Iosefka is a kind-hearted woman and an NPC in Bloodborne who assists any and all civilian patients who come to her clinic, though she will refuse to let the Hunter inside for fear of spreading the curse of beasthood. It is possible to see her through the cracks in the glass door, and she wears the White Church Set, revealing blonde hair tied into a ponytail.
Imposter Iosefka is another NPC in Bloodborne that sometimes can be mistaken for Iosefka. Like the real Iosefka, she wears the White Church Set, with the exception of the headpiece. She carries a Threaded Cane (infused with Slow Poison) and a Repeating Pistol, as well as two Hunter Tools: the Augur of Ebrietas and A Call Beyond. Both the real and fake Iosefkas have incredibly interesting backstories.
Iosefka and Imposter Iosefka's Background
Iosefka is the first NPC of Bloodborne and a doctor of the Healing Church. She is in charge of the Central Yharnam Clinic. Her job entails administering Healing Blood infusions to sick citizens and strangers alike. She is initially very caring, expressing her concern to protect her patients from outsiders and, despite her sympathy for the Hunter, will refuse to let them enter for fear of infection. At the same time, she is pursuing the goal of discovering a possible cure for the disease of bestiality caused by Healing Blood infusions. This is a miraculous fluid of divine origin capable of curing all evil and bestowing extraordinary strength and vigor on those who use it. Unfortunately, at the same time, she brings with her a terrible side effect: the person who receives the infusions transforms into a ferocious beast.
Iosefka is well aware of the dire consequences of her infusions as a doctor of the Healing Church. As a result, she goes to great lengths to prevent the player from attending her clinic. This is a protective stance toward her patients and her research. While dismissing the player, the doctor demonstrates her good nature by handing them vials containing the Blood of Iosefka: an experimental liquid on which she herself is working. The consistency of Iosefka's Blood distinguishes it from normal Healing Blood: it is less dense and concentrated. An experimental fluid that, according to the doctor's hopes, would allow patients to avoid the side effect of bestiality while still providing the same beneficial effects.
However, Iosefka, is soon replaced by an impostor with a less noble and more macabre goal. The new NPC will begin impersonating the real doctor and will demand that the player send as many people as possible to the clinic, ostensibly to protect them from the dangers of the Night of the Hunt.
After defeating Father Gascoigne and returning to her, a sudden shift in tone occurs, and Iosefka begins acting suspiciously; her voice changes slightly, and she pushes the Hunter to send any encountered survivors to her clinic, a complete 180-degree turn from previously forbidding anyone to enter.
The fake Iosefka is almost certainly an envoy of the Choir, the Healing Church's highest-ranking order of warrior-researchers. The Choir's mission is to transcend the earthly nature of the human being and all of its limitations in order to get closer to the Absolute Truths of the Cosmos, which are unique to the Great Ones.
Clearly looking for guinea pigs, the Impostor approaches Iosefka, convinced of her prompt cooperation as a member of the Healing Church. Given the doctor's vehement opposition, the Impostor imposes herself by force, subjecting Iosefka and all the patients in the clinic to the torture of the Choir's forced trials. From now on, anyone the Hunter sends to the clinic will suffer the same fate. They, like Iosefka, will be transformed into miniature Celestial Emissaries.
In addition to the Choir's official experiments, the Impostor conducts her own research, which is most likely aimed at her own ascension. In fact, at the end of his quest, players find the phony Iosefka in a prone position on a bed in the clinic, raving and in the grip of a form of madness. After killing her, the player can take a Third Umbilical Cord from her body. Because of her position and the fact that she drops an umbilical cord, it is safe to assume that the imposter, like Arianna, was impregnated by a Great One. It is assumed that the imposter was conducting research on her unfortunate victims in order to advance humankind's elevation into Kin.
Iosefka and Imposter Iosefka's Curiosities
The real Iosefka could have been a member of the School of Mensis who changed their mind. She left the Unseen Village and established a clinic in the heart of Central Yharnam, outside of the Healing Church's spheres of influence. She clearly understands blood administration because she was able to open this large clinic near the city's center. Perhaps the blood mixture she created was so potent that it was used by the School of Mensis, resulting in a chest containing one ending up in the Nightmare of Mensis.
Many players believe that the Imposter Iosefka, like Arianna, was pregnant during the Blood Moon phase. However, while Arianna's child's Third Umbilical Cord describes her situation, Imposter Iosefka's Cord does not mention her being impregnated by a Great One. Instead, this Cord only mentions Willem and what he did to improve his mental state. This implies that the Imposter Iosefka, along with Yurie and some surviving Choir members, went to Byrgenwerth in search of the Cord and that the imposter took Iosefka's clinic because the Upper Cathedral Ward had fallen to the beast.
Bloodborne is now available on PS4.
