List of Darkstalkers characters

A 2009 illustration of the main Darkstalkers characters. (Front row, left to right: Rikuo; Bishamon; Jon Talbain; Felicia; Lilith; Morrigan; Anita; Hsien-Ko; Lord Raptor; Jedah; B.B. Hood. Back: Sasquatch; Anakaris; Huitzil; Pyron; Demitri; Donovan; Victor; Marionette; Q-Bee; Shadow)

This is a list of characters from Capcom's Darkstalkers fighting game series and animated-media franchise, who are either based on various iconic literary and cinematic monsters, or inspired by international mythology and fairy tales. The greatest of these supernatural creatures, and the greatest among those who hunt them, will engage in combat to determine who will own the night, while participating in a tournament held on Earth in order to decide the new ruler of the otherworldly dimension of Makai.

The games are set in a pastiche gothic horror universe, as is the 1997 Japanese anime miniseries Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge, which was based on the first two titles and was faithful to the characters' in-game personalities. The 1995 American-produced animated series, simply titled Darkstalkers, ignored the games' and characters' backstories in favor of a standard good-versus-evil plot.

Overview

Character	Race	Appears in
		Darkstalkers	Night Warriors (Vampire Hunter)	Vampire Hunter 2	Darkstalkers 3 (Vampire Savior)	Vampire Savior 2	Total
Anakaris	Mummy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5
Baby Bonnie Hood/Bulleta	Serial Killer Human	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	2
Bishamon	Demon Cursed Samurai	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5
Dark Talbain/Dark Gallon	Dark Werewolf	No	No	No	Yes	No	1
Dee	Corrupted Dhampir	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	3
Transylvania Demitri Maximoff	Vampire	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5
Donovan Baine & Anita	Dhampir & Human	No	Yes	Yes	Console ports only	Yes	4
Felicia	Werecat	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5
Hsien-Ko/Lei-Lei	Jiangshi	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	4
Huitzil/Phobos	Robot	CPU only	Yes	Yes	Console ports only	Yes	5
Jedah Dohma	Shapeshifting Blood Demon	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	2
Jon Talbain/Gallon	Werewolf	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	4
Lilith Aensland	Demon (Succubus)	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	2
Lord Raptor/Zabel Zarock	Zombie	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5
Marionette	Humanoid Marionette	No	No	Yes	Console ports only	Yes	3
Morrigan Aensland	Demon (Succubus)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5
Oboro Bishamon	Blessed Priest Samurai	No	No	Yes	CPU only	Yes	3
Pyron	Alien	CPU only	Yes	Yes	Console ports only	Yes	5
Q-Bee	Soul Bee	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	2
Rikuo/Aulbath	Merman	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	4
Sasquatch	Bigfoot	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	4
Shadow	Shadow	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	3
Victor von Gerdenheim	Reanimated Human Construct	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5

Introduced in Darkstalkers

See also: Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors

Anakaris

Voiced by: Kan Tokumaru (Japanese), Zoltan Buday (Animated Series Ep. 1–2, 4), Scott McNeil (Animated series Ep. 3,5–13) (English)

Anakaris (アナカリス, Anakarisu, from the Ancient Egyptian 𓄿𓈖𓎡𓂋𓋴) is a massive 5,000-year-old Egyptian mummy who was once the pharaoh of a powerful empire prior to his death. He seeks to regain his rule following his resurrection by Pyron, and gains immense power from battling the other Darkstalkers before traveling back in time to restore his empire. When it comes under threat again, he assumes his mummy form for battle. In the Darkstalkers 3 storyline, following the successful restoration of his kingdom, Anakaris travels back to the present time and enters Majigen, a magical realm created by Jedah within the otherworldly dimension of Makai (Japanese for "demon world") expressly for imprisoning souls deemed valuable. During the battles within, he learns that the destruction of his empire is unavoidable, and he therefore journeys back in time once again to transport his kingdom to a new dimension, so that it may be free of the wars of Earth.

In addition to being one of seven Darkstalkers characters to feature as a playable in every series installment, Anakaris appeared in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Capcom Fighting Evolution. He has a minor role in the 1995 cartoon as one of Pyron's henchmen, and was portrayed as simple-minded while frequently speaking nonsensical phrases. In the 1997 anime miniseries, he makes his only appearance during a flashback sequence at the beginning of the fourth and final episode, when he is defeated in combat by Pyron. SOTA Toys displayed a prototype Anakaris action figure at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con along with Morrigan and Lord Raptor, but the figures were never released.

He has also appeared in Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Capcom Fighting Jam.

Anakaris was one of only two series characters to make Complex's 2012 list of the hundred "most humiliating" video game victory quotes ("You are not worthy to clean my tomb!" from Darkstalkers 2), with the site adding: "We think cleaning the tomb would be a worse punishment". GamesRadar described him as "a much needed part" of the games, "because what cast of monsters isn't complete without a mummy?" The site additionally rated him second in their 2013 list of the top twenty video-game mummies. Daniel Feit of VentureBeat published a tribute article about the character in 2010: "Anakaris is unlike any other character in [Capcom]'s history. Don't seal him away in the tomb of obscurity". The cartoon version of Anakaris was dismissed by 411mania.com as "a joke" who was "basically Homsar with bandages around his body".

Anakaris' name is a reference to Kharis, the central antagonist of the 1940s Universal Mummy films.

Bishamon

Voiced by: Kan Tokumaru (games), Masashi Ebara (anime) (Japanese), Don Brown and Michael Dobson (anime), Colin Murdock (Animated series) (English)

Bishamon (ビシャモン, Bishamon) is a ghostly Japanese samurai who inhabits a cursed suit of armor and sword that he mysteriously acquires from an antique shop. He initially has no memory of doing so but then discovers that he had taken the items by force. This plotline is carried over into Darkstalkers 2, in which Bishamon puts on the armor, called Hannya ("the armor of hate"), which infuses him with evil and forces him into a killing spree to satisfy its demand for sacrifice. When Bishamon fights Pyron, he sheds the armor and successfully breaks the curse, and to amend for his sins, he and his wife become priests, and the practice they teach cleanses the mind and spirit of its followers. He later learns about a separate dimension called Makai; to prevent history from repeating itself, he enters the dimension to seal away the armor, which soon creates a body from spirits to hunt down Darkstalkers. Bishamon locks the armor away before it can accomplish its task, but he is not seen again thereafter.

In the second episode of the 1997 anime miniseries, Bishamon lays in wait to attack anyone passing through a valley outside a Japanese city. He kills two hunters who attempt to steal his armor, but is stopped by Donovan before he can then slaughter a group of travelers that had been accosted beforehand by the hunters. After Bishamon impales Donovan with his sword during battle, the armor becomes confused upon witnessing Donovan's attempts to save the humans in his wounded state despite possessing dark blood, causing the armor to temporarily break its hold and reveal Bishamon's human form, who expresses his pity at Donovan's ongoing internal conflict. In the animated series, he is instead tricked into taking the sword by a crooked shōgun, and he demands that Donovan kill him because of his Darkstalker status, but Donovan destroys the sword instead, breaking the curse.

Bishamon's name was inspired by the Buddhist deity Vaiśravaṇa, known in Japan as Bishamonten. The character makes an unplayable cameo appearance in Capcom vs. SNK 2.

Demitri Maximoff

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (games), Akio Ōtsuka (anime) (Japanese), Paul Dobson (anime), Michael Donovan (Animated series) (English)

Demitri Maximoff (Japanese: デミトリ・マキシモフ, Hepburn: Demitori Makishimofu) is a series protagonist. Making his first appearance in Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors in 1994, he is the series' male protagonist. GamesRadar compared Demitri's fighting style to a "supercharged evil version of Ken and Ryu (whose name isn't Akuma)" and included him among "gaming's greatest Draculas" where they compared him to "a cross between 1980s Schwarzenegger and Liberace". Demitri was included among the best and most notable vampire characters in video games in the lists compiled by 1UP.com, ABC Online, The Guardian, and Kotaku, who described him as "Phoenix Wright on steroids", as well as on similar lists by various other publications.

Demitri Maximoff is a central character in the Darkstalkers series. He is a powerful and charismatic vampire noble, exuding an aura of elegance and dark allure. Demitri possesses superhuman strength, speed, and the ability to manipulate and control dark energy. With his trademark red cape and aristocratic appearance, he is known for his noble demeanor and thirst for power. Demitri seeks to assert his dominance over the demon world and often clashes with other Darkstalkers in pursuit of his goals.

Felicia

Felicia is a cheerful and optimistic catwoman from Darkstalkers. She stands out with her feline features, including her cat ears and tail. Despite her appearance, Felicia is kind-hearted and dreams of becoming a famous singer and dancer. She possesses incredible agility, cat-like reflexes, and the ability to unleash powerful claw attacks. Felicia often strives to spread happiness and acceptance, advocating for coexistence between humans and Darkstalkers in the series.

Main article: Felicia (Darkstalkers)

Huitzil

Voiced by: Juurouta Kosugi (games) (Japanese), Ward Perry (anime), Ian James Corlett (Animated series) (English)

Huitzil is a boss character from the first game and a playable in the second. He is one of an army of identical giant, disproportionately-shaped robots that are classified by his name in plural form ("the Huitzil" or simply "Huitzils" in the 1997 anime) and who were constructed by Pyron 65 million years ago with orders to destroy all life on the planet Earth, but after they succeed in obliterating the dinosaurs, a massive earthquake traps everything deeply beneath Earth's layers until 520 A.D., when one of the robots was unearthed and utilized by the Mayans as a guardian of Central America against evil forces before being abandoned in the ruins of the Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan (in pre-Columbian Mexico). When Pyron returns to present-day Earth, he revives the robot in order for it to complete Pyron's original commands, but a malfunction causes Huitzil to instead carry out different orders of guarding a young Mayan boy named Cecil from Jedah's advances as he enters the realm of Majigen.

Huitzil is named Phobos (フォボス, Fobosu) in the Japanese versions of the games, and he makes a cameo appearance alongside Mega Man character Roll, also a robotic character, in her ending from the 2008 crossover fighter Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. His design was inspired by prehistoric-Japanese dogū figurines, and his name translates to "hummingbird" in Nahuatl and is likely a shortening of Huitzilopochtli, the Mesoamerican god of war who was part of the Aztec pantheon of gods that included Quetzalcoatl. He makes a one-episode appearance in the 1995 animated series, in which he has a powder-blue palette and speaks with a Hispanic accent. His storyline was changed to his having been created by Quetzalcoatl and being able to easily manhandle Pyron, whom he attempts to sacrifice to the sun due to his being an alien, but he is ultimately hacked to pieces by Bishamon. Huitzil and Donovan were the only Darkstalkers characters who did not appear in the series finale. In the anime, the robots serve as Pyron's footsoldiers and are capable of transforming into various types of weapons. However, Huitzil is eventually destroyed for the third time in the combined game and animated continuities, this time by Pyron near the climax after unsuccessfully attempting to rebel against him in order to prevent the obliteration of Earth.

Tom Goulter of GamesRadar commented on the futuristic nature of the character in the otherwise Gothic atmosphere of the series: "If you play the fantasy-themed Darkstalkers to avoid fighting robots with lasers and buzzsaws, sorry, but those things are Huitzil's total stock-in-trade". His ending in the 1998 home version of Vampire Savior, in which he dies at the hands of Jedah but manages to reactivate his fellow robots to continue protecting Cecil, was ranked at #155 in 4thletter's 2013 ranking of the top 200 fighting game endings: "The robots decide to scan [a] city and classify everything under two options: the boy they must protect, or threats they must destroy to protect him. Uh oh".

Jon Talbain

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (games), Fumihiko Tachiki (anime) (Japanese), Alvin Sanders (anime), Lee Tockar (Animated series) (English)

Jon Talbain is an English werewolf born to a lycanthropic father and a human mother who had died in childbirth. In his storyline, his father is Baraba Kreutz, the patriarch of the Kreutz family (one of the seven noble families of Makai) known as "the Wolf Lord", who himself was a Darkstalker and onetime rival of Demitri, but had mysteriously disappeared before his son's birth. A loner by nature, Jon Talbain maintains his humanity upon finding out he is a Darkstalker by cursing his fate while developing his fighting skills. While he lifts his curse and regains his human form after his victory over Pyron, his blood remains tainted. During the battles in Majigen in Darkstalkers 3, he comes face to face with Dark Talbain, his evil alter ego. Jon Talbain's fate is unknown after defeating his counterpart, but his ending shows that he is the guardian of two children who await his return from Majigen.

Jon Talbain is called Gallon (ガロン, Garon) in Japan, and his name is a play on Sir John Talbot, the father of Lon Chaney, Jr.'s werewolf character in the 1941 film The Wolf Man. He has not featured as a player character in any Capcom crossover games, and has a minimal presence in the 1995 animated series. In the 1997 anime, he plays his largest part in the third episode when he rescues Felicia from an army of Pyron's Huitzil units and then later aids her in destroying them by way of detonating a train packed with explosives. He was featured with Baby Bonnie Hood in a two-figure set released by Toy Biz in 1999.

GamesRadar placed him fourth in their 2013 list of the ten best video-game werewolves: "Take legendary martial artist Bruce Lee into the woods at midnight, then force him to get bitten by a werewolf". Arcade Sushi ranked his "Beast Cannon" special move, in which he launches himself shoulder-first into his opponents, at 25th in their 2013 selection of the 25 most iconic fighting-game moves.

Lord Raptor

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (games), Kōichi Yamadera (anime) (Japanese), Scott McNeil (anime, animated series) (English)

Lord Raptor was an Australian rock guitarist who had killed himself and over one hundred of his fans during a live performance. This caught the attention of an emperor named Ozomu, who resurrected the musician as an undead. A strange leather-bound book is later found that contains a passage about performing sacrifices to the king of the dimension of Makai, in which the lyrics to one of Raptor's songs, titled "Sacrifice", were included. Ozomu uses Raptor's bloodlust to his advantage, promising him power in exchange for his services. Raptor agrees, but his true plan is to slay Ozomu and take his place as emperor. This is not lost on Ozomu, who sends a bulbous, one-eyed frog-like creature named "Le Malta" to spy on Raptor, though the creature also doubles as Raptor's ally and occasional percussionist. However, when both the emperor and his castle disappear, Raptor investigates its location and finds the entrance to Majigen, as part of his plan to kill Ozomu and usurp his position. His signature "flying V" guitar is emblazoned with the Union Jack and features a small three-dimensional version of his likeness as the headstock.

Lord Raptor's Japanese name is Zabel Zarock (ザベル・ザロック, Zaberu Zarokku). He is an unplayable enemy in Namco × Capcom, and has a cameo in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, where he is seen performing onstage at a pub. In Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds he is seen in the ending for Marvel character Dormammu. In the 1995 animated series, Raptor is a movie star as well as a musician, and his guitar has a generic design and doubles as a weapon by shooting lasers, while his dialogue was copiously laced with titles of classic songs ("It's been a hard day's night, and I'm all shook up!"). He makes a brief appearance in the first episode of the 1997 anime miniseries when he kills a group of robed, cross-wielding Darkhunters just as he takes the stage for a concert. Both versions of Raptor were voiced by Scott McNeil, who was the only voice actor from the cartoon to reprise their role in the English dub of the anime. Pop Culture Shock released a 19" mixed-media statue of the character in 2011.

The cartoon version of Raptor was criticized by GamesRadar as "an idiotic rapping rip-off in the vein of Ninja Turtle Michelangelo". Complex rated his Darkstalkers 3 victory taunt ("Shut up! You're supposed to be dead!") in their 2012 selection of the hundred "most humiliating" video game victory quotes.

Morrigan Aensland

Morrigan Aensland is one of the most iconic characters in Darkstalkers. She is a succubus, a supernatural creature who feeds on the life energy of others. Morrigan stands out with her captivating beauty, long green hair, and revealing attire. She is confident, playful, and sometimes mischievous. Morrigan possesses incredible powers, including flight, shape-shifting, and the ability to generate and control soul energy. As the main representative of the series, Morrigan often finds herself embroiled in conflicts and adventures, with her powerful presence leaving a lasting impact.

Main article: Morrigan Aensland

Pyron

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (games), Shinji Ogawa (anime) (Japanese), David Kaye (anime), Richard Newman (Animated series) (English)

Pyron (パイロン, Pairon) is an imposing Minotaur-like alien overlord enveloped completely in fire with a pair of long horns projecting from the sides of his head. Like Huitzil, he is a boss character in the first game and a selectable in the second. Pyron has a past history with Earth, having previously tried to destroy it by unleashing the Huitzil robots to accomplish this task. He then elects to take part in Demitri's tournament as a second opportunity to consume the planet, but as was the case with his previous attempt, this plan fails as he is defeated and consumed by Demitri.

Though Pyron is not in the original arcade version of Vampire Savior, he makes a non-canonical appearance in the home console versions. He is also seen in Tekkaman: The Space Knight and during Tekkaman's ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars. In the 1995 animated series, Pyron pilots a spaceship that features a sarcastic talking computer while Demitri and Morrigan serve under his command. He is the main antagonist in the 1997 anime series, again seeking Earth's final destruction. Pyron also appears as a rival unit in tactical role-playing game Project X Zone 2.

Rikuo

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (Japanese), Scott McNeil (Animated series) (English)

Rikuo is a merman living in Brazil's Amazon River, and is initially the sole survivor of a colossal earthquake that demolished his underwater empire and wiped out his entire brethren. He is consumed with rage upon learning that Pyron was the culprit behind the destruction. Rikuo later comes across another survivor, Aqueria, and together they work to rebuild their empire while living in a deep crack near an ocean trench in order to ensure the safety of their dozen soon-to-be hatchlings while he searches for any other survivors. During one of these future excursions in his Darkstalkers 3 storyline, one of his sons, Ricky, disappears, causing Rikuo to question his ability to defend his kingdom if incapable of protecting his own family. He therefore heads into Jedah's realm of Majigen, where he believes his son was abducted.

Rikuo is named Aulbath (オルバス, Orubasu) in Japan (where his son, Ricky, is called "Alba"). His name is a play on that of actor and stuntman Ricou Browning, who portrayed the title character of the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon (and whose son, himself an underwater stuntman, is named Ricou Jr.), on whom Rikuo's character design is loosely based. In the 1997 anime, Rikuo makes his only appearance when he is defeated in battle by Pyron in a flashback sequence at the start of the fourth episode. In the 1995 cartoon, he is depicted as being vain, as he is first seen admiring himself in a hand mirror, and a running joke throughout the series was various characters declaring to him: "You're curiously attractive for a fish-man".

Sasquatch

Voiced by: Voiced by: Kan Tokumaru (Japanese), Dale Wilson (Animated series) (English)

Sasquatch (サスカッチ, Sasukatchi) is a rotund and good-natured bigfoot/Yeti hybrid hominid that lives with his tribe in the Canadian region of the Rocky Mountains. Upon sensing Pyron's presence, he leaves his village to find its source, but upon his return, he discovers a giant hole in the now-deserted village, which is actually an entrance into Majigen; Jedah had suckered Sasquatch's fellow bigfoot into the portal by luring them with a generous amount of bananas.

Sasquatch has a brief role in the anime miniseries, when he fights Pyron at the outset of the fourth episode but is defeated. He was called "Bigfoot" instead of his proper name in the cartoon, and had a noncanonical troublemaking nephew named Hairball.

The character has received positive critical reception, mainly due to his strange appearance. Japanese gaming magazine Gamest named Sasquatch the ninth-best character of 1994 in their annual year-end awards, and 46th out of fifty in 1995. Sega Saturn Magazine described Sasquatch in their June 1998 issue as "a great comedy fighter". GameDaily placed Sasquatch nineteenth in their list of the top 25 favorite Capcom characters of all time: "Sasquatch is a delightful character, not only using fists and ice powers but also his mouth. Just don't kiss him". They also ranked him 20th out of the top 25 most bizarre fighting game characters: "He's the closest thing we'll ever see to a Bigfoot-esque character in a fighting game, so we'll happily list Sasquatch among the other weirdos".

Victor von Gerdenheim

Voiced by: Kan Tokumaru (Japanese), Ian James Corlett (Animated series) (English)

Victor von Gerdenheim (ビクトル・フォン・ゲルデンハイム, Bikutoru fon Gerudenhaimu) is a golem with the power to harness electricity, created by a mad scientist of the same name in a project three decades in the making. However, Professor Victor von Gerdenheim dies shortly after giving life to his monstrous namesake. Unaware of his master's demise, while believing that he would be accepted if he proves that he is the strongest being in the world, Victor leaves his home and birthplace, a castle located somewhere in Germany. After Victor combats many Darkstalkers, he comes back to the castle, where he meets his younger "sister" Emily, who is another of the late professor's creations, though far smaller in size and human in appearance. They live happily for many years until Emily malfunctions. Victor allows himself to be lured into the Majigen by Jedah, believing that he can revive Emily by collecting the souls held captive therein, but in the end he ultimately ends up sacrificing himself to revive Emily.

The character is a nod to Frankenstein's monster, as well as the fictional scientist behind his creation. Victor makes his only appearance in the anime miniseries at the start of the final episode, when he is defeated by Pyron in a brief fight. He is featured in the fourth episode of the animated series, in which he has a noncanonical assistant named Klaus, but he is not seen again on the show thereafter until the series finale with all the other Darkstalkers characters. An action figure set featuring Victor (with a "pop-out brain" feature) and an unnamed glow-in-the-dark "ghost assistant" was released by Toy Biz in 1999. Gamest named him the 39th-best character in their 1994 year-end awards.

Introduced in Night Warriors

See also: Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge

Anita

Voiced by: Kyoko Hikami (Darkstalkers 3), Akiko Yajima (anime) (Japanese), Andrea Libman (anime) (English)

Anita (アニタ, Anita) is a diminutive, taciturn, and emotionally detached young girl whose family was slaughtered by a Darkstalker while she was later shunned by her orphanage as a witch after having exhibited strange and unexplained psychic powers. She and vampire hunter Donovan Baine interact for the first time after she is threatened by a hideous monster that he dispatches. In order to prove that Anita was still capable of producing emotion, Donovan coolly cuts her doll with his sword, a maneuver that succeeds as it provokes from her a psychic burst of anger. With nowhere else to go, Anita, who keeps and constantly clutches her torn doll, accompanies Donovan in attempt to find herself and also help him fight off the Darkstalkers in her quest for revenge, while Donovan serves as her protector and guardian.

Anita has never been a playable character in any of the Darkstalkers games, but made her first crossover appearance as a secret playable in the Only in Japanese port and "Marvel vs Capcom Origins" of Marvel Super Heroes, in which she psychically wields Donovan's sword, with a red ribbon tied to its handle. She also appeared as a supporting character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. In her first of only two appearances in the 1995 cartoon, she is still under Donovan's watch, but Demitri is seen attacking her parents, while her name was changed to "Amanda" (the name she was originally given in the North American version of Night Warriors, before it was changed back due to a translation oversight in her Marvel Super Heroes appearance) and her hair from brunette to blonde, and she carries around a stuffed dinosaur instead of a doll.

Donovan Baine

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Darkstalkers 2), Jurota Kosugi (Darkstalkers 3), Unshō Ishizuka (anime) (Japanese), Ari Solomon (anime), Garry Chalk (Animated series) (English)

Donovan Baine (ドノヴァン・バイン, Donovan Bain) is a dhampir, the offspring of an affair between a vampire male and a human female. His true origin is a mystery, but he was ostracized as a child due to his tainted blood. Following a tragic event that resulted in his mother's death, Donovan becomes a drifter, wandering the world and becoming a Buddhist monk in an attempt to control his massive power and inner turmoil, all the while seeking answers to his cursed existence. He sports a bandolier of large stone spirit beads and possesses a giant magical sword called "Dhylec", which features a serrated gaping mouth carved into the blade and has the ability to channel both divine and elemental powers. Donovan makes his trade as a vampire hunter and a force of justice feared by all evil, while serving as the guardian and protector of a young orphan girl named Anita, who is his constant companion.

Donovan's role as Anita's guardian and hunter of evil is unchanged in the cartoon, minor differences being that he teams up with Hsien-Ko to (unsuccessfully) apprehend Demitri and breaks Bishamon's curse on separate occasions. His name was misspelled as "Donovon Bane" on the packaging of the U.S. DVD series release. He is one of the central characters in the anime miniseries, notably opting to suffer when seriously wounded in combat, even at the risk of his own life, in hopes of his dark blood leaving his body in the process.

Hsien-Ko

Voiced by: Michiko Neya (Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors; Darkstalkers 3 – Namco × Capcom), Kae Araki (Super Puzzle Fighter II), Yūko Miyamura (anime), Saori Hayami (Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Project X Zone) (Japanese), Nicole Oliver (anime), Lisa Ann Beley (Animated series), Hunter MacKenzie Austin (Marvel vs. Capcom 3) (English)

According to her Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge backstory, Hsien-Ko and her twin sister, Mei-Ling, were born in 1730s China (Qing dynasty). During a time when undead spirits arose and attacked a rural village, their mother was killed in her attempt to save the village, the twins, fought to release her soul from the dark by using a forbidden spell called "Igyo Tenshin no Jutsu". This, in turn, converted them into a jiāngshī ("hopping corpse"), a type of Chinese zombie. Mei-Ling is actually the fú ("ward-paper"), a parchment-like talisman that is attached to the front of Hsien-Ko's hat. While the conversion infused Hsien-Ko with magical powers, they are formidable enough that Mei-Ling's presence as the ward-paper is required to keep them in check. The twins' transformation results in them fighting as a Darkhunter as a combined single unit of mind and body. In Hsien-Ko's Darkstalkers' Revenge ending, the girls free their mother's soul, albeit at the cost of their own lives, but their mother, as a reward, enables them to be reborn as infants in a new life. In Hsien-Ko's Darkstalkers 3 storyline, which makes no mention of the twins' mother, they discover that they are connected psychically after experiencing the same dream on the night of their sixteenth birthday, but the very next night they both suffer a nightmare and fall into a coma, which in turn sees their collective consciousness transported into Majigen. After awakening in this foreign territory, they find they have gained new powers simply from unleashing the power of an unspecified forbidden spell and team up to fight their way out of the realm.

Hsien-Ko has made several other appearances in crossover titles. She appears as a playable character in Namco × Capcom, and is paired with Fong Ling from Resident Evil: Dead Aim as a single unit, while in Project X Zone she is paired up with Frank West from Dead Rising. Hsien-Ko is also playable in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash, SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition, SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (where Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling arrive to ask Doctor Strange to help them save their mother's soul), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Onimusha Soul (redesigned for a feudal Japan setting), and Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits.

Hsien-Ko has her own mobile game, Lei-Lei's Magical Hammer, released in the West simply as Magical Hammer and later remade as Line Drop: Spirit Hunter Lei-Lei. She was originally planned to be playable in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but was dropped due to time constraints. She has also made cameo appearances: in some versions of Marvel Super Heroes where she can be summoned by Anita; in Capcom vs. SNK 2 as a restaurant patron in the Shanghai stage; in Street Fighter Alpha 2 as one of the party guests, along with her sister, in Ken's stage; and in Zombie Cafe in a guest appearance. Her guest appearances in collaboration events within assorted mobile games have included The Knights of Avalon and The Samurai Kingdom.

Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling make their first appearance in the second episode of the 1997 anime miniseries Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge. The twins travel Earth in an old T-bucket-style convertible with a trailer resembling a covered wagon attached. Their personalities, and speech patterns in the English dub of the program, differed considerably; Mei-Ling is the more sensible of the pair and speaks eloquently, whereas Hsien-Ko has a more childlike disposition, and her dialogue often contains modern colloquialisms or improper grammar (often saying "don't" in place of "doesn't"). She also appears in the 1995 American cartoon series that is loosely based on the games (in the episodes "Ghost Hunter" and "Darkest Before Dawn"), where Hsien-Ko's backstory was altered like those of several characters, in her case her transformation having resulted from her accidentally consuming a substance she mistook for rice that was hidden under a floorboard inside a hut.

The character appears in other Darkstalkers media, such as the comic and manga adaptations of Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge by Run Ishida; and Itou Mami's Maleficarum, as well as in the 2004 card game Universal Fighting System by Jasco Games. Multiple Hsien-Ko figures and resin garage kits were released by various manufacturers, including FuRyu, among others. Capcom produced Hsien-Ko T-shirts and Banpresto released a series of mascot key chains.

Described as "scary but also sort of hilarious, a highly tactical fighter" by GamesRadar and as "one of the funniest characters around" by EGM2, In 2013, Retro Gamer chose her one of the 19 "coolest fighters from the last 30 years", declaring that fellow Darkstalkers characters "Felicia, Demitri and B.B. Hood are equally well known, but Lei-Lei is a more unusual example of a popular character as she's so unorthodox and difficult to use effectively".

Japanese singer and voice actress Reina Kondō used Lei-Lei as her nickname. The Skullgirls character Peacock's design was partially inspired by Hsien-Ko, and the game's first prototype around 1999 actually used her and Chun-Li sprites for testing.

Introduced in Darkstalkers 3

See also: Darkstalkers 3

Baby Bonnie Hood

Voiced by: Miyuki Matsushita

Baby Bonnie Hood (B.B. Hood for short; Bulleta (バレッタ, Baretta) in Japan) is a character design based on Little Red Riding Hood, with her violent personality serving as an ironic contrast to the innocent naïvete of her appearance and namesake. Character designer Akira Yasuda (Akiman) stated that while the other Darkstalkers characters were inspired by an archetype of either mythology, folklore or popular culture, B.B. Hood was instead inspired by the sinister qualities of the human race itself, thus serving as a personification of humanity's dark side. During development of Darkstalkers 3, after B.B. Hood's design was finalized, the team could not figure out how the character should move in-game, so Akiman drew sketches of her moves and poses and pitched them to the graphic department.

Baby Bonnie Hood makes her debut in Darkstalkers 3 as a monster bounty hunter who hails from Northern Europe. As a Darkhunter, she kills Darkstalkers for money, and employs modern weaponry such as an Uzi submachine gun (sometimes substituted by a MAC-10), land mines, knives, and apple-shaped grenades—an arsenal she carries inside her picnic basket that itself doubles as a rocket launcher—all in her missions of hunting down creatures that have encroached onto Earth from the otherworldly dimension of Makai. Though she fights evil as a Darkhunter like Donovan and Hsien-Ko, she is an evil psychopath motivated mainly by profit, and her own heart was dark enough that Jedah Dohma, the game's reality bending antagonist, considered her a Darkstalker and therefore transported her into Majigen, a magical realm he has created within Makai expressly for imprisoning souls he deemed valuable.

Like many of the Darkstalkers characters, B.B. Hood has appeared in numerous Capcom crossover titles. She is a hidden character along with Mega Man in the shooter Cannon Spike and is selectable in SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. The character additionally appears in Onimusha Soul, in collectible-card style titles SVC: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition and SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS, as well as in the tactical role-playing game Project X Zone 2 as an enemy unit.

B.B. Hood makes unplayable cameos in the "Underworld" stage and in Darkstalkers boss character Pyron's ending in Capcom Fighting Evolution, on Dhalsim's "Toy Shop" stage in Pocket Fighter, in mobile game Street Fighter × All Capcom, and on a wanted poster in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Dead Rising character Frank West can be dressed up as B.B. Hood in downloadable content for the 2013 survival-horror beat 'em up Dead Rising 3.

B.B. Hood is a featured character in the third and fourth chapters of the 1997 five-volume manga Vampire Savior: Tamashii no Mayoigo by Mayumi Azuma, in which she is called Baretta (the romanization of her Japanese name) and relentlessly pursues Gallon (Jon Talbain). She then cons her way into Majigen, as opposed to being invited per the game's storyline, by falsely claiming to be among Jedah's chosen souls in hopes of going after the Darkstalkers therein and securing a massive payday. B.B. Hood featured little in the 2004 Darkstalkers comic series by Udon Entertainment, making her largest appearance in a five-page sidestory titled "The Silver Necklace" in issue six, which additionally featured her on the alternate cover.

Patrick Roesle of Hardcore Gaming 101 praised her originality, calling her the "best idea for a fighting game character". Complex ranked her 22nd in their 2012 list of the fifty most dominant fighting game characters, B.B. Hood finished fourth behind series mainstays Morrigan, Felicia and Demitri in a fan-voted Darkstalkers favorite-character poll hosted by GameFAQs in 2002. Den of Geek deemed her "the true star" of Darkstalkers 3 in a 2015 retrospective on the series. They praised her design and enjoyability to play as well as being "the monster that is man" in contrast with the literal monsters in the game. Michał R. Wiśniewski from Wirtualna Polska noted B.B. Hood as a visually unique player character in Darkstalkers fitting neither the series' typical horrific or sexy labels. The character of Cisqua from Mayumi Azuma's manga series Elemental Gelade was partially modeled after B.B. Hood.

Jedah Dohma

Voiced by: Isshin Chiba (games) (Japanese), David Kaye (Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite), Travis Willingham (Cross Edge) (English)

Jedah Dohma (ジェダ・ドーマ, Jeda Dōma) is the boss and main antagonist of Darkstalkers 3. He seeks to restore order to the demon dimension of Makai through extreme measures after it falls into chaos, thus setting up the events of the third tournament in the Darkstalkers storyline. He is a shrewd and well-spoken nobleman of his home dimension of Makai who feared that the demonic realm would fall into ruin if it continued under the reign of Belial Aensland (Morrigan's father), and so he awaited the perfect opportunity to assassinate him. After Belial's death, Jedah enlists a confidant, Ozom (a minor character introduced in Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge), as a soul-eater.
However, Ozom devises a scheme to steal the rule of the Dohma estate for himself, which involves tricking Jedah into opening a magical gate in order to gain access to the imprisoned souls therein and absorb their power. As expected, the unleashed souls overwhelm Jedah and kill him, and Ozom takes over his rule. After his resurrection a century later, Jedah discovers that Makai has descended into madness and infighting, and plans to rebuild the beleaguered realm from scratch by collecting souls that he plans to fuse into a singular sentient being. This results in the conception of a new pocket dimension called Majigen, whose foundation is formed by Ozom's soul after Jedah convinces him to surrender it. Jedah then proceeds to lure all those whom he feels possess worthy souls—the Darkstalkers themselves—into the dimension, which sets up the events of the third game. The saga concludes with Demitri Maximoff temporarily halting his longtime feud with Morrigan in order to engage his nemesis Jedah in final battle over Makai's rule.

Jedah is noted for being the first explicitly graphic character in the Darkstalkers series, as his special attacks involve self-mutilation and the weaponizing of his own blood. He appears in all Capcom media as a tall, handsome, blue-skinned humanoid figure dressed head to toe in purple, notably a high-collared, calf-length coat with large circular gold buttons down the front, and accented with symmetrical red stripes on the shoulders that are actually self-inflicted open wounds. Attached to his back are large scythed wings used as weapons and for flight. He is canonically listed as standing 7'1" in height, while his weight varies from 26 to over 2,200 pounds. The North American release of Darkstalkers 3 was originally titled "Jedah's Damnation" during preproduction while he was first named "Belial Jr." as he was intended to be a descendant of Belial and therefore Morrigan's brother, and was designed as a combination of a Japanese schoolboy (his outfit resembles a gakuran) and the personification of Death. Capcom promoted Jedah as the centerpiece of the third game by displaying the character on advertising flyers distributed to European arcades.

The character appears in the Capcom fighting crossovers Capcom Fighting Evolution (2004) and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (2017), plus the tactical role-playing game Cross Edge (2008) and an unplayable appearance in Project X Zone (2012), in addition to serving as the main villain of several Darkstalkers manga and comic adaptations.

Jedah has met with positive reception from various gaming media publications. He was ranked fifth in Japanese magazine Gamest's "top 50" list of the best video game characters in their December 1997 issue, tying with Street Fighter's Dan Hibiki. Sega Saturn Magazine deemed him "the ultimate Darkstalker". Computer and Video Games magazine raved in their August 1997 issue, "The best character ever? Most definitely!" and called his special moves "some of the best-looking in ... any fighting game". Patrick Roesle of Hardcore Gaming 101 enthused: "It's hard to find a place to begin describing how cool Jedah is ... [he] kicks ass. He's the bloody Antichrist, for Pete's sake." Ed Lomas of Computer and Video Games wrote in 1997, "Jedah is one of the most fantastic fighting game characters ever created, with a great costume, ingenious moves, and amazing animation. ... I only played Vampire Savior in the arcade a few times, but now I understand all the fuss about Jedah—he's one of the coolest video game characters I've ever seen!"

Lilith

Voiced by: Hiroko Konishi (Darkstalker 3); Yuka Imai (Namco x Capcom, Cross Edge), Miyuki Sawashiro (Onimusha Soul)

Lilith (リリス, Ririsu) is a creation of Jedah spawning from his theft of a segment of power that Belial Aensland had previously split from Morrigan and sealed away in an isolated location in order to keep his daughter's total formidable power from raging out of control. However, after Belial's death, the stashed power suspiciously develops a will of its own. Jedah attempts to capitalize on this turn of events by stealing the power and crafting it a physical form that would become Lilith, herself a succubus and essentially a younger, childlike clone of Morrigan. In exchange for being given life, she would lure Morrigan and the other Darkstalkers into Majigen, which she identifies as her birthplace. Lilith lives blissfully until realizing she is not an original being but merely a part of another person. Meanwhile, Morrigan does not feel as close a connection to Lilith as much as the other way around; in response, Jedah manipulates Lilith to meet Morrigan in person so he can use them both to extend his power, but Lilith becomes aware that Jedah has been lying to her in regards to her existence.

Lilith, whose name was inspired by the mythological Lilith, was designed as a female character but Darkstalkers 3 scenario writer/planner Haruo Murata wanted her to be a hermaphrodite angel or a male demon with shorter hair and a completely flat chest; when the game was released, the character's gender was officially listed as "unknown". Lilith has made crossover appearances in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Pocket Fighter, Capcom Fighting Evolution, Namco x Capcom, and Cross Edge, usually appearing together with Morrigan. An action figure of the character was released as part of a two-pack with Demitri by Toy Biz in 1999. Several figurines were released by various manufacturers, including Banpresto.

Q-Bee

Voiced by: Miyuki Matsushita (Darkstalkers 3, Project X Zone 2), Arisa Nishiguchi (Project X Zone)

Q-Bee (キュービィ, Kyū Bī), short for Queen Bee (her title), is a youthful bee-human hybrid. She is part of a Makaian species known as the "Soul Bees", who lived on land owned by the Dohma family but suddenly faced extinction after Jedah's death and the lengthy period that followed prior to his resurrection. She therefore heads into Majigen to gather souls in order to satiate her hunger as well as those of her subjects. Q-Bee actually has two sets of eyes: the normal ones on her face are non functioning decoys to trick her enemies as her working eyes, larger in size, are on the top of her head, while her vocals in the game consist mostly of buzzing sounds. She also appears as an enemy in Namco × Capcom, Project X Zone and Project X Zone 2, and features in the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash series.Sega Saturn Magazine considered Q-Bee the game's equivalent of Chun-Li due to her "blinding speed". GamesRadar described the character as "carnivorous, sexxxy, human-sized and able to sting endlessly without dying. That's actually the scariest notion Darkstalkers has served up thus far".

Secret characters

Dee

Voiced by: Jurota Kosugi (Vampire Darkstalkers Collection)

A corrupt dhampir version of Donovan Baine and inspired by the events of Donovan's Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge ending, Dee is a playable secret character exclusive to the Japanese PlayStation 2 game Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection. In his Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge ending, Donovan defeats the Darkstalkers, but at the cost of absorbing the evil of his defeated opponents and losing his humanity in the process. Dee is presented in Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection as an incarnation of Donovan based on this ending and was designed as a red palette swap of Demitri's body with Donovan's head and the sword Dhylec. In his game ending, he confronts an older Anita after defeating Jedah. While the events of the fight were not shown, a cutscene during the end credits shows Anita visiting a gravesite.

Dark Talbain

Dark Jon Talbain is a maroon-hued palette swap, and evil counterpart, of Jon Talbain. He serves as a boss for Jon Talbain in Vampire Savior and is also a hidden playable character.

Dark Talbain, also known as Jon Talbain, is a lycanthrope and one of the protagonists in Darkstalkers. He is a werewolf who struggles to control his primal instincts while seeking to find a balance between his human side and his beastly nature. Dark Talbain possesses incredible physical strength, speed, and agility, along with razor-sharp claws and fangs. He is driven by a strong sense of justice and often fights against the forces of evil, using his combat skills and animalistic abilities to protect the innocent.

Marionette

Marionette is a young woman who is, as her name implies, a human marionette, dressed in fairy-like attire of a short flower petal skirt with a matching oversized collar and jester hat. She is suspended by strings and has a wind-up key fastened to her back. The malevolent phantom and fellow secret character Shadow transformed and then enslaved her in order to help further fulfill his own personal tasks. Marionette appears in Vampire Savior 2 and Vampire Hunter 2 and selecting her will force players to play in the same form as their current opponent.

Marionette is a puppet-like character in the Darkstalkers series. She is an eerie and mysterious doll brought to life by the power of dark magic. Marionette moves with uncanny grace and agility, using her strings and puppet-like abilities to attack and control her opponents. Her appearance is often adorned with a porcelain mask, adding to her enigmatic nature. Marionette's origins and motivations remain shrouded in mystery, making her a unique and intriguing addition to the Darkstalkers roster.

Oboro Bishamon

Oboro Bishamon is a dull-orange palette swap of Bishamon who first appeared in Vampire Savior. This version of the character is a depiction of the result of Bishamon having conquered and mastered the evil of the Hannya armor, an example being that he willingly removes the armor either before or after a fight.

Oboro Bishamon is a samurai warrior cursed by the spirit of a vengeful ghost in Darkstalkers. He dons ancient armor and wields a powerful enchanted sword. Bishamon seeks redemption and release from the curse that binds him. With his swordsmanship skills and supernatural abilities, he battles against the forces of evil, seeking to restore honor to his name and find peace for the restless spirit haunting him.

Shadow

Shadow is a blue phantom-like creature accessible in all versions of Vampire Savior by entering a button combination on the character select screen, and forces the player to play as their just-defeated opponent. He was created in Majigen with the ability to possess newly defeated opponents. Shadow's goal involves stealing souls from other beings in order to increase his own power and learn his enemies' strengths and weaknesses, and has enslaved Marionette to assist him in his mission.

Other media

Harry Grimoire

Harry Grimoire, also known as Hsien-Ko, is a Jiang Shi, a Chinese vampire, in Darkstalkers. She appears as a young girl wearing traditional Chinese garments and is often accompanied by her older sister, Mei-Ling. Harry possesses extraordinary physical strength and uses her powerful claw-like appendages to attack opponents. She fights to free her sister's spirit from eternal servitude and protect innocent lives from supernatural threats.

Voiced by: Kyle Labine

Harry is a 12-year-old boy who is a direct descendant of Merlin made exclusively for the 1995 cartoon.

John Stately

A young man who finds and takes care of Lilith in the Vampire Savior manga.