BLOOD WORK: TOP TEN CASTLEVANIA HEROES

TOP TEN CASTLEVANIA HEROES

"Simon Belmondo... must be an assumed name."

Castlevania is probably my all-time favorite video game franchise. It was the first horror video game series I ever played and it captured my imagination unlike any other. Every single monster you can think of all inside one game, one single story? Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, Medusa, Death, and even the Minotaur and Gill Man? THIS IS AMAZING! Castlevania became an obsession with me from an early age, not merely collecting and playing all of the games, but studying the story, the lore, the characters, the music (oh, how I love the music), the artwork, and more.

And while I absolutely love the monsters (and I think Dracula's greatest incarnation ever across all mediums is his Castlevania rendition) it is the heroes and their saga that has fascinated me more than anything else in the series. Admittedly the heroes get way more attention and development than the villains (obviously as they have to carry the game and the story on their shoulders). Dracula and the monsters don't change in personality too often (their evolution happens more gradually) and really they don't have to change. But the heroes are almost constantly changing (with a few exceptions here and there).

Every great villain needs an equally great hero to oppose them (and the Castlevania version of Dracula I feel is one of the greatest villains of them all).

Suffice it to say, I LOVE CASTLEVANIA'S HEROES!

When I was a kid I used to pretend I was a Belmont on the playground destroying monsters (no wonder I didn't have any friends). In my head I imagined what these characters would look like in real life or in a live action movie. The early games were somewhat sparse on story details (I mean, c'mon, how much story did an NES game need really?) so taking what story elements were there, I'd fill in the gaps in my head with fan theories, drawing conclusions with what evidence Konami did give us. All this is just further evidence that I am a hopeless nerd and think the world of these characters.

As I love nearly all of the heroes from the series there are of course characters I prefer more than others. These are my personal top favorites. Some are my favorites to play as. Some are my favorites for their story too. And some I love for their design. They have to have been playable characters but not necessarily the stars of the game. Some supporting heroes I prefer over some leading heroes.

Without further pointless pontificating from me, here are my favorite Castlevania heroes!

THE BONUS

#11

ERIC LECARDE

Series Appearance: Castlevania Bloodlines

Eric LeCarde is a small footnote in the Castlevania series but nonetheless worth remembering. He stands as the only spear/lance user in the franchise and offers a completely unique playing experience for the series. There literally is no one else in the series like him. Castlevania Bloodlines is an underrated and wonderful game in all aspects. And for a change the plot has very little to do with the heroes and more to do with Elizabeth Bathory (Bartley in the game) trying to resurrect Dracula.

Of the numerous characters and protagonists in the series, Eric LeCarde stands unique and is very fun to play through the game with. It's too bad no one thought to continue LeCarde's play style in a legacy character later on.

THE TOP TEN

#10

HECTOR

Series Appearance: Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Curse of Darkness is such a cool approach to the series as well as a novel approach to the story. There was a greater battle being fought during the events of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, details of the story the game never touched on. Hector is a Devil Forge Master or Devilforger and was previously in service to Dracula. The Devilforgers are the people who create Dracula's monsters and armies of undead. Three years after Trevor, Alucard, Grant, and Sypha defeated Dracula, Hector and Dracula's other Devil Forge Master, Isaac, have come to blows. Hector switches allegiances and battles his former allies.

Hector plays the game forging monsters to help him as well as creating magic items and weapons. The game plays nothing like a traditional Castlevania game and that is why it is my favorite of the 3D platform Castlevania games. Hector receives a wicked cool design courtesy of Castlevania's resident artistic genius, Ayami Kojima and he's a lot of fun to play as. And he's one of the few male characters that relies heavily on magic in the series.

MARIA RENARD

Series Appearances: Castlevania: Dracula X a.k.a. Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Maria is the second female playable character in the Castlevania franchise and is an active character in the narrative. In Rondo of Blood she is a twelve year old girl, a part of a group of women abducted by Dracula's hordes. Once she is freed from her prison by Richter Belmont the story splits into two narrative threads depending on which you choose. You can either continue on as Richter or follow Maria as your new protagonist (both stories occurring parallel to each other). While Richter storms the castle one way, Maria traverses the structure another way. They meet up in the end and together take down Dracula.

Possessing a mysterious innate rapport with animals and earthen magics, Maria calls upon animals to help her in her fight against Dracula's hordes as well as summoning forth the Shijin ~ the four guardian spirits of Japanese mythology. In Symphony of the Night Maria has grown into a young woman and her powers have grown as well. With Richter's disappearance she sets out to find him and finds the newly resurrected Castle Dracula instead. Interestingly in the Sega Saturn version of Symphony Maria is a playable character with levels and stages unique to her playthrough. She also takes a more active role by actually battling Alucard at one point.

(Note: The Sega Saturn version was only available in Japan and remains one of the "Holy Grails" of Castlevania fandom. My hope is that one day we will receive a "Complete Uncut" version of the game with these levels and Maria's playability fully restored)

The Castlevania series seems to always push boundaries or break new ground for the series whenever a new female character is introduced. As a result the series has a remarkable amount of solid female characters, Maria being one of the best on my opinion.

SYPHA BELNADES

Series Appearances: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (cameo)

Sypha was the first female protagonist of the Castlevania series (albeit a secondary protagonist to Trevor). Once you rescue her from the cyclops she becomes playable, if you so choose, you can play nearly the entire game as just her. I thought she was one of the better characters in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, offering a completely new way of playing through Castlevania. Sypha has a physical attack, swinging her wand (which is VERY weak), and then she has an array of magic attacks which kick major monster ass. Seriously, we're talking boss killers here. Using magic like that had never been featured in a Castlevania game prior nor had there ever been a character like her.

Sypha would establish an archetype for female characters of the series going forward i.e. women are the magic users (note: this archetype would only be broken once by my favorite female Castlevania character). A doppelganger of her appears in Symphony of the Night providing a further showing of Sypha's abilities such as flight. Her descendants appear in later games such as Castlevania 64 and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow & Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.

And I have to say that I love her depiction in Netflix's Castlevania animated series. I always liked her but the Netflix show brought her to life in an incredibly awesome way.

SOMA CRUZ

Series Appearances: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Soma Cruz is fresh and cool protagonist for the series. The hero of two Castlevania games, Soma's story takes place in the near future (2035 to be precise) and are the latest chapters in the saga according to the series in-game chronology. Soma is a Japanese student who finds himself mystically transported to Dracula's newly restored castle. There he meets Yoko Belnades (Sypha's descendant), Julius Belmont, and Genya Arikado (SPOILER ALERT! Genya is Alucard in disguise).

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!

Soma learns he's Dracula reincarnated. Forces align to slay him and also ensure his ascension to becoming the dark lord. How cool is that? You get to play as Dracula (well, Dracula's vessel for resurrection technically). He uses a mix of weapons based play and then pure magic attacks. SOme is an amazing blend of the two major character archetypes in Castlevania.

Soma offers a completely unique take on Castlevania and the playing experience. I keep hoping that Soma will receive a third game in his storyline thereby giving him a proper trilogy. Doubtful being as everyone but Konami is interested in Castlevania nowadays. Let's still hope though 😉

SHANOA

Series Appearance: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

I knew I would like Shanoa the moment I saw her wicked awesome character design. Knowing nothing else about her I thought she was amazing. She also brings a new way to play Castlevania (or rather a cool reinvention of tried and true ideas). Shanoa uses a system of glyphs (tattoos) that are placed on her body allowing her to perform new abilities. Wing glyphs on her back enable her to fly and so forth. Combining glyphs results in devastating magic attacks. I don't own a Nintendo DS but luckily I was able to play as this incredible character in the Network game Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. And Shanoa has a cool story too.

After the events of Symphony of the Night, the Belmonts disappeared. With no clue as to their whereabouts or how to contact them, several organizations appeared to take on the mission of guarding the world against Dracula. The Order of Ecclesia, a group of three magic users, Barlowe, Albus, and Shanoa created three magic glyphs based on Dracula's dark arts. Shanoa is chosen by the elder Barlowe to receive the glyphs. When the glyphs are stolen by Albus, Shanoa must follow him. What she learns is that Albus had a reason for stealing the glyphs and the Order of Ecclesia isn't what Shanoa believed it to be.

If you know your Stephen King you can see what's coming

All in all I absolutely love Shanoa's design and she's a unique and totally awesome character.

TREVOR BELMONT

Series Appearances: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (cameo), Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse was the first game in the series not to follow Simon Belmont and to actually go back 200 years in the past. The original Castlevania was completely linear. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest was so non-linear and cryptic that without a walkthrough you might never beat it! The approach to Castlevania III was to offer a Castlevania that was the best of both worlds. You were given the option of multiple paths to choose from leading you to different and unique areas of the game. And even better you were given the option of four different potential protagonists to choose from. Trevor was your main character that you always had in your party and then you could choose to have one other accompany you. Sypha, Grant, and Alucard were the other heroes. Once you acquired a new hero you no longer had to play as Trevor ever again in the game, if you wanted.

In all honesty I never thought much of Trevor Belmont. While Castlevania III is one of the best Castlevania games ever made, Trevor was merely a place holder for Simon. He had nothing new or unique to add to the whip wielder archetype (he even lacked capabilities that Simon possessed in Castlevania II). Sypha and Grant were the best characters to play as in that game. Trevor first became interesting to me with Castlevania Legends where his parentage was hinted at as well as the context for Castlevania III. Later he grew more interesting when he appeared in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. In that game he received the Ayami Kojima redesign and we actually got to see what his personality was like thanks to cinematics and voice acting. And then he became a playable character after defeating the game with Hector.

Trevor became infinitely more endearing with the Netflix animated series Castlevania, voiced by the perfectly cast Richard Armitage. I have to admit that the Netflix Castlevania series has greatly improved my love for Trevor Belmont. I just hope when or if the animated series eventually gets to Simon and Richter's stories that they are done their due justice as well.

SONIA BELMONT

Series Appearance: Castlevania Legends, and Castlevania Resurrection (the unreleased Castlevania game set for the Sega Dreamcast)

The retconned hero of Castlevania and the "first" Belmont to wage war against Dracula. Sonia Belmont was the first female main protagonist of a Castlevania game and she's one badass character in her own right. Castlevania Legends was the third and final Castlevania on the original Gameboy. I really enjoyed the game and fell in love with Sonia in the fun gameplay and the intriguing story of the game. The game played smoother than the previous classic Gameboy Castlevania's and Sonia handled very well. She also had a unique special weapons array called "Soul" powers which allowed her to freeze enemies, cast energy attacks, and even heal herself. She was far more nimble and dexterous than most Belmonts too. And then she had her most powerful ability: Burning Mode (which made her invincible for a brief time). Combine Burning Mode with a fully upgraded fire whip and Sonia is a one woman army!

The story took place 26 years before Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Wallachia is overrun by demons and monsters. Sonia, who was in a relationship with Alucard, sets out with the sacred Vampire Killer whip to stop Dracula. Alucard tries to stop her, to save her from a horrible death, but she defeats him. Sonia forges ahead and, drenching herself in Holy Water, battles and defeats Dracula. In the game's ending you see Sonia holding a child (Alucard's child?).

There have been several things I've always been curious about in Castlevania's story. I always wondered how ordinary people like the Belmonts were able to defeat such an awesome foe like Dracula and how they gained such seemingly supernatural powers. And I always wondered who's grave Trevor was kneeling by at the beginning of Castlevania III. The game doesn't implicitly tell you the answers but they allude to them.

Here's what I've always believed: Trevor is Alucard's son and Dracula's first act after regaining power in Castlevania III is killing Sonia. Trevor is kneeling at Sonia's grave at the beginning of Castlevania III. Also, Trevor being Alucard's son imbues the Belmont bloodline with more power. And when Trevor and Sypha have a child together her magics further strengthen the bloodline until we get such powerful heroes like Simon and Richter. And while Leon Belmont may be the first Belmont to battle the supernatural, he never fought Dracula. Sonia was the first Belmont to actually fight Dracula.

However, the man who made Symphony of the Night, Koji Igarashi, who went on to shepherd the series after Symphony, apparently didn't like Castlevania Legends and had it retconned from continuity. He claimed he removed it because it didn't work with the story he wanted to tell. But Igarashi never made a prequel that made Castlevania Legends incontinuitous. And as I just detailed above... IT COULD STILL FIT PERFECTLY WITH THE STORY!

Being the first lead female of the series I feel Sonia deserves her due respect. She is the only female character in the series (as of 2018) that is nearly all sheer physical force and athletic skill. All other women in the series are relegated to "magic users" save Sonia (which is a huge reason why she is SO COOL!). Of the Belmonts on the original Gameboy she is by far the better character and her game actually furthered and enriched the Castlevania lore.

Props to the first lady of vampire hunters and the one and only female Belmont hero in the entire series (can you believe that?)!

ALUCARD

Series Appearances: Castlevania Legends, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

It's always been assumed that Castlevania was inspired by the VAMPIRE HUNTER D novels and animated film (and after reading the first novel and watching the first anime there's little doubt of the direct influence). There is a medieval clad whip wielding character in that first Vampire Hunter D story but the protagonist was the son of Dracula, a half human half vampire named D.

With Castlevania III and the introduction of Alucard the Castlevania series finally had their own "D" analog. But if I'm being honest, Alucard was the worst of the four protagonists in Castlevania III. He received a full redesign for Symphony of the Night and became a video game icon after. Of all the Castlevania games Symphony of the Night exists in the minds of most as the definitive Castlevania, a legend among video gaming. And it is, no argument here. And the game was anchored by it's great and wonderful hero.

Alucard, as a character, is compelling and enthralling. His story, that of the son battling the father, is timeless and captivating. Then there's his amazing redesign by Ayami Kojima for Symphony, beautifully Gothic and Victorian. What made Alucard an even greater protagonist for Symphony was that he was already anchored in the franchise's past, already a part of the lore.

And he's so incredibly different from the Belmonts. He's not a whip wielding hero nor rough and grizzled. He's elegant, beautiful, graceful, and battles his way through the game using a completely different set of weapons and skills (some abilities inherited from his father!). And one of the coolest aspects (I feel) is that even though Konami saw how incredibly popular he was, they didn't over use him. He remained a rather novel character even though he was perhaps the most universally beloved character in the franchise.

Oh man, I haven't even touched on the amazing experience that is playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night! The game is incredibly vast and you play as Alucard through an epic adventure unlike any other Castlevania before it. I'll jabber on about how amazing Symphony is in another post. But suffice it to say, there are many great reasons by Symphony and Alucard have the reputations they do.

RICHTER BELMONT

Series Appearances: Castlevania: Dracula X a.k.a. Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (guest appearance)

Richter Belmont is a force to be reckoned with. Of all the Belmonts, Richter is the most powerful. In terms of sheer physical strength and super human abilities, he's the Belmont that Dracula should be scared of. Not only does he have all the signature weapons and moves of the previous Belmonts but he has a slide dash, backflip, should charge, super punch/jump, and the most powerful of all: the Item Crash. The man is a beast!

This is my preferred design for Richter, his original Dracula X look.

I was first introduced to Richter Belmont on the Super Nintendo with Castlevania: Dracula X. This particular game is notable for being the prequel to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and for being HARD! My god, Castlevania: Dracula X for the SNES is mean. This game was a bastardized port of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (a game hailed as one of the greatest Castlevania's ever made). The SNES version took away almost all of Richter's moves save the standard attacks and the backflip. Thankfully it kept the screen clearing power of the Item Crash. It also truncated the game greatly and cut Maria out completely save for a mention in the story.

The first epic video game conquest I ever made was defeating Castlevania: Dracula X. Coming from the beautifully smooth and somewhat easy Super Castlevania IV and the incredibly fun Castlevania: Bloodlines for the Sega Genesis to SNES' Castlevania: Dracula X was like crashing into a brick wall. So for months every day after school I sat down and played Dracula X for 45 minutes. Richter and I's friendship was forged under fire and brimstone. Eventually Richter and I were an unstoppable team, beating the game time and time again, and just once and only once we beat it without dying. After that I set the controller down and took a well deserved victory breather.

Then I played Richter at the opening of Symphony of the Night, a fully realized Richter Belmont as he was intended, and discovered how truly awesome Richter really was. But even without his full arsenal I still love the guy. His redesign by Ayami Kojima for Symphony is pretty cool but I will always prefer his Dracula X anime inspired design.

SIMON BELMONT

Castlevania artist Ayami Kojima's reimagining of Simon Belmont

Series Appearances: Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Chronicles

Simon Belmont is the hero with which I was first introduced to the series and it was the games starring Simon Belmont that made me love the Castlevania franchise. He is the original hero of the series but it wasn't the original game that endeared the character to me (the original Castlevania is not among my favorite games in the series). Castlevania II: Simon's Quest was the first Castlevania game I was introduced to and one of the games I continually revisit. And then there's Super Castlevania IV for the Super Nintendo (a remake of the original game), the game that made me a life long fan of the series. Super Castlevania IV is AMAZING.

Simon is the hero most featured throughout the series but all of those games (with the exception of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest) are all remakes of the same game and the same chapter in the saga. His design seems to change with each game going from a scantily clad medieval knight, to a fully clothed crusader, to a completely rugged red-headed fur-bearing barbarian. You're guess is as good as mine on what he really looks like. To me, Simon has the reputation of being one of the strongest members of the Belmont lineage, defeating Dracula all on his own without any outside help. He even defeated Dracula while a curse slowly killed him. Very few of the Belmonts or any other heroes in the series could handle Dracula all on their own, including Alucard.

In short, Simon Belmont has a mythic quality around him, both storywise as well as his place in video game history. Narratively speaking he's not the most compelling character but it was his games and playing as him that made me the Castlevania fanatic I am today.

This is so COOL!!!! My two favorite Castlevania heroes!

And there you have it! My top favorite Castlevania heroes.

Which are your favorites? Leave a list in the comments below!

And for more Castlevania posts and Top Ten Lists check out the posts below!

And tweet Konami to get off their butts and restart the series the way it should be, i.e. as a side-scrolling platformer! And keep it in original series continuity! And reinstate Castlevania Legends!

CASTLEVANIA: A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES

CASTLEVANIA SEASON ONE (2017)

CASTLEVANIA SEASON TWO (2018)