Richter Belmont

is a descendant of Simon Belmont. He is a renowned vampire hunter. He is the main protagonist of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and has reappeared frequently as a supporting character in later games. Every generation of the Belmont Clan has produced tougher, more dedicated vampire hunters — yet Richter stands as one of the most powerful in the family. Brandishing the legendary sacred whip which so many of his predecessors wielded, this hot-headed youth pushed Dracula to the brink.
==History==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
Count Dracula, resurrected by evil humans led by a dark priest called Shaft who sacrificed a young virgin female's blood and life, commanded his forces to kidnap Richter's girlfriend, Annette, from the village of Aljiba, alongside the villagers Maria Renard, Tera and Iris, among many others. On his way to the village via wagon, Richter was ambushed by Dracula's second in command, Death, with the latter also "testing" him by using various attacks on him. After Richter dispelled the attacks, Death took his leave, although not before vowing that he wouldn't go easy on the vampire hunter in their inevitable next encounter. After ridding the town of creatures of the night, Richter, obligated to battle the Dark Lord in every incarnation, slayed the Count's massive army –including Shaft– alongside Maria, who joined his quest after rescuing her, and together arrived in time to both save the women and defeat Dracula — proving to himself that he was worthy of his vampire-hunting destiny.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
Shaft, who had somehow survived the events of Rondo of Blood by preserving his soul inside an invisible crystal ball, managed to manipulate Richter four years later to be the new master of the castle and aid him to revive Dracula, acting as the ultimate guard so nobody could stop his schemes. Richter was manipulated because he was not feeling totally pleased with his victory over the Count, as he told Alucard: "Dracula rises once a century. One chance for each Belmont to shine, and then we're finished, forgotten. If I bring him back now, the battle can last for eternity!". It was Alucard who arose from his slumber, braved the evil castle, and with Maria's help figured a plan to release Richter from the evil control. Alucard fought him and freed Richter from the possession by destroying Shaft's crystal ball, severing the link between him and the hunter, and then moved on to stop the evil priest who later revealed that he brainwashed Richter because, due to his status as a Belmont, he was supreme among vampire hunters and thus could not be defeated in a straight up fight between various ones, effectively acting as a deterrent regarding anyone trying to stop Dracula's resurrection. Alucard then proceeded to face his father for the second time, while Richter and Maria awaited for him outside the castle.
===Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection===
After the events of Symphony of the Night, Richter quit the vampire hunting job ashamed for being manipulated by Shaft, but wields again the sacred whip, the Vampire Killer, to help Maria and Alucard. Richter sends a letter to Maria, warning her about vampire attacks in the village that she and Alucard were staying in, he also tells her to be wary of the vampire.
It wasn't long before Richter tracked down the vampire attacks. There, he encountered Cyril and Alexis, the self-proclaimed vampire hunters. He rescued them from a skeleton, making himself known.
Later on, Richter rescued Maria, who was hurt by the potion Cyril made, and brought her back to Alucard. There, he told him that the ones closest to him would be sacrificed once he gave in to his vampiric urges. He advised Alucard to tell Maria why he was letting her to stay with him.
On his journey to find the vampire responsible for the attacks, he met Cyril again. He told Richter that Alexis had been kidnapped by a black-winged demon. Richter immediately knew it was Magnus and set out with Cyril to rescue Alexis.
Richter and Cyril finally met up with Alucard for the final battle against Magnus.
===Castlevania: Moonlight Rhapsody===
:"A descendant of the Belmont Clan who defeated Dracula in 1792 to rescue the people who were captured by him. In 1797, he was controlled by the Dark Priest Shaft and became the temporary Lord of the Castle. Although he was released from control when Alucard came, he still couldn't forgive himself. He handed the holy whip to the Morris family and then lived in seclusion." (translated description from the official website)
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
The Vampire Killer is under the ownership of Jonathan Morris, who is unable to use the whip effectively. After Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin cure Loretta and Stella from vampirism, the two sisters offer to aid Jonathan in learning to use the whip's full power.
This is an optional choice, up to the player, and if they choose to do so, the sisters accomplish this by sending Jonathan into another realm to fight the living memory of the last full Belmont to wield the whip — Richter Belmont. Richter fights the player using Daggers, Crosses, Holy Water, Axes, Grand Cross, a fast Dash strike and a fully powered version of the Vampire Killer. Once Richter's illusion is defeated, Jonathan's whip becomes one of the most powerful weapons in the game.
==Appearance==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
Richter debuted in Rondo of Blood for the PC Engine, where he was designed by Kouji Yamada, Reika Bando and Toshiharu Furukawa. Richter's original design was heavily inspired by protagonists of popular shōnen anime from the time (e.g.: Fist of the North Star). He is equipped with a blue uniform, long white pants and boots. The sleeves of his uniform are ripped from the part of the shoulders. He has short, brown hair all outfitted with a white bandana.
Richter's design from the Super NES port, Castlevania: Dracula X, closely matches his appearance from the Japanese cover and instruction booklet. Richter is depicted with the same outfit in the Japanese instruction booklet.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Akumajō Dracula X: Tsuioku no Yasōkyoku===
Richter's subsequent appearances were designed by Ayami Kojima. Kojima depicted Richter with bishōnen-style art. Kojima's depiction dropped the anime-looking design and went with a completely different look, adding him long hair, gloves and a more aristocratic outfit.
==Personality==
Richter has a strong sense of justice and unwavering will mixed with a youthful and hot-headed attitude. This is because he was the youngest Belmont at the time to fight against the fully resurrected Count Dracula. The power of his youthful energy manifests in the form of Item Crashes, where he draws even more power out of his sub-weapons. Richter is also shown to be very kind and caring to others, such as Maria Renard, Tera and Iris, even though they don't have a personal connection to him. Despite being referred to as reckless by Annette, Richter does display caution at times. An example of this is when Maria asks to go with him to defeat Dracula, which Richter finds amusing but absurd, saying it would be too dangerous for her. He does eventually relent after witnessing her power and determination. Despite all his good traits and intentions, Richter enjoyed the thrill of battle so much that he felt empty after his defeat of Dracula, and felt like his usefulness in the world was over. It was these hidden feelings that he would act upon when he was possessed by Shaft, and would attempt to resurrect Dracula so that he could battle the Dark Lord again. When he was freed of his delusion, he immediately expressed remorse and shame for what he had done. This regret caused him to disappear from the world and live in seclusion so that he and future Belmonts would get used to living in peace, and wouldn't be exploited by the desire for battle. Richter displayed great faith in the Morris Clan by passing the Vampire Killer to them, trusting them to protect the world in the Belmont's absence.
==Gameplay==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
Richter can extend the length of Vampire Killer by tapping forward just as the whip reaches its maximum length. He is also able to perform this ability in the remake, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. However, in other games where Richter has also appeared and that use the same sprite set as Rondo of Blood (such as Dracula X, Symphony of the Night and Portrait of Ruin), he is no longer able to extend the length of the whip this way.
Richter can also backflip by pressing JUMP twice in quick succession.
His greatest ability is to perform an Item Crash with all the sub-weapons in the game. If Richter performs an Item Crash without a sub-weapon equipped, he will instead empower his whip with fire. However, there are very few opportunities to do this because Richter will spend the vast majority of the game with an active sub-weapon.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
During the course of the main story, Richter is being controlled by Shaft; to save him, Alucard has to face him at the Castle Keep, but he also needs to equip the Holy Glasses and destroy a crystal ball hovering above Richter instead of attacking him directly.
After completing the game and obtaining the best ending, the player is able to play as Richter by using a new save file and entering "RICHTER" on the Name entry screen. In this mode, Richter gains many new abilities which are executed with a combination of directional inputs and the ATTACK button. Unlike Alucard, Richter does not depend on MP; thus, he can use these abilities indefinitely. Richter can also sprint.
In the Sega Saturn version, Richter is available from the start (as well as Maria) and has an alternate costume.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
As his second appearance as a boss in Portrait of Ruin, Richter is the only memory of the Vampire Killer. He's an optional boss; if you defeat him, the whip becomes stronger and one of the best weapons in the game.
Richter is also playable in one of the game's alternate modes, along with Maria Renard as his partner. This mode can be unlocked after completing a game where Whip's Memory has been defeated. Richter plays much as he did in Rondo of Blood, except that he lacks item crashes aside from Grand Cross. This mode has no story.
===Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night===
Richter appears as an opponent in story mode of Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night. He also is available as a playable character in Arcade Mode. He carries his Cross weapon into battle with him for his spells in Arcade Mode, which he can toss or crash.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Despair===
Richter appears as a downloadable character in the multiplayer game Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. He plays much as he did in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. He can use the Vampire Killer, several sub-weapons, and a variety of martial arts.
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
Richter appears as a playable support character in Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls.
==Other appearances==
===Super Smash Bros. Ultimate===
Richter was confirmed to appear in the upcoming fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch along with fellow vampire hunter Simon Belmont, with Richter being an Echo character from the latter. His tagline is "Richter crosses over", which is presumably a reference to how his debut on a Nintendo system, Castlevania: Dracula X, was originally a heavily modified port for the game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. It is also likely a direct reference to the Grand Cross item crash, which Richter uses in all of his appearances throughout the series.
He also appears in the trailer Vampire Killer, where he saves his ancestor Simon from Dracula's attack, and yells "Begone! You don't belong in this world, monster!", a variation of his famous line from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
His artwork render for the game, along with the pose in his Up Taunt and Up Victory Pose greatly resemble his artwork from Rondo of Blood.
===Dead Cells===
Richter appears in the downloadable pack Return to Castlevania, serving as an introduction to it. He appears as a separate playable character for some parts of the game in Richter Mode. It is also possible to make the playable Beheaded appear like Richter by equipping the Richter Outfit.
===Castlevania: Nocturne===
In June 2021, an animated version of Richter Belmont was confirmed to appear in a Netflix series that serves as a sequel/spin-off to the previous Castlevania animated series, also by Netflix.@NetflixGeeked at X (June 11, 2021). His physical appearance in this new series seems to be a mixture of his previous incarnations, especially of his redesign in The Dracula X Chronicles. His personality, however, does not resemble any of his depictions within the games, as he is shown to be very emotional and considerably weak when compared to the original source materials. He is also constantly berated and undermined by other characters (such as being referred to as "useless" by Annette). Along with this, he rarely engages in combat and is shown to retreat more frequently while others fight his battles.
Haunted by the murder of his mother, Julia, at the hands of the vampire, Olrox, Richter dedicates his life to the extermination of all vampires and other creatures of the night alongside Maria Renard and other allies, especially to prevent the coming of the foretold "Vampire Messiah", Erzsebet Báthory. His quest will lead him to meet an unknown relative of his, and with his help rediscover his latent magical powers, which became dormant the night his mother was killed.
==Quotes==
===Rondo of Blood===
*Death to you! The world is not yours to exist in!
*Of all the self-serving claptrap! The same basic faith drives all people to seek, to come together, to move forward. That surely can't be an evil thing!
*But people cannot be ruled by power alone! The sacred, the honorable, the loved... Those things can rule humanity. Something evil will eventually fall to ruin!
===Portrait of Ruin===
*I'm counting on you...
===The Dracula X Chronicles===
====Character Select Screen====
*Leave it to me!
*I'm a Belmont. That's my job!
====Events====
*What?!
*Annette!
*Oh my God, Annette... I'm so sorry I didn't save you. But you know what I do to vampires. What I have to do.
*Dracula. Die now, and leave this world! You'll never belong here!
====Battle====
*Hydro Storm!
*Grand Cross!
*(attacked) What?
*(attacked) No!
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
*You were so adamant about defeating Dracula. A herd of horses couldn't hold you back.
*To think of it, we Belmonts existed to fight for humans like that. Without them, we wouldn't serve a purpose.
*You seem to have traveled a twisted road... Still, I'm glad it lead you here.
*Hah. That's the Maria I know.
==Enemy Data==
==Item Data==
==Notes==
*Richter's predecessor is Juste Belmont, Simon's grandson. However, despite being confirmed to be a descendant of Simon, it's not clear whether Richter is descended through Juste or another grandson (see also: Belmont Family Tree).
*In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Richter is said to be the most powerful Belmont, and is described by the game as "Master Vampire Hunter". As Alucard stated in the game: "...Richter's powers are supreme among vampire hunters. None other can defeat him." However, he has been surpassed by his descendant Julius Belmont, as he is explicitly stated to be the most powerful vampire hunter in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Grimoire of Souls, for being the Belmont capable to destroy Dracula in 1999, which was his most powerful incarnation. The Belmonts grow in power with each generation, as stated in Grimoire of Souls and the manual description of Richter from Symphony of the Night.
*Even though Richter has a different character design in Symphony of the Night, his in-game sprite is the same one from Rondo of Blood, except in the Saturn version, which gives him the coat but neither the long hair nor the white shirt and pants underneath.
*Richter has been portrayed using the Cross more than any other sub-weapon. It is seen in artwork for Rondo of Blood, The Dracula X Chronicles intro, as well as in Encore of the Night.
*It seems that Richter's sprite from the canceled game "Castlevania: The Bloodletting" might have been modified into Fake Trevor in Symphony of the Night.
Bloodletting richter.gif|Richter's sprite from the canceled game "Castlevania: The Bloodletting".
Richter Belmont - 01.png|Fake Trevor's sprite from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Richter's given name is a German word, which literally means "judge" when translated.
*Richter was given his name by composer Akira Sōji (Akiropito), who named him after his favorite conductor, Karl Richter.@akiropito2nd (Akira Sōji) at X (April 3, 2015).
*The original Rondo of Blood version of Richter closely resembles Ryu from the Street Fighter series by Capcom. This design was not reused in his following appearances in Symphony of the Night nor in The Dracula X Chronicles.
**Richter returned with his original design once more in the 2018 crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, alongside Street Fighter's Ryu.
*Richter can be seeing wielding a white leather whip in some of the earliest strategy guides for Rondo of Blood; however, Richter has never used a leather whip in any of his appearances (except for the opening cutscene of Dracula X).
*When Richter is encountered in the Colosseum area of Symphony of the Night, he says: "Open, Hell's Gate! Come forth, my servants! Crush this flea who invades my castle!", which foreshadows who was controlling him.
**Coincidentally, Kiyoyuki Yanada, Richter's Japanese voice, also dubbed Shaft in the same game.
*Both of Richter's English and Japanese voice actors from the original PlayStation version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night have already passed away, Scott McCulloch and Kiyoyuki Yanada, respectively.
*It is possible to see a fingernail painted over one glove in one of Richter's for Symphony of the Night, which may imply that his original redesign didn't have gloves in the first place.
*The theme song "Chapel of Dissonance" from Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, is Richter's theme song "Opposing Bloodlines" slowed down, giving the reference to the upcoming birth of himself even from his ancestor's game.
*Richter's English voice actor in The Dracula X Chronicles (and onward), David Vincent, also provided the voice of Wind/Eric Lecarde in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
*Richter is one of the three character to be the main character in an alternate character mode in more than one game. The other two are Maria Renard and Julius Belmont.
==See also==
*Richter Belmont (animated series)
*Richter Bomber
*Richter Mode
*Whip's Memory (disambiguation)
*Richter Belmont's immediate family
==References==
==External links==
*
*
*Richter Belmont at the Heroes Wiki
*Richter Belmont at Smashpedia
**Richter (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)
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