Maria Renard

Maria Renard (ja. マリア･ラーネッド Maria Rāneddo) is a heroine from Konami's Castlevania series. She appears as a playable character in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Demon Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight (the Sega Saturn port of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) and all three games in the Dracula X Chronicles. She also appears as a non-playable character in Castlevania: Dracula X and the aforementioned Symphony of the Night.

Before Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Maria was born in 1780 to aristocratic parents of the Renard Clan, which had distant blood ties to the Belmont clan and were known to keep doves as pets for protection. It is not clear if Maria was aware of her warrior heritage, but she was born with powerful magical potential, and was very brave for a small girl.

Events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
In 1792 when she was 12 years old, the dark priest Shaft raided her village for women to offer as sacrifices to increase his lord Dracula's strength. Maria's parents were killed in the raid and she was taken off with three other villagers, Iris, a doctor's daughter, Tera, a nun, and Annette, the fiance of this current generation's Belmont warrior, Richter. It was under these circumstances that Maria first met Annette, and they were initially brought to the Castle together. Having lost her parents, Maria and Annette formed a bond in captivity and Maria would start referring to Annette as her "big sister". Annette told her about Richter and how powerful he was and that she was sure that he would save them.

Shaft noticed that Maria had a hidden power inside of her and determined that it would be best used to serve Lord Dracula. He separated Maria from Annette and brought her to a hidden ceremony room. There he cast a spell on her, which brought that power forward, but he was interrupted by Richter Belmont, who was able to find them. Shaft fled without a fight and Maria awoke to find Richter, as brave and as powerful as Annette had said that he was. Richter was happy that she was okay and asked her to go home to her parents, but she said that since they were now in heaven she had no where else to go and would follow Richter. She had a strong desire to save Annette and the other villagers and stop the "bad man" who had captured them. When she became a little irritated by Richter's pleas for her for safety, she inadvertently summoned a dragon for the first time, which caught Richter off guard. It was now evident that she was no longer a helpless girl, but had the power, will, and stubbornness to survive in the castle. Richter felt that he had no choice but to allow her to help him. Maria used newly awoken powers to gain dominion over animals as well as the four Celestial Beasts to protect her on her quest. Maria and Richter split up in order to search for the missing village women. The women who Maria was able to save were very surprised, and maybe a little disappointed, to be saved by a young girl instead of a strong young man, but then very grateful. Throughout her ordeal and despite her loss, Maria remained cheerfuly optimistic and confident in her abilities and her animal friends' help. They were eventually able to save all of the village women and Shaft was defeated. During the final confrontation with Dracula, it is possible that Maria aided Richter by channeling all of her power to cast a powerful protection spell on him.

Events of Castlevania: Judgment
After Dracula was defeated, Maria was adopted into the Belmont household. She looked up to Richter as an older brother. At some point, Maria had a new pet barn owl named Osca which would take the place of her doves. Maria would have a hard time being a young kid growing up around well endowed mature village women such as those she helped rescue and she became dissatisfied with her own lack of development. According to Castlevania: Judgment, at the age of 15, Maria sensed a strange unease among her animal friends. Beneath the light of a full moon, she ventured out into a dark forest seeking answers. She had entered a time rift and was greeted by a strange man who introduced himself as Aeon. He explained that this realm was a place where she would find what she desired, but that there would be trials for her to pass. She was delighted at the prospect of receiving a present, so she gladly accepted the trials. Perhaps this could cure her self-image problems? She would fight several warriors from other time periods, including Shanoa, who made the mistake of referring to her as a little girl, Sypha, who didn't seem to appreciate the two "sacred gifts" that she had been endowed with, and Carmilla, who was a vampire who naturally had to be destroyed, but who was also irritatingly "bigger" than her. When she returned from the time rift, time would bring her what she desired. However, she soon found that her faith in appearances would fade like a dream.

Events of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
A year after her time traveling incident, Richter vanished under the light of a full moon. Maria immediately set out to find her guardian and friend with no idea of where to start. After a year of searching, in 1797, Dracula's Castle reappeared as if to show her the way. While she set out to Dracula's Castle once again, unbeknown to her, Alucard, the son of Dracula who had put himself under an eternal sleep after defeating his father with Richter's ancestor Trevor Belmont 300 years earlier, was mysteriously awoken from his slumber. Alucard also set out to the Castle with the intent of destroying the castle and preventing Dracula's revival. Maria and Alucard would meet several times while pursuing their separate goals. Maria was surprised to find another "human" in the Castle, but when Alucard introduced himself at her request and explained what his goal was, she decided to trust him and they went their separate ways. Maria had trouble getting around the Castle after that as its very form seemed different than the last time she was there. When she met up with Alucard again, she asked him about it, and he explained that the Castle was a creature of chaos and that it can take many forms. With this in mind, she continued her search. She later witnessed a battle between Alucard and a Hippogryph and was very impressed by the strength he had shown during the battle. She decided to ask Alucard to help her find Richter, or at least let her know if he ran across him. Alucard agreed, but she did not like what he had to say about him once he did encounter him. He had told her that he was in league with Dracula and claimed to be the lord of this castle. Maria was relieved that Richter was indeed in the castle, but couldn't believe what Alucard had said about him, so she left in a hurry to find out for herself. She eventually found out that what Alucard was saying was the truth, but she knew that he was being controlled somehow. She was not confident in her own ability to face and defeat Richter however, and she decided to test Alucard's strength to determine if he was up to the task. Alucard was able to defeat her and she entrusted saving Richter to him. She pleaded for him not to harm Richter, but they agreed that he must be stopped, so she gave him the Holy Glasses to enable him to see through evil illusions. Alucard faced off against Richter in the Castle Keep, but was now able to see the mysterious orbs that allowed Shaft to control Richter, and in the middle of their battle, he destroyed those orbs, thus releasing Richter from his spell. While Alucard chased Shaft into an inverted Castle in order to prevent his resurrection of Dracula, Maria helped the wounded Richter escape from the castle. They went to a ridge a safe distance from the castle and waited for Alucard to finish his task. As they watched the Castle crumble in the aftermath of Alucard's victory, Alucard met up with them at that ridge in order to bid them farewell. He told them that his blood was cursed and that the world would be better off to be rid of him, and he departed to return to his deep slumber. This was unacceptable to Maria, who had developed a strong attraction to Alucard and couldn't imagine him not being a part of her life. After Richter assured her that it was okay, she set out to convince him to stay.

Events of Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection (Radio Drama)
The intro opens with a young woman being attacked by a vampire and a re-cap of the events taking place in Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, eventually leading into the main story, one year after the defeat of Dracula. Apparently, Maria succeeded in convincing Alucard to stay and the two of them are now living in a house outside town. Knowing that it would be difficult for Alucard's tormented soul to heal after killing his own father, she is caring and affectionate towards him, but despite her best efforts, he remains emotionally distant.

The story itself begins with Alucard having a dream about his past and his meeting with a strange young man named Lyudmil, who offered his friendship on the grounds of gratitude towards Alucard's mother, Lisa. The dream is interrupted by Maria who walks into the room to wake him up and the scene ends up in an argument about Alucard not opening up to her/not telling her anything about himself. After his imp insults her cooking and Alucard agrees, Maria heads to the market to buy food in an attempt to change their mind. There, she receives a letter from Richter about certain dark rumors surrounding their town. He seems to be especially concerned about Alucard, even though he refuses to believe he's involved. On her way back, she runs across two men, Cyril and Alexis, who claim to be vampire hunters. The two warn her about recent reports on vampire attacks on women and urge her to go home.

Soon after they are gone, she encounters the main antagonist of the story, an incubus by the name of Magnus who gleefully explains to her that Alucard is evil and thirsts for human blood. She attacks him, but having no desire to fight her, Magnus leaves with a promise to meet her again. Despite what she wants to believe, Alucard confirms Magnus's words and Maria, stricken with grief, storms out. Later, she decides to go back and help Alucard, but runs into Cyril and Alexis again. The two mention a special 'medicine', which Maria recognizes as dangerous. She tries to take it away from them and in the ensuing struggle, the vial drops to the ground. Maria, enveloped in fog, loses consciousness. She is found by Richter and taken back home, where she awakens only to discover she can no longer contact her guardian spirits. She insists on fighting at Alucard's side, despite the circumstances, but Alucard himself dismisses her and sets to face Magnus alone.

Maria follows him anyway and arrives just in time to find him losing a mental struggle against Magnus, who's using Alucard's old friendship with Lyudmil (now a vampire, under the incubus's influence and the real culprit behind the attacks in the village) as a tool to bring out Alucard's vampiric insticts. Magnus attempts to kill her, but despair reconnects her with her spirits, thus turning the tide of battle.

Witnessing Maria's brush with death, Alucard finally displays some emotion towards her. He apologizes and Maria ungrudgingly accepts it. The story ends with the defeat of Magnus and a deeply regretful farewell to Lyudmil, whom he was unable to save.

Appearance in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Maria Renard appears at the age of 12 in this video game. After being rescued by Richter, Maria can be selected as a playable character when continuing the game. Her primary weapon are Doves instead of a Whip, and her Sub-Weapons include a Cat, Tortoise, Red Bird, Egg, Dragon, Songbook and a Key. Each of the Sub-Weapons has an Item Crash associated with it that consume extra hearts and are more powerful. She wore a pink dress and brown small boots.

Appearance in Dracula X
Maria also appears in this game as a 12-year old girl who needs to be rescued, but sadly, she is not playable in the game unlike Rondo of Blood. When saved, she simply tells Richter that her sister, Annette is somewhere else in the castle. If Richter saves both Maria and Annette and defeats Dracula, Maria appears in the end credits, where she has an embarrassed and shocked expression on her face while Richter and sister embrace each other. If Richter Doesn't save Annette, Richter and Maria will be close to each other and Maria will have a depressed look on her face showing that she'll miss Annette for the rest of her life. She had a different appearance in this game, because in Rondo of Blood she wore a pink dress and wore a ribbon in her long hair. But in Dracula X, She had a different haircut and wore a violet wedding dress instead.

Appearance in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Original Version)
Maria was going to be put in the game as a playable character, but was cut back, due to time restraints. It was discovered that Maria's voice tracks are permanently stored in the game's RAM on the Playstation version, confirming that she was going to be playable. She is shown in artwork as having an owl on her shoulder, which seems to have replaced her doves, and would be shown in action in later versions of the game and she also became a boss as well in later versions. Entering the name "MARIA" as on the name entry screen in this version actually starts the game playing as Alucard, but the Doppelganger enemies are skipped.

Appearance in Demon Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight (Saturn Edition)
Maria is a playable character selectable from the start of the game of the Sega Saturn version of Symphony of the Night. Her fighting style has changed drastically in this game as she does not use animal summons as subweapons. Her main attacks consist of kicking and punching. She is able to perform energy blasts from her fingertips to strike things in the distance. She is able to equip and use the same subweapons that Richter is able to use, except that she cannot perform their item crashes. She has a magic meter like Alucard and can perform spells granted from the spiritual energy from the animals that appear in Rondo of Blood.

Appearance in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Maria has no mention in the story of Portrait of Ruin, but is able to play along side Richter Belmont. She maintains most of her animal subweapons that appeared in Rondo of Blood, including the Byakko, Genbu, Phoenix, and Holy Dragon and is able to select them at will. Her primary weapon are her doves again, but she is able to send them out very rapidly in this game. She is not able to perform item crashes in this game.

Appearance in Dracula X Chronicles
Maria is playable in the 3D remake of Rondo of Blood that is included in Dracula X Chronicles. Her moves and abilities are essentially the same as they appeared in the original.

Appearance in Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles: Symphony of the Night (PSP Version)
A brand new version of Maria is playable in the Symphony of the Night game that was included in Dracula X Chronicles on the Sony PSP. She now uses some of her traditional animal sub-weapons again and is able to switch back and forth between two of them. The animals that she can use are the same as those she could use in Portrait of Ruin, namely, the Cat, Dragon, Cardinals, and Turtle. Her animal friends have reached maturity too along with Maria herself and this time around, she can item crash these animals. She also has a Doll Sub-Weapon that projects forward and it can attack Maria's enemies without even approaching them and it can also be item crashed. Her primary attack Doves have been replaced with Owls. She can also superjump and slowly float back down, by holding one of her Owls above her head.

Appearance in Castlevania: Judgment
$Judgment$ A 15-year old version of Maria is a playable character of the 3D wii fighting game Castlevania Judgment, which is her first outing in a free roaming 3D game. Her primary weapon is a pole containing a caged owl, reminiscent of the ones she used in the Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night. She can use an attack bird as a subweapon or, like every other character in the game, use any of the traditional subweapons. The owl allows her some degree of flight in the game. When ever Maria hits someone with the bird cage, small cartoonish figures appear temporarily. Her finisher has her attempting to use a similar protection spell to the one she used on Richter Belmont in Symphony of the Night (if the player is nearly defeated by Dracula in the game's prologue) which invokes upon the power of the 4 four divine beasts of the four symbols (Genbu, Seiryuu, Suzaku and Byakko), but she trips and the spell is cast on her caged owl which then divebombs on her opponent. Her theme is "Slash".

Appearances in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
$Harmony of Despair$ Maria is a downloadable character in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. She plays much as she did in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

Trivia
Name origin: Blood Type: Castlevania: Judgment
 * Maria's Japanese surname was borrowed from the Learned Memorial Library, a building on the Doshisha University campus in Kyoto, Japan. The building was named after Dwight Whitney Learned (1848-1943), the first president of the University.
 * Maria's English surname is the French word for "fox."
 * Maria's blood type is AB.
 * Maria's theme in Judgement is "Slash".
 * Maria is said to have become orphaned when her parents were killed by Dracula. This comes from The Dracula X Chronicles remake, in which she says they were killed (she doesn't say who or when).
 * The Maria Renard as presented in Castlevania: Judgment was disliked by fans, mostly due to her abuse in comic relief and also her ridiculous fixation on other female characters' breasts making her hollow and unpleasant (though probably a reference to her own reduction between Rondo and Symphony), compared to her good nature and brave personality presented on the rest of her appearances.

Appearance Gallery
See Maria Gallery and Maria Artwork category for more images