Simon Belmont

From Castlevania Wiki - Forbidden Library

Simon Belmont
Japanese name	Simon Belmondo
Appearance(s)	1691:Castlevania, Vampire Killer, Haunted Castle, Super Castlevania IV and Castlevania Chronicles 1692:Castlevania Judgment 1698:Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Role(s)	Vampire Hunter
Weapon of Choice	Vampire Killer, sub-weapons
Abilities
Voice Actor(s)
Seiyuu(s)
Music Theme(s)	Simon's Theme a.k.a Dance of the Holy Man
Gender	Male

Simon Belmont is a renowned vampire hunter from the 17th century, and also the first and most recognized of the heroes from the Castlevania series. He holds the record for appearing in more games than any other character (not counting Dracula and Death). Seven of the nine games he starred in are different takes on the same story and it's up to the player to decide which game is the canonical one. Besides appearances in the main series, Simon has also several cameos in other games from Konami.

Contents 1 Story 1.1 Before Castlevania 1.2 Events of Castlevania 1.3 Events of Judgment 1.4 Events of Simon's Quest 2 Other Appearances 2.1 Battle Tryst 2.2 Konami Wai Wai World 2.3 Wai Wai World 2 2.4 DMTV: World Fighters 2.5 New International Track and Field 2.6 Captain N: The Game Master 2.7 Konami WaiWai Sokoban 3 Cameos 3.1 KeyboardMania 2nd Mix 3.2 Contra: Hard Corps 3.3 Pop'n Music 15 Adventure 3.4 Ganbare Goemon 2 3.5 Hai No Majutsushi 4 Image Gallery 5 Trivia 6 External Links

Story

Before Castlevania

Simon Belmont was an heir to the Belmont Clan vampire hunting namesake and the next Belmont to face Dracula after Christopher Belmont sealed him away 100 years before Simon's adventure. He was born in 1667, and during his childhood, he heard many stories about his ancestors and their efforts to stop Dracula before he could take over Europe. During his training as a vampire hunter, he often asked himself how strong he was compared to them. He became troubled because it was a question he couldn't possibly answer, not knowing that one day he would achieve the legendary status of the most famous hunter. After some time, he took over the Vampire Killer whip from his father and waited, wondering if he would face his family's nemesis.

Events of Castlevania

Simon's adventures began in 1691, when on an Easter night, while the villagers were enjoying their traditional celebration, Dracula returned. Evil men gathered in an abandoned monastery and revived him by pouring human blood over his remains. Simon knew it was his duty to destroy Dracula and that this was the time to finally prove himself worthy as a Belmont. After he saw the lightning that struck the monastery where the resurrection took place, he traveled to the castle.

He fought his way through Dracula's servants and eventually reached the castle keep. There, he finally met Dracula face to face and the two engaged in battle. Simon knew he couldn't afford to lose, and after a long battle that pushed him to the limits of his abilities, he came out victorious, but he was severely injured in the process. Unknown to Simon, Dracula had cursed him in a last effort to end the Belmont lineage. Simon escaped the castle and left Dracula's remains behind him, and from a mountain cliff he watched the castle crumble. Although he was praised by the people, he remained troubled, thinking it was the whip's power that defeated Dracula instead of his own.

Events of Judgment

Note: The following events are from Castlevania Judgment and its canonical merits are uncertain.

One night, Simon entered a dark forest where he was hunting down the last remains of Dracula's legions. He accidentally entered a strange rift where he was approached by an odd man. The stranger introduced himself as Aeon and welcomed Simon to a rift in time. Simon was shocked by this revelation and demanded that the man speak sense. Aeon ignored Simon's outburst and explained that they were at the place where Simon may touch that which he most desired. Yet, there were many trials Simon must pass in order to achieve that. His first test was to defeat Aeon, in which he succeeded.

Simon faced many opponents he never heard of, one of them was Sypha Belnades, who asked Simon to show her the true power of a vampire hunter. Simon pardoned her, saying that he couldn't possible fight a lady, to much annoyance of the sorceress, who warned him not to underestimate her and revealed her identity. Simon was shocked that one of the three legendary warriors who aided his ancestor, Trevor Belmont, was standing before him. He accepted the challenge. The two battled and Simon came out victorious, commenting that his triumph may lead to the challenge he was truly looking for.

Eventually, he faced the rogue, Grant DaNasty, who was surprised to see the Vampire Killer whip in Simon's hands, as it originally belonged to his old ally, Trevor. When Grant realized Simon knew who he was, the rogue commented by saying he must have become pretty famous. The vampire hunter asked if Trevor also came to that place, but Grant refused to tell him anything. Simon managed a victory over Grant and continued on his strange journey.

Simon's final opponent was his famous ancestor Trevor. Simon could finally see if he was truly worthy of the Belmont name by testing himself against his legendary forefather. Trevor quickly realised that Simon was his descendant and accepted his challenge. After triumphing even over Trevor, Simon Belmont was certain that his power came from more than just the Vampire Killer.

Aeon gained another soul key and came a step closer to his goal, and Simon returned to his own time period, where he noticed his body began slowly decaying.

Events of Simon's Quest

Seven years had passed since the battle between Dracula and Simon. Since then, Simon felt his body begin to slowly decay, and he felt that his time of death was nearby. With no answers as to why this was happening, Simon fell into depression. One morning, he was paying respect to his ancestors at his family's resting ground, which was located at the angel's hill. While he was looking back at his own life, he suddenly noticed someone behind his back, and when he turned around a young woman was standing in the morning mist. She spoke to him and told Simon he had been taken over by a curse, which would eventually take his life. Simon could break the curse if he stood up with courage granted him by God and would wager his life by setting off on another journey. His goal was to resurrect Dracula, and by destroying him again, he would be set free of the curse.

Dracula's body was demolished after he was defeated by Simon and his body parts were scattered over the country side. It was up to Simon to find them and bring them back to Dracula's castle where he would perform the resurrection. After the woman finished her story she faded within the mist. Simon started his journey with new determination, and traveled to five different mansions (Berkeley, Rover, Laruba, Bodley and Brahm's) where the body parts were hidden. After collecting Dracula's rib, heart, eye, nail and ring, Simon returned to Dracula's castle and entered the ceremonial room, which was hidden below ground level, and brought back his enemy by burning the body parts. Dracula was no match for Simon even though he was in a weakened state. After the battle, to honor his opponent, Simon knelt before Dracula's grave, because he respected that he was a warrior, just like him.

Other Appearances

Battle Tryst

Battle Tryst is a rare arcade game released in 1997. Simon, along with Richter Belmont, are playable, but they are known as Shemon and Rehter.

Konami Wai Wai World

Konami Wai Wai World is the first game where Simon makes a guest appearance. The story is about Konami Man, who is traveling to different worlds to rescue several heroes from other Konami games to save Konami World. One of the worlds he has to travel to is the world of Castlevania, where he rescues Simon III (a descendant of the original Simon). After Konami Man rescues him, he becomes available as a playable character. Simon can use his whip, which has average power, but the longest range of all normal attacks in the game and, after acquiring it, the Cross sub-weapon, which is the most powerful secondary weapon in the game. His theme song is the famous Vampire Killer.

Wai Wai World 2

Wai Wai World 2: SOS! Parsley Castle is the sequel to Konami Wai Wai World. The main character is a robot named Rickle who has to rescue the princess of Konami World. Unlike the previous game, Rickle does not rescue other characters; rather, he has the ability to transform into three other Konami heroes via power-ups, determined at random at the beginning of the game. One of these heroes is Simon, who controls like he did on the original game, though without his Cross. Simon is nearly invincible, but can only be played as for a limited amount of time before reverting to Rickle. There is also a Castlevania stage that resembles parts of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.

DMTV: World Fighters

Dream Mix TV: World Fighters is also one of Konami's mascot-themed games, but characters from other companies (Hudson Soft, Takara and Red Entertainment) are also included. One of these characters is Simon (his appearance is based on how he is portrayed in Castlevania Chronicles), and he fights with his traditional whip ans cross sub-weapon. Simon can use his whip for basic attacks and combos, while his cross is used for three different special attacks (He can throw it forward, upward, or in a circle). This game also includes two Castlevania stages (based on a typical main-hall). In both stages "Bloody Tears" plays in the background.

New International Track and Field

New International Track and Field is an Olympic-sports game released for the Nintendo DS. The game puts normal competitors and Konami icons against each other in certain events (100-meter dash, the 110-meter hurdle, bicycling, long-jumping, swimming, archery, the shot put, pole-vaulting, sprinting, gymnastics, javelin-throwing, high-jumping, etc.). There is also an archery event known as "Belmont's challenge," where you must shoot bats to gain points and a chance to destroy the planks that cover the windows, to let sunlight in and destroy Dracula. The music that plays is yet, another version of Vampire Killer.

Captain N: The Game Master

Simon appears in Captain N as one of Kevin's (the game master's) allies. Here, he is very different from all of his other appearances. Simon is narcissistic, slow-brained, and somewhat of a coward. He wears modern clothing, similar to that of a pilot's, and has a bag with seemingly endless amounts of gadgets. He possesses the whip, but rarely ever uses it. He also seems to have a crush on Princess Lana (an original character).

Konami WaiWai Sokoban

Konami WaiWai Sokoban is a puzzle game released in 2007 on mobile phones. This game is Konami's take on Sokoban, a puzzle PC title. You view a maze from above and the goal of the game is to push the boxes in the right locations (Only one box may be pushed at a time, and boxes cannot be pulled). Simon is one of the six featured characters. Each hero has an ability that helps them move certain objects (boxes, spheres, slimes and in the case of Simon, coffins).

Cameos

KeyboardMania 2nd Mix

KeyboardMania 2nd Mix is a rhythm game that features a song called 'Akumajo Dracula Medley', which is a mix of several songs from Haunted Castle. While it's playing, a Castlevania video plays on the side.

Contra: Hard Corps

Simon makes an appearance as a secret boss in the Hard Corps entry of Konami's Contra series.In it, if the player climbs the wall before the door to the boss of stage 3, they will be invited to participate in arena fights, the first opponent being Simon, entering by first destroying a candle in the middle and grabbing the subweapon that drops from it. Simon's appearance is very different in this game, sporting sunglasses and a large afro with a guitar on his back. He uses the Vampire Killer, which seems to extend from the inside of his arm, and also a fish as a subweapon, which functions in the same way as the Cross. Once the player damages him enough, his head explodes and reveals wires, possibly suggesting him to be an android. After he has been defeated, a large amount of the fish sub-weapon gushes out of his neck and he explodes. The theme song used for this battle is a techno version of Vampire Killer called 'Simon 1994RD'. The Simon portrayed in this game is a mixture of Simon Belmont and Simon Masato, a Japanese singer, and the fish sub-weapon is an allusion to one of Masato's famous songs, "Oyoge Taiyaki-kun", with "taiyaki" being a fish-shaped Japanese cake.

Pop'n Music 15 Adventure

Pop'n Music 15 Adventure is a rhythm game released by Konami in 2007. It contains a new Vampire Killer medley and when this tune is played, you can see an image of Simon walking on the side.

Ganbare Goemon 2

Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shōgun Magginesu is an action released in 1991 on the Super NES. By fullfilling certain requirements the player can unlock a hidden Castlevanai stage. To unlock it, you must play certain minigames at Circo Puerto Amusement Park and one of the characters you face there is Simon.

Hai No Majutsushi

Hai No Majutsushi is a mahjong game that was released only in Japan for the MSX2 in which eight Konami mascots are included. Simon is not playable in this game. Instead, you can pick him as one of the three opponents against whom you want to play.

Image Gallery

Trivia

• Simon's theme in Castlevania: Judgment is Vampire Killer instead of Simon's Theme which is considered by many people to be his true theme.
• Simon has had the most appearance changes out of Castlevania characters (not counting Dracula and Death).
• In some incarnations of the original adventure, Simon has a bride who is known as either Serena, Lucy, Linda, or Mina.
• According to the novel Syousetsu Akumajo Dracula: Akuma no Chi Chi no Akumu Simon once loved a woman named Leesa Berenice, but it's unknown if she married him.
• In the non-canon Belmont Legacy comics, a Belmont appears in a painting in the familly's mausoleum facing off Dracula, which is very similar to the box-art of the original game.
• In Castlevania 64, Reinhardt has an unlockable costume which is very similar to Simon's orginal outfit.
• It's possible to play with the original NES Castlevania version of Simon Belmont in the Boss Rush mode of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance.
• The Greatest Five dual crush from Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin will summon five legendary vampire hunters, one of which is Simon.

External Links

• Chapel of Resonance Characters Section