Sub-Weapon/Rondo of Blood

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood may have introduced the biggest changes regarding to sub-weaponry in the entire series. If a player is already carrying a sub-weapon and picks up another one, the first one will drop behind them, allowing one to retrieve it if desired.
As in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, this game allows playing as different characters: Richter Belmont or Maria Renard, each with their own unique sub-weaponry set. It is worth mentioning that Maria uses four living creatures as sub-weapons, inspired by the four mythological Chinese symbols: Cardinal, Cat, Turtle and Dragon.
In addition, the Key (which had previously only appeared in Vampire Killer) also appears as a sub-weapon this time. Even though it cannot be thrown and its reach is greatly reduced, it can still be used as a melee weapon. Its main use, however, is to allow the player to unlock certain doors found in some levels, thus gaining access to hidden areas which sometimes lead to rescuing one of the game's kidnapped villagers.
The most notable addition to sub-weaponry behavior in this game is the ability to perform Item Crashes with them, allowing players to unleash devastating attacks which generally damage all enemies onscreen at the cost of a large amount of Hearts. These kinds of attacks also became a staple in future games, appearing in one way or another throughout the series. While Richter is usually granted with a special attack related to the kind of sub-weapon he is holding, Maria actually calls forth creatures in order to attack foes, introducing the concept of creature summoning, which also became a staple in future titles, and also the concept of familiars to some extent.
Rondo of Blood also dismissed the necessity of finding the Double and Triple Shot power-up icons, and instead replaced the method of obtaining the ability of throwing more than one sub-weapon at a time in regard to the amount of Hearts the player is currently carrying.
==Item Data==
==Sub-weapons==
==Gallery==
===Artworks===
Dagger RoB.png|Dagger
Axe RoB.png|Axe
Cross RoB.png|Cross
Stopwatch RoB.png|Pocket Watch
Holy Water RoB.png|Holy Water
Bible RoB.png|Magic Book
Byakko.png|Cat
Genbu.png|Tortoise
Seiryuu.png|Dragon
Suzaku.png|Red Bird
Egg.png|Egg
Book of Music.png|Songbook
Key RoB.png|Key
Heart RoB.png|Heart
===Animations===
====Normal====
;Richter (Dracula X Chronicles)
DXC Knife.gif|Dagger
DXC Axe.gif|Axe
DXC Cross.gif|Cross
DXC Stopwatch.gif|Pocket Watch
DXC Holy Water.gif|Holy Water
DXC Bible.gif|Magic Book
DXC Key.gif|Key
;Maria (Dracula X Chronicles)
DXC Cat.gif|Cat
DXC Turtle.gif|Tortoise
DXC Dragon.gif|Dragon
DXC Cardinal.gif|Red Bird
DXC Egg.gif|Egg
DXC Book of Music.gif|Songbook
DXC Key 3.gif|Key
====Item Crash====
;Richter (Dracula X Chronicles)
DXC Vampire Killer 2.gif|No sub-weapon (Fire Whip)
DXC Knife 2.gif|Dagger (1,000 Blades)
DXC Axe 2.gif|Axe
DXC Cross 2.gif|Cross (Grand Cross)
DXC Stopwatch 2.gif|Pocket Watch
DXC Holy Water 2.gif|Holy Water (Hydro Storm)
DXC Bible 2.gif|Magic Book
DXC Key 2.gif|Key
;Maria (Dracula X Chronicles)
DXC Cat 2.gif|Cat (Byakko)
DXC Turtle 2.gif|Tortoise (Genbu)
DXC Dragon 2.gif|Dragon (Seiryuu)
DXC Cardinal 2.gif|Red Bird (Suzaku)
DXC Egg 2.gif|Egg
DXC Book of Music 2.gif|Songbook
DXC Key 4.gif|Key
==External links==
*Rondo of Blood All Subweapons and Item Crashes - YouTube video showing each of Richter's sub-weapons (normal and item crash) and then Maria's.
Category:Sub-Weapons
Category:Rondo of Blood