Castlevania: Nocturne is the newest series in Netflix’s Castlevania universe. The story builds on the existing 4-season franchise of Castlevania, based on the highly popular Konami video game. While it’s not discussed much, the franchise is one of the best video game adaptations ever made. The new series, set in the same world, tells as compelling and innovative a story as its predecessor. And while the story is new, there are plenty of Castlevania: Nocturne connections to the original series. Read on as we explore them all here.
Please note that the following will contain many spoilers for Castlevania: Nocturne, now streaming on Netflix.
Is Castlevania: Nocturne A Sequel To Castlevania?
The new series is set around 300 years from the events of the original Castlevania series. Making it firmly a sequel, set in the same universe and world, albeit in a different location. The show begins in Boston, Massachusets and then moves to France during the French Revolution of 1792. While the story doesn’t rely on any plot points from the original Castlevania series, the Castlevania: Nocturne connections start appearing as season 1 of the show progresses. Nocturne is still a standalone series, despite being a sequel, that new audiences can enjoy without knowledge of the previous Castlevania show.
The Castlevania: Nocturne Connections To The Original Series
The connections from Castlevania: Nocturne to its predecessor start slow. The show opens with Julia Belmont (Sophie Skelton) and her son Richter Belmont (Edward Bluemel). Julia is clearly following in the footsteps of the famed Belmont family as a Vampire Hunter. But she also seems to know magic, which is a change from the original series. Even Richter shows his aptitude for magic later on in the Castlevania: Nocturne premiere episode.
Originally in Castlevania, the Belmont family was a family of vampires and monster hunters for generations. The original series followed Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage) who was a down-and-out vampire hunter, working for scraps and to survive. This is due to the onslaught of vampires and monsters that Dracula unleashed in that series, causing the public to blame the Belmonts, and hold them responsible. Over the course of Castlevania, Trevor builds up his reputation, saving people and fighting against the monster threat. Along with Sypha (Alejandra Reynoso) a magic-wielding Seer who joins his fight, and eventually the two fall in love together.
How The Belmonts Use Magic Now
Richter wielding magic as a young, then losing the ability and reclaiming it through the series is a huge plot point in Castlevania: Nocturne. But how the Belmonts can use magic now is a mystery until the appearance of another Belmont, Richter’s grandfather, Juste Belmont (Iain Glen). Through their meeting, we learn that it’s been 300 years since the original Castlevania series. The reason why Belmonts can do magic now is because of their ancestor, Sypha, who married Trevor Belmont, both being the leads of Castlevania. Their relationship clearly combined the Belmonts’ skills as a fighter and Sphya’s magic abilities to pass down this amazing combination into the Belmont line going forward. We find out that even Juste had incredible magic abilities until the death of his wife caused him to go into a dark depression.
The Appearance Of A Friendly Character
The Castlevania: Nocturne connections run even deeper by the end of the series, with the appearance of a family character. As the good guys are seemingly on the verge of defeat, help arrives from a shocking source. Alucard (James Callis) himself shows up in Castlevania: Nocturne, 300 years after we all witnessed his adventures in Castlevania, alongside Trevor and Sypha.
Alucard is the son of Dracula, who originally teamed up with Trevor and Sypha in season 1 of Castlevania to help take down his father. Dracula was the main antagonist of the first two seasons of the show, and so the trio joined forces to defeat him. It makes sense that Alucard would be the only character from the original show to appear in Castlevania: Nocturne, given that he is a vampire and seemingly immortal. His appearance is also very exciting for the future of Castlevania: Nocturne as the season seemingly ended in a cliffhanger.
The World Is Different In Nocturne Than In Castlevania
While not a direct Castlevania: Nocturne connection to the original show, it’s definitely an intriguing element. The world that we see in Nocturne isn’t the same as Castlevania. Vampires ravaged the world, along with monsters in the original series, starting from Dracula’s reign of terror. However, 300 years later, it seems like most have forgotten who he even was. Richter explains that Alucard is Dracula’s son after his appearance when someone asks Dracula even is.
This implies that, while similar threats are prevalent now, the world has seemingly forgotten how the Belmonts along with Alucard defended the world against a huge vampire threat. But that also raises some new questions. The Vampire Messiah (Franka Potente) in Nocturne is an Egyptian Goddess, which would seemingly pre-date the existence of Dracula himself. And if that were the case, what connection do these Gods have with Dracula himself, if he was supposedly the progenitor of Vampires in the world? Hopefully Castlevania: Nocturne gets a season 2 so we can explore these questions.
All episodes of Castlevania: Nocturne season 1 are streaming on Netflix.
What did you think of all the Castlevania: Nocturne connections to the original show? Let me know in the comments below or on X (Twitter) at @theshahshahid where I constantly rave about this and the original Castlevania series.