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This is a list of characters of Konami's action-adventure games ''Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow'' and ''Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow'', part of Konami's ''Castlevania'' video game series. The games take place in 2035 and 2036 respectively, and each game deals with the effects that the death of Dracula, the primary antagonist of the ''Castlevania'' series, has had on the world. ''Aria of Sorrow'' features the coming of a prophecy that Dracula's reincarnation will inherit all of his powers, and the paths of the game's characters are led to Dracula's castle by this event. ''Dawn of Sorrow'' takes place one year later, with the antagonists seeking to revive the dark lord when he did not surface in ''Aria of Sorrow''. The primary playable character and protagonist of the two games is Soma Cruz, a reclusive transfer student who has a mysterious power connected with Dracula's death. The major supporting characters include Mina Hakuba, Soma's close childhood friend and the miko of the Hakuba shrine; Genya Arikado, a withdrawn and enigmatic government agent specializing in supernatural events; Julius Belmont, the latest member of the Belmont clan featured in the series; Yoko Belnades, an energetic and forward witch in the service of the Roman Catholic Church; and Hammer, a member of the United States Military with aspirations of becoming a vendor of military material. In ''Aria of Sorrow'', the antagonist is Graham Jones, a deranged missionary who believes himself to be the reincarnation of Lord Dracula and seeks to inherit his powers. In ''Dawn of Sorrow'', the antagonists are Celia Fortner, Dmitrii Blinov, and Dario Bossi, members of a cult who wish to create a new dark lord in Dracula's absence. In ''Aria of Sorrow'', the character designs were done by Ayami Kojima as part of producer Koji Igarashi's desire to take a "different route" with the series in ''Aria of Sorrow''. In ''Dawn of Sorrow'', however, Ayami Kojima was not part of the production team, and the characters were recast in an anime style, which was heavily criticized by several video game publications. Despite this, the characters were the subject of praise from many video game publications. Although many reviewers derided the stereotypical roles that the characters fell into, other reviewers noted that the new plot ''Aria of Sorrow'' and ''Dawn of Sorrow'' featured provided a better context for these characters. The storyline of the two games also received praise, and was compared to the plot of the widely acclaimed ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night''. ==Character conception== The characters of ''Aria of Sorrow'' were designed by Ayami Kojima, who had previously worked on the characters in ''Castlevania'' games such as ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night'' and ''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance''. Her dark, gothic drawings borrow heavily from bishōnen-style art.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Creative Uncut - Artist Profile: Ayami Kojima )〕 Producer Koji Igarashi decided to set the game in the future because he wished to explore a "different route" for the series.〔 Keeping with Igarashi's "different route" motif, the characters' appearance was made more contemporary, sporting more modern clothing in comparison to the medieval attire of characters in previous Castlevania games.〔 In ''Dawn of Sorrow'', Ayami Kojima was absent from the production. This was to allow her to concentrate on her character designs for ''Castlevania: Curse of Darkness'', which was in production at the time.〔 In place of her drawings, an anime style was used for the character designs.〔 This was a deliberate decision by producer Koji Igarashi, who wanted to market the game to a younger audience.〔 In an interview, Igarashi stated that he felt that the target demographic of the Nintendo DS was younger than those of other video game consoles that the ''Castlevania'' series has been featured on, and he intended to court them with a more simplistic anime design.〔 The usage of the anime style was to be a litmus test for whether future ''Castlevania'' games would incorporate the style. In addition, Igarashi initially wanted to introduce a white collar Japanese worker as a character in the game. This character, which Igarashi referred to as a "general Japanese worker," would be a manager in a Japanese firm and have a family as well.〔 Despite Igarashi's efforts, however, opposition from the game's design team forced Igarashi to abandon this prospect.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow characters」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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