The Good Hunter pauses before the gates of Oedon’s Tomb. Ahead of him, a man hacks at the bodies of fallen Yharnamites. The man’s foreign garb reminds The Good Hunter of when he entered Yharnam earlier that night, so long ago.
The Good Hunter remembers nothing of his former life, just the incessant beckoning of a single word: “Paleblood.” To gain entry to Yharnam, he had to sign a contract with a Blood Minister. In that contract, he had to provide some background information about himself. He recalls telling the Blood Minister that he was a war veteran. But that’s all he remembers about his life before the hunt: only his statement that he had fought in a war, but nothing of the war itself. His earliest memory now is a dream of blood and flame, just before the real nightmare began.
How long ago has it been since then? The evening sun suggests it has only been a few hours, but it feels like days, or maybe years. Time flows differently in Yharnam. Or rather, time seems to flow differently around him.
The man in the tomb carries a Hunter’s Ax and a Hunter’s Blunderbuss. They are similar to the ones gifted to The Good Hunter by the Messengers of the Dream. If this man is a hunter, he will be a challenge to face alone. The Messengers gave The Good Hunter another gift as well, a tool said to summon help when needed. Hoping for the best, The Good Hunter Rings the Beckoning Bell.
Within the Dream, The Good Hunter’s nostrils recall the scent of the beastly blood as she looks at Gascoine’s garb. The Messengers are willing to trade it in exchange for insight, and she finds the prospect tempting. Despite the fact that she is wearing the attire of locals drafted into the hunt during Ludwig’s days, the Yharnamites still recognize her as an outsider. Perhaps wearing the local religion’s shawl will help her gain the trust of the more religious residents.
The Good Hunter is not always sure what insights the Messengers find valuable. She searches her memories for something of interest. She remembers little before coming to Yharnam. She recalls telling a Blood Minister of a troubled childhood and that had shaped her into the person she is today. But she doesn’t remember the events that she once claimed to be so defining. All she can recall is that horrible nightmare of blood, beasts, and fire. Perhaps she traded the other memories with the Messengers already. If so, she’s afraid she has little to show for it.
She begins to rummage through her belongings. From time to time, she finds skulls with an odd sheen inside of them. It is as if the veil to the cosmos is worn thin by the brain that once occupied it. The Messengers seem to find her interpretations of each new skull entrancing. She mostly makes up whatever pops into her head: Cosmic beings with tentacled forms and other nonsense; She’s not sure where she gets this drivel. But the trick only appears to work once per skull, and it seems she has not picked up any new ones recently. However, within her pockets, she finds a small bell. Based on her research in the Workshop, she believes it used to take old Gherman to other worlds to cooperate with other hunters. She shudders at the thought. So far, the only other hunters she has met have been Father Gascoigne and Gherman, and she would hate to be left alone with either of them. However, the Messengers were interested in her encounter with Gascoine. If it’s insight she sought, perhaps encountering another world – or another hunter – would help provide it.
The Good Hunter returns to the Tomb of Oedon and rings the Small Resonant Bell.
This narrative has played out innumerable times under various circumstances and demonstrates the nature of the multiverse of Bloodborne. Within the game lore, these parallel universes are known as “other worlds.” This essay aims to analyze the relationship of other worlds to the world of The Good Hunter. It demonstrates that despite the near omnipotence of the Great Ones’ mastery of The Eldritch Truth, they are incapable of traversing this multiverse. It claims that this limitation is why the Messengers worship hunters and not the Great Ones.
The Great Ones’ impotence
The nameless moon presence beckoned by Laurence and his associates. Paleblood.Note found in Lecture Hall
In the introduction, this essay introduced two different hunters. One was a veteran and the other had a troubled childhood. These hunters will make different choices throughout the Night of the Hunt, however, those choices have no direct effect on the other hunter’s world.
For example, assume the veteran hunter discovers and consumes three One Third Umbilical Cords throughout the long night of his hunt. When the night is over, he refuses Gherman’s offer to be released from the dream, repels the Moon Presence, and eventually defeats her. In this hunter’s reality, the Moon Presence is dead, and The Good Hunter ascends to Great One status.
This outcome has no effect on the world of the hunter with the troubled childhood. Assume the troubled hunter does not find or does not consume enough One Third Umbilical Cords to ascend to Great One status. Like the veteran hunter, she refuses Gherman’s offer to be released from the Dream. However, upon defeating the first hunter, the moon glows red and the Moon Presence descends into the Dream. The Good Hunter’s decisions in another reality have no effect on the reality of another Good Hunter or the Moon Presence within that hunter’s reality.
Because the Moon Presence dies in the veteran hunter’s world but still appears in the world of the troubled hunter, it can be inferred that each reality has its own Moon Presence. The fate of this being is different based on the reality that it exists in. Furthermore, it can be deduced that there is no communication between these Great Ones. If the Moon Presence of one reality discovers that a hunter defeated her counterpart in another reality, perhaps she would not risk encountering The Good Hunter within the Dream in her world. This lack of relationship between the two instances of the Moon Presence establishes that while the Great Ones can traverse spatial dimensions within their world, they do not traverse multiple worlds. Thus, there are numerous Moon Presences across the various worlds of Bloodborne, just as there are multiple Roms, Willems, Ebrietas, and others. Each of these beings’ fates rests in the hands of The Good Hunter, who was beckoned to Yharnam in that world.
Disciples of the Good Hunter
Messengers are inhabitants of the dream who revere the brave hunters. Use them to send messages to other worlds. Notebook
Behind the Workshop in the Hunter’s Dream is a hollow stump where the Good Hunter may commune with the Messengers. While all Messengers worship the hunters in general, the Messengers of the Stump appear to worship The Good Hunter of their reality specifically. This is demonstrated through the adornment given to them by The Good Hunter. When The Good Hunter gives these messengers an article of adornment, they will wear it as they perform that hunter’s will. When The Good Hunter makes a note, it is these Messengers – adorned in the garb of their god’s choosing – who traverse the multiverse to share that note with other hunters. In other realities, The Good Hunter may have chosen other adornments for the Messengers of the Stump in that world. Despite this, the Messengers from another reality appear dressed in accordance with the will of The Good Hunter from their reality. Unlike the Moon Presence example above, this is a clear indication that the Messengers are traversing the Bloodborne multiverse..
It should be noted that each of these realities shares a common history. In each world, the Great Ones of Isz ascended to a higher plane. In each reality, the Pthumerians dug out the tombs of the gods, which the Byrgenwerth Scholars later explored. In each world, Laurence left Byrgenwerth, the scourge of beasts inflicted Old Yharnam, and the Healing Church was established. In each reality, the Hunter’s Nightmare captures the consciousnesses of deceased hunters, and Gherman finds himself trapped in the Hunter’s Dream.
Whether there are other realities in which these events did not happen is irrelevant. It would appear that the Good Hunter only has access to cooperate in the worlds that share a common past. Therefore, in this multiverse, the only variable in these realities is The Good Hunter, the foreigner who heeds the beckoning call of Paleblood. It is the decisions of The Good Hunter that shape the outcome of that reality.
Here then lies the reason the Messengers worship the hunters and traverse the multiverse to deliver their messages. Whenever a hunter signs a contract with the Blood Minister, they create a new reality within the Bloodborne multiverse. By persevering through the cycles of death and dream, The Good Hunters determine their realities’ fates. No hunter chooses the same path, and therefore no reality will look the same. The Messengers of the Stump have chosen to worship a specific hunter, the one who will shape the world in which they desire to dwell.
As obedient disciples of their Good Hunter, the Messengers – clothed in adornment chosen by their master – traverse the realities of the multiverse. Within the foreign lands of other worlds, they share the gospel of their god’s world. By sharing the guidance and wisdom of their god within the reality of others, they hope that other hunters may choose to follow the example of The Good Hunter whom they worship.