Leon Belmont

Leon Belmont was a noble knight in Europe during late 11th century, and the protagonist of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. He lost both parents at a very young age, and was knighted at 16. Leon was also a good friend of Mathias Cronqvist. When his dear lady Sara Trantoul was whisked away by the vampire Walter Bernhard, he entered the castle grounds unarmed, but was given a Whip of Alchemy, a whip that was blessed with the power of alchemy, by the old man Rinaldo Gandolfi, who lived on the grounds. Using his whip and magic gauntlet, he entered the castle in hopes to find and rescue his fiancée.

Leon is the earliest named member of the Belmont Clan. He was the first to use the Vampire Killer and was responsible for swearing his clan to fight evil for eternity.

Official background: The hero in this game. He is a baron who is revered as the most powerful of the land's knights. Casting aside fame and fortune to save his abducted betrothed, he ventures into the vampire's castle alone.

Character history
Leon Belmont was born in 11th century Europe, where knights not only protected their lords, but also protected the peace and fought heretics in God’s name. Orphaned at a very young age, Leon became a knight when he was just 16 years old, and his skill in combat was second to none. He joined a company of knights with his close friend, Mathias Cronqvist, and they made the platoon invincible with their skills in combat and strategy. But Mathias was bedridden after losing his wife, Elisabetha. One year later, monsters began attacking Leon’s domain, but the Church forbade him to fight them because they were focused only on heretics. He was then informed by Mathias that his betrothed, Sara Trantoul, was kidnapped by a vampire and brought her to a castle in the forest ‘Eternal Night’. To save his beloved, Leon renounced his title as a baron and ventured into the forest alone.

On his journey, Leon encountered Rinaldo Gandolfi, an alchemist who lived by himself in the forest. From the old man, he learned that the vampire who kidnapped Sara was Walter Bernhard, who amused himself by playing ‘cat-and-mouse’ with powerful warriors before defeating them. Rinaldo offered his assistance by giving Leon the Whip of Alchemy, a weapon imbued with the powers of alchemy, and empowering his gauntlet with the ability to absorb magical attacks. The alchemist also warned him that Walter could only be reached after defeating the five guardians protecting the vampire’s quarters.

Reaching the castle, Leon defeated the guardians one by one. They included Joachim Armster, a vampire imprisoned by Walter for his rebellion, the monster Medusa who turned victims into stone, and a succubus who tried to trick Leon by disguising herself as Sara. Whenever he returned to Rinaldo, he gained valuable information, which included the whip’s incomplete state, the Ebony and Crimson stones, and how the alchemist lost his daughter, Justine, to vampirism.

Eventually, Leon entered Walter’s chamber, where he discovered that the whip could not harm the vampire and Sara was in a strange trance. Walter left to return to his chambers, and Leon took Sara back to Rinaldo’s house. But he and the alchemist soon discovered that his betrothed was bitten by Walter and was about to become a vampire. The only way to save her was to defeat Walter but the whip was not powerful enough. So Rinaldo told Leon that he needed to kill Sara and absorb her soul into the whip, which was something the young warrior was hesitant to do. Suddenly, they found Sara outside and learned that she had overheard everything, and she volunteered to sacrifice her life to empower the whip. Although he was hesitant at first, Leon complied with his lover’s request and bound her soul to the whip, transforming it into the Vampire Killer. After burying Sara outside of Rinaldo’s house, Leon ventured to defeat Walter once and for all.

Reaching the castle throne room, Leon confronted Walter for the last time. With the Vampire Killer, he destroyed the Ebony Stone protecting the vampire and soundly defeated him. Suddenly, Death appeared and reaped Walter’s soul, transferring it to Crimson Stone. Upon the appearance of Mathias, who possessed the stone, Leon realized that his friend was behind everything, using everyone to obtain Walter’s soul in order to empower the Crimson Stone. Mathias’s motivation was vengeance upon God for taking his wife Elisabetha, and he abandoned humanity and defied mortal life. He offered Leon to join him, but the warrior refused, vowing to keep the promise that he made to Sara. Seeing that his friend could not be swayed, Mathias left Leon to Death. As the warrior prevailed, Leon told Death to give Mathias a message: that the Belmonts would destroy him someday.

Afterwards, Leon escaped as the castle began to crumble, making it outside as the sun began to rise.

Family relations
According to Koji Igarashi's ideal timeline, Leon Belmont is the earliest, as well as the very first known member of the Belmont Clan, making him the ancestor to all of the later known members of the Belmont clan so far.

Sara Trantoul was Leon's fiancée, but she was captured by the vampire Walter Bernhard and was then bitten by him. Only by sacrificing herself to be entwined with the sacred whip could Walter then be stricken down by Leon. This was how the whip, Vampire Killer, acquired its power.

Leon was a nobleman, but was forced to renounce his title to go after Walter and save Sara. Leon would marry to a unknown woman and continue his legacy and therefore future Belmonts would come from far humbler backgrounds.

Items
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Legacy
So far, Leon has only starred in a single Castlevania game, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. However, chronologically, he is the earliest known Belmont in the Belmont Clan, living in the late 11th century. Lament of Innocence takes place in 1094 in particular. Leon's adventures in Lament of Innocence has also be chronicled in the 2007 cell phone comic by the same name.

As the first Belmont in the vampire slayer business, later games and franchises often point back to him.
 * An early script of the Castlevania film featured a scene where Trevor C. Belmont and his brother Christopher uncover a mural that told the tale of Leon's struggle against Mathias.
 * When Christopher Belmont is troubled by dreams that seem to be a prelude to Dracula's revival in the American comic series Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy, he seeks solace in Legacy Cemetery, his family's cemetery. A great statue of Leon Belmont is the first monument he comes across and later Belmonts appear after him in chronological order.
 * In the 2007 cell phone game Castlevania: Order of Shadows, Zoe and Dolores Belmont find hidden away in The Order's possession the gauntlet which Rinaldo had enchanted for Leon, which enabled the hero Desmond Belmont to be able to use alchemy items. It is later learned that the Vampire Killer possesses memories of and a connection to the spirit of those who have come in contact with it.
 * In the 2006 Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin are able to summon Leon's strength along with four other great Belmonts in the Greatest Five attack, where they each strike using the whip in succession.