Bat Familiar

The Bat Familiar is a summoned bat that follows the hero around and acts as an ally. It has appeared in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, and Dawn of Sorrow, among other titles.
==Game specific information==
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
Alucard can summon the Bat Familiar with the Bat Card. It normally flutters behind and above Alucard, following him at a sluggish pace, and when it sees an enemy, an exclamation mark will appear above its head and it will then charge toward its target, dealing Hit-based damage with a base ATT of 5. The familiar will level up as it kills enemies, just like Alucard. At higher levels, it will attack more frequently, acquire targets more often and will deal more damage, making it more useful. Like the Sword Familiar, the Bat has long range and can attack enemies from a distance, making it one of the best attack familiars.
When Alucard takes the Form of Bat, the Bat Familiar will mistake him for a possible mate and a heart will appear over its head. Smitten, it will follow him much more closely and, depending on its level, will summon other bats to fly alongside Alucard. If the Fire of Bat has been acquired, whenever Alucard fires off a fireball in bat form, any Bat Familiars following him will launch a fireball as well, with each bat shooting its own projectile. The Bat Familiar has no actions to match the Echo of Bat/Force of Echo ability or the Wing Smash spell, however.
Additional bats (up to four) will be summoned depending on the familiar's level:
*Level 1-19 - One bat
*Level 20-39 - Two bats
*Level 40-69 - Three bats
*Level 70-99 - Four bats
The bats following Alucard when he is in bat form serve no purpose, however, other than to strengthen the Fire of Bat ability, as they won't attack enemies on their own. When Alucard transforms back to humanoid form, the familiar will briefly get confused, display a question mark above its head, and return to its standard behavior. The rest of the bats (if any) will then fly away.
===Castlevania: Circle of the Moon===
The Bat Familiar can be summoned by Nathan Graves by using the Saturn + Salamander DSS cards combination. The bat positions itself behind Nathan and moves in a short zigzag dash around this area. It will shoot a fireball forward in the current spot it is at whenever Nathan swings his whip or uses a sub-weapon, consuming 3 MP. Holding down the whip will make the bat to shoot constant fireballs every second while moving, consuming 4 MP per shot. Fireballs can't go through walls.
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
Soma Cruz can summon a Bat Familiar by using the Bat guardian soul, harvested from ordinary bats. It behaves similarly to the one from Symphony of the Night. It follows Soma closely without needing to be tricked, and the exclamation points are missing. While the Bat Familiar cannot level up in the traditional sense, Soma can strengthen the spell by acquiring more bat souls, up to level 9. At this level, using the spell will summon three Bat Familiars with higher strength than the original. Since the Bat Company soul, which allows Soma to turn into a bat, is also a guardian soul, it is not possible for the Bat Familiars to team up with a Soma-bat in Dawn of Sorrow. The enemy the Bat Familiar(s) target can be manually selected with the touch screen.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Despair===
As in Dawn of Sorrow, Soma Cruz is able to summon a Bat Familiar by using its guardian soul.
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
===Artworks===
SOG Bat Familiar.JPG|Bat Familiar's illustration from the Shinkigensha Gekka no Yasōkyoku Official Guide.
Familiars GoS.png|Bat Familiar with other familiars in Grimoire of Souls.
===Animations===
SOTN Bat Familiar.gif|Bat Familiar from Symphony of the Night.
COTM Saturn + Salamander.gif|Saturn + Salamander from Circle of the Moon.
DOS Bat.gif|Bat Soul from Dawn of Sorrow.
==Trivia==
*The Bat Familiar behavior while Alucard is in bat form in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is a homage to the Gradius series, another Konami franchise. In that series, the Vic Viper (among other playable ships) can activate little drones called Options which will mimic the ship's movements in a tail-like formation.
==See also==
*Bat (enemy)
*Bat Form
*Bat Swarm and Bat Swarm (Lords of Shadow) (sub-weapons)
Category:DSS Effects
Category:Familiar Relics
Category:Familiars
Category:Fire Assets
Category:Guardian Souls
Category:Slash Damage
Category:Strike Damage
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Items
Category:Harmony of Despair Items
Category:Symphony of the Night Items