by Emily Maesar, Associate Editor, TVJawn

At some point I’ll write more about video game adaptations, particularly live-action ones, but presently the greatest one remains the Netflix animated series Castlevania. The series ended with its fourth season in 2021, and about a month before the final season premiered, it was reported that Castlevania: Nocturne would be the next entry. It’s a spin-off about one of the major Belmont descendants that you can play across the Castlevania games: Richter Belmont.

The animated series is not about the return of Dracula but, instead, is about the rise of the vampire messiah. So, not quite the same, but still apocalyptic because there’s nothing more fun than trying to prevent the end of the world. However, unlike the original series, Nocturne is set in 1792 during the French Revolution. Because of its place in history, this series has a lot more to say about class warfare and racism than the original. Which makes sense, since Castlevania was set in the late 1400s and stayed squarely in Europe in both location and in the origin of many characters.

Though, both shows both have plenty to say about how religious zealotry plays into the evil and oppression many characters face. It’s the reason for the entire series to exist, after all. Without religious zealots killing Dracula’s wife, Lisa, there would be no arc for us to follow and my very favorite bisexual boy, Alucard, wouldn’t exist in quite the same way.

Castlevania: Nocturne picks up over 300 years after the original series. As is the tradition, Richter is the last of the Belmont family (like his distant relative Trevor before him). After seeing his mother killed by the Aztec vampire, Olrox, Richter flees to France to live with his aunt. It is during the revolution that we meet back up with the Belmont boy, who is now a man, and are thrust into the new story.

Erzsebet Báthory, Castlevania’s answer to the infamous serial killer who is often depicted as a vampire, is our main villain. She’s the vampire messiah who believes she’ll eventually become Sekhmet, the Egyptian goddess. When she does, she’ll “eat the sun” (aka eternal eclipse) and allow her vampire followers to take over the world. Erzsebet and her devoted servant and former priestess of Sekhmet, Drolta Tzuentes, team up with the local Abbot to start making night creatures in a forge in the basement of the church.

While the apocalyptic nature of the series doesn’t differ all too much from that of the original series, Castlevania: Nocturne is a worthy addition to the animated canon with its deeply interesting takes on characters. Well… except for Richter. We’ll get to him in a moment.

The side of the villains is filled with hot vampire ladies that would fit right in with the gals from the main series, while bringing in some new looks and ultimate goals. You have Erzsebet, a force of evil and blood in her own right before she even became a vampire. She’s devoted to her narcissism and has convinced everyone around her that she is destined to be a goddess. Including the insurmountably ancient and cool Drolta. We see the most of her this season, as the lead into meeting Erzsebet, and she absolutely rules. I would die for her, your honor.

On the morally ambiguous side, we have Olrox. Who can say what his actual aim is, but we know he’s hot and queer and he’s also the source of Richter’s greatest fear. Olrox is absolutely my favorite new character in the series, sitting comfortably next to Alucard as my darling vampire obsession. His relationship with Mizrak, a man who truly believes in God and eventually sees what the Abbot is doing as blasphemous, is among my favorites in all of Castlevania media. It’s that perfect kind of “oh, you’re the next one in my life” after a prolonged sadness at the loss of a lover. I cannot wait to see where they go in a (hopeful) next season.

Which leads up to the good guys. We’ve got classic game characters in Maria Renard, her mother Tera, and Annette, as well as a non-game character in Edouard. Annette is just Richter’s love interest in his game, her role firmly stuck in “damsel in distress.” Nocturne, however, gives her much more character, agency, and general power. They give her a backstory in the Caribbean, as a former slave who discovers her powers of sorcery. She helped lead the slave revolt in Haiti, which eventually led her and Edouard to France, hunting down the slave owners who had escaped. I also think that Edouard’s arc is, perhaps, one of the most interesting. He’s captured early in the season and killed… before being turned into a night creature. But even here, he leads a rebellion after remembering who he is. Truly the destiny of him and Annette to keep going.

And then there’s Richter. With the exception of a single episode, I really don’t feel like I know a whole lot about this Belmont. Like, arguably, until that episode there was no real indication that Richter couldn’t use his magic anymore after his mother died. Like, maybe a light mention of it, but nothing truly concrete. So, the ending of that episode doesn’t feel as satisfying because it doesn’t feel super earned. Additionally, I knew exactly who Trevor Belmont was by the end of Castlevania season one, and that was a four-episode season. Richter Belmont is much more of a mystery to me, and not in a good way. I appreciate all the new vampires and the attention paid to Annette (she truly rules), but I wish we had a bit more character work with the man who is, ostensibly, our lead. Should the show get a second season (I feel like it’s going to), then maybe I’ll get the chance to know and love him more. I’d really like to.