Yorick (known as Soccer Boy in Japan) is an enemy in the Castlevania series. He is a skeleton damned to eternally chase his own skull.
Origins
Yorick's skull in the gravedigger scene, depicted by Eugène Delacroix.
Yorick is a character in William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. He is the dead court jester whose skull is exhumed by the gravedigger. The sight of Yorick's skull evokes a widely-known monologue from Prince Hamlet on mortality:
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?"
—Hamlet, V.i
The opening words are very commonly misquoted as "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well."
Description
A skeleton who wanders the halls of Dracula's Castle, his head detached from his body. It paces back and forth in a non-determined pattern, kicking his own skull as a means of attack. Though frail, one should not overestimate him as the kicked skull usually inflicts a considerable amount of damage, and his somewhat erratic behavior may make it hard to predict where he's going to kick the skull next. In addition, Yorick is capable of kicking the skull from offscreen, often forcing the player to quickly try to fend off an unexpected and fast moving projectile.
If Yorick's head is destroyed, he will apparently panic or enter in a rage and begin running back and forth much faster.
Appearances
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
First appearance of Yorick in the series. He is one of the new enemies encountered in the Reverse Castle, appearing at the bottom of the Reverse Keep's main open area and guarding the room that holds the Dragon Helm.
It is of interest to note that this enemy was originally called Soccer Boy in the Japanese version of Symphony of the Night, having no relation to the character from Hamlet whatsoever. This localized name would persist in all western released sequels this enemy has also appeared in.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
In Dawn of Sorrow, Yorick's soul is a Bullet-type soul and grants the Skull Ball ability. When used, Soma flings a skull at an upward arc, dealing a small amount of damage to enemies on contact. However, if he slides and manages to kick the skull on its way down, it will be sent flying forward with great force, dealing a tremendous amount of damage to any enemy that crosses its path, even being able to fell a Final Guard in just about three successful hits.
His soul can be easily obtained in a room with a lone Yorick in the Garden of Madness, just below the room with the statue that gives access to the Three 7s. The player can quickly enter and exit this room by the top entrance and kill it from the narrow flooded space to the left from where Yorick is, completely out of harm's way. A long reaching weapon that can kill it through the wall, like a lance, a great sword, or an axe, is recommended.
There is another room in the same area which boasts several Yoricks. It is located past Dario's boss room, upward, and then heading in a general right direction. However, due to the layout of this room and the place where the Yoricks are positioned, the player risks taking a high amount of damage on each attempt.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Yorick drops the Spade, one of the five cards needed to complete Wind's quest, "The Gambler". An easy method to acquire it consists in equipping Charlotte with all possible Luck-boosting items available (Princess Tiara, Princess Coat, Glass Shoes, Thief Ring, Moon Brooch, etc.), then enter the Burnt Paradise and make way or warp to the Save Point located three rooms to the right of the boss room. Head left a couple of rooms and up into a large room with three Yoricks walking on the ceiling, switch to Charlotte and cast Holy Lightning or any other attack that can kill them fast. If MP runs low, just head back to the Save Point and repeat the process until the card is obtained.
Enemy Data
| Enemy Data: Yorick | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Description |
Statistics | Items | Location | Notes |
|
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| Skeleton eternally chasing his own skull. | Level: 29 HP: 10 Exp: 300 |
Drop: Monster Vial 3, Skull Shield; Ball: Iron Ball, Turquoise |
Reverse Keep |
(Strategy) | |
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| A skeleton that ceaselessly chases after its own skull. | Strong: Piercing, Dark Weak: Bashing, Fire, Holy HP: 32 MP: 1 Exp: 52 Atk: 23 Timestop: Affected |
Soul: Skull Ball (1.95%) |
Garden of Madness |
(Strategy) | |
|
|
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| A skeleton that ceaselessly chases its own skull. | Strong: Dark Weak: Strike, Whip, Fire, Holy HP: 110 Exp: 151 Skill Pt: 6 |
Drop: Spade |
Forgotten City, Burnt Paradise, Nest of Evil |
(Strategy) | |
| ' | HP: 320 Exp: ~485 |
Drop: Hamburger; Shadow Essence Steal: ~3S, 20C |
Castle Keep |
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| A skeleton that ceaselessly chases its own skull. | Strong: Pierce Weak: Strike |
Soul: Red (2.80%) |
Chapter 2 |
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Soul Data
| Item Data: Yorick | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
|
||||||||
| Kick a skull like a ball. | Attrib: Strike Consume: 10 MP |
ATK +4 |
Rarity: ** Steal: Yorick (2.8%) |
Effect: Skull Ball | ||||
Gallery
Trivia
- In the Japanese versions of those games Yorick has appeared in, he is called Soccer Boy and does not have any connection with the character from Hamlet, hinting that the Western localization team for Symphony of the Night (the first game this enemy appeared in) may have taken the liberty to change his name like many other enemies and items in that game. The name must have caught on, as the name Yorick was kept for all the sequels released outside of Japan.