Walter Bernhard's History
Walter was a powerful vampire who lived in a forest called Eternal Night, given that name as it was covered in unending darkness thanks to a jewel created through alchemy, the Ebony Stone, one of two vampire treasures that he managed to obtain through unknown means. Due to this jewel, Walter was virtually invincible; it infused his body with the same energy that perpetuated the pall of darkness covering the forest, providing him formidable protection. However, not content with his still incredibly tenacious might, Walter persistently sought the other vampire treasure, the Crimson Stone, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
As a side-effect of his sheer power and the protection of the Ebony Stone, Walter frequently succumbed to boredom. To alleviate himself, he frequently indulged in games of 'cat-and-mouse' with many brave warriors of whom he found interesting; to lure them out, he routinely kidnapped anyone for which his prey deemed important, forcing his quarry to pursue him, in turn. Arrogant and utterly without conscience, Walter would often "gift" his original kidnapping target with vampirism, just to watch the resulting horror and tragedy that surely would follow, as he did with Justine Gandolfi. Her father, Rinaldo Gandolfi, attempted to rescue her from Walter, but failed and was defeated by him. Walter nonetheless allowed him to live and settle outside of his castle, knowing that Rinaldo wanted him dead and that his desire for revenge would make him aid any newcomers with his knowledge and skills, thus making the game Walter himself set more interesting in his view.
He is known, however, to have done this with several other warriors which all succumbed to his minions, and also gifted vampirism to his servant Joachim Armster. Joachim eventually rebelled against his master but failed, as Walter's protection gave him the edge needed to easily defeat him. Walter imprisoned Joachim instead of killing him, since he was amused at his attempted betrayal. He also cast Joachim as one his five minions that new warriors would have to defeat before being allowed to fight Walter directly.
Events of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
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"Walter is a dark king who rules over Eternal Night. Even among the vampire clan, he is the strongest. He cannot even be scratched by inferior weapons."
— Description from the official guidebook
Walter eventually met Mathias Cronqvist, who convinced him of stealing Baron Leon Belmont's beloved Sara Trantoul, promising a challenge like none before due to Leon's legendary skills. Thrilled by the offer Walter did as proposed, with the young knight forsaking his title in pursue of Walter after being told by Mathias who the "culprit" was. During an undisclosed period of time he also met the evil deity Death, although it's never known if the two met separately or in the company of Mathias.
After Leon defeated all of his five minions guarding entrance to his inner castle, the Pagoda of the Misty Moon, Walter himself welcomed Leon and could confirm himself that what "that knight" (referring to Mathias) told him was true at first glance. Leon challenged the vampire, but the Ebony Stone's protection kept him from harm. After toying with Leon, he returned his fiancee back to him but with the curse of vampirism taking place in order to thrill from Leon's suffering.
Unknowingly, this act backfired heavily at him as Sara's willing sacrifice of her tainted soul gave Leon the means to defeat him, the Vampire Killer. Once armed with the complete weapon, Leon ventured deep into the Pagoda and faced Walter himself, who still believed he would win easily. Leon, however, with his new weapon was able to break the Ebony Stone and thus cancel Walter's protection. The vampire was in utter disbelief of what happened and for the first time fearing for his life he angrily declared he would make Leon suffer beyond imagination.
Walter's death.
However, the young knight persisted and defeated the evil vampire. Walter declared that he would revive in time with his powers and when that happened he would take revenge, and that even if he could not get the Crimson Stone in the present he would get it eventually. Nevertheless, his plans for future revenge were brought to an abrupt end as he noticed Death coming by; he then immediately realized that the evil deity had betrayed him and took his soul, which he offered to the true owner of the Crimson Stone, Mathias himself.
Mathias explained what truly happened, that he himself set up a scheme to make Walter kidnap Sara to force Leon to come and defeat the vampire, knowing that Rinaldo's skills and Walter's usual scheme of "raising the stakes" by turning his victims into vampires would result on the means to defeat the vampire and acquire his soul through the Crimson Stone, something Mathias desired in order to become a vampire himself and acquire the immortality he craved for, so that he could forever curse and hate God for eternity, blaming him for the death of his beloved Elisabetha. Mathias offered Leon the same gift, as the two had gone through the same pain, but Leon refused calling Mathias a fool for neglecting the wishes of Elisabetha, claiming she would never want Mathias to commit such atrocities. Disappointed, Mathias left and ordered Death to take care of Leon, something he failed to do with Leon claiming his kin would hunt him forever.
Mathias, using Walter's soul, became the vampire lord Dracula, and while Walter himself did not appear again, he indirectly does so each time Dracula reveals himself, using Walter's soul and the Crimson Stone as the sources of his power.
