Whip Skeletons have appeared in many Castlevania games. They carry around a whip, like the members of the Belmont clan, and do great amounts of damage almost all of the time. Red Whip Skeletons have also appeared in the series; they are soaked in blood and will reassemble after being destroyed, just like normal blood skeletons. The Whip Skeletons are a type of Skeleton Chain enemies.
General information
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.
Name
The Whip Skeleton first appeared as an enemy known as Shimon (死門, literally "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 manual 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 is 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 |
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| ' | 3. Forest, 4. Swamp, 7A. Courtyard, A. Final Clock Tower |
Weapons: Bone Whip | |||
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| ' | 6. Basement, 7. Mountains, A. Final Clock Tower |
Weapons: Bloody Whip | |||
 
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| ' | HP: 64 Exp: 200 Atk: 3 |
5. Castle Court, 6. The Halls, 9. The Treasury [gold], A. Clocktower |
Weapons: Bone Whip | ||
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| ' | 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 | |
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| 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 | |
Gallery
Trivia
- A secret sub-boss can be found in Contra: Hard Corps (Konami, 1994), called Simondo Belmont. He uses a whip as his main form of attack, and his overall design is based on famous anime and tokusatsu vocalist, Masato Shimon. "Shimon" being the name given to the first Whip Skeletons which appeared in a Konami game (Getsu Fūma Den, 1987).