Besides its cacophony of vile monsters and ghouls, Castlevania is most known for its heroes' iconic weaponry. The Belmonts of the legendary Konami franchise all wield the powerful Vampire Killer, a whip with magical properties made to cleanse the Earth of evil. Lending its name to the Castleveania series' equally as well-known theme song, the Vampire Killer whip is more than just a mere bundle of rope.
Always having magical properties, the Vampire Killer gained the bulk of its power after a tragic sacrifice involving one of the Belmont clan. Since then, it's been used by the family's descendants in their never-ending battle to destroy Dracula and all that serve him. With the game series soon to receive a new compilation of classics, here's what gamers should know about the weapon that they'll be using in those titles.
The Origin of the Vampire Killer Whip
The weapon debuted in the original NES/Famicon Castlevania game, but this wasn't its canonical origin story. It was created sometime before the events of the PlayStation 2 title Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, which is set in 1904, making it canonically the first game in the series. Here, Leon Belmont storms the castle of the vampire Walter Bernhard to save his betrothed, Sara. Before entering the castle, he's gifted a whip made from alchemy (creatively named the Whip of Alchemy) that is strong against the creatures of the night.
This Whip of Alchemy would prove beneficial to Leon, but it wasn't enough. Though Leon rescues Sara, she has been bitten by Walter and begs Leon to slay her before she turns. Leon uses soul to enhance the Whip of Alchemy, which makes it more powerful against Vampires, at which point it is dubbed Vampire Killer. The Vampire Killer would remain the legendary weapon of the Belmonts, passed down throughout history to various Belmonts. Following Dracula's defeat in Symphony of the Night, the Vampire Killer would seemingly vanish; in reality, Richter Belmont, the last known Belmont in that era, would pass it on to Johnathan Morris.
With the whip missing and the Belmonts presumed to be a dead bloodline, the Order of Ecclesia would be tasked with fighting Dracula's resurgence in their place. However, the Belmonts would resurface again for the Battle of 1999 when Julius Belmont, wielding the Vampire Killer, would arrive and defeat Dracula, sealing his castle in an eclipse, along with the whip. Though Dracula would be assumed beaten forever, an amnesiac Julius would return and reclaim the Vampire Killer left hidden in the castle to aid Soma Cruz, the reincarnation of Dracula, in 2035 (and, in one possible ending, defeat a Soma who succumbed to Dracula's dark hold).
The Powers of the Vampire Killer
The appearance of the Vampire Killer changes even within the games it appears. In most games, its default appearance is a simple leather whip, with upgrades making it longer or transforming it into a chain whip or Morning Star. Its enchantment is effective not only against vampires but all manner of supernatural creatures, including so-called gods and even Death itself. Charms can also be added onto it to ward off evil spirits and beings, and other items can allow the Vampire Killer to utilize elemental abilities. Its length can also deflect projectile attacks and strike at out of reach enemies such as the flying heads of the Medusa.
The downside of the curse is it is intimately tied to the Belmont clan, so much so that it can only truly be used by their descendants. Those who lack the Belmont bloodline are not only unable to wield the whip to its full potential, but doing so can prove lethal. John Morris, who was bequeathed the whip by Richter sometime prior to Castlevania Bloodlines, would find that using it too resulted in the whip to drain his life force. Years later, John's son Jonathan would possess the Vampire Killer and a similar threat, but his final fate after Portrait of Ruin was never detailed.
Despite its potentially deadly nature, the Vampire Killer has proven to be an incredibly powerful weapon in the war against darkness and evil. The bane of Dracula himself, the whip is an iconic part of Castlevania's aesthetic and easily one of the most well-known weapons in all of video games.