Dracula (Lords of Shadow)

Gabriel Belmont is a Knight from the 11th century and the protagonist of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. He was originally a member of the Brotherhood of Light, an elite group of holy knights who protected and defended the innocent against supernatural threats.

After receiving word he had lost his wife Marie to evil forces, he sets out on a quest to bring her soul back from the purgatoric plane that prevents her and others from passing on.

Powers & Abilities
Gabriel was trained in the arts of combat from a very young age, though he has showcased incredible strength, endurance, and acrobatic attributes as well. His standard arsenal consists of the Combat Cross and other supplementary weapons such as Silver Daggers and bottles of Holy Water.

The Combat Cross is a multifunctional weapon invented by Rinaldo Gandolfi also known as the Vampire Killer who also invented the Whip of Alchemy. Gabriel upgrades his combat cross throughout his journey. It consists of an iron crucifix with a retractable chain quenched with Holy Water which is hidden inside. Hence, the Combat Cross is a very effective weapon against the undead which also allows the weilder to channel either their light or shadow magic into it.

On his left hand Gabriel wears the Dark Gauntlet. The Gauntlet is an ancient relic forged in the pits of Hell. It grants him tremendous strength, able to move heavy obstacles by punching them, conjure Hellfire from his fist to incinerate all enemies, and overpower Satan with ease. In addition, it also grants him the ability to defend and counter magical attacks.

Additional relics acquired by Gabriel are the Cyclone Boots and Seraph Shoulders which allow him to sprint with amazing speed and double jump respectively. Gabriel has the ability to utilize magic in combat as well. Light Magic and Shadow Magic are both at his disposal and are used for healing his wounds or boosting his offensive power. Combining magic with his combat allows Gabriel to use new and devastating moves on his foes as well.

Appearance
Gabriel is tall with a muscular build. His hair is brown and sometimes depicted as curly and long though in the actual game it appears to be straight and about shoulder length.

The armor he wears is based on Simon's from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest but with noteable differences. It is emblazoned with a skull, and consists of thick plates that covers all of his upper body. His legs are covered with ironclad boots. In addition, Gabriels armor also contains a hood which he can wear to conceal his face should he need to.

Originally, Gabriel's design resembled a classic barbarian, before Kojima then advised the staff to refine him into a character that was more relatable for the player. David Cox mentioned that Robert Carlyle, who provides the voice for Gabriel is a bit similair to the character.

Before Castlevania
Some years ago, a child was found on the door of one of the Brotherhood of Lights convents. It is not known who his original parents were though some suspected he was an unwanted bastard from a local wealthy landowner, most likely the Cronqvist family, though this has never been proven.

The order gave the nameless boy the Christian name of one of the blessed archangels, Gabriel and raised him as one of its own members. The precocious child quickly proved to be extremely talented, developing a mastery of the fighting arts unprecedented in the Brotherhood. However, he was also prone to dark moods and moments of brooding that only his beloved childhood sweetheart, Marie, could pacify.

Gabriel took the surname of Belmont, after his love of mountains and the high places of the World.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Some time before the events of the game, the heavens were cut off from the earthly plane, thus leading the people to believe that God had abandoned them. The Brotherhood of Light knew otherwise. After receiving a message from the 3 founders of their order in heaven, the Brotherhood sent Gabriel to contact the dead and ask Marie if she knew of any means to save the world. Taking up the Combat Cross and an amulet connected to the old gods, Gabriel begins his journey.

He meets an old god, Pan, who allows him to communicate with Marie and who, throughout the game, aids Gabriel in times of peril. Next he meets a supposed comrade of the order, Zobek, who instructs Gabriel to destroy the Lords of Shadow, the rulers of the demonic forces now driving mankind into extinction. Both Pan and Zobek desire an end to their tyrannical rule, but for very different reasons.

His first great test comes when he meets Claudia, an innocent young psychic and her enchanted guardian the Black Knight, who briefly aid him in his journey. However, when they stop to camp, Gabriel dreams that he stabs Claudia in the night, only to wake and discover her dead body, indicating that it was not a dream. Finding Claudia dead, the Black Knight becomes enraged with grief and attacks Gabriel, forcing him to kill it in self defence. This act grants Gabriel the Knight's enchanted Dark Gauntlet, allowing him to launch flame based attacks as well as fight back mystical attacks from enemies.

The first Lord of Shadow he faces is Cornell, who reveals that the Brotherhood of Light was founded by three divinely empowered saints who led God's army and defeated Satan. And in doing so were rewarded with monumental bounties, transcending human parameters and becoming divine beings in Heaven whose power was second only to God's, but at the cost of discarding all chaotic elements within themselves. The result of this transformation was that the leftover bodies of each of the three lords in Heaven now arose as their demonic counterparts on Earth, and thus the Lords of Shadow were born. This creates a poetic irony, since the Lords of Shadow were the ones who created the very demons now driving mankind to extinction. This revelation causes Gabriel to begin to lose faith in the Order. Killing Cornell grants him the Lord of the Lycans' Cyclone Boots, which grants him the speed of a beast.

After the Lycans he faces off against the vampires. Killing their champions, Olrox and Brauner, and facing the puppets of Laura, second in command of the vampire race and the only enemy not killed. Until finally he reaches Carmilla, queen of vampires, and second Lord of Shadow. In the dialogue with Carmilla, who hints to Gabriel's future when she states he indeed will be "one of us." Her death grants him the third of the enchanted gear granted the Lords of Shadow from Heaven, her Seraph Shoulders which grants him angelic wings.

Interestingly we learn about a "King of Angels" who has been helping Gabriel on his quest.

Before he heads of to the Land of the Necromancers, Gabriel faces Pan, his guide throughout his journey. Pan teaches Gabriel how to battle against light and dark magic, knowing well the final battle Gabriel would be facing at the end of the game. And then sacrifices himself, as the death of a god was needed to proceed to the land of dead. Eventually Gabriel learns that in fact Zobek was the third Lord of Shadow all along. Zobek had engineered his entire journey. Using the Devil Mask, Zobek made Gabriel kill Marie so that he would end up focused on revenge, and thus blind to the truth of the quest for the God Mask. He also had Gabriel kill Claudia so that the Black Knight would attack him, granting him Zobek's own Dark Gauntlet, as Gabriel would be powerless against Zobek while wearing it. Zobek loathed how each of the Lords of Shadow harbored a piece of the God Mask, each possessing their share of the power and unwilling to compromise to actually make use of it. Thus Gabriel was the ideal pawn to eliminate them and reunite the pieces, which he did. After revealing all of this, Zobek electrocutes Gabriel, and is in turn burned alive as Satan materializes from the flames that consume him.

It is revealed that Satan was the real mastermind behind the whole plot, implanting knowledge of all the dark arts into Zobek to aid him in his quest to set up the entire charade with Gabriel, and being the real power behind sealing of access to the heavens for all deceased pure spirits. Marie persuades all the souls trapped in limbo to revive Gabriel. Satan offers Gabriel a place at his side, but Gabriel refuses, telling Satan that his lust for power was what caused his fall from grace. Angered, Satan puts on the god mask and initiates the final battle.

At the climax of the duel, Gabriel grabbed Satan, and after opening himself to the light, invokes a divine ritual, the same that gave birth to the Lords of Shadow, sending Satan back to Hell. After this, Gabriel meets with Marie one final time, discovering that the God Mask does not hold the power to resurrect the dead as he had hoped. Giving her husband one last kiss, Marie departs for Heaven, taking the God Mask with her. Watching as she and all the other dead depart, including Claudia, who appears briefly to say goodbye, Gabriel is then left alone and on his knees, weeping for his beloved.

Reverie
Soon after, Gabriel is summoned by Laura to the Bernhardt castle. There he learns that by killing the three Lords of Shadow, Gabriel has unleashed a new menace: the Forgotten One, an incredibly powerful demon whom the Brotherhood imprisoned deep in the centre of the castle. Laura and Gabriel decide they must find the entrance to the ancient fortress of the Brotherhood.

After opening the gate to the Brotherhood fortress, Gabriel and Laura travel through the ancient castle. They gather the blood of the three founders in order to open the gate to the Forgotten One's chamber. However, only dark beings can enter into the dimension where the Forgotten One is kept. To bypass this, Laura asks Gabriel to drink all of her blood. With reluctance, Gabriel does this, killing Laura but freeing her from her eternal torment, while he himself becomes a creature of the night. After this, he steps through the gate, alone, to confront what awaits him.

Resurrection
Gabriel enters the Dimensional Prison to seek The Forgotten One. Gabriel shows signs of darkness, which includes renouncing his humanity, hunger for violence, and partially uncontrollable insanity. After unlocking the doors, he finds The Forgotten One emerging from the lava, climbing the rocks to open the portals to the original realm, despite the sealed beast in a weakened state. The two battle, and result in a draw, causing The Forgotten One to move on to the Underworld, the final place before entering the mortal world.

Gabriel also follows The Forgotten One, and shows more signs of darkness. Gabriel now states that he is darker and more terrible than The Forgotten One, and that the creature will beg for mercy before the end. He confronts the demon again, and after the battle, The Forgotten One finally opens the portal, mocking Gabriel that the portal is open and that he will let him live, having him watch the world's destruction and claiming that he failed his mission. However, just when The Forgotten One was about to reclaim the part of his power that he had sent to unlock the seal, Gabriel intervenes and absorbs The Forgotten One's demonic power. While the Forgotten One begs for mercy, Gabriel uses his newfound power to destroy the beast once and for all. Just before leaving the Underworld, Gabriel destroys his Combat Cross, leaving the pieces lying broken and forgotten within the dark dimension.

Epilogue
Over the span of 963 years, Gabriel became an immortal vampire and took on the name of Dracul. He eventually went into hiding in an old church. Years later in the year 2010, he met Zobek again who predicts that Satan's return to the Earthly realm is not far off. His old friend urges Gabriel to prevent the ressurection. The two engage in a short fight but before Gabriel disappears Zobek reveals it is his only chance to be freed from his immortality. He disappears at the end. Whether he chose to join Zobek to face-off against Satan's acolytes or not has yet to be answered.

Trivia

 * Gabriel's origins remains unknown. Some have argued him being named Gabriel is no coincidence and hints towards a darker destiny the order knew about.
 * Gabriel's appearance is the result of input from Hideo Kojima. Kojima felt the main character needed to look more "heroic" than his original design implied. Kojima Productions also advised the team on facial animations and character design in general.
 * It should be interesting to note that Gabriel does not refer himself to Dracula (which means son of the dragon in Romanian), but Dracul, the Dragon. Vlad III Țepeș, on which Dracula is based, was the son of Vlad II Dracul, who in turn was named as such for his affiliation with the Order of the Dragon. In the Resurrection DLC, Gabriel begins comparing himself to a dragon, which could be the origin of the name. The concept art within the game labels him as Dracula, however.
 * The game developers stated that Gabriel chose the name Belmont due to his love for mountains, since Belmont connects to them. In fact Belmont means "Beautiful Mountain" in old French.
 * Gabriel is never mentioned as having fatherd any children with Marie before she died, which leaves some question as to wether the Belmont line will contintue in future games. However, the Dracula of the original series fathered Alucard, meaning the possibility of Gabriel fathering children is not out of the question.