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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portraitofruin_3104.jpg]]
2
3->'''Wind''': Oh, one more thing... Regarding this castle’s lord.
4->'''Charlotte''': You mean Dracula, right? I've read books about him.
5->'''Wind''': Dracula isn't this castle's lord.
6->'''Jonathan''': What do you mean? That's why they call this "Dracula's Castle."
7->'''Wind''': It is indeed Dracula's Castle. However, the castle's lord is a vampire by the name of Brauner.
8
9The year is 1944. UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is in full effect; death is common and souls are restless. It is therefore unsurprising that Dracula's castle has revealed itself at this time.
10
11Enter Jonathan Morris, vampire hunter and son of John Morris of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'' fame, wielding the legendary Vampire Killer whip. At his side, Charlotte Aulin, his childhood friend and a talented witch, [[JustAKid especially for her age]]. With these two working together, Dracula may not stand a chance.
12
13There's just one thing. Dracula's not around.
14
15A new vampire has taken control of Castlevania: a MadArtist by the name of Brauner. And things are different under his rule. The castle keep is unassailable; it is blocked by magic produced by a large number of magical paintings positioned around the castle. Brauner is almost impossible to find, and the main evidence of his presence is the occasional appearance of his twin vampire daughters. A mysterious ghost has been spotted, and he seems to be completely immune to Brauner's influence. And not even Death is happy with this sequence of events. (No, wait, make that "Death's ''especially'' unhappy with this sequence of events".)
16
17And to top it all off, Jonathan can't even use his whip correctly.
18
19''Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin'' is a Platform/NintendoDS game released in 2006 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series. It boasts a two-character tag system that allows the two characters to work together frequently, an experience-based subweapon system for Jonathan and casting time-based magic system for Charlotte, and a number of non-castle venues accessible via the various portraits. Extra characters and level limits extend the replay value, including one mode controlled entirely with the touchscreen.
20
21----
22!! ''Portrait of Ruin'' provides examples of:
23
24* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Vincent is ''incredibly'' ungrateful for Charlotte rescuing him from vampirism. About the only thing that changes is his dialogue in the ending, he doesn't have the courtesy to reduce his prices for items. This is despite claiming that he will if you talk to him while he's still cursed.
25* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler:Brauner]] if you [[spoiler:defeat the Sisters rather than purify them and]] trigger the bad ending. He gets on his knees and outright begs you not to hurt [[spoiler:his "daughters"]] more.
26* AlienGeometries: The circus levels are both ring-shaped, and while gravity for the playable characters and items is always down, everything else is oriented based on its position in the level. In fact, from her perspective, Medusa is bending over backward for her boss fight, and when she dies, she collapses to the ''ceiling''. If you fight Medusa in the BossRush mode, she collapses to the floor instead.
27* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Interestingly, Eric [[spoiler:AKA Wind]] looks closer to how he did in the American version of ''Bloodlines'' than the original and European ones ([[http://www.castlevaniadungeon.net/games/cvbforeign.html see here]] [[spoiler:[[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/castlevania/images/2/23/Wind_from_Website.JPG and here]]]]). This is probably the result of him being 27 years older in ''Portrait of Ruin.''
28* AnotherSideAnotherStory: After the main game, the Sisters' story ends the only way it could end.
29* ArrangeMode:
30** Sisters Mode, unlocked by beating the game, is a prequel to the main game that features Stella and Loretta, who attack using the touch screen.
31** Richter Mode, unlocked by beating the "[[OptionalBoss Whip's Memory]]", has you control Richter and Maria, who use their sub-weapons from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood''.
32** Old Axe Armor mode, unlocked by killing at least 1000 Old Axe Armors in normal mode and beating the game, is a mode where you play... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an Old Axe Armor]]. Just one, who's very weak, and can't use items, and has only two subweapons.
33* ArtAttacker: Brauner. When you fight him, he paints on an easel with blood, making a pattern on the screen that damages you when you touch it. He also uses ArtInitiatesLife to summon monsters by painting them.
34%%* AxCrazy: Lerajie.
35%%--> "[[GunPointBanter I SEE YOU!]]"
36* BarbieDollAnatomy: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] so much. True, we don't see our heroes or the main antagonists naked, but some monsters, like the Harpy, are completely nude, complete with nipples!
37* BarrierChangeBoss: Death can change his cloak color from the standard black (in which he's weak against spells and resistant to physical attacks) to [[LightIsNotGood white]] (in which he resists spells but is weak against physical attacks) and back again throughout the battle.
38* BarSlide: The Skull Bartender enemy does this as its attack.
39* BashBrothers: Charlotte and Jonathan, [[SiblingTeam Stella and Loretta]], [[spoiler:Death and Dracula]].
40* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The vampire Brauner is the one and only Victor Brauner, a Jewish Romanian surrealist artist.
41* BewitchedAmphibians: Charlotte learns how to turn herself and Jonathan into toads. This is required to progress and is also the first step to reaching the true ending.
42* BittersweetEnding: The true ending, in which [[spoiler:Dracula is defeated and Stella and Loretta are free of the curse, but Eric's spirit must pass on]].
43* BlackMagicianGirl: Charlotte and Loretta. The former is a more obvious example of this trope - A bratty, cute, young girl who uses a magical spell book.
44%%* BloodyMurder: "Blood Art Technique!"
45* BondVillainStupidity: Brauner or his "daughters" could easily kill both Charlotte and Jonathan at any time during the game, and even state as such when the protagonists meet Brauner, but [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim rather than just doing that]] and then getting on with their evil plans, they just leave the protagonists to break through Brauner's painting worlds. As a result, by the time the villains do decide to actually fight the protagonists, the heroes have become strong enough to beat them.
46* BossAlteringConsequence: After an arduous trek through the [[BonusDungeon Nest of Evil]], which involves dealing with an army of DemonicSpiders and bosses from [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow Dawn of Sorrow]], you finally come face to face with the [[{{Superboss}} Doppelganger]]. The Doppelganger can [[MirrorBoss copy your attacks and equipment]], which would normally make them the hardest fight in the game. The equipment they have however depends on what you had equipped prior to entering their boss room, allowing the player to either increase or decrease the difficulty of the fight depending on their choice of equipment.
47* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Stella and Loretta]].
48* BrokenAesop: One of Wind's missions, "Abandon Greed", requires you to have no money. The most reliable way to "abandon your greed"? Dump all your cash into ConspicuousConsumption, then greedily pinch pennies until you can afford exactly one more cheap item.
49* BrutalBonusLevel: Nest of Evil. It's a completely optional area full of the hardest enemies and some of the toughest bosses. Even a well prepared player is prone to dying a lot there.
50* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:Eric]] in both endings.
51* CallingYourAttacks: Charlotte calls the name of fully-charged magic spells, and the duo engage in this together when using a Dual Crash.
52* CanonDiscontinuity: This game's pre-order bonuses removed ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'' and the N64 titles from this status (while preserving ''Legends's'' status as this).
53* CannotSpitItOut: John could've saved his kid a lot of angst [[spoiler:if he told him about the drawbacks of the whip right off the bat instead of keeping him LockedOutOfTheLoop]].
54* CerebusRetcon: The Vampire Killer is an ArtifactOfDoom that drains the life of those who wield it, at least if one is not a Belmont[[note]]However, that's only if the wielder specifically chooses to unlock the full power of the whip: it's possible to use the whip as just a basic (albeit weak) leather whip without any negative consequences, and this is in fact what the Belmont family intended when they gave the whip to the Morris family. Only the unscheduled reappearance of Dracula's Castle forced this side effect to the fore[[/note]].
55* ChallengeRun: Hard mode, which makes certain enemies stronger and enforces a Low-Level Run by reducing the level {{cap}} (including an option to set it to 1 for a no-level run). Beating the game on Hard rewards you with special items that grant large stat boosts.
56* ChestMonster: They can't fool anybody, because in this game, unlike ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', there are ''no regular chests'', just those mimics.
57* ChurchMilitant: Charlotte Aulin was trained by the Church as a spellcasting witch.
58* CircusOfFear: Two of the levels are twisted war-torn circus wastelands. It makes some sense thanks to the time period the game's set in.
59* ClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Stella and Loretta.]] Either Jonathan and Charlotte kill them, resulting in a DownerEnding that amounts to a NonStandardGameOver or, if they have the requisite spell, free them from [[spoiler:Brauner's control]] and the second half of the game's portraits become available for entry.
60* CombinationAttack: Lots of them. Both Jonathan/Charlotte and Stella/Loretta have some potent ones. And that's without mentioning [[spoiler:the final battle against Dracula and Death]].
61* ContinuityNod:
62** Many parts of the "Great Staircase" area, such as stair rooms with the hill guards or the staircases with the skeleton gunmen, are quite recognizable to anyone who has played ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''.
63** Once considered a GaidenGame for not starring a Belmont, ''Portrait'' ties ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'' into the main continuity. It also clears up the identity of a [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight certain spear]] that got LostInTranslation.
64** Also, in the Nest of Evil, almost all of the bosses are from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', but there are a couple which are instead from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''.
65** The music leading to [[spoiler:Dracula's throne]] is the music for the approach to Dracula's throne in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse''.
66* CuteMonsterGirl: Like the other DS titles of the franchise, there are plenty of these, so much that the promotional wallpaper for ''Portrait of Ruin'' was the entire female bestiary in adorable chibi form.
67* CuteWitch: Charlotte, but [[JustAKid she doesn't like to be identified as such]]. Loretta may count as an evil version, though. And the mook witches.
68* DaddysLittleVillain: Played with. Stella and Loretta act independently of Brauner to attack the heroes, despite him insisting they stay somewhere safe. However, it turns out they're actually [[spoiler:BrainwashedAndCrazy and not really his daughters.]]
69* DarkActionGirl: Stella, who is physically attuned, contrasting to her sister Loretta.
70* DevourTheDragon: [[spoiler:Dracula]] does this for the final phase of his boss fight, at the suggestion of [[spoiler:the Dragon himself — Death]] — who is the one "devoured" in this case.
71--> ''"[[InvokedTrope My power! Use my power!]]"''
72* DiscOneNuke:
73** The discontinued Nintendo WFC shop mode allowed you to obtain powerful equipment (such as the Rose Stem Whip) much sooner than you'd get them offline. Ditto for local wireless shop mode, which can still be used, if you happen to know someone who also has the game is further along in their save file than you.
74** The Shuriken subweapon, which is one of the best skills in the game. It can easily be bought before the first portrait, and mastered before the second one is finished.
75** There's quite a few, actually, in addition to the Shuriken and Ice Needles mentioned above.
76** The humble Long Spear. A weapon as strong as the fully-powered Vampire Killer (ignoring the other benefits the whip has), but it's the common drop of the Armor Knight, which you can meet in large quantities as early as the second portrait! Nothing outclasses it until the first four Portraits are completed, which means it can hold out as the king of damage for two entire areas.
77** The Heaven's Sword, which you can get in the 3rd portrait. It has great range and can hit multiple times, not to mention that a jump-cancelling technique allows you to spam them really easily. You can easily laugh your way through the first fight with Stella with this weapon.
78** The Medusa Whip, also found as early as the 3rd portrait. Mediocre in terms of pure attack power, but anything weak to Earth will be petrified with a hit from this (with any hits afterwards doing double damage), making a lot of nasty enemies later on trivial.
79* DistractedByTheSexy:
80** [[TheVamp Astarte]], one of the female bosses, has an attack that makes either Jonathan or Richter fall in love with her. In gameplay terms, this means that the player loses control of them and is automatically forced to control the female partner (Charlotte for Jonathan, Maria for Richter). If the player is controlling a girl, the attack has no effect. The charmed male character will help Astarte fight Charlotte or Maria.
81** For Zacchino, he always does Touch Damage, but he has an action if he gets too close. If he gets close to Jonathan he will kneel and take out a sword saying "DIE!". If the player is controlling Charlotte he will do the same action but take out a harmless flower. If Charlotte leaves he says "Don't reject me!" but doesn't turn any more hostile than he was before.
82* DreadfulDragonfly: Giant, acid-spitting dragonflies appear throughout the game as enemies.
83* DualBoss:
84** In a series first, [[spoiler:Death and Dracula fight together for the FinalBoss battle]] and prior to that, Stella and Loretta.
85** Also in Nest of Evil, the first room on one of the lower floors has two of the Frankenstein's monsters you fight in Dark Academy.
86%%* DuelBoss: The Whip's Memory, AKA [[spoiler:Richter Belmont]].
87* ElegantGothicLolita: The vampire twins, Stella and Loretta, each with heterochromia.
88%%* EmotionlessGirl: Loretta
89* {{Expy}}: The Lecarde sisters are [[Manga/RozenMaiden Suiseiseki and Souseiseki]]. [[SiblingYinYang Same dispositions/demeanors]], [[ElegantGothicLolita same style wardrobe]], same heterochromatic configurations, same associated weapon themes (except they exchanged, and the water is frozen).
90* FakeDifficulty: A room in the Nest of Evil's 5th gauntlet contains a pair of ''Creatures''. This is basically throwing a proper boss that's already cheap anyway because it can shoot lightning at anywhere in the room from anywhere in the room, and throw in another one. Enjoy getting shocked, shot, and blown up from off screen because you can't see what the other one is doing, and ''obviously'' can't fight back from that distance because your projectiles disappear for no reason, while the enemy's shots can go from one wall to the other with no problem whatsoever.
91* FormulaBreakingEpisode: The basic exploratory nature of the {{Metroidvania}} titles remains the same, except that now you can enter paintings with their own mini-world levels in them. Some of the paintings depict settings that just don't normally occur in Castlevania, such as a massive underground pyramid full of Egyptian mummies, a twisted war-torn carnival of the damned, or an early 20th Century European city.
92* FourIsDeath: Death himself has 4444 HP, which has been a trend for him throughout the {{Metroidvania}} titles.
93* GameBreakingBug: Aside from the occasional freeze glitches, there's a glitch that makes the game UnintentionallyUnwinnable if you skip the dialogue after you battle Death.
94* GameFavoredGender: Downplayed. Jonathan has superior physical defense and offense, and late game, gets access to some extremely powerful weapons, but Charlotte's fully charged spells easily outstrip him in damage early game if you can play around the slow start-up. In addition, several of her spells (Raging Fire) are excellent at crowd control, while others (Gale Force, Rock Riot) allow her to cheese out enemies by hitting them from positions where they cannot retaliate.
95* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: The boss of the Egypt stage can use a Charm spell on Jonathan. As the boss is female, and Charlotte is straight, benching Jonathan takes part of the difficulty out of the fight.
96* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
97** Averted with the Sanctuary spell, which is described as curing all abnormal status conditions of anyone within range. This would make it a useful spell to keep handy, but [[AwesomeButImpractical it has a long casting time and an obscene MP cost]]. Once you have it, your only other hint that it's the way you [[spoiler:cure the twins of their vampirism]] is when Charlotte mentions that she might be able to help now. And, as part of the aversion, you now have to pull the spell off in the middle of a boss fight.
98** The Vampire Killer. The story makes a big deal as to how the whip's power is important, but unlocking its power is entirely optional and has no effect on the ending, although unlocking it at some point is required to unlock the Richter and Maria Renard extra mode. Additionally, using the Vampire Killer is stated to drain the life of the user if they're not a Belmont, which is how Jonathan's father died; however, once you unlock its power there is absolutely no penalty to using it as much you want. (Then again, [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines John Morris]] didn't show the symptoms of his (eventually fatal) whip overuse until some time ''after'' he defeated Dracula.)
99* GenderRestrictedAbility: Aside from the [[DesignatedGirlFight battle]] against Astarte the girls really get shafted in the ability department of this game (aside from Stella and Loretta but they get their own problems later on not related to gender). The girls can't traverse parts of the castle on their own, they can't reach certain areas by themselves, and in general due to not being as combat equipped take a backseat hard to their male partners. On the flip side, they boast magical abilities the men lack, though these are MP dependent and have slow start up that necessitates careful play.
100* GhostlyDeathReveal: Early on, Jonathan and Charlotte meet a ghost who calls himself Wind. Later on, though, Wind reveals himself to be the ghost of [[spoiler:Eric Lecarde, one of the protagonists of ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines Bloodlines]]'' and a friend of Jonathan's father John Morris. In the interim Eric was killed by Brauner but managed to bind his own spirit to Dracula's Castle.]]
101* GiantMedicalSyringe: The Nyx enemies are demon nurses wielding giant syringes that inflict [[UniversalPoison poison status]] if they successfully stick the player character.
102-->'''Nyx''': "Medicine time!" ''*Jab*'' "Don't you feel better now?"
103* GlassCannon: Richter and Maria during Richter Mode. They can at least level up this time, but there's still almost no health.
104* TheGreatSerpent: Subverted. When the player reaches the boss arena in the Nation of Fools, a giant snake erupts from the ground and menacingly stares at them. However, it soon takes on a feminine form, revealing itself to actually be the gorgon Medusa in disguise.
105* GuysSmashGirlsShoot:
106** While a rather loose example as Charlotte can use (magic-assisted) special attacks, Charlotte is more useful using spells that all have a sort of horizontal reach. Jonathan is usually better equipped to fight close range and has higher defense. Jonathan can also be unequipped with a weapon and he will fight bare fisted, an action that can't be duplicated with Charlotte.
107** This is more straight with Richter and Maria. Maria has no physical attacks and only has projectiles.
108* HarderThanHard: There's Hard Mode, which is unlocked by beating the game, and then there are maximum level caps varying from 50, 25 to 1. To make things worse, the lower the level cap is, the greater is the fixed attack bonus enemies will get, and on Level 1 Cap, even the smallest Bat can deal over ''100 damage''.
109%%* HighCollarOfDoom: Brauner.
110* HijackedByGanon: Invoked by Death personally in this game, who was [[spoiler:always waiting for a chance to take down Brauner so Dracula could be revived.]] The only reason that this comes as a surprise at all is because [[spoiler:Dracula's explicitly mentioned as being absent at the start of the game. The end of the game makes it clear that he was never ''absent'', just suppressed by Brauner.]]
111%%** This game has an entire '''gauntlet''' of Castlevania's classic foes return for the game's final stretch. The late-game bosses are none other than several of Dracula's elite minions from ''Castlevania: Rondo of Blood'', most of which hail as far back as the first game of the series. Their boss music is also more intense than that of the game's previous bosses. Basically, the game is telling you that the castle is falling back into Dracula's clutches, and that he and his army are gonna make Brauner look like child's play.
112* HitboxDissonance: All of the bonus characters except for Richter have hitboxes one tile tall, a fraction of their sprites' height. This is necessary so that they can get through narrow paths without the abilities Jonathan and Charlotte would need to unlock, but it's still quite jarring.
113%%* HockeyMaskAndChainsaw
114* HolyHandGrenade: The Holy Water, Cross, and Bible are still this trope, along with several spells, and the unlocked Vampire Killer.
115* {{Homage}}: The Lecarde sisters, as mentioned previously. Neither of them [[VerbalTic says]] "Desu", though. That would be [[TheGrimReaper a different character altogether]].
116* {{Hypocrite}}: Jonathan is quite quick to treat Charlotte like a child (something she absolutely loathes) and even refers to her as his "kid sister" to the shopkeeper to mess with her, then he doesn't exactly enjoy it when Wind calls him "boy".
117* AnIcePerson: Loretta specializes in Ice magic. [[spoiler:While her method of attack is indeed ice-elemental in Sisters mode, you don't get access to either of the sisters' boss form attacks.]]
118%%* ImprobableAimingSkills: Lerajie
119* IncompatibleOrientation: Charlotte is straight, and the boss in the Egypt stage is female. Naturally, unless you're really good, you'll treat that as a DesignatedGirlFight to NoSell the boss's charm spell.
120* InfinityMinusOneSword:
121** The Royal Sword is a reward for an easy sidequest midway through the game, and is not only very strong but boosts several other stats as well. It can quite handily carry the majority of the game for Jonathan.
122** The Golden Axe is the literal strongest weapon in the game and can be bought from the shop, and like all axes can hit enemies twice. The tradeoffs are its slow speed and the fact that, unlike the powered-up Vampire Killer and some other weapons, doesn't inflict elemental damage, only physical.
123* InfinityPlusOneSword: The full-powered Vampire Killer, which requires defeating an OptionalBoss. It isn't the strongest weapon in the game (an honor belonging to the aforementioned Golden Axe), but it's extremely fast, has a wide range, and inflicts Holy damage, which most enemies, including the FinalBoss, are weak to.
124** Most weapon classes have a clear ultimate weapon. For swords, the Damascus Sword (highest ATK) or Stellar Sword (slightly weaker but Holy elemental) will tear through enemies, particularly if you exploit swords' ability to LagCancel.
125** The Holy Claymore is an incredibly strong Holy-element greatsword which also buffs INT by quite a bit.
126** The Golden Axe doesn't deal Holy damage unlike most ultimate weapons, but compensates with the highest ATK value in the game and axe-class weapons' natural ability to hit twice.
127** The Kaiser Knuckle has the highest ATK value of any fist weapon, a very generous hitbox, and the ability to hit twice per attack. The Illusion Fist trades that for the ability to attack quite literally as fast as you can mash the button, and can be easily the most damaging weapon in the game for this reason.
128* ILetYouWin: Death claims to have held back. If so, that [[OneHitKill "I see your death" attack]] of his may have been a bit over the top.
129* JustAKid: A RunningGag with Charlotte, who doesn't like being treated like a child. Jonathan also takes offense when Wind calls him a "boy".
130* LagCancel: The backdash and land cancel still exist from previous games. Many of the subweapons can get a crazy rate of fire.
131* LampshadeHanging: Dracula does this, commenting about how he and Death should get to [[DualBoss double team]] too.
132* LargeHam: Brauner, particularly in his boss battle.
133-->'''Brauner''': ''BLOOD-ART TECHNIQUE! A PAINTING OF THE '''SOUL!!''' I'LL MAKE '''YOU''' MY '''MASTERPIECE!!!''' '' '''''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis THIS...]]''''' ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis IS]]'' '''''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis ART]]!!!!!'''''
134* LastDiscMagic: The Greatest Five Dual Crush, [[spoiler:which summons, in order, Richter, [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Leon]], [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse Trevor]], [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance Juste]], and [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaI Simon Belmont]]. Trevor and Simon would also appear in their original NES sprites once in a while.]]
135* LegacyBossBattle: The boss battles in the Nest of Evil were mostly boss fights from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', with a few from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''.
136* LethalJokeItem:
137** The Cream Pie, once mastered. [[spoiler:It is very effective against the Whip's Memory (Richter Belmont), as it does Dark damage, which is his elemental weakness, as well as being easy on the MP (allowing for spamming) and having decent range.]]
138** Ancient Armor, a very rare drop from Old Axe Armors. It forces every damage hit to deal 10% of the player's health, regardless of their defense. While this doesn't seem to be useful on a normal playthrough, it becomes extremely valuable for players planning on venturing in Hard Level 1 difficulty.
139* LevelLimiter: One feature of the hard difficulty is that you must pick a reduced level cap, the choices being 50, 25, or even 1. Special stat boosting items are unlocked as a reward for beating the game on each cap.
140* LighterAndSofter: Compared to ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', the first Metroidvania. Alucard is a loner, while in this game, Jonathan and Charlotte are trusted partners all the way through. There's even way more funny moments and dialogue here thanks to the protagonist duo's interactions.
141* LikeBrotherAndSister: At the beginning, Jonathan Morris states that his childhood friend Charlotte Aulin is like his dear sister, much to her displeasure, since she doesn't like to be treated like a child.
142* LineOfSightName: The ghost who helps Jonathan and Charlotte seemingly has no name ([[spoiler:until he turns out to be Eric Lecarde]]), but names himself after the first thing that comes to mind. In this case, blowing Wind.
143* LooksLikeOrlok: Brauner fits this vampire design, despite his dignity, formal attire, and [[HighClassGlass monocle]].
144* LoveMakesYouEvil:
145** Brauner was driven to evil when his daughters were killed in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
146** The boss Astarte can seduce Jonathan to her side, resulting in Jonathan attacking Charlotte relentlessly.
147* MadArtist: Brauner. The whole haunted architecture is his doing, which applies to almost the entire game.
148* MagicSkirt: Charlotte's skirt will flutter when she drops from a great height, but it will *not* fly up to show anything underneath.
149* ManaShield: When your partner takes damage, it goes to MP. If you run out of MP this way, your partner goes [[PartyInMyPocket back to your pocket]]. [[spoiler:An equippable item allows you to set it back to HP.]]
150* MonsterClown: The aptly named [[ShapedLikeItself Killer Clown]].
151* MultipleEndings: Like most {{Metroidvania}} games, there's more than one ending. It is also the first game in the series in which the bad ending results in a GameOver screen rather than a credits roll.
152* MythologyGag:
153** This is the third major game in a row to remix ''VideoGame/HauntedCastle'' music, using "Cross Your Heart" as the music for the Dark Academy, now renamed "Crucifix Held Close". Not surprisingly, "Iron Blue Intention" from the direct predecessor ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'' is remixed. ''Portrait'' also has the first remix of the "Overture" from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse''.
154** In something of a gameplay callback, the last third of the game consists of [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight visiting inverted versions of previous paintings]], in which most of the bosses you fight come from [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaI the original game]]. The only exception is the Werewolf, which hails from ''Castlevania: Rondo of Blood''
155** In the final boss battle, [[spoiler:Death offers up his power to enhance the "not fully resurrected" Dracula. Dracula absorbs this power with a cry of "[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Soul Steal!!]]"]]
156* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:After Jonathan and Charlotte defeat Brauner, Death comes in and finishes him off, revealing that the last obstacle to Dracula's resurrection has been removed.]]
157* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Brauner made two grievous errors. First, he didn't keep Stella and Loretta on a tight enough leash, and second, if he had to brainwash them, then he should not have allowed them to enter his headquarters.]]
158* NoblewomansLaugh: Stella's implied to do this in some of the extra bonus artwork.
159* NonLethalKO: Getting reduced to 0 HP by the [[spoiler:[[OptionalBoss Whip's Memory/Richter Belmont]]]] will simply [[spoiler:boot you back to the castle's dining room with all HP and MP intact instead of causing a GameOver. Any items you use during the fight will not be restored.]]
160* NonStandardGameOver: [[spoiler:Killing Stella and Loretta]] rather than curing them results in an ending where [[spoiler:Brauner gets away]], followed by the GameOver screen.
161* NotCompletelyUseless:
162** Sanctuary and Undead Killer. The former takes a long time to cast and the other does relatively little damage, but the former is required to get to the endgame, and both can render the Red Skeletons and Red Armours DeaderThanDead.
163** Undead Killer is also arguably the second best whip to the fully powered Vampire Killer, being mostly similar but downgraded in power and with the aforementioned Red Skeleton and Red Armour killing ability.
164* OfCorsetsSexy: Stella wears a loose-fitting corset as part of her costume.
165* OneeSama: Loretta calls Stella this in the Japanese version, either using "[[FirstNameBasis Stella]]" or "Sister" in the English version.
166* OptionalBoss: Whip's Memory, which takes the form of [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Richter Belmont]]]] and serves as the training needed to unlock [[spoiler:the Vampire Killer's [[InfinityPlusOneSword true power]]]]. The BonusDungeon is also full of them.
167* Over100PercentCompletion: The maximum map completion rating is 1000%. There's 10 maps in all and each map is worth 100%.
168* PartyInMyPocket: Apparently, this isn't just visual shorthand. Go stand next to Vincent, put away your partner, and hold Up for a while. Likely related to how [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse Trevor]] does it.
169-->'''Vincent''': No... They--... They ''killed'' Jonathan?!\
170'''Jonathan''': Nah, I'm still around.\
171'''Vincent''': [[LampshadeHanging What? You're still here? But I thought...]]
172* PermanentlyMissableContent: Some items obtained in the course of exploration are unique. In particular, the Long Sword, an otherwise unremarkable weapon found in the first portrait, is required much later for one of Wind's quests. If you sell it, there's no way to get another one. Other items that can be lost forever prior to their quests include the Amanita, Thick Glasses, and the entire set of Nun's equipment.
173* PersonalEffectsReveal: After the first fight with Stella, you obtain a locket that reveals that [[spoiler:she and Loretta are Wind/Eric's daughters]].
174* PieInTheFace: Jonathan gets cream pies ([[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant literally not metaphorically!]]) as a subweapon. They do heavy "Dark" damage, and thus at a suficient level, will completely smear the "Light"-aligned OptionalBoss.
175* PimpedOutDress: The vampire sisters wear fancy dresses. Charlotte gets several as armor, although they don't show up on her sprites.
176%%* PinkMeansFeminine: Stella's dress is this with some blue.
177* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Inverted, Jonathan's outfit and menu options are red/pink, while Charlotte's outfit and menu items are blue.
178* PluckyComicRelief: The monk-turned-shopkeeper Vincent Dorin fills this role. He is bitten by a vampire and slowly succumbs to a similar fate, and it's ''played for laughs''.
179* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: Brauner and Death see each other as the main threat to their own goals, and between that and their AffablyEvil natures, they don't put much effort into antagonizing the protagonists beyond petty dismissal. Meanwhile Jonathan tends to overcompensate for his issues and these snubs by acting overly confident and aggressive against his enemies. This reaches the point that Death's boss battle is one that Death explicitly ''does not want to have'', and he is literally goaded into it.
180* PortalPicture: Each portrait leads to a different world.
181* PostEndGameContent: Depending on the ending, you may get more or less, but [[AnotherSideAnotherStory Sisters]] and Richter modes are this, as well as BossRush.
182* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Brauner, when he [[spoiler:does his turn-into-a-portrait-and-attempt-to-ram-into-you attack]].
183* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo:
184** The Whip's Memory is [[spoiler:Richter]].
185** In the Nest of Evil, you fight copies of [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse Trevor,]] [[EvilKnockoff Grant]], [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight and Sypha]]]].
186** Also, the Greatest Five Dual Crash, which makes cameos of the [[spoiler:previous wielders of the Vampire Killer - in order, Richter, [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Leon]], [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse Trevor]], [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance Juste]], and [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaI Simon Belmont]]]].
187* PurpleIsPowerful: Brauner wears a purple suit, while Death's robe is also purple shaded.
188* PuzzleBoss: The Dullahan does massive damage to your level 7 or so characters with their minimal equipment, and it is unrealistic to dodge everything he throws. The solution? [[spoiler:He'll never use his most damaging attack if you focus your attacks on his head.]] Alternatively, one may notice that this boss, like every other in the game, telegraphs every single major attack.
189* RandomDrop: Money, spells, and subweapons can be obtained from the corpses (or, seeing they're undead, "recorpses") of your enemies. Have fun getting the drop from the Peeping Eye, an object that lets you see breakable walls. [[RareRandomDrop It starts at 0.69% of a chance]]. Be ready to get Luck boosting items if you want it.
190%%* RedIsHeroic: Jonathan wears a red jacket.
191* RegionalBonus: Richter's name is [[BlindIdiotTranslation spelled correctly]] in the British English localization, and skipping the after battle taunt with Death no longer breaks the game. Too bad it also removes quest reward duping.
192* ReviveKillsZombie: Charlotte can learn a useful healing spell that also serves to kill otherwise {{Invincible Minor Minion}}s. Though, gameplay-wise, Sanctuary is going to be used for killing way more than for healing, and it's so slow you may not use it often anyway.
193* SamusIsAGirl: Implied with Old Axe Armor in its unlockable mode, enemies with gender-based reactions will react to Old Axe Armor as if it was female. A rare case of this being done for gameplay purposes. Astarte's Temptation attack would essentially be an instant GameOver if Old Axe Armor were considered male, as they don't have a partner. [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/castlevania/images/b/b3/Por_pic_41.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081025191513 There's even official art of her!]]
194* SayMyName:
195** When switching partners. "Jonathan!" "Charlotte!" "Jonathan!" "Charlotte!"
196** Or, [[spoiler:[[OneeSama "Sister!"]] "Loretta!" [[OneeSama "Sister!"]] "Loretta!"]]
197** In the Japanese audio - [[http://tasvideos.org/1437M.html "Jonasan! Sharotto! Jonasan! Sharotto! Jonasan! Sharotto!"]]
198* ShiftingSandLand: The two desert areas, which combine this with BuildLikeAnEgyptian.
199* SceneryPorn: The backgrounds in some of the areas inside paintings are portrayed in 3-D, and they stand out pleasantly. The outside areas of the desert areas are the best examples.
200%%* ShipperOnDeck: Vincent in a conversation with both characters on screen.
201* ShipTease: The game hints at Charlotte having a hidden crush on Jonathan. Some of the items you can find are a wedding dress and the engagement ring, which are bound to give some fans ideas. From the way Jonathan and Charlotte interact with and tease each other so often — including in the good ending — it is already way too obvious that they are more than just close friends, hinting that they have sincere feelings toward each other. Someone apparently forgot to tell the manual writer, though, since the manual outright says their relationship is "platonic".
202* SharedUnusualTrait: Stella and Loretta have one green and one red eye [[spoiler:while under Brauner's control]], but which eye is which color is different for each sister.
203* ShoutOut:
204** In contrast to the ''Castlevania'' remixes found in the other late-game paintings, the music in the second desert level is remixed from the MSX game ''King's Valley II''.
205** Dracula's appearance in this game is based on Creator/BelaLugosi's version, which was rarely used after the 3rd and 4th generation games.
206** One of the most useful weapons in the game is Nebula, a chain whip that homes on enemies and can form a protective shield with its special attack. Nebula. Chain. Nebula... Chain... [[Manga/SaintSeiya Nope, doesn't ring a bell!]]
207** The Knee Strike was "inspired by [[VideoGame/DoubleDragon legendary]] [[Franchise/StreetFighter martial artists]]."
208** The three award items, [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Vic Viper]], VideoGame/{{Twinbee}}, and Konami Man, are references to ''[[VideoGame/TheGoonies The Goonies]]'' video game for the Famicom. The description for these items are "5000 points", which is the amount the player receives if he/she catches the item before it disappears.
209** The description for the fedora says it [[Franchise/IndianaJones just feels right with a whip]]. The leather whip's description as being for a warrior with panache could plausibly be a reference to the same.
210** The description for the tinned spinach says it may give the illusion of increased muscle mass, likely a reference to Franchise/{{Popeye}}.
211** That Griffon Wing Jump is unmistakably a [[Franchise/StreetFighter Shoryuken]]. Specifically a Ken-style one, as it includes fire.
212** [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Salamander]], Charlotte's most AwesomeButImpractical expensive spell, summons a fire lizard. It runs around just like the titular creature.
213** The Axe Bomber "dual spell" is the Cross Bomber, one of the Hell Missionaries' tag-team finishers in ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'', complete with "Magnet Power" effects.
214** The boss of the London-esque 13th Street is the Werewolf. Hm... That [[Franchise/UniversalHorror seems]] [[Music/WarrenZevon familiar]]...
215** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' references turn up in ''Portrait of Ruin'':
216*** If you hold up for a couple seconds, Jonathan and Charlotte will strike fabulous poses. Charlotte in particular strikes a pose similar to one of Jolyne's poses, while Jonathan appears to use a mirrored version of one of Jonathan '''Joestar's''' poses.
217*** If you activate the Stopwatch subweapon to [[TimeStandsStill freeze time]] and throw knives, they will stop dead in the frozen time after leaving Jonathan's hands the same way Dio does it in Stardust Crusaders. Also, Charlotte has a time-stopping spell and shouts "Subete yo, tomare!" ("Everything, stop!") when activating it, referencing Dio's classic "Toki yo, tomare!" ("Time, stop!") line.
218** A subtle one, but the duo's [[SayMyName "JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE!"]] banter references ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' - a character named [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AzoQvB7LsY Charlotte Pickles keeps on calling Jonathan]].
219** The inventory sprite for the "Eye for Decay" headwear looks just like a scouter from ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
220* ShutUpHannibal: Jonathan to Brauner.
221--> [[spoiler:I don't care! Being a family means being connected by heart. Ties of blood and soul is insignificant. When I learned why my father did what he did, I understood. You used a curse to manipulate your "dear daughters!" Now THAT'S sad!]]
222* SiblingSenioritySquabble: While Stella and Loretta are twins, Stella was born first and acts as the older sister. After Stella [[spoiler:breaks down sobbing as their father passes on]], Loretta promises to become stronger so she will not have to take as much of the burden.
223* SiblingYinYang: Stella is a more emotional swordswoman, while Loretta is a more detached spellcaster.
224* SpritePolygonMix: For some reason, the Peeping Eye enemy is the only one in the game rendered with polygons instead of the usual sprites. Also, the intro is done in CGI. Similar in quality to that of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', the War of the Lions, but it's less noticeable.
225* StellarName: The Stellar Sword, once owned by [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance Maxim]], which is one of the last quest rewards.
226%%** Stella.
227* SupermodelStrut: During her boss fight, the [[TheVamp vampy]] Astarte has an exaggerated and seductive strut as her walking animation, to better illustrate her as an irresistible temptress.
228* SuperMovePortraitAttack: When activating a Dual Crush, Jonathan and Charlotte's portraits briefly flash on-screen while shouting the incantation.
229* SuspendSave: It also resets the enemies in an area when you restart, which helps getting {{Randomly Drop|s}}ped items in the BonusDungeon, as that area doesn't allow {{Backtracking}}.
230* SwordAndSorcerer: Two pairs of this, actually; Jonathan and Stella as fighters and Charlotte and Loretta as witches.
231* {{Trainstopping}}: One of the first and most memorable moments of 13th Street.
232* TrueBlueFemininity: Charlotte, who wears blue and uses magic over brute force.
233* UngratefulBastard: While Vincent says he's grateful if you cure him of his vampirism, he sure doesn't show it. [[NoHeroDiscount He refuses to give the heroes a discount]] despite everything and to twist the knife further, his spoken dialogue changes if you enter his shop while he's a vampire, with him begging, "I'll lower the price... I'll lower the price!", of which he does no such thing.
234* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Whatever you do, [[GameBreakingBug DO NOT skip the cutscene after defeating Death]]. Thankfully, this bug was fixed for the European release and later Japanese copies.
235* UniqueEnemy:
236** The two giant sandworms in the two Egyptian-themed levels. Sure, they are just PaletteSwap of one another, but each one has its own entry in the bestiary, and they never reappear after having been killed. Well, the one in the first desert level does, but it's at the opposite side of the level.
237** The dodo, the giant ghost, and the king ghoul, all required for sidequests. The dodo behaves exactly the same as it did in ''Symphony''.
238* VampireVords: The only time in the series that Dracula has such, as a call back to Creator/BelaLugosi 's portrayal of the Count in the original film from 1931.
239* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Defeating the enemies may grant you with new subweapons for Jonathan and new spells for Charlotte.
240* WakeUpCallBoss:
241** Dullahan, the very first boss. Mostly because his attacks are hard to dodge and he can nail you in 3-4 hits. Using Charlotte can make him easier with the right spells, which serves as a helpful reminder that you have another character to use.
242** Astarte as well: going in with just Jonathan is suicide due to her Temptation attack, and at the same time, Charlotte can barely scratch her due to her towering magical defense. If Dullahan is the game's way of reminding the player that they have multiple characters for different situations, Astarte is the game's way of forcing the player to learn to switch them back and forth on the fly.
243** The first round of combat with Death. Up to this point, the player may not have exactly had much in the way of hard bosses aside from the two above. Death? Makes the aforementioned two bosses look like toddlers in comparison. Simply put, the player ''needs'' to mix up their attack elements as appropriate for the enemy if they wish to have a fighting chance. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Even with that in mind, prepare for a long fight.]] Heavens have mercy on those who venture into this fight in Hard Mode without Ancient Armor...
244* WithThisHerring: The game starts Jonathan with the legendary Vampire Killer, but he can't use it, so it's pathetically weak. It can be upgraded later, though.
245* WizardingSchool: The Dark Academy is one of these, and similar rooms make up part of the Forest of Doom.
246* WolfpackBoss: The fake ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse Dracula's Curse]]'' protagonists who, much like their appearance in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]'', show up as bosses, though here it's in the [[BonusDungeon optional Nest of Evil area]]. With all of them attacking at once, that makes this a trio boss.
247* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: The barrier at the top of the castle should be a giveaway that [[spoiler:Brauner isn't the FinalBoss]].

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