Why Does Alucard Look Different in ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’?

One of the things that we know about the ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ series is that Alucard returned at the very last moment to save Richter Belmont and all of his other allies from Drolta. Of course, while it was clear that Alucard came to the rescue, fans noticed that he had a different design compared to the original series version of Alucard. So, why does Alucard look different in ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’?

‘Castlevania’ featured a more western art style

One of the things that we know about Netflix is that it has doubled down on video game adaptations. The most successful video game adaptation the streaming giant has ever had (not counting ‘The Witcher) was the original ‘Castlevania’ series, which enjoyed four successful seasons. Of course, we know that the series has a follow-up show in the form of ‘Castlevania: Nocturne.’

The storyline of ‘Nocturne’ follows Richter Belmont, who lives in an era more than 300 years after the events of the original series. As such, the story is now entirely different compared to the one that the original ‘Castlevania’ series had. But while that may be true, we were quick to see that there was a return of a familiar character in the form of Alucard, who we know is the son of Dracula.

Alucard, of course, has a different art style than the one we met in the original series. This was something that was clearly shown in ‘Nocturne.’ However, while fans noticed differences in how the characters were designed in ‘Nocturne,’ the difference became more apparent when Alucard’s appearance was very different from what we were used to in the original series.

The original Alucard had golden blonde hair, whereas the ‘Nocturne’ version had whitish-blonde hair. The one in the ‘Castlevania’ series also has sharper facial features compared to the rounder features of the one in ‘Nocturne.’ Of course, the art style differences could also be seen in how the characters in ‘Nocturne’ don’t come with the same looks that the main characters of ‘Castlevania’ had.

It is important to note that the creators and animators of both shows are different. While they are both under the same Netflix banner, Warren Ellis helmed ‘Castlevania,’ whereas Clive Bradley was in charge of ‘Castlevania: Nocturne.’ The original series was animated by Mua Film and Tiger Animation, whereas DR Movie handled ‘Nocturne.’

In that regard, it is easy to see why the art styles tend to be quite different from one another. The original series had a more Western appeal to its art style, considering it was looking to attract Western fans. Of course, the storyline does take place in Europe.

On the other hand, ‘Nocturne’ has an art style that is actually closer to Asian animation because the characters tend to have rounder facial features compared to the original series because ‘Castlevania’ is a game series that Konami, a Japanese video game firm, developed.

That said, the differences in the design and art style are there. As such, it is completely understandable why ‘Nocturne’ departed from the art style that was used in the original series to create its own identity. And because Alucard has been the only character to appear in both shows so far, it is easier to see how different his design is compared to the one in the first ‘Castlevania’ series.

‘Nocturne’ pays tribute to Ayami Kojima

Of course, fans of the ‘Castlevania’ games would quickly notice that Alucard doesn’t look different in ‘Nocturne.’ In fact, the Alucard in the original ‘Castlevania’ animated series is the one that looks different. We are talking about the fact that Alucard’s video game design is closer to the one we saw in ‘Nocturne’ as opposed to the original show.

This means that the first ‘Castlevania’ series was the one that had a different Alucard design compared to the one that some fans were able to see in the video games that featured Alucard. And Alucard was designed by Ayami Kojima.

Kojima was the one who came up with the Alucard look that was prominently used in ‘Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,’ which was released in 1997 and was primarily focused on Alucard as the main playable character. Since then, Kojima has worked on the character designs of most of the ‘Castlevania’ characters, including the ones that we saw in ‘Harmony of Dissonance,’ ‘Aria of Sorrow,’ ‘Lament of Innocence,’ and ‘Grimoire of Souls.’

The one we saw in ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ is quite similar to Ayami Kojima’s design of Alucard in ‘Symphony of the Night.’ Of course, in ‘Symphony of the Night,’ the blonde coloration of the hair is much more defined but not as golden as the one in the ‘Castlevania’ animated series. Meanwhile, the one in ‘Nocturne’ has whitish-blonde hair. Still, this design pays tribute to the Alucard that Kojima designed.

This can be quite surprising because we did see that almost all of the characters in ‘Nocturne’ have unique designs compared to the ones we saw in Kojima’s work. Only Alucard and Maria seem quite close to Kojima’s depiction of these characters in the video games. But Alucard’s design is the one that’s closer to the video game version of the character. And fans would quickly notice this because ‘Symphony of the Night’ has always been ranked as the best and most popular ‘Castlevania’ game.

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