Bayonetta (character)

Bayonetta (Japanese: ベヨネッタ, Hepburn: Beyonetta), born Cereza (Japanese: セレッサ, Hepburn: Seressa), is the titular character and main protagonist of the Bayonetta video game series developed by PlatinumGames. She was created by Hideki Kamiya and designed by Mari Shimazaki. Hellena Taylor voiced the character in English for the first two games and several appearances outside the series from 2009 to 2018, while Jennifer Hale voiced her in Bayonetta 3 (2022). She was voiced by Atsuko Tanaka in Japanese.

Bayonetta is one of only two surviving Umbra Witches, being the child of a Witch and a Lumen Sage. During the events of the first game, she goes in search of her forgotten past, heading for her old home of Vigrid and fighting the angelic forces of Paradiso on the way. In Bayonetta 2, she becomes a demon hunter confronting her own literal demons. She appears as a guest character in other games such as Anarchy Reigns, The Wonderful 101, the Super Smash Bros. series, and Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2.

Reception of the character has been polarized but positive overall, with some feminist commentators praising her hypersexual image as campy, sex-positive, and empowering, and others considering it sexist and pandering.