Belmont Clan

The is the most important and prominent clan in the Castlevania series, and its members are usually its main protagonists. Nonetheless, despite their important role in the series' history, they are not the only protagonists seen throughout the franchise, although they typically play an integral role in most of the games' storylines.
Since the Eleventh Century, the Belmonts have been entrusted with the duty of slaying Count Dracula and various other creatures of the night. For this purpose, they use as their main weapon the sacred whip known as the Vampire Killer, which has the power to destroy any entity of darkness and Dracula himself. They also use other weapons to accomplish this, which coupled with their skills and magical powers made ​​them be recognized as the most powerful clan of vampire hunters that ever existed.
==History==
===Castlevania saga===
The Belmont Clan was not formed with the purpose of destroying creatures of the night until after Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, when Leon Belmont vowed to hunt the night. It was in the same time period that the Vampire Killer —the Belmonts' primary weapon— was created. Afterward, the Belmonts' sole duty became protecting Transylvania from darkness.Castlevania 20th Anniversary Pre-order Bundle. Konami. 2006. Timeline. 1094: Castlevania Lament of Innocence.
Sometime between the events of Lament of Innocence and Dracula's Curse, the Belmonts showed great power and this led to the people of Transylvania fearing them. Due to this, they were banished and lived away from civilization for a long time, until 1476 when Count Dracula waged war upon humanity. At this time, no other person, man or woman, was able to stand up against Dracula's forces.Akumajō Densetsu instruction manual. Konami. 1989. p.3, 4, 5, 6. RC-845. The Church was left with no choice but to find a Belmont, which proved to be a difficult task as they could not find one anywhere in Transylvania. Their search gave results, however, when they found a youth who went by the name of Trevor Belmont. Trevor defeated Dracula, and after this display of heroism, the Belmonts were hailed as heroes and allowed to live among people once more.Akumajō Densetsu ending.
Until the 19th century, the Belmonts steadily defeated Dracula during his resurrections. However, sometime after the events of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the Belmonts vanished and did not appear again until 1999, when Julius Belmont came and defeated Dracula once and for all. Until that point, the Morris Clan took hold of the Vampire Killer, as the Belmonts were not allowed to touch it until that time.Castlevania 20th Anniversary Pre-order Bundle. Konami. 2006. Timeline. 1797: Castlevania Symphony of the Night. However, the inhabitants of Wygol Village were descendants of the Belmont Clan, which resulted in the rogue Ecclesia member, Albus, abducting them in the hopes of finding a way to bypass the deadly aspects of his stolen Dominus glyphs and use them in order to ensure his adopted sister Shanoa didn't end up being killed from using them herself.
==Powers and means of combat==
It is known that Belmonts possess some supernatural and magical powers, aside from the magical powers some of Trevor's descendants have due to his marriage with Sypha Belnades.Castlevania (Lament of Innocence) Guide. History of Castlevania. Family Tree. Konami & NTT PUB. 2003. This magical power is perhaps most prominent in Juste Belmont, as he focuses his abilities on magic rather than physical combat as his ancestors, using spell books to empower his sub-weapons.Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance instruction manual. Konami. 2002. AGB-ACHE-USA. Julius also mentions that he has magical powers.J: I fear you are correct. Especially since I have magical powers. Whether this is the same kind as the one Juste wields or not is unknown. However, when Leon Belmont, the eldest known link in the Belmont's lineage of vampire hunters, first meets Joachim Armster, he's able to perceive the presence of vampirism in him and he's also able to effectively mix the sub-weapons with magical elemental Orbs, a trait he might have naturally inherited to their descendants to perform the powerful Item Crashes.Leon to Joachim: This feeling... Are you a vampire?! This could hint to a natural predisposition throughout his family's bloodline to detect and confront vampires or the forces of darkness in general, as well their magical powers.
Some games dialogues and lore info feature the incredible physical power of the Belmonts that are above human; the official e-book of the Anniversary Collection confirms that Belmonts can match vampires and other creatures in power with their superhuman combat ability, this is why the Belmont Clan has been feared since early their history, having a superior bloodline. This can be seen in the prologue of Dracula's Curse. Soma Cruz, after the battle with Julius, states "You took it easy on me. I could tell. The strength of a Belmont... No... the strength of a vampire hunter is greater than this.", which implies that vampire hunters in general have a certain strength, yet Belmonts are definitely something else, for the fact that Julius managed to make the castle to crumble a bit when performing his Grand Cross special attack, managed to do serious damage while holding back in the battle, not wanting to kill Soma. 
More recent games have shown this power and strength above the average in a more explicit way as the Belmonts are not bound to a classic style gameplay; for example, Simon Belmont says "That is the power of a Belmont!" in Castlevania Judgment after completing his super finisher, which consists in whipping 99 times his opponent in super speed. Trevor also in this game is capable to deal super punches and grab and toss any enemy with ease with his whip; and in one his dialogues he's proud of this power that made him fearsome to others, as well as the creatures of the night, referencing the intro of Castlevania III. In Curse of Darkness, he seems to have inherited naturally Leon's magical powers with relics as he's able to tackle Hector by using super speed and imbuing himself in a fire element similar to the Lucifer's Sword relic effect, he's able to perform the Blade Serpent and Grand Cross Item Crashes, as well performing martial arts that deal lots of damage in rapid succession; Richter Belmont would also show this superior strength in close combat and martial skills in Portrait of Ruin and Harmony of Despair, and was regarded in Symphony of the Night as the ultimate vampire hunter that was not possible to defeat, according to Alucard. Shaft would take advantage of his power to revive Dracula and made him the lord of the castle to prevent any intruder to ruin his plans.
It's also hinted that the Belmonts have Holy based attribute magic in their blood to seal and resist the dark, as demonstrated in their iconic special move, the Grand Cross. Trevor in Curse of Darkness yells "Holy Power!" when performing his Grand Cross special attack. Also, during the events of Curse of Darkness, it's stated that only the blood of a Belmont has the power to open a portal to the Infinite Corridor, and Isaac fought Trevor to get a sample of it, going there and placing the Dullahan so Hector when fighting him would summon Dracula's Castle with the impressive amount of power generated in battle. A similar event takes place in Dawn of Sorrow, where it's only with the power of a Belmont, in this case Julius, that an energy barrier in Celia castle replica can be dispelled, granting access to the Mine of Judgment, the lair where Death dwells. Albus in Order of Ecclesia would try to gather the blood all of the possible Belmont descendants to counter the evil power and influence of Dominus, although it ultimately proved to be a failure because none of them were direct descendants.
The Belmonts' primary weapon is the Vampire Killer, an extremely powerful holy whip that is especially effective against evil and unholy creatures –such as vampires– and the only weapon capable to effectively kill Dracula in battle, handed down each generation as a relic and their most trusted weapon.Rinaldo: Now, that whip has become the bane of the children of the night. Its full power can only be used without any consequences by a full-blooded member of the Belmont Clan, thanks to the blood pact ritual of Leon Belmont in Lament of Innocence, which binds them to the whip in blood and spiritual way, also explaining why they are even able to feel the whip's ''rage'' and when it detects vampires while in their hands, and possibly why the whip can store a spiritual memory copy of the last Belmont that wielded it. The Belmonts have also used sub-weapons as their other means of attack and they're generally very skilled in combat, whether it be with the Vampire Killer, sub-weapons or martial skills. Thus far, the Belmont clan has been the most powerful one in Castlevania due to all of this. 
==Belmont Clan members==
===Castlevania saga===
====Leon Belmont====
Leon Belmont is the founder of the clan's tradition of vampire hunting and also the first known wielder of the Vampire Killer in its complete form, although he didn't defeat Dracula, as Dracula (known as Mathias Cronqvist then) got away before Leon can do anything to stop him. He was a knight once, but left his knighthood to pursue his betrothed's kidnappers, which led to the events of the game. After his efforts, the Belmonts' duty became protecting the people from darkness.
====Trevor C. Belmont====
Trevor is the first Belmont to have defeated Dracula and as such, has gained legendary status. People feared him because of his powers, and lived far from Wallachia. Dracula had attacked Transylvania with his legions and no man could stand against him, which forced the Church to find a member of the Belmont clan. This led them to find Trevor, whom defeated hordes of Dracula's legions, found valuable allies on his way, and ultimately defeated Dracula himself.
====Christopher Belmont====
A hundred years after, Dracula would re-emerge, more powerful than ever, and haunt Transylvania again. However, Christopher Belmont stood ready to face the Count and defeated him in combat. Dracula feigned defeat, however, and waited 15 years to spot an opening, which he did when Christopher's son, Soleil Belmont was born. ‎He possessed Soleil after the boy turned 15 and forced Christopher to tread through five castles, face Soleil in combat and defeat Dracula again. Christopher saved Soleil and came out victorious.
====Soleil Belmont====
Christopher's son and used as Dracula's vessel. He was freed from his influence when he was defeated in battle by his father. He inherited the whip and title of Vampire Hunter afterward, but he wasn't meant to fight the Count.
====Simon Belmont====
Simon is possibly the most famous member of the clan. Even though it was rumored that Dracula becomes stronger with each resurrection, Simon still went into the castle alone and fought his way through, eventually defeating the Count. He was badly wounded from the battle, however, and Dracula had cast a curse on Simon before his death. This curse did not allow the wound to be healed, and it was slowly killing him. It was not until 1698 that Simon, through a ghastly revelation, discovered the way to cure this curse, which involved gathering Dracula's remains and burning them. However, after gathering them, a sixth body piece previously unknown to Simon caused the Count to revive. He defeated him and burned his remains, being freed from the curse, and was ultimately victorious, saving Transylvania once more.
====Juste Belmont====
50 years have passed after Simon's victory against Dracula's Curse. The cursed castle had appeared suddenly in the mist, when Juste's best friend returned from an expedition telling him that Lydie had been kidnapped and the castle's untimely appearance was very suspicious. Juste had to explore the castle and discover its secrets and finally found out that it was through Maxim's other personality that the castle had resurfaced, albeit without its true master. Juste finally fought to save Maxim and, in the end, battled a wraith that used Dracula's image which was born out of Maxim's feelings and the relics. He demonstrated his power even if it was not the real Count and managed to save his friends.
====Richter Belmont====
Richter's town was attacked by dark legions and as soon as he found out, he rode toward the town on his carriage. Unfortunately, he was late as Dracula kidnapped his fiancée, Annette and three other maidens from the village that included Maria Renard, who joins him in his quest.‎ Richter made his way through many formidable creatures and obstacles. He saved all four maidens and defeated Dracula, saving the world from darkness once more. Richter has also got the reputation of being the most powerful vampire hunter at the time.
====Michael R. Belmont====
Only mentioned in background material of Castlevania: Bloodlines. A mysterious old man who emerges from hiding in 1917 to remind Eric Lecarde of his destiny as a vampire hunter.Castlevania: Bloodlines EGM fax.
====Julius Belmont====
Julius appeared sometime in the 20th century, the first full-blooded Belmont heir since Richter, and took up the whip. He, along with some comrades, defeated Dracula once and for all in the year 1999, sealing his castle inside a solar eclipse that took place. Julius Belmont was the strongest vampire hunter of his time, as confirmed on Aria of Sorrow.
===Gaiden===
Members from the Belmont clan who appear in works set in alternative timelines that spun off from the official timeline.
====Sid Belmont====
Trevor's descendant and possible grandson or great-grandson based on information from the book. Together with the descendants of the other allies that helped his forefather Trevor, he manages to subdue Dracula once again.
====Desmond Belmont====
A member of the Belmont active during the 17th century. His parents were killed by one of Dracula's followers. Together with his sisters Zoe and Dolores, he infiltrates the mansion of a cult that wishes to revive Dracula. However, they were unable to stop the ritual in time and Desmond is forced to fight the Count. He is victorious and manages to escape the castle, which is still standing for reasons unknown.
====Zoe and Dolores Belmont====
Desmond's younger sisters who aid him during his trek through the Order's mansion. They are both able to handle the Vampire Killer, but are not old enough to wield it yet.
====Simon Belmont====
A famous actor from the 1950's who is named after his famous forefather Simon. While shooting a movie based on his ancestor's exploits in Dracula's Castle, he accidentally breaks the seal that kept the Count locked away. Using the heirlooms of Simon, his armor and whip, he manages to put an end to the vampire.
==Offshoots==
Multiple off-shoots of the Belmonts have appeared throughout the series. The Morris Clan are descendant from Trevor's daughter Ann and Lloyd Morris. The Helsing Clan are descendant from Trevor's other daughter Mary and Leo Helsing. Bolt Ericson is a descendant of Christopher's daughter Amanda and a member of the Ericcson family. It's not clear in what way the Renard and Lecarde families are related to the Belmonts. 
===Morris Clan===
*Lloyd Morris
*Quincy Morris
*John Morris
*Jonathan Morris
===Lecarde Clan===
*Eric Lecarde
*Stella Lecarde
*Loretta Lecarde
*Hermina M. Lecarde
===Helsing Clan===
*Leo Helsing
*Van Helsing
===Ericson Clan===
*Leif Ericson
*Bolt Ericson
===Wygol villagers===
The residents of Wygol Village are stated to all be descendants of the Belmont clan.
*Abram
*Aeon
*Anna
*Daniela
*Eugen
*Father Nikolai
*George
*Irina
*Jacob
*Laura
*Marcel
*Monica
*Serge
===Others===
*Maria Renard
===Alternate timeline===
====Schneider Clan====
*Michael Schneider
*Reinhardt Schneider
==References in other media==
*In the PC game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, a special tactics team is fought in one of the test chambers of the Fu Syndicate named the "Belmont Squad".
*In the PlayStation 2 and Xbox game Van Helsing, one of the libraries Gabriel Van Helsing walks through contains a book about "an ancient clan of vampire hunters called the Belmonts".
*In the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis game Zombies Ate My Neighbors (also published by Konami), the vampire enemy's name is "Vlad Belmont".
*The manga series Zatch Bell!, featured a character named . She assists her partner Brago (who has has a slight resemblance to a vampire) and her main-weapon is a flail.
*In the Rosario + Vampire II manga series, the main character, Tsukune Aono, learns to control his vampire powers through the use of a magical whip that dispels demon power, called "Belmont". This is clearly a reference to the Vampire Killer and the Belmont Clan.
*Otomedius Excellent features a Belmont character playable in this game, her name is Kokoro Belmont, and she's the guardian of the clan in 2011. She is implied to be the sister of Julius.
==Trivia==
*In Japanese versions, the family name is Belmondo. This may be a reference to the French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, who was well known in Japan during the 1980s, at the time of the first game's release.
*According to Hitoshi Akamatsu, the series creator and director of the first three games, he gave the Belmonts a whip inspired on Indiana Jones.
*In Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, it is mentioned that the Belmonts lived outside of society because people feared their powers. After Trevor's deeds, they were accepted and respected in the region. According to Koji Igarashi, a new village was formed and townsfolk decided to be around them after the heroic deeds of Simon Belmont, so Juste grew up with friends from the Kischine and Erlanger families.
*In Castlevania: Belmont's Revenge, Soleil is given the Vampire Killer in a ceremony when he is 15, and in Harmony of Dissonance, Juste gets it at 16, after being recognized as a real successor. This suggests that Belmonts have a ritual to pass down the whip to the next male heir in direct succession.
==See also==
*Belmont Clan (Akuma no Chi Chi no Akumu)
*Belmont Clan (Legends)
*Belmont Family Tree
*Belmont-like enemies
*Families
==References==
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es:Clan Belmont
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Category:Storyline Elements