Goliath

is the sixth boss in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. The only thing more massive than he is the weight of his blasphemies.
==Origins==
Goliath is a biblical warrior defeated by the young David in the Book of Samuel, with a particular notable aspect about him being his massive stature.
Saul and the Israelites were facing the Philistines in the Valley of Elah. Twice a day, the champion of the Philistines came out between the lines and challenged the Israelites to send out a champion of their own to decide the outcome in single combat. David heard that Goliath had defied the armies of God and of the reward from Saul to the one who defeated him, and accepted the challenge.
David and Goliath confronted each other, Goliath with his armor and javelin, David with his staff and sling. David hurled a stone from his sling and hit Goliath in the center of his forehead, Goliath fell on his face to the ground and David cut off his head. The Philistines fled and were pursued by the Israelites.
In the Talmud, Goliath is said to be the descendant of Orpah, the sister of Ruth who she and her descendants came to live debauched and degenerate lives upon abandoning her faith in the days of Essai and Issac. Worshipping the Philistine god Dagon and siding against Israel, having stolen the Ark of the Covenant, he deliberately wages battles during morning and evening to weaken the morale of the Israelites by disrupting their times of worship, and alongside his massive girth, is said to have armor that weighed 120 tons and wielded a sword with miraculous powers. In this instance, David's confrontation has him instead reveal their blood relations to one another, and immediately after, Goliath is struck down. At the mercy of his supposed killer, David reveals that an angel from God was the one that slung the rock into his skull. Upon his death, the image of Dagon was found upon his heart, and the Philistines soon lost their faith and morale thereafter.
==Description==
Goliath is a massive, hulking humanoid who resembles The Creature, although in a much more increased size. He is the boss of the Giant's Dwelling, which takes this name in reference to him. When the player enters the boss room, the giant is first encountered bound in place by many chains and shackles. These don't restrain him for too long, however, and once he has been alerted of the player's presence, he breaks free from his ties with little effort.
His offensive repertoire mainly consists in large area-of-effect attacks that can cover great distances, and by the frequent use of sheer melee force, either by punching or stomping his surroundings.
Upon being defeated, he kneels down, then raises his fist up before vanishing in a pillar of light.
==Strategy==
Goliath has a wide variety of attacks in his arsenal:
*Swings one of his arms backward and then punches the ground, producing giant spikes made out of rock to erupt in all directions. Stay at a far distance –about a whole screen away– to completely avoid this attack. Inflicts heavy damage.
*Jumps forward and lands slamming the ground with great force, causing a giant shockwave around him. Go under him when he does this and take this opportunity to deal some damage to him from behind. Don't try to retreat and expect to jump over the shockwave, as such tactic is hard to pull out, and if unsuccessful, the attack will inflict a lot of Thunder-based damage.
*Punches the ceiling, causing easily destroyable debris to fall and hit the player. Even though the debris damage is the least damaging of Goliath's repertoire, dodging them can be difficult. Upward attacks can be used, as well as the basic Scutum glyph, to get rid of them without taking damage, or dodging them if possible. Shanoa may also summon a Zombie (Fidelis Caries) and then crouch; the zombie will break what's falling and Shanoa won't be harmed. Alternatively, the player may cast the Pneuma Glyph Union (Union Pneuma) to destroy all debris around Shanoa.
*Every once in a while, Goliath will retreat and then take a nonstop stride in an attempt to back the player into a corner. Crouch under his legs to avoid this attack. The player can also use this time to dish out a great amount of damage to Goliath (e.g.: continuously hitting at his legs with two Slash-based glyphs). Trying to back up while expecting him to stop his stride must be avoided, because he won't. If the hero is cornered, Goliath will repeatedly punch them, with each hit inflicting heavy damage. Considering the player's overall stats upon encountering Goliath during their initial playthrough, this move will most likely result in the player's death. The amount of damage Goliath can dish out to Shanoa may be avoided if a great deal of healing items had been acquired beforehand, or if the player is fighting him on a New Game Plus mode at a higher level.
*When he gets around the halfway point, every once in a while he will curl down for a moment. If Shanoa is standing too close while attacking him, Goliath will perform a long and quick grabbing move, so it's advisable to keep a reasonable distance from him and be prepared to retreat when he performs this move. Otherwise, after waiting long enough, Goliath will simply perform another jump and slam the ground. A skillful player may be able to avoid the attempted grab, leaving Goliath open to attack for a brief moment.
An effective way to beat him is to throw Axe glyphs (Ascia) repeatedly at medium distance. That way, all of his moves will give the player enough time to predict what moveset he will do. It is also possible to use the more closer and conservative Slash-based weapons, but the short range will often put the player at risk.
==Enemy Data==
==Item Data==
==Trivia==
*Goliath's appearance, multi-hit punch, and death pose appear to be mild references to Raoh from the Fist of the North Star series.
*Although he resembles The Creature, as do several other monsters in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, this enemy is evidently meant to be the biblical Goliath, telling from the "blasphemies" mentioned in his description, as well as his Boss Medal calling him a "soldier".
*Goliath's boss theme, "Dissonant Courage", is shared with the Giant Skeleton, Rusalka and Jiang Shi.
==See also==
* Bound Giant
Category:Biblical Monsters
Category:Order of Ecclesia Bosses