Actrise

"It's asimple matter... sacrifice the life of 100 children. I slew my own child to attain the prize of eternal life!"

- Actrise's unsettling notions of the value of life

"How pitiful! I love no one in this world, other than myself!"

- Actrise

Actrise is a major antagonist in Castlevania 64 and its remake Legacy of Darkness. She is a powerful, vain and disturbingly selfish vampire witch, and a high-ranking follower of Count Dracula, who played a big role in his returns in 1844 and 1852. Her name is similar to the word "actrice" which is the french "actress".

Some sources state that Actrise used to be a famed stage actress, who wished to remain young and beautiful forever. To that end, she learnt Dark Magic and endedup sacrificing one hundred children, including her own daughter. This particularly gory crime turned her into a vampire, which was her true goal all along. She eventually became a Mistress Witch and a henchman to Dracula. There, she forged a somehow close relationship with the vampire Gilles de Rais. (Based on the creepy child-murderer from French History.)

In 1944, right before the event of the game Legacy of Darkness, Actrise, Gilles de Rais and Dracula's right-hand man Death performed a ritual to resurrect the King of the Night. (Though, whether this is really Dracula remains a matter of debate among fans.) Then, they recruited the rogue beastman Ortega, who brought them Ada, the adoptive sister of his former friend Cornell, so that they could use her as a sacrifice to fully resurrect the Count. Actrise and Gilles de Rais also turned a nobleman named Master Oldrey and made him into the lord of the Mansion within the Castlevania.

When Cornell storms the Castle to rescue his daughter, he reaches a crypt in the mansion's garden, where Gilles de Rais attempts to stop him, but to no avail. Just as Gilles collapses, Actrise appears to take him away, commanding Cornell for this victory. When Dracula (?) is defeated, he captures Cornell's werewolf power and sends it to Death, Actrise and Gilles de Rais; who promptly sacrifice it, ensuring Dracula's return eight years later and leading to Henry Oldrey's, Reinhardt Schneider's and Carrie Fernandez's quest.
 * Despite Actrise's praise, Gilles de Rais is ridiculously easy to defeat. Like all vampires, he attacks with claw swipes and vampiric bites. (The latter replenishes his life bar and inflicts the "Vampire" status that must be cured.) He can also fire a stram of fireballs that must be jumped over, but all in all, he poses very little threat.

In 1952, Dracula's three followers send their armies raiding nearby villages and kidnapping many children, looking for the one inside whom Dracula's soul was resurrected. In order to distract the vampire hunters, Gilles de Rais disguised himself as Dracula and served as a decoy until the real Dracula could be reborn. As for Actrise, she took interest in Carrie Fernandez, descendant of the powerful magic-wielding Belnades Clan, and set out to convert her to Dracula's side. As such, the witch only appears in Carrie's story, serving as her primary foil. Actrise first confronts the young magic-wielder when she enters the Castle Center, but fails to persuade her.

Within the Castle Center, Actrise sets up a battle to the death between Carrie and her cousin Camilla, best known by the fans as the Fernandez Warrior, whom she turned into a vampire when she herself attempted to destroy Count Dracula.
 * Camilla Fernandez is not that hard to defeat. She can strike Carrie with her staff, release a cloud of blue smoke and fire three energy ball, but her most common (and most bothersome) attack release three homing energy ball that must be dodged repeatedly until they vanish. Attacking at long range and never stop running is the best way to deal with her.