- "I am the blood that runs through your veins. I am the dark shadow that chills the hearts of men as you pass. I am the fury... your hate and your vengeance. I am... your destiny."
- — Inner Dracula to Dracula
Inner Dracula is a boss in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. It is the personification of Dracula's dark side, the curse of the vampire and the power of his vampiric blood. It is also the sentience of the Castle.
History
Biography
From the arrival of the first night, the curse of the vampire has corrupted the hearts of the creatures of darkness, tempting them with supernatural powers and subjecting them to their twisted will. The dark blood has prospered for generations and now runs through the veins of the Prince of Darkness, filling each of his actions with ire, hate and vengeance.
There is nothing stronger than its influence, except for Dracula’s love for his son. It is the last pure emotion he has: his only guide in a world that is falling apart with each step. Defending it means rebelling against his own nature and facing the darkest side of his being. It is diabolic image of himself that has been fed by Gabriel’s enormous resentment of God.
Leaving the body and showing its abominable shape, the cursed blood faces its host in an unprecedented fight that will define his own fate and that of his family.
Background
The Demon that would become one with Dracula was first brought into this world by the actions of the Bernhard Family who summoned it and fused it with their castle, transforming it from a mere building of stone into a massive living creature that constantly shifts and twists about making mapping out the castle an impossible dream. The Cursed Castle was claimed from the Bernhards by Dr. Frankenstein, and was no doubt influence by it into performing his macabre experiments.
From Frankenstein it was claimed by the Vampire Lord of Shadow Carmilla who used the castle in combination with her vast army to protect the seal leading to the underworld prison of the Forgotten One. When Gabriel Belmont claimed the castle for his own he forged a much deeper connection to the castle, giving it access to his vast amount of power and allowing it to possess the castle's inhabitants.
Revelations
The blood acts as the main antagonist of the Revelations DLC, although it never appears "in person" like it does in the main story line. The Castle attempts to prevent Dracula from breaking their bond by stealing his weapons the Void Sword and Chaos Claws and hiding them where he won't be able to get to them, thereby making him effectively defenseless against the castle's influence and making reclaiming him a theoretical snap.
The Castle has its Dungeon Jailers and their minions alongside their leader the Keeper of the Void Sword stash the weapon in the Toy Maker's Guest House. When it learns that Alucard is working against it to retrieve the weapons and get them back to its lord, it has the Jailers stay behind to set up road blocks and stop him from succeeding.
When Alucard defeats the Jailers, the Castle ups its game and hides the Claws in the Forbidden Wing, flooding it with large portions of its blood, including the room with the claws, even accusing Alucard of dishonoring his father by stealing his relics. Once Alucard is able to drain the blood from the Forbidden Wing, he still must contend with a group of Brotherhood Soldiers who have beaten him to the claws.
Lords of Shadow 2
As Dracula explores the castle, the blood of the castle speaks to him, demanding him not to leave. It starts to crumble the floor underneath his feet to prevent him from regaining the Void Sword. However when Dracula regains his void powers the blood creates the Stone Golem but it is soon destroyed. The blood continues to revolt though after this defeat and corrupts several Dishonored Vampires to kill Trevor, but this was foiled by Dracula who managed to escape.
After Dracula regains the Chaos Claws, Medusa unites with her sisters, but has been corrupted by the castle, and corrupts her sisters as well. The blood then forces the sisters to fuse together and fight their former master, but are soon destroyed. The castle would continue to use the castle servants against Dracula during his trips to it. It would relentlessly pursue its former master to keep him in the castle.
During Dracula's search for the Mirror of Fate fragments he encounters an amnesic Toy Maker, who is quickly corrupted by the castle. The Toy Maker is soon defeated and vomits up the blood, converting him to his previous persona. But, the final straw for it would be when Trevor completes the mirror after his father returned the last piece. Furious by this act the blood takes Trevor and uses him to fight Dracula directly as his twisted doppelganger. However, Dracula regains his Demonic Wings, and soon defeats the blood of the castle that claims it would always be a part of him.
Appearance
Throughout the majority of the game, the blood is just a large moving pool of blood with grotesque tentacles and three fingered arms when corrupting castle servants. But when it decides to face against Dracula, it takes the form of grotesque hulking monstrosity with a mangled skull head. Its right arm has elongated fingers, while its left is deformed without fingers. The true face of this form is actually a copy of Dracula with tentacle-like hair and a flayed amputated torso attached to the monster.
Abilities
The most prominent ability of the blood is corrupting other creatures. Creatures that are chosen are grabbed by tentacles and dragged down into the blood, who then reemerge with a more aggressive behavior. It can also store corrupted creatures within itself to reemerge them later. The blood can also fuse creatures together as is the case with the Gorgon Sisters who were dragged down into the blood then reemerged together as the Gorgon.
Battle Quotes
- You can't defeat me!
- The wrath of your soul strengthens me.
- Don't try to deny me. I'm a part of you!
- I will strip you of your soul.
- In the end, we will be as one!
- I will extinguish your humanity.
- I will consume your soul drop-by-drop.
- I'll feed on your soul!
Trivia
- It is most likely that "Inner Dracula" is the original entity/demon that makes the castle alive. The demon came about from Bernhard's pact and thrived under Walter, Carmilla, and grew even more powerful (and dependent) under Dracula. Which is why the castle turns on Dracula, as the castle needs a Lord, it will try to stop Dracula from separating himself. The entity has infused itself with Dracula's power to the point where its consciousness is expressed as Dracula's "inner self".
- The external casing is somewhat reminiscent of Menace, as seen in Dawn of Sorrow, in that it has similar deformities and looks like an amalgamation of several monsters. Also, the skull that serves as its head sometimes opens to reveal it's true face. It is also similar to Chaos who was the source of Dracula's powers and was most likely the inspiration of Inner Dracula.
- Inner Dracula's first form could be considered a Golem.
- It fights in a similar manner to the Stone Golem.
- Overall, it might also be a reference, on a meta level, to Dracula's second forms in previous Castlevania installments.
- Inner Dracula's theme, "Enough Talk", contains portions of both Nothing to Lose and The Tragic Prince.
- Throughout the game, Inner Dracula speaks to Dracula (and Alucard) in a multitude of different voices, including an unknown man and woman. A possible explanation could be that the voices are the souls of various people Dracula killed and drank from over the years.
- Since Gabriel decided to not end his life at the end of Lords of Shadow 2, it is presumable that Inner Dracula still lives, as it is the personification of Dracula's vampirism.