Insight.01: Great Ones and Cosmic Horror - Cosmic Terror Beyond Human Comprehension

© Sony Interactive Entertainment, © FromSoftware

Introduction: The Gothic Disguise and the Manifestation of the Cosmic Abyss

Yharnam, the old city of medical learning. It is a dismal metropolis that seems to embody Victorian gothic horror, dominated by an endemic disease known as the Scourge of the Beast and a dubious folk remedy called Blood Ministration. The beasts prowling under the cover of night, the crowds descended into madness, the blood-soaked cobblestones, and the Hunters carrying out massacres to prevent the spread of the disease—at first glance, these elements appear to fit neatly within the framework of classic weird fiction, depicting the terror of epidemics during the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era, or humanity’s inner Beasthood (a regression to barbarism).

However, the true terror seeping from the strata of the Pthumerian Labyrinth slumbering deep beneath Yharnam, or from the depths of the pale moon covering the heavens, does not stem from human-sized monsters like werewolves or vampires. The Scourge of the Beast that blankets the city of Yharnam is merely an exceedingly thin and fragile veil meant to conceal a Cosmic Horror—one that is vastly more colossal, ruthless, and capable of fundamentally shattering the existential significance of the human race itself. Writhing beyond that veil are higher-dimensional, god-like entities that far transcend human cognitive capabilities: the Great Ones.

This report will discuss the anomalous ecology of these entities known as the Great Ones, the structure of despair they have brought upon humanity, and a philosophical examination of human insignificance. They pay absolutely no heed to minuscule concepts such as human good and evil, ethics, morality, or the right to live. Drifting solely in accordance with the laws of the cosmos and their own primal biological thirsts, human existence is to them nothing more than a pebble on the roadside, or at best, a useful culture medium for experimentation. Humans attempted to commune with the Great Ones, seeking to evolve themselves by utilizing their blood and arcane mysteries. However, this was a product of overwhelming ignorance and arrogance, akin to an ant attempting to govern the orbits of celestial bodies.

In this chapter, by synthesizing the texts of ancient relics left behind, the records of Caryll Runes, the environmental structures of the nightmare realms, and fragmented lore, we will unravel the full picture of “what the Great Ones are,” “why they interfered with the human realm,” and “how the unknown truths of the cosmos irreversibly destroy the human mind,” while strictly distinguishing between the remaining facts and the logical deductions drawn from them.

1. Definition of the Higher-Dimensional “Great Ones” and the Insignificance of Humanity

1.1 Cosmic Horror and Victorian Frenzy

“Great Ones” is the designation for a group of higher beings that represent either the ultimate endpoint of human evolution or entities that have arrived from an entirely different cosmic dimension (a higher dimension). They exist across both physical three-dimensional space (the waking world of Yharnam) and spiritual, mental multi-layered dimensions (the Hunter’s Dream and various nightmares), unbound by the normal constraints of time and space.

In understanding them, one cannot ignore the ideological background of “evolution” and “enlightenment” in the Victorian era. In the 19th-century worldview, there was a blind faith (progressivism) that the advancement of science and medicine would elevate humanity to the position of the lords of creation, and that all the mysteries of the natural world would be unraveled by human intellect. The scholars of Byrgenwerth and the leading figures of the Healing Church were also captivated by this arrogant ideology. When they learned of the existence of the Great Ones, rather than feeling awe, they harbored a eugenic and blasphemous ambition: the belief that they, too, could evolve to such heights through knowledge and blood. However, in the context of Cosmic Horror, contact with the truth of the cosmos (the Great Ones) by no means signifies human happiness or betterment.

1.2 The Paradox of “Insight” and “Eyes on the inside”

The human brain, bound by three-dimensional physical laws, is incapable of processing the higher-dimensional information emitted by the existence of the Great Ones. Therefore, in order to look directly upon the forms of the Great Ones or hear their voices, one must acquire “Insight,” a special perceptual ability to breach the dimensional barrier, and open “Eyes on the inside” of the brain.

However, a fatal epistemological paradox exists here. For humanity to approach the truth of the cosmos (to gain Insight) is synonymous with being forced to confront the cruel cosmic fact of just how worthless and insignificantly small their own existence is—nothing more than dust. As Insight increases, the massive forms of Great Ones (Amygdala) clinging to the cathedral walls, previously unseen, become visible, and the cries of a baby begin to fill the air. To know the truth is to mean the collapse of the human mind (madness). The “eyes” sought by the scholars of Byrgenwerth were not windows guiding them to the realm of the gods, but pitfalls dragging them down into the darkness of the abyss.

1.3 The Cold Universe Proven by the Relic “Blacksky Eye”

As a document that vividly illustrates just how desperate the consequences of contact with the Great Ones and the arcane can be, there exists the record of the secret relic, the “Blacksky Eye.” This relic is a tragic testament to Byrgenwerth’s attempt to approach the realm of the Great Ones.

Based on the objective facts of the remaining relic’s text, it is confirmed that the scholars of Byrgenwerth acquired this “eye” through contact with the arcane, and saw a “dark night sky” and an “endless meteor storm” deep within it. It is also recorded as a fact that they ultimately “revealed nothing” from this eye.

As an event logically deduced from these descriptions, the reality of the “truth of the cosmos” they looked directly upon emerges. They must have expected to find, through the eye of a Great One, the love of a god, a vision of glorious evolution awaiting humanity, or the blueprints of an orderly heaven. However, what they actually witnessed was nothing but the inorganic, overwhelming violence of physical laws (an endlessly raging meteor storm) and an endlessly continuing cold void (a dark night sky).

The expression that it “revealed nothing” is a powerful metaphor indicating that in the universe where the Great Ones live, concepts such as “meaning,” “purpose,” or “morality”—which humans arbitrarily expect—do not exist at all. The greatest terror in Cosmic Horror is not malice, but “complete indifference.” It is believed that because the students of Byrgenwerth looked directly upon the meaninglessness of this cold universe, they could no longer maintain their human mental structure and were swallowed by madness.

2. The Great Tragedy and the Curse of Reproduction

The gods in Cosmic Horror are often depicted as omnipotent beings beyond human comprehension. However, the Great Ones in Yharnam are characterized by an extremely biological and tragic “deficiency.” This ontological deficiency is the single greatest motive compelling them to interfere with the three-dimensional human realm (or lower dimensions).

2.1 The Absolute Law: “Every Great One loses its child”

In unraveling the ecology and causality of the Great Ones, the most important key is the great relic known as “One Third of Umbilical Cord” (also known as the Cord of the Eye). The text inscribed on this relic clearly states the root cause of Yharnam’s tragedy.

“Every Great One loses its child, and then yearns for a surrogate. The Third Umbilical Cord precipitated the encounter with the pale moon, which beckoned the hunters and conceived the hunter’s dream.”

Within this short sentence, the entirety of the gruesome causal relationship connecting humans and the Great Ones is contained.

Unraveling the strict facts of historical descriptions, it is noted that even among the Great Ones, only the infant Great Ones possess this “umbilical cord” (Cord of the Eye). And the Great Ones, “without exception (every),” lose their children, and eternally yearn for a surrogate. Furthermore, it is said that by using this relic, the user gains “Insight” and simultaneously “Eyes on the inside,” but everyone has forgotten what this actually brings about.

The logical deduction drawn from these confirmed tragic facts is a fatal reproductive failure when higher-dimensional beings intersect with three-dimensional physical laws. Why do they lose their children despite possessing power akin to omnipotence? It is thought that because they have reached the pinnacle of evolution and are too perfect as “individuals,” they have lost their normal biological reproductive capabilities. Because their existence spans multiple dimensions, if they attempt to birth a child through a three-dimensional physical body (womb), the dimensional distortion and mental pressure likely cause the child to become a stillbirth, or to instantly vanish, unable to adapt to the material world.

Therefore, in order to leave behind their lineage, they have developed a parasitic and violent ecology: utilizing human women (Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen, Arianna the prostitute, the imposter Iosefka, etc.), who are beings of another dimension, as “surrogate mothers,” or seeking human infants as “surrogates.”

2.2 One Third of Umbilical Cord and the Price of Communion

This thirst of the Great Ones to “yearn for a child” became the direct cause of the formation of the multi-layered reality (the multi-layered world of dreams and nightmares) in Yharnam. The multiple remaining “umbilical cords” have each triggered different forms of madness and tragedy.

As an objective historical fact, the School of Mensis attempted to commune with the Great One Mergo using the umbilical cord. Mergo is the infant Great One that Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen, once conceived but was stillborn. It is clearly stated that as a result, the scholars of Mensis met the fate of the “stillbirth of their brains.” What can be inferred from this event is the physical and mental collapse of the attempt to line the human brain with “eyes.” The scholars of Mensis attempted to receive higher-dimensional will through a ritual, but their fragile human brains could not withstand the immense volume of information (the voice) of the Great One. It is believed that their brains physically rotted, or fused and mutated into the massive, hideous “Brain of Mensis” that fell to the bottom of Micolash’s nightmare. The use of the expression “stillbirth” is a biting irony, indicating that their attempt to be reborn as Great Ones rotted away at the fetal stage, an evolution that ended in failure.

2.3 Moon Presence and the Genesis of the Hunter’s Dream

As another fact, it is shown that the umbilical cord precipitated the encounter with the “pale moon (Moon Presence),” which became the beginning of the “Hunter’s Dream.” What is considered from this is the blasphemous truth regarding the formation of the safe haven known as the Hunter’s Dream. When Gehrman, the First Hunter, used this relic—whether out of grief from losing his beloved pupil (Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower) or under orders from the Healing Church—another Great One, the Moon Presence, descended. The Moon Presence, too, in accordance with the law that “Every Great One loses its child,” was seeking its own child, or an object of affection (a surrogate). Gehrman was captivated by the Moon Presence, or made a pact with it, and became eternally trapped in the dream world as a surrogate for a child (or as the caretaker of the cradle to maintain the dream). The system in which Hunters hunt beasts and continue to offer Blood Echoes is nothing more than a cruel miniature garden constructed entirely to satisfy the thirst of this Great One and to fight its proxy wars. Human intentions (the desire to cure the Scourge of the Beast, the desire to know the arcane) have always been exploited and preyed upon by the biological thirsts of the Great Ones; this is the hidden history of Yharnam.

3. The Dream of Evolution and Arrogant Metamorphosis

Faced with the incomprehensible ecology and overwhelming power of the Great Ones, the action taken by humanity (especially the scholars of Byrgenwerth and the Healing Church derived from them) was not “awe” toward the unknown, but thorough “imitation and usurpation.” This Victorian, modern scientific arrogance is precisely the factor that led the tragedy of Yharnam to its worst possible conclusion.

3.1 Caryll Runes and Byrgenwerth’s Blasphemous Ambition

Humanity cannot comprehend the “voice (sound)” of the Great Ones, who are higher-dimensional beings, exactly as it is. However, Caryll, a runesmith of Byrgenwerth, achieved an unprecedented feat (or grave sin) in human history: transcribing and translating those incomprehensible sounds into visual symbols. These are the “Caryll Runes.”

Among the Caryll Runes, the one that most prominently displays the morbid obsession with human evolution is the rune known as “Clockwise Metamorphosis.”

Confirming the facts from the relic’s text, it is clearly stated that a “twisted cross” is depicted on this Caryll Rune, which means “metamorphosis,” and that “the discovery of blood made their (humanity’s) dream of evolution a reality.” It is also a fact that, as a physical effect within the game, memorizing (etching) this rune boosts human vitality (HP).

The consideration drawn from these facts is the true nature and abnormality of the “evolution” aimed for by the Healing Church and Byrgenwerth. The “evolution” they speak of is not a gradual adaptation to the environment based on Darwinian natural selection. It means a “forced metamorphosis” to reach the higher-dimensional existence of a Great One by taking the Old Blood into the body. The symbol of the “twisted cross” is highly symbolic. The design, in which the cross—an object of faith that should inherently be sacred—is twisted, represents the ethical deviation and the madness of eugenics of humans attempting to artificially distort and forcefully alter the laws of the natural world (a metaphor for the Tree of Life or the double helix structure of DNA).

The act of attempting to approach beasts or Great Ones by strengthening the flesh and boosting vitality (increasing HP) through Blood Ministration was a fundamental error when viewed on a cosmic scale. The text of the Caryll Rune notes in the past tense that “the discovery of blood made their dream a reality,” but this is a historical irony indicating that they were merely under that illusion. What was brought about in reality was the spectacle of the human mind breaking down, unable to withstand the rapid changes of the flesh (Beasthood). The attempt by humans to undergo metamorphosis into Great Ones was not an approach to godhood, but nothing other than a regression into a hideous and miserable mass of flesh, akin to cells becoming cancerous and proliferating chaotically.

4. Metaphors of Blood and Motherhood, and Formless Oedon

Among the Great Ones, the one spoken of as an extremely unique and terrifying existence is “Formless Oedon.” While deities in much of Cosmic Horror are depicted as possessing indescribable, massive tentacles or multi-eyed, grotesque physical bodies, Oedon possesses no physical form whatsoever.

4.1 The Invisible Deity and the Propagation of the “Voice”

From the fragmented in-game information and environmental structures regarding Oedon, a further despairing truth concerning the reproduction of the Great Ones and “blood” is brought into relief.

As an in-game fact, a facility called “Oedon Chapel” exists in the center of the city of Yharnam, and traces of faith worshipping Oedon can be confirmed, starting with the “Oedon Chapel Dweller” who resides there. Furthermore, according to various lore, it is shown that Oedon lacks form and is a higher being that exists only in “voice.”

The essence of Oedon, logically inferred from this circumstantial evidence, is that by discarding a physical body (or never possessing one to begin with), he is a supreme being who has reached an even higher dimension than the other Great Ones. However, because he lacks form and physical means of interference, he required a “medium” to interfere with the waking world (the third dimension) and to conceive his own child. That medium is none other than “blood.”

4.2 Humans as Surrogate Mothers and the Medium of Blood

“Blood Ministration” in Yharnam is ostensibly revered by the people as a miraculous practice that heals all wounds and incurable diseases. However, its true nature is considered to be nothing other than the act of taking into the body the “semen” of the invisible god Oedon, or a “catalyst to enable spiritual interference.”

Oedon attempts to invisibly interfere with the wombs of human women possessing a special bloodline, seeking to impregnate them with his own child. The abnormal pregnancy and birth of a grotesque infant by Arianna the prostitute, or the mutation that occurs to the imposter Iosefka, which take place within the game, are due to this interference by Oedon. The metaphors of terror frequently appearing in Victorian literature—such as eugenics, purity of blood, and the deprivation of women’s bodily autonomy—are depicted here extremely grotesquely as a “violent annunciation by an unseen cosmic god.”

The state of being blood-drunk or thirsting for blood is not simply humans letting their Beasthood run rampant. It means that humans have tuned themselves into a state where they easily resonate with the voice (madness) of Formless Oedon. The fact that Caryll Runes obtained around Oedon Chapel or through blood-related elements (such as “Formless Oedon” and “Oedon Writhe”) have the effect of increasing the maximum capacity for Visceral Attacks (blood recovery) or Quicksilver Bullets (magical bullets using blood as a catalyst) strongly suggests that Oedon is the will inherent in “blood” itself, expanding his influence through the splatter of blood and violence.

5. Environmental Deduction of the Diverse Great Ones

In the streets of Yharnam, the Pthumerian Labyrinth spreading in its depths, and the nightmare realms, several other Great Ones have been confirmed. Their existence and the environments in which they are placed indicate that the Great Ones are not a single species or a group with a unified will, but rather that each possesses a diverse origin and evolutionary history, drifting independently of one another (or sometimes in hostility).

5.1 Amygdala: The Swarm Clinging to the Walls of Dimensions

The massive, multi-armed monstrosities prowling the Cathedral Ward of Yharnam, clinging to the walls of the Grand Cathedral and the blind spots of buildings, are the “Amygdala.” They cannot be seen by normal humans, but when Insight reaches a certain level, or when a specific ritual is completed and the “Blood Moon” rises, their colossal and terrifying forms suddenly manifest in the waking world.

The unique aspect of the Amygdala is the fact that, despite being Great Ones, they are not a single, absolute entity, but exist in plurality as a “swarm.” In the realm known as the Nightmare Frontier, numerous entities closely resembling Amygdala crawl about, and it is speculated that they play a role akin to “gatekeepers” or “observers” connecting the higher-dimensional world (the nightmare) and the waking world.

The moment humans gain Insight, approach the truth of the cosmos, and fall under the illusion that they have evolved, if they happen to look up overhead, they find that countless of these beings are already clinging there, looking down upon humanity with indifferent, multiple eyes. This environmental storytelling is the ultimate expression of Cosmic Horror, highlighting human insignificance and despair. No matter how much humanity masters knowledge, from the perspective of the Great Ones, they are nothing more than insects crawling at their feet, and the Great Ones merely cling to the walls, watching them.

5.2 Kos and the Orphan of Kos: The Corpse of a God and the Original Sin of Dissection

The Great One “Kos,” who washed ashore in the Fishing Hamlet at the deepest part of the “Hunter’s Nightmare” spreading across the DLC area, is an entity that proves that even Great Ones cannot completely escape the physical limit of “death.” Hideous parasites swarm from the massive corpse of Kos washed up on the coast, and the bodily fluids (or grace) of the Great One leaking from that corpse mutated the inhabitants of the Fishing Hamlet into fish-man-like monstrosities.

The fact worthy of special mention here is the existence of the “Orphan of Kos,” born from the womb of the dead Kos. This, too, is a phenomenon that aligns with the universal law that “Every Great One loses its child.” The mother, Kos, died for unknown reasons (or due to human interference), and the left-behind infant (the orphan) continues to weep eternally toward the sea within the nightmare.

The full picture of the tragedy inferred from circumstantial evidence is the original sin: the scholars of Byrgenwerth and the early Hunters (Gehrman, Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower, and others) once raided this Fishing Hamlet, dissected the washed-up corpse of Kos (or a dying Kos), and forcefully stole its secrets—the “eyes” and the “umbilical cord.” This extremely violent and blasphemous act of “carving up the corpse of a great god and dragging out its fetus” is precisely what invoked the wrath of the Great Ones, becoming the source of the curse that made Byrgenwerth and the Hunters blood-drunk, dragging them into an eternal hell (the Hunter’s Nightmare).

5.3 Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos: The Lament of the Forsaken

“Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos,” who is confined (or protected) in the deepest part of the territory of “The Choir” in the Upper Healing Church spreading underground, exudes a sorrow different from the other Great Ones. She is a “left-behind Great One,” abandoned deep within the underground ruins once built by the Pthumerians. Traces can be read from the environment that she willingly cooperated with humanity (The Choir of the Healing Church) and provided her own precious blood.

However, from the fact that she crouches at the Altar of Despair in a posture as if she were weeping, a single sorrowful deduction can be drawn. It is the speculation that she herself has also lost her perfection as a Great One for some reason, and unable to return to the darkness of the cosmos that is her home, she is tormented by loneliness in a cold, stone-built underground room. Humanity (the Healing Church) revered her as a god, sipping her blood and dreaming of evolution, but in truth, the god they clung to was also nothing more than a lost child in the face of the vast abyss of the cosmos.

Conclusion: Humanity’s Ontological Defeat in the Face of Cosmic Horror

The existence of the “Great Ones” in “Bloodborne” and the history of blood and madness surrounding them is not a mere dark fantasy depicting a struggle against monsters. It is a thorough ontological and philosophical thesis that confronts us with the “limits of human intellect and perception,” shattering the arrogance of anthropocentrism.

First is the issue of the limits of perception and madness. Humanity sought evolution, opening “Eyes on the inside” in an attempt to reach higher-dimensional realms. However, what was obtained as a result was nothing but a merciless and endless meteor storm (the cold and meaningless truth of the cosmos), as proven by the text of the “Blacksky Eye.” The H.P. Lovecraftian destiny—that knowing the truth is synonymous with the collapse of the mind, and that ignorant foolishness was humanity’s greatest defense—is completed here.

Second is the biological deficiency of the Great Ones and the violence of causality it inflicted upon humans. The single absolute law that “Every Great One loses its child, and then yearns for a surrogate” drove all of Yharnam to madness. This law birthed the stillbirth of Mergo, caused the Moon Presence to descend, and constructed the prison that is the eternal Hunter’s Dream. The Great Ones are not omniscient and omnipotent gods, but in a sense, pitiful beings harboring a decisive flaw in the fundamental purpose of life known as reproduction. Humans were merely consumed as surrogate mothers or experimental animals to satisfy the tremendous thirsts of those Great Ones.

Third is the punishment for human arrogance carried out in the name of evolution. As the Caryll Rune “Clockwise Metamorphosis” vividly shows, forced evolution using blood did not bring humans closer to godhood, but rather regressed them into grotesque beasts and botched masses of flesh. Victorian medical ambition and eugenics were utterly powerless in the face of a cosmic scale, resulting only in strangling their own necks.

The Great Ones are neither gods who punish humans nor angels who grant salvation. They are the embodiment of incomprehensible “concepts,” merely existing there and drifting through the dark sea of the cosmos in accordance with their own thirsts. The cries of a baby echoing through the blood-soaked back alleys and the void of the Grand Cathedral during the night of Yharnam are the birth cries of despair emitted from the bottomless abyss of the cosmos, continuing to proclaim throughout the eternal night just how insignificant, how powerless, and how meaningless an existence we humans are. This absolute cosmic indifference is precisely the essence of the supreme Cosmic Horror that this work has achieved.