Maria Renard (animated series)

is a character and main protagonist of the Netflix original animated series, Castlevania: Nocturne. A young revolutionary witch with the power to summon familiars, Maria is the daughter of the former Speaker Tera and Abbot Emmanuel. During the French Revolution, she joins her adoptive brother Richter Belmont and a group of heroes on a mission to stop the "Vampire Messiah", Countess Erzsebet Báthory, and her vampiric apocalypse.
She is voiced by Pixie Davies.
==History==
===Background===
Maria was born in Machecoul to the Russian Speaker, Tera, and the town's abbot, Emmanuel. When she was seven years old, her mother Tera adopted her friend's son, Richter Belmont, with him and Maria forging a very close siblingship.
===Season 1===
During the French Revolution, Maria became a revolutionary who was standing up to the Church and the rich, where vampires were hiding in high society. Maria was the leader of Machecoul's revolutionaries and she held a meeting in the forest with her fellow rebels to encourage them to stand up and fight back, just as the Americans in the New World had. However, the meeting was suddenly interrupted by three vampires bearing strong brands on their bodies. Maria summoned bird-like familiars to help her brother, Richter. The two remaining vampires were soundly defeated and one of them claimed Richter would be slain by the "Vampire Messiah", also known as the "Devourer of Light". Richter dismissed these statements, claiming they made no sense, although Maria mentioned this could explain why there were more vampires around and stated she believed they were gathering at the Château, meaning the Marquis was sheltering them.
After the meeting concluded and everyone returned to town, Richter suggested they talk to the Abbot. The Church was no friend to the revolution, but Richter believed they probably were no friends of vampires either. Maria reluctantly agreed with his logic and Richter warned her not to display any "witch"-like abilities in the meantime. They went to the abbey and met Mizrak at the door, informing him about the Vampire Messiah. Being granted a brief audience with the Abbot, Richter and Maria warned him about the Devourer of Light, but he ultimately dismissed them, claiming the Marquis was a pillar of the community. Maria fundamentally disagreed but the Abbot told them he'd try and find out anything he could as they have a common enemy in evil.
At her house, Maria ate dinner and talked about their meeting with the Church, although Tera still believed the Abbot was a good person. Richter fell asleep and had a nightmare about Olrox and his mother, but Maria wakes him up. Maria talks about how the rebels were listening that night and Richter claims he wasn't. An annoyed Maria tells him that vampires are evil and they have to be fought. However, Richter clarifies that he will always stand by Maria and Tera, regardless if he shares their beliefs.
This heartfelt moment was interrupted by the sudden appearance of several night creatures. Maria and her family had no clue what these monsters were and engaged them in battle. Unfamiliar with their movements and abilities, they struggled more than usual, with Maria losing one of her familiars. Before they were completely overcome, two strangers suddenly arrived to save them. The duo was a man and a woman from the Caribbean sea and they recognized the monsters as night creatures, which hadn't been seen for centuries. They introduced themselves as Annette and Edouard, and explained they had come in search of a Belmont to deal with the Vampire Messiah.
At her house, Maria mourned the loss of one of her familiars. Maria was unsure if she should bury it, and her mother comforted her before asking her for help with breakfast. Over breakfast, Maria told Annette and Edouard what she knew about the revolution in the Caribbean islands. Apparently, word takes a while to reach France, but Maria heard the slaves had an uprising where they burned the plantation to the ground and killed all the slave owners. Maria then listened to Edouard's anecdotes while traveling on a ship for such a long distance and laughed with the group. After Annette revealed the name of the Vampire Messiah, Tera ran into the woods in horror and crying, leaving Maria shocked and worried for her. Maria and the others found Tera in the woods, where she told them the story of her past with Countess Erzsebet Báthory and Drolta Tzuentes.
Later that day, Maria buried her familiar and Edouard sang for both it and Tera's fallen sister. The group then decided to go to the Château. On the way, Edouard talked about how Annette was a descendant of gods, which surprised Maria. After Annette created a bridge in the river, the group infiltrated the château, where Maria was shocked to see Jacques' dead body. However, a wrong move from Annette revealed the group's presence in the place. The vampires and night creatures prepared to attack while Maria summoned her familiars into battle. They were forced to run away from their enemies due their superior numbers, but Edouard was caught and killed in the process. Maria fell to her knees on the floor as her familiars came to comfort her. At Tera's house, Annette mourned the loss of Edouard, while Maria and her family approached her to comfort her. Then, Maria and the others sat with her while hearing Annette's story about her past and how she met Edouard.
At night, Maria called for a meeting with the townspeople of Machecoul to introduce Annette, a member of Saint-Domingue's revolution, something Maria and the others had heard about for months. When Annette finished her speech, Maria celebrated with joy along with the rest of the people. However, the celebration was interrupted by the attack of the creatures of the night. Richter ordered to split out and take part ways. Maria summoned her cat familiar to fight an amphibian-like creature. She then approached Richter and Annette and told them the creatures were going to the abbey, only to watch Annette crying over Edouard's monstrous form. At home and after having seen the night before how the night creatures went to the abbey, Maria argued with her mother about the Abbot's involvement with the vampires. As the group discussed about finding out if the Abbot was involved, Richter proposed that it was best to make a plan. Maria approached him and told him that, like him, everyone else was scared too and that he wasn't a coward.
The conversation was interrupted by Tera, who revealed them about the existence of a secret passage to the abbey. After entering the abbey's underground, the group encountered the night creatures. Maria summoned her cat familiar and together with her mother used it and her sword to protect Annette from the attacks so she could get closer to Edouard. As they advanced, the group met with the Abbot, Drolta, Mizrak and the Marquis at mid-way. Maria tried to attack Drolta with her sword, but was overcome by the vampire. Her mother Tera tried to protect her, but Maria was wounded in her arm by Drolta, who was stopped by the Abbot before she could attack Maria again. After Richter ran from the scene in panic after seeing Olrox, Maria escaped from the scene after her mother created a distraction, meeting Annette later at the tunnel's exit.
At her house's kitchen, Maria was being treated for her wounds by Annette while her mother made her a tea. Then, Annette used a spell to heal Maria's wound, with Maria calling her a brilliant person, which made Annette blush. Later, at midnight, Maria woke up to see her mom at the window. She asked her what was she worried about, with her mom telling her the story of how the Abbot helped her in the past when she arrived in town. As their heard a sound in the house, Maria quickly ran thinking it was Richter, only to see Annette preparing to return to the abbey and rescue Edouard. Maria tried to talk Annette into staying; while she continued to insist on going, Maria stood at the door to try to stop her from leaving, making her to promise her not to do nothing dangerous.
The next morning, while Maria's wound was being checked by Tera, the Abbot knocked on her door to ask if Maria was okay. Maria then had a series of arguments with the Abbot about the revolution and the night creatures, telling him he was fighting on the wrong side by joining the vampires. As the conversation heated up, the Abbot inadvertently revealed he was Maria's father, causing Maria to run out of the house crying. At night, Maria went to the abbey to meet the Abbot and ask him if all the other members of the abbey knew he was her real father. The Abbot replied no, with Maria asking him if he was embarrassed to say it because he was a priest. The Abbot told Maria that he cared about her since he protected her, even knowing she was a witch, which angered Maria who asked him if he was accusing her of black magic. The Abbot then asked Maria to join him but Maria rejected him. The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Báthory.
Maria later met her mother at the crowd. Later, while they were in the river near their house, Tera tried to talk to Maria, however, she only summoned her turtle to cross the river. Tera continued to talk to her about how she just wanted to protect her and that she was so sorry. While returning home alone, Tera was ambushed by the Marchioness and her vampire servants. Maria heard the fight and summoned a giant bird to quickly get to the place and help her mother. The two killed all the vampires, except the Marquis' wife who tried to attack them from behind, however, they were saved by Richter who killed the Marquis' wife with fire. Maria quickly ran to Richter to hug him. Richter told her that he had many things to tell her, to which Maria responded that she too.
When they got home, the group met Annette, which made Maria happy. At night, while the group was preparing a plan, they were interrupted by Olrox, who left them the book that the Abbot used to bring a forgemaster machine from Hell. Later at midnight, Maria infiltrated the abbey to talk to her father and convince him to do the right thing, however, she was kidnapped by him as he planned to sacrifice her to the Vampire Messiah. Maria was later rescued by Tera, Richter, Annette and Mizrak. However, the arrival of Drolta and her troops interrupted the scene.
Maria quickly summoned her familiars and fought the vampires and night creatures to protect her mother while she cast the spell to open a portal to Hell. While Richter was outmatched in battle by Drolta, Maria summoned all of her familiars to attack the vampire. The battle was interrupted by the arrival of Báthory, who planned to turn Maria into a vampire, terrifying the young revolutionary. Tera spared her daughter of that fate by offering herself up as sacrifice. Báthory happily agreed and turned her, buying Richter enough time to carry away an unconscious Maria. The group was ambushed by Drolta and other vampires, but saved by the arrival of Alucard, whom Maria watched in amazement as she came to after she was knocked out.
===Season 2===
To be added
==Appearance==
Maria is a young girl with fair skin, emerald bluish green eyes, and hip-length pale blond hair which is tied by a green ribbon, with two strands that stick out in her face. She normally wears two piece pink outfit with a long green sash around her waist.
==Personality==
Maria Renard is an idealistic revolutionary, a natural leader with a strong moral compass. She is a brave, sassy and outspoken young lady that fights inequality in her country during the French Revolution and assists her adoptive brother, Richter Belmont, against the Marquis and the vampire elite. She has an incredible loyalty to her compatriots and shows fearlessness in the face of danger. Her demeanor is serious, but she can also be cheeky on occasion, such as when she mocked Abbot Emmanuel, and when she slight Richter in front of other people; although in her core, she really loves and cares for him.
Throughout her difficult childhood, Maria emerged as a strong-willed and empathetic leader, with a deep sense of right and wrong. Despite their occasional clashes, Maria is also extremely close to her mother Tera and feels a deep love for her. After initially being outraged that Tera had kept the truth about Maria's biological father, Maria quickly forgave Tera because of the love and devotion that she holds for her mother.
Maria is very kind and concerned over people close to her, as when she tried to convince Emmanuel to do the right thing (before he attempted to sacrifice her to Erzsebet Báthory), and also for Annette, even preventing the latter from leaving the house until she promised not to do anything that could put her in danger. The fiercest side of her personality is shown when she didn't hesitate for a second to enter into battle with vampires and night creatures to defend the innocent people around her, and even fought the powerful Drolta Tzuentes to protect Richter when he was being attacked by the vampire.
==Powers and abilities==
===Powers===
*Magic: Maria is a talented and powerful witch. Even someone as powerful as Erzsebet Báthory wanted Maria by her side. While at first she was having trouble holding off large groups of vampires and Night Creatures, she gained more experience in battle and improved greatly to be able to defeat them with more ease. Maria's magical abilities even made her a threat for someone as physically and mystically powerful as Drolta Tzuentes, although she still needed of Richter's help to keep the creature away.
**Summoning: Maria can summon animal familiars through the use of magical spells. For now, she can summon birds, a white lynx-like creature, and a turtle. These are based on the Four Symbols of Chinese mythology. Once the creature of her choice is summoned, Maria can command them into battle with movements of her fingers and hands, causing the beasts to glow with mystical yellow energy. Maria can also summon all of her beasts at the same time, using the birds and lynx as offensive weapons and the turtle as a defensive shield, as well as summon a large group of birds at the same time, a larger bird for transportation, and even use her foot to summon her turtle.
*Peak human conditioning: Sharp-witted, unyielding and flexible, Maria can contain with a horde of vampires in combat, performing stylized flips to dodge attacks from faster enemies with relative ease. Maria is also more physically resistant than other human girls her age. She quickly recovered from a wound inflicted by Drolta's claws and even survived getting physically attacked by Erzsebet Báthory, who can kill mortals with single strikes. In addition. she possesses above average strength shown when she easily mutilates vampires with her sword in combat.
===Abilities===
*Advanced swordsmanship: Although she normally prefers the use of her animal familiars, Maria is skilled with a saber and knives in combat, capable of containing and killing a group of vampires.
==Appearances==
==Quotes==
*"They claim it's the natural order. They're born rich, and we're born poor. And that's just the will of God. It's the natural order for them to get rich by milking us dry with impossible rents and unpayable taxes. My mother hasn't paid her taxes for years now because she's just too poor. Sooner or later they'll send around their bully boys. And you all known what I mean by that. They thought it would stay like that until the end of time. Well, the king thought it was his divine right to be king, but you know what happened to him? He's been arrested. The government in Paris has overthrown the monarchy and declared a republic. To hell with the natural order. No more kings, no more aristocrats. Vive la Révolution!" ("A Common Enemy in Evil")
*"Stay close. Stay together. Don't run into the woods." ("A Common Enemy in Evil")
*"He's not a pillar of this community. Before the Revolution, he spent all his time at court and probably forgot we existed, even though his wealth is thanks to the pain and suffering of every peasant within 40 miles." ("A Common Enemy in Evil")
*"People don't need me to tell them their lives are tough. But they're suspicious of the Revolution. They get told lies about everything by people they think they can can trust." ("A Common Enemy in Evil")
*"Evil has to be fought." ("A Common Enemy in Evil")
*(points her thumb at Richter) "That would be the ungrateful ***." ("A Common Enemy in Evil")
*"We're all afraid, Richter. Of course we are." ("Horrors Rising from the Earth")
*"No matter how complicated you make it, evil is still evil. Everything you're doing is built on the blood of innocent people." ("Blood is the Only Way")
*"If you cared about me, you should leave with me now. And maybe... maybe you can be my father. I'm not going without you old man." ("Blood is the Only Way")
*"You're wasting your breath. She defeated him long ago" ("Devourer of Light")
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Unlike her original timeline design, where she appeared more childlike, Maria's attire in the series closely resembles her redesigned look from Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles.
*Maria is never referred to by her surname "Renard" during the first season of the series. However, she was referred to by her full name on a Netflix Geeked X post back in June 2021, when the Nocturne series was first announced,@NetflixGeeked at X (June 11, 2021). and later by Sam Deats.@SamuelDeats at X (December 24, 2022).
**Nevertheless, she is only referred to as "Maria" in her .
*During the events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Maria is revealed to be twelve years old, while during the events of Nocturne, she is confirmed to be sixteen.
*In the episode "The Natural Order", Maria is seen at nighttime with most of her hair loose, only tied with a big bow made with a red ribbon. This is possibly a reference to how the original Maria Renard fashioned her hair and also held it together with a big red ribbon bow.
==See also==
*Maria Renard
==References==
Category:Female Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Protagonists
Category:Vampire Hunters and Huntresses
Category:Witches and Wizards
Category:Nocturne Characters
Category:Nocturne Season 1 Characters