded him this type of power.
It seemed that eternal life frequently became monotonous, and Walter would
entertain himself by goading vampire hunters into his inescapable forest for
an inevitable duel.

The fact remained that none could ever come close to defeating him. Walter
would initiate the game by taking something valuable away from the hunters--in
this case, Leon's beloved, Sara. Furthermore, Walter permitted Rinaldo to live
here because he approved of his helping the hunters by selling them necessary
goods--this made the game more fun.
But how would Leon go about tackling such a foe? There were no easy answers,
but Rinaldo assisted by entrusting Leon with the Whip of Alchemy, an artifact,
he confided, that was more powerful than any slain hunter's discarded sword
that he would find. As one of the handful of people with this knowledge, he
explained to Leon the principles behind its making in regard to the secret
arts, of which Mathias, who was already an acquaintance of Rinaldo, had taught
him--the history of these arts had been handed down orally in Mathias' family.
Finally, Rinaldo used what power he had to channel energy into Leon's
gauntlet, which would allow him to collect magic power by defending against
and absorbing the monsters' attacks.
Leon was now ready to retrieve his betrothed, but Rinaldo had one final
warning: To gain access to the upper half of the castle, where Walter awaited,
Leon would have to defeat five of the castle's supreme guards to break its
seal.

Leon entered the castle and, suppressing his fear, used its portal room to
transport to its five separate areas where the guardians ruled. A Golem,
Medusa, the Succubus, an Undead Parasite--they all fell, one by one, to the
determined warrior.
It was after the defeat of the vampire guardian Joachim Armster that Leon
learned that Walter was in possession of the "ebony stone," which was the
power source encompassing the forest in eternal darkness. During his repeated
visits to the cottage during this time, Leon learned from Rinaldo about the
ebony stone and the three others that, when combined, would allow for
alchemy's goal--eternal youth to he who was their possessor.
To the vampires, only two in particular were of value: The ebony stone, which
Walter had, and the crimson stone, an ultimate power source that had been
since lost.
Leon also learned that Rinaldo's daughter was one of the unfortunate victims
of Walter's game-playing. Thus, his mission became an extension of his new
ally's, a quest to free more than just Sara.

The seal was broken, and Leon entered onto the castle's second level, the
Pagoda of the Misty Moon. Walter appeared to him with Sara in his arms. Leon
demanded that he release Sara, and Walter willingly complied, for she was no
longer of need to him.
The infuriated Leon leapt into the air and unleashed a might whip slash, but
it had no effect on the vampire, who laughed it off and belittled him; Walter
challenged Leon to venture unto the castle's highest point, where they would
duel under the light of foreboding moon. For now, Leon's concern was Sara's
health, so he brought her out of the castle and to the outside of Rinaldo's
cottage.
Sara lay unconscious, and Leon was becoming desperate. Rinaldo came out and,
as the voice or reason, demanded that Leon get a grip on his emotions and wait
inside as he look over Sara.
Rinaldo came inside to provide momentary relief for the pacing and anxious
Leon--Sara was alive, having survived her earlier encounter, and was resting
in the next room.
But Rinaldo had other, graver, news: Upon investigation, the teethmarks he
found on her neck confirmed that she was indeed vampirized by Walter, and her
condition could only be cured if Leon were to destroy Walter immediately.
Unfortunately, Leon had not the means for defeating the all-too-powerful
vampire.
Rinaldo, though, had the solution, however crazed it seemed: Sara had inside
of her a part of Walter, an evil sample that could be harnessed; the Whip of
Alchemy's potential could be fully realized if Leon were to kill Sara by
combining his hatred and the power of the whip, collecting her now-conflicting
energies into a package of destruction that could be used against Walter.

Sara, who had been listening through the door, realized the inescapability of
her predicament. Because she knew that she would soon become a vampire,
trapped within an eternal nightmare, she volunteered her life- force for what
Rinaldo had proposed.
If it would mean that others would live on, she would gladly accept becoming
one with the whip. The overwhelmed Leon was not convinced; he was not prepared
to let go, to just let her die and then be alone in this world. When the
emotions built to a boil, spurned by Rinaldo's pleas, Leon knew that there was
no other choice--he would have to accept his fate and strike down the woman he
loved. And in one sorrow-filled swing of the whip, the act was complete.
And behold: The Vampire Killer whip was born.

Emotionally exhausted, Leon swore that he would garner revenge on Sara's

behalf.
He raced back into the castle and fought through its last line of defense en
route to the castle keep. One final staircase led him to the throne room where
his target lay waiting. Leon burst through the doors with words of impending
doom for the vampire. The overly confident Walter was none-too-impressed with
the Belmont; in fact, he saw his own heinous actions more as having given Leon
a gift, a whip of unspeakable power.
What did impress Walter was when he felt its power, one that not even his
precious ebony stone could protect him against. It was only a matter of time
before the determined Leon finished the job. Though defeated, Walter bragged
about an inevitable return; this was only a temporary defeat, he thought. But
Walter wasn't prepared for what would haappen next: An unimaginable pain that
saw his life-force extracted by Death, who Walter believed to be his ally.
The Reaper instead offered his life-force to the one who had recovered the
crimson stone, the latest arrival to the throne room.

Mathias appeared before Leon, and he was very pleased. Walter's was indeed the
strong vampire spirit that he had coveted. "Why?!" the shocked Leon cried.
Mathias explained that Elisabetha's death had hit him harder than anyone had
realized, so much so that he blamed God, whose name in which he had always
fought, for her death and would curse Him forever by gaining eternal life. And
he used Leon, Sara, Rinaldo and Walter to do it. "For if limited life is God's
decree, then I shall defy it!" Mathias believed that Elisabetha would have
wanted it this way. Leon argued that the Mathias he knew would never marry
such a woman. Mathias expected Leon to understand his plight, for he, too, had
unfairly lost someone he loved; maybe, he thought, his friend would join him
in eternal life to also express a pained hatred. Leon contested that, yes,
he struck Walter down with hatred, but he did it with the intention that
others might live, which is what Sara wanted; he was sure that Elisabetha
would have wanted the same.
This is not what Mathias wanted to hear, unfortunately, so he would have to
leave his friend behind. "Death--he's all yours," he ordered, before assuming
bat form and flying off into the night.

Death transported both he and Leon to his own chaotic realm, where the two
would see a final battle. Death, too, was overly confident, but Leon knew
better--the Vampire Killer whip had the power to destroy vampires and all
related to them, including a divine being such as Death. "Nooooooooooooo!"
Death screamed as defeat came calling.
The departing Reaper, like Walter before him, also bragged of a return, but
Leon had a message for him to deliver to Mathias in the meantime:
"You have become a cursed being, and I will never forgive you. This whip and
my kinsmen will destroy you someday. The Belmont Clan will hunt the night!"
Death's violent banishment caused the castle to shake, and it began to crumble
piece by piece.
Leon hurried out, each step narrowly avoiding the falling debris. As he
escaped the ruins of the castle, sunlight finally shined upon the forest. "So,
he did it," Rinaldo said from his cottage as a ray of sunlight beam through
his window. Rinaldo's burden had finally ended thanks to the Belmont's
bravery. Leon returned to his domain, where he would begin to put the
shattered fragments back together.
And so the Belmont Clan's struggle against evil began.

After leaving Leon behind in the castle keep, Mathias escaped to foreign land,
where he continued to curse God. Eventually, he named himself Lord of the
Vampires and King of the Night. It would be many years before the Belmonts'
next battle with either Mathias or any potential namesakes.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1450
Offering: Castlevania Legends [ Game Boy ]
Supporting Characters: Alucard
Main Hero/Heroine: Sonia Belmont
Notes: Please note that self-crowned Castlevania king Igarashi has decided
to ommit this game from the Castlevania history, he says that no
woman can be a Belmont hero.
--------------------------------------------------------

Sometime after her seventeenth birthday, Sonia formed a bond with Alucard,
Who had recently been investigating his father's affairs. Sonia, who was
gifted with special magical powers by birth, was trained to be a warrior by
her uncle. As Alucard grew to love Sonia, he came to recognize her inner
strength and helped to complete her training; with a sense of her power, he
revealed to her his plan: He was going to end his father's dark reign by
confronting him in his castle and dethroning him once and for all. Sonia
interjected that she, too, had planned to confront the Count with the same
intent. Alucard, shocked by her decision, insisted that she not get mixed up
in the crazy war that was about to be waged. Dracula's assaults on all of
Europe had gone on for years before, he explained to her, and the Dark Lord
was not about to let the threat of a human woman stop him. This Alucard knew
all too well. While Sonia presented to him an appearance of subservience, she
knew in her heart that she would use her unique powers to fight against
Dracula's undead army and eventually accost the Count in the heart of his
castle.

Not soon after Alucard left for the castle, Sonia began her own journey. As
she cut through one boss creature after another, she extracted and absorbed
their life-forces using her inborn soul power, which allowed her to harness
their very essences as magical attacks. Along the way, she also reclaimed five
sacred sub-weapons--an axe, a dagger, holy water, a boomerang and a stopwatch-
-that were left behind by her Belmont ancestors. These, she knew, would one
day become part of the family's main power source. Eventually, Sonia stormed
into the castle, mowed down all opposition, and soon enough found herself high
up in the castle's keep. It's here where she caught up with Alucard, who was
having little to no luck in locating his father. The surprised Alucard, who
never thought she would actually insert herself into his war, desperately
tried to convince her to turn away and head home. When she refused, he had no
choice but to test her in combat, to see if his instincts were truly correct.
Upon feeling the power of the Vampire Killer whip, he came away very impressed
by her skills, and therein, subsequently, he knew for sure that it was her
destiny to vanquish from this world the enigmatic Dracula. Alucard would help
in this effort the only way he knew--by submerging his powers and placing
himself into a state of rest, thus doing his part to remove a cursed bloodline
from the Earth. In parting, however, he did promise to return, one day, should
his father ever rise again. Though her feelings for Alucard were strong, and
the thought of losing him resulted in a state of disillusion, Sonia dredged on
through into the depths of the castle, where Dracula was hiding.

At last, she located the Count on his secret throne in a ceremonial room.
After a long, hard battle, Sonia emerged victorious. Though defeated, Dracula
swore that he would one day return, for as long as those who were evil
existed, they would call upon his name. Sonia scoffed at his defiance and
proclaimed that there would always be someone ready and willing to take up the
fight against evil, even if she, herself, were the one required to accept the
task. He words were true: Soon Sonia would give birth to a new baby boy
(perhaps in part Alucard's), a future warrior who would surely continue to
 wage war on the vampire king and his legion of followers. This hero, whose
bloodline would be unlike any other, would grow to be more powerful than any
human and surely supreme among vampire hunters. All future Belmonts would come
to wield this very same power, whether or not it be their fate to face the
trials.

What seemed supernatural to the habitants of Warakiya was to the Belmonts only
natural. For years, mortals had not the sufficient means nor the will to purge
from this planet the purest of evil, but now they had bold representatives who
could stand up in their place. The Belmonts would indeed showcase the will,
the power and the weaponry to get the job done.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1476
Offering: Castlevania III Dracula's Curse [ Nes ]
Supporting Characters: Poltergeist King [ Instruction Booklet Mention ]
Main Heroes/Heroines: Trevor C. Belmont, Sypha Belnades, Grant Danasty, Alucard
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

After Sonia's spectacular display in ousting Dracula from his position of

power, matters took an unfortunate turn for the worst. Instead of coming to
hail the Belmont family as heroic, the people of Warakiya instead began to
fear the Belmonts--they became not only suspicious of the family's many
abilities but fearful of what could happen if those abilities were used for
wrongful means. Forming a coalition, they approached the Belmont family in its
home and strongly suggested that it leave the town and never return. The
family, though disappointed, willingly complied and ushered itself into
isolation.

Meanwhile: Fifteen years after suffering his first defeat, rumors of Dracula's
return spread across the countryside. The rumors looked to be all the more
true when all types of undead creatures and savage demons started scouring
through Warakiya and its surrounding towns during the nighttime hours. Things
got all the more violent when the monsters began setting fires, east and west,
leaving carnage all throughout the landscape of Transylvania. With their town
being destroyed little by little, the Warakiyan natives fled for their lives,
helpless to stop the monsters' march. Gauging the chaos from a distance,
Trevor knew what he had to do: It was time for him to take command of the
Vampire Killer whip and the five mystic sub-weapons, to charge full force to
the castle, and to confront the Prince of Darkness like his mother did years
earlier. Though, because Dracula's army was so huge and the odds were thus so
great, Trevor was not opposed to accepting help from those with a certain
know-how. Along the path to the ancient castle, he found help in the form of
three allies, those whom would offer assistance in the form of unique power
and special abilities.

First he met Grant Danasty, the quick and agile pirate whose family was killed
by Dracula; Grant was transformed into a vile beast by Dracula's dark magic
and was forced to guard the clock tower outside of Warakiya. It was Trevor's
whip that undid the transformation and returned to Grant his sanity. In a
graveyard, he met Sypha Belnades, a woman gifted with great magical power;
having had a bad life, Sypha threw it all away in favor of becoming a vampire
hunter. She was ambushed by a Cyclops and magically embedded within stone.
After being freed from her inanimate state by the Cyclops' destruction, she
joined Trevor and aided him with her strong magic spells. Then, finally,
 Trevor met with a freshly re-risen Alucard in the catacombs; Alucard sensed
that his father had returned, and he waited patiently in a dark cavern for
Trevor (whose power Alucard could easily sense) to arrive. He would test
Trevor's mettle in a contest and hope to gain his trust so that the Belmont
would help him reach the castle.

With the aid of his newfound allies, Trevor traveled by land, by ship, through
caves and clock towers, through a sunken city, and finally through Dracula's
Castle before reaching the castle keep for yet another duel. After defeating
the Dark Prince and ending his dark reign, Trevor and his friends headed home,
where their separate relationships began to grow. Grant and Trevor became
great friends, and they together started Warakiya's rebuilding process.
Alucard, whose inner struggle always suppressed his happiness, spent time with
his new friend before submerging his powers once again. And Sypha Belnades
took Trevor's hand in marriage and undoubtedly helped to continue
strengthening the Belmont family chromosomes. After this victory over the
Count and his evil forces, the Belmont name became legend, and the people that
had earlier discriminated against and persecuted the clan now came to embrace
and champion the family.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1479
Offering: Castlevania: Curse of Darkness [ Playstation 2, Xbox ]
Supporting Characters: Isaac, Julia Laforeze, Zead, Saint Germain
Main Heroes/Heroines: Hector, Trevor Belmont.
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

Though Trevor Belmont and his comrades successfully banished the hated
Count Dracula, the Dark Lord did not pass from this world in silence. With his
final words, Dracula left on Europe a demonic curse that for years following
enshrouded the continent in misery and torment.
Ravaged by hideous plague and dire famine, the people's hearts turned black and
murderous; the weak were slain without pity while the land was pillaged and
scourged
without remorse. Dracula was gone, but his very influence was still ever-
present.
Everyone, including even the mightiest of heroes, was confused.

Everyone was confused, that is, except for the devil forgemaster Isaac, who had
convinced himself of the "truth": For years, he and fellow forgemaster Hector
served
as underlings to Count Dracula, for whom they used their powers to magically
craft
new monsters to serve in the Dark Lord's growing army. Soon before Dracula's
defeat at
the hands of Trevor and friends, Hector betrayed the forces of evil by severing
all
ties in hope of reforming his ways and learning to lead a normal life.
Isaac had come to blame Dracula's defeat on this event, and he vowed revenge
against
Hector on behalf of his fallen master. To initiate his plan, Isaac targeted
Hector's
wife, Rosaly, who inexplicably found herself accused of being a witch.
Using his effective brand of manipulation, Isaac helped orchestrate a sham trial
that
 found Rosaly guilty of witchcraft; she was thereafter burned at the stake as
Hector,
who relinquished his powers upon abandoning his evil ways, watched on
helplessly.
Enraged, Hector vowed to extract his own measure of vengeance against the
arrogant
Isaac.

Hector eventually tracked Isaac down at an abandoned castle. Isaac, with by his
side
a fully powered devil-type I.D. (Innocent Devil), greeted Hector at its
entrance;
having cleverly lured Hector to this location, he reiterated his stance that the
blame for Dracula's defeat lay at the hands of the traitorous forgemaster.
Hector cared not for formal chatter and was ready to fight, but Isaac wasn't
worried;
after all, without his powers, Hector wasn't even able to protect his own wife.
The ball was in Isaac's court. Isaac's plan, in fact, was twofold; knowing his
former
friend to be revenge-mad, he would flee and force Hector to give chase, whereby
he'd
suffer humiliation on two fronts: Hector would have to regain his since-
relinquished
powers, which he admitted brought him much shame, and he'd at full power face
and
suffer defeat at the hands of Isaac! Hector would have to give in--to honor the
memory of his wife, he vowed to reclaim his powers and at all cost use them to
hunt
down Isaac.

Hector charged into the abandoned castle and was quickly reminded of the dangers
he once helped fester. He had to become stronger, and the discovery of a
powerful
tombstone was the first step. On the tombstone lay an inscription left by Isaac,
who by this act showed how desperately he hoped for Hector to fully regain his
powers.
Hector obliged; he staged a dark incantation and freed from the tombstone a low-
level
fairy-type ID His concentration quickly shifted at the sound of clapping of
hands.
The arrival was that of Zead, an enigmatic man who sought to abolish the curse
that
was afflicting Europe; Zead was impressed by Hector's show of power and revealed
to
the forgemaster his intent to purify the land. He revealed, also, that it was
indeed
Isaac, deemed an "impediment," who through his own mastery of devil forgery was
helping to keep alive and protect the dark curse. Hector, considering the man's
advice,
thanked this new ally.

After defeating its main guardian, Hector escaped from the castle and exited
into
the Balijhet Mountains, where he freed from its holding a fighter-type ID More
importantly, he stumbled across a brook where he was taken aback at the sight of
a
young woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to Rosaly, his deceased wife.
The woman, named in actuality Julia, introduced herself and inquired about his
 hurried state. He was looking for, he explained, his "worst enemy," Isaac, of
whom
Julia was quite aware. Knowing his intent, and more personally sharing this same
enemy, Julia offered to Hector her services. Her specialty? Well, as an escape
witch, she could see the future. Also of interest was her expertise in
witchcraft;
she led Hector to her nearby cabin, from where she could prepare elixirs plus
other
special items and furthermore look after his Innocent Devils.

Hector climbed to the mountains' highest point, where stood the Garibaldi
Temple.
Before he could enter, his determined march was interrupted by the mysterious
St. Germain, who had a request for him: "Stop chasing Isaac." When Hector
inquired
as to why, Germain cryptically responded, "I seek to maintain the flow."
Germain boasted that he knew more than Hector could ever imagine, as part of his
"arrangement," which lent to his request credibility. Hector was anything but
open
to this request, but he surmised by the man's tone that he found yet another of
Isaac's enemies. Hector forged forward regardless. In the heart of the temple,
Hector met with none other than Trevor Belmont, who immediately recognized the
devil forgemaster's crest. However, there would be no negotiating--Trevor, in
his
ongoing investigation of the curse, was here to fight, and he unleashed his
legendary
powers upon Hector, who was hardly a match. This subject wasn't evil,
Trevor thought--he was too weak in his cause; though, Trevor believed Hector's
words
when he insisted that he, too, was hunting Isaac. "Hector," Trevor considered.
"I'll remember the name."

Hector gathered himself and retreated back into the mountains; now boasting a
bit
more power, he was able to breach the entrance to the Mortvia Aqueduct, where at
its entrance a very pleased Zead stood waiting. Zead reported that he saw Isaac
flee
to the village via the forest, and he was now certain that Isaac was the source
of the curse. Moments later, Zead began to hesitate and stumble about, tripping
over his own words; without warning, he made a quick exit much to the confusion
of Hector. Stain Germain appeared soon after, expecting to see someone else.
Though disappointed by the lack of his expected guest, he had for Hector more
of his own advice: "Avoid Zead," he suggested; Germain insisted that Zead,
as someone not of his recollection, should be tracked down and watched.
Hector had no reason to trust Germain, and his advice was still not welcome.
"You've been warned," Germain sighed in parting.

After scouring the aqueduct, Hector finally reached the Forest of Jigramunt,
where from a distance he spotted Zead and Germain having a little chat.
He ducked behind a tree and gave listen. Zead warned Germain not to go beyond
his bounds--that it was a matter of fate. It was ludicrous to lend information
to an outsider, Zead lectured, but he made no direct reference as to whom this
"outsider" was. Tired of Germain's interference, Zead extended from his sleeve a
blade and launched an attack; Germain used his power of time to evade the
repeated
stab attempts. "I will keep returning," he before vanishing promised a flustered
Zead.
"No one escapes from me," Zead laughed to himself. The eavesdropping Hector now
knew
for sure that these two were indeed enemies.

The forest's vacillating path led Hector to the Town of Cordova, where at its
midway point he finally tracked down Isaac. It was still too soon for a final
battle, Isaac belittled, but he wanted just a little taste of Hector's progress.
Hector fought well, which in itself was gratifying to Isaac, who wanted to see
his former friend regain full power. Their encounter ended when a concerned
Julia
interrupted. "Brother, stop!" she shouted toward Isaac, much to the shock of
Hector.
As per his plans continuity, Isaac fled; Julia restrained Hector and prevented
him
from giving chase. Isaac was under Dracula's curse, she reasoned, and it was up
to
Hector to free him not with anger; she could live with her brother's death by
Hector's
hands because she knew that Isaac still harbored a deep respect for his former
friend.
Hector came to his senses and took to heart her plea. Though she continued to
speak of
an ill feeling that would surely not bode well, he bid her farewell with silent
hope.

With the assistance of a newly acquired mage-type ID, Hector entered into the
originally impenetrable Eneomaos Machine Tower, where at its top he again met
with
St. Germain, Zead having failed to slay him. Germain was truly the master of
miraculous escapes, but he found himself in a harrowing position: He was stuck
within a magical barrier placed upon the tower and its outlying regions.
He wondered how it was that Hector breached it. Though trapped in this barrier,
Germain could still physically affect events, and there was one in particular he
engineered--an encounter between himself and Hector, which would help Germain to
extract all of the information needed. The violent altercation was brought to a
halt when Hector finally wrestled Germain to the ground. Germain surrendered,
promising to no longer interfere. For fate was truly Hector's, he learned.
Realizing the man's power, he now sensed a new destiny for Hector: "Walk the
path
without fear, for you are alone." He added: "Give my regards to Zead."

Hector retreated to Cordova, where his growing power (a new devil-type ID)
guided him into the Aiolon Ruins. Deep into the ruins, he found himself witness
to another meeting--a fierce battle being waged between Trevor Belmont and
Isaac.
It was a fluke that Trevor defeated Dracula, Isaac taunted. But this battle
would
see no victor; at the sight of Hector, to the dismay of Trevor, Isaac again fled
the scene. Trevor was happy to learn that Hector and Isaac were indeed enemies,
as the forgemaster swore, but he was displeased with Hector's continued
meddling.
He left to continue his search, stranding Hector. However, Zead appeared and
lamented at such a lost opportunity. There was hope; Zead spoke of a secret
hideaway
back at the abandoned castle where Isaac was sure to be hiding. However, Zead's
behavior again became erratic when the grateful Hector passed along Germain's
regards.
"No--it can't be," he spouted before making another abrupt exit. Though
nonplused,
 Hector started the long journey back to the castle.

He arrived at the castle's keep, where Trevor Belmont was investigating.

"A hidden chamber beneath the castle is not possible," Trevor thought.
"Not unless the blood of my clan..." The still-puzzled Hector struggled to
understand, but there was no time to ponder, because Trevor had no choice but to
fight the forgemaster; he needed to know how much power Hector had regained.
The result of the proceeding battle was encouraging--as opposed to their first
encounter, Trevor felt as thought he was fighting a whole different person.
This power would be needed to further hunt Isaac, and Trevor would assist;
using a dagger, he sliced open his hand and used the family's sacred blood as a
key to open a magical gateway. "Your heart might waver if you think about what's
within," Trevor warned. "But you must concentrate on your mission.
Show him no mercy," Trevor inspired.

The gateway led Hector to a bizarre and chaotic infinite corridor.

Using all of his regained power, Hector successfully overcame every challenge
presented, which culminated in the defeat of the corridor's guardian, the
considerable Dullahan. The guardian's defeat was felt continent-wide, as
powerful
earthquakes shook the entire land. In the most unexpected turn, the chaotic
force
caused Dracula's feared castle to rise up from the sea's depths! In the panic,
Isaac sneaked up behind the unsuspecting Trevor and stabbed him through the
chest.
It was all becoming clear: It was Isaac who left that gateway for Hector to
find,
and he did it for the express purpose of harnessing the demonic energy generated
during the battle between the fully powered Hector and the corridor's guardian.
This magic, when channeled, would be more than enough, Isaac knew, to set in
motion
an even grander plot--he would scurry to Dracula's re-risen castle and once
again
attempt to resurrect the Count!

Hector rushed to the site of the castle's rising. Before he could enter, Julia
stopped him. The curse was still emanating from the castle, she warned, remnant
of the Dark Lord's magic. "All because of me," Hector believed. If it was
demonic
power, however, Hector could surely find its source. Still, even though Trevor
survived the near-fatal injury, thanks to Julia's magic, he would be in no
condition
to battle a freshly risen Count, which put the whole mission in doubt.
Though, Hector vowed again that he would garner revenge in the name of Rosaly.
Sensing his anger, Julia reasoned with him: "Don't let the curse take hold.
It's not worth the price of revenge for your wife." Again taking her words to
heart,
Hector set off into the castle as mankind's only hope. "Please don't die," the
helpless Julia worried.

Hector braved Dracula's legendary haunt, cutting through the nastiest of his
forces.
When he reached the castle keep, the weary warrior was anything but consoled.
"You resurrected Dracula's castle--bravo!" the awaiting Isaac celebrated. Hector
fell
right into his plot. Hector lost his edge, and Isaac lost his pride and home;
now
Hector would suffer as Isaac did and die a gruesome death! The two equals
battled
in spectacular fashion, but it was Hector's sense of justice that edged him to
victory.
As he went for the kill, he was heavily subdued by an image of Julia; he
remembered
her words and realized that his impulse for revenge wasn't really him--it was
the
curse at work. Before he could consider further the meaning of these events,
a jubilant Zead made another unexpected entrance, applauding Hector's actions.
These efforts were a boon, Zead cheered, for Hector's moment of wavering was all
that was needed. Zead revealed that he was the mastermind behind the entire
series
of events, and he used both Hector and Isaac. Only a forgemaster could be the
vessel
for Dracula's reawakening, and that was why Zead brought them here. When Hector
resisted the curse, he was made useless, but his immobilization of Isaac was a
nice
consolation, for the fallen forgemaster would surely do; Isaac's prone body was
swiftly sealed within a casket and transported away. It then became apparent to
Hector just who was the erratic Zead--it was none other than Death itself! Zead
confirmed the notion by extending its feared scythe and thereby taking its real
form. Though, not even the sharpest of armament would deny the enlightened
Hector,
and Death would find its name to be most appropriate.

With Dracula's top agent out of the way, Hector hurried to the castle heights,
desperate to prevent the Dark Lord's return. It was too late--the casket housing
Isaac's frame exploded, revealing a reborn Count Dracula. Dracula immediately
recognized the traitorous Hector and wanted answers. But Hector had a question
of his own: "Why attack humans?" It was Dracula's senseless slaughtering of
their
kind that forced Hector to disobey. Dracula disagreed that it was "slaughter"--
he
was simply cleansing the world of a plague, of a race not worth the very air
they
breathed. The powerful had always judged the weak, Dracula mused; humans judged
him,
after all. "It's not your job to judge humans," Hector insisted. Dracula, who
believed sympathy to be a form of weakness, wasn't interested in Hector's
viewpoint;
he wanted only to inflict punishment, which in this case was death.
The final battle was waged, raging across two separate realms. In the end, it
was the
clear-headed Hector that triumphed over the inexpedient Count. The
transformation was
not complete--Dracula would not come to re-inhabit this world.
Dracula took some solace, for the curse would linger in the souls of people
until
they met their oblivion. But Dracula forgot one thing: Hector was a devil
forgemaster;
he could turn the curse aside--transform it into something harmless.
These discouraging words were enough to hasten Dracula's painful demise, which
left
behind only Isaac's stained corpse.

After a moment of reflection, Hector realized that Rosaly's death and Isaac's
anger were caused by the curse. With that said, Hector enacted one last
incantation--to turn aside the curse, as he had promised, and again relinquish
 his powers. "The struggle is over," Hector said, relieved. "Now I can die in
peace." Before he could fall into a state of depression, Julia arrived to
console him. "You must live according to your heart," she confided. Further
conversation would have to wait, for the host-less castle began to crumble
"Farewell, Isaac," Julia uttered one last time before their portal-assisted
escape.
From a distance, the pair watched on as the castle collapsed into the sea, and
they hoped that its banishment would free people's hearts. The curse's mark
wouldn't
easily vanish, they agreed, and people would have to find hope in each other.
They would have to have faith in the morrow. For now, it was time to head home.

Back at the machine tower, St. Germain had some closing thoughts: "Faith in the
morrow. Those are fine words." But not for him. As one who traveled through
time,
he saw the morrow a bit differently. All the same, the flow of time had at last
stabilized. With that, Germain would head far into the future to see what
awaits--to perhaps witness the final battle between Dracula and the humans.
Would they remember Hector's bravery? Or would it all start anew. Those were his
answers to find.

Back at the cabin in the isolated mountains, Julia wondered what Hector would do
now.
He had many friends to conceal from the humans, and he would have to find some
hidden
place where he could live in peace. "No need to search out such a place," Julia
comforted. "I know of one." For her advice Hector would be in her debt. She
suggested
that he stay in the mountains and live with her, which to Hector was an
intriguing
prospect. "To stay here with you, Julia," he said noddingly, "t'is not a bad
idea!"
As he had sought, Hector's life would begin anew.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1576
Offering: Castlevania The Adventure [ Game Boy ]
Supporting Characters: None.
Main Hero/Heroine: Christopher Belmont
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

A century later, Dracula rose again to assault mankind. This time, it was
Christopher Belmont that took command of the Vampire Killer whip and stood up
to protect Transylvania. Like his ancestors before him, he faced the trials
and fought his way across the Transylvanian countryside and into Dracula's
deadly castle; his brave actions in facing his destiny meant yet another
confrontation between good and evil. It was no surprise, then, that
Christopher was able to get the best of Count Dracula and outlast him in a
battle for the ages. However, there was more to it than anyone could expect:
Just before the final blow was to be struck against Dracula, the cunning Dark
Lord quickly, cleverly, used what remained of his magic power to transform
himself into mist, which created the illusion that he had been thoroughly
defeated. Satisfied with what he thought was the banishment of his enemy,
Christopher raced out of the crumbling castle to make a daring escape.
 Christopher climbed to a nearby mountain cliff (as had become standard Belmont
procedure) where he watched the castle collapse unto itself. When the coast
was clear, Dracula shapeshifted into bat form and hastily, nonchalantly,
escaped from the wreckage. Though devastated from the battle, weakened to the
lowest of levels, Dracula would live on in his depleted state for many years,
patiently waiting to strike again. This time, though, the Belmonts would never
see it coming.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1591
Offering: Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge [ Game Boy ]
Supporting Characters: Soleiyu Belmont
Main Hero/Heroine: Christopher Belmont
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

Sixteen years had passed since Christopher Belmont defeated the Count, and he
was living a rather peaceful life when a special day was about to precipitate:
It was time for him to hand down the Vampire Killer whip and the mystic sub-
weapons to his son, Soleiyu Belmont, who had come of age and was ready to take
his place in line as the next vampire hunter. It was not just Christopher but
the whole town that was preparing for the big event. But the night before the
celebration, Dracula seized the opportunity and struck a stinging blow. Having
largely remained in mist form for those prior sixteen years, Dracula finally
regained enough of his power to the point where he could recall his ability of
possession; in mist form, he seeped his way into the room of the sleeping
Soleiyu Belmont and possessed the youth, coaxing him onto the side of evil.

Though his power was slowly returning, Dracula was in no condition to fight a
war or to even lead his own army in its march toward world domination. So he
would instead use his new outfit, the now-Soleiyu-Demon, as a temporary
resource until he was ready to assume his rightful form. Using his new host
body, with its powerful bloodline, Dracula would raise his dreaded castle from
the depths. But first, he held his ring finger into the air and conjured the
formation of four separate castles: The Plant Castle, the Cloud Castle, the
Rock Castle and the Crystal Castle, and he assigned to each its own boss
guardian to preside over and protect it. If Christopher were to come looking
for his son, the Count would have an efficient means of stalling his efforts.

Come morning, Christopher was awakened to the news that his son had
mysteriously vanished and that four castles had appeared out of nowhere.
Having no other choice, the aging Christopher was forced to again call upon
the power of his family's sacred weaponry. Enraged by this plot, as if himself
possessed, he entered into into each of the castles, undeterred, braved their
many dangers, and defeated the four bosses. Yet Christopher had only succeeded
in spoiling Dracula's initial plan: Because he still hadn't yet regained
enough power to raise his castle, even in possessing Soleiyu, Dracula instead
finished the deed using the life-force energy of the four bosses that
Christopher just defeated. Unfazed by unwittingly contributing to Dracula's
plan, Christopher penetrated the Count's newly risen castle.

Christopher braved the bloody road and reached the highest point of the
castle, where he was relieved to find Soleiyu waiting in a chandelier-filled
hall. His relief, though, turned to shock when his son refused an embrace and
instead challenged him to a duel to the death. Thus, an intense battle between
father and son echoed into infinity; in the end, Christopher's will for peace
 shined through, and his glancing blows knocked the remaining Dracula essence
right out of Soleiyu, who soon after came to his senses. With his son now
safe, Christopher entered into the last leg of the castle and prepared for
another battle with the Count. It wasn't going to be easy, though--Dracula had
by now regained enough power to retake his rightful form, and he was more than
ready for another round with the Belmont warrior. Still, then, for the sake of
all humankind, the steel-willed Christopher was once again able to defeat the
Prince of Darkness.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1666
Offering: Castlevania Resurrection [ Dreamcast ] *Cancelled*
Supporting Characters: None
Main Heroes/Heroines: Sonia Belmont, Victor Belmont
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

Set in 1666, the stars are Sonia Belmont from 1400's and Victor Belmont,
a vampire killer from the 1800's. So how does that make sense?
Simple - time travel. Apparently these two Belmonts were summoned to take care
of the evil that a new Countess is trying to bring into the world.
[ Info taken from the Castlevania Dungeon ]

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1691
Offerings: Castlevania [ Nes ], Vampire Killer [ MSX ],
Haunted Castle [ Arcade ], Super Castlevania IV [ Super Nes ],
Castlevania [ PC ], Castlevania [ Commodore 64 ],
Akumajou Dracula [ Sharp X68000 ], Castlevania [ Amiga ],
Vs. Castlevania [ Arcade ], Akumajou Dracula [ FDS ],
Playchoice 10 Castlevania [ Arcade ], Castlevania Chronicles [ PS ]
Supporting Characters: The Merchant [ MSX Only ]
Main Hero/Heroine: Simon Belmont
Notes: All of the above offerings share the same storyline, even if the games
are different.
--------------------------------------------------------

Through the incantations and ceremonies of evil souls who wished to bring upon
the end of the world, Dracula had once again been resurrected, and it was only
a matter of time before his army of the undead began to terrorize Transylvania
once again. As the theme goes, Simon Belmont, the great-grandson of Soleiyu,
donned his battle gear and took command of the Vampire Killer and mystic sub-
weapons in preparation for another war against evil. Simon fought his way
through the monster-inhabited yet beckoning countryside and arrived at the
Count's daunting castle. Once inside the house of horrors, Simon negotiated
his way through six torturous castle sections before arriving at the dreaded
heights of the estate, the castle keep where many a battle had been fought.
Dracula, who had been defeated by Belmont warriors time and time again, was
waiting intensely for this moment, for he would finally get to extract revenge
on the family after a one hundred-year wait. Though the throne room appeared
to be empty, Dracula would soon emerge from his coffin and launch an assault
in the only way he had ever known.

Dracula fought as hard as he could and made sure to get in his fair share of
 offense, but in the end, ultimately, it was Simon Belmont who stood
victorious. The pained Belmont warrior picked himself up and escaped from the
castle and to a nearby mountain cliff where he watched on as the castle
crumbled to the ground. Though he thought his trials were over, Simon would
soon learn that they were just beginning.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1693
Offerings: Castlevania II Simon's Quest [ Nes ],
Castlevania II Simon's Quest [ Tiger handheld ]
Supporting Characters: The Ferryman [ Nes Only ], The Merchants [ Nes Only ],
The Villagers [ Nes Only ], The Priest [ Nes Only ],
The Crystal Trader [ Nes Only ], Hidden Souls [ Nes
Only ],
Oak Stake Salesman [ Nes Only ]
Main Hero/Heroine: Simon Belmont
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

After defeating Count Dracula at the heights of Castlevania and destroying his
haunted abode, Simon Belmont continued the family's legend by earning even the
respect of kings. Through his heroic efforts, he had indeed proven himself to
be the culmination of a noble bloodline. However, that fame came with a price:
Two years later, Simon started to grow ill--he began to feel pain all over his
body because the wounds inflicted upon him during his battle with Dracula just
would not heal, and the anguish therein began to gnaw at his soul; in time, he
would surely succumb to the pain. More troubling to him was the fact that even
though Dracula had been defeated, his forces continued to roam free; as a
result, the Transylvanians were forced to hide in their homes at nighttime as
swarms of zombies marched through the streets. None of the citizens could
understand why evil remained strong despite the defeat of its leader--and it
slowly started affecting them, too, as normal citizens began taking on a
deviant nature, be it a cynical attitude or the playing of mean-spirited
pranks.

With no answers apparent to him, Simon fell into depression. One night, a
beautiful maiden appeared to him in a dream and revealed that his "pain" was
none other than the effect of Dracula's curse! She explained to him that in
order to lift the troubling curse, he'd have to scour the countryside to
collect the five body parts of Dracula--his rib bone, his heart, his eyeball,
his nail and his ring--and burn them away in the heart of his castle. In
closing, she said, "If you have the courage to risk your life, then you will
find the strength to win again." As most beautiful visions do, she disappeared
as though never having been. Simon quickly absorbed the meaning of her words;
come morning, he grabbed a hold of the Vampire Killer and set out to complete
a new quest.

Though, Dracula was more clever than anyone suspected, as the maiden foretold:
He knew very well that he had the propensity to infect the Belmont hero with a
curse, so before his defeat two years earlier, he ordered that his dark forces
keep him safe until his next re-rising by dividing up his remains and by
hiding them in five local mansions. The mansions chosen were Berkeley, Rover,
Laruba, Bodley and Brahm's, and the forces of evil were ready to guard the
remains at all cost. Despite their earnest efforts, Simon dredged through
monster-filled towns, graveyards and marsh pits; he gathered, traded for, and
mastered in the use of new magical items and weapons; and he infiltrated the
 mansions, solved their respective puzzles, and collected the five body parts
of Dracula.

As he traveled into the town of Fetra, which lay not far from Castlevania, he
noticed that the town habitants were anything but welcoming. Instead, they
were decidedly prepared to blame him for all of the trouble, as if the
presence of the Belmont's justice-presiding power was necessitating all of the
incurring evil. All of the accolades in the world couldn't prevent Simon from
facing such opposition, a problem his family had dealt with in the past and
would ultimately have to deal with again and again. In this case, the elders
knew that Dracula's forces were living on as a residual effect of the curse
inflicted upon Simon, and they wanted no part of him. Regardless of their
advice and their belittling words, he entered into the ruins of Castlevania
and proceeded to its basement, where he burned the remains of the Count in a
fiery blaze. Having taken the proper measures, Simon watched on as Dracula,
zombified, somehow arose from his slumber to mount a lightning-quick assault.
The Count, though, in his weakened state was no match for the power of Simon's
flame-enhanced whip. Finally, the curse was gone--Simon would live on to
continue his family's bloodline, and the monsters would be banished from this
world. With this experience documented, the Belmonts would be ready for any
similar curse-inducing antics in the future.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1748
Offering: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance [ Game Boy Advance ]
Supporting Characters: Lydie Erlanger, The Merchant
Main Heroes/Heroines: Juste Belmont, Maxim Kischine
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

After Dracula's defeat, the world was at peace, as it usually existed after
the banishment of the Dark Lord. But evil never takes a holiday, and its slow
rebuilding and eventual dominance were imminent. Fortunately, vampire killers
were perennially keeping sharp in fear of such an occurrence. Juste Belmont,
the grandson of Simon, and his friend Maxim Kischine were two such
warriors; the two friends trained together diligently, and while the rivalry
was friendly, both were hoping for the sacred honor of receiving the Vampire
Killer whip and mystic sub-weapons. After it was decided by the Belmont elders
that Juste was the subject worthy of receiving the title of "Vampire Killer,"
a disappointed, self-doubting Maxim set out on a training expedition to hone
his skills and clear his mind

Two years later, Maxim surprisingly resurfaced only to show up at Juste's

doorway; though, the reunion was anything but sedate--Maxim's body was covered
with wounds, and his pain was instantly noticeable. Juste listened intently as
his friend informed him that their childhood friend Lydie Erlanger had been
kidnapped; sadly, Maxim's wounds were so great that they had deprived him of
his memory, which entailed his two years away and the circumstances
surrounding Lydie's kidnapping. Ignoring his injuries, recalling faint
memories, Maxim led Juste to the location of Lydie's disappearance. Working
through the fog, the two men stood in front of an enormous castle, in awe of
the undocumented manor. "Could this, perhaps, be the infamous castle of
Dracula?" they discussed. The pained Maxim urged Juste to hurry inside and
save their friend, and he promised to join him in the search when his pain
subsided.
Juste braved the huge haunt only to find that others, too, were also scouring
the castle in search of Lydie--mainly Death and the rest of Dracula's forces,
for Lydie would indeed serve as the perfect sacrifice to conduct their
master's return. However, neither Death nor his allies could find her. Indeed,
all parties in question were equally confused about the entire matter.
Disregarding Death's discouraging words, Juste charged forward, mowing over
the wave of undead castle habitants. Eventually, Juste met up with Maxim, who
seemed a bit disoriented; they later met up again, but this time, Maxim's tone
seemed more like that of insanity. This pattern of events continued. Amidst
the confusion, Juste located a mysterious gateway and eventually caught up
with Death, who by that time had figured it all out: It seemed as though Maxim
had been possessed by Dracula's spirit, by some unknown means; to protect
Lydie (who somehow wound up by his side) from himself, Maxim, his memories
being suppressed to accommodate Dracula's possession, stashed her away in the
castle before escaping. As a strange byproduct of this possession, a second
castle was spawned--"a transient one," as Death noted, a darker version borne
specifically out of Maxim's conflicting will to both harm and protect Lydie.

Death quickly exited to the second, real castle via the gateway's portal, and
Juste followed closely behind. Now able to move between the two overlapping
castles, Juste had two more confrontations with Maxim that confirmed Death's
words; the first saw Maxim sic a Shadow boss on his friend, and the second saw
the resistant Maxim reveal the truth: When he had left for his training
expedition, it was out of jealousy. When he skirted across Castlevania during
that time, he figured that he could prove himself worthy by doing what Simon
had done a half-century before; that is, he'd earn respect by collecting
Dracula's remains, by gathering them into the castle, and by then out-dueling
the Count in a battle. Unfortunately, by collecting the body parts, Maxim was
instead possessed by a spirit essence as a harbinger for Dracula's
resurrection. Dracula's influence caused him to kidnap Lydie for evil's ill
intention. So with the possession not yet overcoming him, he instead hid Lydie
and the body parts throughout the castles and escaped from them. Having told
Juste the truth, with that weight off his shoulders, Maxim accepted that his
end could be near; as a last request, he handed Juste his bracelet, a family
heirloom, by which to remember him. For Juste, there was only one solution:
Find Lydie and then locate Dracula's remains and destroy them before it's too
late.

Juste finally located Lydie atop the castle keep of the real castle, but his
impetuous nature blinded him to one detail--that Death had been tailing him
the whole time, and he instead led the Reaper right to her. Death immediately
took Lydie into his skeletal arms and vanished to a sealed location. Juste's
only other option at this point was to search both castles for Dracula's
remains and use them to break the seal. Using all of his special abilities,
Juste collected the body parts and opened the way to the heart of the real
castle, where he found Maxim and Lydie together. It seemed as though it was
too late: Lydie lay unconscious and Dracula's possession had finally overcome
Maxim's will. Sadly, Juste would now be forced to battle his own friend. When
the battle was over, Juste stood over his injured and fleeting friend, who
continued to fight the possession. When it appeared that all was lost, that
Maxim would perish, he gazed upon Juste's wrist only to see the bracelet with
which he had entrusted him. To see his friend honor him in that manner was
like a light of hope, and it gave Maxim the courage that Juste knew he had--to
fight just a bit longer. Unable to wait out this event, Dracula seized the
opportunity; he escaped from Maxim's body and used his collected remains to
pull himself back together. As the now-free Maxim grabbed Lydie into his arms
and fled from the scene, Juste and Dracula, the two polar but confident
adversaries, prepared for a final showdown.
 In the end, as it had happened a half-century before, the Belmont defeated the
weakened Dracula, thereby ending Maxim's burden and submerging both of the
vile castles. Outside, away from the ruins, Lydie awakened after the castle's
violent banishment, having completely forgotten the events past. Maxim
repeatedly insisted on telling her the truth, that he had kidnapped her while
under possession, but Juste felt it best to leave the matter be in order to
save face on behalf of his friend. When it almost came to blows, Lydie stepped
in and brought both to their senses. It didn't matter, she pleaded. Thus, for
the time sharing a smile, they agreed to begin the long journey home, where
all would be right again.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1792
Offerings: Akumajo Dracula X Chi No Rondo [ PC Engine CD ],
Castlevania Dracula X [ Super Nes ]
Supporting Characters: Maria Renard [ Super Nes Only ], Annette Renard,
Iris [ PC Engine CD Only ], Terra [ PC Engine CD Only ],
The Ferryman [ PC Engine CD Only ]
Main Heroes/Heroines: Richter Belmont, Maria Renard [ PC Engine CD Only ]
Notes: All of the above offerings share the same storyline, even if the games
are different.
--------------------------------------------------------

Almost a half-century had passed before the groundswell of evil again began to
grow to a boil. A sure sign of its impending uprising was the sudden emergence
of the dark priest named Shaft. Shaft, who was a master in the black arts,
wanted nothing short of world conquest for all of his kind. Knowing that the
power of the vampire hunters might be too much of an obstacle, he gathered
together his followers and held an unholy ritual where they sacrificed a young
woman with one goal in mind: To resurrect Count Dracula. And indeed, the Dark
Lord lived again, and, concurrently, Castlevania sprang itself up from the
depths. Shaft knew all too well that his best bet was to play the role of
subservient to Dracula, who was more likely the key, the pure representation
of evil's lust for dominance.

Dracula, now more wise to his opponents' sense of justice and emotional status
in light of his encounters with Soleiyu Belmont and Maxim Kischine, formed a
plan: He knew that his only true hope to defeat the Belmonts lay with the
propensity to blind their justice-seeking nature by enraging them in other
ways. If he could only take something of theirs, he thought, maybe he could
achieve this goal. With the dark priest Shaft by his side, he certainly had an
edge.

In the meantime, Richter Belmont was living a peaceful life with his
girlfriend, Annet Renard. One night, without warning, Dracula's plan was set
in motion: He commanded his forces to head out into Warakiya, to ravage
Richter Belmont's entire home town, and to kidnap some of the town's women
before leaving the ruins. While studying a rough sketch of Castlevania's
interior, Richter looked out the window only to catch sight of the many
skeletons and demons laying waste to his town. Without hesitation, he grabbed
hold of the Vampire Killer whip and mystic sub-weapons, he scoured the town,
and he quickly terminated the undead fleet. But it was too late: Four town
women--including Annet and her younger sister, Maria--had been kidnapped and
taken to Castlevania.
 Richter hopped into his horse-pulled carriage and raced toward the castle.
Moments later, Death flew in from the blindside to instigate some mind games-
in this case, it was a swift toss of sickle in the Belmont's general
direction. After a short battle, where Richter held his own, the belittling
Death, having sent his message, flew off into the distance. Undeterred,
Richter arrived at the castle. Once inside, he located Shaft almost
immediately in the main halls, where the dark priest was holding Maria in
suspended animation, no doubt ready to banish her into a netherworld. At the
very sight of Richter, though, Shaft released the spell and vanished. Maria
was more than just happy to be saved--the magically gifted youth was
determined to aid Richter, to assist him with her magical prowess for the rest
of the journey. Continuing on together, they scurried through the castle and
its outland, where they battled and defeated the same old faces of Dracula's
army while saving the other missing women.

When Shaft intervened with his nostalgic bag of tricks, he, too, felt the
power of the whip. With the dark priest out of the picture, finally, Richter
reached the castle's clock tower, where he located his beloved, Annet, who was
being held within a locked and sealed off room. Relieved to see her alive and
well, it filled Richter with a sense of virility, and, despite having always
dreaded his vampire-hunting destiny, he was now more determined than ever to
vanquish the Dark Lord. High in the castle keep, another confrontation with
Dracula was at hand, and, as had his ancestors, Richter emerged victorious
from the deadly duel. After the battle, he embraced with his future family,
Annet and Maria; and after staring down the castle from a mountain cliff, with
a sense of satisfaction, the trio began the long journey home.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1797
Offerings: Castlevania: Symphony of The Night [ Playstation ],
Dracula X: Nocturne In The Moonlight [ Saturn ]
Castlevania: Symphony of The Night [ Tiger Handheld ]
Supporting Characters: Maria Renard [ Playstation Only ], Lisa, The Ferryman,
The Master Librarian
Main Heroes/Heroines: Alucard, Richter Belmont, Maria Renard [ Saturn Only ]
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

Four years after Dracula's latest defeat, another devious plan was in the
making. Without explanation, Richter Belmont disappeared, not a trace of him
to be found. Within one year's time, it became clear that Richter would not be
returning--at least not on his own power. So Maria Renard set out to look for
him. It was then that fate intervened: Castlevania suddenly materialized from
out of the mist as if to show her the way. Meanwhile, powerful forces were
struggling for the soul of Alucard; sensing that the balance was threatened,
that the scales were falling too far in evil's favor, Alucard was forced to
raise from his slumber to investigate these matters. And it was only a matter
of time before the castle beckoned him, as well.

Alucard infiltrated the castle and defeated any foe in his path. Eventually,
he ran into Maria in the castle's Marble Gallery, where he explained to her
how and why the castle's appearance changed since she'd last been there. The
two agreed to go their separate ways and exchange information when available.
Continuing on toward the heart of the chaotic estate, Alucard found a throne
room where he met a man who claimed to be "the ruler of this castle." From his
past contact with the family, especially Trevor, Alucard was sure that it was
Belmont blood in his presence. After defeating the man's personal guardians,
he met up with Maria and relayed to her these happenings; while she initially
refused to believe it, Maria later conceded that it could be Richter. However,
she insisted that if it were true, it had to be because he was under someone
or something's control. To be sure, Maria, who had by now taken a liking to
the half-breed, handed Alucard a special pair of glasses that would allow for
its wearer to see beyond this plane.

Alucard took her advice and headed toward the dreaded castle keep. There, he
ran into what he now knew was Richter Belmont. Richter explained to him:
"Count Dracula rises but once every century, and my time is over. But if I
could resurrect him, then the battle will last for eternity!" Thereafter, he
challenged Alucard to a contest and then immediately, fiercely, began to
attack using his legendary powers. While Alucard was shocked by the Belmont's
words and actions, he quickly slipped on the glasses and found the answer:
Richter was indeed under the control of an unknown presence, which hovered
over him like a dark green cloud. Alucard avoided striking Richter and took
the brunt of his attack while remaining focused on the hovering sphere. He
attacked the sphere diligently until it faded away, whence the real
perpetrator of the entire plot, the revived dark priest Shaft, finally
revealed himself.

Shaft had planned to coax Richter to the side of evil, using a spell, so that
no other vampire hunter would ever be a threat to he or Count Dracula. With
Richter, the greatest threat, eliminated and furthermore aiding them, instead,
the dark forces would have been unstoppable. Though the plot had failed, Shaft
was well prepared and thus had a backup plan; using his dark magic, he created
a perfect replica of Castlevania except upside-down! He then escaped to the
new castle where he would focus on his real, more important goal: To resurrect
Count Dracula once again. Richter came to his senses and recognized Alucard as
the one who had fought beside his ancestor Trevor Belmont. But there was no
time for small talk--Alucard strongly suggested to Maria that she usher
Richter out of the castle and to safety. It was his business, he felt, to
transport to the second castle and deal with the imminent threat.

Alucard faced more intense challenges in the second castle, but by sheer force
of will, he worked his way to the reverse Marble Gallery, where Shaft was
about to complete his ritual. Alucard succeeded in eliminating Shaft, but it
was too late--the incantation was complete, and Dracula was ready to return to
this world. The reunion between father and son was anything but pleasant:
Dracula was very displeased that his son was still siding with the humans,
especially after they had killed his mother without provocation hundreds of
years earlier. The mind games were futile, and Alucard knew that his father
could not be allowed to roam free among the living. A grueling battle
followed, and in the end, Alucard was the victor, having overcome his father's
onslaught using a power Dracula could never understand: Love, for humans and
for his mother, Lisa. Alucard had parting words for his father, a message from
that same Lisa: "She said to tell you that she would love you for all
eternity..." "Forgive me, Lisa," Dracula muttered in solace before being
painfully ushered back to his resting place.

Alucard escaped from the castle and arrived at seaside, where Maria and
Richter were waiting. The two consoled Alucard knowing that the encounter with
his father, as always, was one defined by mental anguish. Before doing what he
had always done--submerge his powers to remove from the Earth his own cursed
bloodline--he offered them some words of encouragement and some advice. Though
she wished him well, Maria cared more deeply for Alucard than she had let on,
and Richter sensed it. "Don't you want to go after him?" Richter asked. She
 confessed yes, and Richter's words ("Go after him, then--perhaps you can save
his haunted soul") gave her the courage to do just that.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1830
Offering: Castlevania: Circle of The Moon [ Game Boy Advance ]
Supporting Characters: Hugh Baldwin, Morris Baldwin
Main Hero/Heroine: Nathan Graves
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

In 1820, Dracula was again resurrected early in what was becoming a common
stunt by deviants. History repeated itself and Dracula was not able to reach
full power; thus, he was defeated by Morris Baldwin and members of the Graves
family, a group of friends all descended from the famed Belmont clan. Having
almost been killed, Morris came to realize the power possessed by the evil
Count Dracula and his minions and how dangerous the combined forces could be
at their peak. As the one assigned responsibility of housing the Vampire
Killer whip and the mystic weapons, Morris knew that it was important to hand
down the artifacts to the appropriate party. Hence, he trained two youths--his
own son, Hugh Baldwin, and Nathan Graves, the son of his close friends-
accordingly with the fear that Count Dracula would one day return, perhaps
again early, wherein he'd be no match.

As the two youths grew together, they became great friends and blossomed into
the warriors Morris knew they could be. Even though it was obvious that Hugh
was superior in skill, Morris continued to favor Nathan; Hugh could never
understand why, and, over time, he became jealous and hateful of Nathan to the
point where the good friends instead became rivals. Hugh grew even more
enraged when it was decided by Morris that Nathan should be the next in line
to wield the Vampire Killer and the sacred weapons. From the circumstances
surrounding, Hugh strongly believed that he was the more logical choice, but
the answer still eluded him. Through time, his hatred for Nathan only grew.

In 1830, Camilla was risen from her grave. As a devout follower of Dracula,
perennially craving leadership, her very first act was to prepare a ritual
that would serve to reawaken the soul of her dark lord. As the ritual was
underway at the ancient Castlevania, Morris Baldwin and his students sensed
the imbalance in nature that they felt could very well be the rising of the
infamous Count Dracula; the three hurried to the beckoning castle to prevent
such an unnatural occurrence, sprinting through the main halls and into the
Ceremonial Room. They found that it was too late: Camilla's ritual was
completed, and Dracula, though not at full strength, was back to threaten
humankind as Morris had feared. Dracula immediately recognized Morris as the
one who had sealed his fate ten years earlier, and he gained an early
advantage on the trio by blowing open a hole in the ground of the Ceremonial
Room. Amidst the chaos, Nathan and Hugh plummeted to the castle depths, which
left Morris to be captured by the demonic duo of Dracula and Camilla. Now
Dracula had the perfect plan: He would drain away Morris' power, his life-
force, and use it to restore his own.

Meanwhile, Nathan and Hugh had reached the bottom of the abyss. When they
landed safely, Nathan suggested that they stick together and escape from the
depths, but Hugh, feeling that he had something to prove, belittled his former
friend, pushed him aside, and set out on his own to rescue his father.
Regardless of Hugh's discouragement, Nathan picked himself up and persevered
 through the castle of horrors. He eventually located Hugh, who still wanted
nothing to do with him. When they met a second time, Hugh was roughed up but
continued to feign a tone of superiority toward Nathan because he knew that
his former friend had beaten bosses that he could not. Much later, as he
neared the heights of the castle, Nathan entered the keep only to find Hugh
waiting; while he was ready to breathe a sigh of relief, his weariness would
have to subside quickly; Hugh, whose hate had grown so much that his
diminishing spirit easily came under a Dracula-enhanced spell that magnified
this hatred infinitely, grabbed his sword and launched an assault. It was on
this day, though, that Nathan proved himself to be superior. Defeated, heaving
observed himself externally while under the spell, Hugh finally realized why
it was Nathan that was chosen to be the recipient of the whip and the weapons.
The truth set him free, and he humbly gave Nathan the blessing to continue on
and rescue their master.

In the next room, Nathan found what Dracula was protecting--the key that would
unlock the door in the Ceremonial Room. Nathan hurried to meet his destiny.
Once inside its inner throne room, a fully-powered Dracula began to attack
Nathan in his typical fashion. Nathan won the first encounter and was able to
rescue Morris; Hugh finally arrived at the throne room, too, and took his
father into his arms. Before scurrying to safety, the two encouraged Nathan to
enter into the ambient blaze that would lead to a final battle with Dracula's
true form. Absorbing their words, Nathan confidently entered into the realm
wherein the Dark Lord awaited, and ultimate good and ultimate evil would
battle once more. When the battle was over, Nathan stood victorious.

Defeated, Dracula called his demise but a "wasted opportunity," echoing the
hollow words he had spewed again and again. "I will continue to be revived."
Nathan confided, as Sonia Belmont once did, that someone would always be there
to stand up to him. As the castle began to submerge, crumbling piece by piece,
Nathan hurried out and located Morris and Hugh by a mountain cliff. Morris was
truly proud that his students were able to resolve their issues with their
minds rather than with their fists. Hugh, too, was proud of his friend's
efforts, and, comfortable with the knowledge that he would have to restart his
training, he expressed his newfound respect for Nathan with a friendly
challenge to stay sharp.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1844
Offering: Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness [ Nintendo 64 ]
Supporting Characters: The Ferryman, Ada, Young Henry Oldrey, Rosa, Renon,
Charles Vincent, Mary Oldrey, Malus, Lizard Man
Main Heroes/Heroines: Cornell, Reinhardt Schneider, Carrie Fernandez,
Henry Oldrey
Notes: This is another game that the self proclaimed savior of Castlevania,
Igarashi, has decided to eliminate from the timeline.
--------------------------------------------------------

About fourteen years later, early proceedings began by a trio--Death, Gilles

De Rais and Actrise--to raise Count Dracula from the grave, and they would do
this by sacrificing a human woman to the spirits of chaos. About this time, a
young man named Cornell was on his way home from severe ascetic training. When
he arrived at the village limits, his heart stopped as he found that the
village had been burned to the ground by the forces of evil. More urgently,
his sister, Ada, had been kidnapped by an unseen assailant. Cornell, aided by
his man-beast powers that allowed him to transform into a werewolf, set out to
rescue his sister from whomever or whatever it was that kidnapped his sister
and destroyed his village.

During his journey, it was revealed to him that his sister would be used as
part of that human sacrifice to once again raise Count Dracula. What Cornell
was more shocked to learn was that his close friend, Ortega, a fellow man-
beast, was responsible for torching the village, kidnapping Ada, and
delivering her to the trio; to verify his actions, Ortega intervened several
times to antagonize Cornell. In their more recent history, Cornell had
defeated Ortega in a "friendly" contest to see which of the two was superior
amongst the man-beasts, and he did this by showcasing his unique ability: In
its history, he was the only member of the order who could break the man-beast
seal and release his beast form, able to switch between the two states as he
so pleased. The man-beasts had long ago sealed away this power when they
sought to live in harmony with the humans. Ortega was always jealous of
Cornell's propensity, and his defeat in their friendly contest was the straw
that pushed him over the edge. Despite Ortega's interference, Cornell endured;
he slaughtered all foes in his path, he saved a few lives along the way
(mainly that of Henry Oldrey, who would one day grow up to become a suited
church knight), and he finally reached the castle's heights.

At the top of a tower, Ortega arrived to lay down a challenge. With the
assistance of Dracula's dark magic, he, too, could now break the seal, and he
transformed into a large chimera and attacked vigorously. Still, it wouldn't
be enough to stop what was a determined Cornell, and his defeat was imminent.
While in defeat Ortega's burden thus ended, he wouldn't apologize for his
actions; he could only accept what he had done--that is, accept what he was-
and instead offer a newfound respect for his former friend. Though shaken by
the encounter, Cornell's mission was not over: He now knew who was behind this
plot, and the castle keep was now his only destination.

He entered into the throne room to find the Count waiting for him. The two
locked horns in an inevitable duel. When Dracula finished testing the limits
of Cornell's powers, realizing his adversary worthy, he employed a stall
tactic by attempting to attack Cornell's psyche through a series of taunts.
Mainly, Dracula knew of a secret that Cornell had been trying to hide for many
years--that Ada was not his sister by blood; rather, she was adopted as his
sister when found as a survivor of the war fought between the humans and the
man-beasts.

Cornell refused to be blinded by hatred and burdening half-truths, and the

battle with Dracula's true, more powerful form was his only escape. After
defeating the Dark Lord, Cornell watched helplessly as Ada was quickly
encapsulated within a crystal, of which Dracula grabbed a hold with the intent
of dragging it down into the underworld with his submerging body. For Cornell,
there was only one option: Harnessing all of his strength, he projected
forward his werewolf form--its very essence separating itself from Cornell--in
order to smash the crystal and thus save his sister; therein, the wolf form
was effectively substituted as her replacement. With his sister in his arms,
he hastily escaped from the castle. Though he would never be the same, Cornell
had triumphed.

That night, as he, Ada and Henry Oldrey warmed themselves by a fire, Cornell
reflected on his trials, and the Count's words continued to echo in his head.
Ada had to know the truth, he felt, but the words escaped him. He stumbled and
stuttered, looking for the words, but he repeatedly came up empty. Then it
happened: As he started to speak, Ada interrupted--"It doesn't matter if we're
blood relatives, together we can do anything!" she proclaimed. "How did you
 know?" Cornell asked. Though she would give no explanation, her mere words and
expression were enough for Cornell to find his peace.

What Cornell was blind to was one unfortunate detail: After Dracula's defeat,
Death and Actrise were able to extract the crystal, which held Cornell's wolf
form, from the underworld. Using the wolf form, a power more enormous than
they could realize, they were able to use it as a true sacrifice to the
spirits, to ensure that Dracula would be reborn into a new body--this one
especially gifted with a violin. In essence, Cornell was only able to buy the
future heroes few precious years before the inevitable, real re-rising of the
Count. Unwittingly, he had contributed to what was Dracula and the trio's plan
all along.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1852
Offering: Castlevania [ Nintendo 64 ]
Supporting Characters: Charles Vincent, Rosa, Renon, Malus, Lizard Man
Main Heroes/Heroines: Reinhardt Schneider, Carrie Fernandez
Notes: The other game, god Igarashi, has decided to eliminate from the
Castlevania timeline.
--------------------------------------------------------

The trio's incantation held true, and Dracula was indeed reborn into this
world. Unbeknownst to them, he grew up and lived among the people, who were
given nary a clue that they were imbuing in the presence of ultimate evil. His
power was growing, as was evil in the world, and soon, people began to return
to the path of wickedness. Heathens gathered with the belief that the Dark
Lord would finally raise from his slumber and lead them to victory. Death and
Actrise, too, continued to plan for his return.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Wallachia, a young man named Reinhardt Schneider was

coming of age. Reinhardt, an heir to the Belmont clan of legend, was faced
with a dilemma: Since it was difficult to prove that such links still remained
to the family of legend, as the surname had been since lost, Reinhardt always
felt that he had to prove to himself, and to all of Wallachia, that he could
live up to his ancestral legacy. He grabbed the Vampire Killer whip and the
mystic weapons and vowed to hunt down the forces of evil. He would not be
alone: Carrie Fernandez, a magically gifted young woman descended from Sypha
Belnades, would do her best to deal with side-matters concurrent to his
journey.

Reinhardt followed a trail through the Forest of Silence that led him to the
ancient Castlevania. From there, he searched the castle and its outland high
and low looking for answers. He met a few friends along the way, too: First,
there was Charlie Vincent, a master vampire hunter who insisted that it was
his destiny to destroy Count Dracula; the foolhardy hunter made no bones about
his mission to reach the Dark Lord first. Renon, the demon salesman from Hell,
proved to be an unlikely ally despite his questionable intention. And then he
made the acquaintance of the enigmatic Malus, a young boy whose family was
supposedly killed by Dracula years before. Reinhardt rescued the boy from the
castle's monster-inhabited Villa; while for this act Malus was gracious, the
boy continued to lurk about, his actions thereafter becoming more and more
suspicious.

Finally, he met a beautiful woman named Rosa in the Villa's indoor rose
garden. What he discovered is that all who lived in the Villa were under the
influence of Dracula's curse, Rosa especially. While consumed deeply by the
curse that threatened to make her an eternal slave to the Count, she had not
yet been overcome--still, an inescapable conflict existed within, and, though
she took a liking to him, she did her best to distance herself from Reinhardt.
Though Reinhardt insisted on trying to save her from an undead fate, she
warned him over and over again that there was no hope of saving her soul. Much
later, in the heart of the castle, he again encountered Rosa, whose pain had
boiled over so much that she tried to destroy herself by exposing her flesh to
a beam of sunlight; Reinhardt stopped the event, to her dismay, and tried to
ease her pain through even religion. "God forbids suicide," he lectured. His
efforts proved to be for naught when in the castle center Death intervened to
force a confrontation between the two; Rosa could not resist the vampiric urge
anymore, and a saddened Reinhardt was forced to unleash his wrath. Though
justified, he promised to extract revenge for her soul by destroying the Count
and his followers.

Reinhardt arrived at the top of the clock tower. Before he could even gather
his bearings, the unseen Death attempted a surprise attack. The scythe sped
toward the now-sensing Reinhardt, who could muster no defense. Suddenly, Rosa
appeared and threw herself in front of Reinhardt, shielding him from the
attack by instead taking the fatal blow. As she lay in his arms, Reinhardt
wondered why she would come to his protection after the preceding events.
"Because you are pure and have the power to defeat Dracula," she admitted.
When Rosa confessed a fear that her soul could know no forgiveness, Reinhardt
placed in her hand a cross and assured her that God forgives all. As she fade
away, the enraged Reinhardt stood up to deal with her tormentor. "I will never
forgive you!" he shouted at the all-too-pleased Death. An encounter was
theirs.

After tangling with and vanquishing Death, Reinhardt arrived at the castle
keep. While Reinhardt investigated his empty casket, Dracula appeared from
behind and began to attack in his usual method. The vampire menace fell
briefly to Reinhardt's onslaught; it was "too easy," Reinhardt thought.
However, there was no time to reflect: The castle started to crumble and
shake, and Reinhardt struggled to escape. He climbed to the top of one of the
castle's steady towers, where he was met, conspicuously, by a unicorn-riding
Malus. Much to Reinhardt's disbelief, the seemingly innocent boy turned around
and claimed to be Vlad Tepes Dracula incarnate, bragging that the "Dracula"
Reinhardt defeated was merely his servant. This looked to be reality when
Malus revealed his true self by transforming into a rather youthful-looking
Count Dracula.

The two battled atop the tower, the struggle between good and evil in their
hands. Reinhardt unleashed his fury and brought Dracula to knees, from where
he evaporated into nothing; just then, Malus appeared from out of the mist,
"free from possession," Reinhardt thought. "Is it over?" Malus asked. "Is
Dracula dead?" As Reinhardt went over to console the child, a vial of holy
water exploded in front of him, knocking him back and engulfing Malus' flesh.
"Don't be fooled," an arriving Charlie Vincent boasted. "That boy is Dracula."
His plan thwarted again, the Count used his remaining power to magically usher
both he and Reinhardt into a desert realm and to transform himself into the
behemoth-like Drago! Though the battle that followed was increasingly violent,
even in this, his most powerful form, Dracula still was not able to negate the
cruel hand that fate had dealt him; he was defeated yet again, and his plot to
fool all of Wallachia had failed.

Reinhardt escaped from the desert realm and watched from seaside as the castle
collapsed into the ocean. Exhausted, he looked toward the heavens; a lone rose
 fell from the sky, its meaning eluding him. To his surprise, this divine
contact signaled the sudden re-materializing of Rosa, whose soul had been
saved by the defeat of Count Dracula and her will to be forgiven; finally, she
was free of his curse. Sharing a hug, the pair pondered the events past. They
knew that the battle was eternal, that Dracula would continue to return to
this world. "That is the fate of humanity," Rosa considered. Reinhardt, as he
always had, proclaimed his faith in people. "As long as we have hope, evil can
never defeat us!"

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 1917
Offering: Castlevania Bloodlines [ Genesis ]
Supporting Characters: Quincy Morris, Gwendolyn
Main Heroes/Heroines: John Morris, Eric Lecarde
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

More than a half-century later, Dracula made his inevitable return. His reign
was ended when he was defeated by Quincy Morris, another in the line of
Belmont descendants, who stabbed him through the heart with a wooden stake and
sent him back to his eternal grave. Because the pain endured was so great,
Quincy died moments later. Unbeknownst to Quincy, two youths--his son, John
Morris, and John's friend Eric Lecarde--were watching the encounter from the
shadows and witnessed his act of bravery. The scene changed their lives
forever, and, as they grew older, the two swore to honor his memory, to rid
this planet of the evil creatures of the underworld.

Twenty years later, in the ruins of Castlevania, an amateur witch named Drolta
Tzuentes was dabbling in arcane magic when she inadvertently cast a spell that
resurrected to this world Elisabeth Bartley, a regal countess and the very
niece of Count Dracula. Back in 1421, Elisabeth was found kneeling over a man
whose neck showcased two puncture wounds; she was tried as a vampire and
executed immediately thereafter. Now undead, thanks to Drolta's magic,
Elisabeth was hell bent on extracting revenge of humankind by reviving her
dead uncle, who would no doubt be willing to participate in the fun. Elizabeth
dug up his corpse and carted it over to England, from where she would prepare
for his return. In the meantime, she traveled around the world and enlisted
the services of evil and its dark forces; with the assistance of such a huge
cast of supporters, she would be able to create diversions all over the globe,
starting with the freshly risen Castlevania, for any heroes who would dare to
try to thwart this plan.

Her assumption was correct: John Morris and Eric Lecarde, now warriors in
their own respect, were drawn to the castle and knew immediately that
Dracula's return could be imminent; it was in their best interest, with that
knowledge, to put a halt to Bartley's macabre objective. John took hold of the
Vampire Killer whip and the famous weapons and started to proceed when Eric
stepped in and made a proposition: He volunteered to take John's place in the
battle due to the plight of recent events (in her rampage, Bartley had turned
the love of his life, Gwendolyn, into a vampire, ending her life as she knew
it and the happy couple's plans along with it). John refused the offer but
vowed to fight with his friend's agenda present in heart and mind. Eric,
satisfied with this course of action, would instead stand on the sidelines and
cheer on his friend's efforts, wanting nothing more than for John to end
Bartley's evil plan in return.
 With all bases covered, Bartley began the unholy ritual. The many monsters
stationed around the world, starting with Drolta's mechanized knight that had
taken control of Castlevania, did their job well in decoying John and slowing
down his progress. After defeating the knight and ending Drolta's involvement,
he followed the monsters' trail, traveling to Greece, to Italy, to Germany,
and to France before finally arriving in England, more specifically to the
Castle Proserpina, where the ritual was being held. Death, Medusa and other
familiar faces did their damnedest to preserve the ritual, and the final
obstacle, a battle with Bartley herself, bought them further time. By the time
John finished off the vengeful countess, it was too late: Dracula was back,
his strength fully restored. A final staircase brought John to the castle's
throne room, where the Prince of Darkness was all too eager to tangle once
more with a member of the family he despised.

The battle was epic, a struggle unlike any other, but the bloodline was still
strong--John was successful in his goal to remove Dracula from this world and
garner revenge on behalf of his friend. Thereafter, John escaped from the
castle and, fittingly, watched from a seaside mountain as the castle crumbled
to the ground.

With Dracula back in a state of rest, the world was safe--for now.

========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 2035
Offering: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow [ Game Boy Advance ]
Supporting Characters: Mina Hakuba, Yoko Belnades, Hammer, Genya Arikado
Main Heroes/Heroines: Soma Cruz, Julius Belmont
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

In 1999, the world prepared to welcome the turn of the century with a
celebration--mankind would marvel at its progress as it breached the century
mark. Those with evil hearts, though, would hold their own celebration, a
festival to make good on a prophecy made by Nostradamus. As stated in part one
of the multifaceted prediction, Dracula returned to this world and was just as
soon defeated. It was a group of vampire hunters, led by Julius Belmont, the
heir to the Belmont clan of legend, that ultimately "sealed" Dracula's fate by
destroying his spirit and finally ending his regeneration cycle by, with the
help of Hakuba Shrine priests, sealing away the castle, the symbol of his
demonic power, within the darkness of an eclipse. Over the course of the next
thirty-plus years, the Catholic Church did everything in its power to wash
away any evidence of the event and any proof that Count Dracula or the
Belmonts ever existed. Only those who lived underground kept alive the rest of
the prophecy: "In the year 2035, a new master will come to the castle, and he
will inherit all of Dracula's powers."

In the year 2035, in Japan, the people gathered together in anticipation of

the first solar eclipse of the century. Soma Cruz, a high school exchange
student studying abroad, and his childhood friend Mina Hakuba were on their
way to the top of the Hakuba Shrine (which was owned by Mina's father) to get
a better look at the celestial event. While they were climbing to its top,
they noticed that the stairway felt longer than usual, as if some force was
trying to keep them from their destination. Once through the actual shrine
gate, Soma and Mina were rendered unconscious by the chaotic darkness
surrounding the pitch black sun. When Soma awakened, he found himself within
the confines of a castle; by then, Mina had already awakened and was surprised
to see in her midst Genya Arikado, an acquaintance better identified as a
cold-looking National Intelligence agent who often frequented the Hakuba
Shrine. Genya explained to a confused and defensive Soma that they were
actually within the eclipse, where Dracula's castle had been sealed, and not
in Europe where the castle would typically emerge.

Before Genya could offer any further explanation, a pack of skeletal foes
charged into the room; Soma instinctively took on an offensive, and upon
slaying the pack's ringleader, a winged skeleton, he was overcome by an odd
sensation. As Genya had expected, Soma absorbed its soul; from witnessing this
act, Genya was now sure that Soma was the worthy subject he seeked--one with
"dark power." Hence, Genya gave Soma an order: "Go to the Master's chamber."
After some argument, knowing that resistance was futile, Soma finally agreed
to leave Mina behind in the safety of the halls and head off into the castle's
haunted interior.

Soma searched the castle far and wide, and his became a journey for
enlightenment, a quest to find out who he truly was and what was really going
on. His spirit only grew stronger: Along with the learning of new abilities,
he mastered his power to absorb souls; he confidently destroyed all monsters
in his path and collected their souls, thus harnessing them as new powers and
destructive weapons. His meetings with other castle habitants helped answer
some questions: Graham Jones, a missionary, recounted to him the legend of the
vampire hunters sealing Dracula away in 1999. Yoko Belnades, a member of the
church, relieved him with the knowledge that his natural "dark power" (as
Genya coined it), as ruler and commander of the monsters, did not necessarily
make him "evil." Yoko also warned him that Graham Jones, who he encountered
earlier, may very well be the one to "inherit Dracula's power." And then there
was Hammer, a soldier who was dispatched to investigate the shrine; after Soma
freed Hammer from a boss' holding, the feisty soldier helped by supplying to
him better weaponry. Finally, Soma met a man known only as "J" who had been
suffering from amnesia since 1999; J came to castle in curiosity of the
underground prophecy, in hope that he might regain his memory. From his
meetings with the youth, J, too, came to recognize the dark power within Soma.

A second meeting with Graham proved Yoko's words to be true: Soma learned that
Graham was born on the same day that Dracula was destroyed. It wasn't
coincidence, Graham thought--he insisted that it was his destiny to inherit
Dracula's power and become the dark lord incarnate! To belittle Soma's
efforts, his insecurity prevalent, Graham claimed not to have harmed him
during their previous meeting because he had no fear of the young man or the
dark power that he possessed. Pouting that he would not allow Soma to rule,
the somewhat jealous Graham exited to the castle's throne room. Word of this
meeting was enough to make Yoko believe that Graham, though quickly gaining
power, was now off balance and thus susceptible; when Graham learned of her
presence, he eventually caught up with Yoko in the castle's depth and
attempted to eliminate her. Soma arrived just in time to scare him off and
save Yoko from any further damage. Genya, too, arrived at the scene and agreed
with Yoko that Graham had absorbed the castle's power. He turned to Soma and
again demanded that he hurry to the throne room, assuring him that Yoko, like
Mina, would be taken care of. Soma, who was tired of being manipulated,
scurried out of the caverns and intensified his efforts.

His final meeting was another with J, who by now had regained enough of his
memory to remember that he, Julius Belmont, was the one that vanquished
Dracula back in 1999. Soma informed Julius that Graham was indeed Count
Dracula incarnate; Belmont, though, had a hunch that he was not. "Pray that my
hunch proves to be wrong," Julius said, ominously. Belmont remembered one
other thing, which spurned his new goal to locate the Vampire Killer whip,
which he had sealed away in the castle, back then, as a symbol to further
weaken Dracula's spirit essence and magical powers.

Soma finally arrived at the Master's chamber, the throne room within the
castle keep. It seemed to be too late: Dracula's power was well within
Graham's reach. Soma pleaded that Graham use his powers to let he, Mina and
the others escape, but Graham had no such inclination, for he would instead
use his powers to destroy Soma for what he felt was grand theft--that Soma had
committed the unforgivable crime of "stealing" the souls of his demons. A
battle commenced, and in the end, Graham could not overcome his adversary.
"This cannot be! Does this mean that I'm not Dracula?!" a gravely dejected
Graham uttered before his obliteration. Having now absorbed even Graham's
powers, Soma finally came to realize the cold truth: It was actually he who
was Count Dracula! Or was he? Genya again entered the picture to clear things
up: He explained that he brought Soma to the castle because his and Dracula's
powers were one in the same. So, using Soma as a host, he would teach the
youth how to use his natural ability to absorb souls and spirits in hope that
Soma, as "the Dark Lord," would gain entry into a sealed location where "only
Dracula could go." This entryway, inhabited by a stream of chaos, was the
source from where the Count's power was leaking out, and Genya needed Soma to
breach this seal. Genya's plan, while dangerous, was dependent on Soma
breaching the seal and forcing it closed before himself fully absorbing
Dracula's power, in which case he would truly become the Dark Lord incarnate.
Soma, his spirit weakening, quickly headed toward the sealed location.

The entryway opened as planned. It seemed like clear sailing until Julius
Belmont arrived with the Vampire Killer whip in hand; as he had suspected,
Soma was "the Dark Lord," the one he was destined to vanquish from this world.
Refusing to heed Soma's words, he launched an attack with his legendary
powers; though, they weren't enough to stop the determined Soma. Soma knew,
however, that Julius was going easy on him, that he was holding back; Julius
confirmed this theory, revealing that he held back because he sensed Soma's
true spirit within. Before moving on to complete his objective, Soma asked a
favor of Julius: He asked the old vampire-hunting master to kill him if he
were to lose the final battle and thus become the reincarnation of the Dark
Lord. Julius agreed to his request, hoping that it wouldn't be the case.

To a chaotic realm he traveled, and he dredged his way through to its point of
origin. Though, Soma couldn't help but feel some doubt--after all, he had been
lied to several times and couldn't anymore tell fact from fiction. Sensing his
diminishing spirit, to show their support, Mina and the rest combined their
abilities to psychically contact Soma with words of encouragement; this act of
faith was indeed the reaffirmation he needed. He entered into the source,
suppressing all doubt. In a battle for his life and the lives of his friends,
Soma came through: He released the captured souls into the grasp of the chaos
and thus destroyed it, resealing the castle in the darkness of the eclipse,
ridding himself of the flowing power, and thereby transporting he and his
friends out to the safety of the Hakuba Shrine. Outside, an unconscious Soma
awakened atop the shrine in the arms of Mina. This he wanted Mina to know:
While the fight was over, Soma knew that even though he would never change
that somewhere deep down inside of him the spirit of Dracula lay sleeping.
Much to his relief, Mina promised to always stand by his side, to again show
her support should something bad ever happen.

The two good friends then turned their attention to the sky, where the eclipse
was finally ending.
 ========================================================================
============================================================================
Time Period: 2036
Offering: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow [ Nintendo DS ]
Supporting Characters: Mina Hakuba, Hammer, Genya Arikado
Main Heroes/Heroines: Soma Cruz, Julius Belmont, Yoko Belnades, Alucard
Notes: None.
--------------------------------------------------------

It had only been one year since the solar eclipse of 2035 and the events
entailed, but Soma Cruz' life would never be the same. Soma had truly come to
believe that his was the rebirth of Count Dracula, that the power suppressed
within would one day manifest itself into a new Dark Lord. But he had the
emotional support of his close friend Mina, with whom he was enjoying a nice
walk along the streets of his home town in Europe. When their topic of
discussion turned to Soma's "power of dominance" over souls, those he had long
since expelled, the conversation was violently interrupted by the sudden
appearance of Celia Fortner, a magically gifted shadow priestess and founder
of a new mysterious cult; the ill-intentioned Celia quickly conjured some
lesser demons and stood ready to sic them on Soma. Genya Arikado, who was
investigating the cult because of a plot to eliminate the very Soma, arrived
to counter the threat; though, the prepared Celia used her magic to create a
barrier separating Soma from his friends. Genya managed to toss to Soma a
knife, with which he able to finish off the demons and absorb their souls,
thus rediscovering his power. Thereafter, Celia disappeared, somewhat
satisfied. "The power didn't return," Genya revealed to Soma. "It was always
with you." But Genya also had a word of warning: There was an investigation to
be completed, and Soma was to stay out of it.

Never one to let things settle, Soma utilized information gathered by Hammer
and arrived at the cult's hideout, a large castle within a snowy mountain
area. Hammer, too, made a surprise entry, which wasn't well-received. Hammer
assumed that by tailing Soma he'd get to meet with Yoko Belnades, on whom he
had a secret crush. Disappointed by her absence, Hammer insisted that he set
up shop to aid his young friend, but, more so, he wanted to use Soma as a
middle man should Yoko eventually appear. In the meantime, Soma hurried to the
castle, where at its entrance stood Yoko Belnades and Julius Belmont, who had
since joined in the Church's undertakings; they, too, were investigating the
cult and urged Soma to leave, for they'd be forced to destroy the young man
should the darkness draw him in. Soma wouldn't budge--after all, as he noted
demonstratively, they tried to hurt Mina, who meant everything to him. Though
Julius understood the sentiment, Yoko couldn't.

But when Julius left abruptly, to infiltrate the castle, Yoko had no choice
but to ask Soma to escort her to the safety of the nearby village, where she,
too, would set up shop. From here, across the way from the now-giddy Hammer,
she taught Soma about seals--special gates used to draw in dark power.
Monsters exposed to darkness were said to be invincible, so this power he'd
need. Though creeped out by the presence of Hammer, "that rough-looking guy,"
Yoko would stay here and assist in the fusion of new weapons using remnants of
Soma's soul-collecting.

Soma worked his way into the castle and into its Wizardry Lab, where the trio
of Celia, Dario Bossi and Dmitrii Binov--the latter two Dark Lord candidates-
had been expecting him. The unimpressed Dario was ready for a fight, but there
was in contrast the reserved Dmitrii, who belittled his hotheaded ally for
judging by appearances. Though the alliance was uneasy, it had a goal: To play
on Soma's fears--that he was a danger to others. They revealed that they
wanted to raise the Dark Lord, yes, but not for the purpose of evil. "For God
to be perfect," Celia believed, "there must be a being of perfect darkness."
Since dark power, which to them was of great importance, was growing faint, a
Dark Lord was sorely needed. For now, the two candidates would let Soma live,
to test separately their need for ultimate power, which by shattering
Dracula's soul they'd attain.

It was in the chapel where Soma tracked down Dmitrii, who was at the time
finishing off a Malachi and in the process demonstrating his unique attribute-
-the ability to copy others' powers. Dmitrii confided, eerily, that he had no
real intention of going along with Celia's plan--that he only wanted to know
the true significance of his abilities. Soma won the ensuing battle but showed
pity; though he didn't finish off the depraved Dmitrii, he was overcome by an
odd sensation. Had he absorbed a human soul? He wasn't sure. Hurrying along to
the garden, he located Dario, who showed no sympathy for his fallen ally. "Who
cares?" he thought. He would have liked to finish off the gent. No--Dario
wanted to become the Dark Lord out of arrogance, the same self-importance that
cost him the following battle. Though he still wanted to go at it, Celia
arrived and talked Dario into showing patience, for Soma would soon be theirs.
Besides--she didn't want to lose her last candidate. Before teleporting out,
Celia challenged Soma to reach the castle's top floor.

Upon arriving at the guest house, Soma was obstructed by Arikado, who was
supposed to be watching over Mina. Arikado again expressed his dissatisfaction
with Soma's continued participation; Soma had to at all times remain under
observation, and letting him roam about was dangerous. Soma was given leeway,
though, because the cult had to be stopped at all costs. Most importantly,
Arikado handed to Soma a special talisman that was property of Mina; she had
requested that he wear it--that it would protect him from the darkness. With
that, they went their separate ways: Arikado departed to track down Dario, and
Soma would head to a condemned tower, where Julius was investigating the
presence of a powerful barrier; unable to crack it using his legendary powers,
Julius could only retreat and instead join the efforts of Yoko and Arikado. It
started to seem hopeless. Though, continued meetings with Celia and his
distant friends led only to the heightening of Soma's resolve to reach
castle's highest point.

And he indeed reached the castle heights, where a showdown with Dario was his
reward. Soma was determined to prove to the deviant that a "Dark Lord" he
wasn't and would never be, to which Dario responded: "What's the point of
power if you don't use it? It's survival of the fittest." During the chat,
Soma noticed something strange--that by gazing into the chamber's large mirror
he could see not a reflection of Dario but instead a flaming apparition. Using
one of his soul powers, he entered the mirror realm and slayed the demon,
Aguni, which had fused with Dario's soul. Upon returning to the real world, he
found an exhausted Dario, who realized that his powers were gone, cut off at
the seams; Dario had no choice but to flee. Celia made another grand entrance
and, while disappointed by these happenings, she claimed to know of another
way to awaken the Dark Lord. She invited Soma to breach the heart of the
castle, where she had set up something he might want to see.

Soma followed suit and arrived at the castle center, where he found Mina bound
to a tree. Before he could react, Celia fired a magical blast that de-spirited
and killed Mina, an intentional act designed to draw upon Soma's hatred.
Infuriated beyond all control, Soma gave in, and the chaotic forces started to
gather in anticipation of the Dark Lord's rebirth. Soma didn't care about the
result, as long as he'd have his revenge. "Don't be fooled!" shouted the
 unseen Genya Arikado. "That Mina is a fake--a doppelganger!" Thanks to Mina's
talisman, which Soma had equipped earlier, it wasn't too late--the chaotic
forces were held back before a transformation could complete. And Genya was
correct: The fake Mina revealed itself to be Dmitrii, who had not been
defeated--as thought by everyone, including Celia--but had instead taken
control of Soma by copying his "power of dominance" and laying low. He escaped
from within Soma when the boy's emotions shifted, and he had now, himself,
gathered and absorbed all that was needed to take his place as the Dark Lord.
"Only the ability was needed," he confirmed. Pleased with this unexpected
twist, Celia and Dmitrii departed. Arikado, suspecting that the duo departed
to the basement, again asked that the vulnerable Soma stand aside while he
handle the threat. Soma wouldn't comply.

Soma followed Arikado back the tower, where Julius would attempt to destroy
the barrier. Using all of his raw power, knowing the painful result, Julius
came through and opened the way, exhausted and now useless to the cause.
"Aging is a terrible thing," he said, subdued. But for Soma there was still
work: He entered the portal, which took him to the Abyss. At its end, he found
Arikado felled. It was too late: Dmitrii had gained dominance over a
calamitous demon, and Arikado's dark power, its flow reversed, couldn't
overcome Dmitrii's sacrifice--Celia, who never knew his true intentions. "She
wanted to see the Dark Lord, after all," Dmitrii quipped, snidely. Suddenly,
as he celebrated prematurely, the shocked Dmitrii lost total control, unable
to grasp an unknown truth: The power of dominance isn't easily contained, and,
unlike Soma's, his soul couldn't withstand a power that great. It was only a
matter of moments before he would succumb.

When Dmitrii finally keeled over, all of the souls contained within him were
expelled; without a host, they fused together to form and unleash a beast--the
gigantic Menace! Arikado was quickly banished, leaving Soma alone to deal with
the nightmare. Soma took to the battle, and after a grueling, brutal
encounter, the Menace was chopped down piece by piece. As the chaotic forces
gathered thereafter to banish into their netherworld the Menace, Soma took the
opportunity to expel his collect souls into the chaos to once again seal them
away. The pure scale of this event rattled and shook the castle, which began
to crumble. Soma and Arikado quickly escaped and made their way to seaside,
where they watched the castle's ultimate collapse.

Though victorious, Soma's curiosities were still prevalent. Was he inevitably

the Dark Lord? If the Dark Lord is opposite to God, does it require an
ultimate evil? Perhaps there would one day be a reason for a Dark Lord,
Arikado considered, but that didn't mean it had to be Soma. As they pondered
the day's events, a group of friends--Yoko, Hammer, Julius, and even Mina-
came to greet them. Soma ran to embrace his most trusted friend. As the group
teased the youths about their ever-growing relationship, Arikado stood alone,
in his mind a poignant thought: "If the world needs a Dark Lord, one will
emerge, even if it's not Soma."

The only question that remained: "Would Dracula ever be reborn again?"

_/_/_/_/_/ Death Visits _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

If you are going to steal this guide, at least give credit to where it's due.
Other than that, anyone is free to do whatever they want with this guide.

Email me at ** reyvgm at hotmail dot com ** for questions or for submissions

or whatever else.
Don't forget to pay a visit to Mr. P's Castlevania Realm at www.vgmuseum.com/mrp

_/_/_/_/_/ Versions _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Version 0.1
The start of this Story FAQ. Thanks to Mr.P and Kurt Kalata.

Version 0.2
Added the Game Boy Advance Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow storyline, thanks to
Mr. P.

Version 0.3
Fixed a few things.

Version 0.4
Added the PS2 Castlevania: lament of Innocence story, thanks to Mr.P and his
excellent writing abilities.

Version 0.4.1
Fixed random things.

Version 0.5
Added a few notes to some of the games.

Version 0.6
Added the NDS Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow story, thanks to Mr.P.
Mr.P rewrote all the story descriptions, so they are changed here too.

Version 0.7
Added the PS2 Castlevania: Curse of Darkness story, thanks to Mr.P.

_/_/_/_/_/ Thanks _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

-= Websites =-
Mr. P's Castlevania Realm for most of the material.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp

The Castlevania Dungeon for some of the material.

http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania

-= People =-
Thanks to Mr. Perfect.
Thanks to Kurt Kalata.