For anyone who wasn’t confident the talent behind the Castlevania animated series on Netflix was respecting the source material, this should put any concerns to rest once and for all. An eagle-eyed viewer of season two has spotted a cartoon chicken bone poking out from one of the walls within Dracula’s castle during a key fight scene. The assistant director of the animated series even confirmed it himself.
While we won’t go into the details about the battle to avoid spoilers, what we can point out is that this is a direct reference to the original 1986 Famicom game, Castlevania. If you haven’t played a Castlevania game previously, the series is known for hiding different varieties of meat – including chicken – behind certain walls around the castle. In the first game, you could often use your whip to destroy a wall and access a hidden chunk of meat, which would in return replenish your character’s health.
This was dubbed ‘wall chicken’ by fans and has led to theories and even jokes about it over the years. Preserved dungeon meat also tends to be a common video game trope. Below is a look at the scene from the Netflix animation as tweeted by @Nick_Waplington and an enlarged screen capture courtesy of Kotaku:
And here’s a screenshot from the game:
It is a bit odd when you start to think about it. A man finding preserved chicken meat behind a wall and then proceeding to eat it. At the very least, it’s a hilarious and faithful reference to the iconic game series.
Have you watched the latest season of Castlevania? Did you spot this yourself? Tell us in the comments.