Alucard (Castlevania) - Conception and Design

Conception and Design

Alucard first debuted in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse for the Nintendo Entertainment System, where he was designed by T. Fujimoto and I. Urata. He was intended to be a mirror image of his father, as evidenced by his name, his father's name spelled backwards. Much of the original artwork for the game was lost during the Great Hanshin earthquake. Alucard's subsequent appearances would largely be designed by Ayami Kojima, who managed the character designs for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.

Kojima's work in Symphony of the Night was her first breakthrough into the gaming industry, and her dark, gothic style borrows heavily from bishōnen-style art. In Aria of Sorrow, Kojima's designs followed the "different route" theme that producer Koji Igarashi was attempting to pursue with Aria of Sorrow by placing it in a futuristic setting. Following this theme, Alucard's appearance as Genya Arikado was made much more contemporary, featuring modern attire as versus the medieval appearance of previous Castlevania characters. Kojima was not present in the design team for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and Arikado, along with the rest of the cast, were drawn in an anime style. Igarashi, also the producer of Dawn of Sorrow, wished to utilize the anime style as a marketing technique due to his belief that the Nintendo DS targeted a younger audience than previous Castlevania games had. The anime style would also serve as a litmus test as to whether future Castlevania games would incorporate the style.