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00:00 Before the moon is full, the vampire messiah will come.
00:03 Stretching back to the glorious NES days, Castlevania is one of the oldest franchises
00:08 in gaming.
00:09 It's seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, in large part due to Netflix's
00:14 animated adaptations and in no part due to Konami doing absolutely nothing with the games.
00:19 However, with new fans comes new players.
00:22 There are a ton of games to jump into, but only a few have actually been released in
00:27 chronological order.
00:28 If you've ever wondered about the exact timeline of the Belmont family's seemingly
00:32 endless war against Dracula, well, you've clicked on the right video, my friend.
00:38 Welcome to Mojo Plays and this is the Castlevania Timeline Explained.
00:59 Before we jump into everything, it's important to note we'll only be discussing the history
01:05 of the mainline series.
01:07 Some entries were removed from the continuity after release, such as 2001's Circle of
01:12 the Moon.
01:13 Others take place in alternate universes, like the Lords of Shadow reboot.
01:17 So you won't find any of those here.
01:26 Our story begins in the ripe year of 1094, in the PS2 title, 2003's Lament of Innocence.
01:33 Leon Belmont was once a baron, but gave up his wealth to pursue Sarah, his love who had
01:38 been kidnapped by a vampire named Walter Bernhardt.
01:41 Leon would face many challenges on his journey through the vampire's castle, including
01:45 losing his beloved.
01:47 Having been bitten by the big bad, Sarah sacrificed herself rather than turn.
01:51 This strengthened Leon's weapon with magic, turning it into the future iconic slayer of
01:56 monsters, the Vampire Killer Whip.
01:59 Leon would use this to defeat Walter, but his suffering was far from over.
02:04 The entire ordeal had been orchestrated by his friend, Matthias Kronqvist, who needed
02:09 the soul of a powerful vampire to turn himself into one.
02:13 Angry over the loss of his own wife, Matthias craved power over God and became the infamous
02:18 Dracula.
02:20 Leon obviously didn't take kindly to this, and swore that he and his family would dedicate
02:24 their lives to vanquishing monsters like him.
02:27 And thus began the centuries-spanning conflict.
02:36 Despite this tragic and volatile start, the next chronological entry doesn't take place
02:40 until nearly 400 years later.
02:44 Following Leon's tale, the Belmonts became feared by others due to their power, and were
02:48 mostly shunned.
02:49 The 1990s Castlevania III Dracula's Curse is set in 1476, and sees the citizens of Wallachia
02:55 turn to Trevor Belmont as a last resort when Dracula begins gaining power and killing innocents.
03:02 Along his journey, he teams up with Grant D'Nasty, a pirate, Saifa Belnades, a sorceress,
03:08 and Alucard, Dracula's half-human son.
03:11 Following the Vamp's defeat, Trevor and Saifa settle down while Alucard puts himself into
03:15 an endless slumber over the guilt of having helped kill his own father.
03:19 Then after defeat, Dracula leaves a curse on the land that ravages it for years to come.
03:30 Powerful though he may be, Dracula didn't work alone.
03:33 He employed Isaac and Hector, human forgemasters with the ability to create horrifying monsters
03:38 for their master's army.
03:40 However, Hector, having grown a conscience over murdering innocent people, abandoned
03:45 Dracula.
03:46 This is something he'd grow to regret as in 1479, Isaac got vengeance by accusing Hector's
03:52 lover of witchcraft, leading to her death.
03:55 2005's Curse of Darkness follows Hector on his own quest for vengeance against his
04:00 former ally.
04:01 Trevor Belmont also returned in this title on his own journey to investigate Dracula's
04:06 curse, and was nearly killed by Isaac.
04:09 Thankfully, Hector was able to defeat Isaac and even his former master, before lifting
04:14 the curse and bringing peace to the land.
04:24 Of course, peace in Castlevania never lasts.
04:28 Next in the timeline is the 1989 Gameboy title, Castlevania the Adventure.
04:33 Set in 1576, it follows Christopher Belmont taking on the legions of a newly resurrected
04:39 Dracula.
04:40 Although obviously light on story, it did receive a sequel in 1991's Castlevania
04:45 II, Belmont's Revenge.
04:47 Set 15 years later, players controlled Christopher again, this time on a mission to rescue his
04:52 son after Dracula returned, shocker, and kidnapped him.
04:57 Christopher was victorious once again, leading to another century of peace.
05:08 And now we've finally come to the one that started it all.
05:11 The original game is set in 1691, and follows the now famous Simon Belmont.
05:17 However, being a game from 1986, that's about all we get in terms of story.
05:23 Like many before him, Simon defeats Dracula and his minions.
05:27 But sadly for him, that isn't the end of his story.
05:30 Simon is cursed during his encounter with the vampire, leading to the events of 1987's
05:35 Simon's Quest, set in 1698.
05:39 In order to break it and save his life, Simon collects the body parts of Dracula, summoning
05:43 him and defeating him for a second time.
05:55 Simon's work against Dracula brought some goodwill for his family.
05:58 His grandson, Joost, grows up in a lovely village that formed around the family.
06:03 In 1748, in 2002's Harmony of Dissonance for the Game Boy Advance, this new Belmont
06:09 ventured into Dracula's domain after his friend Liddy went missing.
06:13 As he continued to fight the monsters inside the castle, he'd learned his other childhood
06:18 friend, Maxim, had sought Dracula's remains to finally destroy him.
06:22 But all this did was corrupt him, and Joost would be forced to battle one of his closest
06:27 allies.
06:28 With Maxim's defeat, Dracula's castle vanished like it had so many times before.
06:40 The next entry in the series, 1993's Rondo of Blood, or Dracula X on the Super Nintendo,
06:46 takes place in 1792, and follows fan favorite Richter Belmont.
06:51 A dark priest by the name of Shaft revived Dracula, who then kidnapped several women
06:56 from Richter's village, including his girlfriend Annette.
06:59 Luckily, vampire slaying is in Richter's blood.
07:02 Like his forebears, he braved the castle and put an end to the villain.
07:06 Unfortunately for him, though, Shaft had one more trick up his sleeve.
07:10 Richter would be cursed, with Shaft taking over his body five years later.
07:21 Arguably the best game in the series, 1997's Symphony of the Night follows Alucard after
07:26 he awakens from his 300-year-long nap.
07:30 Since seeing the return of his father, he journeys into his castle and gets a lot more
07:34 than he bargained for.
07:35 Not only is he tormented by memories of his human mother's death, but the castle is
07:40 now being controlled by the possessed Richter.
07:42 Maria Renard, a distant relative of the Belmonts who was rescued by Richter in Rondo of Blood,
07:48 asks for Alucard's help.
07:49 The vampire obliges, freeing Richter and eventually battling his father once again.
07:55 2008's Order of Ecclesia is next in the timeline, though it only features loose connections
08:07 to the story of the Belmonts.
08:09 Set sometime in the 1800s, the family has seemingly vanished, leading to the creation
08:14 of the titular order to battle creatures of the night.
08:17 We play as Shanoa, a member of the order, who must contend with a betrayer's plot
08:22 to see Dracula return.
08:23 The villain experiments on village citizens due to them being descendants of the Belmonts,
08:28 but he too is vanquished by the hero.
08:34 1994's Bloodlines is set in 1917, but it has a fair bit of necessary backstory.
08:43 Richter gave the vampire killer whip to the Morris family, who had some distant relation
08:48 to the Belmonts.
08:49 In 1897, Quincy Morris fought and defeated Dracula, eventually passing the whip onto
08:55 his son.
08:56 So it was that, during the onset of World War I, John Morris took up the heirloom to
09:01 fight evil.
09:02 Bloodlines follows the hero and his friend Eric LeCard as they track Elizabeth Bartley,
09:07 Dracula's own niece who started the war in order to resurrect him.
09:11 Naturally, the heroes would once again be victorious, though Eric wouldn't exactly
09:15 receive a happy ending.
09:20 Unfortunately, Elizabeth wasn't the only one to use war in her favor.
09:27 2006's Portrait of Ruin is set in 1944, with World War II as the backdrop.
09:32 Eric LeCard falls victim to Brawner, a vampire who uses souls of those killed in the conflict
09:38 to gain more power.
09:39 Jonathan Morris, the son of other Bloodlines protagonists' John, joins forces with Charlotte
09:45 Arlen, said to be a distant descendant of the Belnades family.
09:49 With everything else going on, the two are unable to stop death from reviving Dracula,
09:54 and are forced to fight him to halt his return to power.
10:01 At some point between Portrait of Ruin and the next game, 2003's Aria of Sorrow, the
10:07 Belmonts returned to prominence.
10:09 In 1999, Julius Belmont performs a ritual that will seal Dracula away forever, making
10:15 finding a host body his only means of returning.
10:18 Aria is set in 2035, and follows a teenager named Soma Cruz who finds out he's meant
10:23 to be the reincarnated antagonist.
10:26 With a little help from Julius, Soma fights against his fate and comes out on top.
10:31 However, in 2036, Dawn of Sorrow has him deal with a cult who seeks his demise in order
10:37 to find Dracula a new vessel.
10:39 It features two endings, one in which Soma gives into his dark urges, forcing his allies
10:44 to kill him.
10:45 Regardless, the cult is defeated and Dracula's evil is put to rest.
10:49 At least, for now.
10:58 As of writing, Dawn of Sorrow is the last game in the main timeline, though Castlevania
11:03 itself has been quiet since 2014's Lords of Shadow 2.
11:07 We would have thought that with the praise Netflix's shows have received that we would
11:11 have gotten another game by now, but no such luck.
11:14 The Belmont clan and their allies are some of the most persistent heroes in video games,
11:19 so we have no doubt that players would love to take up the vampire killer whip once again
11:23 and lay waste to hordes of monsters.
11:26 Who knows, maybe next time, we'll explore an as of yet unseen period in the history
11:31 of this beloved series.