| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1587682219055187300 |
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| 4 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castlevania_s2.png]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:300:[[{{Tagline}} In darkness, a hero returns.]] [[note]] (Clockwise from top right) [[KnightInSourArmor Trevor Belmont]], [[LadyOfBlackMagic Sypha Belnades]], [[TokenEnemyNonhuman Alucard]], [[BoisterousBruiser Godbrand]], [[FemmeFatale Carmilla]], [[TragicVillain Hector]], [[UndyingLoyalty Issac]], and [[BigBad Dracula]]. [[/note]]]] |
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| 7 | ->'''Elder Speaker:''' The church burned Dracula's wife at the stake as a witch. |
| 8 | ->'''Trevor Belmont:''' ...Shit. |
| 9 | ->'''Elder Speaker:''' That is indeed one way of putting it. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ''Castlevania'' is a 2017 {{Animesque}} adult animated series for Creator/{{Netflix}} produced by Creator/FrederatorStudios and animated by Powerhouse Animation Studios (with assistance from [[Creator/MoiAnimation MUA Film]][=/=]Tiger Animation and Creator/HanhoHeungUp in Korea, and D'Art Shtajio in Japan). It's based on the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series of games, specifically the prequel ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'' with elements of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' thrown in. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | As such, it deals with Trevor Belmont (Creator/RichardArmitage), the last living member of the disgraced Belmont clan of superpowered vampire slayers. When darkness in the form of {{Dracula}} ([[Creator/GrahamMcTavish Graham McTavish]]) appears in Eastern Europe, Trevor must take a stand to continue his family's tradition of killing the Prince of Evil... |
| 14 | |
| 15 | The series is written by Creator/WarrenEllis and produced by Creator/AdiShankar. Season 1, consisting of four 22-minute episodes, premiered on July 7, 2017. A second season consisting of eight episodes premiered on October 26, 2018. A third season comprising ten episodes [[https://www.ign.com/articles/netflixs-castlevania-season-3-release-date-set-for-march-5 premiered]] on March 5, 2020. A fourth and final season premiered on May 13, 2021. A {{Sequel}} series / AnimatedAdaptation of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' starring Richter Belmont and Maria Renard set during the UsefulNotes/FrenchRevolution titled ''WesternAnimation/CastlevaniaNocturne'' was announced on June 11, 2022 and premiered on September 28, 2023. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Witness [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIMrFnl5NiA the teaser]], if you dare. |
| 18 | ---- |
| 19 | !!''Castlevania'' contains examples of: |
| 20 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 21 | |
| 22 | [[folder:A - B]] |
| 23 | * AccompliceByInaction: |
| 24 | ** The reason Dracula decides all of Wallachia has to pay for Lisa's execution. The Bishop burned her at the stake, but the people, even those who knew it was wrong, didn't dare speak up. |
| 25 | ** Trevor feels the same way, telling the Speakers' Elder that by not speaking out against the Church, the populace is just as much to blame for the Belmonts' excommunication and the Speakers' current situation. |
| 26 | * ActionBomb: Any unholy being or beast struck with the spiked tip of the [[IconicItem Belmont]] [[EpicFlail Morningstar]] gets involuntarily turned into this, even Dracula himself (though he is a singular case of being able to ''survive'' such a strike). Trevor tactically uses this to light off vampires or hell-beasts amongst a formation of them to cause SplashDamage. |
| 27 | * AdaptationAmalgamation: Adapts the basic story of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'' while also incorporating characters and plot points from later games like ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'', and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow''. |
| 28 | * AdaptationExpansion: Considering the series is based primarily off the [[AllThereInTheManual NES game]], a significant amount of this is all but required: |
| 29 | ** In ''Castlevania III'', the game on which the series is based, the Belmonts ''had'' been exiled, with Trevor the last living member of the family; but while the Church may have been behind it, there was no character that was as much of a raging jackass as The Bishop. |
| 30 | ** Vampire court politics are given a lot of focus in Season 2. Barely any of them are named (with original character Godbrand being the most notable exception), while Carmilla, Hector, and Isaac are all reworkings of characters from other games. |
| 31 | * AdaptationalDiversity: Isaac and Hector go from pale (likely white) characters in the games to black and AmbiguouslyBrown in the show; Alucard also goes from [[AdaptationalSexuality being ship-teased with women in the games to bisexual in the show]]. There are also quite a few non-caucasian CanonForeigner minor characters, such as the Japanese Sumi and Taka and the black Captain in season 3, and new characters who are LGBT, like Carmilla's vampire generals Morana and Striga, who are in a relationship. |
| 32 | * AdaptationalVillainy: |
| 33 | ** In the original games, the Church played a very minor supporting role in the story (Sypha herself worked as their agent instead of being a nomadic scholar) and outside of exiling the Belmonts, they were never actually the enemy. In the series proper, one of their members is responsible for kicking off the plot in the first place by executing Lisa, their exceptional corruption is emphasized, and they serve as secondary antagonists for Season 1. It should be noted that the burning of Lisa via witch hunt is directly lifted from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]''. |
| 34 | ** Hector from ''Curse of Darkness'' receives this treatment in Season 2. Whereas he was TheHero of his own game who betrayed Dracula because he was slaughtering humans, here he has no such problem serving his master faithfully because Hector himself hates humans too. The only real issue he has is that Dracula is lashing out at mankind without any direction and would prefer that humans were just culled instead of completely exterminated; even then he remains loyal to him. [[spoiler:He ''does'' betray Dracula, but under completely different circumstances: he's tricked by Carmilla into turning on him while believing he's working towards a better way to serve him.]] |
| 35 | * AdaptationalWimp: In an odd example, Dracula's castle itself. Rather than being an EldritchLocation and a manifestation of chaos that seemingly creates its own hordes and cannot be destroyed, the castle in the series is fairly mundane, save for its magical engines that allow it to teleport. [[spoiler:By the end of Season 2, it doesn't even have that anymore, as they were damaged by Sypha, who, while a talented mage, is still a ''human'', but nonetheless manages to control the castle's teleportation system, when she at one point literally says she can't even comprehend how it functions.]] |
| 36 | * AdaptedOut: |
| 37 | ** This appears to be the fate of Grant Danasty. As of the end of Season 2, Grant is the only one of Trevor's companions from the game not to show up, nor has he been featured in any form of advertisement for the series. Warren Ellis has stated that the character was removed, at least back when it was meant to be a movie trilogy, due to time constraints. Also, he thought that a pirate character made no sense when the setting is landlocked Wallachia; a joke is made about a pirate individual who made a boat into a carriage in Season 3, but he's a throwaway gag in two lines, and doesn't actually show. Even in Season 4, the similarly-named Greta of Danesti is [[https://screenrant.com/castlevania-season-4-interview-kevin-kolde/ confirmed]] to ''not'' be a {{Gender Flip}}ped version of Grant. |
| 38 | ** Dracula's most loyal supporter and friend, Death, is nowhere to be found in the first two seasons. Instead, it seems his role is shared by [[DecompositeCharacter Isaac and Hector]], with Isaac in particular looking less like his [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness canonical namesake]] and more like Death's human disguise from the same game. [[spoiler: The fourth season, however, brilliantly showcases Death's return as the true mastermind of the attempt to resurrect Dracula, even saying his trademark line of devouring souls.]] |
| 39 | * AllTakeAndNoGive: All of Hector's relationships have this element. The vampires he associates with are the "Takers" who want the benefits of his [[MookMaker Forging]], and Hector plays the obedient "Giver" because he is that desperate [[IJustWantToBeLoved to feel wanted by someone]]. |
| 40 | * AlternateHistory: This is a {{Historical|Fantasy}} DarkFantasy show set in the 15th century, in which southeastern Europe (and apparently other regions of the Old World as well) were infested with and terrorized by {{evil sorcerer}}s, [[VampireMonarch vampire warlords]], and their [[TheLegionsOfHell armies of undead demonic monsters]], with some of those vampire warlords having conquered and ruled their own personal fiefdoms with enslaved human subjects. Also, the famous fictional vampire {{Dracula}} seems to exist in this world in place of the real [[UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler Vlad Dracula Tepes]]. |
| 41 | ** Carmilla's map of Styria and the surrounding kingdoms is loosely accurate to the geography of the time, but many location names either should not exist yet or are in different parts of the map. Whether this was an error or deliberate is hard to say. |
| 42 | * AlwaysChaoticEvil: |
| 43 | ** Vampires, night creatures, and other assorted demons and monsters are almost always extremely sinister and dangerous. [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Alucard]] is thus far the ''only'' known [[BenevolentMonsters monster who is genuinely benevolent towards humans]], despite being the son of Dracula himself. |
| 44 | ** Discussed in Season 4. [[spoiler:Flyseyes asks Isaac why he's having his night creature army bury bodies and repair a damaged city when night creatures are meant to kill and despoil and destroy. Isaac postulates that's not truly their nature, just what the ones controlling them have always used them for, and perhaps there could be more to them than killing, despoiling, and destroying.]] |
| 45 | * AmbitionIsEvil: In practically every scene that features her, Carmilla at least gives off the impression that she's scheming for more power - and this is something she apparently takes pride in. Hector notes in a conversation with Lenore that this seems to be an inherent vampire trait, the desire to drink more than they actually need, and Striga makes a similar statement [[spoiler:in the direct aftermath of Carmilla's death.]] |
| 46 | -->''Vampires always have plans, don't we? Maybe it's just in our nature to overreach, grasp at too much at once, try to drink everything. Maybe that's why, in the end, we win all the battles, but always lose the war.'' |
| 47 | * AmputationStopsSpread: A vampire or demon struck by the Morning Star will explode, unless the body part that made contact is removed quickly enough. |
| 48 | * AnachronismStew: |
| 49 | ** In spite of the game/animation being set in 1476, there are many elements from more modern time periods thrown in, like intricate machinery that raises Alucard's coffin, or the electric lights in the Cyclops's catacomb lair. Although this is explained in-universe; the reason Lisa comes to Dracula's castle is that he has scientific knowledge beyond that of regular humans. Also, this is on par with the games as a whole, which feature futuristic technology outside of the time period any given game is supposed to be set in. |
| 50 | ** The language reflects this; it uses a lot more modern slang like "Fuck" despite it not being in use during the time period, while Alucard refers to Dracula's plans as "genocide", a term that wasn't coined until the 20th century by people who needed a word for UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. Sypha uses the term "teenager", also coined in the 20th century. |
| 51 | ** Season 3 shows Alucard eating a tomato, a fruit native to the Americas, twenty years before Europe knew that America existed. |
| 52 | ** As revealed in Season 3, some of these anachronistic elements are justified. Many of them are actually leftover technology from various advanced ancient civilizations. Alucard specifically names electricity and batteries as being inventions of the ''Parthians'' in 200 BC. The reason why vampires have such advanced technology is that they never forget about them, while mortals do. |
| 53 | * AndTheAdventureContinues: Season 2 ends with [[spoiler:Trevor and Sypha going off to deal with the now-leaderless survivors of Dracula's armies scattered across Wallachia.]] |
| 54 | * AndThenWhat: A running theme of the show is this question and certain character's answers. Or rather, the lack thereof. The villains are all, in some way or another, lashing out at the world they feel has wronged them, but it's always without thinking through to the logical endpoint of their desires. |
| 55 | ** Isaac, Hector, and Godbrand all directly or indirectly raise this in one-on-one conversations with Dracula regarding his plan, as its logical end is [[spoiler:the extinction of humans and then vampires]]. Isaac sees and agrees with the intended outcome, Hector fools himself into believing he convinced Dracula to have a different answer, and Godbrand gets threatened for looking too far into it. |
| 56 | ** The Captain asks this of Isaac with regards to the OmnicidalManiac plan of wiping out humanity. As the Captain notes, killing everyone would end human cruelty, but it would also end all human kindness, too. Besides, if Isaac does kill every human being, what then? This makes Isaac question his motives, with Isaac and the Captain parting on amicable terms. |
| 57 | ** While Carmilla is the planner of the Styrian Council, Lenore, Striga, and Morana have to eventually question the plans to catch up to the realization of the possible outcomes. Striga and Morana, in particular, discuss the logistics of trying to TakeOverTheWorld. Even if they do somehow succeed, that would mean constantly defending their territory, constantly fighting to keep the humans in line, and constantly having to avoid seeing one another in order to do the first two. [[spoiler:As such, Striga and Morana conclude that it ultimately isn't worth it, and abandon Carmilla's cause]]. |
| 58 | * AngelsDevilsAndSquid: {{Downplayed}} in the sense that there's no direct interaction between the three parties. Heaven and Hell are heavily implied to be real and we actually see the latter, but they and Earth aren't all there is by a long shot. The Infinite Corridor in Season 3 shows glimpses into several alien worlds and landscapes with sci-fi-looking technology. |
| 59 | * AnimatedAdaptation: Of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'', with dashes of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' (Alucard's appearance and Lisa's death) and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' (Hector appearing in Season 2) thrown in. |
| 60 | * {{Animesque}}: The rugged art style, high octane fight scenes, bloodsoaked violence, and sharp cinematography all highly resemble, and indeed were outright influenced by 1980s anime series. Considering what Frederator Studios' [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents other]], [[WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot more]] [[WesternAnimation/ChalkZone well-known]] [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime titles]] are like, this can come as a very shocking surprise to anyone expecting something a lot more cartoonish. |
| 61 | * AnimationBump: During combat sequences, the animation becomes much more fluid. This is shown during the last few episodes of Season 3 where Sypha and Trevor face off against a horde of night creatures, with their every movement being detailed by the animation during the more intense moments of the fight scenes. |
| 62 | * AnswerCut: When the mob of Gresit comes for the Speakers, they find only Trevor waiting for them. |
| 63 | -->'''Priest''': Where are the Speakers? |
| 64 | -->'''Trevor''': I've put them somewhere safe. |
| 65 | -->''[cut to the Cyclops dungeon, next to its corpse]'' |
| 66 | -->'''Speaker''': I swear it just moved. |
| 67 | * ArcVillain: The Bishop in Season 1. His witch hunts set the plot in motion with the execution of Lisa Tepeș, and he also blames the Speakers for the demon invasion, sending an angry mob after the only people who were trying to fix the situation. Ultimately, Dracula is the bigger threat. [[spoiler:Carmilla is this for Season 2, as she ends up being the only survivor from Dracula's court, and now has a slave who can make a demonic army for her. Not to mention, the heroes don't even know she was ever there.]] |
| 68 | * ArcWords: Season 4 has "The Great Work" referenced by multiple characters. Zamphir uses it to mean the restoration of her city and her protection of the royals, Varney uses it to refer to the plan to resurrect Dracula, St. Germain uses it to refer to the pinnacle of alchemy, and the BigBad uses it to refer to their plan. |
| 69 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: Trevor and Sypha give one each to Saint-Germain in "A Seat of Civilization and Refinement". [[spoiler:According to Saint-Germain, there's a portal to the Infinite Corridor under the priory where the mad monks reside. However, Sypha points out that a night creature fell on that priory months ago, and asks "What if that wasn't an accident?" Trevor follows that up with "What if it's still there?" To that, all St. Germain can say is a defeated "Well... shit."]] |
| 70 | * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: A prime example is found in Season 2's conversation between Hector and Godbrand, where Hector says "Godbrand, you've never met anything you didn't immediately kill, fuck, or make a boat out of." |
| 71 | * ArtifactTitle: Unlike most games in the franchise, not much of the series' action takes place in Dracula's castle as the title would lead you to believe. [[spoiler:The thrilling second to last episode of Season 2 very much compensates for it though.]] |
| 72 | ** Averted from Season 3 onwards, as Alucard takes up residence in the castle and his subplot becomes quite tied to it. It even serves as the backdrop for the FinalBattle. |
| 73 | * ArtisticLicenseBiology: The people of Gresit choose to dispose of their dead by witlessly dumping them into the dried riverbed. Without burning said bodies, and the infectious agents along with them, a typical Middle Ages city would be dead of disease in a few days. Although considering they'd just been attacked by Dracula's forces the previous night, and likely many nights beforehand, they'd likely not gotten around to it yet. There's also the fact that burning a corpse pile ''that'' big could possibly set what remains of the town ablaze; Season 2 also emphasizes that Dracula's armies take away many of the corpses so that Isaac and Hector can turn them into more monsters, so the bodies might not stay around long enough to decay. |
| 74 | * ArtisticLicenseEngineering: The entirety of Gresit stands on spacious catacombs while teeming with three-storied houses, giant walls, and towering cathedrals. In real life, this sort of city would instantly cave in on itself. This does somewhat happen in the final episode of Season 1, where the main square crumbles and lets Trevor and Sypha find the Sleeping Soldier. [[spoiler:This is also lampshaded in Season 2 when Sypha forces Dracula's castle to move to the Belmont estate lands; she admits that it's aboveground while they're in a gigantic library underground. At least in the case of Dracula's castle, the castle's magical {{Bizarrchitecture}} might have prevented it from falling in.]] |
| 75 | * ArtisticLicenseGeography: The map seen in season 4 was clearly not made to accurately depict the setting or even historically accurate. Not only are mountains seemingly spread randomly throughout the region, but the kingdom of Poland appears to have eaten up the Holy Roman Empire, and Wallachia is shown as part of Moldavia, despite being independent at the time (this is especially bad since Wallachia is the setting of the story, and clearly depicted as an independent country). For a rundown of the mistakes, see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIS5TbUx75U here]]. |
| 76 | * ArtisticLicenseHistory: |
| 77 | ** TheChurch as it's depicted in the series is clearly Roman Catholic. The setting is in medieval Romania, however, which was and still is Eastern Orthodox. The games have [[ChristianityIsCatholic a bit of this]], too, though they were vague enough that it wasn't noticeable. |
| 78 | ** Eastern Europe never really had a wide-scale practice of executing witches; Roman Catholicism, likewise, only dropped ''belief in witchcraft'' from being considered heresy in the 15th century (i.e. up to that point it was considered heresy to believe in witches. "Being a witch" wasn't a prosecutable crime because the position of the Church was that witches didn't exist). |
| 79 | ** As in many vampire stories, Dracula here is supposed to be the historical Vlad the Impaler. This version of Dracula has clearly been a vampire and been in hiding for many years, enough to have fallen into legend in ''1455'', when the real Vlad was in his twenties. The series is primarily set during 1476, when Vlad the Impaler was still alive and currently ruling the country. (It can currently be assumed that Dracula's origin story in the show is consistent with [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence his origin story in the games,]] since Leon is confirmed to have existed in the show's canon. This further complicates his identity as "Vlad Tepes"). "Tepes" is also an epithet meaning "The Impaler," not a surname, although the show (and the games) treat it as one. |
| 80 | *** In addition, there shouldn't even be a King and Queen of Targoviste, as Wallachia was a Principality and then under Ottoman Vassalage. The last King ruling over Wallachia would have been the Hungarian Monarchs. |
| 81 | ** After she opens the door to the Belmont Hold, Alucard asks Sypha, "Was that an Enochian ward?" Enochian is an occult language developed by John Dee and Edward Kelley a century after the show takes place. |
| 82 | * AssholeVictim: At times, the series needs a victim to set some kind of plot or character motivation into play. Sometimes they're sympathetic people in bad circumstances, other times they're this: |
| 83 | ** Isaac's dim view of humanity was born with the abusive treatment he received at the hands of his caretaker, a man who he exacted a violent and painful vengeance against. In spite of his misanthropy, he was perfectly willing to share a watering hole with a group of travellers at the end of Season 2, but the men simply wanted to enslave and possibly eat him. [[spoiler:Isaac kills them and sets out on a new potentially evil path, but seeing who they were, he hasn't quite lost his sympathetic edge.]] |
| 84 | ** To show the escalation of the villain's internal conflict and fully display how dangerous Isaac can be, a SacrificialLion is put into play. It ends up being [[spoiler:Godbrand]] who, just a scene before, was eating children. |
| 85 | ** It's hard to feel any sympathy for [[spoiler: Sumi and Taka when Alucard cuts their throats and put their bodies on stakes. They attempted to assassinate Alucard while in bed with him.]] |
| 86 | * AuthorAppeal: {{Gorn}}, a DungAges setting, and explorations into the evils of religious fundamentalism [[SophisticatedAsHell freely mixed in with anecdotes about goat-fucking]]. Yup, it's a Creator/WarrenEllis work all right. |
| 87 | * AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: |
| 88 | ** Trevor, Sypha and Alucard are a RagtagBunchOfMisfits who are simply working with each other hoping to defeat Dracula and save mankind. They gradually grow into VitriolicBestBuds who genuinely like each other as people, although reluctant to admit it. Then, by Season 4, [[spoiler:they are a FamilyOfChoice. While Trevor and Sypha still have elements of SlapSlapKiss, the two confess their love for one another. Trevor and Alucard also remain VitriolicBestBuds, but it's clear that they would die for each other]]. |
| 89 | ** Hector and Lenore start off on very rocky ground, especially given that he is her prisoner, and that she wishes to use him as a tool. However, over time, she shows him enough compassion and respect that he is even willing to try and escape Styria with her, and the two have sex. [[spoiler:Things take a negative turn when Lenore reveals that this was part of her plan to permanently enslave him and make him into her pet, but it's revealed that she was genuinely sincere in her desire to treat him well and protect him. She even admits that she regrets how she tricked him, and the two are shown to genuinely like one-another's company. When the castle comes under attack, Lenore's first thought is to find Hector and protect him, and Hector likewise makes Isaac promise to leave her alone even if he himself has to die. After the conflict is over, the two have a peaceful conversation as they reconcile, and Lenore apologizes to Hector as she [[SuicideBySunlight chooses to take her own life]]. He briefly tries to stop her, but respects her decision and watches on so that she does not die alone.]] |
| 90 | * BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: The series finale shows that Death's failed attempt to bring back Dracula and Lisa's souls to power a monster instead brought them back to life wholly, enabling them to start a new life together.]] |
| 91 | * BackToBackBadasses: An extremely unusual example. In the final fight with Dracula, [[spoiler:he has summoned a massive, stony fireball to hurtle down the corridor at the heroes. Sypha tries holding it back with a spell, but starts losing ground, until Trevor slams his back to hers, bracing her against the ball's force.]] |
| 92 | ** A straight example in Season 3: |
| 93 | --> '''Trevor''': Sypha, do you have my back? |
| 94 | --> '''Sypha''': Always. |
| 95 | * BadassBoast: |
| 96 | ** Trevor tries one in episode 2, though it doesn't remain impressive for long: |
| 97 | --->'''Trevor:''' I'm Trevor fucking Belmont, and I've never lost a fight to man nor fucking beast! ...[[OhCrap Oh shit]]! |
| 98 | ** Trevor gets a more heartfelt one in episode 3: |
| 99 | --->'''Trevor:''' I don't know any of you. But that doesn't matter, does it? [[BadassFamily My family]]: the family you [[HeroWithBadPublicity demonized and excommunicated]], has fought and died through generations for this country. We do this thing... for Wallachia, and her people. We don't have to know you all. [[WeHelpTheHelpless We do it anyway]]. And it's not the dying that frightens us; it's never having stood up and fought for you. I'm Trevor Belmont. Of the House of Belmont. And dying... has ''never'' frightened me. |
| 100 | ** Alucard has his own, which is as understated and reserved as he is: |
| 101 | --->'''Alucard:''' [[YouShallNotPass No further]]. |
| 102 | * TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Season 3 ends this way. While [[BittersweetEnding not entirely without some victories for the heroes]], it's still pretty dour. Isaac kills the Wizard and takes control of a city, Lenore tricks Hector into becoming a slave, and Carmilla's plans of conquering the region look closer than ever to coming true.]] |
| 103 | * BarBrawl: Trevor gets into one in the second episode with some drunks who [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer blame the Belmonts for Dracula's evil, even over the other Great Houses and the Church]]. Though the scene immediately shifts after Trevor got hit with a chair, it is implied that he won the brawl as he is able to leave the bar afterwards no worse for wear. |
| 104 | * BareHandedBladeBlock: When Alucard lunges across and pins his father Dracula to wall with his CoolSword, Dracula is shown to have caught the sword between his fingers harmlessly then still holding onto the blade he literally pushes Alucard back as he walks forward. |
| 105 | * BatPeople: The weakest and most common members of {{Dracula}}'s army, and the first seen, resemble twisted humanoid bats with both clawed arms and wings sprouting from their backs. |
| 106 | * BattleCouple: Trevor and Sypha's relationship has developed to this in Season 3. |
| 107 | -->'''Trevor:''' Sypha, do you have my back?\ |
| 108 | '''Sypha:''' Always. |
| 109 | * BeautyIsNeverTarnished: |
| 110 | ** The first scene of violence started with a young woman getting slashed by one of Dracula's monsters. She turns around, revealing her right arm, one eyeball, and her entire jaw ''gone''... so yeah, averted. |
| 111 | ** Played straight in the death of [[spoiler: Lenore]]. When she decides to commit suicide by standing on the castle's balcony to watch the sun rise, her dress catches on fire but she suffers none of the disfiguring burns that other vampires in the series receive from the sun. Instead, she simply vanishes in a puff of smoke. |
| 112 | * BestialityIsDepraved: |
| 113 | ** A story recounted by Bosha the goat herder near the end of the first episode, wherein he blinded someone by bashing him across the eyes with his shovel after finding him "fucking [one of his goats] to within an inch of its life". |
| 114 | ** In Season 2, Carmilla says that she would go through every vampire man on Earth, half the women, and more than a few animals before she slept with Godbrand, showing just how little she thinks of him. |
| 115 | * BetterThanSex: In Season 3, Trevor is offered a free mug of beer as a reward by the local brewer for having slain a night creature. When Trevor describes the beer as "better than sex", Sypha -- now Trevor's partner in a BattleCouple relationship after the last season ended with a RelationshipUpgrade between the two of them -- freezes his drink with ice magic in anger. Trevor tries a VerbalBackspace to calm down Sypha, but it doesn't take. |
| 116 | * BetterToDieThanBeKilled: In Season 4, [[spoiler: Carmilla ultimately kills herself when overpowered by Isaac's forces, rather than let him have the satisfaction of killing her]]. |
| 117 | * BeyondRedemption: After Lisa was burned at the stake, Alucard tried to talk Dracula out of the plan to wipe out humanity. In Alucard's own words, "I grieve with you, but I won't let you commit genocide." By the time Alucard is found by Trevor and Sypha at the end of Season 1, Alucard has decided that Dracula has to die after learning about the extent of his vengeance was not only to [[FinalSolution wipe humanity out]], but to sentence humans to be subjected to unrelenting hunts by vampires. After finding out about all this, [[FreudianExcuse Trevor admits that he can see why Dracula would do the things he's doing]], but [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse his plan is still insane, he's still a monster, and he has to be stopped]]. |
| 118 | * BigBad: |
| 119 | ** As with pretty much all ''Castlevania'' works, {{Dracula}} is the main antagonist. This time around he's unleashed a plague of demons and monsters upon the lands in retaliation for the Church burning his human wife at the stake as a witch. And the only way for our heroes to save the innocents being caught in his RoaringRampageOfRevenge is to take the vampire down. During Season 2, he shares this role with [[spoiler:Carmilla when she secretly plans a coup to oust him]]. |
| 120 | ** In Season 4, the ultimate mastermind of the main plot is [[spoiler: Death, hoping to resurrect Dracula as a mindless killing machine who will cause endless deaths for him to feed on]]. |
| 121 | * BigBadEnsemble: In season 3 [[spoiler:following Dracula's death, Carmilla and Isaac attempt to fill the void left by him in different ways. Carmilla intends on filling the power vacuum by taking over Eastern Europe weakened by Dracula's war while Isaac plans on avenging Dracula by killing Hector and Carmilla and then continuing Dracula's plan to kill all humans. Meanwhile, priory head Sala is secretly plotting to bring back Dracula Tepes himself]]. |
| 122 | * BigBadWannabe: |
| 123 | ** [[spoiler:The Bishop is ultimately taken down very easily by Dracula's minions once they find him, shrugging off the idea of God still protecting him, and they only bother taking their time killing him because of his direct role in Lisa's death and Dracula's revenge on Wallachia. Otherwise, he's not a threat at all. Even his attempt of killing the Speakers falls apart as soon as Trevor reveals to the mob that the Church was the one responsible for the demon invasion.]] |
| 124 | ** Carmilla for three consecutive seasons: [[spoiler:Until the end of season 2, she spends all her time in Dracula's court scheming about how to usurp him, viewing everyone around her as incompetent, and arguing that she should be listened to because she's the only one who's intelligent enough to formulate proper plans. Literally every one of her schemes either fail, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard backfire]], [[DidntThinkThisThrough were doomed from the start]], or succeed only in the most basic sense that the goal was technically achieved but her crude and ill-thought-out methods [[AllForNothing cost her so much that the gains are rendered insignificant.]] And in the end, she's outmatched by Isaac and ultimately kills herself to spite him.]] |
| 125 | * TheBigGuy: Alternates between Alucard and Trevor; while Trevor has much more martial skill as well as being the physically largest member of the group, Alucard's nature as a {{Dhampyr}} makes him far more physically sturdy than either of his companions. This is best shown during the fight against Dracula at the end of Season 2, where Dracula is able to run rings around Trevor and beat him with near impunity, but Alucard is able to go into a one-on-one slugfest with his father and holds his own fairly well. |
| 126 | * BigDamnHeroes: In season 4, just when Alucard is on his last leg defending his castle from the invading army of monsters, [[spoiler: Trevor and Sypha arrive to help him, reuniting their trio.]] |
| 127 | * BittersweetEnding: |
| 128 | ** Season 2's finale: |
| 129 | *** Dracula [[spoiler:is destroyed and his genocidal campaign halted]]; however, Carmilla [[spoiler:gets away with her actions and enslaves Hector in order to take advantage of the power vacuum]]. |
| 130 | *** Isaac is raising his own undead forces in a distant desert region for some unknown purpose. |
| 131 | *** Trevor and Sypha go off to have more adventures (and it's implied that something romantic might bloom between them), but Alucard [[spoiler:chooses to stay behind and safeguard the combined knowledge of Dracula's Castle and the Belmont Hold. He ends the season alone, grieving for his parents' deaths, and grappling with the fact that he killed his father]]. The season ends with [[spoiler:him breaking down in tears]] to hammer in the bitterness. |
| 132 | ** Season 3's finale follows suit, though with a definite emphasis on the ''bitter'' aspect: |
| 133 | *** Alucard's new friends, [[spoiler:Sumi and Taka, had become so paranoid over time that they distrusted ''everyone''. One night they seduce him with sex, which he accepts without resistance due to being [[GoMadFromTheIsolation alone for so long]]. It was all a ruse to pin him down and kill him for not sharing his vampire hunting knowledge and weapons, even though he shared all he could. He's forced to call his magic sword to slash their throats, killing them. He then [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impales their bodies Ol' Vlad The Impaler style]] and mounts them on his front porch to ward away any new potential visitors.]] |
| 134 | *** Sypha and Trevor [[spoiler:successfully stopped the resurrection of Dracula, but the ''entire'' village they were staying at was destroyed. It was also revealed that the supposedly stern-but-benevolent Judge was a SerialKiller who tricked children into fetching apples from a tree on the outskirts of town, only to have them fall victim to a spike pit trap, where he would then take their shoes to add to his sick collection.]] |
| 135 | * BloodierAndGorier: Than anything put out by Frederator Studios in the past. The very first episode includes wanton slaughter of civilians, [[WouldHurtAChild including children]], complete with blood, gore, and entrails lining the streets. |
| 136 | * BookEnds: The series' very first sequence has Lisa meeting Dracula and then engaging him in conversation, including a suggestion that he should travel the world to see what humanity is like for himself. [[spoiler:The series' very last sequence has the revived Dracula and Lisa holding a conversation in which they discuss travelling the world, with Lisa adding that they can't return to the castle since Alucard needs his own closure (though she suggests that they could see their son again eventually)]]. |
| 137 | * BothSidesHaveAPoint: Alucard and Dracula's argument over the latter's plan to KillAllHumans. Alucard is right that Dracula can't kill all humans for what one person did and even suggests going after the Bishop who ordered Lisa's death, but Dracula makes a valid point that ''[[BystanderSyndrome anyone]]'' [[BystanderSyndrome could have stood up for her]], [[AccompliceByInaction but chose not to do so]]. |
| 138 | * BoyishShortHair: Unlike the game, where Sypha has long hair she keeps hidden in her robes, this incarnation has her hair cut short. This is lampshaded by her telling Trevor that the Speakers traditionally dress their girls and women as boys to safeguard them while traveling. |
| 139 | * BroadStrokes: How the series seems to treat ''Lament of Innocence'', given that Leon Belmont is still acknowledged as the first Belmont to come into conflict with Dracula, chasing him all the way to Wallachia from France. However, no mention is made of Dracula's original human identity as Matthias Cronqvist, nor is any mention made of his first wife Elisabetha, whose death was the whole reason Matthias became Dracula in the first place, with Lisa being firmly established as Dracula's only human love. Dracula is also treated as the only master of the castle as well, with no mention ever being made of Walter Bernhard. There's also no indication, at least not yet at any rate, [[spoiler:that the Morning Star/Vampire Killer whip is imbued with the spirit of Leon's lost love Sara Trantoul.]] [[UnreliableNarrator Then again, Trevor's knowledge of Belmont family history is far from comprehensive, as he himself admits.]] |
| 140 | * BullyingADragon: For some reason, people keep thinking antagonizing Isaac with a small army of demons at his back is a good idea. It keeps ending very, very predictably. |
| 141 | * BurnTheWitch: Lisa's death, which is the event that starts off the entire plot of the series. |
| 142 | * BystanderSyndrome: Brought up throughout Season 1: Dracula blames "innocent" humans for doing nothing to save his wife from being burned at the stake, and Trevor paraphrases a line from Edmund Burke about how evil can succeed when good people do nothing when lamenting the fate of the Belmont clan. |
| 143 | -->'''Dracula:''' ''There are no innocents! Not anymore!'' Any one of them could have stood up and said, "No, we won't behave like animals anymore!" |
| 144 | [[/folder]] |
| 145 | |
| 146 | [[folder:C - F]] |
| 147 | * CallBack: |
| 148 | ** In the second episode, Trevor is kicked in the testicles twice during a bar fight. In the fourth, he attempts the same on Alucard, who dryly states, "Please. This isn't a bar fight. Have some class." |
| 149 | ** In Season 1, Episode 1, Trevor overhears a farmer in a bar telling a story about finding a man in the aftermath of [[BestialityIsDepraved having sex with the farmer's goat.]] In Season 3, Episode 3, in their conversation about goats, Sypha tells Trevor, "You know, some people have sex with them," to which he responds, "So I've heard." |
| 150 | ** In episode 6 of season 4, Isaac talks about his changed worldview and how he has been speaking to people. He's juicing a lime for his drink similar to the Captain from season 3, a man whose conversation caused Isaac to rethink things. |
| 151 | ** At the end of Season 4, Alucard teases [[spoiler: Trevor by claiming his new village is called “Treffy.”]] |
| 152 | * CameBackStrong: A villainous example. [[spoiler:The living Bishop of Gresit might have been abandoned by God, but the reanimated one has enough favour with God to bless ''an entire river'', resulting in the deaths of many vampires due first to Carmilla's betrayal then later to the floods resulting from the many movements of Dracula's Castle]]. [[spoiler:However, it is implied that God knew that Carmilla's and Sypha's plans would overlap, and so He let the Bishop bless the water despite loathing the man, because this would save the whole city. So maybe not so much CameBackStrong as GambitPileup]]? |
| 153 | * CameBackWrong: Invoked[[spoiler:, InhumanHuman variety. In the climax of Season 4, Death attempts to have Dracula resurrected by deliberately stuffing his and Lisa's souls into a misshapen rebis body so that the agony of such resurrection (due to the messed-up body and having Lisa suffer a same fate) will drive Dracula so insane that he would start killing ''everything'' indiscriminately for Death's benefit.]] |
| 154 | * CannotCrossRunningWater: The vampire generals [[DiscussedTrope talk about]] this superstition in "Old Homes" when Carmilla brings up attacking a river town. Isaac and Hector are skeptical, while Godbrand, a seafaring Viking, denies it. Later, they're seen crossing a bridge with no problem -- at least not until [[spoiler:the water is ''blessed'', and they're dumped in.]] |
| 155 | ** A DefiedTrope, in fact: Godbrand points out that his clan's existence as Viking vampires should be proof positive that this weakness doesn't exist. He also suggests that vampires historically beat this "weakness" centuries ago by simply moving further inland. He is also seen in a dream flashback jumping into his boat (staffed by other Viking vampires who appear later in the show) from a cliff, while it is moving in water. Finally, the mere fact that the Viking Godbrand and Japanese Cho (among other generals) were able to make it to Dracula's castle in Wallachia would suggest that they had to cross at least one body of water to get there. All evidence shown and suggested implies that the actual weakness of vampires is SuperDrowningSkills, and/or an aversion to Holy Water, which was exaggerated by legend. |
| 156 | * CanonForeigner: |
| 157 | ** The Bishop responsible for burning Lisa and kicking off the plot in the first place was created solely for the series. |
| 158 | ** Godbrand is a prominent character in Season 2 that has no game counterpart. |
| 159 | ** Aside from Carmilla, the other vampire sisters have no in-game counterparts. |
| 160 | ** Greta of Danesti is an original character; despite the clear similarities in her name, [[https://screenrant.com/castlevania-season-4-interview-kevin-kolde/ she is not the series counterpart of Grant Danasty.]] |
| 161 | * CastingGag: |
| 162 | ** Creator/PeterStormare, voice of Godbrand, has previously portrayed Dracula himself in ''WesternAnimation/TheBatmanVsDracula'', who similarly was infatuated with a vampiress named Carmilla. |
| 163 | ** Creator/BillNighy, the voice of Saint Germain, and Creator/TheoJames, the voice of Hector, are no strangers to [[Film/Underworld2003 the world of vampires and the supernatural.]] |
| 164 | ** Creator/JaimeMurray, the voice of Carmilla, has previously portrayed UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory in ''Film/FrightNight2NewBlood'', the person who the literary Carmilla is based upon. |
| 165 | * CatchingTheSpeedster: Alucard duels Dracula in Season 2, opting for HitAndRunTactics by sneaking in punches with his superior agility. Once his father has had enough, he seizes Alucard ''by the face'' and starts bashing his head into the floor. |
| 166 | * CelebrityParadox: Nipped in the bud. UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, whom Dracula is named after, is never named [[spoiler:nor shown onscreen as anything other than a rotting corpse]], despite being the ruler of Wallachia. |
| 167 | * CentralTheme: |
| 168 | ** Dealing with grief. The characters that the show focuses on all deal with pain, grief, trauma, and oppressive sadness throughout the series. The heroes are shown to deal with their pain and move past it, or at least believe that their trauma doesn't give them the right to hurt people. The villains are all steeped in their pain, lashing out at the world that they believe has wronged them, even willing to tear it all down and kill them if it means getting the vengeance that they feel they deserve. However, when [[AndThenWhat questioned about the logical endpoint of this vengeance]], many of them don't have an answer. |
| 169 | ** Nihilism vs Humanism. Does a CrapsackWorld full of walking examples of HumansAreBastards deserve to be destroyed, or is it still worth saving regardless? |
| 170 | ** Season 3 adds a theme of trust, how easily can it be broken or abused, and how having your trust betrayed damages your future relationships. |
| 171 | * CharacterBlog: The series' [[https://twitter.com/castlevania?lang=en official Twitter account]] was done in-character as Trevor, then later as Alucard. |
| 172 | * CharacterCatchphrase: Trevor "I don't care" Belmont. |
| 173 | * ChristianityIsCatholic: |
| 174 | ** A rather egregious instance, considering that the majority of real life Romanian citizenry is Eastern Orthodox. Although it's stated that the region's clergy has become corrupt and self-righteous, so maybe they decided to make a change in decorations, too. The Bishop's smug InfoDump as Trevor leaves the Church reveals that he's planning on using Dracula's invasion to rebuild the clergy into his own vision of how the Church was supposed to be. Hell, the only reason he was sent to Gresit in the first place was a "difference in clerical discipline" between him and the Archbishop. |
| 175 | ** Interestingly enough, however, there isn't a crucifix to be found despite both the Eastern Orthodox and Latin Churches favoring them over the plain crosses we see in the series. |
| 176 | ** The monks in Season 3 look ''slightly'' closer to what Eastern Orthodox monks actually look like, albeit still with a lot of ArtisticLicense. |
| 177 | * ClusterFBomb: Most of the characters drop obscenities when they speak, even the priests, but especially Trevor. |
| 178 | * ColdTouchSurprise: we find out about Trevor and Sypha's RelationshipUpgrade after they have a discussion about Sypha's habit of pressing her cold feet against him when they're in bed together. |
| 179 | * ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Human magic users with the ability to control other beings tend to have a color to establish what they are linked to: red for Isaac, blue for Hector, purple for Miranda, and green for "The Magician." |
| 180 | * ContinuityNod: One of the Infinite Corridor portals alludes to [[https://twitter.com/ricechrstytreet/status/1394706294892859393?s=20 the skeleton bartender]] in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin''. |
| 181 | * ContrivedCoincidence: |
| 182 | ** [[spoiler:While God has no love for the bishop or his corrupt cronies, certain events suggest that God is keeping an eye on the situation.]] It seems fortuitous that the one man who could save the people of Gresit arrives, and in just under a day, [[spoiler:not only exposes the Bishop's evil, but helps remove the corrupt priests (namely by killing them in self-defense), saves the life of a heroic girl, trains the townsfolk to fight demons, stops the hordes of demons from taking any more lives that night, and finds Alucard]], gaining two allies to help save the people of this country. |
| 183 | ** Of all the Night Creatures to attack, it's a bit fortuitous that the one who kills [[spoiler:the Bishop of Gresit]] is Blue Fangs, who can very clearly articulate a pointed TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, and state what God thinks of certain actions. Even more, Blue Fangs left enough of the body intact that [[spoiler:it could make it back to Carmilla and Hector to be useful in their plan.]] |
| 184 | ** During Season 2, [[spoiler:the heroes just so happen to summon Dracula's castle as it's getting invaded by Carmilla's forces. While it doesn't really affect much for the heroes or Dracula, Carmilla's coup ends up completely ruined since most of her army gets destroyed during the ensuing chaos. In a further coincidence, her forces are destroyed by the very running holy water she has the undead bishop create to initially only harm Dracula's forces. The movement of the castle causes it to get into the river and flood the hall, killing many vampires inside]]. |
| 185 | ** In season 4, Varney is stationed in Targoviste, the town where Lisa Tepes was killed, when Trevor and Sypha show up. The town happens to contain [[spoiler: an underground city safe from Dracula's wrath in season 1. Said city contains a rare transmission mirror that Varney can use to teleport Dracula's castle past all of its defenses, which is then also used to bring Trevor and Sypha to Alucard right when he needs their help. Randomly in plain sight is also the Cross Haladie, a one of a kind weapon made in India for a Norwegian vampire hunter. Trevor even lampshades the weapon randomly appearing there. He is eventually able to use it to destroy the Dracula/Lisa rebis. Finally, the vault also contains all of the pieces of a legendarily powerful knife that could potentially enact a murder-suicide pact with the Death entity. It's a good thing the royal family of Targoviste happened to be both magicians and hoarders, and that Zamfir saved all their stuff.]] |
| 186 | * CorruptChurch: Writer Warren Ellis is an atheist and ''not'' a fan of religion, and it shows. Despite Romania historically and currently being Eastern Orthodox, the religious authorities in the show are clearly the Catholic Church. They function as a secondary antagonist in the first two seasons, and are the reason Dracula launches his war in the first place. Even Dracula gets redeeming qualities, while the evil vampires can at least be interesting characters. Meanwhile not a single member of the Church ever displays ''any'' redeeming or even interesting qualities. They are invariably cowardly, stupid, ignorant, hateful, and cruel. The one minor exception is a priest Trevor recruits to help create holy water to repel the Night Creatures towards the end of Season 1. Said priest has no lines, and his total screen time is four seconds. |
| 187 | * CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: When Dracula is preparing to build his army, Alucard, of all people, suggests that he go after the church officials directly responsible for Lisa's death rather than condemn all of humanity for the actions of a few men. Sadly, Dracula is ''long'' past the point of caring who killed Lisa. |
| 188 | * CrapsackWorld: |
| 189 | ** Wallachia turns into quite the hellhole after Dracula unleashes his legions upon it. Most of the major cities quickly fall, and the ones that haven't yet are ruled over by a corrupt church that pins the blame for nightly raids by monsters on whatever targets can be conveniently labeled as heretics. |
| 190 | ** Season 3 proves that every place outside of Wallachia is just as terrible. Humans are all just as greedy, intolerant and power-hungry as they are everywhere else, the vampire lords around the world are just as cruel and evil, and things are actually beginning to get ''worse'' [[spoiler:without Dracula's overarching influence.]] |
| 191 | * CrazyPrepared: The Belmont family as a whole. Ever since Leon Belmont moved the family from France to Wallachia, they have been gathering all they can about the supernatural and monsters. They even prepared a multilayered vault protected by a magic door that holds books written in Adamic (the original human language before God separated it during the Tower of Babel), ancient spells designed by past Belmonts, magic artifacts like a magic mirror that can see anywhere, corpses of monsters the Belmonts have killed, and various powerful weapons. |
| 192 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: Even though she doesn't seem like the person to do it, Sypha really has the most creative ideas to kill her opponents -- most famously by creating an ice wall and splitting a vampire in half with it. [[https://twitter.com/Castlevania/status/1066106140793040896 On Twitter]], this attack was voted as the coolest battle move in all of the series. |
| 193 | * CurbStompBattle: |
| 194 | ** Dracula versus anyone who isn't Dracula. He soundly overpowers [[spoiler:all three protagonists at once and is only defeated after a HeelRealization]]. |
| 195 | ** Isaac [[spoiler:kills Godbrand]] with little difficulty despite the latter's power and effort. |
| 196 | * CynicismCatalyst: Trevor already had his with the excommunication and annihilation of his family, but in Season 3 Sypha and Alucard get their turn to get jaded. [[spoiler:Besides failing to realize what the vandalism was meant for (the symbols were part of a fire spell to sacrifice people) and not saving the town, Sypha learns that she was hired muscle for a serial killer. Alucard, despite trying to live up to his mother's example and being exceptionally generous to Sumi and Taka, has them turn on him and nearly kill him.]] |
| 197 | * DarkerAndEdgier: |
| 198 | ** The series is when compared to anything from the video games up to this point, with heaping helpings of detailed gore, swearing, and a conscious absence of ImprobableInfantSurvival. |
| 199 | ** It counts for Frederator Studios; before ''Castlevania'', they mostly did child-friendly shows for kids' networks. |
| 200 | ** Most of Season 3 is on the same level as the first two seasons, but by the end, it's taken a sharp nosedive into this with [[spoiler:everyone in Lindenfeld dying, the local friendly town mayor being a child serial killer, and all of the heroic or even potentially heroic characters driven further into villainy, slavery, or cynicism.]] While the series itself can't be called happy or cheery, the first two seasons ended on more hopeful notes. Season 3 has no such hope. |
| 201 | * DarkestHour: How season 3 ends. [[spoiler:Sypha has become embittered by the failure to save a single innocent life in Lindenfeld, Alucard has sunk further into isolation due to the betrayal of Sumi and Taka [[LikeFatherLikeSon and has begun mirroring the behavior of his father]], Hector has found himself in an even worse state of enslavement, and Isaac has killed enough people to create an army of monsters.]] Appropriately, the last episode of the season is titled ''Abandon All Hope''. |
| 202 | * DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:The Underground Court of Targoviste consists of the corpses of the royal family and a half-mad noblewoman insisting that they're just sleeping]]. |
| 203 | * DeadpanSnarker: |
| 204 | ** Trevor, all the way. It might seem that the man has an untold stash of caustic remarks reserved for every occasion. He gets called out on it more than once by Sypha, who tells him to grow up. |
| 205 | ** Sypha dabbles in this via ToiletHumour. |
| 206 | ** Alucard is deadpan incarnate, and seems to have inherited his mother's snark. |
| 207 | * DeathOfAChild: |
| 208 | ** Not even children are spared the wrath of Dracula's hordes. One goblin is seen [[EatsBabies carrying a dead baby in its mouth]]. |
| 209 | ** In Season 2, several of Dracula's generals raid a whole town. Children are among the many victims. |
| 210 | ** Alucard finds the small skull of a vampire child in a showcase at the Belmont hold in-between two bigger skulls. |
| 211 | * DeathOrGloryAttack: In Season 4 [[spoiler:Trevor]] picks up the [[spoiler:God Killing Dagger.]] The second it's put together the weapon begins burning the user's hand and rapidly progresses to burning their arm so badly the sleeves come off, which is to say nothing of what happens when you actually attack with it. |
| 212 | * DecapitatedArmy: [[spoiler:Dracula's death essentially ends his war on humanity in season 2. It's justified since just before the trio invaded Dracula's castle, there was an EnemyCivilWar that killed most of the vampire mooks and then the trio killed Dracula's generals and Dracula himself leaving only the night creatures which aren't smart enough to organize an army.]] |
| 213 | * DeconstructorFleet: This world being [[CrapsackWorld exceptionally bleak]], it {{deconstruct|ion}}s a massive number of tropes. |
| 214 | ** MisanthropeSupreme is deconstructed heavily. Dracula, Hector, and Isaac are motivated by a shared disgust for humanity, whom they consider to be ignorant, cruel, and selfish. [[spoiler:The events of Season 2 and Season 3 demonstrate that humans have in no way cornered the market on monstrous behavior. The vampires lie, betray, and scheme, and can be even more selfish, cruel, and ignorant than humans... and they do it to both humans ''and'' vampires. Also, unlike humans, they mostly lack being vulnerable, short-lived, and uneducated as an excuse -- if anything, their power, longevity and knowledge make them desperately resist change, even if their efforts lead to ruin. When the vampires choose to be bastards, they take it up to eleven.]] This is actually a plot point in Season 4: three of the Styrian sisters come to realize that vampires tend to be both {{Control Freak}}s and {{Villainous Glutton}}s. For all their contempt of humans, most of them are just as bad. [[spoiler:This leads to two of them deciding to KnowWhenToFoldEm and retire peacefully while the third takes her own life on peaceful terms. Hector and Isaac themselves develop beyond their misanthropy, Isaac in particular choosing to try making things better instead of just killing his fellow man.]] |
| 215 | ** WeHelpTheHelpless is deconstructed in Season 3, when Trevor and Sypha stay in a TownWithADarkSecret to try and investigate and get to the bottom of things. [[spoiler:Not only do they ''fail miserably'' at accomplishing much, but they are betrayed by the very person who entrusted them with the task. After having nothing but fun adventures saving people and fighting monsters for two months, Sypha gets a cold hard dose of reality.]] Then it gets {{Reconstruct|ion}}ed in Season 4. [[spoiler:Sypha learned her lesson, but uses it to [[GrewASpine Grow a Spine]] and stop being passive actors following the instructions or insane wishes of whomever they help. She takes a much more proactive role in making peoples' lives better, and the results turn out ''much'' more favorably.]] |
| 216 | ** BecauseYouWereNiceToMe gets deconstructed in regards to [[spoiler:Hector's relationship with Lenore. To break down Hector's guard, Lenore treats Hector well and is ''just'' candid enough with him about the reality of the Sisters' plans and the unfair position he's in for Hector to believe [[AtLeastIAdmitIt she's honest about her villainy]]. Instead, she makes him comfortable enough to sleep with her and then uses what he says in the heat of passion to force him into a more permanent enslavement. She still plans on treating him "nicely", but only because she enjoys [[SexSlave using him for sex and other things]]]]. This ''also'' gets {{Reconstruct|ion}}ed in Season 4. [[spoiler:Lenore's relatively kind treatment of Hector actually ''does'' make the two grow close, to the degree that each one risks their own safety to save the other. By the end, Lenore has an epiphany and comes to regret the things she's done, and Hector chooses to write a book on his experiences to prevent anyone else from ever following his example.]] |
| 217 | * DefeatEqualsExplosion: A solid hit from Trevor's whip will cause demons to swell and explode. The Morning Star in Season 2 is even more spectacular; it's capable of killing vampires, except Dracula, though it does hurt him enough to knock him to his knees. |
| 218 | * DevilButNoGod: {{Discussed|Trope}} and {{averted|Trope}}; holy relics and techniques can and do draw on the power of the Almighty and are quite effective at harming demons and vampires, but the catch is that ''true'' faith is required in order to receive His blessings. This is best shown when Blue Fangs and his coterie of demons waltz into the Bishop's church without worry, since it had long since gone from worshipping God to worshipping the Bishop himself and has thus lost its sanctity. During the demon raid in Gresit at the end of Season 1, Trevor specifically requests a minister who was ordained in a proper church to bless some holy water for use in the fight, showing that God's power exists but must come from truly believing sources and not hypocritical jags. |
| 219 | * DiabolusExMachina: Season 3 has several examples. |
| 220 | ** Trevor and Sypha are ready to stop a sinister plot in a TownWithADarkSecret, so once the townsfolk are locked away in their homes, they storm the priory with the local soldiers... [[spoiler:and the evil cultists immediately use the demonic markings they carved on each home to sacrifice the townspeople, opening a portal to Hell that leaves not a single survivor.]] |
| 221 | *** Even worse, it turns out that [[spoiler:the ReasonableAuthorityFigure who asked them to investigate was a child-murdering SerialKiller. No. This has ''nothing'' to do with the cultists' plot. It's just extra horror to go with the other horror.]] |
| 222 | ** Isaac meets several people who try and convince him that humankind isn't all that bad. Each one of them shows him ample kindness, and Isaac tries to pay it forward to the next person he meets. [[spoiler:Too bad that each person he tries to pay kindness to has 100% SuicidalOverconfidence and 0% self-preservation instinct. In the end, Isaac is even more of a misanthrope than he started as... only now he has an entire army of monsters at his command.]] |
| 223 | ** Alucard meets two monster hunters who come to him looking for help freeing their people from dangerous vampire lords. The lonely Alucard happily takes them under his wing and teaches them both the knowledge of his father's castle and that of the Belmont clans, promising that in time, he will make all of it theirs. [[spoiler:Too bad that they are completely paranoid and believe he's holding back the real power and information so that he can betray them, forcing him to kill them in self-defense.]] |
| 224 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Discussed by Striga and Morana. They got themselves hyped up by Carmilla's plan to sieze a slice of Europe, but once they're in the field to scout ahead they realize it's completely insane and unworkable. |
| 225 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: Season 1 ends with Trevor's fight with Alucard, although Blue Fangs -- who is fought just before -- is a more fitting an example of this, as Alucard's battle with Trevor is more or less a SecretTestOfCharacter. |
| 226 | * DisproportionateRetribution: |
| 227 | ** Dracula decides to exterminate the population of Wallachia for the execution of his wife, Lisa. While Dracula is understandably upset at his wife's death, Alucard points out that the former's revenge will kill many more people who were just as innocent as Lisa. Unfortunately, by this point Dracula doesn't believe ''anyone'' is innocent. |
| 228 | ** A throwaway line in Season 2 suggests that the person who tipped off the Church to Lisa's activities was the village's old medicine woman, who was angry about Lisa stealing her customers. |
| 229 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Lisa, a woman who wanted to heal people and make the world a better place, is brutally executed for heresy. Her last words are, ''[[Literature/TheBible "Forgive them, they don't know what they're doing."]]'' |
| 230 | * DoingInTheWizard: In Season 4, Trevor reveals that the whole "vampires are weak to crosses" thing has a scientific explanation: they're a specially-evolved apex predator, to whom geometric shapes waved in their vision scrambles their brains. |
| 231 | * DoubleEntendre: Hector and Lenore's delightful conversation in Season 4: |
| 232 | -->'''Lenore''': Why can't you just wave your fingers like a wizard to raise the dead or whatever? |
| 233 | -->'''Hector''': It doesn't work like that. The forgemaster works through an instrument. |
| 234 | -->'''Lenore''': That may be the worst justification for a man holding his penis that I've ever heard... and I am 200 years old. |
| 235 | -->'''Hector''': ...The magic has to be forced through an instrument, like breath being pushed through a flute. |
| 236 | -->'''Lenore''': This isn't getting any better. |
| 237 | -->'''Hector''': I need the bloody hammer, is that better? |
| 238 | -->'''Lenore''': So use a bloody hammer! There must be a thousand bloody hammers around here. |
| 239 | -->'''Hector''': No, it's got to be special. |
| 240 | -->'''Lenore''': ''(scoffs)'' Your ''special'' hammer? |
| 241 | -->'''Hector''': Would you stop? It has to be made from scratch, in a very particular way, or else it won't work. |
| 242 | -->'''Lenore''': Like a flute with no holes. |
| 243 | -->'''Hector''': Right. |
| 244 | -->'''Lenore''': For fingering. |
| 245 | -->'''Hector''': ''(laughs)'' Would you stop? |
| 246 | -->'''Lenore''': So when you blow it, nothing comes out. |
| 247 | -->'''Hector''': Good God, woman. |
| 248 | -->... |
| 249 | -->'''Hector''': I'm working on it. |
| 250 | -->'''Lenore''': You know what I'm going to say. |
| 251 | -->'''Hector''': Work faster. |
| 252 | -->'''Lenore''': Yes. |
| 253 | -->'''Hector''': Yes, but it needs to be perfect... or nothing will come out of the end. |
| 254 | -->'''Lenore''': Ugh, you're disgusting. |
| 255 | * DoubleStandard: Both DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale and DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale are averted in all their horror in season 3. [[spoiler:Lenore [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslights]] Hector into sleeping with her, which she uses to trick him into putting on the slave ring, after which, she more or less states that she intends to turn him into her own personal SexSlave, though she's implied not to have in Season 4. Alucard is pinned down by a mostly-naked Sumi and Taka in a scene very reminiscent of sexual assault. Both scenes are portrayed as a complete violation of trust that leaves both victims in a worse state.]] |
| 256 | * DownerEnding: Season 3 ends on one. [[spoiler:It starts off with promise for Alucard, Trevor, Sypha, and Hector. Alucard gets two companions who give him a reason to open up to people again. Trevor and Sypha have a wonderful time traveling the land, helping people and fighting injustice. Hector's situation seems to improve with Lenore sympathizing with him. By the end of the season, Alucard's companions have tried to assassinate him, leading him to kill them in self-defense. Trevor and Sypha try to help a village and fail to avoid a massacre, and Hector ends up in an even worse form of slavery than before]]. The closest thing to a "happy ending" anyone gets is [[spoiler:St. Germain achieving his goal of reuniting with his lost loved one, but getting trapped in the same dimension as them. However, it's implied this is merely a temporary setback and he will escape eventually, if his promise to Trevor and Sypha that they will meet again is any indication]]. |
| 257 | * DramaticIrony: |
| 258 | ** For most of seasons 3 and 4, various characters try to resurrect [[spoiler:Dracula]] to serve their own ends, with the intent to capitalize on his genocide of Wallachia and humanity. And yet in the finale, [[spoiler:when he does return, it turns out that not only has death knocked some sanity back into him, but since his wife was resurrected he has no motivation to do anything else but live a quiet life with her.]] |
| 259 | ** In Season 3, Hector makes it clear while threatening Lenore in an attempt to free himself from being imprisoned that he knows he can't actually kill her, even if he's willing to try as best he can. [[spoiler:By Season 4, his hand in thwarting Carmilla's plans and subsequent BreakingSpeech to Lenore pushes her so far across the DespairEventHorizon that she commits SuicideBySunlight; he ''did'' manage to kill her, albeit indirectly.]] |
| 260 | * TheDreaded: The Belmont clan to vampires. News of a ''possible'' Belmont is enough to divide the vampire's war council about how to deal with him. [[spoiler:Trevor just entering the castle in episode 7 of Season 2 is enough to get Dracula's vampires and Carmilla's vampires to stop fighting each other so they could [[EnemyMine focus on killing Trevor]] as quickly as possible.]] |
| 261 | * DualWielding: Trevor uses both a whip and a short sword in conjunction. In Season 3, he uses both at the same time when fighting off large night creatures. [[spoiler:When facing off against the Visitor, Trevor dual wields his signature whips.]] |
| 262 | * DubNameChange: Averted in the Japanese dub. Long time fans of ''Castlevania'' will know that when the third installment was brought over from Japan, the vampire hunter known as Ralph was renamed Trevor. This was seemingly to forever remain an overseas change as the character continued to be called Ralph in Japan, until this series made its way over there and his overseas name was retained, marking the first time Japanese audiences were introduced to the character as Trevor, and not Ralph. |
| 263 | * DueToTheDead: Lisa's neighbor lays a floral bouquet on the remains of her home after it is destroyed. Dracula thanks her by giving her advance warning to take her family and flee before he begins his attack. |
| 264 | * DumbassHasAPoint: Godbrand may be the DumbMuscle of Dracula's council, but he was the first one to realize [[spoiler:that Dracula was on a suicide mission because killing all humans would mean no blood for vampires.]] |
| 265 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: After seasons of battle and suffering, the series finale ends on an unambiguously high note. [[spoiler:Trevor survives his fight with Death thanks to Saint Germain using the Infinite Corridor to teleport him away. Trevor and Sypha thus get to be together, and are expecting a child. Alucard has found a place with the refuges of Danesti Village, and is now helping Greta with the construction of a new town around the castle. Hector frees himself from Lenore and Carmilla's grip, and makes his peace with Isaac, who finally wants to live for himself. Even Dracula and Lisa return from the dead as two separate people thanks to Trevor inadvertently separating them during Death's attempt to bring them back in a single body, and decide to travel together now free from anyone's machinations, promising to come back to the castle later once Alucard finds his closure.]] |
| 266 | * EatingOptional: Vampires are able to eat human food, but only get nourishment from blood. Food is treated as an indulgence by vampires, like sweets or alcohol. |
| 267 | * EliteMooks: While both Night Creatures and Vampires fall to the heroes with ease on average, there is also typically a few standout members who put up a bigger fight that makes them standout. |
| 268 | ** Dracula's generals. Whereas the lesser vampire troops are taken out en masse by Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard in the blink of an eye, the generals take a bit more effort to individually defeat. Some require a bit of teamwork to overcome. |
| 269 | ** The Night Creatures sent to the Belmont Vault turn out to be far more capable then the usual run of the mill, each one putting up a good fight against Trevor himself. |
| 270 | ** [[spoiler: The invasion force that attacks Dracula's castle in season 4 have several in their rank, with 2 standout ones being a Night Creature that turns intagible who actually injures Trevor and an unnamed Viking vampire that gave Alucard a good fight all on his own.]] |
| 271 | * EnemyCivilWar: By the end of Season 2, [[spoiler:Carmilla has betrayed Dracula and plans to usurp him]]. |
| 272 | * EnemyMine: In "For Love", [[spoiler:the Dracula and Carmilla factions of vampires in the main hall stop fighting each other upon the arrival of Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard]]. |
| 273 | * EpicBattleBoredom: Trevor Belmont's first instinct on seeing Dracula is to punch him in the face (despite having Leon Belmont's sword and the Morning Star with him). Dracula doesn't even flinch, and then sighs "You must be the Belmont". |
| 274 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Blue Fangs makes it very clear that the bishop, and the Church as a whole, ''completely'' disgust him, and that they shame God. |
| 275 | * EverybodyLives: [[spoiler:While there were some casualties, most of the main cast survives in the series finale, even Dracula and Lisa are brought back from Hell to add a bonus.]] |
| 276 | * EvilIsPetty: The "wise woman" who accuses Lisa of witchcraft to the Church is just a bitter old woman who hated that Lisa's medicines actually worked and caused her to get run out of town. |
| 277 | * EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce: Inverted. Striga notes that this is what makes it so difficult to maintain a Styrian empire: she is a devastating soldier and commander, but a random band of desperate peasants taking advantage of vampire weaknesses may get lucky and kill Striga. |
| 278 | * EvilPowerVacuum: Carmilla states as such in season 3 [[spoiler:following Dracula's death in Eastern Europe. Various vampire clans are attempting to create their own nations, the Night Creatures are running amok without any leadership, and humans are busy fighting both themselves and Night Creatures due to Dracula's war. Carmilla plans on conquering the weakened Eastern Europe]]. |
| 279 | * EvilVersusEvil: [[spoiler: Isaac's army of Night Creatures and the unnamed Magician's puppet army. Both of them are vile people who convert innocent people into their henchmen.]] |
| 280 | * EvilVersusOblivion: A major conflict that develops within Dracula's forces in Season 2. [[spoiler:Carmilla begins to undermine and scheme against Dracula viewing him as mad and inefficient. His senseless slaughter of humans will leave their own race without a food source, potentially killing them as well. Carmilla hates humans too, but would seek to control them and attain power for herself; Dracula's depression drives him to a goal of total annihilation of everything]]. |
| 281 | * EvilVirtues: Lenore and Hector [[DiscussedTrope discuss]] the Vampire's Virtue in the final episode, "It's Been A Strange Ride"; Ambition. Lenore states that as they naturally live longer than humans, vampires have to think long-term and make plans accordingly. She and her sisters built together a stronghold in Styria where they could live safely and even with humans without sucking them dry, claiming that they gained strength to protect themselves. Hector counters, though, that ''strength'' and ''power'' are two different things, [[spoiler:and as much as Lenore tries to say otherwise, she eventually agrees with him that Carmilla's lust for power would've never been satisfied. Thus, the "virtue" of ambition is what got her killed in the end and destroyed the home Lenore knew.]] |
| 282 | * ExplainExplainOhCrap: At the end of Season 2, Sypha explains to Alucard when she [[spoiler:summons Dracula's castle to their location, that she locked it permanently onto the ground above the Belmont Hold: the hold buried deep underground and covered by dirt, stone and wood. [[DidntThinkThisThrough Now there is a huge castle atop it]]]]. They realize it would be best to get out of the area before something bad happens. |
| 283 | * EyeScream: |
| 284 | ** When fighting one of the Bishop's men, Trevor ''whips his left eye out of the socket''. Later, [[AssholeVictim the poor bastard]] gets shot in his ''right'' eye with an arrow fired by a fellow priest. |
| 285 | ** Unsurprisingly, the cyclops is killed after being [[GoForTheEye stabbed in its single eye]]. |
| 286 | ** Isaac in Season 2 seems to be rather fond of gouging out people's eyes with his thumbs. |
| 287 | ** Trevor takes a leaf out of Isaac's book to finish off a Death cultist in Season 4's introduction. |
| 288 | * FacialHorror: Isaac uses his spiked belt to tear off the face of one of the bandits who attacks him in the Season 2 finale. |
| 289 | * FailedASpotCheck: Played with. Sypha and Saint-Germain are both knowledgeable magicians; they see the symbols carved into homes and know it means lead and is associated with alchemy. What they fail to realize is that [[spoiler:the symbols are part of a ritual spell that will immolate the occupants of the homes and send their souls into the Visitor.]] |
| 290 | * FamilyMan: Dracula was considered this in the beginning. After meeting the medicine student Lisa de Lupu, he fell in love with and [[HappilyMarried married her]], establishing a humble house apart from the castle and having a son named Adrian (alias Alucard). But the story came to a BittersweetEnding when, after one trip, he found their house burned and her wife burned at the stake for witchcraft. This unleashed his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against humanity, becoming Dracula once again and making a literal HellOnEarth. [[spoiler:[[ItHasOnlyJustBegun And this is just the beginning...]]]] |
| 291 | * FamilyPortraitOfCharacterization: Dracula's mansion holds an old family portrait from when his wife Lisa was still alive and their son Adrian/Alucard was just a baby, signifying (among other things) how much he cared for his wife, and contrasting the [[AntagonisticOffspring current state]] of his relationship with Alucard. |
| 292 | * FanDisservice: [[spoiler:Alucard getting it on with Taka and Sumi? Hot! Lenore having sex with Hector? Ditto! Lenore using the opportunity to painfully enslave Hector? The opposite of hot. Taka and Sumi trying to kill Alucard mid-coitus, leading to Alucard killing them? As horrifying as it is saddening.]] |
| 293 | * FantasticRacism: Most vampires have no care or concern for human lives, only desiring to kill, eat, or enslave every human they see. |
| 294 | ** Dracula's vampire generals think of humans as nothing but livestock, which irritates Dracula because he knows humans are better than that... which is also why he hates them so much after the death of his wife. Cattle have little responsibility for their actions, but humans should know better than to callously commit such a heinous act, or to just stand by and allow it to happen. |
| 295 | ** Dracula's [[MisanthropeSupreme hatred for the human species on a personal level]] is matched by [[BoomerangBigot his human henchmen Isaac and Hector]]. Ironically, Dracula also trusts these two men for exactly this reason, to the point that they could be considered [[BigotryException the only humans whom he likes or is friendly with]]. And that's not even getting into the hypocritical irony of how Dracula [[BigotWithACrush genuinely fell in love with and married a human]], which became the primary motive for his [[KillAllHumans genocidal war]] in the first place... |
| 296 | * FatBastard: The Targoviste archbishop is quite obese, and he decided to celebrate the anniversary of Lisa's death. |
| 297 | * FemmeFatalons: |
| 298 | ** The Targoviste archbishop has these and, as expected, he's a fanatic who decides to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Lisa's death. |
| 299 | ** Dracula for obvious reasons. Season 2 reveals that they're common to vampires in general, and they're sharp and durable enough to scratch stone. |
| 300 | ** Alucard has normal human fingernails, but can grow them out like this if he concentrates. |
| 301 | * FighterMageThief: Alucard, Sypha, and Trevor, respectively. Alucard is the strongest and most straightforward fighter of the group, Sypha is a skilled Speaker Magician, and Trevor, as the group's BadassNormal, uses more finesse and tactics in combat. |
| 302 | * {{Fingore}}: |
| 303 | ** Trevor removes a priest's finger when disarming him with his whip. He apologizes profusely as he was only trying to pull his stave away: |
| 304 | --> '''Trevor:''' Oh, hell -- I'm sorry. I was trying to snatch the stave out of your hand. How's your finger?\ |
| 305 | '''Priest:''' WHAT FUCKING FINGER? |
| 306 | ** In Season 4, Hector cuts off his own ring finger [[spoiler: to free himself from the RestrainingBolt that Lenore put on him]]. |
| 307 | * FlashStep: Alucard performs a few to hit Trevor from behind. It's recognizable as his signature backstab skill when wielding his personal sword in the games, BattleAura and all. [[spoiler: In Season 2, he Spams the move against Dracula, seemingly putting his father on the ropes until [[IAmNotLeftHanded Dracula gets pissed and effortlessly grabs him mid-jump]].]] |
| 308 | * FollowInMyFootsteps: Lampshaded by Alucard when discussing why he (and indirectly Trevor) feel they must stop Dracula: |
| 309 | -->'''Alucard:''' Because it is what my mother would have wanted. And we are all, in the end, slaves to our families' wishes. |
| 310 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 311 | ** Season 2 sees a prolonged conversation about if vampires are destroyed by running water, or simply unable to cross it, both of which come from classic vampire folklore. In Season 4, [[spoiler:running holy water surrounds the Underground Court, specifically as a defense against vampires. Varney hops over it, despite a bridge (a common exception to the "can't cross running water" rule) being right next to him, only commenting that it's "nasty stuff." This would seem to debunk that piece of folklore... except Varney is Death, thus not a vampire, thus not bound by the same limitations.]] |
| 312 | ** Small hints that Trevor and Sypha [[spoiler: will conceive a child include Saint Germain offhandedly commenting Speakers "casually reproduce" and Sypha talking about her Grandfather's words about parents wanting children to exceed them.]] |
| 313 | ** When Sypha and Trevor defeat Dracula, Sypha watches two birds fly out of the castle. This foreshadows her eventually asking Trevor to join her for adventure. |
| 314 | ** Early in Season 4, Trevor and Sypha come across a cult that apparently worships the physical incarnation of Death itself. Trevor explains that the entity they deify isn't actually any such thing (the concept of death doesn't have an avatar), but merely a primeval monster that feeds off of the energy released when living beings are snuffed out. Much later in the season, in an entirely unrelated conversation between contextually disconnected characters, Varney casually tells Ratko that the reason he keeps the Slavic vampire around is because he's so good at killing, [[spoiler:and "it nourishes me." Take a wild guess who [[TheGrimReaper Varney turns out to be.]]]] |
| 315 | * FourLinesAllWaiting: Season 3 flits between Trevor and Sypha at Lindenfeld, Hector and Carmilla at Styria, Isaac en route to Styria, and Alucard at Dracula's castle. Season 4 follows a similar pattern, [[spoiler:until Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard meet back at Dracula's Castle and Isaac arrives in Styria, but everyone's plot was connected in some way to Varney's scheme.]] |
| 316 | * FreudianExcuse: |
| 317 | ** Dracula's reason for declaring war against humanity was because his wife was burned at the stake by religious fundamentalists, and since nobody moved a finger to save her, he concluded they were all guilty by association. |
| 318 | ** Hector and Isaac are the only humans in Dracula's court who stand behind his genocidal plans against their own kind due to enduring abusive childhoods by their parents and caretakers. |
| 319 | ** Carmilla holds a very [[DoesNotLikeMen reductive, negative attitude towards men in general]], but as she tells her backstory to Godbrand, she was kept as a SexSlave to an older vampire before she killed him. Incidentally, this is also the reason why [[EvilCannotComprehendGood she cannot understand why Dracula didn't turn Lisa into a vampire]], because this is what her own sire would have done. |
| 320 | * FullFrontalAssault: |
| 321 | ** When Lenore is throwing a naked [[spoiler:Hector]] around in his cell after he grabbed her and tried to force her to free him, we can see [[FreezeFrameBonus his shlong for a few split seconds a few times]]. |
| 322 | ** Subverted in Season 3. [[spoiler:Sumi and Taka pull knives on Alucard, intent to kill him because of paranoia over what he supposedly wasn't telling them. While this happens, both Sumi and Taka are totally naked, having seduced Alucard into letting his guard down. However, Alucard kills the both of them before they can attack him.]] |
| 323 | * TheFundamentalist: The bishop [[spoiler:has Lisa executed because she was using scientific medicine instead of prayer to heal people]], and outright says that the archbishop "would prefer that life in Wallachia be kept ''simple''" (i.e. an uneducated, easily-manipulated populace). He's also utterly convinced that anyone not directly in service to the church, like the Belmonts or the Speakers, is an evil heretic that must be destroyed, and sees himself as the ultimate religious authority in Wallachia due to all the other major cities (and by extension, every priest who was his equal or superior in them) being destroyed by Dracula's forces. |
| 324 | [[/folder]] |
| 325 | |
| 326 | [[folder:G - L]] |
| 327 | * GoodShepherd: Due to the church in Gresit being massively corrupt, Trevor worries that he won't be able to find a minister holy enough to bless water. Luckily, there's a minor priest in the crowd who's still righteous enough. |
| 328 | * TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: The first season is a fairly straightforward battle between the protagonists and the forces of evil. (The Church, while also a major antagonist, gets taken out of the picture early on.) Season 2, on the other hand, introduces new antagonistic forces that begin as allies of Dracula, but then reveal themselves as another (and arguably more evil) faction. Season 3 expands this even further, as with [[spoiler:Dracula dead]], there is no longer any larger power keeping the villainous forces united, so more antagonists are free to emerge with their own twisted agendas. |
| 329 | * {{Gorn}}: In the first episode alone, Dracula's legions are shown horrifically eviscerating people, tearing them to shreds and strewing their remains through the streets. Gresit, as shown in the second episode, is similarly decorated in blood, corpses, and body parts. |
| 330 | * GoryDiscretionShot: |
| 331 | ** [[spoiler:When Blue Fangs "kisses" the Bishop (i.e. bites his face clean off), the scene cuts to the church's stained glass windows depicting [[RuleOfSymbolism indifferent-looking saints]].]] |
| 332 | ** [[spoiler:When Sypha [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe vertically bisects]] the Indian vampire general with an ice blade, the scene quickly cuts (beyond a split-second shot of the actual blow) to the blood-coated ice after the blow.]] |
| 333 | * GreatBigLibraryOfEverything: The Belmont family library, kept in their castle's hidden basement, is a vast trove of tomes, scrolls, and artifcats that serves as the largest single collection of knowledge on vampires, night creatures, magic, and the ways to fight the terrors in the night in all of Europe, if not the world. |
| 334 | * GreaterScopeParagon: [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Leon Belmont]] is this to the Belmont family and arguably all of Wallachia, as it was his pursuit of Dracula from distant France that led to the Belmonts becoming the country's greatest monster hunters and accumulating an unmatched trove of weapons and arcane knowledge. |
| 335 | * GreaterScopeVillain: Vlad Dracula Tepeș, who barely shows up in Season 1, leaving the Belmont-fighting and countryside-terrorizing to lesser antagonists. By Season 3, [[spoiler:he is dead after being killed in the previous season, but his creatures continue to terrorize the land, with one of them establishing a cult with the purpose of resurrecting him]]. |
| 336 | * GroinAttack: |
| 337 | ** Happens to Trevor a couple of times during his BarBrawl: |
| 338 | --->'''Trevor:''' Would you please... leave my testicles alone?! |
| 339 | ** Trevor tries one on Alucard during their fight. [[BallsOfSteel It doesn't work]]: |
| 340 | --->'''Alucard:''' Please. This isn't a bar fight. Have some class. |
| 341 | * GuysSmashGirlsShoot: Sypha uses her magic from afar in combat, while Trevor and Alucard prefer a more hands-on approach with their weapons (and body, in Alucard's case). [[spoiler:From the end of Season 2 onwards, Sypha begins to branch out, making frequent use of ice spears and occasionally using her fire magic at point-blank range.]] |
| 342 | * HappyEndingOverride: [[spoiler: Saint Germain seemingly ended Season 3 on an optimistic note, leaping into the Infinite Corridor to reunite with his lost love. Season 4 reveals she was long gone and he's undergone a FaceHeelTurn in order to bring her back.]] |
| 343 | * HeWhoFightsMonsters: Subtly implied. Among the vampire skulls in the Belmont Hold is at least one that is noticeably smaller than the others, implying the Belmonts have killed [[UndeadChild child vampires]]. Alucard doesn't comment, but it's clear he's not happy about finding it. When asked why he's more morose than usual, he points out that he's half-vampire, and is standing in a place dedicated to destroying that half of his people. |
| 344 | * HesBack: After presumably years of wandering Wallachia after the Church had all of his family killed and his house burned, Trevor Belmont returns to his roots as a defender of innocent people when he saves the Speakers from the mob. |
| 345 | * HealItWithFire: When Sypha gets slashed in the right arm during the final battle, she uses a low-intensity fire spell to cauterize the wounds. |
| 346 | * HeelRealization: [[spoiler:Dracula has a huge one when he comes to his senses after his fight with Alucard brings them to the latter's bedroom, making him realize that what started as an attempt to avenge Lisa's death has led him to try to kill the beloved son he raised alongside Lisa]]. |
| 347 | * HeinousnessRetcon: When she's first depicted in the show's third season, [[FemmeFatale Lenore]], while initially seeming to be ALighterShadeOfBlack proceeds to [[spoiler:gaslight, dehumanize and abuse]] her prisoner Hector, [[spoiler:even having dubiously consensual sex with him and enslaving him via magic during the act before going on to declare that she will make him her full-time SexSlave.]] The fourth season, however, has Lenore and Hector on friendly terms, with Lenore being a SympatheticSlaveowner and the two of them seem to get along just fine. [[spoiler:The SexSlave bit is of particular note, as Hector seems not to have been abused and is in fact happy to make innuendos toward Lenore, implying that Lenore was bluffing.]] The fourth season ultimately [[{{Pun}} defangs]] Lenore's previously vile nature so much that [[spoiler:Hector saves her life from Isaac's invasion and she ends up killing herself in an AlasPoorVillain moment.]] |
| 348 | * HeelFaceTurn: In Season 2, Alucard discusses the concept of this in regards to his father. He believes his mother was trying to change Dracula slowly, to move away from his truly darker aspects, to use his knowledge and wisdom of ages to help improve people's lives everywhere. She might have succeeded if not for her brutal execution at human hands. |
| 349 | * HeroAntagonist: |
| 350 | ** Alucard duels with Trevor after being discovered in the catacombs. Trevor figures out Alucard is a vampire, and that his resting place shares resemblances to Dracula's castle, leads Trevor to one conclusion that [[PoorCommunicationKills Alucard purposely doesn't correct, right away]]. However, Alucard's only there in the first place to recover from injuries sustained when he tried to stop Dracula from unleashing his demonic army. When his duel with Trevor reaches a draw, he agrees to help Trevor and Sypha fight Dracula. |
| 351 | ** On a smaller note, the City Guards of Tunis and Genoa, who for obvious reasons, oppose Isaac for bringing a demonic army into their towns. |
| 352 | * TheHeroDoesntKillTheVillainess: Played with. [[spoiler:All of the male villains in the series are killed by the heroes or other villains. While the two female members of Dracula's war council (Chō and Raman) are slain by the heroes, this is not the case for the more prominent Council of Sisters; Lenore commits suicide via sunlight, Striga and Morana opt out of the conflict with the humans after realizing how futile it is, and Carmilla chooses to kill herself, going out on her own terms rather than dying by [[HeelFaceTurn Isaac's]] hand.]] |
| 353 | * HeroWithBadPublicity: |
| 354 | ** The Belmonts were excommunicated by the church for their dealings in magic when fighting the forces of darkness. Trevor carries this stigma with him. |
| 355 | ** The Speakers, including Sypha, are blamed by the church for attracting Dracula's legion, with the bishop whipping the people of Gresit into an AngryMob to kill them. Neither Trevor nor the Speakers are too happy about this belief: |
| 356 | --->'''Corrupt Priest:''' Witch!\ |
| 357 | '''Sypha:''' No! I am a Speaker, and a scholar of magic. I serve no demon and I do no evil. |
| 358 | * HistoricalInJoke: A possible one in Season 4. Lenore very briefly mentions she lived in a castle growing up and her parents were killed when English soldiers climbed in through a toilet with knives in their teeth. This might be a reference on the fall of Château Gaillard during the Hundred Years War, which was reportedly breached by soldiers climbing into the castle chapel via a latrine chute. While it broadly matches up with Lenore claiming to be 200 years old, Château Gaillard was an English held castle breached by French soldiers, though this might have been the other way around in the ''Castlevania'' universe. |
| 359 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: |
| 360 | ** The priest that leads the mob to attempt to kill Trevor ends up killed by the mob when Trevor reveals that it was the Church -- particularly, the current Bishop of Gresit -- that caused Dracula's rampage. |
| 361 | ** The first step of [[spoiler:Carmilla's plan to backstab Dracula]] was blessing a river and transforming it into Holy Water, and then dropping Dracula's troops into it. [[spoiler:Sypha destroys most of her troops when she accidentally teleports the castle right into the river, flooding the entire city and killing almost every vampire and demon in the streets]]. |
| 362 | * HolyBurnsEvil: |
| 363 | ** HolyWater and Sypha's magic ice spikes made from that water burn Dracula's demons. |
| 364 | ** Trevor's consecrated whip causes demons to ''explode''. [[spoiler:The Morning Star flail is similarly consecrated]]. |
| 365 | ** The Bishop's church at the end of season 1 [[spoiler:averts this, because the Bishop's actions have desanctified the hallowed ground, and demons enter it to kill him]]. |
| 366 | ** In Season 2, [[spoiler:the undead Bishop is able to bless a whole river, so any vampire who falls into it or the waters burns up quickly. Notably, the undead Bishop himself is similarly vulnerable despite being the one who blessed the river]]. |
| 367 | * HolyWater: |
| 368 | ** Water blessed by a priest is a potent weapon against demons and vampires alike, burning and dissolving them. However, it requires someone with true faith and God's favor to do so -- something the CorruptChurch has long since lost. Trevor is able to get a parish priest to bless some water to use against the demonic invaders of Gresit. |
| 369 | ** While in "[[Recap/Castlevania2017S2E6TheRiver The River]]" [[spoiler:Carmilla has the Bishop's reanimated corpse bless the entire river the castle appeared in the middle of; this causes the demon-tainted corpse to burn away to nothing, but also sets a deadly trap for the vampiric army that gets thrown in the drink by a collapsing bridge]]. |
| 370 | * HoneyTrap: [[spoiler: Taka and Sumi use this in an effort to kill Alucard. Lenore uses it in an effort to enslave Hector. Taka and Sumi fail, but Lenore does not.]] |
| 371 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: Isaac merely mentioning that a Belmont was rumoured to have fought at Gresit is enough to prompt a MassOhCrap from Dracula's war council. When Godbrand expresses confusion as to why they're so afraid, ''Carmilla'' responds by verbally tearing a strip off him and elaborating on the family's history as {{Vampire Hunter}}s. |
| 372 | * HotterAndSexier: Season 3, which begins to feature onscreen nudity and sex scenes. Unfortunately, most instances of nudity slowly devolve into FanDisservice, [[spoiler:or in the case of Hector naked in Carmilla's dungeon, pretty much start there]]. |
| 373 | * HumanPet: Lenore's "adoption" of Hector in Season Three. Her description of their relationship makes clear that she has honest affection for him and he will find his new status very enjoyable, but she appears innocently baffled at the notion that she might consider him any kind of equal. |
| 374 | * HumanResources: In Season 2, Hector starts turning the bodies of slaughtered Wallachians into demons, in order to boost Dracula's legions. |
| 375 | * HumanShield: Trevor uses the PsychoKnifeNut priest as one when another tries shooting him with arrows. |
| 376 | * HumansAreBastards: |
| 377 | ** What Dracula wholeheartedly believes. He didn't have much love for humans before he met Lisa. He outright claims that she was the only reason for his tolerance for humanity as a whole, but once she was executed for accusations of being a witch, all bets were off. When Alucard attempts to talk Dracula down, claiming that his wrath will kill a lot of innocent people, Dracula snaps at him: |
| 378 | --->'''Dracula:''' [Lisa] was the only reason on Earth for me to tolerate human life! [...] There ''are'' no innocents! Not anymore! |
| 379 | ** While there are plenty of morally corrupt or evil humans in [[CrapsackWorld this setting]], this is not universally true, and many otherwise decent or innocent people are shown suffering. HumansAreTheRealMonsters is averted because the vampires and demons are also bastards (if not ''far worse''). |
| 380 | * HumansAreSpecial: Blue Fangs state that God categorically does not love Night Creatures. Vampires are implicitly contrary to God. Conversely, only humans are capable of directly receiving Godly favor. Though, Blue Fangs also notes that this love is not unconditional to all humans, and can be revoked by God. |
| 381 | ** There are several magical abilities exclusive to humans, namely manipulation of Holy magic and items, mind control over humans or Night Creatures, and resurrection of the dead by Forgemasters or Alchemists. |
| 382 | --> '''[[spoiler: Death:]]''' I can't bring him back, because I'm ''not human.'' Why is it only human hands can reach into Hell? Don't you think that's weirdly fucked up? |
| 383 | * HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: The Infinite Corridor, the object of Saint-Germain's personal quest, is a tunnel of bright lights that can lead anywhere, even to far distant worlds. The interior has holes intermittently opening to these distant worlds, and it is very easy for one to become lost in one of those worlds. [[spoiler:Prior Sala and his monks intend to use it to resurrect Dracula by opening a path through the Corridor out of Hell.]] |
| 384 | * HypocriticalHumor: After getting [[GroinAttack kicked in the groin]] by Trevor during their duel (to [[BallsOfSteel no avail]]), Alucard tells him "this isn't a bar fight" and to fight with class. After being slashed in the chest by Trevor, Alucard forgets his own advice and punches Trevor across the room. |
| 385 | * INeedAFreakingDrink: Upon hearing that Dracula's Horde was seen near town, Piter runs to the pub and demands an ale which he downs in one breath before informing the other patrons of the news. |
| 386 | ** Trevor's constant state through Season 1. |
| 387 | * IdiotBall: |
| 388 | ** The people of Wallachia's reaction to Dracula's one year deadline to make their peace with God and to completely evacuate outside of the country is to completely ignore it, and hold a celebration on the anniversary of Lisa's death. Dracula is ''not'' amused, has his castle [[WeaponizedTeleportation erupt from the ground and destroy the Targoviste cathedral]], then releases an army of demons which kill everyone in the city and begins to raze the countryside: |
| 389 | --->'''Dracula:''' One year. I gave you ''one year'' to make your peace with your God. And what do you do? ''Celebrate the day you killed my wife''. One year I gave you, while I assembled my armies. And now I bring your death. You had your chance. |
| 390 | ** The three men that jump Trevor in the bar take turns holding this. A normal reaction would be to ''not'' attack a member of a family famous for fighting monsters and demons. |
| 391 | * ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: For Alucard, who tells Sypha that he literally grew up fast in the sense that he aged very quickly through childhood. Given the immortality of his vampire side, he would probably continue looking like he does in the show for another few centuries. (Sypha is quick to point out that perhaps this means he's just [[TroubledTeen an angry teenager]] in an adult body.) |
| 392 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Dracula has a field of skeletons on stakes in front of his castle. [[spoiler:After their betrayal and attempted murder of him, Alucard does this with the corpses of Sumi and Taka, even remarking on the similarity to his father]]. |
| 393 | * ImpliedLoveInterest: Season 2 sets up sparks between Trevor and Sypha, with the finale implying that it could bloom into something more. They are a romantic couple from Sewason 3 onwards, with the finale revealing that Sypha is pregnant. |
| 394 | * ImpoverishedPatrician: Trevor Belmont, last member of the fallen noble house, who wanders the countryside with nothing more than a satchel of diminishing coins in his pocket. |
| 395 | * InfinityPlusOneSword: [[EpicFlail The Morning Star whip]] that Trevor gets from the Belmont keep. It's so powerful that it kills any demon or vampire in one hit and while Dracula is too strong for it to finish him with a single stroke, it is powerful enough to bring him to his knees with a solid shot to the body. It remains a consistent part of Trevor's arsenal for the rest of the show. |
| 396 | * InsistentTerminology: Bosha insists Kob is his cousin because Kob came out of Bosha's aunt, not caring for the fact they share the same father. |
| 397 | * InterplayOfSexAndViolence: "The Harvest" starts the climaxes of the four storylines with Trevor and Sypha and Isaac's parts showing them in brutal battles, while Alucard and Hector's parts show them having sex, with the sex becoming noticeably more suspicious as the battles become more and more tense. |
| 398 | * {{Irony}}: When Dracula convenes his war council, he condemns humanity for being deceitful, treacherous liars deserving of nothing less than wholesale genocide. In the end, however, the vampiric generals under his command are every bit as cunning and conniving as the humans he so despises, and the only allies he has who are unambiguously loyal are the two humans he took under his wing. [[spoiler:Of course, Dracula reveals he knows killing humanity will wipe out vampirekind, making their extinction an intended consequence of wiping out humanity, but by this point he's so depressed that he no longer cares.]] |
| 399 | * ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: |
| 400 | -->'''Hector''': Godbrand, you've never met anything you didn't immediately kill, fuck, or make a boat out of.\ |
| 401 | ...\ |
| 402 | '''Godbrand''': Bigot! I ''like'' boats! I'm a fucking Viking! We're ''supposed'' to make boats out of things! |
| 403 | * ItIsDehumanizing: Virtually all vampires see humans as livestock. Most, including Carmilla, have no issue using "it" pronouns to describe how below the pecking order humans are to them. |
| 404 | * ItWillNeverCatchOn: |
| 405 | ** The Judge scoffs at the idea of toilet paper during Season 3, something that wouldn't see wide use in the western world for several hundred years after the 15th century. |
| 406 | ** Sala scoffs at the idea of public toilets when Saint-Germain claims to be looking for a place inside his priory to urinate. Restrooms are now a common feature of nearly every building. |
| 407 | * JesusWasWayCool: While Sypha and her people are said to be opposed to God, she does express admiration for Yeshua, i.e. Jesus, for his sacrifice when Saint-Germain wonders about Speaker theology. |
| 408 | * KarmicDeath: The bishop is devoured by demons inside his own church, as one calmly explains that even God is disgusted with him. |
| 409 | * KillItWithFire: Dracula and his minions display the ability to command fire, and Trevor makes a comment implying that fire is fairly useless as a weapon against them. However, Sypha has no problem using magic to burn vampiric legions. |
| 410 | * KillItWithWater: Vampires can be killed by contact with holy water, as can the demons. Trevor has a priest gather water to make into holy water, which burns Dracula's demons. In Season 2, [[spoiler:Carmilla has the newly-revived Bishop of Gresit consecrate an entire running river at Braila as a trap for Dracula's vampiric and demonic troops.]] While the vampire generals [[DiscussedTrope debate whether running water kills them]], it's never confirmed one way or the other. |
| 411 | * KnightTemplar: The bishop is obsessed with burning out his view of sin. Whenever someone rises up with a different belief, he condemns them as a heretic that is harming society and seeks to have them killed. He sees the church as the highest authority and uses the chaos brought by Dracula to rise up in the ranks. Trevor himself is taken aback, not just by the man's cruelty, but by the utter conviction he has in his deluded morality. |
| 412 | * LargeAndInCharge: Dracula easily stands at 7 to 8 feet tall, dwarfing other vampires and humans. |
| 413 | * LateArrivalSpoiler: |
| 414 | ** They stop hiding Sypha's gender soon after her petrification wears off. |
| 415 | ** Rather than having his [[https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/8/87790/1760798-alucard_jpmanual.png original design]] from ''Castlevania III'', Alucard is shown to be a PrettyBoy like in his appearance in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]'', like every other appearance he's had since that game. |
| 416 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In season 4, [[SmallNameBigEgo Varney]] complains about being overshadowed by Dracula and Carmilla. The penny dreadful serial ''Literature/VarneyTheVampire'' predates both Bram Stoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' and Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'', but is almost entirely unknown outside of horror circles. |
| 417 | * TheLegionsOfHell: Dracula's army is composed of demonic creatures that only attack at night and are commanded to slaughter everyone in Wallachia. |
| 418 | * LightIsNotGood: Carmilla's army wears white and silver armor, but are all vampires that are just as bloodthirsty as she is. |
| 419 | * LifeOrLimbDecision: In his battle with the main trio, Dragan's arm is struck by the Morning Star and begins to explode... then Dragan [[AmputationStopsSpread rips it off]] so the rest of him doesn't follow suit. |
| 420 | * LovecraftLite: [[spoiler: Sypha and Trevor's plotline slowly devolves into this as they investigate the cult in Lindenfeld. Yes, a particularly eldritch night creature enslaved the local priory to its will, and there is a portal to other dimensions in the basement of the priory that a blasphemous ritual is used to open up and unleash beings that should not be, but much like with the other demonic creatures summoned by Dracula and his Forgemasters, they can be beaten back if one has the strength and knowledge to do so. Lindenfeld did wind up burnt to the ground and all of its inhabitants were slaughtered in the ritual, but the horror was contained and the ritual did not complete its goal.]] |
| 421 | [[/folder]] |
| 422 | |
| 423 | [[folder:M - R]] |
| 424 | * MadeOfExplodium: Downplayed with Trevor's whip, as demons exploding on contact with it is the result of it being consecrated. Played straight with the [[spoiler:[[EquipmentUpgrade Morning Star whip]], which glows brighter as its mace-tip gains momentum and explodes in a huge burst of fire when it strikes something at high speed.]] |
| 425 | * MagicMirror: In two categories, the [[CrystalBall distance mirror]] and the [[CoolGate transmission mirror]]. Many of them appear as clouds of shattered glass that comes together at the caster's will, though some are more conventional. |
| 426 | ** Dracula has a transmission mirror in his study, which he uses to save Isaac by throwing him through it at the end of Season 2. |
| 427 | ** Among the treasure in the Belmont Hold is a distance mirror, damaged but repairable. With a little work, Alucard and Sypha use it as a conduit for magic [[spoiler:to trap Dracula's Castle and bring it to them]]. |
| 428 | ** Isaac comes across a rather prideful distance mirror in Tunisia that insists on being called "Sir" Mirror, which he uses to track Hector to Styria. |
| 429 | ** The unnamed magician from Season 3 owns a large transmission mirror that Isaac uses as a portal to invade Styria with his army of night creatures. |
| 430 | ** In Season 4, direct mirror-to-mirror communication using distance mirrors allows Varney to arrange the pieces for his plan to [[spoiler:resurrect Dracula]]. The comparison to magic cell phones is completed when Isaac [[RudelyHangingUp rudely hangs up]] on Varney and has Sir Mirror screen Varney's calls going forward. |
| 431 | ** Finally, a transmission mirror hidden in the underground court of Targoviste is used by [[spoiler: Varney and later Trevor and Sypha to breach Dracula's Castle to prepare for the final battle.]] |
| 432 | * {{Magitek}}: Dracula seems to operate with a knowledge of SteamPunk "[[MagicFromTechnology arcane technology]]" beyond the parameters of the era, and the lighting and plumbing in Alucard's lair beneath Gresit (according to Trevor's grandfather's accounts) are also in Dracula's castle. This is seen as [[MagicFromTechnology strange and mystical]] to others given the time period, evoking ClarkesThirdLaw. |
| 433 | * MassOhCrap: When Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha finally enter Dracula's castle, ''every'' vampire in the room -- who had just been fighting each other -- stops dead in their tracks in a combination of rage and sheer terror. |
| 434 | * MasterOfThreads: The penultimate episode has the main trio taking on a QuirkyMinibossSquad of vampires. One of them is a vampire who can manipulate wire-like threads which she uses to restrain Alucard. She actually comes very close to killing him. |
| 435 | * MauveShirt: The Bishop's two main priests that Trevor maims are some of the most recurring of the minion characters. The bearded one is usually the main speaker for the group and rallies the mob, and the bald one is their best fighter. Even the short flashback at the beginning of Season 2 features them and [[spoiler:the bald priest is the only one who explicitly returns, alongside the Bishop, as a particularly skilled demon.]] |
| 436 | * MeaningfulEcho: |
| 437 | ** Trevor paraphrases the Speaker Elder about not being afraid to die when speaking to four corrupt priests in the climax of the third episode. |
| 438 | ** Before the final battle with Dracula, Alucard repeats the words he spoke to his father before his war with humanity: "I grieve with you... but I won't let you commit genocide." |
| 439 | ** In the first episode, Dracula tells Lisa "I think I might like you.". Greta tells Alucard the same thing in the finale. Both times have the vampire allow themselves to let their guard down and be friendlier towards mortal company. |
| 440 | * MenAreTheExpendableGender: |
| 441 | ** Averted in Season 1 since, you know, Dracula wants to kill ''all humans''. The show is all too eager to show the violent deaths of men, women, children or ''literal infants''. |
| 442 | ** Played straight and justified in one scene of Season 2 where Dracula goes after a group of traders who "wronged" him. However he wasn't exactly targeting their wives and children (who were already long gone by the time he found them), just them. He isn't depicted as any less evil for sparing them, but just more petty. |
| 443 | * MenOfSherwood: Season 3 establishes that, outside of the main trio, there were pockets of successful human resistance against the Night Hordes. The Judge and his Men-at-Arms were able to repel and slay a demon invasion utilizing similar tactics to the ones that Trevor taught the villagers at Gresit. They coated their weapons with salt and feces in order to more easily damage demonic flesh and cause infections. |
| 444 | * MergingTheBranches: In [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse the original game]], Trevor couldn't meet both Sypha and Alucard in a single playthrough. Here, both characters become valuable allies that fight alongside Trevor in the final battle. |
| 445 | * MexicanStandoff: The Season 1 finale has one of these between Trevor and Alucard. Alucard is in a position to bite Trevor's neck, but if he does so Trevor will stake him through the heart. Sypha breaks the stalemate by charging a fireball about a foot from Alucard's head, giving him two threats to think about. [[spoiler:Turns out that Alucard was just testing them to see if they had what it took to fight Dracula.]] |
| 446 | * MidSeasonUpgrade: Trevor finds an old treasure box containing the Morning Star whip, an even more effective chain weapon stronger than his standard leather whip. |
| 447 | * MindControlEyes: In Season 3, [[Characters/Castlevania2017Antagonists the Magician]]'s mind control magic causes those he enslaves to exhibit blank, green-glowing pupils and irises. |
| 448 | * MugglePower: Discussed in Series 4. Vampires are at a major advantage in direct combat with humans, but they find it incredibly difficult to rule over large groups of them. People are tenacious, desperate, capable of fighting in sunlight, and utterly opposed to vampire rulers. A small band of untrained and terrified farmers almost managed to wipe out a Styrian ranger party of trained vampire soldiers before Striga rallied the latter, simply by burning their tents during the day. |
| 449 | * MultinationalTeam: Dracula's vampire generals clearly come from all over the world, ranging from Europe to the Middle East to India to ''Japan''. |
| 450 | * MyMasterRightOrWrong: Isaac to Dracula, mostly because he, too, believes all HumansAreBastards. |
| 451 | * MyNameIsInigoMontoya: Trevor introduces himself this way when preparing to face off with the Bishop's men. Also, during the bar fight, he says "I'm Trevor fucking Belmont, and I've never lost a fight to man nor fucking beast." |
| 452 | * MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: When Sypha comes across the Belmont Hold, a collection of generations of books on vampires, monsters, and magic, she realizes the true value of writing one's knowledge down. A million Speakers over two generations couldn't pass down all of what is in this repository. |
| 453 | * MythologyGag: [[MythologyGag/Castlevania2017 Has its own page]]. |
| 454 | * NeverMyFault: The bishop stubbornly insists that the reason Dracula's hordes are attacking is because of the presence of witches, excommunicates, and non-Christians in Wallachia, even though Dracula publicly and explicitly stated that his war was in retaliation for the witch burning that the Bishop himself personally ordered. |
| 455 | * TheNecrocracy: A large part of Austria, centered in Styria and part of the Holy Roman Empire in real life, is ruled by Carmilla, making it this trope. It's implied other vampires have carved out fiefdoms for themselves in other parts of the world as well. |
| 456 | * TheNightThatNeverEnds: {{Discussed|Trope}}. As Alucard describes what the world would be like without mankind, he recalls some of Dracula's personal journals detailing designs for machines that could produce artificial clouds thick enough to blot out the sun and flying machines to tow shrouds to cover the sky. Once his mission of genocide was complete, Dracula could have created an eternal night for vampires to rule over Earth forever. However, it's implied to be {{subverted}}, as it becomes clear over the course of the series that Dracula [[spoiler:is a grief-fueled OmnicidalManiac DeathSeeker who wholly expects the vampires and then himself to die if he succeeds in wiping out all humans]]. |
| 457 | * NoOntologicalInertia: Justified. When the cyclops falls, each of its victims immediately de-petrifies. As Trevor explains, this variety of cyclops uses its magic to ''keep'' its victims in their state because it leaves them conscious and aware of their surroundings so it can feed on their fear. Unfortunately, all the damage done to the "statues" persists when the spell keeping them petrified ends, meaning that the undamaged Sypha was the only one who actually ''survived'' the transition back to flesh-and-blood, while the other statues that were shattered reflect grievous mutilations when reverting back to their true form. |
| 458 | * NoSell: Seems to run in Dracula's family: |
| 459 | ** Trevor's GroinAttack doesn't faze Alucard at all: |
| 460 | --->'''Alucard:''' Please. This isn't a [[BarBrawl bar fight]]. Have some class. |
| 461 | ** [[spoiler:Trevor's punches to Dracula's face in their confrontation are utterly ignored by the vampire, who continues talking as if nothing was happening.]] |
| 462 | * NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Even though the entire plot arc takes place in southeastern Europe and most characters are native to the region, nearly everyone speaks with a [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents Received Pronunciation British accent]]. |
| 463 | * NotHyperbole: Dracula's speech when he appears in the flames of Lisa's pyre. He makes a damn good effort to hold it up: |
| 464 | -->'''Dracula:''' I give you ''one year'', Wallachians. You have one year to make your peace, and remove any marks you have made upon the land. One year, and then I'll wipe all human life from the land of Wallachia. You took that which I love, so I will take from you ''everything'' you have, and everything you have ever been. One year. |
| 465 | * NotSoAboveItAll: Alucard, who treats his duel with Trevor as a very serious matter and even admonishes him for using a GroinAttack ("Have some class"), finally just ends the fight by punching Trevor square in the face. |
| 466 | * NotUsingTheZWord: Despite it being established that they're summoned from Hell, and most people assuming anything like them would come from there anyway, the demonic hordes plaguing the land are consistently described as Night Creatures. Several scenes with the [[MakerOfMonsters Forgemasters]] Hector and Isaac muddy the waters on whether demon and night creature are separate species or just different names. |
| 467 | * NothingIsScarier: Alucard's description of what the world will be like without humans. While everything will be the exact same as it was, there will be no humanity, ever again. |
| 468 | * OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: In the epilogue, when [[spoiler:Dracula and Lisa]] are talking, it's revealed that they had to go through quite a few obstacles to get to each other the afterlife, as one was condemned to Hell while the other almost certainly deserved heaven. |
| 469 | * OffscreenTeleportation: When Carmilla is talking to Hector as they walk through the castle, she appears from the shadows in front of him repeatedly, with no indication of how she got there. |
| 470 | * OhCrap: |
| 471 | ** When Sypha manages to stop Dracula's Castle from moving, and pins it to a location. |
| 472 | ---> '''Alucard''': Sypha, ''where'' did you trap the castle?\ |
| 473 | '''Sypha''': Right on top of us! [realises what she said] Oh. |
| 474 | ** When Isaac reveals that a raiding party's death was likely caused by Alucard. ''And that there was a Belmont with him''. Godbrand doesn't get why that's an issue, but ''Carmilla'' buries him in expletives while explaining [[HorrifyingTheHorror why this is, indeed, a bad thing]]. |
| 475 | * OneSteveLimit: Presumably to avoid confusion with BigBad Vlad Dracula Tepes, the ruler of Wallachia (UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, the [[CelebrityParadox namesake for the literary Dracula]]) is never named. However, this rendition of Dracula is known to have a past propensity to impale people on stakes... |
| 476 | * OneWomanWail: The second half of the teaser starts off with this. |
| 477 | * OrnamentalWeapon: Subverted. In artwork for the games and even in sprites/renders, Trevor and the other Belmonts carry swords that they never use in gameplay. Here, however, Trevor wields his sword frequently, though usually as a secondary weapon, and not as effectively as dedicated swordsmen. |
| 478 | * OurDemonsAreDifferent: The series prominently features two categories of unholy monsters: [[DemonicVampires vampires]] (see OurVampiresAreDifferent below), and the "night creatures". The Night Creatures themselves are undead demonic monsters created and controlled by [[EvilSorcerer Devil Forgemasters]] through {{necromancy}}, and they are the primary component of Dracula's evil army. |
| 479 | ** There are actually many different types of Night Creatures which come in a wide variety of different appearances and abilities, and some even come with their own weaponry. They generally have a mixture of animalistic and humanoid features, looking like savage demonic beasts that just crawled out of Hell. Most of them can only make monstrous vocalizations, while some of them (like Blue Fangs and Flyseyes) are capable of intelligible humanlike speech. |
| 480 | ** Although they are primarily nocturnal (hence why they're called "night creatures"), they seem to be capable of functioning in daytime, lacking the vampires' [[WeakenedByTheLight fatal weakness to sunlight]]. Though due to their demonic nature, the night creatures (and vampires too) all have a [[HolyBurnsEvil lethal vulnerability to holy magic or sacred objects/weapons]] (including HolyWater, which burns their flesh like a corrosive acid). Under normal circumstances, they are also apparently unable to trespass onto HolyGround (like the interior of a church), though this weakness is negated if that church has lost its consecration. |
| 481 | ** Most of the Night Creatures we see were created by the [[{{Necromancer}} Devil Forgemasters]] using magical tools that can transform human bodies (both dead and living) into inhuman creatures, reanimated by demonic spirits from {{Hell}} (especially the [[DemonOfHumanOrigin damned souls of formerly-human sinners]]). For a Night Creature to be created this way, it is implied the body must either be alive or only recently deceased, and must be mostly intact. The Night Creatures created by Hector or Isaac may retain an eye color that matches who they were created by (blue for Hector and red for Isaac). |
| 482 | *** Reanimated Night Creatures seem to be wholly bound to their creator's will, including anyone their creator permits to control them. They can also be freed from this binding if their creator wills it. They do maintain their own will, but do not automatically have the memories or knowledge their soul had during their life. |
| 483 | *** The Forgemaster can choose the morphology of the Night Creature during the creation process, including their size or features. The reanimation method also seems to be capable of resurrecting souls into their original bodies as zombies, though only Hector is shown doing this. It's implied that Isaac resurrected the soul of the lead bandit who accosted him into his own body, but only as a self-aware "AndIMustScream" regular Night Creature. |
| 484 | *** Though it is implied that some Night Creatures aren't reanimated corpses, or were never even remotely human to begin with. Several Night Creatures shown at the end of Season 3 seem to have been called directly from Hell or the Infinite Corridor. |
| 485 | * OurVampiresAreDifferent: They are very standard vampires, as [[DemonicVampires undead demonic creatures]] of [[WasOnceAMan formerly human origins]], who all have a thirst for human blood and a variety of superhuman powers. They tend to have [[UndeathlyPallor grey, white, blue, or purple skin]], sharp features like PointyEars and FemmeFatalons, and of course very sharp fangs in place of canine teeth. They also cry TearsOfBlood for some reason. |
| 486 | ** All vampires are {{immortal|ity}}, capable of superhuman [[SuperSpeed agility]] and [[SuperStrength strength]], and are much more [[SuperToughness resilient to physical injuries]] than any regular human. Many vampires also have magical powers, which tend to vary widely between individual vamps; such powers may include (but are not limited to): {{shapeshifting}} (changing into [[SuperSmoke mist]], or turning into [[{{Animorphism}} animals]] such as bats or wolves), [[PowerFloats levitation]] and [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]], {{teleportation}}, etc, just to name a few examples. |
| 487 | ** However, they do not seem to have any {{telepathy}} or MindControl abilities, or overt power or control over Night Creatures, and cannot revive the dead through {{necromancy}}, as those powers are exclusively human magic; thus they must employ human sorcerers (particularly Devil Forgemasters) if they wish to have Night Creatures in their armies. |
| 488 | ** They can be killed by [[OffWithHisHead decapitation]], dismemberment, [[AttackOnTheHeart stabbing their hearts]] (blade weapons seem to work just as well as a WoodenStake), [[KillItWithFire burning them with fire]], [[WeakenedByTheLight direct exposure to sunlight]] (which immediately incinerates them, though this weakness can be countered by heavy skin protection), or attacking them with [[HolyBurnsEvil holy magic or sacred objects/weapons]] (including HolyWater, which burns their flesh like a corrosive acid). |
| 489 | *** Dracula himself scoffs at "human superstitions" about [[SilverBullet silver]], crosses, and [[VampiresHateGarlic garlic]]; though he has also shown to be resistant to some other typical vampire weaknesses, so maybe silver, crosses, or garlic are only ineffective on Dracula but not other vampires. |
| 490 | *** The [[MustBeInvited requirement of an invitation]] to enter a household is discussed, when Dracula requests Isaac invite him across Isaac's "threshold," but this is treated more as a courtesy between friends than an absolute rule. Vampires are also shown entering or destroying homes when hunting people. Some homes seem to have defensive or hiding magic, but that can be circumvented by tracking magic, a saboteur on the inside, or a Distance Mirror to avoid entryways. |
| 491 | *** Season 2 discusses and downplays the "CannotCrossRunningWater" weakness. Godbrand (one of many Viking vampires) suggests that this weakness was mostly countered by moving further inland, and also points out that he has been on or captained boats before. His and other vampire generals' presence in Wallachia implies they had to cross running water to get there. Several vampires are shown using bridges, and show no sign of impediment until they are submerged in HolyWater or frozen. This suggests the vampires' water weakness is a combination of SuperDrowningSkills and a weakness to sacred weapons. |
| 492 | *** Season 4 addresses the "sign of the cross", when Trevor states that vampire senses work very differently to humans, being a kind of apex predator species, and waving certain geometric shapes right in their face scrambles their perceptions. So, while holy weapons will hurt vampires, a cross shape on its own is isn't a weakness as much as an inconvenience. This could be a nod to Creator/PeterWatts' SciFiHorror novel ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'' where vampires, although not undead but a formerly extinct subvariant of human, suffer epileptic seizures when exposed to right angles, which do not really exist in nature. |
| 493 | ** It's also possible for vampires to interbreed with regular humans, and their HalfHumanHybrid children ({{dhampyr}}s) will be significantly more powerful since they have all their abilities, but none of their weaknesses. They also look significantly more human-like than their vampire parents, lacking the pointy ears or clawed fingernails (but retaining the sharp teeth), and shedding normal tears instead of TearsOfBlood. It is unclear if the children have access to human-exclusive magic or are treated any differently by God. |
| 494 | ** Vampires need to drink human blood to survive and stay in peak health, though they can also optionally consume (and enjoy the taste of) normal human foods and drinks. Vampires might drink animal blood if desperate, but this doesn't seem to properly nourish them like human blood does, as Godbrand even complains that drinking pig blood gives him diarrhea. |
| 495 | *** Though Alucard, likely due to being a {{dhampyr}}, is [[VegetarianVampire never shown consuming blood]], and survives in his castle on fresh fish and vegetables with no apparent malnourishment; his hybrid nature may make him capable of surviving on either diet. |
| 496 | *** Dracula has been starving himself of blood, and this is confirmed to be making him weaker, suggesting vampires need it to keep their full strength. Additionally, Dracula's UnspokenPlanGuarantee that only Isaac was aware of would eventually result in the extinction by starvation of the vampires, once [[KillAllHumans all humans are dead]]. |
| 497 | ** Oddly enough, it's never been shown in this whole series how exactly a human can be transformed into a vampire; whenever vampires bite people to drain their blood, they just simply die instead of turning. Though the SequelSeries ''[[WesternAnimation/CastlevaniaNocturne Nocturne]]'' reveals how a human can be turned into a vampire: by making them swallow a vampire's blood, which will trigger a metamorphosis that seems very painful. |
| 498 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: In the Season 2 finale, [[spoiler:Isaac gruesomely kills a group of bandits that tried to sell him into slavery and, it's implied, wanted to eat him, then later raises their corpses as monsters]]. |
| 499 | * PetTheDog: |
| 500 | ** In what he describes as his last act of kindness, Dracula warns Lisa's neighbor, the one who came to pay respects to her memory, to take her family and flee Wallachia before he destroys it. |
| 501 | ** When all that stands between his furious son, a Belmont, a Speaker, and himself is Isaac, who would give his mortal life to ensure the continuation of Dracula's immortal one, Dracula casts him through a magic mirror, which takes him to safety. |
| 502 | * PitTrap: In Season 3, [[spoiler:The Judge of Lindhelm created a spike trap in the woods, using it to send whomever defied the village's rules by asking them to get an apple from the tree surrounded by the trap]]. |
| 503 | * PivotalWakeup: Alucard does this, though not at a classic ninety degree angle; he pretty much floats out of the coffin. |
| 504 | * PluckyGirl: Lisa. Having exhausted all of her other alternatives, she quite literally bangs on the door of a vampire lord's castle and ''demands'' to be shown the tools of science. Dracula finds her antics amusing. |
| 505 | * PoliticallyCorrectHistory: |
| 506 | ** Medieval Europe is depicted as quite a bit more racially diverse than it would have been in RealLife. |
| 507 | ** Nobody bats an eye at same-sex couples. |
| 508 | ** Not only do women hold positions of power, but no one is ever shown having a problem with it. |
| 509 | * PowerPerversionPotential: In Season 2, in the Belmont Hold, Sypha discovers a box of spells regarding penises. Nothing more is said of what they might do. |
| 510 | * PragmaticVillainy: |
| 511 | ** Hector takes this stance on Dracula's plan. While he shares his master Dracula's hatred of humanity, Hector would prefer that humans be culled or herded rather than wiped out. Since Hector himself is human, he knows what humanity is capable of under the right circumstances. |
| 512 | ** In Season 3, Lenore has Carmilla refrain from torturing Hector to get him to forge night creatures for them. In fact, she wants him to live in a GildedCage; Lenore argues that it would be best to have Hector dress as well as them, eat the same kind of foods, and live the same kind of life in exchange for his loyalty. That way, he's less inclined to think he's being mistreated. [[spoiler:Although that turns out to just be an act when Lenore puts a slave ring on his hand and tricks him into swearing loyalty to her, effectively making him Lenore's SexSlave. She was sincere about improving the quality of his life, but she still branded him with being unable to leave. For all her cruelty, Lenore also does prove to care about him.]] |
| 513 | * PrecisionFStrike: |
| 514 | ** Carmilla on witnessing [[spoiler:Dracula's Castle being dragged around the town of Braila, then disappearing altogether to the Belmont estate, wiping out most of her forces in the process]]: |
| 515 | --->'''Carmilla:''' What the fuck just happened? |
| 516 | ** When Isaac is pushed too far by the guards in Genoa: |
| 517 | --->'''Isaac:''' You know... one day, the last of you will ask me: 'Why did you work with Dracula himself, to murder all the people?' And you know what I'll say? It's because you're all so ''fucking rude.'' |
| 518 | ** Lenore, who has remained silent through Isaac and Hector's confrontation, until Isaac leaves to attack Carmilla: |
| 519 | --->'''Isaac''': ''(with mock courtesy)'' Lady. |
| 520 | --->'''Lenore''': ''Fuck you''! |
| 521 | * PreciousPuppy: Hector's undead pug is a very good boy, even though he has half of his skull and some leg bones showing. |
| 522 | * PrimordialTongue: Adamic, the language that Adam and Eve spoke in Eden and from which all modern languages derive, turns up in "[[Recap/Castlevania2017S2E5LastSpell The Last Spell]]" when one of the books the heroes are investigating is revealed to be written in a form of it, which Sypha needs additional time and resources to translate. |
| 523 | * ProchronicProduct: Many vampires have access to mechanical, medical, and chemical inventions that are anachronistic to the 15th century, such as working electric lights. This is justified in-universe by the fact that vampires are immortal; someone else discovered these things in the past, but over many human generations, the discoveries were lost to time. For vampires, however, those discoveries are still fresh in their memories, and they've had plenty of time to tinker and improve upon them. |
| 524 | * ProlongedPrologue: The entire first season is more or less an explanation about the world of ''Castlevania'', where Dracula only appears in the first episode (itself a prologue to what is ''itself'' effectively a prologue), and the quest to kill Dracula only truly begins at the end of the fourth episode -- which is the last of the season. Thankfully, Season 2 was greenlit the day that the series made its debut on Netflix. |
| 525 | * ProperlyParanoid: Striga has a trunk that she always takes with her on campaign, which Morana has never seen the inside of in all the years they've known each other. During a dawn attack on their camp, Striga opens it - it contains a customized suit of full armor that shields her from the sun's rays should she have to fight during the day. |
| 526 | * PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: By Season 2, it's clear that Dracula's not just content with wiping out the population of Wallachia, he wants to exterminate all of humanity. He's not all that concerned about the implications for the rest of the vampires, either, and is apparently using the whole thing as an elaborate suicide attempt. |
| 527 | * QualityOverQuantity: [[spoiler: Carmilla's army may have the number, but only a handful of Dracula's surviving loyalists is able to hold them off.]] |
| 528 | * RainOfBlood: The invasion of Dracula's army is preceded by a rain of blood and dead demon fetuses falling from the skies. |
| 529 | * RasputinianDeath: At the end of Season 2, [[spoiler:Dracula is staked by Alucard, the withered corpse is then beheaded by Trevor, and the remains are burned by Sypha just to make sure Dracula stays dead]]. |
| 530 | ** [[spoiler:It doesn't work]]. |
| 531 | * RedOniBlueOni: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Hector and Isaac. Hector wears blue and black, his forge hammer glows blue, and he argues that Dracula's war should proceed in an orderly manner, describing it as a "culling." Isaac wears mostly black, but his dagger glows red, and he's the more emotional of the two, empathizing with Dracula's hatred for humanity and showing his devotion in more dramatic ways. |
| 532 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The bishop gets a coldly menacing one from Blue Fangs about how the invasion of monsters is entirely his fault and God has obviously abandoned him for it, [[spoiler:right before he's devoured ''face first'':]] |
| 533 | -->'''Blue Fangs:''' God is not here... this is an empty box. Your God's love is not unconditional. He does not love us, and He does not love you. Your life's work makes Him puke. Your God knows that we wouldn't be here without you. |
| 534 | ** Varney in Season 4 gets another one from his [[TheDragon dragon Ratko]], who calls him out on how Varney claims all of the credit for plans he never came up with and is nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is despite constantly claiming he was sent by Dracula to Targoviste to take it over despite the town being a devastated ruin, while Ratko is a brutal vampire war-fighter who has been infinitely more useful. |
| 535 | * RelativeButton: |
| 536 | ** Carmilla pushes Dracula's button by openly asking why he didn't turn his wife Lisa if he really loved her and comparing the woman to a pet, and Dracula is ''simmering with rage''. |
| 537 | ** Most insults roll off of Trevor Belmont. However, insulting his family to his face by accusing them of being black magicians who brought evil to the land and picking a fight with him for being a Belmont will surely get you smacked around by him. |
| 538 | * RetractableWeapon: Trevor's whip and the Morning Star seem to grow in length as he whirls them about, filling the air around him with sanctified leather and chain that causes the undead to explode with a touch. |
| 539 | ** Dragan's [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon dual-ended staff flail thing]] exhibits a similar quality in his fight with Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard. |
| 540 | * {{Retraux}}: The teaser begins with someone booting up a UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem version of Netflix to bring up the footage of ''Castlevania''. |
| 541 | * RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:Of the two forgemasters, Hector chooses to betray Dracula and Isaac doesn't. Hector ends up chained, beaten up, and dragged behind a horse by Carmilla, as a slave to make an army for her when she gets home. Isaac, on the other hand, is saved by Dracula himself by being sent away for his own good, and begins building up an army by the end of Season 2 -- amusingly with one of his new army being dragged behind Isaac's horse like Hector]]. |
| 542 | * RRatedOpening: The very first shot of the series is very literally [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice a garden full of impaled skeletons]] in front of Dracula's castle, just a ''VERY'' [[SnicketWarningLabel subtle reminder]] about what the series [[CrapsackWorld will be about]]. ''And'' it only gets worse from there, starting with [[{{Gorn}} the Targoviste massacre]]. |
| 543 | * RuderAndCruder: In comparison to the video games, with a lot of F-bomb dropping, dark humor, sexual references and [[spoiler:Alucard abused on-screen]]. |
| 544 | * RuggedScar: Trevor has the "cut over one eye" variation on the left side of his face. Alucard has a scar across his chest from his first battle with Dracula. |
| 545 | * RunOrDie: Dracula tells this to the last woman Lisa treated before being taken and executed by the church: |
| 546 | -->'''Dracula:''' She said to me, "If you would love me as a man, then live as a man. ''Travel'' as a man."\ |
| 547 | '''Villager:''' She said you were traveling.\ |
| 548 | '''Dracula:''' I was. The way ''men'' do. ''Slowly''. No more. I do this last kindness in her name, she who loved you humans and cared for your ills. Take your family and leave Wallachia tonight. Pack and go, and do ''not'' look back. For no more do I travel as a ''man''. |
| 549 | [[/folder]] |
| 550 | |
| 551 | [[folder:S - Z]] |
| 552 | * SaltSolution: Trevor teaches the villagers to wipe their blades in salt to cut through Dracula's demons. |
| 553 | ** The guards of Lindenfell also use this trick, with an added wrinkle... they mixed the salt with feces to cause infections in the wounds. |
| 554 | * SanitySlippage: Played for laughs at the start of Season 3. Alucard was so lonely after Trevor and Sypha left that he made dolls of the two to keep him company. He does begin to question his sanity afterwards, however, being unsure of how long it has been since they left. |
| 555 | * TheScapegoat: The Belmonts and the Speakers are both blamed by the Church and the populace for inviting Dracula's legion upon them due to their dealings in the arcane. |
| 556 | * SecretTestOfCharacter: In "Monument," Alucard duels with Trevor when told he is of the monster-hunting Belmont clan. This is not only to determine his strength and skills, but to see if his resolve to kill Dracula is stronger than his will to live. To Alucard's bemusement, Trevor passes with flying colors. It also turns out to be one for Sypha as well, by accident, as she proved to be willing to kill Alucard (whom she believes to be the mythical savior she's been searching for) when he threatened to kill Trevor. |
| 557 | * SeeYouInHell: [[spoiler: Right before killing herself to deny him the chance to do it, Carmilla promises Isaac that she'll be waiting for him in Hell.]] |
| 558 | * SelfMadeOrphan: Hector got his start with his misanthropy when he burned his abusive parents alive in their house. Alucard, [[spoiler:being the one to deal the death blow to Dracula]], also counts as this. |
| 559 | * SequelHook: |
| 560 | ** At the end of Season 2, [[spoiler:Carmilla declares there is an EvilPowerVacuum left in the wake of Dracula's death and other vampire lords will try to fill the gap. With her armies devastated by Sypha's spell, she enslaves Hector to make her a demonic army like Dracula's. Meanwhile, Isaac is exiled to a distant desert and decides to raise his own demon army for some unknown purpose]]. |
| 561 | ** At the end of Season 3, [[spoiler:Carmilla has her forgemaster thanks to Lenore making him into a SexSlave (though this is implied in Season 4 to be a ruse on her part), Isaac has an army of night creatures ready at his beck and call, and Alucard's distrust of humanity has grown even deeper thanks to Sumi and Taka's betrayal.]] |
| 562 | * SexSlave: [[spoiler:Lenore tricks Hector into becoming this. She goes through a lengthy process of {{gaslighting}} him before slipping a slave ring onto his hand, then tricks him into swearing loyalty to her. While Carmilla and her army needed Hector's skills as a forgemaster, Lenore makes it clear that she really just wanted him because he's "good at sex" and was bored. That said, in Season 4, they seem to be on friendly terms, even comfortable trading innuendo and treating each other as confidants, making it ambiguous whether Lenore ended up abusing him at all.]] |
| 563 | * SexualKarma: The only intimate scenes in season 3 that don't slowly descend into FanDisservice are the ones between [[spoiler:Trevor and Sypha; those scenes are instead devoted to showing their close bond. However, those scenes are ''also'' post-coitus. The scenes that actually show sexual acts immediately end with one party being horribly betrayed at the end of it.]] |
| 564 | * ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:Taka and Sumi's story in Season 3]] winds up being completely pointless on their end by the GrandFinale in Season 4. It served no purpose ultimately; the most that resulted from it was [[spoiler:Alucard being a little sad for a few weeks. However, he never lost his heroic nature or compassion, and by the end, he even has ''more'' of a family to live alongside.]] |
| 565 | * ShamingTheMob: Trevor manages to turn the mob against [[spoiler:the priests rallying them by pointing out that the bishop was the one to blame for Dracula's war against humanity in the first place.]] |
| 566 | * ShirtlessScene: Alucard awakens wearing only a pair of really tight pants, boots, and a pair of belts. On top of that, he only stops to pick up his shirt and coat after [[spoiler:his fight with Trevor]], which takes up the majority of the latter half of episode 4. |
| 567 | * ShownTheirWork: We get a few glimpses of the Ottoman Empire in Season 3. Not only are the architecture, attire, and ethnic diversity of the area fairly accurate, but Isaac makes accurate references to the Islamic interpretation of Hell, wherein nobody goes to Hell forever. However, Isaac views the scripture as a sign that he should raise an army of monsters powered by the souls of the damned, even though, in scripture, Hell is a punishment people only have to endure until they've paid for the wrongs they didn't atone for in life. |
| 568 | * ShroudedInMyth: Dracula. When he appears after Lisa's execution, the mayor of Targoviste recognizes the name, but protests that he was supposed to be a myth, while the bishop refuses to even believe that he ''exists'', despite the twenty-foot high head made of fire that is ''talking to him'' (the bishop comes to the much-more-likely, at least in his mind, conclusion that it's Satan speaking instead). And according to Trevor, nobody even knows what he looks like. |
| 569 | * ShoutOut: |
| 570 | ** Dante's iconic sword Rebellion from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' appears in the armory of Dracula's castle as an Easter Egg in episode 8 of Season 3. |
| 571 | ** Lenore, being a pale redhead with a fur mantle and a pet man, may be a reference to ''Literature/VenusInFurs'', a story about a man and woman who enter a sadomasochistic master-slave relationship. |
| 572 | ** In Season 3 Episode 10, a [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Star-Spawn of Cthulhu]] is one of the Night Creatures [[spoiler:that emerges through the portal to Hell]]. This creature ''has'' appeared several times in the games as "Malachi" (English) or "Evil" (Japanese) — most notably in the animated opening to Dawn of Sorrow — but the origin is clearly Lovecraftian. |
| 573 | ** The dealer of antiques that Isaac visits in Season 3 is polishing [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure the stone mask]]. Viewers can identify it by the forehead curl and vertical forehead ridge. (Strangely, it lacks the fangs that appear in JJBA.) As with the Star-Spawn of Cthulhu, the games have included this artifact several times already, and the show is merely continuing the tradition. |
| 574 | *** Also from [=JoJo=], during the final battle against [[spoiler:Death]] in season 4, the slightly askew frame and Trevor's pose makes it look like the famous "You're approaching me?" panel from ''Stardust Crusaders''. |
| 575 | *** One of Isaac's minions behaves quite similarly to a Stand. It is a monochrome, humanoid creature that hovers behind Isaac, [[FlashStep Flash Stepping]] in front of him to protect him and moving him around the battlefield by flight. It can also dish out some mean RapidFireFisticuffs when commanded to attack. |
| 576 | ** During Isaac's fight against the Magician's human thralls, the Magician forms them into a giant sphere similar to the recurring Castlevania boss Legion. |
| 577 | ** The shot we see of Hell in the penultimate episode of season 3 seems to be based on Dante's Inferno: We see the suicide forest of the Seventh Circle, where those who committed suicide were turned into trees, and, just before seeing Dracula himself, a frozen sea with corpses sticking out: Cocytus, the ninth circle. |
| 578 | ** One of the new villains we're introduced to in the fourth season is Literature/VarneyTheVampire. |
| 579 | ** The vampire Trevor kills in the church during the opening montage of season 4 bears an uncanny resemblance to Creator/VincentPrice. |
| 580 | ** In Season 4, Episode 7, Trevor gives an explanation for why vampires hate the [[HolyBurnsEvil sign of the cross]] that is nearly identical to the one from ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'': vampires are an evolved predator species whose brains freak out when their vision is filled with a geometric shape. |
| 581 | ** The Rebis St. Germain creates is both male and female, but split down the middle like [[Anime/MazingerZ Baron Asura]]. |
| 582 | ** In Season 4 Hector dismisses concerns that Carmilla is annoyed with him using the sarcastic phrase “Oh dear, how sad, never mind”. This was one of the catchphrases of Sgt Major Williams in ''Series/ItAintHalfHotMum''. |
| 583 | ** The literary ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'' first appeared alongside two other women implied to be vampires: her "mother", a handsome middle-aged women described as "tall, but not thin", and a "hideous black woman" in strange dress speculated to be her grandmother. The former could describe Striga, interpreting the "but not thin" comment as muscle, and the latter could be Morana, minus the "hideous" part. Morana is also the eldest of the sisters. |
| 584 | ** In Season 3, when Isaac is confronted by the guards at the port in Genoa, he mutters about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, then muses [[Videogame/FarCry3 "Isn't that the definition of insanity?"]] |
| 585 | ** Castlevania also has references to ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': |
| 586 | *** Alucard's wolf form carries his sword in its mouth, a la Great Grey Wolf Sif. |
| 587 | *** An unnamed [[https://imgur.com/a/O7SGR2b warrior]] fighting vampires evokes the same stance as the Abyss Watchers. |
| 588 | *** Striga's [[https://imgur.com/a/1zcm2Md day armor]] is highly reminiscent of Knight Artorias. By extension, this is also a ShoutOut to ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. |
| 589 | * ShutUpHannibal: Just as a defeated Blue Fangs is howling at Trevor and Sypha that Dracula has an army of demons, Trevor shuts him up with a crack of his whip, splitting his head in two. |
| 590 | * SilentCredits: [[spoiler:The final episode of Season 2 has no music at all during the end credits, following Alucard's breakdown at the loss of both of his parents.]] |
| 591 | ** Happens again in [[spoiler:the penultimate episode of the series, after Trevor seemingly pulls a TakingYouWithMe on Death.]] |
| 592 | * SinisterMinister: Not just the bishop, but the priests under his influence. Trevor casually points out that they act rather un-priestly (hassling old men, carrying edged weapons, and using dirty language), and for contrast, he later requests [[GoodShepherd an actual, ordained priest]] to come forward and help save Gresit from the demons. |
| 593 | * SkyFace: Dracula, twice. The first time around he uses this trick to give the people of Targoviste a warning, and the next to order his demons to lay waste to all cities of Wallachia. |
| 594 | * SpannerInTheWorks: Whether it would have worked without interference, [[spoiler:Carmilla's plan to backstab Dracula]] failed mostly because [[spoiler:Sypha destroyed most of her troops by accident while trying to move Dracula's castle]]. |
| 595 | * SoLastSeason: Averted. Yes, Alucard, Trevor and Sypha managed to defeat [[spoiler: Dracula]] at the end of Season 2, but when they go up against other vampires later in season 4, specifically, they noticeably struggle and almost get defeated themselves. It makes sense because [[spoiler: Dracula let himself die, and was actually winning when he realized that he was killing his son and gave up]]. Moreover, they explicitly say that they've been fighting Night Creatures and cultists nearly non-stop for months now, and they're just exhausted. |
| 596 | * SoWhatDoWeDoNow: At the end of Season 2, [[spoiler:Dracula's dealt with, his castle is emptied of monsters and warriors, and most of the big conflicts are tied up. But Isaac, Hector, and Carmilla are still about, and there's plenty of random night creatures running around. Trevor and Sypha decide to become a monster-hunting duo, while Alucard mostly slums it in his dad's empty Castle, until the plot of Season 3 hits.]] |
| 597 | * StableTimeLoop: It is implied that Alucard may have sent (or will send) the information about the Sleeping Warrior back in time so the Speakers would learn of it and wake him when the time was right. |
| 598 | * StandardFemaleGrabArea: In Season 2, the priests hold Lisa like this to drag her out of her house before burning it down. This is believable since two guys are holding her, one on each arm; they are most likely experienced "witch" hunters; and Lisa is not shown to have any combat training. |
| 599 | * TheStarscream: |
| 600 | ** [[spoiler:Carmilla's goal during Season 2 is to usurp Dracula and take control of the war for herself. While Dracula does end up dying, its not by her hand nor is she able to take power for herself because Sypha unwittingly destroys her army. However, she ''is'' still alive, the heroes don't even know she exists, and she now has a new pet (Hector) who can rebuild her army.]] |
| 601 | ** [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] alongside DragonInChief. Season 4 has Varney and Ratko. Varney seems to be driving part of the plot forward, contacting others, trying to assemble people to bring back Lord Dracula, but then Ratko gives him a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and proceeds to take over the situation in Targoviste, and assaults Trevor and Sypha while Varney is poking around looking for a mirror. [[spoiler:Ratko dies after a tough battle, and Varney is eventually revealed as the season's BigBad in the form of DEATH.]] |
| 602 | * StealthInsult: Saint-Germain has a short conversation with Sypha, where he asks if she is going to spend the day doing, "typical Speaker activities," which he summarizes as, "memorizing limericks, washing vegetables, and casually reproducing." Saint-Germain just called all of the Speakers sluts in the fanciest way possible. |
| 603 | * TheStoic: Alucard, par for the course with his character. While his father demonstrates his anger by trashing his laboratory and loudly declaring that all of Wallachia shall pay, Alucard calmly implores him to let it go, even as he himself also grieves for his mother's death. |
| 604 | * StrangeMindsThinkAlike: First PlayedForLaughs then later on PlayedForDrama. In Season 4, when Trevor & Sypha discover that a vampire they just killed was [[spoiler:trying to resurrect Dracula]], Trevor snarks that he wishes he could kill the vampire twice. Later in the season when [[spoiler:Carmilla is about to kill herself after losing to Isaac]], she ''also'' expresses a desire to [[spoiler:see if Isaac can be killed twice if/when he meets her in Hell]]. |
| 605 | * SuddenSoundtrackStop: |
| 606 | ** During Trevor and Alucard's duel, the former finds himself overpowered by the {{Dhampir}}'s SuperStrength. Being a CombatPragmatist, Trevor opts to even the field with a GroinAttack... to which Alucard doesn't even react. Even the ''music'' pauses at the absurdity of this scene: |
| 607 | -->'''Alucard:''' [[NoSell Please]]. This isn't a bar fight. Have some class. |
| 608 | ** Also used during the trio's battle with Dracula. Dracula [[spoiler:catches Alucard by the face mid-Flash Step and uses his head to make a dent in the castle floor. The lack of background noise emphasizes the brutality of Dracula gradually beating his son to death.]] |
| 609 | * SuicideBySunlight: [[spoiler: In the series finale, Lenore crosses the DespairEventHorizon after losing her sisters and nation, so she says goodbye to Hector and walks onto a balcony to await the sunrise.]] |
| 610 | * SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: Dracula's war is suggested to be this. If every human is killed, then the vampires will have nothing to drink from but animals; there's a very big suggestion that not only is Dracula attempting to commit suicide, but is also aiming to bring about the end of vampirekind as well. |
| 611 | * SurprisinglyHappyEnding: The end of the series. [[spoiler:Death is gone, but at the apparent cost of Trevor; Alucard has decided to help Greta's people build a proper community at his home; and Sypha is convinced to stay there instead of rejoining her original caravan to tend for the child she bears, but the two of them are clearly saddened at the idea that Trevor's no longer with them... and then Trevor bloody Belmont rides, severely battered and exhausted, but alive and sane out of the woods. Turns out St. Germain pulled him into the Infinite Corridor just seconds before Death's big explosion, saving his life, and then he tumbled out a little further away. Meanwhile, Isaac and Hector reconcile; Isaac is able to kill Carmilla and end her insane schemes; Striga and Morana simply cut their losses and ride off to live their lives in peace; and while Lenore ends her own life, she does so at peace with it and with Hector's forgiveness and blessing. Isaac also abandons his plans for human genocide and decides to rule Styria as a benevolent leader. And finally, Lisa and Dracula (going by "Vlad" now) are alive again and planning to enjoy their second chance together in England. The final image is of the couple that began the series, quietly cuddling together on an inn's bed.]] |
| 612 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: |
| 613 | ** Episode 3 of Season One shows what happens when the Cyclops with a TakenForGranite curse is killed. Sure, the curse is lifted and those turned to stone, like Sypha, are back to normal. Unfortunately, this also includes statues already broken. If they aren't dead already, they might as well be dying if an arm or leg is broken off beforehand. At least no one else is alive enough to suffer. |
| 614 | ** The season 1 finale is a major battle in the village square. The Season 2 premiere shows the aftermath: among the obvious [[WarIsHell PTSD, wounded people, grieving people, and rebuilding needed]], the demons didn't just [[NoBodyLeftBehind evaporate]] upon death and the people have to chop up and dispose of their corpses. |
| 615 | ** When Sypha enters the Belmont Hold, the collected knowledge of generations of Belmonts on vampires and other malicious monsters of the dark, she realizes how her people are fools for not writing down their knowledge. She notes that a million Speakers couldn't pass down in two generations the wealth of knowledge being held in this place. |
| 616 | ** When the stairs to the Belmonts' vault are destroyed, Sypha creates a giant pillar of ice to lift her, Trevor, and Alucard. Then she [[DefiedTrope throws it into a faraway forest]], saying that it would have melted and ruined all the books in the vault. |
| 617 | ** In Season 2, whenever the castle teleports, it creates a vacuum in the space it departs and a shockwave from the rapidly displaced air where it arrives. Given the castle's mass, the effects are usually devastating to anything nearby. |
| 618 | ** While Dracula has been severely weakened from not feeding, he is still the most powerful vampire in existence and leagues above anyone else. When Alucard, Trevor, and Sypha confront him, it takes their combined efforts to even stand a chance. [[spoiler:Had Dracula not had a HeelRealization and allowed himself to be killed, it's entirely possible that the trio wouldn't have been able to defeat him.]] |
| 619 | ** Alucard [[spoiler:lost his mother, then had to fight and kill his own father. While he puts on a strong face for his friends, when it's all over and he finally has a moment to himself, he breaks down crying from it all.]] |
| 620 | ** The Carmilla plotline from Season 3 onwards is basically a detailed study in this. Carmilla wants to take advantage of the chaos of Dracula's invasion to take over a huge swathe of land for the Styria coven. Her vampire sisters are far less enthused with this, as the plan is a logistical nightmare ''to start''. That's not even getting into how it's going in Season 4, when Striga and Morana realize that even if they ''could'' get that territory taken over (both note that they've been traveling for weeks and only covered a small amount of the territory Carmilla marked out), the humans won't be content to sit around and be fed on; they would ''fight'', and never stop until they were all dead. Not to mention that Carmilla was stupid enough to believe that after tricking him, belittling him, and beating him brutally, that Hector would serve the coven. While Hector is eventually outwitted at the end of Season 3, [[spoiler:all through Season 4 he's been working on ways to bring Carmilla down from within, leading directly to Carmilla's death at Isaac's hands.]] |
| 621 | ** Trevor and Sypha spend the six week-timeskip between Seasons 3 and 4 confronting more supernatural threats and attempts to revive Dracula. Nonstop. They may each be incredible badasses and practically unstoppable as a team, but fatigue will take its toll on anyone who has been fighting repeatedly over the course of weeks. Not to mention other factors like their [[BreakTheCutie mental states]] after Season 3's finale [[spoiler:and the fact that Sypha's pregnant]]. By the time they're in Targoviste, the two struggle against night creatures and vampire soldiers that either one at full strength could tear apart in seconds. |
| 622 | ** [[spoiler:Isaac might have wanted to revive Dracula and avenge his death at first, but traveling all across the world, meeting countless people and experiencing all kinds of ups and downs will change a man. By the time he reaches Styria, he holds no ill will to Hector and is only interested in getting rid of Carmilla. A wise move as she is a danger to every being on Earth and thus has to be dealt with]]. |
| 623 | ** Artefacts with magical properties don't automatically solve all your problems by just existing. Like any tool, you have to understand how it works in order to use it properly. [[spoiler:Zamfir has collected the treasury of Targoviste in its underground court, which holds quite a number of useful tools in the right situation, and has a waterway set up that funnels holy water throughout the complex. The latter is out of the (mistaken) belief that vampires can't cross the stuff, while her soldiers take some of the magical items with them up top, but with no understanding of what they do; they just carry the artefacts like anti-evil talismans. This comes back to bite them when Ratko, who knows how it works, uses a divining set a now dead defender had on him to track Zamfir back to the court. By contrast, Trevor learned much of the supernatural world in his youth, so he points out the flaws in her defenses and wields to devastating effect holy water and objects like a bladed chakram of Indian origin and a disassembled dagger that later defeats Death.]] |
| 624 | * SurvivorGuilt: Though unstated, Dracula almost certainly feels this way. He had gone on a journey "as a man" (walking instead of using his powers to teleport), and while he was away, his and Lisa's home was raided, with the bishop using her medical supplies - which Dracula had, of course, provided - as evidence that she was a witch and must be killed. |
| 625 | * SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: The two main antagonists in the first season are Dracula himself, and the corrupt Bishop. [[spoiler:Dracula is a TragicVillain and a broken man, who's been driven to genocidal and suicidal madness against all of humanity and even his own son because of the unjust execution of his beloved human MoralityChain by her own species' CorruptChurch. The Bishop, who ordered and oversaw said Morality Chain's execution, is a vile, AxCrazy, cowardly hypocrite and fanatic without a single redeeming quality to him; throwing legions of the people he's supposed to protect under the bus while throwing his weight around, anointing corrupt street-thugs as priests, and rejecting fault for instigating Dracula's rampage which now threatens entire countries of people whilst fleeing to save himself -- in the words of a literal demon from Hell who knows a thing or two about God, "[The Bishop's] work makes [God] ''puke''".]] |
| 626 | * SympathyForTheDevil: |
| 627 | ** Before she dies, Lisa doesn't beg for mercy ''from'' the people around her but rather ''for'' the people around her. [[Literature/TheBible Kind of like another innocent person with a close relationship to something powerful.]] |
| 628 | ** Trevor has this for ''Dracula'', of all people. His genocidal rage against the people of Wallachia comes down to revenge for the death of his wife, Lisa, a doctor and woman of science who was burnt alive as a witch while begging for mercy for the people around her. While it's impossible to justify what he does, it does make the ensuing carnage a bit easier to watch considering those people were ''celebrating the anniversary of Lisa's death'' just to spite him. It would be even easier if it weren't for the children dying right along with the adults. |
| 629 | ** At the end of Season 2, Sypha feels this way about [[spoiler:Dracula as well. After Alucard kills him, she notes it is fine if Alucard needs to mourn for the man his father once was]]. |
| 630 | ** [[spoiler:Dracula's near-breakdown when the fight with Alucard spills into Adrian's old room is positively heart-rending, as he finally realizes how far his actions have taken him.]] |
| 631 | * TakeAThirdOption: The Speakers refuse to leave the city, even with the threat of an angry mob. Trevor, in turn, refuses to leave them and wants them out of the city before the mob, and the monsters, come. He eventually reaches a compromise by hiding them in the catacombs, still within the city but out of sight. |
| 632 | * TakeMeInstead: A silent version; Trevor, after getting the Speakers to the catacombs, waits in their residence for the mob. He then leads them on a chase as they demand the location of the Speakers. |
| 633 | * TakenForGranite: Sypha is first discovered by Trevor in a petrified state. In contrast to the backstory for the Famicom version, she doesn't seem to be fully aware of being petrified this whole time, although she's aware of how Trevor climbs on her as he uses her to boost himself to kill the Cyclops. |
| 634 | * TakingYouWithMe: The Judge of Lindenfeld tricks his killer into falling into a [[SpikesOfDoom spike pit]] by telling him that it's an escape route being given as a sort of [[VillainsDyingGrace villain's dying grace]]. |
| 635 | * TalkToTheFist: Or whip, rather. As Alucard challenges Trevor to a fight and begins snarking that Trevor can only throw insults, Trevor knocks him to the ground with a crack of his whip. |
| 636 | * TeleportSpam: |
| 637 | ** [[spoiler: ''Dracula's Castle itself'' does this when Sypha attempts to force it to teleport above the Belmonts' home and it starts fighting back against her]]. |
| 638 | ** Alucard occasionally abuses his FlashStep power in this manner. |
| 639 | ** A nameless Viking vampire manages to give Alucard a run for his money in this department in Season Four. |
| 640 | * TemptingFate: The archbishop gives a speech to his people to celebrate Lisa's death, and celebrating about how "the Devil's" warning a year prior was a lie. Before he's finished talking, blood starts raining from the sky, and all Hell literally breaks loose. |
| 641 | * ThemeMusicPowerUp: The epic OrchestralVersion of "Bloody Tears" that plays during the climatic battle in the penultimate episode of Season 2. Shit just got ''real.'' May count as a LastEpisodeThemeReprise, even though it's not the main theme of the show itself. |
| 642 | -->'''Trevor:''' I terrify them, Sypha disorients them, Alucard goes over the top and we support him. |
| 643 | -->'''Sypha:''' Yes. |
| 644 | -->'''Alucard:''' [[PreAsskickingOneLiner Begin.]] |
| 645 | * TheTheocracy: Wallachia is portrayed as this in Season 1 with the Church as more-or-less ''de facto'' government and the religious inquisition being empowered to arrest anyone they like and burn them at the stake as an witch. There is no sovereign, such as a prince or a king, to actually rule and rein them in, and the only secular officer we see - in this case, the Mayor of Targoviste - is terrified of offending the Church, since they could very well charge him for heresy. When Dracula's genocidal purge begins, the Church becomes the official administrative body as well as religious head of several cities that haven't fallen to Dracula's forces. |
| 646 | * ThisIsGonnaSuck: |
| 647 | ** In Episode 2, Trevor cites this as a reason while attempting to discourage the second corrupt priest from attacking him: |
| 648 | ---> '''Corrupt Priest 1:''' Kill him ''now!''\ |
| 649 | '''Trevor:''' Last warning, [[CurbStompBattle this'll get nasty...]] |
| 650 | ** When the head Speaker brings Trevor up to speed on why Dracula has suddenly gotten all rampagey: |
| 651 | --->'''Trevor:''' [[OhCrap Shit.]]\ |
| 652 | '''Speaker:''' Yes, that's one way of putting it. |
| 653 | * ToiletHumour: |
| 654 | ** Trevor comments that "God shits in [his] dinner once again" upon encountering and nearly getting petrified by the Cyclops. |
| 655 | ** Sypha offers to "pee in a bucket" and pass it off as beer when Trevor asks the Speakers for some. |
| 656 | ** Saint-Germain snarks at the Judge by explaining that Trevor and Sypha shared drinks with him because he was a celebrity who knew what toilet paper was. Later, when Saint-Germain questions Prior Sala about missing pages from a Forgemaster's tome, Sala dismisses him by stating that someone must've used the pages to wipe their backside like in China. |
| 657 | -->'''Judge''': What the ''fuck'' is toilet paper?! |
| 658 | * TooDumbToLive: Dracula outright tells the people of Wallachia to make their peace. Not only do they fail to do so, but they ''celebrate'' the day they burned Dracula's wife. Dracula sounds just as annoyed with them as he is outraged when he points this out. |
| 659 | * TooImportantToWalk: The archbishop of Wallachia is carried out of his cathedral on a palanquin borne by four priests to address the people on the anniversary of Lisa's death and Dracula's prophesied day of doom (almost) passing without coming true. |
| 660 | * TookALevelInCynic: [[spoiler:By the end of Season 3, both Sypha and Alucard have gone through this. The former because of failing to save the village of Lindenfeld while also realizing the Judge was a serial killer. The latter because his new companions tried to kill him, so he kills them in return, then turns into even more of a recluse and puts their corpses on spikes outside his castle, just like his father once did.]] |
| 661 | * TooMuchInformation: During the end of Season 3, after [[spoiler:Hector has been tricked into slavery thanks to a combination of ExactWords and {{gaslighting}}]], Lenore says she enacted her plan while Hector was "inside" of her. Lenore's sisters are immediately grossed out. |
| 662 | * TorchesAndPitchforks: |
| 663 | ** The bishop raises a mob against the Speakers, whom he's blamed for the demon attacks. |
| 664 | ** When Trevor first mentions his home, Alucard says he was, "...under the impression it'd been destroyed: villagers, pitchforks, and torches, that sort of thing." |
| 665 | ** Alucard alludes to the Belmont clan being "chased by one" when they moved from France to Wallachia. |
| 666 | ** Vampires in general seem rather blasé about the whole thing. Both Alucard in the above and Carmilla referencing a NoodleIncident sum it up with a bored-sounding "torches, pitchforks, the usual." |
| 667 | ** In the final episode of Season 2, Carmilla muses that the residents of the city she's holed up in are probably getting their own torches and pitchforks ready, before remarking that, all things considered, she can't blame them. |
| 668 | * TheToothHurts: A swipe of Trevor's whip is enough to saw off Blue Fangs', well, fangs. |
| 669 | * TownWithADarkSecret: Lindenfeld in Season 3 was a small town that had its local priory attacked by one of Dracula's demons, but instead of being killed, the local monks emerged insane. They form a {{cult}} that reveres the Dark Lord, blames the Church for kickstarting the whole thing, and attracts other insane and unstable individuals. The local judge is aware of the situation, but is unable to control it since the cultists outnumber his own guards, so he enlists Trevor and Sypha to investigate. |
| 670 | * TragicMonster: Dracula's motive for his revenge on mankind is very understandable: his wife was murdered while he was travelling, and no one tried to intervene and save her. |
| 671 | * TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: When Dracula's demons attack Gresit, [[spoiler:Trevor quickly mobilizes the villagers and teaches them how to properly fight the demons by wiping their blades in salt and using holy water to harm them]]. |
| 672 | * TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: Defied, and has a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome as a result. [[spoiler:While scouting the territory that Carmilla wants to capture, Morana and Striga spend ''weeks'' traveling, and in that time only manage to cover a ''small fraction'' of the land. The two of them realize that ruling such an empire would be a logistical nightmare.]] |
| 673 | * TravelToProjectile: A viking vampire uses this to great effect in the final battle of Season 4, wielding two throwing axes he can teleport between at will. |
| 674 | * TrilogyCreep: A [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools positive]] example. As stated above, the series was originally intended as a movie trilogy. According to Ellis, the first season makes up what would've been the first movie, while the second season makes up what would've been the second and third movies. Since the series is continuing on past the second season, it's safe to say the tale has grown. |
| 675 | * TrophyRoom: The Belmont Hold is just as much this as a library, including having a ''giant dragon skeleton'' in it, not to mention whole shelves of vampire skulls. Alucard is not impressed - especially when he sees a case full of vampire skulls, one of which is suspiciously [[WouldHurtAChild child-sized]]. |
| 676 | * {{Uberwald}}: As per the games, the show takes place in an extremely [[GothicHorror gothic]], monster-infested version of medieval Wallachia. However, it's a little less generic than most versions of this trope (Targoviste and Braila are real Romanian cities.) |
| 677 | * UnderestimatingBadassery: |
| 678 | ** Alucard, upon meeting Trevor, says the latter has nothing but insults, at which Trevor whips (literally) his dhampir ass across the room. |
| 679 | ** Carmilla assumes she and her army can just take down {{Dracula}} by force. Considering ''the heroes'' got [[CurbStompBattle utterly trounced]] by Dracula in combat and only "won" thanks to his HeelRealization, Carmilla may have overestimated her chances a bit. |
| 680 | *** It's ironic since Carmilla averted this when it came to Trevor, as she reminds the rest of the vampires that the Belmonts "''hunted them for fucking centuries''". Even Dracula, after initially writing Trevor off, was forced to acknowledge him after Trevor brought him to his knees with the Morning Star Whip. |
| 681 | ** The CorruptChurch is the biggest offender, as they ignored Dracula's threats that he would rain Hell upon them in a year for killing his wife. When the time came and the Church [[TooDumbToLive celebrated instead]], claiming "the devil lied", they only had themselves to blame when TheLegionsOfHell showed up. |
| 682 | ** While trying to get back to Europe, Isaac is accosted by a group of Tunisian guards that want him to leave the city immediately and threaten him with weapons. While he is surrounded by a large group of vicious monsters. The guards don't last long when they press the issue. Happens [[HereWeGoAgain again]] with the guards in Genoa with pretty much the same result. |
| 683 | *** Not to mention the raiders he runs into at an oasis, who are mighty confident that they can overpower a lone man and are quickly taught a ''gruesome'' lesson. |
| 684 | * TheUnfought: This isn't a typical Good vs. Evil storyline: |
| 685 | ** [[spoiler:The Bishop. Trevor has the chance to attack him, but the Bishop is instead killed off by Dracula's forces for setting the horrific events in motion.]] |
| 686 | ** [[spoiler:Godbrand. He is killed by Isaac. One does not lure a true loyal servant of Dracula to betray him and come back out alive.]] |
| 687 | ** [[spoiler:Carmilla gets out of Season 2 without the heroes even being aware of her existence.]] |
| 688 | * UngratefulBastard: Lisa devotes her life's work to healing the sick, only to be repaid by the people she healed burning her alive. |
| 689 | * UnknownRival: As of the end of Season 3, Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard don't even know that Isaac and Carmilla ''exist'', much less what they're up to. |
| 690 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The unnamed and undepicted "wise woman" who laid charges of witchcraft against Lisa with the Church because she was driven out of business by the fact that Lisa's medicines actually worked. |
| 691 | * VanHelsingHateCrimes: Trevor initially assuming Alucard is evil simply because the latter's a vampire comes across as this. |
| 692 | * VariableLengthChain: Played completely straight with the Morning Star whip, which is very inconsistent about its length. The show will pay lip service to reality by having Trevor visibly shorten it by wrapping it around his arms or torso when fighting at close range, but even then, a chain that in one scene can wrap around his forearm maybe four or five times at most suddenly stretches to 50-ish feet when it has to surround and wrap up a vampire lord. It is implied that the whip itself is both magical and consecrated, so its variable length may just be one of the enchantments on it. |
| 693 | * VillainsActHeroesReact: Happens a lot in Seasons 3 and 4, with it even being discussed as a problem that needs addressing in Season 4 by Trevor and Sypha, especially after them ''re''acting to things allowed the Visitor to open a portal to Hell and resulted in Lindenfeld being wiped out, and they've spent weeks running around reacting to attempts to resurrect Dracula. |
| 694 | * VillainBall: Dracula's monsters embrace this in the last episode of Season 1. [[spoiler:They're giant flying demons who were previously shown to effortlessly overpower any human, and yet, apparently, being ''walled in'' by Sypha's Blue Splash was enough to make them suicide-charge the pikemen.]] |
| 695 | * VillainHasAPoint: |
| 696 | ** [[spoiler:Dracula's minions]] hammer on the bishop that it was his actions and arrogance that lead to the destruction of Wallachia, not the Speakers. |
| 697 | ** Godbrand asks Dracula a rather obvious question in Season 2: If they kill all the humans, ''then what exactly would Vampires feed on?'' |
| 698 | ** While her motives are constantly suspect, Carmilla does bring up good strategic points when she argues for attacking Braila and keeping an eye on the remnants of the ancestral Belmont home. Just as she feared, Trevor and his companions were indeed on their way to the Belmont vault for information and weapons to aid in the fight against Dracula. Meanwhile, Braila is an effective chokepoint for the country, allowing the vampires to pin down the remaining humans more easily; [[spoiler:of course, she'd also already taken it over to set up a trap for Dracula and his forces, but that's neither here nor there.]] |
| 699 | * VillainRespect: How Dracula and Lisa's relationship begins. She enters his castle unannounced, and while his appearance and behavior does seem to rattle her, she doesn't directly show fear, and berates him for rudeness. He seems mildly amused by her bravery, and decides to indulge her request for knowledge. Of course, after that they fell in love, married, and had a son, but that part isn't shown. |
| 700 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Trevor and Alucard throughout Season 2. |
| 701 | * VoidBetweenTheWorlds: In Season 3, [[spoiler:the Infinite Corridor is shown as a rainbow-hued tunnel where portals to alternate universes and dimensions randomly open. In '"The Good Dream'', Saint-Germain has a nightmare where he is trapped in it and comes across three science-fiction universes, one of which looks like pre-colonial Australia, and one of an EldritchLocation comprised of a kaleidoscope of Escher-esque staircases]]. |
| 702 | * VomitDiscretionShot: |
| 703 | ** Trevor after leaving the bar. |
| 704 | ** Sypha after being un-petrified. |
| 705 | * WalkTheEarth: Lisa convinces Dracula to "walk as a mortal man" in exchange for teaching her science, and he even continues to do so while they were married. It surprises nobody that he stops doing it after she's killed. |
| 706 | * TheWarHasJustBegun: Blue Fangs yells this at Trevor and Sypha after he's defeated: |
| 707 | -->'''Blue Fangs:''' THERE'S AN ARMY OF US! ''AN ARMY!'' '''''FROM HELL!''''' |
| 708 | * WarningMistakenForThreat: Upon being arrested by the Bishop of Gresit and his goons for witchcraft, Lisa Tepes warned them desperately that a calamity would strike them if any harm were to befall her. They mistake the warning for a threat of Satanic retribution and burn her at the stake. |
| 709 | * WarriorVersusSorcerer: A MagicKnight vs SquishyWizard example. Isaac has some skill in magic, specifically as a MakerOfMonsters and {{Necromancer}}. However, he mostly FightsLikeANormal, using either a spiked belt or a magic dagger. In "The Harvest", Isaac faces an evil magician who has mentally enslaved an entire town to his will. While the Magician has immense power, he is also physically frail and weak. He is utterly helpless once Isaac gets past his defenses and shrugs off his mind control. |
| 710 | * WeaponSpecialization: The signature Belmont whip can be seen as Trevor's weapon of choice, though it has yet to be called "Vampire Killer" as in the games. The wounds it inflicts demonstrate how effective a whip is in a Belmont's hands, as he can use it to remove limbs and eyes, or alter the course of the whip mid-throw by using his hand. It is also consecrated so that it can be an effective weapon against the demons and vampires that the Belmont family constantly faces. The Morning Star whip (treated as separate from the leather whip [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness as in the earliest games]], most explicitly ''Simon's Quest'') is even better, with the ability to make evil creatures ''explode'' when it hits. In Season 3, Trevor can [[DualWielding use both whips at once]]. |
| 711 | * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: {{Inverted}}, in regards to the vampires' view on humans. Dracula likens humanity to a plague that needs to be wiped out, while Hector likens them more to an invasive species that shouldn't be driven to extinction, but culled and their population controlled. [[spoiler:Going into Season 3, Carmilla and her sisters refer to Hector as "[[ItIsDehumanizing it]]", and when Lenore enslaves him and requests an extra-large bed so she can train him to be a SexSlave, Carmilla and the others react with disgust, as if Lenore had stated she was going to have sex with a pet dog. Carmilla, likewise, likens humanity to livestock, with her scheme revolving around controlling territory for the purpose of ensuring a self-sustaining source of nourishment.]] |
| 712 | * WorldOfJerkass: ''Castlevania'' opts for a ''very'' cynical outlook on pretty much everyone. Half of the average human beings are stupid, superstitious, and belligerently ignorant, while the other half are cruel, greedy, and delusional. Vampires are no better. Even the three main heroes bicker and fight amongst themselves, with two of them being just as [[KnightInSourArmor cynical about humanity as the villains while opting to save them anyway]]. The exceptions to this (the Speakers and Lisa) are persecuted, hunted, and mocked by both sides. [[spoiler: [[BittersweetEnding Bittersweetly]] [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in the final episode. The world will more or less be a hostile place to live in; however, that doesn’t mean the trio (along with Isaac and Hector) can’t plant the seeds of a more ideal world and nurture it by reaching out to and connecting with like-minded people]]. |
| 713 | * WorldOfSnark: Nearly every character that speaks in the series has at least one sarcastic one-liner. |
| 714 | * WorldsStrongestMan: Dracula is far and away the most powerful character on the show. Some of his feats include massive displays of pyromancy, controlling huge swarms of bats, summoning a vast army of demons, and, in the final battle, showing that even without his {{Magitek}}, he is still a person of mass destruction that, while harmed by the attacks of the heroes (particularly the [[HolyBurnsEvil Morning Star Whip]]), can shrug off almost any punishment dealt to him. [[spoiler:This makes one question Carmilla's sanity or intelligence when she thinks she can overthrow him. The heroes kill her soldiers and the vampire generals without taking any real damage or putting in a 100% effort and Dracula was more than a match for them. How exactly was she going to kill this 7 foot tall death machine? Either she was overconfident and thought he was vulnerable from lack of feeding and his emotional turmoil or she really, [[IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance absolutely had no idea what she was dealing with.]]]] |
| 715 | * WoundThatWillNotHeal: The reason Alucard went into a slumber was to heal the wound that Dracula inflicted upon him after he tried to stop him from summoning a demon army. He can regenerate simple wounds well enough, as Trevor later finds out. |
| 716 | * YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive: Dracula gives Targoviste a year to flee or make their peace with their god before he annihilates them. [[TooDumbToLive They ignore him]], and he honors his threat. |
| 717 | * YoureInsane: |
| 718 | ** Trevor doesn't say it directly to the bishop, but he does express astonishment that the bishop genuinely believes that killing all "heretics" in Gresit will get Dracula's army to leave them alone, then later describes him to the Speakers as "over the top and into new lands of snake-fuckingly crazy." |
| 719 | ** [[spoiler:Sypha calls Zamfir this after listening to her rant about how the royal family of Targoviste aren't just rotting corpses, but they're just sleeping in some magical realms to recover their strength and shall awaken to save Targoviste. Much to Sypha's shock, Zamfir ''agrees'' with her; she points out that no one could've survived Dracula tearing through their home and keep their sanity intact.]] |
| 720 | [[/folder]] |
| 721 | ---- |
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