Timeline
From Castlevania Wiki - Forbidden Library
The storyline of the Castlevania series spans over several eras and mainly set in the province of Wallachia, Romania. It chronicles the struggle the Belmont family against evil, and their blood feud with Dracula, an ancient vampire dating from the times of the First Crusade. The Japanese storyline connected the individual storylines since the very first games, but the localized manuals sometimes took the story in a completely different direction and provided background information that clearly condradicted with other games, letting some Western fans to believe there was no concrete narrative until later installments.
Besides this simple story premise no clear chronology was provided until the current producer of the series, Koji Igarashi, revealed a timeline in an issue of the Japanese gaming magazine Dengeki Playstation from 2001. All the installments up to that point where included.
One year later, just before the release of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance another timeline was released on the offical website. This timeline omitted several games, namely: Castlevania Legends, Castlevania 64, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. A timeline released in 2005 claimed these titles were "another story".
The reason given for the abscence of the later three games was that they were originally intented by the developers to be Gaiden; alternate universe entries.
In the February issue of the Japanese magazine GAMESIDE, it was revealed by IGA that these three titles were now labeled as sidestories to the Castlevania timeline. Castlevania Legends was mentioned to take place in a parallel universe.
Timeline
1094 - Castlevania: Lament of Innonence
The episode that describes the origin of the feud between the vampire Dracula and the Belmont Clan. Leon Belmont, descendant of a line of knights, was the first to start the family’s vampire hunting tradition. Together with Mathias, he led a company of knights who, due to Leon’s great combat abilities and his friend’s tactical insight, were told to be unbeatable. One night, he was informed by a bedridden Mathias, whose wife had recently passed away, that his betrothed, Sara, had been abducted and taken to the domain of a vampire nameed Walter. The crusades were raging in the east and since the church was focusing on fighting heathens rather than monsters, it had forbidden unauthorized battles. Leon wanted permission to sortie, but his superiors had no intention of granting it. Thus, the young knight renounced his title and went to the forest of eternal night alone.
Leon battles and defeats Walter in a climatic battle, only to discover that it was everything, Sara’s kidnapping, the creation of the whip and Walter’s demise, was all a vile scheme plotted by Mathias. When the Vampire Lord was about to pass on, his soul was claimed by Death who granted the power to his master. Mathias had obtained his goal was no the most powerful among vampires. He explained his reaons to Leon and offered to him a place among his side, but the knight refused.
For Leon, all that was left was the Vampire Killer whip. Thus, the Belmont’s struggle against evil begins with Leon walking the path of a vampire hunter in pursuit of Mathias
Interlude
The Belmont Clan inhereting the burden of tracking down Mathias continued to hunt for other vampires. People would start to fear their amazing power over the years and the family was eventually shunned by society. The souls of each slain vampire would be absorbed by Mathias, only adding more to his already overwhelming strength.
At some point during Mathias's unholy life, he built a magic castle in the province of Wallachia where he would recruit humans and other beings who had turned their back on God, or were shunned by the light; he had created a place where existing was forgiven and those who were different were accepted without blame.
Mathias would come know and love a kind woman named Lisa, a medince woman he believed was his beloved Elisabetha reborn. Lisa loved Mathias very dearly despite his views on life and they would eventually have a son together named Adrian. Eventually, rumors started to spread that Lisa's medicinal practices were a form of witchcraft. This caused her to be arrested and sentenced to death by the authorities. Lisa was captured and crucified, an event Adrian witnessed but was prevented from intervening in. As the execution would have traditionally occurred during the daylight hours, Mathias would not even become aware of it until hours later, and when he learned of this, it drove him over the edge. Eventually, he changed his name to Dracula Vlad Tepes and plotted his revenge against mankind for ruthlessly taking away what mattered most to him.
1476 - Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
In 1476, the genocide of humanity began at the hands of the lord of darkness. Soon, creatures which until that point had only been talked about in legend, started to appear in populated areas. Alarmed by recent happenings, the Eastern Orthodox assembled their armies to counter the threat. For the following months, a great raged between the vampire and mankind.
Because all the campaings led against the dark lord failed, the Pope, facing no other options, searched far and wide for a descendant of the legendary Belmont Clan. Eventually he found a long haired youth, a genuine vampire hunter named Trevor C. Belmont.
Trevor, who had started his offence, made his way through the devastated town of Warakiya, and entered a abadonded clock tower haunted by an evil demon. When the monster was defeated, the creature began transforming into what seemed to be a man. The man was a freedom fighter from the Wallachia underground who had been captured by Dracula’s forces and turned into a hideous monster. His name was Grant Danasty, and he was the first of the three legendary warriors to join Trevor on his quest.
While trasvering through a dark forest, the two young man were suddenly attacked by an enourmous cyclops. With the defeat of the monster, one of the statues located at the scene magically became flesh and blood again. It was Sypha Belnades, a priestess who had been send out by the Pope to vanquish Dracula single handedly, but had failed. She offered to lend her magical powers, to which Trevor accepted.
The next path of the band of heroes, was through the catacombs. Within the tomb, they battled this warrior who wanted to test their strength, and managed to come out victorious. The man’s name was Alucard, Dracula's son. He knew that he was no match for his father alone and thus proposed to become one of Belmont’s allies. He was welcomed into the group of heroes and together they pressed on to the Throne Room.
After an epic battle, Dracula and the Dark Gods were vanquished and sealed away in the Chaos Realm. After a great sacrife, the battle was won. The Dark Lord was defeated and the evil called to the land vanished.
1479 - Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
After Dracula was defeated by Trevor Belmont and his band of heroes, the Count cast a destructive curse on Europe with his dying breath. He would not leave the world without trying to bring it down with him. Dracula's Curse caused the land to become dreadful. Disease and famine spread while people killed each other and stole without remorse.
One of Dracula's foremost Generals was a young man named Hector. He deserted because he was becoming increasingly appalled at Dracula for killing humans indiscriminately. Though Hector was shunned by society at an early age, and taken in by Dracula, he could no longer participate in the wanton destruction and disregard of life. Hector began living among humans and took a God fearing woman named Rosalee as his wife. Hector's fellow General, Isaac, blamed Hector for Dracula's death and their defeat in the war. After the war, Isaac orchestrated Rosalee's death by accusing her of practicing witch craft and attempting to harm the populous of a village. Hector watched as his innocent wife was mercilessly and unjustly killed by the villagers. He vowed to take revenge against Isaac, and set off toward his former home of Valachia to hunt Isaac down and kill him.
Both Isaac and Hector were trained by Dracula in the forbidden art of Devil Forgery. It allowed them to create Innocent Devils from wisps of conjured matter, and use those Devils to carry out their whims. Isaac retained his power, and invited Hector to follow him through Valachia and restore his powers. Isaac would not take joy in killing Hector while he was in such a weakened state.
During his journey he met a man named Zead. Zead was impressed at Hector's display of Devil Forgery, and introduced himself as a monk on a mission to purify the land of the pestilent curse. Isaac was the protector of the curse, so he was naturally Zead's enemy. He would give Hector ínformation about Isaac's whereabouts throughout his journey.
Hector was later lured into a hidden dimension underneath the Abandoned Castle where he was tricked into ressurecting Dracula Castle. He entered the castle, where he found Isaac near the peak. The two engaged in their final battle and Hector killed Isaac, at last getting his revenge. When he dealt the finishing blow, he realized that his undying vengeance was a product of Dracula's curse, and he rejected it.
Zead suddenly appeared and said it was a pity that he rejected the curse. Zead revealed that he was behind everything, and was secretly Death, Dracula's confidant. He had Hector follow Isaac and regain his powers, as well as resurrect the castle, all toward the end of bringing Dracula back. Only a Devil Forgemaster could serve as the vessel for Dracula's reawakening, since they were already suffused in his magic, but when Hector rejected the curse, he proved useless. Zead would have to offer Isaac's body for the vessel, and Hector would have to die.
Hector defeated Death and sent him to the netherworld. He pressed on towards the throne room of the castle to face Count Dracula. Hector confronted his former master, who hadn't changed at all from the last time Hector saw him. His ideologies were the same and he still believed humans were deserving of utter destruction. The resurrection was not complete, and Hector was able to use his powers to defeat Dracula. However, the curse still affected the land. Hector used his abilities to convert the curse into something harmless and both him and the countryside were finally at peace again.
1576 - Castlevania: The Adventure (Rebirth)
Count Dracula resurrected in the year 1576, one hundred years after his death at the hands of Trevor Belmont and his team of heroes. Rumour had it that the Bartley family was responsible. Christopher's blood called for him to challenge Count Dracula, and seal his evil nemesis away for another one hundred years.
While wielding the legendary whip, Christopher set off to the demonic castle, facing many ordeals while trying to make his way through. The path to Dracula was now free, and Christopher met and defeated the Vampire Lord in battle.He escaped the castle afterwards before it could crumble atop him.
On a hillside cliff, Christopher watched the Castle decimate into rubble and walked away from the site of his victory. Unknown to him, Dracula had used all of his black magic to transform into fog and would wait for many years to exact his revenge on the Belmont clan.
After the battle, the legend was born that the demon lord revives once every one hundred years.
1591 – Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge
One day, fifteen years later, Soleiyu, Christopher's son, was celebrating his passage to manhood, and offically inherited the title of Vampire Hunter. Because two Belmont warriors watched over the land, its inhabitans were assured that the peace would be maintained. However, the next day, Soleiyu vanished from the village like a fog, and four elemtal castles appeared. Despite his age, Christopher nonetheless armed himself with the Vampire Killer, and went out to investigate.
Christopher attacked the castles and destroyed their guardians, the elemental spirits of the castles drifted away, and Dracula's Castle emerged once again. Within the demon castle, Christopher found Soleiyu at last, but found out to his horror that he was possessed by the Dark Lord. The two engaged in a duel, and Christopher was able to banish the spirit of Dracula from Soleiyu’s body.
The vampire hunter realised that his battles weren’t over quite yet when he heard from Soleiyu that Dracula was going to use the four castle spirits to become whole again. Christopher pressed on alone for the final confrontation with Dracula, and in the end, would banish him from the mortal plane for one hundred years.
Afterward, Christopher and Soleiyu watched Dracula's castle fall, secure in the knowledge that Dracula was sealed away.
Soleiyu had overcome the evil that was placed on him, and would battle Dracula and his forces soon after, continuing the eternal struggle
1691 - Castlevania (Chronicles)
One hundred years after Christopher Belmont vanquished Dracula and saved his son, Soleiyu, the villagers of a Transylvanian village are celebrating the resurrection of Christ on Easter Night with a great carnival. While these festivities take place, the restless followers of Count Dracula gather at an abandoned monastery at the edge of the village. With them are the remains of Count Dracula. The acolytes sacrilegiously spill blood upon the coffin of Count Dracula, which seeps down into the remains. When the crimson drops hit the body, the Count is once more brought into the world of the living. As he wakes from his slumber, a large geyser of light envelopes the monastery, and the Demon Castle reforms. He assumes the throne of the King of the Night once again, and his unholy followers congregate around him.
Simon finally reaches the top of the castle and challenges the powerful Count to a fight to the finish. His commanding enemy proudly accepts, and a battle that would go on to become celebrated takes place, as Simon engages his mortal foe for the first time. Both combatants fight hard and deal devastating blows to each other. Simon eventually prevails, but at great cost. Before passing into death, Count Dracula severely injures Simon's back and places a curse upon him as well as all the land of Transylvania. Though Simon's victory is bittersweet, his battle became very famed, and he would be known as the greatest Vampire Hunter that there had ever been up to his time.
1698 – Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Several years had gone by since Simon's triumph over Count Dracula. Dracula had not gone away in peace. The Count cast a dreadful curse upon the land that infected it with poison and disease; many of the inhabitants were going mad or had long lost their sanity, and Dracula's vile monsters roamed freely across entire territories. The situation had gotten so bad that the townsfolk would not leave their homes at night at all. To do so was suicide, because the monsters brazenly wander the city streets waiting for flesh foolish enough to reveal itself. All seemed hopeless, even to Simon Belmont, the greatest of all Vampire Hunters.
Simon also felt himself slipping away. It seemed as though in the end, Dracula was going to drag Simon to death along with him. Simon pondered these things and the course of his life at the Belmont family resting grounds as he was ready to finally let go and end the constant pain Dracula had afflicted him with seven years ago.
From out of nowhere, a maiden appears from the mist. Simon is not sure who she is, but she is very familiar with him. She informs Simon that Dracula had placed a curse on his wound, making it so it would never heal, and that it would only get worse and eventually kill him. He had also poisoned the land and its people. The only way for Simon to dispel Dracula's curse is to journey across Transylvania, discover the secret mansions where Dracula's Bodily remains are safeguarded, retrieve the body parts of the Count, return them to the ruins of the Demon Castle, and destroy them. After telling Simon what he must do, and assuring him that the fate of Transylvania lay with him, the mysterious woman disappears, returning from whence she came.
With a new found purpose in his life, a weakened Simon Belmont sets off through Transylvania, journeying from village to village, acquiring new weapons and abilities to continue his quest. Along his way he discovers the hidden mansions of Count Dracula and claims the remains as well as the Magic Cross, which allows him entry into the ruins of the Demon Castle. Simon returns to the spot of his fateful battle with Count Dracula to finally set everything straight. He descends into a basement of the castle below ground to a ceremonial room. There, he burns the remains, which causes Dracula to revive. The only way for Simon to fully lift the curse is to destroy Dracula once again. After a trying battle, Simon defeats Dracula.
After the duel, Simon visits the grave where the Count's body returned to. Simon pays homage to Count Dracula by kneeling at his grave. He respects Dracula for being a warrior, and believes he deserves a warrior's farewell. Simon continues his mission against Dracula not out of personal hatred, as his ancestor Leon did, but only out of a sense of duty.
Well after Simon leaves the site of Dracula's grave, the Count's hand rises from the earth…
1748 - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Fifty years after Simon had lifted Count Dracula's curse, and sealed away the ancient vampire for what was supposed to be eternity, Juste Belmont, grandson of Simon, took on the role of a Vampire Hunter and received the Vampire Killer to hunt down the relics of Dracula.
One day, Maxim Kischine, friend and fellow Hunter, returned from a training expedition two years after he had left home. His body was covered in wounds that he could explain because he was also struck with a mysterious amnesia. He did tell Juste about disturbing flashes in mind, in which he sensed that Lydie Erlanger, a childhoodfriend of the two man, had been kidnapped.
Ignoring his injuries, Maxim lead Juste through a dense fog to where he believed Lydie was held captive. They stumbled on a castle not marked on any map. As they stood in front of the in twilight illuminated castle they could only wonder if this was the fabled Castle Dracula, rumored to appear once every century.
Juste entered the Castle alone after a severe pain had brought Maxim to his knees. He assured Juste to press on alone, he would meet up with him later. He battled through its haunted halls until a hooded figure demanded him to halt. The being immediately indentified Juste as a heir of the Belmont Clan. The Vampire Hunter sensed this was no ordinary monster, and realised he was welcomed by Death, Count Dracula's second-in-command. Juste drew the conclusion that the Castle must indeed belong to the Count, but he was baffled when Death remarked the power that lingered within its halls was not his Lord's. After warning Juste that they'd meet again, Death vanished.
While making his way through a mysterious Shrine, Juste ran into a dazed Maxim who had his guard down. He claimed he had been in the Castle before, as recalled by vague memories. Maxim said that if he were to continue a bit further, he'd probably remember valuable information to help in their search for Lydie. The two Hunters seperated as they'd would cover more ground if they split up.
After traversing through the Room of Illusions, he came upon a strange portal that seemingly led to another part of the castle. Within a cave made of bones, Juste encountered Maxim who looked manic, and accused Juste wanting Lydie all for himself. The new powers he had discovered where no match for the powers conceived by his bloodline. Maxim then ran off with a roll of maniacal laughter trailing behind him.
Entering another gateway, Juste was teleported from the foundation of the stronghold to the Sky Walkway and Chapel of Dissonance. Maxim was wandering around, but seemed like his normal self again. Juste was confused as his friend acted as if the strange encounter in the cave never had happend. Maxim continued to tell that his memories were coming back to him. Two years earlier he wanted to prove he was a greater Hunter than his friend, and set out to gather the relics of Dracula. After he gathered all six pieces, he faded and his memory about the events turned blank. He was uncertain what happend after the remains had been reunited, but was at most certain Lydie was somewhere holded prisoner in the Castle. Maxim said he was sorry, but Juste told him to give his apologies to Lydie instead. After the discussion, the two parted ways.
At the top of the Clocktower, Juste encountered Death once again. The Grim Reaper asked him about Maxim. He knew he had gained hold on something that gained Dracula's power. When Juste mentioned the fragments all was clear to him, and he explained: the castle within they were standing were actually two seperate ones, neither of which were Castlevania. One was born from the mind of Maxim while the other was born from the mind of an evil spirit who in turn was born from Dracula's remains. The evil wraith wished for the two castle to merge so he could become the true Lord Dracula. Death wished for his Lord and Castlevania to return, and Juste had no role in this. Thus the two had no business with eachother. Death disappeared through a interdimensional portal, with Juste following him in his tracks.
Through familiar surroundings, Juste retraced steps he had never taken, and found Maxim in the Chapel once again. It was his friend's evil self. Maxim was amused that Juste realized there were two of them. Maxim was the one that had kidnapped Lydie and brought her to the castle. Maxim said that like Juste, he was looking for her. In his mind, Lydie belonged to him. The only hindrance keeping him from her was the true Maxim's forced memory loss. He then summoned a shadow creature and continued to hunt for his friend.
After defeating the creature, he returned to the Chapel's counterpart in the other dimension, and encountered an exhausted Maxim again. He gave Juste a bracelet that meant mucht to him, which was nearly the same as his, only the color blue instead of red. The armlet was the key to break the seal placed on the Master's Chamber.
Juste quickly headed there, and found Lydie lying unconscious on a bed. Lydie could not believe it was him when she opened her eyes. Before Juste could bring her to safety, Death materialized and seized Lydie, vanishing before the Vampire Hunter could act.
Juste tracked Death down, and found him in the caverns at the Castle's foundation where he explained that Lydie was with Maxim now. If he would sacrife Lydie, the evil spirit would completely take him over, and the two Castles would merge to form Castlevania. They proceeded to battle, but Juste managed to vanquish the evil deity.
Along his journey, Juste had collected the remains of Dracula and used them to open a secret passage after arriving at the Castle's center. There he found Lydie lying unconscious, with Maxim standing over her. Juste confirmed the bite marks on her neck, and realised she had been used so the wraith could take full control over Maxim's body. The two engaged into a duel.
When dealing a finishing blow to Maxim, something of his real self shined through and noticed the two bracelets his friend wore. This sight urged him to fight back against the evil spirit with all his might.
Unexpectedly, the remains Juste had carried around started to floot, and the spirit who had once again taken control declared he was no longer in need of a body. The deity manifested himself, the evil spirit born from Dracula's remains, a mere shadow of the Vampire Lord. He was not whole, but could become his true self by absorbing the blood flowing through Juste's veins.
Belmont proved more than a match for the Dracula Wraith, and finished him off for good. Juste, along with Maxim and Lydie escaped the crumbling castle. Lydie awoke, unsure of what was going on. Deciding to save the story for when they return home, the three friends enjoyed their reunion, reassured that Dracula's resurrection had been prevented.
1792 - Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
During a time of peace and plenty, nobody foresaw the return of ancient evils. Chaos slipped into the minds and hearts of man, and once again, they craved for Count Dracula. The Dark Priest Shaft took the task upon him to revive the evil Lord, and managed to by sacrifing the blood on an innocent maiden, and pouring it over the remains of the Count.
Now that Dracula once again walked the earth, he launched an attack on the nearby population. The town of Aljiba came under attack, and a young lady was brought to him who went by the name of Annette. He sensed this girl had a connection to his old foes, the Belmont family, and decided to lock her away, along with four other innocent women, for his own amusement.
Soon, the news of the assault reached the ears of Richter Belmont, great-grandson of Simon, and successor to Juste. He battled his way to the ruins of a long abandoned Castle, taken over by evil spirts, where he was able to save a young girl named Maria from the cluthes of Shaft. He witnessed Maria had incredible power, and because of her determination, he decided to bring her along in his battle against Dracula's forces.
Together they were able to save the remaining maidens, defeated Shaft, and reached Dracula's Castle Keep where Richter faced off against the Vampire Lord. He was once again defeated, and vowerd that they would meet again. However, Richter's inner struggle was far from over.