Shaft (Castlevania)

"For centuries, vampire hunters have defeated Evil with Holy powers. But, if two vampire hunters were to fight each other..."

- Shaft

Shaft is a corrupt, magic-wielding priest who serves as a major antagonist in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, its 2D/3D remake Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles, and its sequel Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. He seeks to resurrect Count Dracula, whom he believes able to "purify" the world.

About Shaft
Shaft was once a holy clergyman who renounced the ways of God and turned to worship Evil, pledging his allegiance to Dracula. He claims that the world is corrupt and must be cleansed through Chaos, but the nature of the corruption he denounces is not clear. He might regard the battle between Good and Evil, and the turmoil it brings, as the "corruption" and Dracula as a "saviour" who shall make the world uncompromisingly chaotic. He might even regard Good as the corruption that must be washed away by Evil. He is not delusional though, as he clearly knows that his lord represents Evil and sides with him willingly.

Shaft is someone clever and crafty, who prefers to work in secrecy and tries to remove a threat, or if possible, use it for his own gain, instead of facing it directly, and prepares safeguards. He is very confident though, and challenges his foes without fear when they confront him.

Shaft is immensely powerful, to the point of being able to create an entire replica of the Castlevania, upside down in the sky right above the original one; and to bend the mind of the powerful vampire hunter Richter Belmont to his will. (Although he had to keep Richter under the constant influence of one of his orbs.) He is also able to summon monsters, to generate a force-field around himself in order to levitate, and to appear under the shape of a spectre, which might be a projection of his spirit. Being a priest and not a wizard, Shaft does not have direct control over the powers of Darkness, which he has to harness and channel through magical means. He casts his spells through the use of green Orbs of Sorcery, which he uses as his main weapon.

Rondo of Blood
In Rondo of Blood, (and Dracula X Chronicles) Shaft and his cult perform a ritual to resurrect Dracula, who appoints the Dark Priest as his henchman. (What happens to the rest of the cult is not known though.) Dracula then sends his armies destroy the village where Richter Belmont lives, hoping to kill the young vampire hunter before he rises against him, but Richter was training a while away. Dracula then abducts four young maiden, including Richter's girlfriend Annette and her sister Maria.

Shaft remarks Maria's vast magical powers and attempts to extract them from the little girl, but Richter (who just invaded the Castle) interrupts his experiments and forces him to flee.

Shaft is next seen in the Ceremonial Room, where he summons four Boss Monsters that Richter (or Maria) must fight directly one after the other, before entering the fray. If the heroes were not able to save Annette, she will turn into a vampire and be fought as a Boss, leading to the bad ending of the game. On the other hand, Shaft will appear under the shape of a Spectre (known as Shaft's Ghost by the fans) and fight them another time.
 * The Mummy attacks by elongating its arms, by sending a flock of flying bandages, and by conjuring three stone blocks that must be climbed over to reach it; otherwise, they crush the heroes against the wall.
 * Medusa can prove pretty tough. She strikes with her tail, sends three snakes like homing, spinning projectiles and uses her petrifying gaze that must be dodged.
 * the Phantom Bat can dash at the heroes, spit homing fireballs, and much worse, wrap itself in its wings to attack like a living drill.
 * Frankenstein's Monster can grab the heroes to launch them in the air, can stomp the ground to make boulders fall from the ceiling, and can fire a lightning bolt.
 * Shaft attacks right after his last summon's defeat and takes advantage of the heroes' weakened state. The less damage they took against the four bosses the better, since the Dark Priest is a foe to be reckoned with. He always teleports out of reaches and uses two floating Orbs of Sorcery to attack. He can turn the Orbs into flamming projectiles; uses them to conjure lightning bolts that strike the ground below; and infuse the Orbs with energy to make them rotate. All this make Shaft rather hard to reach and his attacks are dangerous so it is advised to remain careful.

Shaft's Ghost can put up a serious challenge. He floats around and attacks by summoning the skeletal remains of two Bosses fought earlier in the game; the Behemoth and the Wyvern. The Behemoth's head charges along the ground and must be jumped over, while the Wyvern dives ay the heroes. Shaft can also summon a large flock of bats who appear in circle. The heroes must jump to strike their flying foe, but once again, his summons make him harder to reach.

It must be noted that in Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles, if Shaft's Ghost was not fought the Dark Priest himself appear to rescue Dracula and take him away, after the heroes defeat his second form.

Castlevania: Dracula X
Rondo of Blood has been remade in a 2D game few years after its release. The game once again features the adventure of Richter Belmont who sets out to defeat Dracula, but the game's story was made much simpler. As such, neither Shaft not the captive maiden appear. However, one of the games' Bosses, the Cloaked Warlock heavily resembles Shaft's Ghost and was most likely based on him, as he mostly fights with summons.

Symphony of the Night
Shaft is the central antagonist of Symphony of the Night, set five years after the events of Rondo of Blood. How he survived the battles of the previous game is never fully explained though. He sends Dracula's monsters capture Richter Belmont, whom he places under an invisible Orb to control him. Shaft then resurrects the Castlevania and places it under Richter's control. (Although Richter might have been a puppet-king, with Olrox and the Succubus as the real rulers.)

Shaft later creates a second Inversed Castle hidden in mist over the second one and starts working to resurrect Dracula a second time. Since no Belmont can counter the threat, Dracula's dhampir son Alucard is awoken from his slumber and sets out to destroy the Castle. There, he meets with a teenage Maria, and later with a brainwashed Richter. Alucard eventually battles Richter, but the vampire hunter's death triggers the bad ending of the game; in which only the regular Castlevania crumbles, leaving Shaft alone and without opposition.

If Alucard got special glasses from Maria, he will be able to see through the appearances and notices the Orb of Sorcery controlling Richter. Alucard must target the Orb while avoiding Richter's extremely powerful attacks, to destroy it and free the Belmont. (Using the Holy Rod is useful here, since Richter is impervious to holy-based attacks.)

When Richter returns to his senses, Shaft's Inversed Castle is revealed and Alucard storms it to defeat the Dark Priest once and for all. Alucard must defeat the Phantom Bat, Medusa, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy and Death (the five bosses of the first Castlevania game) to gather the five body parts of Dracula; which he needs to reach Shaft's hideout.

Shaft is way easier to defeat in this game, but he still has very powerful attacks. He floats in a spherical force-field, surrounded by blades that protect him against projectiles. He uses around eight Orbs of Sorcery and always launches his attacks in the same order: 1) He infuses two Orbs with fire and hurls them at Alucard. 2) He infuses two Orbs with lightning and causes a long lasting electrical current between them, while they scout the room. 3) He infuses two Orbs with red energy and make them bounce repeatedly. All these attacks are quite tricky to dodge but Alucard can turn into mist to become intangible. Shaft must be struck in-between his attacks. He has low life points and with a sufficiently powerful Familiar, he shall fall very quickly. Be careful though, for Dracula is fought right after him.