Bloodborne, which came out in 2015, is a video game from Japanese studio FromSoft. This game is one of their most successful and most critically acclaimed video games. Spawned from the brain of Hidetaka Miyazaki, Bloodborne is a dark-fantasy Souls-like game famous for its unforgiving difficulty, engaging combat mechanic, pre-Victorian era design, and of course, its subtle yet intricate story.
The Fishing Hamlet is the last level to the Old Hunters DLC. It is one of the most difficult levels players will have the pleasure or the sorrow of playing. In true Bloodborne fashion, it is also one of the most interesting levels in the game. It is riddled with mysteries, easter eggs, and interesting insights lore-diggers will surely find interesting.
10 The Most Obvious Nod To Lovecraft
Fans of this game may have already realized that Bloodborne is heavily inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's work. The knowledge regarding the Great Ones, the eldritch truth, the bizarre nature of the world, everything about the game borrows many elements from Lovecraftian novels. the Fishing Hamlet is the most obvious nod to Lovecraft and his works.
The Fishing Hamlet is very similar to H.P. Lovecraft's short novel entitled The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The novel tells the tale of a town supposedly occupied by "fish-like" inhabitants who are later revealed to worship the Great Old One Dagon. Everything about this is very similar to the story of the Fishing Hamlet. A fishing village filled with fish-like creatures who worship the Great One Kos.
9 Victim Of Byrgenwerth's Lust For Wisdom
Byrgenwerth is a place of learning and knowledge headed by Master Willem. It is a very central establishment within the game and, as it turns out, the school and its scholars have played a very massive role in the downfall of the Fishing Hamlet.
It is thought that Byrgenwerth got wind that a Great One, Kos, had washed up ashore the fishing village. They, therefore, set out to find the Great One, snatch up the Orphan to study it, and experiment on it. It is thought that this is where the umbilical cords came from. While the hunters and scholars of the school raided the village, it is thought that Kos got killed in the process. One thing is for sure, though. The Byrgenwerth scholars did horrible things to the inhabitants of the village, like dig up their skulls in search of eyes.
8 The Deep Sea Rune Opens The Fishing Hamlet
Upon defeating Lady Maria at the Astral Clock Tower, the player character receives the Celestial Dial. When it is held up across the large clock looming over the level, the clock starts to wind up to open an entrance. This clock has a ton of runes displayed around it. Interestingly, when the clock turns to open the entrance, the hand the points downwards will point towards the Deep Sea rune.
In relation to the level, the Fishing Hamlet is a place surrounded by a large body of water. The Deep Sea rune description states that "great volumes of water serve as a bulwark
guarding sleep, and an augur of the eldritch Truth." This is also true in regards to The Fishing Hamlet as it apparently is a place Byrgenwerth wanted to keep a secret.
7 The Fishwitch
As soon as the player reaches the Fishing Hamlet level, they are immediately greeted by a Fishwitch. This NPC is the only Fishwitch in the game that is shown to have the ability to speak. This character, according to the official guide of the Old Hunters by Future Press, this character is a Fishing Hamlet Priest.
The priest spews out curses, disdain, and overall hate towards Byrgenwerth and its scholars. The priest apparently has a first-hand experience of the wrath of Byrgenwerth as it is revealed that this character was a survivor of their raid. If the player character interacts with the priest with the Milkweed rune equipped, the NPC will give the Accursed Brew hunter tool.
6 The Beast-Hide Assassin
Brador, the beast-hide assassin, is an NPC that will constantly invade the player all across the Fishing Hamlet. Brador is a church assassin who wears the beastly hide of his compatriots whom he killed, presumably after they've turned to beasts. The player first encounters Brador in his locked cell beyond the Underground Corpse Pile. When the player meets Simon at the Lighthouse Hut, it is revealed that he has fallen at the hands of Brador.
When the player encounters Brador, he drops off a piece of his set after being defeated. The player can also choose to face Brador first before encountering him in the Fishing Hamlet if they visit his cell after Simon drops the key. When he falls here, he will drop the Bloodletter weapon and his armor set will be at the places he's supposed to spawn.
5 The Hanging Man Above The First Lamp
When the player reaches the first lamp in the Fishing Hamlet, there's a very noticeable hanging skeleton right above the area. This skeleton is tied from the ankle and is hanging upside down. His positioning is placed in such a way that it resembles the Hunter rune.
The Hunter rune is adapted by those who take up the life of a hunter. As to why this rune shows up in the form of a skeleton in the Fishing Hamlet is unknown. Perhaps it is a reminder of the misdeeds of the hunter or a sign of the curse the village placed upon them.
4 Lady Maria Retires As A Hunter
Lady Maria is a prominent figure in the Old Hunters DLC, and the story of Bloodborne as a whole. She is a hunter of the church and is a student of Gherman. Lady Maria was among the many hunters of the church that went to the Fishing Hamlet in hopes of learning more about the eldritch truth.
Sickened by the deeds of the church, and perhaps her own, it was while in the Fishing Hamlet Lady Maria decided to let go of the life of a hunter by tossing her weapon Rakuyo to the well, which the players can claim after they defeat the two Shark-Giants. Whether Maria worked on the Research Hall before or after she retired as a hunter is unknown, but all of this eventually led to her demise, which she did so by her own hand.
3 The Fishing Hamlet Is Filled With Boats Carrying Corpses
When entering the Fishing Hamlet, the players have to navigate a wide path to get to the actual village. Around this area, the players will find a ton of boats anchored offshore. If looked at closely, it can clearly be shown that these boats carry corpses inside of them. Yes, every single one of them.
What this entails within the game may be related to the story of The Shadow Over Innsmouth, which this level is heavily inspired by. In the novel, the inhabitants of Innsmouth would often perform human sacrifices to offer to the gods for fish and gold. The inhabitants of the Fishing Hamlet may have done something similar and these boats and the bodies within them may be remnants of old sacrifices.
2 Gherman's Connection To The Orphan Of Kos
During the trailer of the Old Hunters DLC, a figure wearing an overcoat with a peg for a right leg is shown walking towards the Fishing Hamlet. This figure is none other than Gherman himself. This points to the fact the Gherman may also be one of the hunters that raided the Fishing Hamlet. He may also have had an encounter with the Orphan and there are actually quite a few hints of this.
After the Orphan of Kos crawls out of his mother's womb right before the fight, he is heard sobbing as he is overlooking the moon over the area. The sound of his sobbing is actually the same sound with a lower pitch Gherman makes when he occasionally sobs in his dream in the Hunter's Dream. After the Orphan of Kos is defeated, the doll will also mention that Gherman is sleeping soundly for the first time in a long while.
1 The Great One Kos
The Great One Kos is the figure that hangs over the entire Old Hunters DLC. It is hinted that it was Kos who created the Hunter's Nightmare in the first place. According to the Moon rune, the Great Ones are very sympathetic in spirit and often answer when called upon.
With this in mind, there's a very high possibility that, after the Byrgenwerth scholars and hunters raided and violated the Fishing Hamlet, its inhabitants prayed to Kos to curse the "blasphemous fiends" that destroyed their village and experimented on its people. Kos may have placed a curse to the hunters who become blood-crazed to roam the Hunter's Nightmare forever, to hunt endlessly, before Kos ultimately fell at the hands of the hunters.