WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Castlevania Season 4, available now on Netflix.
Even on top of its clever writing and top-notch animation, Season 4 of Castlevania riveted fans with its heart-pumping action. Each episode presented its own unique combination of characters fighting for their lives amid abundant gore and violence, but they can't all qualify as the best.
Five different Season 4 fights stand out as the best showdowns the story had to offer. The season's every slice spewed a sanguine spray, but which bloody battles beat out the rest to be the best?
The Belmonts earned their legendary name slaying vampires, and Trevor Belmont proved exactly why in his epic showdown against Ratko. Revealing himself to be a far more dangerous figure than he seemed previously, the Slavic vampire descended on Trevor with a leathery pair of wings and a huge falchion as he monologued about his deadly abilities as a warrior.
But Trevor proved deadlier. Despite Ratko chopping straight through his sword and getting pinned down by demons, Trevor freed himself while Ratko was distracted and unleashed his bladed cross for the very first time. Cutting down the demons around him, Trevor surprised Ratko from behind, throwing him to the ground and slaying him while declaring the vampire's claims to immortality were overblown.
The deadliest weapon against vampires is the light of day itself, and when an arrow zipped into Striga and Morana's tent on the field of battle, the burning ray of sunshine threatened the bloodsucker's undead existence. Striga's response was to unlock a chest Morana had never seen opened, and the result was a battle in the daylight that allowed Striga to shine.
Wielding a huge blade, Striga kicked off the defense of her campsite by punching a horse charging straight at her. She overwhelmed the simple farmers with her power and ferocity, and while many of the season's best battles were even fights, this was a slaughter that was too much fun to be left off the list.
There are more than a few slaughters in Castlevania, and when it comes to one-sided battles it's hard to outdo Alucard. When the half-vampire arrived on the scene in defense of Danesti, he proved that he had only gotten more entertaining to watch in combat with each passing season of the show.
With his wide display of magical abilities and weapons, watching Alucard in action is like a ballet. His magical sword flying in and out of his hand while striking monsters down of its own power is beautifully choreographed, and throughout his defense of Danesti's populace he slays more monsters than you can really keep count of.
Much of the last half of Castlevania concerned the struggle for power in the wake of Dracula's death, and that all came to a head when one of Dracula's generals faced off with his vampiric successor, Carmilla. The vampire queen found herself besieged by Isaac's demonic forces as the Forgemaster waged a surprise attack against her, and she slayed so many of them herself that her castle tower flooded with blood that gushed past Isaac as he approached her chamber.
The Forgemaster's ability to integrate his demon allies into his own bladed fighting style proved too much for Carmilla, even in spite of her firm advantage in strength and speed. Her psychotic rage led Carmilla to end her own existence in a fiery explosion, but in its aftermath one of Isaac's minions protected him and he walked away from the battle a king.
Perhaps no fight in the series could be more climactic than its final showdown between Trevor and Death itself. After revealing his role in the proceedings, Death faced down against the heir to the family of monster slayers known as the Belmonts, and the human seemed way out of his league -- but he wasn't.
Trevor holding his own against Death showed off gorgeous visual displays of what Castlevania's art team could do, with the hero narrowly evading Death's massive scythe and ultimately landing a head shot with a magical dagger that slayed a demon so old it predated humanity itself. It doesn't get more epic than that.
Castlevania stars Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont, Alejandra Reynoso as Sypha Belnades, James Callis as Alucard, Theo James as Hector, Adetokumboh M'Cormack as Isaac, Jaime Murray as Carmilla, Jessica Brown Findlay as Lenore, Bill Nighy as St. Germain, Jason Isaacs as The Judge and Rila Fukushima as Sumi. The entire series is available now on Netflix.
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