Brauner

Brauner is a vampire artist in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. He is the main villain of the game, befitting his past as an artist prior to vampirism. He is the one who created the many portraits which the player must travel through to get to different areas.

Background
An elder vampire with a resemblance to Count Orlok, Brauner recreated Dracula's Castle using the souls of the dead from World War II in order to destroy humanity. Unlike most other vampires in the series, he has no loyalty to Dracula due to his repeated failures in the past. Brauner disdains humanity because his two real daughters were killed 30 years ago, during World War I, and he has deluded the vampiric Stella and Loretta (and possibly himself as well) into believing that they are his daughters. After the player defeats him in battle, Death comes in and finishes him off, saying his presence is what kept Dracula sealed.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Brauner is the second-to-last boss encountered in the game, save for optional bosses.

Brauner usually starts the battle by painting two giant blood trails on the screen that will damage the player upon contact, but which can be destroyed by an attack or a spell. He then attacks the player by throwing paint-like blood at Jonathan and Charlotte, before summoning monsters from a painting (all monsters can be avoided). Depending on the color of the painting, the monsters and their effects will be different:
 *  Green : Summons two giant spinning monsters. Inflicts Poison status upon contact.
 *  Blue : Several heads start flying in the heroes' direction. Inflicts Petrification upon contact.
 *  Gray : Summons two giant ghosts, one on the ground and another on the ceiling, that will travel to the edge of the screen. Inflicts Curse status upon contact.

Brauner can also teleport inside his portrait and fly around, damaging the player if he or she touches it.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
Brauner appears in the game as the boss of the fourth chapter. His attacks are same as those in Portrait of Ruin.

Trivia

 * Although Brauner is a vampire who seeks humanity's destruction and uses the souls of those who died in World War II to revive Dracula's Castle, he does not seek to revive (nor does he intend to serve) the Castle's Dark Lord, Dracula, who Brauner keeps under seal, instead taking the Castle's power and army for himself. The reason Brauner does not revive Dracula is because of his constant failures to destroy humanity. Brauner is one of a handful of monsters/vampires who do not serve Dracula (like Frozen Half and Time Reaper) and is opposed to Dracula's status as Dark Lord (similar to Galamoth).
 * Ironically, Dracula is partially responsible for the deaths of Brauner's two daughters (which fueled Brauner's hatred for humanity), as Dracula's niece Elizabeth Bartley had the Crown Prince of Austria assassinated, leading Europe into the chaos of World War I (which took the lives of Brauner's two daughters) in order to revive her uncle, only for both to be defeated by John Morris and Eric Lecarde (the same man Brauner would later murder). Brauner, however, apparently held humanity responsible for the War (it is unknown if he was aware of Bartley's role in starting the war or not) that led to the deaths of his beloved daughters.
 * Despite being enemies, both Brauner and Eric Lecarde have lost loved ones due to the actions of Elizabeth Bartley. She turned Eric's lover Gwendolyn into a vampire who Eric was forced to destroy, and started the war which took the lives of Brauner's daughters (whose souls Brauner believed had been reincarnated into Eric's two daughters, Stella and Loretta).
 * Brauner is possibly based on Romanian sculptor Victor Brauner.
 * Brauner's overall design appears to be based on both Count Olrox from Symphony of the Night, and the main antagonist of the film Nosferatu, Count Orlok. While in fact Olrox was primarily inspired by the film's character, Brauner only appears to wear a similar purple-colored Victorian apparel, while the rest of his physical features (face, pointy ears and thin hands with long nails) along with the design of his suit (which now portrays a larger uplift collar) are more reminiscent to those of Count Orlok.
 * Brauner's method of attack when he enters a painting and swoops down on the player is reminiscent of how the Captain attacks in Rondo of Blood.