Magic Book

Magic Books are tomes containing the secrets of magic, weaponry or literature. They can be used by a hero to summon some kind of magical effect, weapon or creature out of its pages. They can also be enemies that move on their own, which can summon those things as well.

The first spellbooks found in Castlevania were those used by the Belnades family and their relatives. Sypha Belnades could use a different spell book to perform a Fire, Ice or Lightning spell as a sub-weapon in Dracula's Curse. Juste Belmont could use them to power up his sub-weapons and give them an elemental effect. Charlotte Aulin used them to summon different kinds of weapons or creatures as her primary weapon. Little Witch used them as a blunt object that she could swing around as her primary weapon.

Self propelled floating enemy books first appeared in Super Castlevania IV, which could "flap" their pages to hover over the ground and then make swooping attacks on Simon. The Spellbooks from Symphony of the Night moved slowly off of the shelf and open to reveal a skull. The Magic Tome would instead summon weapons. A Super Castlevania IV-like spellbook can also be found on the Ouija Table that makes up the Poltergeist enemy in Circle of the Moon.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Sypha Belnades was able to obtain three different magic books, each of which allowed her to cast a powerful elemental-based attack:
 * Flames
 * Frozen Crystals
 * Goodness Gracious Great Bolts of Lightning

Castlevania: Bloodlines
Spell Books are hidden items in Bloodlines. They are found inside breakable walls. Collecting a spell book will cause one of two different effects which happen at random; either the player will get thirty jewels or a third Coat of Arms power-up effect, powering up his main weapon to its fourth degree. The Bloodlines booklet claims that the spell book could be either a "help or hindrance", but both effects seem to benefit the player regardless, so it's unknown what the manual writers had in mind when they described it as such.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Tomes are weapons used by Charlotte Aulin in Portrait of Ruin. They lack physical power compared to Jonathan's weapons, but are compensated by Charlotte's powerful spells.
 * Encyclopedia - Charlotte starts with this book at the start of the game. It deals very weak piercing and holy damage, and has extremely low reach as only the book is used to attack (i.e. nothing will spawn from its pages).
 * Blank Book - The Blank Book can be bought at Vincent's shop. It's a slight upgrade from the Encyclopedia (has no elemental attributes, deals very weak piercing damage and has extremely low reach). However, it's essential for completing one of Wind's quests: "Kill Gergoth". Charlotte must deliver the finishing blow on Gergoth at the Nest of Evil while wielding the Blank Book. To complete the quest, the player may choose to cast a couple of 1,000 Blades at Gergoth and weaken him more by letting Jonathan attack him a couple of times, then switch to Charlotte and finish him off. It's also recommended to try to raise Charlotte's STR as much as possible (STR Boost, Open Veil, Wedding Dress, Combat Boots, Assassin's Cape, etc.). The reward for completing the quest is the Cocytus spell.
 * Tome of Arms - There are three tomes which inflict basic physical damage:
 * Tome of Arms 1 - Found very early in the game, at the Entrance (under the main hallway). A single sword will come out of the book with each attack and deal piercing damage.
 * Tome of Arms 2 - Found at the Great Stairway, near the bottom-right area (under the stairs) of the upper large room. Three weapons will come out from the book with each attack, dealing piercing damage and covering the overall area in front of Charlotte, allowing her to attack enemies better that with Jonathan's weapons in certain situations.
 * Tome of Arms 3 - Found at Burnt Paradise. The player must start by exploring the right side of the level to obtain it. Its animation is similar to that of the Tome of Arms 2, with three weapons coming out of the book to deal piercing damage.
 * Don Quixote - Based on the novel The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha written by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. A little horseman knight wielding a lance will come out of the book and deal Fire damage. It can be found at the Great Stairway, right outside the save point before the battle with Keremet.
 * Tristan&Isolde - Based on the classic tale of Celtic legend Tristan and Iseult. A tome with the Ice attribute. It can be found at the Forest of Doom, at the top-left part of the level. Since not many enemies are weak to Ice, this tome ends up being one of the weakest in the game.
 * Book of Death - Found at the top-left part of the boulder room in Forgotten City (Owl Morph or Griffon Wing required). The head of will spawn from the book, dealing Dark damage. Again, since most enemies in the game are resistant to Dark, it ends up being another weak weapon.
 * Tome of Arms X - The Tome of Arms X is a reward from one of Wind's quests: "The Lost Page". To acquire it, the player must find two torn pages (Tome of Arms p1 and Tome of Arms p2) somewhere in the Nest of Evil. A single sword will come out from the book's pages with each attack, dealing Holy damage. Since most enemies are weak to Holy, it's the most powerful tome in the game. However, in some situations the Tome of Arms 3 may be a better choice as it has a wider area of attack and may even have the possibility to deal multiple hits (like in the battle against True Dracula, where Charlotte can fend off Dracula's closing claws much better than with the Tome of Arms X).