About this Strip

Is there any such thing as a good STD? Really?
It's a point to make about Dracula and his time spent in the series. It's rare that he appears anywhere but in the grounds of his castle, and even then, when he does show up elsewhere, he never actually gets to go outside of that castle or fortress.
In fact, there's only one time that comes to memory where the big bad vampire has even survived long enough to see a second evening: The Castlevania Adventure/Castlevania Adventure II. In the first game, Dracula is defeated by Christopher Belmont, but as we learn in the second game, Dracula fled and spent 10 years or so hiding before coming back, kidnapping Chris' son, and setting up shop with a host of new castles to call home.
It's one of the few direct sequels the Castlevania series has ever actually had -- Castlevania I/Castlevania II and Aria od Sorrow/Dawn of Sorrow being the other two that come to mind. For the trivia whores in the audience, Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness doesn't really count, one because Legacy is a pseudo-prequel, and also because CV64 is included in the game, making LoD more of an expanded director's cut than it's own game. Symphony of the Night takes place after Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, but it's stars a different hero (Alucard instead of Richter), and it doesn't actually continue any of the plot points from the first game. Lastly, Portrait of Ruin is connected to Bloodlines through its heroes (John Morris from Bloodlines being the father of Johnathan Morris from Portrait), but, again, less a direct sequel and more an inspired by, especially when you consider that the play styles are so different betwene the games (even more dramatically than differences between CVI and CVII).
Wow... I can talk way too long about the topic.