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The middle of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is partly open, so this is a reliable full-clear progression rather than an unbreakable sequence. Guide writers also count the fights differently: one convention describes 14 bosses across 18 encounters, while another calls the game 13 boss fights, with 11 mandatory and Arthur and Succubus optional.
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The full boss order at a glance
The table uses the detailed 18-encounter route. Repeated opponents are shown as separate encounters because their arenas, timing and rewards differ. “Trophy only” means the listed encounter does not provide an Arcana card or movement ability in the route information available for it.
| # | Boss and encounter | Arena and area | Reward or Arcana |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Fallen (Leon) | Gate to the Catacombs, Paris Streets | The Fallen Arcana; Holy Cross |
| 2 | Medusa | Ossuary of the Innocents | The Prophetess; Petrifying Gaze |
| 3 | Joan, first fight | Roof of the Tower | The Warrior; Infernal Pyre |
| 4 | Death, first fight | Stairway to Hell, Catacombs | No Arcana listed |
| 5 | Isaac, first fight | Main Hall | No Arcana |
| 6 | Talos | Throne of the Builder, Clock Tower | The Builder; Fist of Talos; Smash |
| 7 | Carmilla | Library Observatory | The Occultist; Blood Spikes; Aerial Rush; Brauner’s Paintbrush |
| 8 | Brauner | Brauner’s Atelier, Main Hall | The Artist; Masterpiece |
| 9 | Mammon | Mammon’s Lair | The Miser; Wheel of Chaos |
| 10 | Joan, second fight | Courage Bell, Notre-Dame | No Arcana listed |
| 11 | Death, second fight | Transept, Choir, Notre-Dame | The Shadow; Soul Harvest |
| 12 | Saint Louis | Palace of Justice | The Judge; Chains of Justice |
| 13 | Isaac, second fight | Heart of the Clock, Clock Tower | The Zealot; Chronomantic Dive |
| 14 | Dracula, first fight | Court of the Night, Master’s Quarters | Trophy only |
| 15 | Succubus (optional) | Belmont Manor, Hall of Mirrors | The Temptress; Life Drain |
| 16 | Doppelganger (The Cursed) | Gallery of the Four Virtues, Notre-Dame | The Self; Absolution |
| 17 | Arthur (optional) | Chapel, Notre-Dame | The Brittle King; Stained-Glass Shield |
| 18 | Dracula, second fight | Court of the Night, Master’s Quarters | Trophy only |
This order puts every listed encounter in one route, including the two optional fights. If you only want the critical path, treat Succubus and Arthur as optional and expect your personal sequence to contain fewer fights.
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Why guides report 13 fights, 14 bosses or 18 encounters
The numbers describe different counting systems, not necessarily contradictory maps. AllThingsHow’s 2026 listing reports 14 bosses and 18 encounters because Death, Isaac, Joan and Dracula each appear twice. Its route therefore counts each separate battle arena. AFK Times’ 2026 guide calls the game 13 boss fights, identifies 11 as mandatory, and treats Arthur and Succubus as optional. That convention compresses the progression differently.
When you compare a walkthrough, check five labels before assuming it is missing a boss:
- Encounter count: whether every rematch is numbered separately.
- Boss count: whether a character fought twice is counted once as a named boss.
- Mandatory status: whether Arthur and Succubus are included in the main route.
- Arena detail: whether the guide names the room as well as the region.
- Reward tracking: whether Arcana cards, movement abilities and post-fight pickups are recorded.
For finding Isaac, the numbering is unambiguous in the detailed route: first Isaac is encounter 5, and the rematch is encounter 13.
Early game: The Fallen through the first Isaac
1. The Fallen (Leon)
The first proper boss is The Fallen (Leon), encountered at the Gate to the Catacombs in the Paris Streets. The route records The Fallen Arcana and Holy Cross as the associated reward. GamesRadar’s 2026 hands-on coverage also identifies The Fallen as the first proper boss and discusses the early whip progression, making this the point at which the game establishes its boss-and-upgrade rhythm.
2. Medusa
Medusa follows in the Ossuary of the Innocents. The Prophetess Arcana and Petrifying Gaze are attached to this encounter in the full-clear route. Mark the ossuary location on your map before moving on; later route descriptions use named rooms heavily, and room names are more reliable than a broad district label when you are retracing steps.
3. Joan, first fight
The first Joan encounter is on the Roof of the Tower. The Warrior Arcana and Infernal Pyre are the listed rewards. This is the first of Joan’s two battles, so do not treat a later Joan reference as a duplicate error in a walkthrough.
4. Death, first fight
The first Death battle takes place on the Stairway to Hell in the Catacombs. No Arcana card is listed for this encounter. Its most important route function is that it is the preparation checkpoint for Isaac: finish this fight, restore your supplies, and then enter the Main Hall.
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5. Isaac, first fight
This is the first Isaac battle. It is encounter 5, in the Main Hall, directly after the first Death encounter in the detailed progression. The first Isaac does not award an Arcana card. If a guide says Isaac appears much later, it is probably referring to the Clock Tower rematch rather than this Main Hall encounter.
When to prepare for the first Isaac
Prepare after the first Death fight and before entering the Main Hall. That is the practical timing supported by the route descriptions. There is no published official Isaac-specific level, potion total or required loadout in the available material, so avoid treating an invented number as a requirement.
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Use a simple readiness check instead:
- Heal after Death rather than carrying damage into the Main Hall.
- Bring your ordinary healing items and the combat resources you normally rely on for a major encounter.
- Confirm that your current equipment and unlocked abilities are the ones you can use consistently; no special Isaac-only build is established.
- Leave enough supplies for exploration after the fight instead of spending everything on the approach.
This advice is deliberately conservative. It tells you when to stop and rest without claiming that the game enforces a particular character level, number of potions or weapon setup.
Middle game: Clock Tower, library and Notre-Dame routes
After the first Isaac, the route becomes less linear. Talos, Carmilla, Brauner and Mammon form the central sequence in the detailed full-clear path, but the game’s partly open structure means your map may expose connected objectives in a different order. Use the encounter table as a checklist, not as evidence that every door is hard-locked until the preceding row.
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6. Talos
Talos is fought at the Throne of the Builder in the Clock Tower. The Builder Arcana, Fist of Talos and Smash are listed for the encounter. The location matters because Isaac’s later rematch also uses the Clock Tower, but it occurs in a different room and much later in the route.
7. Carmilla
Carmilla’s arena is the Library Observatory. The route associates her with The Occultist, Blood Spikes, Aerial Rush and Brauner’s Paintbrush. Keep the reward names together when planning upgrades: they represent several distinct unlocks, not one item with alternate names.
8. Brauner
Brauner appears in Brauner’s Atelier in the Main Hall. The Artist and Masterpiece are the recorded rewards. Because the arena name includes Main Hall, do not confuse this encounter with the first Isaac battle, which is also in the Main Hall but is separately numbered as encounter 5.
9. Mammon
Mammon is fought in Mammon’s Lair and grants The Miser and Wheel of Chaos in the listed route. This closes the central group before the second Joan and second Death encounters.
10. Joan, second fight
Joan’s rematch takes place at the Courage Bell in Notre-Dame. No Arcana reward is listed. The named bell location distinguishes it from the first Joan fight on the Roof of the Tower.
11. Death, second fight
The second Death encounter is in the Transept, Choir, Notre-Dame. The Shadow and Soul Harvest are the associated rewards. It is a separate encounter from Death’s Catacombs battle and is counted separately in the 18-encounter convention.
12. Saint Louis
Saint Louis occupies the Palace of Justice. The Judge and Chains of Justice are listed as the rewards. This encounter sits immediately before the Isaac rematch in the detailed route, making it a useful point to verify that you have completed the Clock Tower objective needed to reach the Heart of the Clock.
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Isaac’s rematch: route, preparation and reward
13. Isaac in the Heart of the Clock
Isaac’s second fight is encounter 13, in the Heart of the Clock inside the Clock Tower. It is not the same battle as the Main Hall encounter. To reach it, deactivate the Cursed Horologium; the route descriptions identify that action as the access step for the rematch.
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Defeating the rematch awards The Zealot Arcana with Chronomantic Dive. The Chauve-Souris spear is available in the arena afterward, so check the room before leaving. That post-fight pickup is easy to miss if you rush to the next objective.
Endgame and optional encounters
14. Dracula, first fight
The first Dracula encounter is in the Court of the Night in the Master’s Quarters. The detailed route records a trophy-only result rather than an Arcana card or movement ability.
15. Succubus (optional)
Succubus is an optional encounter in Belmont Manor’s Hall of Mirrors. The Temptress and Life Drain are the listed rewards. Guides that count only mandatory fights may omit this battle from their headline total, which is one reason the shorter 13-fight convention differs from the 18-encounter checklist.
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Doppelganger, identified in the route as The Cursed, is fought in the Gallery of the Four Virtues in Notre-Dame. The Self and Absolution are the recorded rewards.
17. Arthur (optional)
Arthur is the second optional encounter, in the Chapel at Notre-Dame. The Brittle King and Stained-Glass Shield are attached to this battle. If you are following a mandatory-only path, confirm whether your guide has intentionally skipped Arthur rather than assuming you took a wrong turn.
18. Dracula, second fight
The final listed encounter returns to the Court of the Night in the Master’s Quarters for Dracula’s second fight. As with the first Dracula encounter, the route records a trophy-only result.
A practical checklist for using the order
- Use encounter numbers to distinguish rematches: Isaac 5 and 13, Death 4 and 11, Joan 3 and 10, Dracula 14 and 18.
- Use the arena name when searching your map. Main Hall contains both the first Isaac arena and Brauner’s Atelier; the Heart of the Clock is Isaac’s rematch location.
- After first Death, replenish ordinary healing and combat resources before the Main Hall.
- After the first Isaac, follow the Clock Tower, library, Main Hall and Notre-Dame objectives while allowing for the game’s partly open middle section.
- For the rematch, deactivate the Cursed Horologium, defeat Isaac in the Heart of the Clock, then collect Chauve-Souris before leaving.
- Check the optional markers for Succubus and Arthur before the final Dracula encounter if you want the full 18-encounter clear.
Release context and source differences
GamesRadar lists Evil Empire as developer and Konami as publisher, with versions for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch 2 released on October 15, 2026. The encounter order above follows the detailed route reported by AllThingsHow and independently described in its 18-encounter progression by iTechGuides. AFK Times presents the alternative 13-fight convention and notes that the middle game is partly open.
Those differences affect how a walkthrough labels progress, not where the two Isaac battles occur. For the question most players ask, the dependable landmarks are the Main Hall first fight at encounter 5 and the Heart of the Clock rematch at encounter 13.
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