After asking a friend to go over my other post about the game, they immediately told me I rambled far too long and never got to any solid point and probably should revise what I was doing. They also decided to share their thoughts with me about how this crass character was probably not exactly a good one. This made their advice about the post null and void to me and so I decided to Shine my Spotlight on Bayonetta herself.
For anybody who knows me, the whole "Shine The Spotlight" thing is where I go a little bit more in depth about a character, their personality, traits, and why I like them. It's all a personal thing and what attracts me to them. The opposing view is called "Lock Em' Up" where I go in depth about a character, their personality, traits, and why I dislike them. Clearly this is about the former. Also, Spotlights are VERY LIKELY TO HAVE SPOILERS SO BE CAREFUL.
So Shine the Spotlight:
Bayonetta aka Cereza
 | ||
| Doing what she does best: Being stylish and violent |
Introduced as the amnesiac last witch of a clan of witches known as Umbran Witches, Bayonetta is the foul mouthed, flirtatious, outrageous, hyper violent, and always fun as heck primary protagonist of the Bayonetta franchise originally released on the X Box 360 and followed on the Wii U. We soon learn she's the last of two witches and she is a very special Umbran witch, not just because for an Umbran witch she's powerful, not just because she can curb stomp angels the size of lunar sattelites with demons she summons from hell, but because she carries in her the left eye of the overseer which when combined with the right eye allows the user to restructure reality. While that story is more complicated, the story of Bayonetta is significantly less so. She's just the abomination child of an Umbran Witch and a member of the Lumen Sages who happens to be the Umbran mortal enemy. Her father is also the holder of the right eye of the overseer, and it turns out one eye was given to each clan to maintain balance and can resurrect the god of the universe but the eyes really belong to the god of chaos and ARGHGHGHG!!!
Bayonetta is basically spastic, stylish, playful energy cranked up way past eleven, handed four weapons to put on her very long appendages and told to kill angels. She is a witch which means she made a pact with a demon (the demoness Madama Butterfly in this case) and must kill angels every day to keep this side of hell which she is ultimately doomed to upon death no matter what. Though with the sheer volume she slaughters within an hour should get her a week long vacation. Also the 500 years she was asleep wasn't held against her because demons are understanding. And really not much of that matters.
Appearance wise, as you can tell from the picture, Bayonetta is a very lanky individual. Tall (or just perhaps has a very tiny torso and head), raven haired, and bespectacled, Bayonetta almost has a geekish charm despite the fact she's very not geeky at all. Crass, disrespectful, and extremely inappropriate are all terms that can describe Bayonetta. From the way she blows expletives and tells people to screw off, to how she treats some of her friends far more like slaves, to her rather "whatever" regard she has for huge world threats, you quickly get the whole brushing off and overly cool feel of her personality. She doesn't care, you annoy her, she just wants to more or less do whatever she wants to do. And while she also enjoys the act of crushing angels, she isn't exactly someone who lusts after battle. She doesn't really want to fight, but when she is fighting she makes sure to enjoy it. She's also considered and extremely classy and literate lady who expresses her desire of etiquette upon others even if she herself barely shows restraint, up to and including pointing guns at others if they disrespect her. Also she wears her hair as fine intricate black leather body fitting clothes. You read that right, she wears her hair and it can take on the texture and shape of very detailed clothing. Look at the picture above and note the only things which aren't hair are her shoes, the gold chains, her glasses and her guns. The rest is HAIR. And it must come off for her bigger attacks. Which leads to the next bit.
Bayonetta is unabashedly sexual. From the way she dresses to the way she speaks to the way she behaves to the way she fights. Everything about her has some aspect of sexuality to her. She purrs out her words at others with her breathy English accent. She walks in an exaggerated hip swaying manner which emphasizes her well structured behind, she wears everything open back, her suits are skin tight, she dances around and strips for her Wicked Weaves and demon summons, even most of her attacks are something you imagine a fictional super stripper to behave like. It's part of her charm, like a naked woman behind fogged glass which only hints at the sexuality without being completely naked or doing God of War sex scenes. One of her attacks known as Breakdance has her spinning and crawling about the ground firing her weapons up and around only to finish with her on all fours, legs spread wide with her facing the screen with a wink and a camera shutter like some sort of magazine shoot. Another called Umbran Portal Kick which has her land on her back to pose for another camera shutter. I'm not going to say this is bad. Not that needlessly sexualizing women in comic books and video games is good, but in the case of Bayonetta it isn't putting sex to simply put sex, but sex is actually woven into her character in a powerful way. "But Mak, that just means women only have authority and power if they're sexual objects." To this I say no. Bayonetta is both sexual and powerful, and one needn't the other in this case. Bayonetta blends them in a satisfying and fun way. Sex isn't bad, nor should it be disdained. It shouldn't be used just to be used, but only when it helps craft a better story. Bayonetta is her own woman, and she definitely comes off as all of this being her absolute choice in the matter. It isn't like she's just the side character who has to flash skin to be recognized as the most attractive and hence the most important female. She flashes skin because "Screw you, chump." She is in control of herself and sexuality is just something she happens to enjoy. She doesn't worry about what people think of her, or what man she is after, or relationships. She is definitely a woman of her own being. If she wants it, she gets it. If she hates it, she shuns it. She's a bitch but only in the best way. An interesting character to say the least. I have never really gotten the feeling that none of her traits are anything but the product of her own desire. Never have I really seen or felt like she strips and dances for anything but fun of her own making or just to be a "cheeky" individual. Sort of like the big tough guy who walks into a bar and orders frilly drinks and when called out he just is jolly and explains how he dislikes the taste of beer and prefers drinks with umbrellas. You sort of gain a respect for that sort of confidence and that's who Bayonetta is at her core. Confidence defines her. Whether she's telling an enemy she doesn't have time for them, compliments them on their work, insults them for wasting her precious (immortal) time, about how ugly they are or how good looking they are, referring to partners as pets or her friends as almost slaves, Bayonetta knows she's the queen and is more than happy to play the role which makes things like her dancing all the more fun. She knows nobody is going to call her out on it, and if they do she is more than smart and capable enough to simply shut them down or shut them up because nobody tells Bayonetta what to do.
Her powers also match her beyond over the top personality. She's a witch and thus magic. Magic enhances her through having infinite amounts of hair, ridiculous durability and strength such as taking falling buildings to her face or just punching them outright into orbit. She's fast, really fast. Bullets shot in her face can be avoided and it triggers a time manipulation event called Witch Time which allows her to sashay around, hold conversations, or just wail on enemies with beyond ridiculous weapons which are forged from the souls of powerful demons. Speaking of demons, all witches are contracted to demons and in Bayonetta's case, this demon is Madama Butterfly. A giant woman like demon with a butterfly motif, Madama Butterfly assists Bayonetta by imparting wisdom and great power to her which includes all sorts of techniques, but the most notable is the summoning and subjugation of lesser demons such as dragons, fire spiders, demon horses, devil dogs, nightmare millipedes, hydras, and even access to Queen Sheba the ruler of Inferno (though she needs help for that one). Bayonetta can also "summon" Butterfly through her Wicked Weaves which strips Bayonetta of her hair suit and opens portals which allows fists and feet through temporarily to slam her enemies as part of her combos. She also can call the weapons of the witch hunts as punishment attacks and commonly puts angels in iron maidens, wooden horses, burning cages, torture wheels, etc. Everything you use with Bayonetta feels powerful and reminds you she is in charge. And these are all over the top such as when she beats an angel into a guillotine then snaps her fingers with a little heart over them and the blade falls. And going back to weapons, she has a plethora. In the beginning of each game she wields four pistol like guns known as the Scarborough Fair in the first game and Love is Blue in the second. Four guns seems a lot? Not when you keep in mind she puts two on her FEET. She is an extremely adept pistoleer with a strong skill in shooting all around her in super rapid fire sequence and her weapons just get more insane. Shotguns, demon katanas or demon double swords, whips, fire/ice claws, ice skates, triple bladed scythes, gigantic hammers, even rocket launchers. The variety is insane as she can pair things like the scythe in her hands and flaming chainsaws on her feet and use them with such deadly proficiency it has allowed her to conquer world ending nearly all-powerful gods more than once.
She jokes, she flirts, she's fun, she insults, she kicks all sorts of ass. Bayonetta is truly a character while not being the first of her kind, is among the best of them. Bayonetta is no hero, and she's as happy to admit it. But Bayonetta is the best thing to protect your world with so long as it happens to coincide with her own plans.
Bayonetta, a witch with true fun attitude.
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