Ortega

Ortega (ja. オルテガ) is a non-playable man-beast from the video game Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness for the Nintendo 64. He appears only in Cornell's part of the game, during most of which he serves as the main antagonist.

Character history
Ortega grew up in the same village as Cornell, a fellow man-beast, being a friend of his, but also a rival. The rivalry caused Ortega an increasing amount of frustration, as he was constantly being outdone on every occasion, and he started searching for a way to gain the kind of powers that would make him stronger than even Cornell.

This search led him on the path of darkness, as the only one able to grant him the request proved to be Dracula. As a condition for gaining the new powers, Dracula demanded of Ortega to aid his demons on their mission to kidnap Cornell's sister Ada and destroy the village. He was also to stop Cornell from rescuing Ada. Ortega accepted these conditions, and thus sealed his pact with the devil, gaining amazing power, but losing his humanity.

Ortega in Legacy of Darkness
Ortega first meets his old friend again after Cornell has made his through the haunted forest and reached the gates of the castle. Ortega confronts him there, tells him about what he has done and his part in Ada's kidnapping. Cornell has difficulties accepting this turn of events, and Ortega leaves without explaining his motives further, knowing it is not yet the time to battle him.

Later in the game Ortega makes another appearance, as he manages to catch Cornell in a cage and then forces him to fight another werewolf, a huge brute now under Dracula's control. Cornell beats the werewolf, but finds that Ortega has once again taken off. The final showdown is however imminent.

Ortega decides to finally to take on Cornell at the top of the room of clocks, which presents a sizable battle-ground. After a heated exchange of words, Ortega displays the true extent of his new powers by transforming into a mighty, three-headed Chimera, and attacks Cornell with full strength.

However, after a titanic battle, Cornell proves to still be the most powerful of the two warriors and defeats Ortega, gravely injuring him in the process. Ortega, now returned to his human form and recognizing that his life is quickly coming to an end, realizes the error of his ways and uses his last bit breath to tell Cornell where he can find Ada. He then throws himself of the tower, down to his doom.