The development team gave an interview about character design for *Castlevania: Belmont's Curse*, the latest installment in the *Castlevania* series released on October 15, 2026. They revealed that the sexy character designs were intentional and that a large amount of fan art has already been posted.
Sexy Characters Were a “Deliberate Choice”
The interviewees were Sandro Bordier, lead designer at developer Evil Empire, and Berenger Dupre, the company’s marketing director.
When the conversation turned to the boss character “Carmilla,” Bordier explained, “It’s a well-known fact that there are attractive characters, and that’s actually a choice. It’s part of the atmosphere,” clearly stating that the sexy character designs were intentional.
“We’re really pleased with the fans’ reaction to the characters we’ve revealed,” said Bordier. “The team poured a tremendous amount of love into this to make the fans happy. Seeing the reaction to the design and voice actor announcements made us very happy,” he added.
“The tsunami of fan art has already begun.”
In response to a fan’s comment stating, “Based on past experience, a tsunami of fan art is coming,” Dupre replied, “It’s already started, and I’ve seen quite a bit already.” He acknowledged that a massive amount of fan art has been posted immediately following the game’s release.
What was particularly unexpected was the popularity of the protagonist, Trevor. “I didn’t realize Trevor would be so well-received,” said Dupre. When Bordier joked, “Do you think we could add a ‘Cool Dad’ version? We need a Game Award for Cool Dads,” the two laughed and got excited.
Affection for the Characters and the Pressure
“It’s fun to look at fan art. It lets you see just how important and beloved these characters are to the fans,” said Dupre.
On the other hand, he also revealed, “That’s exactly why I always feel stressed about creating new stories using them.” However, he seemed relieved by the fans’ warm response, adding, “So far, the feedback has been truly moving.”
Particularly memorable was the debut scene of the new character, “Rose Belmont.” Since many fans had been expecting the existing character “Sonya” to appear, the announcement of Rose was “extremely stressful” for the development team.Nevertheless, Dupre reflected that seeing fan art of Rose posted immediately after the announcement—along with messages like “Welcome to the Belmont family, Rose”—was “one of the most moving moments of my career.”
In the interview, he also cheerfully discussed various other topics, including the series’ signature “roast wall bird,” whip combat, and connections to past titles.
Marking the series’ 40th anniversary, the latest installment, *Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse*, is now available for PS5, XBOX Series X|S/XBOX on PC, XBOX on PC, PC (Steam), and Nintendo Switch.
