Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse/Bosses

Stage 1: Skull Knight
The first boss of the game is, naturally, the easiest one of all. If you upgraded your whip to its fullest power, this duel will be a piece of cake. Simply get in front of the Knight and start whipping away. If you got any secondary weapons, you can throw those into the mix as well, but you should be fine with just the whip. His pattern is predictable, and you can easily avoid him using the platforms. It doesn't take much to bring this guy down.

Stage 2: Possessed Grant Danasty
The possessed version of Grant can be a menace if you're not careful, but all in all, he's not too difficult to bring down. The main things to look out for here are his daggers and axes (identical to the ones you can use.) If you got a secondary weapon, it can make this fight quite a bit easier, giving you more ways to inflict damage from a distance. Even the mostly-useless daggers are good to have in this fight, as you can hit the boss from across the room. Just avoid him and his attacks (you don't want to get trapped in a corner), and you should do all right. After defeating him, you'll have the option of having him join your party, which you should definitely do (otherwise, what was the whole point of traversing the Clock Tower?

Stage 4: Vampire Bat
Another blast-from-the-past boss enemy, but this guy has learned a few new tricks since your last battle. Each time you hit him, he splits into two smaller bats. And each time you hit one of them, they split into two smaller bats, and so forth, until his life runs out. If you got the Cross as Trevor, heave it at him as often as possible. Double and Triple Shots help, but are not a requirement. Basically, just keep bringing the pain, and don't let the bats spread out. You shouldn't have too much trouble with this fight.

Stage 5 sub-boss: Alucard
The son of Dracula makes his first appearance in a Castlevania game here. But before you can get the option to have him join your party, you've gotta beat him in a duel. His strategy more or less copies Dracula from the original game, disappearing and reappearing, launching three fireballs. The bats he transforms into for the teleportation are invulnerable, but they can't hurt you either, so nothing to fear. He's only vulnerable in his head, so whip him there. Also, whip his chest just before he fires his fireballs, and you can destroy them. With good timing, you can hit his head AND destroy the fireballs with a single stroke of the whip. An axe is helpful here, as it can easily hit the vampire in the head. But even without one, as long as you have a full-power whip, you'll be all right. You'll almost certainly want to take him with you on your journey; his bat transformation ability is extremely valuable.

Stage 5: Skull Knight King
If you stuck with Level 5, rather than taking the lower road to the sunken city, you'll finish out Level 5 in his relatively short block. The boss looks familiar; he's identical to the boss you fought on Level 1. Although his movements and general attack methods are pretty much the same, there's a catch this time around. Each time you hit him, a bone breaks off. The bones can be destroyed easily, but the foe will not lose any life unless there is at least one bone on the screen. To counteract this, I recommend crouching in a corner and attacking: the bones won't hit you as much if you crouch in a corner. Trevor's full-power whip is good for inflicting damage, but lacks range. Alternatively, Alucard's standard attack has the benefit of range, but low power. Either way, just use one of the two guys' strongest normal attacks, and you should be able to win.

Stage 6Y: Frankenstein's Monster
This is exactly the same boss that appears on Level 5A, so unless you visit the Sunken City, you'll inevitable meet up with Dr. Frankenstein's creation. Simply use the strategy mentioned above for the boss, and you'll be fine. Having met him from this path, though, you'll have the luxury of Alucard's long range standard attack (but like in the other scenario, Trevor will do just fine.) As with Level 5A, you shouldn't have much trouble winning.

Stage 6X: Bone Dragon King, part 1
You know those tough Bone Dragons you met all throughout the Sunken City, and how they made you so angry so many times? Well, now you get to face their king. This guy has no attacks whatsoever, instead he just hovers around the room, trying to plough you off the ledges and into the drink. Each time you hit him, a segment falls off his body, and he gets progressively faster. You'll want Trevor for this fight, though Alucard's bat ability may save your life if you get knocked off a ledge. As Trevor, if you got the Cross somewhere in the level, heave it at the King as he charges you when he comes onto the screen. You may end up scoring multiple hits, which is a plus. Just keep moving, and don't attack unless it doesn't put you in danger of falling off a cliff. Before you can beat him entirely, he'll retreat, and your character will chase him to the next block of the level.

Stage 6X: Bone Dragon King, part 2
Time to finish what you started. The battlefield is much smaller this time, and the water is gradually rising. Fortunately, you hurt the King pretty bad the last time you fought, so it won't take much to bring him down. Just keep attacking until he falls.

Stage 7: Evil Flame
Regardless of which Stage 7 you ended up on, you'll fight the Evil Flame's trio of bosses.

The Mummies will be new to you if you took the low road, and naturally, Sypha's fire magic won't be an option. You can use Trevor's whip to attack them head-on. This strategy will do the most damage, but it's also the most risky to your health, so don't do it unless you know you can win with it. Alucard has the luxury of long-range attack, which is good for getting rid of their bandages, and his bat morph can get you out of a tight situation. This is the toughest of the three fights that make up this duel, so you'll probably use more life here than against the later enemies. Just try to save as much life as you can, just in case.

The Cyclops, also, will be new to you if you took the low road, and the aforementioned strategies work here as well. There's no guaranteed safe spot, but as I mentioned before, you can use Alucard's bat morph if worst comes down to it. Not to mention Alucard has the luxury of long-range attack.

The Gargoyle, the new addition to the team, also appears on Level 7A, so you can more or less just use that strategy here. Again, Alucard's standard attack and bat morph will be useful. Just don't fly where he's going to jump.... this guy hurts. Once the Gargoyle fall, the Evil Flame dies.... for good.

Stage 3: Cyclops
If you play Level 3 to the end (rather than diverting on the lower Swamp path), you'll face this monstrosity. With one eye and a big hammer, he's out to end your vampire hunter career. But if you know what you're doing he's a walk in the park. He has three main attacks: walk around the area, charge at you, and trying to pound you with his hammer if you're too close. Use Trevor for the fight, and come into the battle with a fully-powered whip. Stand on the lower block on the left (do not destroy this block: doing so will take away your vantage point) and whip him in his eye when he gets close. He is ONLY vulnerable in his eye, and crouching here gives you the perfect point of attack with your whip. If he gets in too close, jump further back to the higher platforms, which will give you a guaranteed safe spot. It's also possible to confront him head-on, tricking him into using his hammer and hitting him while he's stunned, though I don't recommend trying this unless you're an experienced player. The Cyclops is big and tough, but follow the "whip at his eye from the ledge" strategy, and you should be fine. If you win the fight, you get the option of having Sypha join your party.

There is a secret method of damaging this stage's version of the Cyclops. If you have the dagger and throw one to fly over its head during a lightning strike, you can call down a bolt of lightning to take off a quarter of his health.

Stage 4A sub-boss: Medusa
Medusa is the mini-boss on the pirate ship. In the original Castlevania, you could abuse the stopwatch and own the snake-haired devil woman, but that's not an option here. Just the same, she's still not too tough to beat. She has two attacks: firing snakes from a bow and arrow (which can move up or down to hit your character) and a hypnotic ray that will turn your character to stone temporarily, making you an easy target for the former attack. With Trevor, a fully-powered whip and any subweapon other than the axe or stopwatch will get you an easy victory: just dodge and crouch frequently. If you're feeling bold, as Trevor, just walk up to her and whip the hell out of her, ignoring the pain you take. It will hurt a little, but you'll floor her in no time flat. As Grant, if you got daggers, you can climb the wall and hang on the ceiling right above Medusa and rain daggers down on her, leaving her with no way to attack you. Sypha has a harder time due to her poor strength, but any one of her magic spells will ease the experience. Regardless of who and what you utilize to defeat Medusa, she's not too tough.

Stage 4A: Evil Flame
The Evil Flame fights are, essentially, multiple boss fights in one. The flame will fly into the casket on the left, and the first fight will begin.

Part one of the fight is the Mummies. You'll instantly recognize these guys from the original Castlevania, and their attack pattern hasn't changed much. They still prance back and forth, throwing bandages at you which fluctuate up and down, making them tough to destroy and avoid. The platforms in the arena are low enough that the bandages will still threaten you. With Trevor, you'll want to use your fully-powered whip, dodging and evading as much as possible while focusing on a single mummy at a time. When the first one is down, trashing the other will be no contest. This is one of the points in the game in which Sypha is actually quite useful: as soon as the mummies exit their casket, unload on them with nonstop fire magic. They'll burn to a crisp in no time flat. The mummies are the toughest part of this fight, so if you take some damage beating them, don't fret.

Part two is the Cyclops we fought on Stage 3, whom the flame skull summons from the right casket. Exactly the same enemy, with the only difference being that there is no guaranteed safe spot. Utilize the same strategy as before, but due to the lack of a safe spot, you may find yourself running from one end to the other to dodge the foe. This is a good fight to try out the "trick him into using his hammer" strategy I mentioned before. After the oh-so-frustrating mummies, this guy should be a walk in the park. Just do what it takes to not get hit.

Once you've beaten the foes of both caskets, the Evil Flame emerges and explodes. You're triumphant.

Stage 5A: Frankenstein's Monster
Wow, we're being reintroduced to a lot of the old Castlevania bosses. In the original, this guy was the scourge of the Earth, who made many a gamer heave their controllers to the ground in frustration. You'll be relieved to know he's a lot easier this time around. The Creature only has two attacks: stomping the ground to make bricks fall from the ceiling, and heaving bricks at you. Both attacks are quite easy to avoid. Use Trevor here, and hit and run with the whip. Use a subweapon if you have one, long-range ones will make it an even easier experience. It doesn't take much to bring this guy down.

Stage 6A: Water Serpents
If you took the high road, you'll notice that most of the boss fights so far on your journey have been pretty easy. Well, that ends here. The serpents (there are two of them) rise from the water, breathing short breaths of fire whenever they come up. Only their heads are vulnerable to attack. So, here's what you do to win the fight. Play as Trevor (with a full-power whip of course) and get on the middle platform. Don't leave this platform; the other ones are far more dangerous. More often than not, one of the two serpents will rise from the water by the middle platform, whip him as he comes up and goes back down. A crouch on the platform will protect you from most attacks, even the relatively low ones. The attack you need to beware of, though, is when they use the fire attack at your feet level. If they come up there, immediately run to the other side of the platform. Axes are useful in this fight; their upward arc makes it easy to hit the serpents in the head. Patience is key here. Don't try anything fancy or try to rush through the fight. Stick to the strategy, because in this fight, one hit from is pretty much a guaranteed kill (since you'll be knocked into the water and die instantly.)

Stage 7A: Evil Flame
He's back, and this time, you've got three boss fights to contend with.

The Mummies are exactly the same as before, and if you've got Sypha, the fire magic strategy will work great here. Just make sure you powered Trevor up, because our favorite sorceress is more or less useless against the latter two enemies.

The Cyclops... we've fought this guy twice already on the High Road, so is a summary really necessary? Just use the same "crouch and whip" strategy as before. The platforms this time around will guarantee your safety when you need it, thankfully.

The Gargoyle is the latest addition to the Evil Flame's ranks. This guy's pretty big, and hops around the arena, shooting three big fireballs on every third landing. He's quite easy to defeat, just don't get stuck in a corner or hit. Whip him all-out when he lands, dodge his movements, and avoid the fireballs when he launches them. Once he's beaten, the Evil Flame will explode again, and this time, he WON'T come back.

Stage 8: Death
What would a Castlevania game be without a duel with the Grim Reaper? Unlike the other blast-from-the-past foes, this guy is still harder than hell. He essentially floats up and down, making scythes appear randomly throughout the battle area. Take Trevor into this battle with the Cross (all subweapons are available prior to the fight), and heave it at the Reaper as you dodge and destroy the scythes to keep yourself safe. An alternative strategy is to get the Holy Water and throw it at the ground so that it explodes where the Reaper lands. You can finish him much faster this way, but with all the scythes flying around, it's harder to pull off. This is one of the toughest fights in the game, so just stick with it if you fail the first time or so. As if it wasn't hard enough as it was, though, he has a second consecutive form you must fight....
 * Death, part I

Yes, you have to fight these two bosses back to back, with a single life bar. Fortunately, in his second form, Death is quite easy to beat. The skull rotates in a circular pattern around the arena, coming up on the other side when he hits one side of the room, spitting out the occasional scythe. These "once in a while" scythes are nothing compared to what you faced before, just whip them and continue to avoid the skull. He is not vulnerable to any secondary weapons other than the axe, so just whip him and dodge. With a little practice, you should be able to take down the Death Skull without much trouble.
 * Death, part II

Stage 9: Doppelgänger
The Doppelgänger is a creature of German folklore, the correct spelling is DoppELgänger, not Doppleganger.

The battle against the Doppelgänger is different with every character, as it copies whichever character you are controlling.


 * Trevor Belmont: the Doppelgänger uses the whip and the cross, so the fight will be easier if Trevor has either the axe or the Holy water.


 * Grant: the hardest fight, as the Doppelgänger copies both the axe and the dagger; better switch to Trevor.


 * Sypha: the Doppelgänger attacks with flames, and if Sypha has her water magic, the battle will be trivial.


 * Alucard: apparently another difficult battle, as Alucard has no weapons by himself; actually, it is just a matter of speed: when the Doppelgänger is hit, it remains invincible for a far shorter time than Alucard.

For any spirit helper, you can stun the Doppelgänger by rapidly changing between Trevor and the helper, hitting the boss while it is changing its form.

Stage 10: Dracula
Dracula will launch fire walls up in the air, blocking you. Get as close as you can to him, and whip him in the head. Remember, after a while, a larger wall comes up and will try to hit you, so watch out.
 * Dracula, part I

It is recommended to spend time before the first fight going up and down the stairs to gather a lot of hearts. The screen before the final stairs up to Dracula should provide you with an axe. Keep hitting the candles with the axe, and get the items that allow you to throw multiple axes (up to 3.)
 * Dracula, part II

Go fight Dracula with about 50 hearts, and once you get to this form, go crazy with the axes.


 * Dracula, part III