Juste Belmont

Juste Belmont (pronounced "Joost") is the hero of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. He is part of the Belmont Clan, and the grandson of Simon Belmont.

Character History
Juste is considered powerful even amongst his family for his superb magical talent derived from the Belnades family. He is able to best his friend, Maxim Kischine for control of the Vampire Killer. Maxim then goes on a training expedition to better himself. He returns two year later, wounded and amnesiac and claims that his and Juste's mutual friend, Lydie Erlanger, was kidnapped and taken to Castlevania. Juste arrives with Maxim but goes alone when Maxim needs to stop and recover. Chased inside by a giant undead knight, Juste has no other choice but to find Lydie with only his trustworthy Vampire Killer whip and a bracelet that both he and Maxim share. His true passion lies in interior design.

Juste's Quest
After journeying through Dracula's castle, Juste learns what truly happened during Maxim's training expedition. Maxim had been collecting Dracula's body parts in the hopes of resurrecting the Dark Lord and defeating him, much like how Simon defeated Dracula. However, this plan backfired, and Maxim ended up getting possessed by the dark power of Dracula's remains. Because of this Maxim ended up developing a second personality - a dark Maxim, through which Dracula's will spoke, and Juste would meet in the Sky Walkway. This evil side of Maxim was the one who kidnapped Lydie and left Maxim with his amnesia so he could lead Juste to the castle. Another result of this divide was that the castle has been split as well: there were two castles, or rather two sides of the same castle, connected by portals. They were named Castle A and Castle B, each representing one side of Maxim's mind, as the castle's creator.

The player's actions and whether or not Juste was wearing both Maxim's and his own bracelets affected Maxim's fate, giving the player access to multiple endings:



Ending A - Bad
True Maxim, faced by Juste in Castle A, begged Juste to take his life and relieve them all of the danger. Shortly thereafter, he loses all control over his dark side and attacks Juste with his full power, leaving the Belmont no other choice than to fight him. He finally reverts to his old self, mortally wounded. He manages to tell his friend that he just wanted to relieve him of his 'cursed fate' to fight for all eternity. His last words are "Take care of Lydie, will you...". Juste leaves Castlevania with Lydie, as Maxim's body stays inside as the castle starts to dissolve.

Ending B - Worst
Evil Maxim, faced by Juste in Castle B, welcomed him, claiming that he doesn't have any remains of old Maxim living within him and that, thanks to the blood of Lydie, he's gained great power. After taunting Juste, he proceeds to battle him. Lying in defeat and at the brink of death, he doesn't show any hint that soul of vampire killer's friend still lives within him. Wondering how could he lose with all of Dracula's powers, he curses Juste, telling him that with evil Maxim's death, real Maxim and Lydie, bitten, will perish as well, and that the eternal vampire hunt is a good enough fate for someone like him. He presumably dies then. Juste then leaves, cursing his inability to save anyone, as the castle dissolves, taking Maxim's and Lydie's bodies along with it.

Ending C - Best
Evil Maxim, faced by Juste in Castle B, welcomed him, claiming that he doesn't have any remains of old Maxim living within him and that, thanks to the blood of Lydie, he's gained great power. After taunting Juste, he proceeds to battle him. Though, Maxim was severely wounded, he stood up uneasily, clutching his head. He notices that Juste is wearing both his own and Maxim's bracelets and, newly motivated by his friend, tries to fight off dark influence. He tells Juste to kill him off while he still can restrain his evil side, but then, Dracula's remains start to fly away from Juste and form a circle. Dracula's then leaves Maxim's body and, using power of his remains, he manages to retain his old, albeit unstable, body, claiming that the Belmont's blood will once again make him whole. After a fierce battle Dracula burned away, causing Castlevania to dissolve.

Outside, Maxim returned to normal. He asks about Lydie, but Juste claims she'll be all right. Maxim apologizes to Juste, and the Belmont just tells him it's all behind them now. Lydie then comes to her senses, telling her friends, confused, that she thinks she's been bitten by Maxim. Juste tells her it probably was just a nightmare. Maxim protests, saying that they should tell her the truth, but Juste tells him to be quiet. As Lydie notices Maxim, he and Juste quarrel and actually are close to fighting, but Lydie calms them down, saying they're ruining the moment and that they'll talk about it back home. She then gets closer to Juste, saying that it had been a long time since they were home...

This is considered the canonical ending.

Trivia

 * Richter Belmont is believed to be the son or grandson of Juste. Juste's fight takes place in 1748 at the age of 18 while Richter is 19 in 1792. This means Juste would be 62 when Rondo of Blood takes place and 43 when Richter was born.

Gallery
For additional artwork, please visit .