WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Castlevania Season 4, available now on Netflix.
Generations of the Belmont family primarily relied on the legendary Vampire Killer whip to battle the forces of darkness that rise whenever Dracula comes into power. Still, the monster hunters have a whole arsenal of weapons straight out of the video games at their disposal to put down ravenous evil.
With Castlevania Season 4 closing out the adventures of Trevor Belmont, the vampire hunter gets a secret weapon during his travels that helps him turn the tide of battle as he and his companions confront their most powerful enemy yet. That weapon? The Combat Cross.
As they sought to stop sinister forces planning to resurrect Dracula, Trevor and Sypha Belnades investigated the sewers under the Transylvanian city of Targoviste. They discover a horde of treasure accumulated by the locals as they sheltered from the monsters attacking the town. Among the loot, Trevor unearths the Combat Cross, recounting its history as a multi-bladed weapon designed by a Norwegian vampire hunter and constructed for him when he battled against the undead in India. Able to stab opponents or be flung at them with deadly accuracy, the Combat Cross becomes Trevor's trusty weapon, along with his whip, for the remainder of the series.
The Combat Cross has been a fixture in the Castlevania franchise since the original 1986 video game as one of the most powerful subweapons the Belmonts can employ in their battles against Dracula and his armies. The weapon functions similar to a boomerang, with upgrades allowing players to throw up to three Combat Crosses simultaneously with their trajectories traveling back and forth across the screen and hitting any enemies in their path. 1993's Castlevania: Rondo of Blood would go one step further in upgrading the Combat Cross' power. Richter Belmont used the weapon to summon a volley of crucifixes to annihilate all the enemies on the screen.
The video game franchise's reboot timeline introduced by 2010's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow would rebrand the Vampire Killer whip as the Combat Cross despite clearly being a flail instead of the familiar crucifix-based weapon from the main timeline. The Combat Crosses were designed by weapons master Rinaldo Gandolfi and were ancient weapons utilized by the most elite warriors within the Brotherhood of Light -- including Gabriel Belmont. After Gabriel transformed into Dracula, his Combat Cross was passed down through subsequent generations of his family, upgraded over the centuries until Dracula's distant descendant Victor Belmont wielded it in modern-day.
The Castlevania animated series presents the Combat Cross in its classic form while giving it a historical backstory that further expands the global scope of the franchise. With its inclusion, Trevor also provides a perfectly logical explanation of why vampires are vulnerable to the crucifix in non-Christian societies due to how the geometric shape affects their enhanced vision from their vampiric physiology. And ultimately, it's the Combat Cross that gives Trevor the edge he needs in the series' final showdown to triumph over an elemental evil that's been subtly pulling the strings all along, making himself more formidable than ever as he blends his combat style to accommodate both the Combat Cross and Vampire Killer.
Castlevania stars Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont, Alejandra Reynoso as Sypha Belnades, James Callis as Alucard, Theo James as Hector, Adetokumboh M'Cormack as Isaac, Jaime Murray as Carmilla, Jessica Brown Findlay as Lenore, Bill Nighy as St. Germain, Malcolm McDowell as Varney and Marsha Thomason as Greta. All four seasons are available to stream now on Netflix.