Sypha Belnades

(also known as Syfa Velnumdes, Cipher Fernandez or Cipher Vernades) is a recurring character in the Castlevania series. She is a witch from the region of Wallachia, where she initially had to conceal her identity by posing as a man in order to escape the witch trials of the time.
She was introduced into the series as one of the four protagonists of the 1989 video game Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, and has since appeared and/or been referred to in numerous sequels and related media. The instruction booklet of the English version of Dracula's Curse refers to Sypha as a "Mystic Warlord", and the game itself refers to her with male pronouns, leading to an (intended) initial confusion of Sypha's gender among players. By the end of Dracula's Curse, her true gender was finally revealed and not long after she and Trevor Belmont got married, preserving with this the Belmont lineage and enhancing its bloodline with the magical powers of the Belnades Clan.
==History==
===Early life===
Sypha Belnades was a witch who harnessed the energy of spirits to command the power of the elements. Sypha grew up among witches in Wallachia. When she was very young, children of the night, including the vampire Carmilla, darkened the hearts of men and helped spark the great witch trials which resulted in the death of many of Sypha's sister witches.Castlevania Judgment (Konami, 2009) Character: Sypha Belnades (Story Mode) Both of her parents were killed in the process.Akumajō Densetsu instruction booklet, pages: 3, 4, 5, 6. (Konami, 1989) (RC-845)
Sypha escaped and was found wandering near a monastery in Wallachia and was granted protection by the Church. Sypha would remain at that monastery for some time and would train as a monk. She eventually mastered the elements of fire, ice, and lightning by making a deal with spirits.
Sypha had a burning desire to destroy anything tainted by darkness who she felt was responsible for mankind's actions against her kind and would become a hunter for the Church.
===Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse===
In Wallachia, during the year 1476, the populace became disturbed when monsters, who had until that point only been talked about in legend, started to appear in populated areas. According to rumors, they were commanded by a mysterious count in black known as Dracula.Castlevania: Curse of Darkness manga, pages: 19, 20, 21, 22. (Tokyopop, 2008) Viewing the situation with great concern, the Eastern Orthodox Church sent out their troops to subdue the threat. Because he was suspected to be a vampire, a secret team was deployed to find and defeat Dracula.Castlevania 20th Anniversary Pre-order Bundle (Konami, 2006). Timeline. 1476: Castlevania Dracula's Curse.
Sypha was part of the hunting party formed by the Church to take on Dracula. Since the people of Wallachia were known to be afraid of witches, and because the young woman Lisa had been executed for suspicion of witchcraft months prior, Sypha had disguised herself as a man in order to move about without concern. She was eventually captured by a Cyclops and turned into a statue.
After receiving no word from Wallachia for some time, the Pope turned to the Belmont family as a last resort. Trevor Belmont stepped forward to end the oppression of Wallachia.
Trevor managed to put an end to the cyclops, and Sypha was freed of her petrification. She then decided to go along with him. Together with Grant Danasty, a freedom fighter, and Alucard, Dracula's son, the four heroes fought their way to Dracula's throne room. Through their combined efforts, they managed to subdue him. After the fight, they watched the Castle crumble at a nearby mountain cliff. All the monsters disappeared along with Dracula, and Wallachia was at peace.Akumajō Densetsu ending.
===Legacy===
Sypha likely left her hard life as a hunter of the Church and settled down as Trevor's wife. However, Grant could not bear watching Sypha getting married to another, and they would sorely miss him at their wedding. He would avoid them for the next three years.Castlevania Judgment (Konami, 2009) Character: Grant Danasty (Story Mode) They would eventually have children that would carry on the Belmont legacy.Castlevania Konami Official Guide. History of Castlevania. Family Tree (Konami & NTT PUB, 2003) Sypha proved to generally have the final say in matters dealing with the home and Trevor would continue his role as vampire hunter.Castlevania Judgment (Konami, 2009) Character: Trevor Belmont (Story Mode)
Sypha and her compatriots Alucard and Grant who had fought alongside Trevor against Dracula became known as the "Legendary Three Warriors" and their tales were passed down from generation to generation of Belmonts.Castlevania Judgment (Konami, 2009) Character: Simon Belmont (Story Mode) Sypha had passed along great magic abilities to some of her descendants, most noticeably Juste Belmont, who would be born two hundred and fifty years later.Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance instruction booklet (Konami, 2002) (AGB-ACHE-USA) Her descendants would face Dracula many times over the next five hundred years.
Other members of the Belnades Clan would also continue serving the Church in much the same capacity that Sypha had for generations, including Yoko Belnades in the 21st century. Their exact relationship to Sypha is unclear. Another relative of Sypha is Charlotte Aulin of the 20th century.
==Boss==
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
Although Sypha does not appear in person, a zombie impersonating her, along with two other zombies impersonating Trevor Belmont and Grant Danasty, is fought as a boss in Symphony of the Night, and is encountered in the Reverse Colosseum. She is an evil duplicate made to confuse Alucard.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
The trio of zombies from Symphony of the Night return in Portrait of Ruin. They are encountered in the Nest of Evil, a special area where several bosses from previous games can be fought.
==Gameplay==
===Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse===
 
Sypha is one of the allies that can be recruited in Dracula's Curse. Since she is a magic-user, Sypha fights with a staff, which is very quick but at the same does not inflict a lot of damage. Her only sub-weapon is the Stopwatch.
Attributes	Rating (out of 4)
Strength 	
Defense 	
Speed 	
Jumping 	
====Spells====
Sypha can control three spells in Dracula's Curse:
*Fire: A quick but powerful burst of fire with medium range will emit in front of Sypha.
*Cold: Six frozen crystals will spread out in front and above Sypha. They have the ability to freeze enemies and projectiles. Frozen enemies can be used as stepping platforms. If the crystals touch a body of water, it will also freeze in its entirety for a brief period of time.
*Lightning Bolt: Three electrified spheres will spread out in front of Sypha. They have slight homing capabilities and are very powerful.
Stage4-3.gif|Fire
Ice.gif|Cold
Stage14-4.gif|Lightning Bolt
====Strengths====
*Powerful spells.
*Quick attack speed.
====Weaknesses====
*Very weak offensively.
*Very weak defensively.
*Weak attack range.
*Slow movement.
*Poor jumping ability.
===Castlevania Judgment===
Galamoth plots to send the Time Reaper from 10,000 years in the future into the past to destroy his rival Dracula and change history. A man named Aeon discovers this and pulls together champions from different eras of history into a dimensional rift in order to find a chosen one capable of destroying Galamoth's servant. Sypha is one of these warriors.
Granted the protection of the Church, Sypha vowed to hunt down the forces of evil and help mankind, despite their continued oppression of her sisters. She seeks vengeance against Carmilla, who influenced the minds of men and began the witch trials.
Sypha appears wearing priestly robes, white thigh-high boots, and wields a double-ended staff. Her theme in Castlevania Judgment is Mad Forest.
==Item Data==
==Other appearances==
===Pachislot Akumajō Dracula III===
Sypha appears in Pachislot Akumajō Dracula III as a supporting character. She replaces Angela from the previous two Pachislot games in the role of Trevor's ally with feminine charms.
She's featured in several events, such as in the "Dracula Battle" segment, where she teams up with Trevor and Alucard against Dracula, and in the cinematics that play during the bonus mode.
Her appearance is based on her original design from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. She still has blond hair and wears long, blue robes, although she's not entirely shrouded in them anymore. In addition, she wears white boots and a pink skirt.
===Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate===
An incarnation of Sypha appears in the second Lords of Shadow game, Mirror of Fate. This version of the character retains certain traits of the original, such as the iconic blue cowl, and makes further reference to the original character by being married to Trevor Belmont, like their versions from the original timeline eventually were, having already taken his last name.
In this title, Trevor and Sypha Belmont are actually the parents of Simon. Unfortunately, Trevor succumbed on his mission to stop his evil father, Count Dracula (formerly known as Gabriel Belmont), being turned into a vampire by him. After learning that Trevor was actually his son, Dracula –in an outburst of rage– unleashed his hordes of monsters on the Brotherhood's stronghold, where Sypha and Simon were living, and she was killed in the attack.
Simon went to live in the mountains, where he grew strong, incessantly training until the day he would set on a journey to avenge the death of his parents. During his travels, he eventually came across the soul of a spirit that had been trapped inside a frozen shard. This spirit happened to be none other than his mother's, Sypha. The freed spirit aided him in his quest from then on, becoming one of his two Magic Powers, although he never knew the identity of the one who was helping him.
===Castlevania (animated series)===
Sypha appears in the animated series as a member of the Speakers, as well as the granddaughter of their leader, the Elder. She is gifted with strong magical powers and control over the elements, which quickly became more powerful as the series progressed. After Trevor Belmont rescued her from petrification by a Cyclops, she befriended and followed him in his journey to stop Dracula in his war against humanity. Along the way, she convinced the hunter to aid her in her mission to find the "sleeping soldier", who, if the legend turned out to be true, would surely aid them in their task of stopping the vampire and his army.
===Non-Castlevania appearances===
====Dead Cells====
It is possible to make the playable Beheaded appear like Sypha by equipping the Sypha Outfit that can be found in the Return to Castlevania expansion.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Sypha is the only one of the three playable allies in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse whom the player does not fight prior to getting her to join (as Grant Danasty was forcibly transfigured into a monster before Trevor lifted his curse, and Alucard briefly fought them in order to test them before formally defecting to their side).
*In the PAL and NTSC versions of Dracula's Curse, Sypha is referred to as a male due to technical limitations of the NES - that is, there could only be one programmed window asking the player if they wish to take a companion with them. The programmers decided on "Take him with you?", thus meaning that all three scenarios would use this text box.
**Likely because of this, her incarnation in the Captain N animated series is a male wizard, despite the actual ending in the game where she is revealed to be female.
*Her name is a mistranslation on "cipher" - an unknown or an enigma. This fits in well with her hidden true nature.
*Sypha and Trevor appear briefly during the introduction of Castlevania: Bloodlines.
*The Fernandez Warrior from Castlevania (N64) was originally conceived as Sypha Belnades herself. The designers ultimately scrapped the idea before the game's release, simply making her another Fernandez.Shinkigensha Akumajō Dracula Mokushiroku Official Guide staff interview, page 131.
*In Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, there is an accessory alluding to Sypha called Cipher's Charm, with "Cipher" being a mistranslation of "Sypha". In the Japanese version of the game, the item is correctly named Sypha's Crystal (シファのクリスタル). The item improves MP speed regeneration, further referencing Sypha's magical abilities.
*In Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Yoko Belnades is a playable character whose fighting style –very similar to Sypha's, being her relative– includes the use of various spells and a weak staff.
*Sypha's Judgment characterization was allegedly not popular among fans due to her being single-mindedly obsessed with trying to wipe out the children of the night, even by targeting characters who were technically on her side, such as Shanoa and Alucard (with the former even being part of the Church just as Sypha is), and coming across as an hypocrite as a result, something that was not alluded to in either Dracula's Curse or even the Pachislot version.
==See also==
*Belnades Clan
**Yoko Belnades
*Belnades Staff
*Fake Sypha
==References==
==External links==
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*Sypha Belnades (Castlevania) at the Heroes Wiki
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Category:Allies
Category:Belnades/Fernandez Clan
Category:Church
Category:Female Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Playable Characters
Category:Protagonists
 
Category:Witches and Wizards
Category:Animated Dracula's Curse Characters
Category:Curse of Darkness Manga Characters
Category:Dracula's Curse Characters
Category:Judgment Characters
Category:Pachislot Characters