A franchise three decades in the making, time has not been particularly kind to Castlevania’s legacy. Where the series once basked in the glow of yearly releases, Konami has kept a steady hand on their IP in recent years, relegating it to Pachinko parlors at best. We haven’t seen a new game in the series since Lords of Shadows 2. That said, 2017 marked a new era for the franchise. Thanks to the animated series finally finding a home on Netflix, interest in the series has been the highest it’s been since Symphony of the Night came out in 1997.

Time will tell if this will spark Konami to start development of a new entry in the series, but you can expect to see Castlevania a bit more often from here on out, if only in its animated format. With the series so fresh in the minds of audiences, it’s worth taking a look back on the franchise as a whole to see how Castlevania was crafted and which hidden details lay hidden in the crypts of Dracula’s Castle. With dozens of games and over thirty years of history to wade through, Castlevania is home to a lush historyℱ, both in and out of the video game format.

30 Castlevania’s First Season🎶 W❀as Written In 2007

Although Castlevania’s first season only came out last year, Konami has been sitting on the script for the better part of a decade. Originally penned by Warren Ellis in 2007, Castlevania quickly entered a﷽ troubled development with noꦉ studio wanting to pick up the project by any means whatsoever.

A TV show that by all accounts should not exist. 

Obviously, this was a massive mistake as the first season ended up being quite the powerhouse in terms of character writing and plotting, but it does make sense. In 2007, video game adaptations to screen weren’t exactly highly regarded. Not even a name like Warren Ellis could sell Castlevania.

29 Hideo Kojima Produced The Reboot 🗹

One of the strangest tidbits surrounding the Lords of Shadows reboot is the mere fact that Hideo Kojima, the father of Metal Gear, actually, and actively, produced the first entry in the reboot timeline. While Kojima was a Konami staff member at the time, he’d never strayed from Metal Gear before outside of helming Zone of the Enders.

Kojima was so attached to the reboot that he even went on to voice the🥀🐬 Chupacabra in the Japanese dub. Not only that, he gave the development team permission to add in Solid Snake’s bandanna and Old Snake’s Solid Eye into the main game for Gabriel Belmont to wear. Kojima was not involved in the later two entries and it honestly shows.

28 ಌ Maria Was Going To Turn Villainous I🍌n Symphony Of The Night

Should you go digging around in Symphony of the Night’s game file, you’ll find something particularly interesting: M♏aria was going to turn evil at so♛me point. Speculated to be an alternate ending to the main game akin to Alucard failing to save Richter, Maria would serve as yet another final boss.

One bad ending too many for Alucard. 

This “Dark Maria” would have a completely new set of techniques and would fight quite differently from any other boss in the game. Given how she plays in the Japan-only Saturn port, we can perhaps assume Maria would have been quite fast and acrobatic. Alas, no rerelease of SotN has ♉bothe🌺red adding Dark Maria back into the game.

27 Simon’s Qu🦹est💟 Is The First Metroidvania

Although Symphony of the Night gets the most credit for being the first Metroidvania, it wasn’t the genre’s originator. At least not in the context of Castlevania. Rather, that title belongs to none other than the infamous NES sequel, Simon’s Quest. Open world with branching paths and item based progression, how could SQ not be a Metroidvania?

In many ways, Symphony of the Night lifts more from Simon’s Quest than it does any other Castlevania. There’s an emphasis on combat, platforming is left to a minimal, and exploration stands king. Of course, SotN is the better and more cohesive game, but Simon’s Quest does deserve your respect.

26 🀅 Bram Stoker’s Dracula Is Canon To The Series

Believe it or not, Castlevania’s extended canon features none other than the novel that started it all. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is an actual part of the series’ timeline, taking place shortly before Bloodlines. In fact, some fans even recommend you read the novel at some point a♛s it does in♔fer some key details from the game.

The book isn't always better in this case. 

Of course, it is worth noting that some details are flipped around. Most notably, Quincy has a son in the seꦗries whereas he’s childless in the novel. Quincy also defeats Dracula with a wooden stake in the games canon which is not the case in the novel.🔯 Either way, having an understanding of who Quincy is makes John’s and Jonathan’s stories a bit more interesting.

25 The Original Castlevania Had An Easy Mode Rerelease ꦛ

For as good as Konami has been in regards to releasing the series outside of Japan, some gems never make it stateside. Most notably, after recognizing the massive popularity of the first game, Konami saw fit to rerelease the original Castlevania for the Famicꦅom with an Easy Mode, 🎀swaying in less skilled players.

This Easy Mode allowed Simon to start each stage with more hearts, more lives, and take considerably less damage from enemies. Considering just how difficult the first game in the series is, this might actually be appealing tꦦo even some veterans. Of course, the challenge is part of the fun, but it’s nice that Konami decided to throw fans a bone.

24 ꦿ The Belmonts ꦫWere Once Descended From Alucard

Long before Leon Belmont and Gabriel Belmont established their own legacies, there was Sonia Belmont, the matriarch of the Belmont lineage. The main character of the Game Boy exclusive Legends, Sonia Belmont eventually fell in love with Alucard centuries before Trevor would meet him in the series’ third g𒊎ame.

A love unfit for the ages. 

The idea of pairing Sonia off with Alucard was meant to create a dramatic irony of sorts within the Belmont lineage. They were not only fighting Dracula, they were fighting their relative. This was actually used as a foundation for the reboot, but Ig🌃arashi supposedly hated it so much that he dedicated an entire game to retconning it.

23 Lame🔯nt Of Innocence Exists Specifically To Retcon Legends 💜

Enter Lament of Innocence, the first of two Castlevania games on the PlayStation 2 and the definitive starting point of the original timeline. The main character, Leon Belmont, doesn’t even fight Dracula in the ❀game as 📖he doesn’t exist yet. Rather, he sees who becomes Dracula, and there’s no such blood relation between them.

When it comes down to it, Lament of Innocence’s purpose is ulti✃mately to retcon Legends. It’🅷s to establish a canonical, undisputed starting point. The Belmonts have a connection to Dracula, but it is not familial. They are different families. In a way, as petty as this may seem, it really was for the best in terms of storytelling.

22 🔥 Harmony Of Despa🅰ir Was Almost A Third Sorrow Game

Harmony of Despair is a holy grail of sorts within the fandom. It’s obscure enough where most fans haven’t played it, but the ones who have love it to death. A multiplayer Castlevania with playable characters from all over the series, it’s hard not to love HoD.🌜 Interestingly, however, Soma Cruz is a far more fleshed out character t♏han the other protagonists.

Harmony of Sorrow, anyone? 

There’s a good reason for this: Harmony of Despair was designed as a third Sorrow game initially. As a result, a lot of work wa𝓡s put into Soma’s skill set. For whatever reason, though, Konami decided to go in a different direction, scrapping their story and embracing the multiplayer angle. Soma kept his skills, but no one else could really match him.

21 Dawn O🌸f Sorrow’s Julius Mode Could Technically Be Canon

The Castlevania series is no stranger to tossing in multiple playable characters and new game modes, especially in the DS era, but few of them have full stories. Dawn of Sorrow’s Julius Mode is one of tho🍎se few. Taking place after the main game’s bad ending, Julius Mode sees the eponymous character hunting down the now evil Sܫoma Cruz.

Interestingly, outside of a debatably canon side-novel, there is nothing t❀o dispute that this isn’t the last canonical point in the series. The franchise’s canon could very well end with Soma Cruz turning into Dracula and 𒀰Julius needing to scale Soma’s Castle in order to slay him once and for all. It’s morbid, but only a third Sorrow game can dispute the claim.