Death (Castlevania)
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Death (死神 Shinigami?, lit. "Death God" in Japanese) also known as the Grim Reaper, is a recurring villain in Konami's Castlevania video game series. He has appeared in every game in the series, with the exceptions of Haunted Castle, The Castlevania Adventure, and Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge.
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[edit] Character history
This mysterious being first forged an alliance with Mathias Cronqvist - who later became known as Dracula - in 1094. Mathias enlisted Death's help in securing Walter Bernhard's soul, turning him into a vampire lord and giving him dominion over Castlevania, Walter's castle. Since then, Death has proven to be the Count's most loyal and devoted servant.
It is not known if Death has a grudge against God as Dracula does, or even if he is a divine being (in Lament of Innocence Leon does state that Death has "divine powers"), but the fact remains that Death has much to earn from his friendship with Dracula. Perhaps he is overstepping the bounds of his function as the Reaper for his own gain.
Death is exactly that: the personification of the passing from life to the other side. Accordingly, he is unfathomably powerful, perhaps even more powerful than Dracula himself. Also, being the incarnation of death, he cannot be destroyed, as he is an essential part of the universe. However, Death's physical form, while still incredibly powerful, can be destroyed, as has been proven time and again by the series' protagonists over the years. Still, Death is obviously not an opponent to take lightly. He is almost universally the boss one faces before Dracula himself, and in some cases he even surpasses him in difficulty. However, it can be inferred that Death does not lead the war against the humans himself and lets Dracula lead the fight since by doing that he would be massively overstepping the bounds of his function and he would be punished by God. It is unknown whether Death can manifest if Dracula's power is not present, and perhaps his physical existence is somehow linked with Dracula's return.
While he calls Dracula master, he and Death are actually close friends, perhaps even Dracula being Death's only friend. While it may seem strange that an entity as vastly powerful as Death would ally himself with Dracula (basically lowering himself to dealing on equal footing with a creature from the mortal plane), it can be assumed that working with Dracula is quite beneficial for Death: there is no misery or death in such a grotesque scale as when Dracula rises, so as Dracula gains power, so would Death.
In personality, Death is unsurprisingly quite arrogant. Being potentially the most powerful being in the mortal realm is not conducive to humility. However, he is quite proper in speech, and treats powerful foes with respect. He eagerly shows his admiration and respect for Dracula, as when talking with Alucard in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. He also shares Dracula's deep hatred of the Belmont Clan, and eagerly opposes them whenever they surface.
Of particular interest is a statement made by the character Saint Germain in Curse of Darkness. Saint Germain states that he will continue to pursue Death until he surrenders. At this point it is unclear whether Saint Germain has some supernatural history and agenda with Death, or if the statement is speaking figuratively. i.e. Saint Germain is "defeating Death" through his defiance of the boundaries of time.
[edit] Origins in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
- He was the one who stole Walter Bernhard's soul and gave it to Mathias Cronqvist, thus turning him into the new vampire king a.k.a. Dracula. He called Mathias the "king who wields the crimson stone"
- He is loyal to whomever wields the crimson stone; a magical artifact that absorbs vampiric energies and is what Mathias Cronqvist used to obtain vampirism. This implies that he will shift his loyalty to whoever possesses the stone which doesn't necessarily imply Dracula
- He made the statement that so long as Dracula lives he will be brought back to life
- In the game he was seen wearing a crown. When he brought Leon Belmont to Hell to fight him he ordered other demons to attack, calling them his minions. His in-game description described him as being "the king of netherrealm" and a "being that hunts souls". This implies that even though Dracula leads the war against mankind in the human world, Death is the true king of Hell and it is through him that so many demons serve Dracula.
[edit] Tradition
Death is the Grim Reaper, as such he is never seen without his scythe. His attacks may have been changing from game to game, but in basic, he always summons sickles out of thin air to hunt down his opposition. In Aria of Sorrow and its sequel Dawn of Sorrow, when Soma Cruz absorbs the soul of Death, he gains the power to summon the sickles that have become Death's trademark, and in Dawn of Sorrow he can fuse the soul to a Golden Axe to create the Death Scythe. In Curse of Darkness Hector can forge Death's Scythe if he is able to steal the item Death's Pulse during the boss fight with Death.
