#castlevania: lords of shadow mirror or fate

[simonsquest]

[facts-i-just-made-up]

A Castlevania movie was planned for release in the 2010s, but canceled because its title, “Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate: The Movie: Part 1: The Trevor Belmont Legacy” was too easily abbreviated into “CLOGFLOBBLIT,” a cuss word in Esperanto.

[anakinskywalkerisfave]

the mystery continues but it's Mirror of Fate

[pathfinderlittleduck]

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

My 2nd favorite game/series of all time

[bigboobshaunt]

Sorry for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (a title that just rolls of the tongue!) posting in 2024, but I completely disagree with people who dislike that it told its story out of chronological order.

The game's main theme, as its unwieldy name implies, is Fate, and having Trevor's story be the last one you play, all while already knowing how it's going to end in tragedy with a father unknowingly killing his own son and dooming his soul to "save" him... it's good stuff. You as the player are also unable to escape fate to reach the end.

Better, in my opinion, than if it had ended on either of the previous stories after Trevor (now Alucard) or Simon had (thought they) vanquished Dracula.

[autumnmobile12]

Castlevania:  Lords of Shadow

So why is the Lords of Shadow series not considered part of Castlevania’s canon timeline?

Spoilers below.

There are a few reasons, but a big one is this guy...

And this guy...

Are the same character.

Yep.

So according to this game, Trevor’s father was a knight called Gabriel Belmont, who was royally screwed over by fate and ultimately became the vampire Dracula.  Yes, a Belmont is Dracula.  In Mirror of Fate, Trevor was dispatched to kill Dracula, got himself killed, but after father dearest realized he’d murdered his own son, he resurrected Trevor as Alucard.

That’s it.  The whole Belmont line?  Not a thing.  Gabriel was an orphan from nowhere.  Leon Belmont?  Who’s that?  What happened to Sypha?  Oh, she and Trevor married and had a kid called Simon.  She was killed by demons, though, (Deducting points for killing off female protagonists because, seriously?) which Trevor didn’t find out about until after he rose as Alucard.  Hell of a thing to hear after losing your humanity.

It’s just close enough to the original source material that you can recognize Castlevania, but it’s a different enough take to make you say,  “Huh?”  And I love the hell out of this absurdity.  (Except the refrigeration bit.  Fuck that.)

[hellscapechrysanthemum]

I give you three Aeons. The other two were never confirmed to be Aeon but just shut up and let me have this!!! *sob*

I always felt like the Lost Soul was a variant of Aeon in the Castlevania Lords of Shadow/Mirror of Fate timeline! The colors! The striped arms he had! The whole "ensuring fate" thing which could connect to time! There's a connection!!!!

I don't really see much or any fanart of the Lost Soul or Eon Bernades! So they definitely deserved some attention and love :D

Eon Bernades is from Castlevania Seal of the Curse!

[monochromatictoad]

I was going through my gallery on my phone, trying to find a specific pic of my niece to my sister, and.... I missed my four (4) year anniversary of being in the LoS fandom. I knew it was in December, but it was December 9, 2019 when I first started looking up pics and stuff for the fandom. Four (4) years. Where has the time gone?

That means it's been about four (4) years since I first played and experienced Gabriel's story. When I got so enraptured in Lords of Shadow 1, that I went to my local game shop, and just so happened to find Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate, as well as Lords of Shadow 2 in one visit.

What makes this.... I guess better is that, Dec. 9 is also the anniversary of something very bad that happened in my life. I guess I was just meant to find Gabriel. This game has made my life so much better. It's helped me through some dark times, as Naruto and Pokemon have. The only difference is that, Naruto and Pokemon also have nostalgia factors, while LoS doesn't have a nostalgia value to me.

I've also made friends through shared spaces within this fandom! Hell, I made a Tumblr to express my love for this trilogy, and I actually have people who are interested in my rambles!

I just wanted to say. Thank you MercurySteam, David Cox, and Hideo Kojima for the trilogy that has changed my life. I honestly don't think I'd be here today if it wasn't for this trilogy.

[g4zdtechtv]

Next Game - Castlevania V

But enough talk... have at you!

(SUB TO REREZ)

[the-crow-binary]

Fun fact: In Castlevania: Mirror of fate (a game from Lords of Shadow's timeline), Simon fights a succubus. Once defeated, the room she had created starts to disappear, only to reveal that they were in Dracula's throne room the whole time and he was sitting on his throne, watching it all.

I just think it's funny. Dracula. My dude. Care to explain why the succubus' room and your throne room are the same? :)

[simonsquest]

What is your favorite CV game starring Simon? :P

With regard to gameplay, I have to give it to Castlevania 1. But a close second is Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate. The game felt very accessible to play, maintaining the linear Classicvania style (which is my preference) with a little bit of Metroidvania, but not so much that it felt like a huge undertaking. It's my favourite of the LoS trilogy for gameplay alone. And it technically stars Simon! :P For favourite plot, ambience, and OST - Castlevania 2, of course. :) (But I'm terrible at actually playing the game, lol.) I like both Castlevania Chronicles and Super Castlevania IV but the colour palette can sometimes feel a bit muted and muddy in both, so they lack the strong aesthetic pull (dark but with high contrast, bright colours, etc) that I would give to other Classicvania games like Castlevania 3, Rondo, Bloodlines and The Adventure: ReBirth. There were also some areas that I really struggled with in both games. I haven't given Vampire Killer a fair chance. It's a title I need to revisit. I love Haunted Castle for its shorter game length but its difficulty is brutal. But you really can't beat the aesthetics of the first stage where it fades from day to night through the cemetery while Cross Your Heart plays. :) It's so good!

[anakinskywalkerisfave]

𝔊𝔞𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔩 “𝔤𝔬 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔲𝔢” 𝔅𝔢𝔩𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔱

[lamborghinea-pig]

Castlevania "canon" is so fucking funny because like....

Canon First Belmont:

Simon Belmont (Castlevania)

Trevor Belmont (Castlevania III)

Sonia Belmont (Castlevania Legends)

Leon Belmont (Castlevania: Lament of Innocence)

Gabriel Belmont (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow)

Canon Dracula's:

Count Dracula (most)

Mathias Cronquist (Castlevania: Lament of Innocence)

Maxim Kershe (Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance [both bad endings])

Soma Cruz (Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow)

Graham Jones (Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow [fakeout])

Gabriel Belmont (Castlevania: Mirror of Fate, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2)

Random Dipshits Who Proved You Don't Need A Belmont or Alucard To Kill Dracula:

Reinhardt Schneider, Carrie Fernandez, Cornell (Castlevania 64)

Maria Renard (Castlevania: Rondo of Blood)

Nathan Graves (Castlevania: Circle of the Moon)

Hector (Castlevania: Curse of Darkness)

Eric Lecarde, John Morris (Castlevania: Bloodlines)

Johnathan Morris, Charlotte Aulin (Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin)

Shenoa (Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia)

Times Dracula Was Resurrected By A Vampire Hunter Just So They Could Kill Him Again: 2

Number of Times Dracula Was Killed Within Hours of Resurrection: 20+

[devilsurvivor-2-recordbreaker]

Castlevania (subtitle) lords of shadow (subtitle's subtitle) mirror of fate is really good. The idea of translating 3d action into strictly 2d planes can seem very annoying but here it's very well made. The action feels clean and precise and maintains control. Makes me want to see what the real main title games were like.

Boy I wish I could but sadly lords of shadow 1 and 2 were ps3 Xbox 360 titles that now live solely on the ps4 through the ps plus premium feature (are they even premium games????) and maybe on steam? Maybe 1 I'm not sure of 2.

[talktomeaboutthe3ds]

THIS IS A CASTLEVANIA: LORDS OF SHADOW: MIRROR OF FATE APPRECIATION POST. WHY DOES THIS GAME GET SO MUCH HATE :(

[hrodvitnon]

So, I heard Castlevania Nocturne season 2 is in the works. Big excite! That being said!

I'm overall fine with Nocturne as is if only because I know that Castlevania is no stranger to negative fan feedback whether it's legitimate grievances or petty complaints (and Nocturne is flawed, I won't argue that) – just look at the series history. Simon's Quest being a different sequel like Adventure of Link, 64 being called the worst Castlevania game for years (go watch Ragnarrox's video on it), Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin having an anime art style despite Rondo being just as anime if not more so, Symphony being too easy, Ecclesia being too hard, the very existence of Judgment and its take on the characters, Shadowvania being fine or a God of War ripoff. There will ALWAYS be Castlevania fans who dislike something, whether it's retconning Sonya Belmont or Netflixvania simply existing.

I've also played very few games in the entire series (GBA trilogy, SotN, Order of Ecclesia, Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate, bit of Dracula X) so the changes in Nocturne don't bother me that much if at all, and my general sense of being fine with Nocturne set in the French Revolution boils down to "Rondo was set during that period and France is one of the stages in Bloodlines". It also helps that I don't have as much energy for vitriol in my old by tumblr standards age, and I know adaptations will change things for better or worse... and Nocturne could have been worse. Imagine if Uwe Boll directed Nocturne.

So far Season 1 presents a fast and loose adaptation of Rondo of Blood with elements from Bloodlines and a dash of Aria of Sorrow (the eclipse) and a smidge of Harmony of Dissonance, just as the previous series adapted Dracula's Curse with bits from Curse of Darkness (Hector and Isaac) and Symphony of the Night (character designs and Lisa's death). Nocturne needs to adapt Rondo in order to properly introduce Richter and Maria and set things up for Symphony, obviously. Assuming it goes that far in future seasons, which it might.

But depending on how things go, once Nocturne is finished with Rondo and if it moves on to Symphony, there's a key element of SotN's story that falls apart when you remember that Dracula and Lisa were resurrected at the end of Castlevania Season 4; SotN happens because Richter is possessed and brings back both the Castle and Dracula, but you can't resurrect someone who's still alive, assuming Dracula hasn't died in the interim between Season 4 and Nocturne, and a whole village was being built around the still standing Castle last time we saw it. So what happens then?

An important thing to note is that Lament of Innocence, chronologically the first game in the timeline, happened in Netflixvania; Trevor mentions Leon Belmont, the game's protagonist. Lament is also where we see Dracula's origins not as a Wallachian prince turned vampire, but as Leon's friend Mathias Cronqvist – a fellow crusader who after the death of his wife Elizabetha, became Dracula by taking the soul of the vampire Walter Bernhard into a vampiric treasure called the Crimson Stone, which is basically if a Philosopher's Stone gave you vampirism because that's a kind of immortality. (There's also the Ebony Stone which is a vampire treasure like the Crimson Stone, the colors are important because there's some alchemy in Lament.)

In SotN Alucard describes the Castle as "a creature of chaos. It may take many incarnations." Apparently in the game Dracula's Curse, Dracula made a pact with the Evil God – who may or may not be Satan, somebody at Konami please clarify – to gain the power of Chaos (and also a monster horde), which would neatly explain why Netflix Drac needed a year to prep his assault after Lisa was burned at the stake. In Aria of Sorrow (in which Dracula dies for good in 1999 and is reincarnated as Soma Cruz), the final boss is literally Chaos, and its second form takes the appearance of (among other things) a black stone that flashes red – Castlevania is a creature of Chaos and the center of it is the Crimson Stone, the origin of Dracula's power.

In Dawn of Sorrow, the cult under Celia Fortner created a "perfect replica" of the Castle and wants to make a whole new Dracula; it isn't outright stated iirc, been a while since I played it, but I'm guessing the implication is that Celia created another Crimson Stone to be a new Chaos for the Castle. Plus, with two candidates being groomed for the Dark Lord position (and Soma himself being Dracula reborn and getting involved), someone would have to be sacrificed like Walter was so someone can become Dracula 2.0.

However, I don't recall seeing a Crimson Stone in Netflixvania, which is interesting considering the focus on alchemy once Saint Germain gets involved. Considering how spotty Trevor's knowledge of the Belmont family's history is, he probably didn't know how Dracula became Dracula. Maybe Leon took that knowledge to the grave, or maybe Sypha uncovered the identity of the man who became Dracula years later while she and Trevor raised their child Simon. If Nocturne will one day adapt Symphony, it needs to address the lack of a Dracula to resurrect. Maybe it can take a leaf out of Dawn of Sorrow's book and have a cult just try to make a new Dracula to replace the old one, and the party meets up with the Vlad Tepes Formerly Known as Dracula in order for him to explain how he became what he is and what the cult is doing, not to mention the whole possessed Richter part... or, perhaps the cult mind controls Richter into going through the motions so he can be forced to sacrifice someone, perhaps one of vampiric blood like Alucard, to take on the Dark Lord's mantle. It certainly wouldn't be the first time a Belmont became a Dracula!