Miriam

Template:Ritual of the Night Character

“	Our power doesn't make us good or bad. Our choices do.	„
	~ Miriam in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Miriam (ミリアム, Miriamu^?) is the main protagonist and playable character in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Crystals that harbor demonic power are embedded into her skin.^[1] She takes it upon herself to confront a fellow Shardbinder and an old friend, Gebel, in order to end his reign of terror and hopefully, find a way to reverse the curse inflicted on her. Miriam also appears in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon to accompany Zangetsu on a perilous journey to vanquish a powerful Archdemon, however, whether she is permitted to come along, left behind, or killed is entirely up to the player.

Official description

Picked up as an orphan by an Alchemist at a young age, she became a host for the dark Alchemists’ curse. Although the magi-crystals were fused with her body at a young age, for 10 years she lay sleeping while the curse matured to its full form. It was during this period that the demons arrived, meaning that she missed their appearance and awoke with a mild form of amnesia, not quite fully understanding what happened to her.

She is a woman of few words but strong of purpose. Her youth is deceiving, making her seem confrontational and quick to judge, though in reality she is constantly evaluating her next step. The pain she felt as an orphaned child fuels her compassionate desire to protect her loved ones and friends.

Design

The character design of Miriam features a stained glass theme. This concept came about when developing the backgrounds of the game's characters. Miriam is inflicted with a curse which originates from a crystal and slowly expands across her body over time. Around each mark are glyphs which contain powerful magic and suppresses the curse, preventing it from spreading further. IGA imagined how the cursed crystals would be contained and it happened to resemble stained glass. However, IGA didn't release this until the designer Yuji Natsume pointed this out to him while showing the concept of his idea to him.^[1]

Because character designs needed to feature the crystals to a certain extent, Miriam's clothes had to be designed to reveal certain parts of her body. In the beginning her design was more Gothic lolita inspired, but later armor parts were added make her attire look more like something one could fight in. IGA also specially requested the designers they didn’t need to make the designs symmetrical, and to make Miriam’s right arm less encumbered. Her horns are just for decoration.^[2]

Development

In the early planning documents, the protagonist of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was male. The decision to make the protagonist female stems back to when IGA was producer of the Castlevania series and he received many requests from fans for a playable female character. This concept was already applied before in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.

Because IGA's titles have sold well in America, he and his team had many discussions about what would fit the needs of the American market, and what the prevailing social climate was currently like before the Kickstarter was started. He said: "Americans really love tough female characters. It's also a country where a lot of questions and problems about gender are currently being advanced, and there’s many people who believe “there’s been nothing but male heroes in video games; please make games with both genders.”"

Another factor which contributed to the decision was the idea that female hero would be more motivating to male gamers, as well as to women who would like to control a female avatar. IGA has also been on record saying he decided to once again create female lead because he is creating a completely new world with Bloodstained and the game marks a fresh start.^[1]^[2]

Initially, it was considered to make Miriam similar to Frankenstein's monster, either consisting of stitched together body parts or an material like clay, and infused with life. When considering these options it was eventually decided that a human connection was needed and these ideas were discarded in favor of making Miriam a human being.^[3]

Personality

“	Miriam isn't one to shy away from danger, but she deserves to be armed with all the facts.	„
	~ Johannes acknowledges Miriam's instincts in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Miriam is generally a brave, selfless, and determined individual who uses her gift in demonic magic to see to it that those whomst she holds dear is safe from harm. Potential risks that may arise in a dangerous situation does little to discourage Miriam from pursuing a course of action that she deems necessary. For example, she accepts that she must enter the demonic citadel alone despite Johannes's initial objections. As shown during her first encounter with Gebel since her awakening, Miriam has a rational outlook on her curse and does not wish for it to corrupt her. Her awareness of the dangers that associated with seeking out too many shards allows her to be cautious when it comes down to acquiring them.

Miriam is not omniscient when it comes down to deciphering other peoples' motives straight away especially those who are directly involved in her situation. For example, she assumed that Alfred was a foe who wanted the Libre Logaeth for himself when in actuality, he was attempting to use its power to banish the castle.

Story

Curse of the Moon

In Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, Miriam appears as one of the characters Zangetsu can recruit on his journey. Whether she lives, dies, or is ignored is up to the player's discretion.

If all three allies are allowed to join, Zangetsu protects them from Gremory's final attack, becoming possessed in the process. Miriam, along with Gebel and Alfred, begin their journey anew to rescue Zangetsu.

In the final confrontation with the possessed Zangetsu, Zangetsu uses his power to disable Alfred and Gebel, leaving Miriam to challenge him alone. At the end of the fight, Miriam is tasked with protecting Alfred while he performs an incantation to defeat Zangetsu once and for all; if Alfred is successful, Miriam and her allies successfully vanquish Zangetsu and allow his soul to move on.

Ritual of the Night

When she was younger, Miriam was experimented on by members of the Alchemists Guild, turning her and others such as Gebel into Shardbinders. The guild intended to use the power of the Shardbinders in a demon-summoning ritual meant to serve as revenge against a world that had begun to look less toward alchemy as the industrial revolution took hold. However, on the eve of the ritual, Miriam fell into a deep slumber that prevented her participation.

Ten years later, Miriam awoke to learn that her friend and fellow Shardbinder Gebel had taken up residence in a castle summoned from Hell. Intent on fulfilling her promise to stop him should his powers ever escape his control, she travels to the castle with Johannes, who fills her in on the events that transpired during the ten years she had slept. At a village bordering the castle, Miriam is also introduced to Dominique, a member of the Church working to support her on her mission, and learns that Dominique had hired the demon hunter Zangetsu for a separate mission to track down the alchemist Alfred.

As she explores the castle, Miriam learns from Zangetsu that Gebel has been possessed by the demon Gremory, and the only way to save him is to attack Gremory with Zangetsu's katana, the Zangetsuto. Miriam confronts Gebel in the castle's throne room and rather than slay him, she uses the Zangetsuto to cut a visage of the moon, which is in actuality Gremory in disguise. Gebel is freed from Gremory's grasp, but in his weakened state, his body succumbs and he petrifies into crystal.

Miriam pursues Gremory deeper into the castle, only for her, Zangetsu, and Johannes to find Alfred wounded on the floor and near death. Alfred explains that it was he that had put Miriam in the deep sleep ten years before to prevent her presence in the demon summoning ritual because her power alone accounted for half of all the combined power of the Shardbinders. He also explains that he had been searching the castle for the Libre Logaeth in order to banish the castle back to Hell. He had never wanted Miriam to get involved because the demons would inevitably be drawn to the immense power that she commanded. He also explains that Dominique had taken the Libre Logaeth for herself and her own ulterior motives.

After Alfred dies, Miriam seeks out Gremory. Zangetsu uses sealing magic to keep the demon from escaping and dies presumably in the process, but the act gives Miriam the opportunity to attack and slay the demon. With Gremory defeated, Miriam then seeks out Dominique.

Cornered, Dominique uses the Libre Logaeth in an attempt to summon Bael and merges with the powerful demon. Miriam, however, successfully slays the demon, as well as kill Dominique in the act, and recovers the Libre Logaeth. With the book in their hands, Johannes uses its power to return the castle to Hell. With their task complete, Miriam returns to the ship with Johannes, who says he may have a method to permanently stop the spread of her body's crystalization.

Quotes

Pay it no mind. I've been through worse.
You have my thanks. It's nice to know that I have someone on my side.
I cannot. I gave Gebel my word and I intend to keep it.
You presume wrongly. I'm here to keep my promise to you, and nothing else.
I swore to you that I would stop you if your Shardbinder power ever manifested itself against your will. You made the same oath to me.
What's going on? No, the corruption shouldn't spread this fast...
Yes. I have a new promise to keep.
Doing the right thing isn't a betrayal.
Oh yes I do. You don't understand what power is for. You wield it stupidly, arrogantly. And now you pay the price.

Etymology

Miriam is an ancient female Hebrew given name (מִרְיָם Miryam) that has taken on many other forms in other languages and cultures, like Maria, Mary, Mira, and so on. Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, appears in the Book of Exodus from the Hebrew Bible. The origin of the name is unclear. It may mean "wished-for child", "bitter", "rebellious" or "strong waters". Mary, the mother of Jesus, bore a Judeo-Aramaic variant of this name, Maryām (מרים).

Gallery

See: Miriam/Gallery

External links

References

[askiga-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Thank You! + Ask IGA #1

[shmuplations-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Bloodstained – Developer Interview with Koji Igarashi, originally featured in game*spark

[3] Pax Prime Panel

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