Graham Jones

Graham Jones is the main antagonist of Aria of Sorrow. He was the founder and the chief missionary of a religious sect with hordes of devout followers, and he preached that the prophecies of apocalyptic events that were popular at the end of the 20th century will come to pass in 2035. The events in question he would attempt to execute, in a sense; He was born in 1999, at the moment Dracula was destroyed and therefore possessed magical powers, and in turn this led him to believe that he was the reincarnation of Dracula. Therefore, when the Solar Eclipse of 2035 occurred and Dracula's castle showed itself, he entered it intending to take over Castlevania as the Dark Lord he believed himself to be.

Recent speculation suggests Graham Jones' classification as a paranoid schizophrenic lightly classified by his character development through the progression of the game's story line. Believing himself to be the reincarnation of Dracula, Jones suffers from delusions of grandeur. Furthermore, Jones also casts Soma Cruz as his rival for the powers of Dracula, a relatively false delusion of persecution until Soma confronts him in the throne room, a conflict prompted by Graham's belief.

Character History
Graham encounters Soma several times, and he initially does not consider him to be of any threat, so he acts quite friendly. However, when Soma reveals that his special power is the Power of Dominance, Graham suddenly changes his attitude; he is disturbed that someone else other than him possesses a power closer to those of Dracula than his own powers, and he runs to the top of the castle, stabbing Yoko Belnades along the way because she tries to stop him from taking over the castle’s dark influence. Soma confronts Graham at the castle keep and the two wage battle. After a fight, he also noticed that Soma possessed three powers that were unmistakably Dracula's and wonders where he got them before denying Soma to be "the one." Graham then uses the dark powers he gained in the keep to transform into a massive, unholy entity to destroy Soma, but he is ultimately killed, expressing shock at this meaning that he wasn't the true Dracula after all. Soma demonstrated the true powers of Dracula during this fight, and that causes the dark powers Graham absorbed to appear and enter Soma’s body. Soma is suddenly very close to becoming the reincarnation of Dracula, and he must confront the core of Dracula’s powers of chaos to remove that influence and save himself.

Technically, Graham is considered to be the final boss. However, if the player has the Flame Demon, Giant Bat, and Succubus souls equipped throughout the first phase of the fight, all of Graham's powers will transfer into Soma Cruz, and he will realize that he is the reincarnation of Dracula. This unlocks the Black Panther soul & also unlocks the Chaotic Realm level. Graham is one of the three enemies in the game that does not drop any souls, along with Julius and Chaos.

Despite his not actually being Dracula, Graham Jones' unique birth nonetheless inspired the creation of the Dark Lord Candidates to take over the position of Dracula a year later after Soma refused to become Dracula.

Appearance
Graham Jones, in his human form, possessed gray hair and gray eyes, and a handsome appearance, although with a slight smirk. He also wore a white suit with a purple tie and ceremonial scarf.

Upon transforming using the demons inside Dracula's castle, he becomes a grotesque entity resembling a pair of conjoined pale, white-haired females severed below the waist, with a halo entering through their eye sockets, four arms (two on each side, the front pair possessing eyes on the back of the hand and red fingernails), and having their insides exposed, showing a rib cage, a pulsating intestinal tract hanging below the body, and various internal organs. Graham Jones himself is found in the pulsating "heart" at the center of the demon. He also summons a "halo" made of skulls and four crucifixes which summon a ray of light down on his opponents.

Aria of Sorrow (Mobile)
Graham features prominently in the mobile version of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow as well. He stabs Yoko as he did in the Game Boy Advanced version. Graham is the final boss in this game and is also only the second boss in the game, after the Creaking Skull. In order to enter the throne room to face him, you must collect all three Ancient Books and upon fighting him, only his transformed form is confronted. Entering the battle equipped with the three souls of Dracula will not lead to a second ending, and the fact that Soma is actually Dracula's true successor is never revealed.

Battle
Graham has three different phases. The first phase is very similar to Dracula in previous installments. He will teleport himself continuously and use Hellfire or Dark Inferno. He will always be floating and only his head can be hit. In this phase, it's recommended to use a weapon with long reach and massive size such as Balmung, since it can hit him while eliminating the Hellfires. In this phase, he has 1500 HP, 100 ATK, and 60 DEF.

In the second phase, he teleports to the center of the room and start spawning Dark Infernos in a spiral movement. He comes back with the same stats as the first phase. Depleting his HP will force him to enter the third phase.

In the third phase, Graham changes his form into his final form. In this phase, he has 2000 HP, 100 ATK, and 110 DEF. A halo is formed above him with 4000 HP, 100 ATK, and 73 DEF. The halo will continuously aim the player, and cast lightning on a vertical line and deals Sword damage. Killing the halo will not affect Graham at all, so it's not recommended to kill it, especially in Boss Rush Mode. His other attack is attacking with his hands, which can't hit ducking target. The hands will glow before attempting to attack. Therefore, it's recommended for Soma to use massive overhead weapon such as Final Sword and Claimh Solais while ducking and sliding to avoid getting hit by his hands and lightning. The same strategy can be applied to Julius although he needs to jump to attack Graham. All in all this battle is not difficult and is at best a battle of patience.