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Wikivania: Encyclopedia of Darkness
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Castlevania (series)/References/Video games

< Castlevania (series)‎ | References
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Video games[]

3D Dot Game Heroes[]

  • This game references many video games with its loading screens. The original Castlevania is referenced in this way.

Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage?!![]

  • Before Finn and Jake fight Marceline the Vampire Queen, the Ice King quotes Dracula's infamous line from Symphony of the Night: "But enough talk... Have at you!"
  • Soon after that, Jake calls the trash on the ground "a miserable little pile of trash", again referencing Dracula's original speech to Richter: "A miserable little pile of secrets."

Astro's Playroom[]

Bail or Jail[]

Alucard and Leon Belmont are guest playable characters in this asymmetrical tag-battle game.

Banjo-Tooie[]

Barnyard Blast: Swine of the Night[]

  • The entire game seems to be a Castlevania tribute or parody. The protagonist is called Robert Belmart.

Bloodstained[]

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night[]

  • The entire game was modeled after elements of Metroidvania titles of the Castlevania games, such as Symphony of the Night, Dawn of Sorrow and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, but more than being inspired, it has numerous references to the series, some notable ones are:
    • The game name itself is a reference to Symphony of the Night.
    • The protagonist, Miriam, has the power to absorb shards from defeated enemies, mimicking Soma's Power of Dominance.
    • The character, Orlok Fahrenheit Dracule, heavily references Alucard, particularly in appearance, manner of speaking and the fact they share some voice actors, but he also references other characters, having a role similar to the Master Librarian, a name that also references Olrox and Dracula and the power to stop time, similar to the Zephyr.
      • In a specific dialogue, he tells Miriam that death is too good for her, like Alucard told the Succubus in Symphony of the Night.
    • In the good ending, Gebel asks Miriam to smile for him before his demise, mirroring Albus asking Shanoa in Order of Ecclesia.
    • Bloodless shares similarities with Elizabeth Bartley.
    • Gremory is the secondary antagonist and fights similarly to Death, forming blades that homes into the player.
    • Dominique's renunciation of God and desire for power, while manipulating allies to achieve it, mirrors Mathias Cronqvist.
    • The Revenant is an optional boss that resembles an undead Belmont. It mainly attacks with a whip, but also has attacks that resembles four of the classical sub weapons, and has resistance to the Holy element while being weak to the Dark element.
    • IGA is an optional boss that towers over Miriam and can only be damaged by hitting his head, usually forcing her to jump to hit him. He also has a tendency to teleport and use fireballs, similarly to Dracula.
    • The Hellhold functions similarly to Dracula's Castle, being a castle that appears in Europe for demons to converge and being a symbol of power to it's owner.
    • Celeste's Room has a ghost that appears when Miriam sits in a chair, similar to the ones in the Royal Chapel in Symphony of the Night.
    • The stage 8-bit Nightmare pays homage to the 8-bit era games.
    • Classic Mode took inspiration from the first Castlevania and Dracula's Curse, with similar and linear gameplay and stage designs that resembles the two games, the only main weapon is a Whip Sword and only five sub-weapons are present, resembling and behaving similarly to the ones in the original Castlevania. Miriam also has access to a backflip, like Richter in Rondo of Blood.
    • Classic Mode II is inspired from Simon's Quest, with Dominique having to gather clues and buy items from various characters while traversing towns and environments in a less linear fashion. This mode also offers three endings depending on what the player accomplishments.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon[]

Boktai[]

Bomberman[]

  • In the Virtual Boy version of Panic Bomber, as well as in Pocket Bomberman, there is a vampire bomberman named Bompire (initially localized as "Count Dracu-boom"), who seems to be inspired by Castlevania's Dracula.
    • It's worth mentioning that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was released in March of 1997 in Japan, and Pocket Bomberman in December of that same year, which could have influenced the inclusion of this character in the latter.
  • The final boss in Super Bomberman R, Buggler, has some dialogues that closely resemble certain well known phrases often delivered by Dracula in the Castlevania games. This was the first Bomberman game that was released by Konami after acquiring the property rights to the franchise from Hudson Soft in 2012.

Bunny Must Die: Chelsea and the Seven Devils[]

  • The fourth boss, Baron Vladmu, is a Dracula spoof that teleports in a similar manner and shoots fireballs from his crotch after opening his cape. In addition, the player can obtain weapons by breaking candles and a character named "Selena" throws scythes at the player just before they battle Vladmu, similar to how Death guards Dracula.

Cat Quest III[]

  • The game features a dungeon called Eight Bit Dungeon that has a boss named Dratula. Before he fights the player, one of the lines in his speech is a pirate and cat themed take on Dracula's most memorable line in Symphony of the Night: "What is a cat? A miserable pile o' whiskers. But enough gabbin', have at ye."

Contra[]

Contra: Hard Corps[]

Contra: Operation Galuga[]

Dead Cells[]

  • The game counts with an option for selecting from a series of visual styles for health drops. One of these options makes those items to appear like those in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.[1]
  • Additionally, some other items also resemble those from Symphony of the Night, such as the Cudgel shield which resembles Castlevania's Knight Shield, and the Rampart shield which resembles the Alucard Shield.[1]
  • There is a melee weapon in the game called "Valmont's Whip", which is a nod to the Belmont's Vampire Killer.
  • In High Peak Castle, there is a hall with portraits of various popular game characters. One of these portraits is of Alucard.[1]

Diablo[]

Diablo II[]

  • Vampires are enemies fueled by hellfire. They try to keep their distance and attack with their primary spell, fireballs, but they can also erect firewalls to further keep adventurers away and summon fiery meteors. Also, some of the stronger variants are called Night Lords and Dark Lords.

Diablo Immortal[]

  • The Blood Knight class consist of dhampyrs, usually portrayed with white hair and red capes, alluding to Alucard. Notably, their reveal trailer involves a battle between a blood knight and a vampire in a dark castle at night. Their main weapons are spears, possibly referencing the Alucard Spear, but they can also throw Daggers, which can be augmented to throwing multiple daggers at once. They can also summon swarms of bats, levitate and drain enemies of their blood without touching them directly to heal themselves, similar to the Soul Steal spell. Finally, they can transform into abominations that uses slash attacks, reminiscent of Cornell from Judgment.
    • Apparently, there was a retcon on vampires between Diablo II and Diablo IV to better fit the narrative.

Dragon's Crown[]

  • As a reward for finishing a quest in the Castle of the Dead (which seems to be a reference in itself), the game rewards the player with a picture titled "Vampire Hunter", which seems to be a reference to Alucard or the Castlevania series in general.

DuckTales[]

DuckTales[]

  • Transylvania is a stage of the game, it consists is a decaying castle with skeleton ducks, ghosts, tall mummies, secret passages, teleporting mirrors and spike traps. Dracula Duck is the boss of this stage, he towers over any other duck in the game and his attacks consists of teleporting and shooting bats toward Scrooge while he can only be damaged by attacking his head.

DuckTales: Remastered[]

  • Draculesti Manor is a stage in the remaster, it has the same enemies and traps as the original version, but it now has more variety in its ambiance; notably, the stage starts on a stone bridge with gargoyle statues, dead trees and mountains in the background, during a storm. The main halls have red carpets and portraits while the basement is darker and made of stone. The boss of this stage is not Dracula Duck, but instead, Magica, who constantly teleports and creates flame pillars, among other attacks.
  • Dracula Duck is actually the final boss, he is summoned by Magica by using the five legendary treasures and bound to her will, inside her ceremonial chamber (which also boasts a throne in the background) inside her lair in a volcano. He still towers over any other duck in the game, has his teleportation and bat projectile attacks and can only be damaged by attacking his head, but as Magica supports him in his fight, he gains temporary transformations that make him giant for a biting attack, turns him into many bats that almost fills the room, and transforms him into a dragon that shoots fireballs which creates small flame pillars when they hit the ground. Furthermore, his defeat causes the volcano to erupt, destroying Magica's lair.

Dust: An Elysian Tail[]

  • An item in this game, called the "Mysterious Wall Chicken", can be found by destroying certain walls in a nod to how similar items are often found in the Castlevania series hidden behind breakable walls.
  • The Red Orb is a direct reference to the Red Crystal from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. The reference goes as far as having the same use: the orb must be taken to the topmost part of a cliff (itself being a reference to Deborah Cliff) and then kneel and wait for a whirlwind spirit to carry the player to a secret area.

Etrian Odyssey: Nexus[]

  • The Vampire class in this dungeon crawler game bares a striking resemblance to Alucard.

EverQuest II[]

  • In this multiplayer role-playing game, the zone Loping Plains is beset by a curse every night and the message "What a horrible night to have a curse", originally from Simon's Quest, appears in the player's chat window. When day breaks, the message "The morning sun has vanquished the horrible night" is also displayed in the chat window.[citation needed]

Final Fantasy XV[]

  • In the DLC story, Episode Ardyn, when the main character, Ardyn Izunia, is ambushed by the Royal Guards of Lucis, the memory of his brother, Somnus Lucis Caelum, taunts him by saying "mankind ill needs a savior such as you", which was Richter Belmont's retort to Dracula in the original English localization of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Coincidentally, Ardyn has a similar backstory as Dracula, being a former human who had become an immortal demon and who tried to doom the world out of spite for loved ones being brutally murdered (Aera in the case of Ardyn, and Elisabetha and Lisa in the case of Dracula), even going as far as to have a name change afterward (Ardyn Izunia originally being known as Ardyn Lucis Caelum, and Dracula originally being known as Mathias Cronqvist). Both were even willing to turn against their duties to their deities to enact their revenge due to blaming them for their misfortunes (the Celestials in the case of Ardyn, and God in the case of Mathias/Dracula). Both even opposed a family line dedicated to stopping them (Lucis Caelum line in the case of Ardyn, and the Belmonts in Dracula's case).
  • Ardyn belonging to the same family line as that of Lucis Caelum also resembled Dracula's Lords of Shadow counterpart. In addition, Ardyn's Japanese voice actor, Keiji Fujiwara, also voiced Dracula from Lords of Shadow.

Frogger[]

  • Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition, a game that commemorates the franchise's 30th anniversary, allows the player to customize the game board with a variety of different skins, including 8-bit sprites from other famous Konami franchises, such as Castlevania and Contra.

Ganbare Goemon[]

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja[]

Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 2: Tenka no Zaihō[]

  • Simon Belmont is a recruitable character in this role-playing game. He is met by the party when they arrive to Europe. In combat, he can use a Holy Water ability.
    • A version of Vampire Killer also plays in the background when recruiting Simon
  • Draculan, a parody of Dracula, also appears as a boss.

Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shōgun Magginesu[]

  • A vampire hunter of the bloodline of the Belmont family who resembles Simon is a non-playable character in the game and is involved in the criteria for opening the secret stage, Virtual Hell, which has many mechanics and enemies parodied from classic Castlevania titles.
    • Draculan returns as a boss of this stage and, he operates like the traditional Dracula boss fights he was inspired from.

Ghost Rider[]

  • The platforming sections of the Game Boy Advance version of the Ghost Rider game, released in 2007, bears many similarities to classic Castlevania games. The Ghost Rider not only can destroy light sources to collect resources, but he also fights against different kind of monsters, wielding his chains like a whip.

Guacamelee![]

  • A mosaic of Simon Belmont fighting a Skeleton can be found in one of the levels.

Gungage[]

  • Posters depicting the cover artwork of Akumajō Densetsu (the original Japanese title of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse) can be seen in one of the stage's backgrounds of the game, with the misspelled title, "Densetu".

Hollow Knight[]

  • The boss Grimm resembles Dracula in both attack patterns and appearance. He is able to summon fireballs from his cape as well as spawn flame pillars from the ground.
  • The official Nintendo UK page for this game has a section titled "Symphony of the Knight".

I Wanna Be The Guy[]

  • The game features references to various well-known series, including the Castlevania series. Dracula, Dracula's Castle, Witchy and Medusa Head are among the elements represented in it. Some of the sprites featured are directly rip-offs of those featured in the Castlevania games.

Jazz Jackrabbit[]

Jeanne d'Arc[]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle[]

  • The character Jonathan Joestar can taunt by exclaiming "Your words are as empty as your soul!", which is another reference to Richter Belmont's initial dialogue with Dracula in Symphony of the Night.

League of Legends[]

  • Vladimir has a Skin named "Marquis Vladimir", which resembles Alucard with Richter's blue overcoat.
    • He also has a skin named "Count Vladimir", whose splash art resembles Dracula in his throne with a goblet of blood.
    • One of his Eternals Series 2 is also named "What is a Man?"
  • Mordekaiser's backstory has elements that parallel Dracula's, specially being an evil overlord that was ressurrected multiple times after defeat.
  • One of Veigar's quotes is "What is a champion? A miserable pile of pixels!".
  • One of Annie's taunts is "Beaten by a little girl... ha!". It may be referencing Dracula's statement when defeated by Maria in Rondo of Blood.

Magical Cat Adventure[]

  • This 1993 platformer game by WinTechno released only for arcades apparently pays homage to some classic bosses from the Castlevania series:
    • The boss of the first level is a Grim Reaper that somewhat resembles Death.
    • The boss of the second level is remarkably similar to the Skull Knight from Castlevania III, a reanimated skeleton of a humanoid beast that wields a sword and a shield.
    • The third level, "Castle of Ghosts", follows the typical thematic of haunted castle often seen in the Castlevania games, portraying old Medieval architecture, floating platforms, spike traps, as well as a heavy emphasis on platforming.
    • In addition, the boss of this level is a vampire cat that looks and attacks similarly to most depictions of Dracula in the Castlevania series. He opens his cape and sends forth three bats, much like some variations of Dracula's Hellfire spell, and when hit, he transforms into a colony of bats, attempting to coalesce a few seconds later on the player's position, much like Dracula and the Giant Bat do in some Castlevania games.

Mega Man Battle Network 6[]

  • JudgeMan's main attack is an electric whip, it has an animation that references classic Belmont protagonists. His blue design in particular alludes to Richter Belmont.

Metal Gear Solid[]

  • During the battle against Psycho Mantis, he will display his mental powers by reading the system's memory card. If he finds a Symphony of the Night file data, he will comment: "You like Castlevania, don't you?"

Noitu Love 2[]

  • This indie game features two characters named O2-JOY and his servant the Grin Reaper, whose design is based on both Dracula and Death. Their stage is also a tribute to various Castlevania games.

Odallus: The Dark Call[]

Otomedius Excellent[]

  • Otomedius Excellent features a playable Belmont character named Kokoro Belmont, who is the guardian of the Belmont Clan in 2011.
  • The main antagonist of the game, Dark Force, can be seen sitting on a throne similar to the one Dracula sits on in many Castlevania games.

Professional Baseball Spirits A[]

  • This Konami baseball game features many cameo characters from several Konami franchises. It features three characters from the Castlevania series, Alucard, Simon and Richter, who appear as supportive characters.

Pyū to Fuku! Jaguar: Byō to Deru! Megane-kun[]

  • This game made by Konami, features a parody stage, Dracula's Castle, directly based on the Castlevania series. It also features a similar gameplay, a few of its enemies, and the music used for the stage contains arranged sections of "Beginning".

Robotrek[]

  • A vampire character in the Super NES role-playing game Robotrek (Enix, 1994) is called "Count John Paul Belmont Prinky".
  • In addition, one of the areas in the mansion is a clocktower, and like in the Castlevania games, it's inhabited by monsters based on classic horror films, such as mummies and Frankenstein monsters.

Rock of Ages[]

  • The Wallachia stage features the famous Castlevania entrance bridge, an unnamed Belmont-like character and a bat-transforming Vlad Ţepeş.

Saints Row 2[]

Scribblenauts[]

  • Alucard can be summoned to protect Maxwell in the Japanese version of the game.

Sea of Thieves[]

  • The Crimson Crypt Tankard, part of the Crimson Crypt cosmetic set, contains a reference to Dracula's famous speech in its flavor text: "Drink too much and you'll be asking yourself - what is a pirate? A miserable little pile of sea quests!"

Skullgirls[]

  • The character Double quotes Dracula multiple times, "What is a man?" and "A miserable little pile of secrets" included.
  • The main antagonist and boss, Marie Korbel, may be a nod to Persephone, being that she's dressed in maid's attire and is in possession of a demonic vacuum.

Suikoden[]

  • A vampire antagonist character called Neclord appears in the two fantasy role-playing games Suikoden and Suikoden II (also by Konami) for the PlayStation. While never officially stated, it's widely believed that he's based on Dracula, the main antagonist of the Castlevania series.
    • Additionally, Neclord, much like Dracula, possesses his own castle.
    • In this castle, instead of inns the player has access to coffins where they can rest in and heal up. This concept is similar to the coffins Alucard uses to rest in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and the mechanic could probably have been inspired from Suikoden, although this is mere speculation.

Super Meat Boy[]

  • "Chapter 2: The Hospital" starts out with a short intro in which Dr. Fetus flies into the night with Bandage Girl outside the gates of the hospital, which resembles Dracula's Castle. Meat Boy looks upward while a theme very similar to "Prologue" plays. This is a reference to the intro from Castlevania for the NES.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

  • Simon and Richter Belmont appear as playable characters in this versus fighting game.
  • Dracula appears as a boss and many of his minions, such as Death, Carmilla, Medusa, The Creature and Flea Man, the Werewolf, the Mummy and even Kid Dracula himself, appear either as environmental hazards or simply as aesthetics for the stages.
  • Dracula's Castle appears as a playable stage, with its layout modeled after the original Castlevania.
  • Many other Castlevania references appear in the game, such as weapons and music tracks, as well as unlockable Spirits (support entities) of several characters from the entire franchise.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters[]

  • In Wing Nut's profile screen, on his "Favorite Activities" section it reads he likes "Castlevania 2095". Furthermore, Wing Nut himself is a bat-like mutant.

Terraria[]

This sandbox video game with building, metroidvania and role-playing elements features a number of references to classic Castlevania games:

  • Most Flail type weapons resemble the Vampire Killer, being that they are whips made of chains which end with a spiked metal ball on their tips.
  • The Arkhalis sword is a reference to the Crissaegrim from Symphony of the Night; it behaves similarly, has an almost identical icon and its description says: "I didn't get this off of a Schmoo", in reference to how the Crissaegrim is obtained from Schmoos in Symphony of the Night.
  • Likewise, the Terragrim is also a reference to the Crissaegrim, behaving similarly, sharing a similar icon and even being phonetically similar.
  • The Bloody Tear is a reference to "Bloody Tears", one of the most well known music themes in the Castlevania series.
    • Its tooltip reads: "What a horrible night to have a curse.", the same text that appears in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest whenever night befalls.
    • Its appearance in item form could be a reference to the Tear of Blood from the Castlevania series - a red gem in the shape of a teardrop.
  • The Death Sickle is a reference to Death's Scythe. It looks very similar to Death's trademark weapon and is swung in a similar fashion.
    • When swung, it flings out spinning energy scythes; these are most likely a reference to the Deathscythe ability.
  • The Demon Eye, one of the most common enemies in the game (including many variants and even boss versions), bears a striking resemblance to the Ghostly Eyeball from Simon's Quest.
  • The Demon is apparently a reference to the Tiny Devil from the Castlevania series.
    • This enemy attacks with an energy projectile called the Demon Scythe, which apparently is another reference to the Deathscythe ability.
  • The Holy Water is a reference to the classic Holy Water sub-weapon from the Castlevania series.
Terraria Wiki - Source of all images.

The Angry Video Game Nerd[]

The Binding of Isaac[]

The Elder Scrolls[]

The End is Nigh[]

  • One of the tracks of this game is titled "Catastrovania".

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons[]

The Wonderful 101[]

  • Wonder-Pink's trademark weapon is the "Beautiful Whip", which is revealed to be made of "Belmont Alloy". She hails from Transylvania and her last name is Kretzulesco, which allegedly derives from Dracula in Romanian origin.

Tibia[]

  • One of the Achievements is named Castlemania and it is earned by completing various vampire related quests.
    • One of the NPCs involved in some of these quests is the vampire hunter Julius.
    • A location that Julius sends the player to is Vengoth Castle, it is isolated near a cliff next to the ocean, accessed through a narrow passage and it has a huge variety of monsters. Also, the land of Vengoth around it recently became barren and infested with monsters, implying it was cursed.

Tokimeki Memorial[]

ULTRAKILL[]

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines[]

  • In one of the test chambers of the Fu Syndicate, an organization dedicated to hunt vampires, a special tactics squad referred to as the "Belmont Team" is deployed to attack the vampire player character.

Vampire Survivors[]

  • Several of the designs for the characters and weapons in the game resemble those of Castlevania characters.

Van Helsing[]

  • In the PlayStation 2 and Xbox game, Van Helsing, one of the libraries Gabriel Van Helsing walks through contains a book about an ancient clan of vampire hunters called "The Belmonts".

Wallachia: Reign of Dracula[]

  • The overall design for the game was explicitly modeled after various classic video games, with Castlevania being noted as an example.[3] The overall artstyle also resembles Ayami Kojima's artstyle.

World of Warcraft[]

Yandere Simulator[]

  • While in the Bedroom, the player is able to play a minigame called Yanvania: Senpai of the Night which parodies the prologue sequence of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Final Stage: Bloodlines.
    • The title artwork is a parody of one of the main key artworks by Ayami Kojima for Symphony of the Night.
    • The stage is a close rendition to that appearing in Symphony of the Night, featuring a very similar stage title screen, the long staircase and large banquet table of the castle keep, and a similar throne room.
    • The dialogue that ensues between the two characters, Beldere-chan and Dracula-chan, is almost identically phrased as the one between Richter Belmont and Dracula in Symphony of the Night, saying iconic sentences such as "Die monster! You don't belong in this school!" and "What is a senpai? A miserable little pile of heartbreak!", just to name a few.
    • The ending of the battle is also almost identical, with Dracula-chan parodying Dracula's last words and scream of pain upon being defeated, the entire screen receding and leaning to a side as if it was a photograph, and a subsequent long text scroll elaborating on the lore behind these events.

Ys Seven[]

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link[]

  • The sound effects for when Link and also the final boss Link's Shadow takes damage was reused from Castlevania when Simon Belmont takes damage. Coincidentally, the manual for that game also alluded to minions of the main villain of the previous game, Ganon, seeking Link out to use his blood on his ashes to revive him, similar to the Black Mass that's often used to revive Dracula in various Castlevania games.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors[]

  • In the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis game, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, also published by Konami, the vampire enemy's name is "Vlad Belmont".

See also[]

  • Cameo games - Games mainly published by Konami which feature guest characters or themes from the Castlevania series.
  • Konami mascot games - A series of crossover games of varied genres which feature characters representative of several popular Konami franchises, including Castlevania.
  • Related games - Third party games which are heavily inspired by the Castlevania series.

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Easter Eggs and References at IGN.
  2. ↑ Asked: "Not sure if this was already answered, but is the fight with Flesh Prison/Minos Prime a reference to Legion/Nuculais from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness or is that just a happy accident?
     @ULTRAKILLGame Answered: "It's on purpose"
  3. ↑ Wallachia: Reign of Dracula for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo official website.

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