Castlevania (universe)

Castlevania (universe)
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Console/platform of origin	NES
First installment	Castlevania (1986)
Latest installment	Pachislot Akumajō Dracula: Lords of Shadow (2017)
Article on Wikipedia	Castlevania (universe)

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The Castlevania universe (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Devil's Castle Dracula) refers to the Super Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the famous dark-fantasy series created by Konami. The series is the second of Konami's to see representation through characters and stages, following Metal Gear. Its logo is a silhouette of Dracula's Castle (often referred to as the titular Castlevania), through which most protagonists of the series venture through on a quest to slay Dracula.

Franchise description

Now often considered to be a classic series of traditional platformers based on traditional western horror elements, the Castlevania series made its debut on the Famicom Disc System, before being released internationally on the Nintendo Entertainment System as Castlevania. However, the franchise would debut through the game's sister release for the MSX2 in Europe instead, Vampire Killer. The game follows vampire hunter Simon Belmont of the Belmont clan, a bloodline devoted to defeating Dracula whenever he is resurrected using their Vampire Killer, a legendary whip, on his journey through Dracula's Castle to defeat Dracula himself. This first installment would notably introduce the concepts of the Belmont clan's continued bloodline, the series' mascot being Simon Belmont, and a single warrior (though in later installments, occasionally several) venturing to Dracula's Castle in order to slay him. Simon would later appear in the game's direct sequel, Simon's Quest, originally released in 1987, followed Simon's journey to undo a curse placed on him following Dracula's death. Since these two titles, Simon has most prominently appeared in retellings of the original title, notably Super Castlevania IV and Castlevania Chronicles.

Following this, the series would see other installments that followed predecessors of Simon, notably Trevor Belmont in Dracula's Curse, and Christopher Belmont of Castlevania: The Adventure and its sequel, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge. These installments follow the basic premise of the original game, following a Belmont on his journey to slay Dracula. Dracula's Curse is notable in being one of the first titles in the series chronology, introducing such concepts as alternate routes to Dracula and additional playable characters (including Alucard, the son of Dracula). After these titles, the franchise would begin to see fewer releases on Nintendo hardware for some time, with other hardware boasting features not present in that produced by the company. Games released earlier in this period are Castlevania: Bloodlines and Rondo of Blood, which both instead followed descendants of Simon. Of these, Bloodlines would see a normal release internationally, while the entry more significant to the series' development, Rondo of Blood, would see a Japan-exclusive release on the Super CD-ROM² System, an add-on to the internationally-released Turbografx-16. This installment boasted many features that would be incorporated into later titles, such as wholly separate playable characters (as opposed to the switching system of Dracula's Curse) and additional techniques for the playable characters beyond basic jumping and attacking skills. This game would later see an international release when ported to the SNES as Castlevania: Dracula X, a later release/remaster through The Dracula X Chronicles, as well as a release on the Wii's Virtual Console service in 2010.

Following Rondo of Blood, the franchise would begin to deviate from its side-scrolling platformer roots and expand into a subseries now referred to as the Metroidvania games, notable for sharing aspects with traditional Metroid installments such as a more expansive, segmented map, secret areas and upgrades, and greater control over the player character and their abilities. The first of these installments was the sleeper hit Symphony of the Night, which followed Alucard, the son of Dracula himself, on an adventure through two versions of Dracula's Castle to defeat his father and avenge his mother's death. This entry is also notable for introducing the concept of having a protagonist character betray the character and become a villain, this game's being Richter after he was possessed by the dark priest Shaft. The series would also see less-successful ventures through 3D installments released for the Nintendo 64 around this time, these installments being Castlevania and Legacy of Darkness. Due to the greater critical success of Symphony of the Night, the Metroidvania format would be used for the majority of subsequent installments, including the trilogy of games released on the Game Boy Advance, and the trilogy released on the Nintendo DS.

Beyond its success as a 2D adventure series, the series would release later 3D installments to somewhat greater success. Following the releases of two hack-and-slash-esque games released to the PlayStation 2, a spin-off subseries, Lords of Shadow, was introduced in 2010, following a separate chronology from the earlier titles. Many other spin-off titles and related properties have also been released, including Kid Dracula, Castlevania Judgement, and Harmony of Despair, as well as an animated series, released in 2017 and 2018.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Characters

• Simon: The main character and mascot of the series, Simon Belmont, appears as a playable character.
• Richter: Richter Belmont, the protagonist of Rondo of Blood and descendant of Simon, appears as an Echo of Simon.

Assist Trophy

• Alucard: The main protagonist of Symphony of the Night, and minor protagonist within other installments, can be summoned to attack fighters wielding his signature sword.

Stage

• Dracula's Castle: The series' titular castle appears as the series' stage.

Music

• Bloody Tears / Monster Dance, a medley of two tracks from Simon's Quest that notably play during daytime and nighttime on the overworld, respectively, was made available on the official site, as well as accidentally leaked by Nintendo ahead of its official announcement.
• An arrangement of one of Simon's themes (also shared between most Belmonts), Vampire Killer, was played during Simon's trailers.
• An arrangement of Richter's theme from Rondo of Blood, Opposing Bloodlines (also known as Bloodlines) was played during his trailers.

Games with elements from or in the Super Smash Bros. series

Castlevania

The series' most well-known protagonist, Simon Belmont, is introduced in this game, as well as many aspects of his moveset and appearance. Both Dracula and his Castle also make their debut in this title. Vampire Killer debuted in this game as well.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

A medley of the tracks that play during the daytime and nighttime in this game is available in Ultimate.

Castlevania Chronicles

Simon's appearance in Ultimate seems most prominently based on his appearance in this game's original mode, based on the X68000 release of the game.

Rondo of Blood

Richter originates from this title, as well as his theme Bloodlines. His design is mostly inspired by his appearance in this game as well.

Symphony of the Night

Alucard's design in this game is used in his Ultimate appearance. Multiple moves and abilities from Simon's and Richter's movesets are also drawn from Richter's appearance in this game.

Trivia

• Castlevania is the first third-party franchise to receive more than one playable character.
  • It is also notable for having both a character and their clone debut within the same installment, something that has not occurred since Melee.
• Castlevania is the third 3rd-party universe with a playable character to have debuted on a Nintendo console, the others being Mega Man and Final Fantasy.