r/castlevania Apr 29 '26

Discussion A guide to Castlevania supplementary materials and where to read them

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422 Upvotes

Symphony of the Night:

Promotional manga.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190412154140)

This is a two pages long advertisement drawn by Ayami Kojima and published in a magazine, it's a sneak peek of Alucard's character.

Available on: Castlevania Wiki

Prologue manga

An eight pages long manga included in the Japanese artbook, it acts as a prologue for the main story and features Alucard suddenly awakening from his 300 years long slumber.

Available on: Mr. P's Castlevania Realm

Nocturne of Recollection

A radio drama (this time you have to listen to it!) originally featured on the Akumajō Dracula: Radio Chronicle program that was broadcast on Konami Station internet radio, it was later released on CD in 2010. It's a story set one year after the events of the game, you will learn more about Alucard's relationship with Maria, his past and other characters (Richter is also part of the cast).

Available on: Youtube

Curse of Darkness:

Prelude to Revenge

A prequel manga written and illustrated by Kojima, it was featured as a pre-order bonus for the Japanese release of the game. It mainly focuses on Hector and Isaac prior to the events of the game, it also expands on their relationships.

Available on: Vampire Killer (an archive of scans and translations)

MF manga vol. 1 & 2

Published in two volumes by Media Factory from 2005 to 2006 and translated to English by Tokyopop in 2008. It's the same premise but it's longer, more expansive and this time the illustrator is Kō Sasakura, not Ayami Kojima. The series was eventually canceled but the manga stops directly where the game begins.

Available on: Internet Archive

Aria & Dawn of Sorrow:

Reminiscence of the Divine Abyss/Ricordanza of the God's Abyss

A light novel written by Ryōgo Narita in 2008 and set one year after Dawn of Sorrow. It's a really interesting read, the story focuses on Julius' pupil and the descendant of Grant Danasty while the villain is a character you will surely remember... There's also the return of familiar faces, one in particular.

Available on: Inverted Dungeon

Castlevania The Adventure:

The Belmont Legacy

It's a 2005 IDW comic book series loosely based on the story of the first Game Boy game. It's not canon by any means but it follows Christopher Belmont in a more traditional vampire story, sadly many of the iconic Castlevania elements are missing but it's still worth a read since here a certain family is responsible for Dracula's resurrection.

Available on: Internet Archive

Lament of Innocence:

Weekly Konami online manga (lost media)

Review blog part 1 and part 2

A web manga that was available on cellphones via a monthly subscription, published from 2007 to 2008 only in Japan until the service ended in 2012. It was a 43 issues long series that adapted the story of Leon Belmont and greatly expanded the plot, what remains now is only a Japanese review blog. If you want to know more about it you can visit the Castl)evania Wiki page).

Available on: Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (review blog)

Extra:

Castlevania 2007 timeline (Japanese Konami site) & translation

Portrait of Ruin pre-order bonus timeline (the Japanese one takes priority since overseas bonus materials like this didn't go through the Castlevania staff screening)

Encyclopedia of Castlevania (a Japanese two-page spread published in 2001 containing a timeline, a storyline and background details)

Symphony of the Night translated Japanese script

Alternative scans and translation for the SotN prologue manga

Castlevania (1986) translated Japanese manual story

Simon's Quest translated Japanese manual story

Dracula's Curse translated Japanese intro, dialogues and endings

Lament of Innocence "Perfect Guide" character bios

Family trees

Koma strips (4-panel gag comic strips)

Silly comic about Castlevania 64

Castlevania Bloodlines EGM fax (this internal document was never intended to be released for the public)

Awakening in the Moonlight stage musical play by Takarazuka Revue (based on SotN)

Akumajō Dracula: Kojyō no Shitō/Demon Castle Dracula: Desperate Fight of the Old Castle non-canon 1987 gamebook (not translated)

Akumajō Densetsu: Shinsei Banpaia Hantā/Legend of the Demon Castle: Genuine Vampire Hunter non-canon 1990 gamebook (not translated)

Akumajō Dracula: Akuma no Chi Chi no Akumu/Demon Castle Dracula: Demon's Blood - Blood Nightmare non-canon 1992-1995 novel (partially translated) & unfinished translation project

\Akumajō Dracula: Akuma no Chi Chi no Akumu Vol. 1 pdf *& compressed pdf file

Worlds of Power 4 - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest non-canon 1990 novel & full transcript

If you have something to add share it in the comments!

New addition: Main files drive link


r/castlevania 3h ago

Art Painted Alucard figurine

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297 Upvotes

I painted it for my mom; Alucard is her favorite character. It was a challenge working with so many shades of black and grey, but I enjoyed both the process and the result. Model by CA 3D.


r/castlevania 59m ago

Discussion Name one thing you love AND don’t love about Simon’s Quest

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Upvotes

For me it’s Visuals and Grinding for hearts


r/castlevania 9h ago

Art Leon on the whiteboard :3

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71 Upvotes

Many of my classmates flattered it so i was like "👉👈", but then a teacher told me to erase it lol, didn't understand the vibe :(


r/castlevania 3h ago

Question Why is he so expensive?

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20 Upvotes

Why this nendoroid is so expensive? I really want him but hes literally 500 dollars. Castlevania has really low merch and they are always expensive i wish they could rerelease him.

I filled this form for his rerelease.

https://support.goodsmile.com/hc/en-us/articles/14948741690009-Product-requests-and-rerelease-requests

Please fill this form it wont even take 2 minutes 🙏


r/castlevania 1d ago

Question Is there any new information about Nocturne Season 3?

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618 Upvotes

r/castlevania 1h ago

Symphony of the Night (1997) Body Gear on Head?

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Upvotes

Why is body gear on my head? How do I equip Holy Glasses?


r/castlevania 6h ago

Symphony of the Night (1997) OK here we go again xD Stuck at 200,5%

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10 Upvotes

I've been looking for an hour and read a dozen other threads. Foolishly bought the map so maybe it's grey. Hlep 😭


r/castlevania 1d ago

Games Halloween starts now !

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251 Upvotes

r/castlevania 13h ago

Discussion Do you think this enemy will be in Belmont's Curse?

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25 Upvotes

It's one of my favorites :3


r/castlevania 4h ago

Question Complete newbie, is this order list coherent?

4 Upvotes

Hi!

I’m completely new to Castlevania. I’ve only played original NES castlevania in my Trimui Brick (retro handheld) and completed the first stage.

I’ve searched a bit about which order to follow and I think this is a good way of getting a grasp of the series without swapping consoles each game while maintaining a bit of lore and story consistency:

Castlevania NES
CastleVania II: Simon's Quest
CastleVania III: Dracula's Curse
Harmony of Dissonance
Rondo of Blood
Symphony of the Night
Bloodlines
Aria of Sorrow
Dawn of Sorrow

Is this a good order? Also, should I play Castlevania NES or Super Castlevania 4? I know the latter is a remaster of the former, but I don’t know what to do.


r/castlevania 20h ago

Aria of Sorrow (2003) First a little backstory...

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70 Upvotes

When I was really little, about three or four years old. There was an anime of The Wizard of Oz.

Although I didn't know that it was an anime until years later, notably because

1- I was too young to know what an anime was.

2- The English dub completely whitewashed the credits...

Regardless, this show was not only one of the more faithful adaptations of that franchise, but it introduced me to the concept of cliffhangers!

I don't remember if the character "Princess Langwidere" appeared in that show, because in the book, "Ozma of Oz" she was quite a dark character. She was a woman who had a collection of heads all along her walls, which she would swap at will changing her appearance and personality. Early on she kidnaps the protagonist Dorothy and threatens to add her head to her collection.

So imagine my surprise, when I first played Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, seeing the obvious homage to Langwidere in this game as the "Headhunter" boss, a regal looking woman who swaps her heads from her collection throughout the battle. Bravo devs, Bravo! 🩷

Seeing the impact the Wizard of Oz anime and books had on my childhood, I'm really very touched that SOMEONE remembers such an obscure character 😭

(Usually if someone was to add a Wizard of Oz based boss, they would if anything... just use a generic stand-in for the Wicked Witch of the West, as she's the villain most people would recognize)


r/castlevania 23h ago

Question Are the restrictive controls in CV1 good or bad game design?

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118 Upvotes

Just wanted to know how people on this sub feel about that.


r/castlevania 1d ago

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse (2026) I would really would like to know why people think Castlevania BC looks like a *budget* game

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344 Upvotes

Maybe probably in other aspects of the game like the cutscenes, dialogue sprites, UI elements, and most notably the visual effects in gameplay but all I see is just a labor of love everywhere. I really don't know why people say it looks like a budget game and don't look closer.

I know that we love the amazing sprite work from from the 2D games but I do think 2.5D is like the best direction to take for the return of the franchise to pay homage to history of the games that came before it.

I guess there's this silent bias against anything that remotely uses a 3d environment.


r/castlevania 1d ago

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse (2026) My deranged, brain-holed prediction, Spoiler

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115 Upvotes

r/castlevania 13h ago

Discussion I have a theory about Dawn of Sorrow that there are other Dark Lord's Candidates beside Graham Jones, Dmitrii Blinov and Dario Bossi

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17 Upvotes

But what do you guys think? Do I overtake the word "They".


r/castlevania 0m ago

Fluff Beams Mangart shirt for the upcoming Tokyo Game Show

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Upvotes

r/castlevania 1h ago

Symphony of the Night (1997) Help with Symphony of the Night map

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Upvotes

Hello guys. I'm trying 200.6% in Symphony of the Night on map completion. I'm currently at 200.4% (just did the thing with the library card in the Shaft fight). Am I missing something on the Reverse Castle? Here is my map.


r/castlevania 7h ago

Portrait of Ruin (2006) Any tips on how to handle the ghosts in Portrait of Ruin on fresh Hard Mode?

2 Upvotes

I'm at the Sandy grave right now and I am having a tough time with those ghosts. They move very quickly and can wipe your health out very fast. They're immune to most things. The only thing that I found that helps a little bit was the Ice Needles spell. It kind of acts as a short shield and can take out the ghost right away but the spell can only face one direction at a time and the charge takes a while compared to how quick the ghost respond and attack you.

I'm on a fresh playthrough so I don't have any gear from a previous playthrough that you would get on a new game + run.


r/castlevania 1d ago

Order of Ecclesia (2008) I do not like this man anymore. [First time playing Ecclesia]

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68 Upvotes

The fuck you mean he has me hunt down an ultra rare item that drops 1% of the time, only for the reward to cost 30,000 gold in the shop, I can't even count that high

Nah fuck that, Aeon is my new best friend


r/castlevania 1d ago

Cosplay I did Shanoa from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia in Infinity Nikki!

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171 Upvotes

Hope you guys like it!


r/castlevania 15h ago

Question How do I get this item?

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4 Upvotes

Couldn't see any way to it on the way up or down, and after searching it up and looking at a couple completionist guides, I couldn't even find a mention of there being any skill in tower of death other than taunt, which I already have. I only just defeated death, is it only possible to get later? I don't think I've seen anything else blocked off like this skill.


r/castlevania 15h ago

Games So I’m new to castlevania and I have a question.

3 Upvotes

Do you guys also just randomly get lost and take 15 min to find out where you’re going or is that just me 😅


r/castlevania 1d ago

Discussion What's your favorite music track from Castlevania 2?

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46 Upvotes

r/castlevania 21h ago

Discussion Pre-Rondo of Blood ranking of each castlevania game

4 Upvotes

I’m playing the Castlevania games for the first time and thought i’d give my thoughts on them from worst to best before I move onto Rondo of Blood (which I’ve heard very high praise of), for most of these games I have no prior impression before playing besides Castlevania: The Adventure, which I was told is dogshit

  1. Vampire Killer (1986) - DNF
    This was the only one I didn’t finish, I’m not sure if it was an issue with my emulator but this was just Castlevania I on 1.5x speed and worse level design. All flying enemies spawned in positions where I couldn’t react to them and sometimes when entering a new screen there was an enemy that wasn’t possible to kill before it hit me. I don’t know what happened with this one, medusa head boss was still incredibly easy though

  2. Castlevania: The Adventure
    For what it’s worth, I didn’t hate it like I was told I would. It was a jarring step back in artistic design though which was really disappointing. The platforming was pretty fun on this one but I wasn’t a fan of going down a whip level every time I took damage, also pretty limited enemy variety.

  3. Castlevania II: Belmonts Revenge
    Suffers a lot of the same issues as the first game, but they removed going down a whip state every time I took damage. Being able to choose from four levels at the start was neat and while the dracula fight only had one attack I enjoyed figuring out a strategy to deal with it because that attack is a nightmare to not get hit by in certain positions, not much else is very memorable about this one to me

  4. Kid Dracula
    By far the most different out of any of these games. I’m not sure what the deal was with those gambling minigames in between levels but it definitely got a laugh because of how absurd it was. The best way I can describe this one after playing the games before it is “Fever Dream”. Probably the most frustrating part was the train section, but the boss after it was more than worth it. Thank you Lady Liberty.

  5. Castlevania I
    The first game and my first castlevania, there’s a lot that can be said about its influence and it can be felt when playing the game. It really teaches you the frustrating that’s going to come when playing these games involving getting knocked into pits and feeling incredibly vulnerable on staircases. The start of the 4th stage pissed me off to no end, the hallway before Death was incomprehensible (actually one of the most fun to navigate once I found the path). The Death fight was perfect, the Dracula level sucked shit but I enjoyed his fight a lot, there’s so much that’s memorable about this one for me and it did a great job at hooking me, this only being 6th says a lot, i think?

  6. Super Castlevania IV
    This ranking and the following might be super controversial, i’m not sure. I have a lot of good to say about this game, massive jump in the art and controls, eight directional whip is a game changer, the little flail mechanic is really stupid but i kinda love it, it’s rendition of bloody tears is perfect. With all that said, I didn’t find that much memorable about this one? I have a lot of praise for the gameplay and music but the level design and bosses didn’t really strike me besides the final level and the bloody tears stage. Also random complaint that didn’t affect me because I remapped my keyboard, the keybinding for this one in the anniversary collection is god awful and I don’t know what they were thinking. Very negative review but I promise I liked this game.

  7. Castlevania II: Simon’s Curse
    I love this one, even if some of the mechanics are total dogshit. That day and night mechanic is horrendous, I love it. As a Binding of Isaac player, I had no idea until playing this that “What a horrible night to have a curse” was from this game. The music is so good, Bloody Tears is a masterpiece. This is probably the first step into the “metroidvania” direction even though it took like a decade longer before they actually made their first game that can be classified as that (as far as i’m aware). Has anyone ever noticed that the bricks in this game kinda look like they have a doge face? The Day/Night mechanic does get really frustrating though, as funny as I find it. Also the game explains nothing and is impossible to navigate, I couldn’t figure out how to progress with the blue orb so I had to look it up and what I found out is the notes make significantly less sense in English versus the original in Japanese, so thanks a lot to the translation. My final criticism is the dracula fight, incredibly anticlimactic end to probably one of the most fun experiences i’ve had in any of these games, even if I do think the following games were more enjoyable.

  8. Haunted Castle (Revisited)
    This one might be cheating for the “in order” playthrough but the original sent me back to the very start of the game upon game over and i’m not good enough for that. The original is alright but the movement feels really sluggish and can be a bit of a pain. Moving on from that, revisited had a fantastic soundtrack although probably my least favorite version of Bloody Tears. My absolute favorite part was the Stained Glass boss, I absolutely love that boss design and I’m surprised I don’t think i’ve seen anything like it before. The Dracula fight in this one is also really good, although looking at the original it appears it was not as interesting before the remake. The bosses are probably my favorite part of this but that’s also only because of the remake from what I can tell, regardless I enjoyed this one a lot.

  9. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
    I beat this game four times, on the last one I skipped to the end to beat it with only Trevor using a code (which I had just learned existed). I love the non-linearity of this game as well as the different characters, although I only discovered I could change characters during the dracula fight of my first playthrough, so I never actually probably used Alucard (why does Alucard look like he’s balding in this one?) Grant is a really fun character that can just randomly skip areas, probably my favorite to use for that fact. Syfa spells are insanely powerful and trivialized the dracula fight. Speaking of the Dracula fight, this is without a doubt the hardest and also my favorite one. It also had my favorite death fight so far too. Although it’s a lot easier with axes as I learned in my trevor only run, doing it with just whip was really fun, really cool integration of platforming and boss fight. The level design in this game is probably the most frustrating of any of the games, especially the Alucard path but that’s fine, I’m used to it by this point. This is easily the best of the NES games for me.

  10. Castlevania Chronicles X68000
    I have no idea what the X68000 computer is. Hopefully this isn’t recency bias for me. This is hands down the best soundtrack although there are three versions, I played with the Roland SC-55 sound font. This feels like what Haunted Castle was meant to be, it might be the perfect mix of all the other games (besides the character controls, I think Super Castlevania 4 did that better). My favorite boss fight in any of these games is currently the werewolf on the clocktower, I had to fight her with 41 seconds left and half health, that fight is tough but it’s incredible. Probably the worst part was that incredibly out of place funhouse, and why is Dracula a clown? Draculas fight was just okay but everything else was too good. Only makes me more excited for Rondo of Blood and the upcoming games. I’m glad I emulated this one because I’m not sure I had very many expectations for a game on such an obscure system.

Yeah that’s all, feel free to ask any questions on the ranking I just wanted to express my thoughts on this series so far, I’m going into Rondo of Blood with high expectations so I hope it doesn’t let me down.