A Familiar (使い魔 Tsukaima?) is an eidolon summoned by the player. Familiars can take many forms, such as bats, ghosts and imps, among many others, or they could be formed from the souls of captured enemies. Their most common purpose is to provide the player with support skills. Some familiars may also use special attacks to assist the player in combat.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night marks the first appearance of any such summoned creature in the Castlevania series.
Game specific information[]
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night[]
Alucard can summon five Familiars by locating card relics scattered throughout the game's two castles. Only one of these may be active at any time during gameplay.
Familiars will gain Levels as enemies are defeated. As they level up, they'll improve their abilities, becoming stronger and more aggressive, with some of them displaying new abilities or even changing forms. Familiars gain experience as Alucard kills enemies, but will gain even more experience by killing the enemies themselves.
Available familiars in the game include:
- The Demon Card can be found in the Abandoned Pit to the Catacomb. The player will find a switch in a wall that cannot be hit. The Demon Card can be found by going one room down and one room to the left.
- The Faerie Card can be found in the Long Library. It is located at the top left door of the largest room. This room can be reached by changing into a bat or by jump kicking off of Spellbooks after acquiring the Leap Stone.
- The Ghost Card is in the very top of the Castle Keep at the top of the map. It is at the top of the broken staircase, along with some other useful items.
- The Bat Card can be found in the room where Slogra and Gaibon were fought at the beginning of the game. It is in the upper right corner of the room and can be reached either by using Form of Bat or by double high jumping to reach it.
- The Sword Card can be found in Olrox's Quarters. Take the lower left door in the large room with the fountain. In this hallway, that leads to the Royal Chapel, find the breakable ceiling and go up.
In the Japanese, iOS/Android, and The Dracula X Chronicles versions, there are also a Nose Demon Familiar and a Fairy Familiar, in addition to the pre-existent Familiar types.
| Item Data: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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| Summons "Faerie" familiar | Find: Long Library |
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| Summons "Bat" familiar | Attrib: Hit |
ATT +5 |
Find: Alchemy Laboratory |
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| Summons "Devil" familiar | Attrib: Cut (thrust/swing); Fire (flame); Ice (ice blade); Thunder (thunderbolts/thunder spears) |
ATT +5 (thrust), ATT +10 (swing), ATT +30 (flame/ice blade/thunderbolts), ATT +45 (thunder spears) |
Find: Abandoned Pit to the Catacomb |
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| Summons "Ghost" familiar | Attrib: Hit |
ATT +5 |
Find: Castle Keep |
Effect: Hits cause Soul Steal effect at least at level 70 (heals 8 HP per hit) | ||||
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| Summons "Sword" familiar | Attrib: Cut |
ATT +5 (below level 70), ATT +10 (at least level 70) |
Find: Olrox's Quarters (requires Bat Form); found in a different location in the original Japanese and the DXC versions |
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| Summons "N Demon" familiar | Attrib: Cut (thrust/swing); Fire (flame); Ice (ice blade); Thunder (thunderbolts/thunder spears) |
ATT +5 (thrust), ATT +10 (swing), ATT +30 (flame/ice blade/thunderbolts), ATT +45 (thunder spears) |
Find: Colosseum |
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| Summons "Fairy" familiar | Find: Olrox's Quarters |
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| Attrib: Holy Consume: 60 MP |
ATT +30 |
Find: Starts with |
Sequence: (Hold) ↑, ↗→↘↓ + [Attack]; then ↑ to call bird and have it perch on Maria's shoulder (it will stay there as long as the button is pressed) Effect: Summons an Owl Familiar for about 33 seconds | |||||
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon[]
Nathan Graves can summon familiars by combining the Saturn Action Card with an Attribute Card as per the Dual Set-Up System. Each of the ten possible combinations will summon a different familiar.
- Bat Familiar
- Ghost Familiar
- Owl Familiar
- Hawk Familiar
- Medusa Familiar
- Ghast Familiar
- Sprite Familiar
- Crow Familiar
- Cherub Familiar
- Imp Familiar
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow[]
The only familiars used by Soma Cruz in this game are:
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow[]
Soma Cruz can summon familiars after absorbing certain enemies' souls. All of them are Guardian Souls.
- Bat Familiar
- Corpseweed Familiar
- Mini Devil Familiar
- Quetzalcoatl Familiar
- Great Armor Familiar
- Needle Familiar
- Harpy Familiar
- Gaibon Familiar
- Alastor Familiar
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness[]
- Main article: Innocent Devil
Creatures that aid Hector in Curse of Darkness are not called "familiars" but instead Innocent Devils.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia[]
Shanoa may summon the aid of some creatures by equipping certain glyphs on her back. These familiars vary greatly in speed, attack power, aggressiveness, and may even inflict status ailments to enemies, such as Poison or Stone.
Each familiar can be leveled-up twice by absorbing more glyphs of the same familiar type. They can also level up by letting them kill enemies, although this process is much slower.
They reach Level 2 at 32,767 XP and max out at 65,535 XP, which is Level 3 (the message "LEVEL UP" will appear onscreen when a new level has been reached). Unfortunately, there's no in-game way of checking how much experience a familiar has gained. They gain 3 XP for hitting an enemy and they gain 2,000 XP when Shanoa absorbs another copy of their own glyph.
So, according to this math, it takes 17 copies (rounded up from 16.38 and not taking into account enemies hit/killed by the familiar itself) of the glyph to grow one level. If the familiar is onscreen at the moment it gains a level, it will not immediately display its new abilities; it must first be sent away and summoned again.
Familiars have a base ATK that is affected by Shanoa's own STR or INT at the time of summoning. They are also affected by Shanoa's Attribute Points. However, the familiar's ATK will not be affected by any changes after it is summoned. A good strategy to benefit from this behavior is by boosting Shanoa's own specific stats corresponding to those of the familiar that will be summoned, no matter the cost to other stats. After the familiar has been summoned, the player may then switch to any other apparel they want, while the familiar will keep its enhanced stats for the duration of the summon.
| Item Data: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (edit) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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| Summon zombies that fight to the death. | Attrib: Strike Consume: 80 MP |
ATK +2 |
Steal: Necromancer |
Effect: Summons Zombies. | ||||
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| Summon guardians to glide down from above. | Attrib: Slash Consume: 80 MP |
ATK +3 |
Drop: Winged Skeleton |
Effect: Summons Winged Skeletons. | ||||
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| Summon Polkir to descend on your enemies. | Attrib: Flame Consume: 80 MP |
ATK +4 |
Drop: Polkir |
Effect: Summons Polkir. | ||||
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| Summon owls to soundlessly descend. | Attrib: Slash Consume: 80 MP |
ATK +3 |
Drop: Owl |
Effect: Summons an Owl. | ||||
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| Summon Medusa Heads in a strangely familiar pattern. | Attrib: Stone Consume: 80 MP |
ATK +1 |
Drop: Gorgon Head |
Effect: Summons Medusa Heads. | ||||
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| Summon skull spiders to skitter about when needed. | Attrib: Slash, Poison Consume: 80 MP |
ATK +2 |
Drop: Skull Spider |
Effect: Summons Skull Spiders. Special: Poisons enemies. | ||||
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| Summon a lively assortment of the dead. | Attrib: Strike, Curse Consume: 80 MP |
ATK +5 |
Drop: Jiang Shi |
Effect: Summons Jiang Shi. Special: Curses enemies. | ||||
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair[]
Soma Cruz is the only character able to utilize familiars in Harmony of Despair. He has a wide variety of familiars, including several "Retro" familiars to this game.
| Item Data: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (edit) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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| Summon a Ghost as a familiar. | Attrib: Strike Consume: 2 MP |
ATK +4 |
Rarity: ** Steal: Ghost (2.8%) |
Effect: Ghost Familiar | ||||
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| Summon a Bat as a familiar. | Attrib: Slash Consume: 2 MP |
ATK +4 |
Rarity: ** Steal: Bat (2.8%) |
Effect: Bat Familiar | ||||
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| Summon Gaibon as a familiar. | Attrib: Strike Consume: 2 MP |
ATK +8 |
Steal: Gaibon (3.5%) First Obtained: Chapter 9 |
Effect: Gaibon Familiar | ||||
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| Summon an 8-bit raven as a familiar. | Attrib: Pierce Consume: 2 MP |
ATK +6 |
Steal: R. Raven (5.5%) First Obtained: Chapter 10 |
Effect: Raven Familiar | ||||
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| Summon an 8-bit bat as a familiar. | Attrib: Slash Consume: 2 MP |
ATK +1 |
Steal: R. Vampire Bat (5.5%) First Obtained: Chapter 10 |
Effect: Bat Familiar | ||||
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| Summon an 8-bit ghost as a familiar. | Attrib: Strike Consume: 2 MP |
ATK +6 |
Steal: R. Ghost (5.5%) First Obtained: Chapter 10 |
Effect: Ghost Familiar | ||||
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| Summon an 8-bit skele-dragon as a familiar. | Attrib: Strike Consume: 2 MP |
ATK +8 |
Steal: R. Skele-Dragon (5.5%) First Obtained: Chapter 10 |
Effect: Skele-Dragon Familiar | ||||
Trivia[]
- The term "familiar" has also been used historically as a reference to any of a witch's companion spirits. References to witches, witchcraft and associated practices are frequently used in the Castlevania series.
- The concept of familiars is one of many series of elements borrowed from console role-playing games, where similar creatures are commonplace.
See also[]
External links[]
- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - Glyph Guide by tri-Ace Fanboy at GameFAQs
- Familiar at Wikipedia