Back Dash

A Back Dash is an evade maneuver that causes a character to dash backwards while facing the same direction they were. Alucard in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was the first character to be able to perform this maneuver. Many characters in later games are able to do this as well.

This action is usually assigned its own button. It was originally assigned to the triangle button on a Playstation controller for Alucard. It has since been more common for it to be assigned to the left shoulder button. Some control schemes allow both a Back Dash and a forward Dash to be performed with shoulder buttons. When this is the case, the left shoulder button causes the character to dash or backdash to the left, depending on the direction they're facing, and the right shoulder does so to the right. This is the case for Juste Belmont and Maxim Kischine for Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, as well as for Maria in the Dracula X Chronicles version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

It is often available to characters from the start of the game, though Soma Cruz gains it from a Gravekeeper's soul in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.