Simon Belmont

General CVG character
name=Simon Belmont


caption=Simon Belmont from the cover of the X68000 version of "Akumajō Dracula".
series="Castlevania" series
firstgame="Castlevania"
creator=
artist=Ayami Kojima ("Castlevania Chronicles")
voiceactor=Television
Andrew Kavadas
japanactor= DreamMix TV World Fighters
Hideo Ishikawa
motionactor=
inuniverse= nihongo|Simon Belmont|シモン・ベルモンド|Shimon Berumondo is a fictional protagonist in the "Castlevania" series of video games published by Konami. 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, including "Ganbare Goemon 2" (Super Famicom, 1993), "Snatcher" (Sega CD), and "DreamMix TV World Fighters" (Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2).

Conception and design

[
thumb|left|Ayami_KojimaCastlevania Chronicles".] Simon's design and appearance has changed significantly from game to game. His hair-color often changes with each new appearance, 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 games, he is shown wearing a headband. In "Castlevania" and the later "Castlevania Chronicles" he wears leather armor. Also, Simon's outfit was initially brown, whereas the current costume is black. Simon is also depicted wearing red & black armor in "Simon's Quest" and "Vampire Killer", but the armor is blue in "Haunted Castle" and "Super Castlevania IV".

Appearances

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 believed and hoped that Simon could not find them all in time and the curse would overtake 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 defeating 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.

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.

Captain N: The Game Master

Simon Belmont was one of the stars and protagonists in the animated series "". 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".

Throughout the series, Simon Belmont has a crush on Princess Lana. However, from the moment Kevin appears, Simon has bouts of jealousy and tries harder to gain the affection of Princess Lana.

Simon Belmont was voiced by Andrew Kavadas in the show; Kavadas' appearance was also used as the design for Belmont's character.Fact|date=September 2008

In other media

Electronic Gaming Monthly, famous for their April Fool's jokes, once printed an article stating that Simon Belmont could be unlocked as a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. [cite web
url=http://homepage.mac.com/chris_johnston/C1662594604/E1537189433/index.html
title=A Fool to Remember
publisher=homepage.mac.com
accessdate=2008-08-08
last=
first=]

According to Nintendo Power, the worst cover for a Nintendo Power was one depicting Simon Belmont holding the decapitated head of Dracula (the scene was a depiction of Castlevania II). It is considered the worst cover because hundreds of parents called in to complain about the goriness of the cover. It was reported in the complaints that children suffered nightmares resulting from the image.

Simon appeared as a preorder bonus for in the form of a statue depicting his 8-bit sprite from .

Reception

Obata's design of Simon and the other characters for "Castlevania Judgment" were perceived by critics as derivative and inadequate, as the characters looked more similar to those from Obata's work on "Death Note" than their appearances in "Castlevania".cite web|author=David Oxford|date = 2008-06-27|url=http://wii.kombo.com/article.php?artid=12149|title=Passing Judgment on Wii's Castlevania |publisher=Kombo|accessdate=2008-07-17]

References

ee also

*List of Castlevania characters