Topic: Question about Sypha.

[jestercolony]

So, we all know who she is. Cloaked in mystery until you find out her actually identify in CVIII. She comes complete with whacking stick, and powerful magical spells. But something has kinda struck me with surprise. Back in that time period, she herself claims to be a vampire hunter but in the end falls to spell via the evil Cyclops, who turns her to stone. Due to her magical abilities would Sypha be considered a Witch or Sorceress/mage...etc(?)

[Shiroi Koumori]

I consider her as a witch.

[Nagumo]

I'm not sure what the connenction is between the question and the text that preceeds it. 

What's the difference between a sorceress and a witch?

[Shiroi Koumori]

There's no difference between a sorceress and a witch. But for continuity's sake, taking Yoko's character description as a witch, i just consider her as a witch.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Sypha's a witch.
She uses elemental anima magic (Fire, Ice, Lightning), by harnessing the energy of spirits to control the elements.

The fact that she works for the Church is precisely to prove to the Church that witches aren't evil and have been oppressed by the church wrongfully.  Supposedly her witch sisters were hunted down by people whose hearts were clouded by evil (an effort in which Carmilla took part), and escaped and took refuge in a monestary, where she lived for some time and became a Monk, while developing her powers until mastering them.

When the monsters of legend started attacking villages after Dracula summoned them to do his bidding once he became a powerful sorcerer, the Eastern Orthodox Church decided to fight the hordes of monsters back so it sent an army to fight them.  In addition, the Church sent a special team of people with powers to deal with the threat in secret.  Sypha was part of this team.  The Church knew that the Wallachian populace was afraid of witches and pretty much any people with supernatural abilities, so they sent Sypha in disguise.  Unfortunately, the team failed and Sypha was captured and petrified by Cyclops*.

When the Eastern Orthodox Church sent Trevor Belmont, that was their absolute last resort; the army had failed, the special team had failed, and there was no other known person that could both be trusted and be powerful enough to take on the Dracula threat.

*Personal note: I actually think that the Cyclops is Medusa's Pet, and Medusa actually petrified Sypha while the Haunted Ship was docked near the Statue Garden where the Cyclops presides.  Personally, I think the 'special team' tried to hop on that ship and was spotted.  But that's fanfic material.

[theANdROId]

Surely we all know how to tell if someone is a witch!

She's a witch!

[mariosmentor]

Surely we all know how to tell if someone is a witch!

She's a witch!

Ya got that right!

[Super Waffle]

as compared to



In the post-Pachislot III continuity she's a renegade Aliorumnas / Salem Witch / whatever who decided to use her powers to be a good guy.  She's like a Reverse Saruman.

A groundbreaking theory proposed in http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7657198/1/Ordination


edit:  Come to think of it this theory actually works in the old continuity too.  Her sprites in SotN floated around casting magic shit exactly like an Aliorumnas / Salem Witch / something.

[beingthehero]

I guess they forgot that she's supposed to be disguised as a dude

[Super Waffle]

That can be explained by maybe the Pachislot game takes place after Dracula's Curse and/or they just needed an excuse to Angela-fy her.

[Super Waffle]

One random guy from a totally different board agreed with my theory.

wooooooooo.

[X]

I don't think Sypha's a Salem Witch because Salem Massachusetts didn't exist back in 1476. The reason why Salem witches were called as such was because of the town they were from. I think Sypha's most likely a witch/sorceress.

[Super Waffle]

They're not even supposed to be from Salem.  They were always called Aliorumnas (or more specifically アリオルムナス) back in the Japanese version of SotN.  Which is... uh, Greek, I think.  So blame the translators for that.

[Shiroi Koumori]

They are not greek.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliorumnas

The japanese meaning for that name is:
Witches believed by the Goths. Ancestor of the Huns, Avars and Hungarians. Banished by the Gothic king Filimer, married the desert Genie.
source: http://myrmecoleon.sytes.net/iib/view/ALR001.html

[TatteredSeraph]

Urgh.  I absolutely cannot stand Sypha's Pachislot design.  It's overly sexified (same with Angela's design).  It just... seems a bit out of place to me, and way too modern. 
I've always considered her to be a white witch of some sort, but I must admit that the turned rogue Aliorumnas theory's an interesting one.