This page lists the characters of Blasphemous.

Click here to see the character page for Blasphemous II.

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Main Characters

Penitent One

The Penitent One

Sorrowful be the heart.

The Player Character. The Penitent One is the last surviving member of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow, and is on a quest to end the Age of Corruption currently afflicting Cvstodia.

Ambiguous Gender: Pre-release materials for the game used gender-neutral writing to refer to the Penitent One, and the game never shows what is underneath the helmet and armor. Adding to the ambiguity is the fact that the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow has women in their ranks; in the prequel comic The Kneeling, Crisanta throws the Penitent One's body onto a stack of deceased members of the Brotherhood and says "Return to your brothers and sisters", and the Penitent One falls next to the corpse of a woman. After the release of the game proper, however, the Penitent One is shown to be evidently male; the artbook refers to the Penitent One as such, and in the second ending, Deogracias says the Penitent One has replaced Escribar as "the Father and the Last Son of the Miracle".
Back for the Dead: In II. Following his death at the end of the first game, the Penitent One is resurrected in response to the Grievous Miracle suddenly becoming active once again. He eventually dies at the end of the game, though the circumstances of his death differ depending on the ending.
Chain Sword: In II, when Reguo Al Alba's Blood Pact gauge is full, he can use a portion of his own health to power it up in what is effectively this manner, as it gains a wreath of serrated Blood Magic around its main blade that increases its overall damage and the amount of hits it does with a single swing.
Charged Attack: Veredicto in II has one of these, which can be upgraded to deal devastating damage.
Cool Helmet: The Penitent One's helmet. It is based on the capirote, a pointed hat worn by flagellant brotherhoods during Holy Week in Spain.
Cool Sword:
- The Penitent One's holy longsword, the Mea Culpa, was once an ordinary statue of the Father until a young woman's great faith and overwhelming guilt caused the Miracle to transform it into a weapon (impaling the woman in the process). Now the figure of the Father forms Mea Culpa's handle and the blade extends from the base of the statue, with thorny vines sculpted onto the bottom two-thirds of the blade. Simply wielding Mea Culpa is, in itself, a form of penance: the twisted form of the Father doesn't exactly make for an ergonomic handgrip, and references are made throughout the game to the Penitent One's "cracked" and "wounded" hands. It's also implied that Mea Culpa draws power from the guilt of the wielder and that being able to use the sword implies that the bearer has been chosen by the Miracle to accomplish great things.
- In Blasphemous II the Penitent One no longer wields Mea Culpa, instead having access to three new weapons, two of which are swords—a paired rapier and dagger named Sarmiento and Centella and a large curved falchion-like sword called Ruego al Alba, as well as adding Veredicto to his arsenal. In particular, Reguo al Alba can shred certain wooden surfaces and Life Drain enemies.
Dual Wielding: In II, one of the three possible weapons for him to start with are a paired rapier and dagger named Sarmiento and Centella, the first of which refers to a long, knotted vine sprouting from a larger one, and the second of which refers to a quick form of lightning. They can also be used to hit mirrors, which allows the Penitent One to teleport in a flash.
Earn Your Happy Ending: The second game has the Penitent One go through a brand new Cvstodia where every familiar thing to him is either in decay or completely gone. After killing the Incarnate Devotion, II provides this through Ending A, where the Penitent One dies and ascends to be reunited with all of his friends from the first game.
Elective Mute: As part of their penance, all members of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow have taken a vow of silence; the Penitent One is no exception.
Epic Flail: One of the Penitent One's three new weapons in the sequel is Veredicto, or Verdict, a large flaming censer he wields as a flail. He can power it up with fire attacks that consume Fervor, and using it well allows him to chain multiple heavy-hitting attacks into one another for massive damage. It can also be used to ring bells, whose echoes generate temporary platforms.
The Faceless: The player never sees the Penitent One's face.
Fusion Dance: With the Incarnate Devotion in Blasphemous II. It's entirely unwilling on the Penitent One's part and has no say in the matter because he's dead at that point. It can even be considered a Fate Worse than Death in some manner as the resulting merge with the Incarnate Devotion ensures the Grievous Miracle and the High Wills are once again free to torture Cvstodia for their own benefit.
Gathering Steam: Sarmiento and Centella's gimmick in II is that the more hits the Penitent One racks up without getting hit, the more its Verdadera Destreza indicators will fill up, which grant the weapon more powerful lightning attacks but can also be expended to power up its special attacks.
The Heretic: He was excommunicated when the Brotherhood's mission came to oppose Escribar and the Cvstodian Church. Whatever the incident, it very likely involved the Mea Culpa.
Heroes Love Dogs: The Penitent One is more than willing to take a small break on his quest to give the little puppies that show up close to the Church in Albero a head pat.
Heroic Mime: Justified Trope. Like all those in the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow, the Penitent One has taken a vow of silence.
Heroic RRoD: In Blasphemous II. The final battle with the Incarnate Devotion leaves him exhaused to the point he dies from his wounds. This leaves his unprotected corpse open for the Incarnate Devotion to merge with in Ending B where they transform into the Second Psalm and herald the beginning of a new era for the Grievous Miracle.
Heroic Sacrifice:
- In Ending A, having taken upon himself all the guilt of Cvstodia contained within the Confessor Statues, the Penitent One impales himself with the Mea Culpa and transforms into a wooden effigy. In doing so, he effectively takes the place of Escribar as the Last Son of the Miracle and becomes the new object of veneration for the Cvstodian religion, ending the Age of Corruption in the process. Unfortunately for everyone, Crisanta eventually pulls Mea Culpa from his body, seemingly starting the process all over again.
- In the ending for Wounds of Eventide, the Penitent One destroys the High Wills at the cost of not only his life, but the ability to resurrect. To honor his sacrifice, Deogracias and Crisanta hold a small funeral for him. It doesn't stick for very long though, as in II, he returns as the main protagonist.
The Hero Dies: The Penitent One dies either way. In Ending B, the Penitent One sinks into the mountain of ashes while climbing it. In Ending A, he successfully climbs the mountain of ashes and stabs himself with the Mea Culpa, turning into a wooden effigy of roots. Even in the new ending in the Wounds of Eventide DLC, he dies destroying the High Wills, or at least we assume he does, as Crisanta lays his apparently-lifeless body in a sarcophagus and closes the lid on it. This continues in Blasphemous II where the Penitent One rises from his sarcophagus to return as the protagonist, but ultimately dies again at the end of the game. What happens after his death differs.
Informed Attribute: Several NPCs mention that the Penitent One is full of guilt, but it's never really seen on display. It's also never specified what he feels guilty for, and it's unlikely he'll ever speak of it given his "vow of silence". Given the nature of Cvstodia, whether or not his guilt is even justified is an open question.
Last of His Kind: The only living member of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow.
Magic Knight: While the Penitent One's main weapon is the longsword Mea Culpa, he can also invoke several prayers that call upon the power of the Miracle to smite his foes.
No Name Given: The Penitent One's name is never revealed at all.
Resurrective Immortality: Every time he dies, he gets brought back to life at the last Prie Dieu he visited. He is killed by Crisanta at the end of the prequel comic Blasphemous: The Kneeling, and it is implied that his awakening at the start of the game is from this death. When Escribar addresses him before the final boss fight, he refers to "the mourning of [his] deaths". Note the plural.
- His ability to return from death at he player's hands is also a canonical aspect of his abilities and not a game mechanic. Unlocking the True Ending requires obtaining a Rosary item called the Weight of True Guilt, which requires dying three times whilst having a pearl called the Immaculate Bead equipped in the Rosary. As the True Ending leads to the sequel, Blasphemous II, this means the Penitent One must have fallen in battle and returned multiple times.
Sole Survivor: Of the Brotherhood of Silent Sorrow, who were excommunicated and exterminated for opposing His Holiness Escribar.
Terror Hero: Not that his surroundings need any help being terrifying, but there's a thing to be said for how comically brutal and over-the-top the Penitent One can get when performing Executions. For instance, he can finish off the Wandering Tomb enemies by mauling them with the corpses that were buried in their caskets.
Transflormation: The Penitent One's fate in Ending A. He stabs himself with the Mea Culpa and turns into a mass of twisted roots in an effort to take all of Cvstodia's guilt upon himself to spare everyone else from the effects of the Miracle. By the sequel, he retains some of these traits, as some Executions allow him to sprout thorny vines to finish off his enemies. The final shot of the sequel's ending A shows more clearly that his right arm is fully made of these vines.

NPCs

Deogracias

Voiced by: Scott Abraham Singer (English), Jordi Boixaderas (Spanish)

"Even a wise penitent like me knows nothing of what lies beyond those high walls."

A wise penitent who travels Cvstodia, observing and recording the manifestations of the Miracle. He is the one who guides the Penitent One on his quest.

The Faceless: Deogracias wears a wicker face mask covering his face.
Gentle Giant: Deogracias is huge, easily two to three times the Penitent One's height when standing upright, but he's a soft-spoken scholar rather than a fighter. Oddly, in the cutscene for the Golden Ending he's seen walking beside Crisanta as she carries the body of the Penitent One who's roughly the same size as the Penitent One and, while he is taller than her, it's only by a head or so, making him not nearly as big as he has been portrayed throughout the rest of the game.
Meaningful Name: His name is a Spanish variant of a Latin phrase, "Deo gratias", which means "Thanks be to God".
Mr. Exposition: Interacting with Deogracias reveals a great deal of information about the history of Cvstodia. He occasionally serves as a reminder to the player when they still have tasks to perform before they can progress.
Recurring Traveller: Deogracias always seems to be present to provide background and context whenever the Penitent One defeats a boss or accomplishes a significant task, even if there's no apparent way for him to have gotten there before the Penitent One did.
Undying Loyalty: The Guide altar piece in Blasphemous II reveals that he became this towards the Penitent One, guarding his grave for the rest of his days.

Altasgracias

Voiced by: Rebecca Mahoney and Cathy Vanover (English), Sandra Villa (Spanish)

"Our rageful voices were banished then. Now the Miracle has made them eternal."

A creature resulting from three women who did not want to be married. They prayed to the Miracle for aid, and they all fused together and were placed inside an egg made out of hair.

And I Must Scream: One of Altasgracias's faces has a worried look in her eyes and would scream inaudibly from time to time. Apparently, she is not taking her fate well.
Bearded Lady: The women grew a beard as part of their request to get out of a marriage.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Altasgracias was once three sisters who prayed to the Miracle to avoid their forced marriage. The Miracle granted their wish, indeed, and one of the faces is not taking her fate well.
Big Ol' Unibrow: The middle face sports one, probably due to having her face fused with the other two's.
Butter Face: Nearly her entire body is not too bad looking, but her having three distinct faces fused together and having grown a massive beard effectively nullifies what appeal she might have.
Fetch Quest: To speak with Altasgracias, you first have to offer her egg three items from her past (The Black Grieving Veil, the Torn Bridal Ribbon, and the Melted Gold Coins). Doing so will cause her egg to hatch, and she will grant you the Egg of Deformity, needed to get the Three Gnarled Tongues relic.
Fan Disservice: Her distinct facial features remove all appeal she might have despite appearing as a huge naked woman.
Godiva Hair: A somewhat Squicky variant; the hair that is the only thing covering one of her breasts and her crotch is actually her beard^note.
I Was Quite a Looker: It can be reasonably inferred that the women who became Altasgracias were very good looking, but they asked the Miracle to give them a means to get out of an unwanted marriage. The result is a giant, three-faced, bearded woman.
Ironic Name: "Altasgracias" is derived from the Spanish "altas gracias", which means "high thanks". The sisters got their wish of avoiding an arranged marriage, but at least one of them looks like she would do anything to take the wish back.
Nightmare Face: Altasgracias has three distinct faces fused together, even if you ignore the overly long beard.
Giant Woman: Even when sitting, she towers over the Penitent One.
Voice of the Legion: She speaks with the voices of the three women that were fused into her being.

Blessed Lord of the Salty Shores

Voiced by: Scott Cleverdon (English), Gabriel Aumesquet (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blessed_lord_of_salty_shores.png

"The punishment of the miracle for the false Idol is to grant them false holiness. Do not try to obtain my name, for it is also covered in salt."

The Blessed Lord of the Salty Shores was once heralded as a saint in his lifetime, using his salt as if it were blessings to the people, who fervently believed him and began following him. The Grievous Miracle saw through his lies, however, and saw it fit to trap him and his followers in another realm, turning them all into statues of salt. Despite this, the Blessed Lord hopes to do actual blessings to escape the curse.

And I Must Scream: Subverted. The Blessed Lord is aware of his condition and can still speak to the Penitent One. However, he can break free from the curse; he just needs to do actual blessings.
Blessed with Suck: As with all things, the Grievous Miracle blesses all with its presence. For the Blessed Lord and his following based on his lies through salt, they were all turned to salt. However, the Miracle also did grant the Blessed Lord the ability to bless potential holy artifacts, which the Lord hopes will eventually earn him a way out of the curse.
Curse Escape Clause: The Blessed Lord has to do authentic blessings and turn the items he has blessed into relics.
False Prophet: He was venerated as a saint in his lifetime, using salt as if it were blessings to the faithful. The salt, however, lacked any real meaning; the Grievous Miracle saw through the Blessed Lord's lies and encased him in salt, and all that he needs to do to break free from the curse is to do actual blessings.
Ironic Hell: Of a sort. He and his followers are trapped as statues of salt, the very thing the Blessed Lord had used to give "blessings". The place they're all in is an idyllic scene akin to a "Heaven", yet that really serves as grounds for their punishment. In the Blessed Lord's own words...
"The punishment of the Miracle for the false idol is to grant them false holiness."
No Name Given: The Blessed Lord did have a name, but as part of his punishment, his name was erased, or "covered in salt".
Taken for Granite: Well, more like "Taken For Salt", but the trope fits.
What Happened to the Mouse?: When you get the third and final relic from him... he falls silent. Was he freed and allowed to cross the Dream, or...?
- By the sequel, one of the Confraternities is the Confraternity of Salt, meaning that once again, the Miracle may have ultimately granted him the holiness he preached, at the cost of turning his teachings into more tools for it to use.

Candelaria

Voiced by: Heather Sylvia-Gold (English), Inma Font (Spanish)

"I will not ask you for any money whatsoever; those forbidden tears you shed would be more than enough for me."

An elderly woman who serves as the game's merchant, offering relics and whatnot she has found in her travels.

Intrepid Merchant: Somewhat. The in-game locations of her shops are in the Graveyard of the Peaks, Mercy Dreams, and the Sleeping Canvases, three dangerous areas in-game.
Meaningful Name: Her name has two meanings. The first is that it references the image of the Virgin of the Candelaria in Tenerife. The second is that her name translates to "Candle Bearer", and she has a candelabra hanging from her pack. She even mentions for her to be called by her name, because "for what [she] sells would make your eyes light up like the high bonfires".
Tempting Fate: Played for laughs, but most of her phrases when offering items often come across this way. Given the fact that the Grievous Miracle is a force in Cvstodia, one of them might come true one day...
"And may my eyes be blinded if I'm lying."
"And may I don mourning black if I'm trying to deceive you."
"And may the bells toll for me if I ever deceive you."
"And may my heart stop beating if I'm being dishonest."

Cleofás

Voiced by: Jim Trainor (English), Juan Fernandez Mejias (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cleofas.png

"Penitent One... whom shall I watch over now?"

An older man who overlooks Socorro, The Lady of the Perpetual Agony. Depending on how you deal with Socorro, his fate can differ in two ways...

Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Without Socorro to look after, Cleofás is at a loss for what to do with himself. On the one hand, the Penitent One could present him the Cord of True Burying and convince him to return to the Order of the True Burial after leaving the order for some time.
Driven to Suicide: If the Penitent One either kills Socorro himself or forgets to give Cleofas the Cord of True Burying at the Archcathedral Rooftops, Cleofas will leap to his doom, consumed by guilt or out of despair at his loss of purpose.
Miscarriage of Justice: If you end Socorro's suffering by killing her, Cleofas will be imprisoned at the Wall of Holy Prohibitions despite seemingly doing nothing but watching.
Permanently Missable Content: If Cleofas commits suicide, you won't get Tiento to Your Thorned Hairs.
What the Hell, Hero?: Downplayed. If the Penitent One kills Socorro, Cleofás will be dismayed over this. However, he concedes that it might be for the best, as she had suffered for long enough.

Diosdado

Voiced by: Scott Cleverdon (English), Alfonso Valles (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sereno.png

"The sound does not cease. It creeps on these forgotten walls, and no one can determine its origin or its obscure destiny."

The watchman of the Library of the Negated Words.

Coat, Hat, Mask: His outfit.
Crusty Caretaker: He's this for the Library.
The Misophonic: He hates the noise one of the corpses makes within the Library and asks that the Penitent One end it.
Small Role, Big Impact: Responsible for exactly one, extremely short sidequest, but Wounds of Eventide makes him a major part of the hidden ending.

Engracia

Though long dead by the events of the game, Engracia is a character with quite a bit of influence over the land of Cvstodia. Born in Albero, she was so renowned for the quality of her rosaries to the point that His Holiness decreed only hers were considered to be divinely blessed and all others were outlawed. She was also a caretaker of the olive trees, as those she cared for would always have a bountiful harvest. However, after harvesting, she would always stay behind to cry. When a drought occurred, only her olive trees remained bountiful, leading to rumors that they were watered by her own tears. She was found dead, leaning on one of those trees, and the very next day is when all her olive trees withered with her.

Caring Gardener: She tended the olive trees used in the Nuns of the Charred Visages' ceremonies and for the people of Albero, to the point that only hers survived a drought.
Commonplace Rare: She was such a master rosary craftswoman that her work was commissioned by many figures of the Mother of Mothers, including His Holiness Escribar. As a result, her rosaries were considered to be the only acceptable form of the rosary, with all others being destroyed. This is partially why Rosary Knots are so rare in-game, as no more have been made since Engracia's death.
Fisher King: Her olive trees were miraculously prosperous in her life, only to all abruptly die swiftly after her death.
Meaningful Name: Engracia is Spanish for "Endowed With God's Grace". She's also responsible for the name of one of the areas in the game, namely "Where Olive Trees Wither", about how she once kept them alive, but they died along with her.
Prone to Tears: She cries alone when tending the olive trees.
Swiss-Army Tears: Her tears may or may not have kept the olive trees alive during a drought. Knowing the Miracle, it's most likely they did.
True Craftsman: She's well noted as being a master craftswoman of rosaries, and she even did a good job at tending the olive trees as well.

The Fourth Holy Guardian Visage (Spoiler Warning for Wounds of Eventide!)

The Fourth Visage

"They claim that my words are false and mine is the face of deception... and for this reason I have been exiled from my three other brothers, the Holy Guardian Visages."

Introduced in the Wounds of Eventide DLC, the Fourth Holy Visage is seen should one manage to keep Esdras alive and deal with Diosdado, which reveals their existence beneath the Knot of Three Words. Imprisoned beneath it for seeing the truth behind the High Wills, his eyes were torn out and given to Isidora and Sierpes, respectively. He beckons the Penitent One to get them back so he may show the truth.

Broken Angel: In a sense, given it's a Holy Guardian Visage who was ripped from its duty, had its eyes gouged out and imprisoned. Crosses over with Fallen Angel.
The Exile: Of the Holy Guardian Visages and from the Dream itself.
Eye Scream: He had his eyes ripped out of his sockets and trapped beneath the Knot of Three Words for his "crime".
Fallen Angel: He was banished from a heavenly realm for doing something considered blasphemous, imprisoned for its crime, and punished by being torn apart.
Four Is Death: Inverted - out of the four Holy Guardian Visages, it's the only one that isn't on the High Will's metaphorical payroll. (The other three are the bizarre faces that appear when you complete one of the Three Humiliations.)
Greater-Scope Paragon: The Fourth Visage is the sole genuine source of hope in Cvstodia; prior to its inclusion in The Wounds of Eventide update, Failure Is the Only Option for the Penitent One, and the truth is brings inspires both the Penitent One and Cristanta to destroy The Miracle.
He Knows Too Much: He suffered all of the above for knowing the truth about the High Wills and taking steps to go against them.
Satanic Archetype: It's a Fallen Angel punished with a Fate Worse than Death (itself located under the site of The Twisted One's crucifixion) who sought to undermine the sovreignity of the High Wills by spreading forbidden knowledge to their adherents, an act for which it is entirely unrepentant and ever ready to endorse even centuries later. Of course, given that the High Wills are evil and the knowledge it brings is that of hope and mercy, Satan Is Good is very much in play.
Token Good Teammate: For all of the Punished and the forces of the High Wills. It seems to be the only one who dislikes the state of Cvstodia and wishes to end it.

Gémino

Voiced by: Andy Llewelly (English), Claudio Serrano (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gemino_4.png

"Oh, do not fret for me. The cold is merciful, for it relieves our pain and numbs us before it leads us to our deaths."

A large man who can be found in the entry area of Where Olive Trees Wither. Imprisoned in an iron statue, he wishes only for the warmth of the burning oil used by the nuns who follow Our Lady of the Charred Visage, before his demise.

And I Must Scream: Downplayed. His body is encased in a metal prison custom fit to his body, and as you kill bosses without fulfilling his quest, his body steadily becomes overgrown by the tree to which his prison is connected. Not that it bothers him too much, though.
Face Death with Dignity: He doesn't lament his fate and even tells the Penitent One that the cold at least numbs the pain.
Last Request: His quest involves fulfilling this, allowing him to feel warmth before he dies by fetching some of the oil used by the nuns at the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage.
Sense Loss Sadness: Averted. While he is stuck in a metal statue and impaled with arrows, he no longer feels the pain thanks to the cold and is actually grateful for it. However, he does wish for one last sensation of warmth before he dies.
Timed Mission: Akin to Tirso, Gémino's quest begins the moment you enter the same room as him, so in essence, when you enter Where Olive Trees Wither. Defeating one boss and returning to Gémino will showcase him as half-dead, and defeating two will make him fully entombed and make his quest incompletable. Though later patches would allow you to get the items through alternative means (though missing the achievement), this usually means the moment you meet Gémino, the very next boss you should beat is Our Lady of the Charred Visage and getting the oil in the room past hers, then returning to Gémino to finish his quest.
Transflormation: His final fate, which differs depending on how you complete his quest. If you kill two bosses before getting the oil to him, he becomes rooted to the tree he's been stuck to. If you give him the oil and head to where Engracia's tomb is, the rightmost being holding the coffin lid has a striking resemblance to Gemino, likely where he went after when mentioning that "I can still heed the call".

Jibrael

Voiced by: Dan Mersh (English), Claudio Serrano (Spanish)

"The Amanecidas of the Miracle await you. Until then, Penitent One."

A giant, crooked man with a brass horn growing out of his arms. He has been imprisoned in a tomb by the Miracle since ancient times to play the Saeta and awaken the Amanecida when the time comes. He plays as the main NPC of the Stir of Dawn update.

Body Horror: A massive, malnourished, and crooked man with brass horns having grown out of his arms and tied them up. To make it all worse, there are flowers growing out of his legs.
Magic Music: The Saeta he plays in order to awaken the Amanecidas.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Jibrael and Laudes loved each other before her imprisonment.
Together in Death: When the Penitent One defeats Laudes, Jibrael will kneel before her broken seal, voicing his hopes that Laudes is finally free before fading away, probably reuniting with her at the other side of the dream.

Jocinero

Voiced by: Ashley Margolis (English), Mario Garcia (Spanish)

"I was born of the moon and of the torment of a brave bull, and from myself, by the grace of the High Wills, my Holy Brethren."

First of the Children of Moonlight, born from a bull and the Moon. He resides in a painting in the Sleeping Canvases which depicts his birth and tasks the Penitent One with finding and freeing his brethren.

Body Horror: Not Jocinero himself, but the bull from which he spawned appears to have been torn in half in the painting, with internal organs and all fully visible.
Chest Burster: How he apparently was "born" from a bull.
Creepy Good: Very cordial and polite to the Penitent One, despite being a giant cherub soaked in bovine blood.
Fetch Quest: He asks you to find the other Children of Moonlight, locked in cages all over Cvstodia. Find at least 20 and he will reward you with the Linen of Golden Thread relic, which grants immunity to Bottomless Pits. Find all 38 of them, and he will grant you the Campanillero to the Sons of the Aurora prayer, which summons Children of Moonlight to temporarily block attacks aimed at the Penitent One.
Our Angels Are Different: He was born of the moon and of a bull. Somehow. The other Children of Moonlight were somehow created from him, as well.
Shout-Out: Jocinero is named after the bull that killed bullfighter José Dámaso in 1862, and the scene of his birth is a reference to the flamenco song "La Luna y el Toro" (The Moon and the Bull) by composer Carlos Castellano.

Lady of the Six Sorrows

Voiced by: Rachel Gribler (English), Mercedes Espinosa (Spanish)

"Blessed are the eyes that with devotion see my tormented heart."

A woman who appears to provide the Penitent One with health upgrades. She has six swords impaling her chest and one sword impaling her hand.

Fan Disservice: Yes, her bare chest is exposed. And yes, it is pierced by half a dozen swords and covered in blood.
Giant Woman: She is clearly taller than the Penitent One.
Human Pincushion: She has seven swords stuck to her body; six of them are in her chest and one of them is in her hand.
Shout-Out: Her attire is taken from Francisco de Goya's painting Witches Flight

Lvdovico

Voiced by: Tim Bentinck (English), Enrique Colinet (Spanish)

A member of the Order of the True Burial, he is dedicated to finding the scattered remains of those whose souls can't depart to the other side of the Dream, and give them a proper burial.

All There in the Manual: His name is never said in-game, appearing only in the supplementary material.
The Faceless: Lvdovico is actually never seen in-game. He talks to the Penitent One through a window of the church of his Order. Even when the Penitent One gains the ability to enter his church in The Stir of Dawn DLC, Lvdovico is still never seen.
Fetch Quest: He tasks you with finding poor Tentudia's remains so they can be given proper funeral rites.
Plot Coupon: After meeting Cleofás, he hands you the Cord of True Burial, needed for one of the possible endings of Cleofás' plotline.

Miriam

Voiced by: Rosalie Craig (English), Laura Monedero (Spanish)

"Something in this suffering land, a will that eludes my understanding, decided that I alter the course of my journey and brought me to this place."

The protagonist of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. For reasons unknown to all but the Miracle, she was forcibly brought to Cvstodia. The Penitent One can aid her in returning to the Demon Castle, but only after completing all Crystal Challenge rooms and returning power to the Warp Gate.

Casting a Shadow: While she gives the Cantiña of the Blue Rose Prayer, she warns the Penitent One of its origins in demonic powers (namely the crystal shards being used to summon demons in her neck of the woods). Of course, given Miriam herself is Dark Is Not Evil, it stands to reason she's giving fair warning given how Cvstodia would likely view her.
Cool Sword: Unlike in Bloodstained where she's depicted with the Blue Rose, "Cantiña of the Blue Rose" summons her wielding the Eternal Blue, a greatsword with the same motifs as the Blue Rose.
Enigmatic Empowering Entity: She's sort of one in Blasphemous, where she grants the "Cantiña of the Blue Rose" Prayer to the Penitent One in exchange for helping her return home.
Flower Motif: Roses as per Bloodstained, but also specifically to her due to Blasphemous lacking flower motifs in other places, making the Crystal Challenge rooms stand out. She also appears from a stained glass portal depicting a rose when the Penitent One uses the Cantiña of the Blue Rose.
Gemstone Assault: Cantiña of the Blue Rose impacts all enemies at a distance in front of the Penitent One, causing crystals to erupt from the ground.
Leg Focus: Her legs are one of her prominent traits in Bloodstained, which gets a focus on the animated cutscene where she's introduced.
Special Guest: She's one from Bloodstained into Blasphemous.

Nacimiento

Voiced by: Chris Nelson (English), Ramon de Arana (Spanish)

"With this silver, I bless the mixture that will recover your spilled blood."

A giant with a second face growing in his chest, he can use Quicksilver to improve the Penitent One's Bile Flasks. Appears as part of the The Stir of Dawn DLC.

Agony of the Feet: Nacimiento's feet have been nailed to a wooden board. He doesn't seem overly bothered by this, but then again, he's clearly got bigger problems to worry about.
Body Horror: The second face in his chest pushes forward with each improvement he makes on your Flasks until the wizened body pushes entirely out into a giant, elderly man, killing Nacimiento in the process.
Foreshadowing: Unlike most of the various people the Miracle "blesses", Nacimiento did not ask for his current state (either directly or indirectly), nor does he recall any sins that might inform his current state; it's just a cruel Fate Worse than Death visited upon him for apparently no reason, and one he seeks to escape. This is the first real evidence that the miracle is more than simply the twisted manifestation of a Martyrdom Culture's desire for punishment.
Meaningful Name: His name means "birth" in Spanish. Sure enough, he ends up "birthing" an old man after fully upgrading your flasks.
Merlin Sickness: He grows younger as the aged face in his chest wizens into that of an old man.
Miscarriage of Justice: He claims that whatever his sins, he has no idea of why the Miracle is doing this to him. Blasphemous II reveals that Nacimiento was born in the same way as the old man who emerges from him, indicating a vicious cycle with no discernable origin point.
Power at a Price: Nacimiento's upgrades to your Bile Flasks destroys one of your Bile Flasks in the process. Getting all five upgrades reduces your maximum number of flasks from 10 to 5 (assuming you can find all eight optional flasks). The question becomes, which do you value more: healing more at once, or being able to heal more often?

Redento

Voiced by: Andy Llewelly (English), Anton Cancelas (Spanish)

"Penitent One, may thy trades silence neither thy spirit nor thy frame."

An elderly member of the Order of Genuflectors, encountered by the Penitent One multiple times during his quest.

Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: At the end of his pilgrimage, you can see Redento hitting his head against the ground, despairing that he has nothing left to do. He apparently bashes his brains out the moment the Penitent One returns to him.
Driven to Suicide: Implied at the end of his quest. Upon reaching the end of his pilgrimage, he is in despair that there is nothing left for him to do and bashes his head at the ground. If the Penitent One returns to Redento, he can see that his brains are bashed out.
Flowery Elizabethan English: His manner of speaking is considerably more archaic.
Meaningful Name: "Redento" translates to "redeemed" in Spanish. In Latin, it translates to "rescued by faith".
Permanently Missable Content: There's an achievement for causing "the meeting between Cleofás and Redento". This means having Cleofás commit suicide while Redento is at the Patio of the Silent Steps. If you finish Cleofás's storyline the right way, you can't get this achievement; making this more annoying is that redeeming Cleofás itself gives an achievement. Even if you're going for his suicide, however, talking to Redento after killing the monster in his way causes him to leave the Patio, also denying you the achievement. Making this even more aggravating is that you meet Cleofás well after you visit the Patio of the Silent Steps for the first time, so unless you've deliberately postponed helping Redento, you'll almost certainly blow the achievement without even starting it.
Recurring Traveller: Redento is a wandering pilgrim whose path crosses the Penitent One's on several occasions. However, since Redento is a barefoot old man with his hands tied behind his back and a botijo around his neck, and Cvstodia is... well, Cvstodia, each time they meet, the Penitent One has to clear some kind of obstacle that is preventing Redento from making forward progress.
Walking the Earth: Every member of the Order of Genuflectors does this as their penance, and Redento is no exception.

Socorro, the Lady of the Perpetual Agony

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/socorro.png

"Oh, please forgive me... Penitent One, you stand in the presence of Socorro, our Pious Lady of the Perpetual Agony."

In the Mother of Mothers, you may enter a room where you hear the grunts of a woman, strapped to an altar and constantly bleeding from wounds, lashes, and cuts despite not being physically hit by any weapons. This girl is Socorro, the Lady of the Perpetual Agony. She once lived in a village that was on a route where prisoners and those condemned by the church were led to a hill where they would be tortured until they died. Unable to bear their suffering, she spent her time praying day and night for them, up to where she asked the Miracle to take their suffering from them. No sooner had she asked than had she started gaining their cuts and bruises while the prisoners were being healed. Socorro was canonized for this, and lives in the Mother of Mothers, suffering perpetual grief and agony taken from those she protects.

Be Careful What You Wish For: Like so many people blessed by the Miracle, Socorro asked for the prisoners to be freed from their suffering, even if it meant taking it upon herself. The Miracle assented, but thanks to Cvstodia's Martyrdom Culture, it translates what would've been a kindly wish into a perpetual torture that she could never escape from.
Blessed with Suck: Her condition is often described as a miracle or a blessing, despite her fate being particularly odious even for the standards of Cvstodia.
Fate Worse than Death: Read the above paragraph, she definitely counts.
Meaningful Name: Her name translates to "Succor", which certainly fits as she wished to aid the prisoners. "¡Socorro!" is also the word used in Spanish when people cry for help, which fits her plight.
Mercy Kill: You can choose to "put an end to her suffering" instead of offering her the Three Marks of Refuge, much to Cleofás' dismay.
She Cleans Up Nicely: If you give her the Three Marks of Refuge, all of her wounds immediately heal and she becomes whole again, before fading in a flash of light and presumably gets Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence.
The Voiceless: Her pain prevents her from speaking. The caption under her picture is actually said by Cleofás.

Soledad

Voiced by: Rachel Atkins (English), Ana Maria Mari (Spanish)

Once an unnamed ghost in the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow, in the Stir of Dawn Update, she was fleshed into her own character. Locked up under the orders of His Holiness, and given a chance by the Miracle to aid the Penitent One, her duty is to place your Knots of Rosary Rope onto your rosary, thus increasing the number of items you can equip at one time.

Cessation of Existence: When she places on all Rosary Knots, she states that her sins have somehow become "unforgivable" and she says that while she doesn't know where she'll go, it won't be on the other side of the Dream. As her body fades, she equates it to being "extinguished". Turn out she was wrong, in Blasphemous II, we see that not just her soul remains, but has ascended to the true heaven.
Meaningful Name: "Soledad" is Spanish for "Solitude". Befitting that she's the only "living" being at the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow after the massacre, not including the Penitent One.
Technicolor Fire: She says her body is made up of blue flame, and she certainly looks the part.

Tentudia

A village girl from Albero whose hair one day started to grow and twist into thorns. Fearing that the Church's Inquisitors would view this as heresy, Tentudia's parents sent her away to a convent (implied to be that of Our Lady of the Charred Visage); unfortunately, her thorny hair continued to grow and pierce her flesh, staining her white habit with blood. It was therefore only a matter of time before the other nuns learned her secret, and fearing the same reprisals that her family did, they executed her without trial and scattered her remains throughout Cvstodia. The Penitent One can collect these remains and bring them back to Albero for a proper burial.

Ambiguous Situation: Did the mutilation of Tentudia's corpse actually prevent her passage into the afterlife? Everyone seems to believe so, and belief is a powerful thing in Cvstodia; however, unlike some other characters barred from passing through the Dream, we never actually get to meet Tentudia, so the ultimate fate of her soul is unconfirmed. Ending A of Blasphemous II reveals that she did in fact get to go to Cvstodia's Heaven equivalent.
Backup from Otherworld: The Prayer "Tiento to your Thorned Hairs" summons her from the other side of the Dream to protect the Penitent One, making him immune to all enemy attacks and non-spike traps (which are blocked by Tentudia herself) during the spell's duration.
Barred from the Afterlife: According to the dogma of the Miracle, for a soul to pass through the Dream into the afterlife, their corporeal remains have to be gathered in one place for a proper burial. Unfortunately for Tentudia, the nuns who murdered her also scattered her corporeal remains across half of Cvstodia, and it falls to the Penitent One to collect them so that her soul can find peace.
Barrier Maiden: Though not as high a priority as the trope suggests, she fits most of the qualifications. She has an overall terrible life: having to hide her thorned hair and being brutally murdered, her remains scattered so she can't even have an afterlife. But once her remains are gathered, she becomes one for the Penitent One whenever you use Tiento To Your Thorned Hairs, protecting you from all damage for a time.
Double Standard: Other characters in the lore, both male and female, have found themselves afflicted by supernatural maladies that caused them constant agony. The majority were viewed as having been blessed by the Miracle and venerated or canonized; why should Tentudia's thorny hair be viewed as a form of heresy instead? Alas, with Tentudia's brutal death at the hands of her fellow nuns, the question is entirely academic at this point.
Locked Away in a Monastery: What her parents did out of fear of her condition, throwing her into a monastery to avoid being targeted for potential heresy. Alas, the nuns also feared the same things when they eventually learned of her issue, and they killed her for it and scattered the remains. There are some hints that the convent in question was the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage, as her remains are found scattered along the path leading up to it.
Posthumous Character: Tentudia is quite, quite dead by the time the story of Blasphemous takes place. In fact, the Penitent One's interactions with her ultimately amount to facilitating her last rites. However, once you get the prayer Tiento to Your Thorned Hairs, she will appear in person to block any attacks you would take.

Tirso

Voiced by: Tim Bentinck (English), Antonio Villar (Spanish)

"There are few of us who still care for the sick and ailing. With devout kisses, we bless the wounds of those who seek our protection, thus both we and they remain at the mercy of the Miracle."

A member of the Brotherhood of the Kissers of Wounds, which operates out of the village of Albero. The Penitent One can bring him various medicinal plants with which to make poultices.

Anti-Frustration Features: Two bosses are not counted for Tirso's quest - Perpetva and Esdras. These are also the only two bosses it's impossible to have an herb for.
Healing Hands: Or lips, in the case of the Brotherhood of the Kissers of Wounds. They emerged when Tirso discovered that kissing the wounded in an act of mercy and contrition actually healed the wound and spared the healer any of the disfigurations the Grievous Miracle usually wrought upon people.
Healing Herb: Tirso's sidequest revolves around bringing him plants he can use to make ointments. Amusingly, these medicinal plants are all also commonly-used cooking spices, such as garlic, rosemary, and cloves; this is lampshaded by the achievement you get for successfully completing his questline, "Mediterranean Diet."
Permanently Missable Content: Kill a boss without delivering an herb to Tirso, and you're locked out of "Mediterranean Diet" for that playthrough. Making this particularly annoying is that the first herb, the Bouquet of Thyme, is located at a crossroads. Go right, and you get the herb and a shortcut to Albero. Go left, and you fight Ten Piedad. Go left first and goodbye achievement.
Shout-Out: He is named after the Spanish playwright Tirso de Molina.
Timed Mission: Of a sort. To fully complete Tirso's quest, you have to alternate giving him herbs with defeating bosses. Defeat too many bosses in-between visits to Tirso, and the brothers of the Kissers of Wounds will die and be buried in the Albero graveyard. If this happens, you can still receive all the rewards you would normally get for bringing Tirso the herbs, but you won't get the achievement. Making this slightly less aggravating is that you can "pre-pay" for boss fights by giving multiple herbs in one trip. There are six herbs, but you won't get the achievement and the final reward until you've defeated Quirce, Exposito, and Melchiades. Once the last herb is delivered, though, the brothers are safe and you can kill bosses freely.

Viridiana

Voiced by: Rebecca Mahoney and Heather Sylvia-Gold (English), Laura Pastor and Ana Angeles Garcia (Spanish)

"From a place of blessings have I been entrusted with watching over you, Penitent One. Thus it has been arranged."

^{Click here to see her as an old woman.}

^{Click here to see her as a very old woman.}

A young woman who offers assistance to the Penitent One during his quest. Such assistance takes its toll on her, though it is a price she willingly pays.

But Now I Must Go: If she's still alive when you go to face the final boss, Viridiana cannot aid the Penitent One in his final confrontation since it is something the Penitent One must do alone. Regardless of whether she's still alive or you've used her a third time, she departs (or rather dies if used three times) after giving the Penitent One a final gift in the Zarabanda of the Safe Haven Prayer.
Cast from Lifespan: The aid she gives to the Penitent One during boss fights is fueled by her very life, making her age rapidly from a young woman to an elderly woman to a wizened crone. She can only assist the Penitent One three times before she dies.
Face Death with Dignity: Before she dies due to aiding the Penitent One a third time, she simply says she was glad to be of assistance and implores the Penitent One to resume the journey.
I Was Quite a Looker: Viridiana first appears in the game as a beautiful young woman. As she assists the Penitent One, she ages rapidly.
Rapid Aging: Each time she assists in a boss fight, she ages considerably. After three times, she dies. However, it is a price she accepts as part of her duty, and she tells the Penitent One not to worry about her.
Worth It: How she feels about the Rapid Aging she endures each time she aids the Penitent One. She considers it a small price to pay to help in this quest.

Foes and Bosses

The Punished

The Hordes of the Miracle, who were all once men and women who tried to reach the Turned Throne atop its mountain of ash, and yet were swallowed by the ash itself and turned into creatures of faith and rage. Now they wander the land of Cvstodia, searching for more they can subject to the mindless faith the Miracle brings.

Barred from the Afterlife: The Carthos in the Library of Negated Words are supposedly this, their ghosts continuously wandering the halls of forbidden works due to their endless thirst for knowledge considered heretical by the Mother of Mothers. You can see them constantly wandering the Library or in the background with updates.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Many of the Punished include victims of this as much as those who caused them.
- Cimbalillos were supposedly victims of immurement, tied to their bells and left to die.
- The Damned were killed through stoning, and now use those same stones to try and kill others.
- The Crucified were... well, crucified to winged statues with thorny brambles.
- The Headless Chamberlain and Shieldmaidens seem to have died from decapitation, the former carrying its original head on a pillow while it sends out copies to attack you while the latter has replaced their heads with the one from the statue-shield they carry.
- The Lunatics were prisoners of the Inquisition, tortured to insanity.
- The Wheelbroken were likely killed through the Breaking Wheels they carry, having their bones crushed bit by bit until they were dead.
- The Aserrado was sawed in half, starting at their heads and ending at their groins.
Degraded Boss: The Soldiers of the Anointed Legion are pretty much degraded versions of Esdras, with fewer attacks. They still hit equally as hard and are placed into forced fights.
Facial Horror: Self-inflicted in the case of the Sisters of the Charred Visage. Following the example of Áurea, all the nuns and those who wanted to take up the habit had to pour oil onto their faces, wrap it in gauze, and wear a golden mask.
Golem: The Sepulcro Errante and Sepulcro Insomne, which are apparently animated statues carrying the tombs of the deceased on their backs.
Gorn: Almost all of them qualify. Most of them are reflective of methods of torment or execution, often using that same method as their means of attack.
Improbable Weapon User: Phalaris throws banderillos at you, appropriately enough (given their bull heads).
Karmic Transformation: Those who were not subjected to Cruel and Unusual Death instead have their own transformations reflective of how they worshipped.
- Acolytes and Sacrists forever carry the processional candles they used in life, never allowed to stop carrying them.
- Percherónes have spent so much time praying that their backs have locked into place, forcing them to lunge with inhuman strength to move.
- Beldillos seem to deal with the procurement and use of ceremonial wine, but they now appear addicted to it as they drink from it and wield it as an explosive weapon.
- Spears of the Cathedra seem to have been bishops and clergy of the Mother of Mothers, now rooted in their chairs of office through their spines.
- Flagellants once sought to purify themselves of sin through whipping themselves, and now they can think of little else but to subject themselves and others to the lash.
Light Is Not Good: All of them were brought back to life or changed by the Grievous Miracle, with some even appearing angelic. All of them are looking to kill you.
Meaningful Name: All of their names are fitting in some manner.
- Amargura means "Bitterness" in Spanish.
- Cimbalillo refers to the types of bells used after the large ones in churches.
- Guardainfante refers to a type of undergarment worn by women in the 1600s, and it translates to "Caretaker of the Child".
- Phalaris refers to the Greek tyrant of the same name who was famous for using the execution device, the Brazen Bull.
- Tizona is named after one of the swords used by Spanish folk hero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, better known as El Cid.
Our Angels Are Different: The Seraph enemies look the part, being winged humans who wield lances and attack from high. The Winged Faces also share a resemblance with Cherubim as winged human heads.
Our Ghosts Are Different: Cimbalillos and Tizonas share many resemblances to ghosts, in particular their appearances involving their forms being veiled or draped in a cloak, their tendency to appear and disappear out of nowhere, and their spiritual powers and flying.
Was Once a Man: All of them were once human. Even the bosses.

Warden of the Silent Sorrow

The very first enemy in the game. He is a giant in a mask and vestments that attacks with a gold, candelabrum-like object. He is probably the Eldest Brother of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow.

Degraded Boss: Two Wardens appear at the Wall of the Holy Prohibitions as non-respawning minibosses with the same characteristics. As you're likely to be much stronger by then, they won't offer much of a fight.
Hearing Voices: Assuming that the Warden was actually the Eldest Brother, anyway. According to the lore behind the Key to the Chamber of the Eldest Brother, the Miracle cursed him to hear the cries of the Twisted One, despite the latter being dead. It's implied that the Eldest Brother was driven insane because of it.
Warmup Boss: He only has two basic attacks and goes down to sustained assault easily enough.
Was Once a Man: The Warden is heavily implied to have been the leader of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow, the Eldest Brother, having been mutated into a mindless enforcer of the theocracy's will by the Miracle. In fact, Deogracias, upon first meeting the Penitent One (who had recently killed the Warden), will lament, "Regretful be the heart, Penitent One. The anguish of the Eldest Brother has now come to an end."

Ten Piedad

"I am awake in a sleeping body."

A monster found in Mercy Dreams guarding the Holy Visage of Attrition. He is a bizarre mix-and-match of a goat, a man, and a gnarled tree.

And I Must Scream: The lore entry for the Thorned Symbol item reveals that this is the case for Ten Piedad. Driven by dreams of the Miracle, the person who was once Ten Piedad took his rest in the arms of the statue seen in the boss area. The Miracle appeared to him one more time, more vividly than before, and when he woke up, his body had transformed into a monster, constantly filled with rage and pain, and he no longer had control over it. In a twisted sort of way, for a boss whose name in Spanish means "Have Mercy", killing him is an act of mercy.
Bilingual Bonus: Ten Piedad is Spanish for "have mercy".
Double Consciousness: The man inside does not pilot Ten Piedad's body, forced to share it with the monster's consciousness. According to the art book, when it's awake, he shows up in its dreams.
Early-Bird Boss: Ten Piedad will probably be the second boss of the game after the Warden of the Silent Sorrow unless you go well out of your way to challenge Our Lady of the Charred Visage or Tres Angustias first, but he represents a massive spike in difficulty over the Warden, being far more damaging and durable and having a far wider range of attacks at his disposal, while you'll almost certainly still be stuck with the same tiny starting health bar and mere 2 Bile Flasks and only a small selection of useful Rosary Beads or Prayers. His attacks aren't that difficult to learn the patterns of, but until you do learn them he'll crush you mercilessly because there's no way you can brute force him.
Pietà Plagiarism: It's found lying on the statue in that pose. It then proceeds to get up, rip the statue's head off and throw it near you to taunt you as the battle begins.
Plant Person: A horrifying, withered take on one, anyway, as it uses snapping branch-like arms and thorny vines to attack.
Sinister Deer Skull: Its head resembles a deer skull made out of branches and wood.
Turns Red: When most of its health is gone, the field of vines it summons with its stomp grows significantly in size.
Wake-Up Call Boss: If you don't have a decent grasp of blocking attacks and sliding to avoid them by the time you fight him, he'll quickly box you into a corner and destroy you.
Was Once a Man: Through the workings of the Miracle, the nameless man who slept in the arms of the statue was transformed into a monstrous demon.

Tres Angustias

There are three of them and they all dress like this.

^{Click here to see them fused into one}

A trio of ghosts at the bottom of Grievance Ascends. They guard the Holy Visage of Contrition.

Bottomless Pits: A fiery bottomless pit. It's a One-Hit Kill.
Bilingual Bonus: Tres Angustias is Spanish for "three sorrows/anguishes".
Carry a Big Stick: The third one uses a boomeranging bludgeon instead.
Early-Bird Boss: If you break the wall in the Order of Kissers of Wounds's basement to get into the Desecrated Cistern early, you can fight this boss first. Fighting them before finishing Mercy Dreams or exploring the tough Graveyard of Peaks means you'll likely not any have health upgrades.
Fusion Dance: One of their attacks has them fuse into one and then turn into a giant laser beam that covers one third of the screen.
The Heartless: Various item descriptions suggest they might be the manifestation of Altasgracias' pain and anguish, further supported by their name (see above) and Altasgracias' room being just a few corridors away.
Precision-Guided Boomerang: One sister's weapon of choice is a double-headed scepter which functions as one.
Ratchet Scrolling: The fight room constantly scrolls up until the Tres Angustias are defeated. While there are always wall-climbable planks on each side of the room, you might not be guaranteed the platforms - which can be trouble given the Bottomless Pit just below you.
Shared Life-Meter: Slashing any one of the three will diminish their boss meter.
Turns Red: At the last fifth of their health, they will remain in the big form and use its beam attack exclusively.

Our Lady of the Charred Visage

You... should get that looked at.

Once a beautiful woman named Áurea. She had a face that was so beautiful and pious many sculptors used her likeness as a model. Over time, people saw her as a living image of divinity to the point they took her out on procession and replaced their own religious images with her likeness, much to her horror. She eventually poured burning oil onto her face and entered a convent. As she aged, her burn scar remained untouched by time, which was understood to be a miracle and made her canonized in life. Thus the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage was founded, where all nun hopefuls would have to pour boiling oil on their faces to be accepted into the convent's ranks. She guards the Holy Visage of Compunction.

Attack Its Weak Point: Can only be harmed by striking her exposed brain.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: You never see her body from the neck down aside from her hands, and yet she still dwarfs the Penitent One and most bosses with her head alone. It's possible she doesn't have an actual body, as it's implied this is a Tulpa only loosely based on the actual person.
Brain Monster: Of the Acranial Monster variant.
Bullet Hell: She throws a lot of projectiles and lasers.
Dark and Troubled Past: She was born so beautiful that people would never leave her alone, treating her as divinity incarnate, taking her out on religious processions, and worshiping her as their idol. She poured hot oil on her face and entered a convent to escape this unwanted attention, but this only led to her being canonized and the founding of a convent where hopeful women burned their own faces in emulation of her.
Dead All Along: It's implied that the Our Lady of the Charred Visage boss encountered by the Penitent One is really a Tulpa born from the collective faith and agony of the nuns who mutilated themselves in her name. Past the boss room is the preserved corpse of the real Áurea, with a very human face, showing how far removed she is from the legend she unwittingly helped inspire.
Early-Bird Boss: She's one of the three possible second bosses you face, but the areas preceding her make it unlikely you'll reach her without acquiring a few upgrades, a few of which are locked behind the other possibilities. If you do manage to get to her, she can deal a lot of damage from her projectiles, and while her health pool isn't the largest, she's beefy enough that even getting to her second phase will take a lot of RNG luck.
Evil Is Visceral: Her pulsating brain is exposed throughout the entire fight.
Facial Horror: Self-inflicted. Feeling pressured by the religious fanaticism of those around her, and not wanting to be mistaken for the divinity, she burned her face and entered a convent.
Hoist by Their Own Petard: The glowing balls she produces with one of her attacks can be knocked into her brain if hit at the right angle, dealing massive damage to her.
Irony: She gave up her beauty to stop being worshipped. Since this is Cvstodia, and the ways of the Miracle are fickle, she ended up canonized in life anyway.
I Was Quite a Looker: She was once a woman so beautiful that people used her likeness as a model. They gradually saw her as a sign of divinity, with people replacing their religious images with her likeness, to her horror.
Meaningful Name: In life, she was known as Áurea, her name being based on the Latin feminine name meaning "golden". After disfiguring her face, she wrapped it with gauze and wore a golden mask. When a religious order was founded in her name, all the nuns followed Áurea's example.
Nightmare Face: Aged and disfigured by the boiling oil, with a remaining piece of the golden mask melting off, an exposed brain, and all of this sized up to titanic proportions. Even worse, when you finally strike the killing blow, she actually bleeds molten gold instead of blood. The face of the real Áurea is similarly horrific, being in a mummified state with her nose having rotted away long ago and her eyes shown shut, but with her burns less obvious.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: She is based on María Fernández Coronel, a Spanish noblewoman who became the victim of severe political persecution after her father was executed for treason. María initially tried faking her own death and escaping to a covenant, but when her pursuers found her, she burnt her own face off with boiling oil in desperation.
So Beautiful, It's a Curse: People were so charmed by her beauty that they took her out on procession and replaced their religious images with her likeness.
Stop Worshipping Me: As a devout young woman, Áurea was horrified to find people begin worshipping her as divine, driving her to mutilate herself to put a stop to it. She ended up being canonized anyway, worshiped by nuns who treat her self-mutilation as a holy act rather than a move made in desperation.
Tulpa: It's implied that you're not fighting Áurea herself, but instead a manifest embodiment of the belief and agony of the sisters of the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage. In the room past her, where you receive the Holy Visage of Compunction, you can see the preserved body of the real Áurea.
Turns Red: After she loses enough health, her other hand will appear, doubling her attacks.
Wound That Will Not Heal: Never did her burns lose their intensity, nor did they heal. This was taken as a sign of divinity.

Esdras, of the Anointed Legion

Voiced by: Alex Jordan (English), Mario Garcia (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/esdras.png

"Sister of mine, as I foretold to you, someone is heading towards the forbidden gate."

A member of the Anointed Legion, a military arm of His Holiness, who can be seen following the Penitent One throughout the first half of the game. He finally ambushes him at the Bridge of the Three Calvaries after all Three Humiliations have been carried out.

Church Militant: As befitting a member of the Anointed Legion.
Climax Boss: Encountered at the halfway point of the game as the very first human-sized boss hellbent on keeping the Penitent One away from the Mother of Mothers, with a varied arsenal of moves to boot. He qualifies.
Dual Boss: Halfway through his boss fight, his sister will join the fight and aid him.
Degraded Boss: He's basically a souped-up version of generic Soldiers of the Anointed Legion found in the late game, though he has a few more attacks and Perpetva's backing.
Despair Event Horizon: The death of his sister broke the man into still holding conversations with her. Is she really dead though?
Heel–Face Turn: If you gain the favor of his sister, he won't fight you, and will set you on the path to the true ending.
Improbable Weapon User: He, and the later-found generic Legionaries, use a warhammer that resembles an aspergillum, a liturgical instrument used to sprinkle holy water.
Parental Abandonment: Should Esdras be spared, you will meet with Deogracias, who will explicitly describe both him and his sister as "foundling siblings", meaning that they were literally abandoned by their parents at some point.
Permanently Missable Content: You receive Taranto To My Sister either way, but you can only get the achievement "The Brother" by killing him. On the flip side, if you kill him you're locked out of the Golden Ending.
Shock and Awe: Can both call down lightning and enhance his spins with it.
Skippable Boss: As of the release of the 'Wounds of Eventide' expansion, if you find Perpetva's tomb before facing Esdras she will bless you, and Esdras will recognize that you have her favor when you meet on the bridge, becoming your ally on the path to the true ending instead of fighting you.

Perpetva, of the Anointed Legion

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/perpetva.png

A mysterious winged woman bearing the insignia of the Anointed Legion who attacks the Penitent One at the Mountains of the Endless Dusk. Doesn't have a health bar, but you only get one shot at beating her!

Bragging Rights Reward: The Rosary Bead you get for beating her can be acquired later with no fight, although having it early can help against Esdras and sheds some light on his backstory. The only other thing you get is an achievement.
Dead All Along: The Wounds of Eventide DLC reveals that not only is she truly dead, but the Perpetva you fight isn't actually the real Perpetva, but a manifestation of the Miracle that has her face and armor, but not her voice.
Degraded Boss: The Seraph enemies on the Archcathedral Rooftops use the same animations and attacks.
Fashionable Asymmetry: From how her concept art appears, Perpetva counts. The right half of her body is covered up by plate armor. The other half is wrapped up in the anointed red cloth most of the Anointed Legion wears, akin to a full-body Sarashi.
Mini-Boss: Doesn't have a health bar and shares a boss theme with Esdras. You can continue forward even if you lose to her, and defeating her doesn't "advance the clock" for either Tirso or Gemino's Side Quest.
Parental Abandonment: Should Esdras be spared, you will meet with Deogracias, who will explicitly describe both him and his sister as "foundling siblings", meaning that they were literally abandoned by their parents at some point.
The Reveal: She is Esdras' dead sister and the version of her you encounter is an Evil Knockoff made by the High Wills.
Shock and Awe: Can call down lightning.
Unique Enemy: If you fail to defeat her the first time, she won't appear again.
You Have Failed Me: When Esdras' health runs out, the false Perpetva kills him by making him explode like a balloon.

Melquiades, the Exhumed Archbishop

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/melquiades.png

"They lifted him up, calling his name, and swayed him to make it look as if he was walking again."

A long-dead archbishop, propped by countless hands, that guards the Deformed Mask of Orestes in the Mother of Mothers.

Attack Its Weak Point: Melquiades takes the most damage from attacks to his head. Cutting down the hands that prop him up is needed to lower him first.
Background Boss: Most of his body has no interaction with you at all. Even the arms you need to damage to get him to drop are in the semi-foreground as they don't impede your movement.
Dem Bones: A giant skeleton clad in lavishly baroque robes and adorned with countless decorations, not unlike various catacomb saints.
Giant Hands of Doom: Is held up by numerous, humongous hands that don't seem to belong to anyone, and he uses them to attack the Penitent One by smacking the stage.
Light 'em Up: He has the power to cover the stage with holy flames and light, either by covering the stage en masse or by stabbing his scepter into the ground, from which holy flames will appear from.
Mickey Mousing: Perhaps unintentionally; the pace at which Melquiades strikes the ground with his staff to create beams of light can sometimes sync perfectly with the beat of this boss theme.
Named After Somebody Famous: Pope Melchiades the African, best known for pontificating when the Edict of Milan was issued, giving Roman Empire Christians a citizen status.
Of Corpse He's Alive: This is what originally happened to his corpse, and what may or may not be going on in his actual fight, given the mysterious ways of The Miracle.
Staff of Authority: He wields an ornate golden mace. He can smack the Penitent One with it for a lot of damage.

Quirce, Returned by the Flames

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quirce_5.png

A man unjustly condemned to burning at the stake. The Miracle brought him back from the dead, but it did not stymie the inquisitors overseeing the process, burning him again, and again, and again. He ambushes the Penitent One at the Wall of the Holy Prohibitions, guarding the access to the Mirrored Mask of Dolphos - and the shortcut to the top of the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage where it is located.

Burn the Witch!: Quirce was Wrongly Accused of heresy and subject to the bonfire treatment, but as his name suggests, it didn't take thanks to the Grievous Miracle. Naturally, the inquisitors weren't stymied and decided to instead burn him again and again and again...
Cycle of Hurting: If you get tagged by his flame pillar attack (and don't happen to get bounced off a wall), you will get tagged by all others.
The Faceless: Quirce's face is hidden by the capirote he wears, presumably put on him when he was tied to the stake.
Flaming Sword: His weapon of choice, either thrown or used in high-speed thrusts.
Mind over Matter: Quirce does not carry his sword in his hands; instead, it floats beside him. The only time he touches it is to yank it out of the wall after he's thrown it.
Playing with Fire: The Miracle seems to have an odd sense of humor, for it gave him fire powers after reviving him from being burned at the stake.
The Phoenix: A human example. Didn't stop the inquisitors from trying again.
Stance System: Quirce fights with two separate "styles", one when he has his sword and one when he doesn't. Every so often, he'll throw his sword at the Penitent One, then use a different set of attacks until he decides to retrieve it.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Justified in that he doesn't actually carry his sword, but instead manipulates it with something akin to telekinesis.

Exposito, Scion of Abjuration

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/exposito.png

"The little one stopped crying as soon as we placed him in the arms of that wicker woman, as if it were his mother."

An infant son of a witch burned at the stake. With her last dying breath, she asked a kind onlooker to build a replacement so that her son would not miss her. The wicker woman constructed by the onlooker seemed to have done the trick. He waits at the end of the Sleeping Canvasses, guarding access to the Embossed Mask of Crescente.

All There in the Manual: Concept art reveals that the snake the player fights is actually a part of the wicker woman, physically emerging from its body. Presumably, this is why the rest of the wicker bursts into flames when the snake itself dies. This didn't make it into the actual sprites of the game, presumably due to how this would limit its movement in the arena, but the memories in the nearby corpse suggest that this is still canon.
Background Boss: He spends most of the fight in the background, and he only gets close when performing his grab attack. He doesn't have an actual hitbox even when he's close to the foreground.
Crosshair Aware: The incoming One-Hit Kill is indicated by the bright circle glowing on the floor.
Easy Level Trick: If you can catch both of the serpent's weak spots with Debla of the Lights, two castings will kill it with little trouble.
Enfante Terrible: Take a guess. Also, a giant one.
Eye Scream: The Tears of Blood under his blindfold implies that he has a bad case of this. Furthermore, the achievement gained from beating him is "Blind Innocence".
Guardian Entity: The strange wicker snake with a human face that guards Exposito is the actual boss that is fought. Exposito and the snake seem to be linked — killing the snake causes Exposito's death as well.
Holy Halo: One made from brambles, no less.
Made of Incendium: The gallery where you fight him explodes into flames once he dies. It returns to normal on subsequent returns there.
Meaningful Name: "Exposito" is a word used in Spain to refer to an orphaned child of an unknown parent.
Non-Indicative Name: You don't actually fight Exposito himself, but rather a strange snake-like thing with a human face. Doesn't stop him from getting in on action sometimes.
One-Hit Kill: If you don't move out of the way in time, Exposito will grab the Penitent One and tear him in two. Notably, this is the only instant kill attack in the game aside from falling onto spikes or into a pit, or being hit by the Guardian of the High Wills' huge purple beam attack without sheltering behind Crisata.
Replacement Goldfish: A wicker woman was crafted to replace Exposito's mother at her dying request. The moment Exposito was placed in its arms, he stopped crying. There are hints that there is something else going on here — the memories of a corpse in The Sleeping Canvases indicate that the wicker woman (or something inside it) was alive.

The Amanecidas of the Miracle

The Amanecidas

Laudes, First of the Amanecidas

"Oh Saeta, where once its piercing song shattered the mirrors and trinkets in my tomb, let its wail now grant light. Saeta, awakener of the desolate, ignite these five lifeless eyes!"

—Laudes

A group of holy warriors who serve the Miracle, and slumber in crystal coffins scattered across the world, only revealed when Jibrael plays the Saeta. They consist of five members;

Amanecida of the Golden Blades, a warrior in red who wields a two-sided axe.
Amanecida of the Bejeweled Arrow, a warrior in blue who wields a massive bow.
Amanecida of the Chiselled Steel, a warrior in grey who wields a falcata.
Amanecida of the Molten Thorn, a warrior in light blue who wields a massive jousting lance.
Laudes, The First of the Amanecidas, their first member, who uses all four weapons of the other Amanecidas.

All Your Powers Combined: Each Amanecida has her own tactics, but Laudes wields them all.
Amazon Brigade: All the Amanecidas are female.
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The five Amanecidas have certain colors to help differentiate between them. Golden Blades is Red, Bejeweled Arrow is blue, Chiselled Steel is grey with green attacks, Molten Thorn is light blue. Laudes, the original one the other four were made from, has purple as her color.
Cool Sword: The Amanecida of the Chiselled Steel wields a sword as her weapon, specifically a falcata.
Final-Exam Boss: Laudes will switch between the weapons of all four of the other Amanecidas as the fight progresses.
Gemstone Assault: Molten Thorn can create spears of crystal that embed themselves into the ground and that explode after a set time, or after she runs through them. All the Amanecidas can create a purple crystal barrier that shields them from harm for a time (hitting them enough while it's being generated will prevent this), and they all start the battle with it active. Laudes will create one (unavoidably) each time she switches weapons.
Green-Eyed Monster: The reason the Amanecidas exist was that Laudes loved the Twisted One more than the Miracle itself, and it split her apart and sealed her away on a whim for it.
Meaningful Name: "Amanecida" means "daybreak" (or, alternatively, "dawn").
Me's a Crowd: The four Amanecidas were split apart from Laudes, preventing her from awakening so long as the other four remained intact.
Playing with Fire: Golden Blades creates flame pillars at the sides of the arena when her health gets low enough, and Chiselled Steel creates green flames beneath her arena that kill you should you fall into them.
Purple Is Powerful: Laudes is the original being the four Amanecidas split from and wields all of their weapons and tactics when you face her, and she befittingly wears purple.
Razor Wind: Chiselled Steel seems to wield this in her battle, creating gusts of wind by slashing her blade.
Sacred Bow and Arrows: The Amanecida of the Bejeweled Arrow wields a bow and arrows that can fire off sacred energy.
Shock and Awe: Bejeweled Arrow can shoot arrows that, after hitting their target, can explode into lightning that stretches across the screen.
Skull for a Head: All Amanecidas have a skull for a head, being risen from the dead; Laudes has four additional skull faces protruding from the sides of her head.
Superboss: Laudes and the Amanecidas can only be found in a New Game Plus, and fighting them isn't required to beat the game, but doing so will reward you with a new prayer and a Mea Culpa heart. They're also much tougher and more unrelenting than any bosses you'll encounter out in the world normally (barring Isidora and Sierpes, the bosses added in Wounds of Eventide) and clearly expect you to have a good grasp on the game's combat in order to defeat them.

Sierpes

"We must return. I saw the shadow, I saw the gold underneath the black waters. We must return, the sea trembles when she is close at hand."

A new boss introduced in the Wounds of Eventide DLC, Sierpes is a giant white snake found in Mourning and Havoc. When the Severed Left Eye of the Traitor was thrown into the dark waters of Cvstodia, it seems that Sierpes was created from it, becoming a sea monster that would sink or destroy all ships it came across. As such, it's naturally attached to the Left Eye of the Traitor, from which you must cut it out.

Bad with the Bone: It seems to rip lines of spikes and what appears to be thorned ribs through its own body to try and harm the Penitent One.
Beast with a Human Face: Its tongue has a human head at the end of each fork.
Body Horror: Read Bad with the Bone above. It rips its own bones through its skin to attack you.
Damage-Sponge Boss: Very notable for its high health.
The Great Serpent: It's a humongous snake, taking the part of both the arena you fight on as much as the boss you fight against. It can even be seen coiling around a shipwreck all the way in the background while you're fighting it.
Route Boss: Sierpes is only a required fight if you're going for the Wounds of Eventide extra ending.
Shock and Awe: The element of most of its attacks, blasting you with lighting it generates from its tail in a concentrated stream, into balls it launches at you, or that it calls forth from the sky.
Taking You with Me: Attempted. Once you beat it, it tries to eat you alive. Fortunately, it dies before it has a chance to try and digest you and you simply rip your way out through the Left Eye of the Traitor, claiming it in the process.
Wise Serpent: An inversion - according to the official artbook, the massive number of ship masts in the background is meant to invoke the Garden of Eden, with the golden eye that Sierpes guards being the corresponding Forbidden Fruit of knowledge. However, Sirpes is actively protecting said knowledge, deliberately keeping the people of Cvstodia ignorant of the truth.

Isidora, Voice of the Dead

"May the Miracle protect the unprepared souls that dare challenge the voices of bone and skull, as She won't allow anyone to interrupt her song."

A new boss introduced in the Wounds of Eventide DLC, Isidora was once a songstress in life, beloved by children for her music. Yet, due to a calling of the Miracle, she descended into the Ossuary, her voice being used to give life to the chorus of dead voices that rest within the cemetery. She guards the Severed Right Eye of the Traitor, embedded within her scythe.

The Chanteuse: Supposedly her job in life, given the comment of her flamboyant stage outfits. In death, she serves this role for the dead.
Fiery Redhead: In the brief moment during her initial manifestation before her clothes materialize on her and her wimple covers her hair, you can see it's bright red, which matches her fiery powers.
Flash Step: One of her attacks has her wind up a big swing with her scythe for several seconds before slashing back and forth across the screen faster than the eye can see, three times in a row.
The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: As a corpse will tell you in the quote above, she won't allow anyone to interrupt her song. Not the Penitent One hacking her to bits, not being thrown into darkness for an eternity... she won't even let the player pause the game to change equipment.
Naked on Arrival: When you advance far enough into her boss arena to trigger the fight, she emerges from the brazier in the middle of the arena stark naked before first her scythe then her clothes appear and the battle begins.
Pimped-Out Dress: Stands out for being the only example in-game, but given her job in life, it makes sense.
Playing with Fire: A good portion of her repertoire involves summoning fire in the form of homing fireballs, or creating tornados of fire. Perhaps the only one who uses it more than her is Quirce.
Reduced to Dust: After her defeat, she crumbles to ash in two stages. First, her skin, scythe, and clothes fall apart, reducing her to a bald human-shaped mass of ash, who then embraces the Right Eye one more time before collapsing into a pile of ash.
Route Boss: Isidora is only a required fight if you're going for the Wounds of Eventide extra ending.
Sinister Scythe: Her weapon.
Turns Red: Once she's reduced to half her health, she signals the second phase of the fight by summoning a massive number of fiery tornadoes while igniting the torch at the center of the room. That torch now spits out a steady stream of homing fireballs, while Isidora attacks with increased ferocity.

Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony

Voiced by: Ali Dowling (English), Ana Esther Alborg (Spanish)

"I, Crisanta in penance, excommunicate you, expel you, execrate you, with the blessing of Our Miracle of the Greatest Pain."

A penitent in service of His Holiness and his direct enforcer who confronts the Penitent One at the top of Archcathedral Rooftops. Has a history with him, as shown in the supplementary comic.

Blind Weaponmaster: The tie-in comic reveals Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony has her own penance, giving up her sight, with a close-up showing her helmet's eyes are covered. Despite this, she is a fierce warrior, defeating the Penitent One in the comic and putting up a challenge as a boss.
Brainwashed and Crazy: The Exiled Visage gave her the Holy Wound of Abnegation in an attempt to reveal to her the truth of the Miracle and the High Wills. The High Wills, chained her soul and metaphorically blinded her to the truth. This explains why she acts so zealously.
Cool Sword: According to the art book, her greatsword is "affected by the Miracle" and thus is wrapped with the same oiled wraps the members of the Anointed Legion use. It catches fire in the second half of the fight.
Crisis of Faith: Physically enforced upon her by the Penitent One "breaking her chains", allowing her to see the Miracle for what it truly is.
Curb-Stomp Battle: In the prequel comic, Crisanta easily disposes of the Penitent One.
Desecrating the Dead:
- In the original True Ending Crisanta refuses to abandon her mission and pulls Mea Culpa out of the Penitent One's body, undoing his sacrifice.
- Happens to her in the sequel, as she kills herself in the intro by impaling herself in her wrapped sword, only for Eviterno to eventually pull it out of her corpse to use against the Penitent One.
The Dragon: His Holiness's direct enforcer and the second-to-last fight in the game. She was also involved in the extermination of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow.
Due to the Dead:
- The Golden Ending of Wounds of Eventide has her accompanying Deogracias while he carries the Penitent One's corpse to his final resting place, and she prays over the Penitent One's tomb before they seal it.
- In turn, in Blasphemous II, the Penitent One pays his respects to her dead body after defeating Eviterno, avenging her.
Heel–Face Turn: Pursuing Wounds of the Eventide's new ending leads to sparing her and breaking the Grievous Miracle's hold on her soul. Afterward, she becomes the Penitent One's ally in destroying the High Wills and bringing an end to the Miracle and the cycle of suffering.
Handicapped Badass: Her vow of penitence had her give up her sight, but it doesn't slow her down in the slightest.
Knight Templar: She is seemingly unconcerned by the fact that the people of Cvstodia are suffering because of the Grievous Miracle and is angrier at the fact that someone wants to put a stop to it. As far as she and possibly her superiors are concerned, the Penitent One is an evil force that must be struck down. She even goes so far as to pull out the sword from his body in the true ending, restarting the cycle that he tried so hard to end, simply because she can only perceive him as "evil".
Mirror Boss: Crisanta fights in a similar fashion to The Penitent One, using variations of his moves and can even parry and counter his attacks
Purple Is Powerful: Once you get her down to half health, she'll unwrap the agony and her sword, revealing it to be oozing with a purple aura. And in the new ending path, she outright gains a purple aura in her new phase as she gets even stronger!
Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: In the opening cutscene of Blasphemous II, she falls on her own sword after being defeated by the Archconfraternity.
Teleport Spam: In the second half of her fight, Crisanta teleports around the arena and charges the Penitent One in an attempt to hit him before you can block.
Turns Red: Once her health is depleted to half, she unwraps her greatsword and becomes much faster. And in the path to the true ending in the Wounds of Eventide DLC, she gets a second fight with a second form that's even stronger!
Uncertain Doom: While she's seen committing suicide in the opening of the second game and her body remains visible in the foreground during the boss fight with Eviterno, she is also mysteriously absent from the brief glimpse of heaven in Ending A (itself conspicuous because all other "good" characters appear there, regardless of their alignment with the Miracle). Furthermore, we glimpse her holy wrappings drifting on the wind during the Post-Credits Scene, hinting that her story might not be over yet...
Villain Forgot to Level Grind: The comic has her dispatch the Penitent One with ease. She's still a threat on the Archcathedral Rooftops, but the Penitent One is now strong enough to best her. Completely averted in Wounds of Eventide, as pursuing the new ending has her get even nastier with a new second fight immeadiately after and quickly kill unprepared players.
The Worf Effect: She fought valiantly against the Archconfraternity, lead by Eviterno, before the events of Blasphemous II, but she eventually realized she was at her limit and decided to lay the final strike on herself via Seppuku.

His Holiness Escribar

Voiced by: Jim Trainor (English), Rafael Azcarraga (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/escribar.png

"I curse you forever in name. I bless you forever in death."

^{Click here to see Escribar's true form}

The head of the theocracy ruling Cvstodia, awaiting at his Deambulatory as the final obstacle before the Cradle of Affliction. He can be heard long before the encounter, commenting on the situation as the Penitent One progresses.

Attack Its Weak Point: You can only damage the Son's face. To do that, you must destroy the golden dagger flying about to unmask it. It reappears after a time.
Background Boss: Last Son of the Miracle towers over the Penitent One, but deals no contact damage himself.
Big Bad: He's the one who rules Cvstodia, the person who massacred the Brotherhood of Silent Sorrow (starting The Penitent One's quest), the Final Boss, and The Dragon for The High Wills.
The Dragon: To the High Wills.
Dub Personality Change: The Spanish voiceover for Escribar establishes him as a severe and furious papal figure. The English voiceover, however, has him sound more polite and civil.
Expy: His boss fight is designed very similarly to Dracula, with his first form including Dracula’s signature teleportation and a variation of his Hellfire attack, and the final form bearing resemblance to Dracula’s final stage from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
Faux Affably Evil: He's rather polite for someone who controls the theocracy, even when the Penitent One comes for his head. It doesn't stop him from immediately trying to kill The Penitent One and he feels absolutely no remorse for any of the atrocities he commited under the High Wills' orders. This is largely the product of the English dub. In the Spanish one, he sounds much more severe and furious.
Foregone Victory: His third form in the Wounds of Eventide expansion's new final battle. If you run out of health or fall into the pit, Crisanta rescues you and fully restores your health and bile flasks, with the only penalty being having to restart the battle. You can do this indefinitely until you win.
Noodle Incident: What set off the events of the story was Escribar proclaiming that "the Miracle had abandoned [them]" and turning his throne around. The Miracle then turned him into a giant tree that caught fire (the cause of which is unknown) and the resulting ashes turned most of the population of Cvstodia into monstrosities. What exactly caused him to say the words that led to his transformation is never discussed.
One-Winged Angel: His second phase is a titanic suit of armor shaped like papal garb called "Last Son of the Miracle". He has a third form beyond this, showing him as a naked, red-skinned man with five arms, one growing out of his chest, but this form is not fought until the Wounds of the Eventide's true ending.
Plant Person: Another horrific take on that, with sickly red bark and black sap instead of blood. His real form, seen briefly once the Son is defeated or fought as the True Final Boss on the way to the Golden Ending, even has an arm growing out of his stomach, not unlike a tree branch.
Playing with Fire: One of the spells he uses commands fire to rain from the sky.
Shock and Awe: Another one of his spells orders lightning to strike across the field.
Squishy Wizard: His first form cannot take a hit to save his life, but wields an array of dangerous attacks that can soften an unwary player up before the second phase.
This Cannot Be!: Utter aversion, twice even. Escribar is such a fervent devout of the Miracle that he sees his defeat as something of their design; and even when Wounds of the Eventide's path has Escribar now accept the true danger the Penitent One poses against the Miracle, and as such he has to die, instead when Escribar is killed for good now he just faces his end with a sense of accomplishment for all he did, and the servants who loved him dying alongside him.
Was Once a Man: Was transformed by the Miracle into a giant tree that later caught fire. He and countless others emerged from the mountain of ashes left behind as inhuman monsters afterward.

The Grievous Miracle

In General

Ambiguous Situation: Whether or not the Miracle is a Deity of Human Origin. Given the descriptions of the Knot of the Three Words, the First Miracle and the Twisted One, it is entirely possible that the Miracle came into existence after a man wracked with guilt prayed to the High Wills for penance and was turned into a tree that weeps molten gold, and the Miracle dissipating is represented by the Twisted One embracing the Penitent One in Ending C and dissolving. However, there are just enough gaps in the story and Plausible Deniability that make it sound like the Miracle existed concurrently to these events and that the Twisted One is merely the first demonstration of the Miracle's power.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: The reasons that the Miracle blesses some with deformity and curses other with the ability to heal or prophesize, or sometimes does a weird combination of the two no matter how devout its subjects have been are known only to the Miracle itself.
Jackass Genie: In accordance with its Blue-and-Orange Morality, the Miracle loves to technically grant answers to the needy's prayers, but usually by horrifically deforming or contorting them as a result. Of course, since Cvstodia is a Martyrdom Culture that is practically masochistic when it comes to religion, its inhabitants seem to take this sort of cosmic dickery in stride.

The Twisted One

"My great Guilt."

A man who was so wracked with guilt for an unknown sin that he prayed out to the High Wills for salvation, and was "rewarded" in the form of being transformed into a sacred tree, The Knot of the Three Words. This act was known as the First Miracle, and due to it being a powerful reminder of the Miracle's ominpresence, iconography of the Twisted One^note, namely in the form of crucifixes, is commonplace throughout Cvstodia.

Body Horror: His limbs have merged with the log's wood and have coiled around it. It's also said the Cradle of Affliction is a grail filled with blood and gold that emanated from his head as he suffered. In his one in-person appearance, in the ending for Wounds of Eventide, his appendages are shown to be elongated and tapered like tree roots.
Botanical Abomination: He was turned into one of these by the High Wills, and now resembles a treelike crucifix.
Face Death with Dignity: Upon actually meeting the Penitent One in Ending C, his last action as the Miracle that gave him life dies is to give the Penitent One a reassuring embrace before he dissipates into the dream.
Male Frontal Nudity: In statues of him, his penis is always on full display.
Messianic Archetype: It was his transformation that caused worship of the Miracle to become common throughout Cvstodia, and the imagery of his sacrifice draws heavily on messianic figures and crucifixion.
Nothing Is Scarier: His guilt stemmed from committing some unknown sin. It is not explained exactly what had happened or what he had done. Whatever it was, however, must have been so horrible, so unforgivable that he begged the High Wills themselves for punishment.
Sigil Spam: Symbols of him and trees in general can be found all throughout the game, and the fact that he bears a resemblance to the Miracle's Arc Symbol suggests they have a connection as well.
The Unmasqued World: Symbolically, his "death" in the Golden Ending for Wounds of Eventide can be interpreted as this, with his fading away also bringing with him a possible end to the hold that The Miracle has over the Martyrdom Culture of Cvstodia.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Whatever his guilt was, it's likely he didn't intend for the entirety of Cvstodia to become a Martyrdom Culture, nor a figurehead for the High Wills to use to keep people suffering for their benefit.

The High Wills (UNMARKED SPOILERS!)

The High Wills

The true force behind the Grievous Miracle. A trio of godlike beings found on the other side of the dream.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2023_09_21_at_11_12_27_highwillswebp_webp_image_587_383_pixels.png

Ambiguous Situation: While it's revealed that the High Wills were using the Miracle to elevate themselves and they curse the Penitent One for their defiance, it's worth pointing out that some of the "gifts" the Miracle bestows sometimes benefit those afflicted. For example, the Penitent One's ability to resurrect after death is implied to be part of the Miracle's blessing, which seemingly goes against the desires of the High Wills who don't want their plans interrupted. Whether that means the Miracle is a separate entity from the High Wills or some attempt at manipulating the Penitent One into servitude is at play is unclear. Blasphemous II implies the Miracle is separate from the High Wills as the Miracle is responsible for creating the Incarnate Devotion, but the High Wills don't respond at all even though the Incarnate Devotion's purpose is to facilitate their rebirth.
Back from the Dead: Somehow they - or at least their Miracle - are revived prior to the beginning of Blasphemous II; how and why remain unknown for now. The end of the game implies that while the Miracle is active, the High Wills are still dead. Ending B sees them restored to power when the Penitent One and the Incarnate Devotion undergo a Fusion Dance and become the Second Psalm to usher in a new age of worship.
Brutal Honesty: To their credit, they bluntly admit to the Penitent One that the Grievous Miracle's sole purpose was to make them eternal and "higher-reaching than the sky itself", i.e. even more powerful and grand.
Cutscene Boss: Used as a symbolic and thematic plot point. Despite being creatures of godlike power and the source of everything in the story, they're destroyed by the Penitent One and Crisanta in a cutscene rather than a traditional boss fight. This is because, as they themselves state in their monologue, most of their power is drawn from the Miracle and the faith of Cvstodia. The Penitent One — and Crisanta, now freed of her chains — are no longer faithful to them, and so the High Wills have no real power over them anymore. Their last words are spent cursing them both for their trespasses against them.
Demiurge Archetype: They are a trio of malignant beings who surround themself with divine light and religious iconography, claiming to be God despite being neither benevolent nor the true creator. They explicitly use dreams, illusions, and (if that fails) straight-up brainwashing to keep their followers ignorant and blind to the truth. Despite this, they lack any power over former devotees who well and truly reject their sovereignty (as seen when they are destroyed as a Cutscene Boss as opposed to a proper fight).
- The second game continues this theming, as it reveals there is a more benevolent, heavenly force in the setting, one heralded by a beautiful female figure ala Sophia, and almost entirely lacking the twisted obsession with sin, punishment, and authority that the Miracle and the High Wills rely on, resurrecting the Penitent One to end the Miracle's next attempted incarnation and revealing a true heavenly realm where all, no matter their life or death, are united in the highest cosmos, just like the ideal dream of Gnosticism's beliefs regarding the afterlife.
The Dividual: While they are referred to as the High Wills and speak with three separate voices, killing the central head kills all three of them at once, and they all serve the same narrative purpose.
Dream Weaver: They are a mix between this, a Domain Holder, and a Dimension Lord, given the nature of what is, presumably, the afterlife in Blasphemous. The area they reside in on the other side of the dream is named by them as the Path of the Ancient Processions, which the Miracle they made apparently wove together from dreams. They used it to give themselves "light and time", which they further define as making themselves eternal.
Dying Curse: Their last words before being expunged by Crisanta and the Penitent One.
The High Wills: "And so, the last of our wills is your eternal condemnation." "In life and in death, in hunger and in thirst, in sleep and in wakefulness." "Buried under layers of ash, ash of your flesh, bones and sinew." "Execrated in visage. Forgotten in name. For ever and ever." "There is no penance that can exonerate this sin. It is the price to pay for the ultimate blasphemy."
Eye Scream: This is how the Penitent One lashes out against them, setting them up for Crisanta's killing blow, piercing the left eye of the central, male head.
Fisher King: They appear to be this in the Path of Ancient Processions, the grey twilight and clouds over the horizon symbolizing their grip over Cvstodia and all the souls affected by the Miracle. Their death causes all of these clouds to clear and for a blue sky to finally show unveiled.
Foreshadowing:
- Beyond the numerous references in dialogue and lore about the High Wills, the visages seen after killing the first three bosses appear to be made out of the same golden tears the High Wills are weeping.
- Before being dispatched by the Penitent One, they say that killing them will leave the Miracle orphaned. Which is what the Incarnate Devotion in the sequel laments right after being born.
God Is Evil: They're responsible for the Miracle, which makes them pretty bad by default. While their speech is semi-vague, it's implied that the Miracle exists to bring faith to them and make them eternal.
Gods Need Prayer Badly: Implied. They mention that the Miracle would create a domain where faith would unite in one single, uninterrupted act of adoration that would give them light and time and make them eternal.
Greater-Scope Villain: They may have been the ones who manipulated the birth of the Miracle itself, if the First Miracle and the Twisted One are meant to be the Miracle's origin story. In Blasphemous II, they are well and truly dead, but have a backup plan for resurrection as they manipulate the Incarnate Devotion, the living embodiment of Cvstodia's faith, into completing a painful baptism to become the new avatar of the Miracle.
Green-Eyed Monster: As mentioned in the Amenacidas of the Miracle section, they didn't take kindly to the fact that Laudes loved the Twisted One more than the Miracle itself, and by extension, the High Wills.
Immortality Immorality: Their main goal in creating the Grievous Miracle and inflicting the endless nightmare on Cvstodia? To make themselves eternal and more powerful.
The Magic Goes Away: It is implied that through their destruction, everything caused by the Miracle fades away. From the Twisted One and the Mea Culpa to the life of The Penitent One himself. Unfortunately for everyone, it's on the cusp of returning in Blasphemous II, corrupting the world once more... but causing the Penitent One to return to life as well to try and stop it once again.
Self-Inflicted Hell: They state that the souls of Cvstodia are trapped "by their own condemnation and benediction". Effectively, they've turned Cvstodia's Martyrdom Culture into a gigantic, perpetual-motion machine where people suffer because they think they should. It's also what drives them to force Crisanta to undo the Penitent One's sacrifice in Ending B, as they feed upon that suffering and the Penitent One redirecting all of Cvstodia's suffering towards himself denied it to them.
Sparkling Stream of Tears: The three heads of the High Wills are constantly crying streams of ''molten gold'', though the calmness of their faces make it seem more like saintly weeping rather than Inelegant Blubbering.
This Is Unforgivable!: They claim that there can be no penance for the ultimate sin of both killing their favored priest Escribar and opposing them directly; this becomes a moot point, since the Penitent One and Crisanta murder all three shortly after they say this.

Characters / Blasphemous

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