Stella and Loretta


Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Stella and Loretta make frequent appearances, advancing the story both as bosses and in storyline exposition

Stella and Loretta were the twin daughters of Eric Lecarde. When one day in 1944 Castlevania mysteriously rose from the depths, Eric Lecarde, ever the warrior descended from the line of knights, was one of the hunters who investigated the matter. Stella and Loretta, fearing for their father's safety, left home soon after and without Eric's knowledge trailed behind. Finding the direct source of its rising, Eric breached a magical painting, the studio of vampire Brauner, who was using such devices to cut off the flow of Dracula's power and take possession of the castle for himself. He ambushed the oblivious Eric and ended his life. Stella and Loretta arrived in time to witness Brauner's finishing blow. Paralyzed by the horrific scene, not realizing that Eric before death had cast a magical barrier to bind his soul to the castle, neither sister could react hastily enough to ward off Brauner's attack, which saw the sinking of his teeth into their necks.

Though, Brauner's actions toward the sisters weren't carried out in angst; no--upon the very sight of them, Brauner was convinced that they were the reincarnation of his daughters, who were killed during World War I. Now he'd spare them the potential for recurring doom; he'd grant "his daughters" eternal life so that he would never again lose them at the hands of the humans. When they reawakened as vampires, Stella and Loretta embraced such ownership and the darkness entailed, as if brainwashed in accepting Brauner as their father. Had the same brand of hatred clouded their judgment?

It was as vampires that they showcased their personalities as contaminated by darkness. Stella, the older of the sisters, was flashy and aggressive, skilled in the use of physical attacks; she would learn to look down upon the humans, condescendingly. Loretta, her appearance rather plain, was intelligent, rational and unemotional; strong in magical propensity, she, too, came to look down upon the humans who were no match. They would exhibit these tortured feelings in their encounters with Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, who they viewed as trying to destroy their father and meddle in their plans. Brauner prevented direct encounters, insisting that their energies were better spent ridding the castle of Dracula's influence.

When the heroes learned from Wind (Eric Lecarde's ghostly alias) the truth, that they were his daughters only lost to darkness, Charlotte formulated a plan: She would through her trials learn a purification spell and use it to heal them, for there was a chance that full vampirism had not yet taken hold. Though Eric had strong doubts, Charlotte followed through; in the inevitable skirmish, whence the sisters would disobey Brauner and promise to lay waste to the heroes they despised, Jonathan held off their attacks long enough for Charlotte to finish the deed, restoring to the sisters their senses. Their eyes seeing a new reality, they immediately recognized Jonathan as a Morris warrior. The sisters could only muster enough energy to apologize for causing so much trouble, a sentiment they would repeatedly convey to the heroes who had believed in them enough to find the cure.

Free of their curse, they would return the favor by supplying information as to Brauner's location and the measures needed to breach the seal. Furthermore, they would do what their father Eric had proposed: As living Lecardes, they could act as they key to the unlocking of the Vampire Killer's true power. With Stella's assistance, Loretta incarnated the whip's last memory, an image of Richter Belmont, whose defeat at the hands of Jonathan would earn him authoritative control over the Vampire Killer. In affording this control, they played well their role to assist in the thwarting of Brauner's plan and thus the desires of Death and Count Dracula to re-inhabit this world. When the heroes gathered after victory, Eric revealed to Stella and Loretta his specter and bid them a final farewell. Sensing Stella had come to worry more than anyone could know, he soothed her emotional wounds with a request not to overdo her role. A more stoic Loretta could only take solace in his final words: "Live for all you're worth." Though crushed, they would heed his words and keep a strong face.

          

 
 
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