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The Whip Skeleton is a recurring enemy in the Castlevania series. They carry around a whip, similar to the members of the Belmont clan, and do great amounts of damage in most of their appearances. Their whips appear to be fashioned from bones strung together. Red Whip Skeletons have also appeared in the series; they are soaked in blood and will reassemble after being destroyed, just like normal Red Skeletons. The Whip Skeletons are a type of Skeleton Chain enemies.

Description[]

Whip Skeletons are similar to the average, run-of-the-mill Skeletons, except for the fact that they are armed with a long-reaching whip. They usually take a couple of hits before they go down, so heroes have to stay on their toes and be very careful. Whip skeletons are also often encountered on relatively small platforms, where the player needs to time their movements right to either climb the stairs or jump onto it to deal with them before they attack first.

Appearances[]

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance[]

Called Simon Wraith in this game, this enemy is a reference to the famous vampire hunter, Simon Belmont. They are only encountered in the The Wailing Way and Shrine of the Apostates of Castle B, which likely are some of the final areas the player will visit in the game.

The Simon Wraith is one of the most powerful enemies in the game, and in fact, it is one of the few enemies that will still give a considerable amount of EXP, when most other enemies will only give a trivial amount of it at that point in the game. Even at a high level and wearing advanced armor, a Simon Wraith will deal a considerably amount of damage to the player; and likewise, it is also quite resilient. It is weak to Fire, though, so equipping the Red Stone is advisable while exploring areas where these enemies appear.

The Simon Wraith is also one of the two enemies that drop the Noon Star card, which allows access to the Merchant's shops in the Clock Tower (Castles A and B), although the Specter also drops it and more commonly.

Name[]

The Whip Skeleton first appeared as an enemy known as Shimon (死門? lit. "Gate of Death") in Konami's 1987 Famicom game Getsu Fūma Den. The character is a parody of Simon Belmont, the first protagonist in the Castlevania series. The name "Shimon" is also the Whip Skeleton's Japanese name, which has led to varying translations in the series.

When the Whip Skeleton first appeared in the 1989 NES game Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, the English instruction booklet called him The Gates of Death instead of "Whip Skeleton" like in Nintendo Power. The reason for this is because the kanji used to spell Shimon is represented with "gate" (門 Mon) and "death" (死 Shi); together, they make Shimon (しもん), a pun on "Simon" (シモン). The Japanese word for "death" is shi, which makes the name a portmanteau of "death" and "Simon", this being befitting as they are skeletons.

The use of the name "The Gates of Death" was first properly translated when Harmony of Dissonance came out. In the English translation, Shimon was called Simon Wraith.

Enemy Data[]

Enemy Data: Whip Skeleton
Image Name - Game
Description
Statistics Items Location Notes
Cv3-whipskel 12. The Gates of Death (Shimon[alt] - Dracula's Curse [ edit ]
' 3. Forest, 4. Swamp, 7A. Courtyard, A. Final Clock Tower
Weapons: Bone Whip
Cv3-redwhip 10. Red Gates of Death (Red Shimon[alt] - Dracula's Curse [ edit ]
' 6. Basement, 7. Mountains, A. Final Clock Tower
Weapons: Bloody Whip
Cv4-whipskelCv4-gwskele 3. Whip Skeleton [White/Gold]  - Super Castlevania IV [ edit ]
' HP: 64
Exp: 200
Atk: 3
5. Castle Court, 6. The Halls, 9. The Treasury [gold], A. Clocktower
Weapons: Bone Whip
Hod simonwraith 95. Simon Wraith (Shimon) - Harmony of Dissonance [ edit ]
' Weak: Fire
Level: 41
HP: 360
Exp: 488
Common Drop: High Potion
Rare Drop: Noon Star
Castle B: The Wailing Way, Shrine of the Apostates
Weapons: Bone Whip
HD NO 85 85. Hellmont (Shimon) - Harmony of Despair [ edit ]
Some say this is what happened to Simon Belmont in the end. Strong: Ice, Darkness
Weak: Strike, Fire, Holy
Drop: Simon's Plate
Soul: Hellmont (2.5%)
Chapter 11
Weapons: Bone Whip

Item Data[]

Item Data: Whip Skeleton
Image Name - Game
  Type - Users
Description
Attributes / Consume Statistics / Sell Found Notes
High Potion HoD Icon High Potion - Harmony of Dissonance
  Medicine - Juste Belmont
[edit]
Restores a large amount of HP. HP +150
Buy: 200G
Find: Throughout castle (all)
Rare Drop: Disc Armor lv2
Common Drop: Hammer-Hammer, Harpy, White Dragon Lv3, Arthro Skeleton, Simon Wraith
Noon Star Icon Noon Star - Harmony of Dissonance
  Item - Juste Belmont
[edit]
It cannot be seen at night. Rare Drop: Simon Wraith
Common Drop: Specter
Effect: Allows visiting Merchant's shop in Clock Tower.
Simon's Plate Icon Simon's Plate (jpn) - Harmony of Despair
  Chest (Body Armor) - Jonathan, Julius, Richter, Simon
[edit]
Breastplate passed down through generations of Belmonts. Attrib: Strike +10, Slash +10, Pierce +10, Petrify +10, Curse +10, Poison +10
HP +30, DEF +28, STR +5, MND +5
Sell: $12,500
Rarity: *****
Drop: Dracula (Hard), Hellmont
Bullet Soul HD Icon Hellmont - Harmony of Despair
  Bullet Soul - Soma
[edit]
Summon a Hellmont. Attrib: Strike, Slash
Consume: 12 MP
ATK +8
Rarity: ***
Steal: Hellmont (2.5%)
First Obtained: Chapter 11
Effect: Summon Whip Skeleton

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. As seen in the Debug menu, "TAKEDA" list.

External links[]

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