Beasthood Diagnostics Manual

An effort to categorize, classify, and identify different beast types, possible manifestations, and origins of beasthood. Also Fridge read too much DSM and here we are.

Author: Abhorrent Beast

Edited by: Mikorashu

With Help From: Phen, Refirgerator

Beasthood Factors
These are the several axes we tentatively identified in terms of what affects the manifestation of beasthood.

AXIS I: Repression-Acceptance
Level of repression or acceptance of one's own beasthood after introduction to a blood strain in consumption.

AXIS II: Consumption
The amount and/or potency of blood consumed, whether through oral ingestion or transfusion (blood healing / general treatment).

AXIS III: Time
The time that an individual has been transformed into a beast.

AXIS IV: Strain
The source or nature of the blood consumed.

Huntsmen
Low Consumption, Medium Repression, Very Low Time, Modern Strain

As average Yharnamites, Huntsmen consume blood recreationally, but the potency of that blood is probably quite low, and the amount of blood they consume is nowhere near as much as a Hunter or a Cleric. They know of the Scourge and do their best to fight it, but their strength of will evidently isn't enough to save them. They retain almost all of their human form, indicating their transformation into beasts has just begun. Like all members of modern Yharnam, their blood is most likely derived from Ebrietas.

Large Huntsmen
Low Consumption, Medium Repression, Low Time, Modern Strain

The Large Huntsmen are our clearest example of a beast changing over time. Their faces are more bestial, their limbs have elongated, their clothes are torn, and they have lost the ability to speak, but still wield tools as simple weapons. They are, as the name implies, simply a more advanced case of the condition affecting the Huntsmen, and are seen in conjunction with them. As such, the Large Huntsmen would share all the same traits as their more human counterparts, save for the amount of time they have been transformed.

Scourge Beasts
Low Consumption, Medium Repression, Medium Time, Modern or Loran Strain

The Scourge Beast is the first enemy we are presented with in Bloodborne and like the rest of the game, produces fear that is both inexplicably existential and intensely physical. Not only is it a giant horse sized wolf monster that wants to violently dismember and eat you, but something about its frame proportions are disquieting. As we see later, the Scourge Beasts are not simply wolves, but (former) humans, crawling with splayed limbs rather than the natural upright legs of dogs. The same differences that appear in the Huntsmen’s metamorphosis into Large Huntsmen are extended further. The beast gets closer to the ground, its limbs extend, the facial structure becomes more canine, and its fur gets thicker. Thus, we can deduce that the Huntsmen, Large Huntsmen, and Scourge Beasts are all three separate phases of one individual transformation, and share the characteristics of those. Interestingly enough, Scourge Beasts are also encountered in Old Yharnam, indicating that both Beast Patients given enough of the Loran strain and Yharnamites given the more modern strain will, given enough time, transform into similar monsters.

Blood-Starved Beasts
Low Consumption, Medium Repression, Very High Time, Loran (and presumably Modern) Strain

Blood-Starved Beasts are our first encounter with an undead beast, and the idea that beasts do not require physical sustenance to survive. As such, the Blood-Starved Beast must be a very old beast that once inhabited Old Yharnam. Upon examining its body plan (ignoring the self-mutilation) and its movement patterns, the candidate becomes clear. Blood-Starved Beasts are simply older and more mutated Scourge Beasts who have been transformed for so long they begin to decay into desiccated skin and bones.

Father Gascoigne
Medium Consumption, High Repression, Medium Time, Modern Strain

Though other hunters’ more limited use of vials shows that our twenty vials in a run is more mechanic than canon, by the amount of injury even the best hunters sustain in their hunts (combined with Gascoigne's aggressive style) we can verify that he is quite the avid consumer of blood. However, his blood consumption is nowhere near the level of the healing church clerics, who imbibe not simply when they must but all the time, and quite probably ingesting much more potent mixes of blood. From his daughter’s words he has been fighting the urge to beasthood very hard for quite some time. Even after blindly killing his wife he does not fully succumb to beasthood, requiring us to place him in mortal peril to finally manifest his beastly nature. Like most everyone in modern Yharnam, the blood Gascoigne uses is probably derived from Ebrietas, though it is presumably watered down with blood from blood saints and the like.

Huntsman’s Minions
Low Consumption, High Repression, Low Time, Modern Strain

Relative to the other beasts, Huntsman’s Minions are one of the more difficult to properly identify. While most beasts are canine (at least vaguely) the Huntsman’s Minions are huge, apelike, and almost bloated in appearance, as if they are a boil ready to burst. However, there is one beast that shares a similar body plan, and therein lies the key to identifying these monsters. That beast is Gascoigne’s final transformation. The Huntsman’s Minions are fairly common and wear normal clothes, so they must be average Yharnamites, and thus on an average dose. The thing that differentiates them from the average huntsman is the same thing that gives them a similarity to Gascoigne. These hulking brutes are those few Yharnamites who have the strength of will to resist the blood, at least temporarily. Furthermore, they still retain basic capabilities of speech, somewhere between the mostly-human Huntsmen and their larger, speechless cousins. We see both Amelia and Gascoigne transform explosively, and this is presumably what the Huntsman’s Minions are on the brink of, or perhaps have already partially gone through.

Cleric Beasts
High Consumption, High Repression, Low Time, Modern Strain

Judging by Vicar Amelia’s speech, the Cleric Beast, or rather the Clerics they used to be, viewed communion and beasthood in the orthodox “drink all the blood and just don't turn into a beast lmao” attitude. We can assume that the terrifying screech we hear on entering Central Yharnam is their transformation and like all members of the modern Church, the blood they consume is directly from Ebrietas (or whatever other source the modern blood may be derived from).

Vicar Amelia
High Consumption, High Repression, Low Time, Modern Strain

As Vicar, Amelia is unquestionably consuming huge amounts of blood. Her prayer suggests human’s “wills are weak” and that “the foul beasts will dangle nectar, and lure them into the depths." Clearly, the solution to beasthood in her mind is simply fighting it hard enough. This approach doesn't exactly work out and we see the unpleasant results firsthand. As we discover later in the game, Ebrietas is the (most likely) source of the blood for the Healing Church, and what Amelia imbibes.

Ludwig
High Consumption, High Repression, High Time, Modern Strain

Despite Ludwig’s… unique appearance, there are a surprising number of things we do know about him. We know he most likely worked under a well established Healing Church, and thus probably used the modern strain of blood. As a hunter, he most probably repressed his transformation very hard, and consumed quite a bit of blood. He’s been in the nightmare for quite some time. However, none of this really explains why he’s… like that. With all these axes, we should simply end up with another cleric beast, not the two headed equine abomination we are presented with. So why is Ludwig like that? Well, of the five possible answers I’ve been able to come up with (no, him fusing with his horse isn't one of them because that doesn’t make sense on any level and you know it) I am, for the sake of brevity, only going to present the best supported and satisfying one. The theory? Ludwig has undergone not one but several beast transformations. Because of the Guidance rune and the sword which are most definitely related, we see Ludwig is actually able to regain his humanity from full incoherent beastly gibbering mid-fight. Additionally, we know that Rally, which Guidance boosts, is confirmed to be a psychological effect rather than a physical or mystical one, so Guidance boosts his mind rather than his body by both calming him in hunts and fortifying his will. He’s constantly fighting (and slowly losing to) beasthood, and, unlike everyone else, can push back against it because of guidance. However, each time he loses control to the transformations (which would already be quite terrible) they stack on top of each other, hence his hideous appearance.

Bloodletting Beast
High Consumption, High Repression, Low Time, Ashen/Modern Strain (Unclear, could be either or possibly both)

Beast Patients
Low Consumption, Medium Repression, Low Time, Loran Strain

Like their more modern counterparts, the Beast Patients of Old Yharnam are probably average citizens. As we see from Gilbert’s condition and eventual transformation, the blood that created the Beast Patients originally began as a medicinal treatment instead of a recreational one. Since Gilbert seems to no longer take blood, it was most probably used as a one-time dose, similar to how the hunter uses blood vials to heal themselves. It is doubtful that the patients embraced beasthood, but equally unlikely they actively repressed it, since they probably had no idea of the effects of blood. Old Yharnam most definitely predates the discovery of Ebrietas. Though the exact origin of the blood used in this time period is speculative, it is almost certain that the Loranites used the same strain of blood.

Loran Silverbeasts
Low Consumption, Medium Repression, High Time, Loran Strain

Beast-Possessed Soul
Medium Consumption, Medium Repression, Low Time, Loran Strain

Loran Clerics
Medium Consumption, Low Repression, Medium Time, Loran Strain

Abhorrent Beasts
High Consumption, Very Low Repression, Medium Time, Loran Strain

Since we know almost everything about him, the Abhorrent Beast is an uniquely easy case in terms of categorization. We know he's a blood addict, we know he can transform to and from his bestial form at will, we know he can maintain human thought and speech in his beast form, we know he’s been a beast for some time, and we know he consumes Beast Blood Pellets (perhaps for the same reasons that we do). Unlike the Cleric Beasts and Amelia, the Abhorrent Beast fully embraces his monstrous form, or at the very least is more than willing to use it to his advantage.

Darkbeasts
High Consumption, Very Low Repression, Very High Time, Loran Strain

When we first meet it, Darkbeast Paarl stands out against other beasts for a variety of reasons. It has a name, it shoots lightning, and it is seemingly dead, having only a skeleton and the barest remnants of a desiccated face. However, these mysteries become much clearer when we consider the similarities to the Abhorrent Beast, who was once human. Therefore, Paarl's name and its humanoid body with a remarkably human face are both trademarks of Darkbeasts. The last and most obvious similarity is their shared affinity for bolt attacks. Abhorrent Beast maintains a charged crackle at all times while the Darkbeast is practically a living Tesla coil. Additionally, whenever Abhorrent Beast is fought in the Chalice Dungeons the “Darkbeast” theme plays, which is about as close to an explicit relation as we ever get. With these striking similarities, we can assume that both Abhorrent and Darkbeasts are the same class of beasts, with Darkbeasts simply being older and larger than Abhorrent Beasts.

Lost Children of Antiquity
Low Consumption, Low Repression, High Time, Vileblood Strain