- This page is about the witch enemy sometimes referred to as "Siren". For the winged female enemy, see Siren.
Aliorumnas, sometimes referred to as Salem Witch or Siren, is a recurring enemy in the Castlevania series. She is a witch who was banished by the Gothic king Filimer. She wears robes and can hover in the air. She can launch triple magical homing projectiles at enemies or can shoot a single projectile that curses the player.
Origins[]
A völva seeress speaks her prophecy in this 19th century illustration.
A vǫlva (also known as völva, völvur or völur) is a shamanic seeress in Norse paganism and a recurring motif in Norse mythology. The Old Norse word vǫlva means "wand carrier" or "carrier of a magic staff".
Jordanes relates in his Getica (XXIV:121) of Gothic völvas called Aliorumnas. They were driven into exile by King Filimer when the Goths had settled in Oium (Ukraine). The name is probably a corruption of the Gothic Halju-runnos, meaning "hell-runners" or "runners to the realm of the dead" (which refers to their shamanistic experiences during trance). These völur were condemned to seek refuge far away and, according to this account, engendered the Huns.
Description[]
Aliorumnae are notorious for being Holy-based enemies with shining auras. If the player is using a Holy weapon, they'll usually have to attack them once or twice more than the rest of the enemies to kill them. However, if there are multiple Aliorumnae in the room, it is advisable to switch to a Slashing/Piercing-based weapon to dispatch of them quicker, as they are weak to these attributes.
They usually appear in church-like areas (chapels, cathedrals, etc.), along with many other Holy-based enemies, either in the same or in contiguous rooms (especially Amalaric Snipers).
They levitate and wait until the player is within range to start attacking. They have two spells: a triple homing Holy energy mass spell and a single cursing one that they shoot straightforward. However, both spells take a long time to cast (especially the latter one, as she'll first have to stop in midair to draw a magic symbol). Any attack will cancel their castings and knock them back, so they aren't really a threat unless the room is heavily crowded or if an attack sends them out of reach to finish them off.
In her first appearance in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, if she had started casting her triple homing attack and was defeated, the spell will keep on casting in place by itself and launch at the player. However, in later games that also use the same sprite, if she had started to cast this spell and was defeated before she could finish, the spell will be canceled.
Appearances[]
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance[]
Called Siren in Harmony of Dissonance, although evidently being an incarnation of the same Aliorumnas from previous games and not the mythological Siren that has a female torso and avian features.
Sirens appear as levitating witches that inhabit the Luminous Cavern in Castle B. Their in-game model serves as base for another enemy that appears later in the game, the Sylph (Aliorumnas in Japan), which is more commonly associated with this human form.
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair[]
The Aliorumnae in Harmony of Despair are one of the only enemies in the game that use glyphs prior to casting their spells. Shanoa is able to absorb three of their four spell glyphs (the other enemy being the Nova Skeleton). If their spells are absorbed, they'll resort to use their single projectile attack from Symphony of the Night.
Enemy Data[]
| Enemy Data: Aliorumnas | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Description |
Statistics | Items | Location | Notes |
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| Ghost witches from Salem. | Level: 20 HP: 180 Exp: 80 |
Drop: Gold Circlet, Shortcake |
Abandoned Pit to the Catacomb, Necromancy Laboratory |
(Strategy) | |
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| ' | Level: 16 HP: 80 Exp: 71 |
Rare Drop: Mana Prism |
Castle B: Luminous Cavern |
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| ' | Level: 36 HP: 320 Exp: 375 |
Common Drop: Big Mana Prism Rare Drop: Silver Tiara |
Castle A: Luminous Cavern |
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| Witches banished by the Gothic king Filmer. | Strong: Fire, Ice, Electric Weak: Whip, Slash, Poison, Curse, Stone HP: 196 Exp: 212 Skill Pt: 6 |
Drop: Dalmatica |
Dark Academy, 13th Street |
(Strategy) | |
| ' | HP: 180 Exp: ~450 |
Drop: Frankfurter, Hamburger; ??? Steal: ~60C |
Underground Caverns |
Abil: Magic Missile | |
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| Witches banished by the Gothic king Filimer. | Strong: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Holy, Darkness Weak: Slash, Pierce, Petrify, Curse, Poison |
Drop: Kiwi (5.30%) Steal: Ignis, Grando, Fulgur Soul: Yellow (2.30%) |
Chapter 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 8 |
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| Witches banished by the Gothic king Filimer. Wielding holy magic for dark purposes. | Weak: Burn, Frozen, Shock |
Soul: Enchant Weapon to level 5 |
Abil: Slow | ||
Item Data[]
| Item Data: Aliorumnas | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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| Restores HP by holy damage | Attrib: Holy |
INT +6 |
Drop: Salem Witch |
Effect: Holy-based attacks of enemies heal Alucard instead of damaging | ||||
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| Strawberry shortcake [use] | HP +11 |
Drop: Salem Witch |
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| Restores some MP. | MP +20 |
Buy: 250G Find: Throughout castle (all) Rare Drop: Siren |
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| Restores a large amount of MP. | MP +100 |
Buy: 1,000G Find: Throughout castle (all) Common Drop: Pixie, Sylph |
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| A tiara crafted from silver. | DEF +25 |
Rare Drop: Sylph |
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| A garment with wide sleeves, worn by religious orders. | DEF +25, INT +10 Sell: $6,000 |
Buy: $24,000 Find: Entrance (Vincent's shop) Drop: Aliorumnas |
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| Full of vitamins that are great for the skin. | MP +40, MND +3 Sell: $100 |
Rarity: * Find: Chapter 4, 6 Drop: Aliorumnas (5.30%) |
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| Call forth raging flames. | Attrib: Fire Consume: 15 MP |
ATK +6 |
Rarity: * Steal: Aliorumnas First Obtained: (Starts with) |
Effect: Flames | ||||
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| Call forth freezing ice. | Attrib: Pierce, Ice Consume: 15 MP |
ATK +12 |
Rarity: * Steal: Aliorumnas First Obtained: Chapter 4 |
Effect: Ice Bolt | ||||
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| Call forth shocking electricity. | Attrib: Lightning Consume: 15 MP |
ATK +5 |
Rarity: ** Steal: Aliorumnas First Obtained: Chapter 4 |
Effect: Tonitrus Evolve: Level 5 and 9 | ||||
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| Increase MND | MND +1 |
Rarity: ** Steal: Aliorumnas (2.3%) |
Effect: MND Boost | |||||
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the US version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, this enemy was localized as Salem Witch. This appears to have been a liberty taken from part of the translation team, as her original name in the Japanese version was "Aliorumnas" from the beginning.
- The Frozen Half enemy in Symphony of the Night is a palette swap of Aliorumnas, except with blue hair instead of a hood.
- In Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, these enemies are referred to as "Sirens". However, they should not be confused with the proper winged female creatures called Sirens appearing in the rest of the games.
- The witches Julia Laforeze and Yoko Belnades wear clothes that have a color scheme similar to those of Aliorumnas.
- The Witch of the Castlevania: Moonlight Rhapsody behaves more similarly to an Aliorumnas in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night than to a Witch from that game.