Satan (Lords of Shadow)

Satan is the name of the Devil in the Abrahamic religions. He is the fallen rebel archangel Lucifer who was cast out of Heaven and onto Hell as well as the physical universe as punishment for leading the revolt of the angels and attempting to become equal to or greater than God. He is also known as Iblis, Angra Mainyu, Kanaima, Mephistopheles, and The Prince of Darkness, among so many names and terms, but refereed to as The Devil, above all.

He is also one of the main antagonists of the Lords of Shadow series along with Zobek, as well as the arch nemesis of Gabriel Belmont, a.k.a. Dracula.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Satan is the main antagonist of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.



When searching Hell for a way to assemble the God Mask, Satan secretly possessed Zobek, endowing him with a vast amount of knowledge and power, and implanted the idea to use an elaborate charade to obtain his goals.

Presumably, this is how Zobek obtained the Devil Mask. As such, he is mainly responsible for all Zobek's following actions, especially his manipulation of Gabriel and the spell that separated the world from the heavens. When Zobek reveals to his machinations to Gabriel, he in turn reveals himself and his part to him.

He incinerates Zobek and takes form from out of his host's body, and explains to Gabriel his intention of ascending to Heaven to challenge God and take His place. He offers Gabriel a chance to join him, but he refuses. Satan and Gabriel then engage in combat.

Despite his power and badly injuring Gabriel near the end of the fight, he is defeated, and Gabriel maintains a choke hold over Satan. Satan still tries to convince Gabriel that God has betrayed him, and when he ignores him, he begins to taunt Gabriel, saying that he will "introduce Marie to such pleasures" in Hell.

Gabriel tells Satan that her soul will go only to God, and Satan begins to laugh. After this, Gabriel shines with an intense light, finally vanquishing Satan, and undoes the spell keeping the lost souls on Earth.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2


By modern times, the acolytes of Satan prepare for his imminent return. This spurs Zobek to search for Gabriel (now known as Dracula) so that they may prevent Satan from returning and taking revenge on both of them. Dracula accepts Zobek's offer, but must reclaim his powers before facing his nemesis.

Upon being returned to the mortal world by his last acolyte, Satan brutally slays him for his offspring's failures to defeat Dracula over the centuries while he was imprisoned in Hell. He speaks with Dracula about potentially sharing the world, but he sees that Dracula wants to kill him out of vengeance. Proclaiming that if he can not rule men's world, then no one else will, Satan proceeds to summon a massive beast in order to annihilate it. Dracula and his son Alucard jump onto the beast and manage to subdue it before Satan can destroy the world.

As they fall, Satan possesses Alucard's body and engages Dracula in combat. Defeated, Satan and Dracula fall to the ground. Satan begins to taunt Dracula, calling him by his real name and claiming that his feelings would not allow him to sacrifice his own son in order to stop him. When Dracula refutes his claims and prepares to deliver the final blow, Satan fearfully flees from Alucard's body in attempt to escape. However, expecting this, Dracula pins Satan to a nearby building and impales him through the heart with his old Vampire Killer weapon, killing him once and for all.

Appearance
Satan has pale, white skin and numerous veins appearing in his face and body. He doesn't use any type of clothing. However, his body is covered by a black aura from his waist to his legs. His hair is black just like the aura, and the globe of his eyes are also black, but the iris is a light-yellow. Such a dark appearance is likely due to the fact that he embraced his pride and hate, corrupting himself and falling from grace.

In Lords of Shadow 2, his appearance is significantly altered. He is much taller, capable of towering over his arch nemesis, also his build is no longer lean but more muscular and larger in proportion. His hands and forearms are now covered in what appears to be black matter. His upper body part is completely exposed, excluding the lower part that is clad in an exoskeleton that is made up of what seems to be, thick metallic plates resembling feathers (in a fashion quite similar to the Forgotten One) and the feet are equipped with sharp talons. On his lower back near his waist is a pair of large dark feathered wings. He still retains his long black hair, though it is significantly shorter than it was in Lords of Shadow. The iris of his eyes are now purple.

Personality
Satan is very prideful, arrogant and manipulative. He was the real mastermind behind all the events of Lords of Shadow and has manipulated Zobek and the other Lords of Shadow to acquire the God Mask for his own means. He will try to manipulate every being to reach his purpose and refers to his rebellion as if he was just doing the right thing and says that he was abandoned by his Father, a feeling that he believes he and Gabriel share.

With a very persistent attitude, Satan tries to continue his fight against the Almighty and declares that he will use the mask to accomplish his objective. Satan's arrogance and sense of entitlement is so great that he feels it is his divine right to rule by God's side as either His equal or even superior and rule over mortals who he views as "monkeys" that are too inferior to deserve redemption. Satan also attempts to act as a "king," and tries to show that he's far greater and more compassionate than God, principally when he falsely claims to a distraught Gabriel that he would love him more (though this may have been simply him trying to throw Gabriel of guard so as to tempt him to his side)  Despite all of this, he shows anger against God because of his fall.

Satan is also shown to have a sort of cowardly side. During the final battle with Gabriel, instead of facing him personally as before, he chooses to possess the body of Gabriel's son Alucard, claiming that he would hold back and refuse to kill his own son to stop him. When Gabriel is seemingly about to deliver the final blow to the possessed Alucard, Satan cowardly flees from the body at the last second in a desperate attempt to save his life.

Powers and abilities
Different from the other bosses, Satan uses more magic than the others. It's said that Satan has unimaginable power to wield on Earth. However, he is not able to command his full strength while chained to the earthly plane, and thus remains weakened against Heaven's chosen. With the use of both light and shadow magic, he is one of the most treacherous enemies.

Satan is an immortal angel with superhuman strength and endurance that allowed him to challenge Gabriel. He has the power to fly with his shadowy wings. He set Zobek ablaze with pyrokinesis.

The use of both magic types is very high, to the point he can cast destructive spells or even summon demonic Reapers from other planes that can only be destroyed by the opposite magic and also create with his hands, magical seals that has the capacity to capture (and protect Satan when he's very weakened) can only be destroyed (or passed when a "barrier") by the same magic that these have come.

Satan can also sense magic, other beings and conjure a rain of fire with his hands. Apparently, he can control the appearance of the scenario, due to the fact when he "gets serious", the scenario changes to an obscure area with green lightning.

Satan uses the God's Mask to gain more power and also use the staff to concentrate his magical energy due to his weakness.

When Satan tries to avoid or advance against his enemies, a pair of shadow wings appear on his back. He can levitate, though his wings grant him superior maneuverability and speed. He has also demonstrated sufficient skill in close-quarters combat.

Thanks to the efforts of his Acolytes, Satan is able to utilize the full extent of his power in Lords of Shadow 2. During the short period he possessed Alucard's body, Satan showed proficient use of Umbrakinesis: he uses shadowy liquid as projectile waves and an extended "whip" attack. Periodically, Satan will hover in the air and summon meteors made of darkness to pulverize Dracula.

Satan can also teleport via a shadowy mist to avoid attacks, as well as possess other beings to use as a "meat shield".

Weapons
Satan uses his black staff as a symbol of authority and as a weapon, perhaps as an aid to his weakened powers in the material plane. It glows with white energy when not used to channel magic, blue when channeling Light magic, and red when channeling Shadow magic. It appears to amplify his magical prowess, or at least aid in its usage, for Satan was witnessed to be able to unleash a wave of force that created fissures in the earth by striking it with the base of his staff, and manifesting a wave of fire by striking the earth with the top of his staff. It is highly resistant to damage, but is by no means unbreakable.

Once he is able to manifest his full power, Satan summons a powerful great sword as his melee weapon. He is shown to be very proficient with it, capable of performing combos that are almost always unblockable. Other moves include an uppercut similar to the Void Sword's Rising Current move and a powerful lunge that can be performed both on the ground and in the air. The sword appears to be very heavy, as Satan has to swing it slowly, as well as drag the weapon behind him when he walks.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Although Satan is the Final Boss of the game (excluding The Forgotten One), it is not a particularly difficult foe to defeat, although it can prove tricky to an unprepared player, specially if they aren't very knowledgeable in the use of Light and Shadow Magic as it requires a far more accentuated use of both to defeat Satan, even more so than Pan.

For the battle both magic meters will be unlimited so they will never drain down. In order to defeat Satan the player must attack him with either magic activated as standards attacks do not work. Satan will also himself employ Magic at all times so the player must strike him with the opposite magic in order to do any damage (i.e. when Satan glows red use Light Magic, when Satan glows blue use Shadow Magic). While doing so, however, since Gabriel will also be using the opposite magic as Satan, if ever hit with one of his attacks, it can do massive damage, although nothing to worry about as so long as Gabriel can strike Satan with the proper magic his HP will heal up (even if using Shadow Magic), therefore the key to victory is to know what kind of magic to use.

Satan's attacks mostly consist of short range physical attacks and sometimes a downward strike and shockwave, although none of these are necessarily lethal and can be mitigated by striking back (and by proxy healing oneself) consistently. Satan will at times launch several Red and Blue colored glows that can become two things (never intermixed): A set of Runes or a set of Reapers. If runes are cast on the floor, the player must use magic that matches the color of the rune in order to walk freely, as walking with the opposite color will trap the player and leave him bound to be stricken by Satan for massive damage. However, before Satan can perform the strike one can deactivate the magic and free himself before the attack, and one can also change back to the same magic that Satan is using at the moment they will suffer no damage. If Satan summons Reapers, the player must handle these with more care, as an attack from a Reaper can deal massive damage (and even kill the player in higher difficulties). To repel the Reapers the same formula applies, basically strike them with the opposite magic in order to destroy them.

After debilitating Satan and removing close to 20% of his HP, he will be rendered exhausted and will summon Runes to protect himself. The player must walk through the Runes shifting with the adequate color and then continue to start a button sequence. After that Satan will eventually conjure meteoric fireballs which the player should dodge. The rest of the battle is the same as usual. Once Satan as the last of his HP, he will summon Runes although they will also move as well adding a new layer of trickery. Once the player reaches Satan for the second time, the final button sequence will player and once successful they will defeat Satan.

Trial Mode
For the Trial Mode the player must be more careful in avoiding attacks and should approach the battle with a hit and run tactics. Worth of noting is that the Trial is saved upon checkpoints. Therefore if the player was able to uphold the Trial conditions up to that point and then lose it on the second half of the battle, they can simply, manually return to the last checkpoint and the player will be able to play from that point onwards with the Trial still valid, thus reducing any potential frustration.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

 * Father! I come for you... Before the end YOU will bow down to ME!
 * I was adored once, above all others... I too did not deserve to be cast out, abandoned, you now know what that feels like, don't you?
 * Hate can bring us back, give us strength. Embrace it!
 * You monkeys don't deserve redemption, it is MY divine right to rule by his side as an equal. Or perhaps more than that!
 * "You dare to challenge me? You will die for you blasphemy! Your soul belong to me!"
 * Bow down to me, it's Satan who commands you!
 * Didn't Pan teach﻿ you anything?
 * You have been fooled Gabriel! She is gone forever!
 * Surely you can do better than that, Gabriel!
 * God doesn't love you! He let your beloved die!
 * I will wipe the name of Belmont from this world forever!
 * Die Belmont!
 * Damn you, Gabriel!
 * You think you can defeat me?!
 * Surrender your weapon, and I'll show you mercy!
 * Impossible! ...is ...that ...the power of God?

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

 * I despise incompetence.
 * Your son wants to serve me. Why don't you?
 * Alucard has surrendered to me without reservation.
 * Join us, Gabriel. Let's form a trinity.
 * Don't hit me, father!
 * Argh! It's your son who is suffering, not me!
 * Alucard only longed for your power, Gabriel, I know that now.
 * Your son hates you, Gabriel. What did you do to him?
 * Alucard's plan was always to betray you.
 * How much punishment can this body endure?
 * Your hate for me gives my life direction. Deep down inside, you need me!
 * When this is over, you'll bow down at my feet!
 * I'll sink you in a darkness that you'll never get out of!
 * I'll crush your will! I'll do it!

Trivia

 * A concept art of Satan's Beast form hints the final boss in Lords of Shadow 2 could have been different. The Beast looks like a red dragon with multiple crowned heads, and shares similarities with the Leviathan. This form is also based on the dragon being represented by Satan himself from the book of Revelation of the Bible where it said in chapter 12 verse 3:
 * "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads."


 * Many of Satan's taunts during his battle in Lords of Shadow 2 are lies, which is consistent for him since he's known as the "Father of Lies" and the "Author of Confusion".
 * Generally Lucifer and Satan are in fact understood to be the same character in the worldview of Christianity, with Lucifer being the name before his fallen status, while Satan is his current name, which means "adversary". However, there is another Satan by the name of Samael, who would act as the "accuser" and even the Angel of Death. The Devil Satan is Lucifer.
 * It is possible that Satan's physical appearance could be a sign of how much power he is able to wield. In the first game, Satan was very thin and could only use Light and Shadow magic. In the second game, he has a much bulkier physique and can use his powers over darkness. These, however, are just human forms and likely look nothing like his true, Angelic form.