Juste Belmont

(/ʒyst/) is the main protagonist in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. He is part of the Belmont Clan and the grandson of Simon Belmont. Juste is considered powerful even among his family for his prodigious magical talent derived from the Belnades Clan.
==History==
After Simon's great effort fighting against Count Dracula, the long-hated Belmont family was reconciled with the residents. Simon was regarded as a life-saver, and people started to look upon him as a hero; little by little, the people started to gather around them. A village, therefore, was formed around the Belmonts. Juste would later grew up in this environment with his childhood friends Maxim Kischine and Lydie Erlanger.Interview: Konami's vampire Harmony at CVG (archived: April 2, 2009).
Once every century, when Dracula resurrects, the power he has attracts all other monsters and evils, which all resurrect alongside him. It's the calling of the Belmont family to hunt all these monsters and hone their skills to prepare themselves for the fight against Dracula. Furthermore, Juste was tasked with hunting Dracula's body parts.Castlevania: Byakuya no Concerto instruction booklet.
Maxim returns two years later from a training expedition, wounded and amnesiac, and claims that Lydie was kidnapped. Ignoring his bodily injuries, he leads Juste to the place where he believes Lydie is being held captive. Passing through thick fog, the two men happen upon a castle undocumented on any map. Not being able to continue, Maxim holds back in order to recover while Juste sets forth on his own. Chased inside by a giant undead knight, Juste has no other choice but to find Lydie with only his trustworthy Vampire Killer whip and a bracelet both he and Maxim share.
After journeying through Dracula's castle, Juste learns what truly happened during Maxim's training expedition. Maxim, wishing to prove he was stronger than Juste, had collected Dracula's remains, like Simon Belmont had done 50 years before. However, this plan backfired and Maxim ended up getting possessed by the dark influence of Dracula's remains.
Because of this, Maxim ended up developing a second personality — a dark Maxim — through which Dracula's will spoke, and Juste would meet in the Sky Walkway. This evil side of Maxim was the one who kidnapped Lydie and left Maxim with his amnesia so he could lead Juste to the castle. Another result of this divide was that the castle has been split as well: there were two castles, or rather two sides of the same castle, connected by portals, each representing one side of Maxim's mind as the castle's creator.
The player's actions and whether or not Juste was wearing both Maxim's and his own bracelets affected Maxim's fate, giving the player access to multiple endings.
==Personality==
Juste is arguably the most reserved and introverted Belmont, as he doesn't have any mentioned connections to other people outside of his two childhood friends Maxim and Lydie. He expresses a strong love for his friends, and desires to protect them from any harm. He also shows great faith and trust in Maxim, even after the latter had been possessed by Dracula's spirit, and it was this faith that helped Maxim overcome the evil force within him. Juste is also shown to enjoy decorating, shown when he decides to fill a room in the castle with furniture he finds during his quest. Throughout his journey, Juste displays a strong sense of justice and fearlessness, befitting for both his name and bloodline.
==Quotes==
*"For some reason, things look a bit different than they did before..."
*"Whoa, what a nice room. Maybe a bit tasteless. Perhaps some furniture... Okay, I guess I'll try putting this down right here!"
*"Yes, I remember. The story of how my grandfather, Simon, gathered Dracula's remains and destroyed them to undo his curse."
*"If true, Dracula's bodily remains may be giving rise to this castle..."
*"This is the same place I was before, but the aura about it has changed. Now I see. This is what Death meant when he said there were two castles."
*"I-I got it. Once I've saved Lydie, I promise, I'll come back for you..."
*"Maxim was stronger than you are... I don't believe that you could have taken all that he was!"
*"Damn it all! Ultimately, I couldn't save Lydie or Maxim. All that remains to remember them by is this bracelet... I couldn't even protect those I love. I've failed as a Vampire Hunter! What on earth should I do with myself now...?"
*"Take it if you can... Do not underestimate the power of Belmont..."
*"I told you so. Do not underestimate the power of my bloodline!!"
*"Vile spawn of Maxim, you are not worthy of being my opponent."
*なに?! (Nani?!) - "What?!"
*燃えろ! (Moero!) - "Burn!"
*行け! (Ike!) - "Go!"
*滅せよ! (Messeyo!) - "Destroy!"
*出でよ! (Ideyo!) - "Come Forth!"
*凍れ! (Koore!) - "Freeze!"
*サンダー! (Sandā!) - "Thunder!"
*シールド! (Shīrudo!) - "Shield!"
*降臨せよ! (Kourin seyo!) - "Descend!"
==Gallery==
Juste Belmont1.png|Juste wielding the Vampire Killer.
CastleVania - Harmony of Dissonance - 01.jpg|Juste and Lydie artwork by Ayami Kojima.
Castlevania - Harmony of Dissonance - 02.jpg|Official artwork by Ayami Kojima.
Wallpaper2.jpg|Official wallpaper.
Juste Belmont - Harmony of Dissonance - 01.jpg|Juste concept sketch from Harmony of Dissonance.
Hod01 (2).jpg|From the Japanese official guide.
Juste Calendar.gif|Juste from a calendar.
Greatest Five Juste Belmont.JPG|Juste from the Greatest Five Dual Crush attack in Portrait of Ruin.
Juste Belmont - Grimoire of Souls - 01.png|Juste and Maxim artwork from Grimoire of Souls.
==Other appearances==
===Castlevania: Nocturne===
A loose incarnation of Juste appears in the Netflix original animated series, Castlevania: Nocturne. Unlike his youthful original appearance, Juste is now portrayed as an old, lone man who has opted to live at the margin of society. Also, unlike the original character, whose exact family relation with the original Richter Belmont was left to ambiguity, this Juste is clearly specified to be this Richter's estranged grandfather. While his backstory retains some aspects of the original, it also changes them in drastic ways. In his story, it is well established he married a woman named Lydie (akin to Lydie Erlanger) and that he also had a friend named Maxim (akin to Maxim Kischine). However, both were killed by a vampire named Lord Ruthven, which made Juste to lose his will to fight, and as a result, his ability to cast magic abandoned him.
==Trivia==
*Juste's appearance is very similar to Alucard.
*Juste means "righteous" in French.
*The fact that he is the only Belmont who has white hair and a very pale skin could be the result of him having albinism, a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes; and also may be a reference to usual representations of characters in manga and anime where the white (白 shiro) hair is either used for an old person that has wisdom, a pure person that lacks connection with the physical world, or a character with special/magical abilities. This would also explain the white hair in Nathan, Soma and Hector's designs.
*Since he is the only Belmont descendant from Sypha that focuses more on magic than physical combat, unlike the rest of the Clan, the elemental Spell Books could actually be the same ones she used in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
*Since Dracula Wraith was not the real Dracula, it makes Juste and Leon the only two playable Belmonts in the series who have not fought against Dracula. Juste nevertheless appeared in the Greatest Five special move from Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, even though Christopher Belmont battled Dracula twice and was omitted for unknown reasons.
*Despite depictions of the Vampire Killer in official artworks being that of a leather whip, the in-game model and sound effects suggest he arrived to the castle with the whip fully upgraded in the Morning Star form.
*Juste is the only Belmont so far that has been shown using Familiars and summoning creatures to help him, thanks to the Summoning Tome.
*Juste is eventually succeeded by Richter Belmont. However, despite being confirmed to be a descendant of Simon, it isn't clear whether Richter is descended through Juste or another grandson (see also: Belmont Family Tree).
==References==
==External links==
*
*Mr. P's Castlevania Realm's Juste Profile
*The Castlevania Dungeon's The Belmonts
*Forbidden Library's Juste Article
de:Juste Belmont
es:Juste Belmont
pt-br:Juste Belmont
Category:Belmont Clan
Category:Belnades/Fernandez Clan
Category:Humans
Category:Male Characters
Category:Protagonists
Category:Vampire Hunters and Huntresses
Category:Harmony of Dissonance Characters
Category:Harmony of Dissonance Playable Characters