10 Things You Didn't Know About Castlevania

9. Many Changes Were Due To American Sensibilities

Castlevania grim reaper
Konami

The original title of the franchise was Akumajo Dracula, which translates as Demon Castle Dracula. However Senior Vice-President of Konami America at the time, Emil Heidkamp translated it closer to Dracula's Satanic Castle. Heidkamp expressed concerns over American sensibilities over the religious context of a 'Satanic' title and the name was changed to Castlevania as a reference to the Transylvanian setting and the whole game taking place within Dracula's Castle.

Nintendo of America further added to changes to the western releases with their prohibitions to blood, nudity, and religious imagery. This can be seen in such blatant changes as putting togas on nude marble statues, to recolouring the blood in Bloodlines, all the way to subtly changing the way allies react to being hired in Castlevania III. In the Japanese version they kneel and kiss Belmont's hand, but in the western version they just shake hands politely.

One of the more interesting changes is the in-game soundtrack of the Game Boy release Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge. In the original release, the songs have titles like New Messiah and Sons of Satan, but the western release has them named as BGM 1 and BOSS 3, respectively.

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Author of Escort (Eternal Press, 2015), co-founder of Nic3Ntertainment, and developer behind The Sickle Upon Sekigahara (2020). Currently freelancing as a game developer and history consultant. Also tends to travel the eastern U.S. doing courses on History, Writing, and Japanese Poetry. You can find his portfolio at www.richardcshaffer.com.