Castlevania Timeline

The Castlevania Timeline shows the official chronology of the Castlevania series. It was first revealed in Konami magazine in 1997. The timeline was indented to be a reference for the developers of Symphony of the Night, but was accidentally leaked.

At that time, the upcoming Castlevania Legends was intended to be the origin story of the series, however, the game was removed from the timeline during development, and this was made clear in the next issue of the magazine. The spin-off game Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-kun (localized as Kid Dracula) was also included. Likewise, the game was removed from later editions of the timeline. The Akumajo Dracula X Chronicle guidebook later went on to state there was no story connection with the rest of the series.

Not all Castlevania games are intended to be part of the timeline. Several games and other media deliberately take place outside of it. They can be classified as either a story set in a completely different universe or a story from an alternative timeline. Castlevania Legends and Lords of Shadow are part of the first category. The stories of these games have nothing to do with that of the main timeline, and take place in completely different worlds. They often feature alternate incarnations of certain characters, but with different back stories. Secondly, a story can be set in an alternate timeline, a timeline that branched off from the main one. Circle of the Moon, Castlevania 64 and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness (among others) are this.

See Lords of Shadow Timeline page for events taking place in the Lords of Shadow titles.

Leon Belmont's Era
The 11th century was a time of knighthood, when the medieval monarchs were waning due to feuding lords and knights. Two of the courageous knights fighting during this period were Leon Belmont and Mathias Cronqvist, who together with Leon's exceptional combat experience and Mathais' skills as a tactician led one of the strongest companies in the realm. Walter Bernhard was a powerful vampire who lived in a castle within a forest covered in eternal darkness. One day, Leon's fiance, Sara, is kidnapped by this very vampire. Leon renounces his loyalty to the Church in order to save her. In the end, in order to avenge his fiance's death, he manages to defeat Walter with the Vampire Killer whip, created from Sara's soul. However, everything was just a plot by Leon's close friend Mathias, who had turned into a vampire in order to defy God, who allowed his wife to die of an illness.
 * Game: Castlevania: Lament of Innocence — 1094 A.D

12th-14th centuries
With Leon now walking the path of a Vampire Hunter in pursuit of Mathias, the Belmont's struggle against evil begins. From generation to generation, the magical whip and the title of Vampire Hunter are passed down. Feared for their powers, they are shunned by society and lived in exile. What they also didn't realise was, that each slain only adds to the power of Mathias, who used the power of the Crimson Stone to absorb them. Growing more powerful over the years, Mathias eventually declares himself King of the Night, and changes his name to Dracula Vlad Tepes. He continues to hide in foreign lands.

Trevor Belmont's Era

 * Game: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse — 1476 A.D
 * The genocide of humanity begins at the hand of Count Dracula. Alerted to Dracula's existence, a secret team is sent in by the Eastern Orthodox Church to find and defeat him. But all attempts to surpress Dracula end in failure. Faced with no other options, the Church turns to the Belmont family of vampire hunters, to pursue and defeat Dracula. Trevor Belmont, the freedom fighter Grant, the cleric Sypha Belnades, and Alucard, Dracula's son, join forces and succeed in overthrowing Dracula. Sypha then takes Trevor's hand in marriage, while Alucard, pained from fighting his own father, submerges into an eternal sleep.


 * Game: Castlevania: Curse of Darkness — 1479 A.D
 * Though defeated at the hands of Trevor Belmont, Dracula's curse still ravages the countryside of Europe, bringing with it disease, mob violence, and heresy. Amidst this chaos is Hector, a Devil Forgemaster who had formerly worked in the service of Dracula. Yet Hector grew weary and disgusted of the count's brutal methods and left to live with humans, but when his human wife was killed and his fellow forgemaster, Isaac, is implicated in the deed, Hector sets off for Dracula's stronghold to settle the score with him. At the end, it revealed that Isaac made Hector regain his devil forging powers so that Dracula's castle would return to the human world. But, what Isaac didn't know was that he himself was being used by Death, Dracula's right-hand-man. Death believed that Hector would kill Isaac, and that Dracula's Curse would take control of him, with his body becoming a vessel for Dracula's safe return to Earth. However, Hector realized that his drive for vengeance was caused by Dracula's Curse. Hector did not kill Isaac, but Death killed Isaac anyway and summoned Dracula through Isaac's body. Hector killed his former master, and performed the "Final Forging" where he summoned the essence of the curse and destroyed it. But a mysterious man named Saint Germain, who Hector had met earlier, believes that the war will never end and even when all evil is destroyed, there will still be ones who will claim evil's mantle again.

Christopher Belmont's Era
Count Dracula, slain 100 years before, is reborn. It's rumored the Bartley family was responsible for this act. It's from this point on that the legend begins: "Once every 100 years, when the faith in God is forgotten, Dracula will come back to life". Christopher, descendant of Trevor, apperently succeeds in vanquishing Dracula.
 * Game: The Castlevania Adventure — 1576 A.D

Though Christopher Belmont had defeated the evil count Dracula fifteen years ago, he did not manage to destroy him, as the count turned himself into mist and managed to escape, building up his energy and biding his time over the years. As Christopher's son came of age, a ceremony was being held to confer the title of Vampire Hunter upon him, so that a father-son team would be formed, but after the ceremony had been completed, Dracula used his powers to take of Solieyu Belmont's mind, and then made four castles appear. Christopher vowed to destroy Dracula and return his son to normal, and in the end, he defeated the evil count, restored his son, and the land was returned to its normal balance once again.
 * Game: Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge — 1591 A.D

Simon Belmont's Era
Count Dracula is fully revived by the forces of evil for the second time. Simon Belmont defeats Dracula once more, but in the wake of Dracula's death, is struck with a curse.
 * Game: Castlevania (Chronicles) — 1691 A.D

The curse inflicted upon Simon seven years earlier contains to affect his body, which slowly starts to decay. A mysterious woman appears to Simon while visiting his family's graveyard, and is told that Dracula will be revived when the curse will him. The only way to lift the curse, is for Simon to gather the scattered body parts of Dracula and burn them were his castle once stood. Simon succesfully gathers and burns all the five pieces. However, Dracula is reborn again through a sixth piece (his fang ). Simon fights valiantly and prevents Dracula's full resurrection from taking place.
 * Game: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest — 1698 A.D

Juste Belmont's Era
Fifty years after Simon's battle, Juste Belmont, grandson of Simon, continues the family's vampire hunting tradition and upholds the duty of searching for Dracula's relics. However, his childhood friend, Lydie, is kidnapped and brought to a mysterious castle, which had suddenly risen up out of the mist. Juste's best friend, Maxim, joins him in the search for Lydie in the mysterious castle. However, it turns out that Maxim was possessed by a evil spirit born out of Dracula's remains, which were brought together by him. The castle that had appeared was spawned from Maxim's mind. The evil spirit wished to sacrife Lydie in order to revive the true castle of Dracula. Combining the strength of the three friends, the evil spirit is defeated, his hold on Maxim disappears, and the castle vanishes back into the mist.
 * Game: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance — 1748 A.D

Richter Belmont's Era
Called back to life by the Dark Priest Shaft, Dracula is awakened again. Richter Belmont, descendant of Simon and Juste, sets out to find and kill Dracula and save the women kidnapped from his town, including his fiance Annette. Aided by Maria Renard, a girl with mysterious powers, Richter prevails over Dracula. However, Richter was left defenseless from his battle with Dracula and Shaft's curse enters his body.
 * Game: Castlevania: Rondo of Blood — 1792 A.D

Shaft would continue to exist as a spirit contained within a crystal ball. However, in the five years since the previous battle, Shaft manages to regain power through the curse placed on Richter. After four years, Shaft succeeds in gaining full control over Richter. He plans to revive Dracula with the aid of Richter's powers. Maria sets out to find the missing Richter only to stumble on Dracula's castle which had risen out of the mist. Sensing the rise of evil, Alucard awakes from a 300 year slumber. Thanks to Alucard, Richter is freed from Shaft's influence and Dracula's revival is prevented.
 * Game: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night — 1797 A.D

The Incubus Magnus plots to make Alucard take his father's place as the Dark Lord. With the combined strength of five vampire hunters, this plan is foiled.
 * Radio Drama: Akumajō Dracula X: Tsuioku no Yasōkyoku — 1798 A.D

Era of the Belmont family's abscence
In the 1800s, the Belmonts mysteriously dissapear. In their place, several organizations are formed to try and find ways to prevent Dracula from returning. The most prominent of these is the Order of Ecclesia. Shanoa, an Ecclesia member, has been chosen to be the bearer of Dominus, a Glyph that was developed to be used as a weapon against Dracula. Fellow member Albus steals the three pieces that make up Dominus out of jealousy. Shanoa pursues Albus and manages to retrieve the pieces. When she returns to Ecclesia's leader, Barlowe, it's revealed he wishes to revive Dracula with the help of Dominus. He and Shanoa battle, but Dracula's spirit leaks from Dracula's remains, which were stored in Ecclesia's headquarters, and takes control of Barlowe, resulting in Dracula being reborn in a host body. Shanoa heads to Dracula's newly risen castle and confronts him, managing to defeat him in the end.
 * Game: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia — 18?? A.D

Quincy Morris' Era
Sometime after Richter Belmont's era, the Vampire Killer whip kept for so long by the Belmont Clan is passed on to the Morris Clan. The motive behind this is unclear, and Richter becomes known as the last Belmont. In reality, the whip does make it's way back to the Belmonts.

Quincy Morris, a distant descendant of Trevor Belmont, keeps Dracula at bay.
 * Game: none — 1897 A.D

John Morris' Era
The legendary vampire Elizabeth Bartley, Dracula's niece, suddenly appears in the 20th century. Plotting a sacrificial war in order to bring back her uncle back to live, she orchestrates the beginning of World War I. Quincy Morris' son, John, and his best friend Eric Lecarde (also of Belmont blood), vow to take up the fight against evil. Together they manage to prevent Dracula's full resurrection.
 * Game: Castlevania: Bloodlines — 1917 A.D

Jonathan Morris' Era
The world is in chaos due to the second world war. The souls of the dead roam the earth. Their anguish summons Dracula's legendary castle. Jonathan Morris, son of John, and his ally Charlotte Aulin, step forward to fight evil. They discover a vampire named Brauner hasclaimed the castle as his own. They fight him in order to destroy the castle, but by defeating Brauner, Dracula is freed from the seal that kept him locked away. The Count is defeated once more.
 * Game: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin — 1944 A.D

Julius Belmont's Era
On August 11th, a total solar eclipse appears over Eastern Europe. According to a prediction of Nostradamus, Dracula would be revived on this day. The Belmont Clan (which had re-emerged in this era), the Belnades Clan and Alucard all confirm it's indeed the coming revival of the Dark Lord. Awaiting his return, they find the magic in Japan which can even control gods with the power of a solar eclipse. It's Julius, the current heir of the Belmont Clan, who takes up the Vampire Killer to face Dracula. With the secret art of the Hakuba Clan, Dracula is trapped and confined within the darkness of the eclipse. This act destroyed Dracula permanently and ended his resurrection cycle.
 * Game: none — 1999 A.D

Era of Dracula's rebirth
It's prophehesized that the supposedly perished Dracula would return again. In Japan, in the year 2035 on the night of a solar eclipse, high school students Soma Cruz and Mina Hakuba are transported to Dracula's castle when entering the Hakuba Shrine. When Soma awakes, he finds himself within the confines of the castle. In order to escape the castle, a mysterious individual named Genya Arikado guides Soma to the throne room. When he finally arrives there, he learns he himself is Dracula reborn. To free himself from the chaotic power of Dracula, he has to fight the chaos within himself. After managing to liberate himself from his chaotic half, he escapes the castle together with his friends.
 * Game: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow — 2035 A.D

It has been one year since the uproar about Dracula in the eclipse. Soma Cruz is at peace. But aiming to take his life, cult founder Celia Fortner attacked Soma in broad daylight. In order to avoid that somehow and afraid to involve Mina, Soma enters the cult compound alone. With that, Celia began her plan for the advent of a new Demon King. By taking the life of Soma, who inherited the soul of the Demon King, Dracula, she would create a new Demon King. Celia's plan fails and Soma avoids becoming the world's new evil.
 * Game: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow — 2036 A.D

Julius Belmont's pupil Curtis Lang together with his ally Michelle Danasty battles against the rogue vampire Olrox, who wishes to conquer the forces of both humanity and chaos.
 * Novel: Akumajo Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku — 2037 A.D

Alternate Timeline
The following games are directly confirmed to take place in alternate timelines that spun off from the main timeline.


 * Game: Castlevania Pachislot I &amp; II — 1479 A.D
 * In this timeline, Hector possibly becomes Dracula's vessel instead of Isaac and Trevor has to stop a revived Dracula. He is aided by Angela, but she is captured and falls under Dracula's influence. Trevor manages to defeat Dracula and saves Angela.


 * Game: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon — 1830 A.D
 * In an old Austrian castle, the worshippers of Dracula attempt to resurrect their master. Vampire Hunter Morris Baldwin and his apprentices, Nathan Graves and Hugh Baldwin, rush to the castle in an attempt to stop the resurrection, only to arrive a moment too late. Camilla, one of Dracula's minions, has just revived the Count and kidnaps Morris; the two apprentices then plummet down into the depths of the castle. In the end, Nathan defeats Camilla, rescues Hugh and Morris, and defeats the dark lord, Dracula.


 * Game: Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness — 1844 A.D
 * Following Dracula's revival, a village is attacked by evil forces, and Ada, the sister of the man-beast Cornell, is taken. Cornell returns to find the town under attack. After finding out about his sister's caputure, he rushes to Dracula's castle to find Ada. Ada was to be sacrifed, but Cornell saved her by defeating Dracula, sacrificing his wolf powers in the process.


 * Game: Castlevania 64 — 1852 A.D
 * Using Cornell's wolf powers, Dracula is reborn in the body of the child Malus. However, the memories of who he really was were lost. Dracula's forces, unaware which child was their master reborn, kidnapped all of the children from the surrounding villages, and brought them to Dracula's revived castle. Sensing Dracula's return, Belmont descendant Reinhardt Schneider and Carrie Fernandez decided to hunt Dracula. They rescued Malus and believed they defeated Dracula. However, it turned out this Dracula was an imposter and the memories of Malus were restored. He then reveals himself to be the true Dracula. However, he was subdued through the combined effort of Reinhardt and Carrie.

Kid Dracula Timeline
The Kid Dracula games take place in the "Demon World".


 * Game: Boku Dracula-Kun — 11797
 * Kid Dracula awakens after a ten thousand year nap to be challenged by Galamoth. He sets forth to put an end to Galamoth's ambitions and keep the takeover of the world for himself.


 * Game: Kid Dracula
 * Galamoth returns after being defeated. Kid Dracula has forgotten most of his skills since then, but Mr Reaper allows him to borrow some of his father's items to defeat Galamoth once again.

Akuma no Chi Chi no Akumu Timeline
The novel Akumajo Dracula: Akuma no Chi Chi no Akumu (translated as "Demon Castle Dracula: Blood of the Demon - Nightmare of Blood") takes place in its own universe. In this world, the Belmonts are not related by blood. Each generation, a "guardian" is born that is destined to take the name of Belmont. Dracula's real name is Claude Runkle is this world.
 * Novel: Akumajo Dracula: Akuma no Chi Chi no Akumu
 * Dracula is revived by Pierre Baiyan. Simon, Dracula's best friend when he was still human, returns as a Kresnik in order to vanquish him for a second time. Meanwhile, the missionary Dean Silva, tries to save his lover Elizabeth Arye from becoming a vampire.

Legends Timeline
Castlevania Legends is an alternate universe story to the Castlevania timeline.

Sonia Belmont's Era

 * Game: Castlevania Legends — 1450 A.D
 * During the Middle ages there lived a man who wished to obtain power. In the year 1431, this man made a pact with an evil deity who granted him power to conquer the world. From that moment on, the man became a powerful Demon King known as Dracula. For nineteen years, he terrorised Europe with his army of monsters, conquering one nation after the next. Seventeen year old Sonia Belmont, takes up a magical whip left to her by grandfather, and swears to avenge him after he was killed by Dracula's minions. During her search, she meets and forms a strong bond with her enemy's son, Alucard. After vanquishing the Count, Sonia vows that if Dracula returns after her lifetime, others will take her place and defeat him. Afterwards, she gave birth to a son fathered by Alucard. This child would later defeat Dracula once more.

Beyond Time

 * Game: Castlevania Judgment — Time Rift
 * Galamoth, the Demon King from an era ten thousand years in the future, wishes to conquer time and sends his servant, the Time Reaper, so assinate Dracula in order to rule the past. A time traveler and guardian of the timeline, Aeon, gathers powerul warriors from across time in order to prevent a catastrophe.


 * Game: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair — Grimoire
 * The Grimoire is a magical book that records the history of Dracula's castle. Certain individuals find themselves trapped in the book and borrow the powers of the heroes which are recored in the book in order to find a way out.

Unknown
The following media deviates from the Castlevania storyline, but it hasn't been confirmed if these works take place in an alternate timeline or a completely different universe.


 * Gamebook: The Devil Castle Dracula: The Battle of Old Castle — 195? A.D
 * Simon Belmont, descendant of the legendary Simon who defeated Dracula in the past, accidently breaks the seal that kept Count Dracula locked away, while shooting a movie about his ancestor's exploits in Dracula's castle.


 * Gamebook: The Legend of Satanic Castle: The Vampire Hunters
 * Sid Belmont, descendant of Trevor, along with his allies Row Danasty, Zouk Belnades and Leila travel to Dracula's castle in order to prevent his resurrection.


 * Comic: Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy — 1576 A.D
 * Christopher Belmont's fiance, Illyana has been kidnapped by Dracula after his revival by the Bartley family. Taking the whip kept safe by a family of vampire hunters called the Totoyan's, Christopher sets out to rescue Illyana.

Miscellaneous
It's not known if the following games take place in alternate universes or alternate timelines. It can't clearly be determined which of the two possibilities applies. The terms "alternate timeline/continuity" and "story from another world" were used interchangeable when IGA described their relation to the chronology in an interview.


 * Game: Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth — 1576 A.D
 * 100 years have passed since the death of Count Dracula, but the revival of his curse has emerged once again within the realms of Transylvania. Christopher Belmont heads out to save the land.


 * Game: Castlevania: Order of Shadows — 16?? A.D
 * The Belmonts find the hideout of The Order, and attempt to stop them before they can revive the Count. Desmond Belmont defeats the leader of this group, Rohan Krause, which only serves as a catalyst for Dracula's return. He then defeats Dracula, but a mysterious force or powerful being keeps Dracula's Castle from crumbling.


 * Game: Castlevania: Dracula X — 1792 A.D
 * Dracula is revived by his followers and it's Richter destiny to stop him. At the same time, he is forced to save his fiance Anette and Maria. Maria's powers do not awaken in this timeline, and Richter overcomes Dracula on his own.


 * Game: Castlevania: The Arcade — 1??? A.D
 * A Vampire Hunter, a Lady Gunner and a Little Witch join forces to fight the forces of evil. They manage to overcome Dracula in a climatic battle.

Eternal Links

 * Japanese Timeline. Konami. 2002
 * Japanese Timeline. Konami. 2003
 * Castlevania 20th Anniversary Pre-order Bundle. Konami. 2006 (Castlevania Realm)
 * Japanese Timeline. Konami. 2007