Castlevania may not have done much enduring this past decade, but it’s an incredibly endearing franchise that’s never lost its luster or appeal. Even in the wake of the Lords of Shadows reboot coming and going, the original franchise thrives as an important part of gaming history, compiling some of the best titles in the medium.

Castlevania is also home to a very interesting story, one that features dozens of characters over the course of hundreds of years. It’s a premise that allows many a Vampire Hunter to rise up against Dracula. Like any good long running series, Castlevania is also home to power scaling, meaning that some Vampire Hunters are significantly stronger than others.

10 Maria Renard

A distant relative of the Belmont clan, but not distant enough where she can’t fight against Dracula, Maria Renard ends up canonically accompanying Richter during the events of Rondo of Blood, even bestowing her power upon him during his final fight against Count Dracula per one interpretation of Symphony of the Night’s retelling.

Gameplay wise, Maria is one of the most broken playable characters in the franchise, with a level of mobility unlike anyone else. Narratively, she rounds out the bottom 10. She’s feisty and quite powerful enough to keep up with Classicvania level threats, but she ends up doing little in Symphony of the Night and there’s no indication Alucard struggled at all fighting her.

9 Albus

Order of Ecclesia’s rival character, Albus is one of the more developed side characters in the Castlevania franchise. It certainly helps that Order of Ecclesia is a more intimate game, dialing back the scope considerably, allowing Albus to really shine. At the same time, while he’s incredibly skilled and talented, he’s still significantly weaker than Shanoa.

He’s defeated a little over halfway through the game, and from there Shanoa only becomes stronger. This isn’t to say Albus is weak– he’s still shockingly strong considering how relatively tame Order of Ecclesia is narratively and his “Gun-Fu” fighting style is just as fun to fight as it is to play.

8 Shanoa

The main character of Order of Ecclesia, Shanoa plays somewhat like Soma Cruz, being able to absorb enemy attacks and skills how she pleases. By taking in Glyphs, Shanoa can customize her move set more than any other Castlevania protagonist. As far as combat depth goes, only Simon from Super CV IV rivals Shanoa.

That said, Shanoa’s also one of the only character who fights Dracula who doesn’t actually end up triggering his second form. Rather, Shanoa’s weak enough where Dracula doesn’t even need to stand up until the second half of the fight. From there, Shanoa’s able to finish him off before he can get any stronger.

7 Yoko Belnades

Yoko’s a difficult character to nail down in terms of power. She’s one of the less active members of the Sorrow duology’s main cast, but she does end up joining Julius in Dawn of Sorrow’s Julius Mode. Taking place after the bad ending, Julius teams up with Yoko and Genya Arikado (Alucard) to take out Dracuma Cruz.

Yoko’s also a Belnades which means she’s flowing with magical power, and Castlevania does have a precedent for every new family member being stronger than the last. Unfortunately, Yoko doesn’t do much narratively so it’s hard to figure where exactly she stands. If nothing else, she’s strong enough to help Julius and Alucard fight off Soma.

6 Richter Belmont

Often referred to as the strongest Belmont within canon, Richter is understandably quite powerful. He was the last Belmont to wield the Vampire Killer before Julius in 1999, and he’s able to not only defeat Dracula but keep up with Alucard in a fight. While Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night assert him as a force to be reckoned with, later titles dial back Richter’s colossal power.

He’s still considered insanely powerful by the events of Portrait of Ruin in 1942, but Jonathan Morris is able to defeat Richter’s memory and take hold of the Vampire Killer’s power for himself. There’s also the fact that each Belmont is canonically stronger than the last. Richter’s power was never going to last.

5 Jonathan Morris

Jonathan Morris is something of an anomaly in the series. He isn’t descended from a powerful Vampire Hunter, he isn’t trained to use the Vampire Killer, and he’s for all intents and purposes an average guy. Which just makes it all the more impressive when Jonathan defies the Vampire Killer’s curse and bests Richter Belmont in a fight.

Well, whether or not he defies it is debatable as it’s still possible the Vampire Killer killed him later in life, but Jonathan ends up freakishly strong by the end of Portrait of Ruin. If the post game is to be believed, he and Charlotte were even able to defeat Fake Trevor, Fake Sypha, and Fake Grant– a boss encounter previously fought by Alucard.

4 Charlotte Aulin

Although Jonathan is undeniably the stronger of Portrait of Ruin’s two main characters during the events of the game, a throwaway line in the manual of all things ends up placing Charlotte on a much higher level in the grand scheme of things. She’s specifically referred to as a potential final weapon against Dracula, referring to the battle of 1999.

Of course, it’s canon that Julius himself ends up defeating Dracula and dealing the final blow, but that doesn’t mean others couldn’t have participated. Charlotte would have been incredibly old by 1999, but she could have played a key role in uncursing the Vampire Killer for Julius or even just depowering Dracula.

3 Alucard

Count Dracula’s son and the only character to have fought him more than twice (Dracula’s Curse, Symphony of the Night, and the Battle of 1999), Alucard is naturally quite the powerhouse. It isn’t until Dawn of Sorrow where someone manages to push him back for the first time. Until then, Alucard was seemingly unbeatable. At least narratively.

Gameplay wise, Alucard’s up there with Jonathan and Soma in terms of combat variety. He has an insane set of skills and his fighting game-esque inputs make him a character with a considerable amount of mechanical depth. Alucard’s also half-vampire and physically immortal so he’s naturally going to be quite powerful.

2 Soma Cruz

The reincarnation of Count Dracula, Soma has the potential to access all of Dracula’s power and more. He’s significantly stronger than the Dark Lord, capable both holding dominion over Dracula’s minions and defeating them alike. Soma is capable of defeating three different candidates for Dracula’s power, asserting his dominance over Dominance.

Unfortunately for Soma, Dracula’s influence means he can snap fairly easily. Losing Mina is more than enough to cause Soma to give into his demonic desires entirely, embracing his Dracula half in earnest. It’s unclear whether or not Soma is actually changing or just allowing Dracula to influence him, but it only makes him stronger.

1 Julius Belmont

Thankfully, if Julius Mode in Dawn of Sorrow is to be believed, the day can indeed be saved by none other than Julius Belmont, the man who finished Dracula off once and for all in 1999. Unlike Soma or Alucard, Julius has never clearly lost a clean fight. He holds back against Soma and he’s able to canonically defeat bosses in DoS without sealing them, an impossible feat for Soma.

While Julius does recruit Alucard and Yoko to help him against Soma, he can go face Soma himself. Worth noting, Julius has his own mode in Aria of Sorrow, but it lacks a story unlike Dawn of Sorrow. Either way, there’s no way Julius Belmont is getting beaten by anyone in the Castlevania franchise. He’s not just the strongest Vampire Hunter, he’s arguably the strongest character in the whole series.

NEXT: 10 Ways Bloodstained References Castlevania