Carmilla

Carmilla (ja. カミーラ Camilla or カーミラ Carmilla) is a vampire (Who takes many shapes and forms) from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood,Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, and the Rondo of Blood remake, Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles. She also appears as a playable character in Castlevania: Judgment.

Carmilla loyally serves Dracula, though unlike him she doesn't display a hatred of humans. She actually believes that darkness is the true nature of humanity, which Dracula would bring out.

Character history
Carmilla was a devoted worshipper of chaos and Dracula. In 1830, she successfully resurrected the Count in her Austrian castle, although he was not at his full power. To restore his evil might, Carmilla planned to sacrifice the vampire hunter Morris Baldwin, father to Hugh Baldwin and mentor to Nathan Graves, during a lunar eclipse of the full moon. As Graves began making headway in the effort to rescue his master, Camilla sent the Necromancer to delay him. Ultimately, she brainwashed Hugh to do her evil bidding and challenged Graves to a battle in the Underground Waterway. She later meets Nathan, after which she tries to convince to stop fighting claiming that darkness was the true nature of the human soul, therefor meaning he shouldn't fight Dracula, but Nathan ignored her view. Although she perished at the hero's hand, Carmilla relished the fact that the rite to restore the Count was nearly complete.

Carmilla also fought several heroes who attempted to oppose Dracula before 1830, including Simon Belmont in 1699 and Richter Belmont/Maria Renard in 1792. However, Carmilla played only a minor role in those conflicts.

Boss battles

 * Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - In this game, Carmilla appears as a mask called "Vampira". This mask represents the ballroom masks that Camilla wore to the many parties she went to, and was also used to hide the fact that she was a vampire in the novel she came from. She attacks by dripping poison on Simon Belmont, which are the infamous "Bloody Tears".


 * Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood - Once Richter or Maria enter the boss chamber with Camilla, they are first greeted by "Vampira", Carmilla's mask. From behind the mask, Carmilla appears as a nude woman atop a skull. The mask then breaks into several pieces, and Carmilla begins to attack with the skull she rides crying "Bloody Tears". Also present in this boss battle is Laura, her consort (a character also from the original novel).


 * Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - Playing a much larger role in this game than in the previous games, Carmilla is responsible for the resurrection of Dracula. When confronted, Carmilla transforms into a winged demon atop a giant skull in the Underground Waterway. While a different look for her, she still resembles her previous appearances. She attacks with poisonous fumes and laser blasts. After the battle she reverts to her normal form and says there is no way to stop Dracula as she dies.

Appearance Gallery
See also 

Simon's Quest
Masked emblem of Carmilla that circles through the air, stopping sporadically to drip poisonous tears from its right eye; each tear hits the ground and splits into three.

Strategy
Located in the Laruba Mansion, the Crying Mask isn't much harder than the Grim Reaper. it has a very easy pattern. First, the Mask will start on the bottom of the screen and rise up. The Mask will then float around the room in a circle. As it is doing this, it will start crying, hence the name, Crying Mask. These tears will turn into fireballs, but they can be blocked using Dracula's Rib. Obviously the Mask has a very simple pattern, and can be beaten quite easily. However, if you have the Gold Dagger, then it makes the fight a walk in the park. After you defeat the Mask, you can claim Dracula's Ring.

Caution: Although it seems that you can simply skip this fight like before when you battled the Grim Reaper, it is not the case. The Crying Mask drops the Magic Cross. This item is the only way to get into Dracula's Castle, so although it seems like you can, you can't skip this fight.

Double Caution: After you collect the Ring, the Crying Mask will return when you re-enter her room.

Dracula X
In Castlevania: Dracula X, if you fail to save Annette, Carmilla will possess Annette and you will have to defeat her.

Castlevania: Judgment
Her battle theme is "Bloody Tears".

Judgment Quotes
"(to Maria) Why hello sweetie pie. You'll make a nice little appetizer."
 * Short description: A female vampire who loves to bathe in blood.
 * Before battle: "My, don't you look delicious. I'll grant you a quick death."
 * During most powerful attack: "Now I've got you!" "Come. Let's play." "I will give you the greatest of pleasures." "Ah, so satisfying. And now... YOU DIE!!!"

Trivia
References to Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla: References in other games:
 * Camilla herself is based on the titular character of the novella, an Austrian countess and vampire. Truly the supposedly-long-dead Countess Millarca von Karnstein, Carmilla meets the narrator Laura when she is saved from a wagon wreck.
 * Camilla's mask is another reference. In the story, Carmilla takes advantage of the anonymity of a masquerade ball to look for victims.
 * Laura, the girl who appears alongside Camilla in Rondo of Blood, was the narrator of Carmilla; she is the vampire countess's love interest, and nearly her victim. Carmilla wishes to transform Laura into a vampire so they may be together eternally. Laura does not share Carmilla's feelings, and is somewhat embarrassed and intimidated by Carmilla's attention.
 * In Castlevania: Dracula X, if Richter fails to save Annette Renard, a skull will appear and possess her in the Clock Tower. The resulting "Skull Sorceress" enemy closely resembles Camilla. However, unlike Camilla's normal "Bloody Tears" attacks, the eyes of the Skull Sorceress' skull actually function more like the orbs that Shaft controls in Rondo of Blood. Therefore, Skull Sorceress (Annette Renard's possessed form) is actually a fusion between Camilla and Shaft.
 * A model of Camilla atop her skull can be seen in early footage of Castlevania for the Nintendo 64. However, she is not present in the final game.
 * In Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, a statue can be found in the Cave of Skeletons which is clearly intended to resemble Camilla's mask (Vampira) from Simon's Quest and Rondo of Blood.
 * Judgment's backstory for Camilla seems to be attempting to hybridize or cross over the mythos of Carmilla Karnstein, and that of Elizabeth Bathory (she is called Elizabeth Bartley in the English translation of Castlevania: Bloodlines). Le Fanu's Carmilla was not particularly violent or cruel despite being very much a vampire; nor did she bathe in blood. She was in fact quite a tragic character, and while Laura fears her, she does not hate Carmilla, and feels pity for her in the end. Elizabeth Bathory, on the other hand, is known historically to have been a vicious and sadistic individual, and truly did believe that bathing in the blood of young women would keep her from growing old.