Video game adaptations are notoriously difficult to make, but one of the best examples to ever come out of the genre is Netflix’s Castlevania in 2017. And now, the series returns with a new Belmont, new monsters, and a new big bad that threatens to destroy everything. Castlevania: Nocturne picks up 300 years after the end of the original Castlevania and follows one of Trevor and Sypha’s descendants.
It’s late 18th century France, and revolution is sweeping the nation. At the heart of the aristocracy’s counter-revolution lies the mysterious Vampire Messiah, a powerful being who promises to crush the resistance and enslave humanity. Richter Belmont, son of Julia Belmont and the last in the family line, must fight alongside the revolutionaries to defeat the vampires and save the world.
Richter Belmont (Edward Bluemel)
Richter is the last descendant of the Belmont line. After witnessing the death of his mother, Julia, at the hands of vampire Olrox, the young Belmont temporarily loses his innate magical abilities. But being a vampire hunter is in Richter’s blood, and he comes to master the famed Belmont whip.
Thanks to a chance encounter with a previously unknown relative, Richter finds it in his heart to work past the trauma that’s shaped him and instead use his power to fight for the innocent. With whip and magic in hand, Richter is prepared to end the vampire menace in France and save the world from the apocalypse.
Richter is voiced by Edward Bluemel, a British actor best known for his role as Marcus Whitmore in the TV fantasy romance A Discovery of Witches and as Hugo Turner in the spy thriller Killing Eve. Bluemel might also already be familiar to video game fans; the actor voiced and mo-capped Jeff Whitman in the fourth installment in The Devil in Me, the fourth installment in The Dark Pictures Anthology.
Maria Renard (Pixie Davies)
Fighting for France’s freedom alongside Richter is Maria Renard, the young revolutionary and mage who grew up with Belmont. While Maria’s video game counterpart in Rondo was cutesy and innocent, Castlevania: Nocturne’s Maria is a competent fighter and natural leader. She’s courageous and fiercely loyal to her friends and her country, stopping at nothing to rid France of the scourge of vampire elites. Maria is a powerful mage who regularly summons animal familiars to assist in battle.
Maria is voiced by British actress Pixie Davies. Davies made her film debut at age seven in the supernatural thriller Out of the Dark. Three years later, Davies played the superhumanly strong Bronwyn Brown in Tim Burton’s adaptation of Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children. Most, though, will likely recognize Davies for her role in Mary Poppins Returns as Annabel Banks.
Annette (Thuso Mbedu)
Differing quite heavily from her video game counterpart, Nocturne’s Annette is a powerful force to be reckoned with. In Rondo of Blood, Annette is Richter’s girlfriend, a damsel in distress whom he must save from Dracula’s clutches. In Nocturne, Annette is an impressive sorceress who can stand up for herself in battle. Using her power and wit, Annette escaped enslavement in French vampire-occupied Haiti with the help of her best friend, Edouard. Unlike Maria’s magic, Annette’s manifests as a control over earth and metal; she’s also quite fierce with her twin swords.
Voicing Annette in Nocturne is South African actress Thuso Mbedu. After starring in the South African teen drama Is’Thunzi, Mbedu made the jump to Hollywood. In 2021, the actress starred in Amazon Prime Video’s The Underground Railroad as Cora Randall, making her the first South African actress to ever star in a U.S. TV show. Her first (and, as of writing, only) film credit came in 2022, when Mbedu costarred opposite Viola Davis in the historical epic, The Woman King.
Edouard (Sydney James Harcourt)
Fighting for France’s freedom alongside Annette is her is the opera singer Edouard. After Annette freed herself from the plantation where she was enslaved, she took refuge with Edouard and a group of other escaped slaves known as the Maroons. Together, they take down the island’s oppressors and free those enslaved before Edouard and Annette’s journey to France to find Richter.
Stage and screen actor Sydney James Harcourt voices Edouard. On TV, Harcourt has appeared in shows such as Blue Bloods, NCIS: New Orleans, and Elementary. The actor, though, might be better known for his time on the stage. Harcourt was a part of the original ensemble of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton; in it, he played both family patriarch Phillip Schuyler and the opportunistic blackmailer James Reynolds.
Olrox (Zahn McClarnon)
The seductive and powerful Aztec vampire Olrox is on no one’s side but his own. The villain that killed Richter’s mother before his eyes, Olrox must decide if he’ll join Báthory’s ranks or fight against her by the side of his enemy. Castlevania: Nocturne takes liberties with the Olrox of the games, infusing him with a pathos that the original boss couldn’t have. As with Annette, Olrox is a complicated character that speaks to the show’s exploration into the vampiric nature of colonialism.
In Nocturne, Olrox is voiced by Zahn McClarnon. A veteran actor in film and TV, McClarnon broke through to more mainstream success thanks to his recurring roles in Longmire (Police Chief Mathias) and Fargo Season 2 (Hanzee Dent). Fans of the sci-fi epic Westworld might recognize McClarnon for his role in that show’s second season, where he played the Ghost Nation elder Akecheta. More recently, McClarnon played Officer Big in the widely acclaimed FX comedy Reservation Dogs.
Erzsebet Báthory (Franka Potente)
Castlevania: Nocturne’s main antagonist is Erzsebet Báthory, based on the legendary vampiric countess Elizabeth Báthory. Though much of Nocturne is based on Rondo of Blood, Erzsebet and her witch servant Drolta come to us from a later game, Castlevania: Bloodlines (in that, she’s known as Elizabeth Bartlet). Using the power of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, the villainous Vampire Messiah promises her aristocratic followers a new world order with her at its helm.
Erzsebet Báthory is voiced by veteran German actress Franka Potente. Potente made her Hollywood debut in Blow before appearing in the first two Bourne films opposite Matt Damon. Since then, Potente has made appearances in shows like Dark Matter and American Horror Story: Asylum, and the actress has been a series regular in Claws and Titans, among others.
Drolta Tsuentes (Elarica Johnson)
Báthory’s servant is the witch Drolta Tsuentes, based on the character of the same name from Bloodlines. As methodical as she is mad, Tsuentes uses her vampiric power to crush her and her mistress’s enemies with ease. Prior to joining forces with Erzsebet, Tsuentes was a priestess of Sekhmet, the Egyptian goddess of war, plague, and chaos.
Voicing Drolta in Nocturne is actress and model Elarica Johnson. After making her film debut in a bit part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Johnson went on to have significant roles in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and the fantasy drama A Discovery of Witches. Most recently, Johnson played Hailey Colton in the critically acclaimed Starz drama P-Valley.
Tera Renard (Natassja Kinski)
Maria’s mother and Richter’s adoptive mother, Tera Renard is a powerful Speaker who uses elemental magic like pyrokinesis and cryokinesis to combat the vampire menace in France. She’s fiercely protective of her children and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe from Báthory’s clutches. Like several other characters in the series, Tera has gone through some changes from the powerless damsel in distress we see in Rondo of Blood.
Tera is voiced by Natassja Kinski, the daughter of Nosferatu actor Klaus Kinski. For decades, Kinski has graced films from Hollywood and abroad. The actress turned heads for her starring role in the Italian drama Stay as You Are before starring in Roman Polanski’s Tess. She next starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s famous flop One from the Heart and the erotic thriller Cat People.
Abbot Emmanuel (Richard Dormer)
Castlevania: Nocturne’s take on Shaft, the dark priest serving Dracula in Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, Abbot Emmanuel seems like he’s willing to help Maria and Richter on their quest. But anyone who watched the previous Castlevania understands that the church isn’t an institution to be trusted, and Nocturne’s abbot is no different. A secret agent of Báthory, the abbot genuinely believes that revolution will only result in destruction and that creating night creatures is the only way for France’s salvation.
Irish actor and writer Richard Dormer voices Abbot Emmanuel. The actor is a BBC regular, recently appearing in the police drama Blue Lights. Dormer starred in another British TV series, the psychological horror thriller Fortitude, in which he played Sheriff Dan Anderssen. The actor, though, will be most familiar to American audiences thanks to his part in HBO’s Game of Thrones as the resurrecting knight Beric Dondarrion.
Alucard (James Callis)
Anyone who knows Symphony of the Night knows that Alucard must play a part in Nocturne, considering that that game follows his quest to rescue Richter at Maria’s behest. The dhampir son of Vlad “Dracula” Tepes and Lisa, Alucard was one of the main three in the original Castlevania Netflix series. As he shows in his brief appearance in Nocturne’s end, Alucard is the powerhouse Richter needs to defeat Báthory.
James Callis returns to voice Alucard in Castlevania: Nocturne after voicing the character for 32 episodes of the original series. On the big screen, Callis is most recognizable as Tom from the Bridget Jones series of movies. Sci-fi (and Syfy) fans are likely to recognize Callis for his role as Dr. Gaius Baltar in the early 2000s remake of Battlestar: Galactica. Most recently, Callis played Jean-Luc Picard’s father Maurice in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard.
