Castlevania hero Simon Belmont and Donkey Kong nemesis King K. Rool are joining the roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighters.
The legendary vampire hunter will whip his way into the Nintendo Switch fighting game, series creator Masahiro Sakurai said in Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct.
He’ll wield the Vampire Killer, the holy whip first seen in the 1986 NES classic Castlevania, which Sakurai says gives Simon a longer reach than any other fighter. The classic ax, cross and holy water subweapons will be available as special attacks, along with an uppercut.
Simon will also have an echo fighter — one who’s essentially the same with a different appearance and animations — Richter Belmont, who appeared in Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night.
His Final Smash is the Grand Cross and his stage is Dracula’s Castle, which will have 34 music tracks from the long-running adventure series.
Dracula, the big bad of the Castlevania series, will appear under undisclosed conditions, and his son Alucard is joining as new assist trophy. Both appear as they did in the 1997 PlayStation game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Castlevania wasn’t the only source of new fighters in the Direct announcement, with Donkey Kong nemesis King K. Rool showing up at the very end. Sakurai didn’t go into detail on his abilities, but the trailer showed him using his immense bulk to knock enemies back, along with using his crowl and a cannon as projectiles.
We also saw two new echo fighters, with Chrom mirroring Fire Emblem’s Marth and Dark Samus for Metroid’s Samus.
The legendary vampire hunter Simon Belmont comes to Super #SmashBrosUltimate from the #Castlevania series! pic.twitter.com/q1L6wc7Aol
— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS)
Among the new stages shown off was New Donk City Hall from Super Mario Odyssey. Sakurai also revealed that Ultimate will have a total of 103 stages (compared to the previous game’s 56), all available from the beginning.
Returing N64 stages will maintain their pixelated retro looks and the Stage Morph option will allow you to pick two stages to change between mid-match.
It’ll also feature more than 800 tracks to listen to in battle.
Sakurai also revealed that Monster Hunter’s Rathalos will be the first character to appear as a boss and an assist trophy.
Still no sign of Waluigi, but check out our guide to everything we know about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which hits Nintendo Switch on Dec. 7.