This character or verse has mature themes and concepts, thus those of young age are ill-advised to look through these.
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A dark priest who hates peace and attempts to bring about destruction and chaos. He resurrected Dracula to fulfill his plan to change the world according to his wishes. He was a priest before but the more he served God, the more he saw the world covered in desire (sins), and the God he believed in greatly disappointed him. He construed that the God-lead peace causes corruption, dabbling in the dark arts to destroy it, with Dracula's resurrection, he plots to change the world into the one he desires.
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~ CR Pachinko Akumajō Dracula official website description
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Servants, come forth from the gates of Hell! Attack! Rid my master's castle of this pest!
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~ Shaft to his servants
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Ha... I die victorious... Count Dracula rises even now! Let him purge the world in flames! Hahaha!
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~ Shaft's last words to Alucard, in Symphony of the Night
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The dark priest called Shaft, come to cleanse the world in the forge of chaos.
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~ Shaft introducing himself to Alucard, in Symphony of the Night
In 1792, Shaft resurrected Count Dracula and helped him abduct young girls, including Maria Renard and Annette, intending to offer Dracula a bride. During Richter Belmont’s quest, he faced Shaft, who summoned monsters that Simon Belmont had once defeated. Shaft was eventually overpowered.
In Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Shaft’s fate changes based on the protagonist’s choices. If Richter or Maria fails to save Annette, she becomes the boss of Stage 7 in place of Shaft's Ghost, allowing him to survive, aid Dracula, and buy him time to escape. If Annette is rescued, Richter or Maria directly confront and defeat Shaft's Ghost.
Afterward, Shaft’s spirit remains bound in a crystal ball.
In 1797, Shaft abducted and brainwashed Richter Belmont, believing that no one could defeat him, as he was the strongest vampire hunter. Using dark magic, Shaft manipulated Richter to defend Dracula’s Castle, unaware to Maria and Alucard. Maria suspected he was under a spell, prompting her to help Alucard uncover Shaft's manipulation. Alucard ultimately freed Richter from Shaft's control and thwarted the dark priest’s plans. Yet, even as Alucard defeated him in the Reverse Castle, Shaft remained satisfied, knowing he had succeeded in reviving Dracula.
Shaft has two floating orbs around him that he uses for different magic attacks.
Notable Techniques
Enemy Summon
Shaft can conjures glyphs allowing him to summon enemies such as the Giant Bat, Medusa, Mummy Man, and Frakenstein's Monster.
Giant Bat Summon
Medusa Summon
Mummy Man Summon
Fraken Summon
Fire Magical Orbs
Shaft lights his orbs on fire and have them home in on the target and harm them through contact damage.
Lightning Magical Orbs
Shaft has two orbs that shoot out lightning below them.
Rotating Magical Orbs
Shaft has the magical orbs rotate and try to damage an enemy through contact.
Back Dash
Shaft jumps backwards to avoid attacks thrown at him.
Dead Wyvern Summon
Shaft uses the powers of necromancy, to summon a Dead Wyvern that attempts to chomp at an enemy or shoto fire out of their mouth.
Dead Behemoth Summon
Shaft uses the powers of necromancy, to summon a Dead Behemoth that attacks the opponent from underground.
Other
Standard Tactics: Shaft will start with summoning enemies for the opponent to fight, once the opponent defeats all of them, he will utilize hsi two orbs for a variety of elemental attacks, if he is defeated, his consciousness will persist as Shaft's Ghost, where he uses the powers of necromancy and other magical attacks.
The four bosses Shaft summons in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood are the same first four bosses that appeared in the original Castlevania: the Giant Bat, Medusa, the Mummy and The Creature (Death is not summoned in this encounter as he has his own boss fight).
As a side note, these five bosses (Death included) would each hold one of Dracula's relics in the sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
The Ghost boss in Stage 4' of Castlevania: Dracula X (a remake of Rondo of Blood) is basically Shaft's (or more precisely his ghost's) equivalent in the game, at least in appearance.
However, Carmilla's abilities in the same game are the ones that are nearly identical to Shaft's own powers in Rondo of Blood, conjuring two orbs that unleash elemental attacks (Carmilla's riding skull's eyeballs in this case).
In Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, the remake of Rondo of Blood, Shaft's skin tone was changed to match the Symphony of the Night artwork of his ghostly self.
The Dracula X Chronicles also changes the storyline of the original game to some extent by giving Shaft a larger role. He was ironically responsible for detecting and unlocking Maria Renard's magical potential (rather than Maria getting caught while trying to be a heroine), and was also the one to explicitly kidnap Annette due to her bond with a Belmont.
In The Dracula X Chronicles Shaft's possession of Richter Belmont is foreshadowed during the first battle with Shaft, where before summoning monsters to fight Richter he uses an incantation that's similar to the one possessed Richter will say while summoning a Minotaur and a Werewolf to deal with Alucard in Symphony of the Night ("Servants, come forth from the gates of hell! Attack! Rid my master's castle of this pest!").
Also in The Dracula X Chronicles, if the player didn't meet the conditions to fight and defeat his ghost, Shaft will appear after Dracula's second form is defeated and the two villains will flee, thus ending the battle –and the game– prematurely.
The Necromancer boss from Castlevania: Circle of the Moon also shares a resemblance to Shaft, or more precisely to his ghost, mainly being a floating robe with a very similar design. He is even given some antagonistic lines similar to those usually said by Shaft, being the only regular boss in the game to have this treatment.
According to a post by David Cox on Facebook, in the Lords of Shadow universe, Zobek is an amalgamation of Shaft and Death[271].
Shaft's possession of Richter Belmont in Symphony of the Night was referenced by Alucard in Richter's Palutena's Guidance conversation in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
In addition, Mewtwo's classic mode route, Psychic Control, has him having one of his previous opponents as his "ally". Richter acts as his ally in the fifth round, which apparently is a reference to Shaft brainwashing him in Symphony of the Night.
Shaft was given a mention in Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls, where Lucy Westenra speculates from the records that Maria's abnormally high magic potential at her age was likely the result of it being awakened by Shaft. Genya Arikado (a.k.a. Alucard), hearing this, curses him as a malcontent and deduces that Shaft most likely did that as a gift for Dracula.
His name may be a miswriting of the German suffix -schaft, which equates as "-hood" or "-ship" for words such as bruderschaft (brotherhood) or partnerschaft (partnership).
While Shaft hasn't made any appearances in the two Netflix animated series, Castlevania and Castlevania: Nocturne, some characters from both series seem to borrow aspects from him:
The Bishop apparently borrows some traits from Shaft, such as also being a malevolent priest and even sharing some physical resemblance to him.
Sala also seems to borrow certain traits from Shaft, such as being a monk whose ultimate goal is to resurrect Dracula.
The Vampire Magician wears a cowled robe similar to Shaft's and even uses floating magical orbs to cast spells. However, Adam Deats later confirmed this character was instead based on the Necromancer from Circle of the Moon[272].
Vaublanc seems to be a loose reference to Shaft. He wears a similar robe and cowl, and even shares some of his mannerisms. Likewise, most of Erzsebet Báthory's followers also wear similar robes.
Misconceptions
"Gaiden" means "Non-Canon" or "Alternate Timeline"
This stems from the belief that when Iga or a producer calls a Castlevania game a "Gaiden" it is therefore non-canon or an alternate timeline and can be dismissed. This, however, is not the case.
The term "Gaiden" merely just means a side story, spin-off, or a separate tale. The term "Gaiden" does not determine the canonicity of a work, it just lets you know if the game is a spin-off/side-story or if it's a main story. Take, for instance, the Kingdom Hearts series. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories would be considered a gaiden, as it's a side-story and spin-off title that isn't a mainline numbered title, however, it is in all manners canon and important to play to understand Kingdom Hearts II.
The same can be applied to Castlevania itself, Castlevania Symphony of the Night is a gaiden game. Yet it is very obviously canon and pretty important to play to understand more of Alucard's backstory. The idea of a Gaiden game for the Castlevania series itself would be any game not dealing with one of Dracula's main 100-year-resurrections, which in this case, even Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest is in a way a gaiden, despite being completely canon.
This is all to say that Gaiden does not at all mean "non-canon" or "alternate timeline" and should never be treated as such, the term itself has nothing to do with the canonicity of a product.
IGA Statements Quoted by a Fan
Any statements Iga has made about Judgment that don't come from this IGN interview or a sourced and reputable article are not usable. This is, of course, referring to the popular statements used when discussing Judgment's Canoncity about a fan asking IGA about the game's Canoncity on Facebook, here are some of them below:
Fan: You mentioned Legend of Cornell was an alternate continuity. However, Cornell appears in Castlevania Judgment, which I believe is not an alternate continuity. How does that work? is he from a different universe than the other characters? It is not really explained in the game itself so I was hoping you could give some clarification on the issue.
IGA: Judgment is a work that surpasses space and time and brings them together.
Fan: I get it. So, is the explanation I suggested in the previous reply possibly correct?
IGA: I don't think it's exactly correct. Judgment is a work born of thinking it would be fun to remove all the hedges and bring characters that appeared throughout the series together. I think that you need to view it as an event from another world which does not consider things like timelines or parallel dimensions at all.
Now these seem like pretty clear-cut statements until you start to try to find where these come from.
There is no way to find anything sourced or verifiably proven that this person spoke to Iga. Trying to look up the person didn't get any real results either.
Translation: Regarding the Famicom version and the X68000 version, the X68000 version is an arrangement based on the Famicom version. The arrangement of a game is the kind of thing where you add a lot of different things as needed, so honestly speaking, it think they both should be considered legitimate. In conclusion, I think they should be considered as the same scenario of fighting to defeat Dracula, just with a different middle part. The Super Famicom version is different as well... If you simply must have a clear answer, the Famicom version must be given deference."
Now the quote itself doesn't state remakes or remasters are non-canon despite what people believe. It's moreso a quote of Iga stating that all of them are the same scenario, just with differences. However, an interesting point is that Iga says the NES version should be given "deference", as in to defer to the NES version.
Overall due to the quote itself having no source, it is unusable. The way we will treat remakes, remasters, or ports here however is that they are all equally canon unless stated otherwise. Most of these tell the same story with the only real differences being extra background information added, such as Haunted Castle having it be Dracula stole Simon's wife, though the same overall story still applies even here. Iga himself has already expressed that the original Castlevania's story is pretty simple[275] and Simon having a wife does not affect anything in the overall narrative. Super Castlevania IV notes that Simon is a vampire, though this was due to a novel writer making him a vampire in their novel. The novel was originally supposed to be an adaptation of Super Castlevania IV but was then dropped and made its own thing. Super Castlevania IV itself is still canon, but the subplot of Simon being a vampire is not. The most recent timeline even acknowledges it as canon[276].
A: This is a potent ability but has nothing to do with Attack Potency, there is no quantification for "destabilizing the flow of time", along with this, even if it was taken as physically, then it would be overtime as the effects are not noticeable throughout most of Curse of Darkness. Thus this is merely potent Time Manipulation.
Q: Shouldn't Dracula and by proxy anyone that scales to him get tier 2 for him being able to sustain his castle?
Q: Shouldn't Castlevania characters that scale to Death have Infinite speed due to Death being able to kill distance itself with his attacks?
A: Killing distance to attack is not a speed feat, it's a method of Spatial Manipulation by circumventing and ignoring distance, while one can say the attack spawns on you instantly, this is not really something quantifiable. Along with this, it would only scale to characters comparable to Death during post-Dawn of Sorrow, as Soma notes Death is far faster than he remembered from his fight with him in Dawn of Sorrow[289].
↑Akumajou Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku "I had come to destroy evil. A spectacled vampire hunter confirmed this as his duty. In front of him is a [grotesque creature] whose dreadful power can be felt. The creature appears human but the instant he looked at it, all of his body’s cells cried out in terror. “The timing is bad, church person.” Whilst listening to the words said by the [grotesque creature], the young hunter kept on reminding himself. -----I am …… I ought to be a vampire hunter."
↑Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls Chapter 9 Vessel for the Lord
↑Akumajo Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku "Ever since the Middle Ages, every 100 years, this legendary castle would rise together with its master Count Dracula ----- And whenever it happens, it is said that a clan of vampire hunters will seal it.
Several hundred years have passed with battles with the [dark lord] Dracula. When suddenly, an end to it all has been foretold.
1999----- Thanks to the power of a clan in Japan, Dracula’s castle was sealed inside a [solar eclipse] to disappear forever. However, in this world, there is no such thing as forever. [They] had understood that Dracula’s regeneration cycle ought to have ended. Indeed, people have prepared for this but will it still exist?
The castle is the symbol of the chaos within humans and as long as people exist, it will not be completely sealed.
↑Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Bestiary No. 064
↑Castlevania Judgment True Story Mode, Aeon: Aeon vs. Alucard
↑Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Bestiary No. 44
↑Akumajo Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku "From the time they stepped into the mountains, Curtis and Michelle felt malicious intent in the air.
Even though it is still far away, their bodies seemed to squeal [run away]. There was definitely no room for doubt. It is certain that the [castle] exists at the back of the mountains. The church’s greatest vampire hunter, Julius Belmont must be contacted. However, the conversation jumped into the matter of the disappearance of several village children."
↑Akumajo Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku "A drawbridge suspended from the main gate is seemingly welcoming Michelle’s arrival. And her body was telling her [do not go] as her leg muscles were petrified like stone."
↑Akumajo Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku "“Uh……aa……Mi……chelle……” That really is no doubt an obsession. The youth had more than 28 holes penetrating his limbs and body. His heart is already starting to fail and he is desperately trying to say something amidst the darkness. “Only…… protect…… you……-----“ When he said those words he must say, the man’s soul already left his body-----becoming one of the floating spirits that wander the halls of the castle. However----- Fate did not allow it. For those people who are involved with the demon castle, even the loneliness of death seemed half hearted----- The man’s soul is pierced by a small scythe that flew in from somewhere. That scythe did not exist physically. It was a diabolic blade created by some magic and possessed a strong soul."
↑Akumajo Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku "This ominous vortex of magic was similar to what he felt in the [demon castle]. Among all the magic Soma knows, this particular type of sophisticated [power] belonged to----- “……I know I am being rude……” Faster than he can remember, that husky voice rang in front of Soma----- From the shadow of the forest, a large shadow emerged. “……tch!”
