Alucard/Symphony of the Night

Alucard is the main protagonist of the game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. This represents his second appearance in the series (after Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse) and the first time a non-Belmont took the main role in a Castlevania game. Unlike other playable characters (Richter Belmont and, in some versions, Maria Renard), Alucard has a menu system that he can use to equip various weapons, armor, and other items. His quest also features an advanced role-playing game system and an in-game storyline.
In the English versions of the game, Alucard is voiced by Robert Belgrade (in the PlayStation version) and Yuri Lowenthal (in The Dracula X Chronicles version).
==Starting abilities and equipment==
Alucard starts the game with very basic movements and attacks. A trailing afterimage appears behind him as he moves, jumps, and back dashes. He is equipped with the powerful Alucard Sword in one hand, which can do a standard attack as well as a special warping strike. The Alucard Shield is equipped in the other hand, which can block a Merman's fireball. He wears the Alucard Mail, which offers excellent DEF and resistance to Fire, Thunder, and Ice attacks, and the Twilight Cloak, which improves his CON. He also starts the game equipped with the Dragon Helm, which frightens enemies, reducing the amount of defense they have, and with the Necklace of J, which provides a boost of 5 to DEF (for more information about Alucard's equipment, see page 2).
Other items that Alucard starts with depend on what actions were taken with Richter Belmont during the Final Stage: Bloodlines prologue or the name entered on the Name Entry screen. If all Hearts were used up during the battle, a Heart Refresh will be in the inventory. If Richter was carrying 41 Hearts or more when he talked to Dracula, Alucard will start with a Neutron Bomb. If Richter lost all health and Maria had to intervene, Alucard will start with a Potion, though he will not start with a Heart Refresh if he otherwise would have. Using the name X-X!VQ will grant Alucard a Lapis Lazuli, and, on a replay game, using the name AXEARMOR will give him an Axe Lord Armor. In the Saturn version, Alucard always starts the game with a Monster Vial 1 in his inventory.
Alucard starts the game with the ability to perform any spells that do not require an item (except for Soul Steal, which requires more MP to cast than he initially has). They can only be performed at the beginning of the game by trial and error or by remembering how to perform them, as the key sequences for their casting are not available at the start of the game (see Secret spells).
Alucard starts the game very strong, but as he nears the end of the first stage, he will encounter Death, who will rob him of his Alucard Sword, Alucard Shield, Alucard Mail, Dragon Helm, Twilight Cloak, and Necklace of J. Alucard will then be forced to fight with his empty hands and much reduced defensive options. A side quest of the game is to get back these stolen heirlooms.
==Stats==
Alucard's initial stats and items are determined by Richter Belmont's battle performance during the introductory stage:
*If the entirety of the prologue is finished in exactly 1 minute or less, Alucard earns +5 to all stats. It should be noted, however, that such a feat is legitimately impossible until the player beats the game and starts a new playthrough with a clear file on the memory card, as the "Die, monster" dialogue is unskippable otherwise.
*If the fight is finished within 1-2 minutes, Alucard earns +2 LCK.
*If the fight is finished within 2-3 minutes, Alucard earns +1 LCK.
*If the fight is finished in more than 10 minutes, Alucard earns +1 CON.
*If Richter manages to kill Dracula without taking any damage, Alucard earns +5 HP and +1 to STR, CON, INT, and LCK.
*If Richter finishes the prologue with half or more of his HP remaining, Alucard earns +1 STR. Otherwise, he earns +1 CON.
*If Richter loses all of his HP, Maria Renard will make him invincible for the rest of the battle. Alucard then starts with a Potion in his inventory. This condition overrides all other conditions, except for the Neutron Bomb (INT or STR point) condition and the time-based conditions: +5 to all stats (1 minute or less), LCK +2 (1-2 minutes), LCK +1 (2-3 minutes), and CON +1 (10 minutes).
*If Richter finishes the prologue with the Cross sub-weapon equipped and without Maria's help, Alucard earns +5 MP and +5 Max Hearts.
*If Richter finishes the prologue with the Holy Water sub-weapon equipped and with half or more of his HP remaining, Alucard earns +5 Max Hearts and +1 INT.
*If Richter defeats Dracula without having a sub-weapon equipped and without taking any damage, Alucard gains +5 to HP and LCK and +1 to STR, CON, and INT. (The Flame Whip can be used and won't affect these bonuses, but it's also useless in most versions of the game. This applies to all "no sub-weapon" conditions.)
*If Richter finishes the prologue without having a sub-weapon equipped and with half or more of his HP remaining, Alucard earns +5 HP and +1 STR.
*If Richter finishes the prologue without having a sub-weapon equipped and with less than half of his HP remaining, Alucard earns +1 STR.
*If Richter is carrying 41 or more Hearts when the dialogue with Dracula begins, Alucard starts the game with +1 INT and a Neutron Bomb in his inventory. Otherwise, he gains +1 STR.
*If Richter finishes the prologue with no Hearts and without Maria's help, Alucard starts the game with a Heart Refresh.
*If Luck Mode is enabled, all stat bonuses are lost, only item bonuses will be kept.
*In the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night, Alucard will always start the game with a Monster Vial 1 in his inventory.
Combining the best of these bonuses (by finishing the prologue within exactly 1 minute or less and without taking damage), Alucard can start the game with 85 HP, 25 MP, 55 Max Hearts, 14 STR, 13 CON, 13 INT, and 17 LCK (if carrying no sub-weapon at the end of the battle); or 80 HP, 30 MP, 60 Max Hearts, 13 STR, 12 CON, 12 INT, and 12 LCK (if carrying the Cross); or 80 HP, 25 MP, 60 Max Hearts, 13 STR, 12 CON, 13 INT, and 12 LCK (if carrying the Holy Water). Note that if Richter had 41 or more Hearts when the dialogue with Dracula started, Alucard will have 1 more INT point and 1 less STR point. Alucard's default stats without the bonuses are 70 HP, 20 MP, 50 Max Hearts, 6 STR, 6 CON, 6 INT, and 6 LCK, but because an extra STR or INT point is always awarded, the default STR or INT is actually 7, depending on the amount of Hearts Richter was carrying when talking to Dracula.
==Map exploration==
Alucard can fully explore the castle, but he is initially limited by the lack of certain abilities. He can't reach the area behind the statues in the clock room of the Marble Gallery or fully explore the Clock Tower until he gets the Leap Stone relic from the Castle Keep, which allows him to double jump.
He can't open magically sealed blue doors until he purchases the Jewel of Open relic from the Master Librarian in the Long Library. This allows him to access the Royal Chapel and reach the Castle Keep, where he can acquire the Leap Stone.
He can pass through grates once he acquires the Form of Mist, which can be found in the Colosseum. Once in possession of the Mist Form, he can retrieve the Soul of Bat from the Long Library. With the Bat Form under his grasp, the castle will open up, and he'll be able to fully explore most of its areas. He can then obtain the Echo of Bat relic from Olrox's Quarters and use it to traverse the dark spike rooms in the Catacombs to obtain the Spike Breaker armor, which grants him the ability to break spikes by touching them. This will allow him to meet Maria Renard in the Royal Chapel to acquire the Silver Ring. By defeating the Succubus in the Underground Caverns, Alucard will get the Gold Ring. Once in possession of both rings, he can meet Maria in the Castle Center, below the clock room in the Marble Gallery. There, she'll give him the Holy Glasses, which will allow him to access the Reverse Castle.
Once Alucard acquires the Devil Familiar (or Nose Demon), he can access some rooms in the Abandoned Mine and in the Cave that require this familiar to trigger a switch to open the passage to them.
There are some underwater ceiling rooms in the Reverse Caverns that will only open on the map if Alucard reaches them in Wolf Form. If the Holy Symbol has been acquired, Alucard will be able to stay in Wolf Form underwater, and the Skill of Wolf relic allows the Wolf to swim by pressing the [Special] button (the default PSX button is Triangle), which can help obtain these rooms. In the Saturn version, there are only two rooms that require the Wolf Form to open on the map. Both are in the left lake area, where the room with the Force of Echo relic is located. The Wolf can't swim in this version, so Alucard will have to double jump (or High Jump) and then turn to Wolf at the apex of the jump to open the rooms. Both rooms are on the ceiling of the upside-down lake in this area. The right lake area (where the room with the Alucard Shield is located) does not require the Wolf Form to open any room. Richter and Maria can also get these rooms in this version.
Alucard can keep the room where he fights Shaft by entering the battle and then escaping with a Library Card.
The maximum percentage Alucard can achieve is 200.6% (1890 rooms) (211.2% (1990 rooms) in the Saturn version). There are glitches that allow Alucard to achieve a higher percentage. One of said glitches allows him to access the unused rooms and save point under the trapdoor in the Entrance and Reverse Entrance. This is possible by using the double Heart Refresh glitch. This area can be accessed normally in the Saturn version and leads to the Underground Garden (for more information about Alucard's relics and abilities, see page 2).
==Dialogue==
==Quotes (The Dracula X Chronicles version)==
*(Using a shop) How about this?
*Soul Steal!
*Dark Metamorphosis!
*(Attacked) What?!
==Gallery==
Character Select Screen from the Sega Saturn version of Symphony of the Night Alucard.png|"Player select" screen from the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard in the PSX version of SOTN.png|Alucard in the PlayStation version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard in the Saturn version of SOTN.png|Alucard in the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Full Map Normal Castle PSX.png|Alucard's full map (Normal Castle) from the PlayStation version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Full Map Reverse Castle PSX.png|Alucard's full map (Reverse Castle) from the PlayStation version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Full Map Normal Castle Saturn.png|Alucard's full map (Normal Castle) from the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Full Map Reverse Castle Saturn.png|Alucard's full map (Reverse Castle) from the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Max Percentage PSX.png|Alucard's maximum percentage, as shown on a save file from the PlayStation version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Max Percentage Saturn.png|Alucard's maximum percentage, as shown on a save file from the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Status Screen PSX.png|Alucard's status screen from the PlayStation version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Status Screen Saturn.png|Alucard's status screen from the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Equipment Screen PSX.png|Alucard's equipment screen from the PlayStation version of Symphony of the Night.
Alucard Equipment Screen Saturn.png|Alucard's equipment screen from the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
Familiar List PSX.png|Alucard's familiar screen from the PlayStation version of Symphony of the Night.
Familiar List Saturn 1.png|Alucard's familiar screen from the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.
==Hand items and weapons==
Alucard can place a different weapon or item in each of his hands, and a different button is assigned for each hand. There are a variety of different kinds of weapons and items he can equip.
<tabber>One-handed weapons=
Most weapons at Alucard's disposal can be placed in a single hand. Short Swords include smaller swords, knives, and rapiers and do Cut damage. Swords are generally similar but longer and more powerful. Throwing Swords can be thrown unlimitedly as their normal attack without consuming Hearts or MP, and they return to Alucard. Clubs are flails that deal Hit-based damage. Fist weapons enhance Alucard's punching ability, do Hit damage, can strike repeatedly very rapidly, but have low range. Several weapons are elementally enhanced or have special moves associated with them.
|-|Two-handed weapons=
Some large weapons require two hands to wield. These take up both hand slots, preventing the use of a shield or any other item or weapon. Most two-handed weapons are one of two basic types: the large, powerful, and slow Great Swords and the more versatile Katanas. Like one-handed weapons, these may have special attacks associated with them.
|-|One-time-use weapons=
Many weapons can only be used once for each copy of them that has been acquired, as they behave like consumable items. These include projectiles, which are thrown like sub-weapons, and bombs, which damage everything on the screen. These weapons can be used an infinite number of times once the Duplicator accessory is obtained.
|-|Shields=
Shields can be equipped to raise defense and block projectiles. Some of them have special properties. Each shield has a special Shield Rod spell that can be performed when the Shield Rod or Mablung Sword is equipped in the other hand. These will usually summon some kind of creature that grants statistical enhancements or protection, or attacks enemies on the screen.
|-|Food and medicine=
A wide variety of food, which recovers health, can be equipped in one of Alucard's hands. Pressing that hand's button will cause the food to "pop out" near Alucard, and it will recover some of his health once he touches it again. Medicine, most of which restores one of his meters, temporarily boosts his statistics, or helps him recover from a status ailment, can also be equipped. Its effect is immediate after pressing the corresponding button. The Hammer and the Life Apple are also classified as medicines, but they can only be used by the Faerie Familiar. In the Saturn version of the game, Alucard has a designated "third hand" that he can use for food and medicine (with the exception of the Heart Refresh, which cannot be equipped in the third hand). The Signed Pencil Board is also listed as a medicine, but it can't be equipped or used and is just a collectible.
</tabber>
Alucard
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Playable Characters
Category:Symphony of the Night Playable Characters