Gergoth

Gergoth is a recurring boss in the Castlevania series. Variably described as a once-gentle beast, warped by magic and driven mad by imprisonment, and criminal imprisoned since ancient times warped by their own malice.
==Description==
Gergoth resembles a gray bipedal dinosaur with much of its flesh rotting off. It has no arms (it's unknown if it once had, although the ripped skin on its torso could hint it did), no tail (the stumped and fleshy shape of its rear hints it once had one, though), seemingly empty eye sockets, and visible ribs. When it opens its mouth, the loose skin retracts, revealing small, beady eyes, and tender pink flesh underneath. Its legs are bound by elaborate shackles that are broken in the latter half of the fight.
It attacks by biting, jumping onto the player, and expelling poisonous, cursing or petrifying fumes from its exposed rib cage, its most powerful attack being the charging, and firing of a highly-damaging laser beam from its mouth.
==Appearances==
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
Gergoth awaits the player at the top of the Condemned Tower, pacing back and forth, and attacking by opening its rib cage to expel a gaseous cloud with Poison, Stone or Curse properties, sucking the player towards it, before delivering a potent bite, or otherwise charging a wide, blue laser beam it then sweeps across the room, supplementing these by occasionally by leaping into the air in an attempt to crush the player. The bite can be countered by jump kicking repeatedly on its back, or running to the opposite end of the room, fumes, pushed away by hitting them (a weapon with a wide arcing pattern, such as a great sword, can be used for this effect), leap, slid under, and finally, its recommended to approach it during the lead up to the laser and crouch in front of its legs. Not only will no damage be taken by the player, but this position also allows them to get several free, safe hits of their own in.
Unique to the tower encounter, after Gergoth has sustained enough damage, it will stagger backwards, let out a loud shriek, and perform another high jump, this time smashing through floor both in its room, then every subsequent one until both it and the player reach the tower's base. The impact of this will have no effect on the player, but cause Gergoth's head to be embedded in the floor, and allowing more free hits. After pulling free, and biting though a piece of rock embedded in its mouth, the shackles will break, though the attacks and frequency of them remain the same. Once its health has been depleted, Soma Cruz must draw the Magic Seal 3 in order to send the creature back to its realm.
Gergoth's soul is required in order to forge the Balmung, a greatsword on the path to the devastatingly-powerful Claimh Solais.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
Gergoth appears as the second boss in the optional Nest of Evil. This time, however, it can be defeated with little to no effort by casting 1,000 Blades a couple of times. If the player talks to Wind after it has been defeated, he will offer a new quest: "Kill Gergoth". To complete this quest, the player must engage it in battle a second time, but this time the final blow must be dealt by Charlotte Aulin using the Blank Book. This changes the fight somewhat, as the Blank Book has extremely low reach and deals minimal damage. Theese shortcomings, however, can be countered by weakening the boss with the previously-mentioned 1,000 Blades once, attacking it with Jonathan a few times, then letting Charlotte finish the monster. STR boosting assets, such as the Wedding Dress, Open Veil, Combat Boots, Assassin's Cape, and a fully charged STR Boost, will increase the amount of damage done, and should be considered by the player.
An alternate method involves placing Jonathan at one end of the room and Charlotte at the other, causing Gergoth to repeatedly turn. While it is turning, position Charlotte close to Gergoth and fully cast Berserker to deal massive damage with each attack.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Despair===
Gergoth appears as the boss of the first chapter. It is located at the top room of the level, sleeping for 30 seconds and then waking up. It shoots beams across the map from that point on until it is confronted by a player. It has an additional attack in this game: a slide/belly flop attack, indicated by it jumping backward first. It is recommended to take the lower route and beat all the enemies while going up the stairs that lead to Gergoth's room; otherwise, the player will have to deal with all of them after it uses its belly flop attack. Additionally, its poisonous gas attack was changed into its entrails being rapidly shot out.
The default boss theme used for Gergoth is "Into the Dark Night".
====Strategy====
Being the first boss, Gergoth should not prove to be too difficult, although its tendency to use its massive size to corner the player can be annoying. Unlike in Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin, however, there is much more room to maneuver and one can get behind it easily with a double jump and downward kicks, ensuring evasion and scoring some hits on its back (although it will turn to face the player soon).
Gergoth has a weakness on its legs, although one must break the shackles on them that take half the damage its body would take otherwise, but its unprotected legs take twice the normal damage and, since they player is likely to crouch to avoid some of its attacks, it makes an ideal place to hit. Characters like Shanoa and Charlotte, or Jonathan, that can hit multiple times (depending on their Hunter Skills) can be ideal to quickly destroy the shackles. Doing so is not mandatory, though, and one can simply hit the main body, since it is large enough for attacks to hit easily.
Gergoth's attacks tend to be slow and predictable, but its preference to trap the player with its massive body can end in damage if one attacks recklessly. One should always stay at a moderate distance in order to hit it and retreat, so the battle won't drag out for longer than required. In Hard Mode, Gergoth does not change much, except that its attacks are much more damaging. However, the player is likely to have better equipment and potions to compensate for this. The battle should just be taken with just a bit more of patience than in Normal Mode. Overall, Gergoth is mostly a battle of patience and securing the chances to attack as quickly as possible. The beast will fall in a matter of time.
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
==Other appearances==
===Castlevania (animated series)===
Gergoth appears in Season 4 of the animated series. It is a night creature under the control of the vampire warrior, Dragan. Gergoth attacks Dracula's Castle, where the villagers of Danesti have taken refuge, and is finally killed by the combined efforts of Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades and Alucard.
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
Gergoth DS 01.png|Gergoth from Dawn of Sorrow.
Gergoth DS Beta.png|Gergoth from Dawn of Sorrow.(beta version)
Gergoth HD 01.jpg|Gergoth from Harmony of Despair.
HD 1koma 08.jpg|Gergoth in the official Koma comic strips.
GergothNetflix.PNG|Gergoth from the Castlevania animated series.
Gergoth Model Sheet.jpg|Gergoth model sheet from the Castlevania animated series.
Gergoth (Wounded) Model Sheet.png|Gergoth (wounded) model sheet from the Castlevania animated series.
Castlevania - The Art of the Animated Series - 05.jpg|Gergoth and Armored Beast concept artworks from The Art of the Animated Series artbook.
==Trivia==
*The English localizations of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Harmony of Despair describe Gergoth as being a once gentle beast who grew deformed and was driven mad by imprisonment, whose reasons are yet unknown. However, in the Japanese versions, it is said it was once a criminal imprisoned in ancient times, who grew deformed and twisted by cursing all of creation.
**This makes it similar to the Forgotten One in a way, in that both are neglected, mutilated creatures with entire areas dedicated to their imprisonment.
**As such, it can be argued the Condemned Tower is a counterpart to the Prison of Eternal Torture.
*The graphical data for Gergoth refers to him as "f_fafni_0#.dat". "fafni" is a shorthand term for Fafnir, the dragon slain by Sigurd in Norse mythology.
*The facial features of the Executioner, a boss in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, bear some resemblance to those of Gergoth. Furthermore, their backstories are similar, both being once gentle giants gone mad in imprisonment.
*The "Caught in the Cradle of Decay" achievement players are granted for defeating this boss in the Castlevania Dominus Collection refers to it as "Gergos".
de:Gergoth
es:Gergoth
Category:Curse Bosses
Category:Fire Bosses
Category:Night Creatures
Category:Original Castlevania Lore
Category:Poison Bosses
Category:Stone Bosses
Category:Dawn of Sorrow Bosses
Category:Grimoire of Souls Bosses
Category:Harmony of Despair Bosses
Category:Portrait of Ruin Bosses
Category:Portrait of Ruin Optional Bosses