Soma Cruz

## The Rebirth of Dracula

"But then again, from the looks of all of you, you're all normal people. I on the other hand..."

### Canon

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/Dawn of Sorrow

### Occupation

High School StudentCount Dracula's Reincarnation

**Soma Cruz**(来須 蒼真 *Kurusu Sōma*) is the main protagonist from the games***Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow***and ***Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow***. A high school student who turns out to be the reincarnation of Count Dracula. Soma has a wide range of powers and abilities called 'souls' which are categorized as offensive, defensive, or tactical. He acquires these abilities through his "power of dominance" - the power to control and summon the souls of defeated monsters. This is a derivation of Dracula's primary power, the ability to command monsters. He made his Chronology debut in Point Zero.

## Canon

### *Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow*

Soma was studying in Japan in the year 2035, the year where the first solar eclipse of the twenty-first century was to occur, and he and Mina were on their way to see the astral event when fate stepped in: the two are transported into Dracula's castle itself. Immediately protective of Mina, Soma sets out into the castle to find an exit and save themselves from its demonic influence.

Soma encounters various other individuals were drawn into the castle, and from them learns Dracula is indeed dead, but his castle seeks a new master. During the battle against the castle’s monsters he demonstrates an ability that he was not aware of possessing previously: the Power of Dominance, the ability to steal the souls of life forms and bend them to his will in various shapes and effects. This supernatural trait is a derivation of Dracula's primary power, the ability to command monsters.

Soma soon encounters a deranged missionary named Graham Jones who believes himself to be the incarnation of Dracula, because of his birth at the very moment Dracula was ultimately slain in the battle of 1999. But Soma, in demonstrating the power to rule over souls, becomes Graham’s target, and the two engage in a battle which Soma eventually wins - but in doing so, he absorbs a startling amount of the castle’s dark power and comes to realize a shocking revelation: his powers and Dracula's soul are one and the same - Soma is the next incarnation of Dracula himself, and therefore may inherit Castlevania as its new lord and master. Soma then heeds the advice of Genya Arikado and travels to a chaotic realm where he must confront the core of Chaos, the source of Dracula’s dark power. As he hopes to escape from his bonds with the castle. Soma receives encouraging words telepathically from Mina and his other friends which he had encountered over the course of his adventure in the castle, and is therefore able to defeat Chaos, retain his identity, resist Dracula's inheritance, and escape with everyone from Castlevania as it is drawn back into the eclipse. In conquering this personal challenge, Soma becomes more open and trusting to those around him, though his mysterious powers still reside within.

### *Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow*

One year after this event, Soma is attacked in Hakuba City by the mysterious Celia Fortner, the priestess of a cult dedicated to the revival of Dracula. Celia disappears with the grim proclamation that Soma will be eliminated by any means necessary, so that she may take his power and revive the Lord of Darkness. Arikado assures Soma that he and his subordinates will handle the situation, but Soma is not willing to sit behind; He tracks Celia to her headquarters, a massive replica of Dracula's Castle, and once more wields the power of dominance to battle the summoned demons within.

Soma encounters Celia several times throughout his exploration, as well as two men, Dmitrii Blinov and Dario Bossi, who were born at the exact time of Dracula's 1999 destruction much like Graham Jones, and as such are candidates to receive the title and power of Dark Lord that Soma currently holds. Dmitrii and Dario attempt to kill him on separate occasions but are defeated, causing Celia to alter her strategy; she plans to draw out Dracula’s influence within Soma outward and mold him into the Dark Lord by playing on his emotions. Soma witnesses the apparent murder of a captive Mina by Celia, and his anger gives rise to the powers of Chaos.

But Soma recovers, as Arikado appears and exposes him about Celia's plan. He then transfers his powers emerged from his anger to Mina, who is actually a Doppelgänger in disguise. Soma’s seismic shift of emotions then allows for the self-revival of Dmitrii, whose soul resided in Soma after he was first bested in battle by the former, and he and Celia leave with the declaration that they have gone back to their original plan to simply kill Soma so that Dmitrii can become the new Dark Lord. Soma pursues them to the castle’s Abyss, where he witnesses Dmitrii sacrificing Celia and absorbing the powers of a calamitous demon, and the two are about to do battle when Dmitrii’s soul is overcome and his body explodes into the titanic, monstrous demon Menace which Soma destroys at length after a large-scale battle.

The dark power and souls of Menace suddenly rush into Soma’s body and nearly overwhelm him, once again causing him to come dangerously close to becoming the embodiment of the Dark Lord himself, but through sheer will and by thinking of Mina he resists the influence and escapes the collapsing castle of Celia’s cult, where he rejoins all his friends and allies. Soma relates to Arikado a certain feeling of guilt he holds for not accepting the role of the Dark Lord, the role that is theologically necessary to be fulfilled in order for God to be truly good, but Arikado assures that though there may be need of a Dark Lord to fill that purpose in the future, there is no reason why it should only be him. Having conquered his final challenge, Soma is free to live his life as it is normally meant.

## Pre-Chronology

It is unknown what Soma was up to before the events of the Tesseract Incident, although it can be assumed that it was sometime after the events of *Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow*.

## Plot Involvement

### **Point Zero**

Soma had very little involvement within the overall plot in the event, usually only really appearing during fights.

### **Point Zero**

Soma ultimately decided to head home instead of joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as a full-time or a reserve member. Upon returning home, he is awoken by his childhood friend, Mina Hakuba, who informs him they're about to be late for school. Soma reflects briefly on the event before smiling and heading to class.

## Character Relationships

* *Yuma Kennedy* - An OC from both the Resident Evil series and the visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club. The first person Soma befriended and it may appear that she is a bit attached to him.
* *Leon S. Kennedy*- A character from the Resident Evil series. The father of Yuma Kennedy and acts as the leader of the quartet. Soma finds respect in him during the Killer Croc fight, commenting on his bravery.
* *Negan*- A character from The Walking Dead series. Soma finds distrust in him for unknown reasons other than the fact that he looks and acts as if he is ready to betray the group at any moment.

## Trivia Edit

* His first name, Soma, means the entire body, referencing how he has the power of dominance. His last name is somewhat of a pun, Cruz is the Spanish and Portuguese word for Cross, which is commonly used against Vampires in fiction.
* His Japanese name is Kurusu Sōma (来須蒼真); Sōma is his given name. The *kanji* that compose his name mean, in order, 'come/next' (*kuru*), 'by all means' (*su*), 'pale/blue' (*sō*), 'truth/reality' (*ma*). Taken together, the name hints that he is the true inheritor of Dracula's power, and will definitely receive them. The kanji for 'pale', interestingly, is also used as a euphemism for being inexperienced or unripe. Soma has not yet reached his full potential.
* Soma wasn't supposed to be in the Chronology Series. Originally, it was supposed to be Filthy Frank, first choice. But was opted out due to how powerful he is and including him would "turn the roleplay NSFW".