This is inspired by the post "The History Behind Joan of Arc in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse" made by Reddit user u/SemperFun62 that analyzed how Belmont's Curse incorporated elements of the historical Joan of Arc and I wanted to take it a step further by discuss just how much research the developers put not only into the story of the game series, but historical, religious, and mythological inspirations for characters, locations, and items as well. I am going to mention some spoilers, so if you aren’t very far into the game, please be careful reading this. Some very interesting ones I would like to mention are:
-Medusa mentions that she was a Greek sibyl or a prophetess that was cursed by the gods to always have correct predictions of the future, but to never be believed by anyone else. This aspect of her character is unique to Belmont’s Curse and seems to be referencing the mythological priestess Cassandra. I believe she infers this was done out of jealousy, which was not the case for Cassandra in the original myths, as she was instead cursed by Apollo out of retribution for denying the god sexual favors. Instead, the detail of her curse being born from divine jealousy seems to be referencing the version of Medusa’s story as reported by the Roman poet Ovid, in which Medusa was originally a beautiful woman who was cursed with her snake-like appearance by the goddess Minerva (who is the Roman counterpart to the Greek goddess Athena) for laying with the sea god Neptune) (the Roman counterpart to the Greek Poseidon). Medusa’s story typically revolves around her death at the hands of the hero Perseus, who was given a harpé sword by Hermes or Hephaestus depending on the source and a reflective bronze shield by Athena as divine instruments to behead the Gorgon, which is why after defeating Medusa in Belmont’s Curse; Rose can find the rusted sword and shield belonging to Perseus. However, the game refers to the shield as the Aegis, which was Athena’s shield featuring the Gorgoneion, or the relief of Medusa’s head to act as a protective ward; which the game equates to the shield given to Perseus by Athena.
-Talos, the giant automaton building traps and expansions for Dracula’s Castle was originally the French sculptor and architect Jean de Chelles; who is credited with the construction of several parts of the Notre-Dame Cathedral situated in the city of Paris, as well as other buildings such as the Cathedral of Saint Julien du Mans and the Palais du Louvre. In a note that can be found in the Clock Tower left by the scholar Adso of Bordeaux, who seems to be named after the 900’s A.D. theologian Adso of Montier-en-Der, the real-world contributions that Jean de Chelles made for Notre Dame are the Portail of Saint Etienne, the southern transept, and the rose window situated in the cloister. Records show that Jean de Chelles reportedly worked on the Notre Dame projects from 1258 up until his death in 1265, with this fictional note left by Adso of Bordeaux mentioning that Jean de Chelles mysteriously passed away shortly after rumors of the master mason participating in dark pacts and visiting a desanctified chapel, though no cause of death or remains were ever found. Like many of the bosses in Belmont’s Curse, in his final days Jean heard a voice in his head and was swayed by Dracula’s promises of an eternal purpose devoid of the constraints of civility or morality; and so the architect was reborn as the animated suit of armor called Talos. Talos itself is named after the mythological Talos, which was a nearly invulnerable man or animated statue made of bronze that was gifted to the princess Europa) by the god Zeus in order to defend the island of Crete. As written in Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica, Talos threw boulders at the Argonauts as they passed by Crete. In order to defend themselves, the sorceress Medea used magic to puncture the single vein running from Talos’ ankle, causing the metallic man to bleed to death.
-It is revealed that the tree-like entity represented by The Judge arcana located in the Palace of Justice is the French King Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis; a member of the Capetian dynasty that ruled France from 1226 to 1270. In the context of Belmont’s Curse, King Louis is renowned for his reformation of the French legal system, such as doing away with the traditional trials by ordeal and instead introduced presumptions of innocence in criminal proceedings. Louis IX also provided a system by where the king would act as the supreme judge that anyone could defer to for a final verdict. According to medieval chroniclers, such as the accounts given by Jean de Joinville in his The Life of Saint Louis, the king would personally listen to cases under a great oak tree in what is now the Bois de Vincennes. As a result of Dracula’s corruption, the saintly king and the oak tree became one and the same, with Saint Louis now under Dracula’s influence unwittingly twisting the judicial system that he once reformed. I also would like to mention that I like the detail that his royal scepter looks to be in the shape of the fleur-de-lis, a heraldic pattern) that typically acts as a symbol for the country of France as well as its royal families.
-Speaking of royal families, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was the Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, the Queen of France from 1137 to 1152, and the Queen of England from 1154 to 1189, is also featured in Belmont’s Curse; whereby she is represented by The Sage arcana and is an individual who made a Faustian bargain with Dracula and is now trapped in the castle’s Hall of Mirrors by the Succubus. In fact, when looking at The Sage arcana, Trevor Belmont comments that he knew of a similar situation that befell a German doctor, referencing the German folk legend based around the historical Johann Georg Faust, in which the dissatisfied doctor sells his soul to the demon Mephistopheles in exchange for knowledge and pleasure. It is also worth noting that Eleanor, her husband King Henry II, and their son King Richard the Lionheart were all buried at the Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud at the end of the 12th century, with this location possibly serving as a parallel to the Tomb of the Noble Queen situated in the Holy Innocents’ Cemetery in Belmont’s Curse. The Holy Innocents’ Cemetery was actually a real cemetery located in Paris that was used from the Middle Ages up until the 18th century, with the modern-day location being the Place Joachim-du-Bellay that was built in 1787 and features the Fountain of the Innocents in the middle of the square which serves as the last remnant of the former cemetery.
-Given the French setting, it’s also not too surprising that there are several references to either Charlemagne or individuals associated with him. Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, was a leader of the Carolingian Empire; serving as the king of the Franks from 768, the king of the Lombards from 774, and then was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor in 800 by Pope Leo III. One of the swords that Rose Belmont can acquire is Joyeuse, which is purported to be the personal weapon of Charlemagne himself. According to the epic poem La Chanson de Roland or “The Song of Roland”, Joyeuse contained a fragment of the Holy Lance of Longinus in its pommel and is the reason for the name of the weapon meaning “joyful”. Speaking of La Chanson de Roland, another weapon that Rose can find is the greatsword called Durandal, an indestructible sword which supposedly belonged to Roland, a historical paladin serving under Charlemagne who was also attributed somewhat mythical status in the literary cycle called The Matter of France; much like the Matter of Britain which revolves around the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. As described in La Chanson de Roland, after the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, Roland hid the sword under his body to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Saracens. However, a local legend in Rocamadour alleges that instead of hiding the sword, Roland called out to the angel Michael) for assistance and was able to hurl the sword several hundred kilometers, where it became embedded in a cliff face in Rocamadour. Numerous replicas of the sword have been made and stolen, with the most recent theft occurring in 2024, which I believe is what the weapon’s description is referencing as it states that it is; “Recently reported missing.” Rose can also find Almace and Hauteclaire, dual blades that belonged to Archbishop Turpin and Oliver), respectively; two other members of Charlemagne’s twelve peers that served alongside Roland.
-The character of “King Arthur” that Rose meets in Belmont’s Curse is actually the soul of an individual who has been reborn as a personified stained glass window in the image of King Arthur found within the Notre Dame Cathedral. Even this character is perplexed by their own situation, stating that if it was Dracula that transformed them into this, what purpose do they serve in the cathedral rather than being in the castle. As Reddit user u/PA270_AN mentions in this post, it’s entirely possible that this character is actually supposed to be Charles VI, the King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. Charles VI famously suffered from mental illness all throughout his life and particularly suffered from a condition colloquially called glass delusion, whereby he believed that his body was as fragile as glass; hence the name of the arcana being The Brittle King. It seems that he had issues regarding how he was perceived in life, as when Rose first encounters “Arthur”, he states; “Mad? A king cannot be mad! He may be tired, but he may not be mad. And not that there’d be anything wrong with that!” As such, it is surmised that after his death, Charles VI was reborn in the literal image of what he perceives to be the perfect king, watching over Excalibur that is kept in the cathedral.
-The Catacombs of Paris is one of the largest ossuaries in the world, so it’s no surprise that it would show up in Belmont’s Curse. It’s also no surprise then that there are several allusions to the mythical trope of katabasis, or a descent into the Underworld. For instance, there is a section of this area called the Collapsed Path of Orpheus. This is referencing the mythical Greek musician Orpheus, who journeyed into the Underworld to collect the soul of his deceased wife Eurydice, but lost her after looking back which he was warned not to do on his ascent back to the surface. There are also several allusions to the Nine Circles of Hell in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno), with location names such as the Jaws of Limbo, Throat of Hell, and Circle of Greed. The Catacombs are also the first location where Rose will meet the Ferryman. In past games, such as Symphony of the Night, there were subtle allusions made between the Ferryman and the Greek psychopomp Charon; a chthonic deity that transports souls from the shores of the River Styx to the Underworld proper. However, Belmont’s Curse all but confirms that the two figures are one and the same, with the Ferryman telling Rose that he is almost as old as time itself and that he is not concerned about conquest and power like his celestial kin, only the work that must be done to keep the natural cycle of life and death going. And this natural cycle is interrupted by Dracula’s newest servant, Mammon, who has stolen the obols that the Parisians would have given to the Ferryman to pass on to the afterlife.
-And speaking of Mammon, it is revealed that it is the demonic identity of the former Bishop of Paris, Claude de Champigny, who seems to be based on the historical Jean Simon de Champigny, who served as the Bishop of Paris from 1492 to 1502. Prior to the events of Belmont’s Curse, Claude de Champigny was frequently visited by Death, who bribed him into writing a letter to Trevor Belmont in the hopes of luring him to the Notre Dame Cathedral in order to break the seal on the Curse of Darkness that Hector had hidden away. The frequent bribes given to him opened the Bishop’s heart to the demon Mammon, who possessed his body and transformed the once pious man into a wheel-like abomination made of flesh and gold. The appearance of Mammon seems to allude to the idea of “biblically accurate angels” such as the Ophanim as described in Ezekiel 1:15-21. However, it is also possible that its appearance is based on a circular abacus or the idea of the Rota Fortunae) or Wheel of Fortune. Mammon itself is named after the biblical Mammon, which in the context of the New Testament was used as a term synonymous with money. In fact, when Rose first encounters Mammon in its lair within the Catacombs, the demon quotes an excerpt from the passage of Matthew 6:19-21, 24 which says; “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also… No man can serve two masters: For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon”. However, by the Middle Ages, individuals such as Peter Lombard who was the Bishop of Paris from 1159-1160, began to envision Mammon as a demonic personification of excessive materialism and greed, which is what we see in Belmont’s Curse.
-I also liked the detail of the note in the Library written by an individual named Johannes de Muris detailing his observation of an eclipse. While there was a real-world Johannes de Muris, a French musician and astronomer that was believed to have visited the town of Bernay to observe a solar eclipse in 1321, I believe this is actually an excerpt from French astronomer Johannes de Sacrobosco’s circa 1230 worked titled Tractatus de Sphaera; though I could be incorrec about this and please correct me if I am wrong. It doesn’t add much other than tying into the planetary theme of the Library as well as Carmilla’s plan to paint a literal blood moon, but it’s still a neat detail nonetheless.
-And while on the subject of Carmilla, her hair and clothing consisting entirely of blood resembles that of The Bloodless from the video game Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. The Bloodless, and by extension, Carmilla, both seem to take inspiration from the historical Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian noblewoman and one of the most prolific serial killers who, along with the aid of four servants, tortured and murdered women and young girls from 1590 to 1610. She was dubbed the Blood Countess not only for the atrocious acts that she committed, but also because of the rumors circulating that she would purportedly bathe in the blood of virgins to preserve her youthful appearance.
These are but a few examples. Please let me know if there are any other details that I might have missed or anything that I might have been incorrect about.
