Talk:Alucard/@comment-75.97.124.116-20191123040447/@comment-3236835-20191124213327

You're probably right, it seems to represent Alucard vampiric/magical powers, although Richter also has it (as well as other characters in the sequels), which most likely is the result of the developers suddenly having a way more powerful machine and tools to create a sprite-based game, where they were able to add all sorts of nifty (albeit arguably useful) effects.

Just look at the wide assortment of special effects all of the spells, items, etc. have. They're pretty much there only to showcase the PlayStation's then new capabilities.