Gergoth

Gergoth
Gergoth as it appears in Dawn of Sorrow.
Japanese name(s)	ゲーゴス Gēgosu
Alternate name(s)	Gergos
Abilities	Air suctioning bite Expels a poisonous, petrifying, or cursing cloud Gergoth Laser Jumps and smashes on the ground
Type(s)	Beast
Origins	Original Castlevania lore
Appearances	Dawn of Sorrow Portrait of Ruin Harmony of Despair Grimoire of Souls

Gergoth is a boss in the Castlevania series. It is a once-gentle beast, warped by magic and driven mad by imprisonment.

Description

Gergoth resembles a gray bipedal dinosaur with much of its flesh rotting off. It has no arms (it's unknown if it once had, although the ripped flesh on its torso could hint it did), no tail (the stumped and fleshy shape of its rear hints it once had a thick tail), has empty eye-sockets, and visible ribs. When it opens its mouth, the loose skin tissue on its head can no longer sustain the tension and retracts, revealing its skull covered in tender pink flesh underneath. Its legs are bound by elaborated shackles which can be destroyed if attacked enough.

It attacks by biting, jumping onto the player, and by expelling poisonous, cursing or petrifying fumes from its exposed rib cage. However, its most powerful attack consists on firing a devastating laser beam from its mouth.

Appearances

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Gergoth awaits the player at the top of the Condemned Tower. It paces back and forth, and attacks either by opening its rib cage and expelling a cloud with Poison, Stone or Curse properties, or by biting forward, which pulls the player toward it while building up. After its initial attack, it will most likely follow with a high jump, attempting to stomp onto the player. The fumes it expels can be pushed away by hitting them (a weapon with a wide arcing pattern, such as a great sword, can be used for this effect).

After Gergoth has sustained enough damage, it will let out a loud shriek and perform another high jump, although this time powerful enough that it actually will destroy the floor of the boss room, as well as all other floors in the tower as both it and the player fall through it. The player can use this opportunity to score a few free hits while both of them are on their way down.

Gergoth has yet another attack, a very powerful laser beam it shoots from its mouth. This attack covers almost the entire room, so the best strategy is to get near the creature and crouch just before it. This safe spot also provides an opportunity to repeatedly attack it on its legs. After enough damage has been dealt, its shackles will break, which signals getting near to the end of the battle. Once its health has been depleted, Soma must draw the Magic Seal 3 in order to send the creature back to its realm.

Gergoth's soul is required in order to forge one of the the two-handed sword upgrades, which leads to the powerful Claimh Solais.

No. Name JPN HP MP ATK 109 Gergoth ゲーゴス Gēgosu 3,800 9,999 69 Tolerance Weakness Time Stop (unaffected) Slashing, Piercing Location Common Drop Rare Drop Soul EXP Condemned Tower - - Gergoth Laser 4,290 Description "Imprisoned in solitude long ago, it gradually grew evil and demented."

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Gergoth appears as the second optional boss in the Nest of Evil. This time, however, it can be defeated with little to no effort just by casting a couple of 1,000 Blades. If the player talks to Wind after it has been defeated, he will offer a new quest: "Kill Gergoth". To complete this quest, the player must engage Gergoth in battle a second time, but this time Charlotte must deal the finishing blow by using the Blank Book. This changes the whole panorama, as the Blank Book has extremely low reach and deals minimal damage. However, Gergoth can be weakened by casting 1,000 Blades once, then let Jonathan attack it a few times, and then let Charlotte finish the monster. STR boosting assets, such as the Wedding Dress, Open Veil, Combat Boots, Assassin's Cape, and a fully charged STR Boost, will help her in dealing more damage.

An alternate method involves placing Jonathan at one end of the room and Charlotte at the other, causing Gergoth to repeatedly turn. While it is turning, position Charlotte close to Gergoth and fully cast Berserker to deal massive damage with each attack.

No. Name JPN HP 131 Gergoth ゲーゴス Gēgosu 3,800 Tolerance Weakness - Whip, Piercing, Fire Location Common Drop Rare Drop EXP SP Nest of Evil - - 2,500 50 Description "A once-gentle beast, warped by magic and driven mad by imprisonment."

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Gergoth appears in Harmony of Despair as the boss of the first chapter. It is located at the top room of the level, sleeping for 30 seconds and then waking up. It shoots beams from that point on until it is confronted by a player. It has an additional attack in this game: a slide/belly flop attack. It's recommended to take the lower route and beat all the enemies while going up the stairs that lead to Gergoth's room; otherwise, the player will have to deal with all of them after it uses its belly flop attack. Additionally, its poisonous gas attack was changed into its entrails being rapidly shot out.

The default boss theme used for Gergoth is "Into the Dark Night".

No. Name JPN HP MP 46 Gergoth ゲーゴス Gēgosu ??? ??? Tolerance Weakness - Slashing, Piercing, Ice Chapter Drop Bind Soul Chapter 1 - Caught in the Cradle of Decay Hercules Ring (Normal), Spiked Boots (Normal), Blue Knuckles (Normal - Alucard only), Daybreak (Alucard only), Tough Ring (Hard), Combo Boots (Hard), Mjollnjr (Hard - Soma only), Spiked Armor (Hard - Jonathan, Julius, Richter only) - Gergoth Laser (Bullet Soul - 0.30%) Description "A once-gentle beast, warped by magic and driven mad by imprisonment."

Strategy

Being the first boss, Gergoth should not prove to be too difficult, although its tendency to use its massive size to corner the player can be annoying. Unlike in Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin, however, there is much more room to maneuver and one can get behind it easily with a double jump and downward kicks, ensuring evasion and scoring some hits on its back (although it will turn to face the player soon).

Gergoth has a weakness on its legs, although one must break the shackles on them that take half the damage its body would take otherwise, but its unprotected legs take twice the normal damage and, since they player is likely to crouch to avoid some of its attacks, it makes an ideal place to hit. Characters like Shanoa and Charlotte, or Jonathan, that can hit multiple times (depending on their Hunter Skills) can be ideal to quickly destroy the shackles. Doing so is not mandatory, though, and one can simply hit the main body, since it is large enough for attacks to hit easily.

Gergoth's attacks tend to be slow and predictable, but its preference to trap the player with its massive body can end in damage if one attacks recklessly. One should always stay at a moderate distance in order to hit it and retreat, so the battle won't drag out for longer than required. In Hard Mode, Gergoth does not change much, except that its attacks are much more damaging. However, the player is likely to have better equipment and potions to compensate for this. The battle should just be taken with just a bit more of patience than in Normal Mode. Overall, Gergoth is mostly a battle of patience and securing the chances to attack as quickly as possible. The beast will fall in a matter of time.

Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls

Enemy Data: Grimoire of Souls
Image	Name - Game Description	Statistics	Items	Location	Notes
	109. Gergos  - Grimoire of Souls				[ edit ]
	'			A Vessel for the Lord: 4-1

Other appearances

Castlevania (animated series)

Gergoth appears in Season 4 of the animated series. It is a night creature under the control of the vampire warrior, Dragan. Gergoth attacks Dracula's Castle, where the villagers of Danesti have taken refuge. It is finally killed by the combined efforts of Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades and Alucard.

Item Data

Item Data: Gergoth
Image	Name - Game Description	Type / Users	Attributes / Consume	Statistics / Sell	Found	Notes
	Gergoth - Gergoth Laser - Dawn of Sorrow					[edit]
	Fire a devastating laser beam.	Guardian Soul Soma	Attrib: Fire Consume: 30 MP/sec		Rarity: 100% drop rate. Drop: Gergoth
	Hercules Ring (jpn) - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Lets you ignore blows like a mighty god.	Accessory any	Attrib: Prevents most knock-back	CON +3 Sell: $1,250	Rarity: ***
	Spiked Boots - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Boots that deal extra damage when kicking.	Leg (Boots) Soma, Alucard, Jonathan, Julius, Richter, Shanoa		DEF +3 Sell: (cannot be sold)	Rarity: *** Find: Chapter 1 (Normal) Drop: Gergoth
	Blue Knuckles - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Specially designed for devastating uppercuts.	Cestus Alucard	#hands: 1	ATK +11 Sell: $2,450	Rarity: *** Drop: Gergoth Normal
	Daybreak - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Enchanted sword with the power to summon an undead army.	Greatsword Alucard	#hands: 2	ATK +44 Sell: $4,500	Rarity: *** Find: Chapter 4 (Normal)	Special: ↓↘→ + [Attack] To Summon Undead. Occasionally summons Undead Army.
	Tough Ring (jpn) - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Shortens the time you spend stunned after taking damage.	Accessory (Ring) any		CON +3 Sell: $2,500	Rarity: ****
	Combo Boots - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Gain strength by continous kicks without touching the ground.	Leg (Boots) Soma, Alucard, Jonathan, Julius, Richter, Shanoa		DEF +4 Sell: (cannot be sold)	Rarity: **** Find: Chapter 1 (Hard) Drop: Gergoth
	Mjollnjr - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Mighty hammer of the thunder god.	Cudgel Soma	#hands: 1	ATK +28 Sell: (cannot be sold)	Rarity: **** Drop: Gergoth Hard
	Spiked Mail (jpn) - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Armor studded with sharp spikes. Wear with Caution.	Chest (Body Armor) Jonathan, Julius, Richter		DEF +15 Sell: $8,750	Rarity: ***** Drop: Gergoth (Hard)
	Gergoth - Harmony of Despair					[edit]
	Fire devastating laser beams	Bullet Soul Soma	Attrib: Holy	ATK +7	Rarity: *** Steal: Gergoth (0.3%)

Gallery

Gergoth from Dawn of Sorrow.

Gergoth from Dawn of Sorrow.
(beta version)

Gergoth from Harmony of Despair.

Gergoth in the official Koma comic strips.

Gergoth from the Castlevania animated series.

Gergoth model sheet from the Castlevania animated series.

Gergoth and Armored Beast concept artworks from The Art of the Animated Series artbook.

Trivia

• The English localizations of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Harmony of Despair describe Gergoth as being a once gentle beast who grew deformed and was driven mad by imprisonment, whose reasons are yet unknown. However, in the Japanese versions, it is said it was once a criminal imprisoned in ancient times, who grew deformed and twisted by cursing all of creation.^{[citation needed]}
• The graphical data for Gergoth refers to him as "f_fafni_0#.dat". "fafni" is a shorthand term for Fafnir, the dragon slain by Sigurd in Norse mythology.
• The facial features of the Executioner, a boss in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, bear some resemblance to those of Gergoth. Furthermore, their backstories are similar, both being once gentle giants gone mad in imprisonment.