Alastor, also known as Vandal Sword or Specter, is a recurring enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a possessed sword driven to seek revenge by the souls of slain warriors.
Origins[]
Illustration of Alastor by Louis Le Breton, from the Dictionnaire Infernal.
Alastor was an epithet of the Greek god Zeus, and described as the avenger of evil deeds, specifically, familial bloodshed, while Nemesis punished those who offended the gods. As the personification of a curse, it was also a sidekick of the Erinyes. The name is also used to designate any deity or demon who avenges wrongs committed by men.
Alastor, in Christian demonology, came to be considered a kind of possessing entity. He was likened to Nemesis. The name Alastor was also used as a generic term for a class of evil spirits.
Description[]
Alastor is a ghost swordsman who possesses a very large sword. He is a counterpart to the female rapier-wielding Nemesis. He fades in and out of view and swings his massive sword around.
Appearances[]
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night[]
First appearance of Alastor in the series. He is the ghost form of the Sword Lord and only the sword itself can be attacked to injure the enemy. In the Clock Tower, after destroying the Sword Lord's armor, Alastor is revealed from within and must also be destroyed. The one Sword Lord in the Outer Wall does not spawn any Alastor.
A massive variation of Alastor which does not possess a suit of armor, called Azaghal, also appears in this game.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance[]
Unlike most of his incarnations, in Harmony of Dissonance, the player needs to hit Alastor himself and not his sword in order to injure him, and the entity can be damaged regardless if his silhouette is visible or not. Every time he is damaged, his sword will briefly turn transparent and become intangible, meaning that it cannot injure the player during this time.
Alastor mainly attacks by performing wide arcing swings with his sword (some almost tracing full circles). He also has a relatively rare attack where he frenetically starts slashing all around with his sword for a brief period of time, covering a wide area.
Internal files name this enemy as Spector.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow[]
In both of these titles, Alastor's soul allows the player to control Alastor as a familiar, which is similar to the Sword Familiar from Symphony of the Night.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin[]
Alastor is only found in the secret challenge area, the Nest of Evil. He drops the unique Damascus Sword, the strongest horizontal-slashing sword in the game. They are only found in a couple of rooms of the Nest of Evil, so, if the player seeks to get their hands on this powerful sword, Alastors can be repeatedly fought by reentering the sections that contain them (preferably, the fourth section, which ends with the boss fight against Aguni, as it contains two Alastors).
Alastor retains his form from Dawn of Sorrow, and he even has higher stats that he did in that game, but since the player should have grown stronger by the time they first encounter one, he should be easier to defeat this time around. Like his Dawn of Sorrow counterpart, Alastor can only be injured by attacking the sword itself.
Enemy Data[]
| Enemy Data: Alastor | |||||
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| Image | Name - Game Description |
Statistics | Items | Location | Notes |
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| Sword Lord wields sword even when banished. | Strong: Hit Level: 15 HP: 120 Exp: 100 |
Drop: Holy Sword, Muramasa |
Clock Tower |
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| ' | Level: 24 HP: 96 Exp: 165 |
Common Drop: Noon Star Rare Drop: Sapphire |
Castle A: Clock Tower, Castle Treasury Castle B: Clock Tower, Chapel of Dissonance, Marble Corridor |
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| His vengeful spirit possesses a floating sword. | HP: 1,200 MP: 780 Exp: 1,500 Atk: 80 Def: 45 Timestop: Unaffected |
Soul: Alastor Familiar |
Chaotic Realm |
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| A possessed sword driven to seek revenge by the souls of slain soldiers. | Strong: Dark Weak: Holy HP: 291 MP: 400 Exp: 564 Atk: 99 Timestop: Unaffected |
Soul: Alastor Familiar (1.95%) |
The Pinnacle, The Abyss |
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| A sword monster with an invisible body. Its blade contains the former owner's anger, giving it life. | Weak: Thunder Level: 15 HP: 314 Exp: 43 |
Common Drop: Knight's Vein Rare Drop: High Potion Steal: $200 |
Garibaldi Temple, Tower of Eternity |
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| A sword monster with an invisible body. Its blade contains the former owner's anger, giving it life. | Weak: Thunder Level: 47 HP: 926 Exp: 672 |
Common Drop: Knight's Vein Rare Drop: High Potion Steal: $200 |
Infinite Corridor |
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| A sword possessed by the souls of slain warriors, driven by revenge. | Strong: Dark Weak: Holy HP: 512 Exp: 512 Skill Pt: 25 |
Drop: Damascus Sword |
Nest of Evil |
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Item Data[]
| Item Data: Alastor | ||||||||
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| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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Cross hilt - strong vs. undead Holy sword that works against undead
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Attrib: Holy/Cut |
ATT +26 |
Find: Colosseum (requires Bat Form, US and EU only) Drop: Vandal Sword |
Special: ↓↘→ + [Attack] for Holy Burst (ATT +35 for 5 MP) | ||||
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| Bloodthirsty sword [2 hand] | Attrib: Curse/Cut |
ATT variable, default -5, DEF -4 |
Drop: Scarecrow and Vandal Sword |
Effect: "Jams" like Red Rust if Alucard's total ATT is 10 or less, slow swing speed if total ATT is 29 or less, Slash Flurry and increased swing speed if ATT is 30 or more; continuous Dark Metamorphosis effect; hidden leveling system where a point of ATT is gained for every (current ATTx2 +11) blood heals while Muramasa is equipped; may inflict Curse status | ||||
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| It cannot be seen at night. | Common Drop: Specter Rare Drop: Simon Wraith |
Effect: Allows visiting Merchant's shop in Clock Tower. | ||||||
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| A valubale blue jewel. | Sell: 500G |
Rare Drop: Specter |
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| Summons "ALASTOR" familiar. (Summons "ALASTOR" the spellmaster.) | Attrib: Sword Consume: 3 MP/sec |
25 ATK |
Drop: Alastor |
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| Summon Alastor as a familiar. | Attrib: Slashing Consume: 5 MP/sec |
Rarity: ** Drop: Alastor |
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| The blood of a great knight solidified by magic. It's burning-hot red, too hot to hold for long. | Sell: $60 |
Common Drop: Dead Fencer Lv.12/30, Dead Baron Lv.12/31, Rare Drop: Bone Soldier Lv.13/18/38, Phantom Sword Lv.15, Spectral Sword Lv.15/47 |
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| Medicine that recovers 200 HP. | HP +200 Sell: $500 |
Buy: $1,000 Find: Baljhet Mountains, Mortvia Aqueduct, Tower of Evermore Rare Drop: Spectral Sword Lv.15/47, Final Guard Lv.42/75 |
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| Gold + 200 |
Find: Candelabras Steal: Spectral Sword Lv.15/47, Basilisk Lv.23/46, Assassin Zombie Lv.24/34/44, Skeleton Trooper Lv.35, Unicorn Lv.39/44, Amduscias Lv.39/44 |
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| A superior sword that never loses its razor-sharp edge. | Attrib: Slash Consume: 50 MP (Critical Art) |
ATK +88 Sell: $12,500 |
Drop: Alastor |
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Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin, Alastor's sword resembles the broken Final Sword wielded by the Final Guard, as well as the equipable weapon.