Alura Une

Alura Une, also known as Alraune or Venus Weed, is an Une with a maiden-like creature blooming out of a central rose bud and who is surrounded by many thorns and vines. In some games, Alura Unes grow stronger as they absorb the characters' blood. Her name probably comes from "Alraune", the German word for Mandrake.

Origins
Alraune is a novel by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers published in 1911. It is also the name of the female lead character.



The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the Middles Ages in Germany. The humanoid-shaped Mandrake root (or Mandragora) was widely believed to be produced by the semen of hanged men under the gallows. Alchemists claimed that hanged men ejaculated after their necks were broken and that the earth absorbed their final "strengths" (in some versions, blood is mentioned instead of semen). The root itself was used in love philtres and potions, while its fruit was supposed to facilitate pregnancy. Witches who "made love" to the Mandrake root were said to produce offspring which had no feelings of real love and had no souls.

In the novel, a scientist interested in the laws of heredity, impregnates a prostitute in a laboratory with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a female child who has no concept of love, whom the professor adopts. The girl, Alraune, suffers from obsessive sexuality and perverse relationships throughout the course of her life. She learns of her unnatural origins and she avenges herself against the professor.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
In Symphony of Night they are known as Venus Weeds. They lure their victims into their vicinity, impale them with their vines and then absorb their blood. The game also features a more powerful version called Blue Venus Weed, which is an Alura Une that has fed on demons' blood.

In her weed form, a Venus Weed only has 100 HP. As the player gets close, she reveals her true form and has a stat boost (500 HP), although she loses her resistance against Hit. In her true form, she can raise her roots upward (36 ATT, Cut), and shoot rose darts (40 ATT, Cut). For every Cut damage from Alucard, her petals get redder.

Like the Venus Weed, the Blue Venus Weed only has 100 HP in her weed form, and her HP becomes 550 when revealing her true form. She also loses her resistance against Hit upon transforming. She has the same attacks as the Venus Weed, although dealing more damage.

Despite being invulnerable, their roots are supposed to drop Strawberries if they are destroyed. Additionally, their darts have a small chance to drop Oranges.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
A creature that appears to be a nude maiden sitting atop a flower. She attacks by causing vines to erupt from the ground. Attacking the maiden herself deals significantly more damage than attacking the flower. One of the rarest enemies in the game.

Note: Second stat listed is when encountered in the Battle Arena.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
This creature appears to be just a large flower until she is approached. At that point, the bud blooms and reveals the true nature of this monster. She attacks by thrusting her vines into the ground and attempting to impale the player with them. Alura Une has relatively high defense, but players are recommended to use the Killer Mantle (which kills her in one hit) as opposed to Fire-based attacks. This weakness makes obtaining her very valuable soul much easier. Alura Une's soul summons the Guardian Alura Une, who heals the player's HP by 10 for as long as the R button is held. This magic uses 60 MP per second, almost making the Chaos Ring a necessity when using it.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Alura Une returns in the Subterranean Hell of Celia Fortner's castle. Like always, Alura will appear as an ordinary Une, but will grow into a flower when approached and then she will emerge. Alura will summon her vines to attack Soma, and will throw rose darts when he stands still. Hitting her vines or getting hit makes her rose petals redder, until they become crimson blood. They turn white again when she's hit. Alura's rose darts also turn red if they hit Soma, from absorbing his blood.

Dominance over Alura Une's soul will grant Soma the Sweet Jail ability, which will allow him to summon her. Alura grows out of a flower, cuddles into Soma's arms and calls him informally while her insane three flower vines lock on to the nearest enemies to stab them, causing Slashing or Piercing damage. Alura's vines also can be controlled with the stylus. She costs 10 MP per second to summon. Soma cannot move while Alura is summoned and she cannot be summoned while in mid-air. Alura Une also stabs her enemies out of annoyance and sometimes can be heard saying "jamaa" ("annoying").

Alura Une levels up one level per soul until level 9 is reached. She causes insane damage potential even at level 1. She is a plant-type soul and the Skeleton Farmer's soul boosts her piercing power even more. She can be boosted with a level 9 Lilith's soul to cause even more damage than with the Skeleton Farmer's soul. She can also be combined with the Une's soul, which allows her vines to spit Unes from their flowers without costing MP. Alura Une is useful for damaging some still enemies like Death, Balore, or some parts of Aguni's attacks. If the player works very hard, Alura can cause up to 260+ damage per hit of her vines, and about 600 damage per second. Alura Une is recommended by some players during Boss Rush Mode due to her insane damage potential. An interesting technique is to equip the Dead Crusader's soul with Alura Une, which if Soma's damage is 1 or less, the damage is nullified and allows him to summon Alura without much interruptions, unless by enemies giving damage more than 1.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
These monsters appear to be Unes at first glance, but when approached, a large flower grows from the spot and a maiden blooms out of it. Alura Une attacks by unleashing vines from the ground by shooting flower darts. In this game, however, their uprooting vines seem to have less range (the vines growing just within or a little outside the range of a whip).

An easy way to defeat her is to approach her just until she blooms and then unleash 1,000 Blades. This must be done quick, though, lest she rises her vines to shield herself, rendering the whole attack useless.