| “ | When something is dear to you, its effect upon you becomes immeasurable. | „ |
| ~ Death |
Death is a major recurring antagonist from the videogame franchise Castlevania, based on the Grim Reaper of folklore. A demonic deity who rules over Limbo and dead souls, and decides who dies and who lives, Death is Dracula's first and foremost follower and second-in-command, so he is considered to be the secondary antagonist of the whole series. Death is often seen attempting to resurrect him or serving as his last line of defense.
Characteristics
Death is a fallen angel who was condemned to hunt for souls for all eternity. Holding his silent grudge against God, he waited for the rise of the King of the Night. He shares characteristics with the Shinigamis (Death Gods) of Japanese Folklore, but he is the real Grim Reaper. In some games, there are minor Reapers, implied to work under him.
As the harbinger of death, Death and Dracula are natural allies. Death would help anyone trying to revive his lord, and would wander through the land spreading death and sowing misery to make men's hearts hateful, so that their evil would bring Dracula back. He is stated to obey the wielder of the Crimson Stone, an alchemic jewel controlling souls in possession of Dracula, but their relationship is deeper that a mere bond to an artefact, and he is repeatedly described as Dracula’s closest friend and confident. He himself states to serve those who follow the sway of Chaos, to which he is bound.
In most games, he appears to be destroyed after his defeat, but he is never gone for real and it is implied that only his physical incarnation is gone, while his essence is sent back beyond the Veil, until he recovers. In Castlevania 64, he is seen forcibly expelled from the Earthly Planes and states that he will await his victor in Hell.
Powers and Abilities
As expected of a minor deity, Death is extremely powerful. He has full control over Limbo, where he gathers all the departed souls under his command, which he can summon and do with them as he pleases.
One of Death's many artworks.
He masters Dark Rituals, can seal people in coffins, rip souls from their bodies, and cause demises; though he seems unable to do so with the heroes, having to attack them upfront. He is resistant to Dark but weak to Holy.
His signature technique consists in conjuring never-ending waves of sickles to harass the players, that can intercept projectiles and must be destroyed to reach him. He also wields his huge scythe with immense proficiency and casts death-themed spells: Launching dead souls like rays or whirling blasts; conjuring tormented souls; hurling energy balls, scythes of energy or giant, ghostly skulls; causing huge explosions; and so on and so forth.
When defeated, he sometimes transforms into a more powerful skeletal monster to continue the fight.
Personality
Death is absolutely loyal and takes great pride in working for Dracula, holding his lord in very high regards. This is notable when he is confronted to people coveting his lord’s throne, as he finds the mere idea of the Castlevania being ruled by anyone else than Dracula "positively absurd".
Death's artwork in Castlevania Pachinko
Death is cocky and confident, but he never holds back against anyone, unless he sees a reason for this. He is cold, imposing and threatening. He never loses his composure and remains perfectly stoic, even when angered. He rarely works with other vassals of Dracula and prefers acting on his own. He also enjoys taunting and tormenting both his enemies and the dead souls in his grasp very much.
He harbours great contempt for the heroes of the games, but not outright hatred. He treats them with harsh indifference or cold politeness following his mood, and only insults them when defeated or when feeling outraged. He acknowledges their merits nonetheless, and never hesitates to taunt the heroes whose power is not at its fullest, calling them a disgrace to their name.
Death is a highly skilled manipulator, who often uses the heroes when he seeks the same thing (Ada and Lydie, in Legacy of Darkness and Harmony of Dissonance, Brauner's defeat in Portrait of Ruin). He lets them progress, even stealthily guiding them, before appearing to seize the prize. He can devise elaborate schemes to lead the heroes where he wants to from the shadows, but he rarely bothers, preferring to seize opportunities when they appear.
He has (or had) apparently a great deal of respect for Alucard, as he somehow bemoans the fact that he sides with mankind and seems reluctant to fight him. However, all the respect he could have for anyone would not prevent him to attempt to get rid of him or her should said person raise against Dracula.
In the games
Death in the games
Death appears in most games of the series, with the exceptions of Castlevania the Adventure, Belmont's Revenge, the phone game Order of Shadows (though there is an artwork of him), and the arcade game Haunted Castle. Death will be dwelling either in the Clock Tower or the Dungeons of the Castlevania, being most often the last boss right before Dracula in person. Death is almost always very hard to defeat, sometimes even harder than Dracula himself. (And Dracula is rarely a boss to be laughed at.)
His signature technique consists in conjuring continuous waves of sickles that track down the player without end. He also wields his huge scythe with immense proficiency and casts several death-themed spells: launching dead souls like rays or whirling blasts; conjuring tormented souls; hurling energy balls, scythes of energy or giant, ghostly skulls; causing huge explosions; and so on and so forth. When defeated, he sometimes transforms into a more powerful skeletal monster to continue the fight.
Death frequently confronts the heroes when they enter the Castlevania, or when they are about to enter it (as seen in Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night and Castlevania the Arcade). Although there are some games in which he only has a minor role, he mostly serves as a major antagonist.
1094: Lament of Innocence
After Mathias Cronqvist became a vampire and seized the Crimson Stone, he gained Death's allegiance. He had him "serve" under he Vampire King Walter Bernhard, wielder of the Ebony Stone, while he manipulated both Walter and Leon Belmont, to make the latter destroy the former. When it was done, Death stole the defeated Walter's soul and gave it to his new lord. As Leon refused to follow Mathias on the path of evil, he ordered Death to deal with him, but Leon defeated him.
Death serves as the final boss for the first (and very likely last) time. He is a highly powerful and difficult boss, fought right after Walter. The battle takes place in Limbo. This is the only game in which he never uses his sickles. Contrary to most games, Death remains static and teleports when Leon gets too close. He must be fought at close range. He fires five tormented souls like homing rays, makes explosive fireballs fall from the sky, conjures flaming skulls, swipes his scythe or launches it like a boomerang, and causes a devastating fiery explosion.
In the following centuries, Mathias who used Walter's souls and powers, and the two cursed stones to become the King of the Night, changing his name to Count Vlad Tepes Dracula. Death thus became his eternal servant and helped him to build his empire.
Around 1430, Dracula fell in love with a woman named Lisa and had a child, Adrian Farenheit Tepes who would later be known as Alucard. Alas, she was tried as a witch and burned at the stake, pushing Dracula over the edge. He become the King of the Night and declared war to humanity, with Death helping him.
1450: Castlevania Legends (non-canon)
In this alternate timeline, Death made a pact with Dracula, gaining vast powers in exchange for his service, in contradiction with the canon backstory.
Death is surprisingly easy to defeat in this game. He keeps hopping from one side of the room to the other to strike Sonia Belmont with his scythe, and conjures (few) sickles afterwards. His attack pattern his pretty simple and he should be defeated with little trouble.
1476: Dracula's Curse
The game takes place at the apex of Dracula's conquest of Transylvania, after he took over most of central Europe and spread devastation all around, with Leon's descendant Trevor (Sonia's son) standing against him, allied with the mage Sypha Belnades, the pirate Grant DaNasty, and Alucard.
Death's second form.
Death is fought near the end of the game. Trevor Belmont is the best character to fight him. He fights as he always does, flying around in a rather unpredictable pattern and conjuring never-ending waves of sickles. Once again it is dangerous to get close to him, the battle is very hard and his attacks are very damaging.
When defeated, Death turns into a huge, reddish, skull who floats quickly who spits scythes when blue fire lights up within him. Be careful not to get trapped into a corner of the room to avoid troubles.
1479: Curse of Darkness
Zead
Death is the central antagonist of this game, set three years after Dracula's Curse. Dracula is dead but he left a curse that plagues the land and corrupts its citizens, which Death uses to resurrect him.
The primary protagonist Hector, a former Devil Forgemaster who betrayed Dracula, sets out to avenge the death of his wife Rosaly, caused by his fellow Devil Forgemaster Isaac. Hector befriends Zead, a priest who gives him advice all over the game. Zead tells him to get back the Dark Powers that he relinquished to stand a chance against his nemesis, who must be killed to lift the curse. The Castlevania is eventually resurrected and the two Forgemasters settle their score within its walls.
After Hector wins but refuses to finish Isaac off, Zead appears and reveals that he was the true mastermind behind Isaac's plot. He guided Hector so that he would resurrect the Castlevania, and triggered all events from behind the scene to make them fight to the death.
Hector has been royally tricked.
Zead reveals that a Devil Forgemaster fully corrupted by the curse is the vessel necessary for Dracula's return, and he hoped that Hector, who is more suitable for this role, would succumb to the curse by quenching his thirst for revenge. Zead then resolves to use Isaac, whom he seals in a bewitched coffin and sends to the Throne Room.
It appears that Zead is none other than Death himself, who drags the now useless Hector in Limbo to get rid of him while Dracula is coming back through Isaac's body.
Death fights quite similarly to how he did in Lament of Innocence. He remains at the same place and attacks at long range by launching his fire-infused scythe like a boomerang or by conjuring sickles; and at close range by making fire erupt from the ground, by swiping his scythe or by becoming transparent and trying to touch Hector with his glowing hand. He can also cause a devastating fiery explosion.
1576: Castlevania: the Adventure ReBirth
Death makes up for his absence in the original game Castlevania the Adventure, being fought in a very tough battle in the Clock Tower.
Death's three scythe blades.
He first appears without his scythe, conjuring sickles from his hands. When he goes to one side of the screen he conjures a huge scythe of blue energy that strikes Christopher Belmont and then hooks him down. Christopher must first avoid it and then run towards Death faster than the scythe.
When he creates a doppelganger of himself, they attack from both sides of the screen with bewitched, homing sickles. Striking the doppelganger makes it disappear. After a while Death starts using his scythe. With each swipe of his weapon, Death hurls a red beam to hit at both ranges. Death can also separate his scythe into three huge scythe blades that hover around him before chasing Christopher, or summon several purple, homing, ghostly skulls that must be destroyed.
1691: Castlevania (and its remakes)
Death serves as the second-to-last boss of the first game of the franchise, and he is by far the hardest foe faced. He hovers from one point to another, conjuring swarms of sickles. Long-range attacks are better, although the best weapon is the Holy Water that can momentarily stun him.
Death fights in an exact same fashion in the remake Vampire Killer.
Super Castlevania 4
Death leads Dracula's Personal Gard. He is fought right after Slogra and Gaibon in the Clock Tower, as the last and the hardest boss who guards the way to Dracula. As usual, he hovers around spamming waves of homing sickles or charging with his scythe forward, but he will also throw his scythe like a boomerang and magically attract Simon Belmont towards him to hinder his dodging until it returns to him.
Castlevania Chronicles
Death follows a fixed pattern and conjures sickles after sickles, while trying to push Simon Belmont into the room’s corners. He can also create a dangerous black hole that vacuums Simon and deals damage at contact, or send flying, homing skulls. Simon must attack Death relentlessly and take profit of the few seconds during which he gets fazed by his blow to harass him.
1698: Simon's Quest
Death keeps one of Dracula's remains. Oddly enough, the battle against him can be avoided by going to the next room. He slowly tracks down Simon and hurls sickles one after another, and fights just like in the first game. However, he also dives towards Simon Belmont to strike him with his scythe.
1748: Harmony of Dissonance
A warrior named Maxim Kischine gathers Dracula's remnants to destroy them, hoping to prove his worth and to relieve his best friend Juste Belmont from his cursed fate as a Vampire Killer. By doing so, he gets corrupted by Dracula's spirit and partially resurrects the Castlevania, reating a reflection of the castle appear in the spiritual realm. Death joins side with the corrupt Maxim, setting out to reunite the two castles and make Dracula overwhelm his host.
Death eventually finds Lydie and brings her to the corrupt Maxim, given if he were able to bite her in the Ceremonial Room, Dracula would fully resurrect through him. As for Death, he fights Juste to prevent him from freeing Maxim of Dracula's evil influence.
Death's second form.
Death is not that hard to defeat. He fights with his usual waves of sickles, scythe strikes, and boomerang-like throws, but he can also teleport and make pillars of blue energy erupt from the ground.
When defeated, he turns into a gigantic, skeletal, snake-like monster with scythe-shaped antennas, who flies erratically, taking a large part of the screen, trying to corner Juste. Instead of remaining on the ground, Juste must jump on his back and strike his skull to defeat him for good.
1792: Rondo of Blood (and its remakes)
Death attacks Richter Belmont at the beginning of the game, as the latter is rushing back to his hometown destroyed by Dracula's forces on a carriage drawn by running horses. He throws his scythe at him before summoning a giant, ghostly skull and Richter must deflect his attacks.
The battle against Death takes place atop the mast of the Ghost Ship. He floats in figure eight patterns, conjuring his signature sickles, but after losing two thirds of his life-bar, he summons a wave of giant, green, ghostly skulls before shedding his cloak.
He then lands to fight at close range with his scythe, and the battle becomes much harder. He still conjures sickles, strikes, performs dangerous jumping, whirling dashes, and destroys Richter's projectiles, whose remains must be dodged. Richter must keep his distances and strike when he is not moving.
In the remake Dracula X, Death awaits in the clock tower, but only if Richter could not save Anette. He fights as in Rondo, though he does not summon skulls between the two stages, and he fires three white sparks moving in a circular pattern. Death acts the exact same way in The Dracula X Chronicles.
1797: Symphony of the Night
| “ | So, you made it this far. In the name of your father, cease this foolishness! Not while there's a breath in my body. |
„ |
| ~ Death's last confrontation with Alucard. |
In the beginning of the game, Death greets the primary protagonist Alucard (the son of Dracula) and politely asks what he is doing in the Castlevania. Upon learning that Alucard intends to oppose his father, he angrily scatters Alucard's weapons and items all over the Castlevania and departs.
Death is only fought if Alucard could enter Shaft Reverse Castle. He is the last of the five bosses of the original game who keep Dracula's remains, which Alucard needs to confront his father. He is powerful, but not that hard to defeat.
He is faced in the Reverse Catacombs, in a small room that can hinder Alucard. The more wounds he gets, the more sickles he sends, and he uses magic attacks going back and forth at increasing speed: first two big, green orbs, then two large, green, ghostly skulls and finally two very damaging red scythe blades.
Death's second form.
When defeated for the first time, he transforms into a skeletal demon wielding two huge scythes he mostly uses as boomerangs. He is surprisingly easier to defeat in this form, especially if Alucard gets behind him.
Early 1800: Order of Ecclesia
| “ | The candlelight of your soul has burned itself out. | „ |
| ~ Death, if he kills Shanoa |
Death plays his "traditional" role as Dracula’s last line of defence, and he is quite tough so be prepared. In addition to his signature endless rain of sickles and his scythe strikes (from above or as a charging slashes), he will conjure six scythe blades of blue energy (three from each side) to corner Shanoa; summon three tormented souls that whirl outwards around him; and unleash a huge onslaught of sickles from his hand.
1830: Circle of the Moon (non-canon)
Death only appears here as an optional boss. His aspect and fighting style are quite similar to those he had in Symphony of the Night.
Death's second form.
He hovers around and unleashes his signature waves of sickles, also attacking with two large, green orbs or six bony spears from his cloak. Death' second form is a skeletal, turtle-like monster with scythe-shaped arms. He is very slow but he conjures sickles and can create a shield in front of him or slow down Nathan Graves to hinder his movements.
1844: Legacy of Darkness
In Cornell's quest, Death leads a plot to resurrect Dracula, seconded by Actrise and Gilles de Rais. They perform a ritual to bring Dracula back at the start of the game. (Though whether this is the true Dracula or an avatar of sorts remains unclear, as the he is only supposed to return during the events of Castlevania 64, and the ending hints that they in fact ensured his return.) They abduct Cornell's adoptive sister Ada to sacrifice her and fully restore their lord.
It is Death himself who appears in the Clock Tower where Ada was hidden, to take the young girl away. He is hinted to have stealthily followed Cornell after Ortega told him where he hid her. After Cornell defeats Dracula (?) at the cost of his Beastman Power, Death and his associates fetch Cornell's werewolf form and sacrifice it, ensuring Dracula's return in eight years.
In the second part of the game which is a remake of Castlevania 64, Death's role in Reinhardt's quest is exactly the same.
In Cornell's quest, Death is leading a plot to resurrect Dracula, seconded by and . The three are seen performing a ritual that brings Dracula back at the beginning of the game. (Though whether this is really Dracula or his Servant from Castlevania 64, who seems to be an avatar of some sort to the King of the Night, is still a matter of debate among fans. Indeed Dracula is only supposed to reappear eight years later during the events of Castlevania 64 and the vampire fought looks like an avatar of some sort.) They abduct Cornell's adoptive sister Ada to sacrifice her and fully restore their lord.
It is Death himself who appears in the Clock Tower where Ada was hidden, to take the young girl away. It is hinted that he stealthily followed Cornell after Ortega told him where he hid her. After Cornell defeats Dracula (?) at the cost of his Beastman Power, Death and his associates fetch Cornell's werewolf form and sacrifice it, ensuring Dracula's return in eight years.
1852: Apocalypse (Castlevania 64)
He increases the powers of Rosa, a vampire girl who retains her human soul, and has her overcome with her curse to send her fight Reinhard, who befriended her. Reinhardt defeats Rosa but spares her, and Death takes her away saying that she will soon become a full-fledged vampire.
- Rosa is not very hard to defeat. She hovers over the ground and mostly attacks at long range, though she can lunge towards Reinhardt to strike him with a rapier or launch a sonic shockwave. She conjures many fireballs from above and a very irksome, homing rose thorn which must be dodged until it fades away. (She does not use this attack in Legacy of Darkness.) It is best to attack her with projectiles.
Death later ambushes Reinhardt atop the Room of Clocks and the Vampire Killer only owes his life to Rosa's sacrifice. Death then engages a battle that can prove very hard, especially without long-range weapons. He conjures waves of sickles that can intercept projectiles, but he also sends them by waves of different pattern: a circle, a much larger arc, a group of sickles arcing towards Reinhardt and several homing ones. He often flies at contact either to launch his scythe like a boomerang or to summon a horde of demonic barracudas one after another. Jump to strike him and don't hesitate to strike him when he flies at contact.
1914: Castlevania Bloodlines
Death is the last boss of Proserpina Castle in England, guarding the way to Elizabeth Bartley and Dracula himself. He surrounds himself with a circle of six Tarot cards, and John Morris and Eric Lecarde must strike them all before fighting him. Three will make them fight a previous boss, two will make him hurl a red energy blast from his scythe, and one will conjure plenty of energy-replenishing meat. Death’s sickles explode when striking the ground, and he can fire a cluster of them rotating around him. He will also dash over the ground to strike the heroes, and throws his scythe like a boomerang while magically attracting them towards him, exactly like he did in Super Castlevania 4.
1944: Portrait of Ruin
Death once again returns to the newly resurrected Castlevania, wondering why there is no trace of his lord. Upon meeting Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, he learns that the Vampire Lord Brauner has raised the Castle and taken it over through his bewitched paintings, intending to take Dracula’s place. Outraged, Death almost considers an alliance with the protagonists but he dismisses them and sets out to deal with Brauner on his own.
Death runs into the heroes in the Tower of Death, and they fight him to prevent him from seeking Dracula's return. He then flees, taunting Jonathan for being far weaker than his father John, hinting that he was but testing them.
He resists attacks but is weak to spells, but this is reversed when he turns white. He conjures the now traditional endless sickles, swipes his scythe or chops vertically to the ground, generates a barrier of chains around him that must be destroyed, and conjures chains to grab the heroes, leaving them open to a dangerous attack.
When the protagonists defeat Brauner, Death, who was counting on this, appears and finishes him off, lifting the seal that prevented Dracula from rising again.
Dracula fights alongside his most trusted follower.
Death ultimately fights alongside his lord during the first stage of the final battle, befitting the game's theme of partnership. Dracula and Death either attack separately or combine their power in a devastating attack. Dracula teleports repeatedly and hurls fireballs or orbs of dark energy in succession, while Death strikes with his scythe from above or at contact. There are three different super attacks:
- Dracula turns a swarm of scythes into orbs of dark energy.
- Dracula turns Death’s sickles into a huge swarm of demonic bats.
- Death transforms into a giant scythe with which Dracula stabs the ground to cause an extremely destructive explosion of dark energy.
Fighting both villains can prove very tricky, as each will impede the protagonists when they try to strike the other. Fortunately, they share the same life-points and striking one damages them both. When they are defeated, Death urges his lord to use his power, so that he can unleash his demonic form.
2035: Aria of Sorrow
Death upgrades his weapon.
In this game set after the final destruction of Dracula in 1999, Death attacks the hero Soma Cruz, Dracula’s reincarnation, likely because Soma resists the sway of evil and hoping to let a more willing heir take centre stage.
He is intangible at first, meaning that Soma must strike his scythe while dodging his strikes, sickles and pillars of blue energy. Then, he conjures a double-bladed scythe made of bones. During the second phase, he charges at Soma and mostly fights at close range, but he is also able to throw his scythe in a boomerang-like fashion or in a spinning, circular motion all over the room. Stay away from his scythe after defeating him to avoid huge damage.
2036: Dawn of Sorrow
Death's first aspect (left) and angry mode (right).
In the sequel of Soma's first adventure, Death doesn't meddle with Celia Fortner's scheme to awake a new King of the Night, despite sharing her goal, most likely because he knows that Soma Cruz is the one and only reincarnation of Dracula. He still attacks Soma to set free Dracula's essence though.
The first stage of the battle is rather easy. Death attacks by striking with his scythe, by throwing his scythe which separates into a circular wave of sickles, and by creating three doppelgangers of himself to fire four parallel beams. Soma must not hesitate to pummel him after avoiding the second attack. Death then gets angry and things get serious. He now attacks by making his scythe whirling around him, by teleporting to strike, by conjuring his usual waves of sickles and by summoning four gigantic ghostly skulls that charge at Soma from right and left one after the other.
Harmony of Despair (non-canon)
Castlevania the Arcade (non-canon)
Death first attacks the player on the bridge leading to the Castlevania, slicing a statue with his scythe. He flies around and strikes at close range, summons Zombies to distract the protagonist, launches his scythe like a boomerang and hurls a barrage of dark fireballs. Death flees after a rather short skirmish.
Death's second form (somehow reminiscent of his aspect in Castlevania Judgment).
Death is fought again, once again as Dracula's last line of defense atop the Clock Tower. He assumes the more powerful form of a ghostly, knight-like reaper, and starts the true boss battle. He is much more aggressive than in the first confrontation and he mostly fights at close range, often diving towards the protagonist to slash at full speed or hurling many dark fireballs at once. The best way to deal with him is to strike as much as possible when he is getting close while avoiding direct contact.
The Arcade is the second game in which Death does not use his sickles.
In Castlevania Judgment
Death is a playable character in the fighting game Castlevania Judgment. He lacks his usual cloak and robes, and bears robotic features, most notably the hook which replaces his left hand.
Fighting style and Attacks
Death is a well-balanced character, proficient in both close range and long range fighting (though he is arguably better in long range). His most basic attack consists in a spinning scythe strike followed by a forward dash. He can also teleport.
- Spinning Scythe: He makes his scythe spin around him.
- The Reaping: He launches his scythe like a boomerang, which he can remotely control.
- Twin Sickles: He fires two homing sickles.
- Orb of Gehena: He fires an orb of dark energy that engulfs his victim and paralyses him/her for a determined amount of time.
- Judgment: He grabs his victim and tosses him/her to the ground before landing a diving slash.
- Corpse Hunt: He creates a magical pentagram over his victim that blasts the ground with dark energy.
- Hyper Attack: The Gates of Hell: Death summons the fallen souls, forming ghostly hands from the ground which hold his victim in place. Death then changes his hook into a blade and stabs his victim before dislodging his head and "swallowing" the victim's soul in a burst of blue flames.
Lords of Shadow
Main Article: Zobek
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