Julius Belmont/Dawn of Sorrow



In Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Julius Belmont comes to the reflection of Dracula's castle along with Genya Arikado and Yoko Belnades in order to stop Celia Fortner, the leader of a shadow cult, from reviving the Dark Lord. Soma's first encounter with Julius is at The Lost Village, as Julius and Yoko are standing at the edge of a chasm. Julius encourages Soma to leave the castle, due to the fact that he may succumb to his dark nature. Soma refuses, and Julius accepts his determination. He then makes a massive leap across the chasm and continues down the bridge on the other side.

Julius Mode
In Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Julius Mode is unlocked if the player does not equip Mina's Talisman when Celia slays a fake Mina in the Garden of Madness. This causes Soma to succumb to his dark nature and he becomes the new Dark Lord. It will also unlock if the player does wear Mina's Talisman and proceeds to earn the "best" ending. This mode can be selected at the start menu, and the player starts the game as Julius. He is armed with the Belmont heirloom whip, the Vampire Killer, as well as a variety of sub-weapons, which include an Axe, a Holy Water assault that goes along the ground, a Cross Boomerang, and a devastating, multi-hit attack known as Grand Cross. Unlike Julius Mode in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, the Dawn version has its own storyline, continuing on after the bad ending, in which Julius aims to keep his promise to Soma to kill him if his dark power ever overcomes him. Also unlike the previous game, Julius can level up and increase his power. Furthermore, he can find two other characters that join his party, who are Yoko Belnades, who uses magical spells similar to those of her ancestor Sypha Belnades, and the prodigal knight Alucard, who handles very similarly to the way he did in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. A text dump of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow indicates that Hammer was also meant to join Julius in his quest to stop Soma, but this was removed from the final game. Players speculate that Hammer would have controlled similarly to Grant Danasty, to complete the comparison with Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. In order to promote team mechanics in Dawn of Sorrow, Julius loses the High Jump ability to Alucard, replacing it with a regular aerial uppercut attack that the player can use as a third jump, and his Omnia Vanitas from Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is also replaced for the traditional slide move.