Death

, also known as the Grim Reaper, is a major villain from Konami's Castlevania series. He is a being born out of Chaos, which in turn came about from the evil in the hearts of humans.Akumajō Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku Death is Count Dracula's second-in-command, thus he usually appears near the end of the protagonist's quest –often in the Clock Tower– to challenge them before they confront the Count. He is also sometimes the first of Dracula's major servants to greet the protagonist, such as in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania: The Arcade. He has appeared in every game except Castlevania: The Adventure and Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge.
Death sometimes plays an equal or lesser role in Dracula's organization when someone other than he is the driving force behind Dracula's resurrection, such as Shaft, Elizabeth Bartley or Carmilla. Two of Death's closest associates include Slogra and Gaibon, who directly report to him. He has also been known to show respect to characters for their courage and skill.
Death can also use dark arts to summon the souls of the dead and defeat even the strongest of the living. Being an evil-aligned creature of chaos, Death is very resilient to dark-based attacks, but yields to weapons containing holy properties such as the Vampire Killer.
==History==
===Events of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence===
This mysterious being forges an alliance with Mathias Cronqvist –who later becomes known as Dracula– in 1094. Initially, Death pretended to be a servant to Walter Bernhard, owner of the Ebony Stone. However, he later betrayed Walter after Leon Belmont defeated him with the newly forged Vampire Killer.
It is revealed that Mathias had the Crimson Stone, a stone much more powerful than the Ebony Stone. With Walter defeated, Mathias gained access to Walter's Ebony Stone, giving him both of the vampire's treasures. To add insult to injury, Mathias used the Crimson Stone to suck out Walter's soul and place it inside the stone. The soul became a power source to fuel Mathias's dark desires.
Crushed by Mathias's turn to the dark forces of evil, Leon was ready to slay his former friend, when Death arrived and challenged him in the final showdown of the game. Even though Death was defeated, Mathias made his escape after some parting words with Leon. Although Death expressed disbelief for being beaten by Leon, as well as learning about him possessing the means to destroy not just vampires, but anything tied to them, he nonetheless assured the latter that he could not be permanently killed as long as Mathias remained alive. With Mathias gone, Leon swore that no matter where he should go, the Belmont Clan would hunt him and his kind down forever.
Since then, Death has proven to be the Count's most loyal and devoted servant.
===Events of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse===
In 1476, Death returned alongside Dracula to terrorize the Transylvanian countryside. He was eventually encountered and defeated by Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, Grant Danasty, and the then-recently defected Alucard at the Castle Entrance. However, this would not be the last of him.
===Events of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness===
After Trevor Belmont had successfully defeated Dracula, the Count placed a curse on all of Europe, with the intent that the corruption and misery bred from it would bring about his resurrection. To speed up the process, a mysterious priest by the name of Zead came across Hector, and appeared friendly enough with his wanting to help him defeat his nemesis, Isaac. What Hector didn't know was that the priest was actually Death in disguise. However, his disguise did not fool the time-traveling Saint Germain, who knew that if either Devil Forgemaster, Hector or Isaac, should fall, then the Dark Lord could be revived. Both fight, and in spite of Saint Germain getting the upper hand during their first tussle (and mentioning he would return until Zead surrendered), Zead manages to trick him into the Eneomaos Machine Tower and freezes his powers until he is defeated in combat by Hector. After this, Saint Germain leaves the timeline, after asking Hector to give Zead his sarcastic regards.
In the reborn castle of Dracula, Hector fights and kills Isaac, but does not fall prey to the curse. Before he knows it, the body of Isaac is whisked away into a coffin by Zead. He had originally planned on using Hector as the host for Dracula when he succumbed to the curse, but because Hector rejected the curse at the last moment, he is forced to settle with Isaac's corpse. When Zead removes a scythe from his sleeve, it is then that Hector realizes who Zead really is. Shedding his disguise, Death battles Hector, only to be defeated by the Forgemaster, expressing disbelief that he was defeated by a human.
===Events of Castlevania===
In 1691, Death returned alongside Dracula to Transylvania. Trevor's descendant, Simon Belmont, encountered him inside the dungeon of the castle and ultimately defeated him.
===Events of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest===
After Simon had successfully defeated Dracula, the Count placed a curse on him, forcing the latter to find several relics of the deceased Count and destroy them in order to end the curse on both him and Transylvania as a whole. Death was charged with guarding the Eye of Vlad at the Brahm's Mansion.
===Events of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance===
This time around, Death wanders through "Dracula's Castle" searching for his Lord while trying to understand where his master has disappeared to. He met with Juste inside the Marble Corridor, and implies that, while the castle might technically be Dracula's castle, the actual master of it was not Dracula himself before taking his leave. Death soon realizes thanks to Juste that due to Maxim Kischine's eagerness to find and destroy Dracula's body parts the same way Simon Belmont did about half a century ago, he inadvertently had awoken the spirit of Dracula.
This led to Maxim slowly being taken over by the spirit of the Dark Lord, and the split of Dracula's Castle into two different castles. Death recognizes that Maxim's body would make a suitable host for the resurrection of Dracula, and soon seeks to prevent Juste Belmont from finding his friend and freeing him from Dracula's control. He also tries to locate Lydie, eventually finding her with Juste's unwitting help and takes her, viewing her as a necessary sacrifice to ensure Maxim becomes Dracula, and thus complete the castle. He then fought Juste in an attempt to prevent him from interfering. He ultimately is defeated, although he makes clear that the castle would inevitably merge in the future.
===Events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
Upon returning alongside Dracula in 1792, Death briefly tested Richter Belmont as the latter attempted to race over to Aljiba as it was under siege by Dracula's forces. After gauging Richter via throwing his scythe and summoning a giant skull and Richter parrying both attacks, he then took his leave, although not before vowing that he won't hold back in their next encounter.
True to his word, Death encountered Richter aboard a ghost ship, and fought him in an intense battle. Ultimately, he was defeated, with his accidentally beheading himself after he threw his scythe in the air from being stunned.
===Events of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
After the dark priest Shaft's successful resurrection of Dracula, the Count was swiftly defeated by Richter Belmont in 1792. However, due to a sinister curse placed on him by Shaft, Richter was slowly being possessed by an evil spirit. Five years later, in 1797, Richter Belmont mysteriously disappeared while Dracula's Castle appeared once again.
This time, Dracula's son, Alucard, awakens from his self-inflicted permanent slumber when he senses that something is terribly amiss. When he enters Dracula's Castle, Alucard is confronted by Death. Since Alucard is Dracula's son, Death gives him a chance to cease his attack and turn back. Upon refusing, Death steals all of his equipment and scatters it throughout the entire castle, although not before warning that this will not be their final encounter.
Later, when Alucard encounters Death again, the Grim Reaper notes that he has given ample warning, and with Alucard not backing down, he engages him in combat, suffering defeat at the hands of Dracula's son.
===Events of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
Even though there are no specific cutscenes with Death in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, he does serve as the boss of the Mechanical Tower, in an attempt to kill Shanoa before she absorbs one of three key Glyphs that would allow her passage to Dracula's domain. It should also be noted that if the player is defeated in this fight, Death will say "Your soul has burned itself out", one of the rare instances of a boss actually commenting about a playable character's death, if any.
===Events of Castlevania: Bloodlines===
In 1917, Death guarded Elizabeth Bartley from both John Morris and Eric Lecarde, presumably in an attempt to allow her to revive Dracula. However, he ultimately fell to them.
===Events of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
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In Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Death once again wanders through the castle seeking his Lord and Master, Dracula.
Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin first run into him in the Great Stairway. Jonathan believes that he was serving Brauner, but it turns out unlike the other monsters in the castle, Death retains full loyalty towards Dracula. From them he learns of the interloper taking the role of Lord of the Castle for himself and rebuffs the idea of anyone except Dracula controlling the castle, saying that it was an "odd thing to say". He does not even try to fight the heroes during this encounter, even hinting at a possible alliance to kill Brauner, albeit with different aims in mind. However, he is rebuffed rudely by Jonathan and leaves, but not before he leaves a snide remark telling Jonathan that he is nowhere near as strong as his father.
Later on, he is reluctantly goaded by Jonathan to battle the duo in the castle's Clock Tower. He leaves the battle when his energy is exhausted, saying he has other affairs to handle, although not before inferring that he's only sparing the two because they themselves still have a "role" to accomplish, and also making clear this was not to be their final encounter.
Near the end of the game, after Jonathan and Charlotte defeat Brauner, Death barges into his room and slices through the usurper with a swing of his Scythe to finish him off, reinstating the castle's proper master, Dracula. When Jonathan and Charlotte pursue him, they find the newly risen Dracula. Ready to take him out, Jonathan is blocked by Death, who has come to Dracula's aid. In a surprising turn of events, Death and Dracula decide to team up for their battle against the two young heroes. When either Death's or Dracula's life is depleted, Death screams "My power! Use my power!", and at this point, Dracula holds out both hands and uses Soul Steal, absorbing Death's soul and transforms into True Dracula.
===Events of Akumajō Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku===
After the ultimate defeat of Dracula in 1999, Death remained with the castle in the eclipse and fought Soma Cruz there in 2035. He would fight him again the following year in Celia's castle. Death is mysteriously revived once more during 2037, in a part of Wallachia where he encounters Dracula's Castle, but realizing neither his master nor a Dark Lord are present, the event confuses him as he believes his resurrection in these circumstances impossible. He travels to Japan in order to seek Soma, whom he reveals himself to at the stairs of Hakuba Shrine after Mina Hakuba departs for the shrine. Initially, Soma is restless but Death assures his intentions are not hostile toward him or Mina. Death asks Soma if he would assume his role as a Dark Lord, but Soma refuses, being comfortable with his current human life. Death then wonders if the current events are really Soma's doing, but Soma does not understand what Death means and demands answers. However, Death replies that since Soma isn't willing to be his master then he has no obligation to answer and departs.
Death returns to the castle where he notices humans in the castle, at the same time realizing the monsters are not hostile toward these humans this confuses Death even further as he looks for his master. He finds Slogra and Gaibon whom he orders to report the current situation. Neither of them respond but strangely attack Death for no reason. Although surprised Death does not take the insolence kindly and destroys both of them, but he quickly notices that neither of them ever let a scream of pain out, confusing him even further.
Death ventures further into the castle finally meeting Dracula's former servant Olrox inside the castle. Olrox confirms that the current set of events are of his doing and that the humans in the castle are the remnants of Graham's cult that has bowed to follow the vampire. Death mocks Olrox if he wants to play at replacing Dracula, but Olrox merely states he wants to control both humans and Chaos out of curiosity of what can be done by doing so, emphasizing that Chaos is born of humans and that Death is born out of Chaos, therefore if he can control humans then Chaos could potentially disappear. Death declares Olrox a traitor and the two of them clash with Death summoning his sickles and Olrox summoning bats, both of them canceling each other. Olrox goes to the courtyard and Death follows with the two clashing without any clear advantage, but then Olrox lures Death into a trap as a magic formation made by Graham's followers summons a large bloody hand that entraps Death depriving him of his power and taking it with him.
Death remains trapped and weakened until his soul encounters the damaged body of Curtis Lang that had been shot mercilessly by Graham's Cult multiple times and at the verge of dying. Death encounters Curtis whose only wish is for the safety of his partner Michelle Danasty. Death then takes possession of the young man's dying body, which is later found by Michelle and restored back to health by Hammer after he uses a potion on his body, seemingly with memory loss the possessed Curtis does not recall the recent series of events.
The two venture into the castle with Michelle destroying the horde of Zombies while he remains unfazed by them. Michelle continuously tries to protect him and encourage him to remember although he only has vague hints, his change of personality and attitude worrying Michelle the more they explore. The two enter the Clock Tower where they are attacked by a Harpy that Death kills easily using Gale Force by slashing it repeatedly. Michelle is amazed that "Curtis" can use a high-level spell and attributes it to Julius's training. "Curtis" remains mostly quiet and keeps advancing, with Michelle fearing that the person in from him isn't Curtis anymore and puzzled at the fact the Harpy never screamed in pain.
Finally "Curtis" and Michelle reach Dracula's throne. Michelle wonders why "Curtis" hasn't used his Holy Whip and has him touch the whip thinking it may trigger some memories back, but "Curtis" warns her that he cannot hold a holy item in his current state and much to Michelle's surprise his hand burns, the duo then encounter Olrox with Death recovering his memories and Michelle learning the truth behind Curtis. Death has Michelle stand aside out of respect for Curtis' wish and fights against Olrox once more.
Olrox explains that the current castle is a copy made by Graham's cult made up possible through the brief Eclipse in the area that allowed Legion and the Puppet Master to be summoned, with Legion being the backbone of the castle while the Puppet Master created puppet copies of the castle's monsters. Olrox further explains that the entire scheme was possible solely out of Graham's Cult wish to follow his master finding humans interesting and the thrill of fighting Death equal to when he faced Alucard. Olrox summons the bloody hand once more but Death is able to put an end to it, forcing Olrox to reveal that the castle is a giant Legion and forming a massive body out Legion's parts. As the battle escalated to inhuman proportions Michelle was paralyzed with fear, but honoring her training and Curtis' wish for her to be happy, Michelle decided to fight using her athletic abilities to reach the ceiling of the room and shot an arrow at Olrox during a brief opening which allowed Death to overpower Olrox and defeat him and Legion.
With Olrox beaten the castle began to crumble. Michelle asked Death if Curtis would not be able to come back but Death didn't really respond. As he disappears he states that while they had a common purpose this time around they are essentially still enemies and leaves. Curtis is eventually revealed to be alive and Michelle theorizes that Curtis was able to live because Death possessed his body while he was still alive, and also imagining that perhaps Death did something to his body. She contemplated how Death is a creature unlike any other she has seen.
===Events of Grimoire of Souls===
Genya Arikado, or more accurately, Alucard, encountered Death inside the Grimoire of Souls while trying to locate the core monster inside the book that was causing the Grimoire and others to release monsters into the real world. He fought Death, although because Arikado was forced to utilize an avatar to access the book and thus was in a comparably weak state, Death subdued him, and also implied that the book was making Death stronger and was aware that he was inside the Grimoire. This led Arikado to suspect that someone was causing the chaos.
It was later revealed in Chapter 7, that Death was the true mastermind behind Elgos and the events of the Grimoire's chaos, so he could revive his master. Chapter 9 further reveals that he disguised himself as Seward, even crafting the identity beforehand, specifically to manipulate everyone into unwittingly aiding in Dracula's resurrection. He ultimately succeeded in Chapter 10, and after Dracula, due to just freshly being resurrected, was bested by Alucard and the other Grimoire copies, Death offered his soul to ensure Dracula powered up, with Dracula stating he won't forget Death's loyalty to him.
==Appearance==
Death's specific physical appearance varies from game to game, although in general he appears as a skeletal figure adopting a black cloak and carrying a scythe. Although his eyes are generally missing, sometimes he has glowing red eyes, such as his character portrait in Portrait of Ruin.
When transforming into his true form, his second form has varied significantly across games, from a giant skull to a more serpentine skeleton, or even just a slightly modified version of his default appearance.
==Personality==
Death possesses absolute and undying loyalty toward his master, always placing his lord above anything else, a loyalty that has earned him his place as Dracula's most trusted servant and a notorious recognition among warriors. While he is technically Dracula's second-in-command, he is rarely (if ever) seen leading his forces, instead preferring to act alone in most cases. Whenever his lord is not present, he begins to immediately start to search for him. In the instances in which Dracula isn't fully revived, Death has proved to be a calculating schemer and manipulator, often using the protagonists to indirectly and unwillingly aid in the resurrection of his lord.
It should be noted that his loyalty toward Dracula may increase with time, as no matter who is against his lord, Death will fight to defend him. This is seen mostly with Alucard, as even being the son of his master did not stop Death from attacking him, albeit he showed some level of consideration by merely stealing his equipment at first, although he did not hesitate to attack him later.
His greatest display of loyalty is seen in Portrait of Ruin, where he was awakened due to the actions of Brauner, an usurper who sealed Dracula away from the castle for his own use. Despite most of the monsters in the castle serve Brauner, Death is the exception and seeks to get him removed to re-implement Dracula into the castle, even suggesting an alliance with Jonathan and Charlotte to do so despite being met with swift rejection. He also actually fights alongside Dracula for the first time, even allowing himself to be used as a weapon, and going as far as offering his soul to Dracula so that his master could power up. He similarly also was shown to be willing to offer his soul to Dracula to aid him in Grimoire of Souls.
His loyalty to Dracula post 1999 seems to be rather questionable, however. When Death encountered Soma Cruz, the reincarnation of his master, he lost his ego. In the Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku novel, Death explains that he will serve those who heed the calling of Chaos, and the novel even acknowledges that Death and Soma have not exchanged a single word before the events of 2037. It is possible that Chaos may exert some sort of influence on him that makes him attack without warning, that the existence of other potential Dark Lords, such as Graham Jones, may have misled Death into thinking his master is elsewhere, or even that Death ignored Soma for he had no intention of becoming the Dark Lord (and thus, heeding the calling of Chaos) while the other candidates did. Grimoire of Souls implied that he was also solely interested in Dracula himself returning, and not willing to settle with a reincarnation like Soma Cruz. Aside from this, he is also willing to work with his enemies if it means fulfilling his objectives, which is implied in Portrait of Ruin and confirmed in Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku, although it is to be made clear that while willing to work with them, that does not mean he renounces his initial views of them as his enemies. Genya Arikado also mentioned that Death desired more the resurrection of Dracula than he desired Dracula himself.
==In battle==
Death is a Grim Reaper. As such, he is never seen without his Scythe. His attacks and appearances have changed from game to game, but in general, he always summons floating sickles out of thin air to hunt down his opponents.
==Quotes==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood/Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles===
*Time to test your strength!
*Next time, it won't be so easy!
*You will go no further!
*Feel my true power!
*Series attack!
*Face me, boy!
===Castlevania: Lament of Innocence===
*(When summoning mini-skulls) Minions!!
*(When launching fireballs) Deadly Tempest!
*(When firing the energy laser) Die!
*(When performing a Demonic Megiddo) It's over.
*(When defeated) Impossible!
*(When the player dies) Death overcomes all.
===Castlevania: Curse of Darkness===
*Feel the fires of hell!
*Out of my way!
*(When defeated) Impossible! A mere human has beaten me!
*(When the player dies) I have no further use for you!
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
*You shall not pass!
*I will not allow you to go any further!
*I shall cut you down!
*By time to die...is now!
*Take this!
*Die!
*Go!
*Here is comes.
*(When defeated) Why, you!
*(Player dies) The candlelight of your soul has burned itself out.
==Item Data==
==Other appearances==
===Kid Dracula (GB)===
Death makes a cameo as part of the Password screen for that game, where he holds up a sign carrying four digits and says: "Wake up, Master" (presumably referring to the titular protagonist).
===Castlevania Legends===
Called Grim Reaper, he appears as the third boss of the game. According to the instruction booklet, he would have given an eternal allegiance to the Demon King Dracula in exchange for great magical powers. However, he belongs to an alternative universe different from the original Castlevania timeline.IGA: 黒たる前奏曲は、ドラキュラの世界観をまったく無視して作られた作品だったため、私がプロデューサになった時に、正しい歴史からはずしました。あくまで同じ世界観をつかった別の世界の物語と考えてくだされば良いかと存じます。 Translation: Because Castlevania Legends was a work that completely ignored Castlevania's look, when I became producer, I removed it from the proper history. I think it would be best to think of it as a story from a different world that used the same look.
Once defeated, Sonia obtains the Flame Soul Weapon.
===Castlevania: Circle of the Moon===
In 1830, after Camilla successfully resurrected Count Dracula, Death presumably returned alongside him. He fought Nathan Graves at the Underground Warehouse, although he is ultimately defeated by the vampire hunter and sent back to his realm.
Unlike in other games of the franchise, there isn't any indication that he had any close relationship to Dracula beyond being a minion. Instead, the Necromancer was shown to have Death's usual role. Nevertheless, his presence in the game must have some relevancy at least, as defeating him will make many powerful enemies to appear in the castle, a trait that is shared only with some of the most powerful bosses in the game (the Dragon Zombies and Camilla herself).
===Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth===
Although Death was not present in Castlevania: The Adventure, he was added into the game's remake, The Adventure ReBirth.
In 1576, after Count Dracula was resurrected, Death presumably returned alongside him. He later fought Christopher Belmont at the Clock Tower, although he was ultimately defeated by the vampire hunter, with Death only expressing disbelief at being defeated before emitting an agonized scream.
===Pachislot Akumajō Dracula===
Death makes an appearance in the Pachislot Akumajō Dracula series (I, II and III). He appears as Zead in many of the encounter scenes, but when fought, morphs into a towering Death similar in form to that found in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. In the second game, Zead arrives to test Trevor. Three floating cards are displayed which represent which boss you may have to fight. This is similar to the mini-boss battles selected by whipping a floating card during the Death battle in Castlevania: Bloodlines.
===Castlevania Judgment===
Death made his first playable appearance in the 3D fighting game Castlevania Judgment. His appearance is based more on his second forms (especially that which appeared in Arcade, which is more human-like), which are more skeletal and lack a cloak. He is equipped with a scythe on his right hand and a hook that replaces his left.
His battle theme is "Evil's Symphonic Poem" from Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. Just before the song's loop, an arrangement of "Poison Mind" can be heard.
===Castlevania: Lords of Shadow===
Death is referenced by the antagonistic character Zobek in this three-episode reboot of the Castlevania series. Zobek first appears as an ally and mentor to the main protagonist, Gabriel Belmont. Nonetheless, he eventually reveals himself as the "Lord of the Necromancers", who was just playing him in order to carry on with his own hidden agenda.
In the third game, Zobek finally adopts his true form, appearing as a heavily stylized version of the classic depictions of Death, having a skeletal visage and wielding a heavily redesigned version of his characteristic scythe.
===Castlevania (animated series)===
Death was introduced in the fourth and final season of the animated series, where he plays the role of the main antagonist. He initially takes the guise of a vampire called Varney (as well as a female identity known as the Alchemist which he more seldomly uses), who gets actively involved with most of the other antagonistic factions, including their feuds and acts of treason they commit toward each other, although always with the ultimate goal of carrying on his own hidden agenda. Unlike most depictions of the character in the Castlevania series, he utilizes more coarse language.
Death eventually reveals his true nature and ultimate plan: to bring about a major war in order to feast on all the souls resulting by the massive loss of lives produced as consequence. He is confronted and ultimately defeated by the hero, Trevor Belmont.
===Non-Castlevania appearances===
Death appears in another Konami game for the MSX system: Knightmare, where he is the boss of the second stage. His attack mirrors the one in Castlevania/Vampire Killer, as he throws scythes in a circular pattern.
Although not a cameo of Death himself, he was referenced with the character Screaming Mantis in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, where she, like Death, often levitated and stayed away from the player character while also throwing scythe-like weapons. Like the Castlevania franchise, the Metal Gear franchise was also made by Konami.
Death also made a cameo on the logo for the Private Force "Kill Count" in the online FOB events "New World Order", "Bound Dragons", and "Freedom from Oppression" in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
thumb|Death in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Death made an appearance in the trailer for Simon Belmont's reveal in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where he first reaps Luigi's soul and is defeated by Simon Belmont shortly afterward. His weapon, the Death Scythe, is a usable item in the game. He is also part of Dracula's Castle stage. His design for Ultimate is based on his appearance in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.
Death makes a guest appearance in the roguelike platformer game, Dead Cells, in the downloadable content "Return to Castlevania", as one of its two bosses. Should the player reach Dracula's castle through the castle outskirts rather than the clock tower, Death will intervene and drag them to the Defiled Necropolis underneath the castle, preventing them from facing his master during that run. Upon defeating him, the player can unlock his Scythe for use, as well as six outfits based upon him (one for each difficulty, and one for defeating him without taking damage). It is possible to make the playable Beheaded appear like Death by equipping one of several outfits that can be found in the Return to Castlevania expansion.
==Trivia==
*In Japanese mythology, a "death god" (shinigami) is the name for a type of being (of many) rather than the western idea of a single Grim Reaper, which may explain his status as a minion within the games. It is noteworthy, however, that Death is called as such in a minority of games, even the Japanese versions, making it possible that Death is, in fact, the sole Grim Reaper from western folklore.
*Often, Death's HP/EXP values only contain numbers four (4), or they are multiples of four in some obvious way. This is a Japanese-language-specific pun, as the pronunciation of the number "four" and the word for "death" are phonetically identical ("shi").
*The fact Death is mostly fought in or near a clock tower may be because the inevitability of death in all living creatures is usually referred to as "a matter of time".
*In Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, when the player walks across the bridge that leads to Dracula, several can be seen in the background.
*Aside from his role as a boss in Castlevania: Bloodlines, the April 1994 issue of Beep! MegaDrive implies that Drolta Tzuentes may have actually been an alias for Death.. April, 1994.
*Death's appearance planned in Castlevania: Resurrection resembles the pale horse in Gustave Doré's painting Death on the Pale Horse.
*In Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, the game has been observed to occasionally crash after Death is defeated when his second form is sucked into the black hole. This is especially prevalent when playing a ROM of the game on PC via an emulator, sometimes rendering the game impossible to continue due to crashing occurring either consistently or always.
*In Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, Death's second form is very similar to Ouroboros from the Strider series.
*Despite his loyalties to Dracula, Death fights Soma Cruz in both games he has appeared in, even though, technically, Soma is the reincarnation of Dracula.
**In the light novel Akumajō Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku, Death explains he will serve anyone who is willing to heed the calling of Chaos and take up Dracula's name. It is possible that Death wanted Soma dead to allow the power of Chaos to possess him, and therefore revive Dracula, or that he had no interest in Soma since he didn't want to heed the calling of Chaos while other candidates did.
*Aside from his role as a boss in Dawn of Sorrow, Death also makes a brief cameo in the for the same game, where he's seen holding a white flame (implied to be Soma's soul).
**Similarly, even though Death does not have a major role in Order of Shadows, he does make a cameo during the game over sequence, where he appears and descends upon Desmond Belmont's corpse.
*Galamoth has his own version of Death ten thousand years in the future, the Time Reaper. The Time Reaper heavily resembles Death from Curse of Darkness, and even Death himself acknowledge this in his True Story Mode.
*Death disguising himself as a priest in Curse of Darkness is inspired by a in Ingmar Bergman's classic 1957 film, The Seventh Seal.
*In Portrait of Ruin, inside of Death's boss room in the Tower of Death, there are two that resemble Gaibon, possibly referencing this monster's allegiance to him alongside with Slogra.
*In The Dracula X Chronicles, Death says: "Face me, boy!" even if the player is playing as Maria Renard.
==See also==
*Seward
*Zead
*Zobek
==References==
==External links==
*Castlevania Realm
*Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Bestiary by Darth Nemesis at GameFAQs
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*Death (Castlevania) at the Villains Wiki
*Konami of Europe's Death profile for Castlevania (archived: February 10, 2009)
de:Der Tod
es:Death
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tr:Ölüm
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Category:Circle of the Moon Bosses
Category:Curse of Darkness Bosses
Category:Curse of Darkness Characters
Category:Dawn of Sorrow Bosses
Category:Dracula X Bosses
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Bosses
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Characters
Category:Dracula's Curse Bosses
Category:Encore of the Night Characters
Category:Encore of the Night Playable Characters
Category:Grimoire of Souls Bosses
Category:Grimoire of Souls Characters
Category:Harmony of Despair Bosses
Category:Harmony of Dissonance Bosses
Category:Harmony of Dissonance Characters
Category:Judgment Characters
Category:Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku Characters
Category:Lament of Innocence Bosses
Category:Lament of Innocence Characters
Category:Lament of Innocence Mobile Manga Characters
Category:Legends Bosses
Category:Moonlight Rhapsody Bosses
Category:Moonlight Rhapsody Characters
Category:Order of Ecclesia Bosses
Category:Pachislot Characters
Category:Portrait of Ruin Bosses
Category:Portrait of Ruin Characters
Category:Rondo of Blood Bosses
Category:Simon's Quest Bosses
Category:Super Castlevania IV Bosses
Category:Symphony of the Night Bosses
Category:Symphony of the Night Characters
Category:Vampire Killer Bosses