Candle

Candle is an umbrella term used to refer to a characteristic type of item holders that appear in almost all games that comprise the Castlevania series. They are objects used to produce visible light in otherwise darkened areas (usually at nighttime or indoors).
They can come in many shapes and forms besides the classic wax candle or candlestick affixed to a wall, ranging from sconces, lamps, chandeliers, and even burning braziers. Whatever their appearance is, they almost always serve the same purpose: to act as item holders that when destroyed will drop either a Heart, Gold, a Sub-Weapon, or even rare items.
In some games, candles that drop sub-weapons have either a different shape or burn with a different colored flame than normal ones, allowing the player to easily identify them and pick up a desired sub-weapon or avoid changing their current one by accident.
In the first two Game Boy titles, Castlevania: The Adventure and Belmont's Revenge, a lone candle is found inside each boss room. When struck, these candles will release a crystal ball that when picked up will summon the area boss.
==Lore==
Candles represent the unfortunate victims of Death or vampires which had their souls trapped. When the protagonist puts out a flame, it essentially releases the soul. In gratitude, they will leave them valuable items behind which they can use on their quest.IGA talks Castlevania everything.
==Types==
Besides the classic wax candle, there are diverse other objects that serve the same purpose of holding items for the player to collect. All of them having the same particularity of being devices used to provide illumination in their surrounding area.
Known devices of this kind are:
*Lamps: In some titles, various lamps will take the place of candles, although their function is no different.
*Candlesticks and Candelabras: Candle holders that stand on a single pole or shaft.
*Chandeliers: Found hanging from ceilings, they will usually fall to the ground when hit. There also are "enemy" chandeliers that will drop either when approached or struck, potentially dealing damage on their way down and which won't leave an item behind.
*Sconces: Sources of light attached to walls burning a combustible substance.
*Braziers and Torches: Pedestals made from different materials and in a variety of designs holding a recipient with a combustible substance.
*Other furniture: Some games include diverse environmental objects (such as vases, statues, coffins, iron maidens, etc.) that when destroyed drop either gold or Hearts for the player to collect.
==Game specific information==
===Vampire Killer===
"The Candle" (sometimes called "Secret Candle") is an item in Vampire Killer that shows the location of breakable bricks (much as Dracula's Eyeball would do later in Simon's Quest).
===Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge===
In a deep area of the Rock Castle, if all candles that currently are on the screen are destroyed, the entire room will turn dark and the once lurking Beetles will start to move and attack. While in this state, the player runs a high risk of falling down a pit for not being able to see them. As such, the player should be careful to choose which candles to hit, and always make sure to leave at least one lit while traversing these areas. If all the current onscreen candles were put out, the room will light up again if the player manages to proceed further into the level and reaches the next candle. The player can also use Holy Water to briefly light up the room.
===Super Castlevania IV===
Unique to this game in the entire series, certain candles found in determined locations have a fixed Small Pork Chop drop. A candle in the hidden room of Stage 3-1 even contains a Large Pork Chop (the only similar case would be Castlevania: The Adventure, where certain candles drop health replenishing Hearts).
The Candle Hunter is a special enemy type which will react to candles.
===Castlevania: Bloodlines===
This game introduced the mechanic of differentiating normal candles from those that drop sub-weapons. Standard candles generally appear as wall candle holders with two wax sticks (they can come in other forms too, such as braziers). On the other hand, candles that drop sub-weapons appear as a wall candle holder with a single and much thicker wax stick.
Some following titles in the series continued this tradition (like Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth), although not all of them; and in most cases, candles that dropped sub-weapons only burned with a differently colored flame than normal ones instead.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
Unlike the rest of the games in the series, candles in Symphony of the Night initially won't drop any items when destroyed (mainly found in the long corridor of the Entrance and its first couple of vertical rooms). In order for candles to start dropping items, Alucard must first be in possession of the Cube of Zoe, which is the first Relic found in the game. This item is found on the top floor of the room that leads to the first Save Room, above from where the player obtains the Red Rust sword from the first red Bone Scimitar, and just right to the entrance to the Alchemy Laboratory.
It is notable that two lamps in the Long Library (and the same counterpart location in the Forbidden Library) contain Uncurse Potions, which can be picked up as many times as desired, while other items can only be collected once.
Additionally, there are two rooms containing large glass test tubes with sub-weapons soaked inside. These test tubes function like candles. The room in the Alchemy Laboratory has only some of the sub-weapons, while the room below the giant clock in the Black Marble Gallery contains one of each type.
===Castlevania Legends===
In this game, certain candles can be found that burn with a slightly lighter colored flame than normal ones (which can be hard to make out due to the limited color output of the original Game Boy). These candles are usually found alone inside of enclosed alcoves. If struck, the ground below the player will suddenly open and they'll fall into a trap room where they'll be attacked by several enemies, which due to the limited space and the enemies' respawning rate, in many cases will result in the player's death. On the way of collecting the Cross in the Clock Tower stage, there is a room full of such candles which will instead spawn enemies when struck.
However, one particular white candle in the Cathedral stage must be struck in order to open access to the Dungeon of Silence stage and reach the best ending.
===Castlevania: Circle of the Moon===
In this game, three types of enemies will disguise themselves as candles and wait for any unsuspecting adventurers. Each "candle" is colored differently from the others and all have a chance to drop a unique and valuable item upon death. Once the "candle" has been struck, a humanoid figurine made of wax will drop to the floor and start melting. All of them have a considerable amount of HP, so the player must hurry to finish them off, also choosing which type of gear to equip, either LCK boosting accessories to make them drop their items or STR enhancing ones that allow to destroy them quickly.
*Scary Candle: Found in the Iron Golem's room in the Machine Tower once the twin Dragon Zombies have been defeated. Has a chance to drop the Uranus card.
*Trick Candle: Found in Cerberus's room in the Catacomb once Camilla has been defeated. Has a chance to drop the Pluto card.
*Mimic Candle: Found in the long room inhabited by Skeleton Athletes in the Audience Room once Death has been defeated. Has a chance to drop the Gambler Armband.
===Castlevania: The Arcade===
Similar to Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, candles provide lighting in various locations, and breaking them can collect their drops while turning the area dark. With the whole game area being dark at night, enemies and other objects may be harder to see.
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
===Artworks===
Candle - Vampire Killer - 01.png|Candle from Japanese Vampire Killer user's manual.
NP BR Candle.JPG|Candle from the Nintendo Power Belmont's Revenge Guide.
===Screenshots===
Candle - Legends - 01.png|Light flame candle from Legends. If struck, the player will fall into a trap room.
PPCCastlevania10.png|Candle nonogram from Pixel Puzzle Collection.
WoD Candelabra.png|Reel art from Warrior of Darkness.
===Sprites===
Dissonance Castle Top Floor Candle.png|A candle from the Castle Top Floor in Harmony of Dissonance.
Contra Hard Corps Candle.png|A candle in Contra: Hard Corps.
==See also==
*Coffin
*Eye for Decay, Eye of Vlad, Search Eye - Other items and abilities that also reveal breakable walls.
*Scary Candle
*Soul-Keeper
*Statue
==References==
es:Candelabro
Category:Containers
Category:Vampire Killer Items