Dracula X: Rondo of Blood



- Time Period: 1792
- Main Hero: Richter Belmont
- Antagonist: Shaft, Count Dracula

Rondo of Blood, a series' standout, basks in relative obscurity. Since it never reached the American Turbo-Grafx, we were instead treated to the watered-down Castlevania: Dracula X. While both deal in the same time-period, Rondo of Blood's is the true tale.

Almost a half-century had passed before the groundswell of evil again began to grow to a boil. A sure sign of its impending uprising was the sudden emergence of the dark priest named Shaft. Shaft, who was a master in the black arts, wanted nothing short of world conquest for all of his kind. Knowing that the power of the vampire hunters might be too much of an obstacle, he gathered together his followers and held an unholy ritual where they sacrificed a young woman with one goal in mind: To resurrect Count Dracula. And indeed, the Dark Lord lived again, and, concurrently, Castlevania sprang itself up from the depths. Shaft knew all too well that his best bet was to play the role of subservient to Dracula, who was more likely the key, the pure representation of evil's lust for dominance.

Dracula, now more wise to his opponents' sense of justice and emotional status in light of his encounters with Soleiyu Belmont and Maxim Kischine, formed a plan: He knew that his only true hope to defeat the Belmonts lay with the propensity to blind their justice-seeking nature by enraging them in other ways. If he could only take something of theirs, he thought, maybe he could achieve this goal. With the dark priest Shaft by his side, he certainly had an edge.

In the meantime, Richter Belmont was living a peaceful life with his girlfriend, Annet Renard. One night, without warning, Dracula's plan was set in motion: He commanded his forces to head out into Warakiya, to ravage Richter Belmont's entire home town, and to kidnap some of the town's women before leaving the ruins. While studying a rough sketch of Castlevania's interior, Richter looked out the window only to catch sight of the many skeletons and demons laying waste to his town. Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of the Vampire Killer whip and mystic sub-weapons, he scoured the town, and he quickly terminated the undead fleet. But it was too late: Four town women--including Annet and her younger sister, Maria--had been kidnapped and taken to Castlevania.

Richter hopped into his horse-pulled carriage and raced toward the castle. Moments later, Death flew in from the blindside to instigate some mind games--in this case, it was a swift toss of sickle in the Belmont's general direction. After a short battle, where Richter held his own, the belittling Death, having sent his message, flew off into the distance. Undeterred, Richter arrived at the castle. Once inside, he located Shaft almost immediately in the main halls, where the dark priest was holding Maria in suspended animation, no doubt ready to banish her into a netherworld. At the very sight of Richter, though, Shaft released the spell and vanished. Maria was more than just happy to be saved--the magically gifted youth was determined to aid Richter, to assist him with her magical prowess for the rest of the journey. Continuing on together, they scurried through the castle and its outland, where they battled and defeated the same old faces of Dracula's army while saving the other missing women.

When Shaft intervened with his nostalgic bag of tricks, he, too, felt the power of the whip. Shaft, a true mastermind, was badly injured but managed to feign total defeat and without notice chant upon Richter a spell that would take effect much later. Still, the dark priest was for now out of the picture, which meant access to the castle's twisted clock tower, where Richter located his beloved, Annet, who was being held within a specially locked chamber. Relieved to see her alive and well, it filled Richter with a sense of virility, and, despite having always dreaded his vampire-hunting destiny, he was now more determined than ever to vanquish the Dark Lord. High in the castle keep, another confrontation with Dracula was at hand, and, as had his ancestors, Richter emerged victorious from the deadly duel. After the battle, he and his future family, the capable Renards, embraced; after staring down the castle from a mountain cliff, a sense of satisfaction filling the troupe, the trio began the long journey home.

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