Yorick

Yorick (known as Soccer Boy in Japan) is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a skeleton damned to eternally chase his own skull.
==Origins==
Yorick is a character in William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. He is the dead court jester whose skull is exhumed by the gravedigger. The sight of Yorick's skull evokes a widely-known monologue from Prince Hamlet on mortality:
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?"
—Hamlet, V.i
The opening words are commonly misquoted as "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well."
==Description==
Yorick is a skeleton who has his head detached from his body. He paces back and forth in a non-determined pattern, kicking his own skull as a means of attack. Though frail, one should not underestimate him, as the kicked skull usually inflicts considerable damage, and his somewhat erratic behavior may make it hard to predict where he's going to kick the skull next. In addition, Yorick is capable of kicking the skull from offscreen, often forcing the player to quickly try to evade an unexpected and fast moving projectile.
If Yorick's head is destroyed, he will apparently panic or enter in a rage, and begin running back and forth much faster.
==Appearances==
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
First appearance of Yorick in the series (called "Soccer Boy" in the Japanese version). He is one of the new enemies encountered in the Reverse Castle, appearing at the bottom of the Reverse Keep's main open area. His low HP and relatively simplistic behavior combined with his 300 base XP awarded makes this enemy a perfect first enemy to farm levels before tackling the powerful horrors awaiting in the reverse areas above.
If Yorick's body is eliminated, its skull will remain on the floor until defeated. No contact damage is received from it and touching it while the Faerie Scroll is active will display its own name: Skull. Although the Skull is somewhat counted as a separate enemy, it does not have its own Enemy List entry and is the only named enemy to not have an entry (this may be due to still being counted as part of Yorick). The skull does not add to the Beat/Kill count and does not possess any EXP. The skull itself may drop common items. 
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
In Dawn of Sorrow, Yorick's soul is a Bullet-type soul and grants the Skull Ball ability. When used, Soma Cruz flings a skull at an upward arc, dealing a small amount of damage to enemies on contact. However, if he slides or performs a Jump Kick and manages to kick the skull on its way down, it will be sent flying forward with great force, dealing a tremendous amount of damage to any enemy that crosses its path, even being able to fell a Final Guard in just about three successful hits. Since Dmitrii Blinov cannot slide or jump kick, he can only throw skulls in a helpless manner and become almost harmless.
His soul can be easily obtained in a room with a lone Yorick in the Garden of Madness, just below the room with the statue that gives access to the Three 7s. The player can quickly enter and exit this room by the top entrance and kill it from the narrow flooded space to the left from where Yorick is, completely out of harm's way. A long reaching weapon that can kill it through the wall, like a lance, a great sword, or an axe, is recommended.
There is another room in the same area which boasts several Yoricks. It is located past Dario's boss room, upward, and then heading in a general right direction. However, due to the layout of this room and the place where the Yoricks are positioned, the player risks taking a high amount of damage on each attempt.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
Yorick drops the Spade, one of the five cards needed to complete Wind's quest, "The Gambler". An easy method to acquire it consists in equipping Charlotte with all possible Luck-boosting items available (Princess Tiara, Princess Coat, Glass Shoes, Thief Ring, Moon Brooch, etc.), then enter the Burnt Paradise and make way or warp to the Save Point located three rooms to the right of the boss room. Head left a couple of rooms and up into a large room with three Yoricks walking on the ceiling, switch to Charlotte and cast Holy Lightning or any other attack that can kill them fast. If MP runs low, just head back to the Save Point and repeat the process until the card is obtained.
==Enemy Data==
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
Dxc 101.png|Yorick enemy list entry from The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night.
==Trivia==
*In the Japanese versions of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, this enemy is instead called , having no connection to the character from Hamlet whatsoever, hinting that the Western localization team may have taken the liberty to change its name like many other enemies and items in that game. The name "Yorick" was kept for all the sequels released outside of Japan.
Category:Literary Monsters
Category:Shakespearean Lore
Category:Skeletal Monsters
Category:Dawn of Sorrow Enemies
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Enemies
Category:Encore of the Night Enemies
Category:Harmony of Despair Enemies
Category:Portrait of Ruin Enemies
Category:Symphony of the Night Enemies