History VideoGame / CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow

* TragicMonster: [[spoiler:Once again, Gabriel, after the ending credits.]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Rinaldo Gandolfi's spiked chain is designed for controlling large beasts with agonizing pain and then killing them when they are no longer of any use. The elders of the Brotherhood of Light were right about its cruel nature...

* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Zobek is the Lord of Death and the final of the three Lords of Shadow.]]

** The Lord of Werewolves is named Cornell, the Werewolf protagonist of ''[[VideoGame/{{Castlevania64}} Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness]]''
** The Lord of Vampires is named Carmilla, a vampire familiar of Dracula who featured heavily in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'' and ''CastlevaniaJudgment''.

* PreOrderBonus: Gamestop preorders got a beautiful black Castlevania shirt with a motif of the Combat Cross. But those who bought a retail copy from Best Buy got a code to download CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight for free. Two very excellent options depending on who you are. If you've played every game, you can get the shirt, or buy a retail copy and give the code to a non-VideoGame/{{Castlevania}} savvy player to spread the love.
* PressXToNotDie: Usually has to be done with bosses once you reduce their health to a certain point, either to proceed to the next phase of the fight or to kill them. They're somewhat easier than the quick time events in other games, thanks to you being able to press any button for most of them, and not getting killed if you fail one (though the boss usually regenerates some health).
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: especially with the DLC
* RealIsBrown: ''Spectacularly'' averted.

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Gabriel after consuming Laura and then absorbing the power of the Forgotten One at the end of the Ressurection DLC. After executing the Forgotten One, Gabriel destroys his combat cross, and eventually goes on to become the EvilOverlord Dracula.]]

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Every single main character dies horribly, save for Zobek, who turns out to be mysteriously still alive in the modern era! Laura isn't killed either, and becomes something of a WhatHappenedToTheMouse until the ''Reverie'' DLC came out.]]
* KleptomaniacHero: Gabriel taking gems from his fallen brethrens, as if they are going to use them anyway.

* LightningBruiser: Cornell. Also serves as a WakeUpCallBoss.
** The giant spiders also count.
** Not to mention Brauner, who can be miles away one moment and right in your face the next.

* LoveRedeems: Laura nearly kills Gabriel, but spares him after seeing him and Marie's spirit embrace. Almost makes Laura a [[TheWoobie woobie]], given how often the game mentions how Laura misses her mother (who died long ago; Laura's a centuries old [[UndeadChild vampire]]). [[spoiler:Also Gabriel himself in the end, although the TheStinger kind of throws it out the window.]]

* MindScrew: [[spoiler:The epilogue.]]

* XMeetsY: ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' meets ''Franchise/Castlevania''

* TronLines: [[spoiler:Pan]]'s animal forms feature these.

** It is mentioned villagers started calling the Combat Cross as the ''[[VideoGame/{{Castlevania1986}} Vampire Killer]]''.

* NotSoDifferent: All three of The Lords of Shadow to Gabriel. [[spoiler:Even one of the generic Necromancer enemies, who is briefly played up as the Lord of Death, gets one during a cutscene.]] Carmilla even goes so far to say that Gabriel is even worse than her [[spoiler:since killing the Lords would also kill their heavenly counterparts, which Gabriel was all too willing to do.]]
** To view the whole thing at another angle, all these lecturing could be just some HannibalLecture to tear down Gabriel and the player's morale while they are working together to save the world's sorry ass from the vile grip of darkness.

* TheOnlyOne: Gabriel is the only one who can defeat the Lords of Shadow, yada yada.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The three titular Lords of Shadow -- Cornell, Carmilla, and Death -- [[spoiler:used to be the founders of the Brotherhood of Light]].

** The Dimensional Prison holding the Forgotten One also goes from lava filled ruins to giant landmasses floating in nothingness.

** Gabriel's profile mentions he may be an illegitimate son of the Cronqvist family. [[spoiler:Mathias Cronqvist is Dracula's original name in ''CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence''.]]

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: [[spoiler:The final boss is... Satan. Yes, ''that'' Satan. Sure, he's relevant to the game's mythology and all, but he reveals himself as TheManBehindTheMan about five minutes before the battle begins.]]

* GuideDangIt: When rappelling, you can kick-jump off the wall. If you kick again immediately after landing back on the wall after the first jump, you'll fly out farther. Incidentally, the game and manual never tell you this and it happens to be required to get through part of the Clock Tower level.
** Actually, it does tell you. Once. ''Really'' early in the game.
* HauntedCastle: Well, duh.
* HereThereWereDragons

** [[spoiler:DeathOfTheOldGods: Gabriel ends up killing Pan, apparently putting an end to the Old Gods once and for all.]]
* [[spoiler:EvilAllAlong: Zobek is the Lord of Death and the final of the three Lords of Shadow.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even after becoming a Lord of Shadow, Carmilla still despises Friedrich von Frankestein's twisted experiments on humans. She spends several ''centuries'' torturing him for these crimes.

* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Gabriel pokes out both of the Giant Ogre's eyes during their confrontation.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Gabriel after consuming Laura and then absorbing the power of the Forgotten One at the end of the Ressurection DLC. After executing the Forgotten one, he destroys his combat cross, and eventually goes on to become the EvilOverlord Dracula.]]

* FanNickname: [[Music/LadyGaga Lady Baba]].
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Gabriel becomes an immortal vampire who will never see his wife again and is destined to do battle with his own descendants for the rest of his life.]]

* GoneHorriblyWrong: The Brotherhood of Light's Founders' attempt to purify themselves and ascend to Heaven as powerful spiritual beings worked well enough...[[spoiler:too bad their bodies became the vessels for the evil they left behind and became the Lords of Shadow.]]
* GrimUpNorth: The setting is a little more fleshed out, in that the kingdom 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 [[CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia friendly haven for the player]], is a sacked Eastern Europe hellhole constantly under attack by the vampires.

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:The entire story was orchestrated by {{Satan}} to obtain the [[MacGuffin God Mask]] and get back into Heaven. He was the one who manipulated [[EvilAllAlong Lord of the Dead]] Zobek into casting the spell that separated Earth from the Heavens and then manipulated Gabriel into killing his own wife. This leads to Gabriel's quest to reunite the 3 pieces of the God Mask, which Satan plans to take after eliminating his two {{Unwitting Pawn}}s. Unfortunately for him, [[SpannerInTheWorks Gabriel won't stay dead]].]]

* FullBoarAction: Better watch out when Gabriel jumps onto an armored boar and tears around the place.
* GeniusLoci: A scroll tells you that Bernhard Castle, where Carmilla, Laura and their vampire army now live, may be a sentient creature, which would be the reason why it was never possible to give a complete map of the place, as it constantly changes. You never see it happen, though, which is an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome.

* ItGotWorse: [[spoiler:Gabriel awakes to find he shanked Claudia in the chest, and it's all downhill from there...]]
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: You think Gabriel looked back on his adventures fondly?

** Carmilla's [[spoiler:OneWingedAngel form, which transforms her from EvilIsSexy into a hideous, naked humanoid bat maonster.

* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Gabriel suffers this right after banishing Satan, which he hates to the bones.]]
* FissionMailed: [[spoiler:Right before the final battle Gabriel gets this after his death in the hands of the Necromancer, and then is revived by Marie.]]

** [[spoiler:Baba Yaga says that the "[[{{Satan}} King of the Angels]]" has told her Gabriel would arrive.]]
** The Priest in Wygol Abbey [[spoiler:mentions the Devil was been taunting the holy man in his dreams about the arrival of Gabriel and Zobek.]]
** If you're familiar with the [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence story of the main Castlevania timeline]] and read Gabriel's own profile you may recognize the significance of the name Cronqvist

* DespairEventHorizon: Gabriel, after learning [[spoiler:that he killed his own wife under Zobek's control, and then that the MacGuffin he spent the entire story assembling can't bring her back]].
* {{Determinator}}: Gabriel's determined spirit persevered despite some [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone revelations]] that would have broken a normal man. He did not care for the creatures that roamed the land, if they stand in his way, he will not hesitate to destroy them.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Regular human Gabriel takes out both [[spoiler: both [[TheOldGods Old God]] Pan and {{Satan}} himself. The bestiary does specifically state that such beings are weaker outside of their home domains, however.]]

* EldritchLocation: The Necromancer's stronghold in Chapters X-XII gets more and more Eldritchy as you progress, until it's become an AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield.
* EndOfAnAge: The Old Gods and the mythological creatures that appear in their presence have long since been forgotten by mankind, and their last remnants are soon to vanish.

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:The entire story was orchestrated by {{Satan}} to obtain the [[MacGuffin God Mask]] and get back into Heaven. He was the one who manipulated [[TheReveal Lord of the Dead]] Zobek into casting the spell to separate Earth from the Heavens and then manipulated Gabriel into killing his own wife. This leads to Gabriel's quest to reunite the 3 pieces of the God Mask, which Satan plans to take after eliminating his two {{Unwitting Pawn}}s. Unfortunately for him, [[SpannerInTheWorks Gabriel won't stay dead]].]]
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Final stage is one the Lord of the Dead's personal tower hq.

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Gabriel after consuming Laura and then absorbing the power of the Forgotten One at the end of the Ressurection DLC. After executing the demon, he destroys the combat cross, signifying his total hatred for God, the Brotherhood, and Mankind, before crossing the portal back to earth. He is now officialy a villain.]]
* FanDisservice: The demon summoned by the Dark Crystal sub-weapon is very female, very topless, and very hideous. Fortunately, you can skip the summoning cutscene (or not, [[NightmareFetishist if that's your thing]]).
** Carmilla's [[spoiler:OneWingedAngel. Until then, she was proving that EvilIsSexy, but she then transforms into a hideous, naked humanoid vampire-esque beast. [[{{Yandere}} "Look upon Carmilla... am I not beautiful?"]] [[{{Squick}} No comment]].]]
*** [[spoiler:EvilMakesYouUgly, [[EvilMakesYouMonstrous period...]]]]
** And of course, it wouldn't be a Kojima game without a naked dude, right?

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played with. most of the monsters look fairly nasty. [[spoiler:Carmilla and Zobek, and eventually Gabriel, continue to look beautiful / handsome, at least in their human forms.]]

* BrokenBird: Malphas, whose love was killed by BabaYaga, and fell off the DespairEventHorizon because of it.

* ByronicHero: Gabriel, who is prone to brooding and "dark moods", laments he has done "questionable things" throughout the story, and yet is forced by his circumstances to continue his quest.
* CelebrityVoiceActor: PatrickStewart provides the voice of Zobek, RobertCarlyle lends his voice to Gabriel Belmont, NataschaMcElhone voices his late wife, Marie, and JasonIsaacs portrays [[spoiler:Satan]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Easily one of the darkest entries in the Castlevania series, with far more {{Gorn}} than in previous games and an exceptionally CrapsackWorld setting.

* LargeHam: [[RegularCharacter Death]]. Very much so.
** [[spoiler: Satan as well, and most of the villains in the game, so it's EvilisHammy in full force.]]
* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:Claudia.]]

** Not to mention Brauner, who can be miles away one moment and right in your face the next. And he doesn't have speed boots like Cornell.

** The Lord of Werewolves is named Cornell, after the Werewolf protagonist of ''[[VideoGame/{{Castlevania64}} Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness]]''

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played with. most of the monsters look fairly nasty [[spoiler:though Carmilla and Zobek and eventually Gabriel cotinue to look beautiful / handsome, at least in their human forms.]]

* [[spoiler: EvilAllAlong: Zobek is the Lord of Death and the final of the three Lords of Shadow.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even as a member of the Brotherhood, Carmilla despised Friedrich von Frankestein's twisted experiments on artificial life. When she became the Vampire Lord, she would continue to torture the mad doctor.
** Laura also qualifies. She spares Gabriel when she sees him and Marie embrace, and later enlists his help in dealing with The Forgotten One.
* EvilOverlord: More than one. [[spoiler:Gabriel ends up becoming the one that the franchise is best-known for]].
* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:The entire story was an evil plot by {{Satan}} to obtain the [[MacGuffin God Mask]] and get back into Heaven. He was the one who manipulated [[TheReveal Lord of the Dead]] Zobek into casting the spell to separate Earth from the Heavens and then manipulated Gabriel into killing his own wife. This leads to Gabriel's quest to reunite the 3 pieces of the God Mask, which Satan plans to take after eliminating his two {{Unwitting Pawn}}s. Unfortunately for him, [[SpannerInTheWorks Gabriel won't stay dead]].]]

* GainaxEnding: If you didn't think it had a Kojima feel, wait till after the credits. Yikes!

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lordsofshadowcover_8301.jpg]]

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:As it turns out, it was all a plot by the Lord of the Dead, who turns out to be Zobek. He was the one who cast the spell to separate the world from the heavens in order to trick his fellow Lords of Shadow and their heavenly counterparts into thinking an old prophecy was coming true in order to get them killed and finish off Gabriel to absorb their power. He also made Gabriel kill his wife.]]

* InterfaceScrew: A weird example of this or YouShouldKnowThisAlready: during the first chapter in the first playthrough, the game slows down the action and displays button prompts to demonstrate several fancy actions while still in tutorial mode. However, during replays of these stages, the slowdown is gone, as are the button prompts. Makes sense, but the problem is that 2 specific ones of these events aren't exactly intuitive: no other place in the game requires you to time a grab button press properly (which is necessary to finish off the Warg) nor is the jump button used to trigger a predetermined evasion action (which is necessary to avoid the Ice Titan's other arm swipe and get to his chest glyph): in every other similliar situation in the game, you just get the normal shrinking circle QTE prompt.
** Second and subsequent runs through of these fights work like any other fight without a tutorial. The Greater Warg fight has a standard interactable object glow on the log on the floor next to Gabriel, and avoiding the Ice Titan's attempts to brush you off is the same as doing the same thing against the Rock Titan a chapter later. The tutorial messages disappear because they would have been intrusive and annoying in a game designed so that levels can be replayed repeatedly.
*** Despite the above, the fact still remains that no other "grab" action involving glowing objects needs to be precisely timed to be successful (as opposed to just being too late to trigger it and letting the boss recover: if you try to hold the log up right when the view changes, the Warg will just stand around endlessly until you put it down) and avoiding Rock Titan's swipes doesn't involve predetermined animations, just moving to a different ledge: that, plus the prompt to press A to avoid Ice Titan's swipe doesn't appear either when out of tutorial mode, unlike the countless times the game keeps telling you to hold RT/R2 to avoid being tossed off or falling off a beam.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Regular human Gabriel takes out both [[spoiler: both [[TheOldGods Old God]] Pan and {{Satan}} himself. The game does specifically such beings are. The bestiary does specifically state that such beings are weaker outside of their home domains, however.]]

** The Lord of Werewolves is named Cornell, after the Werewolf protagonist of ''[[VideoGame/Castlevania64 Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness]]''

*** One of Zobek's narrations also says that Carmilla will cry "bloody tears", the name of Carmilla's primary attack in the old continuity.

** The demon fought in the ''Resurrection'' DCL is named The Forgotten One, the optional BonusBoss of ''CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence''
** Gabriel's in-game profile suggests he may be an illegitimate son of the [[CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Cronqvist family]].
** The castle the vampires reside in is said to have belonged to the [[CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Bernhard family]].

* It is mentioned villagers started calling the Combat Cross as the ''[[Castlevania1986 Vampire Killer]]''.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Satan is defeated, 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 an immortal vampire cleaning up the final legacies of the Lords of Shadow, forever seperating him from his love.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Zobek's being EvilAllAlong is hinted at by the increasingly ominous tone of his narration. Just two examples would be his continued spying on Gabriel, and the way Zobek murders Baba Yaga without a second thought as soon as Gabriel leaves her hut. And there's other hints along the way, too.]] And, if you are particularly GenreSavvy (or overly paranoid): [[spoiler:The suspicious wording of Zobek's profile in regards to his armor; it states that he ''claims'' that the old style uniform he wears (as opposed to Gabriel's more up to date armor) is passed down from his ancestor. Red flags go up for this unnecessary piece of exposition as soon as Cornell finishes the explanation of the {{Big Bad}}s.]]
** [[spoiler:Even Satan's involvement in the plot is subtly hinted at before you encounter him. For example, Baba Yaga says outright that the "King of the Angels" has told her Gabriel would arrive. Angels ''have'' no king; the only one to claim the title is Satan.]]
** The Priest in Wygol Abbey [[spoiler:mentions that the devil was speaking with him in his dreams announcing the arrival of Gabriel and Zobek.]]

** This doubles as a ContinuityNod (or a MythologyGag). Dracula's castle was explained as always being different in other Castlevania games because it's a "creature of chaos" and always changing.

* MythologyGag: Familiar names pop up throughout the various scrolls and documents you collect, sometimes appearing as actual characters -- although, this being an AlternateContinuity, the names have often been repurposed for characters who can't possibly be the ones we know (Cornell, Vincent, Brauner).
** The opening cutscene cuts to a shot of Gabriel standing in front of a gate in an AssKickingPose. It cuts by very quick but is noticeable if you're familiar with old-school ''Castlevania''. The TravelMontage via map and dotted lines from the earlier installments is also present.
** Some of the music in the music box stage bears an uncanny resemblance to the ''Vampire Killer'' theme from the first game.
** The soundtrack piece titled "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmUZ8B2pgAc Waterfalls of Agharta]]" heavily resembles the piece "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgit8zlIupo The Waterfall]]" from Castlevania 4.
** In the epilogue, when [[spoiler:Zobek]] enters the hidden section of the church, a dead Slogra can be seen prominently sticking out of the rubble.
** One of Zobek's narrations says that Carmilla will "cry bloody tears" before the night is done. Aside from the well-known song from Castlevania II, Bloody Tears is also the name of Carmilla's primary attack in each of her appearances.
** Gabriel is rumored to be an illegitimate child of the Cronqvist family. Mathias Cronqvist was the childhood friend of Leon Belmont in ''Lament of Innocence'' [[spoiler:and, like Gabriel, he became the main continuity's Dracula.]] The vampires' castle is also said to have been built by the Bernhard family (Walter Bernhard being ''Lament's'' main villain and Dracula's predecessor).
** Not only is there a visit to [[CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia Wygol Village]], it is told the villagers begin to refer to the Combat Cross as ''Vampire Killer''.
** ''Reverie'' sets things up for a confrontation with [[spoiler:The Forgotten One, the optional super-boss of ''Lament of Innocence''.]]
** Trevor Belmont's appearance in "Mirror of Fate" is similar to the way he appears in CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness.
** The extended trailer for "Mirror of Fate" features an appearance by [[CastlevaniaLegends The Executioner]], or at least an {{Expy}} of him. He appears to be [[spoiler:one of the bosses]].
* MythologyUpgrade: [[spoiler: Malphas.]]

->''"It's God of War in Europe, with friggin' werewolves."''
-->--'''Kevin Pereira''', G4's Attack of the Show!

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Satan is defeated, but Marie cannot be brought back to life, leaving Gabriel behind as she passes on to heaven. Then Gabriel ends up an immortal vampire cleaning up the final legacies of the Lords of Shadow, forever seperating him from his love.]]

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: More specifically, [[spoiler:Did You Just Air Joust With Satan, Punch Him Out, And Then Strangle Him!? Though the the does bestiary specifically state that Satan's power is limited while he is on Earth.]]
** [[spoiler:[[TheOldGods Old God]] Pan also forces Gabriel to kill him in one-on-one combat.]]

* DistantFinale: The epilogue picks up [[spoiler:nearly 1000 years later, with Zobek attempting to recruit Gabriel into preventing Lucifer's second coming.]]

* {{Expy}}: The bonus costumes (Snake's Bandana and Eyepatch, which looks futuristic and out of place, but hey) give players an idea that Gabriel is an expy to [[Franchise/MetalGear Solid Snake]].
** To some extent, Gabriel could also be seen as an expy of [[spoiler:[[CastlevaniaSorrow Soma Cruz]] as well, especially what could have become of him should he lose Mina - only that Soma does not become evil]].
** [[spoiler: Pan is Grey Fox]]

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Gabriel, absorbs the power of the Forgotten One at the end of the Ressurection DLC. After executing the demon, he destroys the combat cross, signifying his total hatred for God, the Brotherhood, and Mankind, before crossing the portal back to earth. He is now officialy a villain.]]

** Also used by [[spoiler:Zobek, by manipulating Gabriel's gauntlent.]]

* CrusadingWidower: Gabriel.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Shadow Magic is not inherently evil, though it does require proper discipline to [[DrunkWithPower prevent it from controlling you]]...

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: More specifically, [[spoiler:Did You Just Air Joust With Satan, Punch Him Out, And Then Strangle Him!?]]
** Justified in that Gabriel has had his power boosted by all the souls in limbo, and the bestiary specifically states that [[spoiler:Satan's power is limited while he is on Earth]].
** [[spoiler:[[TheOldGods Pan]] forces Gabriel to kill him in one-on-one combat.]]

Taking place in an AlternateContinuity from the previous games, the story concerns Gabriel Belmont, an orphan raised by the [[ChurchMilitant Brotherhood of Light]] on a quest to defeat the titular [[BigBadEnsemble Lords of Shadow]]. Earth has been cut off from the Heavens, leaving the souls of the dead forever trapped in the mortal realm and giving unholy abominations free reign to prey upon humanity. In these [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt dark times]], Earth's only hope lies in Gabriel fulfilling the prophecy of a pure hearted warrior who will unite the powers of the Lords of Shadow and restore balance to the world. Gabriel himself also has a personal [[JustForPun stake]] in the matter: his wife Marie was recently killed, and he hopes the power the Lords of Shadow guard, pieces of an ancient relic called the [[MacGuffin God Mask]], will give him a way to bring his love back.

** Also used [[spoiler:Zobek through Gabriel's gauntlent.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Satan is defeated, but Marie cannot be brought back to life, leaving Gabriel behind as she passes on to heaven. Then Gabriel ends up an immortal vampire to clean up the founders' remaining legacies, forever seperating him from his love.]]

* BrokenBird: Malphas, whose love was killed by Baba Yaga, and fell off the DespairEventHorizon because of it.

* ByronicHero: Gabriel, who is prone to brooding and "dark moods", laments he has done "questionable things" throughout his quest, and yet is forced by his circumstances to continue his quest.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Easily one of the darkest entry of the Castlevania series, with far more {{Gorn}} than in previous games and an exceptionally CrapsackWorld setting.
* DespairEventHorizon: Gabriel, after learning [[spoiler:that he killed his own wife under Zobek's control, and then that he can never bring her back]].

** Justified in that Gabriel has had his power boosted by all the souls in limbo, and the bestiary specifically states that [[spoiler: Satan's power is limited while he is on Earth]].
** [[spoiler:Pan is an old god whom Gabriel has to kill.]]

* DropTheHammer: [[spoiler:Cornell]]. Probably one of the biggest hammers ever.
* DistantFinale: And how! Depending on when the sequel picks up from, this may become a (very long) TimeSkip.
* EldritchLocation: Chapters X-XII gets more and more Eldritchy as it goes along, until it ends up in an AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield.

Taking place in an AlternateContinuity from the previous games, the story concerns Gabriel Belmont, an orphan raised by the [[ChurchMilitant Brotherhood of Light]] on a quest to defeat the titular [[BigBadEnsemble Lords of Shadow]]. Earth has been cut off from the Heavens, leaving the souls of the dead forever trapped in the mortal realm and giving unholy abominations free reign to prey upon humanity. Now, Earth's only hope lies in Gabriel fulfilling the prophecy of a pure hearted warrior who will unite the powers of the Lords of Shadow and restore balance to the world. Gabriel himself has a personal [[JustForPun stake]] in the matter: his wife Marie was recently killed, and he hopes the power the Lords of Shadow guard, pieces of an ancient relic called the [[MacGuffin God Mask]], will give him a way to bring his wife back.

Traveling through ancient groves, mausoleums, forgotten temples, castles and swamps on, Gabriel must face [[FantasyKitchenSink all manner of characters both mortal and immortal]], and come to terms with [[DoomedProtagonist his own terrible destiny]].

* [[ABoyAndHisX A Girl and Her Magical Golem]]: Claudia and the Black Titan. She's a CuteMute girl, the last of her kind, he's a magitek animated suit of armor feeding off the souls of the baddies trying to do her harm. Daddy knows best, indeed.
* AbsoluteCleavage: Carmilla.
* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: Agharta.

* AgonyBeam: Used by Carmilla. She also uses a ForceField and looks like a Sith-Lord.
** Also used by Laura.
*** Also used by a Palpatine-esque [[spoiler:Zobek]]

* AlternateContinuity: And possibly a ContinuityReboot.

** Not just the armor; the clothing styles and architecture are also Renaissance instead of 11th century.

** And then [[spoiler: Gabriel was Dracula.]]
* AnimeHair: Laura, whose hair would have to be [[RapunzelHair twice as long as she is tall]] to make her crazy bouffant possible. Of course, she's an undead vampire, so she would have had enough time to grow that much hair.
* TheAtoner: Gabriel.
** The black knight as well.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: This was particularly true to the [[http://ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/14275422/castlevania-lords-of-shadow/images/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-20101222104641423.html?page=mediaFull: human form]] of Carmilla before she ascended and her spirit fractured.

* BrokenBird: Quite literally, Malphas.

* ButNotTooForeign: The game itself. Though made by a Western crew[[note]]Spanish, specifically[[/note]], the project also has the Japanese HideoKojima involved, and the bonus items from [[Franchise/MetalGear Snake]] also keep its tie with Konami's Japanese tradition.
** Also, the fact the Kojima asked [=MercurySteam=] to refine Gabriel to appeal more to players helps. The BarbarianHero they originally intended would have been more [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore hardcore - more like Western Castlevania Is Hardcore]].
* ByronicHero: Gabriel. Well-spoken, if not as demonstrably intelligent as many examples of the trope. Prone to brooding and "dark moods." He fights vampires and werewolves, but more for his own reasons than those of the Brotherhood, and while he admits that he has done "questionable things" throughout his quest, circumstances continue to force him to perform more. [[spoiler:Then there's the ending....]]
* CelebrityVoiceActor: PatrickStewart provides the voice of Zobek, RobertCarlyle lends his voice to Gabriel Belmont and NataschaMcElhone voices his late wife, Marie. JasonIsaacs portrays a character, as well.
* ChosenOne: Gabriel is, of course, the one spoken of in an ancient prophecy.
* ChristianityIsCatholic: Well, the game WAS created in Spain. And it takes place in pre-Reformation Medieval Europe.

* ColossusClimb: The Titan battles are lifted straight from ''ShadowOfTheColossus'' -- music and all. Press right trigger to hang on? Check. Searching for weak points? Double-check Vaguely Meso-american design? Triple-check.
* ContinuityReboot
* CreatorCameo: HideoKojima voices [[TheScrappy Chupacabras]] in the Japanese version.

* CuteMute: Claudia, though she talks quite a bit for someone whose vocal cords don't work. (It involves telepathy.)
* DarkIsNotEvil: The use of Shadow Magic does not make you evil. However, a note from a Brotherhood knight came close to its subversion in that he described how he [[HeWhoFightsMonsters enjoyed killing monsters more and more and having worse and worse nightmares day by day]]...
** The official description says that it does requires more discipline, but with the right amount it can be controlled without making you evil.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Quite a bit darker than previous games in the series.
** Needless to mention, it is easily the darkest entry of the Castlevania series thus far, thanks to the involvement of HideoKojima.
* DespairEventHorizon: Gabriel, learning that [[spoiler:it was he himself who murdered Marie unknowingly, breaks down horribly and gets electrocuted by a Satan-controlled Zobek - until Marie urges him to fight on]]. Yet again, after the defeat of [[spoiler:Satan, Gabriel crosses this once more after realizing that he cannot resurrect Marie with the God Mask. After watching Marie fly away, he completely breaks down, heartbroken... forever...]]
** He almost crosses this after his [[spoiler:mind-controlled murder of Claudia, too...]]

Taking place in an AlternateContinuity from the previous games, the story concerns Gabriel Belmont, an orphan raised by the [[ChurchMilitant Brotherhood of Light]] on a quest to defeat the titular [[BigBadEnsemble Lords of Shadow]]. Earth has been cut off from the Heavens, leaving the souls of the dead forever trapped in the mortal realm and giving unholy abominations free reign to prey upon humanity. The only hope now lies in the prophecy of a pure hearted warrior who will unite the powers of the Lords of Shadow, and restore balance to the world. Gabriel himself has a personal [[JustForPun stake]] in the matter: his wife Marie was recently killed, and he hopes the power the Lords of Shadow guard, pieces of an ancient relic called the [[MacGuffin God Mask]], will give him a way to bring his wife back.

''Castlevania: Lords of Shadow'', developed by Mercury Steam (creators of the LoveItOrHateIt horror FPS ''CliveBarkersJericho''), advised by HideoKojima and released in the United States on October 5th, 2010, is the first 3D ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'' title since ''CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' on the PS2. [[BrokenBase It's quite possibly the most divisive game in the entire series.]]

The story is an AlternateContinuity from the previous titles and concerns Gabriel Belmont, an orphan raised by the Brotherhood of Light and currently tasked to speak with the Old Gods in order to determine the nature of a darkness afflicting the world. Perhaps humanity has been abandoned by God. Perhaps someone -- or something -- has cast a spell powerful enough to separate Earth from the heavens, preventing the dead from moving on. Either way, Gabriel has a personal [[JustForPun stake]] in the matter: his wife Marie was recently killed, and he hopes to (at the very least) speak with her again and, if possible, discover a way to bring her back to life.

Traveling through ancient groves, mausoleums, forgotten temples, castles and swamps on his quest for an artifact that may bring Marie back from the dead, Gabriel encounters all manner of characters both mortal and immortal.

A sequel for the 3DS, ''Castlevania: Lords of Shadow-Mirror of Fate'', was revealed in the June 2012 edition of Nintendo Power. Another, more direct sequel, ''Castlevania : Lords of Shadow 2'' for PS3 and 360 was announced at the E3 2012, for 2013. You can watch the trailer [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2GAIoXPMBPM here]].

!! ''Lords Of Shadow'' provides examples of:

*** Actually, [[spoiler: he refers to himself as Dracul, who was the father of Dracula. However, concept art does list him as being Dracula, so it's uncertain if they changed it in postproduction or if they messed up on the Latin.]]

** It's also possible that, as a powerful vampire her "hair" is just a magical construct, as sufficiently powerful vampires can hide their true form through magic, but are physically no different from the other vampires encountered throughout without it.

* BestBossEver: There's a {{Magitek}} {{Golem}} who you fight, that constantly rains down meteors made of the lost relics of an ancient civilization upon you. ''It's the second boss, and it isn't even the ClimaxBoss''. [[SerialEscalation And they just get better from there]].
** A perfect example of it just getting better is [[spoiler:Pan, your StealthMentor and MysteriousProtector]], as the Silver Warrior. Where to start? Well, he looks like [[http://images.wikia.com/castlevania/images/9/9a/SilverWarrior.jpg this]]. He uses a BFS with a chain-whip tip for his weapon, has magic just like you, pulls off some [[CrazyAwesome utterly stunning]] moves with said [=BFS=] and will summon spirit animals to attack you. He insists you bring it on throughout the battle (but not so frequently as to become annoying). The best parts, however, are under the spoiler tags (consider yourself warned, as they are serious plot twists). [[spoiler:You just killed a god, and it was a HeroicSacrifice on the god's part.]]
* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler:Gabriel, [[JustForPun sorta.]]]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Satan is defeated, but Marie cannot be brought back to life, leaving Gabriel behind as she passes on to heaven. Some time later, Gabriel becomes Dracula, forever separating him from Marie.]]

* BossBanter: Cornell and Carmilla will not shut up.