Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Castlevania Belmont’s

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse stands out with its gripping medieval fantasy setting and pulse-pounding challenges. Among its toughest obstacles is the gallery of the Four Virtues, tucked away in Notre Dame, offering players a punishing test of skill that’s essential for unlocking the game’s true ending.

Completing the gallery of the four virtues, found in Notre Dame, is necessary to get the true ending in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse. Beat Joan a second time for the virtue of Courage, survive a brutal mix of saw-blade platforming and arena battles for the virtue of Justice, test your platforming skills for the virtue of Temperance, and curse the gods for the unfair saw-blade test for the virtue of Prudence. Let’s go over a detailed guide for each of them.

You’ll find the Gallery of the Four Virtues inside Notre Dame church, accessed easily from the left side of the cathedral when coming from the forest area. The path is straightforward, with no big bosses or arenas blocking your way, making it a natural checkpoint before facing the trials. Here, stained-glass windows invite you to confront the virtues that will shape your fate. The gallery itself begins with a prophecy: Only when the Bells of Virtue ring and humanity overcomes its Self will cursed darkness lift and restore the blessed light . This cryptic message sets the tone for the challenges ahead—when you clear all four virtues, the true ending awaits.

The Gallery can be found in the Notre Dame church, where you can read a prophecy related to your curse. Four stained-glass windows can be found, which you can interact with and attempt the trials. Coming from the forest, you can find the gallery on the leftmost side of the cathedral. It’s a pretty straight forward pass with no big arena or bosses in the way.

In the gallery you receive a prophecy about the cursed that reads as the following “Only when the Bells of Virtue ring and humanity overcomes its Self will cursed darkness lift and restore the blessed light” hinting at you beating each of the virtues to achieve the true ending of the game.

Each virtue’s trial is demanding, with unique mechanics that test different facets of your combat and platforming prowess. To tackle these successfully, arm yourself with your most powerful weapons and spells—especially for the combat-focused trials. The Prudence trial, in particular, requires specific abilities that you’ll want to acquire beforehand.

These trials are not easy to accomplish, so it is recommended that you bring your hard-hitting weapons and powerful spells for the two trials that require you to fight. There’s also the trial of prudence, which requires a specific arcana and a skill, which will be discussed in its own section.

The Courage trial starts with a rematch against Joan of Arc, found behind the red stained glass. This fight is more than a simple throwdown—Joan’s moveset expands with a second phase, requiring sharp awareness and timing. A sword and shield combo works best here, giving you mobility and defensive options to dodge her lethal attacks. Among all weapons, Alucard’s Sword and Shield stand out as the most effective, obtainable by opening a secret door to Alucard’s bedroom deep inside the main hall. Alternatively, Arondight and Lancelot’s Shield , found in Notre Dame, also offers formidable power. You’ll first encounter Joan atop the prison tower during the initial fight, where she drops the warrior tarot card, the skill Holy Light , and the spell Infernal Pyre .

This is a very straightforward trial. Interact with the red stained glass, Beat Joan of Arc again, and she will bless you with the blessing of courage. However, this time Joan will fight you in two phases with some new moves in her kit.

I personally fight Joan with sword and shield cause of its movement set, the powerful shield bash, and the fact that you need to be up close to Joan so you can dash behind her to avoid her moves.

The best sword and shield in the game is “Alucard’s Sword and Shield” which can be found in the top-rightmost corner of the main hall map, after opening a secret door to Alucard’s bedroom. But the weapon I used to attempt the fight was the “Arondight and Lancelot’s Shield” also found in Notre Dame.

You first meet Joan atop the prison tower, and fight her there for the warrior tarot card, the skill holy light, and the spell infernal pyre.

The rematch ups the ante: Joan’s health pool is larger, and her moves now include subtle but dangerous attacks. The majority of her sword swings can be avoided by quickly dashing behind her, but beware three key dangers:

The Ground Cleave Move: When Joan bellows “for the glory of France,” she performs a powerful ground slash. Rather than dashing, jumping over this attack is the safer bet—timing is everything here.

The ground cleave move: Joan shouts “for the glory of France” as she performs this move. Jumping is usually a better solution to dodging the attack.

Trying to dodge the ground cleave with a dash is possible but requires frame-perfect timing, which can easily catch you off guard.

Flame Pillars: Joan accumulates flame orbs during the fight, and when she has six, she triggers a devastating flame pillar attack. Jumping or dashing may put you right inside the damage zone if you aren’t careful. Instead, watch for her hand raising—which signals the attack—and position yourself safely between the pillars.

Standing strategically between flame pillars ensures you take no damage during this attack. Resist the urge to jump or dash.

Joan’s Ultimate: The visually striking sun-based slash devastates the arena in front of her. The key is to be behind her when she lands. Time your jump perfectly, or you’ll be left reeling from massive damage.

Never stay in front of Joan at the climax of her ultimate attack—it’s an instant knockout.

Defeating Joan this second time unlocks her blessing of courage for Rose and triggers a cutscene where she praises your valor. Ring the bell here before moving on to the next challenge.

The Justice trial throws you into three grinding arena battles surrounded by lethal saw blades and wall spikes. Mobility is restricted, so you’ll need precision to dodge hazards while fending off waves of foes ranging from harpies to axe-armed skeleton warriors. Using a whip simplifies these encounters significantly. The legendary Vampire Killer whip, awarded after defeating Death in Notre Dame, is the most powerful choice. For those still building their arsenal, the Morning Star found after unlocking Brauner’s aerial dash is a great alternative.

Trial of Justice isn’t the hardest challenge out there, but it still requires a bit of skill to complete. This trial needs you to survive a total of three arena battles, with sawblades and wall spikes all around, making free movement a hassle in this stage.

I attempted this trial with the whip, and it made it much easier for me to hit flying enemies like the harpies and the swords. The strongest whips are the “Vampire Killer” (earned by defeating Death in Notre Dame). I use the “Morning Star,” which is obtainable after gaining the aerial dash from Brauner.

Enemy variety escalates as you progress—expect golems and werewolves to make the final fights especially brutal, with the werewolf appearing only in the last one. Save your flasks for healing and manage your resources wisely to endure this onslaught. Once victorious, ring the bell to move forward.

Temperance takes a break from combat challenges. Here, the floor is a deadly “Sea of Souls” lava that steadily rises, forcing you to climb swiftly and ring the bell at the summit. Patience and steady footing are key; rushing often leads to a costly fall. If you find this tricky, consider returning after unlocking advanced movement skills or use Chronomantic Dive to slow time and stagger your jumps.

This was by far the easiest trial for me. No enemies or very frame-sensitive parkour; just the floor becomes “lava” (Sea of Souls), and you should reach the top and ring the bell. There’s truly nothing too hard in this trial; just be patient with the jumps and movement. If you are struggling with this challenge, come back to it when you have all the movement skills unlocked. You can also use the Chronomantic Dive to slow time.

Prudence Trial – Testing Your Persistence

Prudence is widely considered the toughest trial. You’ll need both the skill Holy Light from Joan and the spell Mirror Walk earned from Eleanor. This trial pushes your movement mastery, environmental awareness, and combat knowledge to their limits. Deadly saw blades litter the course, forcing you to intelligently combine arcana, timing, and positioning to survive.

The trial is split into parts that test:

1. Movement mechanic knowledge.
2. Environment awareness, the most manageable section relying on observation.
3. Skill knowledge, where Holy Light becomes essential.
4. Spell knowledge, requiring both Arcane Whip and Mirror Walk for success.

First part tests your movement mechanic knowledge.

The second part tests your game environment awareness, which is the easiest part of this trial.

The third part tests your skill knowledge and is the part that needs the skill “Holy Light“

And the last part, the worst part of this trial, tests your knowledge of spells. Here, you need your “Arcane Whip” and “Mirror Walk” to survive the trial.

With all four virtues completed, return to the altar in the gallery’s center where the prophecy stands. Interact to summon and battle The Cursed , your own shadow manifested. Defeating this final challenge nets you a tarot card and powerful spell—vital for securing the game’s true ending.

After completing the four virtues, you can now life the curse from Rose, to do that you have to interact with the alter in the middle of the gallery where the prophecy is found. Interact with the altar and fight “The Cursed” which is shown as question marks in the game, which is your shadow, to get a tarot card and a spell. This is the main requirement to get the true ending of the game.

Can You Complete the Four Virtues Before Beating Dracula?

Interestingly, it’s possible to complete all four virtues before confronting Dracula. These challenges are optional for completing the game but compulsory for unlocking the true ending. You can decide whether to tackle this demanding gauntlet before or after Dracula, depending on your preferred pacing and skill level.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse

Release Date

October 15, 2026

ESRB

T for Teen

Developer(s)

KONAMI, Evil Empire

Publisher(s)

KONAMI

3 Images