Stopwatch

The Stopwatch is a Sub-Weapon used in Castlevania games. It is used to slow down/stop time temporarily. It is most useful against enemies that move around a lot, and enemies that are very annoying, or hard to hit. It normally lasts 5 seconds and traditionally consumes 5 hearts, a considerable higher amount than other sub-weapons. Some enemies (especially bosses) are immune to time stopping events, or are only slowed down instead of freezing completely. Its item crash involve a longer amount of time freezing and sometimes an energy attack following the end of the attack. Some other games feature spells or abilities that essentially work like as a stopwatch does, such has the Chronomage soul in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and a Time Stop spell in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. The stopwatch is the traditional subweapon that is most frequently absent from certain games.

Castlevania
The original Castlevania featured a Stopwatch as one of the 5 original sub-weapons that could be used in the game. The player could only equip a single sub-weapon at a time, each which could be obtained from hitting a particular candle or as a drop item from an enemy. By holding up while attacking, all enemies on the screen freeze. The game's stage timer, moving platforms and traps, and some bosses are unaffected by this action. The stopwatch is the only subweapon in this game that takes more than one heart, and it takes 5 hearts to be used. It is also the only weapon in the game that cannot be enhanced with the use of Double Shot or Triple Shots.

Vampire Killer
The Hourglass in Vampire Killer is essentially the same thing as a Stopwatch and acts in a similar manner when used. It is only one of two sub-weapons that consume hearts in this game (the other is Holy Water). It is possible to have both sub-weapons equipped at the same time in this game, however, and the button combinations to use them is different (Jump + Down for Hour Glass and Jump + Right or Left for Holy Water). Both sub-weapons consume 5 hearts in this game.

Haunted Castle
The Timer is the only sub-weapon in Haunted Castle that looks and behaves like one of the traditional subweapons. In this game, it only consumes 2 Hearts, but has much the same affect as the Hourglass from Vampire Killer for MSX.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
The Stopwatch found in Dracula's Curse is identical to the Stopwatch found in the original Castlevania game. It is the only sub-weapon that can be used by all four characters, and is notably the only sub-weapon that can be equipped by Alucard.

Super Castlevania IV
The Watch in Super Castlevania IV is similar to that found in the original Castlevania.