History WMG / Bloodborne

[[WMG: ''Bloodborne'' takes place in the same universe as each and every one of the following here.]]

-''Deathwatch'' (2002)

-''Overlord'' (2018)

-''Tales From The Crypt Presents Demon Knight'' (1995)

-''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' (1997)

-''Crimson Peak'' (2015)

-''Keepers Of The Lost Cities'' Book Series

-''Centurion'' (2010)

-''Cloverfield'' (2008)

-''Super 8'' (2011)

-''Chronicle'' (2012)

-''Outcast'' (TV Series)

-''The Mummy'' (1999)

-''The Jungle Book'' (1994)

-''Far Cry Primal''

-''Grand Theft Auto IV'' (2008)

-''GTA: The Lost and Damned'' (2008)

-''GTA: The Ballad Of Gay Tony'' (2008)

-''Grand Theft Auto V'' (2013)

-''Red Dead Redemption'' (2010)

-''Red Dead Redemption II'' (2018)

-''Alan Wake'' (2010)

-''Control'' (2019)

-Telltale's ''The Walking Dead'' Season One and Season Two (2012 - 2014)

-''Castlevania'' (Netflix Series)

-''The Last Duel'' (2021)

-''Kingdom Of Heaven'' - Director's Cut (2005)

-''Gladiator'' (2000)

-''Back To The Future'', ''Back To The Future Part II'' and ''Back To The Future Part III'' (1985 - 1990)

-''The Incredibles'' (2004)

-''Despicable Me'', ''Despicable Me 2'', ''Minions'', ''Despicable Me 3'' and ''Minions: The Rise Of Gru'' (2010 - present)

-''Where Eagles Dare'' (1967)

-''Back To The Future'', ''Back To The Future Part'' and ''Back To The Future Part III''

* Maria: Same reasons as Gehrman above.

* The Hunter.

* You may object to this, considering that the whole point of the latter part of the game is [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Did You Just Hack Apart a Great One]], but think carefully. If the Great Ones are truly killed when you defeat them, why are [[MesACrowd Amygdala's various avatars]] still everywhere when you destroy her? And if each of the impossibly-advanced Great Ones can be (or have been) killed by [[PlayerCharacter a potentially-crazy invalid with a saw]], why is Kos and Mergo's deaths such a big deal? Could it be that the Great Ones truly are immortal, and each time you slay a Great One you have merely [[FightingAShadow fought a shadow]]? "Nightmare Slain" sounds much more impactful than "Prey Slaughtered", perhaps implying that the Moon Presence, Mergo, and the Orphan of Kos are truly dead when you slay them and unable to [[CompleteImmortality continue existing like the others]] (Perhaps in Mergo and the Orphan's case, it's due to being newborns and not as powerful as the others yet). As for Kos, she is stated to have given her life for her child, which may imply that she sacrificed her immortal nature as well. If the Moon Presence directly opposes the Great Ones, [[FinalDeath the stakes are much higher for it than for them]].

Getting through the Chalice Dungeons reveals that the queen of the ancient Pthumerian Super Beings, who had uncovered the Eldritch Truth, was a woman named Yharnam. During the Boss Fight with Yharnam, she uses blood in a variety of ways that no other entity does in the rest of the game. Reading the Formless Oedon Formless Oedon Rune gives the detail that Oedon uses blood as a medium and his "inadvertent worshipers" seek blood. Nothing is really known about Blood ministration, only that Lawerence, against Provost Willem, used "old blood" as the foundation of his Healing Church. Yharnam the Queen is extremely old, and shown to still be around somewhat in the time period the game takes place in.

[[WMG: Someday, one of them will enter the Pantheon/TropePantheons]]
[[Pantheon/CombatOther Yes]].

[[WMG: Lady Maria is a lesbian, which is why she retains her agency]]
She's clueless about Gehrman's affection for her, her visceral attack animation differs between male and female player characters (with a female player character having a far more personal, almost intimate embrace with Maria), and notably, she's one of the few female characters in the game who retains her own free will. Compare some of the other female characters:

* The Doll is an ExtremeDoormat who serves the Hunter even if they kill her repeatedly.
* Iosefka is killed and replaced by an imposter
* Eileen the Crow may be the most badass Hunter in Yharnam, but without you, her fate is insanity and madness like every other Hunter.
* Arianna starts as a HookerWithAHeartOfGold but ends up impregnated and losing her sanity.
* Annalise as the last of the Vilebloods can be jumped by Alfred and ground into literal paste.
* Even extends to the Great Ones; Rom is implied to be lesser or inferior, Mergo is stillborn, [[spoiler: Kos/m is dead]], Ebrietas is implied to be forsaken, and so on.

Now part of this can be attributed to the poor treatment of female characters in the other ''Soulsborne'' games [[note]] Without getting into the social commentary of it, women in general lack agency in the ''Soulsborne'' games, and those women who are allied with the protagonists are often completely subservient to the player. Those women who are not are often villains or meet with horrible fates. Not that ''anyone'' comes off well in a ''Soulsborne'' game, but the treatment of female characters in particular fits a distinct pattern. [[/note]], but Lady Maria is a notable aversion. Especially with ''Bloodborne's'' themes of blood, pregnancy, and inevitable corruption, Maria stands out as a principled person who might even qualify for the BigGood of the Hunter's Nightmare, and while Gehrman is ultimately a figure for what he believes to be good, he's pretty creepy at the same time. What could set Maria apart is that, as a gay woman, her motivations and drives are substantially different from other women in the setting.

* Another point in favor of this theory, Sony owns the rights to ''Demon's Souls'' and there were rumors of a ''Demon's Souls 2'' in development around the same time as ''Dark Souls 2''. Unless something has change, Bloodborne is a Sony exclusive... It would not take much to say its a sequel taking place ages after the Second Blight of Demons. Its not like players would be returning to Boletaria, the said throughout Demon's Souls that once the Old One is lulled back to sleep, the land covered by the colorless fog vanishes(though they did not specify if the landmass itself vanishes or just everything on it.). Given the Tower of Latria aesthetic, Yharnam could easily be some city build in the distant future of Demon's Souls.
** (same poster as above) Another point in favor of this is during the Alpha Testing, there was a secret boss called Priest Gascoigne. When he killed you, he would say "sick creature... may you rest in peace... Umbasa". In Demon Souls, the religious side of the Nexus would say Umbasa as a farewell. Though this may spawn even MORE WMG if Umbasa is present in the release version. Maybe the Panacea will have ties to the Old One... or even more interesting The Last Monumental/New Archdemon(i.e. the player character from the Demon Souls).
** Another interesting fact is that Father Gascoigne's armor set states that he has a tattered scarf from the Healing Church(you can seen an intact one on the black church set) but parted ways with them, and that the title of "Father" is not part of the Healing Church, maybe he came to Yharnem from Mirdan(granted there is no indication that Father is a title of the Holy Land Mirdan but they are the ones who say Umbasa)?
** Alternatively, the GainaxEnding offers another possibility: [[spoiler:this game is a ''prequel'' to Demon's Souls, explaining the birth of the Old One itself.]] And if this is indeed the case, that means [[spoiler:the Plain Doll, who acts motherly towards the baby Old One, becomes the Maiden in Black.]]

* The Moon Presence is called "Moon Demon" in the Japanese version. It/she is literally the only being called as such in the game. Perhaps it is somehow related to the demons from Demon's Souls, perhaps even the Old One itself.

Likewise, the malformed nature of the creature implies its origins. It is a massive BodyOfBodies; and so it is simultaneously a Great One (due to its massive size, unusual shape, and strange abilities) and human (due to being made of, well, hundreds of human body parts). This indicates it is part-human and part-Great One, much like the other children Formless Odeon attempts to sire. However, it is broken, misshapen, and malformed, rather than the smooth combination of human and abhuman like the Orphan of Kos. This implies that it its development was never completed... much like a miscarried fetus or premature stillborn child. There is one other being in the lore of the game that fits this qualifier: Mergo, the stillborn Great One. We never see the physical presence of Mergo: only its cradle and its phantasmal cry. What the Wet Nurse is guarding is Mergo's soul: and what we see in The One Reborn is Mergo's would-be body, that died within the womb. Furthermore, it is mentioned that the Nightmare of Mensis was created to nurture Mergo, and you face the Wet Nurse within this dream: you're inside a Great One's "womb", so to speak. As mentioned, The One Reborn was "born" through this eclipse into Yahar'Gul, Unseen Village. It may well have been summoned from the Nightmare of Mensis, which you visit directly afterwards. It is also mentioned that Mensis summoned Mergo: and this may have been what killed it. Summoning could be considered a Great One being born into our universe: and the manner of The One Reborn's summoning fits this idea. Mensis's misguided summoning attempt could have cause Mergo to be born prematurely or only partially, killing it and leaving the soul inside the womb. The body was recollected by the cosmos and hidden away within the Nightmare. The One Reborn is this corpse.

In all three cases, the DomainHolder is unambigously identifiable by the unique post-BossBattle message "Nightmare Slain" (which incidentally also reveals that dream/nightmare realms have a certain ontological inertia, as they remain accessible even after their creator and/or holder is destroyed). Furthermore, all three domain holders are Great Ones (even though technically, the Moon Presence is never identified as such in the game), who apparently do not mind the presence of other Great Ones in their domains (e.g. Mergo and its Wet Nurse co-existing peacefully with the Brain of Mensis and Amygdala). Lastly, at least two of the three realms are distorted copies of locations from another world (likely reconstructed from the vague memories of those trapped within it): Hunter's Dream is based on the Abandoned Old Workshop, and Hunter's Nightmare, on parts of Yharnam and the Fishing Hamlet; the prototypes of the Nightmare of Mensis' indoor locations are never visited in the game, but can be presumed to exist somewhere in or around Yharnam.

All of this lends credence to the idea that the in-game Yharnam has the same nature as these three dream worlds: a copy of the "real" Yharnam, which is seen in the intro and in one ending, created by some powerful Great One, most likely concurrently with the start of the Mensis Ritual and the creation of the Nightmare of Mensis. The main sticking point of this theory is the identity of its supposed DomainHolder, for which the three most likely candidates are (in order of encounter): Rom, the Vacuous Spider; Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos; and Oeden the Formless. Rom, despite playing an important role in keeping the true nature of Yharnam (whatever it is) hidden from its inhabitants, and Ebrietas, despite being the origin of the Healing Church's Blood Ministrations and thus the ur-cause of the Beast Plague mess, are immediately disqualified as domain holders by their defeat messages (the standard "Prey Slaughtered"). Oeden, however, conveniently lacks a physical/killable form and is not found in any recognizable form in the game (unless you belong to the camp who identify him with the Moon Presence), making him the prime suspect for the creation of the nightmare Yharnam, the city named after the woman who, long ago, bore his stillborn child (Mergo).

* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' lends some extra credence to this theory. Aldrich, Saint of the Deep, has a vision of the future after the impending end of the Age of Fire, the era of a Deep Sea, after consuming Gwyndolin, a deity most closely associated with the Moon. The Abyss Watchers already drink of the blood of the Old Wolf of Farron to gain power - maybe a distant precursor to the practice of blood ministration (the Old One taint could have either come from Abyss corruption or some idiot finding the Old Ones and trying to repeat Farron's blood rites). Seath and Oceiros' combined research led to the conception of a (supposedly) powerful child after horrid experiments on captive women. Ocelotte and Mergo's mothers were queens, the downfall of whose kingdoms were marked by their birth. And last but not least, before Yharnam and Pthumeru, the land was called ''Loran'', which sounds quite a lot like ''Lordran''...
** Adding to this, the Pthumerians look very much like Hollows, and if the Undead Giant is any indication, are in fact walking corpses. So... Pthumeru is Londor post-Lord of Hollows ending? It doesn't hurt to mention that the Keepers of the Old Lords wear black cloth over chainmail armor, use katanas, and use a variety of fire spells that are ''extremely'' similar to Pyromancies seen in Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3. Additionally, Queen Yharnam's theme is "Queen of the Vilebloods", the Cainhurst helmet belonging to the current Vileblood Queen's guards looks very similar to Yuria's mask... The real question is, would this make Yharnam the Ashen one? Or simply their descendant?

* Another point in favor of this theory, Sony owns the rights to Demon's Souls and there were rumors of a Demon's Souls 2 in development around the same time as ''Dark Souls 2''. Unless something has change, Bloodborne is a Sony exclusive... It would not take much to say its a sequel taking place ages after the Second Blight of Demons. Its not like players would be returning to Boletaria, the said throughout Demon's Souls that once the Old One is lulled back to sleep, the land covered by the colorless fog vanishes(though they did not specify if the landmass itself vanishes or just everything on it.). Given the Tower of Latria aesthetic, Yharnam could easily be some city build in the distant future of Demon's Souls.

Another point I thought of, the first few moments after your character gets his blood ministration, a bloody beast comes up and reaches out to touch your character, only for a molotov to drive it off. This may have been symbolic of the Hunter and Beast Runes fighting for dominance in your mind.

Getting through the chalice dungeons reveals that the queen of the ancient Pthumerian Super Beings, who had uncovered the Eldritch Truth, was a woman named Yharnam. During the Boss Fight with Yharnam, she uses blood in a variety of ways that no other entity does in the rest of the game. Reading the Formless Oedon Formless Oedon Rune gives the detail that Oedon uses blood as a medium and his "inadvertent worshipers" seek blood. Nothing is really known about Blood ministration, only that Lawerence, against Provost Willem, used "old blood" as the foundation of his Healing Church. Yharnam the Queen is extremely old, and shown to still be around somewhat in the time period the game takes place in.

* As tempting as it may seems, the plain doll ave several dialogue lines that tend to show that she is a human creation. She wonders if the creator can love the creation, while the creation can do nothing but love the creator. She also plainly tell that she was made by humans, and never gives reason to doubt her, as even if she's unaware of your presence, she'll pray for you. There is also the matter of her second half in the Nightmare of the Old Hunter, Maria. Once she is defeated, it has an effect on the Doll, showing that she has a deep connection to a human, something a Great One wouldn't have.
* However, she may be the Great One's "Helper". Oedon has the Oedon's Chapel Dweller, who attract people which Oedon scans in search for a suitable mother for his child. The Brain of Mensis, or Mergo, has the Wet Nurse which help in the nursing of Mergo and the sustaining of the Nightmare. Maybe the Moon Presence has chosen the Doll as the on that helps the Hunter survive and strive. In that perspective, in the Childhood's Beginning ending, she becomes *your* helper, watching over your growth in an inaccessible Dream world.

* The reason you barely see anyone in Yharnam is because the normal folk know it's a night of the hunt, and most of them have the good sense to stay indoors. Of course, because of you, it turns out not to be a regular night of the hunt at all.
** Confirmed, in a sense. The miracle blood the Yharnamites have been using actually slowly turned them into beasts. The same can be said with [[spoiler: the chalice dungeons]].

** Adding to this, the Pthumerians look very much like Hollows, and if the Undead Giant is any indication, are in fact walking corpses. So... Pthumeru is Londor post-Lord of Hollows ending? It doesn't hurt to mention that the Keepers of the Old Lords wear black cloth over chainmail armor, use katanas, and use a variety of fire spells that are ''extremely'' similar to Pyromancies seen in Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3. Additionally, Queen Yharnam's theme is "Queen of the Vilebloods", the Cainhurst helmet belonging to the current Vileblood Queen's guards looks very similar to Yuria's mask... The real question is, would this make Yharnam the Ashen one? Or simply their descendant?

* Another point in favor of this theory, Sony owns the rights to Demon's Souls and there were rumors of a Demon's Souls 2 in development around the same time as Dark Souls 2. Unless something has change, Bloodborne is a Sony exclusive... It would not take much to say its a sequel taking place ages after the Second Blight of Demons. Its not like players would be returning to Boletaria, the said throughout Demon's Souls that once the Old One is lulled back to sleep, the land covered by the colorless fog vanishes(though they did not specify if the landmass itself vanishes or just everything on it.). Given the Tower of Latria aesthetic, Yharnam could easily be some city build in the distant future of Demon's Souls.
** (same poster as above) Another point in favor of this is during the Alpha Testing, there was a secret boss called Priest Gascoigne. When he killed you, he would say "sick creature... may you rest in peace... Umbasa". In Demon Souls, the religious side of the Nexus would say Umbasa as a farwell. Though this may spawn even MORE WMG if Umbasa is present in the release version. Maybe the Panacea will have ties to the Old One... or even more interesting The Last Monumental/New Archdemon(i.e. the player character from the Demon Souls).

Think about it. They only come out at night, often under a full moon. It’s a ViralTransformation, quite literally a disease: that was transmitted to the protagonist via bite. It’s a race against the clock to FindTheCure: like many werewolf plots. The victims of the disease inevitably turn into monsters against their will…often with fur, fangs and claws. The transformation is [[SlowTransformation slower]] and more [[BodyHorror varied]] than usual but the tropes are all there, to say nothing of the bosses that transform mid-fight or the ACUTAL wolf-like beasts. You even use (quick)silver bullest for christsakes!
* Except the bullets do barely any damage to the werewolves, only letting you rib their organs out by sstunning them. Not to mention werewolves entirely go out of style as you continue, and the plague transforms people into giant fly-men, people with snakes bursting out of their heads, or hooded giants that serve the will of the ancient ones. The wolf-like enemies, in the end, are more like [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Ghouls]], in the scheme of things.

Getting through the chalice dungeons reveals that the queen of the ancient Phtumerian Super Beings, who had uncovered the Eldritch Truth, was a woman named Yharnam. During the Boss Fight with Yharnam, she uses blood in a variety of ways that no other entity does in the rest of the game. Reading the Formless Oedon Formless Oedon Rune gives the detail that Oedon uses blood as a medium and his "inadvertant worshippers" seek blood. Nothing is really known about Blood ministration, only that Lawerence, against Provost Willem, used "old blood" as the foundation of his Healing Church. Yharnam the Queen is extremely old, and shown to still be around somewhat in the time period the game takes place in.

* As tempting as it may seems, the plain doll ave several dialogue lines that tend to show that she is a human creation. She wonders if the creator can love the creation, while the creation can do nothing but love the creator. She also plainly tell that she was made by humans, and never gives reason to doubt her, as even if she's unaware of your presence, she'll pray for you. There is also the matter of her second half in the Nightmare of the Old Hunter, Maria. Once she is defeated, it has an effect on the Doll, showing that she has a deep connexion to a human, something a Great one wouldn't have.

The pthumerians used blood, presumably granted to them by the Great Ones, to become super-human beings. However, by the time Byrgenwerth found the Old Labyrinth, it was a dilapidated mess, and the remaining pthumerians were either beasts or desiccated things that attack you on sight... except for Yharnam herself, who is locked and shackled in the deepest reaches of the Labyrinth.

What if, then, the source of the corruption is Yharnam's blood itself? Presumably, the leader of the pthumerians would be the one in contact with the Great Ones, and the one that passed the blood that turned them super-human. What if, then, in perhaps an extra bid for power, Yharnam sought to and succeded in becoming pregnant with the child of a Great One? And with it, brought corruption to her blood? Perhaps the mix between Great One and pthumerian made her blood cursed, slowly turning any that drank it into mindless beasts. The pthumerians realized this too late, and tried to lock her away (which is why she is shackled and sealed), but by then the damage had been done, and the blood that once made them super-human brought their own end as they all turned into monsters. Since by then the blood was probably sent everywhere, this is also why the blood that the scholars of Byrgenwerth found turns people into beasts, as it is likely Yharnam's own cursed blood itself (or at very least the blood of pthumerians that turned cursed after they drunk Yharnam's).

I'm less sure about this part, but if the above is true, it could also explain why defeating Mergo (who is pretty heavily implied to be Yharnam's child) presumably ends or at least halts the spread of the curse (allows you to transcend the hunt and wake up, after all); its conception is the whole reason the curse exists in the first place. Luckily, the School of Mensis got in contact with the unborn creature's mind, allowing you a way to stop its influence in the city. But considering that the source of the curse itself is not dead (for even if you kill Yharnam, her conscience lives on, as described in the Yharnam Stone), it's likely that, eventually, someone else will find their way into the Labyrinth, find the cursed blood, and bring the scourge of beasts to another land.

[[spoiler: The Moon Presence.]] Most of the Great Ones and their Kin seem to non-hostile to humans or even helpful. [[spoiler: Oedon and several other Great Ones offered their children to humans, Mergo is a baby and tried to help the School of Mensis ascend, Mergo's Wetnurse protects Mergo, the Brain sits there and gives you a rune if you Make Contact, Kos, some say Kosm, helpd Rom ascend, Rom doesn't attack directly until she's nearly dead and Ebrietas allows humans to summon her via her Augur.]] It's said they're sympathetic and will answer if called upon, even though it doesn't work out. But [[spoiler: the Moon Presence created the dream]] specifically to kill an infant Great One, and on that path you end up killing most of the other Great Ones and their Kin. They also trapped Gehrman and possibly all of Yharnam in [[spoiler: the dream]] and does the same to [[spoiler: you in the Honoring Wishes ending.]] Apparently they don't want humanity to ascend, and are willing to kill the Great Ones to stop it. That also explains why they attack you [[spoiler: if you've used three Umbilical Cords; you're ascending and turning into a Great One, so it tries to kill you before the transformation is complete.]]

So why is it such an easy boss fight comparatively? Simple: you're a SpannerInTheWorks. Look at all the graves throughout the Hunters' Dream. There are graves underneath the shrubbery everywhere; hell, even in the final boss arena it's possible the tree is growing out of a gigantic mound of graves (some parts of the ground are just more tombstones). It didn't plan for a Hunter to actually ascend; all who had tried before in some fashion were either rendered mindless (Vacuous Rom) or raving beasts (Laurence as the Blood-letting Beast deep in the chalice dungeons).
* Consider also literally the credo of the Choir: "the sky and the cosmos are one." The largest object in the sky is the moon! Especially when the line between man and beast is blurred and it becomes giant red! What does that imply about the Great Ones who are hunted by the Moon Presence's hunters?

I submit first ministration is ''always'' done with Queen Yharnam's blood. The church has a monopoly on that; it must, since poor Gilbert for example couldn't just finagle a vial from someone. So why does common blood-- Arianna's, Adella's, and the blood fond in vials which is presumably harvested from enemies-- heal the hunter?

The game states that the individuals affiliated with the Healing Church often become the worst, most vicious beasts. It would make sense that Ludwig, the first Hunter of the church, eventually succumbed to the Beast Plague himself and transformed into the monster we now know as the Cleric Beast. The boss does drop the Sword Hunter Badge upon defeat after all, and Ludwig was best known for his skill with the sword. Furthermore, this troper has reason to believe that Ludwig becoming the Cleric Beast draws parallels to Artorias the Abysswalker from Dark Souls. Like Artorias, Ludwig was a celebrated hero and respected warrior who was legendary for his swordsmanship skills, and who eventually fell to his own "darkness"-- Artorias was consumed by the Abyss, Ludwig succumbed to the Beast Plague. The Cleric Beast's resemblance to Manus can also be considered as a reference to the fall of Artorias.

* To me it always seemed that Moon Presence is local take on Nodens from Lovecraft? He is known to occasionally help people, but more importantly, he ''hunts'' Elder Ones (Great Ones here). He appeared as an old man, who was still strong enough to fight, who was riding a chariot (what seems to reflect Gehrman pretty well in a sense) - and was hunting eldritch gods in dreams. Nodens is as close to a Hunter as one can get, and is close to MP.

* So we've established that the Moon Presence's intention is to use the Hunters to pick off the Great Ones one by one, something that can apparently be accomplished by [[OneManArmy a single individual]] [[TookALevelInBadass once they've reached a high enough level]]. If this is the case, why is Gehrman, [[WorldsBestWarrior the most deadly and experienced Hunter of all time]], forced to [[NonActionGuy remain in his chair and merely provide guidance]] to a [[ActionSurvivor complete rookie who is sent out instead]]? Maybe the Moon Presence is not only aware that the Great Ones are its superiors, but also that their unfathomable knowledge and insight could potentially allow them to discover its plans. For this reason, it keeps Gehrman close by [[GoThroughMe so that he can defend it if a Great One comes knocking]]. This and the [[FightingAShadow previous point]] would explain the Honoring Wishes ending, and why you are made into a 'new Gehrman' of sorts despit the Great Ones being supposedly dead. They're not really dead, just wounded, and now that Gehrman's gone the Moon Presence [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt needs a new bodyguard]] in case they decide to [[DoNotTauntCthulhu strike back]].

The fight is the pathetic, feeble protests of an infant unable to do anything but cry and wave its arms. Considering the horror Mergo unwittingly unleashed and its undead state within the nightmare, this could be a MercyKill, but even so, you're still hacking apart a baby while it cries for its mum. YouBastard.

Likewise, the malformed nature of the creature implies it's origins. It is a massive BodyOfBodies; and so it is simultaneously a great one,( due to it's massive size, unusual shape and strange abilities), and human (due to being made of, well, hundreds of human body parts). This indicates it is part-human and part great-one, much like the other children Formless Odeon attempts to sire. However, it is broken, misshapen and malformed, rather than the smooth combination of human and abhuman like the Orphan of Kos. This implies that it it's development was never completed...much like a miscarriaged fetus or premature stillborn child. There is one other being in the lore of the game that fits this qualifier: Mergo, the stillborn great one. We never see the physical presence of Mergo: only it's cradle, and it's phantasmal cry. What he wet-nurse is guarding is Mergo's soul: and what we see in The One reborn is Mergo's would-be body, that died within the womb. Furthermore, it is mentioned that the nightmare of Mensis was created to nurture Mergo, and you face the wet-nurse within this dream: you're inside a great-one's "womb" so to speak. As mentioned, the one reborn was "born" through this eclipse into Yahar'Gul, Unseen Village. It may well have been summoned from the nightmare of Mensis, which you visit direly afterwards. It is also mentioned that Mensis summoned Mergo: and this may have been what killed it. Summoning could be considered a Great one being born into our universe: and the manner of The One Reborn's summoning fits this idea. Menis's misguided summoning attempt could have cause Mergo to be born prematurely or only partially, killing it and leaving the soul inside the womb. The body was recollected by the cosmos and hidden away within the nightmare. The One Reborn is this corpse.

We've already confirmed that the creature is a failed birth, but what about it's name? "The One" implies a [[HeWhoMustNotBeNamed well-known being that people do not want to refer to directly,]] so it could well refer to the infant horror Mergo. However, the one ''reborn'' implies it was born once and it being born again. It's first birth was it's death due to the failed summoning, but what of the second? Well, the bell-ringing women around the top of the boss arena seem to bring forth the body of the one reborn via their bells, much like they bring forth other creatures through the level. As mentioned the symbolism of the summoning evokes a birth...or in this case, the rebirth of Mergo. It's battered corpse still writhing and chanting due to the remaing power of the undead and unborn god: much like you can still hear Mergo's crying in the Nightmare of Mensis despite it's death.

* Eileen the Crow may be the most badass hunter in Yharnam, but without you, her fate is insanity and madness like every other hunter.

* Gehrman: Most obviously, since he's in the typical position of a Darklord, given what he loved in life (teaching new hunters), but it has been hellishly twisted. However, while he has done things that could qualify as an Act of Ultimate Darkness, he's far from the only one, and he does regret his actions, something Darklords do not.

Building on some of the above WMGs concerning Queen Yharnam, this troper proposes that the effects of her blood permanently alters recipients of blood ministration whether it turns them to beasts or not. In the description of blood vials, it's revealed that after the ''first'' in fusion, i.e. an infusion performed by a Healing Church blood minister, all successive blood infusions "recall the first, and are all the more invigorating for it".

[[WMG: Lady Maria is a BadassLesbian, which is why she retains her agency]]

[[WMG: The Watchdog of the Old Lords is [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice Wolf's]] Shura form, or his Demon of Hatred, after either the Shura or Immortal Severance endings]].]]