Joachim Armster

Joachim Armster is a vampire who appeared in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. He was a former lieutenant of Walter Bernhard. Walter lured Joachim by promising him eternal life with the gift of vampirism. Later, after becoming a vampire, Joachim attempted to usurp the position of his superior, but Walter's mastery of the Ebony Stone proved to make him unbeatable to Joachim, and he defeated him with relative ease.

Amused by the fact that Joachim tried to defeat him, Walter decided to indulge him, and at the same time establish his own personal way of supremacy. Rather than destroying Joachim, he imprisoned him in the Dark Palace of Waterfalls, sealing one of the keys to Walter's inner sanctum with him. As Joachim's current location was blocked off by streams of water (the touch of which is like acid to a vampire and to many of Walter's own legions of monsters), Joachim could never leave. Maddened by hunger, Joachim was constantly reminded of the indignity forced upon him by Walter. He used Joachim for his own amusement, luring any adventurer who had entered his domains to confront him. Suffice to say, when encountered by Leon Belmont as the boss of the Dark Palace of Waterfalls, Joachim had ample frustration to vent, hoping to slay Leon, drain his blood and (hopefully) gain the strength necessary to break free from his prison and exact revenge on Walter.

Battle Quotes

 * Die! (死ね！)
 * Dead!
 * Cover me! (守れ！)
 * Useless!
 * It can't be! (when attacked)

Joachim Mode
After finishing the game as Leon, Joachim can be used as a playable character by entering @JOACHIM on the name entry screen. There are several major changes to the gameplay, as Joachim cannot carry healing items and is physically weaker than Leon, which increases the difficulty. These disadvantages are balanced by increased speed and powerful magic attacks. There are no cutscenes to drive the plot, save for a very brief scene after defeating the final boss (in which Joachim becomes the lord of the castle), though the images shown during the credits differ from Leon's ending.

Trivia

 * It might be worth noting that Joachim is the only playable villain in the Castlevania series (aside from the Lords of Shadow saga), though his antagonistic nature is softened by his somewhat sympathetic portrayal in his cutscenes, as well as his unfortunate circumstances.
 * There are four songs related to this character:
 * Melancholy Joachim (哀愁のヨアヒム) - Played while fighting against Joachim. It can also be heard in the ending credits of Order of Ecclesia.


 * Castlevania Reincarnation - Played while fighting bosses as Joachim (including the Joachim doppelganger boss). It is a remix that merges Dracula's Castle and Black Banquet, songs from Symphony of the Night.


 * Young Nobleman of the Water Prison (水牢の貴公子) - Not used in the game. Available only on the sampler CD that came with the Japanese special edition of the game. A softer remix of Melancholy Joachim featuring piano and oboe.


 * Joachim of the Clear Blue Lake (透碧湖畔のヨアヒム) - Not used in the game. Appeared only on the Lament of Innocence soundtrack.
 * The hilts of his symbiotic swords are, incidentally, shaped the same as that of the Spectral Sword's central sword in Symphony of the Night.
 * The name Joachim is of Hebrew origin and means "God will establish". This is probably a reference to the Crusades that took place during the year 1094 in which Lament of Innocence is set, seeing as how the main goal of the campaign was to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims.