I’ve been on a bit of an animation kick as of late between Love, Death & Robots Season 2, Invincible, and the final season of Castlevania. The Castlevania series was so well received that last week Netflix announced an upcoming spin-off of Castlevania that will be based on the characters from the 1993 video game, Rondo of Blood. I thought that was as good an excuse as any to delve deeper into the characters, both vampire and human, of the just-ended dark fantasy show. Which ones truly dominated the land of Wallachia and which ones ended up being more bark than bite?
Warning, spoilers ahead!
Saint Germain
Ostentatious and odd from the start, this traveling
alchemist never amounts to much in a fight, but he still manages to make a hell
of a mess by the grand finale.
The Bishop
It’s this guy who starts the whole bloody tale by burning
Dracula’s human wife at the stake. He’s a religious fanatic and they’re usually
dangerous one way or another.
Sala
Sala isn’t much of a warrior, but he’s definitely crazy and
he’s definitely dangerous. Don’t worry; he gets what’s coming to him in the
end.
The Judge
Creepy from the moment he’s introduced, you don’t find out
just how bad this guy is until his final scene. Sometimes formidable isn’t
obvious.
Taka and Sumi
These two attempt to seduce then kill Alucard to slake their
hatred of the vampires who once enslaved them. You’ve got to give them credit
for their creativity, but it doesn’t go as planned.
Hector
One of the weaker and more foolish characters in the series,
Hector falls under the spell of the lovely vampire Lenore. He’s then forced to
use his forgemaster skills in service to her and her vampire sisters’ cause
until he finds a sad sort of redemption at the end of the tale.
Lenore
Perhaps the weakest of the four vampire sisters, she was
nevertheless wily and seductive enough to entrance Hector into building an
undead army that gave Isaac’s forces an entertaining fight for supremacy.
Greta
This guardian of the underground city of Danesti is
self-important and more than a little deluded, but she proves her skill in
battle when vampires invade in search of the means to bring Dracula back from
Hell.
Godbrand
This Viking vampire deserved more screen time and a more
glorious death, but what little time he did have, he made the most of with his
unique style and hunger for human blood.
Morana and Striga
These two vampire lovers spend more time complaining about
Carmilla’s ambition than fighting their common enemies, but Striga shows her
battle skills on occasion and looks like she stepped off the cover of Arcadia’s
So Red the Rose album from the 80s so
that earns this pair a bit of extra credit.
Isaac
This forgemaster starts out as a servant of Dracula who is
capable of making undead monsters but he soon finds his self on a journey of
self-discovery, coming into a different sort of wisdom and power along the way.
Ratko
This vampire is one of the biggest, meanest, and most brutal
in the bunch. He doesn’t earn many style points, but his straight-forward power
is more than most characters in this show can match.
Dracula
The King of all Vampires only plays a major part in the first two seasons of this series, but he’s a force to be reckoned with. Castlevania plays up the tragic side of his persona rather than the rage, but you definitely get to see what he’s capable of when provoked.
Alucard
Not being particularly familiar with the games this series
is based on, I can’t say how close this character cleaves to them, but he does
a hell of a lot of cutting other vampires and their assorted undead minions
into pieces. He looks more like his human mother than daddy Vlad, but he’s
certainly got his father’s thirst for blood.
Carmilla
From her betrayal of Dracula to her pursuit of ruling the
entire world as immortal Queen, this vampire means business. She’s one of the
fiercest, cruelest characters in the series and her final battle is one of the
best the show has to offer in its 32 episode run.
Dragan
This massive vampire general doesn’t get a lot of dialogue,
but he more than proves his self in the siege of Dracula’s castle at the end of
the series. He single-handedly takes on Alucard, Trevor, and Sypha in battle
and more than holds his own.
Trevor Belmont and
Sypha Belnades
The banter between these two lovers is laid on a little
thick for my taste, but there is no doubt about their prowess in battle.
Between Trevor’s ferocity and skill with weapons and Sypha’s calm mastery of
magic, almost nothing can stand in their way.
Varney
Voiced by Malcolm McDowell, the early impression of this
ancient creature is that he’s one of the weaker foes our heroes will need to
face. Looks are deceiving. The final battle with this insidious villain in the
penultimate episode of the series is one of the coolest animated fights ever.
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