Characters / Bayonetta Main Characters

Bayonetta Main Character Index
Main Characters (Bayonetta) | Supporting Characters | Paradiso | Inferno | Alphaverse | Avalon | Other Characters

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This page contains some unmarked spoilers for Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2, and Bayonetta 3.

Bayonetta

Voiced by: Hellena Taylor (EN, 1 and 2), Jennifer Hale (EN, 3), Atsuko Tanaka (JP)

^{Click here to see her appearance in Bayonetta 2}

^{Click here to see her appearance in Bayonetta 3}

"As long as there's music, I'll keep on dancing."

The main character of the series. Bayonetta is one of the Umbra Witches, a magical European clan that existed hundreds of years ago to protect the world's sacred darkness. However, she was born at the center of conflict – her parents were an Umbra Witch, Rosa, and a Lumen Sage named Balder, and their union led to the destruction of both of their clans. In the midst of the Witch Hunts that put her life in danger, Bayonetta was sealed away without her memories for five hundred years. Her awakening and resultant desire to remember her identity starts the events of Bayonetta.

Like other witches, Bayonetta's powers are the result of a contract with a demon of Inferno, hers being Madama Butterfly, and her skills in combat are a mixture of magical gunplay and martial arts. Contrary to her bloody origin and training, though, Bayonetta is an outrageously carefree person who handles the angels sent after her with a mixture of playful sadism, camp, and sheer joy, all while remaining untouched by the carnage and ruin around her. While initially aloof to her allies and acquaintances, Bayonetta eventually warms up to them and displays fierce loyalty and protectiveness even in the worst of circumstances. Bayonetta also has an extremely soft spot for children, and will often provide care and support to her "little ones" in the midst of her quests.

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Click here for tropes on her

Jeanne

Voiced by: Grey DeLisle (EN), Eleanor Jackson (EN, Origins), Mie Sonozaki (JP)

^{Click here to see her appearance in Bayonetta 2}

^{Click here to see her appearance in Bayonetta 3}

"I stake my honour as an Umbra!"

Jeanne is a major antagonist in Bayonetta and a major protagonist in Bayonetta 2. An Umbra Witch of prodigious skill, Jeanne was Bayonetta's childhood friend and her frequent sparring partner, despite Bayonetta's stigma as an impure outsider and Jeanne's status as heir to the clan. When the Witch Hunts threatened the safety of her clan, Jeanne sealed Bayonetta away and spent the next five hundred years fighting the forces of Paradiso as the last of her kind.

She is on par with Bayonetta in battle, and similarly fights with four magical pistols, martial arts, and the limbs of a demoness, Madama Styx. However, Jeanne is much more serious and proud, holding her status as an Umbra Witch in high regard, and she often concerns herself with the supernatural workings of her world even when no one else does. She regards combat as a fierce, no-nonsense proving ground for skill, and is merciless to her opponents. However, she shows an emotional side sometimes, often being shocked at displays of friendship; she's also a daredevil who thoroughly enjoys performing dangerous stunts on her motorcycle.

A few alternate universe variants are shown in 3, and while the specifics of their relationship with a given Bayonetta vary, they are always close, be it as rivals, like sisters, friends, teacher and student, etc. In at least one universe, Bayonetta's refusal to embrace her powers caused the Jeanne of that world to become that universe's Arch Eve.

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• Adaptational Villainy: While she served a villainous role in the first game, it was only because she was brainwashed by Father Balder. In Bloody Fate, there is no mentioning of her being brainwashed, so it seems her villainy was deliberate.
• Alternate Self: A couple are introduced in Bayonetta 3; see their sections at the bottom of the folder.
• Ambiguous Situation: Origins implies her returning to fight alongside Bayonetta during the climax of 3 was via use of a magic called "soul projection" (as the effects when she dissolves away when her soul returns to her body look much the same as when she disappears in 3) presumably used after her soul was freed and potentially returned to her restored body. Yet as with the idea that almost everyone who died in 3 got restored to life when Bayonetta changed Singularity's phenomena, it is as yet not confirmed beyond doubt.
• Animal Motifs: Jeanne is the moth to Bayonetta's butterfly. Her contract is with Madama Styx, a moth-themed demon and her equivalent of Bat Within is a swarm of moths.
• Animorphism: She can transform into animals like Bayonetta.
• Anti-Villain: She's only attacking Bayonetta because she was brainwashed by Balder. She gets better, though. She also still gets a kick out of massacring the angels supposedly helping her.
• Attack Hello: On harder difficulties, Jeanne will start fights by immediately summoning a Wicked Uppercut directly under your feet.
• Badass Biker: She has her own motorcycle, complete with vanity plate, and gets a lot of screentime pulling stunts on it.
• Badass Creed: As the superhero Cutie J, she has her own creed that is equally badass, cheesy and endearing. She even belts it out word-for-word in Bayonetta 3!
  Those distant, hear the sound... Those close by, see the spectacle... Evildoers, fear final justice, because the Platinum Knight has arrived to defend the weak and innocent! CUTIE J IS HERE!
• Badass in Distress: The plot of the second game revolves around this. A freak accident involving a summoning gone wrong causes Jeanne's soul to be dragged to Inferno, giving Bayonetta only a day to rescue her before her soul is lost forever. Once she's rescued, she goes right back to kicking ass, and (in order) flies Bayonetta and Balder to Fimbulventr, holds off a massive dual army of angels and demons, and calls upon Gomorrah — the very demon that got her Dragged Off to Hell — to destroy Loptr's body.
• Badass Teacher: As revealed in the notes for the Bloody Moon and in Bloody Fate, Jeanne is a high-school teacher when she's not killing angels and does not take kindly to any harm coming to her students.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: Jeanne can do it too. Of course, given the Final Battle's circumstances, breathing in space is the easy part. Maybe that's part of Jubileus' grace. Or maybe it's because of magic.
• Best Friend: Without a doubt is this to Bayonetta, as she doesn't even hesitate to dive into Inferno when Jeanne is in trouble.
• Boyish Short Hair: Her hairstyle in the first game. Bayonetta 2 switches things up, giving Jeanne longer hair and Bayonetta shorter hair.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: The reason why Jeanne is attacking Bayonetta. If the other tropes on this page haven't clued you in, it wears off near the end of the first game.
• Child Prodigy: Origins reveals that Jeanne took to Umbran magic much more quickly than Cereza did; for an example, Cereza only figures out Restoration Magic after the third McGuffin, whereas Jeanne has already mastered it from the opening. While Cereza summoned her first Infernal at the tail end of the first chapter, Jeanne already knows enough of her way around Infernals to transfer Cheshire to a new body. This is reflected in gameplay, where Jeanne's version of Thorn Bind is an Area of Effect snare that can seize an entire formation of faeries and can begin casting regardless of their proximity, whereas Cereza has a slightly faster-casting Thorn Bind that can only affect a single enemy and only casts if she has one targeted.
• Coat Cape: In 3 Jeanne wears a snow leopard jacket like this.
• Combat Stilettos: She wears high heels with heels replaced with guns, which she uses to perform Gun Fu.
• Cool Teacher: Is said to be mild-mannered and popular with her students. And she's a Umbra Witch.
• Cosplay: Like Bayonetta, she too gets dressed up in various costumes (sharing most of them with Bayonetta in-game), although by her own admittance she doesn't quite enjoy it as much as Bayonetta.
• Dark Action Girl: Played with in Bayonetta, where Jeanne's associated with the holy-but-evil angels.
• Dark Reprise: "Blood & Darkness" is one to "Red & Black", signifying that Jeanne's not fucking around anymore.
• Divergent Character Evolution:
  • Her character model – not her outfit, mind you, but her body structure and chest size – was altered in Bayonetta 2 to make her more unique compared to Bayonetta, with whom she shared almost an entire character model in the original game.
  • In Bayonetta 2, Jeanne keeps her All 4 One moveset and animations from the previous game, while Bayonetta receives a brand-new set of animations and combos for Love is Blue.
• Drives Like Crazy: Not even the bustling downtown traffic prevents her from doing crazy stunts with her bike.
• Evil Twin: To Bayonetta, from fighting styles, to clothes, to glasses. No family relation, though.
  Bayonetta: Who are you? And don't you dare say my long-lost sister.
• Fanservice Pack: Inverted. Her chest is noticeably flattened in Bayonetta 2 when compared to her model in the original Bayonetta, which Word of God states was to further differentiate her from Bayonetta.
• Fleur-de-lis: The sigil appearing behind her name when she is introduced in battle and in her entry for the Hierarchy of Laguna book is a heavily stylized Fleur-de-Lis. Fitting, since she is strongly implied to be of French descent.
• Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Not on her outfit, but rather, she has massive feather tassels hanging off of the ends of her two guns in the first game. The concept artist, Mari Shimazaki, put them there to accentuate her movements, much like Bayonetta's long hair. They vanish inexplicably when she changes into her identical-to-Bayonetta's leather costume during their last battle. The feathers are reminiscent of moth antennae, as accentuated in her transformations into a beast or a bird. They also contrast with Bayonetta's hair ribbons, which are meant to be reminiscent of butterfly antennae.
• Foil: To Bayonetta, in a few ways.
  • Jeanne's more of a daredevil than Bayonetta; she'll only choose to activate Witch Time through her One to Million to One Moth Within, and she takes 50% more damage from attacks (implying she's not trying to defend herself as much). In cutscenes, Jeanne tends to fight in close quarters, and her showy moves revolve around putting herself in harm's way, rather than the straightforward Camp that Bayonetta is known for.
  • Jeanne is also harsher to her enemies. Bayonetta often shows a bit of sadism in combat and likes to play with her enemies before killing them, and her battle shouts and taunts show that she maintains a sense of humor in battle. Jeanne's battle cries and taunts are dominated by wrath and rage, and by far more profane than Bayonetta's (incidentally, she only uses profanity during playable combat). Her Wicked Weaves are 50% more damaging than Bayonetta's, implying that she's putting more of her power into them.
  • Jeanne takes the plot much more seriously than Bayonetta, and provides drama and motivation during her scenes to contrast Bayonetta's comedy and flippancy.
  • Jeanne's personality, outfits, and body language paint her as the conservative, classy foil to Bayonetta's outrageous, sexualized Camp.
• Good Wears White: In the climactic battle of the first game, Jeanne aids Bayonetta while wearing the white outfit she wore in their previous battle when Jeanne was Brainwashed and Crazy. Jeanne wearing white before she snaps out of Balder's control could be seen as foreshadowing her Heel–Face Turn.
• The Gunslinger: Just like Bayonetta, she wields four guns.
• Heel–Face Turn: Jeanne starts out evil, but once her brainwashing at Balder's hands is undone, she goes through hell and high water for Bayonetta.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Her civilian clothing in the first two games is motorcycle leathers.
• Henshin Hero: Shown in 3: If she finds a teacup during her side missions, she will recite her Badass Creed, strike an Ass-Kicking Pose, then instantly transform into Cutie J.
• Hidden Depths: Concept art, Bloody Fate, and the sequel reveal that Jeanne's day job is teaching history at a high school.
• I Did What I Had to Do: During the Witch Hunts, after realizing what the enemies were after, she stabbed Cereza on the heart to prevent Cereza from awakening the sought-after Left Eye. This managed to delay the villain's Evil Plan for several centuries.
• Insult of Endearment: When Bayonetta makes a joke on Jeanne's expense in front of Dr. Sigurd, Jeanne playfully retorts with "You bitch!", and Dr. Digurd remarks what close friends the two witches are.
• Improbable Weapon User: Her ice skates are fueled by the soul of Karen, the vain and spoiled child from the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Red Shoes".
• Jeanne d'Archétype: When the Witch Hunts began, she was the most adamant to defend her clan – and still is, 500 years later. On the more obvious side of things, Jeanne shares both her first name and birth date with the actual Jeanne D'Arc – and her jumpsuit in the first game is "D'Arc" brand; an Italian couturier.
• Little Miss Badass: As seen in Origins, young Jeanne is already an accomplished and confident witch who stares down anyone who dares threaten her and her loved ones, as Singularity experiences firsthand, in contrast to her best friend young Cereza who is still an inexperienced witch with low self esteem.
• Living a Double Life: She actually lives three lives: A high school teacher, her city's local Super Hero, and an Umbra Witch!
• Mage Marksman: A gunslinger and Umbra Witch, just like Bayonetta.
• Magical Girl: She's either this, or a straight-up superhero when she dons the "Cutie J" costume, complete with a cute mask and dorky creed. A loving reference to Cutey Honey.
  "The battle uniform of the Umbra Witches. The strong, tightly woven hair forming this bodysuit repels all attacks. But in the hands of the seemingly mild-mannered schoolteacher Jeanne, the suit allows her to transform into the powerful Cutie J! Defending her city and her beloved students, she cuts through evil with her crimson blade, Bloody Moon! Those distant, hear the sound... Those close by, see the spectacle... Evildoers, fear final justice, because the Platinum Knight has arrived to defend the weak and innocent! CUTIE J IS HERE!"
• Mirror Boss: As an Umbra Witch herself, her fighting style is more or less identical to Bayonetta's.
• Motifs: Jeanne has a strong musketeer theme. She canonically fights with sword and gun, has pistols named after the four musketeers, has a modern steed in her motorcycle, might be Umbran royalty, and rocks a snazzy-looking feathered cavalier hat in an early cutscene. She's also very task-oriented and is motivated by duty and loyalty.
• Ms. Fanservice: Zig-zagged. Outfits initially unique to her, like her d'Arc outfit and her biker suit, are quite conservative. When playable, though, Jeanne has access to the same fanservicey outfits as Bayonetta.
• The Musketeer: Jeanne alternates between using sword and gun during her boss fights.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: Origins implies her death in 3 was to some extent planned by her. Jeanne was fully aware of the manner of her death, even what she was wearing at the time and what the weapon that did it looked like, yet did nothing to change it, ensuring that the future she knew about (including Singularity being defeated and then traveling to the past to try to change this only to die for good) would happen. Rather than gamble on a future where she lived, she made sure that her death (temporary as, unknown to her, it may have been) served a purpose.
• Nominal Villain: Jeanne spends most of the first game as an adversary to Bayonetta, but is revealed to be under a spell after the fourth battle with her. After being freed, she aids Bayonetta in the final battle against Father Balder.
• Not a Morning Person: One doodle by Mari Shimazaki, the game's official artist, suggests that Jeanne doesn't like waking up early. In the second game, Bayonetta also remarks that Jeanne "never were a morning person".
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: She slaughters the Big Bad's entire demon-angel army offscreen during the second game's finale. The next time we see her, she's waiting in the clear Noatunian air for her chance to leap into action, and there isn't a single damn scratch on her or the jet she rode in on.
  "I'll take care of them, Cereza. Hurry to the temple!"
• Only Mostly Dead: Played completely straight in the sequel, where Jeanne's body can last roughly a day before her soul becomes a permanent part of Inferno and she's dead for good.
• Perfect Play A.I.: Jeanne is the first enemy in the series capable of breaking out of your combos, adapting to your playstyle, and generally testing your ability to do something other than thoughtlessly spamming attacks. She'll do this in her first fight, which is in Chapter II, and she only gets tougher.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Jeanne comes fairly close as she can fire remote-controlled missiles at you during her last boss fight.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses: It's not made clear if Bayonetta's specs are prescription, but Jeanne's certainly aren't; she only wears them once, during the first game's Epilogue while waiting for the Laguna to crash Bayonetta's funeral, and by Bayo 2 she's traded them out for a proper pair of biker goggles.
• Really 700 Years Old: She is around the same age as Bayonetta. ^note Date of Birth: January 6, 1412; sixteen days younger.
• Recurring Boss: Fought 4 times in the first game.
• Redemption Equals Death: Played with repeatedly in Jeanne's case as the game tries to show her supposedly dying after being freed from Balder's brainwashing. It's ultimately averted because she survives in the end.
• The Rival: Fits this trope best in Bayonetta, where she's bitter and resentful that Bayonetta defeated her on the night of her own coronation. Turns into Bash Brothers once her brainwashing wears off.
• Royal Rapier: Fights with one, named Angel Slayer, musketeer-style during the Witch Hunts. She uses it during her third and fourth boss fights, and it serves as her equivalent of Bayonetta's 修羅刃 -Shuraba- in both games.
• Shout-Out:
  • Her quartet of guns are called "All 4 One" altogether — or "Porthos", "Athos", "Aramis" and "D'Artagnan" individually. In the second game, their feather tassels are replaced by cat plushies wearing musketeer hats◊.
  • Her rivalry with the main protagonist bares in mind Vergil/Nelo Angelo's rivalry against Dante, with both of them coming from hack and slash games being made by Hideki Kamiya. Both of them also end up being brainwashed by the Big Bad, only to snap out of it. Otherwise though the characters have different personalities.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Never in dialogue, but Jeanne's taunts (and battle cries) in both games are quite profane, compared to Bayonetta's.
  "You motherfucker!"
• Spanner in the Works: Jeanne is responsible for derailing Father Balder's plan, because he didn't count on her snapping out of her brainwashing and saving Bayonetta.
• Taking the Bullet: Pushes Bayonetta out of the way of a berserk Gomorrah in the prologue of the second game, getting hit so hard her soul is knocked out of her body.
• Uncertain Doom: When we last see her in 3, she's run through by Singularity and her soul is absorbed by him. Her soul breaks free along with those of the slain Bayonettas and lends a hand in the final boss fight before fading away. Whether or not she's actually dead for good is never explicitly stated, and there is evidence she was restored along with most of the other lives Singularity ended, but considering the main theme of the game's story is that Cereza and her allies' story is over and Viola's story is now beginning, her chances aren't good.
• Undying Loyalty: To the Umbran cause, and Bayonetta once her brainwashing wears off.
• Vanity License Plate: The plate on her motorcycle reads "U1 QTJ" (Umbra #1 Cutie J).
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Jeanne is your first introduction to just how tough the game can get, especially if you haven't mastered dodging and Witch Time. She will break out of your combos at a moment's notice, put you into unbreakable combos of her own, and break out the Giant Foot of Stomping on you. Your first fight with her is Chapter II, less than a quarter of the way into the game, and she just gets tougher from there.
• Willfully Weak: According to Word of God, Jeanne is a compulsive daredevil, which is why she doesn't enter Witch Time if she doesn't use her Moth Within – that ability puts her at a far greater risk of being hit than simply dodging. Averted with her Wicked Weaves, which deal 1.5x the damage of Bayonetta's.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
  • Father Balder had already previously decided that she was supposed to die in order to help Bayonetta regain her lost memories. However, she snaps out of her brainwashing at the last moment and escapes, coming back later to save Bayonetta from Balder.
  • Once Bayonetta goes to Alphaverse in a futile mission, Singularity promptly shanks Jeanne from behind.

Jeanne β1

A variant of Jeanne living in an alternate Tokyo. She is mentioned in Bayonetta β1's profile as her rival, and is first seen being slain by the Homunculi.

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• Friendly Rivalry: She and her Bayonetta are always competing against each other.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Bayonetta β1 knows that something is wrong when she shows up for a bowling challenge between her and Jeanne... and Jeanne isn't there.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Is introduced getting killed off by the Homunculi.

Jeanne β3

A variant of Jeanne living in an alternate Cairo. She serves as Bayonetta β3's retainer and tutor; due to the princess' reluctance towards her powers, Jeanne has become the Arch Eve of that universe.

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• Insult of Endearment: The way she addresses her Bayonetta as "princess" has tones of this.
• Mercy Kill: Begs for this from Origin Bayonetta... who can't go through with it. Bayonetta β3 is the one who deals the finishing blow.

Luka Redgrave

Voiced by: Yuri Lowenthal (EN), Daisuke Namikawa (JP)

^{Click here to see his appearance in Bayonetta 2}

^{Click here to see his appearance in Bayonetta 3}

"Sure, my colleagues laugh at me for chasing fairy tales... amongst other things..."

Luka is a significant supporting character in the series, being an antagonist of sorts in Bayonetta while being firmly on Bayonetta's side in the sequels. Like his father Antonio, Luka is an intrepid journalist dedicated to uncovering the truth, and also puts his talents to use in uncovering the mysteries of Vigrid's Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches. His interest in the subject began when his father – who was also investigating the clans – suffered a strange death that Luka witnessed and believed Bayonetta in some way caused; Luka's subsequent investigations eventually led to him encountering Bayonetta again twenty years later.

As a human, Luka has no special powers beyond seemingly really good luck, but he's often forced to keep up with everyone else anyway. His investigative instincts, coupled with a clever grappling-hook device, often get him into places and trouble that a regular person wouldn't normally be near, and he has a knack for uncovering local legends that play a vital role in the plot. Indeed, his sense of timing is such that even supernatural beings can't always see him coming. When not doing his research, Luka usually provides comic relief through his theatricality and his shameless attempts at flirting with attractive women, Bayonetta in particular – both of which make him a frequent target for Bayonetta's teasing.

As with Bayonetta herself, Bayonetta 3 details that the Luka of each main game is a separate variant that has led a very similar life to the others. Just as the main Bayonetta of 3 is Arch Eve Origin and has special significance in the multiverse, so too does the Luka of 3, he being the Arch Adam Origin that light and dark opposites from across the multiverse seek to influence and empower, turning him into something more than human.

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• Accidental Pervert: Nearly grabs Bayonetta's ass when she's pushing him down to avoid a deadly attack.
• Action Dad: Briefly at the end of 3 given that he's fighting to protect his future daughter, Viola thanks to his new faerie-werewolf form.
• Action Survivor: How many times should he have died again? One notable instance had him surviving being left on a missile during Bayonetta's fight with Jeanne, and he still got away and survived. Bayonetta is as shocked by this as the player. Another case is when Balder sets a few Affinities on him, who nearly yank his limbs out of his sockets, and then he's tossed out of the top window of Balder's skyscraper. The next time we see Luka, he doesn't have a scratch on him, but his surviving the fall is justified by Bayonetta's control over another missile. In 3, he drops the survivor part and becomes full on badass in his faerie-werewolf form.
• All Your Powers Combined: Lukaon gathers all the hearts of the Arch-Adams — aka the versions of Luka from throughout the multiverse — to combine to the prime Luka, giving him the ability to turn into his faerie-werewolf form without strain, and making him the Arch Adam Origin who can fulfill his purpose of guiding Arch Eve Origin.
• Alternate Self: In 3, a fey version of him named Lucaon is revealed, who is the King of the Fairies.
• Badass Normal: Luka may be a Plucky Comic Relief at times, he never fights and his only fantastical aids are his grappling hook and his glasses (in Bayonetta 2), but somehow, he's shockingly capable of some things that are completely over his head, or can show up and try to save the day wherever Bayonetta is. Luka is also extremely lucky and has survived everything the plot has thrown his way, and when you're a squishy human in this kind of setting, ninety percent of badassery is just showing up in the same place as the heroes and villains. By 3, the normal is dropped when he gains a faerie-werewolf form.
• Battle Couple: Ends up as one with Bayonetta for the final battle in 3 once he fully unlocks his faerie-werewolf form.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Downplayed in the last chapter of Bayonetta 2, Loki's had his Sovereign Power stripped out of him, Bayonetta is holding him in her arms, and Loptr has the Right Eye with intention to take the Left. Luka proceeds to swing in out of nowhere, get Loki out of the fight zone, free up Bayonetta to draw her weapons, and befuddle the crap out of the Prophet.
  • Played humorously at first in 3 when he tries to drop-kick Singularity from behind, and then played straight when he transforms into his faerie-werewolf form to help Bayonetta in the final boss fight against Singularity.
• Born Lucky: Anyone who survives around an Umbra Witch who doesn't dedicate herself to constantly protecting him qualifies as this. If we take the fact that he's part fae in 3, this is presumably one of his powers as the fae were associated with luck.
  Bayo: I don't know whether to shoot you or take you to Vegas for good luck.
• Butt-Monkey: Comes with the territory of being an apparent Muggle among the cast. He doesn't have it nearly as bad as Enzo though. He's an Iron Butt Monkey, however, to the point where he should be suspected of possessing quantum immortality...
• Call-Back: When escorting (carrying) Loki to Fimbulventr in Bayonetta 2, he is not ashamed to admit he preferred the "cute little Cerezita who weighs like ten pounds."
• The Casanova: He has a habit of flirting with any pretty women he sees. By 3, it's mostly reserved for Bayo.
• The Cavalry: Even for a Badass Normal, Luka's almost mystical with his rescue attempts.
  Bayonetta: (to Loptr) Just some fool always swinging in out of nowhere, albeit with absolutely impeccable timing. I suppose not even a god can see him coming?
• Character Development:
  • He spends his early screentime in the first game accusing Bayonetta as his father's murderer. But once the truth is revealed (the Angels were the ones who killed his father), Luka becomes loyal to Bayonetta and even tries to defend her from Balder, even if the latter threw him off a skyscraper moments ago.
  • By the events of 3 he seems to have left his womanizing antics behind, with his flirting directed only at the quite receptive Bayonetta and him even remarking she's the only one he wants by his side.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Luka giving a lollipop to Cereza in the first game, which signifies what Bayonetta's favorite sweet is.
  • He does this again with Viola in 3 to signify that she is his and Bayonetta's daughter.
• Chivalrous Pervert: He may be a shameless pervert, but he's ultimately a good guy who's very devoted to finding the truth.
• Cosmic Motifs: As Strider, he has a constellation pattern on his body.
• Creepy Monotone: Before his first transformation into Strider on-screen he mutters, "There is only...one...truth." as if possessed.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Thanks to being part-fae, he is able to turn into a faerie-werewolf in Bayonetta 3, but after some initial misgivings he gets control over this form and fight for good.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Luka, normal, unpowered human (at the time), tells off beings far more powerful than himself, including and up to Loptr.
• Disney Death: Gets thrown out of the top of Balder's building in 1. And he's seen later without a scratch on him.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Luka initially seeks revenge against the titular protagonist. But every time he meets her, he alternates between swearing revenge, and making clumsy, awkward sexual overtures. Presumably, it's kinda hard to remember what you were doing when you have... well, freaking Bayonetta standing in front of you. He loses his train of thought twice thanks to Bayonetta's cleavage. He's more composed on the surface in the sequel when speaking with Bayonetta, though Loki notes his eyes still betray how distracted he is.
• Dragged Off to Hell: He willingly goes to Inferno alongside Bayonetta at the end of 3.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Bayonetta nicknames him Cheshire in the first game, and while she eventually calls him by his first name, she still calls him Cheshire when he does something embarrassing. In Bayonetta 2, Luka admits he isn't used to her calling him something other than Cheshire.
• Establishing Character Moment: His introductory cutscene in Bayonetta 1 gives the player all the information they need about him:
  • He's being chased by a guard, presumably for being somewhere he's not supposed to be.
  • He stops in the middle of the chase to hit on a girl who seems rather intrigued by him, but falls on his ass while trying to be smooth.
  • He loses the guard through use of a Grappling-Hook Pistol.
  • And finally, his interactions with Bayonetta show that he has some kind of grudge against her, while she sees him as someone to mess with.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In 3, a closer look at Strider when you fight him for the first time shows that his "cape" looks quite similar to Luka's coat, foreshadowing that it's really Luka prior to his transformation later on. Also, isn't it a bit too convenient that Luka's first appearance is just after the first Strider battle?
  • In hindsight, his surname was a clue to where he'd end up. In 3, he chooses to go to Bayonetta into Inferno, which is associated with the color red.
  • A minor one comes from his acute sense of smell in 1 and 2 when he first appeared in both games. Canines are well known for their sense of smell after all.
  • In the first game, he mentioned how he was teased for "chasing fairy tales". In 3, he has a variant that's king of the fae.
  • In one cutscene from the first game has Bayo troll Luka by using lipstick to draw Facial Markings similar to that of Amaterasu, depicted as a wolf. Come 3 and Luka transforms into a wolf.
• Friend to All Children: He and Cereza get along very well. Cereza's fondness for him stayed with her as she eventually grew up into Bayonetta and an offhand comment hints he is in fact responsible for her preference for lollipops as an adult, which he kept giving Cereza while she in his care. Carries over to Bayonetta 2 somewhat when he helps an incapacitated Loki get to the top of Fimbulventr.
• Goggles Do Something Unusual: In Bayonetta 2, he gets his hands on a pair of permanently enchanted specs from Rodin so he can see the angels (and Bayonetta) in Purgatorio whenever he wants.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: His only notable skill prior to 3 is making flashy getaways (and incredible timing when it comes to arriving in places).
• Half-Human Hybrid: Heavily downplayed, but the reason he suddenly transforms into a lupine form in 3 is that a past incarnation of himself was half fae (and one such incarnation in one universe survived to the present day), and the reverberations of the multiversal collapse initiated by the Singularity drove it to the surface and out of control.
• Handsome Lech: He rattles off the names of four Capcom ladies when he's trying to brag to Bayonetta about his supposed lovers. Dovetails into Butt-Monkey when you realize one is "Ammy", and gets worse when you see who these "ladies" actually are◊.
• Harmful to Minors: As a small child, he sees his father graphically slain, with lots of his father's blood splashing on the grave he's hiding behind. Unfortunately, the only other being he sees there is Bayonetta, as opposed to his father's actual killers, the angels she was fighting.
• He Is All Grown Up: Bayonetta seems to think so, but knowing her, she's probably just teasing him.
  Bayonetta: You've certainly bloomed, haven't you, my little Cheshire puss?
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: During 3 he's uncharacteristically self-admonishing during his second fight with Bayonetta, ashamed of his uncontrolled actions as Strider and calling himself a hateful monster. Bayonetta has none of it.
• Hero of Another Story: Most of what you'd call his heroics – like stealing vehicles and showing up in unlikely places – happen totally offscreen.
• Informed Ability: Played straight and averted in different contexts.
  • Luka is supposed to be a renowned journalist who is tracking Bayonetta to expose her to the world, but all he seems to do is general Butt-Monkey stuff. He does have a considerable amount of knowledge on the supernatural, though it's not made clear how much of that he picked up on and what he got from his father.
  • Averted in the movie, which shows him doing actual investigative work and tracking down evidence of Bayonetta.
  • Also averted in the second game, where he's in Noatun to discover the mysteries of Fimbulventr and you can find pages of his journal scattered about, showing that he's at least doing investigative work.
• Intrepid Reporter: He's pretty active in his investigations, sometimes to the point where he ends up in places he shouldn't be in.
• Iron Butt Monkey: The amount of abuse he gets will make you wonder how the hell he's still alive. In 3 Bayonetta lampshades how he always ends up coming back to her with a smile no matter what he goes through.
• Ironic Name: Luka means "Light" but in 3, he gains a dark wolf form.
• Irony: Bayo always likes to call him Cheshire after the cat and he owns three cats (and one puppy). In 3, he gains a lupine form.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: He owns three cats, Claire, Trish, and Sylvia, and one dog, Ammy.
• Like Father, Like Son: By 2, he has fully adopted his father's look and profession.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Luka can be read as "Light" or "Bringer of light" which helps contrast him with the Dark Is Not Evil Bayonetta.
  • Lukaon is based off of Lycaon, whose name is writen as Λυκᾱ́ων and which can transliterate to Lukaon. Lycaon, King of Arcadia, was known for being the first werewolf in Greek mythology. Fitting for this Luka, as he becomes a fae-werewolf.
  • Finally, his surname hints towards his fate in 3. He gets dragged off to his death into Inferno, which is associated with the color red.
• Morality Pet: Not to the extent of Cereza, but Bayonetta does not like to see him seriously hurt.^note Since he was nice to Cereza and gave her her Comfort Food for the first time, it's instinctual. That, and she finds his antics amusing. 3 expands on this, with Bayonetta noting that one of Viola's lessons is to learn to fight for others, not just herself, and implying that Luka helped Bayonetta herself learn this as she remarks he'll give Viola lots of practice.
• Motive Rant: Much of his dialogue. Subverted in that he can't seem to decide what his motive is himself, leading to the comical sight of him constantly switching motives, sometimes from one sentence to another. 3 Reveals that he doesn't entirely understand his own motives, as his obsession with the truth is linked to a guiding "voice" that has been urging him on since he was a child. The way this voice makes his mind race sometimes spills out into his grandiose rants.
• Mr. Exposition: In Bayonetta 2, when he's not being a Big Damn Hero (...kind of), he plays this role.
• Mr. Fanservice: Let's just say there is a reason why the Ms. Fanservice Bayonetta fell in love with him and allowed him to knock her up.
• The Nicknamer: Refers to Cereza as "Cerezita," and refers to Viola as "Violeta" at least once.
• The Nose Knows: When he first appears in both 1 and 2, he's able to detect different scents. In the first one, he smells a hint of rosemary coming from the angels, and in the second game he can tell that Bayo is wearing a certain type of perfume.
• Non-Action Guy: He's tied with Enzo (maybe) as the worst fighter in the main cast, but he's on the Silver trophies, ranking him above Enzo, Loki, and Cereza. Averted in Bayonetta 3 when he joins in for the Final Boss fight in a new bestial form.
• Odd Friendship: At the end of Bayonetta 2, Bayonetta notes that he and Rodin appear to be getting along well.
• Official Couple: He and Bayonetta become this in 3, with the reveal that Viola is their daughter. That, and he willingly goes down to Inferno with Bayonetta as her Umbral Watch is broken.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: In Bayonetta 2, Luka aids Bayonetta by leaving pages of his notebook around Noatun in the hopes that she'll find them useful. They don't turn out to be very vital to the plot, but that doesn't change the fact that some of them are left in places that are damn near impossible for an ordinary human to reach, and the player usually ends up forced to carve a path through baddies of all kinds to reach those pages. Although angels and demons being in Purgatorio (and thus being unreachable from the human world) means the monster fights are excusable, the locations are NOT. In 3, he ups himself by crashing into the final battle after somehow jumping into a portal in bestial form.
• Only One Name: One of two characters in the series to avert this trope, the other being his father Antonio.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: In 3 he gains the ability to transform into a humanoid wolf-monster due to his fae connection that has multiple eyes and stained glass plates on his body.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: That's what happens when you don't have guns attached to your feet. Even in 3, while his faerie-werewolf form means he can support her and handle himself in battle, Bayonetta dominates him both times they fight each other, with the first time being basically a fun game for her that he ends up running away from.
• Papa Wolf: Literally in 3. He arrives for the final battle to protect his daughter, Viola, and can even turn into a sort of faerie-werewolf.
• Parental Substitute: For young Cereza.
• Prophetic Name: Luka means "Bringer of Light", relating to his Spanner in the Works role in the series. His surname is a foreshadowing of him being taken to Inferno.
• Precision F-Strike: "Oh, fuck me!!"
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "My. Name. Is. LUKA!" It gets hilariously inverted in the movie. It also happens in almost the same way in Bayonetta 2.
  Bayonetta: I told you to babysit her at home, Luka.
  Luka: How many times must I tell you?! My name is Cheshire! *beat*
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Briefly has these in 3 before he turns into the wolf dark fairy, Strider.
• Really Gets Around: Or so he claims.
• Really Royalty Reveal: Downplayed, but according to the lore entries in 3 an alternate universe version of him is the King of Avalon, possibly making Luka the king after his alternates hearts merge with him, and Viola possibly the rightful Princess of Avalon.
• Reincarnation: Implied, as Origins suggests that modern-day Luka is the reincarnation of Lukaon, the young faerie king that Cereza met and bonded with in Avalon Forest as a child. This would reframe his relationship with Bayonetta as a Reincarnation Romance.
• Scarf of Asskicking: He wears a pretty nice scarf. In the second game he ties it a lot more neatly. At the end of 3, the scarf is given to his daughter, Viola.
• Spanner in the Works: Luka's main superpower, aside from being Born Lucky. He disrupts events just enough to tip things on Bayonetta's side. In 3, it's revealed that his ability to tip the scales is because of the "Voice" in his head urging him to be at a specific area.
• Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: His goal in the first game is to try to expose Bayonetta to the world after believing she killed his father.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: It's rarely shown, and is often disguised with creative camera angles, but he's a head taller than Bayonetta, which several cutscenes in 3 finally shows off. The "dark" could apply to his slightly dark color palette, as well his background of losing his father as a child.
• Too Dumb to Live: Y'know, Luka, it's a really good thing that Bayonetta isn't the murderer you spent twenty years thinking she was. Otherwise, calling out the person you accuse as your father's killer, while she's armed and you're not, in an isolated area with no potential witnesses for miles around, would have shortened your lifespan considerably.
• Took a Level in Badass: He ends up gaining a bestial form in 3 and he uses it to kick ass with Bayo in the final battle after Lukaon harmonizes all hearts of the alternate Lukas into Arch-Adam Origin Luka himself.
• Together in Death: Allows himself to be pulled into Inferno alongside Bayonetta at the end of 3 once her Umbral Watch shatters.
• Unfazed Everyman: Definitely by the end of the first game.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: He shows up at Father Balder's lair at the end of the first game and picks him apart with an impressive Breaking Speech befitting of a journalist. Balder throws him out the window and continues his showdown with Bayonetta like Luka was never even there.
• You Are Worth Hell: He decides to be pulled into Inferno with Bayonetta in 3 when her Umbral Watch is finally destroyed.
• You Killed My Father: To Bayonetta. It was actually done by some Laguna, under Father Balder's orders.

Rodin, the Infinite One

Voiced by: Dave Fennoy (EN), Tesshō Genda (JP)

"You got halos. I got items. Welcome to the foundation of a barter economy."

Rodin is Bayonetta's armorer, and the bartender and owner of the Gates of Hell in his spare time. Menacing and dangerous, his weapons are powered by the souls of demons he personally beats into submission, but he prefers to watch Bayonetta put his "works of art" to use instead of getting directly involved in the games' storylines. Despite his bloody place in the cast, Rodin's shown a softer, more affable side on occasion, and cheerfully greets the player with cheesy jokes and pop-culture references whenever they visit his shop.

Rodin is also a fallen angel whose power used to be on par with that of Jubileus. Players can purchase the Platinum Ticket for 9,999,999 halos to restore his power and face him as the game's bonus boss. In Bayonetta, he manifests as Father Rodin, while in Bayonetta 2, he fights as the demon Rodin – both of which bear the Boss Subtitles of The Infinite One.

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• Absurd Phobia: His bio in The Wonderful 101 reveals he has one. It's small birds.
• All-Powerful Bystander: Rodin is by far and away one of the most powerful characters in the series, but he's perfectly content to simply sit on the sidelines and make weapons. Downplayed in 3 as you can summon him as a combat ally, but to do so you must first clear the game's main plot once.
• Alternate Self: Averted despite everyone else having them in 3. Due to him being from Paradiso, he can't have one as alternate realities only exist with the human world.
• Amazon Chaser: Implied in Bayonetta 2 when the player scans a Metroid amiibo in Rodin's shop:
  Hey, got somethin' here from the toughest bounty hunter in the galaxy. You know I love a badass with a big heart... or was it the other way around?
• Ascended Extra: In the original game, he was your blacksmith - and that's it. He would make weapons, and occassionally crack a cheesy joke or make a cocktail, the end. In 2, he plays a slightly bigger role. In addition to his Gates of Hell duties, he also personally takes care of Jeanne's body while Bayonetta retrieves her soul, and later joins in as a Guest-Star Party Member to capture Alraune's soul. In 3, he helps out heavily in the opening, but then returns to being mostly a passive observer (aside from providing Bayonetta a free weapon and sending his shop to most of the universes she travels to). Unless that is you unlock him as a summon, wherein he will assist directly in battle.
• Badass Santa: Shows up in Santa getup in Bayonetta 2 to deliver Bayonetta her new guns. The way he does it is beyond badass. According to Bayonetta, he might as well be the real Santa.
• Bald Head of Toughness: He's as bald as an egg, making it easy to see the slick tattoos he's got on his head, and alludes to his strength and toughness.
• Bald Mystic: In the first game, it's clear that the very bald Rodin is not a normal human, given his ability to go into Inferno to make weapons and the ways his eyes sometimes glow. You eventually learn that he's a fallen angel, with many allusions (like sometimes being referred to as Mephisto) marking him as a subtle Satanic Archetype.
• Ballistic Discount: Defeating him for the first time gets you his namesake Swiss-Army Weapon. One of the possible weapons it turns into is a chainsaw on your arm.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Despite being The Blacksmith, Rodin never fights with a weapon and prefers to use his fists. That said, given how immensely powerful he is, it's all he needs.
• Baritone of Strength: Though deep-voiced Rodin prefers to work as a bar owner and Bayonetta's armorer, he's a Fallen Angel and one of the most powerful characters in the entire series.
• Barrier Warrior: Can throw up a barrier to block enemy attacks as he cannot evade.
• Berserk Button: In 3, if you summon him as a Demon Slave and begin the dance but then refuse to follow through, he'll become enraged. Not just "enraged Demon Slave" enraged, but absolutely pissed. While most enraged Demon Slaves can deal some damage to you, Rodin will just outright one-shot you.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Even if he's not a stereotypical nice guy, he's still a friend of Bayonetta and tolerates her snarks and occasional slapsticks (such as when she shoots him in 2). Press his Berserk Button, however, and he will remind you very painfully that you do NOT fuck with the devil.
• Big Damn Heroes: In the prologue of 3 he rescues a tired Bayonetta and unconscious Jeanne underwater from Iridescent, a titanic homunculus, by throwing an entire skyscaper into it like a lance before it can swallow them.
• The Blacksmith: Though not in the traditional sense of the word. Whenever you bring him Gold LPs, he teleports into the bowels of Inferno and plays the angelic music recorded on the disc, summoning demons to him like moths to a flame. He then defeats the demons and uses their spiritual essence to forge new weapons for Bayonetta. The Hierarchy of Laguna text claims that Rodin's skills as a smith were legendary amongst the echelons of Paradiso, and that he often crafted weapons which struck terror into the hearts of The Legions of Hell.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Wields the hammer Yagyu in The Wonderful 101 and turned the sword Takemikazuchi into a hammer for the cool factor, which is a logical preference for someone who creates weapons.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's quite possibly the most powerful character in the setting (barring Singularity), and he's definitely the toughest opponent. He's also the single greatest blacksmith in the Trinity of Realities, having made all of the Angels their signature weapons and now makes the meanest and most brutal of demonic arms. That being said, he's quite quirky and says some of the most ridiculous things with a completely straight face.
  "You bring me enough of these halos and maybe I can buy a ticket to space. Always wanted to be a bald space marine."
  "Hey, check this out: "Whadda ya buyin'?" Hehehe, heard that in a game once."
  "No matter how much you ask, I'm not puttin' a chainsaw on your arm! Now, what do you want!?"
  "Welcome to the Gates of Hell. We've lit our prices on fire, so there won't be hell to pay... C'mon. I gotta say some cheesy shit sometimes."
  "Being a demon lets me read minds... You're thinking, "Shut up and take my halos!" Let's do this."
  "New shop rule: No shoes. No shirt. No service. Hair doesn't count. Hehe... Just kidding'! What'll it be?"
  "The world famous Rodin's. Where demons and gunsmithing go together like chicken and waffles. Hehe... Sorry. I'm mad hungry. What can I do ya for?"
  "Hey... Gimme a minute. I'm playin' this crazy game, and I gotta sprinkle some magic powder on a chicken... (finishes playing) Alright. What can I do for you?"
• Character Catchphrase: "Beautiful", said when Bayonetta is doing something particularly awesome, or earns a Pure Platinum medal.
• The Chew Toy: Downplayed. Rodin appears to receive a bloody beating every time Bayonetta hands him an LP, but he's actually just out of breath and the blood he's covered in belongs to the demon he just turned into a weapon. Except when he goes after the Chain Chomp, which is handed to Bayonetta without a scratch on it...
• Combat Sadomasochist:
  Rodin: I never thought a girl would beat my ass so hard. But I gotta admit, I kinda liked it.
• The Comically Serious: He does try to tell a joke now and then, but it's mostly negated by his intimidating presence. What really qualifies him for this trope are the odd things that happen to him sometimes, such as stuff falling onto his head, or the time he dressed up as Santa, complete with a beard or the time he's dressed up in penguin apparel for a chain of penguin themed pizza restaurants.
• Cool Shades: His sunglasses hide his eyes completely. In Tag Climax, they can also conduct his Eye Beams without sustaining damage.
• Dance Battler: In 3, he can be summoned by Bayonetta using the Rodin weapon, obtained after either defeating him in his boss fight or purchasing it for 9,999,999 Seeds after 100 straight losses to him. One particular move has him and Bayonetta performing a stunning musical number.
• Difficult, but Awesome: When playable. For starters, he has the slowest movement and attack speed of all the playable characters, he cannot evade attacks and cannot slow down time, he lacks the Wicked Weaves that his boss incarnation and the other playable characters have, and his only ranged attack is a weak eye beam. Basically, he's a charge character in a cast of rushdown characters. That said, he can erect a barrier to block attacks and has powerful, hard-hitting attacks and wide area stomps that make him great at dealing with large crowds.
• Dimensional Traveler: He can travel between the human world and Inferno at will. Bayonetta 3 explains that while the World of Chaos is comprised of a vast multiverse, there is only one Inferno and one Paradiso. Meaning that there is only one Rodin, who travels between the various human worlds to aid various Bayonettas who contract his services.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: In the second game, when fighting him. After he uses his raging demon attack, he's lying down casually on the ground, smoking a cigar, while Bayonetta lies unconscious... and naked. Real subtle.
• Establishing Character Moment: The first game has him emerging from a coffin, turning to the angels (and by extension, the camera) with a murderous expression, and scaring them off with a loud shout. Tells you all you need to know about him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Assuming one can regard him as evil that is.
  • In the first game, Rodin states that no matter how many times Bayonetta asks, he won't put a chainsaw on her arm. Can be subverted if the player chooses to obtain the Rodin or Salamandra weapons.
  • In Bloody Fate, he is disgusted by Enzo's shady business practice of overcharging families for funerals.
  • Is rather disgusted by Alraune devouring and torturing Jeanne offscreen, calling her a monstrosity to her face.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: He may not be evil, but he likes to refer to himself as the devil... and he also enjoys using the shop screen as an excuse to say some of the cheesiest crap imaginable.
• Evil Laugh: Usually done in the form of a quiet, creepy chuckle. After talking to Bayonetta in Noatun, he lets out a more bombastic laugh as he returns to his bar, complete with Power Echoes. It's as unnerving as it sounds.
• Eye Beams: This is his ranged attack when playable in Tag Climax. In 3, this is one of his attacks in both his boss fight and when controlling him via Demon Slave.
• Fallen Angel: He used to be an angel before he was cast out of Paradiso. Aside from encouraging the player to unlock more stuff, Rodin wants Bayonetta to collect angel halos so that he can restore his true angel form if he gets enough of them. His angelic powers are restored for his Optional Boss fight in the first game, while his demon forms can be fought as an optional boss in the second and third games.
• Fingersnap Lighter: Tends to light his cigars with a plume of hellfire off his thumb. It even serves as his victory pose in Tag Climax.
• Giant Hands of Doom: His boss forms can use their own version of Wicked Weaves, being giant projections of his hands. He can also fire them like rockets.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: His eyes are sometimes seen emitting a red glow from behind his sunglasses. In Bloody Fate, his eyes glow purple instead.
• Graceful Loser: If you manage to beat him.
• Gratuitous English: In the games' Japanese dubs, his "Beautiful" catchphrase is left untranslated.
• Guest-Star Party Member: In 2 he joins you as an assist character atop an Insidious as you make your way to Alraune's palace. Though...given the fact that he can literally just one-shot everything instantly, it's more like you're the assist character.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Bayonetta thinks he has one; in Bayonetta 2, Rodin tries to complain about having to play Santa for Enzo's kids all the way through dinnertime, but she sees right through him and says he must've been delighted to.
• Holy Halo: Collects these. Seeing as how he is a fallen angel, it's only natural that he'd sport one of these when you return him to his true form. In a rather intimidating twist, the halo around his head is the same halo that Jubileus (i.e., a God) herself wears.
• I Got You Covered: Rodin tells Bayonetta he's not in Inferno to help her, but the verse he joins her for inevitably involves him one-shotting everything, including the minibosses, before they have a chance to attack either of them. Rodin was also near Alraune's palace when Bayonetta showed up, and a cutscene in chapter VII showed he was aware of Jeanne's time running out; the artbook for the second game suggests that Rodin (may) have came in to help bayonetta get to Jeanne on time this suggests that he showed up to keep Alraune's sentries from stalling Bayonetta. Presumably, he was aware that telling her this would end in him getting shot again.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Intimidating? Definitely. Morally ambiguous? Yes. Is he still a cool guy to hang out with? Yes. He's referred to himself both as "jollier than the average demon" and "the nicest angel you'll ever meet."
• Lightning Bruiser: In his boss forms, while his playable form is a Mighty Glacier. Rodin has ridiculous amounts of health, insane damage output, unbelievable attack speed — all the criteria you'd tend to associate with the Superboss gets cranked up here.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: When playable, he lacks Wicked Weaves and the ability to slow down time on his own. He also blocks attacks in place for his defensive move rather than dodging. Rodin's moveset is also less combo-friendly than the rest of the cast, and he is built for using burst damage to clear enemies off the screen before his opponents can outscore him.
• Mighty Glacier: When playable. His attacks are slow, he cannot evade enemy attacks, and he moves slower than most characters. But his sheer strength and ability to throw up a barrier compensates for this.
• Moveset Clone: His lack of maneuverability, focused power, and demon-based Super Mode make him play more like a Devil May Cry character than anyone in the Bayonetta universe.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: In both 2 and 3 he can feel that something big and dangerous has been happening in other realms, however, he can't tell anything more specific than that. In 3 in particular he admits the "storm" he felt has turned out to be worse than he thought.
• Named After Somebody Famous: Named after a French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. One of his popular works, a depiction of a scene from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, is called "The Gates of Hell."
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Having a title called "The Infinite One" doesn't exactly inspire visions of hope and peace.
• Neutral No Longer: Played with. While he's on Bayonetta's side, he won't go out of his way to actually interfere in her adventure unless absolutely necessary, such as when he pops up in Inferno in 2 when Bayonetta confronts Alraune. While he still maintains this position in 3 in as much as he doesn't join Bayonetta on her quest, He's seen defending her world from a Homunculi attack (and destroying several boss-level Iridescent all by himself), and Bayonetta can summon a demonic version of him to aid her in battle using the weapon sharing his namesake and he is explicitly invested in her success given how all the worlds are in danger.
  Rodin: I am with you, not for you.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: Bartender, weaponsmith, Santa Claus, pizza delivery man, and he's a Co-Host on a Japanese talk show with an Alternate version of Enzo in the Shibuyaverse (and since Infernals and Angels don't have dimensional counterparts that means he has to show up once a week to film an episode with that universe's version of Enzo).
• Nice Guy: While he may be a demon (possibly THE demon), he's easily the coolest and nicest guy in the game. In the sequel, he even dresses up as Santa Claus for Enzo's kids and sticks around through dinner. By 3 he repeatedly and openly helps a number of other characters without complaint.
• Number of the Beast: His entry for his devil form in 3 lists his weight as "approximately 666kg".
• Occidental Otaku: He makes a few shout-outs to Japanese video games and likes Shinshu sake enough for Luka to bribe him with it; his outfit in Bayonetta 2 also shows some Japanese style.
• Odd Friendship: By the end of Bayonetta 2, he's struck up a business relationship of sorts with Luka, who now helps him advertise his bar in exchange for Rodin supplementing his journalism and supernatural studies with an "anonymous source" – implied to be Rodin himself.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Every time he gets a Gold LP, he goes to Inferno to beat a demon into a bloody pulp so he can turn it into a weapon. All in just a couple of seconds. Not so offscreen in the sequel, though, as while most weapons are obtained in the usual method, you do get to see how Alruna is made, due to it being made from Alraune, the last demonic boss fought in Inferno.
• One-Winged Angel: In Bayonetta 2, the boss fight with him starts off against his human form, but partway through he'll turn into a towering demon that rivals his Father Rodin form. This new form is (mercifully) absent when fighting against him in Tag Climax.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While he never drops his cool demeanor, he's noticeably much more worried and on edge in Bayonetta 3 when he realizes just how dangerous Singularity and the Homunculi are. He even lets Enzo crash inside the Gates of Hell throughout the whole ordeal.
• Pet the Dog:
  • After Bayonetta drags Enzo off to fly her to Noatun, Rodin decides to play Santa for Enzo's kids. He begrudgingly admits he enjoyed it.
  • He didn't HAVE to go out of his way to preserve Jeanne's body, or give Bayonetta the first Alraune weapon free of charge, either.
  • Played With in 3. While he claims that it’s because Enzo still needs to pay his tab, he DOES keep the mobster from rushing to his death by dragging him into the Gates of Hell and not allowing him to leave. Plus its not like human money has much real value to him.
  • Is implied to be watching over Viola and informing her parents of her progress after they are dragged into Inferno at the end.
• Playing with Fire: He can control fire, but mainly uses it to light his cigar. Father Rodin uses various fire-based attacks.
• Pocket Dimension: Both of Rodin's boss fights take place in some strange dimension apparently created by him. The fight with Father Rodin takes place in a heavenly realm that resembles Paradiso while the battle with his demon form takes place in a realm that resembles Alraune's palace. Bloody Fate shows that the Gates of Hell itself is a pocket dimension that he can create anywhere he wants.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: He makes several references to other video games and has a home run that would make the most skilled of baseball players jealous.
• Power Creep, Power Seep: Rodin is one of the most powerful characters in the Bayonetta universe — he's an infamous fallen angel, he's the strongest playable character, and his boss forms have tricks like an HP to One attack that the player can only answer with skill. Conversely, in 2, Bayonetta can send Rodin on an errand to fight a Chain Chomp from the Lighter and Softer Mario series, where they're famed as either indestructible or very difficult to overpower. The Chomp wins.
• Power Floats: As Father Rodin.
• Power Gives You Wings: His Father Rodin form uses twelve peacock wings similar to Father Balder's, while his demon form plays this a little more traditionally with two feathered wings.
• Power Glows: As Father Rodin, he gets a glowing halo and red Tron Lines on his outfit.
• Power of the Void: One of his new attacks in his boss fight in 3 has him conjure a black hole that will suck Bayonetta in and deal massive damage, similar to an attack used by Singularity in the final boss fight. He's quite fond of using this attack to hold you in place while he pummels you with other attacks.
• Promoted to Playable: In Bayonetta 2's Tag Climax multiplayer mode.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: In a game crammed full with this trope, his boss forms' variations are the most impressive. His most frequently used technique involves pummeling you about half a dozen times in the space of a second, and his signature move is a reference to Akuma's Raging Demon and beats you so quickly that the game doesn't bother rendering it, instead presenting a blank screen and the sound of a beatdown. It also really hurts. In Bayonetta 3, Bayonetta can summon Rodin through Demon Slave and unleash the same attack exactly as Akuma does (Punch, Punch, Forward, Punch+Kick). It inflicts incredible amounts of damage, but Rodin will require time to recover afterwards before he can be summoned again.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Rodin is best known as the hardest Superboss in all the Bayonettas, having a rank equal to Jubileus as The Infinite One, and outright making weapons out of demon souls after he was kicked out of Paradiso. Aside from all these actions and being one of the scariest people you don't want to cross, he also apparently has loads of apparel with cute penguins on them, runs a pizza truck with them as his mascot, and if concept art is to be believed, he also has a nice, comfortable and yet very adorable looking bedspread.◊ In essence, he seems to adore cute things.
• Really 700 Years Old: He used to be an angel, meaning that he's much older than he looks.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His demon form is primarily black with traces of red all over, most notably his wings, which have red feathers.
• Running Gag: At least three times across the first two games, something big and hard (like a tombstone or sign) falls onto him, hitting him in the head, and breaking while he expresses absolutely zero reaction to it. Downplayed in 3; something does fall on his head, but it's just a slice of pizza.
• Satanic Archetype:
  • Oddly, all of the character art for Rodin in the unlockable extras never uses that name, giving his name as "Mephisto"^note A holdover from the development stage where that was his name, the name of a demon from German folklore, who is most prominently mentioned in the Faust legend and has occasionally been used as another name for the Devil himself. Appropriately, Rodin's role is broadly similar to the traditional devil: a fallen angel who is thwarted and punished for trying to conquer Heaven (and is feared by it) who rules his own "sub-basement" location after his punishment, and jokes about the "deals" he provides Bayonetta.
  • Played straight in Bayonetta 2. After the Superboss battle where he fights using his true demonic form, Rodin will congratulate Bayonetta, but then cryptically reminding her that "the devil always gets his due." Furthermore, his death animation in Tag Climax shows him being encased in a block of ice, a reference to Satan in The Divine Comedy.
• Scary Black Man: One of the most intimidating characters in the series and one of the most prolific examples in video gaming. He can do Badass Drink Mixing and make it look awesome, take down the nastiest of demons to make into weapons of dark magic, and even hit angels for home runs. And if you give him a special item, he becomes Father Rodin. In this form, he is considered to be so powerful that even JUBILEUS HERSELF feared him. That said, he's a pretty cool dude once you get to know him.
• Satan Is Good: While his morals can be ambiguous, He mostly helps the heroes defeat any threat to the universe. (Although he may not be THE devil himself as he refers to him as another being in the first game when Bayonetta receives the Scarborough Fair guns.)
• Shock and Awe: In 3, one of his new attacks in his boss fight is to fire bolts of red lightning at you. He can also unleash shockwaves by slamming himself from the air into the ground which electrifies any summoned Demons.
• Shockwave Stomp: One of his attacks when playable and as a boss.
• Shout-Out:
  • Loads of them to the Divine Comedy, and that isn't even including his dialogue.
  • When he Turns Red in the fight against him in Bayonetta 2, he turns into a demon form with wings, being a reference to the Devil Trigger mechanic.
• Smoking Hot Sex: His most powerful attack in the second game, is clearly meant to symbolize this.
• Soul Brotha: Groovy slang? Smooth delivery? Cool and badass? Rodin says yes to all three.
  Rodin: Right on, baby. Right on.
  Rodin: Chill, Bayonetta. Don't go shootin' up my target, ya dig?
  Rodin: Damn... some of these fools are really 'bout that life.
• Superboss: Across all three games, Bayonetta can fight Rodin after collecting the Platinum Ticket (which is ludicrously expensive). In 1, he's fought as "Father Rodin" the angel, whereas in 2 and 3, he fights Bayonetta as a demon.
• Super Mode: In the first Bayonetta, being given enough Halos allows him to return to his true form as "Father Rodin", sporting an outfit akin to Balder's but colored gold instead of where the blue would be. In Bayonetta 2, his new demon form is his version of Umbran Climax when playing as him, effectively making it his Devil Trigger.
• Super-Toughness: In the first game, he takes two coffin lids to the head and doesn't give a damn. In the second, after giving Bayonetta Love Is Blue, he stands in the middle of the street and catches the toy jet Enzo bought. A second later, a sign lands on his head, splitting in half, and he doesn't feel it.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's a suave looking, muscular man with a smooth sounding voice who just oozes with charisma and style.
• Thinking Up Portals: Rodin can create red portals that lead to his bar, or as Bayonetta 3 shows, brings the bar to his clientele. He also seems to utilize this to enter and exit Inferno, as the next trope shows.
• To Hell and Back: Waltzes in and out of Inferno on a regular basis. Seeing as how he tends to be soaked in demon blood whenever he returns from one of his trips, it can be surmised that the results of these escapades are rather... messy. This allows him to be the middleman between Bayonetta and Luka in Inferno and Viola on Earth in 3's epilogue.
• Top God: He sports a halo similar to that of Jubileus, the Angelic counterpart to Queen Sheba, i.e. the lord and master of Inferno. That Rodin has the same halo as one revered by the Lumen Sages and other angels as the creator implies that he was very high on the totem pole prior to his fall from grace, either as Jubileus' equal or being stronger than her.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Both in Tag Climax and in his tag battle in the story mode.
  • On paper, Rodin's slow attacks and high damage make his combo potential inferior to those of the other four playable characters. When combined with his area-of-effect attacks, though, a Rodin player can effectively sabotage their opponent by quickly clearing the screen and ending the verse with a passable combo score before the other player has time to build a better one with extensive weak attacks. As a result, Rodin performs poorly against boss verses, but excels in multiple-enemy encounters.
  • Rodin tag-teams with the player for one verse in Chapter X. The difficulty in getting a decent combo score for this verse comes not from the high enemy density, but because Rodin can immediately one-shot any enemy the player's trying to build a combo off of.
• Vanity License Plate: The plate on his pizza van in Bayonetta 3 is "NFINIT-1" (Infinite One).
• We Will Meet Again: Whenever you beat him in one of his boss forms, he'll make some cryptic threat and promise a rematch.
  Rodin: (first game) I gotta hand it to you. You sure let me have my fun. I never thought a girl would beat my ass so hard. But I gotta admit, I kinda liked it. You win... This time, baby.
  Rodin: (second game) Shiiett... Where'd that come from? Credit where credit is due, you just put your foot straight up my ass. You won this time, but remember, the devil always gets his due.

Enzo

Voiced by: Chick Vennera (EN. Bayonetta), John Kassir (EN, 2 and 3), Wataru Takagi (JP)

"You have any idea how much this is going to cost to fix? How the fuck do I always get wrapped up in this shit?!"

A mobster who operates in the city Bayonetta calls home. Like Luka, Enzo's primary role in the series is to provide Bayonetta with information. However, Enzo's information usually springs from underworld connections and takes the form of tips that put Bayonetta in the right place to track down what she's looking for. Enzo's "business" doesn't put him in a position to help out during the main storyline, so his appearances in the Bayonetta series are at the beginning and end of the game.

Enzo might be a feared, tough mobster in his day job, but in Bayonetta's world, he's a fish out of water. He (and his car) want nothing to do with the scenery-chewing angel fights that Bayonetta attracts, and heroes and villains alike seem to make a point of making his screentime miserable and humiliating. Still, Enzo seems to care about both of his "families", as much of his motivation for staying out of Bayonetta's business is so that he can come home to his beloved wife and children in one piece.

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• Alternate Self: In Bayonetta 3, he has several incarnations that you can see in the multiverse.
  • In Alternate Shibuya, he's apparently an MC as can be seen on one of the screens.
  • In Alternate Qin Lan, he isn't visibly seen but the soldier that Luka bumps into has his voice, making it more than plausible that it's him.
  • In Alternate Cairo, Enzo is possibly long dead, as a temple Viola can walk into has a depiction of him like he's a Pharaoh.
  • In Alternate France, he's actually a police officer named Enzeau who's trying to bring Phantom Thief Bayonetta to justice.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: Played for Laughs. The opening level in the first Bayonetta has him repeatedly attacked and nearly killed by angels, Enzo complaining about the situation happening on his birthday.
• Butt-Monkey: More than Luka. He's the one found on the worst level rating, Stone — falling on his ass, of course. It takes a very dark turn in 3 when his family is killed by the Homunculi attack, and the only reason he survived is because Rodin stopped him from doing something reckless.
• Captain Ersatz: Enzo is basically Joe Pesci, though he's more Harry or Vinny than he is Tommy DeVito or Nicky Santoro.
  • He's also an Expy and shout out of Enzo, a minor character with a similar role in the Devil May Cry series.
• Character Catchphrase: "Fuggetaboutit" and "motherfucker" seem to be the most common words he uses.
• Chew Toy: Life really hates Enzo.
• Chronically Crashed Car: Every time he gets a new car, it gets wrecked by Bayonetta's fighting in Purgatorio.
• Cluster F-Bomb: He drops more than everyone else in the game. Of course considering who he sounds like...
• Cool Car: Enzo has a pretty sweet ride. It gets trashed whenever Bayonetta starts fighting something, much to his hilarious chagrin.
• Cool Shades: They don't make him that cool, though.
• Desecrating the Dead: Enzo's first act in-game is pissing on someone's^note The game's director grave, establishing him as something of a Jerkass.
• Establishing Character Moment: Two of them in his first scene:
  • We meet Enzo as he finishes urinating on a tombstone (Hideki Kamiya's, no less!) and starts to talk shop about the body du jour with the nun performing the burial service — setting him up as callous, foul-mouthed, sacrilegious and utterly desensitized to the "business" he performs for the mob, but he's not too much of a Jerkass to brag about how his kids have baked him a birthday cake.
  • When the game's first Affinities show up and the "nun" and "body" start shooting and smashing them to shreds, all Enzo can do is hide and cower... until an Applaud snatches him up and flies off, and as Bayonetta jumps off of a cliff to pursue and free Enzo, she accidentally smashes his new car. Once the job is over, the subsequent interactions between him and Bayonetta/Rodin serve to show us that for all his tough mob experience, Enzo is the smallest fry in Bayonetta and Rodin's world... and that his smashed-up car is entirely his problem.
• Family Man: Gangster he may be, he still dearly loves his family. In 3, he's glumly looking at a photo of them in the Gates of Hell, implying that they were killed in the prologue. Thankfully, it’s reversed at the end.
• Fat Comic Relief: He's a portly fellow and he is quite comedic, due to the random misfortunes he's put through and his foul mouth. Not so much in 3, which is a signal that things are to be taken seriously.
• Good Parents: He's very attentive to both of his children, whom he affectionately calls "cute little fuckers". They also love him in return, since they made him a cake in the first game and that he was going to pretend to be Santa for them in the second while bringing them an absurd amount of gifts. He's actually indignant about getting caught up in Bayonetta's shenanigans in the second game because of the latter. And then, of course, there's his Vanity License Plate which has both of his children's names on them. Need we say more? Notably in 3, he's seen sobbing in the Gates of Hell while staring at a photo of his wife and children, all of whom are implied to have died due to the events of the prologue.
• Happily Married: 3 confirms that he's still married to Ed and Edna's mother and he's shown talking to her in the epilogue. In alternate Paris, Inspector Enzeau is also married, though he admits that she "hates it when I work late".
• Hidden Depths:
  • He might be foul-mouthed and temperamental, but Bayonetta notes in Bayonetta 2 that he's quite the family man. In 1, he may be Vitriolic Best Buds with Bayo, but he really does care about her.
  • A bonus piece that Mari Shimazaki drew for the Bayonetta artbook shows Enzo quite merrily kicking a slightly offscreen demon hunter's ass — well, at strip poker◊, that is. He even has a few cards hidden under his leg, the cheater!
  • Bayonetta refuses to call people by their name until they've earned it in her eyes, dubbing Luka "Cheshire" and Viola "Kitty", yet she always calls Enzo by his name.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rude and abrasive, and quite temperamental, but he's a loving father and is a genuine friend to Bayonetta.
• The Mafia: As revealed in the first game, he is employed by the local mob. Bloody Fate expands on this to explain he's their personal undertaker, they pay him handsomely to bury any bodies they need disposed of.
• Male Gaze:
  • He can't help but stare at Bayo rising to the heavens in her nun outfit during the opening cutscene.
  • Notably, Enzo shows no attraction to the prone and unconscious Viola, and is very flustered when he believes onlookers are confusing their relationship for romantic.
• Mr. Exposition: At the beginning of the first game he gives a quick summery of Bayonetta's backstory, which the witch quickly calls him out on. In the sequel he gives a brief history of the holy mountain, Fimbulventr, as well as a quick nod as to why Jeanne is calling Bayonetta 'Cereza' during the Prologue.
  Enzo: 20 years ago, you woke up stuck in a casket at the bottom of a lake. All you can remember is that you're a witch. But now you're stuck, because you've gotta sacrifice our halo-wearing friends everyday or they'll drag your ass back down to hell. I know I thought I got screwed, but bein' forced to slap around the divine for a livin'? That's really getting screwed!
  Bayonetta: If I needed a biographer, you wouldn't be my first choice.
• Near-Miss Groin Attack: The Butt-Monkey and Chew Toy Enzo gets this twice.
  • The first game has his groin very nearly smashed by a gravestone during the first graveyard battle.
  • Bayonetta 2 has Enzo's groin very nearly run over, complete with scooting back, when Jeanne makes her entrance via motorcycle.
    Enzo: MOTHERFUCKER!
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's a short gangster guy who sounds a lot like Joe Pesci.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While him getting through serious amounts of slapsticks is played for laughs, his breakdown over the death of his family at the start of 3 is a sign that this is not the time to laugh.
• Odd Friendship: By the end of 2, both Bayonetta and Jeanne realize that actually do like having him around, and not just as a lackey.
• Rambunctious Italian: He's a loveable, comedic fellow whose most treasured things in his life are his wife and kids, whom he loves dearly, and a good friend of Bayonetta, and tends to be very expressive and open about how he feels, usually showing comedic levels stress and anger at whatever unfortunate situation he's gotten himself into.
• Shoo Out the Clowns:
  • In 3, he's shown breaking down in tears at seeing a photo of his family in the Gates of Hell (as they presumably died during the Homunculi attack and the subsequent flood in the prologue) signaling that he's not going to be comic relief for the game and that the stakes are high.
    Enzo: Mi amore...Ed...Edna...
  • ...but while Prime Enzo might be pushed to the side, in alternate France you can run into his Alternate Universe self "Inspector Enzeau", who is less concerned about the world ending than catching his own universe's Rosa and Cereza.
• Shout-Out: Dante owes him money in one concept art.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: In a cast of characters where nearly everyone drops a couple of F-bombs, he still swears more than everyone combined.
• Sole Survivor: Of his family in 3 and that’s only because Rodin kept him from rushing out. Thankfully, their deaths were reversed in the end.
• Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: In 3 an alternate universe version of Enzo (known as Enzeau) is a police officer attempting to arrest the Phantom Thief version of Bayonetta in an alternate Paris.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: The Reset Button ending in 3 prevents his family’s deaths, and he gets to go home to them with nothing bad happening to him.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: The picture we see of Enzo's wife isn't the best quality, but she appears to be a tall, slender, beautiful blonde to short, dumpy, and homely Enzo.
• Vanity License Plate: The plate on his car reads "ED N EDNA" — the names of his kids, as noted in Bayonetta 2.

Viola

Voiced by: Anna Brisbin (EN), Miyuki Sawashiro (JP)

"Look, we don't have time! If we don't stop them, then this world is history! And reality as we know it is wiped out for good!"

A rookie Umbra Witch with less than precise control of her powers, she suddenly appears in Bayonetta 3 to beg for Bayonetta's help in saving the Multiverse from the new threat, the Homonculi.

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• Action Girl: Inexperienced as she may be compared to Bayonetta, Viola is still a pretty good fighter and isn’t afraid to slice and dice any Homunculi in front of her.
• Alice Allusion: Aside from her demon being named Cheshire, Cheshire is known to smoke a pipe like the Caterpillar.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: Much has been made of how similar Viola is to Nero of the Devil May Cry franchise. Both are new protagonists with a punk rock personality and design, are more emotional and crude than the older protagonists and have a more limited arsenal. She's even biologically the next generation of the hero's lineage, though Viola's the direct daughter of Bayonetta as opposed to being her niece like how Nero is Dante's nephew.
• Ambiguously Gay: Viola shows a certain admiration for the appearance of female humanoid demons in her notes on them, but beyond that, she simply doesn't have the time or opportunity for her sexuality to ever come up.
• Animal Motifs: Cats, specifically their more mercurial, comedic side. She's called "kitty" by Bayonetta, her shirt has a cat on it, and her Infernal Demon is a giant cat. Even her Demon Masquerade takes the form of a humanoid cat.
• Badass Adorable: Being a cute witch-in-training with a edgy punk rocker, she's a lot more wet behind the ears than Bayonetta and Jeanne that makes her come off as endearing. That said, she's still a capable Action Girl in her own right.
• Blocking Stops All Damage: Just like Nero and Vergil from Devil May Cry, she can block all sorts of attacks. Hell, she can enter Witch Time by parrying, much like how Raiden enters Blade Mode.
• Boxing Battler: When her sword is transformed as Cheshire, she fights with boxing moves.
• Boyish Short Hair: She's modelled after a punk rocker aesthetic.
• Break the Cutie: She wails for the variants of her parents in despair when she sees Bayonetta and Luka go to Inferno together.
• Brief Accent Imitation: After Cheshire saves her from falling off a cliff, she remarks on how she's glad Bayonetta didn't see it, mimicking her and her British accent briefly. "You've only got nine lives, Kitty..."
• Butt-Monkey: Viola humorously suffers throughout the game, with her inability to fully control Cheshire biting her in the butt a couple of times, her pants being set on fire without her noticing for a few seconds, and passing out from dehydration in the desert.
• Calling Your Attacks: She has names for certain combos that she will call out when performing them, in contrast to the Enochian summon calls of the other playable characters.
• Cannot Spit It Out:
  • When she first meets Bayo, she tries to say that she's Bayonetta β0’s daughter but keeps quiet.
  • During the third fight against Strider, she tries to tell them really Luka that she's his daughter but Strider blasts her off of the Arc D'Triomphe.
• Captain Ersatz: Not Viola herself, but her Super Mode, resembling Terra's Trance form from Final Fantasy VI, and even the crescent-shaped blades of energy Viola can fire in that state is reminiscent of the latter's Riot Blade Desperation attack from Dissidia Final Fantasy. Fittingly, both girls are capable of this due to their father's side and invoke the substantial increase in power by tapping into it.
• Cat Girl: Similarly to Bayonetta's Demon Masquerade form and Luka's Strider form, Viola can transform into a humanoid cat-like faerie with insectoid wings.
• Character Catchphrase: Whenever entering combat, she has habit of announcing, "It's bacon time!!"
• Character Tic: Has a habit of slapping both of her cheeks whenever she needs to get herself back on track.
• Claustrophobia: When a large bell falls on her, she's curled into a fetal position and muttering how dark it is and that walls are closing in.
• Color Motif: Purple. Her name is derived from the color violet, Cheshire is a purple kitty and her Demon Masquerade form is also purple.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: In many different ways.
  • Unlike Bayonetta or Jeanne, Hot-Blooded rookie Viola is sensibly dressed, cruder, aggressive and more hot-tempered, instead of the playful, classier, gaudier, and skimpier witches. She also leans towards blades as a signature weapon as opposed to using guns.
  • She only wields a small handful of weapons, and contracts with one demon, relying only on her athletics and powers. Even that one demon, Cheshire, acts like Nightmare from Devil May Cry, and does not grant Slave or Demon Masquerade abilities - or partial summons - once Cheshire is summoned on the field, the cat demon then pounces on whatever it pleases until Cheshire returns back into Viola's katana.
• Composite Character: Not necessarily design-wise, but her gameplay combines aspects of several different playable characters from Bayo 2.
  • Rather than a set of pistols, Viola uses a blade for her melee combos and darts for her ranged attacks, much like Balder's Holy Glaive and Feather Flechettes.
  • She activates Witch Time via blocking, a non-standard method that requires much more precision to use safely, similar to Jeanne needing to use Bat Within.
  • Her faerie transformation functions in a radically different way from Bayonetta's usual Demon Masquerades, similar to how Rosa used Umbran Armor in lieu of Umbran Climax.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Viola lacks a lot of versatility that Bayonetta has. With one weapon, an uncontrollable Demon Slave and only being able to apply Witch Time after parrying (instead of the much easier dodging), Viola can be very difficult to properly play for even franchise veterans. In exchange, her damage potential is extraordinarily high, with her basic combos dealing high amounts of damage and comboing enemies easily. Cheshire is also one of the best summons in the game, with numerous great moves, and the best Wink Slave summon in the game, which lets Viola dish out huge damage across the battlefield. Since Cheshire acts independently from Viola, she doesn't need to worry about cuing up his attacks like Bayonetta does with her demons, letting her focus entirely around dodging and attacking. Her basic attacks while Cheshire is out also consistently refill her magic gauge, allowing Cheshire to remain out for long periods of time. Played poorly, Viola fumbles around the play area, getting smacked by random homunculi with abandon. When played optimally, she demolishes most encounters in seconds.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Bayonetta calls her "kitty", much to her annoyance.
• Family Theme Naming:
  • With her parents, their names end with an a: we have her, along with Cereza/Bayonetta and Luka. And if you add her maternal grandmother, there's Rosa.
  • To her mother, with "Cereza" meaning "cherry" in Spanish to her own name meaning "violet" in Latin. This also applies to her maternal grandmother "Rosa" meaning "rose" in Spanish. There's also a color theme naming as well. Viola being based on the color "violet", "Cereza" which is based on red, and "Rosa" which is pink. On her fathers' side, there's both Luke and Antonio Redgrave.
• Flechette Storm: She uses throwing darts as her ranged weapons.
• Floral Theme Naming: "Viola" is Latin for "violet," as well the genus for the violet family.
• Foreshadowing: In hindsight, it was kinda obvious that she was Bayonetta β0 and Luka's daughter.
  • She has many similarities with Luka, particularly the use of a grapple gun, annoyance to Bayonetta giving her a pet name, and she's the narrator of the prologue like Luka in 2 and his father, Antonio Redgrave in 1. Also the fact that she has a stuff doll of Cheshire, which is what the younger Cereza had in 1.
  • Before the final battle, Luka tosses her a lollipop in a way that he handed the younger Cereza one. And on top of that, if one remembers Viola's Opening Narration, she notes her father would have always given her a strawberry candy when she was a kid. And it just so happens the lollipop Luka gave her was strawberry flavored.
  • The first words Lukaon asked her is whether or not she was similar to that beast-man and notes that she shared a bond with both the beast-man and Lukaon, suggesting a blood bond. Said beast-man is Luka which would later hint that Viola is Luka's daughter.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: Being an Umbran Witch, she does have access to the healing lollipops, useful after getting impaled by Strider.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: She uses a grapple gun to traverse environments. Just like her father. In gameplay, it serves as her jump-extension, though it's replaced by her faerie wings after she unlocks the transformation.
• Growing Wings: Once she awakens her fae powers, she can grow wings to slow her descent the same way Bayonetta does while wielding Colour My World.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Wears the usual biker jacket as part of her outfit.
• Heroic Lineage: She is Bayonetta β0 and Luka's daughter.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Suffers through this in her boss fight with Strider in the alternate Cairo, awakening her own Demon Masquerade. She later does it to herself to activate Demon Masquerade.
• In-Series Nickname: Bayonetta calls her "Kitty" since her demon is named Cheshire. This is something that she shares with her father, Luka.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Her main weapon being either a tachi or an ōdachi, "Mab Dachi". It seals a contract with the demon Cheshire.
• Legacy Character: At the end of 3, she inherits the title of Bayonetta.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: In terms of abilities, share of plant-based names, and love of lollipops, she's basically a punk rock version of her mom, Bayonetta β0. However, much of her personality, particularly her clumsiness and unsuccessful attempts to appear cool, along with the use of a grappling hook pistol, bring to mind her father, Luka. By the end of the game, she inherits her mother’s variant’s glasses, and the title of Bayonetta, and her father's scarf.
• The Narrator: Like Antonio Redgrave and Luka prior, she states the opening narrations of 3. This is also Foreshadowing since she's basically taking the role of her father and grandfather.
• Our Fairies Are Different: She's quarter-Umbran Witch, quarter-Lumen Sage, mostly human, and a bit of fairy.
• Parrying Bullets: What she does when Jeanne shoots at her in the beginning, her way of entering Witch Time.
• Princess Protagonist: According to lore entries, she's actually the princess of all faeries and rightful ruler of Avalon, the fairy dimension.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Everytime Bayonetta calls her "kitty," she immediately reacts with "My/The name is Viola!" Just like her dad, Luka.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Since Viola can't use her sword when Cheshire's out, she engages in this trope instead. More advanced techniques have the sword spinning in place for a set amount of time, slicing up her foes while she simultaneously beats their faces in with her bare hands.
• Really Royalty Reveal: It hasn't happened in the games yet, but the character profiles indicate she's the rightful Princess of Avalon through her father's alternate self Lukaon.
• Rump Roast: After managing to dodge some falling debris, she ends up having to jump into a lake after said debris lights her pants on fire. You even have to control her to keep from running into anything!
• Self-Harm–Induced Superpower: After first awakening her fae transformation due to Strider impaling her, she continues to impale herself through her torso with her sword every time she needs to access the form, presumably to replicate the feelings of that moment. Given she heals up instantly it's not much of a downside, other than having to muster the will needed to stab herself like that to begin with.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: In keeping with her punk rocker aesthetic, she's a lot more liberal with her foul mouth than Bayonetta.
• Speed Blitz: When assuming her Demon Masquerade form, she attacks by teleporting around the enemy to bash them senseless from all directions at breakneck speed.
• Summon to Hand: She has this ability with her sword Mab Dachi, as Cheshire's doll form is attached to the handle. However, it has a range limit (if she's too far away then attempting to call the sword will do nothing), and rather than place itself directly in her hand she has to properly grab onto the sword as it flies toward her.
• Super Mode: She can combine Demon Masquerade with her fae ancestry to transform into a Cat Girl with butterfly-like wings.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Bayonetta watches Viola get caught by a falling bell she helps her out. It then reveals Viola being curled in up terror and having a panic attack. When Bayonetta tries to bring it up, Viola is doing a terrible cover up lie.
  Bayonetta: What was that? You wouldn't happen to be-
  Viola: Wha?! Hey, don't get it twisted! I'm definitely not horribly claustrophobic at all, got it?
• Sword and Fist: Viola primarily fights with her sword but can switch to a boxing-based fighting style when her sword is rendered unusable to summon Cheshire.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: She can throw her katana like a buzzsaw-slash-boomerang as part of her combo.
• Too Many Belts: Not only does she have straps between her jacket and plaid pants, but she has large belts with double belt buckles on her sleeves.
• Tough Spikes and Studs: She wears a jacket studded with spikes to go with her punk rocker aesthetic.
• Trauma Conga Line: 3 is NOT kind to her: First, she has to watch her version of Bayonetta (her birth mother) and Sigurd die in order to buy her time to escape. Then, after a long journey with the current Bayonetta, her hopes of a possible solution are dashed when it turns out the Alphaverse was just a decoy to trap them both, and the Dr. Sigurd that Jeanne had "rescued" turned out to be Singularity in disguise. Finally, after watching Bayonetta nearly die several times and revealing their connection, Viola ends up losing both her and Luka (her father) for good when they are dragged down into Inferno - as Luka decides to join Bayonetta so she wouldn't be alone — leaving Viola a sobbing wreck.
  Viola: Daddy... MUMMY!!! AAAAAAAAAGHHH!!! (bursts into sobs)
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Viola learns to tap into her fairy ancestry to transform after Strider-Luka impales her on one of his claws.
• Uneven Hybrid: Quarter-Umbran Witch, quarter-Lumen, and mostly human with a bit of fairy, so she isn't quite a Heinz Hybrid.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Being an apprentice witch, Viola is far less graceful in her fighting style. She can handle a sword well enough, but she prefers to face opponents head-on with parrying to activate Witch Time as opposed to the elegant evasion method usually used by Umbra Witches. Her damage output is also ridiculous, allowing her melt opponents within seconds if properly used.
• Use Your Head: She headbutts Strider in their third fight.

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