Death (Castlevania)/Synopsis

Villain Overview Synopsis

The synopsis of the ghastly Grim Reaper Death from the Castlevania videogame franchise.

1094: Lament of Innocence

After Mathias Cronqvist became a vampire and got the Crimson Stone, he gained Death's allegiance. He sent him to "serve" the Vampire King Walter Bernhard who wielded the Ebony Stone, while he manipulated both Walter and Leon Belmont, to make the latter destroy the former. Death stole the dying Walter's soul and gave it to his liege. As Leon refused to follow Mathias on the path of evil, he ordered Death to deal with him, but Leon defeated him.

Death

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 one of the only games in which he never uses his sickles.

Contrary to most games, Death remains static and teleports when Leon gets close, so he must be fought at close range. He sends 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 used Walter's soul, powers and the stones to become a Vampire King even mightier than Walter, renaming himself Count Vlad Tepes Dracula. Death became his number two and helped him build his empire.

Around 1430, Dracula fell in love with a woman named Lisa and had a son, Alucard. Alas, she was burned at the stake, pushing Dracula over the edge. He fully became the King of the Night and declared war to humanity, with Death helping him.

1450: Castlevania Legends (Alternate Continuity)

In this alternate timeline, Death made a pact with Dracula, gaining enormous powers in exchange for his service, contradicting the canon backstory.

Death is surprisingly easy to defeat in this game. He hops from one side of the room to the other to strike Sonia Belmont with his scythe, conjuring (few) sickles afterwards. His attack pattern his pretty simple and he should be defeated with little trouble.

1476: Dracula's Curse

At the apex of Dracula's invasion of Europe, he is confronted by Leon’s descendant Trevor, allied to the mage Sypha Belnades, the pirate Grant DaNasty, and Alucard.

Death's second form.

Death is fought near the end of the game. The battle is very hard and his attacks are very damaging. He fights as he always does, flying around in an undefined patter and conjuring never-ending waves of sickles. Triple Axes and Sypha's Thunder spell prove very useful, but it is best to avoid getting near him.

When defeated, Death turns into a highly dangerous giant reddish, skull who floats quickly and 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

Three years after Dracula's Curse. Dracula's dying curse plagues the land and corrupts people, which Death uses to revive him.

The hero Hector, a former Devil Forgemaster who betrayed Dracula, sets out to avenge the death of his wife Rosaly, caused by his former comrade Isaac. Hector befriends Zead, a priest who gives him advice all over the game. Zead tells him to recover the Dark Powers he relinquished, to stand a chance against his nemesis who must be killed to lift the curse.

Hector has been royally tricked.

The two Forgemasters settle their score in the resurrected Castlevania. As Hector refuses to finish Isaac off, it appears that Zead was the mastermind who set up everything from behind the scenes.

Since a fully corrupted Devil Forgemaster is the vessel necessary for Dracula's resurrection, Zead wanted the more suitable Hector to succumb to the curse by quenching his thirst for revenge, but Isaac would do just fine. He seals Isaac in a coffin and sends him to the Throne Room, before unmasking himself as Death and dragging the now useless Hector in Limbo to get rid of him.

Death fights as he did in Lament of Innocence and he is a deadly foe. He remains static and conjures sickles, throws his scythe like a boomerang, conjures fire from the ground, swipes his scythe, turns transparent and strikes with a glowing hand, or causes a devastating fiery explosion.

1576: Castlevania: the Adventure ReBirth

Death compensates for his absence in Castlevania the Adventure, by being fought in a very tough battle atop the Clock Tower in this remake.

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 duplicates himself, they attack from both sides of the screen with homing sickles. Striking the double dispels it. After a while, Death will use his scythe, hurling a red beam with each swipe to hit at both ranges. Death can also split his scythe into three huge hovering blades and chase Christopher, or summon 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 by far the hardest. He hovers from one point to another, conjuring swarms of sickles overwhelming Simon from all sides. 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 is tough, but striking him sends him backward, so Simon must harass him not to get cornered. He flies followed with blood-red threads and overwhelms Simon with waves of sickles and boomerang-like scythe-throws. Worse, he can create a black hole that vacuums Simon, making his homing skulls and sickles harder to dodge.

1698: Simon's Quest

Death keeps one of Dracula's remains. Oddly enough, the battle can be skipped by going to the next room. He is quite easy to defeat. He fights just like in the first game, slowly tracking down Simon and hurling sickles one after another, but he also dives to strike Simon with his scythe. Defeating him grants the very powerful Golden Knife.

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. Alas, by doing so he becomes corrupted by Dracula's spirit who possesses him and resurrects the Castlevania, creating a reflection of the castle in the Spirit Realm.

Death investigates the matter, even talking about it with Juste, until siding with the possessed Maxim. He starts looking for Juste's and Maxim's friend Lydie Erlanger, whom Maxim brought to the castle, but hid when his true self took back control. Death eventually finds Lydie and brings her to Maxim, given that Dracula's Wraith must bite her in the Ceremonial Room to fully resurrects through his vessel. As for Death, he fights Juste to keep him from meddling.

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. The first stage of the showdown is not that challenging. He floats in figure eight patterns conjuring his signature sickles, but after losing two thirds of his life-bar, he summons a wave of huge, green, ghostly skulls (you must avoid all of these otherwise he will get another chance) 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, but does not summon skulls between stages, and he fires three white sparks moving in a circular pattern.

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. Then for the master, i'll feast on your soul this night.	„
	~ Death's last confrontation with Alucard.

In the beginning of the game, Death greets Alucard 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 all over and departs.

Death is only fought if Alucard could see through Shaft's deceit and enter the 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 fought in the Reverse Catacombs, in a small room that hinders Alucard's movements, but makes him easier to reach. The more he is wounded, the more sickles he throws, and he starts using increasingly dangerous spells that keep returning to him at increasing speed: first two big green orbs, then two large, green, ghostly skulls and two deadly red scythe blades.

Death's second form.

When beaten, he becomes a skeletal demon with two huge scythes. He can strike downwards, but he mostly uses them as boomerangs. He is surprisingly easier to defeat in this form, with slow attacks easy to telegraph, especially if Alucard gets behind him out of his reach and strike until he turns back.

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 defense, and he is pretty tough so be prepared. In addition to his sickles and his scythe strikes, either from above or forward, he can conjure six scythe blades of blue energy around Shanoa, summon dark souls whirling outwards, or unleash a devastating onslaught of sickles from his hand.

1830: Circle of the Moon (Alternate Continuity)

Death's second form.

Death only appears as an optional boss, looking and fighting like he did in Symphony of the Night. He flies and fires continuous waves of sickles, two large, green orbs, or six bony spears from his cloak.

His 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 (Alternate Continuity)

In Cornell's quest, Death leads Actrise and Gilles de Rais to resurrect Dracula with a sacrifice at the start of the game. But since it brought him back in incomplete form, they abduct Cornell's adoptive sister Ada to sacrifice her and fully restore their liege.

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 the next decade.

In the second part of the game which is a remake of Castlevania 64, Death's role is exactly the same as in the original.

1852: Apocalypse/Castlevania 64 (Alternate Continuity)

Death only appears in Reinhardt Schneider's quest. He captures Rosa, a vampire maid who retains her human soul, overcoming her with her curse and boosting her powers, sending her fight Reinhard, who befriended her. Reinhardt spares her, so Death takes her away saying that she will soon become a full-fledged vampire.

• Rosa is quite easy to defeat. She floats and strikes with a rapier, but she also hurls a sonic shockwave, quick fireballs from above, and an irksome homing rose thorn that must be dodged until it vanishes. (She lacks this attack in Legacy of Darkness). It is best to keep distance and keep moving, attacking with projectiles.

Death later ambushes Reinhardt atop the Room of Clocks, and he only owes his life to Rosa's sacrifice. He can prove seriously hard, mostly without projectiles. He conjures endless sickles from all sides, that stop projectiles, or waves of them as a circle, as a large arc, as a wave arcing towards Reinhardt, or as a mass of homing ones. He often flies at contact, either to launch his scythe as a boomerang or to summon a horde of demonic barracudas one after another. Reinhart must jump to strike him as often as possible while minding his sickles, and never hesitate to strike him when he flies at contact.

1870: Moonlight Rhapsody

In this IOS game only available in demos in Asia, Death leads the Dark Priest, Olrox and corrupted alchemists to tears a Rift through Time and Space, and resurrect the Castlevania. He killed one of his alchemists named Dean for having a change of heart and bound his ghost to the Castle, but he resists its influence and helps the heroes.

As Alucard is storming the Castlevania in the prologue, Death once again asks him to step down, fighting him when he is rebuked. He is fought in the Clock Tower after the Dark Priest's defeat, but remains active and sics Gaibon and Slogra on the heroes.

After Dracula returns, Death lets the heroes reach him without any obstruction. When he is destroyed, he vanishes through the Rift with a last taunt to the heroes.

Alucard facing Death's second form.

Death is easy to defeat. He is tougher as a boss, but after each phase in the prologue, Alucard must press buttons at the right time to pry his scythe away as they trade blows. He floats slowly, teleports, strikes with his scythe, dashes to strike and throws sickles, but is vulnerable after attacks and can be knocked-out.

He later transforms into a blade-armed spectre who can protect himself, deals powerful spin-attacks and hurls blue whirlwinds.

1914: Castlevania Bloodlines

Death is the third-to-last boss, guarding the way to Elizabeth Bartley and Dracula in Proserpina Castle in England. He surrounds himself with six Tarot cards, that John Morris and Eric Lecarde must all take down. Three cards re-enact a previous boss battle, two cards make him hurl a red energy blast from his scythe, and one conjures plenty of life-replenishing meat, crucial for the following battles.

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 IV.

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 heroes 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 heroes beat Brauner, Death, who was counting on this, appears to finish him off, lifting the seal keeping Dracula from resurrecting. Death ultimately fights alongside his liege in the first stage of the final battle, befitting the game's theme of partnership.

Dracula fights with his most trusted vassal.

Dracula and Death either attack separately or combine their power into a devastating attack. Dracula teleports repeatedly and hurls fireballs or dark energy orbs in succession, and Death strikes with his scythe from above or at contact.

Dracula and Death either attack separately or combine their power into a devastating attack. Dracula teleports repeatedly and hurls fireballs or dark energy orbs in succession, and Death strikes with his scythe from above or at contact. There are three different super attacks: Dracula changes a swarm of scythes into dark energy orbs; Dracula turns Death's sickles into a huge swarm of demonic bats; Death turns into a giant scythe with which Dracula stabs the ground to cause a devastating explosion of dark energy.

Fighting both villains can prove very tricky, as each will impede the heroes when they try to attack the other. Fortunately, they share the same life-bar and striking one damages them both. When defeated, Death urges his lord to use his power, so that he can unleash his demonic form. Despite this, Johanthan and Charlotte destroy the Count and the Castle.

2035: Aria of Sorrow

After Dracula's final demise and the Castlevania being sealed in a solar eclipse in 1999, Death battles his reincarnation Soma Cruz, who refuses to become King of the Night. He might seek to corrupt him or to pave the way for a more willing heir. But he says nothing so his goal remains unknown.

Death upgrades his weapon.

Death is a very powerful and dangerous foe. At first, he is intangible, so Soma must strike his scythe while dodging his strikes, waves of sickles and pillars of blue energy. Then, he conjures a double-bladed scythe made of bones.

The second phase is even tougher. Death charges at Soma and mostly fights at close range, but he will also throw his scythe in a boomerang-like fashion or in a spinning, circular motion all over the room. Soma must stay away from his scythe after defeating him to avoid huge damage.

2036: Dawn of Sorrow

Death does not meddle with Celia Fortner's scheme to awake a new King of the Night, despite sharing her goal, probably because he knows that Soma Cruz is the one and only reincarnation of Dracula. He still does not speak to explain his view and attacks Soma though, perhaps with the same reasons.

Death's first aspect (left) and angry mode (right).

The first stage of the battle is rather easy. he strikes with his scythe, hurls his scythe which splits into a circle of sickles in every direction, and creates three doppelgangers to fire four parallel beams towards the ground.

Death later gets angry and the battle gets way harder. He makes his scythe whirl around him, teleports to strike, conjures waves of sickles, and summons four giant ghostly skulls charging from right and left one after the other.

After 2036: Grimoire of Souls

Seward, Director of Elgos

Death is the central villain of this IOS game. Alucard, using his human alias of Genya Arikado, is called forth by Elgos, a secret society of mages gathering Dracula's relics and recording his war with the Belmonts in grimoires. Seward, Elgos' director and his second Lucy Westenra (both nods to Bram Stoker's characters) tell him that their grimoires are overflowing with dark energy.

Alucard uses Elgos' magic to enter the grimoires, fighting through echoes of the recorded events to destroy its core monster, take its Vital Soul and restore them. He meets Death, thinking of him as just an echo, but he is the real one, who also entered the grimoires and at full power contrary to him.

• Death flies high, so double jumps and long-range attacks are necessary. He strikes from above and throws his scythe like a boomerang, but after a while he defeats Alucard with deadliest attack: three summoned souls.

Wondering how Death could use Elgos' upmost secrets, Lucy enlists echoes of past heroes manifesting in the real world for help. They later meet the witch Hermina, who betrayed Elgos and covets the Vital Souls, which are in fact the Crimson Moon Souls, fragments of Dracula's power leaked from the eclipse. However, it turns out that she wants to destroy Dracula's essence, and she betrayed Elgos for she discovered that Death was using it. Death later battles the heroes to prevent them from taking the last Soul.

Death as he appears in the game.

Death is very hard to beat. He flies and teleports very fast, stabs from above and charges forwards, leaving behind lasting energy blades that impede the heroes, whirls his scythe or throws it (sending it back knocks him out), conjures six scythe blades, or a storm of sickles. When wounded enough, he surrounds himself with purple souls to boost himself. Mighty protections are needed for his deadliest attack: three fast whirling souls.

Death is beaten, but he is merely possessing his echo in the grimoire. In fact, Seward is nothing but an elaborate fake identity for Death, who built Elgos in secret after 1999, both as a front and tool to access the past. He used everyone by both faking guidance and pressing a threat, to overwrite Dracula's demise. He reveals himself before stealing and assembling the Crimson Moon Souls, channelling Dracula's essence via the grimoires to give it a new existence.

Alucard confronts his father in the last grimoire, but like in Portrait of Ruins, Death lets him drain his soul to transform. Dracula is killed before he can truly return, and Hermina and Lucy cast their Aurora ritual to seal forever his and Death's essence with the Crimson Moon Souls in the solar Eclipse.

2037: Reminiscence of the Divine Abyss

Death is the Villain Protagonist of this semi-canon novel. He investigates the mysterious reappearance of the Castlevania, for there is no King of the Night around. He visits Soma and asks him if he plans to succeed Dracula, departing without fight when dismissed, but refusing to tell Soma anything, as he answers to the King of the Night.

As Death investigates the Castle, he is attacked by Gaibon and Slogra, who do not even listen to his orders, but he easily destroys them. He then discovers that the Castle is occupied by cultists following the late demented prophet Graham Jones, who obey Olrox as he promised them to resurrect their master. Death confronts his former associate, who plans to take over both the Earth and the Chaotic Realm. Since Chaos is bound to humanity's malice, he wonders if Chaos and anyone linked to it, Death included, would disappear if he could control the hearts of humans. Enraged, Death attacks him, deeming him a traitor to be killed, but the equally powerful Olrox battles him to a standstill, countering his conjured sickles with summoned bats.

Olrox leads Death into a magical trap, defeating him, and sealing his power in a bloody hand. Death's soul is forced to possess the dying body of Julius Belmont's apprentice Curtis Lang, who stormed the Castle but was defeated and left for dead. Death as Curtis is saved by Soma's friend Hammer, along with Curtis' partner Michelle DaNasty.

Death feigns amnesia and a curse keeping him from wielding Curtis' Holy Whip to justify the differences, worrying Michelle, who starts suspecting something when they storm the Castle and Death kills a monster with a spell Curtis is not supposed to master. They face Olrox, who reveals the truth and explains that the Castle is a construct born from Legion and that the monsters are in fact replicas created by the Puppet Master, two bosses that Graham's cult summoned. Death engages a rematch, but respects Curtis' wish to keep Michelle safe by having her stand aside.

Olrox summons again the bloody hand but Death destroys it and regains his powers. Michelle takes profit of the battle to shoot Olrox with a silver arrow, enabling Death to destroy him and his servants, but Olrox dies satisfied. As the fake Castle crumbles, Death, who is still possessing Curtis, disappears ignoring Michelle's pleas, but it is eventually revealed that his possession protected the young vampire hunter, whom he released without harm.

Harmony of Despair (non-canon)

In this medley game, Death looks exactly the same as he did in Order of Ecclesia, and the battle against him is also strictly identical. However, he first chases the heroes, intangible and impervious to attacks, bombarding them with his sickles.

He is also fought in the chapter "Origins" (the first Castlevania), in the same way.

Castlevania the Arcade (non-canon)

Death is first fought on the bridge to the Castlevania, slicing a statue with his scythe. He flies high, strikes at close-range, throws his scythe like a boomerang, summons zombies and hurls a barrage of dark fireballs. He flees after a short skirmish.

Death's second form (somehow reminiscent of his aspect in Castlevania Judgment).

Death is the boss of the Clock Tower, taking a much deadlier form. He is fast and aggressive, but once again never uses his sickles. He dives at high speed and hurls many dark fireballs at once. Strike as much as possible when he gets close while avoiding direct contact.

Castlevania Judgment

Death's peculiar look in Judgment.

Death is playable in this fighting game. Oddly enough, he lacks his usual cloak and robes, and instead bears robotic features like the hook replacing his left hand. He gladly accepts the Time Master Aeon's challenge for it defends his liege him from an assassin. After reaching the Time Reaper, he ridicules him as a pale imitation and destroys it.

Death is a well-balanced character, adept in both close-range and long-range fighting (though arguably more in the latter). His most basic attack consists in a spinning scythe strike followed by a forward dash. He can also teleport.

• Corpse Hunt: A jumping dive, spinning with his scythe outwards.
• Judgment: He grabs his foe, throws them the ground and stabs them.
• The Reaping: He throws his scythe as a boomerang, homing on his foe.
• Spinning Scythe: He makes his scythe fly and spin around him.
• Twin Sickles: He fires two homing sickles.
• Orb of Gehenna: He fires an orb of dark energy that engulfs his victim and paralyses him/her for a determined amount of time.
• The Gates of Hell (Hyper Attack): Death summons ghostly hands from the ground to hold his foe, stabs them with his hook turned to a blade, and dislodges his head to “devour” their soul in a burst of ghastly blue flames.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Death is featured in this game, notably in the Vampire Killer trailer. As Luigi is exploring the Castlevania, Death appears and rips out his soul with a scythe swipe. Thankfully, Fortunately, Simon pummels him and makes him flee before he can devour his prey's soul, who returns to his body after a last scare.

Death is one of the monsters seen in the Castlevania stage, shattering the stained-glass window to fly around but pose no threat. He can also serve as an assist Spirit, that heals the players when they knock out an opponent. His Scythe is a very powerful item, shrouded in purple fire. Depending on the target's damage, it can deal dark paralysis or an instant knock-out with a smash attack, vanishing players in purple smoke instead of the usual ring-out.

Lords of Shadow

Main Article: Zobek

Netflix's Castlevania

Main Article: Death (Netflix's Castlevania) Initially absent from the animated adaptation of the series, Death made his debut as the main antagonist of the fourth and final season.