gaming Who is the greatest Belmont in the main Castlevania timeline?

[Vertigo_95 572]

I am a huge fan of the Castlevania series. Been playing ever since I was a little kid, starting with Bloodlines, and the Super Nintendo one. It's sad that we may never see a proper Castlevania game again thanks to Konami, but it's always great to revisit the classic games in the series. 

 

Recently picking back up Symphony of the Night on my Vita (probably the only way my Vita is going to get touched nowadays), I started a new game as Richter Belmont, and thanks to Richter, it inspired me to make this post. 

 

So the question I am presenting is which of the Belmonts is the greatest in the main timeline? I thought about adding Gabriel Belmont from the Lords of Shadow games, and a few others, but those games are considered to be outside of the official timeline. 

 

Personally, my favorite is Trevor from Castlevania III. They are all too great to just pick one, so Simon Belmont as well, specifically from Super Castlevania IV.

 

What are your favorites, if any?

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

Trevor and Simon.

 

Fav character is still Alucard though.

[PiratePony 8,491]

Simon is best Belmont. The combo of Castlevania I, II and IV is fantastic. I also am in the "Castlevania II is a good game" camp.

[Vertigo_95 572]

Simon is best Belmont. The combo of Castlevania I, II and IV is fantastic. I also am in the "Castlevania II is a good game" camp.

I try so hard to play Simon's Quest, but I just can't get into it. Almost every "second game in the series" of Nintendo has a bad rep.

[PiratePony 8,491]

Part of it was the time it came out. You would play it - get stumped - talk about it at school with friends, look through Nintendo Power. It really became an event that took weeks to get through and a collective teamwork of sharing information that was amazing to do in the pre internet era.So that experience is part of what made it a fun game back when it came out.

 

Now I can see how it's a drag, for sure.

[CastletonSnob 3,089]

Part of it was the time it came out. You would play it - get stumped - talk about it at school with friends, look through Nintendo Power. It really became an event that took weeks to get through and a collective teamwork of sharing information that was amazing to do in the pre internet era.So that experience is part of what made it a fun game back when it came out.

 

Now I can see how it's a drag, for sure.

 

Weren't games really hard back then because games were short, so they made them difficult so players would get their money's worth?

[PiratePony 8,491]

Weren't games really hard back then because games were short, so they made them difficult so players would get their money's worth?

Yes indeed. And the games were $50 bucks or so just like they are today! So with inflation games are cheaper now and designed with way more run time into it. They were brutal but beating them felt like an event. Kids would tape it on VHS and share with friends their accomplishments. The origins of Let's Plays

 

The NES and Super Nintendo era was something else.

[CastletonSnob 3,089]

Yes indeed. And the games were $50 bucks or so just like they are today! So with inflation games are cheaper now and designed with way more run time into it. They were brutal but beating them felt like an event. Kids would tape it on VHS and share with friends their accomplishments. The origins of Let's Plays

 

The NES and Super Nintendo era was something else.

 

Also, there was no Internet back then. You just had to pick a game and hope it was good. 

[PiratePony 8,491]

Also, there was no Internet back then. You just had to pick a game and hope it was good.

 

There were a LOT of magazines, plus word of mouth. Also gaming tv shows.

 

Speaking of word of mouth, rumors and unreliable tips were abound. I remember playing A Link To The Past and I was trying to find one hidden item. A friend (who heard it from a friend from another school of course) insisted that I needed to hit every skeleton in the desert with Pegasus shoes. I spent a good hour hitting every damn skeleton and of course it wasn't there.

[CastletonSnob 3,089]

There were a LOT of magazines, plus word of mouth. Also gaming tv shows.

 

Speaking of word of mouth, rumors and unreliable tips were abound. I remember playing A Link To The Past and I was trying to find one hidden item. A friend (who heard it from a friend from another school of course) insisted that I needed to hit every skeleton in the desert with Pegasus shoes. I spent a good hour hitting every damn skeleton and of course it wasn't there.

 

There'd always be that kid who claimed he has a family member who works at Nintendo or some other gaming company and say they're working on some new console. . 

Edited October 13, 2016 by VG_Addict

[Vertigo_95 572]

Part of it was the time it came out. You would play it - get stumped - talk about it at school with friends, look through Nintendo Power. It really became an event that took weeks to get through and a collective teamwork of sharing information that was amazing to do in the pre internet era.So that experience is part of what made it a fun game back when it came out.

 

Now I can see how it's a drag, for sure.

And that is something me and my friends did in Elementary school with Super Castlevania IV. I was given a password and got to a future level I never saw before.

[Steve Piranha 29,496]

Ah yeah, Castlevania. It's been a short time since I've been invested in the franchise. All that I've missed in all these years. Well, at least I've played the best of the best. Well, I won't question why you didn't included the LoS ones (I have a theory, but more likely than not, I'll be wrong). It's not hard for me to pick which Belmont is the best, as most of them are kinda generic. But I got the one that's more interesting not because of his presence, but because of his impact on the backstory: Julius

 

 

 

Yep, the Belmont who missed every chance to get his own game. Why I've picked him? Well, we first met him as a vagabond who doesn't even remember his own name, so he ask to be referred as "J" (that's totally NOT the first letter of his name ). We know there's way more to him than meet the eye (classic amnesiac character cliche ). But it's not until we kill the deadly Balore, that get the revelation that's he's the Belmont who finished Drac for good. 

 

  He's not only interesting because of he's a Belmont who instead of being playable normally, he's a mentor cool-old-guy archetype, but because of a backstory that still left much unrevealed, and he's a great, yet difficult boss 

 

PD: Had you allowed LoS Belmonts, I would've picked Gabriel without a second thought

 

GABRIEL BELMONT FOR THE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN

 

[Discordian 6,021]

Aw, no Gabriel? Gabriel is by far my favorite Belmont of all time. The Lords of Shadow series was made great because of him.

 

But as for the main series Julius is by far the strongest. I suspect the only reason he didn't fight Dracula alone in 1999 was because they were looking to do more than just kill him. They wanted to seal him away forever. Too bad we'll never get the 1999 game. They always said they wanted to do it when they could really make the absolute best game they can since it's a very pivotal entry but at this point Konami's given up on video games, possibly forever.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,307]

If I can only pick one, it's gonna be Simon.  Simon's Quest is one of my favorite NES games (yes, it actually is), and I also love Castlevania and Super Castlevania IV.  I embraced Ayami Kojima's redesign of Simon (she does amazing work), and I was even okay with Obata's interpretation of Simon for Judgment (just one game - people had a cow for no reason).  He may not be the first Belmont according to the in-game timeline, but he's still the first Belmont who graced the NES.

 

Favorite Belmonts, in order:

1. Simon

2. Julius

3. Christopher

4. Richter

5. Juste

6. Trevor

7. Saliva (I don't want to scroll up to check the actual spelling)

8. Leon

 

And I heard that Reinhardt Schneider (Castlevania on Nintendo 64) was originally going to be a Belmont, but they changed it because I don't know.

[PiratePony 8,491]

And I heard that Reinhardt Schneider (Castlevania on Nintendo 64) was originally going to be a Belmont, but they changed it because I don't know.

 

Maybe they were trying to be edgy, along with the motorcycle skellingtons.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,307]

Maybe they were trying to be edgy, along with the motorcycle skellingtons.

Don't forget the chainsaw-wielding Frankenstein's monster.  Or whichever creep it was that chased you through the hedge maze.

 

Other people seemed to prefer playing as Carrie Fernandez (young girl with the homing attacks) in Castlevania 64, but I stubbornly selected Reinhardt because nostalgia / he gots the Vampire Killer whip.  I also thought the little save crystals and currency looked super-neat and would sit there and admire them.  Them graphics; couldn't possibly get better than that.

[PiratePony 8,491]

 

 

but I stubbornly selected Reinhardt because nostalgia / he gots the Vampire Killer whip

 

I did the exact same thing. Man, did that game just kind of suck. It's my least favorite of any Castlevania games I've played. Well, maybe Castlevania Adventure on Game Boy is below that.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,307]

I did the exact same thing. Man, did that game just kind of suck. It's my least favorite of any Castlevania games I've played. Well, maybe Castlevania Adventure on Game Boy is below that.

It's possible that I'm the one person who actually liked it lol.  No, it doesn't hold a candle (fitting expression) to most other Castlevania games, but I still enjoyed fighting huge bosses (the skeleton and the behemoth), the inclusion of the day / night cycle (as originally seen in Simon's Quest), and playing through on hard mode with a broken analog stick...  Okay, maybe not the last part so much.

[Discordian 6,021]

I never beat Castlevania 64 but I remember people played as the girl because she was much easier to handle than the guy.

 

If I ever get the chance again I really want to play through the whole game. Legacy of Darkness is just the same game with Cornell and a few added story elements in it, isn't it? Like if you got LoD you wouldn't need to get the original version either?