Summary

Castlevania: Nocturne is set hundreds of years after the original series, taking place during the late 18th Century in the midst of the French Revolution. The new series introduces Richter Belmont, a descendant of Trevor and Sypha, who teams up with other magic users to defeat powerful vampires and their plans for world domination. While there may not be direct connections to the original plot points, Castlevania: Nocturne features similar elements such as vampires plotting to roam freely and a powerful vampire known as the Messiah aiming to take over the world.

Netflix’s anime adaptation of the hit Castlevania video game was an all-round success, and is still one of the most acclaimed animated originals on the platform. As a result, a sequel series was inevitable after the original show came to a close after 4 seasons. Titled Castlevania: Nocturne, the new series is set to hit Netflix in just a few weeks (September 28) and anticipation could not be higher. But where does Castlevania: Nocturne fit into the overall series timeline, and how closely connected is it to the original series.

Moving away from Trevor Belmont to focus on Richter, Castlevania: Nocturne features many of the same hallmarks of the Castlevania series that fans have come to love, with the washed out vampire hunter teaming up with various magic users to hunt down the most powerful vampires in the land and halt their plans to take over the planet. However, with a new setting, a new cast of characters, and an even bigger threat to humanity, Castlevania: Nocturne has the chance to rise above the original series.

Nocturne Is Set Hundreds of Years After the Original Castlevania Series
Netflix

The most important thing to remember is that Castlevania: Nocturne is not a direct sequel to Netflix’s original series, with the biggest disparity between the two series being a near 300-year time jump. While the original Castlevania show was set during the 1400s in Wallachia – once a real historical region currently incorporated into modern day Romania – Castlevania: Nocturne is set during the late 18th Century at the height of the French Revolution.

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The original Castlevania series saw Dracula taking revenge on the land of Wallachia for the persecution and execution of his human wife, leading to Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades and Alucard teaming together to bring down Dracula and the rest of his vampiric generals, along with their individual plans of world domination.

As the show went on across four seasons, the stakes (no pun intended) were continuously ramped up, leading to Trevor and Sypha having to traverse the Infinite Corridor to prevent a cult of vampire-worshipping humans from bringing Dracula back from the afterlife. Castlevania: Nocturne doesn’t make any reference to Dracula or any of the original plot points in any of its trailers, suggesting that its story and new vampiric threat are unrelated to the big bad of the Castlevania series.

With the revolution at its Zenith and the aristocracy losing control of their country, some of France’s elite make a pact with a powerful vampire only known as the Messiah who plots to ‘block out the sun’ allowing vampires to roam freely and crush the revolutionaries (and, obviously, take over the world).

The concept of vampires plotting to roam the Earth freely isn’t anything new to the Castlevania franchise, with the idea even appearing briefly in the original series through Striga’s ‘day armor’. With the vampiric army turning the tides of the revolution, two revolutionaries go searching for, Richter Belmont, the last descendant of the Belmont family, who were once a powerful family of vampire hunters.

Due to the immense time jump between the two series, it is highly unlikely that any of the human characters from the original series will make an appearance (perhaps with the exception of a flashback). However, according to IMDb, James Callis – who voiced Alucard in the original show – is set to appear in at least one episode of Nocturne.

Netflix

While Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades may not appear in Castlevania: Nocturne, their characters’ legacies will play an important role in Richter’s story, who is a direct descendant of Trevor and Sypha. Given the 300-year time gap, there could be anywhere between 4 and 10 generations between them, meaning Richter is obviously not their child, as it was initially rumored, but they are blood relatives.

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To highlight his heritage, Richter Belmont features a lot of the same attributes as Trevor. The most notable, and a large source of comedy for the series is his infamous reliance on profane language as his main source of emotional expression. Just in the trailers, it is clear that Richter has the same attitude and fondness for swearing as his predecessor. Another shared attribute is the type of company they keep. The trailers show Richter Belmont traveling with, and fighting beside, Maria Renard, who is archetypally similar to Sypha Belnades – a blonde magician with a penchant for sassing Belmonts for their grumpiness.

Castlevania: Nocturne is scheduled to hit Netflix on September 28, with all eight episodes being available to stream and binge on the day of release. The first three episodes will also be streamed the day before during Netflix’s virtual showcase event titled DROP 1, which is an online showcase featuring sneak peaks from some of Netflix’s most anticipated upcoming animated releases.