Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
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40 free Castlevania: Circle of the Moon trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon gave Konami's vampire-hunting series a new hero, Nathan Graves, and a new idea: DSS cards. Pair one Action card with one Attribute card and the whip in Nathan's hand changes, a guardian appears at his side, or a creature from myth sweeps the screen. Working out what each pairing does, and where each card is hiding, is a large part of why players still look the game up. This quiz puts the DSS cards first: which card does what, the stranger combinations, where the rarest cards are found and the tricks players have discovered with them. It also covers the story and its characters, the bosses and the areas of the castle, the items that open new routes, the alternate modes unlocked after the credits and the making and reception of the game. It is written for anyone who has played through the castle, whether you finished it once years ago or have collected every card. The questions start with things most players remember and move on to deeper cuts, and every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was a 2001 launch title for which handheld console?
Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance buyers could pick it up on day one: the game launched with the console in Japan in March 2001 and reached North America that June.
Q 02Circle of the Moon follows the castle-exploring style set by which acclaimed 1997 Castlevania game?
Symphony of the Night
Symphony of the Night set the template of one huge castle, experience levels and collectable gear, and this handheld follow-up layered its own card-based spells on top.
Q 03In Circle of the Moon, DSS, the mechanic that pairs two cards to cast spells, stands for what?
Dual Set-Up System
Dual Set-Up System is the full name: one Action card and one Attribute card are equipped together, and each pairing unlocks a different power.
Q 04Circle of the Moon's DSS Action cards are named after which pantheon, while Attribute cards depict mythical creatures?
Roman gods
Roman gods lend their names to the Action cards, from Mercury and Venus to Pluto, and each deity's role hints at the card's power, such as Mars turning the whip into other weapons.
Q 05In Circle of the Moon, which vampire servant of Dracula performs the rite that revives her master?
Camilla
Camilla finishes the rite seconds before the heroes arrive, and her own castle becomes the setting for the whole game.
Q 06Circle of the Moon is a rare Castlevania game where no member of which vampire-hunting clan even gets a mention?
Belmont
Belmont is the name missing here: Nathan Graves and his teacher's family carry the whole story instead.
Q 07Which complaint did IGN and other critics make about Circle of the Moon's graphics on its original handheld?
Too dark to see
Too dark to see was the recurring gripe: IGN called the game difficult to make out, while GameSpy blamed the handheld's screen more than the game itself.
Q 08In Circle of the Moon, set in 1830, the castle where Dracula is revived stands in which country?
Austria
Austria is the setting: the story unfolds at an old Austrian castle, where worshippers of Chaos have gathered to bring Dracula back.
Q 09In Circle of the Moon, the Mars and Black Dog cards swap Nathan's whip for which slow but hard-hitting weapon?
A pistol
A pistol appears in Nathan's hand and doubles his strength for each shot, though the long pause before and after firing leaves him open.
Q 10In Circle of the Moon, which Action card summons the creature pictured on its paired Attribute card to attack?
Uranus
Uranus is the summoning card: its creatures usually strike every enemy on screen, and Nathan takes no damage while the summoning plays out.
Q 11In Circle of the Moon, which Action card calls a familiar such as a bat, owl or hawk to fight beside Nathan?
Saturn
Saturn brings the familiars: a fire-spitting bat, an owl, a hawk, a Medusa head and more, each matched to the element of the Attribute card.
Q 12In Circle of the Moon, which Action card lets Nathan absorb attacks of the paired card's element to restore his health?
Neptune
Neptune turns hits of the matching element into health and drains spell energy instead; Black Dog is a handy partner because attacks of its element are very common.
Q 13In Circle of the Moon, what does the summoned Unicorn do as the only DSS summon that deals no damage?
Heals Nathan
Q 21In Circle of the Moon, which boss does Nathan fight first, at the end of the Catacomb?
Cerberus
Cerberus guards the way out of the Catacomb, pouncing, calling down lightning and firing a beam that covers almost the whole room.
Q 22Which Circle of the Moon bosses fight as a pair, the survivor eating its fallen partner to regain health?
Dragon Zombies
Dragon Zombies are too bulky and decayed to move, so they attack with their heads alone, and the survivor regains 300 HP by feeding on the other.
Q 23Which recurring Castlevania boss guards the Underground Warehouse in Circle of the Moon, with no stated bond to Dracula?
Death
Death is just another minion here, since the Necromancer takes over his usual role at Dracula's side, and beating him lets tougher enemies loose around the castle.
The summoned Unicorn heals Nathan, restoring about a sixth of his health, and is the only DSS summon that deals no damage at all.
Q 14In Circle of the Moon, the Serpent Attribute card, described as a creature swimming in the sea, carries which element?
Ice
Ice is the Serpent's element, so its combinations leave enemies frozen solid rather than poisoned, as the name might suggest.
Q 15In Circle of the Moon, which Attribute card do Skeleton Bombers, the game's first enemies, drop so readily?
Salamander
Salamander is the fire card, and because the bomb-throwing skeletons at the start give it up so often, it is likely the first DSS card a player ever picks up.
Q 16In Circle of the Moon, which Attribute card pairs with Jupiter to regenerate Nathan's health while he stands still?
Mandragora
Mandragora is the plant card, and with Jupiter it restores roughly 1% of Nathan's health each second once he has stood still for a few seconds.
Q 17In Circle of the Moon, enemies petrified by the Mercury and Cockatrice stone whip can be used by Nathan as what?
Platforms
Platforms are what the statues become: a monster finished off with this whip turns to stone and can be stood on until it breaks free.
Q 18A well-known DSS glitch in Circle of the Moon, triggered by reopening the card menu mid-cast, lets players do what?
Use unowned cards
Players can use unowned cards: with just one card of each type, switching slots mid-activation grants the effect of any of the 100 combinations.
Q 19In Circle of the Moon, the rare Pluto card drops from a hidden enemy that disguises itself as which castle object?
A candle
A candle is the disguise: the Trick Candle appears in the first boss's room late in the game, tinted differently from the real ones.
Q 20In Circle of the Moon, which rival, the son of Nathan's mentor, turns on him under Dracula's control late in the game?
Hugh Baldwin
Hugh Baldwin believed the family whip was his birthright, and Dracula twisted that jealousy until Nathan beat him back to his senses.
Q 24In Circle of the Moon, the Iron Golem boss guards which area of the castle?
Machine Tower
Machine Tower is the castle's answer to the series' clock tower stages: gears turn everywhere in the background, but there is no giant clock.
Q 25In Circle of the Moon, what do the Kick Boots, found after the Iron Golem fight, allow Nathan to do?
Jump off walls
Nathan can jump off walls with the Kick Boots, which lets him climb narrow vertical shafts by kicking from side to side.
Q 26In Circle of the Moon, which item from the Underground Waterway lets Nathan leap extremely high into the air?
Roc Wing
Roc Wing sends Nathan soaring straight up and opens almost all of the remaining castle, which is why some players brave the poisoned Waterway early to grab it.
Q 27Unlike similar Castlevania games, Circle of the Moon lacks which feature, leaving gear to come from enemy drops?
A shop
A shop never appears, so Nathan cannot buy or sell anything or even collect gold, and the game has no in-game bestiary either.
Q 28In Circle of the Moon, which of Nathan's relatives died helping his mentor seal Dracula away ten years before the story?
His parents
His parents fell in that fight, and their comrade Morris then took Nathan in as a disciple alongside his own son.
Q 29What did Konami do to Circle of the Moon's story in 2002, despite resistance from fans?
Cut it from the timeline
Konami cut it from the timeline, and the series producer said the reason was that its makers had always meant the game to stand alone, not that he had no hand in it.
Q 30Which optional Circle of the Moon area disables DSS yet is the only place to win the Unicorn and Black Dog cards?
Battle Arena
Battle Arena is a 17-room gauntlet where spell energy drops to zero at the door, and both cards fall only from armored enemies found inside it.