Elizabeth Bartley

Elizabeth Bartley (エリザベート･バートリー, Erizabēto Bātorī^?, Erzsébet Báthory) is a character and boss in Castlevania: Bloodlines. She is the vampiress niece of Count Dracula and one of the main antagonists in the game.

Background

English version

In 1421, regal Countess Elizabeth Bartley was tried as a vampire and found guilty after being discovered kneeling over the body of a dead young man. He had two puncture wounds in his neck. It is uncertain the method by which her sentence was carried on, but the fact is that she was indeed guilty, and not only was she a vampire, she was the niece of Count Dracula.

Nearly 500 years later, in the ruins of a mysterious castle in Transylvania, an amateur witch by the name of Drolta Tzuentes cast a spell that inadvertently brought Elizabeth back to the land of the living. The resurrected vampiress was then bent with only one objective: to revive her dead uncle. For this end, Bartley had the Crown Prince of Austria assassinated, and thus led Europe into the chaos of World War I.

Japanese version

Elizabeth Bartley was executed in 1614, but resurrected 300 years later to seek revenge upon mankind. Her first recorded action was to start World War I by assassinating the Crown Prince of Austria in June, 1914. She planned to bring about the revival of Dracula by gathering the souls of the dead from the war. Between 1914 and 1917, Bartley transformed Eric Lecarde's girlfriend into a vampire, prompting the young hunter to seek revenge on her.

In 1917, the events that take place in Castlevania: Bloodlines, she attempted to stop heroes John Morris and Eric Lecarde from thwarting the resurrection of the Count. Her plan, however, ultimately failed, as she, and later Dracula himself, were slain by the two vampire hunters.

Boss battle

The heroes reach a luxurious chamber decorated with two statues that appear to be guarding a vampire's casket that lies between them. A familiar figure will then show her face at last: Countess Elizabeth Bartley. Before even giving our heroes a chance to react, she'll quickly adopt a gruesome form which contrasts immensely with her eternal youthful beauty: the gorgon Medusa.

Medusa attacks by spewing two fireballs that undulate across the screen, one high and one low; the player must position himself among the safe spots left by their trajectories. She will also breathe a stream of flames upward that will then descend near the ground; crouch to avoid taking damage. Next, she'll slither her serpentine tail and lash it in a whip-like manner all across the floor; perform a well-timed jump in order to avoid it. Between all of her main attacks, she'll slowly move forward, performing short lunges while swiping with her claws.

Once this form has been defeated and realizing that she's completely cornered, Elizabeth will be left with no other option than to face the heroes all by herself. Her boss fight is rather unconventional, as she'll start by teleporting over her casket and summon a number of elemental orbs that will then start circling, proceeding next to teleport to either side of the room that is farther away from the player and then command one of the orbs to transform into an attack themed after the element it portrays, whether it is magic, fire, lightning, or a very fast-traveling dagger which stands for physical damage.

To defeat her, remain near the middle of the screen and hit her as soon as she materializes, forcing her to teleport to the other side of the chamber. Each time she's hit will make one of the circling orbs to disappear and her health bar to deplete a little. Keep doing this until all orbs are gone, at which point Elizabeth will teleport back to the center of her lair and conjure a larger amount of orbs.

Once her health bar has been completely depleted, the vampiress will finally succumb, with hellspawn flames engulfing her as she makes one final attempt to return to her casket and shrieking in agony as her body explodes into a mass of blood that splatters all over her lair, leaving behind only her lavish garments slowly floating down as the sole testimony of she ever existing.

Enemy Data

Name Alt. Name Elizabeth Bartley - Location 6. The Castle Proserpina

Trivia

• Bartley's Japanese name is an antiquated way to render Erzsébet Báthory's name and was probably intended as a direct reference to the historical figure. The Japanese version also places Elizabeth's death in 1614, further reinforcing the connection, as this was the year of Erzsébet's death.
• Countess Báthory was an infamous serial killer, one of the most prolific female ones in history, who's thought to have killed up to 650 victims over her life, all young women. This, along with myths about her bathing in their blood to keep herself youthful, has led to her commonly being associated with vampires. In addition, the Countess was distantly related to the historic Vlad III Drăculea, but, contrary to the game's background, she was his cousin rather than his niece.
• In Castlevania Judgment, the bathing in blood element of her backstory is given to the game's version of Carmilla. They are likely separate characters, though. Eric's ending mentions "Dracula's niece" (Elizabeth Bartley), not Carmilla (who has no known blood ties to Dracula).
• The lead female antagonist in the canceled game Castlevania: Resurrection, known as The Countess, may in fact be Countess Elizabeth Bartley; however, she's portrayed as Dracula's lover in this game, so this link is uncertain.

• In the fight against her, she either transforms into or summons Medusa, and is referred to as "Medusa" in the end credits of the American localization. The in-game animation is unclear as to whether this is a form she takes or a summon she performs, as the sprites are simply swapped out. The color and uniquely dragon-like form of Medusa might be a reference to the historical Báthory's coat of arms, which featured a long, low green dragon with prominent claws and whip-like tail.
• The game states that Elizabeth had assassinated the Crown Prince of Austria to trigger the events of World War I. In reality, the crown prince, Rudolf, took his own life in 1889. It was his cousin, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination in 1914 led to the war.
• Elizabeth Bartley was a planned character for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night but was scrapped.^[1]
• Bartley's actions were indirectly responsible for the events of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, as her triggering World War I led to the deaths of Brauner's daughters and ultimately to his turning to villainy, and which in turn led directly to Eric Lecarde's death at the hands of Brauner and his own vampirized daughters, Stella and Loretta.

See also

• Tepes Family Tree

References

1. ↑ The World of Castlevania - KCE Kobe homepage. Developer interview.

External links

• Elizabeth Bartley at the Castlevania Fan Wiki