Bloodborne: Early Lore Theories

Aug. 14, 2014

Bloodborne: Early Lore Theories

Dear Friend, take heedThe blood is foulAnd when night fallsThe hunters return

This dialogue is very important. with the “Dear friend, take heed”, we can assume the man speaking either is close to you, or feels a kinship with you as he sets you off on your quest. I believe his role is the same as that of the old Firekeepers in Things Betwixt at the beginning of Dark Souls II, a wise sage, or an older character who establishes your reason to be in the world. His warning is stark, but not said in a manner that indicates any fear for your wellbeing, more that he is stating a simple fact that the journey ahead will be dangerous.

“The blood is foul” represents the communicable blight which is at the heart of Bloodborne. It’s already been established that Yharnam is in the grip of an endemic plague, affecting people through their blood.

“And when night falls, the hunters return” is possibly the most important line in this small exchange. This can be taken a couple of different ways, but it would appear that this is setting up a mechanic for the game, or it is a reflection on characters you will meet. The theories I can read from this are:

The werewolf imagery, as well as the lead character’s appearance, combined with the quasi-Victorian setting all tie together with themes and imagery from classic monster hunter stories such as the aforementioned Van Helsing. From the shots seen in the trailer and this initial dialogue it’s fair to assume that theories 2 and 3 are the most likely to be accurate.

It’s not until the end of the trailer that any further Lore hints are found as the majority of the trailer shows traversal and combat, as well as showing off the art style for Yharnam. At the end of the trailer there is a shot of the player character and what looks to be the old man from the opening of the trailer, observing a building as it burns. It appears that the building could be a church. Given it’s decoration and shape, it conforms to the European style for a church, but it could also be part of a manor. The area is rural and appears overgrown. Silhouetting the player character is a full moon, leading more weight to the werewolf theory.

As this shot plays out, a female voice says (the voice sounds remarkably like that of the Maiden In Black from Demon’s Souls):

And so the nightly hunt begins

This reflects back to the theories above, either every night the wolves come to hunt the healthy and spread the infection, or every night the player character goes out and hunts them to protect Yharnam.

It could be both.

I discuss the trailer in more personal terms in this video, please do take a look:

Have your own theories? Add them to theTheory page on the Wiki!

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