The Medusa Head is a recurring enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a monster created in great numbers from the head of Medusa.
Description
Spawned from the hair of Medusa, Medusa Heads fly through the air in an attempt to ram into the player. They usually appear in areas where there is a hazardous series of platforms. They may also appear in games where Medusa herself is not present.
The standard Medusa Head normally flies in a wave-like pattern, usually making them hard to dodge, but aside from that they don't do anything else.
In Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, another variant was introduced; these Medusa Heads home directly toward the player instead of flying aimlessly in wave-like patterns. However, this behavior has not been used as often as the first kind, making their most prominent appearances in Castlevania (N64) and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness.
Another time when the basic attack pattern of the Medusa Head has been altered was in Castlevania: Bloodlines. In the last stage, Medusa Heads will start appearing while the player is attempting to cross a crumbling bridge. They enter from either the top or the bottom of the screen, stop in midair, and shoot a fast traveling fireball at them.
In Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, a new gold-colored variant was introduced. Their behavior remained the same as the blue variant and had no impact on gameplay whatsoever, so they were just added for aesthetic reasons. However, since the release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, they were given the ability to petrify the player on contact. This could be extremely dangerous as petrification could lead to landing on spikes or in front of other enemies. While this variant is often simply called "Medusa Head", it has also been called "Gold Medusa" on occasion.
Yet another variant was introduced in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, called the Gorgon Head. These also have the ability of petrifying the player upon contact; however, they will only appear after killing five of the other two kinds combined. Killing a Gorgon Head has a 100% chance of leaving a Fidelis Medusa glyph.
Summoning
In some games, the player is able to summon a Medusa Head, either as a quick summon or as a familiar. A Medusa Head (of varying sizes) will appear and usually shoot beams from its eyes which will induce petrification to any enemies they come in contact with.
Appearances
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Medusa Heads in Simon's Quest behave a bit different than those present in most of the other games in the series. They simply home toward the player, not unlike the way Ghosts used to do in the original Castlevania. Interestingly enough, Ghosts are now the ones who travel in a wave-like pattern, just like Medusa Heads did in the first game.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Gold Medusa Heads will not petrify Alucard if he has the Medusa Shield equipped. Instead, they will act exactly like the blue variant.
Castlevania (N64) / Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Medusa Heads materialize out of thin air in front of the player in certain areas. They usually appear whenever they are attempting to make a difficult jump over a hazardous area (such as poisoned water, spikes or lava), trying to make contact with them in midair and send them down to their untimely demise with just one hit. They display electric bolts around them while spawning, although the reason for this is unknown as they don't deal any kind of elemental damage.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Only the normal blue-colored type appears in this game. Despite of this, they have the ability to petrify the player upon contact, a feature only Gold Medusas may have in the rest of the games.
Akumajō Dracula: The Arcade
Medusa Heads will try to hinder the player's progress across narrow walkways in the Clock Tower.
Other games
- A Medusa Head appears in the puzzle game Pixel Puzzle Collection.
Enemy Data
- Main article: Medusa Head/Enemy Data
Item Data
| Item Data: Medusa Head | ||||||||
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| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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| Resistance to stone [use] | Attrib: Stone |
Drop: Gargoyle (Saturn only), Medusa Head |
Effect: Temporarily grants immunity to Stone status | |||||
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| Gorgon headed shield | Attrib: Stone |
DEF +1, ATT +13 |
Drop: Medusa Head |
Effect: Projectile block and shield attack that may petrify a vulnerable enemy. Immunity to Stone status when equipped Special: Shield Rod or Mablung Sword spell (30 MP): Summon Medusa – Laser Attack (ATT +0, Attrib: Hit) | ||||
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| Cotton armband. | STR +5 |
Drop: Will O' Wisp, Ectoplasm, Gremlin, Spirit, Devil Tower, Bat, Medusa Head, Were-Panther |
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| Defense increases while equipped. | DEF +50, STR -10, LCK -10 |
Drop: Stone Armor, Death Mantis, Medusa Head |
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| The kind of charm you can purchase anywhere. | DEF +1 |
Rare Drop: Medusa Head |
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| This pendant increases its user's resistance to petrification. | Rare Drop: Gold Medusa |
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| Gold + 100 |
Rare Drop: White Dragon Lv2, Gold Medusa (doublepack) Common Drop: Disc Armor, Skeleton Mirror, Spriggan |
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| Ability to stop in mid-air. | Consume: 10 MP/sec |
Drop: Medusa Head |
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| Become capable of hovering in one location. | Consume: 10 MP/sec |
Rarity: *** Drop: Medusa Head |
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| A whip that can turn its targets to stone. | Attrib: Stone Consume: 50 MP (Critical Art) |
ATK +30 Sell: $3,500 |
Drop: Medusa Head |
Effect: Enemies weak to the Stone attribute are petrified. | ||||
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| Summon Medusa and activate the eye of petrification. | Attrib: Dark, Stone Consume: 25 MP |
ATK +6 (partially charged), ATK +12 (fully charged) |
Drop: Medusa Head |
Effect: Summons Medusa's head which shoots a petrifying beam in a wide arc. Special: Fully charged: No distinct changes, besides raised damage. | ||||
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| Gorgon-headed shield. | Attrib: None |
DEF +3, ATK +1 Sell: $3,750 |
Rarity: *** Drop: Medusa Head |
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| Gain the ability to hover in one location. | Consume: 10 MP |
Rarity: *** Steal: Medusa Head (0.6%) |
Effect: Vector ZERO | |||||
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| Gain the ability to hover in one location. | Consume: 8 MP |
Steal: R. Medusa (5.5%) First Obtained: Chapter 10 |
Effect: Vector ZERO | |||||
Gallery
- See: Medusa Head/Gallery
Trivia
- Medusa Heads, Gorgon Heads and Medusa, all are Greek female creatures called Gorgons, despite the fact that in the Castlevania series the enemy called Gorgon is inspired by an ox-like mythological creature of Libyan origins.
- Medusa Heads are infamous for knocking players off of platforms. They are often considered to be one of the most annoying enemies in video game history.[citation needed]
- Even though they don't make a true appearance in the Lords of Shadow games, they make a cameo on the carousel wheel in the Toy Maker's Funfair area in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.