A blog where I discuss culture that is interwoven with design in video games such as Bayonetta and Final Fantasy! Art Account: https://africanvoodooart.tumblr.com
"The soul of Durga, said to be a demon with a thousand arms, is imprisoned within these razor sharp claws. From the portal at its hilt, the weapon can summon two types of arms, fire and lightning, to bear against its enemies."
The Durgas
The next weapon Bayonetta receives will be the dual-wielding gauntlets that can switch between fire and lightning at anytime, which makes the weapon very unique.
The fire element of the Durga is slow but powerful and it has the ability to leave bombs in the shape of demonic looking skulls if you hold down the attack button. The lightning element is fast but it doesn’t deal as much damage as the fire element and holding down the button will instead create a globe of lighting to appear from the claw.
A versatile weapon that is widely considered to be one of the best weapons in the game due to its sheer killing power.
Alright, let’s see what this weapon got for us.
For the third time in a row, Hindu mythology snatches us once more.
Durga is a warrior goddess who is the protector of the entire universe. She is almost close to an omnipotent god who is benevolent to all and is the sole protector of our world. Even her name in Sanskrit literally mean “a place that is difficult to overrun”. Durga is an all-powerful goddess hellbent on defeating all evil in this universe while riding on her loyal tiger which represents power and determination.
She was created by Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva after Mahishasura, a buffalo demon, created an army to drive the Gods out of the heavens. With the three gods’ energy, they summoned a powerful woman that yields eight to eighteen arms to defeat the malevolent demon. Six of them holds weapons and items that are used to fight evil.
The conch shell (shows that she is holding on to God by sound), Bow and Arrow from Vayu (represents both potential and kinetic energy), the Thunderbolt from Indra (represents firmness and motivation), the lotus (represents success through perseverance), Sudarshan-Chakra from Vishnu (represents the control Durga has and growth), a sword (represents knowledge), and a trident from Shiva (represents the healing of physical, mental and spiritual suffering). And let’s not forget our trustful tiger that was granted by Himavant, Lord of the mountains.
Because Durga is such an important figure in Hindusim, it is natural that she gets the most holidays that is dedicated to her. One of the holidays that are the most dedicated to her is Durga Puja, the largest festival in West Bengal, India, the birthplace of the holiday. Another holiday that celebrates her greatly is the celebration of Navrari which symbolizes Durga’s victory over Mahishasura.
Moving on, a weird but interesting thing Hindu deities can do is create multiple avatars for them to take control over as they roam Earth. Hindu deities are normally born this way.
Durga’s other personas are: Kali, Bhagvati, Bhavani, Ambika, Lalita, Gauri, Kandalini, Java, and Rajeswari.
I mention them because...
"The soul of Kali, said to be a demon with a thousand arms, is imprisoned within these razor sharp claws. From the portal at its hilt, the weapon can summon two types of arms, fire and lighting, to bear against enemies."
Jeanne’s version of the Durga are based off of one of Durga’s personas!
Kali is the Hindu goddess of destruction who is most famous for her complete murder rampage the moment she was born. Given that her name means “one who is black” (even though in most artwork she is in, she is most likely blue or not black) or “one who is death”. She is usually depicted as a woman with four arms, ten faces, ten feet, three eyes on each head, red eyes, and fangs. Arguably, her most defining thing about her is the long necklace of severed human heads that she wears, which was there ever since she was born.
There are two versions of her birth but I am going to only focus on one of them that involves Durga.
An asura of the name Raktabīja (”blood seed”) fought against the goddess alongside two other demons named Chanda and Munda. It wasn’t specifically stated why they are fighting with the goddess but I suppose it is because they are devas and asuras don’t like devas so... they fight?
Anyways, seven goddesses who are collectively called the Matrikas and the goddess Ambika, another goddess of destruction, led the war against the demons and they were having a tough time defeating them because of Raktabija’s ability.
The asura had a boon where if a drop of his blood falls onto the ground, it will instantaneously create a clone of himself. Which means whenever the goddesses get a good strike at him and all of his blood falls to the ground, multiple clones of him emerges. This makes it nearly impossible to kill him.
Enter: Durga! She dashes into the bloodshed and becomes questionably angry at the sight that she is seeing. She was not averagely furious, she was so mad that her face turned darker and then spit out an entirely new goddess out of her forehead who symbolized pure anger and malice.
Kali.
After Kali appeared, she immediately kills the two demons that accompanied Raktajiba. She then stretched her tongue out to Raktabija and picks up all of his blood so there will be no more clones. The goddesses saw that as an opportunity to kill him since there will be no more clones. The demon dies and then Kali devours the remaining clones and then dances on their corpses. The day is saved!
Sike! Kali was so pissed off, she ran off to kill any wrongdoers in her sight (or just anybody, sources vary). She would stomp and dance on the ground so forcefully she would create earthquakes. The god Shiva intervenes between her and he ends up taking a heavy stomp from her. She realizes her mistake and the destruction that she has caused and cuts off her tongue in embarrassment. After that, Kali was pretty chill.
There has been some controversy over her title recently. She is popularly referred to as the “goddess of death” which would make sense just from the story alone but she has not based her entire life around the death of humans unlike the actual Hindu god of death, Yama.
Let me put it like this, there is a difference between a deity killing people versus a deity making it their job to kill people.
Well, there you have it folks! Hindu mythology strikes again with its fascinating lore on powerful goddesses and demons being jerks. Next time, we move away from Hindu mythology and into the realm of theater!
If you have anything to add or correct, do not be afraid to reach out to me. I am learning and I wish to continue to learn!
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"A possessed whip, sealing away the soul of the ancient serpentine demon Kulshedra. Summoning the power of the demon from a portal on the weapon's hilt, it can be used in the same manner as a normal whip."
Kulshedra
In an almost comical 180 from the Shuraba, the next weapon Bayonetta receives will be arguably one of the weakest weapons in the entire game (aside from the handguns).
Kulshedra is most used during the “Stay in the Air” challenges in the Alfheim stages but experienced Bayonetta players somewhat enjoy the fancy tricks that you can do with Kulshedra. They go as far as to say it is more fun to use Kulshedra than it’s Bayonetta 2 counterpart, the Alruane due to its variety in the weapon’s move pool.
So... Is the mythos as interesting as this weapon?
Uh... I suppose?
Kulshedra are female dragons and the final form of bollas in Albanian folklore.
Bollas are evolved demonic snakes who keeps their eyes shut unless it is Saint George’s Day because the man cursed the bolla (a bolla? There are some stories implying that there are only one bolla) into being blind except for this one day. It opens its eyes on this day and eats any human that it notices. If the serpent haven’t been seen by a human for 12 years, it will then metamorphose into a kulshedra.
So if you think of it as a Pokemon evolution line...
Some random snake -> Bolla -> Kulshedra
There are two widely accepted depictions of Kulshedra, one of them could be a human woman, lizard, turtle, frog, Pepsi can, you name it. Whatever the case, it generally has woolly red hair, a long tail, multitude of heads, saggy breasts, and poisonous breast milk and urine. This seems to be a more German take on the folklore as it seems.
The other way cooler version of Kulshedra (and is most likely the version Bayonetta referenced in the game due to Jeanne’s version of the weapon) is a multi-headed serpent dragon that is able to cause droughts and water-related disasters such as storms, torrents, floods, tsunamis, etc. The dragon can also take water from a land until the people sacrifices one of their own in order for the dragon to return back their water.
In Albanian folklore and culture, a kulshedra also have the ability to take the sun or a moon, so Albanians would shoot arrows into the sky or cause commotion via banging pots and pans in order to frighten them away.
"A possessed whip, sealing away the soul of the ancient serpentine demon Vritra. Summoning the power of the demon from a portal on the weapon's hilt, it can be used in the same manner as a normal whip."
Jeanne’s version of the Kulshedra references our good friend Hindu mythology once again!
The story of Vritra comes in two versions. The Vedic and Puranic version.
The Vedic version explains that Vritra or “Ahi” (Sanskrit for “snake”) as some of the people in the tale call him, was a dragon blocking Earth’s rivers so the land cannot get water. Indra, the god of the Heavens and lightning, was apparently born just to defeat this monster.
Indra visits the house of Tvastar, a heavenly builder and a maker of divine implements (think of him as a Hindu Hephaestus) , in order to take a drink of Soma, an elixir, to prepare himself for battle. Then Tvastar’s created Indra’s iconic thunderbolt weapon and Indra slayed Vritra, saving the lands.
In Puranic version, Vritra was created by Tvastar in order to take revenge on Indra for the death of one of his sons, Trisiras.
Tvastar, an asura, only created his son so he can dethrone Indra and take over the devas. His plan backfired since Indra ,in a fit of rage, killed Trisiras in front of the gods due to his lingering suspicion that Trisiras was a traitor (he was right). Without any evidence to conclude that Trisiras was a double-crosser, Indra fell into depression and berated himself for acting so foolish once again. Gods such as Vayu, Varuna and Agni were worried about Tvastar if the news came to him.
The news came to Tvastar and he was 🎶p i s s e d🎶.
He then created Vritra in pure anger solely to kill Indra for revenge. Vritra obey him and defeats Indra in battle. Vritra was going to digest him but with Varuna’s yawn arrows(?) the serpent yawns wide which helps the Gods retrieve Indra from his mouth. Vritra notices their escape and get furious at their cowardice. He ends up slithering to a nearby lake and swallows the Earth’s waters in one gulp, knowing that the Earth will wither and the devas will be forced to face him.
After Indra recovers, he visits Sage Dadhichi so he can sacrifice himself to gain access to his bones. Despite Indra’s negative feelings towards the request, Sage Dadhichi accepts and leaves his bones so the devas can make Indra’s iconic thunderbolt weapon.
Indra returns to the serpent for a rematch and kills Vritra via creating a large cut in its body so the Earth’s waters can go back to where it was.
There you have it folks! A weak weapon turns out to have strong mythology attached to it. Next time, Hindu mythology takes the spotlight in the next weapon we will discuss.
If you have any thoughts or corrections, I am always willing to listen and consider! I am learning therefore I will do my best to gain the right knowledge!
I just REALLY wanted to say that even though I came across your blog a few minutes ago, I love it. The depth of going into all of it must be fun yet exhausting, and I have to say it pays off. PLEASE DON'T STOP.
Thank you so much! It is a little exhausting but it definitely is fun to read up on mythology’s wacky misadventures.
Thank you again and I will definitely have more in store in the future!
"A living katana, pulsing with the heart of Ashura, the demon god of war. Always seeking blood, the blade will even suck the very souls out of its victims."
Shuraba
Although this is not the next weapon Bayonetta would normally obtain from the hellish bartender, it has much more mythos and legends behind the sword’s in-game history than Scarborough Fair ✨Shotgun Edition✨
Arguably one of the best weapons in the game with two charged attacks (one of them is not particularly ideal to use in fast paced combat), quick jabs and very powerful Wicked Swipes. A high-tier weapon to use in any battle, including boss battles.
Let’s see what this sword has in store for us.
In a rather confusing twist, there is no direct reference to a god named “Ashura” in any mythology. The closest to “Ashura” that we can get are the demigods or all-powerful beings of “asuras” in Buddhist and Hindu cosmology.
Although the histories of asuras differ between the two religions, they both describe the demigods nearly identically. In general, asuras are described as power-hungry, jealous, furious, violent and unprincipled, at least in modern representations. They are similar to the Christian portrayal of demons as they are also malevolent in the same way asuras are (they even have the typical physical attributes of a normal demon: red skin, multiple limbs, ... creepy looking).
Along with the myths of asuras, the spiritual aspects of both religions’ idea of an asura in human life are also important to consider while talking about these beings.
In Hinduism, specifically the Bhāgavata Purana, one of Hinduism’s eighteen great Puranas, it states that an individual can be born from a family of “asuras” but can grow up to become a “deva”, the absolute contradiction of an asura. Teaching Hindus that your family doesn’t define who you are as a person. You get to decide to stay on the path of an asura or diverge away from that road into the path of a deva. Or you could be on the road of an asura but you change your ways for the greater good, becoming an “asura-deva”
For example, I have been reading this book called the “The Pregancy Project” where the main character has an older brother who is a father yet he is a raging alcoholic. Let’s say the father is on the road of an asura in Hindu terms. Just because he is on that road, doesn’t mean his children has to be as well. They can choose to follow in his footsteps (asura-like) or repel that lifestyle and go off their own path to prosperity (deva-like).
In Buddhism, the idea is the same mostly, but according to Zhiyi, a patriach of the Tiantai school, he has his own description of “asuras” that sets it apart from its Hindu counterpart.
“Always desiring to be superior to others, having no patience for inferiors and belittling strangers; like a hawk, flying high above and looking down on others, and yet outwardly displaying justice, worship, wisdom, and faith -- this is raising up the lowest order of good and walking the way of the Asuras."
His definition of an asura reminds us that evil doesn’t come in one flavor. As a matter of fact, it brings light to the fact that a lot of the “asuras” that exist in this world do not and will not consider themselves “asuras” or a demon because of their good faith.
They are essentially Helen from church who is so faithful and cheery on Sunday but then forgets the definition of “respect” during Monday thru Saturday. According to Zhiyi, she is walking down the path of an asura even if she is doing some good.
As for the name “Shuraba” (”the scene of bloodshed”), it is commonly used for Japanese screenwriters to describe fight scenes. They also had Japanese names for other types of scenes as well such as “nureba” (sex scene) and “semeba” (torture scene).
As it says in the weapon’s description, the Shuraba is based off of the highly popular sword in Japan (at least a few centuries ago and in popular media), the katana!
The sword is characterized heavily off its curved, singled-sided blade and is considered a normal longsword or a daito in Japan. Not only is it used for militaristic purposes by the samurai, it can also be used for normal martial arts such as kenjutsu, kendo and ninjutsu. It is considered to be the best weapon for slicing in military history, according to Western historians.
Now the decline of katanas was not only because of the introductions of firearms in general warfare. During the Meiji Restoration in 1871, the feudalism system along with samurais were no more. Not only that, people of Japan (except people in power) couldn’t carry around swords all willy-nilly anymore due to the sword ban (which was established so the class system can be abolished properly but the earlier times a sword ban was acted on was not for that reason) which severely lowered the demand for swords.
The reason for this removal of a class system was because of a passionate move to Westernization. After the US Navy took a visit to Japan, Japan was essentially wowed by their... awesomeness. So Japan made it their responsibility to incorporate Western customs into their country to the point where Japanese citizens were figuratively saying “good-bye” to Asia. Which led to the banning of swords, destruction of feudalism and the introduction of a new oligarchy.
“A katana born in the unknown depths of Inferno, brimming with mystery. One legend states that it is the twin sword to Shuraba. It is also said the sword's name comes from the story of a witch who loved the sword, and was excommunicated for carrying out a futile war against the angels. While the sword did not contain the soul of a demon, the Angel Slayer displayed incredible power; however, the sword, and the witch in whose hand it was held, both found themselves in Inferno. Eventually, the blade passed into the hands of Rodin who was able to make up for its previous deficiency; however, it remains unknown what sort of demon the smith was able to seal away in the historic blade."
A couple of decades later, Japan has found themselves in another war. The Russo-Japanese War was taking effect during the Meiji era and the interest in swords came back up once again. Katanas are back, baby!
Well... half-sike.
Introducing the Kyū guntō or the “old military sword”! These were basically the substitute for traditional katanas during the Russo-Japanese War and Sino-Japanese War.
It is the sole inspiration for Jeanne’s version of the Shuraba, Angel Slayer!
Japanese swordsmiths were thrilled to be working on katanas once again after the sword ban happened. These swords had to be made by faster methods such as oil tempering and power hammers instead of traditional methods since the wars were faster than the swordsmiths. Because of the mass production of these swords and substitution of lesser metals for the blades, they ended up not having the same characteristics of your basic katana., rendering them as “false” Japanese swords to Japan.
As for the defining traits of a Kyū guntō, notice anything out the ordinary with the sword? Aside from the lack of a defining curve (which actually resembles American military swords), the hilt of the sword resembles rapiers from European swords. This shift in design reflects off of Japan’s obsession with Westernization.
Well that is it folks! It was cool delving into more Japanese history rather than mythology and I hope I can have the opportunity to learn more about world history in another post! Next time, we are back returning with the myths!
If you have any corrections or advice to improve these posts, don’t be afraid to hit me up! I don’t want to get anything wrong so I am always up for any heads-ups!
Hey! I've just been reading through some of your posts and I really dig the amount of research you put into them! I look forward to seeing more 😁 Idk if you take suggestions, but I think cultural breakdowns of Asura's Wrath characters would be really cool to see, especially if you're interested in Hindu/Buddhist cultural/mythology. Anyhow, take care!
Hi there! Thank you very much for the compliment!
And yes, I take suggestions because it is great to see you guys invested in my posts as much as I am! Plus, it is cool to discover new ways character/game designers take mythology and legends and put it into their work. That is always inspiring to me.
I will definitely check out that game because it is interesting to see how that type of culture meshes into such a violent game (and Hindu mythology, hell, any kind of mythology is interesting to me!)
Anyways, thank you for the suggestion and have a nice day!
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"Four powerful handguns, crafted by the famed demon-smith, Rodin, and crowned with the names Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan. Pushing one's magical powers to their limits, these guns' rate of fire and stopping power are incredible."
All 4 One
Jeanne’s default weapon that is the equivalent to Bayonetta’s Scarborough Fair. Four silver and lavender pistols with gold paint and a blue gem in all four of them unlike Bayonetta’s variety of gem colors in her primary weapon. Each gun features a kitty plushie with varying feathered hat colors, one of them being more plump than the others.
With the rapier and swords aesthetic in the logo for the guns, the kitty plushies wearing feathered hats, and... the title of the guns itself...
I really wonder what this could be referencing... Hmmmmmmmmm...
That’s right! We’re moving away from ballads into the world of novels!
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas!
The story was ultimately inspired by a famous Musketeer in real life named Charles de Batz - Castelmore d’Artagnan, one of the most notable and famous Musketeers that has ever worked for the monarchy.
(Statue of the historical figure and famous musketeer, D’Artagnan)
Dumas took his inspiration for his story from a book called “Les memories de M. d’Artagnan” by novelist and journalist Gatren de Courtite de Sandras’, who wrote a semi-fictional memoir about the man and all of his accomplishments as a guardsman for the king. Dumas took this version of d’Artagnan and created a semi-realistic version of the already semi-realistic version of the famous Musketeer. All of these fictional versions of the original d’Artagnan effectively erased the historical figure from people’s mind.
The story includes the highly fictionalized version of d’Artagnan who leaves his home country of Gascony in order to join the Musketeers of the Guard in Paris, an elite miliary group that fights for the King of France (in this time period, the king was Louis XIV). After meeting and eventually having a brawl with the three most respected Musketeers - Athos, Porthos and Aramis - d’Artagnan befriends the three men and tags along with them as they go on wacky adventures filled with love, deceit, injustice, drama and action!
Speaking of highly fictionalized characters, the three Musketeers themselves are also based off of real life Musketeers that was featured in Sandras’ novel.
Bayonetta + Culture: Scarborough Fair and Elfin Knight
“Crafted by the famed demon-smith Rodin, these four guns have been crowned with the names Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. Pushing Bayonetta's magic to its limits, these guns' rate of fire and stopping power are incredible.”
The Scarborough Fair.
Bayonetta’s first weapon that she receives from the blacksmith/bartender Rodin after Bayonetta’s scuffle with Jeanne on the falling military transport.
Four crimson guns (two for her hands and two for her feet) that each have a distinguishable gem color, jewelry that dangles from each gun’s handle and name. Each of the gun’s names are based after herbs and as we all know, herbs is a pretty important part to a witch’s brew.
But who knew the guns’ name was based off of something else?
The weapon set “Scarborough Fair” and the guns’ names is most definitely inspired by the Medieval English ballad of the same name that takes place at Yorkshire, Scarborough in England.
The first part of the ballad says the following:
“Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
Remember me to one who lives there,
For she was once a true love of mine.
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
Without any seam or needlework,
Then she shall be a true love of mine.
Tell her to wash it in yonder well,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
Where never sprung water or rain ever fell,
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born,
Then she shall be a true lover of mine.”
The plot of the ballad consists of a man telling the messenger (or you, the reader) about the tasks his crush has to complete in order for her to become his true love. As you can see the tasks are almost impossible to do.
The second part goes like this:
Now he has asked me questions three,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
I hope he'll answer as many for me,
Before he shall be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to buy me an acre of land,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
Between the salt water and the sea sand,
Then he shall be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to plough it with a ram's horn,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
And sow it all over with one peppercorn,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to sheer't with a sickle of leather,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
And bind it up with a peacock's feather,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
Tell him to thrash it on yonder wall,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme,
And never let one corn of it fall,
Then he shall be a true lover of mine.
When he has done and finished his work.
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme:
Oh, tell him to come and he'll have his shirt,
And he shall be a true lover of mine.
The second part of the ballad consists of the woman telling the messenger about the almost as impossible tasks the man has to do for her in order to win over her love to him. At the end of the ballad, the woman reveals that, despite the almost impossible tasks, she somehow sowed and washed a shirt for him, demonstrating that her love for him has no boundaries.
If you noticed throughout... literally the entire the ballad, the two characters says the chant “Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme” after every other line. All four of the herbs that they say to the messenger means something symbolically that, as a whole, characterizes their love for each other:
Parsley = Happiness and Festivity
Sage = Strength
Rosemary = Remembrance
Thyme = Courage
As you can see, the textures on the four guns has its own title by Rodin that reflects each herb’s symbolization.
Who knew Rodin loves browsing through the romance section of the bookstore?
As the ballad itself states, there was indeed an old medieval festival that took place in Scarborough, Yorkshire during the ruling of King Henry III of England.
The Scarborough Fair began when King Henry III decided to grant the town of Scarborough more “privileges” that included the ability to hold an annual 45-day festival for the people to enjoy.
The fair was a very important event for entertainers, merchants and tradesman alike as the opportunity to gain money and exposure is quite high. As the illustration above depicts, the festival brings a colorful and joyous atmosphere to the town while being inclusive to foreign characters who would like to share their culture and foreign goods to the Scarborians.
Unfortunately, due to intense competition by neighboring festivals and an increase in taxes in Scarborough, the festival slowly died, officially ending in 1788.
Although the fair is not active anymore, the town in Northern Yorkshire, England however, is still fruitful and mesmerizing to this day. Similar to medieval Scarborough, tourists still visit this town to garner at the many attractions and beaches while trading their own goods with Scarborough’s goods. Tourism trade is still a main source of income for Scarborough along with their fishing industry. As a matter of fact, Scarborough is England’s second most visited attraction due to the popularity of trading in the city.
Just like the olden times. King Henry III would shed a tear.
Haha...
I suppose this is a great time to mention this interesting bit that we got from the Bayonetta 3 teaser.
What many fans noticed from the gruesome yet head-scratching video was that not only was Bayonetta back to her original beehive hairstyle, she was also wielding guns that looks similar to the Scarborough Fair but was oddly named the Whittingham Fair instead.
This isn’t much, but the “Whittingham Fair” ballad is just the “Scarborough Fair” ballad but everytime the word “Scarborough” is suppose to pop up it is replaced by “Whittingham”. All-in-all, “Whittingham Fair” it is just an alternate version of the original ballad...
...Which HEAVILY supports my theory that the Bayonetta in the trailer is just an alternate universe Bayonetta and the scary fiery dude is out to kill all the Bayonettas so OUR Bayonetta is going to astral project herself to him to beat his ass.
The Elfin Knight.
An anime-exclusive set of guns Bayonetta has for the majority of the movie until they were shattered and replaced by the Scarborough Fair during Bayonetta’s second fight with Jeanne.
In its design, they are carbon copies of the original Scarborough Fair. The only difference between the two sets of guns is their name and power. In the movie, the Elfin Knight is basically an inferior version of the Scarborough Fair.
The Elfin Knight is an Scottish ballad that, similar to Scarborough Fair, has the theme of impossible tasks and an impossible love. This time... the “love” is pretty one-sided in the Elfin Knight.
The ballad goes like this:
1 The elphin knight sits on yon hill,Ba, ba, ba, lilli baHe blaws his horn both loud and shrill,The wind hath blown my plaid awa
2 He blowes it east, he blowes it west,He blowes it where he lyketh best.
3 'I wish that horn were in my kist,Yea, and the knight in my armes two.'
4 She had no sooner these words said,When that the knight came to her bed.
5 'Thou art over young a maid,' quoth he,'Married with me thou il wouldst be.'
6 'I have a sister younger than I,And she was married yesterday.
7 'Married with me if thou wouldst be,A courtesie thou must do to me.
8 'For thou must shape a sark to me,Without any cut or heme,' quoth he.
9 'Thou must shape it knife-and-sheerlesse,And also sue it needle-threedlesse.'
10 'If that piece of courtesie I do to thee,Another thou must do to me.
11 'I have an aiker of good ley-land,Which lyeth low by yon sea-strand.
12 'For thou must eare it with thy horn,So thou must sow it with thy corn.
13 'And bigg a cart of stone and lyme,Robin Redbreast he must trail it hame.
14 'Thou must barn it in a mouse-hell,And thrash it into thy shoes sell.
15 'And thou must winnow it in thy looff,And also seek it in thy glove.
16 'For thou must bring it over the sea,And thou must bring it dry home to me.
17 'When thou hast gotten thy turns well done,Then come to me and get thy sark then.'
18 'I'l not quite my plaid for my life;It haps my seven bairns and my wife.'The wind shall not blow my plaid awa
19 'My maidenhead I'l then keep still,Let the elphin knight do what he will.'The wind's not blown my plaid awa
The story of this ballad tells us about the tale of a young woman who spots a strange man who blows a horn all around him. The woman found a deep attraction to this man and summons him into her bedroom. He reveals that he is the Elfin Knight (does not explain what that is) and he has no interest for her.
The Elfin Knight proposes a series of tasks for her to complete in order for her to love him, all of them are almost impossible. The woman counters his series of tasks that she must do with a series of tasks that the Elfin Knight must do himself, almost as impossible as the Elfin Knight’s requests.
The story ends with the Elfin Knight rejecting the woman, saying he does not want to betray his wife and seven kids, and he leaves the bedroom.
Although the ending is quite the 180 compared to Scarborough Fair, you might’ve noticed that some of the requests the two characters are giving to each other are quite similar to the ones the two lovers were giving out in Scarborough Fair. For example, the woman request the Elfin Knight to find an acre of land in an ocean just like what the woman requested in Scarborough Fair.
Although these two songs are a little bit too similar, there is very little evidence to conclude that one ballad was derived from another. All the clues that I gathered was that the Eflin Knight is much older and obscure than Scarborough Fair.
On Platnium Game’s official blog, Muneyuki “Johnny” Kotegawa, the weapon designer for Bayonetta, Resident Evil and Devil May Cry, explains his process on how he created the Scarborough Fair.
He reveals that Hideki Kamiya, the creator of Bayonetta, wanted the design of Bayonetta’s guns to be based off of the Derringers simply because it would look hot in a girl’s hands.
Well... he wasn’t wrong I suppose.
The Derringer gun is one of the most smallest usable guns of a given caliber. A great size difference compared to the Scarborough Fair.
The first Derringer gun model to ever be created was the Philadelphia Derringer created by blacksmith Henry Deringer in 1852.
In general, the Derringer guns were single-muzzle loading pistols. That meant they were only able to carry one muzzle ball in the gun itself. When you shoot the gun, you had to go through a very convoluted and tedious reloading process just to shoot another one.
Not only that, the bullets that some of the older models use are slow and they might temporarily stun the attacker but not cripple them. If you miss the bullet, then you might as well start running.
This goes without saying, but this gun is not the best to use for protection despite the fact that when these guns were introduced, women usually hid them in their purses for protection.
It is clear that the external design of the Derringers played a greater role in the development of the Scarborough Fair than the functionality.
That is all for now!
Thank you for reading this addition of Games + Culture and I hope I will see you next time with my next post: All 4 One
I am just going to start all over again with the Bayonetta + Culture posts.
I’m a perfectionist, plain and simple. I genuinely didn’t like how I low-key treated this blog like this was a job where I needed to post every week or something like that. That was just a weird thing that I did back then.
This is just a hobby, and I need to recognize that. So I am going to take my time and put as much love into my research as I possibly can while taking care of myself. Life is getting harder and harder so I don’t need to add another thing on my schedule when I am already booked.
Anywho, thank you guys for reblogging and all of that. I am genuinely surprised about that, I have been inactive for a very long time and I am still getting likes and reblogs. Crazy. Thank you very much!
See you guys with Bayonetta + Culture: Scarborough Fair and Elfin Knight!
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(OLD)Bayonetta + Culture: Rodin & The Gates of Hell
Rodin. A badass demon with a weird sense of humor.
A man who handles a bar called the "The Gates of Hell", not a special bar mind you, it is just a place Bayonetta and Enzo hangs out.
And a place where Bayonetta will get her Infernal weapons.
According to Antonio's Notes, this place was swarmed by thugs, rouges and demon hunters who were rough. They were bloodthirsty, always looking for a fight for money or glory. All of them waited for the next man to be devoured and torn apart from a demon. Their sense of reality was warped entirely when they entire this bar.
It was commonly called "The Dump" by most of the returning customers there. Anyone who calls the bar as its actual name, will instantly be known as a newcomer to the shop.
During the story of Bayonetta, the bar seems vacant and quiet. But Rodin doesn't seem to mind. When you walk into his shop, you will most likely see him reading a blank book before you begin shopping.
Gameplay-wise, it is a shop where you can buy items, techniques, costumes, and weapons for your feet.
But... who knew The Gates of Hell was a reference to something?
The Gates of Hell is a sculpture created by Auguste Rodin because The Directorate of Fine Arts commissioned him to build it in 1880. He worked on the piece until he died, which was on 1917.
Nearly 4 decades until the organization can get the sculpture already.
François Auguste René Rodin is a French painter and sculptor born in 1840, Paris. He was an art enthusiast ever since he was a child. He began drawing when he was 10 years old, and began to take it seriously when he joined the Petite École when he was as teenager. This school mostly taught math and art to their students which obviously reeled in Rodin's attention.
He tried to gain access into the Grande École, a famous Art school that sculpts the most determined artists into the most best artists in Paris. Artists around Europe dreamed to come to this school to get further education.
Rodin was denied access to the institute three times. Apparently, the school's requirements to get in was not that high, which might of destroyed Rodin's heart learning that he is not good enough for a school that is not hard to get it.
It had been theorized that his failure to get in was because his art style was different from the norm.
At this time period, every artist was trying to emulate Neoclassical art. Neoclassical art was basically a "celebration" of Roman and Greek artwork. The style began in Rome, but it soon spread out to the entire land of Europe and it eventually dominated the art world.
Rodin had no desire to emulate Neoclassical art at all. He was never taught how to sculpt like a Roman, he was taught how to handle clay and that was it.
This must've been terrible. As an artist myself, I honestly would of cried because no school should deny someone because of how they build up their work.
Rodin soon gave up on the school and went on to be a freelancer for architectural embellishments for two decades in order to make it through.
He saved enough money to visit Italy for two months. During that time there, he saw Michelangelo and Donatello's work and was instantly inspired. When he went home, he created The Age of Bronze, a life-sized model of a nude man doing a pose. (The picture above is NOT the Age of Bronze, the man was standing.)
This gave Rodin some attention from the public, but critics said the sculpture was "sculptural cheating". Still, it gave Rodin his recognition that he needed.
He then gained a part-time job as a designer for the Sevres national porcelain factory. That was a time where he was able to get his work out there and network with other designers and artists.
Thankfully, he was recognized in the art community thanks to the job. Many commissioners went up to the sculptor for art for their own work. One of those commissions, was The Gates of Hell for an upcoming museum.
Rodin's inspiration for this piece was Dante Aloghieri's Divine Comedy. An Italian poem that has three parts to it. Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradisio (Heaven). The Gates of Hell is most likely inspired by the poem, Inferno.
Rodin lived with Dante for a year so he can get the behind the scenes with his work. He also got his inspiration from the Old Testament in the bible, and from cathedrals that depicts the characters from the Old Testament.
If you look closely, there are some figures on this door that was eventually made into a full-fledged piece like The Thinker that is located on the top of the piece.
(Sorry for the blurry image)
In some concept art for Bayonetta, Rodin's name was not Rodin. Instead, it was Mephisto. Unsurprisingly, the name references a demon from mythology! Yippie!!
Mephistopheles is a demon that belongs to German mythology and folklore. He originally appeared in the Faust legend, a legend about a man who was bored with life and decided to sell his soul for unlimited knowledge and wisdom. Enter: Mephistopheles.
The demon bargains with the man's soul, telling him that he will get 24 years of unlimited power and then he will die. And when he dies, he will immediately go straight to Hell and be damned for the rest of his life.
Faust pretty much said "Cool" and took the offer. For the rest of the story, Faust and Mephisto goes on wacky adventures until the ending shows up.
Keep in mind, Mephistopheles is not your traditional demon. Demons are usually associated with evil because they work with the King of Evil. But Mephisto is interesting.
He is trapped in his own torment because he has to be Satan's bone fetcher for the rest of his life. He does not enjoy doing this. When he went up to the main character, he warns Faust not to go with his plans and live life normally because he understands the consequences that Faust will go through if Satan gets a hold of him.
Faust refuses to listen to his advice and foregoes with his dream of unlimited power. Mephisto tried to help this person even though he is a worker for the most evil dude around. There was nothing he could do.
That is all I got! If you have anything to correct me on, please tell me so we can learn together!
"Possessed by the soul of the fastest bird demon in all of Inferno, Sai Fung, these nunchaku spin at blazing speed, unleashing attacks so fast even a god would be unable to catch a glimpse."
The Sai Fung.
A big ol' Bruce Lee reference that is easily a fan favorite among Bayonetta fans. Gaining the LP for this weapon is... quite a chore (you have to complete 100 chapters in one save file), but it is worth it.
Thankfully, the 100 chapter requirement to get this weapon does not scare people at the slightest because all you have to do and play the Prologue over and over until you get it.
Plus Bayonetta is fun!
An ultra fast weapon that can stagger small enemies, shoot a TON of bullets that ricochet off walls, and make Madama Butterfly do a Bruce Lee Palm Thrust against Angels. Even the demoness is giving some Bruce Lee love.
Let's get it rolling.
Like I said in the intro, this entire weapon is a Bruce Lee homage. Even Bayonetta's Umbran Elegance is a homage to him. Even the sound effects that the Sai Fung has is identical to the ones in Bruce Lee's movies. It's amazing.
"Sai Fung" was Bruce's childhood name.
That's it.
Of course, I am not going to leave that alone. I am going to talk about this man's accomplishes and childhood because it is... quite interesting.
Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, Chinatown, but three months later, his family moved to Hong Kong.
In his early life, he was not a good person. He was the opposite of a excelling student in school. He would get in trouble multiple times. There were times where he even got expelled from a school because of how much trouble he was causing.
He was also involved in street gangs and street fighting. The street gangs were due to the constant bullying he had to endure from British students at his school. He wanted to be tough, he wanted to show them that he should not be messed around with.
That was when he started to take basic martial arts training from his father, Lee Hoi Chuen. Then in 1953, he started to become interested in martial arts. He started to train under Master Yip Man to train and study Kung Fu.
Now a high school graduate, he moved to the United States in order to get his college degree in the University of Washington where he majored in drama.
His career in acting did not take long. His father already had an acting career and he is well known. Bruce Lee was already set for Hollywood. He did tons of movies that took advantage of his martial art skills.
Eventually he got tired of acting so he actually started his own martial art institute at Seattle, Washington. He built another institute with another famous martial artists, James Lee in Oakland.
Sadly, he died so early in his life at 32. While he was doing "Enter the Dragon", he suffered a massive headache and multiple seizures. He was diagnosed with Cerebral edema. This is where the brain becomes soft and filled with too much fluid, causing brain trauma.
The first time this happened, he was saved in the hospital. But the second time he had a seizure, there was no one around to save him.
The LP for this weapon is the Messiah, HWV 56 composed by George Fredrick Handel. The piece included a ton of biblical text from the King James Bible and from the Book of Psalms.
The song has a lot of information on it... and I am not that interested in it.
In some attacks where you whack an angel with the Sai Fung, there will be stylized Chinese characters popping up quickly as you hit them.
Those characters are the "Eight Fundamental Principles of Realities". The Chinese cosmology. This octagonal diagram is called a "Ba Gua" (Eight Trigrams), which shows all of the eight elements that are needed to make the world.
The eight principles are 乾 Qian (heaven/sky), 兌 Dui (lake), 離 Li (fire), 震 Zhen (thunder), 巽 Xun (wind), 坎 Kan (water), 艮 Gen (mountain), and 坤 Kun (ground/earth).
Each element has three lines on it, some are broken and some are unbroken. The lines tells us where they are in comparison to the Yin Yang that is in the middle. For example, kun (earth) has three broken lines while Qian (heaven) has three unbroken lines. They are both opposites just like what a Yin and Yang symbolizes.
Ba Gua is also a famous Chinese fighting technique. Baguazhang, the more common name for the style, literally means "eight trigrams palm" which refers to the Ba Gua having 8 trigrams in its design.
Of course, the style is inspired by the Ba Gua's design and shape. The style's most fundamental training is the practice of "circle walking". A training exercise that involves walking around the edge of a circle while doing low stances. This helps with the fighter's flexibility and body alignment.
The screenshot above pictures the Naruto character, Neji Hyuga, doing his signature technique, "8 Trigrams 64 Palms". When he is going to perform the technique, the screen goes pitch black and jade green shapes appear on the ground. The green shapes are the entire design of the Bu Gua! He then jabs the opponent's torso 64 times.
Ba Gua does have a "64 Hands" fighting style, but it is not as cool as Neji's move...
He has an upgraded version of this technique called "8 Trigrams 128 Palms". He just doubles up on the attacks. But interestingly, when he uses this move, another ring of Chinese characters are added unto the original design.
Finally, Bayonetta does this short yell when you use one of her combos. This short, rather annoying yell is called a "kiai". Martial artists do this in order to hype themselves up. You see this in MANY Bruce Lee copies in video games (Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat and Marshall Law from Tekken).
This yell is also there for intimidation, startling, to express victory, or to give the fighter an extra point. Yes, if you knock out your opponent while doing a kiai, you will get an extra point.
Most kiais are variations of "Hi-yahhh!", "Hee-yah!" and sometimes "AAAHHHHH!".
"Possessed by the soul of the fastest bird demon in all of Inferno, Tang Lung, these nunchaku spin at blazing speed, unleashing attacks so fast even a god would be unable to catch a glimpse."
The Tang Lung.
Jeanne's version of the Sai Fung. Nothing is different design wise except that it is way more silver than its counterpart.
Tang Lung is the main character from "The Way of the Dragon", played by Bruce Lee. As mentioned earlier in the post, this is Bruce Lee's last performance before he died. This might be why Jeanne's version is called "Tang Lung", to honor Bruce Lee.
I cannot give a proper analysis on the character since I have never watched the movie. Apparently it is a very good movie, so I don't want to spoil myself.
That's all I got! If you guys have anything to correct me on something, please tell me so we can learn together!
I love your research on Bayonetta's demons and weapons. Any idea on when to expect the next post? :)
Thank you!!
I try to release Games + Culture every Sunday (or sometimes on a Wednesday). If I skip a Sunday, I am probably doing something more important or I am tired.
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Fire Emblem: Binding Blade is currently my favorite game in the series because of how dumb it is. Intelligent Systems, the company who makes these games, oddly makes the game as weird and unbalanced as possible.
Anima tomes being ultra light for no reason, the final epic boss of the game can be defeated in 1 - 2 turns, arena abusing can give you A LOT of money, the overwhelming amount of characters, the main lord only becomes useful in the last 3 chapters, some tomes are pretty much useless, no stat bonuses to all characters on Hard Mode but buffs every single enemy in the game (except the final bosses), so much magic users in the game but little promotional items for them and so much more!
This doesn't make the game unplayable mind you, but I think it's funny how IS is acting like they have never balanced a Fire Emblem game before (Binding Blade is 6th game in the series).
Legendary Weapons are present in all three GBA titles. FE: Binding Blade requires you to enter "gaiden" chapters in order to get these weapons. The other two games kind of gives them to you (the 8th game literally hands them over to you).
And these legendary weapons will most likely reference mythology, so I am here to learn about these references. Let's get started.
Durandal, The Blazing Sword
The first legendary weapon you can receive in the game. This weapon was wielded by the champion Roland and Eliwood in the game. Eliwood ,in his game, gets a new animation when using it. That is not the case for any of the characters in Binding Blade. Bummer.
Roland was a French paladin who was apart of the Twelve Peers, a group of warriors in the emperor's court. He was described as the most strongest out of all of them. Other than that, there is little backstory to him...
It is said that Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor at the time, received the Durandal from the angels of God. They tell him to give this sword to his most powerful warrior. He chose to give the sword to Roland, which significantly increases his killing power... and his chance of death.
The sword itself was a glistening and pristine sword with no imperfections. The sword has a golden hilt that holds four Christian relics, a tooth from Saint Peter, the blood of Saint Basil, strands of hair from Saint Denis, and a piece of the robe worn by Saint Mary. These do nothing, but it is there to sell the fact that this was a sword made in the heavens.
The most notable battle Roland was in was the Battle of Roncevaux Pass at the border of France and Spain. Before this battle, Roland was using the Durandal to crush every single enemy of France. The sword was sharp and can cut through anything it wanted. But in Roncevaux Pass, things went differently.
He and 20,000 French soldiers were trying to fight off a bunch of Muslim fighters while the emperor tries to escape into France. Roland was heavily wounded during the battle and was almost on the brink of death. He knew that if the enemy gets their hands on the sword, disaster would come upon his country.
He tries to break the sword with a rock, but it is indestructible. He destroyed the rock just by trying to break the sword. He took the sword and hid it beneath his skin. He then dies.
There are some versions of this story in other depictions of the event.
Some say that the sword was already owned by another warrior. A champion of the City of Troy that goes by the name Hector. Then it was given to Roland by an enchanter named Maugris.
Another version says that the sword was created by a Norse blacksmith named Wayland, who also created the Gram, another legendary and powerful sword. The sword was then brought to Roland by an angel.
Armads, The Axe of Lightning
The second legendary weapon you can receive in the game. The axe was wielded by the founder of the Western Isles, Durban the Berserker and Hector. This axe is actually cursed. If anyone wield this axe, they will experience a brutal death in the future.
Hector in FE7 takes this risk and uses the sword to destroy the fire dragon. In the prequel, FE6, we see him die in Chapter 2 by the hands of the king of Bern, Zephiel.
"Armads" most likely comes from "Almace", a legendary sword that was owned by Tilpin, an archbishop who struggled to keep his rights on his church.
He was a part of the Twelve Peers according to the Chanson of Roland, but not much is said about him or his life as a warrior. His life is pretty much overshadowed by Roland in every way.
Maltet, The Spear of Snow and Ice
A spear that you receive in Chapter 20x, the one with a lot of walls to break down. The wielder of this weapon was Baligant, the founder of Ilia, a freezing city that specializes in aerial combat with the help of the Pegasus.
The Maltet is the most elusive weapon to find information on. I can barely find a picture on the weapon...
BUT, I can tell you guys who Baligant is.
Baligant is the equal to Charlemagne. He is the ruler of the Muslim side or "Non- Christian" side. Roland was fighting this man's army.
Both Baligant and Charlemagne of them have the same qualities. Old, great swordsmen, powerful, and rulers of their own land.
The two has... quite a history. Both of the rulers were driven with revenge. Baligant created a war with Charlemagne and his army killed Roland, Charlemagne kills Baligant's son in return. Some might say that is unfair to bring in Baligant's son like this when it does not involve him, which gives Baligant a good reason to confront the Roman emperor.
It is hard to see Baligant's side when the Chanson of Roland depicts Charlemagne as a saint while they depict Balligant as a demon.
The two rulers go head to head and Charlemagne annihilated the Muslim ruler.
Forblaze, The Infernal Element
The anima tome you receive in Chapter 14x. This tome was created by the Archsage Athos against the mamketes. You get to meet Athos in FE7 but I honestly remember him as that dude you always give the Luna to at the last chapter.
This is Mount Athos. A mountain that resides in Northern Greece. An important area for the Eastern Orthodox religion that was founded by Christians almost a 1,000 years ago. The mountain is officially named the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain, home of over 20 monastaries across the entire mountain.
Even though this place looks beautiful... it is restricted to visitors with special passes, mainly male monks visiting the Garden of Virgin Mary.
The mountain is said to be created by a giant named Athos in Greek mythology. During the Gigantomachy, an event that almost copies Ragnarok, a battle between giants and the Norse deities, Athos threw a mountain at the god of the sea, Poseidon, and then the god throws it back at Athos.
The Greeks were inspired by the battle so they named the mountain after the giant.
I'm going to split this up into another part where I talk about the remaining four legendary weapons.
If you guys have anything to share with me, please tell me so we can learn together!
