Golem

The Golem is an enemy from many games spanning across the Castlevania series. Like other monsters in the series, its role in each game ranges from boss threats to nonexistent.

Original Character Overview
The Golem was concieved long ago in Jewish folklore. During the Middle Ages, it was seen as a symbol of one's own great holiness and power to create a Golem, and many prominent Rabbis were rumored to have actually created a number of Golems. In the making of a Golem, according to yet more folklore, is to build it from the dust of the earth, much like how God made Adam. There are multiple ways to activate a Golem:


 * By inscribing one of the many names of God into its forehead.
 * By inscribing one of the many names of God on a slip of paper, and placing it in the Golem's mouth. (Note: This is similar to how a Jiang-Shi is activated in Chinese myth, except that the paper is inscribed with Imperial decree and nailed upon the forehead.)
 * By inscribing a specific religious command using one's own blood on calfskin, and placing that into its mouth, a method that sounds suspiciously occultic rather than religious.
 * By inscribing the Hebrew word, Emet ("life") on its forehead.

It is always the wisest decision to never give the Golem the ability to speak. If it has the ability to speak, then the Golem is given a soul; and if it is given a soul, the Golem becomes anarchistic and cunning--in a sense, the Golem becomes a wicked, foul creature. Another good idea is to always allow the Golem to rest on the Sabbath (Sundays), or else the Golem will go berserk and become destructive of everything around it. If either one of these mistakes are made, or if for any other reason, there are also a few ways meant to deactivate the Golem.


 * If activated using the word Emet, one must erase the "E" to form the word Met ("death").
 * If activated using the calfskin parchment, the parchment must be removed from its mouth.
 * If activated using the slip of paper, the paper must be removed and destroyed.

In all definitions, the Golem is meant to be a servant to the one who created it. While there are many forms of the Golem throughout the Castlevania series, they all really stay true to the original myths surrounding the Golem. Frankenstein's Monster, a recurring boss monster in the series, can also be considered a Golem--except that he is formed from corpses while the Golem is traditionally dust and earth. Both prove to be some of the most difficult characters in the series.

Castlevania: Bloodlines
In this game, the Golem is featured for the first official time as the boss of Stage 2, which takes place in Greece. After defeating the warlock who was using his magic to force the waters of Atlantis to rise to threatening heights, the player rides the tide down to the bottom of the Atlantic palace and comes face-to-face with the warlock's creation: a Golem! Its body has multiple layers that the player must break in order to do damage to a red orb that acts as its head (And, therefore, its weakpoint). Its attack are mainly just pummeling the ceiling to cause rocks to drop from the ceiling and trying to slug the player from a point-blank distance. After the Golem is defeated, it raises its fist, as if to threaten that it will someday return...

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Harmony of Dissonance was famous for its numerous boss fights, and the Golem joins the large cast of boss monsters. It functions much like it did in Bloodlines, even so far as to have the same red orb that acts as its weakpoint. However, it has a few new attacks such as actually spewing a cascade of rock shards.

Aria of Sorrow
In this game, the Golem is relegated to being just a very strong enemy. As a matter of fact, this time around, it seems to have invited its cousins to help the other legions of Dracula's minions. There are many more Golems than just the familiar stone giant: one of which, made of iron, is impossible to defeat without use of the Dark Mantle soul because its defense is ridiculously high. While they aren't bosses, the Golems make nuisances of themselves all the same.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
In perhaps its most memorable role, the Golem is one of the bosses Leon must defeat in order to open the door to Walter's Keep. It is worth noting here that during the Golem's level, Leon must find a stone letter "E" and bring to the boss room, and insert it into an epitaph that has "Met" written on it. This is one of the actual ways of activating a Golem (Writing Emet on its person). However, the Golem does not seem ready to obey the man who brought it to life, and attacks Leon. It is basically a bruiser boss: many of its attacks consist of throwing Leon around the room or crushing him beneath its own earthy presence. When defeated, as usual, it once again returns to the peace of the earth.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
They are featured here the same as in the first Sorrow game, except that their sprites are redrawn to fit the more-demanding graphical capabilities of the Nintendo DS.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Featured yet again as a powered-up enemy.

Castlevania: Judgment
A Golem has been confirmed to be a playable character in the 3D fighting game Castlevania: Judgment for the Nintendo Wii. Its design seems to be a mixture of both the Golem and Frankenstein's Monster.