It’s not often that a game can reach its credits without a final boss fight against Dracula to cap things off. Even in games where Dracula is not a part of the main plot, he somehow finds his way in. That said, it isnꦺ’t as bad as, say, Dr. Wily or Sigma in their respective Mega Man series. Castlevania always contextualizes Dracula’s resurrection well, a🐭nd it’s not like the series is hurting for villains.
While they're all mostly secondary, Castlevania has some pretty entertaining villains throughout. As the story goes on, the villains only get stronger. It makes sense considering Dracula canonically g﷽ets stronger with each revival. His lieutenants need to be able to keep up. Here we've ranked them all to see how they stack up.
10 Brauner
One of the only villains (if not the only) to take over Dracula’s Castle with no intention of actually reviving the Count, Brauner stands out as one of the franchise's mos😼t interesting antagonists. The main villain of Portrait of Ruin, Brauner is his own independent vampire w♉ho uses the power of art to essentially assimilate Dracula’s Castle.
It’s a power move and one that actually gets Death himself involved. Brauner taking over Dracula’s castle speaks for itself, but he’s also presumably the last major threat anyone in the series faces before the Battle of 1999. It’s roughly half a century away by the e𝄹vents of Portrait of Ruin, so Brauner must naturally be quite powerful.
9 Dario Bossi
One of the main candidates to become Count Dracula, Dario Bossi was born on the day Dracula died and possesses flame abilities not too dissimilar to the Co✅unt’s. It’s possible th♛at he could be a Dracula canღdidate, but unlike Grahꦆam or Dmitrii, Dario spends most of Dawn of Sorrow very clearly not Dracula’s reincarnation.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t strong, though. While he’s not Dracula given new flesh, he’s 𒐪able to put up a decent fight against Soma, one of the strongest characters in the series. Not just that, Dario manag🎃es to survive a good chunk of Dawn of Sorrow, only being defeated at the Bad Ending split.
8 Death
As Dracula’s right hand man, it goes without saying🌊 that Death is one of the most powerful villains in the franchise. At the same time, in a series where the later entries chronologically focus on the inheritors of Dracula’s power, he falls to the wayside. Death doesn’t even speak in Aria of Sorrow, relegated to a boss.
That makes sense, though. By the Sorrow duology, Death is no longer affiliated with Dracula– how could he when Mathias is dead? That doe﷽sn’t mean Death is weak, though. He may not have Dracula’s powers, but he’s still one of the hardest bosses in both Aria and Dawn. Even a💯s just a regular boss, Death is no slouch.
7 Graham Jones
The most successful of the Dark Lord candidates other than Soma, Graham not only gets to inherit a fraction of Dracula’s power (so it seems, at least), he gives Soma the hardest fight of the three candidates, even corrupting Soma by the end of the battle– though that might have more to do with Soma coming in contact with the Power of Dominance in s▨uch an intimate manner.
It’s worth noting that Graham is something of an antithesis t🦂o Dracula, representing everything the latter hates. Graham is cowardly, a liar, and a shining beacon of humanity’s inherent treachery. It’s fitting that Soma, Dracula’s actual reincarnation, is the one to kill Graham and fully reclaim the Power of Dominance💦.
6 Dmitrii Blinov
While Graham is the most successful ꦉDark Lord candidate villain, he’s not the strongest. That title bel💧ongs to Dmitrii Blinov, Dawn of Sorrow’s other candidate alongside Dario, but it’s not as plain as cut as Dmitrii just being stronger. Rather, he has the ability to mimic the abilities of others, allowing Dmitrii to essentially copy Soma’s Power o🍸f Dominance.
That makes him quite the powerful antagonist, but it’s ultimately not enough and Dmitrii is basically eaten alive by the power. It’s enough to surely give him an edge over Graham, but Dmitrii essentially doomed himself the moment he decided to copy Soma’s powers. He’s strong, but no true D🐷ark Lord.
5 Richter (Possessed)
Widely considered the strongest Belmont in history (other than Julius who managed to permanently defeat Dracula,) it probably doesn’t ♏need to be stated that Richter is quite the powerhouse when possessed by Shaft. That said, it’s entire♕ly possible that Richter isn’t as strong as he normally would be.
While Richter’s emotions are genuine, his motivation isn’t. Even at his most insecure💖, Richter would never willingly bring back Dracula. Even then, a possessed Richter Belmont is still s🌜trong enough to fight Alucard one-on-one, so it ultimately doesn’t matter that much. He’s either very strong, or even stronger.
4 Count Dracula
The Dark Lord himself and Castlevania’s most prominent villain, there’s really no getting around🅘 Dracula. He’s the final boss of almost every single game in the series, even the ones where he’s not the main antagoni♏st. The few games that don’t feature him make sure to feature his legacy and presence prominently. This is a series that lives and dies by Dracula.
But he’s🎶 not the s𒅌trongest villain, if only because both the Sorrow games end up escalating things by no✅t only introducing larg🌊er threats but the actual sources of Dracula’s power. Dracula is naturally quite powerful, but he’s bolstered by the Power of Dominance and Chaos.
3 Chaos
Introduced in Aria of Sorrow, Chaos is the entity that gives Dracula his powers. It’s not quite right to call it a being, but it’s m♍ore than a concept as well. Chaos is a tangible🐷 being in Castlevania, one that likely can’t be killed, but can be subdued if nothing else – as proven by the true final boss🐓 fight in Aria of Sorrow.
Chaos is an i🐬nherent state of existence though, so it’s likꦦely that the world’s natural order is still being watched over by Chaos, ready to consume Soma the first chance it gets. Dawn of Sorrow’s Bad Ending sees Soma fully turn, and the Power of Dominance hasn’t gone anywhe🀅re, so Chaos still rules in Castlevania.
2 Menace
Menace is a different stꦏory altogether. While it doesn’t hav𓄧e as relevant a role in Dawn of Sorrow as Chaos does in Aria, Menace is a perversion of the Power of Dominance, Dmitrii Blinov, and in some respects even Ch𝕴aos itself. It’s an almost incomprehensible villain, but one that stems directly from pure evil.🦩
Naturally, Soma defeats Malice in Dawn of Sorrow’s Good Ending, leaving the continuity on a slightly peaceful note. Chaos is still aro🧜und, but Malice is seemingly defeated for g✱ood and with it the rest of the Dark Lord candidates. That said, Dawn of Sorrow does feature one other ending with a certain vil🍰lain.
1 Soma Cruz
Following Dawn of Sorrow’s Bad Ending, Soma fully allows himself to corrupt into Dracula. This ends up unlocking Julius Mode, a bonus playthrough that canonically serveꦉs as a sequel to Dawn of Sorrow’s Bad En🐎ding with Julius Belmont, Yoko Belnade༺s, and Alucard all serving as playable characters.
The final boss is changed from Malice to Soma Cruz, a🌳nd he even takes cues from his Rondo of Blood battle. It takes the combined efforts of three of the world’s strongest Vampire Hunters just to subdue Soma, and they’re silently watching his castle crumble when all is said a🍸nd done – likely ready to revive another day.