Curse

Curse is one of the basic statuses and damage types found in the Castlevania series. The properties of Curse vary from game to game. There are two main effects:
#Drain the player's MP reserves almost instantly.
#Limit most offensive actions available to the player.
==Game specific information==
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
When cursed, Alucard cannot use most of the items that he can equip in his hands, including all weapons, shields and food (except in the Saturn version, where Curse does not prevent the use of food). He can use medicine, but not a Heart Refresh. He can still attack with his empty hands, but not with Fist weapons. However, he can still use sub-weapons and spells. In addition, his CON has an effect on the duration of Curse, eventually up to the point where it lasts only a second at worst. Once the Heart of Vlad relic is found, Curse will be of no trouble altogether as long as it is activated. The Coral Circlet headgear has the same effect as this relic and is available earlier, although it uses up an equipment slot.
The Red Rust, Namakura and Muramasa deal Curse damage. The only effect the element has is to make the two Dopplegangers' main weapons unusable. This element is also remarkable in that there are no enemies resistant or weak against it, and only one is immune to it, the boss Akmodan II. In the Saturn version, however, the Specters can absorb Curse damage.
===Castlevania (N64)/Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness===
While there isn't a "Curse" status effect as such in both of these games, a variation of it exists named "Vamp". Being afflicted with this ailment restricts the use of weapons, sub-weapons and all other items, except for the Purifying Crystal, which will nullify the effect.
===Castlevania: Circle of the Moon===
When cursed, Nathan Graves cannot use his whip, sub-weapons or cast certain damaging spells, although he can still attack by tackling and sliding. Even though he cannot use his whip, summoned familiars will respond to his attempts. Nathan cannot be inflicted by Curse status as long as he activates the Neptune + Black Dog DSS combination. This combination associates the Curse status effect with the Darkness attribute.
If Nathan activates the Jupiter + Black Dog DSS combination, the Curse status is replaced with the Poison status from the DSS combination, which will also be cured once the combination is deactivated.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance===
When cursed, the player's movement is significantly slowed, and in addition cannot dash or slide. Juste Belmont's coloration is also much darker for the duration of the effect.
===Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow===
Being cursed drains the MP meter very fast. Curse damage inflicted to an enemy vulnerable to this ailment will be boosted by some of its own HP. Note that Julius Belmont is immune to Curse status. Due to damage calculation formula, enemy's curse elemental tolerance is redundant. 
Soma Cruz has two attacks with this element: the first is attacking with the Muramasa, and the second is using Siren's soul attack. Enemies weak to Curse will take increased damage from those two attacks.
===Castlevania: Lament of Innocence===
When cursed, Leon Belmont won't be able to use his learned skills.
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
Being cursed drains the MP meter very fast.
===Castlevania: Curse of Darkness===
When cursed, Hector won't be able to attack anymore. Innocent Devils cannot be affected by a curse, though.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
Being cursed drains the character's MP meter at a very fast rate. Due to the partner system, curse on the partner does not affect the active character.
There are two major ways to become cursed:
*Suffering damage from certain enemies/attacks that inflict this ailment. A couple of examples include Lilith's flying kiss attack, or Ectoplasms and Tanjellys in Hard Mode.
*Equipping a Skull Ring will inflict an unavoidable curse on Jonathan Morris or Charlotte Aulin. They are the only two characters who can be afflicted in this manner, though, since alternate mode characters that are susceptible to curses have no menu screen with which to equip anything.
An assured way to avoid being cursed is to, of course, avoid contact with said enemies and/or certain attacks, and choosing not to equip the aforementioned ring. Although equipping a Charm Necklace or a Blessed Ring can also become an option if avoidance cannot be done for the former, nothing can help with the latter. The simplest trick in order to negate the effects of this debuff is to switch control to the other character, as any A.I. controlled character becomes immune to all sorts of debuffs until they wear off.
The quest "Overcome the Curse" given by Wind actually requires the player to get cursed and then manage to make it all the way back to him at the Entrance before the effect wears off.
Perhaps due to their dependence on MP for anything other than simple movement, Stella and Loretta Lecarde are immune to being cursed.
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
In Order of Ecclesia, curses once again leave a hero with no MP. Since Shanoa depends on MP to use any of her attacks, being cursed will take away nearly all of her offensive capabilities. Under these circumstances, her only options are to use Glyph Unions, provided that she still has enough Hearts to cast them. Otherwise, she can still slide or perform jump kicks. Therefore, it's best to carry plenty of Uncurse Potions when encountering enemies that inflict this debuff.
Wearing the Minerva Mail is also a good option because it nullifies the effect of the "Curse" status, with the addition of boosting many of Shanoa's stats (DEF +40, STR +8, MND +7).
When Shanoa casts a spell which can inflict the "Curse" status on an enemy (Morbus, Acerbatus or the Fidelis Mortus familiar), it drastically slows them down. This can be used to give Shanoa enough time to aim her strikes or move to a better position.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Despair===
Heroes who have been cursed in Harmony of Despair will instantly lose all their MP and won't be able to regenerate it for a short period of time. This takes away most of the player's offensive options while affected, usually leaving them with only their equipped weaponry, sliding and dive-kicking for a form of offense.
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
While being cursed in this game won't make the player character to lose MP, it will no longer regenerate naturally. Additionally, they will be unable to use Weapon Skills for the duration of the effect. The cooldown timers for weapon skills get frozen as well.
==Gallery==
Harmony Of Dissonance - Curse - 01.jpg|Juste cursed by an Ectoplasm in Harmony of Dissonance.
help 002 05.png|Alucard afflicted with Curse in Grimoire of Souls.
==See also==
*Damage Types (category)
**Poison
**Slow
**Stone
*Uncurse Potion
es:Maldición
Category:Damage Types
Category:Status