Leon Belmont

Leon Belmont is the protagonist of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence and the first member of the Belmont family to wield the Vampire Killer whip. So far he has only appeared once in the series.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Leon makes his way to the Forest of Eternal Night after being informed by his close friend Mathias that his betrothed Sara was kidnapped by the vampire Walter Bernhard, who has a castle in the forest. Once he arrives, Leon meets Rinaldo Gandolfi, an old alchemist that lives in a cottage just outside the castle. Rinaldo gives him a whip made from alchemy and enchants his gauntlet so he can absorb magic power. Leon makes his way into the castle and defeats the five monsters that guard Walter's lair. He then confronts Walter only to find that his whip has no effect on the vampire. Walter returns Sara to him anyway but something is wrong. They return to Rinaldo's cottage where he discovers that Sara has been bitten by Walter. Rinaldo then tells Leon that the only way to defeat Walter is to combine a human soul with the whip he made. Sara offers to sacrifice herself and combine her soul with the whip. Leon protests this at first, but Sara insists, wanting to save others from her fate. Leon relents and strikes her with the whip, fusing her soul with the whip.

Leon then returns to the castle to face Walter once again and this time, Leon is able to defeat him. At that moment Death appears and sucks Walter's soul into an artifact known as the Crimson Stone. Leon then gets the shock of his life as Mathias suddenly appears before his eyes, now holding the Crimson Stone. Mathias informs Leon that all of this was just a plan he created to get back at God for taking Elisabetha from him. Mathias used the Crimson Stone to take the vampire's soul and make it his own, changing himself into a vampire. Mathias then offers Leon the chance to become one as well and live forever. Leon refuses and calls Mathias a fool. Surprised by his former friend's reaction, Mathias departs, leaving Death to fight with Leon. Leon overcomes the entity and tells him to give his master this message: he will never forgive him for what he has done and that from this day forward the Belmont clan will dedicate themselves to hunting him down and destroying him. Mathias then goes into hiding and reemerges years later as Dracula, Lord of the Vampires.

Combat
Leon begins the game with the Whip of Alchemy, the initial form of the Vampire Killer. After confronting Walter the first time, the whip becomes the Vampire Killer, a much stronger version of its former self. After defeating three optional bosses, Leon can also gain elemental versions of the whip: thunder, fire, and ice.

Like his kinsmen, Leon fights with the classic subweapons as well: ax, dagger, cross, holy water, and the crystal. After defeating a boss, Leon gains a colored orb that he can use to powerup the subweapons and unleash item crash attacks. These attacks are much more powerful but also require many more hearts to use. Leon can also make use of powerful relics that will allow him to perform different MP-consuming attacks.