10 Things You Didn't Know About Castlevania

2. Yoko Is A Lot Older Than She Seems

Castlevania grim reaper
Konami

Yoko Belnades is a young witch serving the church during the events of the games Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, which are set in Japan. Aria of Sorrow, Yoko's debut, was released in 2003 on the Game Boy and though it didn't sell well in Japan it did do well in the west, which is ironic given the shift from a European setting to a Japanese one.

Yoko was originally conceived as a character in the 1993 Sega Genesis release Bloodlines, the only Castlevania release on Sega's console . She was planned to be an analogue to the earlier character Grant Danasty, and would play like a ninja who would throw shuriken. Her name in Bloodlines was planned to be Yoko Felnades, so it's possible she wasn't originally intended to be a descendant of Sypha Belnades like the final character is.

Fans refer to the two games Yoko appears in as Chronicles of Sorrow, even though no official work contains such a title.

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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.