Morning Star (power-up)

<tabber> Morning Star =
The Morning Star (called "Chain" in Japanese versions, and sometimes Chain Whip, PowerUp or Power-Up) is an item that no vampire hunter should be without. Found in most action-platformer Castlevania titles by hitting candles (or occasionally dropped by an enemy), it powers up the player's weapon (usually the Vampire Killer whip) in two tiers, increasing attack power and/or range each time. These power-ups usually last until the player dies.
==Background==
While the Belmont Clan have been the primary users of this item for the longest time, Alucard (son of Dracula) used these back in Dracula's Curse to make himself more powerful. Reinhardt Schneider, Carrie Fernandez, Cornell and Henry Oldrey also used these to power up their attacks in both Nintendo 64 Castlevania titles.
John Morris and Eric Lecarde are the only vampire hunters who don't use the Morning Star as power-up; instead, they use a variant called the "Coat of Arms". John's weapon would become a chain whip and then a morning star, as is the usual transformation for the whip, whereas Eric's Alucard Spear would elongate from a spear into a trident, then a much nastier-looking trident with folding blades. On higher difficulties, it's possible for players to obtain a third Coat of Arms which pushes the powers of the weapons a level further, engulfing the Vampire Killer in cyan electricity and the Alucard Spear with green flames (this state could also be achieved by finding hidden Spell Books in the walls of some areas). However, this power-up only lasts until the player is hit, at which point the whip/spear reverses to its second power level (taking more hits while in this state won't degrade the weapon any further).
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
===Artworks===
Morning Star CV1.jpg|Morning Star from the Japanese Castlevania instruction booklet.
Morning Star (power-up) - Dracula's Curse - 01.png|Mystic Whip (Trevor) from the Dracula's Curse instruction booklet.
Morning Star CV3.png|Morning Star (Alucard) from the Dracula's Curse instruction booklet.
Morning Star CV4.png|Morning Star from the Super Castlevania IV instruction booklet.
Morning Star CH.png|Chain Whip from the Chronicles instruction booklet.
CoAJ.png|John Morris's Coat-of-Arms from Bloodlines.
wzhbl.jpg|Eric Lecarde's Coat-of-Arms from Bloodlines.
===Screenshots===
PPCCastlevania8.png|Morning Star nonogram from Pixel Puzzle Collection.
==Trivia==
*The original Castlevania and Castlevania Chronicles used a standard whip item rather than the blade-and-snake design that appeared in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Despite its appearance, Super Castlevania IV once again calls it a "Morning Star" ("Chain" in the Japanese version).
*In the instruction booklet for the Japanese Akumajō Densetsu, the Morning Star item is used to represent both Trevor Belmont's whip and Alucard's Shot Bullet.
**While in the English instruction booklet for Dracula's Curse, the item is also used to represent Trevor's Mystic Whip, it appears upside-down for some reason (possibly an error made by the import team).
*Each character in Castlevania: Bloodlines has their own unique Coat of Arms. John's slightly resembles the Great Seal of the United States, although with a cross instead of an eagle, whereas Eric's is more generic, not quite matching any one real world coat of arms exactly.
**A variation on John's Coat of Arms returned as a background display in the later games, although most prominently in Portrait of Ruin, taking place many years after Bloodlines.
*In Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, three door switches in the House of Sacred Remains bear an emblem that resembles the Morning Star.
*The animated series makes reference to the transitional power-up with a chest hidden in the wall of the Belmont house's treasure-vault, holding a chain whip with a morning-star head (named by Trevor and Dracula as "the Morning Star"). Trevor's wields both his regular whip and the Morning Star in season 3.
**It's possible that the role of the Vampire Killer and the Morning Star were reversed in the animated series. Trevor's normal whip, which in the games would the Vampire Killer, is said to simply be "consecrated to fight vampires and demons", while the Morning Star is treated with reverence as a treasure of the Belmont Clan.
==See also==
*Crystal (power-up)
*Spell Book (power-up)
Category:Power-ups
Category:Whips
Category:Bloodlines Items
Category:Castlevania 64 Items
Category:Castlevania Items
Category:Chronicles Items
Category:Dracula's Curse Items
Category:Legacy of Darkness Items
Category:Super Castlevania IV Items