Who is Richter Belmont’s mother in ‘Castlevania: Nocturne?’

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the first episode of Nocturne.

Castlevania: Nocturne is finally here and introducing fans to the new generation of Belmonts, a family of vampire hunters dedicated to purging supernatural monsters from the face of the Earth. Now, after living through the exploits of Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, and Alucard Tepes, the series is returning with a spinoff sequel set hundreds of years after the events of the original, in a time where the latest descendant of the family, Richter Belmont, picks up the whip and fights the demon known as the Vampire Messiah.

It seems that Nocturne will start the story earlier in the life of Richter when he was just a boy living in one of the Thirteen Colonies. The first few moments of the show also introduce us to Richter’s mother, a huntress bearing the crest of the Belmonts and currently heading the family’s crusade against vampires.

But who is Julia Belmont, and have we seen her in the video game series before this?

Who was Julia Belmont?

As you can see above, Netflix has decided to release the first 7 minutes of Nocturne on its social media accounts. In it, we get a glimpse of Julia Belmont, who is trying to send her son away to France, where the bulk of the story is supposed to take place at the height of the French Revolution.

Julia and her son are intercepted by a vampire, and she dies in the ensuing fight, despite fighting with both the whip and her magic. (Trevor Belmont was always the fighter and Sypha Beldanes the sorceress, but it seems that their union has resulted in later generations of the family inheriting the ability of spellcasting as well.)

Richter then watches as his mom is killed by the vampire, who then promises to exact vengeance on Richter as well when he is older.

While Julia’s appearance in Nocturne is brief, it’s clear that she’s going to have a huge impact on Richter’s psyche later on. As for who she is in the source material, there is no strict mention of a Julia Belmont anywhere, but we do have someone named Julius Belmont, who is the last descendant of the house. In the games, Richter’s parents aren’t named, so Julia, played by Outlander‘s Sophie Skelton, is an invention by the producers for the Netflix adaptation.

Castlevania: Nocturne is available for streaming in its entirety on Netflix from Sept. 28.