When & Where Does ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ Take Place? Timeline Explained

‘Castlevania: Nocturne‘ is the upcoming anime series that will air on Netflix on September 28, 2023. It is a direct sequel of the successful original series that aired for four seasons on the same streaming platform, ‘Castlevania,’ We are now getting more content from the popular video game franchise developed by KONAMI. Of course, Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard won’t be the show’s main protagonists since a new one is showcased in the trailers for the Netflix-produced anime Richter Belmont. This article will discuss when and where ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ occurs in the ‘Castlevania’ franchise timeline.

‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ will be set hundreds of years after the first series, specifically during the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century. The show’s main protagonist, Richter Belmont, is the descendant of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, who will try to stop the apocalypse looming in the world. Of course, since the show is set during the French Revolution, ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ is set in 18th-century France.

The upcoming show is a direct sequel to the original series with a unique storyline. However, since ‘Castlevania’ projects are inspired by the source material of the same name in the gaming industry, we will also mention some details about that. If you’re interested, stay with us until the end.

Note: Beware of potential spoilers from the ‘Castlevania’ games, and the upcoming series.

‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ will have a major time skip from the original series

The ‘Castlevania’ video game franchise is one of the most popular ones that originated in Japan, and it has kept its popularity, especially with the release of the ‘Castlevania’ Netflix series in 2017.

Of course, the showrunners drew inspiration from the video games, but for the sake of the TV, they developed some unique storylines. Despite that, showrunners still used specific games for their source material, and ‘Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse’ from 1989 is the one that “dominated” the series all four seasons.

Within the game franchise, this 1989 game was set during the hardest era for the vampire hunters, the Belmont Clan. In the 15th century, specifically, 1476 A.D., Count Dracula decides to exterminate humans from Earth, and only Trevor Belmont and his vampire slayer skills can help the world. With Alucard and Sypha, Trevor Belmont slays the Dark Lord and becomes the first man to slay Dracula.

This is the main setting and premise for the ‘Castlevania’ Netflix series, which took most of its elements from the popular ‘Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse’ game from 1989.

Since that chapter closed after the ending of season four of ‘Castlevania,’ Netflix decided to develop another ‘Castlevania’ series, this time set in a different time and with another protagonist.

Richter Belmont is the descendant of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades and the one who continued the “tradition” of his family and clan. ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ will be based, or at least inspired, by the ‘Castlevania: Rondo of Blood’ video game, first released in 1993, which is set in the 18th century, in 1792 A.D.

There is a direct sequel to the game released in 1997, ‘Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,’ which is set five years after the previous installment. This means that if ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ gets another season, we will most likely get some form of storyline inspired by the ‘Symphony of the Night.’

Moreover, the sequel will be set at least 300 years after the ‘Castlevania’ TV series.

Where ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ takes place?

The timeline within the ‘Castlevania’ franchise can be a little confusing for the newer fans since it involves dozens and dozens of games released in the last 30 years. This includes some games being removed from the timeline or something similar due to release cancelations, but it’s safe to say that the settings and timeline of ‘Castlevania’ were officially established – in ‘Konami Magazine’ in 1997.

Since then, the developers, with the main producer of the franchise, Koji Igarashi, established the main timeline and the alternate universe. Of course, the journey of Richter Belmont is canon to the main story, which is set in the 18th century in France, during the major event in history, the French Revolution.

English Monarchy was the setting of ‘Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse’ and the four seasons of ‘Castlevania’ TV series, while France became the main setting of ‘Rondo of Blood’ and ‘Symphony of the Night’ 300 years after Trevor Belmont killed Count Dracula for the first time.

As it mostly is with ‘Castlevania’ games, Count Dracula gets revived multiple times in the franchise by several sets of cultists, religious people, or some kind of followers. In the ‘Rondo of Blood,’ Dark Priest Shaft revives the Dark Lord, who then attacks women from the local town. One of them is Richter Belmont’s fiancée Annette, and Richter immediately finds his loved one. The descendant of the Belmont clan goes on to save Annette but with the help of the mysterious girl, Maria Renard, whose magical powers are useful in the mission to stop Count Dracula from causing an apocalypse in France.

This storyline will most likely feature in the ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ series, and if the first reactions to the trailer don’t say otherwise, it seems that the fans already like how the anime series looks, which might make Netflix give it another season.

‘Castlevania’ is one of those video game franchises with incredible source material that expands over decades and even centuries. Hopefully, we see more content from this storied Japanese video game.

‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ will be released on Netflix across the world, on Thursday, September 28, 2023.

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