Annette

(called Annet in Dracula X) is a supporting character in the Castlevania series. She is Richter Belmont's girlfriend. She made her debut in the 1993 NEC PC Engine CD game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, reprising this role in a few other games such as Castlevania: Dracula X, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, CR Pachinko Akumajō Dracula, and Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls.
In some games, and depending on the actions taken by the player along their journey, she can also be fought as a boss.
==History==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
After being resurrected by the dark priest Shaft, as one of his first steps toward world domination, Count Dracula unleashed his unholy army to attack nearby villages, taking several of their inhabitants as prisoners, including Annette. Learning of this, Richter Belmont, Annette's boyfriend and current guardian of the Belmont Clan of vampire hunters, as well as heir to the legendary Vampire Killer whip, set off on a stormy night to the town of Aljiba, where Annette hailed from. Unfortunately, he arrived too late and encountered the town already in ruins, crawling with monsters and with no signs of the prisoners' whereabouts. And so, following the only lead he had, he set forth on a long and arduous journey toward the ominous vampire's castle, with the hope of still be able to find Annette alive. Along the way, Richter rescued a little girl named Maria Renard. Maria actually recognized him, as she happened to be a friend of Annette, who had told her everything about him.
Meanwhile, Annette was separated from the rest of the prisoners and taken to the castle's clocktower, presumably due to Dracula taking a special liking to her. At some point, Dracula entered her chamber with the intention of feeding on her, and offered her eternal life in exchange, and to share in his reign over the world. Annette refused and took out a knife she had concealed, threatening to take her own life rather than becoming a savage creature. At that moment, Shaft entered the room and informed the Count that intruders had entered the castle, at which point Dracula took his leave.
After going through many hardships, Richter finally came to Annette's prison in the clocktower. After embracing each other and Richter asking her if she wasn't hurt, Annette begged him to escape from the castle together, to which Richter replied that he had to continue with his mission and kill Dracula, as this was his destiny as a vampire hunter and his blood was calling to him. After assuring her that the path up to there was already safe –and knowing that she couldn't make him change his mind–, Annette then set on her way back to the village.
===Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles===
In this remake of Rondo of Blood, Annette's separation from the rest of the prisoners is expanded in an early cutscene where it is explained that she in particular was chosen by Dracula to be abducted due to her ties to the Belmont Clan, which he intended to exploit by turning her into a vampire. She is also held prisoner in a different location in the clock tower (the original location is replaced with a dead end with a Lesser Vampire), and now requires the player to free both Iris and Tera to actually rescue her.
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
A grimoire version of Annette appeared in the sixth chapter of the storyline. Due to Hermina's rewriting, she was spellbound by the grimoire Vital Soul of Carmilla and turned into a vampire. She first confronted the heroes midway through the chapter in her Lesser Vampire form; because of her change in appearance Richter initially failed to recognize her and only identified her as one of the Castle's Lady Bats, being confused when she called him by name, and only realized she was Annette when she asked him why he didn't come sooner. She then attacked the heroes using her moveset from The Dracula X Chronicles. After being defeated, Annette retreated and vowed to make Richter hers even if it was against his will.
She later appeared in her former human appearance alongside Carmilla in the chapter's boss fight. During the first phase, she utilized a similar moveset to that of Laura due to essentially serving the same role as her from the original game. In the second phase, she transformed into her Lesser Vampire form. After Carmilla was defeated by younger Maria and Richter, Annette was freed from the vampire's corruption and felt remorseful for hurting Richter and Maria and asked them for forgiveness. Richter assured that he's happy to have saved her and she wished him to be safe as he carries on with his mission.
==Appearance and personality==
In Rondo of Blood, largely because of the anime-style designs implemented in this game, Annette is depicted as having long violet hair with long bangs, and turquoise eyes. She also wears a yellow-orange dress with a frilled collar and green skirt. The instruction booklet describes her as strong-willed and disliking anything unfair, two attributes she shares with Richter, as well as being kind and caring toward everyone. She shows defiance when confronted by Dracula, producing a hidden dagger and threatening that she would rather die by her own hand than allow him to turn her into a savage. After being rescued by Richter, she expresses concern upon hearing his plan to confront and kill Dracula, and prays that he will come back safe.
In Dracula X, she was redesigned by Akihiro Yamada and is instead portrayed with blond hair tied with a bow and a green dress with a green bustier with floral patterns in the chest that reveals slightly more of her shoulders.
In The Dracula X Chronicles, she was redesigned again by Ayami Kojima, although taking the basis of the Dracula X design. She has blond hair held in an updo bun with long bangs, green eyes, and also wears a green dress with frills and a green bustier that reveals slightly more of her shoulders, with white silk near the front bottom portion of the dress, as well as a necklace with a cross on it. She is shown as having great faith that Richter will save her, and is also very protective of Maria; if rescued by Richter, she will initially make sure that he will rescue Maria, and then admonishes him upon learning that he has allowed the young girl to fight alongside him, and if rescued by Maria, she will express her concern about her fighting monsters, fearing that it is too dangerous.
When transformed into a vampire, she is depicted as wearing a very revealing black basque/corset-top and bottoms, red fingerless opera gloves and thigh-high boots, with her hair let down, her eyes changed to red and possessing bat wings. Her cross has been replaced with a red crystal worn on a black lace collar. As a vampire, Annette demonstrates a more evil and cruel persona, in stark contrast to her original kind and caring personality. She harshly refers to Maria as a "stupid little brat" and laughs evilly in combat, even cruelly calling Maria a fool or sadistically taunting Richter with a sarcastic "I'm sorry, did that hurt?" if she manages to defeat them. In contrast to her prior attitude, she is fully enthusiastic about being a vampire, describing it to Maria as "wonderful", and shows her new allegiance to Dracula by reverently referring to him as "Lord Dracula" and boasting of the strength he has granted her by turning her into a vampire. While she retains her love of Richter, it has been twisted into a possessive form of love, as she expresses her desire to turn him into a vampire as well, even if it is against his will, so the two of them can be together forever.
Her appearance in CR Pachinko Akumajō Dracula is largely similar to her The Dracula X Chronicles appearance, although the silk portion of her dress was removed to reveal a side gap for her right leg, she has a more open cleavage, and she is depicted as having a more voluptuous body. In her vampire form, she wears a red and black corset instead of a black bodice, and has lace cuffs on her bare feet rather than red thigh boots.
==Enemy Data==
==Gallery==
==Other appearances==
===Castlevania: Dracula X===
Renamed "Annet" in this game and established as Maria's sister (whereas they were only friends in Rondo of Blood). Annet is held prisoner in Stage 5', which can only be reached if Richter succeeded in rescuing Maria in the Dungeon and exited that level through the door to the alternate path. Annet's prison lies hidden in the next room after the flooding section. Richter has to destroy a crack on a wall from where a copious amount of water is flowing out. Once destroyed, all water flooding the place will recede and access will then be granted to the floor below and to Annet's secret cell. She'll be considered to have been saved from this point onward, no matter if the player dies prior to completing the level.
If Richter fails to save her during his journey, once he reaches the top of the Clock Tower, a giant skull will descend from the sky and possess the helpless Annet before he can do anything to save her, transforming her into the vampire witch Carmilla, who replaces Death as the boss of that level.Akumajō Dracula XX: Holy Bible guide. Kodansha. 1995. While Carmilla's appearance is similar to some extent to her Rondo of Blood incarnation, her attacks are instead almost identical to those of Shaft in that game.
It must be noted that Dracula X takes part in an alternate continuity and that the events in this game are non-canonical to the main timeline. Despite this, this plot element was later reused in the Rondo of Blood remake, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, although the form she takes if she's saved too late is changed to that of a Lesser Vampire instead.
===CR Pachinko Akumajō Dracula===
<tabber>Annette=
|-|Vampire Annette=
</tabber>
Annette reappears in this pachinko adaptation of the series, largely resembling her role in The Dracula X Chronicles and retaining a very similar design, as well as also including her vampirized form along the story.
===Castlevania: Nocturne===
A loose incarnation of Annette appears in the Netflix original animated series, Castlevania: Nocturne. However, she retains very little aspects of the original character, only sharing the same name and a hinted romantic interest between her and Richter Belmont. The character is now black, hails from the Caribbean, is no longer a damsel-in-distress but a skilled swordswoman, and is able to use vodou magic to control earth and metals. Her overall demeanor is also drastically changed, no longer displaying the sweet and kind behavior of the original Annette, but now being more judgmental, unapologetic and short tempered - traits she had to learn to endure the hardships of having been born in an environment of slavery, which at one point even resulted in the death of her mother.
==Trivia==
*In Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, if Annette is rescued, the Lesser Vampire is moved from Stage 7 (replaced with Shaft's Ghost) to Stage 5', where she serves as the alternate boss and is not the vampirized Annette, but merely a generic female vampire. It's possible this vampiress may be taking Annette's form in an attempt to delude Richter (as the Succubus did in Symphony of the Night by assuming Lisa's form to attack Alucard).
**Coincidentally, both Annette/Lesser Vampire and the Succubus/Lisa shared the same English voice actress, Jessica Straus.
*Her alternate appearance in the Gekkan PC Engine strategy guide may be the basis or inspiration for her appearance in Dracula X and The Dracula X Chronicles.
*Her name is spelled "Annet" in the North American instruction booklet of Castlevania: Dracula X.Castlevania: Dracula X instruction booklet, page 15.
**Her name also previously appeared as "Annet" in the Gekkan PC Engine guide for Rondo of Blood, hinting both being cases of mistranslation.
*Although she was referred to be Maria's sister in Dracula X, Koji Igarashi has confirmed that this game is not canon, and therefore this is not the case in Rondo of Blood and The Dracula X Chronicles, where they are only friends.
*Annette being possessed by Carmilla in Grimoire of Souls while in Lesser Vampire form is a subtle reference to Dracula X, where Annet was transformed into Carmilla if the player failed to rescue her, which partly inspired the plot point regarding Annette being transformed into a Lesser Vampire under similar circumstances in Rondo of Blood's remake, The Dracula X Chronicles.
**On a similar note, her first form used the same moveset as Laura in Rondo of Blood and The Dracula X Chronicles.
*In Grimoire of Souls, Annette's Lesser Vampire form is a mini-boss battle in level 3-3 of Chapter 6. Similar to the fight with Death early in the game, this boss fight can only occur once per player profile, and she will not appear at this location on subsequent playthroughs, only re-appearing during the Carmilla boss fight.
==See also==
*Iris
*Lesser Vampire
*Maria Renard
*Tera
==References==
==External links==
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es:Annette
pt-br:Annette
Category:Allies
Category:Female Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Protagonist-Turn-Antagonist Bosses
Category:Supporting Cast
Category:Villagers
Category:Dracula X Characters
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Characters
Category:Grimoire of Souls Characters
Category:Pachinko Characters
Category:Rondo of Blood Characters