On this page: Previously On Bayonetta... - The Story So Far
Previously On Bayonetta... - The Story So Far
Here we'll catch you up (or simply remind you if it's been a while!) on the main narrative beats across the first two games in the Bayonetta series. We start at a very good place to start: the beginning...
Bayonetta Story Recap
The first Bayonetta kicks off in the "present day" with our titular heroine gaining key insight from her informant Enzo on the Eyes of the World — a powerful treasure split between the Umbra Witches and the Lumen Sages, Left and Right Eye respectively — and how this fits into her past, having been rendered with no memory of who she is after awakening from a 500-year slumber. After gaining her signature guns from Rodin at the Gates of Hell, Bayonetta heads to Vigrid, an urban location in Europe.
During her journey, Bayonetta encounters Jeanne, an Umbra Witch under the influence of our main antagonist, Balder, along with Luka, a journalist who believes Bayonetta to be the reason behind his father's death. She also hears a mysterious voice in the air, guiding her forwards; we later learn that this is the voice of Balder himself. As Bayonetta progresses further, she learns more information regarding her past and the war between the Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages.
Eventually, Bayonetta encounters a young girl called Cereza (cherry in Spanish), who mistakes Bayonetta for her mother. Although Bayonetta comes to accept that Cereza may be her own daughter, we later learn that Cereza is in fact a younger version of Bayonetta herself, brought to the present after 500 years alongside her father, Balder. Bayonetta faces off against Jeanne, who breaks free of Balder's manipulations and informs Bayonetta of her true past, confirming the two to be close friends. After a missile strike, Jeanne is presumed dead.
When Bayonetta faces off against Balder, he informs Bayonetta that the Eyes of the World are not gemstones, but people, with Bayonetta herself being the Left and Balder the Right. After seemingly defeating Balder, Bayonetta's true self is awakened, thus activating the Left Eye and reawakening Jubileous the Creator, the ruler of the Angels of Paradiso, from its slumber, ultimately fulfilling Balder's plan.
Jeanne returns to Bayonetta and the two face off against Jubileous, with Balder perishing in the process. After a lengthy battle, Jubileous is defeated and Bayonetta is assumed to have died in the aftermath. However, in a final scene, it's revealed that Bayonetta and Jeanne now fight side-by-side against the Angels of Paradiso.
Bayonetta 2 Story Recap
Bayonetta 2 opens during Christmas, with Bayonetta and Jeanne doing some much-needed shopping in the company of Enzo. After the Angels of Paradiso attack, the two embark on what they think is a routine fight. However, after Bayonetta summons one of the demons of Inferno to assist, it breaks free of her grasp, apparently due to an imbalance in the world after the prior death of Balder. Jeanne's soul is dragged into Inferno, leaving her lifeless body in the real world.
After being informed by Rodin that Jeanne's soul could potentially be saved, Bayonetta heads to Fimbulventr, where an apparent portal to Inferno resides. On her journey, she meets a mysterious boy called Loki and a deadly masked Lumen Sage — later revealed to be a young version of Balder sent from the past — with the latter seemingly determined to kill the former. Bayonetta and Loki team up to locate Inferno and save Jeanne's soul.
As Bayonetta and Loki progress, it's revealed that Loki allegedly played a key part in instigating the Witch Hunts by killing Bayonetta's mother, Rosa. After saving Jeanne's soul from Inferno, however, Bayonetta instead learns that Loki is one half of an elder being's personality, with the other half, Loptr, being the evil version. It was Loptr that killed Bayonetta's mother, and the entity is now hell-bent on fusing with Loki's power to reform Aesir, the God of Chaos.
After Loki is captured by Loptr, Bayonetta and Balder form an uneasy alliance to take the entity down, with Balder realising that Loki is not to blame for the death of his wife. The two fail in their efforts, with the Left and Right Eyes removed from their respective bodies, allowing Aesir to return to full strength. Loki, however, manages to utilise his power to destroy the two Eyes, weakening Aesir and allowing Bayonetta and Balder to defeat him.
Aesir's soul subsequently attempts to escape, but is then absorbed by Balder in an effort to restrain it. Loki warns Balder that doing so may corrupt him, but Balder returns to the past regardless. Bayonetta comes to realise that the Balder she encountered during the first game was never evil, but simply corrupted by the presence of Aesir's soul. Loki then leaves, accepting that the world is now in balance, stating to Bayonetta that he may return in the future.
And now you're bang up to date on the basic details, ready to dive into Bayonetta 3. Let us know if you have any questions and we'll do our best to answer them.
Let us know if this guide was helpful below, and be sure to check out our Bayonetta 3 guides for more information.
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Comments 33
This is a really awesome write up covering the entirety of the Bayonetta story so far. I actually enjoyed reading this more than a recap video, which is my norm.
These characters look ridiculous, I can't believe there are so many of them with such deep stories, it's like Dark Souls lore. I had no idea the game's story was like that.
The author even had the restraint to not mention VAs or Twitter, so bravo!
Very much looking forward to 3. Don’t need to read this, pretty confident in my knowledge on Bayo lore and events.
…Hope this comment section doesn’t go where I think it’s going either.
I plan to replay 1 and 2 on Switch before 3, but this is a welcome addition, NL. Good on ye, mates!
Hm... Ivan from Devil's Third and Rodin looks kinda similar, hm...
That snap of Enzo is horrible. I don't like him, but I also don't recall him looking like Sloth from The Goonies.
I hope the cutscenes in Bayonetta 3 have a little more budget poured into them. I hate how the previous games used still images with voice acting as a substitute for proper cinematics.
This article makes me want to watch the anime again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B92pbv4hBqY
I hate to say it but I am hoping no time travel. Two games was enough thanks.
Technically Aesir is the antagonist of the first game as well.
This is great for people who just want to jump in three, thanks!
What a great recap. its been some time since I last played these games so many thanks for publishing this.
Very nice, thank you. I loved playing both games but I would be hard pressed to remember any of these story details years later.
I'm so glad i'm not part of the cancel culture.
I said on this site she were a ranting troll right away.
Most people are just not able to read between the lines on internet, because they are members of the cancel culture.
Anyways. Will be great to play Bayonetta 3 as i'm a niche fan like everyone else.
Great write up, though I must say that while I’ve played both games a bunch of times, I don’t think I got, or even could have gotten, this info from the games themselves! I can’t imagine anyone plays these games for their story. The storyline is incomprehensible nonsense and not a draw to what makes Bayonetta so great.
@Ryu_Niiyama I do mention that, yeah - thanks for checking the article out! I'm with you on the time travel stuff. I think we're entering the Bayonetta multiverse now.
Thanks for the recap article.
^Also, count me in on the 'no time travel' mention. A third time of that stuff in Bayo 3 would just be pushing it.
I played both games, and had to google what the hell happened after the fact XD
But this sums it up really nicely, thankyou!
@Ventilator I hereby unfriend you...
@Ventilator Yeah, we heard you the first time.
No reason to keep trying to bait people into talking about it. It's been covered to death in other articles, perhaps you would feel better commenting there.
@Ventilator I think you're exaggerating a little here - 80%? I don't think there's many here that would agree with cancel culture. Equality, yes, but no-one was cancelling anyone, at most a few people may have answered with their wallet and decided to cancel their pre-order; that's their freedom of choice. You don't need to keep going on about it in a seperate post, the fine folks here brought a lot to the table already. I hope you can refrain from troll-like posts and keep things civil.
@sikthvash Oh no friend, you just landed in a web ...
@Astral-Grain I know, I know slaps forhead I think I was baited by the number - looking at spreadsheets all day has fried my brain haha
@sikthvash Haha it happens to all of us
Thanks for the recap. I only remembered about half of this.
Respect for writing this. Completed both the games, didn’t have a clue what was going on until now.
@MythTgr I think the Switch effect will happen with Bayonetta 3. Probably will end up being the best selling entry in the series.
I wasn't ever expecting for Bayonetta to become such a hot topic as it is since last week, and I'm like, TOTALLY here for it.
Now, I'll admit that reading these lore reminders is a bit refreshing after seeing mostly about the mess surrounding the release
Bring on the Babeonetta!
Just hope Loki isn't in it much, that kid annoyed me so much in 2.
Balder’s arc was legitimately great. Crispin Freeman did the character justice in Bayo 2
@Arawn93 Agreed.
One of my favorite tragic villains in gaming and it's carried entirely on the back of the sequel to the game he was a villain in.
@tseliot People like you were never on my friend list.
Holy crap, I remembered almost nothing of it all 😅
Really thankful for the recap.
Just please pirate it. The creator is ***** and doesn't like to pay his English voice actors properly
Hey wait, what about Cereza in the first game? Shes sorta somehow young Bayonetta, I guess maybe pulled through time also? It was sorta confusing cause I think she was real and not just a hallucination or something. She hung out with Luka for a while, so he could see her.
Excellent article! I just started playing this series via Bayonetta 2 on Switch. I’ve also picked up B1 on PS5 and B3 on Switch because I’m enjoying B2 so much. Tried to watch a YouTube video explaining this series but your article is far superior and very well written. Thank you!
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