Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy is a licensed Castlevania comic book series by IDW Publishing in 2005. The 5-issue-long story is a loose adaptation of Castlevania: The Adventure from the Game Boy, and as such, it's considered a stand-alone continuity and non-canon with the rest of the original timeline.
It follows Christopher Belmont, a descendant of the famed vampire hunter family who is on the eve of marrying his betrothed Illyana. However, on the night of his wedding, the evil vampire Count Dracula is resurrected by a group of evil cultists after being dead for a hundred years. Being a sworn enemy of the Belmonts, he make his presence known by desecrating his family's cemetery and alerting everyone of his presence. Christopher is thrust into the fight against Dracula accompanied by his loyal butler Deimos and the Totoyan family, the safekeepers of the Belmont's heirloom whip, the Vampire Killer, and now he must fulfill his family's legacy once more.
This comic contains examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Pascha Totoyan is a skilled fighter capable of dispatching vampires with just butter knives and catching an arrow midair. Illyana tries, too, but she is a Faux Action Girl instead.
- Adaptational Villainy: Dracula is portrayed as completely evil while his game counterpart is a Tragic Villain with multiple redeeming qualities.
- Battle Butler: Deimos is this to Christopher, ready to fight by his side with a crossbow in hand.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Dracula's brides as seen on Christopher's nightmare.
- Body Horror: Happens to Viktor after being turned into a vampire. Since he was bitten and had his body thrown from a great height, he emerges with his limbs completely twisted and broken from the fall. And as if that wasn't bad enough, his face is burned with a crucifix being pressed against his eye.
- Canon Foreigner: Pretty much all characters except Christopher and Dracula. However, special mention goes to the Totoyan family, who are guardians of the Vampire Killer, as there is no mention of such clan in the original games.
- Catapult Nightmare: The comic opens with Christopher Belmont having one, as he dreams with Dracula and his brides kidnapping his son and him arriving too late to see him turned into a vampire.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Sona towards Dracula. After he makes it clear he is not interested in her, she tries to kill Illyana while she is imprisoned in his hideout.
- Dark Mistress: Subverted with Sona, who provides Dracula with carnal pleasure, but he makes it clear that she is his servant and not his bride.
- Dying as Yourself: Both Viktor and Gaspar revert to their normal selves shortly before crumbling to ash when they are killed.
- The End... Or Is It?: Dracula is seemingly destroyed by Christopher in the end, the day is saved, and Pascha is adopted by the Belmonts. Six months later, we see Illyana heavily pregnant with Christopher's child and the final panel shows her baby with red vampiric eyes, as Dracula had earlier forced her to drink his blood, indicating that his essence is still alive inside of her.
- Establishing Character Moment: Ivan Bartley and his niece Sona get each their own to show readers that they were up to no good:
- Ivan chides Illyana for marrying Belmont, saying that they are a diluted family and says that when the true lord of Romania returns, the streets will run red with Belmont blood. It's quickly established that he and his family are Dracula's cultists.
- Sona gets hers when she steps on a Holy Mary statue that Illyana bought and mocks her for playing with "children toys". Also doubles as Bitch Alert.
- Evil Redhead: Sona Bartley.
- Faux Action Girl: Illyana dresses up appropriately to accompany her husband in the hunt for Dracula and even shows her proficiency by throwing a knife at a man mocking her. However, Christopher tells her to stay back for her own protection and he ends up being proven right when her attempt at following them attracts Dracula's attention, who becomes smitten with her, and it also leads to Viktor and subsequently, his grandfather Gaspar, being turned into vampires.
- Faux Affably Evil: Dracula has the same refined mannerisms as his game counterpart, but here they're only a mask for the vile monster beneath. He provides the current trope pape image for a reason.
- Feuding Families: The Belmonts and the Bartleys, who were faithful servants of Dracula and anticipate his return.
- Full-Frontal Assault:
- Other than a nightmare scene, Dracula appears buck naked during the entire comic.
- Sona Bartley herself towards the end of the comic, appears naked as well as covered in scars for unknown reason when trying to attack a chained Illyana.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Gaspar sacrifices his humanity to become a vampire by letting his vampirized grandson bite him so he can form a mental link with Dracula which will lead the heroes to his hideout.
- Holy Burns Evil: A cross can burn a vampire upon contact and their scars will remain. Only after they are killed can we see their human form healed just before they crumble to ash.
- Human Sacrifice: The Bartleys use the blood of two Belmont guards to fuel Dracula's resurrection. When that isn't enough, they command their own servants to sacrifice themselves to complete the ritual.
- Monster Modesty: Despite being naked for most of the comic, Dracula doesn't display his private parts while in his humanoid bat form.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Bartleys share the same surname as Elizabeth Bartley from Castlevania: Bloodlines, a female vampire responsible for resurrecting Dracula.
- Christopher having a nightmare where his son is turned into a vampire is a reference to Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, where his son is brainwashed by Dracula and turned into his minion (fortunately, he can be saved).
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Pascha Totoyan is totally Kate Beckinsale's character from Van Helsing, like... It wasn't even subtle.
- Retcanon: Ivan Bartley was made canon in one version
of the official timeline - Sexual Karma: Christopher and Illyana passionately consummate in their nuptials, while Sona provides sexual services to Dracula, who is otherwise unfeeling and cold.
- The Sociopath: This version of Dracula lacks the humanizing traits of his game counterpart, being a cold-hearted, power-hungry killer.
- Staking the Loved One: Pascha is forced to kill her brother and her grandfather after they were turned into vampires.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Subverted. Christopher tells Illyana to stay in their mansion while he and his companions go confront Dracula. However, it had nothing to do with her being a woman, given that one of his allies was Pascha, and more with him being concerned with her safety. Unfortunately, due to her not hearing his advice and going to fight Dracula on her own, she gets captured and Viktor, who was accompanying her, gets turned into a vampire.
- Transhuman Treachery: One bite from a vampire without holy water to cauterize the wound in time and you turn into a sadistic, evil bastard, as seen with Gaspar and Viktor.
- Villainous Crush: Upon eyeing Illyana, Dracula instantly declares that she will become his bride.
- Villainous Incest: After being turned into a vampire, Viktor lusts after his own sister Pascha and wants to turn her into his concubine.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Ivan Bartley simply vanishes from the story after his niece uses her blood to restore Dracula to his full health.
