Headscratchers / Bayonetta 3

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Other than health restoration,Was it really necessary to have Jeanne go to the bathroom in the first two side chapters?

So are angels and demons immortal?

• In Bayonetta 1, Bayonetta feeds the Auditio to demons only for the Masked Lumen to summon them anyway in Bayonetta 2. This could be attributed to time travel shenanigans, but then in Bayonetta 3 we see demons die only to be resummoned by Bayonetta later. According to Rodin parallel universes are a feature limited to the world of Chaos, so she isn't summoning alternate versions of demons. Do angels and demons reconstitute after a while, regardless of whether or not they've been eaten or have their halos taken?
  • It is mentioned and shown in Bayonetta 2 that some of the demons aren't one of a kind and are actually a demon species (Gomorrrah, Scolopendra, and Phantasmaraneae), and there have been instances of demons being killed in previous games only to be summoned again later (Gomorrah and Scolopendra are killed by Balder in the first game, and Labolas gets killed twice in the second game).
  • Phantasmaraneae gets crushed in Iridescent’s jaws and simply says “Allow me time to relight my fire.”, so it’s likely that them dying in the physical world doesn’t kill them permanently.
  • Moreover, Gomorrah themself becomes unable to be summoned after that scene where the Iridescent bites him into pieces, going on the cooldown that normally happens when a summoned demon takes too much damage in battle, but of course is fine to be summoned once the cooldown is over. If nothing else, summoned demons seem to possess tremendous regenerative power once they go back to recover in Inferno.
  • With angels, it seems to be more a matter of numbers than immortality. Angels like Temperantia and Sapientia have reappeared despite being torn apart with their remains being dragged down to Inferno. Temperantia and Fortitudo in particular having weaker variants helps highlight that they are part of entire angel species.
  • Rodin states in the second game that one is only really dead when absorbed into another layer of the trinity. So unless they're dragged into another realm to be consumed then they'll reform in Paradiso/Inferno and can come back.

A couple confusing issues with the multiverse

• The one thing I don't understand about the Bayonetta multiverse is how Paradiso and Inferno work with it. There is apparently only one Inferno and only one Paradiso, that's understood. But that would mean that at least several times they have tried resurrecting Jubileus, empowering Aesir, etc. in different Chaos World universes, since several Bayonettas and Lukas went through similar lives. However, the beings within Paradiso and Inferno can only be in one place at one time, and the universes are apparently synced up as far as time goes (Singularity explaining that some simply develop in different ways and at different rates), so it seems like it would put the angels with a overwhelming amount of work if they had to try to bring Jubileus back even a few times all around the same time (though I suppose the workload could be mitigated with time travel). There is also the issue that the multiverse would mean there should be thousands of duplicate souls going to Inferno and Paradiso, which would seem to complicate things there, i.e. why are there not many Madama Butterflies since she came from a human who went to Inferno, presumably there should have been at least a few others who managed to become her? Or is it that when you die your soul will get merged with other versions of yourself, resulting in there being only one "you" in the afterlife who represents the accumulation of all your selves? That might explain why in the ending Rodin refers to Luka as Viola's father despite the Luka that went to Inferno not being the one who raised her. Though of course that raises further questions as to how such an accumulated soul would view any past relationships.
  • Not every universe is synced with each other. Likewise, not everything that happens in the main universe is guaranteed to have happened in a different universe. It's entirely possible that Jubileus's resurrection, and Loptr's ascendence to Aesir, happened only in the main universe because that's the universe they focused on. Or, with Jublileus's resurrection, the angels focused only on one universe at a time, meaning that any other universe going down a similar path will take longer to do so due to less heavenly interference. As for the countless souls going to Paridiso or Inferno, maybe that could explain the sheer number of angels and demons that are of the same breed, and only a select few actually become the high-ranking angels and Infernals shown in the game - not every variant is exactly the same, and Inferno specifically recognises power more than anything, so, using your example of Madama Butterfly, maybe only the most powerful variant of her original human self became Madama Butterfly, and the rest became lesser demons like Hatreds.
  • Resurrecting Jubileus and empowering Loptr both required the eyes of creation, which were originally Aesir's. So no other universe but the "main" one would have had those particular conflicts, since that universe was the one with the eyes.
    • The problem with this is that while Bayo 3 does mention the events of the previous games, model details (like the beauty mark position or the Bayo 1 ribbon) in the side-by-side appearances of the Bayonettas at the end suggest that each game took place in a separate universe. And Bayo 2 in turn also mentioned specific plot points of Bayo 1, such as the presence of little Cereza, herself an alternate version who apparently also has the Left Eye. So while it would stand to reason that there's only one Aesir, same as there's only one Jubileus, evidence suggests that there isn't (and that Jubileus was resurrected in multiple universes as well). For Aesir (and thus the Eyes) this could make sense - he's the god of Chaos, and it's the Chaos world that is divided.
  • There are multiple Madama Butterfly's. Bayonetta 3's looking different isn't because she changed clothes, it's because it's a different Madama. If you use Demon Slave when playing as Bayonetta 1 in the final battle, she's summoned with the original design, and when all three Bayonetta's use Wicked Weaves on Singularity, Bayonetta 3's has bare arms unlike the other two.
    • Hmmm, then perhaps like Bayonetta herself Madama Butterfly is a "title" for variants of a human who went through the life described in her bio and later became a Madama in Inferno. Perhaps she even specifically only contracts with the Bayonetta from the universe she lived in as a human. Alternatively, what the various forms we see via the Wicked Weaves are just aspects of her, since Queen Butterfly is stated to be her true form.
    • At the very least "Madama" is a title carried by multiple infernals.
    • There may be only one Madama Butterfly and the various Bayonettas just summon avatars of her, which can differ in appearance. Queen Butterfly is supposed to be her true form at full power so having multiple lesser forms wouldn't be much of a stretch.

What exactly is an Arch Adam?

• Over the course of the game, we get a fairly good definition of what the beings Singularity refers to as Arch Eves are. Namely they are the most powerful person currently living in a given universe in the Realm of Chaos, usually a Bayonetta. In the absence of a god like Aesir, Bayonetta basically embodies the power that "binds" (to quote Singularity in one scene) a universe to existence. Killing her and absorbing her power enables Singularity to destroy/merge that entire particular universe. Arch Eve Origin is special in that her power embodies/is a symbol of the Realm of Chaos in its entirety and Singularity regards her as an existence worth keeping away from him if possible, though how or why this particular Bayonetta has these qualities I am unsure of. So then what is an Arch Adam? They do not seem to need to be absorbed by Singularity to accomplish his purposes, and while he is aware of their existence he does not regard them as a threat. Their power is also usually not noteworthy, Lukaon having great power seems more a thing about him in particular rather than something that defines an Arch Adam (though it does influence them). The closest thing to an answer I can see is Luka's words about how his purpose is to get Bayonetta where she needs to go, i.e. the purpose of an Arch Adam is to guide a Arch Eve, and they fulfill this purpose when Lukaon merges all of them together into Arch Adam Origin. There is also a bit about how Lukaon and Dark Adam were vying for influence over Arch Adam Origin, presumably to interfere or assist in this purpose respectively. But is there something more I am missing?

What did Bayonetta mean by "No, we've always been together"?

• My only ideas are her remembering how Luka helped and inspired her as a child (though even then they were still apart for a long time after), or possibly a reference to how the purpose of the Arch Adams is to guide her, but is there another possibility.
  • It could be her saying that this isn't a new stage in their relationship so much as it is an acknowledgement of what the two always had together. Or she's commenting on the nature of the multiverse; Bayonetta always has some kind of connection to Luka. The latter seems unlikely, though, since we only see one other Bayo and Luka pairing.
  • It could also be a refence to how Luka was there to help her even when she was little ala time travel in the first game.
  • The implications in Origins that Luka is Lukaon reincarnated gives a further possibility, as Bayonetta could be referring to how important Lukaon was for a turning point in her childhood and the affinity she felt toward him even back then and how she and "Luka" thus have been linked since early in her life.

What are the Dark Adam and Dark Eve?

• This question could use some detailing beyond the folder title, like what is it in their character bios that you seek to have explained further? The entries together explain that they started out as the Luka and Bayonetta of Singularity's world, and after dying their anger and resentment stayed in the living world, absorbing the same anger and resentment of other Lukas and Bayonettas from other universes until they became living masses of hatred. One could presume the mechanism that caused those feelings to merge was the same one Singularity was using to merge the multiverse. The big question then becomes how Arch Eve Origin Bayonetta managed to take over Dark Eve in order to give Viola her test.

Singularity's Power?

• How was it exactly that an artificial intelligence/bioweapon was able to destroy multiple universes and trump thousands of Bayonettas? How was Singularity's power able to be greater than the likes of Jubileus, Queen Sheba, and Aesier/Loptr-Aesir, literal primordial deities who have existed since the beginning of time? It took Bayonetta (and Jeanne) summoning Queen Sheba to deal the final blow to Jubileus, and it took Loki (one half of a deity) to erase the Eyes of the World from existence so Loptr (the other half of the deity) could be defeated. By the time we meet him in game, Singularity has seen and destroyed 2,043 worlds and therefore absorbed 2,043 Bayonettas and their powers. It would make sense that it would take someone of Bayonetta's strength, or thousands of Bayonettas, to beat Bayonetta, but how was Singularity able to defeat the Bayonetta of the Alphaverse? And how was he able to absorb her power in the first place as well as be able to travel between worlds? It just doesn't seem plausible.
  • My assumption was that a lot of it came down to Singularity developing his organic technology to the point that it mimicked or outright exceeded magic, basically turning natural into supernatural. Some of his creations are noted to be intended to mimic gods. That he could do all this I took to be the fulfillment of what was said in Bayonetta 2 about humanity having greater destructive potential than both demons and angels. Keep in mind Singularity came into existence in a world that had already mastered biology to the extent that they could casually manufacture any body part. As for how he managed to kill the Bayonetta of his universe and thus start collecting her power, perhaps he got lucky, and/or she was not a particularly strong Bayonetta (for instance, the Bayonetta of Alternate France in the game is stated to be a good deal less powerful than her mother). As for travel between worlds, it seems to be technology that was developed in various worlds, Singularity's just mastered it first (as Viola notes).

Why is Bayonetta Arch-Eve?

• An Arch-Eve is described as a person that possesses enough strength and willpower to be able to challenge fate and is vital to the stability of the world they inhabit due to their fate-altering powers. But while Umbra Witches are powerful, they only had fate-altering powers when they possessed the Left Eye and not only did Loki erase both eyes from existence in the last game, no mention is made of the Eyes in any of the alternate worlds in the game at all and it wasn't said or even shown that any of the Bayonettas possessed the Left Eye. And why is the Bayonetta we play as Arch-Eve Origin?
  • While it is to my knowledge not fully explained, a hint may be found in one of the character bios where it is stated that at least Singularity believes Arch Eve Origin is a symbol of the Realm of Chaos in its entirety. If this is so, perhaps her existence, for whatever reason, has power and influence beyond simply the Eyes of the World.
  • Loki does say that without the Eyes it's up to human free will to determine fate now.

How did Singularity get his powers?

• How did Singularity, an AI who fashioned himself an artificial part human body, acquire the power of Phenomenal Affirmation, the ability to make certain phenomena across the Multiverse defined according to his will, i.e. control fate how he sees fit? That's not the kind of power an artificial being would be able to have or acquire since the fate controlling powers lied with Aesir (before he split himself into Loki and Loptr) and the Right Eye and the Left Eye he gave to the Lumen and the Umbra, but they are in no way mentioned in Bayo 3. None of the Bayonetta's, not even Alphaverse!Bayonetta, are shown or mentioned to possess the Left Eye, there's no talk of the Right Eye.
  • He took the power of the Arch Eve's he killed and gained their ability to influence fate and reality. Over time he absorbed enough to become the dominant force shaping reality, until he faced Arch Eve Origin and she overpowered him and freed those he'd captured.

Which Bayonetta is...

• ...Viola's mom? Because it seems like it was the one from the first game, who died in the intro. And presumably, that world's Luka was her father. But the ending seems to imply that all Singularity's victims/universes were restored, so shouldn't Viola be back in the Bayonetta 1 universe with her parents, instead of staying in the Bayonetta 3 universe with Bayonetta and Luka watching over her from Hell? Did she maybe just stay there because that world needed a Bayonetta? Or did Singularity's defeat close off the dimension portals so she didn't have a choice?
  • I forget if it was her mole's location or lack of a mole, but this combined with her unique guns suggests Viola's mother is a different Bayonetta who simply had the hairstyle from Bayonetta 1 at the time (it was noted in a developer interview that Bayonetta changes her hairstyle frequently). As for the other questions, perhaps Viola indeed stayed to replace the Bayonetta of that world, but without more information we can't say for sure.

Why does Bayonetta still summon Gomorrah, even after it raged and killed Jean?

• It may not be the same Gomorrah, and regardless she doesn't seem to have any issue with using things that want to kill her or others if they are useful (like Alraune).
• It's heavily implied this isn't the same version of Bayonetta that lived through those events so she hadn't experienced that betrayal.