#the game never delves into what the hell homunculi are

[death-rebirth-senshi]

Hm. I would say the codex actually provides an answer to what the arch-eve title means, but it's also one that doesn't quite hold up, as it doesn't explain why Luka is referred to as an arch-adam or why Jeanne is once an arch-eve or why destroying alt Bayonetta's just immediately destroys the universe (unless it's a "well Bayonetta is the only thing around to challenge him" type of deal)

I thought I already read all the codex entries but I missed one; Singularity appears to be an artificial human who was made in a lab...by accident? (It says it was a place that made body parts and somehow an anomaly occured that made a full human...) (It's not brought up in game that singularity is anything but a regular dude)

So he mass-produced homunculi and killed all the humans for reasons. He just has the power to go to parallel worlds. He's destroying - or rather, absorbing them? - to become more powerful. I guess his goal is what Rodin says at the beginning - once he collapses the parallel worlds of chaos into one, he can properly challenge paradiso and inferno. (Singularity himself never states this as a goal, or really even hints at it, and nothing he says really vibes with it).

But anyway "arch-eve" seems to be a title he just bestowed on Bayonetta because he considers her a symbol of the realm of chaos itself - since Bayonetta is the strongest thing around (and specifically the Bayonetta we play as is intended to be the strongest), he goes world to world absorbing Bayonetta souls in order to match her power.

Idk what any of this has to do with the truth nonsense he was spouting but whatever. Slightly more comprehendible. Don't know why Viola joins in on calling Bayonetta "arch-eve"

I guess knowing he's artificial implies "arch-eve" is just what he's calling the most powerful woman around and he's calling her "eve" in a "are you a son of Adam" type of way but it still doesn't answer why Luka is an arch-adam.

...I suppose it does because Luka has fairy powers now but that's dumb.

[sonofanumbranwitch]

The Homunculi Needed A Stronger Theme To Them.

I think it's fair to say that the majority of players were a bit underwhelmed with the homunculi. Something about their designs is just less striking as enemies of past games.

The angels take their inspiration from biblically accurate sources and they seem to be made of marble and gold like statues you find in sacred building hiding their monstrous flesh underneath. And the demon enemies are both mechanical and organic seeming to have been crafted from torture devices.

And the homunculi are... goop. Like they're just goop with shapes on them. Even their names are less striking. The angels and demons, at least the enemy types, take their names from virtues and vices of humanity respectfully showing their ties to the human world. Meanwhile the homunculi are named after clouds for some reason...

We don't even learn how their made, or hell even really why Singularity made them. Like all that potential Rodin set up in the beginning comes off as just him talking out of his ass.

"They're part human." Well what does that mean? Are they made from humans? Do they have some aspect of humanity about them?

"They'll get their hands on enough power to wipe out the whole trinity in a snap." Is that what Singularity even wanted? Why would he? How is he even doing this? A lot of this goes unexplained, or its explained in codex entries which means the writers were to lazy to explain it through the story proper.

I was reading through the wiki hoping to find some better explanation and honestly I feel like they may be giving the homunculi too much credit.

" many of the Homunculi draw heavy inspiration from Hindu and Buddhist motifs, such as lotus flowers and prayer beads, fitting their goal of "rebirthing" the universe. Their interconnected nature with Singularity also harkens to the Buddhist concept of Indra's Net, which is an envisioning of existence as a spider's web like brocade of reflective jewels, indicating not just the interconnectedness of living beings, but of alternate universes and existences."

"Alternately, due to their villainous and antagonistic nature, as with the Angels and Demons of the Bayonetta universe, they may also highlight the malign attributes of negative human traits; from their nirvana/atman-esque nature also drawing upon perversion of religion into self-serving cults and sects claiming to have "the only ultimate truth and knowledge of the universe"."

Like... I'm sorry but if that was Platinum's intent then it just doesn't come through in the story proper. But I'm willing to concede that may just be for a western audience unfamiliar with these concepts. If anyone who grew up with these stories and icons got that from the Homunculi I guess more power to them but it should have been stronger in the writing to get those ideas across to the player.