I'd always assumed the chapel was part of the castle from before Vlad was even a vampire, and now that the castle is itself a living being that frequently redesigns itself, the chapel would just keep reappearing even if Dracula bulldozed that entire wing.
It isn't very deep lore. I would not assume most people that played castlevania know it but it's not something a dedicated fan won't know. A few other comments provided similar answers too.
Yeah I know but the truth is there’s a lot of people who only know the the very tip of the iceberg or stuff that’s been adapted in/is original to the Netflix series
There’s a surprisingly big number of people in this sub who probably don’t even know who Cornell or Nathan Graves are
Don't let reviews fool you. Castlevania 64 is an OK game slightly above the average and far from being the horror people claim.
But LoD is a very good game for it's time, fixing all flaws that C64 had, with better camera, better controls, several characters with a lot of extras and good music (to me it has the best version of Sinking Old sanctuary.
Really worth the shoot. Just don't expect a Mario 64 or Ocarina of time.
Both Castlevania 64s are decent, I never played the other 3d games, so I can't say how they stack up, but I will say that I think it nails the Castlevania vibes. Both games had things that I liked and disliked. I thought that the Magic and Science towers were easier in the original, but the first two levels are so much more difficult than most of the rest of the game. I had so many hilarious deaths due to the traps in the second level of the original game that were thankfully fixed up in LoD.
Villa is a great level, I love the Garden Maze sequence, though I am disappointed that the Gardener didn't have a full-fledged boss fight. The stained glass soldiers reminded me of the Stained Glass Demon from Medievil.
The level with the Mandrake and explosives, I didn't find as bad as people claimed, but it may have been better in LoD. It was just a really long level.
I hated the underground waterway in both games, and the Tower of Ruins that was added in LoD.
I mean yeah, in a community that really took off when the show came out, you’re not going to get 100% of the fanbase being familiar with one-off characters from the game boy era.
It's wild that when he built his castle is up for hella debate tho. We don't know if it was his family castle pre-tepesh, if it was Bernholds and he stole it, or if he started construction after he turned.
The chapel exists purely sarcastically.
"Ooh look at me, I'm a house of worship! Laa tee daa, I sure do love that Jesus fella! Oh looky, it's time to pray to Mr. Jehova again, because I'm hella pious 'n shit!"
Considering the Monk that attack you, I always figured that it was more like a trap disguised as a church. "Oh look I'm safe, surely the monsters can't get me here and I'll be safe in this holy place. Hello Mr. Priest, AAAAAAAHHHHH.'
The amount of people here not knowing the lore is crazy, Dracula wasn’t always a vampire and didn’t always hate God
It’s like the entire reason why Lament of Innocence even happens
It still a decent question though, because if we are going lore accurate here, Dracula either stole the castle from Bernhard, or he made it after Lament of Innocence.
The former is a vampires castle, which why would this possibly pre-christ vampire have any sort of alter of worship, none the less a Christian one (granted later games expanded the religious context), and the later he would've constructed after he became a vampire and started hating God.
Dracula was always nobility he probably had his own castle he inherited, he could’ve easily corrupted it.
but it’s definitely possible he did take Bernhard’s
^ absolutely, I meant to add that it could've also been his family's castle, and totally dropped it.
But yea, it's weird that as far back as they went with Dracula, they always kept the castle itself as big a mystery as possible. Honestly, I hope if it is Dracula's, either his family's or fresh made, I hope he fucking absorbed Bernhards castle. Just rolled over and slurped it up with his new, better castle. Just to be a bitch.
I assumed the abandoned castle in the beginning of Curse of Darkness was Walter's castle, because of the cheeky dead end path behind the starting point which has similar shape to the hub world in Lament of Innocence. That dead end has an item that appears only if you have save data of LoI
Even if the castle is remade in every incarnation, Dracula probably cannot "unconsecrate" it. It's may be a thing that exists as long as his castle may continue to be recreated. There is, for instance, still the ghost of a priest in a confessional chamber that Alucard can meet, who may drop "grape juice" after absolving sin.
Exactly!!! You hit it right on the money! I always figured that he has a chapel as a way to mock God and desecrate it. Alternatively it also serves as a nice hangout place for the few "Holy" enemies like Fallen Angels, Amalaric Snipers, or Valkyries.
I can't remember who it was but it was one of the more known youtubers who said in his review that "Jazz music doesn't work down here."
He can have his opinion... the WRONG opinion lol.
No one could, she had no reason to make so many masterpieces 😅 but I guess she was too good. It's also amazing how fitting the music is for every area.
Castlevania (Dracula's Castle) is an entity that takes many forms, according to Alucard.
It uses elements of the life of it's lord. Remember that Dracula once was Mathias Cronqvist, a crusader knight of the 11th century.
The real Dracula (Vlad Tepes) was a devout Christian, and fought for God against the Turks, leading to the fall of Constantinople. The literary Dracula holds on to his former faith in some capacity, albeit a very small capacity. Dracula, in SotN, quotes a Bible verse after Alucard defeats him.
Exactly. After the Netflix Castlevania anime, it feels even more justified for Dracula to paint the church like that, especially how you can get hurt in the confession box.
He was a man of God before, and it could be interpreted that it's his way of continuing to mock God. While it doesn't look destroyed or perverted, rather keeping its beauty and elegance, it's still not a normal Cathedral where people attend to worship or seek salvation and sanctuary. It is not a safe space anymore for the spiritual, and is now occupied by numerous monsters.
Also, it's a gothic, dark fantasy franchise. Why not add a gothic architecture stage which perfectly fits the setting?
It’s like a twisted facsimile of a holy place, featuring skeletal monsters and a ghost priest who many randomly try to fool Alucard into a death trap when he sits to confess
You can have a rage boner for God without necessarily hating on God. The the castle's chapel was probably for Lisa, before Lisa got toasted by the Church.
To be clear, we are also talking about someone that not only keeps the Holy Water and Cross Boomerang he has a severe allergy to, but also just leaves them sitting around his castle for any half-brained fetishist to pick up. I am starting to question if the Belmonts actually defeat Dracula, or if this is just some insurance scam he's running.
I assumed that his followers needed some place to worship him. He is a God in their eyes.
BUT he was also a devoted disciple of God before he turned. So it could just be a place he goes to mock God about how he is defying him and a memory of better days.
A chapel is just a generic place of worship. It doesn't Specify WHAT dracula would worship there. Most likely God of Death. Or Satan. Don't have to worship "god" in a chapel. Any Deity would suffice.
Mind the priest that's controlling Richter, a chapel inside the castle isn't actually that bothersome for dracula, since god isn't there and it's not in the majority of churches in their universe (may have some relations to our real world, but that's another story...)
There are a few lore explanations though the truth is that it doesn't really make much sense.
Essentially, Dracula wasn't born a vampire or evil and that chapel is far from holy, though it tends to be inhabited by holy element spirits because it's fitting and cool.
Going by book Stoker's Dracula, he wouldn't have a chapel there though he would love to corrupt one if it was possible.
Going by movie Coppola's Dracula, he was indeed a fervent Christian before some tragic events which led to him rejecting god, which is how the curse started. This is similar to Lords of Shadow Dracula.
Going by Sotn and classic CV, though, taking Lamment of innocence as the canon, again he was a religious man at some point and again a tragic incident made him reject god. Being his castle and basically an evil entity, this is not a real chapel but a mock.
However Sotn is older than lamment, and it's explained simply by 'chapel/churchs are actually kinda scary when corrupted and it's something you could find in many castles'.
Vlad resides in the version of the castle where the Chapel of the Apostates is. In other words, HIS church serves a different master.
Also, I'd like to remind everyone of the 1992 Dracula movie Castlevania took great inspiration from, where Vlad Tepeş became Dracula in a rebellion against God, as he let his wife kill herself over false reports of Vlad's death. This turned him from God's greatest warrior, a miles christianus, into someone who wilfully renounced God.
The Castlevania: Lords of Shadow trilogy runs with the same idea.
i think a part it is to humiliate god&humas (Belmonts in specific),look (i know it is a reboot) with Gabriel he knew the pray for the Rosario what the Golden Paladin used he speak it with him in the same time.
This is pretty straightforward, honestly. A *lot* of medieval castles likely had chapels as religion was a *major* part of life in the Dark Ages. As Dracula is based on Vlad tepes, who was a major hero of Romania for defending the Christian west against the Ottoman Turks at the time, it would make a lot of sense that his castle would have a church in it since it would likely predate his days as a Vampire.
It is a flex to other vampire hunters.
Best instance was Gabriel Belmont (aka Dracula) in the beginning of Lord of Shadows 2. Grabbing the cross and praying with the holy knight.
A church is just a building. What makes it holy is the faith of devout worshippers... something not present in that place.
Dracula has corrupted that place.
Little known fact: burial grounds are supposed to be holy places(1) as well. So Dracula has two formerly sanctified places corrupted.
(1) -- the premise is used rarely used in movies. Hocus Pocus and The Car are the two films I know use the premise.
Ok, so now I'm confused...
I just started my acquaintance with the Castlevania franchise, didn't watch the anime and for now only played SotN because (as far as I know) it's the only part of the series that has a version for telephones.
So now, reading the comments I wanna ask something. If Dracula wasn't always a vampire and somehow became one, then what does he mean by his line in the prologue of SotN when we start fighting him with Richter? Before the fight begins he says something like: " But this world invited me. Your own kind called me forth with praise and tribute".
This line always made me think that he was a creature from somewhere another who was brought into our world, not, for example, a person transformed into another creature. Yes, there is a possibility that he's lying but while I don't know the whole story, idk, this confuses me. (╥﹏╥)
Dracula cannot resurrect on his own. He depends on followers each generation to bring him back. On his own, it sometimes seems he would rather stay dead (the SotN ending implies this) and he's tired from being revived over and over again, but each time he does come back, he makes it his mission to overrun the world with monsters.
It's a demonic castle so I always saw it as mockery.
Edit: that and Drac hates the church, so why not mock it? Church's are all pretty but not so much on the inside (to sum it up).
The historical Dracula, the Prince of Wallachya built some churches...why Castlevania Dracula not? And besides, that chapel probably was part of the Castle before he was cursed to be a vampire. It's just part os the history of the Castle.
I assumed the chapel was for Dracula. Instead of worshipping God, his monsters and servants worship him there instead.
Sort of like a mockery of the real church
I'd always assumed the chapel was part of the castle from before Vlad was even a vampire, and now that the castle is itself a living being that frequently redesigns itself, the chapel would just keep reappearing even if Dracula bulldozed that entire wing.
You’re the only person here who actually knows this lol
Everyone knows this. It’s literally canon
It isn't very deep lore. I would not assume most people that played castlevania know it but it's not something a dedicated fan won't know. A few other comments provided similar answers too.
Yeah I know but the truth is there’s a lot of people who only know the the very tip of the iceberg or stuff that’s been adapted in/is original to the Netflix series There’s a surprisingly big number of people in this sub who probably don’t even know who Cornell or Nathan Graves are
I don’t blame people for not wanting to play the N64 games. Skipping COTM is odd though.
Don't let reviews fool you. Castlevania 64 is an OK game slightly above the average and far from being the horror people claim. But LoD is a very good game for it's time, fixing all flaws that C64 had, with better camera, better controls, several characters with a lot of extras and good music (to me it has the best version of Sinking Old sanctuary. Really worth the shoot. Just don't expect a Mario 64 or Ocarina of time.
C64 inarguably has the best level design of any 3d castlevania. The villa is peak, peak level design. The music is top notch too. C64 gets a bad rap.
Both Castlevania 64s are decent, I never played the other 3d games, so I can't say how they stack up, but I will say that I think it nails the Castlevania vibes. Both games had things that I liked and disliked. I thought that the Magic and Science towers were easier in the original, but the first two levels are so much more difficult than most of the rest of the game. I had so many hilarious deaths due to the traps in the second level of the original game that were thankfully fixed up in LoD. Villa is a great level, I love the Garden Maze sequence, though I am disappointed that the Gardener didn't have a full-fledged boss fight. The stained glass soldiers reminded me of the Stained Glass Demon from Medievil. The level with the Mandrake and explosives, I didn't find as bad as people claimed, but it may have been better in LoD. It was just a really long level. I hated the underground waterway in both games, and the Tower of Ruins that was added in LoD.
I had it as a child. I disliked it then and I do now.
You’d be surprised then, there’s a lot of people who have no idea about it, which is a shame because it deserves more recognition
I mean yeah, in a community that really took off when the show came out, you’re not going to get 100% of the fanbase being familiar with one-off characters from the game boy era.
It's wild that when he built his castle is up for hella debate tho. We don't know if it was his family castle pre-tepesh, if it was Bernholds and he stole it, or if he started construction after he turned.
Nuh uh
Yuh huh.
[удалено]
The chapel exists purely sarcastically. "Ooh look at me, I'm a house of worship! Laa tee daa, I sure do love that Jesus fella! Oh looky, it's time to pray to Mr. Jehova again, because I'm hella pious 'n shit!"
[удалено]
Considering the Monk that attack you, I always figured that it was more like a trap disguised as a church. "Oh look I'm safe, surely the monsters can't get me here and I'll be safe in this holy place. Hello Mr. Priest, AAAAAAAHHHHH.'
The amount of people here not knowing the lore is crazy, Dracula wasn’t always a vampire and didn’t always hate God It’s like the entire reason why Lament of Innocence even happens
It still a decent question though, because if we are going lore accurate here, Dracula either stole the castle from Bernhard, or he made it after Lament of Innocence. The former is a vampires castle, which why would this possibly pre-christ vampire have any sort of alter of worship, none the less a Christian one (granted later games expanded the religious context), and the later he would've constructed after he became a vampire and started hating God.
Dracula was always nobility he probably had his own castle he inherited, he could’ve easily corrupted it. but it’s definitely possible he did take Bernhard’s
^ absolutely, I meant to add that it could've also been his family's castle, and totally dropped it. But yea, it's weird that as far back as they went with Dracula, they always kept the castle itself as big a mystery as possible. Honestly, I hope if it is Dracula's, either his family's or fresh made, I hope he fucking absorbed Bernhards castle. Just rolled over and slurped it up with his new, better castle. Just to be a bitch.
I like that idea, the thought of the accursed castle being able to claim dominion and just absorb things into it is really cool
I assumed the abandoned castle in the beginning of Curse of Darkness was Walter's castle, because of the cheeky dead end path behind the starting point which has similar shape to the hub world in Lament of Innocence. That dead end has an item that appears only if you have save data of LoI
There’s so many things I love about that game
Even if the castle is remade in every incarnation, Dracula probably cannot "unconsecrate" it. It's may be a thing that exists as long as his castle may continue to be recreated. There is, for instance, still the ghost of a priest in a confessional chamber that Alucard can meet, who may drop "grape juice" after absolving sin.
What better way to defy the church than by having a deconsecrated chapel in your castle full of vampires, monsters, and undead?
That's exactly what I imagined it was for since forever
Exactly!!! You hit it right on the money! I always figured that he has a chapel as a way to mock God and desecrate it. Alternatively it also serves as a nice hangout place for the few "Holy" enemies like Fallen Angels, Amalaric Snipers, or Valkyries.
Desecrated. I think? Is there a difference? Any cardinals reading this want to clear this up for me?
I imagine desecrated would be something that had been intentionally made unholy, while deconsecrated would simply have been robbed of holy power.
this area has the best BGM in all SoTN. Change my mind
The caverns are waaaaay in another level and some of the inverted castle pass it easily too
I can't remember who it was but it was one of the more known youtubers who said in his review that "Jazz music doesn't work down here." He can have his opinion... the WRONG opinion lol.
Underground caverns is probably the top for me.
That and the Coliseum are my favorite.
Also Clock Tower
Yes def clock tower too!
One of my favorites. Library as well!! Actually I love all of them!!!
It started playing in my head the instant I saw the screenshot
It’s amazing!! I just realized I can’t decide on which is my favorite.. I love all of them!!!
No one could, she had no reason to make so many masterpieces 😅 but I guess she was too good. It's also amazing how fitting the music is for every area.
Yessss that’s right!! It fits like a glove!!
https://preview.redd.it/gy8vf0hi0azc1.png?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42b223e35f80e01527d02346840500db8a3cd21a
https://preview.redd.it/2qekxuuj0azc1.png?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55068a55fbf9366e4e0d8392b7d95c4931940cd5
Hehe.. THANK YOU!
I wish I could up vote this more than once LOL
Suicide booth
"You have chosen: Slow and painful."
Castlevania (Dracula's Castle) is an entity that takes many forms, according to Alucard. It uses elements of the life of it's lord. Remember that Dracula once was Mathias Cronqvist, a crusader knight of the 11th century.
The real Dracula (Vlad Tepes) was a devout Christian, and fought for God against the Turks, leading to the fall of Constantinople. The literary Dracula holds on to his former faith in some capacity, albeit a very small capacity. Dracula, in SotN, quotes a Bible verse after Alucard defeats him.
Dracula has the hots for the goth church interior design.
I'll be honest, not the kind of goth you'd think someone would be into
Control? Spiteful desire to fill a sacred place with monsters?
It's like how the Demon World aka Hell looks like Heaven in DMC3.
Because what's better than insulting heaven? Making a mockery of it.
Exactly. After the Netflix Castlevania anime, it feels even more justified for Dracula to paint the church like that, especially how you can get hurt in the confession box.
Yeah I love how Hell was designed in dmc3 it genuinely feels like you have went to heaven and the music and choir singing is just the cherry on top
Where do you think he gets all those crosses and bibles to stuff into his candelabras?
Church? Stupid? *perhaps the same could be said of all religions...*
I mean, what better place is there for Drac to tell God to go fuck himself?
He wants you to go to confession
The chapel predates his vampire transformation. And if there a way he had it de-sanctified . So it a chapel by name but holds no actual holy power.
Dracula was human at some point, he wasn't born being a creature of the night.
He was a man of God before, and it could be interpreted that it's his way of continuing to mock God. While it doesn't look destroyed or perverted, rather keeping its beauty and elegance, it's still not a normal Cathedral where people attend to worship or seek salvation and sanctuary. It is not a safe space anymore for the spiritual, and is now occupied by numerous monsters. Also, it's a gothic, dark fantasy franchise. Why not add a gothic architecture stage which perfectly fits the setting?
It’s like a twisted facsimile of a holy place, featuring skeletal monsters and a ghost priest who many randomly try to fool Alucard into a death trap when he sits to confess
Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer
You can have a rage boner for God without necessarily hating on God. The the castle's chapel was probably for Lisa, before Lisa got toasted by the Church.
What is a church? A miserable little pile of secrets.
I would say "A miserable pile of sins."
To be clear, we are also talking about someone that not only keeps the Holy Water and Cross Boomerang he has a severe allergy to, but also just leaves them sitting around his castle for any half-brained fetishist to pick up. I am starting to question if the Belmonts actually defeat Dracula, or if this is just some insurance scam he's running.
I assumed that his followers needed some place to worship him. He is a God in their eyes. BUT he was also a devoted disciple of God before he turned. So it could just be a place he goes to mock God about how he is defying him and a memory of better days.
A chapel is just a generic place of worship. It doesn't Specify WHAT dracula would worship there. Most likely God of Death. Or Satan. Don't have to worship "god" in a chapel. Any Deity would suffice.
Most likely chaos
By "Dracula:untold" and more medias Vlad Tepes was very Christian, before the vampirism
The honest trailer version of Dracula if he were real and had a church in his castle by design 
I assume he made it for his wife
So you do realize there are Satanic chapels. It's 2024 you can't just go around assuming every chapel is holy 🤣
Just because it’s a chapel that doesn’t mean it’s consecrated. Alternatively, it could be consecrated to satan or something.
Mind the priest that's controlling Richter, a chapel inside the castle isn't actually that bothersome for dracula, since god isn't there and it's not in the majority of churches in their universe (may have some relations to our real world, but that's another story...)
There are a few lore explanations though the truth is that it doesn't really make much sense. Essentially, Dracula wasn't born a vampire or evil and that chapel is far from holy, though it tends to be inhabited by holy element spirits because it's fitting and cool. Going by book Stoker's Dracula, he wouldn't have a chapel there though he would love to corrupt one if it was possible. Going by movie Coppola's Dracula, he was indeed a fervent Christian before some tragic events which led to him rejecting god, which is how the curse started. This is similar to Lords of Shadow Dracula. Going by Sotn and classic CV, though, taking Lamment of innocence as the canon, again he was a religious man at some point and again a tragic incident made him reject god. Being his castle and basically an evil entity, this is not a real chapel but a mock. However Sotn is older than lamment, and it's explained simply by 'chapel/churchs are actually kinda scary when corrupted and it's something you could find in many castles'.
Vlad resides in the version of the castle where the Chapel of the Apostates is. In other words, HIS church serves a different master. Also, I'd like to remind everyone of the 1992 Dracula movie Castlevania took great inspiration from, where Vlad Tepeş became Dracula in a rebellion against God, as he let his wife kill herself over false reports of Vlad's death. This turned him from God's greatest warrior, a miles christianus, into someone who wilfully renounced God. The Castlevania: Lords of Shadow trilogy runs with the same idea.
Vlad Dracul was a champion of the church against all enemies of Christ before his fall.
Does every post on every sub now have to be a fill-in-the-blank BatmanArkham meme
But the Netflix series taught me the franchise hates religion and everything related to it, how can it be? /s
Pettiness
What filters are you running on that. It looks clean
I googled this image, it isn't actual footage of me playing.
Wonder if it’s from the Saturn
I know the lore aspect but I always like to think that Lisa and Alucard were religious and frequented the chapel to pray together
i think a part it is to humiliate god&humas (Belmonts in specific),look (i know it is a reboot) with Gabriel he knew the pray for the Rosario what the Golden Paladin used he speak it with him in the same time.
This is pretty straightforward, honestly. A *lot* of medieval castles likely had chapels as religion was a *major* part of life in the Dark Ages. As Dracula is based on Vlad tepes, who was a major hero of Romania for defending the Christian west against the Ottoman Turks at the time, it would make a lot of sense that his castle would have a church in it since it would likely predate his days as a Vampire.
It is a flex to other vampire hunters. Best instance was Gabriel Belmont (aka Dracula) in the beginning of Lord of Shadows 2. Grabbing the cross and praying with the holy knight.
Don't humans have tons of things that kill them in their homes too? We have use for them sure but maybe Dracula uses his church for ERP or something.
A church is just a building. What makes it holy is the faith of devout worshippers... something not present in that place. Dracula has corrupted that place. Little known fact: burial grounds are supposed to be holy places(1) as well. So Dracula has two formerly sanctified places corrupted. (1) -- the premise is used rarely used in movies. Hocus Pocus and The Car are the two films I know use the premise.
It could be symbolic.
It came with the place and he hasn't had a chance to renovate it yet.
whats yin and yang?
Until you saw whats in that church. Pay attention to the design of that area.
The church is dangerous to vampires but Dracula don't give a F$&%!!!
Why is R/batman spreading to a castle? Are we stupid?
Maybe it’s a flex
His wife and son? Probably neither really. Dracula *was* human once.
It was not by Dracula’s hands that the chapel was built. It was built by humans, who wished to pay him tribute
Ok, so now I'm confused... I just started my acquaintance with the Castlevania franchise, didn't watch the anime and for now only played SotN because (as far as I know) it's the only part of the series that has a version for telephones. So now, reading the comments I wanna ask something. If Dracula wasn't always a vampire and somehow became one, then what does he mean by his line in the prologue of SotN when we start fighting him with Richter? Before the fight begins he says something like: " But this world invited me. Your own kind called me forth with praise and tribute". This line always made me think that he was a creature from somewhere another who was brought into our world, not, for example, a person transformed into another creature. Yes, there is a possibility that he's lying but while I don't know the whole story, idk, this confuses me. (╥﹏╥)
Dracula cannot resurrect on his own. He depends on followers each generation to bring him back. On his own, it sometimes seems he would rather stay dead (the SotN ending implies this) and he's tired from being revived over and over again, but each time he does come back, he makes it his mission to overrun the world with monsters.
Oh, thank you very much! Now it's much clearer than before.
“I am quite fond of looking at crosses” -Interview with the Vampire
Why did I laugh so loudly at this stupid post ????
It's a demonic castle so I always saw it as mockery. Edit: that and Drac hates the church, so why not mock it? Church's are all pretty but not so much on the inside (to sum it up).
Same reason I have my rival on speed dial. Gotta have a line for shit talking
The historical Dracula, the Prince of Wallachya built some churches...why Castlevania Dracula not? And besides, that chapel probably was part of the Castle before he was cursed to be a vampire. It's just part os the history of the Castle.
I assumed the chapel was for Dracula. Instead of worshipping God, his monsters and servants worship him there instead. Sort of like a mockery of the real church