Summon

Summon is a special ability available to the player in several Castlevania games, where the playable character is able of calling forth a monster to fight for them, whether it is a familiar, an Innocent Devil, or through the use of a special item. Monsters ranging from zombies, dogs, weapons, birds, large animals, insects, and even previously defeated bosses can be summoned by the player. However, most summons have either a limited duration, have their own health bar, or their presence is limited to the player's MP reserves. In general, only one familiar can be active at a time.
==Game specific information==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
The ability to summon monsters first appeared in Rondo of Blood. In this game, Maria Renard uses animals based on the Four Symbols from Chinese mythology as her main weapons. Doves are used as her primary weapon, and all her sub-weapons are animals as well. Her animal sub-weapons include the Cardinal, Dragon, Cat and Turtle. Each of these can Item Crash into a more powerful summon, including the vermilion bird Suzaku, the dragon Seiryuu, the white tiger Byakko, and the turtle Genbu, respectively.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
====Familiars====
Alucard is able to summon familiars which can be obtained from Familiar Cards, and must be activated in the Relics menu. These familiars level up and gain new abilities by defeating enemies.
====Monsters====
With the Monster Vial item, Alucard can also summon regular monsters such as Bats or Skeletons to serve as an extra manpower or to simply distract enemies.
====Shield Rod====
Many of the Shield Rod spells involve summoning various creatures. These may attack enemies or grant stat boosts.
====Sword of Dawn====
Using the Sword of Dawn's special attack, Alucard can summon "Dawn Warriors", which act as allies that perform an attack before disappearing off the screen.
====Maria Mode (Saturn)====
Maria Renard is able to summon her animal guardians using spells in the Sega Saturn version of Symphony of the Night. These include the Summon Byakko, Summon Suzaku, Summon Seiryuu, Summon Genbu spells, along with the Summon Four Holy Beasts spell which summons all four at once.
====Maria Mode (DXC)====
Maria Renard uses animals as her main weapons in The Dracula X Chronicles version of the game. Her primary weapon are Owls, which act similarly to the Doves from previous games. Her Four Holy Beasts animal sub-weapons from Rondo of Blood return as well, and each can Item Crash to summon their respective guardian beast.
===Castlevania: Circle of the Moon===
====Familiars====
The Saturn card can be combined with other Attribute Cards to summon a familiar that fights alongside Nathan Graves.
====Monsters====
The Uranus card summons the mystical beast represented on the paired Attribute Card. This beast is usually summoned along with some kind of special effect (such as meteors or thunderbolts), which moves from one side of the screen to the other. It usually damages all enemies on the screen in this manner with the element it is associated with.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance===
The Summoning Tome book can be used to summon different monsters when paired with a different sub-weapon.
===Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow===
====Familiars====
Several free roaming familiars can be summoned using different kinds of Guardian Souls.
====Guardians====
A type of familiar that sticks close to Soma Cruz, called a Guardian, can also be summoned using various Guardian Souls.
====Monsters====
Monsters can be summoned for a single attack using Bullet Souls. These include the Eagle Shot (Altair), Crow Attack (Blue Crow), Hopping Man (Fleaman), Doll Decoy (Killer Doll), Torpedo Fish (Killer Fish), Last Scream (Mandragora), Needle Mine (Needles), Evil Gallop (Nightmare), Cat's Run (Student Witch), and Demon Cleaving Holy Sword (Valkyrie)
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
====Familiars====
Familiars can be summoned using various Guardian Souls.
====Monsters====
Monsters can be summoned for a single attack using Bullet Souls. These include Summon Zombie (Zombie), White Fang (Warg), Cat's Run (Student Witch), Summon Mollusca (Mollusca), Last Scream (Mandragora), Summon Archer (Amalaric Sniper), Hopping Man (Fleaman), Flying Guillotine (Guillotiner), Summon Larva (Larva), Torpedo Fish (Killer Fish), Capsule Monster #4 (Homunculus), Summon Decarabia (Decarabia), Hellhound (Hellhound), 5th Plague (Abaddon).
===Castlevania: Order of Shadows===
Desmond Belmont is able to summon Doves as a sub-weapon in this cell phone game.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
====Magic Spells====
Charlotte Aulin is able to cast different summoning spells in this game. The strength of these summons increases if she charges the spell before casting them. While she cannot summon any Familiars, some monsters that linger on the screen for a while before departing may act like them. Summons include Summon Medusa, Salamander, Summon Crow, Summon Ghost, Summon Skeleton, Summon Gunman, and Summon Frog.
====Maria Renard====
Maria Renard has her usual animal friends available when playing in Richter Mode. As usual, Doves are her primary weapons, and the Holy Dragon, Phoenix, Byakko and Genbu are her sub-weapons. However, she isn't able to summon the large guardian versions of these beasts in this game.
===Castlevania: Curse of Darkness===
Hector, being a Devil Forgemaster, is able to call upon Innocent Devils. These creatures are differentiated from common familiars and similar monsters in various ways, including the ability to level-up, gain new abilities, evolve, or even breed new Innocent Devils. Their Heart bars serve as their health, and at the same time, act similarly to MP for casting abilities.
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
Shanoa is able to summon monsters through the use of the Fidelis glyphs.
*Fidelis Alate - Summons a Winged Skeleton.
*Fidelis Aranea - Summons a Skull Spider.
*Fidelis Caries - Summons a Zombie.
*Fidelis Mortus - Summons a small Jiang Shi.
*Fidelis Noctua - Summons an Owl.
*Fidelis Polkir - Summons a Polkir.
==See also==
*Alter Art - Skills in Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls that summon other characters to assist the player.
Category:Abilities