Roland de Ronceval

"God is with me, monster!"

— Roland de Ronceval to Gabriel

Roland de Ronceval was a Paladin of the Brotherhood of Light and commander of the greatest army ever brought to destroy Dracula. He was in command of half a million men and countless machines in an attempt to siege Dracula's castle. He commanded the troops from the Siege Titan.

History[]

Roland faced Dracula at the balcony, near the throne room, but backed off when he proved to be too strong for him, ordering the Siege Titan to attack the castle instead. Dracula escaped to the arm of the titan and worked his way up. Ronceval continuously tried to shoot exploding arrows to knock him off, but was unsuccessful and the titan was finally destroyed by Dracula. The titan, and everyone on board, crashed through the outer wall leaving many men dead or dying.

With most of his men dead and the Siege Titan utterly destroyed, Roland made one final effort to destroy Dracula when he climbed out of the remains of the titan. Unfortunately for Roland, despite his efforts, Dracula had ultimately bested him in the fight.

In a last ditch attempt, Roland pulled out a large, decorative battle cross and began to chant in Latin to call on the power of the seven archangels to destroy Dracula; but the cross had no effect on Dracula, who reminded Ronceval that he had once been much like him and joined the paladin in chanting the same prayer. The combined effort of both prayers unleashed a terrible explosion of holy power that obliterated Dracula's castle and all beings for thousands of miles around.

All that remained of Roland was his golden helmet and now ruined battle cross. Nothing else was found of God's paladin. There had been no witnesses to reveal, let alone explain, what had happened that night and, as a result of this, many years later most historians had assumed that Roland had been victorious in destroying Dracula. However, in reality, Dracula had effectively wiped out the entire Brotherhood of Light in the aftermath of the failed attempt to seize his castle.

Following that event, the Belmont Clan had become the new leaders of the Brotherhood of Light, up to the last Belmont, Victor, in the 21st century.

Powers and abilities[]

Roland's powerfully enchanted golden armor, forged from the bones of angels, granted him extraordinary strength, speed and durability. Able to skillfully fight on par with and even keep up with even the likes of Dracula, Roland proved to be quite a powerful individual and served as a major enemy to Dracula in centuries past.

In addition to his increased physical power, the armor also allowed Roland to accurately fly, as well as levitate, completely unaided through the large retractable wings on the armor's backside.

Equipment[]

In addition to his armored wings and impressive physical power, Roland also dual-wielded two powerful flaming swords which he could use for close combat, as well as launch projectiles and perform unblockable attacks. During his final battle with Dracula, Roland also displayed the ability to attach the two swords together.

Roland also wielded a powerful flaming bow which he used for ranged combat. These bows allowed him to shoot fiery arrows that could deal massive amounts of damage if not avoided. He could either fire a single arrow directly at an opponent or he could also fire several of them up into the sky, causing them to rain down like meteors on any and all nearby enemies.

Battle quotes[]

I will purge the world of your presence!
The stench of your soul is disgusting!
You shall not pass!
Come and face me!
You are going to die!
Back to Hell, demon!
Is that all you've got?
Die monster. You don't belong in this world!
Go to Hell!
Break the Castle!
Smash him against the Castle!
You've gone too far!
Tonight will be your last, Prince of Darkness!

Enemy Data[]

Enemy Data: Paladin
Image	Name - Game Description	Statistics	Items	Location	Notes
	Paladin - see also Sniper of Goth - Lords of Shadow 2				[ edit ]
	Those who aspire to be paladins are raised in monasteries, educated under the dogma of faith and trained in the art of war. (...)			Castle Siege

Related scrolls[]

Item Data: Roland de Ronceval
Image	Name - Game Type - Users Description	Attributes / Consume	Statistics / Sell	Found	Notes
	Chronicles of the Ancient Light - Lords of Shadow 2 City Memorial - Dracula				[edit]
	On the exact spot of this memorial, what are known as the Chronicles of the Ancient Light were discovered 500 years ago. These apocryphal texts detail the horrific experiences of those who managed to escape from the claws of Dracula. Most of them lost their mind and parts of their bodies too, devoured by ghouls, vampires and harpies. These survivors soon died of the most awful infections and deliriums. However, a few miraculously managed to return safe and sound. Thanks to them, maps of the inside of the castle and precise tales of the horrors that took place inside were pieced together. It was the great Roland de Ronceval, Paladin of God, who made military use of those maps, gaining knowledge of the castle that, in hindsight, was crucial to defeating the Prince of Darkness.			Find: Science District First Obtained: Bioquimek Corporation
	Banners of the Brotherhood - Lords of Shadow 2 City Memorial - Dracula				[edit]
	In the year of Our Lord 1830 the banners that the glorious army of the Brotherhood of Light carried during the final battle against Dracula were found on this very site. This memorial commemorates and celebrates that the Paladin Roland de Ronceval, commanding five-hundred thousand men, defeated the Prince of Darkness, freeing this land from the atrocious yoke that subjected it to horror and death for so long. No one returned from that battle. It is known that Roland de Ronceval managed to channel the power of the seven archangels through his battle cross. Historians still debate about whether he did so before or after Dracula exterminated the entire army. What we do know is that the energy released could be seen and heard for thousands of miles around. The castle was mostly reduced to ash and no one ever saw Dracula again. Let us give thanks for that.			Find: Science District

Trivia[]

Roland bears a slight resemblance to the Amalaric Sniper of the classic Castlevania titles. Both are winged enemies who shoot arrows from a distance and are aligned with holy powers.
Roland also has some similarities with the Flying Armor of classic titles. Both wield flame-edged swords that can return to them when thrown out.
He also resembles the Silver Warrior form of Pan. Given the latter's long association with the Brotherhood of Light, this is probably not a coincidence.
During battle, he randomly shouts Richter Belmont's infamous line "Die monster. You don't belong in this world!" from Symphony of the Night.
The flaming swords' properties are similar to the Igneas Blade.
The name Roland de Ronceval is a reference to a character from a French Renaissance collection Matter of France, specifically La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland), which tells a fanciful version of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. In the story, Roland leads the paladins of Charlemagne in a desperate fight against a Spanish Muslim army. They are all killed in the battle, but Charlemagne eventually arrives, pursues and defeats the Moors, and then drives them out of Spain. The historic Roland's fate is mirrored by de Ronceval, whose very epithet is an alternate spelling of Roncesvalles.
- The great sword Durandal from the original timeline also alludes to this historic character, being Roland's own sword, which he embraces as he died.