Castlevania is a legendary video game IP, and there’s no better proof of that legacy than this year’s Vampire Survivors Ode to Castlevania DLC. The games speak for themselves as well, of course, such as those contained in Castlevania Dominus Collection, the only 2024 release I hit with a 10. After spending so much time with these games and thinking about how cool it is facing off against Dracula with the Belmont clan and their close friends, it was only natural to think about who my favorite characters might be. With the Castlevania timeline being such a fun collection of officially-curated lore, and such a dense field of random, tertiary content floating around the history, there’s so much room for putting real effort into the exercise, too. For this list, I figured I’d focus on the marquee Castlevania heroes, the Belmonts. That way, multi-game sickos like Alucard can go hog the spotlight everywhere else. For now, it’s time to let the whip-wielding (or spatula, in one case), supernaturally gifted vampire slayers have their moment in the sun. To be fair, there aren’t many other Castlevania characters who can spend time in sunlight anyway, but you get what I’m saying.
10. Soleil Belmont (Castlevania 2: Belmont’s Revenge)
Later in this list, I’m going to affectionately refer to fan-favorite Richter Belmont as “the best and worst Belmont.” It’s a bit of a joke that ropes in lore context without detracting from his contributions, but more on that later. Our pal Soleil here is simply The Worst Belmont. He gets credit for his situation being a neat twist, but unfortunately that twist is being possessed by Dracula and tarnishing his own father’s legacy by causing lots of chaos and mayhem. And after the fact, Soleil just kind of vanishes from history. Whoops!
9. Christopher Belmont (The Castlevania Adventure)
It only makes sense that if Soleil makes the list in the last spot, his dad Christopher takes the next rung up on the ladder. Christopher is one of the few Belmonts who had to fight Dracula twice and won both bouts, but because of what happened to Soleil, that second dub was scratched off the Belmont books in disgrace. So while his accomplishments are impressive, instead of being up there with the likes of Trevor and Simon, Christopher is the sad guy with divorced dad energy quietly sitting in the corner at the family cookout. His first game was also pretty mid, although the ROM hack DX version is pretty cool.
8. Reinhardt Schneider (Castlevania 64)
Folks have lots of mixed feelings about the Nintendo 64 Castlevania games, but Reinhardt deserves serious props. This man is a part of the Belmont clan, the most badass lineage of vampire hunters to ever live. But he didn’t get the surname! Imagine being part of a literal bloodline of heroes, but getting bullied by random villagers because of your birth certificate. The guy has some serious self-esteem issues as a result, but by the end of his story not only does he win a scrap with Drac, but he saves a cool vampire lady from the curse.
7. Juese Belmont (wacky music made by deranged nerds)
It’s serendipitous OC ReMix was inducted into the 2024 Shacknews Hall of Fame, because I was thinking of OC ReMix when I put this list together. This absurd song asks a simple question. If Dracula only appears every 100 years, what do the Belmonts do in the meantime? Well, here’s the answer, courtesy of Shael Riley and uh, “Disk Mastah Smokabitch.” Juese Belmont may not kill vampires, but he knows what needs to be done to keep the prophecy rolling. Just listen to the song, trust me. Here's a slightly less crass remix as well.
6. Simon Belmont (Castlevania: The Battle of Old Castle)
No, this is not the iconic Simon Belmont, the lead of the original game and two-time Dracula-boxing champ. This is Simon Belmont, the actor from the 1950s who accidentally broke the seal too early and unleashed Dracula on the set of a movie about his famous ancestor. Yes, that’s a real premise for a real Castlevania story. It’s neat too, a Choose Your Own Adventure-style book that uses dice for actual game mechanics instead of simply making a choice and turning pages. Despite being an actor instead of an active vampire hunter, Simon holds his own and even blows a hole in a werewolf with a gun. Obviously this isn’t canon anymore, but it’s rad as heck so it makes the list.
5. Juste Belmont (Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance)
Of the Game Boy Advance entries, Harmony of Dissonance is my favorite. It’s often looked down upon as it’s admittedly rough around the edges, but I love the weird, tinny chiptune soundtrack, the wacky anime-ass outlines around Juste’s sprite, the dual castle gimmick, and Juste’s cool red coat. Dude is kind of a nerd though, and doesn’t even fight Dracula at the end of this chapter. Still, he stands out thanks to being one of the few Belmonts to inherit magical abilities from the Belnades side of the family tree. I just think he’s neat, okay?
4. Richter Belmont (Castlevania: Rondo of Blood)
Here he is, the best and the worst Belmont. Richter doesn’t have it easy, folks. He’s easily one of the most powerful Belmonts in history, able to use magic to enhance items, do cool flips, and be extremely handsome. But his anime himbo charm isn’t enough to save him from his own insecurities, which leads to him getting possessed by Shaft and causing problems so severe Alucard has to step in and fix everything. After the events of Symphony of the Night, Richter abandons his post in shame, leaving the Vampire Killer with some family friends and disappearing, taking the Belmont name with him. Men will literally allow Dracula to torment humanity for 200 years instead of going to therapy.
3. Simon Belmont (Castlevania)
Now this is what peak Belmont performance looks like. No magic, no clothes, just rippling muscles and a leather skirt. Simon Belmont is a giant slab of meat masquerading as a human being, and more or less beats Dracula to death with his bare hands. Then Dracula comes back for round two, mortally wounding and cursing Simon at the same time. Simon compensates for his newfound, relative weakness by wearing some armor this time, then goes on a whole second quest to put Dracula back together and fight him again, still beating him handily despite actively dying of demon cancer. An icon.
2. Trevor Belmont (Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse)
How does Trevor top Simon? Well, he was the first Belmont to actually kill Dracula for one. Two, he’s got movie star status due to being the lead of the anime series. That show was so good it put Castlevania back on the map and helped yank Konami back into video games. Pachinko regulation helped too of course, but Trevor did the fun part. Plus, Trevor had the cleanest win over Dracula, putting him down for a century the first time instead of having to deal with a nasty rematch afterwards.
1. Julius Belmont (Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow)
Trevor Belmont won the first fight with Dracula, but Julius won the last fight. This man had the weight of the world on his shoulders, finally bringing the Belmont name back to the forefront when Dracula declared war on humanity in the infamous Battle of 1999. Also known as the Demon Castle War, Julius Belmont helped facilitate a desperate ritual that ended up sealing Dracula and his whole castle inside a lunar eclipse, destroying his physical form for good. This all happened off-screen too, which is absurd. Despite overexerting himself so completely it caused amnesia, Julius came back decades later to help prevent multiple attempts to bring Dracula back with a new body. I challenge Konami to upstage Julius Belmont somehow. Or give us a Battle of 1999 game. Either one would be rad, thanks.
And with that, the official Best Belmont ranking is complete. Obviously my decisions here are objectively correct and flawless, but if you disagree somehow anyway feel free to make a case for your favorite Belmont to either move up in ranking or be added to the top ten. I’ll give it some consideration, even if it’s probably wrong. I’m kidding, we’re all having fun here. Except for Richter, he’s still sad.
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replyLucas White posted a new article, Castlevania: The best Belmonts, ranked
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