Joachim Armster

Joachim Armster
Joachim artwork by Ayami Kojima.
Japanese name(s)	ヨアヒム・アルムスター Yoahimu Arumusutā
Alternate name(s)	Doppelganger (in Joachim Mode)
Role(s)	Prisoner Lord of the Castle (alternative ending)
Species	Vampire
Gender	Male
Date of birth	Unknown
Date of death	1094
Age	Immortal
Status	Deceased
Weapon(s)	Symbiotic Swords
Abilities	Telekinesis
Firstappearance	Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Appearances	1094: Lament of Innocence
Partnerships	Walter Bernhard (sire, former master) †
Dialogue	Dialogue page
English voice(s)	Michael Lindsay
Japanese voice(s)	Hiroshi Kamiya
Music theme	Melancholy Joachim

"It'll be a nice prelude to defeating Walter. I'll beat you to a pulp."

— Joachim to Leon Belmont

Joachim Armster (ヨアヒム・アルムスター, Yoahimu Arumusutā^?) is a character in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. He was a former lieutenant of Walter Bernhard, who imprisoned him after his usurpation attempt.

History

"A human who was made into a vampire by Walter. He harbors the ambition to defeat Walter and become the master of the castle. He freely wields five swords through great psychic power."

— Description from the official Japanese Konami website

Walter lured Joachim by promising him eternal life with the gift of vampirism. Later, after becoming a vampire, Joachim attempted to usurp the position of his superior, but Walter's mastery of the Ebony Stone proved to make him unbeatable to Joachim and he defeated him with relative ease.

Amused by the fact that Joachim tried to defeat him, Walter decided to indulge him, and at the same time establish his own personal way of supremacy. Rather than destroying Joachim, he imprisoned him in the Dark Palace of Waterfalls, sealing one of the keys to Walter's inner sanctum with him. As Joachim's current location was blocked off by streams of water (the touch of which is like acid to a vampire and to many of Walter's own legions of monsters), Joachim could never leave. Maddened by hunger, Joachim was constantly reminded of the indignity forced upon him by Walter. He used Joachim for his own amusement, luring any adventurer who had entered his domains to confront him.

Suffice to say, when encountered by Leon Belmont as the boss of the Dark Palace of Waterfalls, Joachim had ample frustration to vent, hoping to slay Leon, drain his blood and (hopefully) gain the strength necessary to break free from his prison and exact revenge on Walter. He however is defeated by Leon. Before fading away, Joachim laments that he could have had the Crimson Stone on hand.

Battle quotes

• Die! (死ね！)
• Dead!
• Cover me! (守れ！)
• Useless!
• It can't be! (when attacked)

Enemy Data

No. Name JPN HP 78 Joachim (Doppelganger) - 1,500 Tolerance Weakness Knife, Axe, Crystal Ice, Holy Water, Cross Drop Location Green Orb Dark Palace of Waterfalls Description "He was turned into a vampire by Walter, and imprisoned because he rebelled."

Item Data

Item Data: Joachim Armster
Image	Name - Game   Type - Users Description	Attributes / Consume	Statistics / Sell	Found	Notes
	Green Orb (jpn) - Lament of Innocence   Orb - Leon Belmont				[edit]
	Magical Orb: Glows Green.			Drop: Joachim	Special: Force Cannon (Knife), High Speed Edge (Axe), Flame Sparks (Holy Water), Holy Light (Cross), Drain Stone (Crystal), Rampage Pumpkin (Pumpkin)

Joachim Mode

Main article: Joachim Mode

After finishing the game as Leon, Joachim can be used as a playable character by entering "@JOACHIM" on the name entry screen. There are several major changes to the gameplay, as Joachim cannot carry healing items and is physically weaker than Leon, which increases the difficulty. These disadvantages are balanced by increased speed and powerful magic attacks. There are no cutscenes to drive the plot, save for a very brief scene after defeating the final boss (in which Joachim becomes the lord of the castle and sits on Walter's throne), although the images shown during the credits differ from Leon's ending.

Gallery

Main article: Joachim Armster/Gallery

Trivia

• Joachim is the only playable villain in the Castlevania series (aside from the Lords of Shadow saga and Castlevania Judgment), although his antagonistic nature is softened by his somewhat sympathetic portrayal in his cutscenes, as well as his unfortunate circumstances.
• There are four songs related to this character:
  1. Melancholy Joachim (哀愁のヨアヒム, Melancholy Joachim^?) - Played while fighting against Joachim. It can also be heard in the ending credits of Order of Ecclesia.
  2. Castlevania Reincarnation - Played while fighting bosses as Joachim (including the Joachim doppelganger boss). It is a remix that merges Dracula's Castle and Black Banquet, songs from Symphony of the Night.
  3. Young Nobleman of the Water Prison (水牢の貴公子, Young Nobleman of the Water Prison^?) - Not used in the game. Available only on the sampler CD that came with the Japanese special edition of the game. A softer remix of "Melancholy Joachim" featuring piano and oboe.
  4. Joachim of the Clear Blue Lake (透碧湖畔のヨアヒム, Joachim of the Clear Blue Lake^?) - Not used in the game. Appeared only on the Lament of Innocence soundtrack.
• While playing as Joachim in Joachim Mode, it's possible to collect all of the Orbs except for the White Orb, which is not present in the room where it's found in the main game. The Black Orb, on the other hand, is still obtainable by defeating the Forgotten One, despite its uselessness.
• In Joachim Mode, the name of the boss counterpart of Joachim becomes "Doppelganger". Doppelgangers of Leon Belmont are displayed as "Leon Fake".
• The hilts of his Symbiotic Swords are, incidentally, shaped the same as that of the Spectral Sword's central sword in Symphony of the Night.
• Joachim and Albus are the only characters to canonically die that also become unlockable playable characters in the games they appear in.
• Joachim's background seems to draw some similarities from Vlad Draculea, the historical figure whose the vampire novel character, Count Dracula, was mainly based upon. Vlad was a vassal of Matthias Corvinus (who in turn apparently was the inspiration for Walter Bernhard), and at one point he was even his prisoner, basically the same roles Joachim plays in Lament of Innocence. However, it's unknown if these similarities were intended or coincidental.
• The name "Joachim" is of Hebrew origin and means "God will establish". This is probably a reference to the Crusades that took place during the year 1094 in which Lament of Innocence is set, seeing as how the main goal of the campaign was to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims.

External links

• Joachim Armster at the Castlevania Fan Wiki
• Official Japanese site for Castlevania (known as Lament of Innocence outside of Japan) (archived: October 26, 2012 - Japanese)