r/castlevania • u/Feroniks • 1d ago

Discussion How does magic work?

I feel like we see alot of magic users but most of them despite the fact that theyre supposed to be super good at it, can't really do anything with it? Hector and saint germain for example, they're both master magicians and all but when it actually comes to doing anything they need alot of prepwork to make it happen meanwhile sypha can just summon storms of ice and flame and isaac can forge in seconds and also do his weird fire stuff. Basically my question is why do they not know any spells or things they can use to actually defend themselves?

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u/No-Release-6247 23h ago

I think devil Forgemasters are kind of Sorcerers and their forge skills are a bit of Innate Talent and power. Maria as a Spirit Summoner was used on arcane experiments from evil cultists and endend forging a bond with those Chinese animals. And Mages like Sypha and Juste are Magic Scholars and they Studied to get Access to magic.

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u/LordCamelslayer 20h ago

You're asking a question we realistically can't answer because the series has never talked about the metaphysics of magic. So I don't really know what you expect anyone here to tell you.

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u/DependentBite9 15h ago

A lot of fiction has categories for types of magic use. For example in a Final Fantasy game you’ll have mages of different types who cast spells using an inherent pool of energy, but also conjurers, summoners. We’d have to presume a lot with Castlevania because we don’t get much in the narrative about how any of it works.

Think of them like jobs. I work in design and printing but if you ask me to build a house or fix a car I’d be pretty useless.

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u/OldEyes5746 Shanoa 10h ago

It's just different applications of magic. Sypha was taught how to bend elements to her will by her people whereas Saint Germain studied texts on traversing time and space. Hector Isaac each require a tool for their demon forging. Hector didn't require the time for prep, he was stalling, claiming the material wasn't right to make his hammer, in order to set everything in place to kill Carmilla.

Not everyone learns how to do magic the same. It seems like a lot of information on magic had been lost/destroyed over the years, and what is available requires years of dedicated learning and practical application. This is pethaps why Saint Germain, Sypha, and the forge masters each specialize in speciffic forms/methods, whereas tye vampires seem to know mulitiple forms.