With the release of Adi Shankar's Castlevania on Netflix, an iconic series is finally opening up to a brand new audience. It's been over 30 years since the original Castlevania title was released on the NES, and the series has grown in a number of ways since that humble beginning.

If you're not as familiar with the Castlevania series as you are with its contemporaries, such as The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario Bros, you may be surprised to learn just how big the series actually is. Whether you're new to the series or just need a refresher, here is the history of Castlevania so you can see just how it made its way to the screen.

The Original Trilogy

Castlevania 2 NES

Konami's Castlevania was released in 1986 on the Famicom in Japan and in 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It featured whip-wielding hero Simon Belmont and took players along on his quest to take down Dracula once and for all. The game was a big hit for Konami and was followed by two sequels on the NES: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. A pair of sequels on other systems (Vampire Killer and Haunted Castle) were also released in between these games.

Simon's Quest and Dracula's Curse took the platform adventuring of the first game and really expanded it. Both games featured multiple endings, and Dracula's Curse featured a branching storyline that allowed player decisions to affect how the game played out.

The first two games follow the adventures of Simon, while the third game is a prequel that focuses on Simon's ancestor Trevor C. Belmont. The overarching story of the games focuses on the Belmont clan (and some other characters, such as Dracula's son Alucard) trying to stop the destruction caused by Dracula and prevent the vampire from returning from the dead.

Castlevania: The Adventure

Konami released Castlevania: The Adventure on the Game Boy in 1989. This prequel game focused on Christopher Belmont, a descendant of Trevor who has taken up the family whip in an effort to stop Dracula once and for all. The game abandoned the sub-weapons that were present in the NES games, though it does retain the use of hearts collected from defeated monsters to restore lost health. There are no stairs and gameplay is linear, with a "primary evil" found at the end of each level that must be defeated. A point counter and level timer serve to further differentiate the game from those that came before.

A sequel titled Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge was released in 1991 that picked up Christopher's story 15 years later, when Dracula returned and kidnapped Christopher's son. Turning the boy into a demon, Dracula then set about trying to regain his former power and rejoin the world. The game featured sub-weapons and corrected many of the questionable issues from the first Game Boy title, though its short play time was still considered a weakness.

Captain N: The Game Master

Castlevania Animated

The Castlevania series made its way to animation for the first time in 1989 when Simon Belmont appeared as a supporting character in the NBC animated series Captain N: The Game Master. Unlike his video game appearances, Simon was depicted as a self-obsessed and arrogant warrior who isn't nearly as formidable as he believes himself to be. Dracula appears as a villain in the show under the name The Count, wearing a yellow suit for most of his appearances in contrast to how he appears in the games.

While Simon and the Count were the primary Castlevania characters to appear in the show, Alucard appeared in one episode as well. He was depicted as a rebellious teenager with a blond mop of hair, sunglasses and a bat-shaped boom box. Unlike in the game series where Alucard is one of the playable heroes, this version appears to be on the side of the N-Team at first but eventually double-crosses them as he is working for his father.

Kid Dracula

A spinoff of the Castlevania series, the Kid Dracula games focus on Dracula's son and act as a parody of Castlevania. The series consists of the Japan-only Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (which translates to "Demon Castle Special: I'm Kid Dracula!") and its Game Boy sequel/remake Kid Dracula. Though the games are intended to be parody, characters from the games have appeared in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Castlevania: Judgement. The main character of the games is intended to be Alucard, who serves as a protagonist in some of the main series games.

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Bloodlines

Bloodlines was a Sega Genesis port of Vampire Killer that was released in 1994. The game was set apart from the previous entries in the Castlevania series by its World War I setting and the fact that none of the protagonists had the name "Belmont." In the game, the war between humanity and Dracula had ended in 1897 by Quincy Morris, a descendant of the Belmont clan. This ushered in a new era of peace, which was shattered 20 years later when a legendary vampire named Elizabeth Báthory (based on the actual Hungarian serial killer from the 16th and 17th centuries) sought to bring Dracula back from the dead. In the end, it's Quincy's son John and his friend Eric Lecarde who manage to stop Dracula from coming back.

Super Castlevania IV

In Super Castlevania VI for the SNES, the series shifted its focus back on Simon Belmont. Simon's whip, Vampire Killer, plays a larger part in this game, due in part to the increased power that the Super Nintendo provided that allowed the programmers to implement a more advanced whip system. Other details, such as advanced boss monster strategies and scalable difficulty made the game a natural evolution of what came before.

Symphony of the Night

Castlevania Symphony of the Night

After Super Castlevania IV, the next entries in the series were 1993's Rondo of Blood and its sequel, 1997's Symphony of the Night. Rondo of Blood followed the adventure of Richter Belmont as he storms Dracula's castle in hopes of rescuing his kidnapped girlfriend Annette. Richter frees four maidens while exploring the castle, one of whom is a playable character named Maria Renard. The game was eventually rereleased with multiple changes as Castlevania: Dracula X for the SNES and as part of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (which featured Symphony of the Night as unlockable content) for the PlayStation Portable.

Symphony of the Night shifts the focus from Richter to Dracula's son Alucard, who is exploring Dracula's castle after its reappearance following the events of Rondo of Blood. The game marks a major shift in the Castlevania series, focusing on non-linear design and areas intended for exploration instead of simply passing from points A to B. Though it was slow to become popular, Symphony of the Night is considered by many to be one of the high points of the series and has even made it onto lists of the greatest video games of all time.

Portable Castlevania

Between 2001 and 2008, six portable Castlevania games were released on Nintendo's handhelds. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow were all released for the Game Boy Advance, while Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia were released for the Nintendo DS. The games largely take place in different time periods, focusing on new members of the Belmont clan (and others who have taken up the fight against Dracula.)

Of particular note among these games are Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, both of which take place in the future; Dracula has been defeated for good, but his power lives on in the form of a reincarnation named Soma Cruz. Players play as Soma, who fights against the man thought to be Dracula's reincarnation in the first game only to find out that the reincarnation was Soma himself. The second game follows his quest to avoid his fate and prevent himself from becoming a dark lord after his powers (thought to be lost after the first game) resurface.

Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia are both notable as well, the former for being a sequel to Castlevania: Bloodlines that takes place during World War II and the latter for being the first canonical game in which the Vampire Killer whip doesn't appear in any form.

The PS2 Era

Castlevania Lament of Innocence

Two Castlevania games were released for Sony's PlayStation 2: Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness (which was also released on the Xbox). Lament of Innocence stars Leon Belmont, the first Belmont to fight against the vampire menace, trying to rescue his girlfriend Sara from the clutches of a vampire named Walter Berhard. He is given a whip crafted by alchemy. After rescuing Sara, he discovers that she is slowly turning into a vampire; she offers to sacrifice herself to strengthen his whip so that he can defeat Walter, transforming the whip of alchemy into Vampire Killer in the process. Upon defeating Walter, Leon discovers that his close friend Mathias had manipulated the situation to gain Walter's power for himself; he would later become Dracula.

Curse of Darkness takes place three years after the NES game Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Instead of focusing on characters from that game, however, the game follows a character named Hector who had once worked for Dracula but betrayed him. Hector eventually meets Trevor Belmont during his quest, who initially distrusts him but ultimately grants him access to a parallel world to continue the fight. Hector learns that he was originally intended to be a vessel for Dracula's reincarnation, but resisting Dracula's Curse he sees the Count take over the man who had arranged for the murder of Hector's fiancé instead. He fights the reborn Dracula, breaking the curse on the land in the process.

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Castlevania 64

Two Castlevania games were released for Nintendo's N64 console: Castlevania 64 and its prequel/expansion, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. Castlevania 64 allowed players to control either Carrie Fernandez (an orphan with magical powers) or Reinhardt Schneider (an heir to the Belmont clan). The pair explore the grounds of Castlevania, trying to find a way to stop Dracula's return after being dormant for a century.

Legacy of Darkness was released later the same year,  providing more background on the original game and also containing the original storyline remade with better graphics. The primary hero of Legacy of Darkness is Cornell, a werewolf-like "man-beast" who is attempting to save his sister from being sacrificed to bring back Dracula.

Both Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness are largely considered "side stories" to the main Castlevania series and as such are mostly canon but aren't included in many Castlevania timelines.

Comic Adaptations

Castlevania The Belmont Legacy

In 2005, a 5-issue comic book adaptation called "Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy" was released by IDW Publishing. The story was based on the original Castlevania: The Adventure for Game Boy and followed Christopher Belmont through his adventures. Manga publisher Tokyopop also released a two-volume graphic novel adaptation of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. The manga actually served as a prequel for the game, beginning in the years between Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and the Curse of Darkness game.

Order of Shadows

In 2007, Konami released a mobile game for the Java platform. Castlevania: Order of Shadows followed Desmond Belmont and his sisters Zoe and Dolores, though only Desmond was playable. The characters explored Dracula's castle, hoping to track down a cult known as the Order of Shadows that was intent on trying to resurrect Dracula. The game is considered a "side story" to the main game series and is not part of the official timeline, though it has not been identified as strictly non-canon. Reviews were mixed-to-negative, focusing mostly on how short and easy the game was. It did receive praise for an option to replace the game's music with tracks from the original Castlevania, however.

Castlevania: Judgement

Castlevania Judgment Simon Belmont Alucard

A non-canon entry in the Castlevania series, Castlevania: Judgement is a fighting game that stars characters from the various games in the Castlevania series. In the game, Galamoth (from the Kid Dracula games) sends a being known as the Time Reaper 10,000 years back in time to try and destroy Dracula and alter the timeline. A warrior named Aeon discovers this plan and recruits heroes and villains from different eras to try and stop the Time Reaper. Characters include both Simon and Trevor Belmont, Dracula, Eric Lecarde, Golem (from Haunted Castle) and others. Non-playable characters from the games appear as well, often as enemies that can be killed to regenerate some energy. The game uses a standard 3D fighting arena for its gameplay, with plot explained in scenes between fights. It also makes use of DS-to-Wii connectivity to connect to Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, unlocking content in both of the games.

Lords of Shadow

In 2010, Konami released Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. The game served as a reboot of the Castlevania series and introduced players to Gabriel Belmont, Simon's grandfather. The game produced two sequels: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2.

The games seek to distance themselves somewhat from the previous entries in the series, and in some cases directly contradict games that have come before. This is perhaps most obvious in the origin of Dracula, and how Dracula is tied to Simon Belmont. Unlike the previous games in the series, the Lords of Shadow games feature Satan as a primary antagonist instead of Dracula.

Because of its status as a reboot of the franchise, Lords of Shadow and its sequels are not considered to be part of the timeline that began with the original Castlevania.

Bringing Castlevania to the Screen

Trevor fighting Alucard in the tomb, Castlevania

Before the Netflix series was created, there was another attempt to adapt Castlevania for the screen. Crystal Sky Pictures acquired the film rights to Castlevania in 2005, hiring Paul W.S. Anderson to direct on a budget of $50 million. Dimension Films was attached to distribute domestically, though it later departed the project and distribution was taken over by Rogue Pictures.

Anderson left the project in 2007, leaving to direct Death Race and being replaced by Sylvain White. Anderson assisted with a rewrite of the script, which was said to follow Trevor Belmont and his younger brother Christopher as they attempted to live up to the legend of their ancestor Leon. Unfortunately, the 2007 writer's strike halted production and other issues kept the film from getting off the ground again. Comments by Anderson in 2012 expressed that he was still interested in the film, but suggested that the rights were no longer available.

Production on the Netflix series began in 2015, and with a second season confirmed there will be more Castlevania until at least 2018.

Next: Netflix’s Castlevania Season 1: Every Episode Reviewed

Castlevania season 1 is now available on Netflix.