Simon Belmont

Simon Belmont is the main protagonist of some Castlevania games as he happens to be the first Belmont to be introduced in the Belmont Clan for audiences. Born around 1669, he was the heir to the renowned Vampire Killer. Simon grew up hearing stories about his great ancestors who had defeated Dracula along with those who helped them. As he trained the ways of the whip, he would often wonder how he would be compared to these legendary warriors. At the age of 22 in 1691, he would be given the opportunity to prove himself worthy of his family's legacy. On Easter Day, 100 years after he was defeated by Christopher Belmont, Count Dracula had returned. He was reawakened by a dark order of humans on Easter Day during a dark mass in an abandoned monastery.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Out of all of the main characters in the Castlevania franchise, the Belmonts are by far the most prominent. But compared to the rest of the Belmonts, Simon is by far the most iconic of them all as he became of the most iconic video game characters since the 80s.
 * 2) On any situation, Simon is brash yet inclined to force his ways through many situations. Not to mention the challenge Castlevania has to offer no matter if it's bosses, generic enemies, or obstacles. In fact, he felt cursed in Simon's Quest that he still is able to go on his next adventure in that game so he does not give up.
 * 3) Whenever he learns about the negative aspects of the Belmont Clan, he would feel responsible as he doesn't mind learning that even the Belmont Clan has weaknesses.
 * 4) He has a tendency to train extensively and excessively. With all that said, Jonathan Morris felt honored when Simon eagerly accepted him to be his training partner.
 * 5) He may have a normal-looking protagonist, but it's no secret that he's still a badass character despite not having anything like RPG Elements or massive inventories as he stills uses weapons including the sub-weapons.
 * 6) In Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls, he polite and modest to everyone that even Charlotte mentions that Simon is one of the noblest of the Belmonts. So you see, even Simon can be given a personality trait with a strong sense of justice.
 * 7) Compared to most of the other Belmonts, Simon literally fought Dracula entirely on his own without any help so he's a one-man-army. You can actually be good in Castlevania (in the games where Simon is playable) if you are using him right.
 * 8) You can actually unlock him as a secret character in Harmony of Dissonance as he appears in his 8-bit version thus making him look unique to the game.
 * 9) Despie changing designs on some artwork for certain Castlevania games, he still keeps his breathtaking barbarian look like a force to be reckoned with in some Castlevania games.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Can be brash at times like when he thought that Genya Arikado was one of Dracula's minions albeit Simon apologized for his early behavior.
 * 2) He is flanderized in Captain N: The Game Master. The show portrays Simons as a vain and self-centered demeanor most of the time in the show. At least he still has a strong sense of justice. What's also bad is that he CONSTANTLY tries to simp over Princess Lana just for attention.
 * 3) Started the infamous Castlevania Jump Arc.
 * 4) His designs in Captain N and Castlevania Judgement look terrible as they don't really fit Simon too well not to mention the inaccuracy of these designs. The Captain N Simon looks like an complete idiot who belongs in some army game rather than the barbarian-looking hero he is supposed to be. The Castlevania Judgement version of Simon looks like a shirtless knockoff of Light Yagami from Death Note who tries too hard being edgy in a pathetic way not helping the fact that the character designer for Judgement was done by Takeshi Obata who worked on Death Note.

Trivia

 * According to a statement made by the head director of the three Famicom Castlevania games, Hitoshi Akamatsu, the inclusion of the whip as Simon's weapon of choice is a reference to Indiana Jones.
 * Simon was originally planned to be named Peter Dante
 * The original concept behind the 2010 series reboot Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was to remake the original Castlevania starring Simon. While this idea was ultimately not followed through, Lords of Shadow's protagonist, Gabriel Belmont, wears armor which is reminiscent of Simon's artwork and sprite from Simon's Quest. Lords of Shadow developer, David Cox, mentioned in an interview that Gabriel is wearing armor similar to Simon's. This is presumably a reference to Gabriel being the first main character of a new Castlevania series, as Simon was of the original franchise.
 * Simon Belmont was the protagonist of Paul Anderson's original script for Castlevania: The Movie. Several rewrites of this script have taken place and it is not known if he will make an appearance in the final cut.
 * His interaction with Genya Arikado in Grimoire of Souls is technically the only time that he and Alucard directly interacted with each other canonically, as Simon and Alucard had previously interacted in Captain N: The Game Master.