- For the Lords of Shadow enemy, see Cave Troll (Lords of Shadow).
- For the enemy and merchant named Chupacabras in Lords of Shadow, see Chupacabras.
The monster known as Cave Troll is actually the Chupacabra, and is named as such in all Japanese versions of the games in which they have appeared. The persistence of this mistranslation is odd, as other mis-named monsters from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Venus Weed/Alura Une, Karasuman/Malphas, Granfaloon/Legion) were eventually corrected, although it's not the only one to be treated like this (see Malachi). In all games in which they appear, Cave Trolls attack by sticking out their long tongues, somersaulting at the hero, somersaulting while whipping their tongues in a multi-hit attack, or by using a powerful electric field.
In Symphony of the Night, Cave Trolls appeared late in the game but were not a particular threat. They are similar in Dawn of Sorrow and their soul allows Soma to stick his own tongue out at increasingly longer lengths. In Portrait of Ruin, Cave Trolls gained an immense amount of attacking power, and their somersault-tongue and electric field attacks essentially became instant kills on the player. This was repeated in Order of Ecclesia, in which they became immensely powerful enemies, something worth noting as one of them can be found remarkably early in the game.
Origins
An image of the Chupacabra based on its original description
The Chupacabra (literally meaning "goat-sucker") is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of South America, with the first sightings reported in Puerto Rico. The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats.
Physical descriptions of the creature vary. It is purportedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.
Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1995 in Puerto Rico and have since been reported as far north as Maine and as far south as Chile, and even being spotted outside the Americas in countries like Russia and the Philippines, but many of the reports have been disregarded as uncorroborated or lacking evidence. Sightings in northern Mexico and the southern United States have been verified as canids afflicted by mange. Biologists and wildlife management officials view the Chupacabra as a contemporary legend.
Appearances
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Cave Trolls appear in some remote locations in the Reverse Caverns. Generally, they are very easy to defeat in the locations the player finds them in, and are not all that powerful. However, since they appear so late in the game, they are not to be considered the weakest enemies. They attack by either shooting their tongue at Alucard from the ground or midair, somersaulting with their tongue whipping through the air (50 ATK, Cut), or hitting him with an electric barrier (69 ATK, Hit). All these attacks can be easily avoided, but if the player is not quick enough, they can become really annoying really fast.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
The only two known locations of Cave Trolls in this game are in the room before Rahab's boss room in Subterranean Hell, and one of the unlockable rooms in the Wizardry Lab. They are not very powerful and attack by either lashing out their tongues or by hitting Soma with an electric field if close enough. Their soul grants Soma the La-La-La ability, which allows him to attack by using his own tongue. The attack is extremely limited due to being very short in range at the first level (although having a respectable range when maxed out), and it doesn't do a lot of damage. It does serve a purpose, however; in second playthroughs or in Boss Rush Mode, there is a glitch that prevents Dmitrii from using this soul. That is, he will still technically "absorb" the attack and he will try to use it, but he won't be able to. He will still do the gesture and the sound effect will play but nothing will come out. Therefore, the best second-run strategy to beat Dmitrii is to get him to absorb the Cave Troll soul and then pummel him with weapon attacks.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Cave Trolls can only be found in the Nest of Evil in Portrait of Ruin, and have started living up to their alternative name by becoming one of the heroes' worst nightmares. First off, they have become faster than their Symphony of the Night and Dawn of Sorrow variants, and their attacks now do considerably more damage. There are only three rooms where they can be found. The first one is the third room before fighting Gergoth, it has two of them, a Skeleton Blaze and two Dogethers. The second one, which is the second room before fighting Abaddon, has ten of them. The third one has two of them along with a Wyvern, in the fourth room before fighting Fake Trevor, Fake Grant and Fake Sypha.
A good technique to defeat them without getting harmed is by using 1,000 Blades. The items they drop, Jamon Iberico and Peking Duck, have some of the highest healing rates in the game. Since either one will drop half of the time, players will be able to restore their health if they lose some during a fight against them. Also, one interesting thing to note about their electrical field attack, is that if they die while they're using it, the field will remain as if the creature was still casting the spell.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Cave Trolls were slightly toned down in Order of Ecclesia. Still, they have the capacity to deal serious damage with it's tongue attack, dealing 90 damage in one hit, while their electrical field attacks will stun-lock Shanoa unless a Tower Ring is worn, leaving her completely vulnerable.
In Wygol Village, Marcel requests Shanoa to take a picture of one of these creatures to be featured in the newspaper he's working at. The earliest Cave Troll to be seen is in Tymeo Mountains, which somewhat lacks the magical power of the Cave Trolls found in Dracula's Castle. Even so, caution should be exercised in the troll's presence, as it can inflict rather heavy damage for that point in the game, especially if playing in Hard Mode.
When a Cave Troll is killed during its standing tongue-lashing attack, the tongue will continue to extend and retract during its death animation. Players should be aware of this if they happen to kill one while the attack is being performed, lest they take some damage or die along with it.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
- See main page at Cave Troll (Lords of Shadow)
In this game, the misnomer concerning the name of the Cave Troll has finally been corrected and the Chupacabras is depicted as a separate creature. In this incarnation, Cave Trolls are extremely strong, aggressive beasts that attack using only their brute strength, although they will occasionally pick up pieces of scenery to use as weapons if there are any present. After Gabriel obtains the Spiked Chain for the Combat Cross, Cave Trolls can be ridden after receiving enough damage, which means the player can use the Troll's great strength to their advantage, as Cave Trolls are able to smash through obstacles such as statues or steel gates.
Enemy Data
| Enemy Data: Cave Troll (Chupacabra) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Description |
Statistics | Items | Location | Notes |
|
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| Pre-intelligent bloodsucker with long tongue for sucking. | Strong: Water Weak: Fire Level: 38 HP: 88 Exp: 333 |
Drop: Neutron Bomb, Nauglamir |
Reverse Caverns, Hell Garden (Saturn only) |
(Strategy)Abil: La-La-La, Electric Discharge | |
|
|||||
| A blood-sucking beast that extracts the entrails of cattle with its tongue. | Strong: Bashing Weak: Piercing, Slashing HP: 98 MP: 20 Exp: 156 Atk: 30 Timestop: Affected |
Common Drop: Paella (8%) Soul: La-La-La (3.91%) |
Wizardry Lab, Subterranean Hell |
(Strategy)Abil: La-La-La, Electric Discharge | |
|
|||||
| A blood-sucking beast that extracts the entrails of cows with its tongue. | Strong: Strike Weak: Whip, Slash, Fire HP: 320 Exp: 414 Skill Pt: 21 |
Drop: Jamon Iberico, Peking Duck |
Nest of Evil |
(Strategy)Abil: La-La-La, Electric Discharge | |
|
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| This beast extracts cow entrails with its tongue. | Strong: Strike Weak: Slash, Flame, Poison, Curse HP: 310 Exp: 199 Skill Pt: 4 Atk: 60 |
Tymeo Mountains, Forsaken Cloister, Final Approach |
Abil: La-La-La, Electric Discharge | ||
| ' | HP: 420 Exp: ~777 |
Drop: Ice Cream; ??? Steal: ~7S, 45C |
Underground Caverns |
Abil: ??? | |
|
|
|||||
| A blood-sucking beast that extracts the entrails of cows with its tongue. | Strong: Strike Weak: Slash, Pierce, Ice, Petrify, Curse, Poison |
Drop: Dark Metamorphosis (3.30%) Soul: Red (2.80%) |
Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 |
Abil: La-La-La, Electric Discharge | |
Soul Data
| Item Data: Cave Troll | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
|
||||||||
| Attack with a tongue lashing. | Attrib: Pierce Consume: 10 MP |
ATK +9 |
Rarity: * Steal: Cave Troll (2.8%) |
Effect: La-La-La | ||||
Gallery
