Maria Renard


 * Maria Renard is a vampire huntress introduced in the 1993 NEC PC Engine game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

Maria Renard is a vampire huntress and a distant relative of the Belmont clan. With only the age of twelve, she has mastered how to use Animal spirits for familiars, summoning Magic Spells and the four Celestial Beasts.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
As a vampire huntress, the 12-year-old Maria Renard stood up against Dracula's minions with the possession of her magical power. However, Maria somehow was caught and brought to Dracula's Castle along with three other women: Iris, a doctor's daughter, Tera, a nun, and Annette, the fiancé of this current generation's Belmont warrior, Richter, who was a distant relative of Maria's family.

Maria was imprisoned in a dungeon near the sewage under the Main Hall. She was rescued by the vampire hunter Richter Belmont. Maria introduced herself to Richter, identifying herself as a vampire huntress despite her youth. Richter responded Maria with a laugh and told her leave vampire hunting business to an elder man like himself, apparently because she is too young to fight which made Maria upset.

Castlevania: Dracula X
Maria was abducted along with Annette, her sister, by Dracula's minion and was imprisoned somewhere in Dracula's Castle.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Maria was born to aristocratic parents of the Renard Clan, which had distant blood ties to the Belmont clan and were known to keep doves as pets for protection. It is not clear if Maria was aware of her warrior heritage, but she was born with powerful magical potential, and was very brave for a small girl.

In 1792, when she was 12 years old, the dark priest Shaft raided her village for women to offer as sacrifices to increase his lord Dracula's strength. Maria's parents were killed in the raid and she was taken off with three other villagers, Iris, a doctor's daughter, Tera, a nun, and Annette, the fiancé of this current generation's Belmont warrior, Richter. It was under these circumstances that Maria first met Annette, and they were initially brought to Dracula's Castle together. Having lost her parents, Maria and Annette formed a bond in captivity and Maria would start referring to Annette as her "big sister". Annette told her about Richter and how powerful he was and that she was sure that he would save them.

Shaft noticed that Maria had a hidden power inside of her and determined that it would be best used to serve Count Dracula. He separated Maria from Annette and brought her to a hidden ceremony room. There he cast a spell on her, which brought that power forward, but he was interrupted by Richter Belmont, who was able to find them. Shaft fled without a fight and Maria awoke to find Richter, as brave and as powerful as Annette had said that he was. Richter was happy that she was fine and asked her to go home to her parents, but she said that since they were now in heaven, she had no where else to go and would follow Richter.

She had a strong desire to save Annette and the other villagers and stop the "bad man" who had captured them. When she became a little irritated by Richter's pleas for her for safety, she inadvertently summoned a dragon for the first time, which caught Richter off guard. It was now evident that she was no longer a helpless girl, but had the power, will, and stubbornness to survive in the castle. Richter felt that he had no choice but to allow her to help him. Maria used newly awoken powers to gain dominion over animals as well as the four Celestial Beasts to protect her on her quest. Maria and Richter split up in order to search for the missing village women. The women who Maria was able to save were very surprised, and maybe a little disappointed, to be saved by a young girl instead of a strong young man, but then very grateful. Throughout her ordeal and despite her loss, Maria remained cheerfuly optimistic and confident in her abilities and her animal friends' help. They were eventually able to save all of the village women and Shaft was defeated. During the final confrontation with Dracula, it is possible that Maria aided Richter by channeling all of her power to cast a powerful protection spell on him.

Castlevania: Judgment
$Judgment$ After Dracula was defeated, Maria was adopted into the Belmont household. She looked up to Richter as an older brother. At some point, Maria had a new pet barn owl named Osca which would take the place of her doves. Maria would have a hard time being a young kid growing up around well endowed mature village women, such as those she helped rescue and she became dissatisfied with her own lack of development.

At the age of 15, Maria sensed a strange unease among her animal friends. Beneath the light of a full moon, she ventured out into a dark forest seeking answers. She had entered a time rift and was greeted by a strange man who introduced himself as Aeon. He explained that this realm was a place where she would find what she desired, but that there would be trials for her to pass. She was delighted at the prospect of receiving a present, so she gladly accepted the trials. Perhaps this could cure her self-image problems? She would fight several warriors from other time periods, including Shanoa, who made the mistake of referring to her as a little girl, Sypha, who didn't seem to appreciate the two "sacred gifts" that she had been endowed with, and Carmilla, a vampire who naturally had to be destroyed, but who was also irritatingly "bigger" than her. When she returned from the time rift, time would bring her what she desired. However, she soon found that her faith in appearances would fade like a dream.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
In 1796, Richter vanished under the light of a full moon. Maria immediately set out to find her guardian and friend with no idea of where to start. After a year of searching, in 1797, Dracula's Castle reappeared as if to show her the way. While she set out to Dracula's Castle once again, unbeknown to her, Alucard, the son of Dracula who had put himself under an eternal sleep after defeating his father with Richter's ancestor, Trevor Belmont, three hundred years earlier, was mysteriously awoken from his slumber. Alucard also set out to the Castle with the intent of destroying the castle and preventing Dracula's revival.

Maria and Alucard would meet several times while pursuing their separate goals. Maria was surprised to find another "human" in the Castle, but when Alucard introduced himself at her request and explained what his goal was, she decided to trust him and they went their separate ways. Maria had trouble getting around the Castle after that as its very form seemed different than the last time she was there.

When she met up with Alucard again, she asked him about it, and he explained that the Castle itself was a creature of chaos and that it can take many forms. With this in mind, she continued her search. She later witnessed a battle between Alucard and a Hippogryph and was very impressed by the strength he had shown during the battle. She decided to ask Alucard to help her find Richter, or at least let her know if he ran across him. Alucard agreed, but she did not like what he had to say about him once he did encounter him. He had told her that he was in league with Dracula and claimed to be the lord of this castle. Maria was relieved that Richter was indeed in the castle, but couldn't believe what Alucard had said about him, so she left in a hurry to find out for herself. She eventually found out that what Alucard was saying was the truth, but she knew that he was being controlled somehow. She was not confident in her own ability to face and defeat Richter however, and she decided to test Alucard's strength to determine if he was up to the task. Alucard was able to defeat her and she entrusted saving Richter to him. She pleaded for him not to harm Richter, but they agreed that he must be stopped, so she gave him the Holy Glasses to enable him to see through evil illusions.

Alucard faced off against Richter in the Castle Keep, but was now able to see the mysterious orbs that allowed Shaft to control Richter, and in the middle of their battle, he destroyed those orbs, thus releasing Richter from his spell. While Alucard chased Shaft into an inverted Castle in order to prevent his resurrection of Dracula, Maria helped the wounded Richter escape from the castle. They went to a ridge a safe distance from the castle and waited for Alucard to finish his task. As they watched the Castle crumble in the aftermath of Alucard's victory, Alucard met up with them at that ridge in order to bid them farewell. He told them that his blood was cursed and that the world would be better off to be rid of him, and he departed to return to his deep slumber. This was unacceptable to Maria, who had developed a strong attraction to Alucard and couldn't imagine him not being a part of her life. After Richter assured her that it was okay, she set out to convince him to stay.

Akumajo Dracula X: Tsuioku no Yasoukyoku
Apparently, Maria succeeded in convincing Alucard to stay and the two of them are now living in a house outside town. Knowing that it would be difficult for Alucard's tormented soul to heal after killing his own father, she was caring and affectionate towards him, but despite her best efforts, he remained emotionally distant.

One day, Alucard was having a dream about his past and his meeting with a strange young man named Lyudmil, who offered his friendship on the grounds of gratitude towards Alucard's mother, Lisa. The dream was interrupted by Maria who walked into the room to wake him up. The two ended up in an argument about Alucard not opening up to her, not telling her anything about himself. After his imp insulted her cooking and Alucard agreed, Maria headed to the market to buy food in an attempt to change their mind. There, she received a letter from Richter about certain dark rumors surrounding their town. He seemed to be especially concerned about Alucard, even though he refused to believe he's involved.

On her way back, she ran across two men, Cyril and Alexis, who claimed to be vampire hunters. The two warned her about recent reports on vampire attacks on women and urge her to go home. Soon after they were gone, she encounters an incubus, named Magnus, who gleefully explained to her that Alucard was evil and thirsted for human blood. She attacked him, but he had no desire to fight her, Magnus left with a promise to meet her again.

Despite what she wanted to believe, Alucard confirms Magnus' words and Maria, stricken with grief, stormed out. Later, she decided to go back and help Alucard, but ran into Cyril and Alexis again. The two mention a special "medicine", which Maria recognized as a danger. She tried to take it away from them and in the ensuing struggle, the vial dropped to the ground. Maria, enveloped in fog, lost consciousness. She was found by Richter and taken back home, where she awakens only to discover she could no longer contact her guardian spirits. She insisted on fighting at Alucard's side, despite the circumstances, but Alucard himself dismissed her and set to face Magnus alone.

Maria followed him anyway and arrived just in time to find him losing a mental struggle against Magnus, who's using Alucard's old friendship with Lyudmil, now a vampire under the incubus' influence and the real culprit behind the attacks in the village, as a tool to bring out Alucard's vampiric instincts. Magnus attempted to kill her, but despair reconnected her with her spirits, thus turning the tide of battle.

Witnessing Maria's brush with death, Alucard finally displayed some emotion towards her. He apologizeed and Maria ungrudgingly accepts it. However, despite the defeat of Magnus, Alucard still had a deeply regretful farewell to Lyudmil, whom he was unable to save.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Maria Renard appears at the age of 12 in 1993 NEC PC Engine game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. After being rescued by Richter, Maria can be selected as a playable character when continuing the game. Her primary weapon are doves instead of a whip, and her Sub-Weapons include a cat, a turtle, cardinals, a dragon, an egg, the Book of Music and a key. Each of the Sub-Weapons has an Item Crash associated with it that consume extra hearts and are more powerful.

In addition to her normal attacks, by entering down, up, down-right, II when facing right, Maria can perform Guardian Knuckle that projects a holographic forward, attacking enemies without even approaching them.

Different from Richter, Maria is able to perform sliding and double jumping. Unlike Richter's bulky action, her movement is more smooth and quick. She is much easier for a beginner to use.

She wears a blue ribbon, a pink dress, and small brown boots in the game.

Castlevania: Dracula X
Maria (her family name is unknown) also appears in the 1995 SNES game Castlevania: Dracula X as a 12-year old girl who needs to be rescued, however, she is not playable in the game. When saved, she simply tells Richter that her sister, Annette is somewhere else in the castle.

If Richter doesn't save Annette, Richter and Maria will be close to each other and Maria will have a depressed look on her face showing that she'll miss Annette for the rest of her life. If Richter saves both Maria and Annette and defeats Dracula, Maria appears in the end credits, where she has an embarrassed and shocked expression on her face while Richter and sister embrace each other.

She has a different hairstyle to her appearance in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

Original Version
Maria was going to be put in the 1997 game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a playable character, but was cut back, due to time restraints. It was discovered that Maria's voice tracks are permanently stored in the game's RAM on the PlayStation version, confirming that she was going to be playable.

She is shown in artwork as having an owl on her shoulder, which seems to have replaced her doves, and would be shown in action in later versions of the game. She also appeared as a boss as well in later versions.

Entering the name "MARIA" as on the name entry screen in this version actually starts the game playing as Alucard, but the Doppelganger enemies are skipped.

$Symphony of the Night$

Saturn Edition
Maria is a playable character selectable from the start of the game of the Sega Saturn version Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Her fighting style has changed drastically in this game as she does not use animal summons as subweapons. Her main attacks consist of kicking and punching. She is able to perform energy blasts from her fingertips to strike things in the distance. She is able to equip and use the same subweapons that Richter is able to use, except that she cannot perform the item crashes. She has a magic meter like Alucard and can perform spells granted from the spiritual energy from the animals that appear in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and she can use a bit of magic to do a High Jump.

$Symphony of the Night/Saturn$

PSP Version
A brand new version of Maria is playable in the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night game that was included in 2007 Sony PlayStation Portable game Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles.

She now uses some of her four traditional animal sub-weapons once again and is able to switch back and forth between two of them. Her animal friends have reached maturity too along with Maria herself and this time around, she can item crash these animals. She also has a Doll Sub-Weapon just like her hidden attack in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and it can also be item crashed. Her primary attack Doves have been replaced with Owls. She can also superjump and slowly float back down, by holding one of her owls above her head.

$Symphony of the Night/DXC$

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Though Maria has no mention in the story of the game, she is a hidden character along side Richter Belmont in the 2006 Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.

Her primary weapon are her doves again, but she is able to send them out very rapidly in this game. She maintains most of her four animal subweapons that appeared in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and is able to select them at will. She is not able to perform item crashes in this game.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Maria is playable in the 3D remake of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood', which is included in the 2007 Sony PlayStation Portable game Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. Her moves and abilities are essentially the same as they appeared in the original.

Castlevania: Judgment
$Judgment$

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
$Harmony of Despair$

Gallery
$Gallery$


 * Castlevania: Rondo of Blood