The upcoming Castlevania: Belmont's Curse features a secret weapon in its demo that includes animations referencing several classic fighting game characters. The game, which released a free demo on October 1, 2026, puts players in control of Rose Belmont as she navigates 16th-century Paris.
Within the demo, players can discover a secret weapon called Cestus, a pair of MMA-style brass knuckles. This weapon grants Rose a damage-boosting bonus the more she attacks enemies, encouraging an offensive playstyle. Upon finishing an attack with the Cestus, Rose enters a brief idle pose. These poses, which appear to cycle randomly, have been identified by fans as homages to iconic stances from fighting games.
A compilation shared by Twitter user StockeTepes highlights similarities between Rose's poses and those of characters such as Ryu, Chun-Li, Oro, and Sagat from Street Fighter, as well as Mai Shiranui and Akuma from the King of Fighters and other titles, and even Spider-Man's pose from Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Rose's air-to-air combo with the Cestus has also been noted to resemble Akuma's aerial fireball attack, known as Zanku Hadouken.
The Castlevania series has a history of incorporating fighting game elements. In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Alucard's spell inputs mirror fighting game command motions, and the Fist of Tulkas weapon allowed players to perform a Hadouken-like projectile. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin also included martial arts moves with fighting game-style inputs. Konami further explored this connection with the 2008 fighting game Castlevania Judgment.
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is scheduled for an official release on October 15, 2026. The Castlevania franchise is also celebrating its music with a live power rock-symphony tour in March 2026, with performances planned for London, Tokyo, and Los Angeles.