Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Demo Hides Fighting Game Easter Eggs Behind Secret Weapon

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

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"Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Demo Hides Fighting Game Easter Eggs Behind Secret Weapon"

What a terrible night to catch these hands.

Updated : Oct 7, 2026 9:14pm UTC

The developers of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse are wearing their love of fighting games on their sleeves, as eagle-eyed fans have spotted some unmistakable references to classic fighting game characters in its demo.

released a free demo on October 1, 2026, giving players a brief taste of what the game’s combat will look like. In this game, we take control of Rose Belmont, who navigates the ruined streets of 1500s Paris with a sword and her mother’s magical tarot cards.

If the demo is anything to go by, this game will be a treat for hardcore Metroidvania fans, as it includes a wealth of secret areas to uncover. One of these areas can be accessed in the demo, which gives you a pair of brass knuckle-style MMA gloves called Cestus. The weapon stacks on damage to enemies the more you hit them, encouraging players to go on the offensive.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Gallery

After Rose finishes an attack using Cestus, she will strike a pose for a few seconds. These poses cycle seemingly at random, but they’re clearly intentional, and each boasts a unique animation. It didn’t take long for players to notice some striking similarities between these poses and the fighting stances of classic fighting game characters, of which there are a good handful.

Twitter/X user and Castlevania fan StockeTepes compiled these poses in a video, showing Rose settling into the idle poses for Ryu, Chun-Li, Oro, and Sagat, as well as Mai Shiranui and Akuma / Oni. Even Spider-Man’s iconic pose from Marvel vs Capcom 2 was included. Other fans pointed out that Rose’s air-to-air combo using Cestus mimics that of Akuma’s in-air fireball attack,