Twin demonic knights summoned from the same plate west of Giant Medusa Head. Defeating both as Grant Danasty unlocks Sypha Belnades.
bluecipherSlogra and Gaibon are twin Castlevania crossover bosses summoned from the same plate west of Giant Medusa Head. Pressing the plate spawns Gaibon first, then defeating him allows pressing again to spawn Slogra. Both must die for the unlock check.
Slogra and Gaibon are Castlevania crossover bosses added to Vampire Survivors with the Ode to Castlevania DLC on October 31, 2024. They are rune-summoned enemies on the Ode to Castlevania stage, distinct from the wave-timer enemies that appear at preset minute marks.
Both bosses share a single summoning plate. Walking onto the plate spawns 
Gaibon first. After defeating Gaibon, the plate reappears and pressing it a second time spawns Slogra. The two-stage spawn is unique to this encounter and is the source of most community confusion about the fight.
Per the Vampire Survivors Wiki, the plate behaviour is explicit: "Slogra is an enemy that appears in Ode to Castlevania and spawns when the player presses the plate for the second time after defeating Gaibon."
This means players cannot summon both bosses simultaneously. The fight is split into two sequential single-target encounters with whatever recovery time the player needs in between. Both kills must register on Grant Danasty for the Sypha Belnades unlock to fire.
Gaibon: bat-shaped demonic knight, the flying half of the duo. He has wing-based attack patterns and is typically the easier of the two to position around.
Slogra: avian/dinosaur-shaped demonic knight wielding a spear. He is the ground-based half of the duo and the second boss to spawn from the plate.
The plate sits west of the Giant Medusa Head boss area. From Medusa Head, head north into the open area, then directly west. Ignore the first red sigil and continue west to find the Slogra and Gaibon plate.
Reaching the Slogra and Gaibon plate requires clearing the early-game Castlevania bosses first. The path runs through the Castle Entrance, past the Giant Bat, past the Giant Medusa Head, and then west into the corridor that leads to the duo's summoning plate.
Castlevania Map from the eastern forest area at spawn. The map shows boss locations as skull icons.
Stallion Gate.The Giant Medusa Head fight is not technically required to reach the Slogra and Gaibon plate. Players can walk past her sigil without engaging. The path to Slogra and Gaibon is open as long as the Stallion Gate has been unlocked from the Giant Bat fight.
Most players still take Medusa Head down on the same run since she sits directly on the path. Skipping her only saves time on optimised speed-runs.
Neither boss has special attack patterns. Defeat them sequentially with whatever maxed weapon Grant Danasty has at this point. Most players clear both within a few seconds with a maxed Curved Knife and any AoE backup. Wait between summons to recover health.
The Vampire Survivors version of Slogra and Gaibon strips down the original Castlevania kit to contact-damage encounters with no scripted phases. Both fights are mechanically simple: deal damage, dodge contact.
Per a Siliconera walkthrough: "Neither Slogra nor Gaibon have any special attacks, so you can easily take them down early on." The walk-up is more dangerous than the fights themselves, mostly due to the standard wave enemies that spawn between bosses.
The two-stage plate mechanic is intentional. It allows the player to recover between fights and prevents the duo from overwhelming low-level builds. Take advantage of this by treating each summon as a separate encounter.
| Phase | Action | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-summon | Collect power-ups and level the Curved Knife | Watch chandeliers/light sources for  Nduja Fritta Tanto drops; one walkthrough notes finishing Slogra in seconds with this pickup |
| First plate press | Summon Gaibon (the bat-shaped boss) | Defeat him fully before pressing the plate again. Recover HP if low. |
| Second plate press | Summon Slogra (the avian boss) | Both kills must register on Grant for the unlock. Confirm Grant lands the killing blow on each. |
Grant Danasty is the required character for the Sypha Belnades unlock. His starting weapon is the 
Curved Knife, which fires sickle projectiles at random enemies that pierce up to 3 enemies and bounce.
Levelling the Curved Knife to maximum and equipping a 
Bracer (any level) evolves it into the 
Bwaka Knife, which fires bouncing projectiles that continue ricocheting until duration expires.
| Slot | Recommendation | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon Priority | Level Curved Knife to 8 before the fight | Maxed knife clears Gaibon and Slogra in seconds |
| Evolution | Bwaka Knife with maxed Bracer | Bouncing projectiles lock onto both bosses without manual aiming |
| Damage Buff |  Spinach +  Clover | Curved Knife has a 30% crit chance and 3x crit multiplier; Luck stacks dramatically |
| Arcana |  Iron Blue Will (VII) | Curved Knife gains additional bounces; significantly improves AoE coverage |
| Avoid | Solo runs only | Co-op partners can accidentally finish either boss; the unlock check fires per-boss on the killing blow |
Cast bluecipher in the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane menu to unlock Sypha Belnades instantly. The spell skips both the Grant Danasty unlock chain and the Slogra and Gaibon kills.
Forbidden Scrolls ShortcutThe full Grant walk-up can be skipped by casting bluecipher in the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane menu. Sypha Belnades unlocks immediately at the same 500-coin purchase price.
The tradeoff: the Slogra and Gaibon achievement does not register, and players who use the spell still need Grant Danasty separately for the Curved Knife evolution path and the Bwaka Knife achievement.
The spell name "bluecipher" references Sypha Belnades' role as a hooded magic user in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. In the original game she was disguised as a man and her identity was a mystery (a "cipher") concealed under a blue robe. The spell name is a poncle nod to the reveal.
Grant Danasty himself has a separate spell: actuallyquitenice. Casting that spell unlocks Grant directly without the Trevor Belmont prerequisite. Both spells can be used in sequence to unlock the entire Castlevania III party from the Forbidden Scrolls menu.
Sypha Belnades unlocks for purchase at 500 coins. She starts with the Ice Fang weapon, +40% Move Speed, +40% Duration, +10 Reroll/Skip/Banish, and the Jail of Crystal (XIV) Arcana. Ice Fang evolves into Cocytus with maxed Spellbinder.
Sypha Belnades is the direct payoff for the Slogra and Gaibon kill. She becomes purchasable in the character menu for 500 coins, scaling with how many other characters have been bought.
Her starting weapon is the 
Ice Fang, which evolves into 
Cocytus when the player has a maxed 
Spellbinder. Ice Fang is also dropped by the Brachyura boss south of the Library, but Sypha gives instant access without the boss walk-up.
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost to Purchase | 500 coins (scales with other characters owned) |
| Starting Weapon | Ice Fang (evolves to Cocytus with maxed Spellbinder) |
| Move Speed | +40% |
| Duration | +40% |
| Reroll / Skip / Banish | +10 each |
| Starting Arcana |  Jail of Crystal (XIV) |
| Spellbook Access | Can pick  Belnades' Spellbook as a weapon |
| Special Pickups | Can find Wall Chicken and other Castlevania pickups from light sources |
Sypha's +40% Duration is one of the strongest character-level Duration bonuses in the game. Combined with the Ice Fang's freeze-on-hit mechanics, she becomes a top-tier crowd control character once Cocytus is evolved.
The high Reroll/Skip/Banish stack (+10 each) gives her dramatic level-up control. Most characters have +0 to +5 in these stats; Sypha's +10 across all three categories means she can shape her build aggressively, replacing unwanted offers without burning long-term resources.
The Jail of Crystal (XIV) starting Arcana freezes enemies in crystals on hit, which stacks with the Ice Fang's native freeze chance. Combined, Sypha can lock entire enemy waves in place while her Duration stat extends the freeze timers.
Slogra and Gaibon close out the Castlevania III party unlock chain. Leon unlocks Trevor (via Giant Medusa Head). Trevor unlocks Grant (via Dragon Water Whip evolution). Grant unlocks Sypha (via Slogra and Gaibon). All three are the original Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse playable cast.
The Slogra and Gaibon boss kill is the final node in a chain that unlocks the complete Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse playable party. Trevor, Grant, and Sypha were the three companions who joined the protagonist in the original 1989 NES title; in Vampire Survivors they unlock in sequence.
| Step | Action | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open coffin near drawbridge |  Leon Belmont |
| 2 | Defeat Giant Medusa Head as Leon |  Trevor Belmont |
| 3 | Evolve Dragon Water Whip with Attractorb | Grant Danasty |
| 4 | Defeat Slogra AND Gaibon as Grant | Sypha Belnades |
| 5 | Defeat Doppelganger as Trevor (parallel branch) |  Alucard |
Each step in the chain has its own boss-on-character requirement. The spell shortcuts work for individual characters but skip the achievement, so completionist players need to walk through each fight at least once.
Slogra and Gaibon are also playable as a duo character. Unlock by defeating their boss forms while playing as Fleaman, "Dracula's smallest henchman." Costs 5,000 coins. Spell shortcut: platonicpartners. Slogra wields Trident; Gaibon wields Fire Wand.
Beyond their boss roles, Slogra and Gaibon are also a playable duo character in the Ode to Castlevania DLC. Their playable form is a deep-completion unlock distinct from the Sypha Belnades chain covered above.
The unlock chain is themed: defeat Death's demonic knight duo with Dracula's smallest henchman. The mechanical requirement is to defeat the boss versions of Slogra and Gaibon while playing as Fleaman, a tiny shrieking enemy from the Castlevania series who is also a playable character in the DLC.
Once unlocked, Slogra and Gaibon can be purchased for 5,000 coins (the highest unlock cost in the DLC). The spell shortcut platonicpartners in the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane unlocks them directly without the Fleaman walk-up.
Slogra and Gaibon function as a duo character in Vampire Survivors, similar to Stella and Loretta Lecarde. The selected primary character takes the lead, followed by the other as a secondary computer-controlled character.
| Stat or Behaviour | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost to Purchase | 5,000 coins (scales with other characters owned) |
| Max Health | +100 |
| Armor | +1 |
| Might | +30% |
| Slogra Starting Weapon |  Trident (adept; not adept with evolution Gungnir-Souris) |
| Gaibon Starting Weapon |  Fire Wand (adept; not adept with evolution Hellfire) |
| Partner Death Bonus | If the secondary character dies, the remaining character is enraged and gains -90% Cooldown for 20 seconds. The bonus persists even if the partner is later revived. |
Per the Vampire Survivors Wiki, "Despite his description, Gaibon currently does not possess Flight due to a bug." His character description references flight as a key trait, but the implementation is broken. Players selecting Gaibon as the primary should not expect any flight-based positioning advantages.
The bug has been documented but not patched as of the latest builds. It does not affect the Sypha Belnades unlock or any other downstream chain.
Slogra and Gaibon are recurring Castlevania bosses known as "Death's knights." They first appeared in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and have returned in Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, and several later titles. The Vampire Survivors version preserves both designs.
Slogra and Gaibon are recurring boss enemies in the Castlevania series, often presented as a tag-team duo. They first appeared in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993) for the PC Engine and have returned in Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, and several later titles.
In Castlevania lore, both are described as "Death's demonic knights" and are typically encountered in tandem. Slogra wields a spear (which becomes the Trident in his Vampire Survivors playable kit), and Gaibon is a fire-breathing winged demon (which translates to the Fire Wand in his playable kit).
The Vampire Survivors sprites preserve the Castlevania designs faithfully. Slogra has the classic avian/dinosaur silhouette with armoured plates and a spear. Gaibon has the bat-shaped silhouette with leathery wings and a horned helmet.
The two-stage plate mechanic is a Vampire Survivors original. In the source Castlevania games, Slogra and Gaibon typically appear together as a single boss fight where one supports the other. The Vampire Survivors version splits them into sequential summons to make the fight manageable for early-DLC players.
| Date | Build | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 31 October 2024 | Ode to Castlevania DLC launch | Slogra and Gaibon added to game with the Castle Entrance section. Sypha Belnades unlock chain established. Playable duo character also added with Fleaman unlock requirement. |
| 28 October 2025 | Update 1.14 | Adventure mode and additional roster content added to the Ode to Castlevania map. Slogra and Gaibon boss kit unchanged. Gaibon Flight bug remains unpatched. |
| 4 December 2025 | Steam beta 52172286R | Ode to Castlevania enemy hitbox pass. Slogra and Gaibon included in the broader update according to the wiki revision log. |
Slogra and Gaibon's plate sits west of the Giant Medusa Head boss area. From Medusa Head, head north into the open area through the red doors, then directly west. Ignore the first red sigil on the floor and continue west to find the Slogra and Gaibon plate.
Step on the plate to summon Gaibon first. Defeat him, wait for the plate to reappear, then step on it again to summon Slogra. Neither boss has special attack patterns, so any maxed Curved Knife clears them quickly. Both kills must register on Grant Danasty for the Sypha unlock.
Defeat both Slogra and Gaibon while playing as Grant Danasty. The kills must land on Grant specifically, not on a co-op partner. After the run completes, Sypha Belnades becomes purchasable for 500 coins. Alternatively, cast bluecipher in the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane to skip the fight.
The plate has a two-stage spawn mechanic. Walking onto the plate the first time spawns Gaibon. After he is defeated, the plate reappears and pressing it again spawns Slogra. This is intentional and allows players to recover between the two fights.
Grant Danasty unlocks by evolving the Dragon Water Whip into Hydrostormer Tip. The whip is Trevor Belmont's starting weapon, so the typical path is to unlock Trevor (via Giant Medusa Head as Leon), then evolve the Dragon Water Whip with the Attractorb passive. Spell shortcut: actuallyquitenice.
Level the Ice Fang to its maximum and equip a maxed Spellbinder passive, then open any Castlevania boss chest. The chest will offer the Cocytus evolution as a level-up option. Cocytus is also Loretta Lecarde's starting weapon.
The unlock check fires on whoever lands the killing blow on each boss. Both kills must register on Grant Danasty. Co-op partners can accidentally finish either boss, breaking the unlock. Solo runs are the safest way to guarantee credit.
The playable duo unlocks by defeating their boss forms while playing as Fleaman, the tiny Castlevania enemy who is also a playable character in the DLC. Cost is 5,000 coins. Spell shortcut: platonicpartners. The duo character has a -90% Cooldown enrage when one partner dies.
Boss location, two-stage plate mechanics, and Sypha Belnades unlock chain pulled from the official Vampire Survivors Wiki on Weirdgloop. Castlevania source material cross-referenced with the Castlevania Wiki on Fandom.
Step-by-step Castle Entrance route verified against multiple Ode to Castlevania DLC walkthroughs published shortly after the October 2024 launch.
Sprite assets and stat data derived from the Vampire Survivors Wiki, hosted by Weirdgloop and licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Vampire Survivors and the Ode to Castlevania DLC are trademarks of poncle. Castlevania and associated characters are trademarks of Konami. This guide is an independent reference and is not affiliated with poncle or Konami.