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Stone, also known as Petrify, is one of the basic statuses found in the Castlevania series.

Description[]

After being hit by a Stone-based attack, the player will remain in a "petrified" state and thus be unable to move for a short period of time. The real danger of being put in this state is not actually being damaged by the attack itself, but to remain paralyzed while other enemies can still continue damaging them. An even more dangerous situation takes place if the player is petrified over a spike-filled area, which will end up inflicting heavy damage at a constant rate. It should also be noted that taking damage from enemies will not get rid of the petrification status (except in Circle of the Moon).

In most games, the player will require to rapidly move the directional pad or wiggle the joystick in various directions and repeatedly press the buttons in order to slowly break through the stone and be able to move again. In this regard, being petrified oftentimes has a very similar effect as being Frozen or Paralyzed.

Various enemies throughout the series may recur to this ability (Gold Medusa, Cockatrice, Basilisk, Stone Rose, Catoblepas, Gorgon, etc.), but perhaps the most prominent of them all is Medusa, a gorgon cursed to turn to stone all living beings which fall upon her gaze.

In some games, the player is able to obtain weapons, items and/or abilities which will allow them to turn enemies to stone, which certain enemies are significantly weak to. Oftentimes, these enemies will receive twice as much damage as normal once petrified. Enemies are not able to escape from their petrified status in any way, although the effect usually passes over time.

Starting from Symphony of the Night, players are also able to find items to remove the "Stone" effect. These are usually dropped by the very same enemies that inflict the status in the first place. Furthermore, some familiars (mainly Faeries) are able to use certain items specific to them to instantly cure the petrification status on the player.

Game specific information[]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night[]

Main article: Stone/Symphony of the Night

If Alucard takes any damage while petrified, he will suffer damage equal to the amount dealt by touching spikes (roughly 1/8th of his maximum HP). This makes petrification very dangerous at higher levels; the more HP Alucard has, the higher the damage he suffers.

Symphony of the Night - Stone - 02

Alucard turned into a gargoyle statue in Symphony of the Night.

If Alucard equips the Mirror Cuirass, he will instantly become immune to petrifying effects, but will still take HP damage from attacks that would otherwise add petrification.

If Alucard equips the Medusa Shield, he will be impervious to being petrified and can use the shield to attack enemies with the Stone attribute and petrify them if they are vulnerable to Stone status. He will also gain the ability to briefly summon a Medusa Head familiar (by combining it with the Shield Rod or Mablung Sword) which will fire two homing beams from her eyes. However, this attack only deals damage and does not actually petrify. Alucard may also choose to be assisted by the Faerie Familiar, who is the only one capable to remove the Stone status from him by the use of a Hammer.

The boss Medusa will attack with a petrifying beam coming from her eyes. When she dies, the tables will turn and it will be her who will end up turning to stone.

Alucard has a small probability to be turned into a winged gargoyle statue after being petrified. While in this state, rather than becoming more vulnerable, Alucard instead becomes invincible, although, of course, unable to move until he breaks from that state.

The only enemies vulnerable to this status are Doppleganger10 and Doppleganger40.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon[]

Main article: Stone/Circle of the Moon

Most of the DSS combinations that include the Cockatrice attribute card will grant Nathan Graves the ability to turn enemies to stone on otherwise lethal hits like freeze, although most of the time he gains a STR boost, while Ice elements tend to lower STR. Making use of these powers, Nathan can step on such petrified enemies, in a manner of platforms, to reach areas that were not intended to be explored at that point in the game.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance[]

Being petrified on this game is especially dangerous, as the game won't provide any invincibility window of time after each attack. Juste's HP can be reduced greatly in a manner of seconds. To worsen the situation, no items may be used while petrified, forcing the player to break out of the status if Juste is to be healed.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow[]

Main article: Stone/Aria of Sorrow

The stone status will double the damage inflicted to both, player and enemies. An enemy will be petrified if it has stone elemental weakness and has been hit with a stone elemental attack. A petrified enemy can't cure the status itself. If an attack inflicts petrify status, the damage is always 2. Due to damage calculation formula, an enemy's stone elemental tolerance is redundant.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow[]

Main article: Stone/Dawn of Sorrow

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness[]

Some enemies like the Cockatrice can petrify the player. Hector can have a Hornet Innocent Devil to use the Stone Breaker ability on him and instantly break free from the status effect without having to wiggle directions.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin[]

Main article: Stone/Portrait of Ruin

The Stone status can be removed with the player character's partner attacking.

The boss Medusa also possesses many stone attacks, including a petrifying gaze which can be avoided just by not facing it.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia[]

Main article: Stone/Order of Ecclesia

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair[]

In this game, Alucard can also be randomly turned into a gargoyle statue when afflicted with the Stone status, just like in Symphony of the Night; although unlike that game, he isn't granted invincibility while in this state and will still receive the same amount of damage from enemy attacks as in his normal state. However, the player can still use consumables even while they are petrified.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Animations[]

Trivia[]

  • It seems the term "Petrify" was made popular by the gaming community; however, the official name for this status is "Stone".
  • The winged demon that Alucard sometimes becomes when he is petrified in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, resembles Dracula's second form as it appears in the prologue, which led some people to speculate if this was Alucard's true form, which he could use just like Dracula. Another possible evidence is the skeleton of a horned monster that appears in the Game Over screen, which could be Alucard's mortal remains. Alucard's alias, Genya Arikado, which he uses in the Sorrow games, might also allude to this, as the kanji that makes up the name Arikado literally means "having horns".

See also[]

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