Castlevania Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Castlevania Wiki
See also: Ghost

The Giant Ghost, also known as a Skull Lord or Great Ghost, is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a skull transformed into a giant ghost by exposure to the castle's magic.

Description[]

A ghost taking the form of a giant skull. It attacks by erratically approaching the player, occasionally pausing before delivering a fast, dashing bite.

Appearances[]

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse[]

Main article: Death/Enemy Data
Cv3-death2

First appearance of this enemy in the series, although not yet identified as an individual entity. Instead, Death will adopt this form on the second phase of his boss fight, where he transforms into a giant, phantasmagorical skull that floats in a circular manner across the room while slowly moving to the left. Once it reaches the edge, it will reappear from the right side following the same pattern. The skull will periodically launch a scythe at the player, lighting itself from inside and bursting into laughter as it does so.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood[]

The Big Ghost makes an impressive introduction midway through the first section of Stage 3', where the screen suddenly stops scrolling and the monster slowly emerges in the distance, soon arriving to the player's location. It is a phantasmagorical aberration with three eyeballs –two in their respective eye sockets and a third on its forehead– and attacks by hovering around the screen while three smaller Phantom Skulls circle around it. It then slowly homes toward the player attempting to inflict physical damage with its massive size. It can't be harmed by any normal means other than by attacking the eyeballs themselves. Fortunately, each eye can be destroyed in a single hit, but due to the ghost's movements and size, this fight can be either very easy or take some effort, depending on the player's skill and current sub-weapon.

If playing as Richter, bringing the Axe, Cross or Dagger are all good choices. If playing as Maria, Seiryuu is definitely the best option, as a single dragon can destroy all three eyeballs if aimed properly.

3eyeskullGiant Ghost DXC
(RoB/DXC)
Name Alt. Name HP EXP
Giant Ghost Big Ghost 2 (x3) 1,000
Location
Stage 3': Caves

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night[]

The Skull Lord makes an impressive appearance in Symphony of the Night, enriched by the various aesthetic effects provided by the then new PlayStation system, like a huge sprite size, detailed design, enhanced color palette, and impressive lighting effects. It appears in the Clock Tower and the Reverse Keep, and is usually seen among other smaller Phantom Skulls. It is specially weak to Holy, however, and if Alucard managed to get his hands on the Holy Rod beforehand, he may even be able to destroy the Skull Lord in a single hit, depending on his stats.

They are reencountered in the Reverse Keep with a slight aesthetic modification, now having lost their red eyes.

Sotnskull
No. Name JPN Level HP
51 Skull Lord Big Ghost 12 80
Strong Immune Weak Absorb EXP
Dark - Holy - 50
Location Drop Guard
Clock Tower, Reverse Keep Scimitar, Skull Shield -
Description "Giant skull spirit."

Castlevania Legends[]

In Legends, the Skeleton Head floats out of reach and charges to attack when Sonia's back is turned.

Skullhead
Name JPN HP ATK
Skeleton Head - 3 1
Location
2. Inside
Description

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance[]

The "Skull Lord" version of the Giant Ghost, first seen in Symphony of the Night, can be found lurking in graveyards among many other smaller Ghosts. It has a ghostly blue fiery aura around it this time around, much like its smaller counterparts.

In addition, the Giant Ghost's dead skull from Rondo of Blood can be found in a background of the Skeleton Cave.

Bigskull
No. Name JPN Lv. HP
13 Large Ghost Big Ghost 6 33
Tolerance Weakness Common Drop Rare Drop EXP
- Fire $5 $25 12
Location (Castle A) Location (Castle B)
Skeleton Cave, The Wailing Way Shrine of the Apostates, The Wailing Way

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow[]

In this game, the Giant Ghost has been reinstated with its third eyeball on the forehead (as first seen in Rondo of Blood) and also fashions a fiery aura around it. Other than this, it behaves in a similar manner as its other incarnations.

The Giant Ghost is one of the only two enemies able to deal Dark damage (the other being the second form of Chaos).

AOS-Giantghost
No. Name JPN HP MP EXP
20 Giant Ghost Big Ghost 75 100 22
Attack Defense Tolerance Weakness Time Stop
18 1 Darkness Holy
Location Common Drop Rare Drop Soul
Chapel, Study - - Force Field
Description "Transformed into a giant ghost by exposure to the castle's magic."

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin[]

The Great Ghost from Portrait of Ruin is actually a hidden enemy and defeating it is required for completing Wind's "Ghosts of the Desert" quest. Only one appears in the entire game and the only hints the player is given to find it is both the quest's title and its description, which reads: "There is a room in which many ghosts gather. Defeat the Great Ghost that appears there."

To find the Great Ghost, the player must go to the rightmost-bottom room of the upper-right area of the Sandy Grave, where Ghosts continuously appear, and stay there killing them for a while until the Great Ghost finally appears. It's worth mentioning that the requirement for this quest can be fulfilled even before starting the quest itself; the player may kill the Great Ghost first, and when they talk to Wind to start the quest, it will be already completed.

Sotnskull
No. Name JPN HP
47 Great Ghost Big Ghost 66
Tolerance Weakness
Strike, Whip, Slash, Dark Holy
Location Common Drop Rare Drop EXP SP
Sandy Grave - - 240 9
Description "An enormous phantom."

Castlevania: Order of Shadows[]

The Giant Ghost is initially encountered floating in midair and then it starts flying directly toward Desmond as soon as it detects him (instead of making pauses and short lunges like in other games). It is considerably resilient, so casting a powerful spell is recommended in order to dispatch it quickly.

Giantghost
Name
Giant Ghost
Location
4. The Inner Sanctum

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth[]

Like in Legends, the Big Ghost will charge at Christopher Belmont when his back is turned. However, it will still move even if Christopher is facing it, although with reduced speed.

TAR GGO
Name
Big Ghost[1]
Location
4. Chapel, 5. Clock Tower

Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night[]

Name Title HP EXP
Skull Lord - 280 ~325
Drop Steal Location
Ice Cream, Hamburger; Eight of Crosses, Holy Rod ~1S, 25C Clock Tower
List of Spells
Skill Cost Effect
??? ??? ???
- - -

Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls[]

Enemy Data: Grimoire of Souls
Image Name - Game
Description
Statistics Items Location Notes
GoS Great Ghost Great Ghost  - Grimoire of Souls [ edit ]
This enemy cannot be defeated no matter how many times you attack it, but attacking it a number of times will send it flying off. Bounty Hunt (after defeating a certain number of enemies)
Abil: Burn, Frozen, Shock, Slow, Curse
Notes: Changes element depending on the theme of the stage

Item Data[]

Item Data: Giant Ghost
Image Name - Game
  Type - Users
Description
Attributes / Consume Statistics / Sell Found Notes
Broadsword Icon Scimitar (jpn) - Symphony of the Night
  Sword - Alucard
[edit]
Single edged curved sword
Japan Crescent bladed sword. Curved single-edged sword
Attrib: Cut
ATT +5
Find: Underground Caverns (Scylla battle)
Drop: Skull Lord
Skull Shield Icon Skull Shield (jpn) - Symphony of the Night
  Shield - Alucard
[edit]
Shield with Knight's crest DEF +4
Drop: Bone Ark, Yorick, Skull Lord
Effect: Projectile block
Special: Shield Rod or Mablung Sword spell (40 MP): Giant Laser Attack (ATT +100, Attrib: Hit)
Money Bag HoD Icon $5 - Harmony of Dissonance
  Pick-Up (Money) - Juste Belmont
[edit]
Gold + 5
Rare Drop: Fleaman, Bone Pillar
Common Drop: Skeleton, Large Ghost, White Dragon, Flying Bone, Scarecrow, Bomber Armor, Balloon
Money Bag 2 HoD Icon $25 - Harmony of Dissonance
  Pick-Up (Money) - Juste Belmont
[edit]
Gold + 25
Rare Drop: Skeleton, White Dragon, Bomber Armor, Balloon, Large Ghost
Common Drop: Skeleton Blaze, Big Skeleton, Skeleton Flail, Skeleton Spear, Skeleton Ape, Big Balloon, Arabaki, Fleaman Armor
Blue Soul Giant Ghost - Force Field - Aria of Sorrow
  Guardian Soul - Soma
[edit]
Provides a protective barrier. (Surrounds itself with a protective barrier.) Attrib: Holy
Consume: 5 MP/sec
30 ATK
Drop: Giant Ghost
Eight of Crosses - Encore of the Night
  Card - Alucard
[edit]
Drop: Skull Lord

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Most depictions of Carmilla (starting from her second appearance, in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood) have her riding atop a giant, flying, magical skull, similar in concept to the Giant Ghost.
  • In Symphony of the Night, the Skull Lords found in the Reverse Keep don't have eyes, unlike the ones found in the Clock Tower.
  • The particular way of attacking of the Skeleton Head in Legends is very similar to the Boo enemies from the Mario franchise, which are ghosts that stand still high above while facing them, but quickly charge at the player as soon as they turn their back against them.

See also[]

References[]

  1. Name retrieved from an internal file.
Advertisement