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| “ | Here, every little story is a huge thing. A farming accident. A sickness. A lost child. A death. They have an importance to the place. | „ |
| ~ The Judge foreshadowing his true nature. |
| “ | Trevor: I have to say, running a town does not sound like it's fun. The Judge: It has its little pleasures. |
„ |
| ~ The Judge hinting at his sadism. |
| “ | I am going to wait for that bastard in hell and kill him all over again when he arrives. | „ |
| ~ The Judge having gotten his revenge on Sala in his final moments. |
The Judge is a major character in the third season of Netflix's animated series Castlevania. He is the ruler of Lindenfeld who at first appears to be kindhearted and caring about his community, but is teased throughout the season to be harboring a dark secret.
He recruits Trevor and Sypha to see what is going on in the town's priory, where he assumes foul play is occurring. He helps lead the attack on the priory, but is killed in the fight. Shortly after, it is revealed that he was a delusional serial killer responsible for deaths of numerous children, who he found as "annoying".
He was voiced by Jason Isaacs in English and Hiroki Matsukawa in Japanese. The former also played Lucius Malfoy and the Basilisk in Harry Potter, Satan in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Colonel Mekum in Soldier, William Tavington in The Patriot, Dracula in Monster Family, Gabriel Lorca in Star Trek: Discovery.
Personality[]
| “ | Sypha: Those scraps of clothing in the pit… those small bones… Trevor: Yeah… Sypha: He said that he killed Sala. Trevor: Yeah. Sypha: It was his pit. Trevor: He was the Judge… and he had his "little pleasures"… |
„ |
| ~ Trevor and Supra upon discovering the Judge's true nature as a serial killer. |
At first, the Judge appeared to be a calm and well mannered ruler who was simply a little bit strict with his people. He always maintained his calm demeanor under any circumstances, and while he loathed chaos, going as far as to chastise a young child who was just running around, he seemed to be easily forgiving as well, telling said child of a special place he could get apples if he wanted to. He even seemed to forgive Prior Sala for mortally stabbing him, telling Sala about a place where he could hide from the town.
The Judge acts respectful and dignified to most people, from the monster hunter Trevor and Sypha, to even Sala, who was acting deviously under him. It is clear that the Judge was very suspicious of most people, telling Trevor and Sypha to avoid Saint Germain due to his faked allegiance to Sala and magic. The Judge also was extremely observant, noticing even tiny writings in the walls of his village, claiming that as its ruler, it is his job to look over the village and make sure that nothing happens to it. He seems to love his people, showing clear signs of shock when Sala’s symbols cause massive walls of flame to burn down numerous homes and being willing to put his life on the line in order to stop Sala’s schemes to bring back Dracula.
However, most of this is part of the Judge’s carefully crafted facade. In truth, the Judge is extremely bored of his life as the ruler and has looked in other places for interests. This leads to him creating a death trap under the apple tree he mentioned earlier, where he sends “annoying” children who run around and disturb the peace. He steals the shoes of those children as his trophies, showing his enjoyment in his actions. He eventually uses this to get revenge on Sala, mentioning in his final moments that he killed Sala and was going to wait for Sala in hell and kill him all over again.
Despite all of this, he does genuinely respect some of the other people in his life, mainly Trevor and Sypha. He is unwilling to allow them to die, even if it would protect his reputation. Nonetheless, he does care deeply about the well being of the village, being horrified when Sala’s magic killed most of the villagers and even going so far as to request that Trevor and Sypha burn down his house to prevent others from knowing his secrets and losing their faith in him.
Biography[]
The Judge was born some time before the story in Lindenfeld. He left with his family to the capitol of Wallachia when he was a child. He was successful in the capitol and was sent back to Lindefeld to serve as the leader.
The Judge is first seen in the story when Trevor and Sypha arrive into Lidenfeld, dragging in a dead night creature. The Judge tells to them that this town is called Lidenfeld and that he is the ruler of the village. Prior Sala and the monks of the priory come and after claiming that the night creatures deserve to die for betraying Dracula, tries to get information from Trevor and Sypha. The Judge forces Sala to leave, and claims that Sala probably went insane after hearing that the Church caused Dracula’s attack. He welcomes them into the town before leaving to take care of his other duties.
Later, when Trevor and Sypha plan to leave the village, the Judge approaches them and invites them to come to his house for tea. When there, he asks them who they actually are, to which Trevor and Sypha reveal that they are monster hunters who killed Dracula. When he hears, he tells them how Lindenfeld was attacked by night creatures a while ago, but the town killed most of them. However, one of them broke into the priory, and since them, Sala and the monks seemed to be off. He then convinces the two of them to help him investigate what is going on at the priory, since he assumes that Sala and his men are planning something dastardly.
Soon after Trevor and Sypha check out the priory, the Judge tells them that if he could have just done the same kind of “investigation” as they did if he wanted, claiming that it wasn’t any help. Sypha responds by telling him that the Priory seems to be full of magic and that there must be something awful going on in there, to the Judge’s shock.
Soon after, the Judge walks in on Trevor talking to himself outside the village near a pond. When Trevor asks if he was following him, to which the Judge replies that he was simply going to his place of peace, away from everyone else. He tells Trevor how he became the ruler of Lindenfeld and claims that he prefers it here, since all of the stories don’t just get brushed path, and everything that happens is treated like a big event or milestone. Trevor also brings up his distrust of Saint Germain, which the Judge agrees with. After their conversation, the two of them walk back to the village, but the Judge notices a marking on the wall. Trevor tries to brush it off as some kid using his knife, but the Judge says that children don’t do that in his town, making them believe that someone carved it there on purpose.
Shortly after, the Judge is seen rebuking a young boy for running around in the square, claiming to have told him more than twenty times. He then realizes that the boy wanted to get the freshest apples and tells the boy that if he goes to his secret spot and doesn’t tell anyone else about it, he is allowed to take three apples. The boy quickly runs to get it, to which the Judge yells after him to stop running. He then addresses Saint Germain, who is up earlier than usual. When the Judge asks Saint Germain what he was doing with Trevor and Sypha the night before, he brushes it off by saying that they just wanted to meet someone who had seen toilet paper.
Later that day, Trevor brings one of the monks who were carving into the walls to the Judge. Sypha tells the Judge that the symbols that they found have the meanings of death and transformation, which would mean that something awful is being planned by the people in the priory. After a bit of “convincing” from Trevor, the monk reveals that Sala’s men have been spreading the word that they are bringing hell to earth, and that the visitor is the one who told them to. Saint Germain barges in right after, telling the three of them that Sala is keeping a night creature under the priory and is planning to do something huge very soon. The Judge decides that he will assemble his men and they will all attack the priory at sundown.
Sundown arrives and at first, the Judge tries to peacefully ask the monks to leave. However, Sala uses magic to cause fires to erupt everywhere he put the alchemic symbol, killing most of the villagers. The Judge orders his men to take the priory to stop any more death. Sala manages to escape the priory, and runs into and kills the Judge. Before his death, he tells Sala to go to the same place where he sent the child so Sala can escape. Sala heads there, and is killed in a pit trap, revealing that the Judge was killing all of the annoying children. After Trevor and Sypha leave the priory, the Judge tells them that he is going to wait for Sala in hell and that they should burn down his house. Trevor and Sypha investigate, and in his house, they see the dozens of shoes that the Judge has kept of his victims, revealing that the Judge was not as good as they thought he would be.
Quotes[]
| “ | But I pride myself on a carefully organized town. My men-at-arms wiped their weapons with salt in shit. (Trevor: Salt on the blades. Very good. Shit to make the wounds stick. That’s old army tactics.) Lindenfeld has always defended itself. There are reasons why this is more than a wide spot on the road, Belmont. | „ |
| ~ The Judge about how his village defeated the night creatures. |
| “ | I need to know what happened. I need to know why the priory in my town is attracting damaged, frightening people. I have a community to look after here. I need to know what’s going to happen. | „ |
| ~ The Judge explaining why he needs Trevor and Sypha's help. |
| “ | I took you for adventurers who might take a chance at a fair payment. (Syph: Adventurers!) But you are a speaker, and you are a Belmont. You are heroes to this country and its people. I believe you will help me because these are dangerous times and it is the right thing to do. | „ |
| ~ The Judge convinces Trevor and Sypha to help him. |
| “ | If I thought just rolling up to the front door and annoying some mad monks would do the trick, I would have done it my fucking self. | „ |
| ~ The Judge after Trevor and Sypha investigate the priory for the first time. |
| “ | (Trevor: A pretty girl holds your hand, and takes you to bed and all of a sudden–) And all of a sudden your world changes, and you don’t know what to think about it. | „ |
| ~ The Judge speaks to Trevor at the pond. |
| “ | Sometimes I have to walk outside the town to be able to see it properly. | „ |
| ~ The Judge to Trevor. |
| “ | Well, Lindenfelders are a basic kind of people. Honest to the point of brutality. (Trevor: You're not one of them?) Not really. You can’t be part of the town and also rule it. To be a leader, you will always be… held apart from the rest of your world. | „ |
| ~ The Judge about his role as the ruler of Lindenfeld. |
| “ | This is my town, Belmont. It is my job to pay attention to it. | „ |
| ~ The Judge claims responsibility for any actions that occur in the village. |
| “ | It has its little pleasures. | „ |
| ~ The Judge tells Trevor the benefits of running the village, which foreshadows his true nature. |
| “ | No running! I’ve told you a thousand times I won’t have children running like wild dogs in my town. And I’ve told you in particular more than twenty times, haven’t I? | „ |
| ~ The Judge rebukes a small boy for running in the square. |
| “ | Children do not run around defacing property with knives in my town. In fact, they don’t run around at all, if I can help it. | „ |
| ~ The Judge when asked if a child made the marking in the town, also forshadowing his true nature. |
| “ | Would you like to hear a secret? If you go into the woods through the back field and follow the path until the fork, and you go down the way with the big tree that you all say looks like an angry face, and you go over the creek, past the point where your parents say you shouldn’t go, right? I happen to know there’s an apple tree in the clearing after that. It’s my apple tree, and nobody’s allowed to go there. So, if you promise not to tell a soul where you’re going, go and get yourself three apples. And no more running. | „ |
| ~ The Judge giving directions to the child to get apples, which leads to his death. |
| “ | I’ll summon my men-at-arms by stages. I don’t want to cause alarm or give Sala warning. We will strike at sundown, when the townsfolk will be indoors. | „ |
| ~ The Judge preparing his attack on Sala. |
| “ | This is my town. You do as I say. We must have strategy and force of numbers. This will be done properly. | „ |
| ~ The Judge affirming to Sypha that they must wait until sundown to attack Sala. |
| “ | Prior Sala! When you were a simple man of the church, I tolerated your hold on my people. When you became a mad hermit who shunned my people, I tolerated you still. No more. You will vacate the priory. Throw your weapons out as you exit. Sala! I know you deconsecrated the priory. God is no longer in that house. You enjoy no protection. Out! All of you! Now! Or we come for you, Sala! | „ |
| ~ The Judge beginning his attack on Sala. |
| “ | Oh, my God. How are they doing that? Are they out there settng fires? (Sypha: No. It’s the harvest. I just didn’t see it!) And I waited until everyone was back in their homes. | „ |
| ~ The Judge watching as Sala’s fires kill all of the townsfolk in their homes. |
| “ | You have bested me. Well done. But you may not win the war. My men are everywhere. It’s over. (Sala: You are already dead. Let go.) Sala. Take the back field into the woods. Go right at the fork and over the creek until you reach the apple tree. Stand in front of it. You will see your path to safety. (Sala: Why? Why would you tell me this?) It turns out that you were the better judge of all things. Run, Sala! | „ |
| ~ The Judge tricking Sala into his trap, getting his revenge for everything Sala has done. |
| “ | Burn my house down. | „ |
| ~ The Judge’s last words. |
Trivia[]
- The Judge is one of the only three villains who has their true intentions hidden from the audience in Netflix’s Castlevania, with the other ones being Sumi and Taka.
- This doesn’t include Saint Germain, as he started as a hero and only became a villain in the following season.
- The Judge is one of the few villains in the series to help the protagonists in their goals without opposing them prior to or after their deaths.
- Fans know him best for the humorous like "What the f**k is toilet paper?" Saint German had mentioned it was something from the orient that no one in Wallachia had seen, prompting the question.
External links[]
- Judge at the Castlevania Wiki
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Netflix's  Villains
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Dracula's Army Styrian Council of Sisters The Church Cult of Sekhmet Others | ||