The Peeping Eye is a common eyeball monster from the Castlevania video game series. They are floating eyes that have tails, chains, or a similar strip of material attached to them. It lies with its eye closed, awaiting prey, and when a victim approaches, it will swoop down and attack with either its whip chain tail or, in some games, a beam of energy that is emitted from its single eye.
It is described in various bestiaries as the castle's designated "watch dog" (a pun referencing the fact it's a monster eyeball).
Description
The Peeping Eye is notable for being an enemy with a fairly consistent item drop: it usually drops an item, accessory or soul that allows the player to see hidden or breakable walls. As the Peeping Eye is literally a giant eyeball, this makes perfect sense.
Peeping Eyes can be the bane of some players, as they generally can only be attacked by jumping and then attacking, which given its movement pattern, is usually inefficient and risky.
Depending on the game they appear in, their tails can be either completely harmless or one of their main methods of attack. In some games, the tail is just too short to present any kind of danger; in others, making contact with them may have no effect at all; yet in others, they may unleash a special attack where they lash their tails furiously while homing fast toward the hero.
This enemy makes a minor appearance in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Peeking through the archways in the background, a giant Peeping Eye can be seen following Alucard as he moves through the Marble Gallery hallway leading to the Outer Wall. The Peeping Eye is only seen in this room and is not actually an enemy in the game, being little more than part of the background, albeit one that follows the player's movements and gives the game some added depth by including the castle's infamous "watch dog" as a piece of scenery.
A boss version of this enemy appears in Harmony of Dissonance, called the Peeping Big. When slain, it explodes into a multitude of smaller Peeping Eyes, although these don't have chain tails.
The improved variant on the Peeping Eye is the Bugbear. It behaves almost exactly the same as the Peeping Eye, except that it uses electricity on the end of its tail to attack.
In other media
A toy of the Peeping Eye was released as an accessory with NECA's Dracula action figure.
Enemy Data
| Enemy Data: Peeping Eye | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Description |
Statistics | Items | Location | Notes |
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| ' | HP: 8 Exp: 500 |
1. Monastery, 2. Underground Aqueducts, 4. Cathedral, 5. Clock Tower |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| ' | HP: 4 Exp: 250 |
2. Entrance, 4. Torture Chamber, 5'. Piers |
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| ' | 1. Ruins of the Castle Dracula, 3. The Leaning Tower of Pisa |
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| ' | HP: 2 |
2. Entrance |
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| ' | Level: 8 HP: 51 Exp: 17 |
Common Drop: Potion Rare Drop: Shin Guards |
Castle A: Castle Top Floor Castle B: Castle Treasury, Clock Tower |
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| The castle's designated "watch dog". | HP: 38 MP: 66 Exp: 8 Atk: 11 Def: 2 |
Soul: Search Eye |
Castle Corridor |
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| An eyeball monster born from a person who once peeped in life. | Weak: Ice HP: 50 |
Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab, House of Sacred Remains |
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| A creature that keeps watch in the castle. | Weak: Piercing, Slashing, Stone HP: 15 MP: 999 Exp: 8 Atk: 8 Timestop: Affected |
Soul: Search Eye (0.39%) |
The Lost Village, Demon Guest House, Silenced Ruins |
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| A creature that keeps watch in the castle. | Weak: Whip, Slash HP: 21 Exp: 15 Skill Pt: 1 |
Drop: Eye for Decay |
City of Haze |
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| ' | 1. The Mansion |
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| One of the castle's watchmen. | Weak: Light HP: 92 Exp: 66 Skill Pt: 1 Atk: 60 |
Drop: Eye for Decay (1%) |
Castle Entrance, Library |
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| A floating eye-creature, the "watchdog" of the castle.(*) | 4. Chapel, 5. Clock Tower |
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| A creature that keeps watch in the castle. | Weak: Slash, Pierce |
Drop: Monocle (5.30%) Gambler Glasses (0.80%) Soul: Yellow (0.80%) Identify breakable walls. |
Chapter 1, Chapter 3, Chapter 5 |
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Soul Data
| Item Data: Peeping Eye | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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| Identify breakable walls. | Rarity: ***** Steal: Peeping Eye (0.8%) |
Effect: Search Eye | ||||||
Gallery
Trivia
- In Aria of Sorrow, there is a Peeping Eye behind the window of the Castle Corridor. Even though it can't be hit, homing type bullet souls, such as the Tiny Devil's and Ghost's souls, will try to target it.
References
- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Bestiary by Darth Nemesis at GameFAQs.com
- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Walkthrough and FAQ by Zach "Darko" Long at GameFAQs.com