Simon Belmont Vs. Sir Arthur

I'm bored. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You wanna know what cures a dull boy such as myself? Violent thoughts!

Just to clarify, this is about fictional characters fighting to the death. Ever since Spike TV's Deadliest Warrior ended with a battle between Vampires and Zombies, I've been fascinated with fictional characters fighting to the death. Since then, there have been many, many "Who would win" shows and blog posts on the internet. So, I've decided to throw my hat into the ring and do something special for Halloween night. 

Usually, when I'm sitting in class, trying not to pay attention to the lesson, I like to think of these certain scenarios. I thought, since I have a blog, and nothing special prepared for Halloween night, what if I could kill two birds with one stone and get both of these out of the way? A what-if battle and something Halloween-related!

Castlevania's Simon Belmont (Konami)

vs. Ghouls ‘N Ghosts' Sir Arthur (Capcom)

It’s a battle of classic side scrolling monster-hunting heroes! Both Castlevania and the Ghouls ‘N Ghosts series are legendary for their difficulty, but which monster-killer would kill the other? Let’s find out. For this battle, I’ll be using data from the respective wikis of each series.

With Simon, I’ll be ignoring the Lords of Shadow series, since that’s a different timeline altogether. Simon’s abilities, skills and power-ups will be taken from Castlevania I, II, IV (The SNES Remake of I) and a bit of Judgement.

Likewise, with Arthur, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, Super GnG, and Ultimate GnG are all considered canon, so those power-ups and abilities will be evaluated. Like Simon, I’ll take a few liberties and assess Arthur’s fighting skills from Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but not a whole lot.

Sir Arthur is a brave knight that ventures into the depths of the Demon Realm to rescue his beloved Princess Prin Prin, who gets captured by Satan and other demons in each game. His main equipment is the steel Knight Armor, which he loses when damaged, and a Lance that he throws at enemies.

Primary Weapon: Lance

While slow, it’s fairly strong, and useful against most enemies.

Secondary Weapons/Power-Ups:

·         Axe: A throwing weapon, lobbed at a 45 degree angle. Useful for attacking flying opponents.

·         Dagger: A rapid throwing weapon.

·         Sword: A melee weapon useful for fast, powerful strikes.

·         Crossbow: Shoots 2 projectiles diagonally upwards. Useful for shooting down flying or jumping opponents.

·         Discus: Can be thrown at all sides. Moves along the ground.

·         Torch: A grenade-type weapon that creates a trail of fire.

·         Cross Shield: Used to defeat the demon lord Astaroth. While it has a limited range, it can be fired rapidly and even block projectiles.

·         Psycho Cannon: Used to defeat the demon lord Lucifer. A short ranged energy attack.

·         Goddess’ Bracelet: Used to defeat the demon lord Nebiroth and the demon emperor Samael. Fires a powerful energy blast, and can be fired rapidly.

·         Whip: Yes, Arthur has a whip, too. A short-ranged melee weapon that can be used to grab objects, it comes in both a vine whip and electric whip version. 

While Arthur’s weapons can hold off enemies in a fight, if he’s overwhelmed, he can rely on his armor and magic to take down tougher opponents.

Abilities: Arthur can double-jump and maneuver in the air quite effectively when doing so. Likewise, he is capable of throwing his weapons in any direction, giving him a distinct advantage over his enemies. Arthur also seems to have incredible luck and skill, as he's had to go through all of his games twice. Anyone who's ever played any of the GnG games will know how frustrating it is to go through just one of them a single time, let alone, twice.

Weaknesses: While his knight armor can withstand even the most powerful of attacks, no matter how many armor power-ups he’s collected, it’ll shatter in only one hit, leaving Arthur in his underwear.

Unless Arthur has the shield and is hit from the front while wearing the Golden Armor, another hit, and Arthur’s done for, and will turn into a pile of bones.

Feats: Arthur has defeated ghouls, ghosts, goblins, werewolves, giant birds, giant evil fish, flaming demonic bears, red devils, and almost half a dozen of hell's commanders and rulers. If evil comes knocking at your door, Sir Arthur will protect you, everyone in the building, and everyone on your block by killing the evil, then taking the fight to the evil, and killing its king. Twice.

Simon Belmont is a renowned vampire hunter from the 17th century, and also the first and one of the most recognized of the heroes from the Castlevania series. He is the heir to the renowned Vampire Killer Whip and of the Belmont clan and became the most famous vampire hunter from his family.

Primary Weapon: Vampire Killer Whip

At first glance, it seems like a plain ol' bullwhip. However, if Simon is able to find upgrades, it turns into a metal, spiked chain that Simon can use to full effect against the living-impaired and the bloodthirsty.

Secondary Weapons/Power-Ups:

Dagger: A basic sub-weapon. Useful for killing weaker opponents at a distance.

Axe: Useful for killing airborne enemies. If done correctly, this can attack an enemy multiple times with one throw.

Cross: A cross-shaped boomerang. Again, if done correctly, will hit an enemy multiple times.

Holy Water: A bomb that erupts into flames when it hits the ground, producing fire.

Stopwatch: Stops time for a few seconds, giving Simon a distinct advantage.

Abilities: Simon can swing his whip like Indiana Jones, swing with it like Tarzan, and that's just for starters. He is arguably the greatest "Whip-master" in all of gaming, and he has plenty of evidence to back it up.

Weaknesses: Simon's sub-weapons rely on ammunition for him to use them. While not rare, in the heat of a battle, they'll be expended quickly, and then Simon will have to rely on his whip. When it comes to jumping, Simon's no expert, either. Most tricky jumps, Simon will solve with using his whip. Really, his trump card is the whip, which cannot be relied upon forever.

Feats: Simon has killed a plethora of legendary monsters, including Universal Studios' monster mash cache. Before I mention Dracula, Simon's sworn enemy, during the events of Castlevania I, II and Super IV (Which is the remake of I, mind you) Simon managed to slay and defeat (Drum-roll, please)
Giant Bats
Medusa (And an army of floating Medusa heads)
Mummies
The Frankenstein's Monster
Gargoyles
Giant Plant Monsters
Dozens of Undead Knights
An Army of Skeletons
Werewolves
The Grim Reaper, AKA DEATH ITSELF Twice
And Finally, Count Vlad Tepes II, the Nosferatu, King of Vampires and the Lord of Castlevania, Bela Lugosi, Gary Oldman, Dracula.

If you hear a bump in the night, you know who to call. The Belmont family's poster-boy, and savior of Europe, Simon Belmont. It doesn't matter where Dracula is, or how powerful he is, the Belmonts, including Simon, will always be there to defeat him.

The Rules: Arthur and Simon start out like they normally would when playing their respective games. No power-ups or special weapons yet. With a few exceptions, they are more or less human, and will die when they have taken the same amount of abuse that would normally kill a human. Other than that, the two will take damage like they normally would in a video game. Also, the two will grab weapons at the same rate as they usually would in their games.

The Battle: Sir Arthur has a clear advantage over Simon at the beginning of the battle. Simon doesn't start out with any ranged weapons, and lacks the mobility to successfully defend himself from Arthur's lance attacks. Simon's going to need to close in on Arthur, and the two grab some power-ups while closing in on one another. Simon grabs a throwing dagger power-up and some ammo, but Arthur counters with his own barrage of throwing daggers. Simon takes a few daggers, but still presses on.

Picking up a whip power-up and a throwing axe power-up, Simon is able to close in on Arthur, but is forced to retreat, as Arthur has throwing axes of his own! The two toss their special weapons and abilities back and forth. Most of the time, their powerups counter one another. Arthur finds another armor power-up, giving him the golden armor while Simon tracks down another whip power-up, nearly doubling its length.

Arthur is able to assault Simon with magic blasts, but before Arthur can finish him off, Simon uses the time stop power-up, expending the last of his ammunition. Arthur quickly retreats as Simon follows him, cracking his whip all around, using the terrain to swing around on his whip. Arthur jumps in just the right place, and receives the sword power-up.

Arthur, now in his underwear and wielding a sword and a shield, charges towards Simon, who is cracking his whip all around him with intense speed. The two close into melee range. Simon slashes at Arthur with his spiked whip, shattering it into a million pieces! But before he's able to hit Arthur again, he is quickly decapitated by Arthur's sword and falls to the ground, dead. Arthur then runs off to find his girlfriend, Princess Prin-Prin.

Analysis: Now, at first glance, these two heroes seem identical. They slay monsters and save the day. The main differences, however, lay in their fighting styles, maneuverability, and feats. Yes, it's very impressive that Simon has been able to defeat Dracula, but the main problem is that, well, Dracula doesn't stay dead for long. To put it bluntly, the Belmont clan just isn't very good at killing vampires. Even when Simon defeated Dracula's spirit in Simon's Quest, Dracula still came back.

When Arthur defeats his enemies, even if they're powerful demon lords, they stay dead. What's most impressive about this is that, in the GnG series, the games have to be beaten twice. At the end, the player is given a message basically stating "This was all an illusion, do it again". And Arthur went through all five GnG games, twice, canonically without dying. This means that Arthur has five times the monster-slaying experience than Simon does.

Throw that in with Arthur's ability to double-jump, larger assortment of weapons, and access to magic, and Simon doesn't stand a chance against Sir Arthur. Heck, even if it meant having to do it twice, Arthur could defeat Simon twice in a row.

On one final note, while Simon has defeated the Grim Reaper before, like Dracula, he always comes back. You can't just kill death. You can prolong it, but you can't kill it.

Winner: Sir Arthur

Indeed