Summary
Konami’s whip-lashing gothic horror action series has been active on the animation front, with the NetflixCastlevaniaseries and itsNocturnefollow-up livening things up. Yet it’s still been rather quiet on the video game front, beyond the DLC forDead Cells. Once theirMetal Gear Solid 3remake andSilent Hillprojects are done, there may be room for the Belmonts’ return to gaming.
Not that it may end so happily for them. The games’ leads could collect all the MacGuffins, get to the top of Dracula’s castle, and finish him off for thestandard happy ending. But if they missed something along the way or didn’t complete the game fast enough, they could get a less happy or even a bad ending. Even if the villains don’t win, the heroes can still lose inCastlevania’s darkest endings.
Updated on Jul 10, 2025, by David Heath:As dour as Castlevania gets, it has more happy endings than bad ones. At the very least, the hero (a Belmont or otherwise) stands on a cliffside as they watch Dracula’s Castle crumble. At most, they’ll get an extended epilogue. Even the rough Game Boy game Castlevania Legends saw Sonia Belmont go on to have a family and raise the next generation of Vampire Killers.
But that doesn’t mean there still weren’t any bad endings left to add to this list. This update features a few new additions that saw its leads either succumb to darkness or leave innocents trapped in evil’s thrall. The other entries have also been spruced up a touch to further remind readers that evil can still win in Castlevania.
Has anyone ever wondered whereCastlevania: Bloodlinesfits in the series? It was a great Genesis game, yet the other games largely sidestepped it. It wasn’t untilCastlevania: Portrait of Ruincame along that it got a follow-up. Set during World War 2, Jonathan Morris, son ofBloodlines' John Morris, works with Sypha’s descendant Charlotte to overcome Dracula, the vampire Brauner, and prove himself worthy of wielding the Vampire Killer whip. The two will often be tormented in their quest by Brauner’s daughters, Loretta and Stella. Or so they claim.
They turn out to be the children ofBloodlines' co-protagonist Eric LeCarde, wrapped up in Brauner’s spell. Getting the game’s good ending involves saving them with the Sanctuary spell. But if the player kills them, Brauner will choose to save them over carrying out his evil plan, letting the castle crumble. Dracula never returns, but Jonathan never figures out how to use the Vampire Killer, Eric LeCarde’s ghost disappears, and the player gets a Game Over screen instead of End Credits, just to let them know they screwed up.
The black sheep of the original trilogy,Castlevania 2: Simon’s Questbroke from the original’s linear gameplay to something closer to the later “Metroidvania” style, as Simon has to collect five of Dracula’s body parts and revive him within his castle to undo a curse the vampire placed upon him and the nearby settlements. Then, he has to send him back to oblivion afterward.
If players beat the game within a week, Simon will beat his curse and save everyone. Any longer, and they’ll get the “Normal” ending, where Dracula gets beaten, Simon dies from his wounds, and the city remains cursed until another hero arises. The “Bad” Ending (taking over two weeks) actually sounds cheerier, as both Simon and Dracula die, but the town and its people are saved.
Castlevania: Rondo of Bloodwas arguably the best of the classic action-based games, but it didn’t get released in the West until the 2007 PSP collectionCastlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. 90s kids had to make do with its SNES remakeCastlevania: Dracula X(orCastlevania: Vampire’s Kissas it was curiously called in Europe).It ultimately wasn’t as good, but it did have sadder endings.
Failing to save Richter Belmont’s love, Annette, her sister Maria, or the other maidens inRondo of Bloodgives the player a bright scene of the Vampire Hunter that’s pretty happy for a bad ending. Failing to save Annette or Maria inDracula Xshowed a dark image of Richter on his horse, looking sadly over what he lost in the ruined castle. Saving Maria doesn’t mitigate it much, as the two mourn Annette while shrouded in a dark shadow.
Konami’s attempts to shift the series into 3D were mixed, but they continued to thrive in 2D, followingSymphony of the Night’s open-world, action-RPG approach to the gameplay.Castlevania: Aria of Sorrowswitched things up bytaking place in 2035, where the twisted missionary Graham Jones tries to revive Dracula by acting on a prophecy that says he’ll return via a vessel.
Usually, new lead Soma Cruz and his allies would prove him wrong. But it turns out the only thing he got wrong about his prophecy was who the vessel would be. Instead of Graham, it would be Soma himself. If he loses to Chaos at the end of the game, the ending will see Soma sitting upon his throne as the new Dracula, with only Julius Belmont returning to hold up his promise to kill Soma if he fell. It’s not the best fate for the poor guy.
AfterAria of Sorrow, things almost returned to normal for Soma Cruz. He knew he had the soul of Dracula within him, butwithout the castle, both it and his powers remained dormant. He could’ve lived out his life comfortably if Celia Fortner and her cult hadn’t entered it. They seek to create a new lord of darkness by eliminating Soma, so he and his allies, including Julius Belmont, have to fight back against them.
There are two bad endings on offer here. The first is akin toPortrait of Ruin, where Soma defeats Celia’s minion Dario, who dies as a result of fusing with a fire demon. All that’s left afterward are unanswered questions. Freeing Dario from the demon opens the door to the other bad ending, where Celia kills Soma’s girlfriend Mina to make him become Dracula. It’ll be up to Julius, Alucard, and Yoko Belnades to put him downCastlevania 3-style in Julius Mode. If only Soma had worn that talisman he got from Mina. Then he would’ve had a happy ending.
Castlevania: Lament of Innocencewas one of the better-received 3D games. Despite its occasionally repetitive level design and backtracking, it played well enough to get decent praise. The game only had a single ending, but it was a bittersweet one that explained how the eternal battle betweenthe Belmont Clan and Dracula began. After Matthias tells Leon Belmont that his fiancée Sara has been kidnapped by a vampire called Walter, they head out to save her.
But he ultimately fails, having to kill her to prevent her frombecoming a vampire. Then Matthias takes Walter’s power and reveals he was behind everything. It was all a plot for him to avenge himself on God for his own love’s death by becoming a vampire, too. He offers Leon the same opportunity, who instead promises that he and his kin will destroy Matthias one day. Thus, Matthias became Dracula, and the Belmonts turned into his deadliest enemies.
FollowingSimon’s Quest,Castlevania: Harmony of DissonancesawSimon Belmont’s grandson Justetrying to save his childhood friend Lydie from captivity inside Dracula’s castle. During his quest, he learns his friend Maxim tried to destroy Dracula’s remains like Simon did and ended up possessed by an evil spirit born from the remains and his jealousy of Juste’s popularity.
The spirit drove him to kidnap Lydie and use her blood to fully become a vampire in order to destroy what’s left of the original Maxim. If the player got both Juste and Maxim’s rings, Juste could save both Lydie and Maxim for the best ending. With just one, he loses Maxim but saves Lydie. Without either, Lydie dies, Maxim is lost forever, the castle crumbles, and Juste damns his fate, declaring he’s failed as a Vampire Hunter.
Simon’s QuestandCastlevania’s MSX portVampire Huntertechnically beatCastlevania: Symphony of the Nightto the punch, introducing search-action gameplay to the series. Nonetheless,this PS1 classicformed the basis for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS games, as Alucard returns fromCastlevania 3to destroy his father’s castle, only to learn that Richter Belmont is trying to revive Dracula for another battle to give his life purpose.
With enough searching, Alucard would get the Holy Glasses to discover Richter was being possessed by Dracula’s devotee Shaft. Without them, he’s forced to kill Richter, ending the Belmont lineage and Dracula’s revival in one fell swoop. Curiously, there was a worse ending that was hidden on the game disc. It was meant to be used if Alucard beat Richter with the Glasses equipped. This time, Maria arrives to save Richter, only to be possessed by Shaft, who then tries to bring the castle down upon everyone. Alucard survives and laments both Richter’s death and Maria’s “transformation.” Its replacement was the same as the regular bad ending, only with Alucard breaking the bad news to Maria instead of mourning alone.
To think Nintendo magazines at the time were pleased over getting the 3DCastlevania 64instead of the PS1’s 2DSotN. The game does have its defenders, but when it’s compared to the rest of the series, both it and itsLegacy of Darknessupdate falter. However, it does have an intriguing story, as Reinhardt Schneider and Carrie Fernandez try to stop a series of child kidnappings in which they suspect Dracula and his servants are involved.
They learn this thanks to help from Malus, one of the kidnapped victims. If playersbeat the game fast enough, they learn Malus is Dracula reborn as a child via a ritual performed by his servants. If they don’t, they will remain blind to the ruse and “save” Malus from his servant Gilles de Rais. Reinhardt would raise Malus as the next Vampire Hunter, while Carrie would promise to become his bride when he grows up, unaware of his true intentions.
After going to the future inAria of Sorrowand its sequelDawn of Sorrow, the series went back in time to the early 1800s withCastlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Following the Belmont Clan’s disappearance afterSotN, the Order of Ecclesia was founded to stop Dracula’s revival. Using the Dominus ritual, they’d trap Dracula’s power in Shanoa, one of their members.
But it was stopped prematurely when Shanoa’s colleague Albus stole the necessary glyphs away to Wrygol Village, costing Shanoa her memories and emotions. If the player managed to save all the villagers, they’d learn that the Order was actually trying to revive Dracula with the ritual. If they didn’t, Shanoa would kill Albus, reclaim the glyphs, and complete the ritual. She’d die in the processas Dracula returnswith no one strong enough left to oppose him.
