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 and one of Count Dracula's highest-ranking followers; 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 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 over 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 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.
 * 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 its wings around itself 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 reach and uses two floating Orbs of Sorcery to attack. He can turn the Orbs into flaming 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 later appears under the shape of a Spectre (known as Shaft's Ghost by the fans) and fight the heroes another time. 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 at the heroes. Shaft can also summon a large flock of bats that appear in circle. The heroes must jump to strike their flying foe, but once again, his summons make him harder to reach.

In Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles, if Richter or Maria failed to save the other two captives by the time they reach Annette, Dracula's curse turns her into a winged vampire and she is fought as a boss. (It must be noted that if Annette is rescued, a female vampire looking and fighting exactly like her can be fought as a boss in a secret level.) If the heroes fight Annette, Shaft's Ghost will not be fought and the Dark Priest himself will appear to rescue Dracula and take him away after the heroes defeat his second form, leading to the bad ending of the game.
 * Vampire Annette is not so hard to defeat but the heroes must remain cautious. She flies over the room, constantly surrounded by a huge swarm of bats which protects her from all attacks. Annette attacks by sending her bats in formation to attack the heroes following different patterns: a frontal rush, an arrow-shaped swarm, parallel lines, and one line spiralling outwards around her. She is only vulnerable when she sends her bats at the heroes.

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 Shaft does not 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 as the real ruler.

Shaft uses Richter and the Castlevania as a smokescreen, so that if Richter were to fall his victor would believe that the threat has been lifted. He later creates a Reverse Castle hidden in mist over the original 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.


 * Richter is extremely powerful, fast, spry and dangerous. He is at level 48, (20 levels over the strongest boss in the Castle) and he attacks relentlessly with his whip and sub-weapons. (Daggers, Axes, Holy Water, Crosses, Bible and Thunder.) Alucard must target the Orb to destroy it and free the Belmont. Using the Holy Rod is useful here, since Richter is impervious to holy-based attacks, and using Holy resist and Mist transformation is advised to escape his attacks. Richter must not be harmed, otherwise he might become even more dangerous, attacking with extremely damaging dashes, jumping uppercuts, "Hydro Storm" (downpour of Holy Water), "Holy Cross" (giant cross of energy around him), a giant beam from his Bible, circle of axes or lightning fields around him, onslaughts of daggers, and more.

When Richter returns to his senses, Shaft's Reverse 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.