Barlowe

Barlowe is the founder of the Order of Ecclesia, one of the many groups dedicated to keeping Dracula at bay in the absence of the Belmont clan. Within Ecclesia lies the remains of Dracula, a nearly indestructible relic that if destroyed, will prevent Dracula's resurrection. Barlowe's research has resulted in Dominus, a weapon powerful enough to perform such a task, and Shanoa is tasked with its use. However, right before Shanoa prepares to do so, Albus, another of Barlowe's disciples, steals Dominus and flees. Barlowe then orders Shanoa to locate Dominus and bring him back, if possible.

Official background: Barlowe formed Ecclesia to study glyphs as a way of fighting Dracula. His research culminated in Dominus, a glyph of ultimate power. Barlowe prays that its power is enough to save the world from darkness.

Character History
In actuality, the Order of Ecclesia exists for the sole purpose of the resurrection of Lord Dracula, and the relic in Ecclesia is actually a seal to confine him. It is Barlowe's true intention to have Shanoa sacrifice her life with Dominus to resurrect the dark lord. In the bad ending, after Shanoa finds Dominus, she uses it on the seal and dies, releasing Dracula. However, the results of this action are not shown and it is initially unbeknownst to the player that Dracula was actually resurrected and not destroyed (though Barlowe's true nature is briefly shown as Shanoa dies, giving the player a slight hint about what's really going on).

However, should you meet the requirements for the good ending (rescuing all the villagers), Albus will warn Shanoa not to use Dominus, and she refuses Barlowe's will. Barlowe then reveals his true intentions: to kill Shanoa and use her sacrifice to free Dracula from the seal. He tries to defeat Shanoa and fails; however, he succeeds in awakening Dracula, who uses him as his vessel.

Quotes
If Shanoa does nothing during the training, Barlowe says to her:
 * (Absorbing the glyph) What are you doing? Take in that Glyph.
 * (Attacking) No need to hesitate. Attack me with that Glyph.
 * (Absorbing the Glyph Union) The Glyph Union, Shanoa. Search your mind.
 * (Go to the next room) We do not have time. When you are ready, go to the next room.

As the tutorial is finished, Barlowe says:
 * I'm counting on you...
 * Crouch down to check for treasures in the earth.
 * Don't panic if an enemy flings you. Just jump or back-dash to regain control.
 * You've always been a gifted warrior... Your latent talent has not lost its spark. I've faith in you; you will fulfill your role.
 * In Castlevania's shadow, evil thrives. Its memory alone attracts foul fiends. To win, one must exploit their weaknesses. The skeleton, for one. He shrugs off ice, but fire devastates. And, of course, a simple, violent blow works wonders too.
 * Poor Albus was a brother to you once. He genuinely cared.
 * With Glyphs in both arms, alternate to launch a series of attacks. But know this too: The timing varies. Practice, and you'll see.

Strategy
If you are trying to get the good ending, you will need to fight Barlowe in Ecclesia as the game's 9th boss. He fought similar like Shaft as you fought him before. He will fly around the room and try to hit you with spells. He will also use the Globus Glyph attack. You can get this glyph off of the Demon Lord enemy, but it is much easier to steal it from Barlowe. One of his attacks consists of surrounding himself in an electric barrier and trying to run into you. His next 2 attacks work in tandem with each other. The first is freezing the floor by dropping a book. If you touch the floor as it freezes, you will freeze, which triggers his second attack. He will charge a large ball of electricity above you and shoot a bolt of lightning from it. It is avoidable with rapid button mashing, though difficult due to the amount required. He also has another attack where he will fire off fireballs that track your location.

When his health is low, he will cry out "Die, Shanoa!" and teleport around the room to try and punch you 5 times. If you get hit by this attack once, you will likely get hit more, since it knocks you around. On an interesting note, he says something with each punch.


 * Punch 1- "HOW DARE YOU..."
 * Punch 2- "...EVEN FORGETTING..."
 * Punch 3- "...WHO RAISED YOU..."
 * Punch 4- "...YOU..."
 * Punch 5- "...STUPID DISCIPLE!"

This indicates that Barlowe is considering his betrayal to Shanoa as Shanoa betraying him, which also indicates that Barlowe was truly a madman.

Personality
Although Barlowe at first seems to be calm, helpful, and even somewhat fatherly towards Shanoa, his true intentions and personality were revealed after Shanoa denied his orders to use Dominus to destroy "Dracula's vessel". In actuality, Barlowe is insane and quick to anger, believing Shanoa to be a traitor and praising Dracula as a God, to the extent that he would give his life to see Dracula reborn (which ends up being his demise). This is reflected by the fact that he is a dark-aligned enemy during his boss fight. Although Shanoa seems to have believed that he was just "another victim of Dominus", it is shown that Barlowe had intentions to revive Dracula from the beginning.

Abilities

 * Magic Mastery - Much like the members of the Belnades clan, Barlowe controls Fire, Ice, and Thunder, and uses them via his magic tomes. Barlowe can also fly.
 * Superhuman Strength - Barlowe displays inhuman strength, being able to punch Shanoa and send her flying. This is likely an effect of his magic mastery, which allows him to temporarily strengthen his punches by fueling them with magic.
 * Glyph Use - Although Barlowe himself believed Shanoa to be the only one able to use glyphs, after discovering Albus's ability to absorb glyphs, Barlowe displayed the ability to use glyphs as well, particularly Globus. He also believed himself to have the power to master Dominus.

Trivia

 * His name is likely a reference to Kurt Barlowe, the vampire from Stephen King's book, Salem's Lot.
 * When he punches, he does it in a manner similar to the character "Master Asia" from the anime series Mobile Fighter G Gundam.
 * Since Order of Ecclesia takes many gameplay elements from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Barlowe's in-game sprite was most probably designed as an homage to the priests dwelling in the churches of that game.