Quick Answer

Castlevania Belmont’s Curse has three endings. The Bad Ending follows the Clock Tower trap, while the Normal Ending comes from defeating Dracula without removing his curse. For the True Ending, find and attack the four Bells of Virtue, complete the Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Courage encounters, defeat Shadow Rose, and face Dracula with Rose’s curse under control.

How to Get All 3 Endings in Castlevania Belmont’s Curse

Defeating Dracula does not necessarily mean Rose has ended his curse. Belmont’s Curse separates the apparent victory at the Clock Tower, the defeat of Dracula’s physical form, and the final attempt to stop the darkness that allows him to return.

The difference becomes clear when Rose discovers The Prophecy. It connects the Bells of Virtue to overcoming the darkness within herself. Those are not merely references to the story: four enormous bells can be found and struck to enter the corresponding Virtue encounters.

If you want the True Ending, your goal is not simply to arrive at Dracula with stronger equipment. You need to complete the four Virtues and overcome Shadow Rose before the final confrontation.

All Three Endings and What Triggers Them

• Bad Ending — Belmont’s fall: Continue into the Clock Tower trap and reach the false victory.
• Normal Ending — The hunt goes on: Defeat Dracula in the later final battle, but his curse survives.
• True Ending — Curse lifted: Complete the four Bells of Virtue and Shadow Rose, then defeat Dracula and lift the curse.

You can recognize the outcome from what happens after the confrontation. In the Normal Ending, Dracula’s body is defeated but his curse survives. In the True Ending, Rose uses the power of her completed cards to confront the curse itself.

How to Get the Bad Ending

The Bad Ending takes place during the Clock Tower trap, before the later confrontation with the real Dracula.

As Rose approaches the enormous clock, Leon notices that something is wrong. He warns her to turn back, while her companions question whether her desire for revenge is making her vulnerable.

What Happens If You Continue?

Continuing through the trap leads Rose to believe that she has defeated Dracula.

The victory is false. Death reveals that Rose was deceived and that the time she spent inside the trap allowed Trevor Belmont’s blood to restore Dracula’s power.

This leads to Belmont’s fall, the Bad Ending.

It is important not to confuse this sequence with the actual final Dracula fight. The Bad Ending is a consequence of the trap, not the result of completing the later multi-stage confrontation against Dracula.

The enormous clock at this point is also not one of the four Bells of Virtue. Those bells belong to the separate progression that leads toward the True Ending.

How to Get the Normal Ending

The Normal Ending follows the later journey through Dracula’s Castle, after Rose has continued beyond the earlier trap and confronted the enemies standing between her and Dracula.

During that journey, Rose fights Death again. Unlike the encounter in the Catacombs, the later battle ends with Rose defeating him and continuing toward the final confrontation.

If you are still approaching the castle from Paris, follow the route in How to Reach Dracula’s Castle.

Defeat Dracula and His Transformed Form

The final battle does not end when Dracula’s first form falls. Rose must continue fighting after his transformation.

After the second stage, she succeeds in defeating his body. But Dracula explains that his curse can continue spreading through humanity even without him.

Rose cannot eliminate that darkness yet. Her mother’s Tarot Cards protect her from the immediate danger, allowing her to survive, but the curse remains.

This is the Normal Ending, associated with The hunt goes on.

If you reached this ending, you have not missed a secret attack against Dracula. The missing progression concerns Rose herself: the four Cardinal Virtues and the confrontation with her own darkness.

How to Get the True Ending

The True Ending follows the clues in The Prophecy. It requires Rose to progress beyond defeating enemies and begin overcoming the curse that has followed her since birth.

The complete route is:

1. Find the four large Bells of Virtue.
2. Attack each bell to make it ring and enter its corresponding Virtue encounter.
3. Complete the encounters for Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Courage and receive all four Blessings.
4. Face and defeat Shadow Rose.
5. Continue through the encounter with Rose’s mother and return to the final Dracula confrontation.

The crucial interaction is easy to overlook: the bells must be struck. Merely finding one or standing next to it does not complete the corresponding Virtue.

What Does The Prophecy Mean?

The Prophecy explains that the Bells of Virtue must ring and humanity must overcome its Self before the cursed darkness can be lifted.

This gives you two practical objectives. First, complete the four bell encounters and receive their Blessings. Then confront the Self that the prophecy mentions.

The latter points toward Shadow Rose, while the four bells lead to Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Courage.

How to Ring the Four Bells of Virtue

Each Cardinal Virtue has its own enormous hanging bell.

These are physical objects found during exploration, not options selected from the Tarot menu. When you locate one, attack the bell until it rings. Ringing it takes Rose into the corresponding Virtue scene, where she must complete that encounter to receive the Blessing.

One example is the bell associated with Prudence.

In this chamber, the bell hangs between spike-covered walls. The useful landmark is the enormous bell itself rather than an ordinary chest, door, or small interaction marker.

Once the bell rings, proceed into the Virtue scene and finish its challenge.

The four Blessings are granted by different characters:

• Prudence: Eleanor
• Justice: Saint Louis
• Temperance: Ferryman
• Courage: Joan

Finding the chapel associated with the Cardinal Virtues does not automatically mean you have completed all four. Check the actual Blessing rewards rather than relying on whether you have already explored the surrounding rooms.

Prudence: Ring the Bell and Receive Eleanor’s Blessing

The Prudence encounter concerns judgment and the ability to learn from mistakes.

Find the corresponding hanging bell and strike it to enter the encounter. After completing the challenge, Eleanor recognizes Rose’s growing wisdom and grants the Blessing of Prudence.

The confirmation is Eleanor’s Blessing dialogue. Reaching the bell chamber or entering the encounter is not the same as completing it.

Justice: Receive the Blessing from Saint Louis

The Justice encounter is associated with Saint Louis.

After ringing its bell and completing the challenge, Rose is tested on the distinction between justice and vengeance.

Justice is about restoring balance, while vengeance comes from anger and the desire to punish. This distinction is important to Rose because her determination to avenge her family has repeatedly placed her at risk of giving in to Dracula’s curse.

The encounter concludes when Saint Louis grants the Blessing of Justice.

Temperance: Complete the Ferryman’s Encounter

Temperance is tied to patience, self-control, and keeping strong emotions in balance.

The Ferryman grants this Blessing. This is the same mysterious figure Rose encounters during the journey away from the Catacombs, but receiving his help earlier in the story does not replace the later Virtue encounter.

Find and strike the Temperance bell, complete the encounter, and continue until the Ferryman awards the Blessing of Temperance.

Temperance is especially relevant to Rose’s final confrontation. Recognizing her anger is not enough; she needs to prevent it from controlling her actions.

Courage: Defeat Joan Again

The Courage encounter brings Rose back into conflict with Joan of Arc.

This is a different fight from the rooftop battle in Prison Tower. During the earlier encounter, Joan was still under Dracula’s influence. In this later confrontation, she challenges Rose to prove she is ready to face the Lord of Darkness.

Find the Courage bell and strike it to enter the corresponding scene. When the later battle begins, defeat Joan and continue through the encounter.

Joan awards the Blessing of Courage after acknowledging Rose’s strength and determination.

Defeating Joan in Prison Tower is not enough for this step. You must complete her later Virtue encounter.

Once all four Blessings have been received, the next important objective is the confrontation with Rose’s Self.

How to Find and Defeat Shadow Rose

After progressing through the four Cardinal Virtues, Rose faces Shadow Rose, the manifestation of the darkness within herself.

This is the second part of the Prophecy’s instruction.

Unlike the guardians who held the keys to the Catacombs, Shadow Rose represents something that cannot be solved by defeating another servant of Dracula.

The encounter tests whether Rose has truly overcome the feelings that made the Clock Tower trap possible.

Defeat Shadow Rose and continue through the events that follow.

What Happens After Shadow Rose?

Rose encounters the spirit of her mother, Sypha Belnades.

Her mother explains that Rose has completed the Tarot Cards she created for her. Rose’s progress through the Virtues and her confrontation with Shadow Rose have changed her relationship with the curse.

Rather than allowing hatred or revenge to control her, Rose understands that those feelings do not have to determine her actions.

This is the crucial difference between Rose before the Clock Tower trap and Rose approaching Dracula after completing the Virtues.

What Changes in the True Ending?

The final battle still requires Rose to defeat Dracula and his transformed form.

However, the confrontation begins differently. Rose tells Dracula that humanity can learn to overcome the darkness within itself, depriving him of the power that allows his curse to endure.

The most important difference comes after Dracula’s body is defeated.

How Rose Lifts Dracula’s Curse

Dracula’s curse remains a threat even after the battle, but Rose now has a way to act against it.

Her mother and the Arcana explain that the power contained in the completed cards can be brought together to confront the curse.

There is a cost. Using this power will destroy the cards and sever the connection they provide to Rose’s mother.

Rose accepts the sacrifice.

With the help of the Arcana, she brings her darkness under control and uses the combined power of the cards against Dracula’s curse.

Her own curse is finally destroyed. The Arcana and her mother’s spirit say farewell, leaving Rose to continue the Belmont family’s work without the same darkness controlling her life.

This is the True Ending, associated with Curse lifted.

Unlike the Normal Ending, Rose has done more than defeat Dracula’s body. She has broken the hold of the curse over herself and created a path toward ending its influence on humanity.

Why Did I Get the Normal Ending Instead of the True Ending?

If Dracula has been defeated but the ending still says his curse will spread, you have reached the Normal Ending.

Check the progression that occurs before the True Ending:

Have all four Bells of Virtue been rung? Finding the chapel or seeing a bell is not enough. Rose must attack each of the four bells and complete the resulting encounter.

Did you receive all four Blessings? Confirm that Eleanor, Saint Louis, the Ferryman, and Joan have each granted their respective Virtue.

Did you defeat Shadow Rose? The Prophecy calls for overcoming the Self as well as ringing the bells. Completing the four Blessings without progressing through Shadow Rose leaves that part of the route unfinished.

The encounter with Rose’s mother after Shadow Rose is another clear sign that Rose has reached the later stage of her journey.

If one of these events is missing, return to that unfinished part of the progression before attempting to complete the True Ending.

Are the Cardinal Virtues the Same as Arcana Blessings?

No. They are different progression systems.

The ordinary Works of Mercy provide upgrades associated with individual Arcana abilities. Completing them can improve Rose’s combat options, but they are not the same as ringing the four Bells of Virtue.

The Cardinal Virtues are Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Courage. Each has its own bell and concludes with a named Blessing from a corresponding character.

If you are trying to understand why Dracula’s curse remains after the final battle, focus on the four Virtues and Shadow Rose rather than collecting another weapon or repeating ordinary Arcana upgrades.

Do You Need the Normal Ending Before the True Ending?

No. The Chapel of the Four Cardinal Virtues can be discovered during the later exploration before the final Dracula battle. You do not need to obtain the Normal Ending before finding the chapel.

To pursue the True Ending, ring the four Bells of Virtue, receive the Blessings of Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Courage, and defeat Shadow Rose before the final confrontation.

If you have already seen the Normal Ending and can continue exploring, check which Virtue encounters remain unfinished. The available continuation and save options determine how you return to the game after an ending.

For the earlier journey through Paris, including the guardian keys and the route into the castle, return to the Castlevania Belmont’s Curse walkthrough.