CvDoS Enemy Grinding Guide

The Enemy Grinding Guide, by Glenn Magus Harvey

A guide on how to grind enemies for souls and items quickly and efficiently, in the game Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.

The point of the guide is to indicate the best locations and ability combinations for grinding enemies.

This guide focuses on grinding for souls, but you can also use this guide for best places to grind for items.

========

Terms used in this FAQ
----
grind = repfeatedly kill an enemy to try to get its soul.

flipping between = exiting and re-entering a room repeatedly, in order to reset one or both of the rooms.

chandelier column = the stack of three big rooms with huge chandeliers, in the Demon Guest House.

finger rooms = the one-block-size rooms adjacent to the chandelier column rooms.

Soul Eater Ring = an item that costs a fortune (300000$) to buy from Hammer, but which both increases your LUCK stat AND further doubles the appearance rate of souls.

shaft = a tall room that's only one room-block wide.  Present in various areas, such as the Lost Village, the Cursed Clock Tower, the Wizardry Lab, and (probably most notably) Gergoth's (effectively gigantic) boss "room" that basically makes up the whole of the Condemned Tower.  Also the name of a wizard once hired by Dracula, as well as an African-American private investigator portrayed by Richard Roundtree.

Wizardry Lab 2: that second part of the Wizardry Lab at the very bottom left of the map.  It's the area that contains Homunculi (#71); you have to cross a spikes room to get to it.

ghost-lit shaft = a shaft in Wizardry Lab 2 that has a ton of Ghosts (#3) and invisible platforms that are only visible when Ghosts pass through them.

Lost Village big rooms: there are three of these.  The first is the one with two peeping eyes, which is on the same elevation as where you start the game.  Then there are two below, past the Flying Armor boss room; these two both have a fountain and cars at the bottom.  The one on the left leads to the Lost Village warp room, a save point, and Yoko's and Hammer's bases.  The other leads to less interesting stuff, such as a room with a row of zombies.  Both can be opened to shafts beneath the fountains, by accessing them from beneath (requirements: Bone Ark, or Puppet Master + Skeleton Ape), and then make your way through the Wizardry Lab 2 and then up the Lost Village shafts.

soul color = red, blue, yellow, or grey.  Red souls are called "Bullet" souls in the game, and they let you do a single action by pressing up + attackbutton, such as throwing a puppet, throwing a spear, launching a fireball, or entering a mirror.  Blue souls are called "Guardian" souls in the game, and they generally cause something to happen over a length of time by pressing the R button, either holding it or using it to switch something on or off; examples include summoning familiars (on/off) and causing a tornado above you(hold R).  Yellow souls are called "Enchant" souls in the game, and they confer some sort of status or ability automatically, such as a stat bonus, the ability to eat rotten food (and gain HP from it), or resistance to certain status ailments.  Grey souls are called "Ability" souls in the game, and just grant additional basic abilities, such as double-jump.

Chaos Ring = the prize of getting at least one of every monster's soul.  Lets you use soul powers without MP cost.

diagonal demons = Barbariccia (#58), Draghignazzo (#50), and Malacoda (#99).  So named because they all stab diagonally, and also share other design similarities.  Barbariccia and Draghignazzo both have three-star-rated souls (blue and yellow respectively), though Malacoda has a two-star soul (which is red).

crawlers = Mollusca (#20) and Giant Slug (#90).

weeds = Une (#17), Corpseweed (#28), and Alura Une (#79, also known as Venus Weed).

========

Legend
----
#. Monster Name (soul leveling type) star rarity
Description of monster from game.  My commentary on said description, and brief description of its attack pattern(s).
Soul color: Soul function. (MP cost/use or time)
Where best: The best location for finding the monster--more specifically, the best place to grind for the monster's soul.
Comments: My comments on the soul's function, or the monster, or other interesting tidbits.  Includes a mention of those three-star souls that I got by luck (i.e. without grinding), just for fun (your results will probably be different, of course).

Soul star rarity notation (stars)
----
* = (relatively) common
** = uncommon
*** = rare (i.e. possibly a pain in the rear to get without the Soul Eater Ring, even possibly with it)

Soul leveling types
----
These deal with how that soul's ability upgrades based on how many souls you have from that monster.
1: Only one soul is needed to have the full effect; any more are effectively useless.
2: The soul is at level 1/2 (1 of 2) until you get 9 of them, then it becomes level 2/2.
3: The soul is at level 1/3 until you get 5 of them, then it becomes 2/3 until you get 9 of them, then it becomes 3/3.
5: The soul is at level 1/5 until you get 3 of them, then it becomes 2/5 unti you get 5 of them, then it becomes level 3/5 until you get 7 of them, then it becomes 4/5 until you get 9 of them, then it becomes 5/5.
9: The soul is at level x/9 where x is the number of souls you have, up to 9.
If you have more than 9 of that monster's soul, you get full effect anyway.  No "master materia" effects or other powerups.

Here's a chart of what level that monster soul is depending on how many souls of that kind you've collected.

# of souls obtained:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
----soul levels---|for this leveling type:
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 | /1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 | /2
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 | /3
1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 | /5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | /9

Other comments
----
If you need to grind souls, you should probably wait until you have the Black Panther (#88) and Hippogryph souls, because they make movement so much faster.  Other useful items are the Treant (#35) soul, which increases MP recovery speed -- before you get all the souls, you will need to do some grinding in order to get that Chaos Ring, and this will help.

If you are grinding souls or items after you've gotten the Chaos Ring, a useful setup is to have one soul/equipment set be your grinding set, where you're maxing out luck with items like Three 7s, Ghost Dancer x9, and either Rare Ring or Soul Eater Ring, and your other soul/equipment set having the Chaos Ring (and maybe The Creature) -- switch to it to recover MP (and maybe HP) when you run low.  If you haven't gotten the Chaos Ring, substitute Treant and the Rune Ring.

Some souls do not have a number, because they are not encountered as enemies.  These are the Doppelganger and Hippogryph souls.  I have included them at the end of the list.  Also, some enemies do not have gatherable souls; they are all bosses and are at the end of the list, before Doppelganger and Hippogryph.

The skeleton (#4), armor knight (#11), and golem (#15) encountered in the intro section of the game ALWAYS drop their souls.

This is NOT a FAQ about the use of souls in weapon syntheses, which is something I am totally unfamiliar with (since I did not use that feature).

This is also NOT meant to be a FAQ with commentary on how useful each soul is.  For that, check MrPaladin's Soul FAQ.  (Disclaimer: I am not related to that FAQ in any way, nor do I endorse the information in that FAQ.)

This FAQ contains spoilers.  I have made no effort to hide spoilers.

========

The Guide!
----

1. Zombie (9) **
A rotting corpse of a villager, animated by magic.  Pops out of the ground, walks toward you, and later sinks back into the ground.
Red: Summon Zombie. (12/use)
Where best: If you don't have the Black Panther (#88) soul, the big room above the save point in the Lost Village, with the spawning Zombies, the Wargs (#9), and the Axe Armor (#7).  If you have the Black Panther soul, the room three blocks below the upper Lost Village save room (the one next to the Flying Armor boss room), with the bunch of zombies (though they don't respawn).
Comments: Useful as an early-game holy water variant.  Kinda slow to summon and move, though, but it does decent damage.

2. Bat (3) **
A bloodsucking bat that lurks in the castle.  Just flies at you in an approximately straight line, curving upwards and downwards slightly toward you.
Blue: Summon Bat as familiar. (3/time)
Where best: The second big Lost Village room, with three bats on the ceiling above the bottom left room with lots of zombies.
Comments: A somewhat useful familiar ability.  Note that you get 2 bats at level 2 and 3 bats at level 3.  They just try to fly at stuff to damage it.  Kinda fun to have, though not the most powerful.

3. Ghost (1) ***
A small spirit doomed to wander the castle grounds for eternity.  Drifts in mid-air, and through platforms.
Blue: Separate from the body and conduct reconnaisance. (5/time)
Where best: Various shafts in the Wizardry Lab.  If you still don't have one by late game, use the shaft with the hidden platforms in Wizardry Lab 2 (the lower Wizardry Lab area), where massive numbers of ghosts spawn all the time -- I call that the ghost-lit shaft.
Comments: This is one of the three-star souls that I got without grinding, in part because many of them appear all the time in some areas.  However, the soul itself isn't very useful, since you can't use the soul to check out places farther than half a screen away from you, and since you can't use it if you get hit by an enemy.  Still, it gets points for creativity.  As a sidenote, note that some souls are red, some blue, some yellow, some grey, and some black, but Soma's soul is white.

4. Skeleton (3) **
A skeletal corpse controlled by magic.  Throws bones at you.
Red: Throw bones. (8/use)
Where best: just about anywhere.  If you need them by late game, you'll probably end up getting several while hunting for the Peeping Eye (#6) soul, since a skeleton is right next tot that Peeping Eye on the bottom floor of the Demon Guest House.  Or grind them at the same time you grind Skull Archer (#8).
Comments: Only mildly useful.  It's like a weaker, smaller, and lesser-ranged form of the axe subweapon, though, as you level it up, the bone becomes bigger.  If only it could throw giant bones like Nathan could...

5. Ouija Table (1) ***
An enchanted desk possessed by a spirit summoned in a seance.  Looks like a table that animates when you approach.
Yellow: Sit in the chair to regain HP.
Where best: the Lost Village room two blocks above Yoko's place or Hammer's place.  Many souls can take this out (though NOT horizontal "shooting" souls like Killer Clown or Ripper).  The most efficient one in terms of MP consumption is probably Student Witch (#12), which will probably break the table in one hit with its cat (enjoy the cat noises), though Slogra (#96) is faster with its spear's reach.
Comments: Quite useful soul, but very rare as well.  With it, you can finally make use of all those chairs lying around the castle, as well as Hammer's crates!  Sit in them to take a break and regain HP quite fast.

6. Peeping Eye (1) ***
A creature that keeps watch in the castle.  When it senses your presence, it will open its eye and start flying around.
Yellow: Identify breakable walls.
Where best: The room on the right, on the lowest floor of the Demon Guest House.  Equip a fully-upgraded Buer (#43) soul so you have a spinning offense shield around you, and just keep on dropping into the middle of the room, which contains a Peeping Eye.  Alternatively, equip the Black Panther (#88) soul and zoom back and forth between the early Lost Village room with the Peeping Eye, or in that Guest House room (flipping between it and the next room to the left with the Axe Armors).
Comments: VERY useful for finding secrets if you want to find hidden rooms yourself.  (Alternatively, you could look them up, I guess?)  Unfortunately, the soul is a pain to get.

7. Axe Armor (3) *
An armor-clad soldier that is highly skilled with axes.  Throws axes at you that fly forward then backward, or in an arc.  Walks forward slowly.
Red: Throw an axe upwards. (25/use)
Where best: In the room to the left of the Peeping Eye (#6) room, in the Demon Guest House.  Here you can kill two of them per go.  Just jump down the stairs while swinging a nice long sword.
Comments: This is basically the axe subweapon (unlike Aria, where the Axe Armor soul was basically the cross subweapon).  REQUIRED to get the good ending.

8. Skull Archer (3) **
An archer made of bone.  Slowly advances toward you, then slowly fires on you.
Blue: Shoot arrows with deadly accuracy. (20/time)
Where best: Best location: Just to the left of the only room with a Gorgon (#78).  Throw a Mandragora (#22) while standing on that tiny ledge -- you will hit the Skull Archer and only the Skull Archer.  Second-best location: Enter the Wizardry Lab at the top, from the Lost Village, as you normally would.  At the bottom of the first shaft, go left.  Flip between this room and the shaft.  There are several Skeletons (#4) here, and two Skull Archers; you should be a high enough level to zoom through all of them using Black Panther (#88).  Zoom in and out of this room, and watch for blue souls; the skeleton souls are red.
Comment: A slightly odd soul to use.  It's actually "hold down the R button to charge your attack", and charged attacks deal more damage.  May come in handy against Iron Golem (#101).

9. Warg (9) *
A wolf that breathes intense flames.  Howls, then breathes fire, or growls, then lunges and bites.
Red: Use fangs to tear at foes. (25/use)
Where best: Lost Village, 2x2 room immediately to the right of the drawbridge.  Enter from left; it's close enough to the door that you can kill it with anything.
Comment: Lets out a ghosty warg head in front of you, which bites once.  Can be used in mid-air, so it's useful against the Flying Armor boss.  Generally useful early-game; short range but high attack power.

10. Spin Devil (5) *
An evil blade possessed by a demon.  Or just a demon that spins around in a tornado that occasionally moves around.  Generally easy to kill.
Blue: Create tornadoes. (20/time)
Where best: The big room in the Lost Village, with the drawbridge.  Exit/reenter from the bottom left corner.  There's another one of these in the second Village big room (the fountain room to the right of the other fountain room that leads to Yoko's and Hammer's places).
Comment: A rather useless soul, with one exception--it's a convenient way to get the Mud Demon (#89) soul at the very end of the game (and the nearby Heart Eater (#62) along with it).  Thankfully, also a one-star soul, so it's easy to take care of this, especially after you get the Soul Eater Ring.  Now, if only they made this a powerup that let you create mid-air tornadoes and then stand on them...

11. Armor Knight (3) **
An armor-clad soldier equipped with a deadly spear.  Walks slowly with its spear held upward until it senses you, then lowers the spear.  Lunges with spear, or swings spear downward.  Caution: may attack far upward or far downward, if you're above or below it.
Blue: Attack with a spinning spear. (30/time)
Where best: Lost Village, to the right of the two-block room with the Ouija table (#5).
Comment: Basically you're spinning a spear to make a continuous shield surrounding you, but it can only be activated when standing, and you can't move while using it, so it's basically a more clumsy version of the Buer (#43) soul, so if you really want to grab the Peeping Eye (#6) soul early on, you could use this.  Leveling it up only makes the spin range wider.  Not very useful.  Do note that, it does activate instantaneously, and on both sides, so if you want to have a quick-start and quick-end attack that hits in front and behind you, tap R with this soul.  Not very powerful, but at least it hits and has nice range.

12. Student Witch (9) **
A witch-in-training who is still learning how to cast spells properly.  It will attempt to fly a bit, and then fall back down.
Red: Summon a cat. (12/use)
Where best: Same room as for Witch, but if you only want to hit the Student Witch, just duck and swing a greatsword instead of throwing a Mandragora (#22).  You can also hit a Lilith (#44) this way.
Comments: This ability appears to complement Dead Mate's (#74) ability (or rather, vice versa, since Student Witch came first as an enemy).  This is basically Maria's cat subweapon, which is a very fast but rather weak holy water.

13. Slaughterer (1) **
A savage man that kills with its bare hands.  Strange that it is described as "man" when the face is clearly that of a pig.
Red: Smack enemies with quick straight punches. (15/use)
Where best: Enter from the upper left the room immediately below the Wizardry Lab warp point.  There will be a Slaughterer directly across the screen from you.  Use Killer Clown (#45) or Ripper (#87) to hit it.
Comments: Very powerful, though you have to be on the ground to use it, and the range is very short.  Can deal more than 1 damage to Iron Golem (#101).  May become more useful with Werewolf (#91).

14. Bomber Armor (3) **
An armor-clad soldier that tosses bombs.  It tends to toss bombs to where you are.  Don't worry, when it dies, -that- bomb doesn't hurt you.
Red: Toss a high-power explosive. (48/use)
Where best: two rooms right of the top save point in the Wizardry Lab.  Fire Killer Clown (#45) cards at it for easiest effect.
Comment: Not particularly useful.  Level 2 has a different design for the bomb, but still takes some time to explode.  Level 3 throws several explosives that explode on contact, and they do a LOT of damage, though unfortunately they also do kinda lack range.  (Use with Skeleton Ape?)  Special note: it does not explode when it his an ENEMY.  It only explodes when it hits the GROUND (or a platform).  May be useful for killing Succubi (#86).

15. Golem (9) **
A giant clay figure imbued with an artificial life force.  Walks forward slowly, lunges forward with a punch, kicks, and sprays pebbles.
Yellow: Raise STR.
Where best: See Manticore (#19).  Alternatively, exit/reenter that room from the right, and throw a Mollusca (#20), since it's kinda far from the door.
Comments: Increases the STR stat by +2 for every soul you have, up to +18 for up to 9.  Also see Manticore (#19).

16. Slime (9) *
A monster composed of a gel-like substance.  Slithers towards you (and can change direction), and occasionally bounces around.  Weak to mostly everything except weapon hits, though that shouldn't matter late-game.
Red: Summon a bouncy Slime. (12/use)
Where best: The vertical two-block room on the right side of the area directly below the biggest Clock Tower room (it should have a Tanjelly (#93) and a Slime, and lots of spikes).  Enter from the bottom left, and throw a Mandragora (#22).
Comments: Basically the rebound stone subweapon, with more unpredictability as to the bouncing angles.

17. Une (9) **
An eerie plant that feeds on blood.  All it does is pop out of the ground when you're near and sit there, waving its leaves.
Red: Throw une at a foe. (18/use)
Where best: If you STILL haven't gotten a ton of these souls, let alone just one, then try repeatedly spamming some ground-hugging soul on those two Une to the left of Dario's boss room in the Garden of Madness.  However, unless you want a fully powered Une soul to use as your holy water equivalent, wait on grinding this until you need to grind for the Alura Une soul (#79).
Comments: Basically, this is stationary holy water.  It is less powerful and more expensive than Waiter Skeleton's (#40) plate of curry, but the curry is smaller at lower levels and is harder to level up.  Also, Une's smaller size at max level may be useful to grind Dead Mate (#74).

18. Skeleton Ape (1) ***
A skeletal corpse of an ape that is controlled by magic.  Holds a barrel, which it'll throw at you (in a Donkey Kong reference, obviously).  Otherwise just lumbers around slowly and can throw a very-short-range punch at you.
Yellow: Throw a foe with credible power.
Where best: Garden of Madness, any of the three big rooms.  Enter from the top left or top right.  As you enter the room and walk toward the Skeleton Ape, jump almost immediately, to avoid its barrel attack, and swing your weapon in mid-jump.  Exit, and repeat, probably very many times.  Alternatively, don't jump but throw a Mandragora (#22), which will take care of both the Ape and the barrel.  I recommend the center room, because you can enter from either side, and also, when you get bored, you can go down and kill the Skeleton Farmer (#24) and Mimic (#68).  You can grind Mimic more effectively elsewhere, but this is the only Skeleton Farmer in the game.
Comment: You don't actually throw any foes in this game.  What the soul does, however, is allow you to throw *stuff* farther: all projectile-tossing souls--including Mandragora (#22), Waiter Skeleton (#40), Puppet Master (#107), and others--get their stuff thrown farther with Skeleton Ape equipped.  Consequently, this soul (with the Puppet Master soul) is one of the ONLY TWO WAYS to pass the spiked water room and reach the lower left portion of the map (the other being Bone Ark (#77), which is arguably slightly easier to get).  Sidenote: this soul took me freaking forever to get.

19. Manticore (9) **
A monster with the body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and a scorpion's tail.  Can walk torward you, breathe a fireball, and strike with its tail, though not all at the same time.
Blue: Grow a tail. (5/time)
Where best: The lower "book storage room" in the Wizardry Lab, two rooms to the right of the hallway with the UMA News and the Heart Eaters (#62).  There's one at the bottom of the room, next to a bottom exit from the room.  There's a Golem (#15) in the room below; you can also grind for that monster's souls at the same time.
Comments: The soul literally grows Soma a tail, which lunges forward very briefly after Soma swings his weapon.  It has slightly greater range as well.  This soul is useful in getting the Golem soul just downstairs because you can execute a quick double hit, though obviously not the only option.  Kill it with whatever you wish, by late game, the Manticore should die in one hit by pretty much anything reasonable.  There's even a light above the Golem should you need to recover hearts.

20. Mollusca (3) **
A monstrous mollusk imbued with the castle's dark power.  All it does is slither toward you to poison on contact.  Drops anti-venom sometimes; how convenient.
Red: Summon a Mollusca. (10/use)
Where best: On either side of the central Garden of Madness boss room.  Practically anything will kill it in one hit by late game, and it's practically a sitting duck waiting to be hit.
Comments: A fast-moving, long-range, large, but weak version of the holy water.  Useful for collecting the Golem (#15) soul.

21. Rycuda (9) **
A monstrous bird that wields lightning.  Flies around and tries to shoot you diagonally downward with lightning.
Red: Summon thunderbolts. (35/use)
Where best: Find the Wakwak Tree (#55) room, go to the right, down, and right.  You'll find two Rycudas.  Mow them down repeatedly using a swinging weapon; use the lower exit to reset the room.
Comments: A homing thunderbolt, very fast.  Usually doesn't do much damage, but can multi-hit large enemies such as Final Guard (#98).  It also drops the Fried Chicken healing item, and is REQUIRED to get the Mothman (#81) soul.

22. Mandragora (1) **
A mythical plant that is said to inflict death to those who uproot it.  Actually, in this game, it uproots itself and then lets out a scream with pretty darn big radius.
Red: Shout to send monsters flying. (30/use)
Where best: Find the Subterranean Hell warp room, and find the first thing above it.  Alternatively, find the lower save room in the Garden of Madness, and go two blocks right and one block up.  Enter that hallway from the left.  If you drop an Aguni at the door, you'll kill two of them.  If you walk up to the first one and drop and Aguni, you'll kill three of them.
Comments: REQUIRED for Flying Humanoid (#32) soul, and besides, it's one of the most useful souls for enemy grinding, due to its large range and high damage.  Goes through walls, too, making grinding for Malacoda (#99) easier.  You can even extend how far you throw it using Skeleton Ape (#18), or increase its damage using Skelerang (#46).  Too bad it doesn't become even more insane by leveling up...

23. Yorick (1) **
A skeleton that ceaselessly chases after its own skull.  A reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet, obviously.  Kicks its skull toward you, then walks toward the skull (wherever it might have bounced to).  If you destroy the skull, it'll jump three times and then start running fast back and forth.  Your sliding into the skull can move the skull as well.
Red: Kick a skull like a ball. (20/use)
Where best: The 2x2 room to the right of the central save point in the Garden of Madness.  Enter this room from the bottom, and you'll find three Yoricks doing their business, going left.  Chase after them, and throw a Mandragora (#22) to get them all at once.
Comments: A very interesting soul.  You throw a skull upward and it arcs back downward like a normal projectile would, and it does minimal damage.  However, if you can position yourself such that you slide into the skull (kicking it, effectively), then anything it hits takes TEN TIMES the normal damage.  I haven't really found a good use for it yet.

24. Skeleton Farmer (1) ***
A skeleton that sows haunted plants.  In particular, all it does is walk back and forth slowly, and occasionally throw five seeds--four green ones that sprout Unes (#17) and one yellow one that sprouts a Mandragora (#22).  They all disappear within a short time (though you can kill them), and the Mandragora comes up immediately.  Funny thing is how the Skeleton Farmer will cover its ears (or act like it's doing that) as the Mandragora comes out.
Yellow: Enhance the performance of plant-type abilities.
Where best: There's only one in the entire game, and it's located in the center bottom of the central big room in the Garden of Madness.  The best way to get to it is to enter from the bottom left, kill the Catoblepas (#26), then fight the Skeleton Farmer, which will take two or more hits to kill.  I'd recommend getting the Black Panther (#88) soul and the luck-improving items to make things easier.
Comments: Equipping it makes souls that use plants -- such as Une (#17) and Mandragora (#22) -- more powerful.  Not a particularly useful soul.  I got this three-star soul without grinding for it, luckily (though I DID have to grind like mad for that Skeleton Ape (#18) soul nearby...).

25. The Creature (1) ***
A humanoid creature constructed from numerous corpses.  Activates with electricity when you approach.  Punches, lunge-punches with an electric bolt, or kicks with huge recoil for massive damage.
Yellow: Restore HP gradually.
Where best: The Creature is located at the bottom of the Alamaric Sniper (#36) room; exit and re-enter at bottom left.  Throw Mandragoras at it.  It'll take a while.
Comments: Restores 1 HP per second.  Useful if you're running low and can find a safe spot.

26. Catoblepas (3) **
This ox-like beast's breath turns living things to stone.  Walks slowly.
Blue: Breath clouds of petrifying gas. (15/time)
Where best: the two rooms right above the Mollusca (#20) rooms.  Again, nearly anything will easily do the job by late game.
Comments: Kinda interesting that the game actually differentiates between "living" and "nonliving" things--Skeletons (#4) can't be petrified, for example, but Corpseweeds (#28) can.  However, unfortunately, that doesn't make it any less harmful; you still take damage if you walk onto a petrified enemy (assuming you would take damage if you walked onto it unpetrified).  Anyway, it just generates a cloud of petrifying gas in front of you as you stand.  Not very useful.

27. Ghoul (1) ***
A foul being that rose from the grave to feed on corpses.  Like Zombie (#1), rises from the ground in sets of three in certain rooms.
Yellow: Eat food that is normally unpalatable.
Where best: They spawn in great numbers in several places, including the Wakwak Tree (#55) room in the Garden of Madness, a room in the Chapel with a Witch (#42), a room in the Chapel with Hell Boar (#52), and in the Silenced Ruins (the rooms with the Dead Mates (#74) and elsewhere).  They're easy to get to; don't be put off by the three-star rating.  If you need to grind, go to the three-block-wide room in the Chapel dungeon right below the save and warp points, and grind this along with Hell Boar.
Comments: One of the most useful souls.  You'll easily get it even early on, because you'll want to kill lots of Ghouls.  They drop Rotten Meat, which is an item that normally de-heals -200 HP (down to 1 at maximum; you can't die from food poisoning apparently).  However, with its soul, it instead heals +200 HP.  The Wakwak Tree's (#55) amanita item (heals about 150 HP I think) and the Dead Pirate's (#69) rusty food tin item (heals a whopping 600 HP!) also become useful.  But what's highly recommended is keeping a stock of rotten meat (no joke) and a Ghoul soul on hand.  Low on HP, and no potions?  Just switch to the Ghoul soul, eat rotten meat (they're free to get too!), and switch back to your yellow soul of choice!

28. Corpseweed (9) *
An Une that feeds off the nutrients of corpses.  It looks slightly brighter green than an Une, and takes about twice as many hits (or just one in late game).  It pops out just like an Une, but a moment later, it grows a stem and then a head, which spits things at you every so often.  Both the weed and the head are vulnerable.
Blue: Summon Corpseweed as a familiar. (3/time)
Where best: You should be overloaded with even more of these than with Une (#17) souls, but if you really need more, they're right at the room entrances to the tops of the rooms with the Catoblepases (#26).  Heck, that's also right next to two Skeleton Apes (#18)!
Comments: A rather useless soul, but easily obtainable and cheap to use.  As you level it up, it spits more often.  May be useful if you need to up damage output or number of hits per unit time, such as against Final Guard (#98) or Iron Golem (#101).

29. Yeti (1) *
The notorious abominable snowman.  Lumbers around in the background; only jumps to the foreground momentarily if you can offer it food, then it jumps back and disappears.
Blue: Create a white orb of dark power that grows as it rolls. (10/time)
Where best: Only available in the (outdoor) "room" where you start the game.  REQUIRES Waiter Skeleton (#40) soul to get it: Throw out a plate of curry, and it'll notice that (see the "!") and jump toward it.  After it takes one hit from the curry, it'll jump back into the background.  What you should do is, after throwing the curry and making sure the Yeti has noticed it, switch to the Mandragora soul, and throw one just before it jumps into the foreground, then button-mash a normal attack, so that both the Mandragora and your weapon attack will hit it.  (It's easier than it sounds, and it's a /1 one-star soul anyway.)
Comments: Not particularly strategically valuable of a soul, but quite fun to use.  Note, however, that you actually have to roll the ball in order to get it to damage opponents; it won't do continuous damage while stationary.

30. Tombstone (1) ***
Possessed by the grudges of the dead, it attacks all living things.  It stands motionless in one hallway in the Chapel.  If you approach it, it shakes and starts jumping around.
Yellow: Nullify petrification.
Where best: It appears two rooms to the right of the upper save room in the Chapel.  Use the Larva soul or the Witch soul to attack it efficiently from a distance (and to avoid dealing with the fact that it is resistant to striking attacks).  Enter/exit the room from the left.  (There are several more in that giant room connecting the Chapel to the Condemned Tower, but those are less easily accessible.)
Comments: Particularly useful in the Cursed Clock Tower, whenever dealing with yellow Medusa Heads (also in that big room in Subterranean Hell).  Too bad it is such a rare soul, although I guess that allows most players to have a "real" clock-tower-medusa-head-petrification-dropped-onto-spikes experience.

31. Ghost Dancer (9) **
The spirits of nobles that dance with great elegance.  Travel to the right side of the room in a wavy path, separate, recombine, travel to the left side of the room in a wavy path, separate, recombine, repeat.  Note: Any items that drop from this monster drop from the male dancer.
Yellow: Raise LUCK.
Where best: See Alamaric Sniper (#36) for location; you can grind for both the Sniper and Ghost Dancer at the same time.  Or just run around the room killing the Ghost Dancers.
Comments: Increases the LUCK stat by +2 for every soul you have, up to +18 for up to 9.  Generally useful for soul-hunting.

32. Flying Humanoid (1) (guaranteed)
A mysterious figure that hovers in the distance.  Has no attack patterns.
Blue: Raise INT and LUCK. (15/time)
Where best: Only found in the room to the left of the upper right save room of the Cursed Clock Tower.  REQUIRES the Mandragora (#22) soul.  Use the Mandragora soul, and it will turn into a soul that takes quite a while to fly over to you.
Comments: Much like the Sky Fish soul of Aria.  Spend a large amount of MP to temporarily increase INT up to +75 and LUCK up to +18 (increasing stops when you stop holding R down or if you get hit, but the bonus lasts for several seconds).  Possibly useful while soul hunting, which is why I carry it along, but it doesn't seem to make all that much different, oh well.

33. Mini Devil (3) **
A little demon with a big heart.  Appears out of thin air, then attacks by flying around and firing what appear to be blades of wind.
Blue: Summon Mini Devil as a familiar. (5/time)
Where best: In the room with the bells in the Chapel (three rooms to the right of the top save point.  Upon entering the room from the left, you should see two Mini Devils appear.  Make sure you wait for them to fully appear before attacking them.  Just jump at them and swing and that should be it for both of them.
Comments: A decent familiar soul.  Sidenote: be sure to Hippogryph into the leftmost bell and get the Bell special item while you're at it.

34. Quetzalcoatl (9) **
A reincarnation of the ancient snake god.  Though apparently now it has to suffer the indignity of being ridden by a fleaman.  Such is the price of undeath in Dracula's castle.
Blue: Summon Quetzalcoatl as a familiar. (5/time)
Where best: The boss room where you fought Dmitri now has a Quetzalcoatl.  It always bounces toward you no matter which side you enter from.  Throw a Mandragora (#22) from the entry ledge, just a teeny bit of time after entering the room so that it will successfully hit it and not explode too early.  Or for that matter, just swing a weapon with decent range, with almost the same timing, but standing a little to the right.
Comments: When you summon it, it doesn't bounce, but rather flies around you, and a chibi Soma rides it.

35. Treant (1) ***
An ancient tree animated by a purely malevolent will.  Just walks, kicks, and lunge-punches.  Basically, just the Golem, but without the pebble-spitting.
Yellow: Increase MP recovery speed.
Where best: a one-block room in the Garden of Madness, above the entrance from Subterranean Hell.
Comments: Useful if you are out soul-hunting and don't want to wait so long for MP to recover.  Or if you're recovering from a curse.  Or something.  Completely useless with the Chaos Ring, of course.

36. Alamaric Sniper (9) **
A fearsome archer and a fallen angel.  Tries to shoot arrows at you.
Red: Summon an archer to support you. (25/use)
Where best: Dark Chapel, the tall room just to the right of the warp point.  Enter from the right, and toss a Mandragora (#22) once you've seen the arrow fly (indicating the presence of an Alamaric Sniper).  If you wait long enough before throwing your Mandragora, you can also get one or two Ghost Dancers (#31) with it.
Comments: Shoots straight forward, with some delay.  I don't use it much, but it seems rather powerful (more powerful than the Great Axe Armor, when both are at full power), and that you can use more than one at once.  Since you can use it during a jump, you can use it to chain stuff that's not on elevation with you.

37. Valkyrie (1) ***
A female warrior with a pretty face and a wicked heart.  Flies around and lunges at you.
Blue: Transform into a Valkyrie and charge at foes. (30/time)
Where best: Just inside the second chandelier column room from the top, in the Demon Guest House.  Flip between that and the skywalk to the left.  Use the Killer Clown (#45) soul to rapidly repeatedly defeat the Valkyrie on the column room side.
Comments: Basically the Curly (Kali) soul from Aria.

38. Great Armor (1) **
A heavily armored knight built out of the corpses of powerful warriors.  Or do you mean the armor?  I thought The Creature (#25) was built from corpses.  Can walk forwards and backwards slowly, and take any of three actions: swing its sword at you, lift its sword and swing it at you, and stand in a guarded posture to become temporarily invulnerable.
Blue: Summon Great Armor as a familiar. (5/time)
Where best: Go to the Alamaric Sniper (#36) room, and take the top left exit.  There will be two Great Armors in that room.  Destroy them as you wish, but for best results, use Mandragora and zoom in/out with Black Panther.
Comments: Great Armor ghost appears behind you, and attacks every time you attack, effectively doing two attacks at once.  Mildly useful, mainly if you need to really wail on something.

39. Killer Doll (1) ***
A murderous doll that wanders in search of living bodies.  All it does is float slowly or quickly towards you.  It's main trouble is that it can curse you on contact--i.e., rapid MP drain.  (Thank goodness the curse condition isn't as annoying as it was in Symphony or Circle, and you can buy Uncurse Potions from Hammer!)
Yellow: Nullify curses.
Where best: the top "finger room" to the right of the second-from-top "big room" contains two Killer Dolls.  Just throw Aguni (#113) flame at them.  (This is the room right below the passage from the Pinnacle to the Demon Guest House.)
Comments: Ironically, useful when hunting for these things.  Now if only Nathan could access this ability in Circle of the Moon...

40. Waiter Skeleton (3) **
A skeleton that inhabits the castle.  Always carries around a pot of curry.  When you approach it, it'll notice you, throw the curry at you, and then crash into a nearby wall.  You have to kill it before it kills itself.  (It's not as hard as the skeleton medalist from Circle, thankfully.)
Red: Serve delicious curry. (10/use)
Where best: The room in the Silenced Ruins just to the left of the connection to Subterranean Hell.  Throw a mandragora as you walk in from the left, or get down to their level and throw a Larva, or pretty much anything that travels far and fast enough to hit both of them before they throw you their curry and self-destruct.  Rinse and repeat until you get your desired number of souls.
Comments: This soul is REQUIRED to get the Yeti (#29) soul.  Also, as you level up this soul, the plate of food (which is just an object that you throw and it lands on the ground and stays there) grows in size and the contents change (which is a nice graphical touch).  Attacks a bit more slowly than Une (#17) though.  Finally, I should mention that the idea of attacking people with plates of curry is just hilarious.

41. Persephone (3) **
A demonic maid in the employ of an unearthly baron.  Also known as the "ninja maid".  When it senses your presence, it will bow, walk slowly towards you, and then attempt to use martial arts against you.
Blue: Enable "magic vacuum."  Vacuums up enemy HP.
Where best: the lowest of these "finger rooms" in the Demon Guest House, to the right of the "chandelier column".  Enter, toss Mandragora (#22) or Frozen Shade (#70) or Aguni (#113) or even Witch (#42), exit, repeat until you achieve desired number of souls.  Alternatively, do the same thing with the ninja maid just to the left of the bottom left corner of the slider puzzle in the Demon Guest House.
Comments: +2 HP per hit at level 1, +4 HP per hit at level 2, +6 HP per hit at level 3.  Useful for HP recovery as you wander the castle; less powerful but safer and available earlier than Succubus (#86).  Use it to annoy other Persephones as well as Student Witches.  Defeat a Warg (#9) with it and watch as the warg's pieces get sucked into the vacuum.  Some projectiles may also be suckable, such as Killer Clown (#45) cards.

42. Witch (3) **
A spell caster with the ability to cast a wide variety of clever spells.  But it only casts a homing spark spell.  Also, when you kill it, it turns into a cat and poofs at the nearest wall.
Red: Launch magic shots that track targets. (20/use)
Where best: the uppermost "finger room" to the right of the top Demon Guest House big room (the big rooms being the "chandelier column" rooms).  Just toss a Mandragora (#22) there.  Not to mention you can also pick up Student Witch (#12), Lilith (#44), Succubus (#86), and (if you aim right) even Persephone (#41) from that room.
Comments: A very useful homing soul for hitting hard-to-reach enemies.

43. Buer (5) *
A beast with many legs.  Rolls around on these diagonal platforms.
Blue: Wear a cloak of tumbling fire. (10/time)
Where best: The topmost of the vertical rooms on the left side of the Condemned Tower core -- i.e. the one that, if you go left, eventually connects to the Cursed Clock Tower.  Enter this room from the left, and immediately fire off Rycuda (#21) (the zaps are homing and should kill it from the platform you enter the room on), or get onto the slightly lower platform and throw a Mandragora (#22) or a Frozen Shade (#70) (Frozen Shade is more reliable if you are lower-leveled).  That should do it.
Comments: Rotating fireballs surround you; at level 1, there are 2 fireballs; +1 for each level up, up to a max of six.  Can be useful to get the Peeping Eye (#6) soul, as well as for general defense.

44. Lilith (9) **
An alluring demon that deludes its victims with its mystifying beauty.  Moves slowly, except when sometimes dodging a weapon attack or lunging forward to "kiss" you.  If they dodge an attack, they may fall off a platform and onto another.
Yellow: Increases INT.
Where best: Same room as Witch (#42).  Duck and swing a greatsword to only hit the Lilith and the Student Witch (#12) (make sure you're far enough in the room).  Alternatively, you can jump out of/drop back into the bottom chandelier column "big room" in the Demon Guest House.
Comments: +2 INT per soul.

45. Killer Clown (9) **
A creepy jester with murderous intent.  Also a shrewd poker player.  Bounces around slowly and sends three sharpened playing cards flying your way every so often.
Red: Throw cards as weapons. (21/use)
Where best: Immediately to the right of the Demon Guest House warp room.  A variety of weapons are effective against it, though Slogra (#96)'s spear might save time due to its reach.  Just flip between that room and the room to the right.
Comments: REQUIRED to get the good ending.  Also basically a very good knife subweapon.

46. Skelerang (1) **
A skeleton that expertly hurls boomerangs.  ...and rather slowly, actually, though the boomerangs do travel far if you let it get off its attack.
Yellow: Enhance throwing ability.
Where best: Notice that the Garden of Madness is symmetrical.  Find the right-side room that corresponds to the warp room on the left side.  Just to the left of it is a Skelerang directly in your line of sight...and easily targetable with a Killer Clown (#45) card.  Just flip between these two rooms until the desired item and soul have been obtained.
Comments: Seems to make ranged weapons deal 50% more damage.  I never really used such weapons so I never found a use for this.

47. Fleaman (9) **
A sinister little man that leaps about as if he were a flea.  One of the more annoying enemies dating back to Castlevania 1.  However, in this game, they're quite easy to deal with, especially if you have a greatsword weapon that swings through a nice big arc.
Red: Summon Fleaman. (8/use)
Where best: Just turn on a fully-powered Buer (#43) soul, and stand in the room with the Wakwak Tree (#55).  If your Buer soul isn't fully powered, keep on swinging your weapon repeatedly as well.
Comments: Summons a Fleaman, which is just as unpredictable as the monster.  Not a particularly useful soul, though amusing to use.

48. Devil (1) **
Hell's keeper.  Flies around and tries to kick you diagonally from above.
Blue: Enter a pact with the devil to sharply raise STR. (10/time)
Where best: In the middle hallway connecting the two columns of the Demon Guest House.  Enter from the left.  Throw a Malachi (#59) ball in mid-air (or anything else that is slow, can multi-hit, and stays in mid-air) toward the center of the room.  Then walk to the center of the screen to trigger the Devil.  It should just take several hits upon its materializing.  For best results, stay to its left so even if it retreats it will keep taking hits, and try not to kill it above the ceiling (where dropped items might end up inaccessible).
Comments: I never used this.

49. Guillotiner (3) *
Rumored to have chopped off thousands of heads with its bloody guillotine.  It starts flying around when you approach it, and both parts fly separately (but stay in vertical line with each other), and occasionally snap together.  Hit either part to damage it.
Red: Summon a guillotine from hell. (24/use)
Where best: The Pinnacle, the four-block square room beneath the upper save point.  Enter from the top right, and throw a Killer Clown (#45) card (it's conveniently right in line with the doorway).
Comments: Like Warg but with bigger vertical range.  It delivers a short-ranged and slightly delayed but powerful hit when it snaps.  Rather useful for hitting airborne enemies or enemies above you.

50. Draghignazzo (1) ***
One of the guardians of the dungeons of hell.  He is quite the pessimist.  Flies to avoid your attacks, and attacks you by stabbing on a downward diagonal.
Yellow: Raise resistance to flinching upon taking damage.
Where best: Coming into the Condemned Tower from the Chapel, the second room.  Exit/re-enter from the Tower itself.  Use the Axe Armor soul.
Comments: One of the three "diagonal demon" souls, and one of the two that are both rated three stars.  I don't really know how this soul is related to the monster (since very few of them flinch, if any), but this soul is pretty useful if you hate how getting hit causes your character be unable to do stuff.  This might be useful in the shaft with invisible platforms and tons of Ghosts in the lower Wizardry Lab area (though Dead Crusader also takes care of that), as well as against Abaddon, although remember that even though you're not flinching, you can still take massive amounts of damage.

51. Needles (3) **
A giant sea urchin that has been driven close to extinction from over-fishing.  Well, let's drive it closer by grinding it for its soul (or does it really get any closer, since they respawn every time you revisit the room?).  All it does is sit there and get in your way.  Well, Castlevania isn't known for providing realistic modeling of ecosystem dynamics...
Blue: Summon Needles as a familiar. (3/time)
Where best: The little two-block room at the bottom left corner of the BIG room in Subterranean Hell.
Comments: Puts a Needles behind you at level 1, 2 Needles at level 2, and 3 Needles at level 3.  They just follow you around.  I think this is a reference to Gradius, where you could get a powerup that basically stayed several steps behind you, but unfortunately, Needles merely trails you and doesn't attack when you attack.  This might only be useful if you're fighting bosses that that you have to get close to, or ones that you need to run away from.

52. Hell Boar (1) **
A boar from hell with exceptional fighting skills.  Uses uppercuts.
Red: Knock down enemies with power-packed uppercuts.  (15/use)
Where best: A room with many Ghouls (#27) right beneath the Dark Chapel save and warp points.  It's awkwardly located in the middle of the room (so it's suggested you wait until you have Black Panther (#88) if you need to grind this), and you can easily take it out with a powerful and fast soul like Killer Clown (#45).  If you have Black Panther (#88), fire off a Killer Clown (#45) card after you break two candelabra, coming in from either side.
Comments: Very powerful but very short range.  One of the few attacks that can do more than 1 damage to iron golems.  May become more useful with Werewolf (#91).

53. Bone Pillar (9) ***
The skulls of dinosaurs animated by a demonic force.  They behave like traditional bone pillars, shooting fire at you, though they only do this if you're close enough.  They will generally turn to face you, and you can also stand on top of them just fine.
Yellow: Increases CON.
Where best: That room in the far left area of the Demon Guest House, with the insanely large number of bone pillars.
Comments: +2 CON per soul.

54. White Dragon (3) **
The fossilized remains of a long-necked dinosaur animated by a demonic force.  Moves erratically.
Blue: Breathe fire. (15/time)
Where best: One room below Barbariccia (#58).  Use a Mandragora (#22) if you don't feel like waiting.  (For entertainment, use a Slime (#16) if you feel like guessing how many times it'll take the darn slime to actually hit it.)
Comments: Basically the same as Catoblepas (#26) except you instead breathe fire.  Not very useful.

55. Wakwak Tree (9) **
A horrifying tree that can produce pods of men.  Fleamen to be exact.  That's all it does; if you leave it alone long enough it spawns fleamen.  Useful for getting the Fleaman (#47) soul, obviously.
Yellow: Lower STR and raise CON.
Where best: There's only one, and it's in the long room in the Garden of Madness above Dario's boss room.  Flip between this room and the one to the right.  Destroy its branches to kill it.  One Mandragora (#22) should do the trick each time.
Comments: Similar to the Stolas soul, it seems.  And similarly useless, unless you're doing some sort of low-level or no-armor game, I guess.  Also, it drops amanitas, which you can make use of with the Ghoul soul.

56. Imp (1) **
A tiny demon who loves mischief.  Flies around being hard to hit, and occasionally takes control of your character and berserks them.
Red: Create a space that inflicts spiritual damage.
Where best: Immediately to the right of the Cursed Clock Tower warp room.  Throw a Mandragora (#22) upon entering the room.  That timing should get it.
Comments: I have no idea what this does.  Reduces enemy MP?

57. Harpy (3) **
A bizarre bird-like creature with the torso of a woman.  Attacks by swooping at you, throwing the knife held by its feet, and firing feathers at you.
Blue: Summon Harpie [sic] as a familiar. (5/time)
Where best: the long room in the Cursed Clock Tower to the right of the connection between the Clock Tower and The Pinnacle.  Three will approach you immediately when you enter that room from the right.
Comments: It only attacks (by firing feathers downward diagonally) when you do; this kinda sucks.  The attack increases in number of waves of feathers and number of feathers per wave as you level it up.

58. Barbariccia (1) ***
One of the guardians of the dungeons of hell.  One of the "diagonal demons" as I call them, due to diagonal-downward attack patterns (as well as decent aerial dodging of your attacks).
Blue: Transform into Barbariccia. (30/time)
Where best: Two blocks below the Dark Chapel save and warp rooms, there's a hallway filled with Ghouls.  This is in the dungeons part of the Chapel.  Go left to the shaft, and then left again to a single-block room with a Barbariccia.  Jump to kill it with a Killer Clown (#45) card before it can fly outside of the walls.
Comments: Basically the Devil soul from Aria: transform into a giant demon that travels along the ground, destroying everything in its path.  (It says "Transform into Barbariccia"!  Why cant I fly?)

59. Malachi (3) **
A pagan being from ancient times that strikes fear into all its presence.  Can launch a slow-moving ball of dark energy at you, or swipe at you (and telegraphs it).  Generally slow-moving.
Red: Summon a dark sphere that spews dark energy. (33/use)
Where: The room directly above the lower save point of the Pinnacle contains two Malachis.  The best way to deal with them seems to be Disc Armor (#72) -- you can easily get up close each swing will multi-hit a malachi due to its slow speed, though it is costly to use.   Flip between this room and the one to the left (farther from the doorway) or the one below (need to jump, but closer and they face you) -- if you're good with the double-jump, you might not even need to land on the platform below.
Comments: Good for multi-hitting slow targets, especially ones in mid-air...such as the various Demon enemies (such as Devil (#48), Flame Demon (#92), and Arc Demon (#94)).

60. Cave Troll (9) *
A blood-sucking beast that extracts the entrails of cattle with its tongue.  Jumps around and tries to hit you with a long tongue.  Occasionally uses another attack that's more flashy-looking and can hit you several times in a row.
Red: Attack by lashing out the tongue. (8/use)
Where best: One room to the left of Rahab's boss room.  Toss an Aguni (#113) flame from the left side of the room, where it'll knock down the torch (giving you a bit of MP recovery) and kill both the Cave Troll and the Une (#17).
Comments: The tongue grows in length as you level up this soul.  Level 1 is pathetically short, but level 9 is insanely (like half a screen) long.

61. Larva (3) **
A wickedly cruel spirit that inhabits a giant worm.  Well, I don't know about wickedly cruel, but it just seems to wander toward you but just avoid you, generally staying above you.
Red: Summon Larva. (25/use)
Where best: The shaft above the big room in the Silenced Ruins.  You'll know you're in the right place if there's a chair at the bottom.  Flip between this room and the room for the Waiter Skeletons (#40) to the right; tossing a Mandragora at it should easily kill it.
Comments: Summon a Larva that runs forward and slightly downward in a wavy pattern.  Useful for getting the Tombstone (#30) soul and for hitting Dead Mate (#74) without hitting its dog (if you stand up high at the entrance to Dead Mate's room).

62. Heart Eater (9) ***
A horrific bug that loves to feed on hearts.  It'll try to latch onto you and suck your MP, and anytime it hits you it also drains MP.  Kill it, and it'll drop a chain of hearts--useful if you need an MP refill.
Yellow: Obtain more hearts.
Where best: Three of them appear in the hallway connecting the Lost Village underground shafts to the Wizardry Lab -- exit and re-enter through the doorway to the right, and use Black Panther (#88) to rush toward them, and just before going underneath the first one, toss a Mandragora (#22) -- that should get all of them.  (If you need HP, that Great Axe Armor to the left is easily farmed using Succubus (#86).)  One more is also located at the same place as the best place to grind the Mud Demon (#89) soul -- equip the Spin Devil (#10) soul and fire a tornado upwards; the Heart Eater will self-destruct on it automatically.  (You can try to avoid killing the Mud Demon too by stopping your spin quickly.)
Comments: I got this three-star soul without grinding as well, while actually grinding for the Mud Demon soul.  Heck, that's how I discovered that that was one of the best places.  Anyway, this monster is annoyingly erratic, and sometimes hits you after you kill it.

63. Merman (3) *
An aquatic monster that attacks prey near water.  Oddly enough, can shoot fireballs.
Red: Shoot a stream of water. (10/use)
Where best: The room beneath the ghost-lit shaft, in Wizardry Lab 2, contains a bunch of these.  Flip between this room and the one to the left with the water pool and the homunculi (#71).  Use Aguni (#113) or any other floor-crawling red soul ability on them.
Comments: Mermen show up surprisingly late in this game.  the soul ability is also surprisingly useless, considering that it isn't even full-screen length.

64. Fish Head (3) **
The skeletal remains of a fish animated by dark power.  Behaves just like Bone Pillar, except you can't stand on it, and it's only found underwater.
Red: Throw Fish Head's head. (15/use)
Where best: Bottom left corner of the BIG room in Subterranean Hell.  Aguni (#113)/Frozen Shade(#70)/Mandragora (#22) should do the trick quickly.
Comments: A very short-lived and short-ranged holy water variant, without excessive power either.  The only way this soul appears to be useful is the fact that the Fish Head head will travel through walls and hits this very fast.

65. Medusa Head (1) ***
A monster created in great number from the head of Medusa.  Flies across the screen mindlessly in a sinusoidal fashion.  Comes in blue and yellow varieties; blue only damages on contact, but yellow also petrifies on contact, potentially making spikes deadly (damage is multiplied by some number like 2 or 4 when petrified).  Potentially very hazardous in a place filled with spikes and moving platforms (which is where they generally tend to appear), and can obviously interrupt jumps.  They are spawned infinitely from both sides of the screen.
Blue: Become capable of hovering in one location. (10/time)
Where best: basically anywhere in the Cursed Clock Tower.  Use the room to the right of the lower-left save point; there are no yellow ones there and there's a save point in case you get thrown into the spikes.  Especially useful if you're also hunting for money while armed with the Mimic soul (damage yourself for money, lol), in which case you should be in the same area.
Comments: Not particularly useful, but occasionally useful for some bosses that may be in mid-air, such as Menace's heart, or dodging some of Abaddon's patterns.  Unfortunately, while this soul was useful against Balore's second phase in Aria, Balore no longer does that.  This is another three-star soul that I got without grinding, partly because of the large profusion of these monsters.

66. Ukoback (9) **
An enraged demon whose body is engulfed in flames.  Really, now?  I think it's merely carrying a flame in a spoon, which it uses to set fires (which last quite a bit) in mid-air as it flies around.
Red: Set fires. (10/use)
Where best: The room in Subterranean Hell directly above the lowest save room.  Enter from either side.  You can kill it with basically anything, but used a fully-powered Cave Troll tongue-whacking because it was funny and cheap.
Comments: Useful if you want to damage enemies that fly around.  However, your flame disappears once it hits something.  The good thing is that you can set four of these flames at once.  REQUIRED to get the good ending.

67. Killer Fish (3) **
An ancient, man-eating fish.  Rumored to be quite tasty.  Just swims back and forth, unlike its version in Aria which chased you.
Red: Launch torpedoes in water. (10/use)
Where best: Enter, from the left, the very top of the very tall Subterranean Hell room.  In the pool of water are two Killer Fishes.  Kill these with one whack of the Malacoda tail or anything equivalent.  (They take about two hits to kill with a swing of a greatsword.)  Alternatively, launch Killer Fish torpedoes at them, if you have at least one soul.
Comments: A POWERFUL, homing torpedo.  Unfortunately, only usable underwater.  Convenient for grinding for Fish Heads, except you'll probably finish getting 9 of those before you even get close to nine Killer Fish souls.

68. Mimic (1) ***
It assumes the guise of a treasure chest to lure in unsuspecting victims.  However, said guise is blue, whereas the first treasure chest you see is red (and red is the proper color), so the guise doesn't really work.  That said, the mimic doesn't act up until you get close to it or hit it, at which point it starts jumping around (and bouncing a bit after each jump) trying to hit you.  It hits hard.
Yellow: Gain money when taking damage.
Where best: The second "finger room" to the right of the main Demon Guest House column.  You have to have gone through the Pinnacle to get here.  Just equip the Guillotiner (#49) soul, walk in, chomp (doesn't even wake it up before you kill it), walk out, and repeat if you don't have its soul yet.  Alternatively, you could try your luck at it in the Garden of Madness room with the Skeleton Apes (#18) and the Skeleton Farmer (#24), while taking a short break from grinding for either of those three-star souls.
Comments: VERY useful for getting enough money to buy the Soul Eater Ring.  Go to the bottom left save room of the Cursed Clock Tower, pair this soul with the Gold Ring, and start torturing yourself on the spikes in the room to the right; you should get $100 coins or even $500 bags popping out.

69. Dead Pirate (1) **
A zombie pirate cursed by its own greed.  Will take big swings at you with its sword, which cause knockback.
Yellow: May cause greater damage on enemies attacked from behind.
Where best: Just to the left of the save room next to Rahab's boss room, in the Subterranean Hell.  Throw a Mandragora (#22) as you're falling off the entry platform, coming in from the save room (from the right) -- if you time it correctly, you'll hit both pirates.
Comments: Oddly, it doesn't deal more damage to you if you're not facing it.

70. Frozen Shade (3) **
A wraith that manipulates frigid air.  Blows cold air or creates blades of ice that fly at you (even if it's gone).
Red: Create a blade of ice that causes freezing. (25/use)
Where best: Exit the large, tall room in Subterranean Hell at the highest right-side exit, and you'll see two Frozen Shades to your right.  Mandragora (#22) spam, and use the save point nearby to recharge MP if necessary.
Comments: A slower version of Aguni (#113) that doesn't travel as far.  So, basically, another holy water variant.  Also, make that bladeS of ice, and ones that cause DAMAGE, not freezing.

71. Homunculus (9) *
A malevolent, artificial life form created by a demonic scholar.  Attached to a flesh-colored cord of some sort, it will start flailing at you and chasing after you if you come close, restrained only by the length of its cord.  Does something slightly unsettling if you make it chase you.
Red: Summon Homunculus. (8/use)
Where best: Enter, from the left, the middle of the three big rooms in the lower Wizardry Lab area (bottom left of the map).  There are two Homunculi beneath the water.  A Killer Clown (#45) card should take care of each in one hit.
Comments: Summons a baby-like creature with an antenna on its head, which acts like a slow holy water (but not as slow as Zombie).

72. Disc Armor (2) **
An armor-clad soldier that is an expert at throwing giant circular blades.  Throws a nasty rolling blade at you, that takes full advantage of its being located in a place with slopes.  The blade can still hurt you after you defeat the enemy.
Red: Hurl a sharp-edged circular blade. (35/use)
Where best: There's one room in the Condemned Tower where there are two Disc Armors; it's the room on the left side, second room from the bottom vertically.  Flip between the main tower shaft and the top entrance to this room.  Go down to the platform in the middle, face right, throw a Mandragora (#22), and that should do it.  It may be difficult to see if it drops an item.  Best idea is to wait until you also have the Hippogryph and Black Panther souls so that you can do this little drop-down,-zoom-back-up,-exit,-reenter,-repeat loop (it's easier and smoother than it sounds).
Comments: Useful for a quick multi-hit at short range.  Somewhat costly, but powerful.  Good for getting Malachi (#59).

73. Decarabia (9) *
A demon in the shape of a starfish.  Think Buer (#43) in a water area; all it does is roll around.
Red: Hurl a Decarabia. (20/use)
Where best: Just to the right of Rahab's boss room.  IMMEDIATELY as you enter, throw a Killer Clown card; that will catch it before it rolls past.
Comments: A moderately-fast-moving holy water variant that can travel off edges of platforms.

74. Dead Mate (9) *
A zombie that protects graveyards together with its beloved dog.  If you approach it, it calls its dog to run at you; the dog will continue to run back and forth in the room, and the master will walk slowly in your direction.  Hitting the dog will kill it and dispel the zombie (who lets out a sad wail), but NOT count as a kill.  Only killing the master will count as a kill (and also dispel the dog, who stops running and sits down before disappearing).
Red: Summon a dog. (12/use)
Where best: It appears in two two-block rooms in the Silenced Ruins, to the left of the save point and the warp room.  It always starts near the center of a long room, and you have to avoid hitting the dog in front of him, so there's no particularly fast way to defeat it, but thankfully, this is a one-star rarity soul.  The lower room is also a convenient place to grind for the Larva (#61) soul at the same time, but the upper room has Dead Mate sitting alone (before Ghouls (#27) start appearing, of course).  Use the Une (#17) soul, its being smaller than the fully-powered Waiter Skeleton gives it greater chance of hitting Dead Mate but not its dog.  The Larva (#61) soul is also able to hit Dead Mate without hitting its dog, if you position yourself correctly, but unfortunately one hit probably won't do the trick.
Comments: Seems to complement Student Witch (#12), in that that one launches cats, although this dog actually runs back after running forward a bit, and the dog runs faster.

75. Bugbear (1) ***
A single-eyed fiend cloaked in thunderbolts.  Uhh, not really; only its tail is electric.  It behaves identically to Peeping Eye (#6).
Yellow: Gain resistance to lightning.
Where best: In The Pinnacle, one room above the higher save point, there is a room with four of them.  Walk in from the left, walk right up to the first one, and toss a Mandragora.  Repeat until you obtain its soul.
Comments: Most useless soul ever.  Seriously, what uses electric attacks, other than Bugbear and Rycuda?

76. Procel (1) ***
A liquid demon that appears on the surface of water.  Appears and disappears, and sometimes moves, and sometimes sucks things in it seems.
Grey: Increase mobility in water.
Where best: One block right and one block down from the Subterranean Hell warp room.  Drop into this (sorta) big room facing right and drop an Aguni (#113) flame--yes, it works even underwater, and Procel is weak to fire (and lightning).
Comments: Unless you're lucky, this is probably the last grey soul that you'll get.  This lets you walk right through water as if it weren't there.  Would make those Fish Head and Killer Fish souls easier to get, but chances are you already have them by the time you get this.  Too bad it doesn't make it possible to jump into the waterfall, but you can rocket-jump up it anyway.

77. Bone Ark (1) ***
A mobile Bone Pillar.  It is considered an innovative breakthrough.  Hahaha, innovative breakthrough, seems like those bones finally figured something out.  But it's not just a Bone Pillar.  It's quite a bit stronger; it fires these little orbs that go a short distance and become a bigger orb of some crazy crap that stays around for a few seconds.
Blue: Summon a skeleton to provide transportation. (15/time)
Where best: Three Bone Arks can be found to the left of the central save room in Subterranean Hell.  Use Aguni (#113) on them; they're weak to fire.
Comments: This soul, OR Puppet Master (#107) with Skeleton Ape (#18), is REQUIRED to get to the bottom left side of the map.  Other than that, this soul is only good for novelty value.

78. Gorgon (3) ***
A monstrous bull that breathes clouds of toxic gas.  Basically Catoblepas (#26) but breathing toxic gas and being generally more powerful.
Blue: Breathe a toxic gas. (15/time)
Where best: There's only one, and it's in the second two-block hallway to the left of the save point in the Silenced Ruins.  Waiter Skeleton (#40) and Une (#17) seem to work well since it's ground-bound and slow (Waiter Skeleton (#40) is slower but Une (#17) requires you get closer), though Malacoda (#99) is probably the best since you can get a one-hit kill if you stand just past that patch of light-brown carpet.
Comments: About as useful as Catoblepas (#26), and just more difficult to get.

79. Alura Une (9) **
An Une fattened with copious pools of blood.  Looks like an even brighter Une, but then sprouts a huge flower with a nude woman in the middle, who directs plant stalks to attack you around her, and shoots flowers.  Has lots of HP.
Blue: Summon Alura Une as a guardian. (10/time)
Where best: There's only one, and it's located in the long room beneath the central save room in Subterranean Hell.  Use Black Panther (#88) to flip in and out from the right, and toss Waiter Skeleton's (#40) curry at it as it rises from the ground.  It won't even have a chance.  You'll also end up grinding for Une (#17) souls because they're in the way, so you really don't need to grind for those.
Comments: Three tentacles extend outward to attack things if you have this soul activated.  However, you can't move.  Meh.

80. Great Axe Armor (9) ***
An armor-clad soldier that mows down its victims with a massive axe.  It takes a few steps, swings its axe from behind it to its front, and then repeats.  You can crouch right in front of it for a safe spot.  Has a lot of HP.
Red: Perform a swinging sweep with a huge axe. (60/use)
Where best: There's one inside the Condemned Tower before Gergoth wrecks the place, but it's not worth the time to grind for it before you defeat Gergoth.  (That said, where does it go when Gergoth does wreck the place?)  Instead, wait until later, preferably after you get the Soul Eater Ring, especially if you plan on grinding to level this up all the way, since it's a three-star soul.  There's another one in a left-side room about halfway up the Condemned Tower, and you should grind there.  Especially if you boost your INT and LUCK using Flying Humanoid (#32), you should be able to take it down in about two hits with a fully powered Waiter Skeleton (#40) curry attack or just one Mandragora (#22) (one or a few more hits if you don't have your INT boosted).
Comments: Wow, a super-rare soul that's a level /9 soul.  There aren't that many of them.  Seems like this is the analogue of the Red Minotaur soul from Aria.

81. Mothman (1) *
Half man, half moth.  It appears to be attracted to light.  Merely flies around (occasionally stopping), once it appears.
Yellow: Gain more experience points.
Where best: It's only available in one place, a room in the Pinnacle with two Final Guards (#98), and a funny-looking machine.  Use the Rycuda (#21) soul's electric zap to turn on the machine, and a light will start shining, and suddenly, the Mothman will appear.  Defeat it, and if it doesn't drop the soul, repeat.  Note that it's probably a good idea to kill at least one if not both of the Final Guards (#98) as well.
Comments: If you're already grinding for souls, chances are you probably don't need the extra experience points.

82. Mushussu (9) **
A furious beast from ancient Babylonia.  Attacks just like Manticore (#19), but the tail hit, instead of poisoning, petrifies (making it more dangerous).  And it's just overall a stronger monster.
Blue: Grow a poisonous tail. (5/time)
Where best: See Alastor (#100).  You should grind for both monsters at the same time.
Comments: I'm not sure why this (which has a petrifying tail) causes you to grow a poisonous tail, while Manticore (which has a poisonous tail) just gives you a tail.

83. Dead Crusader (1) ***
A zombie warrior bearing a sturdy shield.  A generally irritating enemy since it blocks any attack from you when you're in range.
Yellow: Reduce the amount of damage from attacks.
Where best: The left-side big room in the Pinnacle.  Enter from below, with Alastor (#100) activated.  Use Hippogryph jump to go up to a platform where you can barely see the Dead Crusader.  It is too stupid to defend against your Alastor familiar; let it swing itself and in a few hits the Dead Crusader is actually dead.  If it drops nothing, drop down to the lower room and then zoom-jump back up.
Comments: Kinda useful, though (especially while soul-hunting) there's usually a more useful thing to put there instead.

84. Dead Warrior (1) ***
A dead knight that seeks to fight for all eternity.  Runs methodically back and forth across a pretty wide span on its horse.
Yellow: Use Bullet-type souls while executing standard attacks.
Where best: In the Pinnacle, the room to the right of the warp point.  Reveal the hidden room on the left side beneath this room, and flip between this room and the hidden room.  Toss Slogra spears or Mandragoras at the Dead Warrior to the right.
Comments: This soul apparently lets you interrupt a weapon attack with a soul usage.  I'm not sure how that's particularly useful, but if you like smooth controls or are speedrunning I guess this might help.  However, for the yellow soul slot, I usually put a more useful soul, such as Ghost Dancer while soul- or item-hunting, and the Dead Crusader soul otherwise.

85. Erinys (1) ***
The goddess of revenge.  Rushes horizontally with sword, and sprays feathers.
Red: Unleash divine energy that causes widespread damage. (45/use)
Where best: Enter the room below the Abyss warp point from above.  There is an Erinys right there.  Throw Mandragora (#22) at her.  You may also want to grind this soul when you're working on Stolas (#97), as it summons these.
Comments: This is one of the three-star souls that I got without grinding.  This soul is useful for getting the Arc Demon (#94) soul.

86. Succubus (1) **
A demon that assumes the form of a beautiful maiden to draw vitality.  Behaves like Lilith (#44).  May be disguised as Yoko, in which case she'll kick you if you walk past.
Red: Regain HP by drinking blood. (25/use)
Where best: There are a row of Succubi two rooms to the left of the lower save room in the Pinnacle.  In fact, they're all pretending to be Yoko (guess how well that disguise works when there's a ton of them), but they won't even do anything unless you run into them or hit them.  Which means they're sitting ducks that can be killed in one hit with high-damage attacks, such as a Bomber Armor (#14) bomb or a Mandragora (#22) (the latter of which is definitely more efficient, but grinding this enemy is a good use for Bomber Armor (#14) if you really want to play with it, and if your level is too low, the Mandragora might not do at least about 178 or so damage).  The succubus soul itself is also quite effective.
Comments: Turns out to be a very powerful soul, though you have to be at pretty darn close range to use it.  Also, you move forward slightly with each use.

87. Ripper (3) **
A fiend that takes great pleasure in slaughtering people with knives.
Red: Throw knives. (5/use)
Where best: There's a crowd of four of them in the four-block hallway beneath the Abyss save point near the entrance.  Enter from the top, not from the left (which will net you an additional two Flame Demons to deal with).  Because they're so erratic, it's hard to specify anything other than Mandragora to hit them (and even so that's not a sure bet); I just sat there, crouched, and swung my greatsword weapon over and over again and waited for them to self-destruct on my blade.
Comments: This is the "real" knife subweapon, it's way cheaper than Killer Clown (#45) too, and it also goes through enemies too (unlike Killer Clown).  Too bad you don't get this until very late game.

88. Black Panther (1) *
A jet-black beast that runs with great speed.  Just runs at you, that's pretty much it.  It's main defense is that its realy hard to spot.
Blue: Move at high speed while creating a shock wave. (3/time)
Where best: the lowest room in The Abyss's lower right block.  Unfortunately, it's still in the middle of the room, but at least it's not the other one that's guarded by an Iron Golem (#101).  Flame Demon (#92) can be useful to help get this.
Comments: Just like the Black Panther soul in Aria; hold R to dash.  Makes traveling a breeze.  Very awesome because of that.  Can make grinding many enemies much faster, such as Peeping Eye (#6).

89. Mud Demon (1) **
A good-looking demon formed out of dirt.  Okay, I don't think it's that good looking.  But it does come out of the ground, and usually has a very small window during which it can be hit.  During that time, it may move forward a bit.  And then all it does is retract into the sand, and repeat this process several seconds later.
Grey: Prevent loss of mobility even in sand.
Where best: the room above the Hippogryph soul.  Jump up to that platform at the bottom, right above the Hippogryph room.  Then use the fully-powered Spin Devil (#10) soul to kill the Mud Demon repeatedly.  (See, it's useful for something!)  You can also do this in the room right above the "connection room" from this Abyss area to the lower left Abyss area.  However, the location I cited also has a Heart Eater (#62) hanging around; you might also pick up its soul on an outside chance, or use the hearts it drops as an MP refill.
Comments: Barely useful for anything.  Just that little earth-themed area of The Abyss, really.

90. Giant Slug (1) ***
A gigantic mollusk with an equally huge shell.  Just moves slowly towards you, trying to poison you by touch.
Yellow: Nullify poison.
Where best: The Abyss, lower right section, the two-block room near the top.  Double-jump up through to the top room to reset this room quickly.
Comments: Not particularly useful, unless you need help fighting monsters that poison (such as this one, heh).  However, it does make it possible to just keep jumping and whacking at Menace's heart, as well as Gergoth's entrails (if you can figure out whether petrifying or poison gas is going to come at you, and change in time).

91. Werewolf (1) **
A madman that can transform into a savage wolf.  Attacks in a variety of ways -- projectile punches, rushing, short punches, dashes...a generally annoying enemy.
Blue: Perform short dashes. (15/time)
Where best: The two-block vertical room just right of and below the big room in the Pinnacle (and just to the right of the Mothman (#81) room).  Most attacks fail to defeat werewolves in one hit (even Mandragora (#22) and kicked Yorick (#23)) and Abaddon (#115) doesn't home in on them very well...but turns out Succubus (#86) will, at a decent endgame level, take them out in one hit; use Black Panther (#88) to get close to the one on the bottom first and then deliver the kiss of death.  Thankfully, you only need to collect one of these souls to get the full effect (though if you want their rare item, be prepared to grind).  Note that they still get to finish their attack and might hit you even if you've depleted their HP.
Comments: Apparently, this soul is meant to be used in conjunction with the Slaughterer (#13) and Hell Boar (#52).

92. Flame Demon (1) **
A fire-wielding demon born in the fiery pits of the underworld.  Flies to get above you, and throws fireballs diagonally downward.
Red: Shoot devastating fireballs. (25/use)
Where best: The square room directly below the lower save point of The Pinnacle.  Enter from above; once you drop down you'll trigger a flame demon.  There's an incredibly lazy way to do this: stand a little bit to its left (not too far or it'll fly off), and serve it a Waiter Skeleton's (#40) plate of curry.  If you do it right, it will haplessly try to throw a fireball at you and miss completely...and succumb to the curry in a few hits.  Alternately, you may get this soul when you're working on Stolas (#97), as it summons these (though less often than it summons Erinyses).
Comments: A pretty fast, decently wide, and quite powerful fireball.

93. Tanjelly (1) ***
A jelly-like monster that is resistant to physical attacks.  Has the same attack patterns as Slime (#16), but poisons and deals more damage on contact, slithers faster, and has more HP.
Yellow: Gain resistance to physical attacks.
Where best: Same room as Slime (#16), but enter from the top right, and (of course) throw a Mandragora (#22).
Comments: I got this three-star soul (two of them, actually) just while going through the Mine of Judgement.

94. Arc Demon (1) ***
Uses the powers of darkness to wreak havoc upon the world.  Swoops at you and conjures several white clouds of something that rush at you.  Has LOTS of HP.
Yellow: Gain resistance against dark spells and attacks.
Where best: Right at the entrance to The Abyss.  Save point to the left.  If you have Erinys (#85), it is useful to stand on the lower platform next to it, trigger it to appear, then spam Erinys.  I think that's the only Arc Demon.  Thank goodness Stolas (#97) doesn't summon these.
Comments: Maybe vaguely useful soul?  Not particularly interesting though.

95. Gaibon (3) **
A fiend that serves the Grim Reaper.  It can spit fire while flying.  It behaves just like its Symphony of the Night instance, but without the landing part.  Yes, if you hit for enough damage it will turn red and shoot more fire faster.
Blue: Summon Gaibon as a familiar. (5/time)
Where best: Teleport into the Mine of Judgement, go right two rooms, up one room height, and right two rooms, and you'll find an easily repeat-kill-able Gaibon.
Comments: It notices enemies and lets out a growl, then rushes at them.

96. Slogra (9) *
A fiend that serves the Grim Reaper.  It fights on the ground with a spear.  Yep, like it's Symphony incarnation, it stabs with and shoots things from its spear, and after being hit, it loses the spear and tries to stab you with its beak.
Red: Throw spears. (20/use)
Where best: In the room just to the left of the ideal Gaibon (#95) location, there are a pair of Slogras.  You can hit both of them at the same time with a Great Axe Armor (#80) swing or a Mandragora (#22).
Comments: Throws spears in a forward/downward arc, like that first soul you got back in Aria.

97. Stolas (9) ***
A wise, old creature said to have considerable intelligence.  All it does is summon Erinyses (#85) and Flame Demons (#92).  Has lots of HP.  Be careful not to let it crowd you.
Yellow: Raise INT and lower STR.
Where best: There are only two, both in The Abyss, one in the lower left (blue background group and one in the lower right (space background) group.  The second one is easier to deal with because there's no Erinys behind it, so go for that one, flipping between that room and the one below (the ledge in the room below is actually a safe spot).  Doesn't seem to be any non-messy way to get this...Une (#17) can deal some quick damage to this rarely-moving enemy, but if you really need to grind -- given its distance from a save point -- you might as well just use Succubus (#86); a few bites should finish it off (without killing the Erinyses (#85) and Flame Demons (#92) it summons, too) and hopefully give you more HP than you started with.
Comments: Similar to the Wakwak Tree (#55) soul.  See comments there.  However, instead of amanitas, it drops mana prisms.  And this soul is rarer, and the monster is way stronger, making it more of a pain to get.

98. Final Guard (1) ***
A powerful armored soldier given the task of guarding the castle's key spots.  Activates when you approach.  Does one of the following actions, at any time, separated by taking two steps either back or forward: slams ground with sword creating shockwaves backward and forward, shoots shield forward, swings sword downward, prepares and swings sword downward hard.  However, you can often fly through its sword...
Blue: Gain iron-clad defense. (60/time)
Where best: There are only four of them, three in The Pinnacle (the room where you can get Mothman (#81) and the room near the top with the three treasure chests), and one in The Abyss.  As with Iron Golem (#101), there's no fast way of dealing with them, other than using multi-hit attacks from behind.  The best setup is probably one soulset that has Bat Company (#111) to fly behind it, and another of Rycudda (#21) which multihits, Corpseweed (#28) or Great Armor (#38) for extra hits, and Ghost Dancer (#31) for its luck bonus.  Fly behind it and then switch soulsets and turn on Corpseweed, then wail on it with a fast-hitting weapon.  Repeat until you get the soul, and as with Iron Golem, you'll thank the game that it's a level /1 soul.  If you need HP, a risky way of replenishing it would be to use Succubus (#86) on the Final Guard from behind, but beware when it steps backward...
Comments: This soul's ability is that you can't move, but NOTHING hurts you.  Not particularly useful, but if you just don't want to dodge some enemy attacks, this is useful.  Or if some nasty crap stands between you and a save point, and you have no healing items.  However, I doubt you'll get this before getting the Soul Eater Ring, and by that time chances are you'll probably have gotten tired of grinding and actually gone and beaten the game...

99. Malacoda (1) **
A long-tailed demon that serves as the head of the dungeon guardians.  One of the "diagonal demons", it attacks by stabbing along a downward diagonal, and also enjoys evading you.
Red: Attack with a tail. (15/use)
Where best: The same place as Black Panther (#88), but going between that hallway and the next one up.  Use Mandragora (#22) or Flame Demon (#92); that goes through the wall so you don't have to go all the way around.
Comments: This seems quite powerful, even if a bit weird-looking.

100. Alastor (3) **
A possessed sword driven to seek revenge by souls of slain soldiers.  Occasionally flashes its "body", but only the sword is can be hit.  It will swing the sword forward occasionally, or simply float toward you.  It is quite powerful and has lots of HP.
Blue: Summon Alastor as a familiar. (5/time)
Where best: Tends to appear in the middle of the room, so it's hard to get to it.  I grinded for this soul at the same time as Mushussu (#82) in the same room as that for Guillotiner (#49), but entering it from below.  If you do it right, three Guillotiner (#49) chops should take care of both the Alastor and the Mushussu (#82).
Comments: Summons an Alastor sword, but alas, it isn't as big.  It will sense enemies and then swing itself toward them.  Useful for grinding Dead Crusader (#83).

101. Iron Golem (1) ***
A golem with impenetrable durability.  It has no known weaknesses.  Just walk towards you and occasionally kicks, lunge-punches, and breathes fire.
Blue: Transform into an invincible Iron Golem. (30/time)
Where best: Wizardry Lab 2, just to the left of the top of the ghost-lit shaft; enter from the right, OR the top left corner finger room of the right-side column of big rooms in the Demon Guest House.  Almost every hit deals 1 damage, so just ignore power and go for damage speed with this thing.  Use the Waiter Skeleton (#40) or Homunculus (#71) red soul, Corpseweed (#28) or Great Armor (#38) or Death (#114) for your blue soul, and Ghost Dancer (#31) since you're soul-hunting.  Strategy is similar as with Final Guard (#98), except that Rycuda (#21) does not multi-hit it.  First, throw a Puppet Master (#107) puppet to get behind it (or fly over it with Bat Company (#111), or attempt to dash over it using Black Panther (#88) and jumping, but dashing over it is kinda dangerous).  Then, hit it with your weapon as you wait for it to back up as far as it'll go, and then spam Waiter Skeleton (#40) while you make sure Corpseweed (#28) is facing it or Needles is positioned to hit it.  Faster weapons may be helpful.
Alternative strategy: Stand in the doorway on the right and use fully-charged Skull Archer (#8) soul hits.  You'll need to hit it a few times to deal that full 50 HP worth of damage.  Fully-charged hits should do well more than 1 damage, though.  That, or throw several Abaddon (#115) attacks at it; the size of the target guarantees several hits per attack.  Imp (#56) may help.
Comments: Once you get it, you'll thank the fact that it's only a level /1 soul.

102. Flying Armor (1) (guaranteed)
A sinister cape-clad figure that hovers in the air.  Attacks by twirling its two gigantic swords around, as well as throwing them.
Blue: Reduce the speed of falling. (5/time)
Where best: Lost Village, Flying Armor boss room.  Defeat Flying Armor (boss).
Comments: Useful until you get the double-jump.  Unfortunately, not much in this game can be accomplished using the double-jump and slow-fall together.  Also becomes completely useless once you get the ability to fly.  Sidenote: You can see the Flying Armor's actual armor and swords in the background of the next room over.

103. Balore (1) (guaranteed)
A demon with a fear-inducing gaze.  Attacks using an upward punch, two forward punches, a downward punch (more like pound), and a NASTY EYE LASER.
Grey: Touch the Touch Screen to shatter certain blocks.
Where best: Wizardry Lab, Balore boss room.  Defeat Balore (boss).
Comments: Meh.  Only useful because they put these funny ice blocks in the game that can only be destroyed via the touch screen.  And they don't actually hide anything interesting either, unfortunately; they're just obviously in the way either left/right or up/down.  The only cool thing is that they can be selectively shattered to make platforms however you like.

104. Malphas (1) (guaranteed)
A black demon that is accompanied by crows.  Shoots feathers and energy balls in interesting patterns.
Grey: Execute a double jump.
Where best: Chapel, Malphas boss room.  Defeat Malphas (boss).
Comments: Probably the single most useful soul, probably paralleling or even exceeding the ability to fly.  Not only can it be used to explore the castle, it can also be used to dodge enemy attacks and navigate various environments.

105. Dmitrii (0) (none?)
He can learn the abilities of others.  He is one of the dark lord's candidates.  Simply tries to dodge physical attacks, while copying any bullet and ability souls that you use to hit him.
None: no soul.
Where best: Chapel, Dmitrii boss room.  Defeat Dmitrii (boss).
Comments: You get something from him.  It's a plot point.

106. Dario (0) (none)
A man with inflammatory powers.  He is one of the dark lord's candidates.  Attacks with various fire-based attacks, and can teleport.
None: no soul.
Where best: Garden of Madness and Pinnacle, Dario boss rooms.  Defeat Dario (boss).
Comments: You get nothing from this punk.

107. Puppet Master (1) (guaranteed)
The cursed king of dolls.  It controlls dolls and the dimensions.  Attacks by summoning little flying dolls, and by creating a doll body of Soma, trapping it in an iron maiden, and switching it with Soma, causing massive damage (avoid this by destroying said doll body).
Red: Throw a puppet and switch places with it. (5/use)
Where best: Demon Guest House, Puppet Master boss room.  Defeat Puppet Master (boss).
Comments: Useful for those rather contrived "walls with holes too small to walk through but too high to slide through, but that's about it for navigation usefulness.  Will be superseded in this regard by the bat soul.  Also slightly useful for getting behind bosses and other large enemies.  Combine with Skeleton Ape (#18) soul to throw puppet farther, making this one of the ONLY TWO WAYS to get past the spiked water room in Subterranean Hell (and thus access Wizardry Lab 2) -- the other way being Bone Ark (#77).

108. Rahab (1) (guaranteed)
A monster that dominates the seas.  Moves around erratically underwater, and sometimes surfaces to drop an arc of ice shards or by charging upward vertically.  Sometimes creates ice platforms on water surface.
Grey: Gain the ability to move underwater.
Where best: Subterranean Hell, Rahab boss room.  Defeat Rahab (boss).
Comments: Third most useful soul, behind flying ability and double-jump.  Grants ability to access all watery areas, pretty much.  And you don't need to switch it in just to do that, as was the case in Aria of Sorrow.  (You don't get water-walking in this game, unfortunately, but oh well.)  The only time you might need to turn it off is to cross the spiked water room in Subterranean Hell without the Bone Ark soul.

109. Gergoth (1) (guaranteed)
Imprisoned in solitude long ago, it gradually grew evil and demented.  A gigantic decaying bipedal dinosaur-like thing that basically crowds you in a tiny room atop the Condemned Tower.  Can "exhale" (the wrong way, *shudder*) petrifying or poisonous gas, jump across the room, suck, lunge-bite downward, and fire a big laser (Balore isn't the only one who can do this, nor is shoop the whoop).  General strategy involves crouching next to its feet and attacking.  Halfway through the battle, it will destroy the platform it's on and you and it will fall to the very bottom of the tower.
Blue: Fire a devastating laser beam. (30/time)
Where best: Condemned Tower, Gergoth boss room(s).  Defeat Gergoth (boss).
Comments: Probably the replacement for the beam skeleton.  Not particularly useful due partly to MP cost and partly to the fact that many enemies don't stay in one place or aren't hittable with just a laser of about Soma's height.

110. Zephyr (1) (guaranteed)
A demon with mastery over time.  Throws knives, dashes at you to slash you, diagonal-drops on you while throwing a knife, defends itself by stopping time if you attack it sometimes, and stops time to drop an arc of knives over you.
Red: Stop time. (80/use)
Where best: Cursed Clock Tower, Zephyr boss room.  Defeat Zephyr (boss).
Comments: REQUIRED to enter the Silenced Ruins.  Otherwise, useful if you are tired of dealing with Medusa Heads in the Cursed Clock Tower, or other small enemies.  Unfortunately, it fails on larger enemies.

111. Bat Company (1) (guaranteed)
A group of bats that thinks and acts as one.  Transforms into a giant bat shape that flies toward you and stops intermittently, a giant hand that tries to hold you to deliver two consecutive hits, and a Moai head that shoots little rings at you (Gradius/Parodius, anyone?).
Blue: Transform into a bat and fly. (15/time)
Where best: Silenced Ruins, Bat Company boss room.  Defeat Bat Company (boss).
Comments: Second-most useful soul; obviously allows access to many areas.  Also, can be used to avoid attacks of certain bosses.  Also, the boss is a pain, despite its silly name.  I guess the developers just got tired of Giant Bats (they already expressed this sentiment through Balore in Aria).

112. Paranoia (1) (guaranteed)
A foul fiend that nests inside mirrors.  First fights you in its small form, where it'll walk around, attempt to stab you, and occasionally retreat to the mirror to fire one round of reflecting lasers around the room's mirrors.  Then it fights you in its large form, where it'll float around, attempt to stab you from above, and occasionally retreat to the mirror to fire two rounds of reflecting lasers around the room's mirrors.  Watch the order of mirror flashes to see how the laser will travel.
Red: Gain the ability to enter mirrors. (10/use)
Where best: Demon Guest House, Paranoia boss rooms.  Defeat Paranoia (boss) both times.
Comments: REQUIRED to get the medium and good endings.  Also allows you to get items hidden behind mirrors in several rooms around the castle.

113. Aguni (1) (guaranteed)
A being that is the embodiment of fire.  This boss is BIG.  Attacks include disappearing and reappearing with a huge wave of fire, shooting intermittent traveling fires onto the ground, three consecutive handsmacks on the ground, and dashing back and forth.
Red: Create a pillar of fire that races across the ground. (24/use)
Where best: Pinnacle, Dario second boss room, inside mirror (use Paranoia (#112)).  Defeat Aguni (boss).
Comments: Probably the best traveling holy water variant, because it travels quite far quite fast (though slower ones may deal more damage).  Useful for getting a lot of the souls, including the rare Procel (#76).

114. Death (1) (guaranteed)
Dracula's confidant.  Has two phases; first phase attacks include chasing after you and swinging the scythe twice, throwing the scythe which will explode into small sickles, and creating images of itself that slash the ground; second phase attacks include disappearing and appearing behind you trailing you with an attack, causing three sickles to appear randomly while swinging its scythe around like a boomerang, and summoning giant skulls to bite you from both sides.
Blue: Summon the Grim Reaper's scythe to attack enemies. (10/time)
Where best: Mine of Judgement, Death boss room.  Defeat Death (boss).
Comments: Actually, summon sickles, the ones that traditionally randomly appear all the time as you battle Death.  Same as the Aria soul, basically.  Kinda surprising that Death in this game doesn't abuse that tactic.

115. Abaddon (1) (guaranteed)
The master of pestilent locusts from the deep abyss of the underworld.  Dressed like an orchestra conductor, he directs locusts to attack by making patterns using his baton, in between hopping around.  Memorizing the patterns and reacting quickly to what he orders are keys to survival in this battle.
Red: Summon a cloud of locusts to swarm foes. (40/use)
Where best: The Abyss, Abaddon boss room.  Defeat Abaddon (boss).
Comments: One of the more useful souls, since the locusts home in on the enemy and deal many hits before flying off.  Kinda expensive though.  But worth using in the final battle (which is what I did).  In any case, this is probably the coolest boss fight in the game (Death is more awesome, but this one's more cool).

116. Menace (0) (none)
A humongous amalgamation of powerful demons.  First phase attacks by stabbing from below and above and crowding with poison breath.  Second phase attacks by sending out pods, crowding you into a corner, kicking, stomping, punching, and stabbing.
None: No soul.
Where best: The Abyss, Menace boss room.  Defeat Menace (boss).
Comments: Beat Menace to get the best ending.  Kind of a boring boss fight, unfortunately.

No#. Doppelganger (NA) (guaranteed)
No bestiary description.  But the monster is technically used as a plot point in late game.
Grey: Switch souls and equipment using the X button.
Where best: The central big room in the Garden of Madness, top of the room.  In a soul container.
Comments: Very useful (and easy to find, too!).  I usually keep on hand a set of equipment for progressing the game (usually, strong defense and offense, flying ability soul, and one of several "knife", "holy water", or "cross" souls (i.e. ones that act like those traditional Castlevania subweapons)), and one set of equipment for gathering souls (three 7s armor, the best luck accessory I have which is either Rare Ring or Soul Eater Ring if I have enough money, Ghost Dancer enchant soul for luck increase, and Flying Humanoid soul for artificial luck increase).  It might also be useful to switch between different soulsets to switch your subweapon (e.g. flipping between Killer Clown and Une).

No#. Hippogryph (NA) (guaranteed)
No bestiary description.
Grey: Press up + L to jump higher.
Where best: the upper left section of The Abyss, the two-block lower room in the second column from the left.  Find it in a soul container beneath the quicksand.
Comments: Very useful, for saving MP by using this instead of the Bat Company soul, for avoiding enemy attacks, and for traveling quickly in general.

========

Any comments, questions, or concerns?  Please send a note to glennmagusharvey (at) gmail (dot) com .

The game content is copyright of Konami; all other content of this FAQ is copyright of Glenn Magus Harvey.  This FAQ was begun and mostly written in 2008, and finished in 2014, by Glenn Magus Harvey.

Special thanks to UltimaterializerX for the Bestiary and MrPaladin for the Soul FAQ at GameFAQs; they were very helpful to the making of this FAQ, especially picking up the game again after a six-year hiatus.