Bayonettais the sassy and often seductive protagonist of her own self-titled game series. She is an Umbra Witch who wields four guns in fast-paced, often brutal combat. She summons demons with her hair and makes her fights look like an effortless dance.
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With the release ofBayonetta 3, you may be looking for a refresher on this hero’s story or could be coming to the series for the first time. Either way, settle in for a weird and wild story that involves angels, demons, time travel, and plenty of magic. For the purposes of the story, it’s worth knowing about two of the major faction in Bayonetta, the Lumen Sages, and the Umbra Witches.
Umbra Witches And Lumen Sages
Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages are like two sides of a coin. The Umbra Witches are practitioners of dark magic, often tied to Inferno through summons and magical demonic abilities. Lumen Sages, on the other hand, are tied to Paradiso. They possess knowledge and strength that comes from the power of the angels.
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Both of these factions are very powerful, and are comprised of humans. Unfortunately, they’re both on their last legs by the time the first game starts, with the Umbra Witches being killed off during Witch Hunts that took place 500 years prior. That said, we can now focus on Bayonetta and her personal backstory.
Bayonetta begins her journey as a witch resurrected from the bottom of a lake twenty years before the events of the first game. She doesn’t remember her past but possesses a piece of jewelry she believes to be The Left Eye of the World, half of the Eyes of the World. Bayonetta’s informant, Enzo, shares rumors with her that the other half may be in a place called Vigrid. Bayonetta leaves for Vigrid shortly after learning this information.
Not long after leaving for Vigrid, Bayonetta is confronted by the Umbra Witch Jeanne, who appears to be connected to Bayonetta’s past in some way. Bayonetta also encounters a man named Luka. While Luka blames Bayonetta for his father’s death, he continues to travel with her anyway. After discovering that Jeanne is connected to the angels, Bayonetta fights Jeanne again. After their fight, Bayonetta meets the child Cereza who believes Bayonetta is her mother. The child refuses to leave Bayonetta’s side and follows her as she returns to the human world in search of The Right Eye of the World. Bayonetta’s next stop is Isla del Sol.
Bayonetta comes face to face with Jeanne for the third time, but this time the Umbra Witch explains that Bayonetta is the daughter of both an Umbra Witch and a Lumen Sage. This is considered to be a forbidden love affair, tying Bayonetta to both the light and dark factions. The two witches fight for the third time, but afterward, Bayonetta gives Jeanne The Left Eye of the World she has been carrying. The action triggers a series of memories for Bayonetta, making her remember that she was the child Cereza, and Jeanne was an ally and friend. In fact, it had been Jeanne who sealed Bayonetta and The Left Eye of the World away for 500 years to protect them both.
Shortly after Bayonetta receives her memories back, Jeanne sacrifices herself in an act of love to save Bayonetta. With Cereza and Luka still following along, Bayonetta continues on to the top of a tower, where she encounters Balder, the last living Lumen Sage.
Balder reveals himself to be Bayonetta’s father and wishes to revive Jubileus, the Creator, in an attempt to unite the universes. At this point, it’s also revealed that Bayonetta’s gem is not The Left Eye of the World, but rather Bayonetta herself possesses that power. However, the power was locked away behind her memories, which is why Balder brought Cereza to the present, hoping the young Bayonetta world trigger memories within the present-day Bayonetta. Balder also reveals himself to be the one behind Luka’s father’s death and admits that he mind-controlled Jeanne into being one of his servants. Bayonetta narrowly saves Luka from Balder’s wrath, fights Balder himself, and believes she has killed him, ending the threat to themselves and the universe.
Bayonetta takes Cereza back to the past and then returns to the present. Unfortunately, all the events have awakened The Left Eye of the World within Bayonetta and left her weakened to the point of falling unconscious. This is when it’s revealed that Balder survived his fight with Bayonetta. He transports himself and Bayonetta, who is still unconscious, to a statue at the top of the tower and begins reviving Jubileus.
The statue itself begins to launch into space. Jeanne, who was presumed dead after sacrificing herself to save Bayonetta, returns and is free of Balder’s mind control. Jeanne rides her motorcycle up the statue, which is still launching into space, and reaches Bayonetta, freeing her, but not before Jubileus comes to life. Upon revival, Jubileus consumes Balder. Bayonetta uses her powers as an Umbra Witch to summon Queen Sheba, who not only defeats Jubileus but punches his soul into the sun. Bayonetta and Jeanne then see to the task of destroying Jubileus’ physical body, ending the crisis and the events of the first game.
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Bayonetta 2
Several months after the events of the first game, we beginBayonetta 2. The titular Bayonetta and her informant Enzo are out shopping. Angels begin to attack the city, so Bayonetta and Jeanne step in to save the day. Bayonetta performs a summoning that goes terribly wrong. Jeanne, sacrificing herself once again, saves Bayonetta at the cost of her soul being dragged down to Inferno. Bayonetta finishes destroying the rogue summon and vows to save Jeanne from her fate in Inferno. At this point, a shadowy figure called The Prophet, brings a masked Lumen Sage to the present with promises of revenge, though we don’t know for what or against whom.
Luka informs Bayonetta that she can find an entrance to the inferno on the mountain of Fimbulventr in the city of Noatun. On her way to the location, Bayonetta encounters a boy named Loki, who is also on his way to the mountain, though he cannot remember why. Loki believes his powers will be crucial for Bayonetta to reach Inferno, so the two agree to stay together. The trip provides some insight into Loki’s missing memories, but the two are constantly hounded by both angels and demons on the way to Inferno’s entrance. Loki is also being pursued by the mysterious Lumen Sage and Prophet, who seem to know Loki, though he doesn’t know them. The Prophet eventually shares a vision with Bayonetta that reveals Balder was not responsible for the Witch Hunts 500 years prior.
Bayonetta manages to break into Inferno and find Jeanne in the depths of the demon-infested land. Bayonetta is able to rescue Jeanne’s soul and bring her back to life. The Sage makes another appearance here, reveals himself to be a young Balder (who is also Bayonetta’s father), and attacks Loki. Bayonetta manages to narrowly save Loki from Balder, but the young boy can’t control his powers and accidentally sends both Bayonetta and Balder 500 years into the past during the infamous Witch Hunts. Bayonetta meets her mother, Rosa, in Vigrid, and the two team up against the attacking angels.
Rosa and Bayonetta get separated, which is when the prophet appears and reveals himself to be Loptr, the other half of Loki. Loptr believes The Eyes of the World belong to him and kills Rosa before Bayonetta and Balder can stop him. At this point, Bayonetta and Balder realize that Loptr deceived Balder into seeking revenge on Loki for Rosa’s murder. He also orchestrated the events that led up to the Witch Hunts themselves. Bayonetta and Balder team up to return to the present and stop Loptr from capturing Loki.In the present day, Loki has regained his memories and runs into Luka. He asks for Luka’s help to reach the mountain of Fimbulventr.
While Balder and Bayonetta manage to ascend the mountain in search of Loki, they find they are too late, as Loptr has already captured the young boy. Loptr reveals that he and the boy were once one being known as the God of Chaos, but Aesir, the creator of The Eyes of the World, split their power to create the Eyes. Doing so also split the God of Chaos into two halves, one good, and one evil. Loki was bestowed with the power to control the Eyes, but Loptr steals this power and takes it for his own. Even though they put up a fight, Loptr manages to take both Eyes of the World from Bayonetta and Balder. Doing so transforms Loptr into Aesir himself, who now intends to rule over humanity.
Loki, who is back in the fight now, claims that the power of Aesir can erase anything from existence, even The Eyes of the World. Loki uses the power of Aesir to destroy both of the Eyes, significantly weakening Loptr. The weakened Loptr is thwarted by the team-up of Bayonetta, Balder, and Jeanne. Loptr tries to escape to a time when The Eyes of the World still exist, but Balder intercepts Loptr and absorbs his soul. Loki warns Balder against this action, claiming it will corrupt Balder’s soul in the process, but the deed is done anyway.
Before returning to his own time, Balder tells Bayonetta he knows he is her father and asks for her aid if Loptr’s soul actually does manage to corrupt him. Without Loptr or The Eyes of the World around anymore, Loki fades away and says that he may cross paths with Bayonetta once again. Days later, Bayonetta and Jeanne have returned to life as normal, which means another shopping trip and a battle against angels attacking the city. In the final scene, Balder is shown to be corrupted in his own timeline, which sets up the events of the first Bayonetta game.
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