Leon Belmont (1094) ( Castlevania )

The main character of Castlevania until Castlevania: lament of innocence

Leon Belmont was a baron in 11th century Europe up to the events of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. He lost both parents at a very young age, and was knighted at the age of 16. When his love interest Sara Trantoul is kidnapped by the vampire Walter Bernhard he enters the castle grounds unarmed, but is given a whip that is blessed with the power of alchemy by the old man Rinaldo Gandolfi, who lives on the grounds. Using the whip and his magic gauntlet, he enters the castle hoping to rescue his fiancée.Within the castle, Leon fights 5 guardians: Medusa, a Succubus who impersonates his fiancée, a Golem, the vampire human Joachim Armster (Walter Berhardt's former ally), and an undead parasite. He gets a magical orb from each of them that unlocks the way to Walter's lair. When he gets past the initial barrier, Walter is there with Sara, who appears to be in some sort of trance. Walter returns Sara to Leon, who finds out that Sara has been tainted and will soon become a vampire. In an act of self-sacrifice, Sara offers her soul to Leon in a ritual that will make Rinaldo's magic whip deadly to vampires and thus allow Leon to defeat Walter. This is where the whip officially becomes "Vampire Killer." Leon, armed with the powerful whip, Rinaldo's grief, and his anger, defeats Walter. However, Walter's death was in actuality orchestrated by Leon's friend Mathias Cronqvist in order to get Walter's coveted "Ebony Stone" which was a powerful vampire artifact and had the power to cast eternal night upon the forest. Mathias reveals himself as the mastermind, the owner of the "Crimson Stone" (another powerful vampire artifact), and as a vampire, which Vampire Killer can now sense. He offers Leon eternal life, which Leon refuses, saying that eternal life would be empty without Sara. Mathias then sends his servant Death after Leon, who defeats Death and gives him a message to pass on to Mathias. Leon swears that his clan and the whip he now carries will destroy Mathias one day, and from that day onward the Belmont clan would hunt the night. Mathias would later be known as Dracula.