Castlevania

"This castle is a creature of Chaos. With each rebirth, it takes a new form."

- Alucard

The Castlevania (悪魔城 Akumajō), also known as the Demon Castle, Vampire Castle, Frankenstein Castle, Bernhard Castle, or simply Dracula's Castle (ドラキュラ城 Dorakyura Jō), is the residence of Count Vlad Tepes Dracula, and the location where most of the action of the eponymous Castlevania video game franchise takes place. It serves as Dracula's lair, as well as the headquarters of his demonic legions.

About Castlevania
The Castlevania has been described by Dracula's son Alucard as a "creature of Chaos". It has also been described as the symbol of Dracula's power. It is connected to its owner, collapsing whenever he falls and rising whenever he resurrects; sometimes even before the Count's return, when it is summoned by his followers working to bring him back. Whether it was made from the ruins of Walter Bernhard's own haunted castle, which had many similar aspects, or it is a completely different castle was never fully explained.

The Castlevania is in some ways the source of Dracula's army and his very Dark Power. More specifically, it houses an access to Hell, from which Dracula can call forth demons of all sorts; as well as an access to the Chaotic Realm, where negative energy and human malice gather to fuel Dracula's Evil and which only the King of the Night (or his successor) can visit. It is also implied that the Castle's candles hold captive the thousands of souls in Dracula's grasp.

Because of its demonic nature, the Castle is always changing, never appearing twice under the same aspect, built with the same configuration, or with the same locations within its walls. It is built as a huge maze made to confuse intruders; often with teleporters that link several locations. It is also filled with various traps such as guillotines, spikes, falling chandeliers, collapsing platforms, pits, lava streams, and pools of acid, among others. Some of its areas do not even obey to the laws of physics, being filled with voids, illusionary spaces or being made from crystal, among other things. It is stated in many games that the Castle's evil attracts monsters from all over the world, hence the presence of enemies and bosses from many ancient and modern folklores within its walls. (Not to mention the monsters from movies and others.) The Castle also features many anachronisms, like motorcycles and machines gun long before they were invented, and even science-fiction devices like lasers and robots. This could either be explained by the Science Lab/Tower of Science that is often includes... or more simply by the Castle's very nature.

The Castle is a product of Dracula's magic and as such, it has tremendous Dark Powers and sentience of its own. When Dracula is not around, the Castle calls for its lord. It can sense people within its walls, reacts to intrusions by sending monsters, and is able to sense people's connections to Dracula or to drag people within its walls. It could even be guessed that all the traps appear as its way to react whenever it is invaded. One more than one occasion, statues and wall ornament launched fireballs or energy blasts at intruders, or stone dogs came to life to track them down, as if the castle itself was attacking them.

Dark power pours from the Castle without end, spawning monsters within its walls and infecting the land, the people and the local creatures. Its evil influence alone threatens the life of the normal people trapped inside, as seen in ''Aria of Sorrow. ''It is also more than enough to corrupt people (be them alive or dead) or turn them into monsters. It was the Castle’s power which turned Rosa into a vampire in Castlevania 64, and likely Annette as well in the bad ending of Castlevania: the Dracula X Chronicles.

Description
The Castlevania itself is found in the Transylvanian province of Wallachia, but it has no defined location and can appear anywhere. It is most often seen atop a mountain nearby a lake, on which floats Dracula's ghost ship, but sometimes appeared in the middle of said lake, among other places. It is constantly surrounded by mist, out of which it seems to come, and it is almost always a full-moon night around it, to strengthen vampires and keep werewolves under their curse. Despite the Castle's ever-changing nature, it is almost always organized with an Entrance, Underground Locations, a Clock Tower and the Castle Keep. The nearby lake and forest are technically not part of the Castle in itself, yet they are infected by the Castle's magic and swarmed by Dracula's hordes. The castle can also create lairs devised specifically for Dracula's closest followers to inhabit, like the Tower of Death and Olrox's Quarters. Its most recurring features include:


 * The Entrance or Great Hall: Which consists mostly of large halls and stairways leading to the Castle's innermost sanctum.
 * The Corridor or Marble Gallery: A long and lavishly decorated gallery that links several locations.
 * The Catacombs and the Graveyard: Home of the skeleton monsters and other undeads.
 * The Underground Waterway: Perhaps the place from where comes the poison that flows in the moat and most water points in the Castle.
 * The Underground Labyrinth: Among other underground locations.
 * The Arms Depot: The castle's armory, full of weapons of all sorts and populated by possessed blades or knight monsters.
 * The Garden: Populated mostly by Plant-like monsters and insectoid creatures.
 * The Villa or the Demon Guest House: An annex of the castle usually meant for high-ranking followers of Count Dracula.
 * The Ruins: An unkempt, scarcely populated and mostly deserted area, rather dangerous to travel through.
 * The Library: An immense library filled to the brim with countless books about every possible subject, highlighting Dracula's culture.
 * The Dance Hall: Used for recreational purpose, though mostly populated by dancing spectres.
 * The Theater: Another recreational area, seldom found as a level of its own and often included within other locations.
 * The Chapel: It is quite surprising to find such a holy place in the castle of the Evil Incarnate, but keep in mind that the believers found here are more likely to be heretics and worshippers of Evil. Can include the Ceremonial Room where Dark Rituals and sacrifices are performed to resurrect Dracula.
 * The Alchemy Lab or Sorcery Lab: Where Dracula's wizards and witches servants study the Dark Arts.
 * The Colosseum: In which Dracula and his generals set fights between monsters or unleash monsters against the heroes.
 * The Dungeons: With jails and torture chambers.
 * The Towers: Usually many of them gathered: The Tower of Science for futuristic researches and building machines; the Art Tower lavishly decorated and filled with paintings and statues; the Observatory Tower with a planetarium and an overall view of the surroundings; the Duel Tower similar to the Colosseum; the Tower of Executions filled with lava and deadly traps; the Condemned Tower similar to the Ruins; among others.
 * The Pinnacle or Top Floor: The highest point of the castle, with many chasms, bridges and platform sequences.
 * The Clock Tower: In which the intruders must travel through the mechanisms.
 * The Throne Room or Coffin Room: Dracula's resting place located in the Castle Keep, where the heroes challenge him.

The Castle was sometimes separated in two distinct castles, like in Symphony of the Night, in which the Dark Priest Shaft created an Inversed Castle in the sky, right over the regular one, as its base of operation. Also in Harmony of Dissonance, when the Castle was split in two due to Dracula's Spirit being reborn without being fully resurrected. Some people tried to take over the Castle for their own gain.

In Portraits of Ruins, the Vampire Lord Brauner tried to overthrow Dracula in 1944. He harnessed the Castle's Dark Powers into his bewitched paintings to prevent Dracula's resurrection and claimed the Castle as his own; only to be defeated by the game's protagonists and finished off by Death.

This happened as well in Aria of Sorrow, set in 2035. Dracula had been destroyed for good in 1999 and the Castle had been sealed in a solar eclipse. Yet, the mad prophet Graham Jones, believing to be the reincarnation of Dracula, tried to succeed him as the new King of the Night. He entered the Castle during a solar eclipse and managed to reach the Throne Room, absorbing most of the Castle's Dark Powers. However, the Castle was looking for a new master on its own, and dragged Soma Cruz, Dracula's true reincarnation, within its walls. Soma eventually defeated Graham, but the Castle transferred all the power that Graham stole into Soma, who had to enter the Chaotic Realm and defeat Chaos itself to avoid becoming Dracula's successor.

Later In 2036, the mystical prophetessCelia Fortner and her strange religious cult known as "With Light", built a castle immensely similar to Dracula's to foster the growth of a new Dark Lord and to be her own base of operations. As her plan ruins, the castle completely collapses.

Trivia
◾Some of the statues in the castle, particularly some seen inside the Mirror of Fate room, an armored man with red hair, resemble Walter Bernhard from Lament of Innocence. According to some of the back story gleaned from Mirror of Fate, Walter Bernhard was a leading member of the Bernhard family, and he was the one behind cursing the Toy Maker.
 * It is suggested that Carmilla lived in the castle when she was human. She despised Doctor Frankenstein, and wanted to bring him to justice. This suggests that she may have been a member of the Bernhard family or had a connection to them somehow. The Skeleton Warriors were once her closest retainers at the castle when she was human. In death they became her guards.
 * The name "Frankenstein Castle" is that of the castle in the 1818 Gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley which is the name of both the mad Dr. Frankenstein and the legendary Frankenstein Monster or simply "Frankenstein" as it is commonly referred to.
 * There are some similarities with some of the architecture in the Bernhard Castle in Lords of Shadow and Walter's castle in Lament of Innocence. Primarily the hallways in the castle are lined with giant black armor and statues. These resemble the black armor statues on the top floor of Walter's Castle leading up to his throne room. These dark armor statues also appear in the top floor of the castle in Aria of Sorrow (in some cases blocking passages with their swords). The Entrance hallway with the black armor statues appears in Mirror of Fate as well, with the game room with giant chessboard as seen in Reverie DLC.
 * It is unclear of who exactly had control over the castle before Carmilla took over, since various notes say the Bernhard family and Frankenstein ruled the castle, but never mentioned who had governing rule. It's suggested that both families could have shared the castle for various reasons, or could have been cousins. The legend that the Bernhards made a pact with demon suggest they were the first rulers of the castle though, meaning Frankenstein could have had control over just a small section of the castle. Another idea is that he took control after the Bernhards left, and lost control shortly before Carmilla claimed the castle as her own.
 * The legend that the castle itself is a living demon, in which the layout is near impossible to map out, is similar to what Alucard mention's about Dracula's Castle in ''Symphony of the Night'.
 * An interesting note about the castle, is that it shares similar levels to Dracula's Castle. Because of this, it could be argued that Vampire Castle is a nod to Castlevania itself, since most games of the series take place in nothing but a castle, with a Belmont as the protagonist, and a Vampire as a the main boss/ruler of the castle.
 * There are 3 paths seen through Dracula's Castle in Mirror of Fate have sections that overlap. Though the characters enter the castle from different positions in each. Doors that one character can access in their path, are not accessible in other paths, and sometimes sections of the castle are modified as each character goes through them (Reaver fight destroys an elevator that Simon could use on his path through the game for example, the carcass of the Lady of the Crypt can be seen near the main gate of the castle in Simon's quest, but is killed by Trevor in his quest). Simon begins outside the castle in the Cursed Village, Alucard begins from the Mirror of Fate, and Trevor begins from the castle's Graveyard. Some of the areas seen by the various characters are nods back to areas seen in the Lord's of Shadows (such as the entry Hallway leading Chess board in the 'game room' as seen in the Reverie DlC), but many areas are also new as well. The back story (read via Brotherhood Scrolls) mentions some of the areas were areas that existed when the Bernard family ruled the castle, and others were built or expanded upon by the Hunchback dwarves at the behest of Dracula.
 * In Lords of Shadow 2, the castle has grown stronger in its power since the rise of Dracula. The castle eventually challenges Dracula's rule using its own blood influences to turn Dracula's minions against him.
 * It is explained that the castle has become dependent on Dracula to survive, if he succeeds in his suicidal plot then his life will be ended along with that of the castle and it's inhabitants and this is the reason why castle is turning against him. It is also Inner Dracula since it also represents all of Dracula's evil.
 * Inner Dracula's effects on the castle is reminiscent to haunting horror movies and their fictitious sinister locations such as the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's The Shining and the "High Hopes" house on 112 Ocean Avenue in the Amityville Horror film series.
 * The castle was destroyed by the Great Explosion which leveled everything down to the foundations (except for the catacombs underneath the city), colonists later founded Castlevania City built on the foundations of the castle, incorporating much of the original Gothic influences, architecture and foundation.
 * It is most likely that Inner Dracula is the orginal entity/demon that makes the castle alive. The demon came about from Bernhard's pact and thrived under Walter, Carmilla, and grew even more powerful (and dependent) under Dracula. Which is why the castle turns on Dracula, as the castle needs a Lord, it will try to stop Dracula from separating himself. The demon has infused itself with Dracula enough till the point were it's consciousness it's express as Dracula's "inner self".
 * Since Dracula decided against killing himself at the end of Lords of Shadow 2, the castle remains alive.
 * Ironically, the castle is the only antagonist in the entire Lords of Shadow saga to achieve its goal: stay alive.