Giant Ghost

The Giant Ghost, also known as a Skull Lord or Great Ghost, is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a skull transformed into a giant ghost by exposure to the castle's magic.
==Description==
A ghost taking the form of a giant skull. It attacks by erratically approaching the player, occasionally pausing before delivering a fast, dashing bite.
==Appearances==
===Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse===
First appearance of this enemy in the series, although not yet identified as an individual entity. Instead, Death will adopt this form on the second phase of his boss fight, where he transforms into a giant, phantasmagorical skull that floats in a circular manner across the room while slowly moving to the left. Once it reaches the edge, it will reappear from the right side following the same pattern. The skull will periodically launch a scythe at the player, lighting itself from inside and bursting into laughter as it does so.
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
The Big Ghost makes an impressive introduction midway through the first section of Stage 3', where the screen suddenly stops scrolling and the monster slowly emerges in the distance, soon arriving to the player's location. It is a phantasmagorical aberration with three eyeballs –two in their respective eye sockets and a third on its forehead– and attacks by hovering around the screen while three smaller Phantom Skulls circle around it. It then slowly homes toward the player attempting to inflict physical damage with its massive size. It can't be harmed by any normal means other than by attacking the eyeballs themselves. Fortunately, each eye can be destroyed in a single hit, but due to the ghost's movements and size, this fight can be either very easy or take some effort, depending on the player's skill and current sub-weapon.
If playing as Richter, bringing the Axe, Cross or Dagger are all good choices. If playing as Maria, Seiryuu is definitely the best option, as a single dragon can destroy all three eyeballs if aimed properly.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
The Skull Lord makes an impressive appearance in Symphony of the Night, enriched by the various aesthetic effects provided by the then new PlayStation system, like a huge sprite size, detailed design, enhanced color palette, and impressive lighting effects. It appears in the Clock Tower and the Reverse Keep, and is usually seen among other smaller Phantom Skulls. It is specially weak to Holy, however, and if Alucard managed to get his hands on the Holy Rod beforehand, he may even be able to destroy the Skull Lord in a single hit, depending on his stats.
They are reencountered in the Reverse Keep with a slight aesthetic modification, now having lost their red eyes.
===Castlevania Legends===
In Legends, the Skeleton Head floats out of reach and charges to attack when Sonia's back is turned.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance===
The "Skull Lord" version of the Giant Ghost, first seen in Symphony of the Night, can be found lurking in graveyards among many other smaller Ghosts. It has a ghostly blue fiery aura around it this time around, much like its smaller counterparts.
In addition, the Giant Ghost's dead skull from Rondo of Blood can be found in a background of the Skeleton Cave.
===Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow===
In this game, the Giant Ghost has been reinstated with its third eyeball on the forehead (as first seen in Rondo of Blood) and also fashions a fiery aura around it. Other than this, it behaves in a similar manner as its other incarnations.
The Giant Ghost is one of the only two enemies able to deal Dark damage (the other being the second form of Chaos).
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
The Great Ghost from Portrait of Ruin is actually a hidden enemy and defeating it is required for completing Wind's "Ghosts of the Desert" quest. Only one appears in the entire game and the only hints the player is given to find it is both the quest's title and its description, which reads: "There is a room in which many ghosts gather. Defeat the Great Ghost that appears there."
To find the Great Ghost, the player must go to the rightmost-bottom room of the upper-right area of the Sandy Grave, where Ghosts continuously appear, and stay there killing them for a while until the Great Ghost finally appears. It's worth mentioning that the requirement for this quest can be fulfilled even before starting the quest itself; the player may kill the Great Ghost first, and when they talk to Wind to start the quest, it will be already completed.
===Castlevania: Order of Shadows===
The Giant Ghost is initially encountered floating in midair and then it starts flying directly toward Desmond as soon as it detects him (instead of making pauses and short lunges like in other games). It is considerably resilient, so casting a powerful spell is recommended in order to dispatch it quickly.
===Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth===
Like in Legends, the Big Ghost will charge at Christopher Belmont when his back is turned. However, it will still move even if Christopher is facing it, although with reduced speed.
===Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night===
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
RoB Three-Eyed Skull.JPG|Giant Ghost from the Japanese Rondo of Blood instruction booklet.
HoD 013.png|Large Ghost enemy list entry from Harmony of Dissonance.
Giant Ghost - Harmony of Dissonance - 01.png|Background of the Skeleton Cave in Harmony of Dissonance with the Giant Ghost's remains from Rondo of Blood.
AoS 020.png|Giant Ghost enemy list entry from Aria of Sorrow.
DXCGiantGhostScene.png|Giant Ghost cutscene from The Dracula X Chronicles.
Dxc 050.png|Skull Lord enemy list entry from The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night.
==Trivia==
*Most depictions of Carmilla (starting from her second appearance, in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood) have her riding atop a giant, flying, magical skull, similar in concept to the Giant Ghost.
*In Symphony of the Night, the Skull Lords found in the Reverse Keep don't have eyes, unlike the ones found in the Clock Tower.
*The particular way of attacking of the Skeleton Head in Legends is very similar to the Boo enemies from the Mario franchise, which are ghosts that stand still high above while facing them, but quickly charge at the player as soon as they turn their back against them.
==See also==
*Ghost
*Skulls
==References==
Category:Dark Enemies
Category:Flying Enemies
Category:Ghosts
Category:Skeletal Monsters
Category:The Adventure ReBirth Enemies
Category:Aria of Sorrow Enemies
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Enemies
Category:Encore of the Night Enemies
Category:Grimoire of Souls Enemies
Category:Harmony of Dissonance Enemies
Category:Legends Enemies
Category:Portrait of Ruin Enemies
Category:Rondo of Blood Enemies
Category:Symphony of the Night Enemies