Bayonetta Origins Ending Explained
The "Bayonetta" series is known for its sense of style, over the top visuals, bombastic set pieces, and racy elements. These factors made the announcement of the story book-esque spin-off "Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon" all the more surprising. It marks a drastic shift in tone, visual design, and gameplay from the core of the series, and the initial announcement made many fans interested in seeing how it would play into the complicated storyline of the franchise. After all, "Bayonetta" is filled with multiple universes, varied iterations of characters, and a number of realms and types of magic.
The spin-off is set before the rest of the franchise, giving fans a glimpse at the backstory and origins of Cereza as she journeys through a mystical forest known as Avalon with the assistance of a powerful demon named Cheshire. If you're a fan who's curious to see how the game plays into the franchise's overarching narrative, here is the ending of "Bayonetta Origins" explained.
The final elemental core
At the center of "Bayonetta Origins" is an adventure in which Cereza and Cheshire elemental cores to increase Cheshire's powers and escape the faerie forest world of Avalon. The last act of the game kicks off when the duo run into the Faerie King Puca as they find the final elemental core. To get the elemental core, Cereza and Cheshire have to fight Puca, and the duo are ultimately able to defeat him with their combined efforts.
However, Puca attempts to spoil their victory by launching himself out of his floating throne, which explodes after he's a safe distance away. Cereza is frustrated at the prospect of Puca returning to get in their way later on in their journey, but his defeat still allows them to destroy the elemental core. Doing so powers up Cheshire and opens a gate that allows them to travel to the Forbidden Grounds, where a mysterious individual named Lukaon has been communicating to them throughout their journey.
Ignis' true motives
On their way to the Forbidden Grounds, Cereza and Cheshire run into Ignis, a friendly spirit who helps them make their way through Avalon. At this point, Ignis thanks Cereza for her efforts throughout Avalon. He tells her that he has dreamt of and been waiting for someone like her for a long time so that the reign of Puca could hopefully come to an end. Ignis explains that ever since Puca became the king of Avalon, he has focused his power and efforts on exploiting its natural resources and abusing its denizens.
For this reason, Ignis asks Cereza to free the land of Puca once and for all, thanking her for everything she has accomplished up to this point. This moment is of minor importance narratively, but it does play a key role in Cereza's development as a young Umbra Witch. She undergoes an arc that shows her gaining the confidence central to her characterization in the main "Bayonetta" trilogy. This moment also highlights the first time that she uses her abilities to help others.
Helping the creatures of Avalon is a much smaller endeavor than the those she undertakes as an adult, but it is an important stepping stone toward her days of saving those less powerful than her from incomprehensible enemies.
Puca boss fight
Having talked to Ignis, Cereza and Cheshire then enter the Forbidden Grounds, where they find Puca waiting for them just past the entrance. Rather than just attacking them, however, Puca offers Cheshire a deal: Puca will send Cheshire back to his home, freeing him from Cereza's favorite stuffed toy. In exchange, Cheshire must leave Cereza to Puca.
At first, it looks as though Cheshire is going to take the faerie king up on his offer, but he only acts that way to get in a sneak attack against Puca. In retaliation, Puca casts a spell on Cheshire, which causes him to fall into a blind and violent rage. He hits Puca away and then turns his attention on Cereza, leading into a flashy boss fight. Rather than defeating him through conventional methods, Cereza opts to counter Cheshire with compassion and understanding. She is ultimately able to free him from the influence of the spell, returning Cheshire to normal.
Although they started their journey working begrudgingly, this encounter proves just how close they've become, to the point where they are willing to make sacrifices for one another.
Lukaon's origins
After restoring Cheshire, the two venture deeper into the Forbidden Grounds, where they finally find Lukaon contained in a crystal. They talk to Lukaon and discover that although his body is imprisoned in the crystal, his soul was placed into a white wolf that they've interacted with previously. Lukaon then fills them in on his past, which is particularly important for fans of the series, since he was introduced in "Bayonetta 3" with very little backstory or explanation.
Lukaon tells them that he was actually a faerie prince. However, Puca led a revolt against the royal family that killed both of Lukaon's parents. Puca was unable to kill Lukaon, so to prevent the royal bloodline from contesting his rule, Puca sealed Lukaon in the crystal. Ever since, Lukaon has waited for a witch capable of entering the forest and saving him. Many witches have entered the forest before Cereza, but Lukaon explains that Cereza is the only one who has the ability to set him free.
Fighting Lukaon
The price of Lukaon's freedom is then revealed to be the sacrifice of a powerful demon, and Cereza just so happens to have one traveling with her — one that has been all powered-up by elemental cores. Lukaon tells Cereza that if they sacrifice Cheshire, he will finally be set free and will be able to reclaim his rightful rule of Avalon from Puca. Cereza refuses Lukaon's proposition, so the faerie prince begins stealing Cheshire's life essence by force. This kicks off a massive battle between Lukaon and Cereza as she tries to save her new dear friend from being completely absorbed.
This is a difficult moment for Cereza, as she realizes that she trusted someone who was only seeking to use her for their own benefit the entire time. Thankfully, she is ultimately able to combine her powers with Cheshire's to defeat Lukaon. This restores the life essence that had been stolen from Cheshire and leaves Lukaon weak and defenseless.
However, rather than finish him off, Cereza says that she still does not want to hurt Lukaon. Instead, this makes her even more determined to do the right thing, and she promises to find a way to help Lukaon that won't hurt Cheshire.
Leaving Avalon
After Lukaon is defeated, Cereza hears a loud explosion and sees a shaft of energy in the distance. Cereza understands this to mean that the barrier keeping her and Cheshire trapped in Avalon has fallen. In her excitement, she promises to Lukaon that the three of them can escape the realm together and return to Cereza's adoptive mother and tutor Morgana, who she believes will know of a way to help him.
Before they can leave, however, Puca reappears and threatens the three of them. He explains that he is excited to finally be able to kill Lukaon once and for all, solidifying his rule of the faeries and paving his way to conquering other realms.
Lukaon offers his life to Puca, as long as the king promises to spare the lives of Cereza and Cheshire. Cereza refuses the notion immediately. Puca then reveals that the trio was surrounded by an invisible army of faeries the entire time, causing Cheshire to pick up Lukaon in his mouth and throw Cereza on his back. Just as they make their escape together — showing what a great team they've already become — Morgana appears and kills Puca.
Morgana and Lukaon
Now free of Avalon, Cereza immediately pleads with Morgana to help them save Lukaon, since she doesn't think the faerie prince has long to live. Her pleas seem to fall on deaf ears, however, as she realizes that Morgana looks completely transfixed by Lukaon's wolf form. She then snaps at Cereza and is incredibly angry at her for leaving Avalon without sacrificing Cheshire, which is obviously very confusing to Cereza.
Morgana then reveals that she is actually Lukaon's mother, and that she was not killed on the day of the rebellion. She instead fled to another realm to rebuild her strength and save her son. She realized that she couldn't enter Avalon without Puca knowing that the faerie queen had returned, so she instead started taking young Umbra Witches under her tutelage, then sending them to Avalon in the hope that they could save Lukaon.
All of them failed until Cereza was able to team up with Cheshire. But because Cereza refused to sacrifice her new friend to save Lukaon, Morgana's plan was all for naught. This makes the rescue attempt another failure, and perhaps the biggest one yet. As Lukaon begins to die, Morgana becomes enraged and attacks Cereza and Cheshire. No wonder Bayonetta goes on to have so many trust issues!
Defeating Morgana
The reveal of her maternal figure's manipulation and betrayal is too much for Cereza to bear. She falls to her knees, saying that she is unable to fight back against her own mother and that all hope is lost. To this, Cheshire expresses his disappointment that their adventure has come to an end. This response ends up being a coy method of building Cereza back up: Cheshire reminds her of everything they are fighting for, and Cereza gains the confidence she needs to get up and fight back against the much more powerful Morgana.
Cereza is ultimately able to defeat Morgana with Cheshire's help, her newfound confidence unlocking her Witch Time ability. Of course, fans will recognize this ability from throughout the series, but now they know how it first manifested. This spell allows Cereza to slow down time and exploit the vulnerabilities of her enemies. Thanks to her bond with Cheshire and her new power, she is able to utterly defeat Morgana and become the Umbra Witch that she had trained years to be.
The ending... for now
After defeating Morgana, players earn the game's first ending. It begins with Cereza speaking to Lukaon one last time, just as his soul dissipates. He tells Cereza that he thinks she did the right thing by defeating his mother, and tells her not to carry the guilt of being unable to save him. With that, he disappears.
It is then that Cheshire realizes that Morgana's defeat opened a portal that will allow him to return to his home in the demon realm. He considers going through, but is reluctant to do so until Cereza tells him that he should. She says that she can tell he is growing tired and weak from being in a different realm for so long, and promises that he has helped her gain the confidence to take care of herself. Just before he leaves, she also promises that she will continue to train until she is powerful enough to reliably summon him again. This is a fun hint towards the incredible summoning powers that players know Bayonetta will come to master in the future.
Some time after Cheshire leaves, Cereza dreams of a cell where her mother is being kept. Though her mother has never spoken until now, she tells Cereza that she is proud of her. She then gives her daughter a hug and it is said that Cereza never has the dreams again. While it's not entirely clear if the dreams were real or not, this scene could be interpreted as Cereza finally being able to move forward, having found her own voice and inner power at last.
Jeanne's Tale
After completing the base game, players unlock a side story mode called "Jeanne's Tale." The mode is roughly an hour long and puts players in control of Jeanne, Cereza's Umbra Witch friend, for a small interlude that helps connect the events of the game with those of "Bayonetta 3." The mode begins with Jeanne in the regular world, when she sees a vision of Cereza being taken captive by an entity known as the Affirmer of Phenomena. To help save her, she projects her soul into the faerie realm, where she runs into a trapped Cheshire.
Two travel together to find where the young witch is being held captive. When they face the Affirmer of Phenomena, it afflicts Jeanne with a vision of the future in the middle of the battle. The vision is of Jeanne's death in "Bayonetta 3," and the Affirmer warns her that it will happen unless she leaves him to do what he wishes with Cereza. Jeanne refuses, however, and accepts her fate to fight for her friend.
This offers new context for Jeanne's actions in the rest of the "Bayonetta" games, making her appear to be an even more selfless character. It also explains all of her reckless and cocky actions in those games: She knows that nothing will kill her until the predetermined moment.
The True Ending
The Affirmer of Phenomena is much more powerful than both Jeanne or Cheshire, and almost kills them before Jeanne's destined time. As he is beginning to tear Cheshire apart, Jeanne calls out for Cereza to awaken from the powerful spell that the Affirmer has her under. Jeanne reminds Cereza of their promise to become stronger together, calling upon her to prove that she is a dedicated Umbra Witch.
This somehow breaks Cereza out of the spell, allowing her to combine her abilities with Jeanne and Cheshire, defeating the Affirmer (and sealing Jeanne's fate). The effort of breaking out of the spell ultimately drains Cereza, however, and she falls to the ground unconscious. Jeanne confirms that Cereza will remember nothing of the event, tying off the loose ends this would create with the first "Bayonetta." She offers to send Cheshire back to his home, but the demon rejects her offer because he has come to care for Cereza. So, Jeanne makes him promise to never tell Cereza of what happened, hoping it will not hinder her growing confidence.
Connections to the Series
While "Bayonetta Origins" is extremely different from other games in the series, it still has numerous connections to its predecessors. Of course, as the name implies, the main narrative of the game revolves around exploring the history of Bayonetta herself, but the series' use of multiple dimensions can make it difficult to discern how everything ties together.
The game also finally makes sense of Lukaon's appearance in "Bayonetta 3," finally explaining who he is and why he (or a version of him) appears briefly in the aforementioned game. The game also explains more about the faeries that were also seen in the series' third entry, even giving players the ability to explore their entire world and interact with various faeries in Avalon. While these elements aren't entirely necessary to understand or enjoy "Bayonetta 3," having more information on them helps make both games feel more like one cohesive tale.
"Bayonetta Origins" also serves as a fun way to build on Cereza's relationship with Cheshire in the main games. While he only appears as a stuffed animal in the first and third games, this game reveals that he is so much more. It also adds an even deeper meaning to Bayonetta's future nickname for her friend, Luka, whom she calls "Cheshire" — and whom, it's worth noting, is also a variant of the deceased Lukaon.
In many ways, "Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon" brings multiple elements of the "Bayonetta" mythos full circle.