Laura

is an enemy in the Castlevania series. She is a servant of the vampiress Carmilla. She initially poses as an inoffensive damsel in distress, but when attacked she will drop the facade and retaliate by employing martial arts.
==Origins==
Laura is a reference to the character of the same name –and one of the two main protagonists– of the 1872 Gothic novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, of which she is the narrator. She is the vampire Countess's latest target.
Carmilla, obsessed with the young woman, wishes to transform Laura into a vampire so they can be eternally together. However, Laura does not share Carmilla's feelings, and is somewhat embarrassed and intimidated by Carmilla's attentions.
This is also where Laura's cat-like appearance of her second form in the Castlevania series gets its inspiration from: in the novella, it is implied that Carmilla would transform into a giant cat when she fed on Laura.
==Appearances==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
Laura's original appearance takes place during Camilla's boss fight. When the player enters the vampiress's chamber, they initially encounter Laura wearing a long, red dress and posing as an innocent victim. However, her intentions are soon revealed not to be friendly and during the first phase of the fight she will be pacing back and forth, and grab the hero whenever they come too close to her, restraining them in place while draining away their supply of Hearts.
Once Camilla has been defeated, attacking Laura will make her throw off her dress and reveal a black one-piece suit underneath, along with black thigh-high boots, and now also fashioning cat-like ears (removed in The Dracula X Chronicles), in an allusion to Konami Lady, a mascot character from Konami. From here on, she will start attacking the player with flying kicks. She is one of the few enemies that has invincibility frames after getting hit; however, the Holy Water sub-weapon can deplete her health in a single hit. When defeated, she falls on her knees and starts expelling a myriad of Hearts.
Attacks/Abilities:
Rob Carmilla Laura Appearances（Laura）.gif|Laura's appearance in Rondo of Blood.
Rob Carmilla Laura martial arts（Laura） (1).gif|Martial Arts
Rob Carmilla Laura martial arts（Laura）.gif|
Rob Carmilla Laura Drain Kiss（Laura）.gif|Drain Kiss
Rob Carmilla Laura defeated（Laura）.gif|Laura defeated.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
Laura appears as a common enemy in Portrait of Ruin, no longer seen around her vampire mistress, Carmilla. When first encountered, she will be sitting in a chair. As the player approaches, she will stand up and say: "Here I am!", after which she will walk rapidly toward them. If she gets close enough, she will grab them and start draining their HP.
If attacked, she will shed her dress and reveal her true form, starting to attack from then onward with martial arts moves. She jumps and flips around a lot, so the best weapons of choice would be those that trace a large arc, like a great sword or an axe.
===Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles===
In The Dracula X Chronicles, besides replaying her role from Rondo of Blood during Carmilla's boss fight, Laura also takes the guise of Annette in the Clock Tower in order to trick the player into thinking it's her, since Laura resides in the same room where Annette was rescued in Rondo of Blood. When the player approaches her, she will stand up and behave in the same manner as she did in the boss battle from Stage 4'.
Encountering Laura in the Clock Tower automatically restricts the player into fighting a vampirized Annette later in the game, thus preventing them the opportunity of obtaining the good ending, since a Key is required in order to unlock one of the two cells found in the level: the one where Laura resides or the one where the real Annette is held prisoner. The key will be lost upon use, thus allowing only one cell to be opened.
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
PoR Illustrated Acrobat.JPG|Laura illustration from Portrait of Ruin.
DXC Laura.jpg|Laura in a cutscene preceding Carmilla's boss fight in The Dracula X Chronicles.
DXC Laura2.jpg|Laura impersonating Annette in The Dracula X Chronicles.
==Trivia==
*It is implied that Laura is also a vampire (likely turned by Carmilla if that's indeed the case), and she restraining the player and draining their supply of Hearts (or HP in Portrait of Ruin) could be an allusion to her sucking their blood.
*Laura's second form bears a resemblance to Konami Lady, a character from Konami Wai Wai World, both in her overall outfit style and fighting methods (mainly by employing kicks).
*Although Laura herself does not appear in Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls, the first phase of the boss fight against Carmilla has Annette utilizing a similar moveset to Laura.
==See also==
*Carmilla
*Konami Lady
*Lesser Vampire
es:Laura
pt-br:Laura
Category:Female Monsters
Category:Literary Monsters
Category:Vampires
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Bosses
Category:Grimoire of Souls Bosses
Category:Portrait of Ruin Enemies
Category:Rondo of Blood Bosses