Satan 2

There are some discrepancies regarding the existence of Satan/The Devil in the Castlevania series. While some games do mention his existence along their lore and documentations, other games outright ignore this fact and/or even present alternate versions to already established concepts, such as the Devil and/or Hell.

As the series progressed, the concept of a superior being that controls all evil in the world (and perhaps even the entire Universe) has befallen solely on what's known as the "Dark Lord" (or the "Prince of Darkness"), with the centuries-old vampire, Count Dracula, generally bearing this title; whereas in most folkloric traditions –outside the series– Dracula is just an emissary of evil, albeit a very powerful one indeed, probably only second to the Devil himself.

Likewise, the concept of Hell in the series has had its own particular interpretations and in more palpable forms. Alternate realms, parallel to this world, such as the Chaotic Realm and The Abyss, could be considered interpretations of Hell. Not only that, but the force of "Evil" itself has had its own interpretation in the series as well, such as is the case of Chaos, which, as its name implies, is the origin of all chaotic things and from where Dracula draws his powers as he waits for the next time he is resurrected. These powers –in the more traditional perception overall– are generally alleged to the Devil instead; however, mentions of him have notably diminished as the series progressed, with more recent titles barely acknowledging him, or if they do, at least not with the same level of relevance.

It's worth mentioning the role Satan plays in the Lords of Shadow subseries, though; a reboot of the Castlevania series that attempted to present a deeper background to previously established concepts, as well as richer development to its characters. In this series, Satan plays a much more faithful role to traditional religious chronicles, where he is indeed a former angel that once rebelled against God, and which for this was exiled from Heaven, and who now plans to defeat Him and usurp His throne as its ruler. For this goal, he sets in play a very intricate plan that involves a series of events where characters are played upon as if they were pawns in a game of chess, with the ultimate goal of getting his hands on a relic (relics, in fact) of (apparent) ultimate power, known as the God Mask. Near the end of this conflict, and after the Brotherhood hero, Gabriel Belmont, defeated his deceitful former mentor and "friend", Zobek, Satan himself materialized to him in apparent flesh and bone and revealed all the truth and his intentions - offering Gabriel to become his paladin in the war that was about to come. However, Gabriel –disappointed– refused Satan's offer and bested him in combat, thwarting his plans and sending him back to the Underworld.

This was not the last that would be seen of Satan, though, as his three Acolytes still tried to help him achieve his plans of total domination; although, in the end, all three failed and met their demise, with one even being slaughtered in the most horrible way by Satan himself.