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“Oh, don’t you worry. Whatever happens — you may think it all a mere bad dream.” If you’ve even started booting up Bloodborne for the first time, this is the first of the many obscure quotes you’d read or hear around the victorian-like world of Yharnam. As the player, you begin your story by designing your “Hunter,” tweaking them to your heart’s content. In this article, you’ll know what a Hunter is, what they do, and what’s Bloodborne all about from your character’s perspective.
What Are Hunters?
Hunters are the amalgamation of the rise of the beasts in Yharnam. Due to beasts being immune to modern weaponry (Quicksilver Bullets, standard blades, etc.), the people found a way to make them work by infusing the wielder’s blood onto them. How did the beast become what they were when you entered Yharnam?
In Yharnam, the “Church of Healing” found a way to cure any illnesses using blood ministration. Unfortunately, the “healing blood” is tainted and causes the people to become beasts. This turn of events gave rise to the “Scourge of the Beasts.” The Church of Healing scrambled to find a way to fight off the beasts.
The Hunter
The Hunter is the main protagonist of Bloodborne. The game tasks you to end the Scourge of the Beasts. Your consciousness is bound to the Hunter’s Dream, and with that comes the ability to project yourself into Yharnam. Upon experiencing death for the first time in Bloodborne or by finding the first lamp, the Hunter goes onto the Hunter’s Dream, where Gehrman, the first Hunter, awaits him.
There are three endings for Bloodborne; the last ending is where you become the first ever human to ascend into a “Great One.” Ultimately, your goal as the Hunter falls down to finding and eliminating the source of the beasts. The story of Bloodborne evolves from simply hunting down beasts to uncovering the secrets behind the Great Ones and discovering the reasons why all of these are happening.
The Hunter’s Origins
Your Hunter’s origins vary and differ from each other. Some heavily rely on being more durable than others, while some focus on being an “average joe.” Here are some of the Hunter Origins available when you start your journey in Bloodborne.
Do keep in mind that all of these “starting classes” don’t matter at the latter stages of the game since you can build your Hunter to your liking; however, if you’re a min-max player who likes to optimize everything for a run, then picking a suitable class will help you achieve a more powerful Hunter for the endgame content of Bloodborne.
Milquetoast
A good all-around Hunter with an even stat build. There is nothing special about this class; it’s more of an “average joe” and a jack-of-all-trades rather than a class-specific build. What’s great about this is that you can diversify your options once you get close to the end of the game; however, if you are a “min-max” player, we would not recommend this class.
Lone Survivor
Lone Survivor is one of the best classes for beginners. As the name suggests. the stat preset is mainly about surviving; hence it focuses more on vitality rather than other stats in the game. This focus on vitality means you have more leniency when it comes to making mistakes throughout the early game in Bloodborne.
Troubled Childhood
Troubled Childhood focuses on Hunter’s endurance and skill, making it agile and more combat-intensive in the early game. This origin might make it difficult for newcomers to the difficulty in Bloodborne due to its more aggressive nature when taking fights.
Violent Past
This class focuses more on heavy and strength-reliant weapons. It also has decent vitality and endurance, emphasizing its melee-centric combat. One thing you should note is that this class isn’t fond of firearms, so you may be limited in your selection.
Professional
Professional might be a better option for aggressive players. It is similar to Trouble Childhood; however, it’s much more well-rounded since there’s more balance when it comes to other stats. It highly focuses on Skill and Endurance, and again, we highly recommend this origin if you’re a veteran Souls player or a returning Bloodborne player.
Military Veteran
Military Veteran is similar to Violent Past; however, it’s more focused on being a well-rounded melee player than a strength-specific one. It focuses on Strength and Skill, and has a better Bloodtinge level, making it viable for a much wider range of weapons in your arsenal.
Noble Scion
If you’re into ranged combat, then the Noble Scion class is for you. A quick note, however, is that firearms in Bloodborne are usually not advisable since they barely do any damage other than their usefulness in parrying enemies. Not a beginner-friendly class, if you ask me.
Cruel Fate
Cruel Fate is a class revolving around the magical arts in the world of Bloodborne. This class has a high arcane, and a well-balanced vitality, endurance, strength and skill. The strength and skill are a bit too low, making the starting choices limited if you proceed to invest in early arcane points but this is perfect for those seeking an arcane-centric build.
Waste of Skin
The best starting class in my opinion, Waste of Skin. This class is the go-to when it comes to min-maxers due to its lower starting level, offering you more flexibility and freedom when building your character. The biggest drawback of this class is that it is a very weak origin, meaning you’ll often die in the early game of Bloodborne.
Other Notable Hunters
Besides the player’s Hunter, multiple Hunters within the world of Bloodborne significantly contribute to the game’s lore. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Note that all of these Hunters are also bosses; however, we will not be covering their boss fight or strategies as this article is mainly about Hunters.
Ludwig, The Cleric Healing Church Hunter
Ludwig recruited the Yharnamites to become hunters for the Healing Church. The Church specifically designed a Yharnam Hunter Set for the new recruits. However, one thing to note is that this hunter set is not enough defense for non-hunter humans to stand a chance against the beasts.
Using steel weapons and fire as their primary armaments against the beasts, the hunters fought the beasts every night. The molotov cocktail is one of the most notable weapons used by the first hunters, with Yharmanites believing that it cleanses impurity.
This plan evidently backfired on Ludwig and his brigade. Bloodlust and fear consumed the Yharnamites who engaged in the beast hunt, seemingly fast-forwarding the process. Some hunters turn into half beasts, while others turn into full-blooded ones.
Ludwig was among the first of many Hunters for the Healing Church; most were clerics. Clerics, unfortunately, turned into the vilest and most hideous beasts in the world of Bloodborne. Now, I know what you’re thinking; maybe Ludwig is the Cleric Beast, the first optional boss we encounter in the game. While this was what fans believed in when the game was first released, the Old Hunters DLC proved this to be wrong. The Cleric Beast might be someone under Ludwig during the early days of the Healing Church Hunters.
Father Gascoigne, A Blooddrunk Hunter
The term “Father” is what people coined when they saw Clerics in a foreign land and the Healing Church did not know about them. Father Gascoigne joined the Black Hunter Church. He proved to be a capable and experienced hunter with his skills of slaying multiple beasts at once. Gascoigne found love outside of the Church with a young woman named Viola. Gascoigne and Viola conceived a child, and this is where Gascoigne left the Healing Church.
Upon visiting one of the houses in Yharnam, you hear a child NPC inside a house looking for her mom. The child told the player that her mom went looking for her father and now both of them haven’t returned. At the Tomb of Oedon, you find Father Gascoigne alongside corpses of Yharnamites, seemingly corrupted by his thirst for blood. On the nearby rooftop, you see the woman that the child described with a red jeweled brooch, unfortunately dead.
Before getting there, the child NPC provided the player with a music box, and once the player uses the box during the Father Gascoigne boss fight, Father Gascoigne will scream in agony. As if he was trying to remember who his family was. Upon successfully beating Father Gascoigne, he will let out a scream wherein you can faintly hear, “forgive me.”
Gehrman, The First Hunter
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Gehrman has the honor of being the first-ever Hunter of beasts. He is one of those the game would acknowledge as “The Old Hunter,” similar to Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower. He also happens to be the first character you’ll meet upon getting to the Hunter’s Dream and owns the workshop there. Gehrman only serves as the “advisor” per se of hunters such as yourself, and he guides you throughout your journey in Yharnam.
Gehrman owns the weapon called Burial Blade, which is said to be made from siderite. Siderite is a mineral ore that is said to have descended from the skies above. Gehrman also made his light armor to fend off the beasts, becoming the standard for modern-day Hunters. Gehrman opted for speed and agility instead of better durability to combat the beasts scouring through the streets of Yharnam.
Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower trained under Gehrman’s mentorship. Lady Maria greatly admires Gehrman, and, in turn, Gehrman falls in love with her. The game did not clearly state if Lady Maria reciprocated Gehrman’s love for her.
Gehrman has occupied the Hunter’s Dream since then and has been the host of the Great One called “Moon Presence.” The Moon Presence created the Hunter’s Dream. If the player defeats the source of the Scourge, Gehrman will offer the player freedom from the Hunter’s Dream by killing you with his weapon. If the player denies the offer, Gehrman will force death upon the player, and you will have to fight him as one of the final bosses in the base game.
Lady Maria of the Astral Clock Tower
Lady Maria is a relative of the Queen of Cainhurst, Annalise. As mentioned above, she is one of the first hunters to become a student of Gehrman. During her tenure as a Hunter, Lady Maria discarded her morals. She executed the villagers of the Fishing Hamlet after learning that all of them undergo mutations due to the presence of Kos, one of the Great Ones. Before Kos died under the hands of the Old Hunters, it spawned its child called “Orphan of Kos.”
Being guilty of her actions toward the villagers of the Fishing Hamlet, Maria discarded her weapon called the Rakuyo in disgust of her moral decisions. The Hunter’s Nightmare, another realm similar to the Hunter’s Dream, pulled Maria’s spirit wherein she awakes at the Astral Clock Tower.
Conclusion
The Hunters, whether Old or New, aims to find the source of the Scourge and eliminate all beasts inside. Although the Hunter’s (player) objective may be vague, progressing through the game will send you through many layers of storytelling and lore. There are many more Hunters like yourself; remember, do not give in to the beast within you.