The Castlevania Timeline, Explained
Castlevania's official chronology was first sketched in Konami Magazine in 1997 as an internal reference for Symphony of the Night's developers, then accidentally leaked — and fans have maintained it ever since. Here is the whole saga, era by era, including where the new game's protagonist Rose Belmont lands.
The Structure: One Family vs. One Vampire
The entire timeline is a single long war between the Belmont clan and Dracula (born Mathias Cronqvist). Each era is a generation of Belmont — or, twice, a substitute bloodline — answering Dracula's resurrection. The whip ("Vampire Killer") passes down the family; so does the job.
Era by Era
| Year | Era / Game | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1094 | Leon Belmont — Lament of Innocence | The Vampire Killer whip is forged from a sacrificed soul; Leon's friend Mathias becomes Dracula, beginning the feud. |
| 1476 | Trevor Belmont — Dracula's Curse | The Church hires the exiled Belmonts. Trevor + Sypha + Grant + Alucard destroy Dracula. Sypha marries Trevor. |
| 1479 | Hector — Curse of Darkness | Aftermath cleanup; the forgemaster Hector ends Isaac's scheme. |
| ~1499 | Rose Belmont — Belmont's Curse (2026) | The new game: set 23 years after Dracula's Curse, with Trevor's descendant Rose as the first female Belmont lead. This stretch of the timeline was previously empty. |
| 1576–1591 | Christopher & Soleil — The Adventure / Belmont's Revenge | The Game Boy generations; the "once every 100 years" resurrection legend is born. |
| 1691–1698 | Simon Belmont — Castlevania / Simon's Quest | Simon beats Dracula, inherits a curse, burns the scattered remains to break it. |
| 1748 | Juste Belmont — Harmony of Dissonance | Simon's grandson; friend Maxim corrupted by Dracula's relics. |
| 1792–1797 | Richter Belmont / Alucard — Rondo of Blood / Symphony of the Night | Richter wins but is cursed; Alucard awakens, saves Richter, defeats his father, and walks into the sunset with Maria. |
| 1800s | Shanoa — Order of Ecclesia | The Belmonts vanish; the Ecclesia order and glyph-bearer Shanoa hold the line. |
| 1917 / 1944 | Morris clan — Bloodlines / Portrait of Ruin | With Belmonts absent, the whip passes to the Morris family for both World Wars. |
| 1999 | Julius Belmont — (the battle never shown in a game) | Julius permanently kills Dracula and seals the castle inside a solar eclipse — the series' most referenced off-screen event. |
| 2035–2036 | Soma Cruz — Aria / Dawn of Sorrow | Dracula reincarnates as a kind high-school student who refuses the throne. |
What's Canon and What Isn't
- Main canon: the table above — Lament of Innocence through Dawn of Sorrow.
- Removed from canon: Castlevania Legends (Sonia Belmont) was retroactively excluded.
- Side placements: Circle of the Moon and the N64 games sit outside the official 1997 chart (dates approximate).
- Separate continuity: the Lords of Steel-style reboot trilogy Lords of Shadow (2010–2014), and the Netflix animated series (which is its own adaptation of Dracula's Curse onward).
- New, 2026: Belmont's Curse slots into the main canon, 23 years after Dracula's Curse — the first mainline canon entry in the timeline since 2008.
Why the 23-Years-Later Choice Matters
Dracula's Curse ended with Trevor and Sypha's marriage — the merger of Belmont muscle and Belnades magic that defines every later generation. A story set one generation later (Rose would plausibly be Trevor and Sypha's descendant) can draw on both bloodlines, the Alucard alliance, and the political fallout of the Church's debt to an exiled family. It's the richest untapped gap in the whole timeline — and it's exactly where KONAMI and Evil Empire pointed the new game.