History VideoGame / CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow

* DarkerAndEdgier: Easily one of the darkest entries in the ''Castlevania'' series, given both the level of {{Gorn}}, bucketloads of BlackAndGreyMorality, and the exceptionally CrapsackWorld setting.

* WeCanRuleTogether: [[TheVamp Carmilla]] makes this offer to Gabriel, only to go in a rage when you turn her down. [[spoiler: Satan]] also offers this to Gabriel, but is quick to go back on the deal when Gabriel {{death glare}}s him.

* RatedMForManly

* PreOrderBonus: Gamestop preorders got a black Castlevania shirt with a Combat Cross motif. Best Buy preorders got a download code for ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''.

* AnimalMotifs: Aplenty: Cornell and wolves, Carmilla and bats, Malphas and crows, and Gabriel and birds of prey. [[spoiler: He switches to dragons.]]

* AnachronismStew: Although this game is set in the year 1047 AD, most of the deceased knights that you stumble upon are wearing Renaissance-era plate armor. Clothing styles and architecture are also of Renaissance era instead of 11th century era.
** Although it can be countered with the fact that powerful monsters really exist so sturdier building and smithing techniques came about faster due to desperate need.

** GodIsEvil: What fate makes Gabriel turns out to be an antithesis to his belief above, "Where is this brother who is the supposed savior? Where is this warrior of light? More lies dreamt up by the Church to keep us subservient to their will, no doubt. How is it possible that God exists when he allows the murder and killing of so many of our brethren?"

** [[spoiler: {{Satan}} is a self-centered FallenAngel who feels he is entitled to rule above God, and upon being defeated by Gabriel, threatens him by implying he will rape and torture his deceased wife's soul. [[VideoGame/CastlvaniaLordsOfShadow2 After being summoned back to Earth]], Satan kills his own son for incompetence and tries to destroy the Earth out of spite for Dracula and Alucard thwarting his plans. In a final act of cruelty, Satan possesses Alucard to force Dracula to fight his son, taunting him throughout their battle with references to child abuse, and ultimately proves himself to be nothing more than a [[DirtyCoward coward]] by trying to flee from his impending death.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original continuity, Cornell was the hero of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLegacyOfDarkness''. Here, he's the first of the three Lords of Shadow that Gabriel must hunt down.
** [[spoiler:Things get more complicated when Cornell reveals that the Lords of Shadow are the dark aspects of the Brotherhood of Light's founders, left behind when the founders performed a ritual to ascend to heaven. His human self was legitimately heroic, and there is an angelic version of him serving God in heaven, but we don't get to see either one.]]

** DeathOfTheOldGods: The story takes place in an era where Christianity is slowly displacing the Old Gods humanity once worshiped in bygone times. [[spoiler: Gabriel eventually ends up killing Pan, one of the last surviving Old Gods.]]

--->'''Carmilla:''' [[{{Yandere}} Look upon Carmilla... am I not beautiful?]] ''(cackles)''

* ScrewySquirrel: The Chupacabra for the player.

** Olrox, who can be miles away one moment and right in your face the next.

* BadassGrandpa: Zobek, a gray-haired warrior who can fend off enormous titans, packs of ghouls, and dozens of undead vampires all by himself. [[spoiler: Being one of the Lords of Shadow, arguably the most powerful one, probably helped.]]

* BadassGrandpa: Zobek, a gray-haired warrior who can fend off enormous titans, packs of ghouls, and dozens of undead vampires all by himself.

''Castlevania: Lords of Shadow'' is a 2010 action adventure [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] of the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' franchise developed by Creator/MercurySteam with oversight by Creator/HideoKojima and published by Creator/{{Konami}} for UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/{{Xbox360}} and PC. Upon its release, the game was the first true 3D ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' title since ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in 2005.

** When Gabriel, after several instances of fighting alongside with Zobek, Zobek's narration says [[spoiler: that the vampires' reckoning is coming in the form of a "Knight in Shining Armor with Death at his side."]]

* [[ABoyAndHisX A Girl and her Golem]]: Claudia and her Black Knight Golem. She's a telepathically-communicating CuteMute [[LastOfHerKind who is also the last of the]] {{Precursors}}, he's a humongous {{Golem}} feeding off the souls of the monsters trying to do her harm.

* AntiHero: Gabriel, who starts out as a [[ClassicalAntiHero Type I]], but turns into a [[UnscrupulousHero Type IV]] by the end of his journey. A double subversion in that [[spoiler: approaching the conclusion of the main game he discards his doubt and becomes an IdealHero. That period of noble-minded valiance doesn't last long, though, as he falls from grace to become –- astonishingly enough! –- an AntiVillain. [[note]] Granted, an Anti-Villain who's ready and waiting to commit homicides.[[/note]] Ultimately, however, it is played straight, as he returns to being unscrupulous by the time ''2'' rolls about.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: Sort of with Cornell, the hero of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLegacyOfDarkness'', is the first of the three Lords of Shadow.
** [[spoiler: it's revealed that the Lords of shadow are the soulless bodies of three of the Brotherhood's founders whose souls rose to heaven as beings only second to God. Meaning Cornell is a heroic person, but just not the part you fight.]]

** Justified in the case of Dracula, [[spoiler: since the story takes place before he becomes a vampire. By the end of the two DLC chapters he has gained power equal to what he's supposed to have if not more.]]

* AntiHero: Gabriel, who starts out as a [[ClassicalAntiHero Type I]], but turns into a [[UnscrupulousHero Type IV]] by the end of his journey. A double subversion in that [[spoiler: approaching the conclusion of the main game he discards his doubt and becomes an IdealHero. That period of noble-minded valiance doesn't last long, though, as he falls from grace to become – astonishingly enough! – an AntiVillain. [[note]] Granted, an Anti-Villain who's ready and waiting to commit homicides.[[/note]] Ultimately, however, it is played straight, as he returns to being unscrupulous by the time ''2'' rolls about.]]

* BlackAndGreyMorality: Unlike the first series of games where one side was clearly good and evil, this series is a lot more ambiguous. Dracula has become the Prince of Darkness and terrorizes the world, but the Brotherhood of Light knew what he would become so they convinced his wife to keep his son's birth a secret so said child may one day destroy him. However, it is implied that [[spoiler: Gabriel going down the path where he became Dracula was the only way to stop Satan.]]

* DyingRace: ''Numerous'' in-game foes and allies belong to a species that are slowly dying out. Goblins and trolls are on the verge of extinction, the very last ogre had taken refuge in Malphas' stronghold, giant spiders are being poached for their precious silk, the Old Gods are being replaced by one God, and dragons died out long before the game's events. The sequel adds harpies, lycans, and vampires to this list, as well.

* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: The Lords of Shadow all went from normal humans to demons with decidedly monstrous true forms. [[spoiler: Subverted with Gabriel, however; he's fairly humanlike even as a vampire, and this is in an universe, where to take on the visage of a human, a vampire must survive for a few ''centuries''.]]

** [[spoiler: The founding members' of the Brotherhood of Light plan to purify themselves and ascend to Heaven as powerful spiritual beings worked well enough, but the evil they left behind in their bodies grew into the Lords of Shadow.]]

* GrimUpNorth: The Land of the Vampires is in a very cold climate that gets little sun. Adjacent to their kingdom is Wygol Village, which instead of being a [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia friendly haven for the player]], is a Eastern Europe hellhole constantly under attack by the monsters.

** [[spoiler:Of course, that happens after the game is already hijacked once, by Satan. You expect to fight the Lord of the Dead in a climactic showdown that the entire game has been building up to. Zobek appears, reveals that he was EvilAllAlong and is the Necromancer himself, he gives Gabriel a big, winded speech, and even offs Gabriel... and then Satan appears, anticlimactically does away with Zobek, and takes over as the real final boss.]]

* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: They look more like pygmie chimpanzee-men than the usual gremlins you may be used to. They're fond of throwing around grenades, too.

* WhamShot: In the epilogue, [[spoiler: Gabriel and Zobek fight briefly before Zobek's outfit changes from a cloak to a business suit. He pushes Gabriel out of a window, and Gabriel falls into a modern day city.]]

* YinYangBomb: Gabriel gets two of pendants that let him use Light and Shadow magic in battle. Switching between the two on the fly can cause some truly devastating combos.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The spell separating the Earth from the Heavens is broken and Satan is banished to Hell, but Marie cannot be brought back to life, and is forced to leave Gabriel behind as she passes on to Heaven. Then Gabriel ends up [[{{Dracula}} the immortal vampire]] in the process of cleaning up the final legacies of the Lords of Shadow, forever separating him from his love.]]

''Castlevania: Lords of Shadow'' is a 2010 action adventure [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] of the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' franchise developed by Spaniard studio [[VideoGame/CliveBarkersJericho Mercury Steam]] with oversight by Creator/HideoKojima and published by Creator/{{Konami}} for UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/{{Xbox360}} and PC. Upon its release, the game was the first true 3D ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' title since ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in 2005.

* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:Zobek, who Satan upstages as the final boss.]]

''Lords of Shadow'' were followed by ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadowMirrorOfFate'' released in 2013 for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS (later ported to UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/{{Xbox360}} and PC), and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow2'' for [=PlayStation3=], Xbox360 and PC, released in February 2014. It also had an August 2013 UpdatedRerelease with the {{DLC}} {{Expansion Pack}}s included, ''Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Ultimate Edition''.

In 2017, Konami announced they were adapting the ''Lords of Shadow'' sub series into a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKGqRaUY2UU pachinko machine]], featuring an original story, and new characters to the Lords of Shadow universe.

In 2017, Konami announced they were adapting the ''Lords of Shadow'' sub series into a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKGqRaUY2UU pachinko machine]], featuring an original story, and new characters to the Lords of Shadow universe. [[UnderStatement Fans were less then pleased...]]

* {{Badass}}: Gabriel Belmont, so very much.