"A playful creature hidden at the top of Clock Tower. Count Dracula's magical power turned him into a monster. He was transformed and attacked as an evil henchman, but when he was defeated, his magical power was released and he became a companion in the subjugation of Wallachia. It is small and agile, has a strong body and is able to use its agile body to cling to walls and ceilings. He has a cool item, Grant's basic attack is to throw a dagger. The attack item is an axe. You will be susceptible to damage from enemies, so try to avoid them as much as possible and move on. It's also possible that Grant takes a secondary path that Ralph can't take."
— Translated description from the Akumajō Densetsu instruction booklet
In Wallachia, during the year 1476, the populace became disturbed when monsters, who had until that point only been talked about in legend, started to appear in populated areas. According to rumors, they were commanded by a mysterious Count in black known as Dracula.[5] Viewing the situation with great concern, the Eastern Orthodox Church sent out their troops to subdue to the threat. Because he was suspected to be a vampire, a secret team was deployed to find and defeat Dracula.[6]
Around the same time, within Wallachia, a group of rebels were plotting to overthrow Count Dracula. However, they were no match for Dracula's dark powers and the members of the resistance all met gruesome ends. Grant Danasty, a noble thief from Wallachia was among them. He was turned into a demon and was put in the clock tower as a guard.[6]
After receiving no word from Wallachia for some time, the Pope turned to the Belmont family as a last resort. Trevor Belmont stepped forward to end the oppression of Wallachia.[6]
Trevor managed to defeat Grant's cursed demon form after reaching the top of the Clock Tower, turning him back into a human, but retaining somehow the supernatural ability to climb and stick to walls as if he was a spider, and great speed, giving him the nickname of "the most agile man in Wallachia" Grant then decided to go along with him. Together with Sypha Belnades, a witch, and Alucard, Dracula's son, the four heroes fought their way to Dracula's throne room. Through their combined efforts, they managed to subdue him. After the fight, they watched the castle crumble at a nearby mountain cliff. All the monsters disappeared alongside with Dracula and Wallachia was at rest.
Grant is fought as a boss in the Clock Tower. He was turned into a monster due to Dracula's magic. After he's defeated, he can be recruited by Trevor as an ally.
The trio of zombies from Symphony of the Night return in Portrait of Ruin. They are encountered in the Nest of Evil, a special area where several bosses from previous games can be fought.
Grant is one of three allies that can be recruited in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Grant uses a small dagger to rapidly stab forward. In the Japanese version of the game, he's able to throw them instead, allowing him to be more effective compared to the Western versions. His usable sub-weapons are the Dagger, the Axe and the Stopwatch. In addition, Grant can climb on walls and ceilings, making it easier for him to traverse the stages and reach areas otherwise unreachable to Trevor.
Grant can use the dagger to stab his enemies or he can hurl it at them. When thrown, the dagger flies to the right and left. When Grant is stuck to the wall, he'll hurl it backwards, so be ready to duck, Chuck. Likewise, when Grant is stuck in the ceiling, he throws it down.
Press and hold the Control Pad toward the wall you want Grant to cling to. Then press the Control Pad in the direction you want him to move and he will climb like crazy.
This allows you to fire a Warakiya War Item three times in a row. Note: Again, Sypha and Alucard cannot use this item, and Grant can only use this item with Dagger in NES version.
The number of hearts collected determines how many times you can use your Warakiya War Items and also how long Alucard can soar like a bat. The more hearts you possess, the better!
The number of hearts collected determines how many times you can use your Warakiya War Items and also how long Alucard can soar like a bat. The more hearts you possess, the better!
Galamoth plots to send the Time Reaper from 10,000 years in the future into the past to destroy his rival Dracula and change history. A time traveler named Aeon discovers this and pulls together champions from different eras of history into a dimensional rift in order to find a chosen one capable of destroying Galamoth's servant. Grant is one of these warriors.
After Dracula's defeat, Grant devoted himself to rebuilding the towns and villages that had been destroyed. He has feelings for Sypha, and therefore didn't attend her wedding to Trevor, whom he resents.
Grant is mostly shrouded in bandages, has pale skin and white hair, and he wields a circle shaped weapon with daggers attached. He also appears to have spare daggers attached to his wrist. Grant's theme in Castlevania Judgment is Clockwork.
Grant makes a small cameo appearance in Pachislot Akumajō Dracula III. He appears in his 8-bit incarnation during 'Bonus' mode, along with a small description.
Project 51 Productions obtained the rights from Konami to create a movie based on Castlevania. Their planned project was a direct-to-DVD feature covering the story of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, with Grant as one of the protagonists. However, the project went on a long hiatus and it eventually came to light in the form of a Netflix animated series released on July 7, 2017. While the rest of the game's cast had their own portrayals in this series (Trevor, Sypha, Alucard and Dracula), Grant was left out. He is just briefly referenced in the episode "Bless Your Dead Little Hearts" (S3E01), where Trevor mentions, "that one guy with the horse-drawn sailboat on wheels that called himself the Pirate of the Roads...", and Saint Germain comments about "[an] imbecile who put wheels on his boat...".
He is unlocked by evolving the Dragon Water Whip, which is the starting weapon of Trevor, alluding to his status as the first unlockable character in Dracula's Curse, while the player only has access do Trevor.
Grant's surname, "Danasty", might be a reference to Dănești, a noble house from Wallachia. The House of Dănești was one of the two main lineages of the Wallachian noble family House of Basarab. They were descended from Dan I of Wallachia. The other lineage of the Basarabs is the House of Drăculești, which Vlad III Drăculea belongs to.
Grant's surname could also be a play on "Nadasdy", a noble Hungarian family that produced Ferenc Nádasdy, a "lesser impaler" than Vlad Țepeș, who was the husband of Elizabeth Báthory and father of their children.
Although he is seen as a pirate due to his description in the American instruction booklet of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse referring to his appearance, in none of the original Japanese materials was he ever described as such. His appearance was instead based on the clothing of Balkan thieves during the Middle Ages.
This was carried over to Castlevania Judgment, where in his biography in promotional materials, he is described as a noble thief "much like Robin Hood".
According to the original design sheets for Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Grant was originally going to have no form of attack other than using sub-weapons, but whether this meant he pulls from Hearts to use them was not specified.
In spite of his role in Castlevania III, Grant has been frequently excluded or relegated in media based on Dracula's Curse:
Julius Mode does not feature any descendant of Grant, with Hammer supposedly being a Danasty, given his planned inclusion in the mode before being cut.
Pachislot Akumajō Dracula III shows his original sprite in an intermission screen while the other three playable characters are fully modeled, animated and voice acted.
The Castlevania animated adaptation, initially based on Dracula's Curse, also ignores Grant entirely, with writer Warren Ellis specifically excluding him due to the original film not having enough time to include him alongside every other character, his "stupid name", and his pirate-like appearance being ill-fitting for a land-locked country.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, a spin-off prequel to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, takes much of its inspiration from Dracula's Curse and also includes four playable characters. However, while Trevor, Sypha and Alucard all have similar counterparts in Curse of the Moon, Grant does not, with the character Zangetsu resembling Getsu Fuma in abilities and aesthetic instead.
In the sequel, however, the character Robert seems to be his counterpart, being mostly a distance character with a small hitbox due to a crouched stance, the ability to crawl on the ground and slide down walls.
The Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC features Grant's companions from Dracula's Curse making full appearances, but not Grant himself, not even making mention of him in any form.
Dead by Daylight's Castlevania expansion features the playable Dracula's Curse cast (whether as unique models for Trevor and Alucard, or just an outfit for Sypha), along with several other characters from the series, but Grant is absent. However, he appears in the promotional video featured in the Tome.
In Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, in Dracula's clock tower, there is a dead Brotherhood of Light knight holding a scroll in which his story is told: "He's named Danasty and claims vengeance for the murder of his family by Dracula." While the name "Grant" is not explicitly shown, it can be assumed it a small Easter egg made by MercurySteam, as the Lords of Shadow universe has also a counterpart for all the other characters from Dracula's Curse.
In an interview about Season 3 of the NetflixCastlevania animated series, when asked about Grant, Warren Ellis stated that the Captain character had no connection to Grant, but the "Pirate of the Roads" was hinted to at least be a nod.[7]
In a similar case, a character named Greta, who hails from the town of Danesti, was introduced in the fourth season of the show. Due to the similarities of these names, there was some speculation if she was a reference to Grant. However, Kevin Kolde, executive producer of the show, stated in an interview that this was just a coincidence.[8]
↑Dengekionline成田：私も小説版でダナスティの子孫をヒロインにさせていただきました（笑）。その節はダナスティの子孫という私の考えた無茶なキャラクター設定を許してくださり、ありがとうございました。 Narita: "I also made Danasty's descendant the heroine in the novel version (laughs). Thank you very much for allowing me to set my character as Danasty's descendant."
