Sypha Belnades (サイファ・ヴェルナンデス,Saifa Verunandesu?) is one of the main protagonists in the Netflix original series, Castlevania. Sypha is the granddaughter of the Elder of the Speakers, a group of nomadic scholars, and a sorceress with control over the elements.
She was voiced by Alejandra Reynoso in the English version of the show.
During the late 15th century in the city of Gresit, Sypha and her fellow Speakers were falsely accused by the Church for the attacks conducted by Dracula's army. This led to them being persecuted constantly, but they stayed inside the city to help those in need. At some point, Sypha learned and mastered elemental magic.
Seeking the "Sleeping Soldier"
In 1476, Sypha ventured into the city catacombs alone, determined to find the "sleeping soldier" that would save humanity from Lord Dracula, but when she ventured deep within, she was attacked by a Cyclops and turned into stone. Fortunately, she was rescued by Trevor Belmont, an exiled vampire hunter who was sent by her grandfather to retrieve her body. After he killed the Cyclops, she was freed from her stone encasement, albeit nauseous.
Initially disliking Trevor for his dry personality, Sypha insisted that she continued her search for the sleeping soldier, although Trevor disagreed, his reasons being the monsters and traps that lurked within the catacombs. When Trevor mentioned that her grandfather believed her to be dead, Sypha reluctantly agreed to return to the Speakers.
Returning to the city, Sypha apologized to her grandfather for failing to find the sleeping soldier. She then argued again with Trevor about the existence of the sleeping soldier. While Sypha believed that there were monsters to protect whatever was in the catacombs, Trevor countered that they were in a part of Dracula's castle.
Later near sunset, the Speakers learned from Trevor that they were to be executed by order of the Bishop. Despite the hunter's warnings to run and hide, Sypha and her grandfather refused because they still wanted to help the people of Gresit, and they chose to fight their own personal battles even at the cost of their lives. However, the Speakers were hidden in the catacombs by Trevor while he dealt with the angry mob in the city. Wanting to fight for herself, Sypha left the catacombs and used her magic to save Trevor when he was completely surrounded. As he rallied the townspeople to fight Dracula's army, Sypha utilized her magic to entrap the monsters within ice walls and spear them with ice shards. At the end of the battle, Sypha and Trevor fell through the unstable and crumbling ground and into the catacombs below, falling deeper inside than they were before.
Awakening Alucard
Venturing deep, the two of them found a coffin where a man with long golden hair awakened in front of them. While Sypha believed him to be the sleeping savior, Trevor labeled him a "vampire" and called him Dracula, and engaged him in battle despite Sypha's protests. When the battle ended with the dhampir preparing to bite Trevor, Sypha threatened him with her magic.
To her and Trevor's surprise, the dhampir stayed his hand and introduced himself as Alucard. As he explained that he was waiting in the catacombs for a hunter and a scholar, Sypha revealed that her grandfather did everything in his power to keep Trevor from leaving the city for the sake of the prophecy. Agreeing to take down Dracula together, the three of them embarked on their journey.
Opposing Dracula
Sypha bids farewell to the Speakers at the gates of Gresit. Alucard informs both Sypha and Trevor on the mechanics of how Dracula's Castle is able to move from place to place. The group determines that they need to be able to anchor the castle in place in order to attack it. Trevor suggests heading to the Belmont Estate to take advantage of the information and artifacts kept in a secret vault. Sypha finds a covered wagon for them, and the trio leaves Gresit. On the road to the Belmont Estate, they are attacked by demons. The group effectively dispatches the group, apart from one heavily wounded demon who escapes.
Reaching the Belmont Estate, Sypha uses her powers to open a magical door leading to the underground vault. Below, they find a treasure trove of information and equipment. While searching through the relics, Sypha bonds with Trevor over his family history and realizes why Alucard acts the way he does. Their search leads Sypha to discover that a member of the Belmont family was working on a locking spell to anchor Dracula's Castle in one place. Sypha is confident that she can complete the spell.
Above, more night creatures attack the estate in an effort to kill Sypha, Trevor, and Alucard. While Trevor holds the night creatures off, Sypha completes the spell and, with Alucard's help in locating Dracula's Castle, manages to transport it above them near the ruins of the Belmont Mansion.
Sypha, Trevor, and Alucard storm Dracula's Castle, slaying all the vampires within before facing Dracula himself. Sypha and Trevor put up a good fight, but Dracula fends them off, leaving Alucard to battle his father throughout the length and breadth of the castle. Eventually, their fight leads them to Alucard's childhood room, where Dracula breaks down and allows Alucard to stake him in the heart. Sypha and Trevor arrive and help in finishing him off. Trevor cuts off Dracula's head while Sypha burns the body.
With Dracula defeated, Alucard becomes the steward of Dracula's Castle and the Belmont Estate's secrets. Sypha, having a taste for adventure, plans to set off in search of the Seekers to tell them her story before heading out into the world. Dracula's army is not totally defeated, and she feels that she has finally found her calling. Not wanting to do it alone, Sypha asks Trevor to accompany her since she believes that Trevor's destiny is to fight evil. He agrees, and later, they bid farewell to Alucard as they ride off to seek adventure.
Adventuring
Sypha and Trevor slew night creatures for over a month. At some point, they consummated their relationship. Although Sypha would get annoyed when Trevor said beer was better than sex.
Season 3
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Season 4
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Appearance
Sypha is a pretty young woman with fair skin, big pale blue eyes, short peachy blond hair, and thin vermilion lips. She wears the typical uniform of the Speakers.
Personality
"I am a Speaker and a scholar of magic. I serve no demon and I do no evil."
Sypha is upbeat, playful, spirited, and kind. She loves adventure, learning, gaining new experiences, and battling evil for a righteous cause. Sypha is often the heart of the team. Supporting Trevor and Alucard while always guiding their actions toward the aid of the innocent. Considering how sad and hurt both men are, Sypha's empathy greatly aided them during the war against Dracula.
Although she is generally on the softer side, Sypha is also a very strong-willed woman who often speaks her mind, showing little concern for the consequences. She will not shy away from intimidating potential attackers by boasting her magical prowess, sometimes even making threats. Sypha's strong sense of justice and duty with those in need is shown by her sheer amount of mental fortitude.
As a Speaker magician, Sypha Belnades bears some of the heaviest responsibilities of her tribe. She is the prime candidate for being the "scholar" mentioned in the "Sleeping Soldier" legend, a prediction that is proven to be true. As such, Sypha is completely dedicated to waking the Sleeping Solider and saving Wallachia at the side of her prophesized allies. Sypha is highly educated in both the use of magic and the history of Wallachia, as is the primary charge of Speaker tribes. She is also very brave; entering the lair of a cyclops, confronting bloodthirsty mobs, and battling the night hordes.
Like many Speakers, Sypha is an altruistic idealist. Her conviction is very strong, even by Speaker standards. Sypha was completely adamant that the Speakers not abandon the citizens of Gresit in their time of need, even as the citizens were planning to kill her tribe. While idealistic to the point of endangerment, Sypha does demonstrate she knows how to avoid some risks; evidence being dressing like the men of her tribe to avoid danger while traveling. After reaching the Belmont Hold, Sypha comes to rethink the Speaker policy of never writing down knowledge. The Belmont library contained more information than two generations of Speakers could pass down. She still respects the Speaker way though, sharing her new knowledge with them after the war against Dracula.
She would often butt heads with Trevor Belmont at first, who opposed her idealism with apathy and survivalism. Sypha also did not take kindly to his rudeness and callous attitude. She even suggested serving Trevor her urine as a fake brew of beer to punish him for his rudeness. Unlike her grandfather, the Elder, Sypha initially had no respect for Trevor. In spite of Trevor saving her life, Sypha considered him a lost cause due to his aforementioned attitude. While the Elder made great efforts to reason with him as he stated his conviction to stay in Gresit, Sypha says: "It is time for those of us who fight this war to stand up and be responsible, Trevor Belmont. You should leave now."
However, Trevor earns Sypha's respect and loyalty when he fights on the Speakers' behalf and decides to, once again, make protecting the citizens of Wallachia his purpose. Sypha's loyalty was proven to be very strong when she chose to protect him from Alucard, her legendary soldier of prophecy when Trevor and Alucard came to blows. At this moment, Sypha acknowledged that Trevor was her savior, and they shared the same conviction.
Her relationship with Trevor deepens quickly afterward. She appreciates his occasional kind acts and enjoys teasing him. In time, she realized that meeting Trevor opened a new world of experience, adventure, and purpose for her. After the war against Dracula, she realized she didn't want to stop her adventure with Trevor. Sypha invited him to be her partner. Trevor accepted, admitting his closeness to her and how much his life had improved since they met. Their relationship became intimate soon afterward. Sypha deeply enjoys her new life as an adventuring hero with Trevor. They work and play off each other well, though she does get frustrated with his attitude at times. Sypha was hit hard by the events of Lindenfeld, getting more acquainted with Trevor's harsh experiences on the road. Luckily for Sypha and Trevor, they had each other's support even through the worst of times.
After a couple of months of traveling with Trevor, she became brashier and more of a loudmouth, especially when irritated. Trevor influenced her to take on some of his more rudy traits. By the aftermath of the events of Lindenfeld, Sypha eventually reached the point of cynicism, just like Trevor used to, being prone to cursing, much to her own surprise, and getting angry, to where Trevor himself was visibly uncomfortable with her attitude.
Powers and abilities
"Sypha is a Speaker who can shoot magical elements from her hands. Those who underestimate her don't tend to live long."
— Sypha's profile description
Magic: Due to its massive and deadly properties, her usage over it is so great that she can cause destructive force against her foes. Sypha is an immensely powerful mage. Her magical power and skill allowed her to easily defeat many of Dracula's monsters and three of his generals, along with most of the monsters and creatures she faced when traveling with Trevor, time only improving her finesse and prowess with magic. Sypha's magical abilities even made her a threat for someone as physically and mystically powerful as Dracula, with the strongest vampire opting to keep a special eye on her during his battle with her, Trevor and Alucard, Sypha being able to even take control over Dracula's castle to the extent of being able to teleport it to her desired location and keep the stronghold rooted there when Dracula wasn't actively controlling the castle with his magic, though it was shown Dracula was still magically more powerful, Sypha being on the verge of defeat when they magically clashed and requiring the efforts of her friends to pull through.
Pyrokinesis: Sypha has remarkable control over fire that allows her to generate enormous amounts of fire and control them masterfully, shaping them in the form of walls of flame or multiple balls of fire. She is also seen being able to control fire from external sources. The potency of her power over fire is such that she is easily capable of dispatching night-creatures with a single hit of her fire magic, even capable of burning one of Dracula's generals alive simply with the touch of her hand. Sypha is also capable of defending and counteracting fire-based attacks from her opponents, even countering a powerful fire spell from Dracula with help from Trevor and Alucard. After years of traveling and fighting alongside Trevor, Sypha's control over fire were refined to precise and personal shapes, able to create bursts of fire around her feet and hands for propulsion and shape a sword made out of magical fire.
Cryokinesis: Sypha is able to create constructions of ice (blocks, shards, walls and sheets) and freeze any type of water instantly, including holy water. She also demonstrated the ability to use the humidity of the air to create ice. In the Battle of Gresit, this power proved instrumental against the Night Horde as both a defensive wall, and offensive blast of ice shards. Sypha's control over ice extends to being able to alter the shape of her created constructs, making them as large or as small as she wants them to be as well as a measure of telekinetic control over them.
Sypha conjuring air.
Aerokinesis: Sypha is able to conjure small whirlwinds and use the wind to propel herself upward. This was especially useful in the catacombs as she was able to manipulate the wind in order to soften her and Trevor's landing, as well as transport herself upward to more stable ground. She is also able to alter the temperature of the wind she conjures, which she used to great effect against one of Dracula's generals.
Electrokinesis: Sypha is able to create lightning, although she is seen straining when doing so, suggesting it takes more effort than the other elements. Her travels with Trevor, however, improved her control and power over lightning to where she can instantly generate much more intense amounts of mystical electricity capable of repelling and even killing monsters in the form of waves and widespread of electricity.
Peak human conditioning: While Sypha lacks the might of Trevor and Alucard, she is nevertheless more robust than any other human woman. Sypha is quite nimble even without the aid of her magic, with honed reflexes, natural agility, and above average strength that surpass that of the common people. She recovered falling deep into the underground of Gresit and even survived getting physically attacked by Dracula, who can kill mortals with single strikes. However, Sypha was still the most physically injured in the aftermath of the battle, requiring bandages for her arm.
Abilities
Knowledge of lost languages: Sypha knows ancient languages lost by mankind that help her summon powerful spells or lift magic seals. This includes the occult language Enochian, as well as Adamic, the original language spoken by Adam and Eve. She also recognized High Remembrance and Chaldaic in the Belmont library's books.
History of the Speakers: As a Speaker, Sypha is highly educated and knows the full history of Wallachia. Her knowledge includes prophecies of the future, which have been proven to be accurate. Nevertheless, she eventually and grudgingly admits that their practice of passing knowledge through oral tradition is foolish, when compared to the value of accumulated knowledge through written word.
"I could pee in a bucket and tell him it's beer." ("Labyrinth")
"It's time for those of us who fight that war to stand up and be responsible, Trevor Belmont." ("Labyrinth")
"I will incinerate you before your fangs touch that man's throat." ("Monument")
"His goal is mine, stand up for people." ("Monument")
"Isn't it silly? They're heading into who knows what danger, and I'm standing here sad and angry because they're together, and I'm alone." ("War Council")
"It would have been a poor education if we hadn't been taught to read things to add to out memory stores. But I am coming to the conclusion that my people are idiots and we should have written everything down" ("Last Spell")
"Perhaps you're just an angry teenager in an adult's body." ("Last Spell")
"I do hope you sleep well tonight with my tiny, icy foot shoved all the way up your..." ("Bless Your Dead Little Hearts")
"Belnades and Belmont! We roll out and hit the road and fight nasty hovering death goats that open their flaming bowels upon the innocent!" ("Investigators")
"Just one more thing. Speakers tend to be natural prey in towns, because we don't carry weapons. So we all learn how to spot when someone's concealing a knife. Don't you think monks wearing a magic sign for Hell and hiding blades in their robes is a little obvious... even for a small town? I see you." ("I Have a Scheme")
"Confident people are competent and careful. Nervous people make mistakes. I'd rather they were nervous than happy in their work." ("I Have a Scheme")
"I want to leave here, now, and never come back." ("Abandon All Hope")
"This is where it all started, isn't it? Targoviste." ("Murder Wakes It Up")
"She does need our help. But I'm sick of being a bit player in someone else's story." ("Walk Away")
"I come from a people who have weaved a community across the world, and I know you what that community does. It fixes things, and it remembers. All I see here are people who've forgotten." ("Back in the World")
"I realize that we are on the same side, but you need to understand that I can kill you by looking at you. I also realize that these people need to organize. They can't help you until they help themselves. Otherwise your invisible king and queen will rule over nothing but bones." ("Back in the World")
"He loved me. We made a child. Something new and wonderful will have come from all this." ("It's Been a Strange Ride")
When petrified by the Cyclops, Sypha bears a resemblance to her original appearance in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Her gender is also initially suggested to be male, which is consistent with the game.
According to Alejandra Reynoso, Sypha's voice actress, the Speakers originate from the Iberian Peninsula. Sypha's first language would thus be Spanish.[1]
Reynoso has also stated that due to this fact she deliberately tries to give Sypha a marked Spanish accent.
