Carmilla

Carmilla (カーミラ Kāmira), sometimes also known as Camilla (カミーラ Kamīra) in both English and Japanese versions, is a recurring boss character and antagonist in Castlevania. Carmilla is a vampiress and several incarnations of her have appeared throughout the series. She is sometimes accompanied by her servant, Laura, and is often referred to as possessing great beauty and allure.

Origins


Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, first published in 1871 as a serial narrative in The Dark Blue literary magazine. It tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla. Carmilla predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 26 years and has been adapted many times for cinema.



Carmilla, the title character, appears as a member of Austrian nobility, while in reality she is the long-dead Countess Mircalla von Karnstein, returned to life as a vampiress. She is portrayed as possessing lesbian traits and her victims are exclusively female. However, she becomes emotionally involved with the main protagonist, Laura. Carmilla has nocturnal habits but is not confined to the darkness. She has unearthly beauty, can change her form at will, and is able to pass through solid walls. Her animal alter ego is a monstrous black cat and she sleeps in a coffin.

In the story, Carmilla takes advantage of the anonymity of a masquerade ball to look for victims. In the games, her mask represents the ballroom masks that Carmilla wore to the many parties she went to in the novella, and was also used to hide the fact that she was a vampire.

Even though Carmilla is a lesser known and far shorter Gothic vampire story than Dracula, the latter has been cited as being heavily influenced by Le Fanu's novella.

Description
Carmilla often appears as a loyal servant to her master, Count Dracula, either by plotting to revive him, or by awakening from her own long slumber in order to come to his aid. Her role is notably averted and expanded upon in the Lords of Shadow saga.

In addition to appearing in several installments, she is also the namesake of Camilla Cemetery in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, as well as Carmilla's Lair from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Camilla (a misspelling of Carmilla) made her first appearance in Simon's Quest, where she appears as one of the three bosses in the game. She goes by the moniker Onna Kyūketsuki (女吸血鬼), name with which she is referred to in the instruction booklet and which translates to "female vampire" or "Vampira". A clue book found in Debious Woods refers to her properly as "Camilla". She can be encountered in Laruba Mansion.

Upon defeat, Camilla leaves behind the Magic Cross, the only item capable of granting access to Dracula's Castle.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Carmilla appears as the boss of the Stage 4 in Rondo of Blood, along with her consort, Laura. Once Richter or Maria enter the boss room, they are first greeted by Carmilla's mask, in a homage to her portrayal in Simon's Quest. From behind the mask, Carmilla appears as a giant nude maiden. The mask then breaks into pieces and a giant skull emerges from behind. Carmilla then starts hovering in the air behind the skull, while this sheds fiery tears of blood which scatter throughout the room when they make contact with the ground. All of this, while Laura paces back and forth, attempting to get a hold on the heroes. If this happens, she will grab and restrain them in place while draining away their supply of Hearts.

Castlevania: Dracula X
In Dracula X, if Richter failed to save Annet during his journey, once he reaches the top of the Clock Tower, a giant skull will appear from the sky and possess the hapless Annet before he can do anything to save her, transforming her into the vampire witch, Carmilla, and replacing Death as the boss of that level. While her appearance is similar to some extent to that from Rondo of Blood, her attacks are identical to those of Shaft in that same game.

Castlevania (N64)


A model of Carmilla atop her skull can be seen in early footage of the Nintendo 64 game, Castlevania. However, she was removed from the final version of the game.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Contrary to her relative minor roles in previous games, Camilla appears as a much more prominent character in Circle of the Moon. Possessing her own castle located in Austria, she plots to revive her master, Count Dracula, in order to unite the forces of darkness.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance


In Harmony of Dissonance, an effigy sculpted in relief can be found in the Skeleton Cave which resembles Carmilla's mask from Simon's Quest and Rondo of Blood.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
In Dracula X Chronicles, Carmilla fights much like she did in the original version of Rondo of Blood; however, due to updated gameplay mechanics and somewhat lower difficulty, the fight is easier this time around.

Castlevania Judgment
$Judgment$

Galamoth plots to send the Time Reaper from 10,000 years in the future, into the past to destroy his rival, Dracula, and change history. A man named Aeon discovers this and pulls together champions from different eras of history into a dimensional rift, in order to find a chosen one capable of destroying Galamoth's servant. Carmilla is one of these warriors.

Carmilla is a female vampire. She worships Dracula like a god and her greatest joy is shredding humans and let their blood splatter on her. Carmilla views humans as nothing more than prey and always looks down upon them. She is aggressive and provocative.

Trivia

 * Carmilla is referenced by Edmund McMillen in the game The Binding of Isaac via a boss known as The Mask of Infamy.