Sypha Belnades

Overview

Sypha Belnades (in Japan, Sypha Fernandez) is a witch that originally appeared in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Some time before the beginning of the game in 1476, Sypha was defeated by Dracula and transformed into a stone statue. Trevor Belmont defeated the Cyclops guarding her, and as a result freed her from her curse. She then accompanied Trevor on his journey to stop Dracula.

Following Dracula's defeat, Sypha eventually married Trevor, passing on her bloodline's power to future Belmonts such as Juste. Later magicians of the Belnades bloodline include Carrie Fernandez, Camilla Fernandez, Charlotte Aulin and Yoko Belnades.

Sypha was originally intended to be included in the Nintendo 64 Castlevania. In the game, she would have been resurrected as an undead servant of Actrise, an evil witch and servant of Dracula. At some point during development, these plans changed, and this undead character became Camilla Fernandez; a descendant of the Belnades family that fell in Dracula's castle and was transformed into Actrise's vampire servant. Camilla's theme on the game's official soundtrack, however, is named "Sypha".

Castlevania Judgment

Sypha appears as a playable character in Castlevania Judgment. Her profile in the game's manual describes her as a "tough, strong-willed witch who uses fire, lightning, and ice magic. Affiliated with the church, Sypha hides her nature by wearing priestly robes."

In Judgment, Sypha is pulled into the time rift that is the game's setting at some point prior to the events of Castlevania III and her petrification. She therefore has yet to meet Trevor and is not aware of who he is when they meet each other within the rift. However, Trevor, who comes from a period in time after the events of Castlevania III and who in his present has married Sypha, recognizes her.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate

Sypha appears in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate as Sypha Belmont, the mother of Simon Belmont and wife of Trevor, himself the son of Gabriel Belmont, the warrior who transformed himself into the Vampire Lord Dracula. After Trevor fails to kill Dracula in 1072, he unleashes his armies on the stronghold of the Brotherhood of Light, the monster-hunting organization that Trevor belonged to. None of the Brotherhood members survive, and Sypha sacrifices her life to buy time for young Simon to escape. Sypha returns in 1103 as a ghost, calling upon the innate gifts of her bloodline to manifest to her now-grown son, in the form of the Spirit of Belnades, which protects Simon from all harm, at the cost of draining his magic for each enemy attack or dangerous hazard blocked. If Simon chooses to use the Spirit of Belnades during the boss fight with the Necromancer, the sorcerer will mock Simon, accusing him of 'hiding cowardly behind a woman', and use his abilities to tear Sypha's spirit from his body. The Spirit of Belnades is returned to Simon when he destroys the Necromancer's magical staff. Later, when Simon confronts the ghost of the fallen knight, Michael Gelhart Schneider, the Spirit of Belnades emerges from within Simon to convince the ghost to join them on their quest, granting Simon the power to call upon the Spirit of Schneider as well. Sypha also briefly appears in the flesh in the final chapter of the game, bidding an emotional goodbye to Trevor as he leaves on his ill-fated journey against Dracula.