Witch

Witches are common enemies found in several Castlevania games. They are specialized in flight, either with a broom or by levitation, and magic attacks and spells. Some are simple enemies roaming around the castle while others may play bigger roles in the story, especially helping Dracula's resurrection. A few protagonists, such as Charlotte Aulin, also are witches.

Overview
There are two general types of Witches in the Castlevania series. The first kind tends to be clothed in robes with or without hoods, and armed with a magic staff of some kind. Some of these witches may be related to the gypsies or the Belnades Clan. Their power comes from the forces of nature and their most common attack are electrical orbs, though they may also master other elements, such as fire and ice. They can often hover through the air or teleport. Some of these witches are also spirits, zombies, vampires or doppelgangers of playable witches. Regular enemies of this type include the Salem Witch (a ghost witch, also referred to as Aliorumnas or Siren) and a witch that appears in Castlevania: The Arcade. Boss versions of these witches include Drolta Tzuentes, the Belnades cousin turned vampire Camilla Fernandez, Actrise, the zombie impostor Fake Sypha, and Sypha's and Charlotte's Doppelganger. Playable versions include Sypha Belnades and her relatives, Carrie Fernandez, Yoko Belnades and Charlotte Aulin. The non-playable character Julia Laforeze is also a witch who escaped the witch hunts.

The second kind of witches are of the stereotypical "Halloween" variety. They tend to dress in black, wear the "traditional" wide-brimmed pointy witches' hats, ride broomsticks (usually with lanterns in front), and turn into black cats when they are defeated. Unlike the stereotype, they were not green, hook nosed old hags, but rather cute young ladies. They usually wore dresses that showed off their legs rather than the robes of their counterparts. The first witch of this type was in the NES version of Kid Dracula (Boku Dracula-kun) and given the nickname of "Marchan". She was a cheerful witch riding along on her broomstick, giving an occasional wink, but would still kill Kid Dracula if she rammed into him. After joining Kid Dracula's side, she later helped him in the Game Boy version, Kid Dracula, with her crystal ball. This witch reappeared in a slightly more serious form in Symphony of the Night, where she was called Salome in North America and Sausine in Japan, though her descriptions indicate that her nickname is "Marchan". Witches of this variety were later usually just referred to as "Witch". A sub-type of this witch were Student Witches, which were a younger variety, just learning to fly. These could crash on the ground and might attack with their broomsticks when not flying.

Galamoth's reaper is called Witchi Wench in the European Kid Dracula instruction booklet, due to his wide-brimmed hat and long eyelashes.

The Lords of Shadow series features specific witches such as Baba Yaga and the Crow Witch Malphas.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Salome is encountered in the Floating Catacombs. She appears as a young woman bearing the archetypal look of telltale witches, such as wearing a pointy black hat and flying on a broom. As expected, her main means of attack is by employing magical arts, such as releasing white orbs that deal damage on contact, and also by creating a temporary shield that makes her completely impervious to attack. When defeated, she will transform into a cat and attempt to scurry away; being hit by the cat deals small damage. It can be killed, although no further items will drop nor will it yield any experience points. Being touched by the cat while wearing the Cat-Eye Circlet will heal Alucard significantly.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Witches in Circle of the Moon, unlike those found in most Castlevania games, appear as traditional green-skinned old women and ride broomsticks. They spread energy balls below them.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
The Student Witch is a common enemy in this game. She has two kinds of attacks. The first is hitting with her broom, and the second is summoning a cat. Damage by her cat is half as strong as the damage by physical contact or broom. Acquiring the soul of the student witch will allow Soma to summon and throw cats (up to five on screen, with the probability of ⅛ being spawned as a kitten). When killed, she will transform into a harmless cat.

The normal Witch can cast a barrier which neutralizes all frontal attacks; attacking her from behind is the only way to damage her. She has two kinds of attack, summoning a fireball, and charging forward. The fireball uses 125% of her strength. When killed, she transforms into a cat with a hat, which damages you on contact. It is half as strong as her.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
The Student Witch is fairly similar in appearance to the last game. Her soul allows you to summon a cat which runs across the ground, damaging anything in its path. She is also weak to Persephone's vacuum, which sucks up her skirt.

Castlevania: The Arcade
The Witch follows you around teasingly, disappearing and reappearing and sending blasts of magic at you with her staff, while you are attempting to make it through the Rampart section of Arcade Stage 4 of Castlevania: The Arcade.

Trivia

 * Lisa, Dracula's second wife and mother of Alucard, created medicine for those who suffered from the epidemic. Due to the witch trials going during that time, Lisa was apprehended and executed. Upon learning about his wife's death, Dracula vowed revenge. In 1476 he began his war upon humanity.