Being born into the Belmont bloodline is not something anyone would want. As far back as the family tree runs, the Belmonts have fought the vampires, particularly Dracula whose resurrections seem endless. Thankfully, the Belmont bloodline seems to rise to the occasion as often as Dracula rises from the grave. Unfortunately, Reinhardt didn't want anything to do with vampires or Dracula. All he wanted to do was work and take care of his aging father, Michael Schneider. As his father passed away, Reinhardt was left with one last message: "Some day, you may have no choice except to fight." It was after his father's death that he accepted his destiny as a vampire slayer and moved to the mountains of his homeland Vallakia to train.
The 10th year was about to pass and Reinhardt still trained rigorously in the mountains. As the days went by, reports of lost children and vicious murders increased, signifying only one thing -- the return of Dracula. Reinhardt knew this and brought himself out of the mountains to find the priest named Samuel, the only man who knew of his tortured bloodline and his family's ordeals with Dracula. Reinhardt asked Samuel to release the seal on the Belmonts' heirloom, the holy whip that every slayer had used before him.
And so Reinhardt set out across the countryside toward Dracula's castle, just as his ancestors before him. Armed with holy water, axes, knives and the sacred whip, his destiny was before him. He would do his part in stopping the evil curse of Dracula.
RELATIVES: The Belmont clan (notable members include Simon, Trevor, Christopher, Sonia, Ralph, Victor and Richter)
OCCUPATION: Vampire slayer
BEHIND-THE-SCENES: When Castlevania for the N64 was first created, four playable characters were designed. Three of these included Kohnel (an escaped prisoner/martial artist/werewolf), Carrie Eastfield (an innocent but powerful spell-casting schoolgirl) and Corler (a cyborg who carries the classic horror chainsaw as well as a shotgun). These three characters marked a total departure from the typical whip-wielding Castlevania style which led to the final character, Schneider Belmont. To keep the game familiar, Schneider was created as a typical vampire slayer with holy whip, holy water, short sword and the Belmont blood running through his veins. As development progressed, his name was changed to Reinhardt Schneider to skew the Belmont bloodline as previously done through John Morris and Eric Lecarde in Castlevania: Bloodlines.
