Characters are always better when their individuality stands out. Castlevania: Nocturne takes this a step further. Being the spinoff of an already acclaimed series, there were a lot of factors relying on the making of the show that did not include characters coming back or the fact that it was a video game adaptation.
Another thing that was kept in mind was the introduction of a new protagonist. Trevor Belmont would no longer be taking the reigns and instead, Richter Belmont was to rise. Not only was he much younger, but the task came before them not to make him an exact same character or a different version of Trevor. Keeping all these things in mind, it was an entirely new series in an already established world. That is, new elements to play with and more to blend into.
Castlevania: Nocturne Needed a New Approach
What is a character if there is no depth to them? The work of entertainment established two different kinds of characters; flat and round. Those who are flat stand as two-dimensional. They have no depth to them and what is shown is exactly what they stand as. Nothing less and nothing more. However, rounded characters always have more to them. They feel complete and they feel human.
He starts at a low point. He’s just a child and experiences very real trauma very early on and has to go to extended family and survive that. So a lot of his character is oriented around the fact that that’s following him around and he has to deal with it a little bit more directly than he expects to.
During an interview with ComingSoon (via Yahoo! Entertainment), Adam Deats, the director of Castlevania: Nocturne spoke up about how Richter grows as a character. He comes off as someone who is presented to be overconfident at first but grows and matures as the story goes on.
He is a younger character and thus all the experiences and traumas he is forced to face channel through a much younger mind. Unlike Trevor or any other older protagonist, they needed to make him different.
A Specific Goal for a Growing Audience
A coming of age story specifically focuses on the growth of a character, specifically the protagonist. This is also referred to as the bildungsroman. What makes the stories so unique is the fact, that while it reflects the character’s growth and their journey to maturity from a younger mind to one that can see the world not as a black and white ground or through rose-colored glasses.
I think that Trevor’s life in previous seasons is a bit different than that. He’s very much a reluctant hero, and in this case, this is a lot about growing up. I think that’s a bit of a coming of age story in some respect.
What then came about was the thought of showing this exact reality through Richter Belmont’s character. Turning Castlevania: Nocturne and the protagonist’s story into a coming of age tale brought about other aspects into availability. Richter is seen growing up to become a hero and as he faces each challenge, in comes the aspect of relatability.
Through the eyes of a coming of age hero, he also takes on the voice of the audiences watching him. He becomes relatable and reflective of their own desires and bravado. He stands out not just as a protagonist aside from Trevor but also one whose journey is directly tied to one that of gradual maturity.
Castlevania: Nocturne is available to watch on Netflix.
