Bloodborne Lore by !!CUr7PEvvYw

BLOODBORNE LORE

BY !!CUr7PEvvYw

06 APR 2015

 

>FORWARD

 

I wrote and published every bit of this content on 8chan in order to explain the lore surrounding Bloodborne. This was done as a labor of love, and I am not affiliated with any YouTube channels. Only whores and prostitutes would dare to claim the fame.

 

Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Bloodborne, purposefully injected ambiguity into the story to make it compelling. Holes in the plot exist, but I have done my best to connect the dots as precisely as possible. The result is what you see here.

 

>PART I

 

Before there was Yharnam, there was Pthumeria. Pthumeria was a vast underground civilization whose people lived with beings of immense power. The Pthumerians referred to these beings as the Great Ones.

 

The Great Ones imparted cosmic wisdom to the Pthumerians through a medium. The medium was Queen Yharnam, the ruler of Pthumeria. Queen Yharnam was even selected for impregnation by the Great Ones.

 

A scholar named Willem discovered Pthumeria. He was so enthralled by it that he established Byrgenwerth, which eventually blossomed into a city. This city was named Yharnam in honor of the queen of Pthumeria.

 

Willem's inner circle dealt directly with Queen Yharnam and the Great Ones. Their research led them to believe that blood was the key to ascension. This inner circle became known as the Choir, and its members dabbled in blood ministration.

 

News spread far and wide about a city that discovered a cure for nearly every ailment known to humanity. People began flocking to Yharnam in droves to receive this miracle cure in the form of blood ministrations. For a time, all was good.

 

Nevertheless, Willem was not satisfied. He longed for ascension, so he tested "the old blood" on a mundane spider to determine if the ministration was a catalyst for godhood. The result was Rom, an entirely new Great One, with whom Willem tried to commune.

 

Willem eventually used "the old blood" on himself to gain "eyes on the inside" and ascend. He failed and went blind. Around this point in time, the Pthumerians retreated into the depths of the world and their civilization was lost forever.

 

Mensis, a colleague of Willem, became obsessed with the Great Ones. Attempting to succeed where Willem failed, he established Yahar'gul and the School of Mensis. This led him to the Amygdala and all the nightmares it had to offer.

 

>PART II

 

The Choir continued its work in Willem's stead, but at some point, "the old blood" got out of Byrgenwerth and into Yharnam. This was the start of the plague. As people began turning into beasts, the Choir established the Healing Church to deal with hospitalization.

 

Once the plague got out of hand , the Healing Church burned Old Yharnam to the ground and sealed off access to the Forbidden Woods. Despite these precautions, the plague spread. The Choir also continued its research by experimenting on live subjects in clinics.

 

Hearing of "the old blood," the rich nobles of Cainhurst sought to follow in the footsteps of Willem and breed a new type of human. The Healing Church sent Logarius to put a stop to this. He and his executioners slaughtered the nobles, leaving no one alive.

 

Around this time, a man named Gehrman began crafting unique weapons and hunting the beasts of Yharnam as a public service. The Healing Church recognized his potential and recruited him. This was the beginning of hunting culture in Yharnam.

 

As hunting became more popular, hunters began imbibing in "the old blood" to compete with the beasts. This practice was risky, and hunters often succumbed to the plague as a result. This led to hunters like Eileen pledging to put their brethren out of their misery.

 

With Yharnam in chaos, the Great Ones bathed in blood, but they needed successors. Mergo, the child they had with Queen Yharnam, was stillborn. This failure drove them to hatch a plan to impregnate every female in Yharnam during the Red Moon.

 

This is where you enter the story. You traveled to Yharnam after hearing of its miraculous cures for the ailments of humanity, and you want to experience them for yourself. The last few survivors oblige your request, and you accept blood ministration in the clinic.

 

When you wake up, Yharnam is at the apex of its destruction. The city exists only to fuel the Great Ones, and your presence there locks you in an endless cycle of bloodshed. From this point, you go forth to determine what you can do about it.

 

>PART III

 

Your first death propels you into a dream world that is controlled by the Great Ones. Gehrman, the most adept hunter, was chosen by the Great Ones to be the proprietor of this world. He sends you on your quest for blood, thereby satisfying his masters.

 

Once you reach Byrgenwerth and face Rom, your quest takes a turn for the worse. As the youngest Great One, Rom is using his insight to keep the Red Moon at bay. By killing him, you accelerate the cycle that the older Great Ones have put in motion.

 

At this point, every woman with "the old blood" in Yharnam is impregnated. If you manage to terminate these pregnancies and consume the subsequent umbilical cords, you glean the cosmic wisdom of the Great Ones. This begins your metamorphosis.

 

After finding Mensis, you enter the nightmare that he wrought by communing with the Amygdala. In this nightmare, you learn of the relationship between Queen Yharnam, the Great Ones, and Mergo. These revelations are critical.

 

Once you kill Mergo's Wet Nurse, Gerhman realizes that you know too much. The time has come for a more oblivious hunter to keep the Great Ones bathing in blood. It is for this reason that he offers to take your life and end your time in the dream world.

 

If you accept, Gerhman thanks you for playing along as he cuts off your head. This eliminates your insight, and you wake up in Yharnam after the Red Moon passes. The cycle set in motion by the Great Ones has not been stopped, but your role in it is over.

 

If you decline and kill Gerhman without the cosmic knowledge imbued by the umbilical cords , the Great One known as Oedon sends his avatar to ensure that the cycle is not broken. You have no choice but to obey. Gerhman's job is now yours.

 

If you kill Gerhman after consuming the umbilical cords, you have too much insight to be coerced by Oedon. A struggle ensues, and you consume the remaining power of Oedon's avatar. As you continue to evolve, the cycle is now yours to control.

 

>THINGS BETWIXT

 

This is the crux of Bloodborne. Since the Great Ones haven't figured out how to have children, they're desperately trying to impregnate new hosts in a bid to live forever. Yharnam is their final gambit, and as long as they can keep attracting new blood to the city, they can keep trying to reproduce until they get it right.

 

When you wake up after Gerhman takes your life, your insight has been all but eliminated. You no longer see the influence of the Great Ones, so you no longer have a reason to stay and fight. This is good for you, but bad for the legions of people who have fallen and will continue to be attracted by the Great Ones.

 

Everything you experience is tangible except for the Hunter's Dream and Nightmare of Mensis. The Nightmare of Mensis is a product of interactions with the Amygdala, and the Hunter's Dream was created by Oedon, whose avatar is the Moon Presence. The power of the Great Ones lies in their ability to manipulate both tangible and intangible realms.

 

The Choir came before the Healing Church. Informally, they were known as Willem's inner circle. After the plague, they established the Healing Church and adopted the name of the Choir to add a religious angle to their dealings with the Great Ones. The Choir also abducted kids and experimented on them in an attempt to get closer to the Daughter of the Cosmos and her celestial compatriots.

 

The aliens are a stretch. From a narrative standpoint, Miyazaki shoehorned the aliens into the game to make it that much more peculiar and mysterious. The texts suggest that members of the Healing Church were butchering orphans and turning them into things that would please the Daughter of the Cosmos, which explains why every poor sap that you send to Iosefka's clinic becomes a host body.  

 

The umbilical cord in Gerhman's physical workshop underneath the Cathedral Ward may explain the purpose of the doll. The doll was made long ago by Gehrman for a reason. Perhaps he intended to see if it would be impregnated during one of Yharnam's red moons, or perhaps it is a tribute to a forgotten wife that may have miscarried a child during one of those red moons.

 

Logarius was tasked by the Healing Church to cleanse Cainhurst. After he and his executioners killed everyone except for the King and Queen, Logarius volunteered to stay behind and ensure that nothing would reemerge from Cainhurst. This is how he earned the title of Martyr, and this is why you find him guarding the entrance to the throne room.

 

It is unclear whether Logarius did this for selfless reasons, but the fact remains that he did not kill the Queen. Instead, he killed the King, donned the Crown of Illusions, and kept the Queen prisoner. There is a fair chance that Logarius was seduced by the power of the Crown and compelled to rule Cainhurst as a conqueror.

 

Here is the doll's prayer: "Oh, flora of the moon, of the dream. Oh, little ones. Oh, fleeting will of the ancients. Let the hunter be safe. Let him find comfort, and let this dream, his captor, foretell a pleasant awakening. [May it] be one day, a fond, distant memory." She recites this after your encounter with The One Reborn.

 

When she mentions the "flora of the moon" and the "fleeting will of the ancients," she's calling to Oedon and the rest of the Great Ones. This is more proof that a cycle has been established by the Great Ones, and you are part of it. It is also important to note how she does not wish for the plague to be vanquished, but rather that you will be able to forget what has happened.

 

>AFTERWARD

 

Thanks to 8chan's /svidya/ and /v/ for reading and commenting on my interpretation of the lore. The discussions we had allowed me to produce plot explanations that are probably as close to the official story as we can get without having Miyazaki fill in the blanks. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I hope it will foster hearty dialogue within the community.