Castlevania: Belmont's Curse True Ending — Requirements Checklist
True Ending — Full Requirements Checklist
Quick answer: stop the Cursed Horologium with the Shadow Arcana, hold The Warrior, The Whisperer, The Judge and The Sage, equip each card at its matching stained-glass window in Notre-Dame's Gallery of the Four Virtues and ring all four bells, defeat Rose's shadow for The Self, then beat Dracula again and cast Absolution at the prompt. The trophy is "Curse lifted". Missing any bell or skipping the Absolution prompt drops you back to the Normal ending.
The checklist
- Shadow Arcana (Soul Harvest) — obtained from Death; needed to stop the Cursed Horologium
- The Warrior — Joan of Arc, top of the Prison Tower
- The Whisperer — three Eye relics → Gate of Flesh → Ferryman's Obol → Ferryman
- The Judge — Palace of Justice, with at least 12 HP and 12 Mana upgrades
- The Sage — four Mirror of Life trials → Hall of Mirrors → Succubus → Eleanor
- Courage bell rung with The Warrior equipped
- Temperance bell rung with The Whisperer equipped
- Justice bell rung with The Judge equipped
- Prudence bell rung with The Sage equipped
- Rose's shadow (Doppelganger) defeated → The Self obtained
- The Self equipped before the final Dracula fight
- Both Dracula phases defeated with the Horologium stopped
- Absolution cast at the end-of-fight prompt
Step 1 — Stop the Horologium and collect four Arcana
The True route runs on the stopped-clock path. If the Cursed Horologium is still running, the left door gives you the Bad ending instead (Endings).
The four cards the trials need, and where they come from (All Things How, level C):
| Arcana | How to get it | Spell |
|---|---|---|
| The Warrior | Defeat Joan of Arc on the Prison Tower roof | Infernal Pyre (also grants Holy Light) |
| The Whisperer | Collect the Thrilling Eye (Paris Streets), Trembling Eye (Holy Innocents' Cemetery) and Oozing Eye (Catacombs of Paris); equip all three, open the Gate of Flesh, take the Ferryman's Obol from Mammon's hoard and give it to the Ferryman | Freezing Path |
| The Judge | Enter the Palace of Justice (requires at least 12 HP upgrades and 12 Mana upgrades), stand on the scale and complete Saint Louis's judgment | Chains of Justice |
| The Sage | Clear the four Mirror of Life trials, enter the Hall of Mirrors, expose and defeat the Succubus posing as Sypha, then speak to Eleanor at the Tomb of the Noble Queen | Mirror Walk |
Some checklists name only The Judge, The Whisperer and The Sage. The Warrior is also required — without it the Courage window will not open.
Step 2 — Ring the four bells in the Gallery of the Four Virtues
Go to Notre-Dame's Gallery of the Four Virtues. At each stained-glass window, equip the matching Arcana, complete the trial and ring the bell at the end. The mapping is consistent across the guides we checked (All Things How, TheGamer, level C):
| Virtue | Arcana to equip | Spell | Figure | What the trial is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courage | The Warrior | Infernal Pyre | Joan | A full rematch against a powered-up Joan of Arc, then the bell |
| Temperance | The Whisperer | Freezing Path | Ferryman | The water course, then the bell |
| Justice | The Judge | Chains of Justice | Saint Louis | Climb the bell tower past cultists, harpies and swordsmen, then the bell |
| Prudence | The Sage | Mirror Walk | Eleanor | Saw blades, falling debris and spikes; bring Holy Light from Joan, then the bell |
Only these four bells count toward the True ending. You can swap cards between windows; the guides do not specify a required order. If the window will not open, the wrong Arcana is equipped.
Step 3 — Defeat Rose's shadow for The Self
After all four bells ring, interact with the central stained-glass window / altar in the same room. You are taken to a chapel to fight Rose's shadow, listed as "???" / the Doppelganger.
- Winning grants The Self Arcana, whose spell is Absolution (All Things How, level C).
- The fight also awards the "Conquered Self" trophy and the Doppelganger Style Costume (level C).
- Doppelganger stats: 8,778 HP, 50 damage — one guide only, level D / unverified. Konami publishes no boss stats; do not plan a run around the number.
- Absolution "spends all of your mana" (single guide, level D).
Step 4 — Beat Dracula and cast Absolution
- Keep the Horologium stopped and take the Normal-ending route to the Master's Quarters.
- Equip The Self before the fight.
- Defeat both Dracula phases.
- Stay through the scene after phase two. When Sypha tells Rose she needs "nothing beyond the cards and herself", press the activate prompt (Triangle on PlayStation).
- Absolution casts, Rose relinquishes the cards and the bound spirits, and the curse lifts.
If the credits roll without the prompt, you got the Normal ending again. The page to check afterwards is Endings.
Common mistakes
I own The Self but still got the Normal ending. Owning the card is not enough — it must be equipped, and you must activate the prompt after Dracula's second phase (All Things How, level C).
One of the windows won't open. The matching Arcana is not equipped. Courage needs The Warrior, Temperance The Whisperer, Justice The Judge, and Prudence The Sage.
Do I need to finish the Normal ending first? The guides describe the True route continuing from the same save after the first Dracula clear, with all gear kept — no new game is needed (IGN, TheGamer, level C). Whether the trials can be completed before your first Dracula clear is not verified.
Do I have to level up The Self? Unverified. IGN recommends leveling it first; other guides list only obtaining the card. No source calls leveling mandatory, so don't grind unless you want the extra power.
Is Absolution definitely required? Every step-by-step guide that walks the final scene says to cast it. One overview calls the exact interaction "not conclusively verified" (Gamer.org, level D). Treat "equip The Self and use the prompt" as the reliable instruction.
Is there a time limit on the prompt? One source describes a short window of roughly 12 seconds after Sypha's line (single source, level D, unverified). The safe plan is to stay in the scene and watch for the prompt instead of skipping ahead.
Trophy and ending names
| Ending | Trophy | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Bad | Belmont's Fall | Take the left door while the Horologium is running |
| Normal | The Hunt Goes On | Stop the Horologium, beat both Dracula phases, skip Absolution |
| True | Curse lifted | Four Virtues + Rose's shadow + Absolution on Dracula |
All three can be earned on one save. For the full ending overview, see Endings.
Sources & verification
- Four Virtues mapping, required Arcana and acquisition routes, central window, Absolution scene, Trophy — All Things How (level C, post-launch guide).
- Four Virtues trials and spells, The Self, same-save route, trophy names — TheGamer (level C).
- Trial order/name, leveling The Self recommendation, "The Curse Disappears"/"Curse Lifted" trophy — IGN walkthrough (level C; the page blocked our automated fetch, so details come from a search-level read).
- Trial and blessing names, Rose's Shadow, The Self — Gamer.org (level C/D; its trial-to-card mapping is garbled, so we use the All Things How mapping, which matches the in-game card names).
- Doppelganger 8,778 HP / 50 damage, Absolution mana cost, Doppelganger Style Costume — All Things How, single source, level D / unverified.
- ~12-second Absolution window — single source, level D / unverified.
- Patch level — 1.1.4 (2026-11-06: title-screen version display, Life Drain range adjustment, further black-screen/V-Sync launch fixes — Konami update page). No ending or progression changes are listed.
- Last verified: November 6, 2026.
Related: Endings · Hall of Mirrors · Arcana System · Death · Isaac · How Long to Beat · Walkthrough