Soul Steal

Soul Steal is a spell in the Castlevania series. As its name suggests, it allows the caster to instantly steal the souls from any creatures that are in their vicinity (and in some cases even inanimate objects), damaging them and – in most cases – killing them in the process, and convert them into life essence to heal themselves.
Only members of the Țepeș bloodline (Dracula, Alucard and Soma Cruz) have been seen to possess this ability.
==Game specific information==
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
First appearance of this spell in the series. In this game, Soul Steal is one of the spells that Alucard is able to cast. He can technically cast it right away from the start of the game, but as it is impossible to legitimately begin the game with the 50 MP required to cast it, the player will not actually be able to use it until at least four levels have been gained (or more, depending on how much MP Alucard started with as well as how much MP he gains on each level).
Once Soul Steal is castable, the player must input the following combination in order to cast the spell (facing right):
← → ↘ ↓ ↙ ← → + [Attack]
When performed successfully, it deals multiple hits to all monsters and breakable objects onscreen, with each successful hit creating a "soul" which homes in on Alucard and heals him for 8 HP.
Like all spells, the damage dealt is based on Alucard's INT stat, with the basic attack being ATT +15 Hit damage. Soul Steal does not have to do damage to heal Alucard, however, and can thus be used to extract infinite amounts of health from a Stone Skull or from Red Skeletons (better in groups) which reassemble themselves after a short while, ready to be farmed again. It can even be used on the attacks of certain enemies, such as the fires set by a Gremlin.
Soul Steal also works on breakable walls. Even though the cost is high, it can be used to search for hidden paths on the current screen.
The Soul Steal effect is also caused by the Karma Coin if it lands on heads, the Mourneblade if it hits anything (including a Stone Skull), the Ghost Familiar if it is above level 70, and the Shield Rod + Alucard Shield combo if Alucard touches something with the shield while it is activated. Even though it heals the same base amount, Soul Steal does not count as blood healing, and therefore the Bloodstone has no effect on any of the above abilities.
===Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow===
Genya Arikado demonstrates the Soul Steal ability in the beginning of the game, killing a group of enemies that are about to attack Soma Cruz and Mina Hakuba, although one of them survives. Soma then attacks and defeats the remaining monster, a Winged Skeleton, absorbing its soul. Realizing that Soma's power has finally awakened, and without giving him any further explanation, Arikado sends him to the Master's chamber to find the answers he seeks. Soma wondered why he was able to take souls automatically without his own will. When Graham Jones learns of this ability, Soma becomes his primary target as a competitor to Graham's aspirations to become Dracula.
During the progress of the game, Soma learns that he has the Power of Dominance, an inherited Dark Lord ability that allows him to absorb the souls of living beings. This ability is automatic throughout the game and has a chance of occurring each time Soma defeats a monster (the precise chance depends on various factors, such as the monster in question, a variable based on Soma's LCK stat, as well as a Rarity bonus added to its base value if the Soul Eater Ring is equipped).
The closest equivalent to the actual ability in the game is the Succubus soul, Death Touch, which "soul steals" 5 HP every time Soma lands a hit, effectively turning his currently equipped weapon into a less powerful version of the Mourneblade.
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
Soma Cruz is back in this game and still possesses the Power of Dominance like in the previous game. After defeating Dmitrii Blinov for the first time, he sent his own soul into Soma's body, which remained unknown to him for a while. When Soma saw a display of Mina Hakuba captured and subsequently executed by Celia Fortner, the shock of this scene enraged him and caused him to lose control of himself and begin transforming into Dracula. However, if Soma was cautious enough to wear Mina's Talisman before witnessing this gruesome event, then Genya Arikado will manage to arrive just in time and save him by revealing that the executed "Mina" is in reality a doppelganger. Upon hearing of this truth, Soma begins to calm down and the darkness-suppressing nature of the talisman enables him to halt his transformation into the Dark Lord. Nonetheless, while Soma's emotions had shifted, Dmitrii takes the opportunity to claim the doppelganger's body as a replacement for his own, subsequently using the creature's shapeshifting ability to retake his original form. Dmitrii then reveals that during his time inside Soma's body, he used his mimicry ability to copy the Power of Dominance that Soma has.
Nevertheless, after finally reaching The Abyss and trying to utilize the Power of Dominance himself, Dmitrii learned too late that it –as Arikado put it– was not easily contained. Dmitrii's body just couldn't withstand a power that intense and, despite his efforts to resist his fate, Dmitrii's body exploded as he lost control over this power. Not only did Dmitrii die in the process, but the gathering of the souls created a gigantic supernatural being called Menace.
After defeating Menace, the myriad of released souls from his body started gathering inside Soma's body as a final attempt of making him the Dark Lord as he was destined to be, but Soma was able to fight off that influence and managed to escape the collapsing castle. Having conquered this ordeal, Soma was now able to freely live a normal life for the time being, although his future is left unknown.
On the other hand, if Soma failed to wear the talisman at the time he confronts Celia, he will indeed become the new Dark Lord. During the final fight against Soma in Julius Mode, he displays some of the souls he stole during the progress of the normal game, such as Gaibon, Aguni and Abaddon.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
Once the combination of Dracula and Death has been defeated, Death will request Dracula to take his essence; Dracula accepts it and performs Soul Steal on Death to transform into True Dracula, his second form. This move is hinted as Soul Steal because, aside from him declaring the name when absorbing Death, Dracula is able to throw Death's signature scythe.
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
When facing Dracula's second battle form, he will disappear and sneak-attack the player; if this connects, he will grab the player from the ground and exclaim "Soul Steal". If Shanoa is caught in the grab, it will inflict around 80-120 damage and will hit three times. In addition, it will heal Dracula for the same amount of HP lost in the move.
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
After Dracula is defeated in his first form during the final chapter, Death will once again request Dracula to take his soul. He agrees and says that Death's loyalty will not be forgotten. He then gets up and performed Soul Steal on Death to transform into his final form: A huge four-winged humanoid demon with skeleton armor.
==Item Data==
==Enemy Data==
==Gallery==
===Animations===
Soul Steal （STN）.gif|Alucard performing Soul Steal on a group of indestructible Red Skeletons in Symphony of the Night.
Soul Stell.gif|Alucard performing Soul Steal on a couple of Gremlins and their flames.
Bd84d45992e098d2bed2d1fb82e9f8a715e43dab.gif|Alucard performing Soul Steal on Olrox and his homing skulls attack.
E75df85fe83f02276a95457f454b51267412f190.gif|Alucard performing Soul Steal on an indestructible Stone Skull.
Soul Stell(Mourneblade).gif|Soul Steal-like ability of the Mourneblade.
SOTN Alucard Shield Special.gif|Alucard Shield's special attack using the Shield Rod or Mablung Sword.
Karma Coin(Heads).gif|Karma Coin landing heads, which results in a Soul Steal-like effect.
Aos soul steal.gif|Genya Arikado performing Soul Steal at the beginning of Aria of Sorrow.
Soul Steal (Portrait of Ruin-Dracula).gif|Dracula performing Soul Steal on Death to absorb his powers in Portrait of Ruin.
Death's Scythe(Portrait of Ruin-True Dracula).gif|Dracula being able to use Death's scythe after absorbing his soul.
Soul Steal (Order of Ecclesia-Dracula).gif|Dracula grabbing Shanoa and stealing HP from her with Soul Steal in Order of Ecclesia.
Category:Dark Assets
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Category:Harmony of Despair Items
Category:Symphony of the Night Items