Jon Talbain
Jon is heir to a long line of nobles that are cursed with lycanthropy, a status that forces him to wander the world searching for a cure. That is to say, he's basically a no-lawsuits-please version of Larry Talbot, the tragic antihero of Universal's 1941 classic, The Wolf Man--though the character's named for Larry's father, Sir John Talbain. Speed and precision strikes are the order for this Bruce Lee-esque tactician. It's also worth noting that his dark form shows up as a secret boss in Darkstalkers 3.
Lilith Aensland
Lilith is a cosmic afterthought, created out of excess energy left over from the creation of fan-favorite succubus Morrigan. This is sort of like her namesake's creation-story according to the Dead Seas Scrolls, but it's also a folklore-ier version of the 1989 movie Twins, so you can choose how deep you want to go there. In any case, Lilith plays much like her longer-running sister, only with light-based moves where the latter uses shadow-power.
Morrigan Aensland
Demitri's female frenemy and Lilith's sister, Morrigan is an entrancing succubus that's the adopted heir to the same family that exiled Maximoff on Earth. The origin of succubi was as a medieval explanation for phenomenon such as sleep paralysis; the prospect of sitting on sleeping peasants' chests isn't exactly AAA videogame material, so Capcom's extended the character's abilities to include shapeshifting, telekinesis and Dragon Punching.
Pyron
The final boss of early Darkstalkers games, Pyron is a cosmic fire-creature from the planet Hellstorm who exists to consume planets and has set his sights on Earth. This gets the Darkstalkers crew's collective dander up, presumably because Earth is where all their food lives. Playable in DS3, Pyron's intergalactic omnipotence is scaled back in-game so the character's just really, really powerful.
Q-Bee
Q-Bee is a sexy lady in form-fitting clothing, which isn't really much to write home about in the context of fighting-game characters. She stands out from the crowd mostly due to having a huge stinger on her behind, a tool she needs as the leader of a clan of Soul Bees. A Soul Bee, as far as we can ascertain, is like a regular bee, only carnivorous, sexxxy, human-sized and able to sting endlessly without dying. That's actually the scariest notion Darkstalkers has served up thus far.
Lord Raptor
Darkstalkers is a horror game, so it needs at least one zombie in it. Yet, as the franchise originated long before the public began its renewed infatuation with the walking dead, don't expect any of the usual shambling 'n' brain-eating. Instead, undead metaller Raptor takes style cues from Eddie the Head, legendary mascot of the even-more-legendary Iron Maiden. If Ed was a fighting-game character, he'd probably use fast, cartoonishly violent attacks, so that's exactly what Raptor does.
Rikuo
A nod to Universal B-monster the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Rikuo is a merman on a quest to reunite and restore the lost underwater race of graceful fish-people. Fish-men are always a bit of a joke (sorry Aquaman, it's true), but you know Darkstalkers is good for some blustering attacks in unexpected places, and the spiny, dexterous Rikuo is no exception.
Sasquatch
Ice-powered Sasquatch hails from a hidden valley in Canada where it always snows. He has many of the traditional powers attributed to Sasquatch and Yeti: being big and strong, having humongous feet, a surprising deftness, and a collection of freezing-cold moves.
Alright, these aren't usually qualities attributed to Sasquatch in the folklore, but shape-shifting into a ghostly child-eater isn't very easy to dramatize in a fighting game, so this probably works out better.
Victor von Gerdenheim
Some smarty pants might say, Um, actually, I think you'll find Victor von Gerdenheim was the creature's human creator; you're talking about Gerdenheim's Monster. Common mistake. However understandable that might be, since Victor is virtually identical to Frankenstein's Monster, it's incorrect. Victor officially took his creator's name upon the doctor's death. Victor is also known for superhuman strength, the power to generate electricity, and a hunger for the souls of defeated foes.
Darkstalkers still aren't dead
You'll get your chance to replay theses two classic games early next year when Darkstalkers Resurrection hits PSN and XBLA. However, that's (potentially) only a preview of a whole new Darkstalkers installment, but its fate, as teased by Capcom fighting boss Yoshinori Ono, will be decided depending on Resurrection's success. Well, there's another incentive to replay some classic monster-fighting, as if you needed more...
Need to know more about fighting games? Check out our top 7 best fighting game characters and 20 obscure fighters that deserve HD remakes.
