Death (Castlevania)
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Death (デス Desu?), or Shinigami (死神? lit. "Death God") in some Japanese versions, 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, Castlevania: The 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.
Death's loyalty to Dracula is expanded upon even further in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Death infiltrates Castlevania in 1944, expecting to find Lord Dracula revived. However, he instead is informed by Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin that the castle has been taken over by Brauner. Death finds the idea of anyone but Lord Dracula controlling the castle as "positively absurd." Brauner later refers to Death as "Dracula's faithful servant." He is proven correct when, after the player defeats Brauner, Death kills him, (having used Jonathan and Charlotte's wounding him as a means to justify his death), cutting off Brauner's power and allowing Dracula's revival. When Jonathan attacks Dracula in The Throne Room, Death actually acts as a "human" shield to the vampire, proclaiming that the vampire hunter "will not touch Lord Dracula." Death and Dracula then fight together, for the first time in the series. Once the two are defeated, Death will go so far as to scream, "My power! Use my power!" and allow Dracula to use the power of dominance (or as Dracula puts it, "soul steal") to absorb Death and assume true form.
[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 be changed 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.
[edit] Trivia
- Death appears on the Game Over screen in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow holding a soul presumably Soma's. His appearance in terms of clothing is different in this screen when compared to when he is fought.
- In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, when Alucard first meets Death at the beginning of the game, Death's robe is blue and is open to reveal his skeletal innards. In addition, he's holding his scythe. However, when fighting Death as a boss later, Death wears a closed purple robe and doesn't use his scythe.
