Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
- Time Period: 1844
- Main Hero: Cornell
- Antagonist: Ortega, Count Dracula

Though presented as part-remake, the second N64 entry holds practically the same relevance as its predecessor. However, Legacy's focus is more on the importance of Cornell, whose quest leads up to the subsequent adventures of the future Carrie and Reinhardt.

About fourteen years later, early proceedings began by a trio (Death, Gilles De Rais and Actrise) to raise Count Dracula from the grave, and they would do this by sacrificing a human woman to the spirits of chaos. About this time, a young man named Cornell was on his way home from severe ascetic training. When he arrived at the village limits, his heart stopped as he found that the village had been burned to the ground by the forces of evil. More urgently, his sister, Ada, had been kidnapped by an unseen assailant. Cornell, aided by his man-beast powers that allowed him to transform into a werewolf, set out to rescue his sister from whomever or whatever it was that kidnapped his sister and destroyed his village.

During his journey, it was revealed to him that his sister would be used as part of that human sacrifice to once again raise Count Dracula. What Cornell was more shocked to learn was that his close friend, Ortega, a fellow man-beast, was responsible for torching the village, kidnapping Ada, and delivering her to the trio; to verify his actions, Ortega intervened several times to antagonize Cornell. In their more recent history, Cornell had defeated Ortega in a "friendly" contest to see which of the two was superior amongst the man-beasts, and he did this by showcasing his unique ability: In its history, he was the only member of the order who could break the man-beast seal and release his beast form, able to switch between the two states as he so pleased. The man-beasts had long ago sealed away this power when they sought to live in harmony with the humans. Ortega was always jealous of Cornell's propensity, and his defeat in their friendly contest was the straw that pushed him over the edge. Despite Ortega's interference, Cornell endured; he slaughtered all foes in his path, he saved a few lives along the way (mainly that of Henry Oldrey, who would one day grow up to become a suited church knight), and he finally reached the castle's heights.

At the top of a tower, Ortega arrived to lay down a challenge. With the assistance of Dracula's dark magic, he, too, could now break the seal, and he transformed into a large chimera and attacked vigorously. Still, it wouldn't be enough to stop what was a determined Cornell, and his defeat was imminent. While in defeat Ortega's burden thus ended, he wouldn't apologize for his actions; he could only accept what he had done--that is, accept what he was--and instead offer a newfound respect for his former friend. Though shaken by the encounter, Cornell's mission was not over: He now knew who was behind this plot, and the castle keep was now his only destination.

He entered into the throne room to find the Count waiting for him. The two locked horns in an inevitable duel. When Dracula finished testing the limits of Cornell's powers, realizing his adversary worthy, he employed a stall tactic by attempting to attack Cornell's psyche through a series of taunts. Mainly, Dracula knew of a secret that Cornell had been trying to hide for many years--that Ada was not his sister by blood; rather, she was adopted as his sister when found as a survivor of the war fought between the humans and the man-beasts.

Cornell refused to be blinded by hatred and burdening half-truths, and the battle with Dracula's true, more powerful form was his only escape. After defeating the Dark Lord, Cornell watched helplessly as Ada was quickly encapsulated within a crystal, of which Dracula grabbed a hold with the intent of dragging it down into the underworld with his submerging body. For Cornell, there was only one option: Harnessing all of his strength, he projected forward his werewolf form--its very essence separating itself from Cornell--in order to smash the crystal and thus save his sister; therein, the wolf form was effectively substituted as her replacement. With his sister in his arms, he hastily escaped from the castle. Though he would never be the same, Cornell had triumphed.

That night, as he, Ada and Henry Oldrey warmed themselves by a fire, Cornell reflected on his trials, and the Count's words continued to echo in his head. Ada had to know the truth, he felt, but the words escaped him. He stumbled and stuttered, looking for the words, but he repeatedly came up empty. Then it happened: As he started to speak, Ada interrupted--"It doesn't matter if we're blood relatives, together we can do anything!" she proclaimed. "How did you know?" Cornell asked. Though she would give no explanation, her mere words and expression were enough for Cornell to find his peace.

What Cornell was blind to was one unfortunate detail: After Dracula's defeat, Death and Actrise were able to extract the crystal, which held Cornell's wolf form, from the underworld. Using the wolf form, a power more enormous than they could realize, they were able to use it as a true sacrifice to the spirits, to ensure that Dracula would be reborn into a new body--this one especially gifted with a violin. In essence, Cornell was only able to buy the future heroes few precious years before the inevitable, real re-rising of the Count. Unwittingly, he had contributed to what was Dracula and the trio's plan all along.

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