Bloodborne Lore Revealed

Feb. 19, 2015

Bloodborne Lore Revealed

A recent video by IGN revealed details of thestory and loreof upcoming Playstation 4 exclusiveBloodborne.

We have taken the key phrases of the trailer to make theory analysis easier. Archivists at the ready, this is going to be one nightmarish ride!’Want to know more? Visit the Lore page on the Wiki

Long ago, Old Yharnam was overrun by the Plague of Beasts and left to rot in decay and now the only voices heard there are the howls of Beasts.

So a plague took over the land, presumably turning people into beasts.

Yharnam is the home of Blood Ministration. You need only unravel its mystery. But where is an outsider like yourself to begin? Easy, with a bit of Yharnam Blood of your own. Whatever happens, you may think it all a mere bad dream.

Thus the player character may be wilfully entering this dangerous area to explore something related to “Blood Ministration”

The blood makes us human, makes us more than human, makes us human no more.

It would seem that only through blood can the afflicted remain human, and through it may gain great power, but may lose their humanity in the process.

Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears, but beware the frailty of men.

It would seem that the corruption in the blood is similar to that of the hollowing.

Welcome home, good hunter. What is it you desire?

Good hunter, your presence somehow soothes.

Spoken by the “Doll” that is inactive at early game – could she be the new Maiden in Black or Emerald Herald?

And so the Hunt begins again.

As with previous Souls titles, the concept of a repeating cycle is once more present. This time, it is “The Hunt”

Want to know more? Visit the Lore page on the Wiki

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Fexelea

MMO raider by day and guide writer by night, Fex enjoys multiplatform gaming, good books and animes, and streaming with a cold beer.

The whole Dream Refuge could simply be a metaphor for sleep/rest/or a time of personal reflection.

I really hope it is not a dream, I have a personal hatred for the writer cowardice inevitable to the “it was all a dream!” storyline.

Iosefka does say that “To you, it may all seem a bad dream” – so clearly to him it is not.

Your thoughts are very interesting!But in my opinion it is a little bit weird if Yharnam is indeed a dream.. Here is why. My main point, from what we know till now, is that the producer in the video of the first 18 minutes of the game refers to” Dream Refuge “as “The Hunter´s Dream”. Furthermore what makes me believe that Yharnam is in the “real” world is the fact that in “Dream Refuge” there is the “Headstone of Awakening” which lets you warp in different places in Yharnam. So the thing is, and I may very well be 100% wrong, that in my opinion the actuall dream is this HUB area, the “Dream Refuge”. While in Yharnam the player is in the real world and when he “dies” he falls in a kind of a state like slumber instead of actuall death… Then with the help of the messengers he warps back to the real world…

Something along those lines. I was primarily trying to establish a scenario where you can not truly die and thus will respawn after each death. They have gone to great lengths to explain this game-mechanic in the previous games, so I assume bloodborne is no exception. My take is only one possible direction going off the clues we have been given though.

So quite literally perhaps a “dreamers disease” where Yharnam Blood is injected into the victim of the plague….. so also a literal and figurative journey of overcoming adversity to rid yourself of the disease.

I didn’t like the Tendencies in the EU version because it forced us to play offline in order to change them, it was nearly impossible to make it pure black or pure white online.I heard other versions worked better, if they do something like that in BB, i hope they test it properly.No word on dedicated servers or PTP yet… being almost a 1st party game, my bet goes to Peer to Peer… Sony doesnt like paying for server upkeep.

Is the Maiden and the Doll voiced by the same person in the JP trailers too?

I loved those mechanics as it added a lot of depth to the game.I think the reason so many found world tendency incomprehensible was that there were no visual representation in the game world, so the “thickness” of the colorless fog, as a concept, was flawed in that aspect since it was invisible regardless of world tendency. If they on the other hand combine world tendency with a day/night shift, it should make it a lot more intuitable since the change will then be a visual representation.

I would love to see a return of world and chracter tendency – it was a great feature even if many found it incomprehensible!

Regarding the lore of the blood and the curse, I found added dialogue to theboss page for a certain enemy

“The Reek of Blood… That intolerable scent… It makes me retch, it sickens me… (growl)Sick creature, may you rest in peace. Umbasa”

I also wonder if there’s a world/character tendency state for this game. It’s been there in some incarnation in the other games, things like pure white/black, burning bonfire ascetics, humanity etc. I wonder if some bell mechanism can trigger different states (dream/reality) to affect the game?I personally loved world tendency events (Halloween, Easter, etc) that affected the playthrough of Demon’s Souls and I would love to see that make a comeback.

But with regard to that theory about the maiden/doll – I totally agree.

Sadly, Bloodborne’s IMDB page has no info on it. The Black Maiden’s name is Evetta Muradasilova. She’s not listed for Bloodborne (yet), but we’re all 90% sure it’s her.

Personally, I’m really really hoping William Vanderpuye (Patches) makes a cameo of some sort. That would seal the deal for me!

Regarding your thoughts Ublug…

The second I saw the hub area was titled “Dream Refuge” I started the thought process of “are we in reality, or does the game play out in dreams.”

A couple of thoughts, the person giving the injection of Yharnam blood says it will all “seem” like a dream I believe. Is part of the disease or illness hallucinatory states or something similar in which we question or own sanity? In other words, I’m thinking there’s a chance we are playing out internal struggles like you mentioned. But on the other hand, perhaps part of the cure (Yharnam Blood) just makes it hard to distinguish between dream and reality?

The name “Dream Refuge” is interesting as well. Is the refuge “of” or “in dreams?” Meaning, the only respite from the real world is in dreams. This could mean a few things. Possibly that we are unable to “die.” Upon defeat we enter a coma or dormant state where we play out “recovery” in the dream refuge. Or it could mean that introspection and dreams are the path to enlightenment away from the game.

Is it a refuge “FROM” dreams? If that’s the case, then most of the game is a dream (supporting the internal battle concept) and the refuge is the real world. This would be like Wizard of Oz where characters are both in Kansas and Oz, playing essentially the same role in each. The small isolated area with little impact on the movie is Kansas while the expansive and more meaningful plot is the dream. This would be an interesting take, where the player is allowed to roam the grounds of the Dream Refuge (home or clinic, looks more like a home) while recovering. The player perceives interactions as impacting the dream and carries the meaning of what occurred in reality back with them into the dream state.

My personal take from what I’ve seen so far is closer to the first suggestion, where things are actually occurring but there’s a deeper meaning behind dreams. I say this because of snippets of dialogue that suggest the Dream Refuge will be a shared experience (the person in the house calls you “newest hunter” or something like that for instance). We also know that Yharnam is a shared experience as we have seen NPC interactions there as well. This is hardly proof in either direction, but combine that with the ominous “seem” like a dream reference and my best guess would be that we drift between reality and dreams.

I’d also expect to find out that, similar to Nightmare on Elm Street movies, what happens in dreams is no less real than what happens in reality and that the two realms affect each other.

Sorry this got long, but essentially I agree. Dreams are important and the bells might give us further clues. If we go from literal definitions “lulling bell” asks for another player to join you. Lulling would imply you’re making them fall asleep or joining the dream. Parting shot to leave would suggest perhaps a loud noise to wake someone.

Hmm…maybe that second suggestion is looking pretty good too. Can’t wait to see how this story unravels.

About your response to the second topic

The woman /Maiden that I am reffering to as the one that transforms is shown in the last trailer. But the Beast that I think she turns to is the one in the very first trailer that i reffer to as the leaked one, while back when Bloodborne was not official and even in the trailer is reffered to as “Project Beast”. This Beast is shown at the end of that trailer (It is a white one with possible wings if you look closely) and the place that it stands is exactly the same (I am 100% sure) as the one in the latest trailer that the woman is kneeling! That is why I jumped to the point that maybe she transforms into it…

Also my third point is from this very first “leaked” trailer.

About the dollI think also that the doll is the one to whom/which the player can go to level up. Probably just like in DeS you can activate her when you kill the first boss/beast. Since in the developer gameplay they say she is important and her dialog from the trailer (“Welcome home, good hunter. What is it you desire?”, “Good hunter, your presence somehow soothes.”) it can be speculated that she indeed has a similar role to the one tha maiden in black has. The thing is that we don´t have any other information on her chracter and we can only do these speculations..

Yes, that has to be Solaire. I was almost expecting a merry laugh at the end.

I mentioned the heavy bell theme in another thread a while back. We know from dks that bells are used for awakening/summoning, but your theory about the bells are very interesting.The multiplayer bells we have seen, on the other hand, are dream related: Lulling bell (aka Bell of Dream Summoning) and small resonant bell. The parting shot could also be a symbol of awakening from a dream.

I think I’m touching the core mechanics here; dreams. Demons Souls souls revolved around the theme of souls, and the Nexus can be seen as a type of purgatory that traps your soul when you die. So in turn you could not die after your initial death (after the tutorial), because your soul was stuck in purgatory.

In Bloodborne I suspect the core revolves around dreams and disease. You come to Yharnam to find a cure for your disease, known as Pale Blood. But to enter Yharnam you have to be injected with a bit of Yharnam blood yourself.

So the realm of Yharnam and its beasts could be a visualization or manifestation of your internal fight against the disease. Imagine a “matrix” scenario, where after being injected with Yharnam blood you are in a state of coma. Your body never actually leaves the operation table. Beasts are manifestations of Bad Blood/Virus and Messengers are antibodies or white blood cells who helps your immune system fight the disease. The same scenario applies for all other hunters seeking Yharnam (other players). Meaning Yharnam is a dream realm, so you cannot die, and bells are used to comunicate between hunters (comatosed dreamers), to entwine their dreams.

Okay after watching the trailer a few times I think I know who the Maiden in Black character voice belongs to. It’s that doll we see from the gameplay footage that was shown on IGN in the Hunter’s Refuge area. I mean for starters the area in the trailer at 2:27 where this Maiden in Black same voice character is speaking definitely looks to be the Hunter’s Refuge but also notice the doll isn’t sitting on the ledge it would be at where the stairs begin. And going back and forth from the gameplay footage and the trailer the clothes the character is wearing and the bit of hairstyle we see are similar. Plus when the developer played the game he says that she’s an important character. So I propose:

Maiden in Black voiced character= strange doll in Hunter’s Refuge

Now how or when we activate this doll to come to life who knows guess we shall see in the full game.

I think you are really onto something with the bells. Now I admit I haven’t played the Alpha of Beta but bells have recently been big for Fromsoft for a while now and in a manner of speaking are kind of like Omens used to signal things.

Just a couple of thoughts about what was said above….

In the cast of Fromsoft and Bloodborne one would assume it’s a signal of something worse to come, something as you said like a hunt or something further off that is more insidious doing the actual ringing. It’s equally as likely that the bells are not intended to be omen perhaps to us but to the creatures we face perhaps explaining why they flee.

Is there a place in the Alpha/Beta that is like a chapel of cathedral which has specific characters in it or gave you the impression you could get up into the bell towers?

This especially could make sense if there is a plot line involving the worship of the beasts vs the worship of the original Yharnam deities (assuming they exist or Yharnam is that kind of place).

Also to be noted in relation to the signal of a new hunt northern european mythology has something called the Wild Hunt which are spectral huntsmen composed of beasts and the lost souls of the dead and was often thought to be the presage to war or a plague. The latter being the more important part.

Now I’m reaching here….. but both are sort of considered omens of a sort.

Relating to the second piece it may well be my eyes …but I think it looks more like a recessed shrine. Perhaps the woman who is clad entirely in white robes is a priestess of somekind.

Oddly the camera angle does not show us her face and from her position she kind of looks bowed or broken. Perhaps despondance, defeat, perhaps even penitent as we know from souls games that the faithful are often guilty of something.

Now I’m not disgareeing with you about the woman transforming into some kind of Beast…. perhaps that is the reason she looks distraught…but the following scene is misleading. It transitions rapidly form the cathedral/throne setting to being outside under the moon…. that just irks me a little so I don’t know if I’d take that as one scene leading into another…but then I could be wrong I don’t have the knowledge you do.

I would also like someones opinion on the voice in the latest trailer around 1:15. I have the feeling that is the same voice actor who does Solaire! \O/

Fixed it

A lot of people don’t know how to use the spoiler, remember you can use [code][/code] tags in your post to explain how to do bbcode

On topic: it’s very late but I’d love to visit the points brought up by Valhalla. I’ll be checking this thread in the morning! And guys please remember theWiki’s Lore Pagecan use everyone’s ideas and input!

just did!

Can you please edit your post with spoiler tags for those that don’t want to know much about the game yet?

I’m moving this to the newly created Bloodborne Lore subforumGo crazy

That has to be same the voice actress as The Maiden in Black!!!!!! Nice touch!

Allright i have some things that I need to say and discuss about here in the forum! (In my opinion my second and third point are really interesting!)

1. First of all the imminent presence of the bells! I get the feeling that the bells are like a symbol of the hunt or the hunters. The player can apparently use the different bells to summon fellow hunters (other players) to hunt together. Also there are enemies, who look like hunters, with bells around their neck, or holding them, throughout the various trailers and videos. Furthermore if you remember at the alpha test when the bell rings (possibly a church bell or a bell of a cklock?) the enemies around the burning beast at the “square” are moving/ leaving! As if they were summoned somewhere or summoned to begin the beast hunting again!

2. Also in the last trailer today there is this maiden on her knees, who looks like she is praying, in a throne room like place. It is shown in the trailer as if she is changing into a beast! If you remember the very first leaked trailer of bloodborne, before even the official name of the game was released, there is at the very end a white creature/beast (possibly a boss?) that looks a little like the Gaping Dragon from Dark Souls. This beast is exactly in the same room as the maiden from the last trailer!!!! So my suspicion is that she actually turns into this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx8KTIeSnzs

I can’t wait to see the tiny indirect connections with DeS (or less likely Dks) world.

Thanks for this Fex. This trailer is fantastic and really sets the scene for me as I never got to try the Alpha or Beta.

Plus this is something new. This time I get to be ground zero on the lore hunt of Bloodborne….and I’m pretty determined this time.