Castlevania: Nocturne

***Castlevania: Nocturne*** is an American horror action-adventure animated series distributed by Netflix. The series is a spinoff 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*.

The first season consists of eight episodes of 24-31 minutes each, and was released worldwide on September 28, 2023.

## Plot

*"As revolution sweeps France, Richter Belmont fights to uphold his family's legacy and prevent the rise of a ruthless, power-hungry vampire ruler."*
— Official Netflix synopsis
## 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.
* **Maria Renard** (voiced by Pixie Davies): A natural leader who's fighting inequality in her country, and also a magic user battling the vampire elite.
* **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.
* **Annette** (voiced by Thuso Mbedu): She used her power and wits to escape vampire-enforced enslavement in the Caribbean, and now wields magic to stop the impending apocalyptic threat.
* **Edouard** (voiced by Sydney James Harcourt): He left his life as a talented opera singer to aid and accompany Annette.
* **Juste Belmont** (voiced by Iain Glen)
* **Julia Belmont** (voiced by Sophie Skelton)
* **Alucard** (voiced by James Callis)

### Vampires

* **Erzsebet Báthory** (voiced by Franka Potente): She's the queen of vampires, and, if all goes as planned, of the entire world.
* **Drolta Tzuentes** (voiced by Elarica Johnson)
* **Olrox** (voiced by Zahn McClarnon): He killed Richter's mother years ago 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)
* **Nikolai** (voiced by Fred Tatasciore)
* **Marquis** (voiced by Jonathan Roumie)
* **Marquis's wife**

### Church

* **Abbot** (voiced by Richard Dormer)
* **Mizrak** (voiced by Aaron Neil)

### Other characters

* **Captain** (voiced by Darren Jacobs)
* **Cecile** (voiced by Sharon D. Clarke)
* **Esther** (voiced by Erica Luttrell)
* **Liberty** (voiced by Georgia Dolenz)
* **Jacques** (voiced by Fred Tatasciore)

## Production history

### Season 1

In 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.

In 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.

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.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of *Castlevania: Nocturne* holds an approval audience rating of 44% based on over 1,000+ user ratings, having an overall mixed reception. Metacritic reported there were "mixed or average" ratings for the first season, with a weighted average score of 4.4 based on 144 user ratings. 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 and push of modern day identity politics also received a mixed reception in general. The changes to the character Annette in particular brought heavy criticism for these same reasons, as well as for retaining almost none of the aspects of the original character it is based upon.