Count Olrox

It's hard to think of Olrox's inclusion in the series as anything but a joke, at least at the start. Thrown into Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a boss without any real explanation (beyond, "hey, here are the Olrox's Quarters and this is Olrox"), the vampire lord was put in, seemingly, simply as a reference to the fact that all the Castlevania games feature Dracula, and there was this other guy, Count Orlock, who starred in the off-brand Dracula movie, Nosferatu. Despite being in the most popular game in the series, that was the end of Olrox's real appearances.

And yet, at least in the fandom, the character lived on. With his vampiric powers, and his amusingly mistranslated name, Olrox grew to be a beloved villain in the community. Of course, this was aided by Konami at least sticking one sly reference to the character in a later game, Aria of Sorrow, with the collectible "Olrox Suit" that Soma Cruz could collect (itself a sly reference to the fact that since he could equip it, hey, you know what, Soma is Dracula).

It wasn't until the Lords of Shadow reboot that Olrox was given more to do. Sadly, even then, he served as second banana to Carmilla. Seriously, Konami, when are we going to get The Evil Adventures of Olrox? The fans demand it! Well, okay, we at the Inverted Dungeon demand it, and that's more or less the same thing, right?

Character History:

Castevania: Symphony of the Night

Editor's Note: Olrox has no real story in his first and only appearance in the main series. As such, we're going to extrapolate a story out for him based on his knock-off movie. Fans of webcomic, and sister site, CVRPG will recognize elements of this story from his tales over on that site.

Count Olrox was a German lord, a noble of some power and sway who ruled over his citizens with an iron fist. Every lusting for more power, Orlox heard tales of the vampire. Wanting the power of the vampire, and the immortality that came with it, for himself, Olrox went in search of the dark magics to turn himself into a vampire. Soon his searching had brought him the power he lusted, turning him into a damned creature of darkness. His power grew, and so did his ego, and the peeople trembled before him.

Well, all but one person. The one being willing to stand against Olrox was Count Dracula, another vampire lord from a neighboring region (although all were parts of the Holy Roman Empire, of course). Soon it was that Dracula and Olrox came to blows, each craving the power the other hand, and both willing to fight to the death to defeat their enemy. In the enteral struggle between the two, Dracula came out the victory forcing Olrox to be his vassal.

Taking over Olrox's lands, and placing the vampire lord within his own demon castle, Dracula gained a power minion he could command. The German count, though, had other plans. He longed for a way to gain the upper hand over Dracula dn once again reclaim his true power. He spent long hours searching through the Long Library for spells he could usue to turn the tables. He might even have found a way, except yet another vampire lord came calling to the castle: Dracula's misfit son, Alucard.

Soon enough, Alucard had invaded deep into the castle, eventually encountering Olrox within his own chambers. Although the Count put up a good fight, Alucard was more powerful. In the end, Olrox was defated, his body reduced to little more than dust, while Alucard went off in search of more evil to cleanse from the land.

It's worth noting that while Symphony of the Night is the only game in the series in which Olrox appears, he is also a prominent character in the Japan-only novel Akumajo Dorakyura: Kabuchi no Tsuisokyoku. While we at the Inverted Dungeon do not consider this work a part of official continuity, as it was never released outside Japan, you can read the story via it's English fan-translation, Castlevania: Ricordanza of the Gods Abyss, graciously donated to the site by Shiroi Koumori.

Lords of Shadow History:

Castlevania: Lords of Shadows

A vampire of demonic origin, Olrox, along with his brother Brauner, hailed from Hell itself. When the three Lords of Light ascended to Heaven, leaving their mortal bodies behind, each was taken over by a demon. In the case of Carmilla, she became the Queen of the Vampires, taking over Bernhard castle and ruling from there with her two lieutenants, Olrox and Brauner, who she summoned from Hell.

As commanders of Carmilla's demon army, it was the job of Olrox and Brauner to defend their mistress from all outside forces. Brauner was the first to take on the warrior of light and vampire hunter, Gabriel Belmont. When he fell, that responsibility fell to his older brother, Olrox, who took on Gabriel in the castle itself. This battle, though impressive, ended for Olrox much as it did for Brauner, with the vampire dead and his soul cast back to Hell itself. He died trying to defend his mistress, but in the end Gabriel mowed a path through all the vampires.

Fighting Olrox:

In Symphony, Olrox is not a terribly difficult boss. Teleporting in at the beginning of the battle, Olrox will summon bats and skulls to his aid, having them attack at Alucard while he floats around the room. he will also summon dark, spectral pillars that will rise up from the ground to damage Alucard. FInally, he'll shoot out waves of force from his claws that shoot across the screen. Keeping him pinned down is difficult, but over all it's pretty easy to manage his attacks.

Once damaged enough, Olrox will transform into a demon (which honestly just looks like a lizard beast). In this form his breath out fire to the ground, in balls and bursts, and also claw at Alucard, keeping the vampire hero pinned down as much as possible. His attacks aren't terribly powerful, but he can get pretty spammy with them, making it hard to get damage in against him. He'll soon fall, though, so just keep up with it and win the day.

Olrox is much less of a pushover in Lords of Shadow, though. After an initial cut-scene establishing the fight, Olrox will begin teleporting around the room, attempting to attack you with his claws, wings, and sword. He'll also pull back and whip out his swords, which he can then throw out in a short, boomerang fashion. The initial part of this fight will feel similar to the battle with Brauner earlier in the game, so you should be well prepared for Olrox's basic tricks. Occasionally, Olrox will lunge at you and take you in his claws, trying to suck the life out of you. To escape you'll have to edure a quick-time-event, repeatedly pushing buttons to break free.

When near death, Olrox will break open one of the iron maidens nearby, feeding on the corpse inside to regain some health. He will do this five times, each time drawing out the fight longer. Make sure to attack him when you can during these phases to scare him off his feast, and then destroy the body so he can't use it again (otherwise he'll recover all the way back to full if allowed).

Once you've finally worn him out of all his health (and obnoxious refills), you can finally take him down. As with all fights in this game, that means another quick-time-events. Press the buttons wrong and Olrox will regain a good bit of health. Do it right, though, and you'll be treated to a sequence where the two foes trade blows back and forth before Grabiel shoves his Combat Cross down the vampire's throat. Pinned and bleeding, Olrox will die, his body crumbling into shadowy dust.

Olrox in Popular Culture:

As noted, Olrox is a mistranslation of the name "Orlock", the character from the 1922 German silent film, Nosferatu. THat film was, itself, a knock-off of Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula. The author sued the makers of the film almost as soon as the film was released, and the rights to the film were transferred the Stoker estate once the case was finished.

Notable for their much uglier look than "normal" vampires, Nosferatu vampire went onto inspire a number of further films and shows, not only a 1979 remake of the German film, but also a darkly humorous retelling of the filming of the original movie, Shadow of the Vampire. These creatures can also be seen in a number of other productions, whether acknowledge as vampires or not. Certainly the Master from Buffy the Vampire Slayer was very nosferatu-like, as were the later uber-vampires from Season 7 of that show.

Of course, outside of movies and TV, the Nosferatu live on. THe most notable example is, of course, in the RPG series Vampire: the Masquerade, where the tragic creatures are one of many types of vampires in the game. These poor beasts are cursed to be horribly ugly, disgusting wretches who wallow in their own filth and misery. Needless to say, when played straight Vampire is not the most upbeat of games.