History Characters / Blasphemous

-->'''Voiced by:''' Andy Llewelly (English), Claudio Serrano (Spanish)

-> ''"We must return. I saw the shadow, I saw the gold underneath the black waters. We must return, the sea trembles when she is close at hand."''

[[caption-width-right:285:''"May the Miracle protect the unprepared souls that dare challenge the voices of bone and skull, as She won't allow anyone to interrupt her song."'']]

->''"May the Miracle protect the unprepared souls that dare challenge the voices of bone and skull, as She won't allow anyone to interrupt her song."''

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Beyond the numerous references in dialogue and lore about the High Wills, the visages seen after killing the first three bosses appear to be made out of the same golden tears the High Wills are weeping.

%%* ButterFace: Well, this is just scratching the surface.

* NightmareFace: Altasgracias has three distinct faces fused together.

* OptionalBoss: Laudes and the Amanecidas can only be found in a NewGamePlus, and fighting them isn't required to beat the game, but doing so will reward you with a new prayer and a Mea Culpa heart.

* SkullForAHead: All Amanecidas have a skull for a head, being risen from the dead; Laudes has ''four'' additional skull faces protruding from the sides of her head,

* IWasQuiteALooker: She was once a woman so beautiful, people used her likeness as a model. They gradually saw her as a sign of divinity, with people replacing their religious images with her likeness, to her horror.

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: She is based on [[https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Fern%C3%A1ndez_Coronel María Fernández Coronel]], a Spanish noblewoman who became the victim of severe political persecution after her father was executed for treason. María initially tried [[FakingTheDead faking her own death]] and escaping to a covenant, but when her pursuers found her, she burnt her own face off with boiling oil in desperation.

* TheOtherMarty: ''The Stir of Dawn'' replaces Esdras's original dialogue with work by a new voice actor.

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: While she's seen committing suicide in the opening of the second game and her body remains visible in the foreground during the boss fight with Eviterno, she is also mysteriously absent from the brief glimpse of heaven in [[GoldenEnding Ending A]] (itself conspicuous because [[DiesHappilyEverAfter all other "good" characters appear there, regardless of their alignment with the Miracle]]). Furthermore, we glimpse her holy wrappings drifting on the wind during the PostCreditsScene, hinting that [[BackFromTheDead her story might not be over yet]]...]]

* TimedMission: Of a sort. To fully complete Tirso's quest, you have to alternate giving him herbs with defeating bosses. Defeat too many bosses in-between visits to Tirso, and the brothers of the Kissers of Wounds will die and be buried in the Albero graveyard. If this happens, you can still receive all the rewards you would normally get for bringing Tirso the herbs, but you won't get the achievement. [[spoiler:There are five herbs, but you won't get the achievement and the final reward until you've defeated Quirce, Exposito, and Melchiades. Once the last herb is delivered, though, the brothers are safe and you can kill bosses freely.]]

* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: You never see her body from the neck down aside from her hands, and yet she still dwarfs the Penitent One and most bosses with her head alone.

* BackFromTheDead: In ''II''. [[spoiler:Following his death at the end of the first game, the Penitent One is resurrected in response to the Grievous Miracle suddenly becoming active once again.]]

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:The Penitent One dies either way. In Ending B, the Penitent One sinks into the mountain of ashes while climbing it. In Ending A, he successfully climbs the mountain of ashes and stabs himself with the Mea Culpa, turning into a wooden effigy of roots. Even in the new ending in the ''Wounds of Eventide'' DLC, he dies destroying the High Wills, or at least we assume he does, as Crisanta lays his apparently-lifeless body in a sarcophagus and closes the lid on it.]]
** [[spoiler:Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/BlasphemousII''; the Penitent One rises from his sarcophagus to return as the protagonist, but ultimately dies again at the end of the game. What happens ''after'' his death differs.]]
* InformedAttribute: Several [=NPC=]s mention that the Penitent One is full of guilt, but it's never really seen on display. It's also never specified what he feels guilty for. Given the nature of Cvstodia, whether or not his guilt is even ''justified'' is an open question.

* PurpleIsPowerful: Once you get her down to half health, she'll [[JustForPun unwrap the agony]] and her sword, revealing it to be oozing with a purple aura. [[spoiler: And in the new ending path, she outright gains a purple aura in her new phase as she gets even stronger!]]