It can be argued that Castlevania Symphony of the Night will go down as one of the greatest video games in history, if not THE greatest. I was engulfed by the Castlevania atmosphere way back when the series first began on the NES and I have been a steadfast fan ever since. For every new title that bore the Castlevania name, aka: Akumajou Dracula, I was there with money in hand and brimming with excitement. When Konami decided to branch out to the Japanese Turbo-Duo with the release of Rondo of Blood I was given no choice but to buy an import system with the sole purpose of playing this newest Castlevania installment.

Little did I know that "Rondo" was just a prelude to one of the industries most significant and influential games ever. Enter Symphony of the Night (also known as Nocturne in the Moonlight), a game which has it all. Music, graphics, game-play, atmosphere, SFX, character, history, and so much more awaited those who played this awesome game. To this day I still have yet to find a game which captures and ensnares me as much as SotN does.

Although it was Rondo of Blood that introduced us to Richter Belmont, it is Ayami Kojima's beautiful illustrations and character designs that really made the heroes and villains pop. Here was a totally reinvented Richter who now looked as if he belonged in the year 1797. It is this version of Richter Belmont on which I based my custom figure.

-Richter started out as a NECA PotC Will Turner
-I removed and resculpted his lower abdomen/belt
-I resculpted parts of his hair
-He is entirely repainted with Tamiya Acrylics and Testors Model Master Acryl
-The whip belonged to NECA's Simon Belmont
-The stopwatch was custom sculpted using Sculpey III

Castlevania is such a rich and diverse video game franchise that I am still baffled at how little there is in the way of collectibles based on this amazing series. If Castlevania doesn't deserve a (new) line of action figures, then I really don't know what does. I will keep my fingers crossed for the future, but for now, Richter Belmont will have a jolly old time defending my toy shelf from the likes of Count Dracula! I hope you enjoy him!