Die Monster, also known as What Is A Man?, is a pair of catchphrases from the 1997 PlayStation release Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, specifically Richter Belmont's 'Die, monster!' outburst and Dracula's 'What is a man?' reply during the opening boss fight.

Where did Die Monster come from?

It comes from the English dub prologue of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, released on PlayStation on March 20, 1997, where Richter confronts Dracula before the first boss fight.

What does Die Monster mean?

On its face Richter is calling Dracula a monster who doesn't belong among the living, while Dracula replies by philosophizing that a man is only 'a miserable little pile of secrets,' a line fans quote for its hammy weight.

How do you use Die Monster?

Most posts dub the audio over unrelated scenes or run the 'What is a X? A Y!' snowclone, with X and Y swapped out for a joke subject such as a video game or a holiday.

Is Die Monster still popular?

The exchange hit a new peak in 2019 with the @Castlegaynias Discord Sings cover and an animated parody built from it, and it is still cited as classic video game dialogue in parody edits.

Die Monster

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Published October 5, 2026

Die Monster, also known as What Is A Man?, is a pair of catchphrases ripped from the 1997 PlayStation opening of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, where vampire hunter Richter Belmont and Dracula trade stilted English dub monologues before their boss fight. The overacted delivery turned the exchange into a long running joke across YouTube remixes, dramatic readings, and image macros built on the snowclone 'What is a X? A Y!'

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Overview

Richter opens the scene by shouting 'Die, monster! You don't belong in this world!' and Dracula counters with his signature line, 'What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!' before flinging his wine glass to start the fight1. The clipped cadence and theatrical weight of the English dub are what fans mock, with creators dubbing the audio over unrelated scenes, auto tuning it into Sparta Remixes, or splicing it into Hitler Downfall parodies3.

The image macro side runs the snowclone 'What is a X? A Y!' and swaps in a trivial subject so the pompous answer sounds absurdly grave. The joke works because Dracula fills the blank with 'a miserable little pile of secrets' rather than a straight insult, so any mundane topic plugged into the template inherits that hammy gravitas4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (source) / YouTube (viral spread)

Date

1997

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night launched on PlayStation in Japan on March 20, 1997, with Konami rebuilding the opening scene as a short rematch against Dracula lifted from Rondo of Blood6. The English dub recorded for the North American release gave the sequence its iconic reading, with Richter Belmont accusing Dracula of taking innocent lives and Dracula monologuing in reply before the two throw hands1.

Konami developed the game, so no single fan is credited with inventing the meme itself. The catchphrases emerged from years of fan remixing on YouTube and Twitter rather than one originating post3.

How It Spread

The scene stayed a cult reference until the Angry Video Game Nerd flagged it in a Castlevania episode on November 19, 2009, which pulled newer viewers back to the original cutscene. The YouTube remix wave kicked off shortly after, with user Zeo Lightning posting a Sparta Remix of the dialogue on February 18, 2010 and WolfUrameshi uploading a Hitler Downfall parody of the exchange on December 2, 20103.

Twitter revived the clip in 2019. On July 13, 2019, user @Castlegaynias posted a Discord Sings cover of the opening that collected over 15,000 retweets and more than 32,000 likes2. YouTuber Payton Tate followed on August 9, 2019 with an animated parody built around that same audio, which pushed the dialogue in front of a new wave of viewers1.

The snowclone side of the meme kept rolling in parallel. On December 24, 2018, Twitter user @BradyHartel ran a Christmas themed 'What is a X? A Y!' take on the exchange5, and on September 13, 2019, @foone used the template to roast Untitled Goose Game4.

Timeline

1997-03-20

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night launches on PlayStation in Japan, opening with the Richter and Dracula confrontation.

2009-11-19

The Angry Video Game Nerd Castlevania episode highlights the scene and draws new attention to the dialogue.

2010-02-18

YouTuber Zeo Lightning uploads a Sparta Remix of the opening cutscene.

2010-12-02

YouTuber WolfUrameshi uploads a Hitler Downfall parody of the Richter and Dracula exchange.

2018-12-24

Twitter user @BradyHartel posts a Christmas themed 'What is a X? A Y!' snowclone riff on the dialogue.

2019-07-13

@Castlegaynias posts a Discord Sings cover of the opening scene that pulls over 15,000 retweets and 32,000 likes.

2019-08-09

YouTuber Payton Tate posts an animated parody built from the @Castlegaynias audio.

2019-09-13

Twitter user @foone runs the 'What is a X? A Y!' snowclone against Untitled Goose Game.

How to Use This Meme

The snowclone keeps the rhythm of Dracula's reply, so a template post typically pairs a bombastic 'What is a X?' question with an equally dismissive 'A Y!' punchline, where X is a mundane topic and Y is a deflating or absurd description4. Image macro versions often stage the two lines over screenshots of Dracula and Richter, with the swapped text labeled across both panels.