Castlevania: 10 Strongest Villains, Ranked | TheGamer – TheGamer

Its not often that a Castlevania game can reach its credits without a final boss fight against Dracula to cap things off. Even in games where Dracula is not a part of the main plot, he somehow finds his way in. That said, it isnt as bad as, say, Dr. Wily or Sigma in their respective Mega Man series. Castlevania always contextualizes Draculas resurrection well, and its not like the series is hurting for villains.

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While they're all mostly secondary, Castlevania has some pretty entertaining villains throughout. As the story goes on, the villains only get stronger. It makes sense considering Dracula canonically gets stronger with each revival. His lieutenants need to be able to keep up. Here we've ranked them all to see how they stack up.

One of the only villains (if not the only) to take over Draculas Castle with no intention of actually reviving the Count, Brauner stands out as one of the franchise's most interesting antagonists. The main villain of Portrait of Ruin, Brauner is his own independent vampire who uses the power of art to essentially assimilate Draculas Castle.

Its a power move and one that actually gets Death himself involved. Brauner taking over Draculas castle speaks for itself, but hes also presumably the last major threat anyone in the series faces before the Battle of 1999. Its roughly half a century away by the events of Portrait of Ruin, so Brauner must naturally be quite powerful.

One of the main candidates to become Count Dracula, Dario Bossi was born on the day Dracula died and possesses flame abilities not too dissimilar to the Counts. Its possible that he could be a Dracula candidate, but unlike Graham or Dmitrii, Dario spends most of Dawn of Sorrow very clearly not Draculas reincarnation.

That doesnt mean he isnt strong, though. While hes not Dracula given new flesh, hes able to put up a decent fight against Soma, one of the strongest characters in the series. Not just that, Dario manages to survive a good chunk of Dawn of Sorrow, only being defeated at the Bad Ending split.

As Draculas right hand man, it goes without saying that Death is one of the most powerful villains in the franchise. At the same time, in a series where the later entries chronologically focus on the inheritors of Draculas power, he falls to the wayside. Death doesnt even speak in Aria of Sorrow, relegated to a boss.

That makes sense, though. By the Sorrow duology, Death is no longer affiliated with Dracula how could he when Mathias is dead? That doesnt mean Death is weak, though. He may not have Draculas powers, but hes still one of the hardest bosses in both Aria and Dawn. Even as just a regular boss, Death is no slouch.

The most successful of the Dark Lord candidates other than Soma, Graham not only gets to inherit a fraction of Draculas power (so it seems, at least), he gives Soma the hardest fight of the three candidates, even corrupting Soma by the end of the battle though that might have more to do with Soma coming in contact with the Power of Dominance in such an intimate manner.

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Its worth noting that Graham is something of an antithesis to Dracula, representing everything the latter hates. Graham is cowardly, a liar, and a shining beacon of humanitys inherent treachery. Its fitting that Soma, Draculas actual reincarnation, is the one to kill Graham and fully reclaim the Power of Dominance.

While Graham is the most successful Dark Lord candidate villain, hes not the strongest. That title belongs to Dmitrii Blinov, Dawn of Sorrows other candidate alongside Dario, but its not as plain as cut as Dmitrii just being stronger. Rather, he has the ability to mimic the abilities of others, allowing Dmitrii to essentially copy Somas Power of Dominance.

That makes him quite the powerful antagonist, but its ultimately not enough and Dmitrii is basically eaten alive by the power. Its enough to surely give him an edge over Graham, but Dmitrii essentially doomed himself the moment he decided to copy Somas powers. Hes strong, but no true Dark Lord.

Widely considered the strongest Belmont in history (other than Julius who managed to permanently defeat Dracula,) it probably doesnt need to be stated that Richter is quite the powerhouse when possessed by Shaft. That said, its entirely possible that Richter isnt as strong as he normally would be.

While Richters emotions are genuine, his motivation isnt. Even at his most insecure, Richter would never willingly bring back Dracula. Even then, a possessed Richter Belmont is still strong enough to fight Alucard one-on-one, so it ultimately doesnt matter that much. Hes either very strong, or even stronger.

The Dark Lord himself and Castlevanias most prominent villain, theres really no getting around Dracula. Hes the final boss of almost every single game in the series, even the ones where hes not the main antagonist. The few games that dont feature him make sure to feature his legacy and presence prominently. This is a series that lives and dies by Dracula.

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But hes not the strongest villain, if only because both the Sorrow games end up escalating things by not only introducing larger threats but the actual sources of Draculas power. Dracula is naturally quite powerful, but hes bolstered by the Power of Dominance and Chaos.

Introduced in Aria of Sorrow, Chaos is the entity that gives Dracula his powers. Its not quite right to call it a being, but its more than a concept as well. Chaos is a tangible being in Castlevania, one that likely cant be killed, but can be subdued if nothing else as proven by the true final boss fight in Aria of Sorrow.

Chaos is an inherent state of existence though, so its likely that the worlds natural order is still being watched over by Chaos, ready to consume Soma the first chance it gets. Dawn of Sorrows Bad Ending sees Soma fully turn, and the Power of Dominance hasnt gone anywhere, so Chaos still rules in Castlevania.

Menace is a different story altogether. While it doesnt have as relevant a role in Dawn of Sorrow as Chaos does in Aria, Menace is a perversion of the Power of Dominance, Dmitrii Blinov, and in some respects even Chaos itself. Its an almost incomprehensible villain, but one that stems directly from pure evil.

Naturally, Soma defeats Malice in Dawn of Sorrows Good Ending, leaving the continuity on a slightly peaceful note. Chaos is still around, but Malice is seemingly defeated for good and with it the rest of the Dark Lord candidates. That said, Dawn of Sorrow does feature one other ending with a certain villain.

Following Dawn of Sorrows Bad Ending, Soma fully allows himself to corrupt into Dracula. This ends up unlocking Julius Mode, a bonus playthrough that canonically serves as a sequel to Dawn of Sorrows Bad Ending with Julius Belmont, Yoko Belnades, and Alucard all serving as playable characters.The final boss is changed from Malice to Soma Cruz, and he even takes cues from his Rondo of Blood battle. It takes the combined efforts of three of the worlds strongest Vampire Hunters just to subdue Soma, and theyre silently watching his castle crumble when all is said and done likely ready to revive another day.

NEXT:Castlevania: 10 Best Soundtracks, Ranked

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Castlevania: 10 Strongest Villains, Ranked | TheGamer - TheGamer

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero