Soma Cruz's Contest History

Who is Soma Cruz?
Soma Cruz is the star of two "Castletroid" Castlevania games, Aria of Sorrow (GBA) and Dawn of Sorrow (DS). Both games take place in the future (unusual for a Castlevania game), 2035 and 2036 respectively.

Soma is a foreign exchange student living in Japan. One day, he goes along with Mina Hakuba, a friend of his, to her family's shrine to see an eclipse. Unfortunately for them, the eclipse contains Castlevania itself, which was sealed there in 1999 when Dracula was killed for good (sort of) by Julius Belmont. When the eclipse occurs, the two of them are sucked into Castlevania, along with Julius (who got amnesia after killing Dracula), Yoko Belnades (a Catholic Church official and descendant of Sypha Belnades from Castlevania 3), Hammer (an army soldier who acts as the game's merchant), Alucard (sporting a suit, black hair, The Plan, and the alias Genya Arikado), and Graham Jones (a cult leader who was born at the moment Dracula was killed, and thus thinks himself to be his reincarnation).

When they come to, Soma and Mina are attacked by a Flying Skeleton. Alucard appears and uses Soul Steal on it (your first clue as to who he is), but then a red sphere flies out of it and into Soma. Alucard then tells Soma that he possesses the power of Dominance, and that the red sphere was the monster's soul. Every time he kills a monster, he has a chance of getting its soul, which gives him its powers.

Soma then decides to explore the castle to find a way out. Along the way, he encounters the other people sucked in (Yoko actually says "Have you met Aluca, I mean Arikado?"). When he first encounters Graham, he appears to be friendly, but Yoko tells him that he's a dangerous cult leader. He also runs into an amnesiac Julius, who has been calling himself J. He says he has been wandering the lands, hoping to regain his memory, and went to Castlevania on intuition. He eventually regains it, and then goes to get his whip, Vampire Killer, back from where he hid it in the castle.

The reason he does so is because of Soma, who is actually the reincarnation of Dracula (not Graham), and could possibly become his successor. Soma eventually sees Graham stab Yoko, and then heads to the top floor to deal with him. What happens next depends on what souls you have equipped. If you don't have the right ones, then Soma will become the new Dracula upon Graham's defeat. If you do have the right ones, he'll still become Dracula, but not fully. With his new powers, he heads off to the Chaotic Realm, in an attempt to purge his dark powers. He runs into Julius, who puts up the hardest fight in the game. Upon defeat, Julius says he held back (sure didn't seem like it) because he sensed Soma wasn't completely corrupted. Soma asks Julius to promise to kill him should he fail to purge himself (which he keeps in the bad ending). Soma then heads into the Chaotic Realm, and defeats the source of Dracula's powers, Chaos. He is then purged, and everyone is returned to Hakuba Shrine. Soma tells Mina that "I'm a lot cooler now!"

One year after that, Dawn of Sorrow begins. Soma and Mina are hanging out in a town, where they are attacked by Celia Fortner, another cult leader. Soma kills the monsters she summons, and gains their souls. Soma had believed his power of Dominance was lost after the last game, but it had simply lay dormant because he didn't need it. Alucard shows up as Genya Arikado again (the man with The Plan!) and tells Soma to leave Celia to him. However, he goes to her cult's HQ anyway (which might as well be Castlevania again) to find out why he was targeted.

The castle is located in The Lost Village. He runs into Julius and Yoko at the main gate, but only Julius can jump over it (despite the fact that the lowering switch is right behind it). Soma escorts Yoko back to the Village, where she sets up shop as a weapon forger. Hammer also shows up, and sets up his shop right across from Yoko's (Hammer has a hard on for her).

Soma enters the castle, and runs into Celia and her two lackeys, Dario Bossi (a master of fire) and Dmitrii Blinov (a mimic who can copy attacks). The two of them were also born at the same time as Dracula's defeat, and, like Graham Jones, think they can become Dracula. Celia's cult is aimed towards this goal.

Celia also has the power to open demonic gates, which allow bosses to become immortal, unless a Magic Seal is used on them (via the stylus).

Soma also does battle with both men, and while Dario runs off, Dmitrii is mortally wounded, and has to release his soul for Soma to gain to keep himself alive (Soma doesn't know this). He runs into Dario again (who had just defeated Julius because he couldn't use a Magic Seal), and using a hidden soul he found, defeats Aguni, the demon giving Dario his powers. Dario then runs away, never seen again. Celia shows up, and tells Soma to come to the center of the castle.

Like AoS, what you have equipped when you go to the center will determine the ending. With Dario and Dmitri gone, Celia decides to use Soma as Dracula's vessel (which is why Alucard told him to stay away). Celia has a Doppleganger mimic Mina, which she kills. This angers Soma to the point where he becomes Dracula. If you have Mina's Talisman equipped, Alucard will show up in time to tell Soma that the Mina is a fake. If not, Soma will become Dracula, unlocking Julius mode, where he, Yoko, and Alucard (in his Symphony of the Night attire) team up to stop Soma.

The Doppleganger then reveals itself to be none other than Dmitrii, who copied Soma's Dominance power when he entered his body. He and Celia head off to The Abyss (the demonic realm responsible for the castle's monsters and such), in an attempt to revive Dracula again. Julius uses most of his power to destroy a dark seal that blocked the way down there. Soma and Alucard catch up to them, where Dmitri sacrifices Celia to subdue Alucard's powers. However, all of the souls that Dmitri absorbed using his copied Dominance prove to be too much for him to handle, as it isn't as strong as Soma's. The souls all burst out of him, and merge into Menace, which basically looks like something you'd see in a Contra game.

Menace/Dmitrii is defeated, and the good guys head back to The Lost Village, where the real Mina is waiting. Yoko and Hammer bring up the fact that Soma and Mina are made for each other, which causes both to become embarrassed. Alucard is seen standing alone, and says "If the world needs a dark lord, one will emerge, even if it's not Soma." Oh, that Plan.

Character wise, Soma is basically your typical head strong hero who always does what's right. He also likes to worry about the well being of his friends, which kind of upsets Yoko in DoS, who feels both he and Julius are overprotective of her. Like Alucard, Soma can use a variety of weapons, ranging from swords, spears, axes, handguns, and even a teddy bear. Soma is also very much human, as he only escapes his fate as Dracula in AoS because Alucard told him about the Chaotic Realm, and again in DoS because he had the help of Mina's Talisman and Alucard's interference. See? The Plan saves lives!

Oh, and Soma definitely wants to put it in Mina. You know he does.

"I bet they're all afraid of me..." - Soma Cruz

(Writeup courtesy of Chinballz)

Soma Cruz's Contest History
Win-Loss Record: 0-1

Summer 2006 Contest - Patriot Division - 8 Seed
 * Patriot Round 1 --- Lost to (1) Solid Snake, 19487 [17.85%] - 89697 [82.15%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 55th Place [16.74%]

The female bracket didn't *only* ruin half of the contest. Characters like Soma Cruz were stuck in impossible spots thanks to only half the bracket being open to him. He might have gotten a 5 or 6 seed normally, but in this case, he was stuck as 8 seed fodder. He filled the role well, at least, failing to even break 20% on Snake.