Dracula
Count Vlad Tepes Dracula is in practically every game in the Castlevania series, in one form or another. Historically, he was a crazy Romanian ruler who relished in impaling his foes on stakes outside his castle, a madness which Bram Stoker used to create the character in his novel. This has been weaved into the Castlevania plotline, although Dracula apparently used to be an old king named Matthias Cronqvist, who made a deal with the devil. During this time, he began a blood feud that would last for centuries - in angering Leon Belmont, his clan swore vengeance on the demonic vampire, hunting him from generation to generation, each passing on the legendary Vampire Killer whip. In most forms, Dracula appears as a rather tall man, shooting fireballs and other projectiles from his cape. More often than not, he also has a second (and occasionally third) demonic form that is quite a bit scarier, and usually more difficult to kill.

The Grim Reaper
The Grim Reaper (also known as plain old "Death") is Count Dracula's right hand man, and has also appeared in practically every Castlevania game ever made. Although he rarely speaks, Death will glady take his scythes and murder any opponents that comes near. His most common attacks are summoning miniature scythes from random parts of the screen and hurling them in every possible direction, which makes him hard to hit. He occasionally has a secondary form as well.

Elizabeth Bartley 1917 - Castlevania: Bloodlines
Elizabeth Bartley was found kneeling over the dead body of a townsperson, blood dripping from her exposed fangs. She was tried as a witch, convicted, and sentenced to death. However, a novice sorcerer practicing black magic accidentally brought her back to life. Bartley then sought out to resurrect her uncle, Count Dracula! As you can see there is much resurrection in Bloodlines. In the game, she first takes the form of Medusa, but soon her real form is revealed... she will surround herself with orbs and toss fireballs. The amount of times you must hit the Countess to do damage depends on the orbs floating around her. Bartley was based off of Transylvanian noble, Elizabath Bathory. This woman often bathed in blood, thinking that it would make her younger. She even killed many of her own servant girls simply to obtain more blood to soak in. For this, she is known as the Blood Countess.

Drolta Tzunetes 1917 - Castlevania: Bloodlines
Drolta is a very minor character in the series, as she is only mentioned in the Castlevania: Bloodlines manual, but she is worthy of mention. A sorceress, she was dabbling with black magic and accidentally resurrected Elizabeth Bartley. Some of her powers were used to create nasty bosses, like Drolta's Mecha-Knight.

Shaft 1792 - Dracula X: Rondo of Blood 1792 - Castlevania: Dracula X 1797 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
The Dark Priest Shaft is the leader of a cult of madmen that resurrect and follow their lord Dracula. When first fought in Dracula X, he will summon four monsters from Castlevania 1: the Phantom Bat, Queen Medusa, a Mummy, and Frankenstein's monster. Then he will attack Richter himself. Jumping from one side of the screen to the other, he commands two orbs that can do a variety of attacks, including shooting lightning or firing flames. Shaft truly refuses to die, as the next level has either Richter or Maria facing his ghost. Hovering around, the Ghost Shaft will summon bats to attack from the background, in addition to summon monstrous behemoths from the ground, and hellish winged apparitions who breath fire and swoop down on targets.

Actrise 1852 - Castlevania 64 1852 - Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
A sinister witch that serves her lord Dracula. A stage performer at heart, she excels at necromancy and other dark arts. She taunts Carrie Fernandez all throughout her quest into Castlevania before fighting her at the very end.

Ortega 1844 - Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
From the same man-beast tribe as Cornell, Ortega has been his life long friend. The two had always been competing, and Cornell was always the one that came out on top. However, Ortega joins powers with the Count Dracula in hope to finally draw the strength to beat Cornell.

Gilles de Rais 1852 - Castlevania 64 1852 - Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
The lord of the castle before it is taken over by Dracula's henchmen, Gilles is turned into a vampire and seeks only to serve his lord and master, Dracula.

Carmilla 1698 - Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest 1792 - Dracula X: Rondo of Blood 1830 - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Carmilla was based off of a character in a 1870 novel by Sheridan Le Fanu. She was supposedly this beautiful lesbian vampire who wore mask...which hid the fact that she was a countess long dead. Carmilla's mask, found in Laruba Mansion in Castlevania 2, flies around the screen and cries bloody tears, which explode and scatter when they hit the ground. She also appears in Dracula X for the Turbo Duo. After the mask shatters, a spirit riding a skull will fly around the screen, similarly crying bloody tears...only this time, they catch fire and bounce around. Carmilla remains on the floor, and if you get caught, she will kiss you, stealing hearts. When the skull is destroyed, Carmilla's true form will be revealed...a horned creature that leaps around rapidly and kicks like a karate master. This creature also shows up in Portrait of Ruin with the name "Laura".

Hugh Baldwin 1830 - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Hugh has trained alongside Nathan Graves under his father, Morris Baldwin. Since Morris has favored Nathan, Hugh grows with jealousy and seeks to prove himself. Unfortunately, this has made his quite susceptible to the powers of darkness.

Maxim Kischine 1748 - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Juste's buddy and rival, Maxim helps Juste in his search for Lydie. He is a headstrong and brave man - unfortunately, that it also his tragic flaw. Unlike the traditional vampire hunter, Maxim wields a sword and a powerful shuriken-type blade weapon. He's also incredibly agile, and possess a triple-jump ability.

The Succubus 1094 - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence 1797 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
The Succubus is a mystical demon that descends upon and has sexual intercourse with a man in his dream state. During this, the Succubus would steal his soul. In Symphony, the Succubus tries to impersonate Alucard's mother, Lisa, in order for him to do his father's bidding. When her true form is revealed, she can extend the wing fingers to skewer Alucard and create many false duplicates of herself in the sky. The one which doesn't shoot orbs would be the real Succubus. In Lament of Innocence, she is even more insidious. After impersonating Leon's love Sara, the demon attempts to stab him in the back before he realizes the tricks being played on him. Similar to the Symphony Succubus, she will create duplicates of herself, and shoots a multi-directional beam that's rather hard to dodge. She also attacks with monster vines that spread all over the room.

Walter Bernhard 1094 - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Walter rules the castle in the forest of Eternal Night. Like most vampires, it seems, Walter's become bored with eternal life and seeks to entertain himself by kidnapping young women and laughing sadistically as he crushes their rescuers. He has in his possession the Ebony Stone, which grants him a fairly high rank amongst his undead brethren.

Mathias Cronqvist 1094 - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Although he doesn't appear to be an enemy from the outset, just listening to the intro should clue you in that something is fishy. He used to be a master tactician and friend of Leon, until his wife Elizabeth fell ill and died. Angry at life, he fell ill. Just when Leon's love was kidnapped, Mathias just happened to know where Sara was taken. (highlight spoilers) As it turns out, Mathias turned to the dark side and merely used Leon to kill Walter so he could steal his Ebony Stone. He disappears at the end, and becomes Lord of the Night, king of all vampires. It's assumed that he later changes his name to Vlad Tepes and becomes the one we all know as Dracula.

Joachim Armster 1094 - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Unlike all of the other playable characters in the Castlevania series, Joachim isn't in any way a good guy, although he is a vaguely tragic character. He was a regular human until Walter turned him into a vampire. Tired of being a servant, he attempted to rebel but got locked in the castle's water vein, where he serves as its ruler. Being the vampire that he is, walking is beneath him - he floats. Joachim controls swords that float around him and fly out to attack enemies, as well as magic powers that build up when bad guys are killed.

Graham Jones 2035 - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Born in the year 1999, Graham is a leader of a cult suspected of attempting to resurrect Dracula. He belives it is fate to inherit the powers of the fallen dark lord, so he explores the castle in hope of finding the legendary power for himself. Although he seems kind, his ambitions are the purest of evil.

Celia Fortner 2036 - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Another cult leader with intentions to resurrect the dark lord Dracula. As part of the sect called "With Light", she believes that both absolute evil and absolute good must exist in order to create a true balance, which is why she seeks Dracula. After learning of Graham's intentions to become the reincarnation of Dracula, she finds two more candidates born in the year 1999 that would be suitable hosts for the spirit of the dark lord.

Dmitri Blinovi 2036 - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Dmitiri is one of the two candidates chosen by Celia to become the next Dracula. He can absorb souls just like Soma. Although he seems like a massive wuss, he's actually quite the manipulator.

Dario Bossi 2036 - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
The second candidate for the reincarnation of Dracula. Dario can manipulate flames, but despite his power, he's really kind of an idiot.

Isaac 1479 - Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
A Devil Forgemaster who stayed loyal to Dracula after being defeated by Trevor Belmont. He is convinced that Hector played a part in his lord's downfall and wishes to lure him back to confront him. Isaac wears some very odd pants and usually wields a spear, in addition to fighting next to his chosen demonic companion.

Zead 1479 - Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
A traveling priest who is still trying to abolish Dracula's curse from Europe. He supplies information to Hector in order to defeat Isaac, but he seems to be in conflict with St. Germain. His motives are not as pure as they seem.

Count Brauner 1944 - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Brauner is an evil vampire who has used the souls of the dead from World War II to resurrect Dracula's castle and use this magic to wipe out humanity. He's also taking advantage of Dracula's power by resurrecting his dead daughters, although there is more to this story than meets the eye. Much like Orlock from Symphony of the Night, he resembles the Nosferatu-type vampire rather than Dracula.

Stella 1944 - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
The older of the two vampire sisters in Portrait of Ruin. She's a bit flashier and more aggressive than her younger, although both are the epitome of bitchery. Seems to use the power of wind.

Loretta 1944 - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
The younger of the two vampire sisters, Loretta attacks with the power of ice. She seems shier than her sister, but she's just as cold and cruel-hearted.