Joachim Armster is a character and boss in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. He once served as a trusted lieutenant to Walter Bernhard but was ultimately imprisoned after attempting to overthrow him.
Joachim Armster was lured by Walter Bernhard with the promise of eternal life through vampirism. After becoming a vampire, Joachim sought to overthrow Walter, but his ambition was thwarted when Walter's mastery of the Ebony Stone rendered him invincible. Walter easily defeated Joachim and, rather than destroy him, chose to imprison him in the Dark Palace of Waterfalls as a demonstration of his own dominance.
Joachim’s prison was sealed with streams of water, a deadly barrier for vampires, ensuring his eternal confinement. Walter further humiliated Joachim by using him as a pawn to challenge adventurers who ventured into his domain, sealing one of the keys to his inner sanctum with Joachim. The constant hunger and memories of his defeat left Joachim maddened and seething with rage.
When Leon Belmont encountered him as the boss of the Dark Palace of Waterfalls, Joachim unleashed his fury, hoping to drain Leon's blood and gain the strength to escape and take revenge on Walter. Despite his desperation, Joachim was defeated by Leon. Before fading, Joachim lamented his failure and the absence of the Crimson Stone, which he believed could have turned the tide in his favor.
After completing the game as Leon, Joachim becomes a playable character by entering @JOACHIM at the name entry screen. Playing as Joachim introduces several significant gameplay changes. He cannot carry healing items and is physically weaker than Leon, resulting in a higher difficulty level. However, these drawbacks are offset by his increased speed and potent magic-based attacks.
Joachim's playthrough lacks cutscenes to advance the story, except for a brief scene after defeating the final boss, where he assumes control of the castle by taking Walter's throne. Additionally, the credits sequence features different images compared to Leon's ending.
Personality
Rage and Resentment: Joachim's defeat and subsequent imprisonment left him consumed by rage and resentment. Trapped in the Dark Palace of Waterfalls, he became maddened by his humiliation and his inability to escape, harboring an intense hatred for Walter and an unquenchable thirst for revenge.
Defiance and Bitterness in Defeat: Even in defeat, Joachim displayed a defiant streak, lamenting the absence of the Crimson Stone—a power he believed could have secured his victory. His final moments are marked by bitterness, as he reflects on his failure and the futility of his ambition.
Desperation and Madness: Joachim’s prolonged isolation, coupled with his constant hunger and memories of failure, pushed him to the brink of madness. This desperation fueled his ruthless nature, evident in his encounter with Leon Belmont, where he sought to drain Leon’s blood to regain the strength needed to confront Walter.
Joachim's Swords: Has no official name, they are Joachim's primary weapons. The sword orbits and hovers either around him or clutter behind his back. Joachim when attacking has one of the swords strike the target while the others stay around him. Through charging, the sword can increase its size and damage output, and with enough magic, he can release a powerful beam from his swords or send them slashing around everything.
Transformation: Vampires are able to turn into bats, wolves, fog, and other sorts of creatures as they please.
Super Strength: Vampires are incredibly superhumanly strong, even for the average creature of the night, being noted to be stronger than even Werewolves.
Super Speed: Vampires can move incredibly fast, to where all of them leave behind light projections due to how fast they're moving, while they can control their speeds even to approach speeds such as sound. They are normally beyond even other creatures in the castle such as the White Demon who moves at the speed of light at top speed.
Other
Standard Tactics: Joachim will put up light orbs around the area to give him a forcefield that protects him from all harm, he will then proceed to use many attacks, such as charging electricity into himself and imbuing it into the next sword he throws, causing a glyph to spawn underneath the opponent that shoots out energy weapons, causing the ground to shake and having gigantic swords come out, or attacking with one of his many flying swords.
Joachim is the only playable villain in the Castlevania series (aside from the Lords of Shadow saga and Castlevania Judgment), although his antagonistic nature is softened by his somewhat sympathetic portrayal in his cutscenes, as well as his unfortunate circumstances.
There are four musical themes related to this character:
Melancholy Joachim (哀愁のヨアヒム?): Played while fighting against Joachim. It can also be heard in the ending credits of Order of Ecclesia.
Castlevania Reincarnation: Played while fighting bosses as Joachim (including the Joachim Doppelganger boss). It is a remix that merges "Dracula's Castle" and "Black Banquet", both themes from Symphony of the Night.
Young Nobleman of the Water Prison (水牢の貴公子?): Not used in the game. Available only on the sampler CD that came with the Japanese special edition of the game. A softer remix of "Melancholy Joachim" featuring piano and oboe.
While playing as Joachim in Joachim Mode, it is possible to collect all of the orbs except for the White Orb, which is not present in the room where it is found in the main game. The Black Orb, on the other hand, is still obtainable by defeating the Forgotten One, despite its uselessness.
In Joachim Mode, the name of the boss counterpart of Joachim becomes "Doppelganger". Doppelgangers of Leon Belmont are displayed as "Leon Fake".
The hilts of his Symbiotic Swords are, incidentally, shaped the same as that of the Spectral Sword's central sword in Symphony of the Night.
Joachim and Albus are the only characters to canonically die, and they also become unlockable playable characters in the games they appear in.
Joachim's background seems to draw some similarities from Vlad Drăculea, the historical figure whose the vampire novel character, Count Dracula, was mainly based upon. Vlad was a vassal of Matthias Corvinus (who in turn was the inspiration for Walter Bernhard), and at one point he was even his prisoner, basically the same roles Joachim plays in Lament of Innocence. However, it is unknown if these similarities were intended or coincidental.
The name "Joachim" is of Hebrew origin and means "God will establish". This is probably a reference to the Crusades that took place during the year 1094 in which Lament of Innocence is set, seeing as how the main goal of the campaign was to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims.
↑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: Legacy of Darkness Master Oldrey Cutscene
↑WN: Last question. Why does Dracula keep putting meat inside the walls of his castle?
KI: You should ask, why do they eat it! I've thought about this stuff. I've actually thought about the candles. The candles are people's souls that were taken by Death or by the vampires. In Japan there are candles that represent life. So, when you release the souls from the candles by whipping them, they give you a "thank you" present. Thank-you hearts, or thank-you holy water. The meat, I have no idea.
↑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."
