Simon Belmont
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Simon Belmont | |
|---|---|
 Simon Belmont in Castlevania Chronicles, as illustrated by Ayami Kojima. |
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| Game series | Castlevania series |
| First game | Castlevania |
| Character designer(s) | Ayami Kojima (Castlevania Chronicles) |
Simon Belmont (シモン・ベルモンド Shimon Berumondo?) is a prominent protagonist in the Castlevania video game series. He has starred in nine different games, six of which are remixes of the same events. He was also featured in several other Konami games, among cameo and official appearances. Examples include Ganbare Goemon 2 (Super Famicom, 1993), Snatcher (PC Engine CD-ROM, Sega Saturn), and DreamMix TV World Fighters (Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2).
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[edit] Simon Belmont in Castlevania
During the life of Simon Belmont, the Belmont name was well known and quite famous, making Simon famous as well. When the Count Dracula once again awoke in 1691 and started terrorizing the people of Transylvania, they sought out Simon, who was promptly on the case.
He would fulfill the Belmont legacy once again, defeating Dracula. However, Dracula was not one to just up and admit defeat. Instead, this time he sacrificed an early resurrection and placed a curse on Simon. By having his minions take his body parts and hide them all over Transylvania, he felt that Simon could not find them all in time and the curse would over take him and the Belmont family lineage would succumb. However, that did not happen, as Simon would be successful in locating all the body parts to resurrect Dracula and promptly defeat him, thus lifting the curse.
While Super Castlevania IV is only a remake of the original Castlevania in the official Japanese Canon for the series by Koji Igarashi, Konami USA modified Super Castlevania IV when they localized it into a sequel to Castlevania II: Simon's Quest by altering the introduction story within the manual and game itself, making the game the third time Simon took on Dracula. Konami USA still reflected the modification within the US canon, as seen in a Konami timeline printed in an issue of Nintendo Power around the release of the "Sorrow" series. However, recently Konami USA left out the US Version of Super Castlevania IV, in their Xtreme Desktop Timeline, which indicates that Konami USA has changed their decision, and are taking the series closer to IGA's vision.
[edit] Time periods
- 1691 - Castlevania and subsequent remakes: Vampire Killer, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Chronicles/Akumajō Dracula X68000, Haunted Castle
- 1698 - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
- 1748 - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (as a hidden character; not a canonical appearance)
The games which took place in 1691 are all known as Akumajō Dracula in Japan. Those were all versions of the same game, with nearly the same storyline. The North American version of Super Castlevania IV was modified to take place in 1698 (taking place after Castlevania II), and was reflected in Konami USA's timeline. However, the Japanese version of the game takes place in 1691 like all the rest of the Akumajō Dracula remakes. The later Xtreme Desktop timeline leaves Super Castlevania IV version out completely.
[edit] Captain N: The Game Master
Simon Belmont was one of the stars in the animated series Captain N: The Game Master. He was a member of the N-Team, a group of mostly video game characters who defended Video Land against the evils of Mother Brain and others. He does not appear in the comic book form of Captain N.
The Simon Belmont of Captain N is portrayed very differently from his real video game counterpart. Instead of being a hero, he appears as a vain, narcissistic, machoistic man. He consistently admires himself and makes sure his hair is never a mess. Furthermore, he is a coward at heart in the series, fleeing from any real danger and often leaving Kevin Keene (the main protagonist) to fight.
Throughout the series, Simon Belmont has a crush on Princess Lana. However, from the moment the central character Kevin Keene appears, he constantly fights to even gain the attention of Princess Lana.
At one point in the series, Simon Belmont and the N-Team travel to Castlevania where they attend the "Simon Belmont Awards," an event that intended to celebrate the life of Simon Belmont and to present the equipment of his famous great-grandfather Trevor Belmont to Simon. However, the equipment is stolen and, with Kevin Keene's help, Simon is successful in getting it returned.
One item that Simon has in the series is a seemingly bottomless backpack, from which he is often able to pull a variety of strange and useful objects.
Simon Belmont was voiced by Andrew Kavadas in the show; Kavadas' appearance was also used as the design for Belmont's character.
[edit] Appearance
Simon's design and appearance has changed significantly from game to game. His hair-colour most notoriously changes with almost every game and there are sometimes inconsistencies between the character's depictions between the game and its packaging. In the first Castlevania (Akumajo Dracula) game and on the Japanese cover of Super Castlevania IV Simon has brown hair, on the cover of Castlevania II and the western covers for Castlevania IV however he is depicted as a blonde. In CV2 his sprite however has black hair. In the arcade Haunted Castle he has blue hair. In his current redesign, which also alters his facial appearance to a more effeminate one, he has red hair.
Simon's attire has also changed from game to game. In some adaptions (mostly in games considered redesigns of the first game) he is shown wearing a headband. In Castlevania and the later Castlevania chronicles he wears a leathery outfit, though the current design adds a strange furry collar to it. Also, Simon's outfit was initially brown, whereas the current costume is red. Simon is also depicted wearing red armour in CV2 and Vampire Killer, but the armour is blue in Haunted Castle and CV4.
[edit] Game appearance history
| Game Title | Console/Platform | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vampire Killer | MSX2 | 1986 | The protagonist |
| Castlevania | Famicom Disk System/NES | 1986/1987 | The protagonist |
| Castlevania II: Simon's Quest | Famicom Disk System/NES | 1988 | The protagonist |
| Konami Wai Wai World | Famicom | 1988 | One of several protagonists |
| Super Castlevania IV | Super Famicom/SNES | 1991 | The protagonist |
| Wai Wai World 2: SOS!! Paseri Jou | Famicom | 1991 | One of several protagonists |
| Akumajō Dracula | Sharp X68000 | 1993 | The protagonist |
| Castlevania Chronicles | PlayStation | 2001 | The protagonist |
| Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance | Game Boy Advance | 2002 | Appears only in Boss Rush Mode |
| DreamMix TV World Fighters | GameCube, PlayStation 2 | 2003/2005 | One of several fighters |
| Konami Evolution Skateboarding | GameCube, PlayStation 2 | 2002 | One of several Skaters |
[edit] Trivia
EGM, famous for their April Fool's jokes, once printed an article stating that Simon Belmont could be unlocked as a playable character in TMNT2.
Simon Belmont ranks among the most wanted 3rd party characters to appear in Nintendo's upcoming Super Smash Bros Brawl, in which he was one of about ten other 3rd party characters referred to in Masahiro Sakurai's blog. However, most of the other 3rd party suggestions were not of a very serious nature, so his likelyhood is that much higher. Sakurai has not made any suggestion that multiple 3rd party characters from the same company are unlikely and did not omit him from the list, so any rumors otherwise are hyperbole.
