Castlevania: Bloodlines


- Time Period: 1917
- Main Hero: John Morris
- Antagonist: Liz Bartley, Dracula

The lone Genesis entry though made in the mid-90's represents the first and last of the more modern additions to the legacy. Bloodlines blends together the Castlevania universe and the novel Bram Stoker's Dracula and tells us the tale of the Morris family.

More than a half-century later, Dracula made his inevitable return. In the Belmonts' continued absence, which by this point had extended well beyond what was only to be a 100-year separation between itself and reclamation of the Vampire Killer, the mystic arsenal had been passed on from the Schneiders to the Morrises, yet another of blood relation to the Belmonts. Dracula's reign was this time ended when he was defeated by Quincy Morris, who stabbed the Dark Lord through the heart with a wooden stake and sent him back to his resting place. Because the pain endured was so great, Quincy died moments later. Unbeknownst to Quincy, two youths--his son, John Morris, and John's friend Eric Lecarde--were watching the encounter from the shadows and witnessed his act of bravery. The scene changed their lives forever, and as they grew older, the two swore to honor his memory, to rid this planet of the evil creatures of the underworld.

Twenty years later, in the ruins of Castlevania, an amateur witch named Drolta Tzuentes was dabbling in arcane magic when she inadvertently cast a spell that resurrected to this world Elisabeth Bartley, a regal countess and the very niece of Count Dracula. Back in 1421, Elisabeth was found kneeling over a man whose neck showcased two puncture wounds; she was tried as a vampire and executed immediately thereafter. Now undead, thanks to Drolta's magic, Elisabeth was hell bent on extracting revenge of humankind by reviving her dead uncle, who would no doubt be willing to participate in the fun. Elizabeth plotted to dig up his corpse and cart it over to England, from where she would prepare for his return. Before doing so, she would travel around the world and enlist the services of evil and its dark forces; with the assistance of such a huge cast of supporters, she would be able to create diversions all over the globe, starting with a freshly risen Castlevania, which would lure any heroes who would dare to try to thwart this plan. How would she initiate it?

On the surface, Europe was in a state of peace after the banishment of Count Dracula. This changed when in 1914 at Sarajevo, the Crown Prince of Austria was assassinated; it was said that a strange beautiful woman was involved within the shadows. The woman, Bartley, used the controversy and emotion surrounding the event to conduct an unholy ceremony, which corrupted many minds and started what became known as World War I. Harnessing the souls of the war's victims, Bartley was able to make true her wish to raise Castlevania from the depths. It was now time to carry out the next phases in Operation: Resurrect Daracula.

Bartley's plan was at first foolproof, her assumption correct: John Morris and Eric Lecarde, now warriors in their own respect, were drawn to the castle and knew immediately that Dracula's return could be imminent; it was in their best interest, with that knowledge, to put a halt to Bartley's macabre objective. John took hold of the Vampire Killer whip and the famous weapons and started to proceed when Eric stepped in and made a proposition: He volunteered to take John's place in the battle due to the plight of recent events (in her rampage, Bartley had turned the love of his life, Gwendolyn, into a vampire, ending her life as she knew it and the happy couple's plans along with it). John refused the offer but vowed to fight with his friend's agenda present in heart and mind. Eric, satisfied with this course of action, would instead stand on the sidelines and cheer on his friend's efforts, wanting nothing more than for John to end Bartley's evil plan in return.

With all bases covered, Bartley began the unholy ritual that would revive the Count's decaying corpse. The many monsters stationed around the world, starting with Drolta's mechanized knight that had taken control of Castlevania, did their job well in decoying John and slowing down his progress. After defeating the knight and ending Drolta's involvement, he followed the monsters' trail, traveling to Greece, to Italy, to Germany, and to France before finally arriving in England and more specifically to the Castle Proserpina, where the ritual was being held. Death, Medusa and other familiar faces did their damnedest to preserve the ritual, and the final obstacle, a battle with Bartley herself, only served to buy them more time. By the time John finished off the vengeful countess, it was too late: Dracula was back, his strength fully restored. A final staircase brought John to the castle's throne room, where the Prince of Darkness was all too eager to tangle once more with a member of the family he despised.

The battle was epic, a struggle unlike any other, but the bloodline was still strong--John was successful in his goal to remove Dracula from this world and garner revenge on behalf of his friend. Thereafter, John escaped from the castle and, fittingly, watched from a seaside mountain as the castle crumbled to the ground.

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