History YMMV / Castlevania

* WhatAnIdiot: Dracula has a ''window'' in his throne room. He's a vampire. Sunlight is bad for him. Sunlight coming in through this window is the cause for his death after his defeat in more than one game. It's entirely possible that he's so damn powerful that sunlight can't hurt him unless he's already had the crap beaten out of him first. Though that's more WMG territory.

** ''Grimoire of Souls''. As usual, Konami's fickle reputation when the game was released didn't help the game's reputation, with many believing that merely releasing the game on mobile devices is another death knell to the franchise, combined with solid controls ruined with touch-pad and the gacha system for weapons and equipment. Those who played it were actually surprised and saw it that Konami was actually being more faithful to the original timeline (without all the unnecessary {{Fanservice}} elements in the latest Pachinko game), with the game being considered fun on its own, the 2.5D graphics allows nice representation of the 2D heroes like Simon, Alucard, Shanoa or Charlotte. And it has a controller support for those who still can't get over the touch pad problem and the gacha system was MUCH more generous at least for its first run. It's not the exact comeback ''Castlevania'' needed so badly, but even the pro-camp was impressed at how much Konami could do for the franchise after the departure of Koji Igarashi. The announcement of its resurrection is another contention too: Some are glad that Konami revived it after closing it and somewhat ''does away with the gacha system'', hopeful for the conclusion of the story. Some are just baffled that of all platforms Konami chose to put it in, it's ''Apple Arcade''.

** ''Grimoire of Souls''. As usual, Konami's fickle reputation when the game was released didn't help the game's reputation, with many believing that merely releasing the game on mobile devices is another death knell to the franchise, combined with solid controls ruined with touch-pad and the gacha system for weapons and equipment. Those who played it were actually surprised and saw it that Konami was actually being more faithful to the original timeline (without all the unnecessary {{Fanservice}} elements in the latest Pachinko game), with the game being considered fun on its own, the 2.5D graphics allows nice representation of the 2D heroes like Simon, Alucard, Shanoa or Charlotte. And it has a controller support for those who still can't get over the touch pad problem and the gacha system was MUCH more generous at least for its first run. It's not the exact comeback ''Castlevania'' needed so badly, but even the pro-camp was impressed at how much Konami could do for the franchise after the departure of Koji Igarashi.

* FetishRetardant: While the mainline games had plenty of sexy stuff to go around, ''CR Pachinko Akumajo Dracula'' ramps up the "fanservice" to seriously tasteless and uncomfortable degrees. Even its original tagline/working title(?) "Erotic Violence" was widely considered to be off-putting.

** ''Castlevania: [[https://castlevania.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Nocturne_of_Recollection Nocturne of Recollection]]'': [[BigBad Magnus]], a vain and particularly sadistic [[HornyDevils incubus]], is one of the vilest creatures of the night. Centuries before [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Dracula's defeat]], Magnus left the beloved servant of Alucard, Lyudmil, at the brink of death, and cruelly [[MindRape mind-raped]] Alucard until he finally gave in and turned Lyudmil into a vampire. Magnus glories in having tortured Lyudmil to the point of becoming a "walking corpse" who despises all humanity, using Lyudmil as his pet SerialKiller while simultaneously aiming to destroy Alucard's mind, have him kill all his loved ones, and bring back the hellish reign of Dracula upon the world. When Lyudmil finally rebels against him, Magnus murders him and tries to torture Alucard and his allies down to their very souls.

** {{Satan}} from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Lords of Shadow]]'' and the [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow2 sequel]], the ''YMMV/CastlevaniaTheBelmontLegacy'' version of {{Dracula}}, and [[TheGrimReaper Death]] from ''YMMV/Castlevania2017''.

** {{Satan}} from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Lords of Shadow]]'' and the [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow2 sequel]], the ''YMMV/CastlevaniaTheBelmontLegacy'' version of {{Dracula}} and [[TheGrimReaper Death]] from ''YMMV/Castlevania2017''.

** {{Satan}} from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Lords of Shadow]]'' and the [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow2 sequel]] and the ''YMMV/CastlevaniaTheBelmontLegacy'' version of {{Dracula}}.

* MagnificentBastard:
** Original series:
*** {{Dracula}} was once a [[spoiler: [[TheStrategist genius strategist]] named [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Mathias Cronqvist]]. [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Enraged at God]] when the love of his life died, Mathias manipulated his best friend Leon into defeating the vampire Walter Bernhard by having Leon's fiancee kidnapped and eventually sacrificed to create the Vampire Killer. Stealing Walter's soul and]] taking the name Dracula, the new lord of the undead proved his mastery over the night until he lost his second wife Lisa at the hands of the humans. Continuing his war with the Belmont Clan and his and Lisa's heroic son Alucard for centuries, Dracula constantly shows himself a brilliant schemer, who tenaciously returns to life again and again while never losing his [[AffablyEvil charm or style]].
*** [[TheGrimReaper Death]] is Dracula’s [[TheDragon right-hand]] and just as devious as his master. [[spoiler: Posing as Walter Bernhard’s servant, Death steals his soul for Mathias Cronqvist.]] When Dracula was killed by Trevor and friends, Death posed as [[spoiler: mild mannered priest Zead, guiding reformed Devil Forgemaster Hector on his quest for revenge, succeeding in reviving Dracula’s castle and almost making Hector the vessel for Dracula’s resurrection.]] Returning time and again, Death frequently employed trickery and was skilled in playing enemies off each other to revive his master, such as when [[spoiler: he had Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin defeat the usurper Brauner so Death could finish him off and revive Dracula.]] Completely loyal to his master, when Alucard, Dracula’s son, confronted Death, the Reaper tried to convince him to return to his father. As clever and as stylish as Dracula, Death has remained a consistent threat throughout the series and all Hunters of the Night know his reputation.
** [[YMMV/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Another version of Dracula]] and [[YMMV/Castlevania2017 Isaac]] count as well. See those pages for details.

* CompleteMonster: {{Satan}} from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Lords of Shadow]]'' and the [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow2 sequel]] and the ''YMMV/CastlevaniaTheBelmontLegacy'' version of {{Dracula}}.

* ScapegoatCreator: In certain fan circles, particularly the Castlevania Dungeon forums, Iga is blamed for almost everything wrong with the series.

** The series is known as ''Akumajō Dracula'' ("Demon Castle Dracula") in Japan. Likewise, "Belmondo" was changed to "Belmont" in Western releases, "Ralph" to "Trevor," Kurusu Sōma the Japanese high school student to transfer student Soma Cruz, among other things.

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler:Dracula has a ''window'' in his throne room. He's a vampire. Sunlight is bad for him. Sunlight coming in through this window is the cause for his death after his defeat in more than one game.]]
** It's entirely possible that he's so damn powerful that sunlight can't hurt him unless he's already had the crap beaten out of him first. Though that's more WMG territory.

** An infamous ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' cover, created to promote ''Simon's Quest'', depicts Simon holding Dracula's severed head. Coupled with the fact that he's the first Belmont and one of few to take on Dracula by himself, twice, it's easy to see where it comes from.

** The DS titles weren't the first to use a bishoujo-influenced art style, that honor goes to ''Rondo of Blood''. The reception was different due to Rondo being pre-[=SotN=] and looking to be the start of a new generation of the series.

** ''Symphony of the Night'' is loaded with many weapons and item setups that completely wreck game difficulty. The Alucard Shield and Shield Rod combo makes you invincible and gives you practically limitless ammunition. The Crissaegrim and Yasustsuna strike multiple times per attack, and allow you to move unimpeded while attacking. Not to mention the Ring of Varda, which provides absolutely insane stat boosts.
** In ''Portrait of Ruin'', a bug enabled you to get quest rewards again and again, meaning you could sell them for potentially infinite gold. This coupled with the fact that the shop was right next to the quest reward guy, and that the shop sold the $300000 Holy Claymore, meant that you could get one of the most powerful weapons in the game before fighting the first boss.

** The various succubi, and the related liliths. There is official artwork of the succubus from ''Symphony of the Night'' with her nipples exposed, her sprite is bottomless, and a figurine of her with a piece of tape over her possibly-exposed boobs was shown at a NECA convention.
** Said figure was released with a top glued on to extend the corset- but if one carefully pries it off, sands down the glue and touches up the paint... the top was to please both retail stores and MoralGuardians
** Also, in ''Dracula X Chronicles'', [[spoiler:Annette turns into a cleavage-sporting vampire if you fail to rescue her]].

** The Golem from ''Judgment'' became very popular due to his portrayal as a GentleGiant who only desires to understand the concept of humanity.
** Hammer from the ''Sorrow'' games gets some of this, mostly due to not being playable in Julius Mode. Many were hoping for ''Harmony of Despair'' to change this, especially since some sound files buried in the game came to light. Unfortunately, he didn't make the cut.

** Though not on par with Death or others, Joachim has quite a large fandom who wants to see him return.

* CargoShip: Hector with chairs. Lampshaded, of all things, by the Woodman's Chair instructing you to "sit carefully, or it may look rather rude."

* ToughActToFollow: ''Rondo of Blood'' and ''Symphony of the Night'' are the most consistently praised, both by critics and fans. The latter for codifying the {{Metroidvania}} style the series would adopt as the standard, and the former for perfecting the stage-based progression with alternate paths and bosses, many secrets, a second playable character, and introducing the Item Crash mechanic. While Classic-style games all but ceased after ''Symphony''[='=]s release, it's understandable it's considered the peak of linear gameplay. Symphony, on the other hand, despite having many followup entries that improved its formula and gameplay over time, can't seem to get out of its shadow. Critically, only the two ''Sorrow'' games managed to come close.

** Whether or not ''Castlevania'' deserves to be part of the namesake {{Metroidvania}}. Some fans feel that since ''Metroid'' came first, games in the subgenre should just be called "Metroid-inspired". Others feel that Castlevania has refined the formula in its own way to be unique from Metroid.

** The previous broken bases -- the original fans, the IGA fans, and the ''Lords of Shadows'' fans -- have [[EnemyMine joined forces]] to bash on Konami for the Pachislot and Pachinko machines as of late, due to their heavy focus on {{Fanservice}} and the cancellation of other types of Castlevania games[[note]]Mind you, the previous pachinko iterations didn't cause any problems because they were in development alongside other games, came with new music, and weren't full of scantily clad women[[/note]].
** Debates regarding the franchise's difficulty can get pretty heated. Some feel that a Castlevania game ''should'' be NintendoHard and the later games, which are generally much easier, miss the point of the series at best or are legitimately awful at worst due to the lack of challenge. Others feel that the older games are ''too'' hard, verging on FakeDifficulty, and the fact that series has gotten easier over time has made it more accessible to all but the most diehard gluttons for punishment, and that the newer games are genuinely more fun because a new player has a better chance of actually making progress in them.
** ''Grimoire of Souls''. As usual, Konami's fickle reputation when the game was released didn't help the game's reputation, with many believing that merely releasing the game on mobile devices is another death knell to the franchise, combined with solid controls ruined with touch-pad and the gacha system for weapons and equipment. Those who played it were actually surprised and saw it that Konami was actually being more faithful to the original timeline (without all the unnecessary {{Fanservice}} elements in the latest Pachinko game), with the game being considered fun on its own, the 2.5D graphics allows nice representation of the 2D heroes like Simon, Alucard, Shanoa or Charlotte. And it has a controller support for those who still can't get over the touch pad problem and the gacha system was MUCH more generous at least for its first run. It's not the exact comeback Castlevania needed so badly, but even the pro-camp was impressed at how much Konami could do for the franchise after the departure of Koji Igarashi.

* {{Fanon}}: Most fans insist that ''Legends'' did actually happen, regardless of the revised timeline.

* ItWasHisSled: Soma is the reincarnation of Dracula. ''Dawn of Sorrow''[='=]s box and intro cutscenes make no attempt to hide this.

* ArchivePanic: To get the complete Castlevania experience requires at least 12 different consoles and multitudes of games, some of which only came out in Japan, as well as remakes or alternate versions of games, like ''Rondo of Blood'''s many variations.

!! In general