Bloodborne remains one of the best games ever created, with FromSoftware’s third-person action-RPG epic representing a perfect convergence of horror, action, and finely-tuned combat mechanics. Released in 2015, the game was showered with praise and awards, and continues to be recognized as one of the greatest games on the PS4.
The game was also a fantastic example of storytelling, conveying its bleak and harrowing plot without relying on huge exposition dumps or lengthy cutscenes. One of its finest narrative moments was undoubtedly the encounter with Ludwig, the first hunter of the Healing Church, in Bloodborne’s DLC.
How Bloodborne Built Ludwig’s Legend
Although he didn’t actually appear until the Old Hunters DLC, Ludwig is mentioned multiple times in the Bloodborne base game. References are made in dialogue and in item descriptions to the renowned warrior, which helps to cement him in players’ minds, and makes them wonder whether they will encounter him either as an NPC character or even as an enemy.
Ludwig was the Healing Church’s first hunter, responsible for a transformation in the way in which the Church tackled the encroaching Scourge of the Beast. He not only battled the creatures with speed and tenacity, but also trained the general populace in similar fighting styles, helping the city of Yharnam to survive despite its ever-worsening plague of monsters. The tone in which he is referenced is so reverential that players are almost subliminally convinced of the warrior’s strength, wisdom and nobility, even before they have encountered him.
This approach has been used before by FromSoftware, who famously built up the legend around Artorias, before a shocking reveal in the Dark Souls DLC. Other parallels between the two characters include the addition of a grandiose suffix to their names: Ludwig is known as “The Holy Blade,” while Artorias is “The Abysswalker,” making them sound like the stuff of legend.
How The Old Hunters DLC Pays Off Ludwig's Story
Players of the Old Hunters DLC — at least those who had managed to avoid spoilers — might have stumbled into the corpse-strewn underpass around halfway through the acclaimed expansion, and been surprised to learn from a frightened, half-alive cadaver that “Ludwig the Accursed is coming.” At this point they may have still expected to meet a proud warrior, hell-bent on exterminating the beastly scourge. Instead, they encountered the most hideous beast the game had offered to date.
Although Ludwig’s past is not detailed, his involvement with the Healing Church is likely to mean he was a cleric of some sort, and astute players would have already picked up on the game’s explanation that “clerics transformed into the most hideous beasts.” This gruesome prophecy is proved in horrifying detail when a part-man, part-wolf, part-horse monstrosity tramples into the arena, its inhuman shrieks echoing around the chamber as it assails the player with devastating stampede attacks and animalistic leaps.
Perhaps even more upsetting than the reveal of what became of the once-great Ludwig is the second phase of the epic boss battle. In this half of the fight, the monstrous and multi-legged creature suddenly rises to a two-legged stance, and picks up his fabled Holy Blade, muttering cryptically in his restored human voice that the weapon is his “true mentor.” Watching the deformed horse-monster wielding a sword and walking like a person is even more harrowing than his initial incarnation, and only hardens the player’s resolve to put the hunter out of his misery.
The suffering does not end for Ludwig when he is defeated, as the player may go on to converse with his severed head, which alternates between coherent dialogue and terrifying, equine brays and whinnies. As well as its infamous difficulty, the disturbing nature of this battle and its aftermath have secured its place as many fans’ favorite Bloodborne boss fight.
Bloodborne is available now for the PS4.