History YMMV / Bayonetta

** Luka's well known for his trademark escapes with a grappling hook fist. His voice actor, Creator/YuriLowenthal, would later be playing [[VideoGame/SpiderManPS4 a superhero who also is known for swinging around.]]

** Bayonetta is paired with [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]]. Not surprising since both girls are some of the most famous and powerful ActionGirl and OneWomanArmy badasses in all of video game history that happen to be associated with Nintendo , are known to use guns and CombatStilettos in combat and have a tremendous amount of sex appeal.

* SignatureScene: The Records of Time level for serving as an excellent introduction to the game's extremely epic scope; Bayonetta and Jeanne fighting together against a legion of angels on the rotating pieces of a shattered clock tower as it plummets hundreds of miles down an obscenely tall cliff. It's the definition of CrazyIsCool and perfectly sets the tone of the experience that follows. This intro was so iconic that ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' made it her stage and the sequel revisits the scenario midway through the game.

** Out-of-body fights. They're tolerable in the story mode where you're given tools to whale on angels with and Cereza isn't constantly in danger, but when they're made an Alfheim challenge, you have to leave your body behind to fight; that won't stop the angels from going after it anyway (which will hurt your regular lifebar), unless you waste one of your two accessory slots on an item that forces Angels to attack you but also makes them ''[[TurnsRed stronger]]''. That very mechanic forces you to use a ''lightpole'' to fight Affinities while protecting Cereza, since they are not in the same dimension. Not only is the "weapon" painfully slow, it slips out of your hands if you stop to dodge an attack. Granted, you can use [[spoiler:[[SwissArmyWeapon Rodin]]]] to attack them directly but that thing is [[BonusBoss not exactly]] [[NintendoHard easy]] to get.

* SelfImposedChallenge: The BonusBoss [[spoiler:Rodin]] is already NintendoHard as-is, but some players go even further by trying to defeat the boss with just the Scarborough Fair guns and the Gaze of Despair accessory.

** The franchise becoming Creator/{{Nintendo}}[=-=]exclusive starting with ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' has been a sore spot for fans. Some don't mind and are happy to see more Bayonetta games at all, since Nintendo funding them is the reason why there are even new games to begin with, while others dislike that the sequels are effectively locked on Nintendo systems, meaning fans who played the first game on other platformers are left out of the rest of the franchise unless they happen to have or buy a Nintendo system. Part of the backlash towards Bayonetta's exclusivity also has to do with the outdated, but still reinforced stereotype that Nintendo is inherently "[[AnimationAgeGhetto kiddy]]", feeling Bayonetta's more mature image clashes terribly with Nintendo's brand and that her games are better suited on the more "mature" platforms instead. It doesn't help that Nintendo gave the okay to ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' (a Platinum IP that is also published by Nintendo) being ported onto other platformers, making fans wonder why they couldn't do the same with the other ''Bayonetta'' games.

* CultClassic: Even with the [[AcclaimedFlop low sales]] across all platforms, its got enough of a fanbase to give it a 3rd game in the series.

** Fairness & Fearless: Quadrupeds that unleash very strong attacks with next to no warning, including a roaring stun for the former and a sting tail for the latter. Thankfully they're rarely fought together, unlike...

** Bayonetta is paired with [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]]. Not surprising that both girls are main characters of their respective series and have a tremendous amount of sex appeal.

** The motionless models and still images used in certain cutscenes. Some argue that it was a creative way to make the game stand-out, and likely a way to save large amounts of the budget for actual gameplay sections, or a great way to slow down the pace to allow the over-the-top fight scenes to seem even more impressive. Others argue that it comes off as a lazy choice more than a stylistic choice.

* SignatureScene:
** The Records of Time level for serving as an excellent introduction to the game's extremely epic scope; Bayonetta and Jeanne fighting together against a legion of angels on the rotating pieces of a shattered clock tower as it plummets hundreds of miles down an obscenely tall cliff. It's the definition of CrazyIsCool and perfectly sets the tone of the experience that follows. This intro was so iconic that ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' made it her stage [[spoiler:and the sequel revisits the scenario midway through the game]].
** [[spoiler:Bayonetta finishing off [[FinalBoss Jubileus]] by punching her soul into the sun.]]

** In Chapter 6 after Cereza calls Bayonetta her mum and confusing Luka, Bayonetta teases him by claiming she has no interest in children but that she might be more interested in making them with him, making the poor man too flustered to give a consistent response. [[spoiler:Two sequels later and [[VideoGame/Bayonetta3 enter Viola]], their daughter (albeit from another dimension). Luka's phrasing makes it even funnier.]]

** In Chapter 6 after Cereza calls Bayonetta her mum and confusing Luka, Bayonetta teases him by claiming she has no interest in children but that she might be more interested in making them with him, making the poor man too flustered to give a consistent response. [[spoiler:Two sequels later and [[Bayonetta3 enter Viola]], their daughter (albeit from another dimension). Luka's phrasing makes it even funnier.]]

** Grace & Glory: Lightning-fast, unpredictable enemies that always come in two, and can easily chain attacks. The upgraded version Gracious and Glorious bring it to another level for being harder to both flinch and trigger Witch Time.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: The game is an extremely fluid, highly-refined BeatEmUp with some of the deepest combat mechanics ever put in a StylishAction game, and a distinctly over-the-top, gloriously {{Camp}} style that, between it and ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'', has earned an array of accolades, awards, and even a few coveted perfect scores. But the eponymous Bayonetta's SpyCatsuit is usually the first thing that comes to mind. Or the fact that her boss-slaying cutscenes leave her temporarily wearing nothing but GodivaHair. That and her extremely sensual and teasing personality just pushed the fanservice factor even bigger.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Bayonetta herself. Is her sexy and {{fanservice}}-y nature badass and empowering? Or problematic and objectifying? She's particularly incredibly divisive amongst feminist gamers, with her sexual nature being frequently and hotly-debated in those circles.

* LGBTFanbase: With her levels of {{Camp}}, hypersexuality, LesYay with Jeanne, crazy fighting gimmicks, and delightfully bitchy attitude, Bayonetta became something of an icon among gay and lesbian gamers alike, with plenty of fans comparing her level of over-the-topness to that of a DragQueen.

* HarsherInHindsight: And HeartwarmingInHindsight, too. In her encounter with [[spoiler:Balder]], Bayonetta [[ThisIsUnforgivable spits in disgust that he can never be saved.]] [[spoiler:In the sequel, we find out that by killing him, that's exactly what she does.]]

* ScrappyWeapon: The regular handguns. Unlocked by beating the game at any difficulty, they're just like the Scarborough Fair, except worse, as they have no Wicked Weaves. Expect these too be used as a challenge run only.

** It's odd that Bayonetta's proportions and actions can end up so amazingly over-sexualized that she can become largely unsexy. Sort of like a sexy version of the UncannyValley: she's too sexy to be taken seriously, but not sexy enough to overpower the ridiculousness. Her head and torso are of normal proportions, but [[UncannyValley her arms and legs are freakishly long and skinny for a character rendered in a semi-realistic fashion]]. She's like a hyper-sexualized female version of [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]].

* UncannyValley:
** Some people feel that Bayonetta and Jeanne fall into this, with their tall figures and long, skinny limbs.
** There's something wrong with Balder's appearance compared to the other characters; his skin's pale and waxy and he looks sick. [[spoiler:The events of ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' reveal that he is indeed sick; he looks normal enough until he comes down with a bad case of Loptr, at which point, he starts looking really unwell due to the evil god eating away at him from the inside.]]

** Another franchise-wide example. The franchise becoming Creator/{{Nintendo}}[=-=]exclusive starting with ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' has been a sore spot for fans. Some don't mind and are happy to see more Bayonetta games at all, since Nintendo funding them is the reason why there are even new games to begin with, while others dislike that the sequels are effectively locked on Nintendo systems, meaning fans who played the first game on other platformers are left out of the rest of the franchise unless they happen to have or buy a Nintendo system. Part of the backlash towards Bayonetta's exclusivity also has to do with the outdated, but still reinforced stereotype that Nintendo is inherently "[[AnimationAgeGhetto kiddy]]", feeling Bayonetta's more mature image clashes terribly with Nintendo's brand and that her games are better suited on the more "mature" platforms instead. It doesn't help that Nintendo gave the okay to ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' (a Platinum IP that is also published by Nintendo) being ported onto other platformers, making fans wonder why they couldn't do the same with the other ''Bayonetta'' games.

** One that applies to the franchise as a whole. The excessive amount of fanservice (particularly in regards to Bayonetta) has become a hot-button topic from the moment the first game came out and has only become more controversial over time. Many don't take issue with it and feels the over the top fanservice forms a big part of Bayonetta's identity, with many regarding it as a positive case since Bayonetta is still a badass and empowering heroine who owns her sexuality and uses it as a weapon, using it as a strength instead of a weakness. However, many feel Bayonetta and her sexual nature is problematic and objectifiying, seeing it as yet another case of a female protagonist being over-sexualized and objectified in order to appeal to horny men as opposed to being a well developed heroine that woman can look up to. It doesn't help that the games are often prone to MaleGaze, with the camera frequently ogling on Bayonetta and her "features" throughout the games. The reveal of Naive Angel mode in ''VideoGame/Bayonetta3'', which allows you to [[AdjustableCensorship disable some of the more risqué content]] has only added fuel to the fire.