Belmont Family

The Belmont Family is, by far, the most important and prominent clan in the Castlevania series.They are not, however, the only main protagonists seen throughout the franchise, but typically play an integral role in most games' storylines.

The Belmonts are entrusted with the duty of slaying Count Dracula and various other creatures of the night. They use the Vampire Killer and other weapons to accomplish this, alongside their skill and power.

Akumajo Dracula Saga
The Belmont clan was not formed with the purpose of destroying creatures of the night until after Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, when Leon Belmont vowed to kill the night. It was in the same time period that the Vampire Killer, the Belmonts' primary weapon, was created. Afterwards, the Belmonts' sole duty became protecting Transylvania from darkness. Sometime between the events of Lament of Innocence and Dracula's Curse, the Belmonts showed great power and this led to the people of Transylvania fearing them. Due to this, they were banished and lived away from civilisation for a long time, until 1476 when Dracula waged war on humanity. At this time, no other person, man or woman, was able to stand up against Dracula's forces. The church was left with no choice but to find a Belmont, which proved to be a difficult task as they could not find a Belmont anywhere in Transylvania. Their search gave results, however, when they found a youth who went by Trevor. Trevor defeated Dracula and after this show of heroism, the Belmonts were loved as heroes and allowed to live among people once more.

Until the 19th Century, the Belmonts steadily defeated Dracula during his resurrections. Sometime after Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, however, the Belmonts vanished and did not appear again until 1999, when Julius Belmont came and defeated Dracula once and for all. Until that point, the Morris Clan took hold of the Vampire Killer, as the Belmonts were not allowed to touch it until that time.

Lords of Shadow Saga
This incarnation of the Belmont family was founded by Gabriel Belmont, a knight who belonged to an order called the Brotherhood of Light. He was raised by the order after he was left at their doorstep when he was an infant. Gabriel took the surname of Belmont, after his love of mountains and the high places of the World.

In the year 1047, Gabriel's wife Marie was was brutally murdered by supernatural forces, leaving her soul unable to pass on due to a dark spell. Gabriel is sent by the Brotherhood of Light to the Lake of Oblivion, a place where the living can converse with the deceased. There, his deceased wife, Marie, tells him that the power of the Lords of Shadow, evil overlords who each rule their own domain, can save the world. Their power is derived from a powerful device called the God Mask. Another man from the Brotherhood called Zobek, introduces himself to Gabriel and tells him that, according to a prophecy, a pure-hearted warrior will claim the Lords of Shadow's powers to save the world. The God Mask would also allow Gabriel to bring back Marie.

With the help of Zobek, Gabriel travels to two Lord's domains, defeats them, and manages to retrieve their respective mask pieces. When he finally confronts the final Lord, is turns out Gabriel was manipulated by Zobek in eliminating the other Lords and collecting their mask pieces. With the power of the full God Mask, Zobek would be all powerful. In order to motivate Gabriel to do this task for him, Zobek controlled Gabriel's mind and commanded him to kill Marie.

After being victorious in a climatic battle and saving the world, Gabriel uses the God Mask to resurrect Marie. However, the Mask only has the power to see through God's eyes. Marie lied to him so that he would save the world.

Afterwards, through a series of events, Gabriel becomes a vampire in order to save the world yet again, this time from a powerful demon called The Forgotten One. After defeating the monster, he absorbed its powers and unleashes his anger on the world himself. He becomes known as the Dark Lord Dracula and declares war on the Brotherhood of Light, who, according to him, are the reason for his suffering.

This event was foretold in a prophecy, which was told to Marie by an elder of the Brotherhood. The world's only hope would Gabriel's son, of who he was never aware because he was hidden away. This child, Trevor, was the one who began the Belmont's feud against Dracula, a feud that will continue with Trevor's son, Simon.

Dark Night Prelude Saga
The progenitor of the Belmont family's vampire slaying ways in this universe was Sonia Belmont. Sonia was born in a remote mountain village located in Transylvania. One night, when Sonia was 17 years old, she encountered a young man named Alucard. The two formed a bond together.

However, the tragedy suddenly stroke — the mansion where Sonia was raised was attacked by grotesque monsters serving Count Dracula. This Demon King had been invading European countries one by one with his army of monsters. He did this out of revenge for the death of his wife at the hands of humanity. Sonia found her grandfather, mortally wounded. Her grandfather told her it's time for her power to be unleashed. Sonia took her grandfather's whip as a memento in her hand, setting out to Dracula's Castle.

Sonia traveled across the Transylvanian countryside to Dracula's Castle, destroyed Dracula's minions, and eventually defeated the Count himself. She vowed that her descendants would be there to put an end to him again, if he were to return one day.

After having had crossed paths with Sonia, Alucard decided to seal himself away before she would press on to face his father, unable to deal with seeing his father dying as well. However, Sonia gave birth to a child soon after. His name was Trevor Belmont and he would continue both Alucard's legacy and that of the Belmont Clan.

Akumajo Dracula Saga
It is unknown what power the Belmonts possess or if they even possess any supernatural powers, aside from the magical powers some of Trevor's descendants have due to his marriage with Sypha Belnades. This magical power is perhaps most prominent in Juste Belmont, as he uses spell books to empower his Sub-Weapons. Julius also mentions that he has magical power. Whether this is the same kind as the one Juste wields or not is unknown.

Some have mentioned this power of Belmonts. For example, Simon Belmont says "That is the power of a Belmont!" in Castlevania Judgment after completing his super finisher. Soma Cruz also states, after defeating Julius, that "You took it easy on me. I could tell. The strength of a Belmont... No... the strength of a vampire hunter is greater than this." which may imply that vampire hunters in general have a certain strength. Furthermore, the Belmonts were exiled because their powers were seen as fearsome by the people of Transylvania. However, it has not been confirmed if the Belmonts have a special power (aside from the magical power of Sypha) or not.

The Belmonts' primary weapon is the Vampire Killer, an extremely powerful holy whip that is especially effective against evil and unholy creatures, such as vampires. Its full power can only be used without any consequences by a full-blooded member of the Belmont Clan. The Belmonts have also used Sub-Weapons as their other means to attack and they are generally very skilled in combat, whether it be with the Vampire Killer or the sub-weapons. Thus far, the Belmont Clan has been the most powerful one in Castlevania due to all this.

1094 - Leon Belmont
Leon Belmont is the founder of the family's tradition of vampire hunting and also the vampire killer, though he did not defeat Dracula as Dracula did not exist at that time. He was a knight once, but left his knighthood to pursue his wife's kidnappers, which led to the events of the game. After his efforts, the Belmonts' duty became protecting the people from darkness.

1476 - Trevor Belmont
Trevor is the first Belmont to have defeated Dracula and as such, has gained legendary status. Dracula had attacked Transylvania with his legions and no man could stand against him, which forced the church to find a member of the Belmont Clan. This led them to find Trevor. Trevor, single-handedly, defeated hordes of Dracula's legions, found valuable allies on his way and ultimately,defeated Dracula himself.

1576 and 1591 - Christopher Belmont
A hundred years after, Dracula would re-emerge, more powerful than ever, and haunt Transylvania again. However, Christopher Belmont stood ready to face the Count and defeated him in combat. Dracula feigned defeat, however, and waited 25 years to spot an opening, which he did when Christopher's son, Soleiyu, was born. ‎He possessed Soleiyu after the boy turned 15 and forced Christopher to tread through five castles, face Soleiyu in combat and defeat Dracula again. Christopher saved Soleiyu and came out victorious.

1591 - Soleiyu Belmont
Christopher's son and used as Dracula's vessel. He was freed from his influence when he was defeated in battle by his father. He inherited the whip and title of Vampire Hunter afterwards.

1691 and 1698 - Simon Belmont
Simon is possibly the most famous member of the clan. Even though it was rumored that Dracula becomes stronger with each resurrection, Simon still went into the castle alone and fought his way through, eventually defeating the Count. He was badly wounded from the battle, however and Dracula had cast a curse on Simon before his death. This curse did not allow the wound to be healed and slowly rotted Transylvania. It was not until 1698 that Simon, through a ghastly revelation, discovered the way to cure this curse, which involved reviving Dracula and defeating him again. He did so, and was victorious, saving Transylvania once more.

1748 - Juste Belmont
The castle had appeared suddenly, with no prior attack or ceremony. Juste had to explore the castle and discover its secrets and finally found out that it was through Maxim's other personality that the castle had resurfaced, albeit without its true master. Juste finally defeated the evil spirit dwelling within Maxim and in the end, fought a wraith that may or may not have been Dracula. He saved the world and his friends from Dracula's corruption.

1792 - Richter Belmont
Richter's town was attacked by dark legions and as soon as he found out, he rode towards the town on his carriage. Unfortunately, he was late as Dracula kidnapped his fiancé, Annette and three other maidens from the village.‎ Richter made his way through many formidable creatures and obstacles. He saved all four maidens and defeated Dracula, saving the world from darkness once more.

1999 - Julius Belmont
Julius appeared sometime in the 20th century, the first full-blooded Belmont heir since Richter, and took up the whip. He, along with some comrades, defeated Dracula once and for all in the year 1999, sealing his castle inside a solar eclipse that took place.

Gaiden
Members from the Belmont family who appear in works set in alternative timelines that spun off from the offical timeline.

Post-1476 - Sid Belmont
Trevor's descendant and possibile grandson or great-grandson based on information from the book. Together with the descendants of the other allies that helped his forefather Trevor, he manages to subdue Dracula once again.

16?? - Desmond Belmont
A member of the Belmont active during the 17th century. His parents were killed by one of Dracula's followers. Together with his sisters Zoe and Dolores, he infiltrates the mansion of a cult that wishes to revive Dracula. However, they were unable to stop the ritual in time and Desmond is forced to fight the Count. He is victorious and manages to escape the castle, which is still standing for reasons unknown.

16?? - Zoe and Delores Belmont
Desmond's younger sisters who aid him during his trek through the Order's mansion. They are both able to handle the Vampire Killer, but are not old enough to wield it yet.

195? Simon Belmont
A famous actor from the 1950's who is named after his famous forefather Simon. While shooting a movie based on his ancestor's exploits in Dracula's Castle, he acidently breaks the seal that kept the Count locked away. Using the heirlooms of Simon, his armor and whip, he manages to put an end to the vampire.

Lords of Shadow Saga

 * 1047 - Gabriel Belmont (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow)
 * 1073 - Trevor Belmont (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate)
 * 1101 - Simon Belmont (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate)

1450 - Sonia Belmont
Sonia Belmont was born in a remote mountain village located in Transylvania. One night, when Sonia was 17 years old, she encountered a young man named Alucard who was searching his father that he never met. The two formed a bond together. However, the tragedy suddenly stroke — the mansion where Sonia was raised was attacked by grotesque monsters serving Count Dracula and her grandfather became mortally wounded. Sonia took her grandfather's whip as a memento in her hand, setting out to Dracula's Castle. She managed to defeat him and gave birth to a son, fathered by Alucard, soon after.

Post-1450 - Trevor Belmont
Sonia and Alucard's son in this timeline. He grew up to be a hero and eventually confronted Dracula as well.

References in other Media
In the PC-Game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines there is a security unit at the end of the test chambers of the Fu Syndicate named the "Belmont Squad".

In the PS2 and Xbox game Van Helsing, one of the libraries Gabriel Van Helsing walks through contains a book about "an ancient clan of vampire hunters called the Belmonts".

In the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis game Zombies Ate my Neighbors, the vampire enemy's name is "Vlad Belmont". Makes sense, since the game was also made by Konami.

The Manga Series Zatch Bell!, called in Japan Konjiki no Gasshu!! (金色のガッシュ!!?, lit. Golden Gash!!) featured a Character named Sherry Belmont (ベルモンド シェリー, Berumondo Sherī). She assists her Partner Brago (who has has a slight resemblence to a Vampire). And her main-weapon is a flail.

In the Rosario + Vampire II Manga Series, the Main Character, Tsukune Aono, learns to control his Vampire Powers through the use of a Magical Whip that dispels Demon Power called 'Belmont'. This is clearly a reference to the Vampire Killer and the Belmont family.

Otomedius Excellent features a Belmont character playable in this game, her name is Kokoro Belmont, and she's the actual guardian of the clan (2011).