Changes: Bat Form

Revision as of 00:42, 29 December 2019

Alucard and Soma Cruz can take the form of a bat in many games. Alucard naturally possesses this ability, being a dhampir, while Soma eventually develops it thanks to his power of dominance over souls.

Game specific information

Vampire Killer

Although not a true usage of this form, Dracula, during the second phase of the final battle, utilizes a variation where he spews a colony of bats out of the mouth of a painting in his likeness.

Haunted Castle

Although the player doesn't actually utilize this form, Dracula during the final battle transforms into a swarm of bats in lieu of his usual teleport ability, marking the first time Dracula is shown using this ability. He will later use it as an offensive attack separately from his teleport ability.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Alucard is able to transform into a bat in Dracula's Curse at any time by pressing ↓ and [JUMP] at the same time. Flying around as a bat allows him to avoid obstacles but consumes Hearts at a steady rate. Being hit by an enemy while in bat form will cause him to revert to human form. This is especially dangerous, as this ability is generally used to fly over big "bottomless" chasms which, if hit in midair, usually means instant death as Alucard will helplessly plummet down to his death if the player doesn't press ↓ and [JUMP] again fast enough.

Super Castlevania IV

Although it is never utilized or encountered in gameplay, defeating Dracula will feature a scene where the room that he and Simon Belmont are in has sunlight pouring inside, with Dracula turning into a swarm of bats in a desperate attempt to escape, only to be trapped in the rays of sunlight and have the bats collapse one by one and die before combusting.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

In Symphony of the Night, Alucard is able to turn into a bat once he finds the Soul of Bat relic. While in bat form, he will normally fly at a slow speed while consuming MP. The powerful Wing Smash, which causes his bat form to dash across the screen at high velocity while dealing out Hit damage, can be pulled off if the player knows the button combination (hold [JUMP] + ↑↖←↙↓↘→, release [JUMP]). The Wing Smash ability varies depending on the version of the game. In the PlayStation version and ports, it has a fixed duration and Alucard will automatically leave bat form after a short dash. The dash can be extended by re-inputting the command for the spell during the previous one, allowing a Wing Smash to continue until Alucard either hits something or runs out of MP. In the Saturn version, the Wing Smash won't automatically end and will continue for as long as Alucard doesn't hit something or run out of MP.

Alucard can gain additional abilities for his bat form by gaining additional relics, including:

Fire of Bat: This relic allows him to shoot fireballs while in bat form.
Echo of Bat: This relic gives him a sonar which will allow him to see what is ahead in dark areas.
Force of Echo: This relic causes his sonar to deal damage.

If the Bat Familiar is out while in bat form, it will mistake him for a possible mate and a heart will appear over its head. Smitten, it will follow him much more closely, making it more useful. Also, additional bats will be summoned depending on the familiar's level (one additional bat for every 20 or so levels). If the Fire of Bat relic has been found, whenever Alucard fires off a fireball while in bat form, any bat familiars following him will launch a fireball as well. The bat familiar has no action to match the Wing Smash ability, however.

The color of the currently equipped cloak, as well as the customizable Joseph's Cloak, affects the color scheme that Alucard's bat form will take.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Soma Cruz can also take the form of a bat in Aria of Sorrow, where he can activate the Giant Bat's soul to do this. While in bat form, equipping the Flame Demon's soul (Hellfire) and the Succubus' soul (Death Touch), allows him to shoot fireballs; equipping the Bat's soul (Echo of Bat) allows him to use this ability; equipping both Blue Crow's and Red Crow's souls allows him to summon crows in rapid succession (although the limit of the soul is still considered).

Throughout the game, Soma can find three ancient books, each of which give a hint about a particular soul combination that has to be used at the Top Floor. Ancient Book 2 says: "The second spirit is the King of Bats."; if all three correct souls are equipped while dealing the last blow to Graham's first form, Soma will then be able to confront his second form, eventually accepting his condition as the reincarnation of Dracula; then the good ending become available to the player. Giant Bat is the only one of these three souls that is not a random drop, being granted after defeating Balore.

In speedruns, the Giant Bat Soul is used extensively due to how it affects wall-zipping mechanics in the game: Soma is pushed upwards when inside a wall in human form, while the Bat Form is pushed left or right. This allows for quick out-of-bounds navigation of the castle.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

Although the Bat Form is not an actual gameplay element used by the player, the ending of the game has Mathias Cronqvist turning into a bat after revealing he had turned himself into a vampire to spite God over Elisabetha Cronqvist's death and having Death dispatch Leon Belmont after the latter refused to condone his actions.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

In Dawn of Sorrow, Soma can transform into a bat by activating the Bat Company's soul. Equipping the Flame Demon's soul (Flame Ball) allows him to shoot fireballs while in bat form. Soma is also able to summon a Fleaman while in bat form by activating the Fleaman's soul (Hopping Man).

Alucard could take the form of a bat in Dawn of Sorrow by selecting it as a sub-weapon.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

Dracula in the third phase of his final battle will occasionally utilize this move to turn into a colony of bats.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Main article: Owl Morph

In Portrait of Ruin, instead of a bat, Charlotte Aulin can change (or make Jonathan change) into an owl by casting the Owl Morph magic spell to fly around, which is essentially the same as changing into bat form in previous titles, although no extra abilities can be acquired for this form other than just flying to access hard to reach areas.

During the final battle with Dracula and Death, the former will occasionally transform into a swarm of bats, requiring Jonathan and/or Charlotte to jump high to evade the swarm.

Castlevania Judgment

In Judgment, Alucard is not seen actually taking the form of a bat. However, bat wings sprout on him while he performs the Wing Smash dashing-slash move, and during his Infernal Blade finishing move.

Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls

The Giant Bat enemy occasionally adopts the Bat Form (more specifically, the swarm variation) during the boss fight against it.

Item Data

Item Data: Bat Form
Image	Name - Game Type - Users Description	Attributes / Consume	Statistics / Sell	Found	Notes
	Transform into a Bat (jpn) - Dracula's Curse - Alucard				[edit]
	He does have the power to transform into a bat and fly around. (...)	Consume: 1 Heart/sec			Sequence: Down + A
	Bat Form - Symphony of the Night Action - Alucard (requires Soul of Bat)				[edit]
	Transform into a bat and fly freely through the air. Gradually consumes MP.				Sequence: Transform into a bat and back: [Bat] Move: directional pad
	Soul of Bat (jpn) - Symphony of the Night Relic (Form) - Alucard				[edit]
	Transform into Bat			Find: Long Library	Effect: Enables Bat Form ability
	Fire of Bat (jpn) - Symphony of the Night Relic (Form) - Alucard				[edit]
	Shoot fireballs as Bat	Attrib: Fire Consume: 8 MP	ATT +10	Find: Clock Tower	Effect: Allows the Bat Form to shoot fireballs using the Attack button. Also allows the Bat Familiar to shoot fireballs if it is active
	Wing Smash (jpn) - Symphony of the Night Spell - Alucard				[edit]
	Powerful attack by Bat	Attrib: Hit Consume: 8 MP	ATT +50	Buy: $2,000 Find: Obtain the Soul of Bat. Then either purchase Magic Scroll 7 (DXC-only) or successfully perform the action (...)	Sequence: While in Bat Form hold [Jump] + ↑↖←↙↓↘→, release [Jump]
	Giant Bat - Bat Form - Aria of Sorrow Guardian Soul - Soma				[edit]
	Transforming into a bat gives you the ability to fly.	Consume: 30 MP/sec		Find: The Arena	Effect: One of the three souls that represent Dracula's powers required to continue the game after the Graham boss fight.
	Bat Company - Bat Form - Dawn of Sorrow Guardian Soul - Soma				[edit]
	Transform into a bat and fly.	Consume: 15 MP/sec		Rarity: 100% drop rate. Drop: Bat Company
	Bat Form (Bat) - Dawn of Sorrow Subweapon - Alucard				[edit]
	Alucard's skill	Consume: 5 MP/sec		Find: Starts with	Effect: Transform Alucard into bat.
	Soul of Bat - Encore of the Night Relic (Form) - Alucard				[edit]
	Transform into a bat.			Find: Long Library	Special: Allows access to new areas.

Gallery

Screenshots

Animations

Other media

Trivia

In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the tail-like formation which the bat familiars take when following Alucard while in bat form is reminiscent of how Options follow the player's ship in the Gradius series.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:SOTN Bat Form.gif|right|76px]]
 [[Alucard]] and [[Soma Cruz]] can take the form of a [[bat]] in many games. Alucard naturally possesses this ability, being a [[Dhampir|dhampir]], while Soma eventually develops it thanks to his [[Power of Dominance|power of dominance]] over souls.
 ==Game specific information==
+===''[[Vampire Killer (video game)|Vampire Killer]]''===
+Although not a true usage of this form, [[Count Dracula (Vampire Killer)|Dracula]], during the second phase of the final battle, utilizes a variation where he spews a colony of bats out of the mouth of a painting in his likeness.
 ===''[[Haunted Castle]]''===
-Although the player doesn't actually utilize this form, Dracula during the final battle transforms into a swarm of bats in lieu of his usual [[teleport]] ability, marking the first time Dracula is shown using this ability. He will later use it as an offensive attack separately from his teleport ability.
+Although the player doesn't actually utilize this form, [[Dracula (Haunted Castle)|Dracula]] during the final battle transforms into a swarm of bats in lieu of his usual [[teleport]] ability, marking the first time Dracula is shown using this ability. He will later use it as an offensive attack separately from his teleport ability.
 ===''[[Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse]]''===
-Alucard is able to transform into a bat in ''Dracula's Curse'' at any time by pressing ↓ and [JUMP] at the same time. Flying around as a bat allows him to avoid obstacles but consumes [[Heart]]s at a steady rate. Being hit by an enemy while in bat form will cause him to revert to human form. This is especially dangerous, as this ability is generally used to fly over big "bottomless" chasms which, if hit in midair, usually means instant death as Alucard will helplessly plummet down to his death.
+[[Alucard]] is able to transform into a bat in ''Dracula's Curse'' at any time by pressing ↓ and [JUMP] at the same time. Flying around as a bat allows him to avoid obstacles but consumes [[Heart]]s at a steady rate. Being hit by an enemy while in bat form will cause him to revert to human form. This is especially dangerous, as this ability is generally used to fly over big "bottomless" chasms which, if hit in midair, usually means instant death as Alucard will helplessly plummet down to his death if the player doesn't press ↓ and [JUMP] again fast enough.
+===''[[Super Castlevania IV]]''===
+Although it is never utilized or encountered in gameplay, defeating [[Dracula (Super Castlevania IV)|Dracula]] will feature a scene where the room that he and [[Simon Belmont (Super Castlevania IV)|Simon Belmont]] are in has sunlight pouring inside, with Dracula turning into a swarm of bats in a desperate attempt to escape, only to be trapped in the rays of sunlight and have the bats collapse one by one and die before combusting.
 ===''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night]]''===
-In ''Symphony of the Night'', Alucard is able to turn into a bat once he finds the '''Soul of Bat''' [[Relic|relic]]. While in bat form, he will normally fly at a slow speed while consuming [[Mind Points#Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|MP]]. The powerful [[Wing Smash]], which causes his bat form to dash across the screen at high velocity while dealing out [[Strike|Hit]] damage, can be pulled off if the player knows the button combination (hold [JUMP] + ↑↖←↙↓↘→, release [JUMP]). The Wing Smash ability varies depending on the version of the game. In the [[PlayStation]] version and ports, it has a fixed duration and Alucard will automatically leave bat form after a short dash. The dash can be extended by re-inputting the command for the [[Spell#Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|spell]] during the previous one, allowing a Wing Smash to continue until Alucard either hits something or runs out of MP. In the [[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/Saturn|Saturn version]], the Wing Smash won't automatically end and will continue for as long as Alucard doesn't hit something or run out of MP.
+In ''Symphony of the Night'', [[Alucard]] is able to turn into a bat once he finds the '''Soul of Bat''' [[Relic|relic]]. While in bat form, he will normally fly at a slow speed while consuming [[Mind Points#Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|MP]]. The powerful [[Wing Smash]], which causes his bat form to dash across the screen at high velocity while dealing out [[Strike|Hit]] damage, can be pulled off if the player knows the button combination (hold [JUMP] + ↑↖←↙↓↘→, release [JUMP]). The Wing Smash ability varies depending on the version of the game. In the [[PlayStation]] version and ports, it has a fixed duration and Alucard will automatically leave bat form after a short dash. The dash can be extended by re-inputting the command for the [[Spell#Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|spell]] during the previous one, allowing a Wing Smash to continue until Alucard either hits something or runs out of MP. In the [[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/Saturn|Saturn version]], the Wing Smash won't automatically end and will continue for as long as Alucard doesn't hit something or run out of MP.
 Alucard can gain additional abilities for his bat form by gaining additional relics, including:
@@ Line 29: / Line 36: @@
 ===''[[Castlevania: Lament of Innocence]]''===
-Although the Bat Form is not an actual gameplay element used by the player, the ending of the game has [[Mathias Cronqvist]], after revealing he had [[Dracula|turned himself into a vampire]] to spite God over [[Elisabetha Cronqvist]]'s death, turning into a bat after having Death dispatch Leon Belmont after the latter refused to condone Mathias's actions.
+Although the Bat Form is not an actual gameplay element used by the player, the ending of the game has [[Mathias Cronqvist]] turning into a bat after revealing he had turned himself into a [[Dracula|vampire]] to spite God over [[Elisabetha Cronqvist]]'s death and having [[Death]] dispatch [[Leon Belmont]] after the latter refused to condone his actions.
 ===''[[Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow]]''===
@@ Line 35: / Line 42: @@
 Alucard could take the form of a bat in ''Dawn of Sorrow'' by selecting it as a [[Sub-Weapon|sub-weapon]].
+===''[[Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles]]''===
+Dracula in the third phase of his final battle will occasionally utilize this move to turn into a colony of bats.
 ===''[[Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin]]''===
@@ Line 40: / Line 50: @@
 In ''Portrait of Ruin'', instead of a bat, [[Charlotte Aulin]] can change (or make [[Jonathan Morris|Jonathan]] change) into an [[Owl#Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin|owl]] by casting the [[Owl Morph]] [[Spell#Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin|magic spell]] to fly around, which is essentially the same as changing into bat form in previous titles, although no extra abilities can be acquired for this form other than just flying to access hard to reach areas.
-During the final battle with Dracula and Death, the former will occasionally transform into a swarm of bats, requiring Jonathan and/or Charlotte to jump high to evade the swarm.
+During the final battle with [[Dracula]] and [[Death]], the former will occasionally transform into a swarm of bats, requiring Jonathan and/or Charlotte to jump high to evade the swarm.
 ===''[[Castlevania Judgment]]''===
 In ''Judgment'', [[Alucard/Judgment|Alucard]] is not seen actually taking the form of a bat. However, bat wings sprout on him while he performs the [[Alucard/Judgment#Movelist|Wing Smash]] dashing-slash move, and during his [[Alucard/Judgment#Movelist|Infernal Blade]] finishing move.
+===''[[Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls]]''===
+The [[Giant Bat]] enemy occasionally adopts the Bat Form (more specifically, the swarm variation) during the boss fight against it.
 ==Item Data==
@@ Line 60: / Line 73: @@
 ==Gallery==
 ===Screenshots===
-<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" caption="Bat Form">
+<gallery position="center" captionalign="center">
 Lament of Innocence - Bat Form - 01.png|[[Mathias Cronqvist|Mathias]]'s (later known as [[Dracula]]) very first chronological bat form transformation in the series, from ''[[Castlevania: Lament of Innocence|Lament of Innocence]]''
 DxC Dracula Large Bat Form.png|A close-up of [[Dracula]]'s '''Bat Form''' from ''[[Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles|Dracula X Chronicles]]''
@@ Line 67: / Line 80: @@
 </gallery>
-==Animations==
+===Animations===
 <gallery position="center" captionalign="center" bordercolor="transparent">
 DC Bat.gif|'''Bat Form''' from ''[[Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse|Dracula's Curse]]''
 BDK Bat Form.gif|'''Bat Form''' from ''[[Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun|Boku Dracula-kun]]''
-KD Bat Form.gif|'''Bat Form''' from ''[[Kid Dracula (Game Boy)]]''
+KD Bat Form.gif|'''Bat Form''' from ''[[Kid Dracula (Game Boy)|Kid Dracula]]'' ([[Game Boy|GB]])
 SOTN Soul of Bat.gif|'''Bat Form''' transformation from ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|Symphony of the Night]]''
 SOTN Fire of Bat.gif|'''Fire of Bat''' from ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|Symphony of the Night]]''
@@ Line 77: / Line 90: @@
 DOS Bat Company.gif|[[Giant Bat|Bat Company]] soul from ''[[Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow|Dawn of Sorrow]]''
 DOS Bat Form.gif|[[Alucard]] using '''Bat Form''' from ''[[Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow|Dawn of Sorrow]]''
+</gallery>
+===Other media===
+<gallery position="center" captionalign="center">
+Count (Captain N) - 03.jpg|The [[Count (Captain N)|Count]] in bat form in ''[[Captain N: The Game Master]]''
+Captain N - The Game Master - 13.png|Redesign on Season 3 of the same show
 </gallery>
 ==Trivia==
-*In ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night]]'', the tail-like formation which the [[Bat Familiar|bat familiars]] take when following [[Alucard/Symphony of the Night|Alucard]] while in bat form is reminiscent of how [[w:c:gradius:Option Types#Option|Options]] follow the player's ship in the ''[[Gradius (series)|Gradius]]'' series.
+*In ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night]]'', the tail-like formation which the [[Bat Familiar|bat familiars]] take when following [[Alucard]] while in bat form is reminiscent of how [[w:c:gradius:Option|Options]] follow the player's ship in the ''[[Gradius (series)|Gradius]]'' series.
 ==See also==