Although the character might not be exclusive to the medium, few antagonists in fiction are as iconic as Count Dracula’s video adaptation. Castlevania’s original premise essentially threw monster movie icons at the player with Dracula as their arbitrary leader, but sequels would very quickly flesh out the Count’s villainy while setting the stage for a video game epic spanning generations. 

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Just as Dracula is always destined to return, a Belmont will always rise up to challenge him. Sometimes. Time isn’t exactly kind to the Belmont clan, and Dracula manages to pull one over on the family quite a number of times. Castlevania will always end in Dracula being bested, but the Belmonts can’t always fight back & the Count’s come dangerously close to victory before.

10 Simon’s Quest: The Killing Curse

Castlevania Simon's Quest Cinematic

All things considered, Simon Belmont handles Dracula pretty well. Marching into the Count’s castle solo, Simon slaughters beast after beast with minimal effort. If Super Castlevania IV is anything to go by, he manages to do it all with exceptional style– killing Dracula before he can even transform. 

Unfortunately, Simon is cursed during their battle. The intent is for the curse to slowly kill Simon over time, resulting in him being too weak to prevent Dracula’s premature resurrection, but Simon jumps into the action the moment he notices something is amiss. By reviving Dracula himself, Simon kills the Count once again. 

9 Belmont’s Revenge: The Possession

Long before Simon Belmont fought & killed Dracula twice, his ancestor Christopher was the first Belmont to throw hands with the Count more than once. Unfortunately for Christopher, he fails to actually kill Dracula during their first fight. Dracula escapes at the last moment and raises his strength all to possess Christopher’s son, Soleiyu. 

Possessed on Soleiyu’s birthday, Christopher is forced to fight his own son– the next Belmont set to inherit the Vampire Killer– as Dracula takes over the boy’s body & mind. It’s a morbid assault on Dracula’s part, but it set a precedent he wouldn’t soon forget. 

8 Rondo Of Blood: The Targeted Attack

Come Rondo of Blood, Dracula has fought more than enough Belmonts to know that simply letting them march into his castle is a disaster waiting to happen. As a result, Dracula razes Richter’s hometown while he’s out hunting, kidnapping his fiance Anette and sending Death to try to kill Richter ASAP. 

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Death fails, of course, and Richter ends up saving every single maiden Dracula kidnapped alongside his fiance, but the decision to not only target Richter’s hometown before he can reach the Castle while also sending Death after him as insurance is just a stroke of genius. Especially since Richter is so strong. 

7 Symphony Of The Night: The Temptation Of Richter Belmont

Unfortunately, Richter’s very strength keeps him in Dracula’s sights. After defeating the Count, Richter is spied on by one of Dracula’s former advisors, Shaft. At some point between Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, Shaft manages to possess Richter in order to force him to revive the castle & Dracula once again. 

Richter isn’t totally innocent in this possession, however. While he’s undeniably a good man who wants to do right, Shaft is only able to corrupt Richter due to his own insecurities regarding Dracula’s defeat. Richter feels fighting Dracula was the prime of his life, a mental weakness Shaft preys on. 

6 Order Of Ecclesia: No Belmonts To Fight Back

Following Richter’s possession, the Belmont family is deemed unworthy of wielding the Vampire Killer. While the whip would find its way into the hands of the Morris family by the late 1800s (even wielded by Quincy Morris from Bram Stoker’s Dracula,) Order of Ecclesia is set in a period where no one is around to use the Vampire Killer. 

Unfortunately for Dracula, he underestimates his situation considerably. While Shanoa’s powerful, Dracula fails to even transform. His response to Shano’s strength is simply confronting her straight on. Had he simply transformed– which he had the opportunity to do– Shanoa wouldn’t have been able to defeat him with Dominus. 

5 Bloodlines: The Vampire Killer Was A Ticking Time Bomb For John

Although the Morris family holding onto the Vampire Killer ends up being quite the godsend for the Belmont family, it’s nothing short of hell for the men of the Morris line. Where the Vampire Killer is a natural weapon for the Belmonts, the whip saps the life of anyone else who wields it, including Quincy Morris. 

His son, John, ends up wiedling the Vampire Killer against Dracula in Castlevania Bloodlines, but John himself is untrained and greatly putting himself at risk. Portrait of Ruin reveals that John died not long after the events of Bloodlines directly because of how much damage the Vampire Killer did to his body. 

4 Portrait Of Ruin: Jonathan’s Lucky He Brought Help

Just like his father, Jonathan is forced to fight Dracula with next to no formal training with the Vampire Killer. Unlike John, however, Jonathan can actually use other weapons. More importantly, he brings help. Regardless of the Vampire Killer’s curse, Jonathan would not have been able to defeat Dracula had Charlotte not come with him. 

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Portrait of Ruin features one of the most dangerous castles in the franchise. Between Brauner, his “daughters,” Death, and Dracula, Jonathan finds himself fighting an uphill battle all game. It’s only because of Charlotte that he’s able to survive all the way to end. Without Charlotte, Jonathan would have left the castle thinking Brauner was the only threat. If he survived that long.

3 The War Of 1999: The Final Battle

In spite of his many defeats, Dracula tends to come back stronger after each resurrection. In fact, his eventual power during the prophesied Demon Castle War of 1999 is a looming enough threat where multiple different factions need to band together to defeat Dracula once & for all. And this time, it really is once & for all. 

Dracula is eventually defeated, but the battle is so violent that Julius Belmont– arguably the single strongest character in the franchise– loses all of his memories during the conflict. While the exact details of the war are unclear, the Sorrow duology’s references suggest quite a number of lives were lost. 

2 Aria Of Sorrow: Dracula Reborn

Dracula may have been killed once and for all during the War of 1999, but reincarnation ensures that humanity isn’t without its perpetual threat. Over three decades after the fact, a young Soma Cruz finds himself transported to the Demon Castle during an Eclipse. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s Dracula and said Castle will force him to confront his past full on. 

Soma comes dangerously close to letting Dracula’s influence overwhelm him. In fact, the game’s Bad Ending (which leads into Julius Mode) actually allows Soma to give into his demonic heritage. 

1 Dawn Of Sorrow: Return Of The Count

Canonically, Soma Cruz does give into his possession, but only enough to be able to reconcile the Dracula of it all. Aria of Sorrow’s Good Ending closes out with Soma ready to live his life, Dracula reborn into a man who actually has an opportunity at happiness. It’s a surprisingly poignant ending all things considered. 

Dawn of Sorrow features a similar Bad Ending to Aria (this time much easier to trigger,) but it actually features a story this time around. Julius recruits Yoko and Alucard to his cause so that they can take down Soma Cruz, now fully Count Dracula, together. Julius ends up silently killing his former friend, but only after a hard fought campaign.

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