Castlevania: Nocturne

Castlevania: Nocturne is an American horror action-adventure animated series distributed by Netflix. The series is a spin-off of the Castlevania animated series, based on the video game series of the same name. It features Richter Belmont and Maria Renard, set in the events of the French Revolution. The series draws inspiration from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.@NetflixGeeked at X (June 10, 2022).
The first season consists of eight episodes of 24-31 minutes each, and was released worldwide on September 28, 2023. The second season is set to premiere in January 2025.Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2 Teases Launch with New Trailer: Watch.
==Synopsis==
==Premise==
Set in 1792 during the French Revolution, primarily in the French commune of Machecoul, the series follows the young vampire hunter Richter Belmont and his adoptive sister Maria Renard as they make new allies and attempt to prevent the apocalyptic rise of a godlike Vampire Messiah.
==Cast and characters==
===Vampire hunters===
*Richter Belmont (voiced by Edward Bluemel, and Benjamin Plessala as young Richter): The tough young hero who's continuing the family tradition of vampire hunting. He lost his ability to cast magic after the death of his mother. He managed to unlock his magic abilities again, but now he can use blue flames.
*Maria Renard (voiced by Pixie Davies): A young natural leader who's fighting inequality in her country, and also a magic user battling the vampire elite. She has the ability to summon animal familiars by her command.
*Tera (voiced by Nastassja Kinski): A mother and mentor to young vampire hunters and magic users, who has her own share of past trauma to bear. She is the mother of Maria and was a member of the Speakers until she fled from Russia after Erzsebet attacked her home and turned her younger sister into a vampire. In the end of Season 1, she sacrificed herself to become Erzsebet's thrall in her daughter's place.
*Annette (voiced by Thuso Mbedu): A former slave who used her power and wits to escape vampire-enforced enslavement in Saint-Domingue, and now wields magic to stop the impending apocalyptic threat. She is descended from divine African spirits called orishas; Ogun (Yoruba orisha of war and iron) from her father's side, and Orunmila (Yoruba orisha of divination, intelligence and wisdom) from her mother's side.
*Edouard (voiced by Sydney James Harcourt): He left his life as a talented opera singer to aid and accompany Annette in her journey to France. He was suddenly killed at the Vendée and would later be turned into a night creature by the Abbot. His ability to sing helped him to retain his memories when he was a human and also helped other night creatures to remember their human life.
*Juste Belmont (voiced by Iain Glen): Richter's maternal grandfather and Julia's father who became depressed and lost his ability to use magic after the death of his wife Lydie and his best friend Maxim.
*Julia Belmont (voiced by Sophie Skelton): Richter's mother and vampire hunter of the legendary Belmont Clan, who sent him to France to live with Tera; only to be killed by Olrox during her fight with him on that night.
*Alucard (voiced by James Callis): The son of Dracula, who arrived just in time to save our heroes during the solar eclipse.
===Vampires===
*Erzsebet Báthory (voiced by Franka Potente): She's the queen of vampires, and, if all goes as planned, of the entire world by bringing eternal night to it. She became the "Vampire Messiah" after drinking the blood of the ancient Egyptian goddess of war, Sekhmet, the daughter of Ra, god of the sun.
*Drolta Tzuentes (voiced by Elarica Johnson): Báthory's most loyal servant and attack dog who seeks the rise to power of the Vampire Messiah, and a former priestess of Sekhmet. She was killed by Alucard when chasing after the heroes at the end of the first season.
*Olrox (voiced by Zahn McClarnon): An Aztec vampire who killed Richter's mother years ago after she killed his beloved, and now must decide whether he can stomach teaming up with his sworn enemy in order to stop vampiric world domination.
*Vaublanc (voiced by Alastair Duncan): Annette's former slave owner who owned a sugar plantation in Saint-Domingue.
*Nikolai (voiced by Fred Tatasciore): Drolta's personal guard, who has accompanied her in many battles throughout the years.
*Marquis (voiced by Jonathan Roumie): A vampire aristocrat who owned the Vendée château in western France. He was later killed by Richter during the fight in the underground of the Abbey.
*Marchioness: The wife of the Marquis, who kidnapped Jacques and swore revenge after her husband's death. She was incinerated by Richter when she tried to ambush and kill Maria and Tera.
===Church===
*Abbot Emmanuel (voiced by Richard Dormer): The head priest in Machecoul, who is against the Revolution and secretly a Forgemaster in charge to forge a Night Creatures army for the Vampire Messiah to stop the Revolution. He is also revealed to be Maria's father.
*Mizrak (voiced by Aaron Neil): A loyal member of the "Knights of Saint John", a group of fierce warrior monks assembled by the Abbot to procure order in the town, as well as to serve as his spies.
===Other characters===
*Captain (voiced by Darren Jacobs): A representative of the Insurrectionary Commune of Paris, who was present the night Drolta arrived to the city.
*Cécile Fatiman (voiced by Sharon D. Clarke): A mambo in Saint-Domingue and Annette's teacher, who taught her the art of Vodou magic. She was the one who envisioned the Vampire Messiah taking over the world.
*Esther (voiced by Erica Luttrell): Annette's mother, who sang a lullaby to her when she was young but was murdered by Vaublanc.
*Liberty (voiced by Georgia Dolenz): A young French revolutionary, along with her two friends, Equality and Fraternity, who asks Richter to join their cause.
*Jacques (voiced by Fred Tatasciore): A young French revolutionist who got kidnapped by the Marchioness and got turned into a night creature like Edouard, the latter who helped him regain his memories as a human.
*Deputy's daughter: The daughter of the revolutionary deputy, who was a member of the Jacobin Club. He traded his daughter's life to Drolta to save his own life, and was presented as a gift to Erzsebet when she arrived to France.
*Tera's sister: The younger sister of Tera and a member of a group of Speakers who were traveling through Russia, who temporarily settled in an impoverished village to help them, as they were cruelly treated. One day, they were attacked by Erzsebet Báthory's soldiers and Drolta Tzuentes. She was made prisoner and turned into a vampire, until she was put out of her misery by her sister, who tried to rescue her from Erzsebet.
==Episodes==
===Season 1===
===Season 2===
TBA.
==Production==
===Season 1===
On April 16, 2021, Deadline reported that Netflix was planning a spin-off series set in the Castlevania universe, following the conclusion of its original animated series, with a new cast of characters. Set during the French Revolution, the series would focus on Richter Belmont, a descendant of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, and Maria Renard. Kevin Kolde and Clive Bradley will serve as show-runners and executive producers under Kolde's Project 51 Productions banner. Powerhouse Animation will return as primary animation studio under which Sam and Adam Deats will be directing.
On June 10, 2022, during Netflix's Geeked Week virtual event, it was announced that the series is titled Castlevania: Nocturne. The voice cast of the series was revealed on July 27, 2023.
The teaser trailer for Castlevania: Nocturne was released on July 27, 2023. It featured a rendition of "Lamento della Ninfa" by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi. The main trailer of the series was released later that year on September 7 with the rendition of "Divine Bloodlines" playing in the trailer.
The series premiered on Netflix on September 28, 2023. It was screened the day before its release on the Netflix virtual showcase Drop 1.
===Season 2===
Over a week after the release of Season 1, Netflix announced that Season 2 of Nocturne is under production with a brief teaser video featuring production footage from the series.Castlevania: Nocturne is coming back for a second season.
A teaser trailer of Season 2 was released during Geeked Week 2024, on September 16th which announced that the season is stated to premiere in January 2025.
==Differences from the games==
Like the original Castlevania animated series, Castlevania: Nocturne's initial plot is based on games where its protagonist –in this case, Richter Belmont– has appeared in, such as Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, The Dracula X Chronicles and Symphony of the Night; however, it greatly expands and/or deviates in many aspects from these source materials.
*Like its predecessor, Nocturne implements usage of coarse language, while this had never been present in the games.
*Richter was given a backstory in the animated series, something that never happened in the games. The original character, Julia Belmont, was created for this purpose and killed to make Richter's origins tragic and work as a motivator for him to grow stronger throughout the series.
*The character Olrox, a boss introduced in Symphony of the Night, was implemented into both Richter's backstory, as well as the main narrative of the series. He is a vampire that holds a grudge against Julia for having killed someone he loved.
*Juste Belmont from Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was added to the story as well. He now appears as an elderly man, which heavily contrasts from his youthful appearance from the game. While in the game, his exact family relation with Richter was left ambiguous, in the series, he is clearly stated to be his grandfather.
*Besides using magic (mainly for summoning animal companions), in the series, Maria Renard also uses a sword as her secondary weapon, something she never did in the games.
**Maria also uses her design from The Dracula X Chronicles rather than from Rondo of Blood.
**Maria's age was changed from her original 12 years old in Rondo of Blood to 16 in Nocturne.
*In the series, Richter meets Maria when he goes to live at her house after his mother's death, while in Rondo of Blood, he first meets her in Dracula's Castle when he rescues her from Shaft.
*Annette plays a starring role in the series, while she was only a support character in the games.
**She was given a complete redesign, now being a black Caribbean woman using Vodou magic.
**In the series, Annette is a skilled swordswoman and can use powerful magic spells, while in the games, she mainly played the role of damsel-in-distress.
**She also was given an elaborate and tragic backstory involving her escape from slavery, while in the games, she was only a villager and Richter's girlfriend.
*The character Tera, who was only a nun villager captured by Dracula in Rondo of Blood, now is actually Maria's mother. In the games, Maria's parents were presumed to have been killed by Dracula's forces.
**Also, in Nocturne, instead of a nun, Tera is one of the Speakers, like Sypha Belnades was in the first Castlevania animated series.
*In the series, Alucard awakens after sensing the threat that brings the coming of the eternal night, while in Symphony of the Night, he only awakens after Richter goes missing.
*Like its predecessor, Nocturne adds more original characters such as Julia Belmont, Jacques, Edouard, Mizrak, the Abbot, Vaublanc, Nikolai, the Marquis and Marchioness, Cécile Fatiman, Esther, and Liberty, to name a few.
*Erzsebet Báthory was added to the story as one of the main antagonists for Season 1 as the Vampire Queen. However, Elizabeth Bartley from Castlevania: Bloodlines wasn't introduced as a threat to Europe until in 1917.
*Drolta Tzuentes is now a vampire and plays a more relevant role in the series, while the original Drolta from Castlevania: Bloodlines was only a background character who was a witch helping to resurrect Elizabeth Bartley, and she technically wouldn't be around during Richter's era.
==Reception==
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Castlevania: Nocturne holds an approval audience rating of 45% based on over 1,000+ user ratings, having an overall mixed reception.Castlevania: Nocturne at Rotten Tomatoes (retrieved: December 30, 2023). Metacritic reported there were "mixed or average" ratings for the first season, with a weighted average score of 4.6 based on 188 user ratings.Castlevania: Nocturne at Metacritic (retrieved: December 30, 2023). The general consensus is that while the show has decent animation, it is overall inferior to its predecessor and the plot often sidelines the protagonists to focus more on secondary characters. The writing, excessive swearing, unbalanced direction in the storyline, and push of progressive identity politics also received a mixed reception in general.Netflix's Castlevania: Nocturne Faces Criticism for Race-Swapping Character at Game is Hard.Annette: Black Anime Representation In Castlevania Nocturne" at Culture Bay."Don't Watch Castlevania Nocturne" says Series SBD on Annette Race Swap at Crazy for Anime Trivia.Castlevania: Nocturne Season 1 Review – 6/10 at DJMMT's Gaming (& More) Blog.Castlevania: Nocturne review: "Could be more fearsome than its Netflix big brother – if it shows more bite" at GamesRadar+.‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ Is a Very Bad Vial of Congealed Blood at Rolling Stone.
==Gallery==
==Videos==
Castlevania Nocturne - Announcement - Netflix
Castlevania Nocturne - Official Teaser Trailer - Netflix
Castlevania Nocturne - Main Trailer - Netflix
Castlevania- Nocturne - Season 2 Official Announcement - Netflix
Castlevania- Nocturne - Season 2 - Date Announcement - Netflix
==Related products==
*Castlevania (animated series) - Another Castlevania animated series by Netflix and predecessor to this series.
*Castlevania: Nocturne Original Series Soundtrack - The soundtrack to Season 1.
==References==
==External links==
*Castlevania: Nocturne at Netflix
*‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ — Your First Look at the New Series at Tudum by Netflix
*IMDb
es:Castlevania: Nocturne
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Category:Animation
Category:TV series
Category:Nocturne