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Statue - 02

The background statues in Stage VI of the Japanese version of Super Castlevania IV were originally partially nude.

Nudity is a recurring element in the Castlevania series; its inclusion probably being either to emulate the concept as frequently portrayed in classic religious art, to add more realism, or sometimes even for comedic effect.

Nudity was often censored outside Japan in the earlier titles.

Nudity in art

The nude figure is a tradition in Western art and has been used to express ideals of male and female beauty and other human qualities. It was a central preoccupation of Ancient Greek art, and after a semi-dormant period in the Middle Ages, returned to a central position in Western art with the Renaissance. Athletes, dancers and warriors are depicted to express human energy and life, and nudes in various poses may express basic or complex emotions. In one sense, a nude is a work of fine art that has as its primary subject the unclothed human body, forming a subject genre of art, in the same way as landscapes and still life. Unclothed figures often also play a part in other types of art, such as history painting, including allegorical and religious art, portraiture, or the decorative arts.

Game specific information

Haunted Castle

  • Statues of nude maidens sitting on pedestals are found in the first level of the game. When approached, they'll crumble and damage the player if they make contact with the falling debris.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

  • Medusa is originally bare-chested in the original Japanese version of the game, whereas her breasts were edited out in the English version, consequentially resulting in her gender being switched and being renamed as the "Snake Man Sentinel".
  • The statues in Stage 8 were redesigned to cover their bare chests.

Super Castlevania IV

  • Most statues were nude in the original Japanese version, whereas tunics were added to them in the western release (most prominently seen in the hallways of Stage VI).
  • The Harpie is bare chested.
  • Medusa is bare chested.

Castlevania Chronicles

  • Enemy statues of male archers are found along the first section of The Courtyard. While they do exhibit full frontal nudity, they don't display any discernible genitalia.
  • Medusa's chest is bare.
  • The Wolf Woman is briefly nude as she turns back into a human after the player defeats her.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood/Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

  • While not explicitly shown, the sacrificial maiden used during the black mass to bring Dracula back from the dead is implied to be lying completely nude over the Count's coffin, with only a cloth covering her body.
  • The Werewolf is briefly nude as he turns back into a human after the player defeats him (only in the original PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 Mini versions; the PSP and Wii Virtual Console versions added undergarments to his sprite).
  • Carmilla is nude, partially hiding behind a flying skull.
  • The Harpy is bare chested.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

  • A few enemies, such as the Succubus and the Harpy, are partially nude. Other enemies include:
    • The Frozen Shade is depicted as the floating spirit of a completely naked woman with an affinity to the Ice element.
    • The Scylla is a composite monster featuring the naked torso of a woman, three dog heads protruding from her waist down, and several moray-like eels acting as limbs called Scylla Wyrms.
    • First appearance of Alura Une in the series; depicted as a giant rosebud that opens when approached, revealing a completely naked woman inside.
    • The Shield Rod + Herald Shield spell summons a naked female spirit that grants temporary protection against Fire and Thunder.
    • The Werewolf is briefly nude as he turns back into a human after the player defeats him. This was retained in The Dracula X Chronicles port of Symphony of the Night despite it censoring the main The Dracula X Chronicles and Rondo of Blood versions of this enemy.
  • The original artwork for the Succubus by Ayami Kojima depicts her with her breasts fully exposed.
  • Several statues throughout the game are partially or completely nude, including a few fully exposed male statues.
  • When using the Karma Coin, landing on Heads summons an image of an angel-like female with its chest exposed.
  • Legion's first form is a giant sphere comprised in its entirety of a mass of nude corpses.
  • Symphony of the Night was the first game in the series that received no changes in regard to nudity during its localization (not taking into account following localized rereleases of previous games).
  • While not appearing fully nude, the humanoid female on the tail of the Diplocephalus turns to reveal its exposed buttocks when killed.

Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness

  • Like in Rondo of Blood, while not explicitly shown, the sacrificial maiden used during the black mass to bring Dracula back from the dead is implied to be lying completely nude over the Count's coffin, with only a cloth covering her body.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

  • A room in the Entrance area of the castle has nude statues in the background.
  • Once defeated, the Werewolf turns into a completely nude man, who disappears once the player leaves the boss room.
  • The enemies Succubus and Lilith are partially nude.
  • Medusa is bare-chested.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

  • The Ladycat and Black Panther enemies, once defeated, briefly turn into nude women before disappearing.
  • In the save room there is a goddess' statue with naked breasts that are partially covered up by a light blue energy sphere.
  • All lady bats in the game (Werebat, Lilith and Draculina) are either partially or completely nude.

Castlevania: Resurrection

  • In a concept art for Sonia Belmont, she is completely naked.
  • In the draft clip of opening sequence for Sonia Belmont, she was naked during her resurrection.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Other instances

Castlevania (animated series)

  • Hector, Alucard, Taka and Sumi appear naked in some episodes of Season 3.
  • Lenore removes part of her clothes and has her chest exposed when seducing Hector.
  • The Rebis appears mostly naked, displaying both male and female body parts it is composed of, with only a single cloth modestly covering its intimate parts.

See also

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