Paranoia

Concept artwork for Paranoia.

General Info

Paranoia is one of the last bosses to be confronted in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and is found lurking in one of the top levels of the Demon Guest House, in a section that is only accessible from the Pinnacle. In addition to this, Paranoia's arena is sealed by three walls that require specific souls to be used to allow the walls to collapse and the player to engage Paranoia in combat. The three Souls are Axe Armor, Killer Clown and Ukoback. Paranoia presents itself in two forms: a lesser Paranoia the size of Soma that suddenly bounces off the mirror in the wall of the first combat zone, and a massively oversized demon emerging from the mirror in the adjoining room.

Paranoia
Appearances	Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Battle Tactics

The lesser Paranoia is not much of a threat, as it can only attack with a weak stab, and if necessary, can submerge itself into the room's enormous mirror to make four floating mirrors appear, stick its hand out of one, and fire a small laser beam. This beam can be reflected by the other mirrors, a tactic that is used to ensnare Soma with more ease. When destroyed, the mirror stains with blood, and in the following room, the second and much more difficult part of the battle takes place, with a gigantic Paranoia emerging out of the room's mirror. This Paranoia prefers to float through the room, descending to kick or hit Soma in a twirl. It can also fire again its laser strike, only it's much more damaging than the previous one, is slightly larger, and it fires it twice in a row, rather than only once. The real problem in this battle is that it is often hard to find space from where to strike at Paranoia. When Sealed, Paranoia yields its soul, a Bullet-Type Soul that allows Soma to enter the world within mirrors.

Trivia

• Paranoia bears a striking resemblance to the Red Zealot Leader enemy from the game Resident Evil 4.

• As it turns out, Paranoia does have a face under his mask. It can be seen (very briefly) upoon his defeat. As he is being absorbed into the Magic Seal, look at his torso: his mask flies off and exposes a vaguely human face.

• Paranoia's Soul is considered to be pretty much useless in battle. However, some of the game's hidden treasures can only be obtained by using it, so it should really be used for treasure hunting rather than combat.