User:Fallen Reality/Enemies in Castlevania series

This article describes several types of fictional enemy creatures encountered in the Castlevania series of video games.

Throughout the series, Dracula's castle and other locations have been filled with monsters and servants that seek to thwart the heroes' quests. These range from legendary creatures such as Mummies, Harpies and the Catoblepas, to classical and literary monsters such as the Werewolf and Frankenstein's Monster, and even to giant animals, demonic maids, and possessed furniture. Among these, some enemy types have been found in nearly all incarnations of the series, and are considered staples.

Armored Knights / Living Armors

Castlevania has a large variety of armored knights and living armors. In early games, there are lance-wielding knights and axe-wielding knights - referred to in the series as 'Axe Armor'. Axe Armors can throw their hand axes forward at the player and have them return back. Eventually, more armored knights are added into the series, ranging from a standard sword wielding knight to ones that spin spiked discs like a yoyo, and more. Even their sizes vary greatly, with some knights being of human size, while others are as tall as the room they're in.

Bats

A fictional work revolving around Dracula is not complete without bats. This enemy has been present in almost every Castlevania game (The exception being Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, although Mathias/Dracula turns into one), usually as a weak enemy that flies around in a pattern that makes them hard to hit, and in the process, making it hard for the heroes to get through, especially when the heroes are traversing perilous terrains such as collapsing bridges. These bats have become less and less intimidating as the series progress since now they rarely appear in crucial times (see Medusa Head and Fleamen below for comparison). In the original Castlevania, both red and blue versions existed, the latter of which would wait hanging upside down for the player to get closer before striking.

In contrast, some other bats have become bosses in the series. The first of such bat boss is a Giant Bat (also called Phantom Bat) which is actually the first boss to be introduced to non-arcade Castlevania games. These recurring boss have been seen in different forms, and even inspire some other bosses in later games to mimic their battle style.

The Creature

Inspired by Frankenstein's monster, the Creature has been featured as a boss in several games.

Fish Men / Mermen

The fish-humanoids are present from the very first Castlevania, and are always seen in watery places. They usually attack by spitting, either water or (curiously) fire. Usually mermen appear early on in the game and are regarded as the easier enemies. Usually they appear in large numbers at once.

Fleamen

These smaller enemies are similar to Medusa Heads, in that their mobility is their main threat. Early in the series, these enemies were slow, but because they jumped around erratically they were a menace. This problem is lessened in the latter games, mostly because they are too weak to inflict considerable damage. Also, they are not considered as deadly as Medusa Heads because unlike the heads, the Fleamen are rarely present in critical areas of the castle, whereas Medusa Heads often appear in areas with many instant/quick-kill threats.

Legion

Even though its appearance is minuscule compared to other encounters, Legion has appeared in a few recent titles as a boss. It most likely takes its name from the biblical story of the demon Legion where a young man is possessed by numerous demons. Legion was called Granfaloon in the European and U.S. versions of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, a reference to Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, where in the book a granfalloon is a group of people who falsely believe they have a meaningful connection to one another. Legion is a living, floating sphere made out of featurless humanoid corpses. It attacks with tentacles within inside of it, which fire lasers. To get to the central weak body, the player will have to attack what the game refers to as its 'corpse armor', until the core of it is revealed.

One instance where Legion is different from this description is in Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon, where Legion is a lesser monster composed of three heads merged together, and with tentacles coming out of their mouths. Touching Legion in Circle Of The Moon results in an ailment known as 'Cursed', which doesn't allow the player to attack anything for a brief period of time.

In Curse of Darkness, after defeating Legion, the core will transform into a featureless bright humanoid figure called Nuculais, hunched over with long arms. It can stretch, shoot laser beams, and teleport through its room that is made from corpses and bones.

Medusa / Medusa Heads

Based on the Gorgon named Medusa from Greek mythology, the Medusa Head first appeared in the first Castlevania title, and even earlier by the series fictional timeline, (or later, as the two games are 17 year apart in actuality) in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, as a giant boss. However, this so called Medusa Head later became one of the most well-known and most-hated enemies in the whole Castlevania series. It is present in the majority of Castlevania titles, and usually appears in the Clock Tower area of the castle--a common environment rife with environmental hazards that the Medusa Heads push the player into. Medusa Heads often sport the power to petrify on contact in later games, similar to the Gorgon Medusa, though Medusa-like bosses have sported this ability since the beginning. In a Valentine's day article, GameSpot claimed Medusa Heads are a gaming element players "love to hate".

The Undead

In keeping with its gothic/horror theme, Castlevania includes many undead enemies, such as zombies, skeletons, and ghosts. Two of the most common found are zombies that rise from the floor and move towards the hero, and skeletons that throw bones in a high arc. Skeletons equipped with armor and various weapons such as spears, swords, and boomerangs are also common. These seem to be made from the corpses of previous victims, as Aria of Sorrow contained many zombie soldiers who presumably died during the battle in 1999.

See Also

Castlevania series