FromSoftware games are known for many things; punishing difficulty, complex worlds, environmental storytelling, and unforgettable boss designs. Most FromSoftware titles have a sense of creepiness about them, but none more so than the gothic, Lovecraft-inspired world of Bloodborne. Its monster-filled streets have certainly turned the city of Yharnam into a hellish nightmare, but it's the variety of bosses that inhabit it that really makes Bloodborne live up to its gothic horror roots.
There are a number of amazing and challenging bosses throughout Bloodborne and its DLC, but only nine are actually mandatory for players to defeat if they want to progress through the storyline and unlock the game's three possible endings. Each of these bosses, as well as the optional ones, also give players a fascinating glimpse into the world of Bloodborne; providing insight into its horrors, foundations, and its tragedies.
Father Gascoigne
The first of the game's mandatory bosses, Father Gascoigne is perhaps one of Bloodborne's most tragic characters. Players will encounter him in Central Yharnham after they've already faced the Cleric Beast, which is actually an optional boss. Father Gascoigne was a priest from a foreign land who came to Yharnam and joined the hunt, but after he became affected by the bloodlust, he slowly became the thing he'd sworn to protect others from. He's a tough boss that requires players to quickly get to grips with Bloodborne's combat mechanics like dodge and parry.
Vicar Amelia
Defeating Vicar Amelia is a requirement if players want to unlock several key areas of Bloodborne and progress their game, and she can be found inside the Grand Cathedral in Cathedral Ward. Vicar Amelia was a high-ranking member of the Healing Church and the successor of Laurence; she drops his Gold Pendant once defeated. When players first encounter her, she appears to be a normal human, but upon approaching she suddenly transforms into her beast form, with only remnants of her former self visible.
Shadow Of Yharnam
The Shadow of Yharnam is sort-of three bosses in one, as the player is confronted with a triple threat, and they must defeat each one without dying. Each Shadow has a different weapon and attack style, and gamers must also contend with a three-phase fight that gets progressively more difficult. The Shadows can be found just past the Forbidden Woods, and are Pthumerians and servants of Queen Yharnam, infested with parasitic snakes from the Forbidden Woods that separate them from other similar enemy types.
Rom, The Vacuous Spider
Rom may not look like much, but she's actually one of the most important bosses in Bloodborne. She allows players to access the second half of the game and also triggers the Blood Moon, and is responsible for the barrier that prevents humans from seeing the true horrors that surround them. The bulbous enemy is located at the Moonside Lake in Byrgenwerth, and can summon waves of spiders to tackle players, while also unleashing arcane attacks. According to legend, Rom was once a scholar at Byrgenwerth but was transformed by Kos into one of the Kin.
One Reborn
Using the decaying bodies of Yharnam's residents in a horrific Pthumerian ritual, the One Reborn was created. It drops from a portal created from the Pale Blood Moon, much like it is giving birth, tying to themes found throughout the game of creation and childbirth. Bloodborne is full of grotesque experiments, cruel practices, and unholy rituals, and it seems as if the One Reborn was an attempt to ascend humankind to the status of the Great Ones. The Chime Maidens animate this grotesque amalgam, and players will have to contend with several of them as well as they attempt to heal the One Reborn and pelt the Hunter with fireballs.
Micolash, Host Of The Nightmare
Micolash is memorable for several reasons, not least because he has a very intriguing cage-like apparatus on his head. Micolash can be found in Mergo’s Loft in the Nightmare Of Mensis, and his boss fight consists of two phases; the first of which requires players to chase him through the area and try to herd him into a specific room. He may not be the most powerful of enemies, but he has some tricky moves including Augur of Ebrietas, which can be difficult to dodge. As his uniform would suggest, Micolash was probably a former student of Byrgenwerth before he lost his sanity by contacting the Great Ones using the Mensis Cage.
Mergo’s Wet Nurse
When players encounter Mergo's Wet Nurse after defeating Micolash, then they're really in the endgame. She is the horrifying creature that guards Mergo, the source of the Nightmare of Mensis and the child of Yharnam. Mergo is a strange, winged being with skeletal arms and dimensional powers.
Mergo's Wet Nurse has some heavy-hitting attacks, but she's also vulnerable to bolt, arcane, and poison. Some fans have theorized that Mergo's Wet Nurse is actually Father Gascoigne's wife Viola, as her corpse disappears from the roof near the graveyard in Central Yharnham after the Wet Nurse is defeated, and she too reacts to the music box like Father Gascoigne. However, this theory is unsubstantiated.
Gehrman, The First Hunter
Gehrman can become a mandatory boss if players select the "Refuse" option after speaking to him once they've defeated Mergo’s Wet Nurse. Throughout Bloodborne, Gehrman acted as a guide for players and was himself the first to take up arms against the beasts. Along the way, Gehrman created the Doll and the Hunter's Dream with help from the Great Ones, but in time he became trapped in his creation and longed to escape it. At the end of Bloodborne, Gehrman gives the hunters a choice to be free from the nightmare and return to the waking world, which gives the player three potential endings.
Moon Presence
If players accept Gehrman's offer they will avoid his boss fight, as well as the Moon Presence boss, and achieve the Yharnam Sunrise ending. Refusing Gehrman's offer and defeating him leads to two options, and players will either be consumed by the Moon Presence, or will be forced to fight it if they consumed three One Third of Umbilical Cords. Regardless, the Moon Presence is the true final boss of Bloodborne and is one of the fabled Great Ones. It controls and manipulates everything in the Hunter's Dream, although its true origin and purpose are unknown.
Bloodborne is available now on PS4.
