Statue

Statues are stone sculptures that often appear as background decorations in the Castlevania series. In some games, they appear either as environmental hazards or enemies.
==Description==
Statues, busts, fountains and effigies have appeared in a variety of forms in many installments throughout the Castlevania series. Whether they appear simply as environmental ornaments or actually pose a threat to the player, these sculptures contribute to the particular atmosphere the games they appear in attempt to portray and can even be taken as indicatives of the era each adventure takes place in.
Statues can be seen from the very first areas visited in the first game. The boss of the second stage, Queen Medusa, actually comes to life from a giant bust displayed in the background (an event that was later recreated in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence).
In fact, Medusa is often responsible for the appearance of the many statues encountered along the path that leads to her, and she even has the ability to turn the player into a statue by staring at them with her stone gaze. Likewise, she generally transforms into a statue herself when defeated, and depending on the game, the player may even obtain the ability to turn enemies to stone when equipping items related to her (or abilities from other creatures that also bear petrification skills, such as the Cockatrice or the Basilisk).
Gargoyles are notorious for often being initially found in statue form when encountered. These creatures will usually reanimate and abandon their petrified state when approached or after the player has performed a specific action.
A relevant event in the Castlevania mythos involving a statue took place in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, where the hero, Trevor Belmont, fought a Cyclops - having a set of old and eroded statues as this encounter's backdrop. After slaying the monster, a bolt of lighting suddenly fell from the sky and hit the statue of what appeared to be a mage-like individual, freeing its now revealed still living inhabitant out of their stone prison. After thanking Trevor, the mysterious character introduced themself as Sypha Belnades, a Wallachian warrior sent by the Church to stop Dracula. Unfortunately, they were trapped and turned to stone along the way by the Cyclops. And so, both newly acquainted companions joined forces and headed together to the vampire's castle to finally put an end to the evil Count. At the end of the game, it is revealed that behind her robe Sypha was actually a beautiful maiden. She formed a bond with Trevor and both eventually married, prolonging with this the progeny of the Belmont Clan and infusing its bloodline with the (possibly innate) magical powers of the Belnades family for future generations. A rather crucial moment in the series' storyline of what could otherwise have been dismissed just as a simple ornamental statue.
Starting from Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, statues of saints or angels are usually found inside of Save Rooms. Interacting with them allows the player to restore both their HP and MP supplies, cure status ailments and save their progress.
In many games, statues can often be seen crying tears of blood, whether it is just as a grotesque aesthetic to add to the horror themed atmosphere or as a way to introduce a new element to the game.
*In Castlevania Chronicles, a of the Greek goddess Athena appears in the background of Stage 4. The hero, Simon Belmont, must climb a tall room at the beginning while fending off a myriad of indestructible Red Skeletons that materialize from drops of blood that constantly fall from above. Once the hero makes it to the top of the room, it is revealed that these bloody drops were actually tears shed by the statue's eyes.
**A appeared later in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, also crying tears of blood which then transform into Red Skeletons.
*In Castlevania (N64) and Legacy of Darkness, a statue of an angel is found in the Castle Center, which when approached starts shedding copious tears of blood, forming a puddle at its base from which a new enemy emerges: the Blood Jelly.
*In Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, one of Wind's quests involves finding a statue of Virgin Mary which lies somewhere in one of the portraits. Once located, when interacted with, the statue will shed copious tears of blood and a new item will be obtained, the Statue's Tear, which should then be brought back to Wind to complete the quest.
In some occasions, statues have had to go through censorship in certain countries to avoid displaying nudity to younger audiences, where they may be the main demographic video game companies target at. Some examples can be seen in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and Super Castlevania IV, where certain female statues were originally shown with bare torsos and had to be added discrete clothing during localization.
==Appearances==
===Haunted Castle===
Statues are given a more interactive role in Haunted Castle, where a few sculptures of nude women sitting on pedestals are encountered along the graveyard. When approached, they unexpectedly crumble to the ground, inflicting damage if the player makes contact with the falling debris. This type of statues reappeared later in Super Castlevania IV, although they resemble basilisks holding boulders in that game.
===Kid Dracula===
The Statue of Liberty appears as a boss in Boku Dracula-kun, where instead of fighting, she challenges Kid Dracula to a quiz contest.
===Super Castlevania IV===
Statues of basilisk-like creatures supporting a stone sphere, appropriately called "Rolling Stones", are encountered along the Unliving Quarters. They "attack" in the same way as the statues from Haunted Castle, by crumbling when approached and inflicting damage if the player makes contact with the falling debris.
===Castlevania Chronicles===
Diverse statues can be seen decorating the Courtyard (Stage 3). Among them, there are some wielding longbows which will fling two arrows upward in succession, which will arc and land on the player's current position. Each Statue requires five strikes from a fully-powered whip to be destroyed, and the arrows can be deflected if struck in midair.
These Statues should be approached with caution, as encountering more than one could end up with the player being overwhelmed by the constant number of arrows raining down on them. It's thus advisable to seek shelter under a platform if possible.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
Various enemies have the ability to turn Alucard to stone, but an interesting peculiarity of this status is that sometimes he'll have a slight chance to be turned into a big gargoyle statue. When that happens, Alucard does become immune to damage while in this state.
Symphony of the Night - Stone - 02.jpg|Alucard turned into a gargoyle statue in Symphony of the Night.
===Castlevania (N64)/Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness===
A pair of hound statues are found at the gates of the hedge maze in the Villa. They will come to life upon entering the hedge maze during Reinhardt and Carrie's quests, and will unceasingly chase them along with the Gardener. Both dogs can only be disabled temporarily, but will always come back to life after a moment and continue their chase.
In the Castle Center, the player eventually comes across the statue of an angel. When approached, a cutscene takes place where the divine figure starts shedding tears of blood. These form a puddle in front of it from where a new enemy is introduced: the Blood Jelly.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance===
This game features many remarkable decorative statues in its backgrounds, as well as a few that serve as candle holders, although this is nothing out of the ordinary. However, a special statue is worth mentioning, as it is key to at least obtain the "medium" ending of the game. In the Castle Top Floor of Castle A, there is a statue of a large demonic hand holding what appears to be a bleeding golden orb. Destroying this statue will unlock and open the entrance to the ceremonial room in the Castle Treasury of the same castle, where the final boss battle takes place. The room where this statue is contained can only be reached by breaking the barriers that block its access by the use of the Crush Boots.
On the other hand, the clues of the best ending lie in Castle B, where one of them is indicated by another statue in the Aqueduct of Dragons.
===Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow===
As usual, the game is full of statues of all types, although there are a few ones that are worth mentioning, such as a large statue of an angel of death located in the main tower of the Castle Corridor, and statues of a Wyverns in some rooms of the Top Floor.
The topmost challenge room in The Arena consists on a series of statues of bearded men that continually thrust their hands and kick toward the foreground, which the player has to avoid.
===Castlevania: Lament of Innocence===
In a couple of rooms of the Ghostly Theatre, Leon Belmont will find himself trapped while boulders are constantly launched at him from the ceiling. These rooms have many statues of Minotaurs scattered about. Leon must lure the boulders to be launched at these statues in order to destroy them. When all statues have been destroyed, the magical seals blocking the doors will vanish.
The second room has two different colored sets of Minotaur statues: red and white. Managing to destroy all statues of a same color will open a specific door in the room (the white ones being considerably more difficult to destroy).
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
In Dawn of Sorrow, there are three statues beyond which are secret rooms holding valuable treasures inside. Each statue has a three-digit combination lock on its chest (similar to a slot machine). In order to move the statue out of the way and gain access to the room behind it, the last three digits of the current amount of gold the player is currently holding must end in the same number as that on the statue.
The stages where the statues are located at, their codes and their rewards are as follows:
Stage 	Code	Reward
Garden of Madness 	777 	Three 7s
Cursed Clock Tower	573 	Shaman Ring
Wizardry Lab 	666 	Gold Ring
Certain statues in this game also act as an area's version of the more common candles (e.g.: statues of angels in the Condemned Tower), and destroying them will release either gold or Hearts for the player to collect.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
One of Wind's quests, called "The Statue's Tear", involves the player finding a statue of Virgin Mary in one of the portraits and obtain the appropriately named Statue's Tear from it. Bringing the item back to Wind awards the player with Jonathan's Holy Water sub-weapon skill.
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
Like in Dawn of Sorrow, certain statues are found in some levels that act as candles, releasing either gold or Hearts when destroyed. Some of these can be found in underwater levels such as Kalidus Channel and Somnus Reef, and come in the form of the remains of aquatic dragon-like creatures.
Certain glowing statues of warriors can be found in many locations of this game. Destroying them will release unique Glyphs that otherwise cannot be acquired from enemies or any other means. These glyphs, for the most part, are nothing special, though; just determined versions of other common glyphs (either the basic, Vol or Melio version of a glyph).
In the Forsaken Cloister, there is a statue of the three-headed guardian dog of Hell, Cerberus. Shanoa is required to search all throughout Dracula's Castle and bring and cast the three Custos glyphs on it –each related to one of the dog's heads, lighting them as she does so–. Once this feat has been accomplished, the statue will descend through the floor and open a passage on the ceiling via a mechanism, which leads to the final area of the game, the Final Approach.
==Gallery==
Statue - Castlevania - 01.png|Marble bust of Queen Medusa from Castlevania.
Statue - Haunted Castle - 01.png|Statue of Dracula from Haunted Castle.
Statue - Dracula's Curse - 02.png|Petrified Sypha Belnades statue from Dracula's Curse.
Statue - Dracula's Curse - 01.png|Female statue from Dracula's Curse.
Statue - Belmont's Revenge - 01.png|Statues of reapers in Belmont's Revenge.
Statue - 02.png|Nude female statue from the Japanese version of Super Castlevania IV.
Statue - Chronicles - 01.png|Floodgate lion bust statue from Chronicles.
Statue - Chronicles - 02.png|Statue of the Greek goddess Athena from Chronicles.
Bloody Tears - Bloodlines - 01.png|The statue of a saint crying tears of blood in Bloodlines.
Statue - Symphony of the Night - 01.png|Statue of an ancient warrior from Symphony of the Night.
C64 - Bloody Tears - 01.png|The statue of an angel crying tears of blood that transform into Blood Jellies in Castlevania 64.
Dissonance Entrance A statue.png|The mermaid statue holding up a walkway in the Entrance from Harmony of Dissonance.
Statue - Harmony of Dissonance - 03.png|Goddess bust in the Aqueduct of Dragons (Castle A) mentioned in the Hint Card 2, pointing to a secret room that contains the Nail of Vlad.
Statue - Harmony of Dissonance - 02.png|Candle holding maiden statue.
Bloody Tears - Harmony of Dissonance - 01.png|Statue crying tears of blood that transform into Red Skeletons.
Statue - Harmony of Dissonance - 01.png|Floodgate lion bust statue in the Luminous Cavern (Castle A).
Castle Top Floor Lock to Maxim A.png|Orb holding hand statue in the Castle Top Floor of Castle A. Destroying it unlocks the entrance to the ceremonial room in the Castle Treasury of the same castle.
Statue - Aria of Sorrow - 01.png|Statue of an angel of death from Aria of Sorrow.
Wyvern - Aria of Sorrow - 01.png|Statue of a Wyvern from Aria of Sorrow.
Throne Room - Aria of Sorrow - 01.png|Statue crying tears of blood in Aria of Sorrow.
Statue - Lament of Innocence - 01.png|Statues of warriors petrified by Medusa from Lament of Innocence.
Medusa - Lament of Innocence - 01.png|Petrified head of Medusa from Lament of Innocence.
Statue - Dawn of Sorrow - 01.png|Slot machine-like statue from Dawn of Sorrow.
Statue - Dawn of Sorrow - 02.png|Destroyable angel statue in the Condemned Tower from Dawn of Sorrow.
Statue - Portrait of Ruin - 02.png|Female statue in the City of Haze from Portrait of Ruin.
Statue - Portrait of Ruin - 01.png|Movable statue from Portrait of Ruin.
Por 4koma 04.jpg|Movable statue in the official Koma comic strips of Portrait of Ruin.
Statue - Portrait of Ruin - 04.png|Statue of Virgin Mary from Portrait of Ruin.
Statue - Portrait of Ruin - 03.png|Statue of what appears to be Gaibon inside Death's boss room in Portrait of Ruin.
Statue - Portrait of Ruin - 05.png|Statue of Death from Portrait of Ruin.
Statue - Portrait of Ruin - 06.png|Statues of warriors petrified by Medusa from Portrait of Ruin.
Statue - Order of Ecclesia - 01.png|Glyph statue from Order of Ecclesia.
Statue - Order of Ecclesia - 02.png|Dominus statue from Order of Ecclesia.
Statue - Order of Ecclesia - 03.png|Knight statue in the Arms Depot from Order of Ecclesia.
Harpy statue TAR.png|Destroyable Harpy statue from The Adventure ReBirth.
Slogra.jpg|Statue of Slogra from Lords of Shadow 2.
GorgonStatues.jpg|Statue of the Gorgon Sisters from Lords of Shadow 2.
Statue - Grimoire of Souls - 01.png|Statues from Chapter 10 of Grimoire of Souls.
Statue - Grimoire of Souls - 02.png|Miscellaneous chapel statues from Grimoire of Souls.
Statue - Grimoire of Souls - 03.png|Arena statue from Grimoire of Souls.
Syphapetrified.png|Petrified Sypha Belnades statue from the Castlevania animated series.
Gresit statue.png|Statue of the "sleeping soldier" referencing Eric Lecarde's from Bloodlines.
Broken statues.png|Broken statues referencing those found in Save Rooms from recent Castlevania titles.
==Trivia==
*The name "Rolling Stones" in Super Castlevania IV might be a reference to the popular English rock band The Rolling Stones.
*Statues of cloak-wearing figures appear in Stage V of Super Castlevania IV and in Mortvia Aqueduct in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. While most probably they just represent generic mage- or monk-like characters, some people have speculated if they instead are intended to represent Sypha Belnades.
**Supporting this possible reference is that when Sypha was introduced in the series, she did so in the form of a stone statue, who was put in this state by a Cyclops. The statues could possibly be a reference of this event.
SC IV - Statue.png|A cloak-wearing statue that could be intended to represent Sypha Belnades in Super Castlevania IV.
Mortvia Aqueduct - 01.png|Cloak-wearing statues also resembling Sypha in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness.
==See also==
*Bloody Tears - Statues often cry tears of blood in Castlevania games.
*Candle - Statues sometimes replace candles and act as item holders in Castlevania games.
*Environmental hazard
*Gargoyle
*Moai
*Nudity
*Stone
Category:Environmental Hazards
Category:Chronicles Enemies
Category:Haunted Castle Enemies
Category:Super Castlevania IV Enemies