A horrifying reflection of your closest allies

I wonder sometimes if the design came first and it got the name because they decided it looked like the plant, or the name came first and somehow they made this thing out of it.

Song used: Groveside Cave ambience - Elden Ring OST

[WretchedAutomaton]

the kanji for hozuki also translates to oni/demon lantern ( 鬼灯 ) and they fruits and cages were made into dolls known as 鬼灯人形 "hoozuki ningyou"

Also my favorite bloodborne enemy

[nido]

One of the enemies I successfully stumbled around without great harm in my first playthrough, and one of my most hated in every followup. Ignorance truly is bliss.

[ZullietheWitch]

I didn't spend almost any Insight during my first playthrough of Bloodborne, so I remember being especially afraid of the Lanterns. Probably the most anxiety-inducing aspect of Frenzy is how it will continue to build up for a couple seconds even after the source of the Frenzy has been killed.

[Chimera-man-man]

Something that adds to the horror is that you can hear them before you see them. Which works on a game design level (since an enemy that can hurt without touching you should give the player a fair bit of warning) but after the player has been trained to recognise the singing and be wary of them it's actually terrifying when they reach an area they haven't been to before and hear their singing.

[samfivedot]

Since you only ever see these enemies in the Nightmare levels, I think they're meant to be projections of the Hunter's own fear. It would explain why they resemble a distorted Doll and a pile of messenger corpses (pretty much your only friends in this game) and why the Hunter can't take looking at them for more than a few seconds. It works on a meta level too -- everybody hates Winter Lanterns as much as they fear them.

If that's true, it makes me wonder if they only exist in your mind, or if they're just nightmare-dwelling entities capable of altering their form based on what's looking at them.

[gdhuertas]

Zullie: The most hated enemy in Bloodborne is the Winter Lantern.

Brainsucker: *cries in corner* I'm trying my best, OK?!

[thehungrylittlenihilist]

There's a theme with Great Ones having miniature versions wandering around. The Brain and the Lanterns. Kos and the Slug women. Ebrietas and the little babies. The Emissary and the little emissariettes. Maybe these represent some attempt at creating children for the Great Ones.

[avataraarow]

As annoying as frenzy is, these are actually some of my favorite enemies. They are just so unsettling and creepy, they perfectly match the vibe of a cosmic horror nightmare. I’ll take these over brainsuckers and chime maidens any day

[loslobosazules]

Never ever was there an enemy in a game that made me panic more

[brianquijada]

Farming these fiends for blood echoes was one of the best "high risk, high reward" feelings I've ever got in any videogame

[Krajj]

I'd love a close look at the Executioner (big axe guy) enemies. Playing last night, I noticed they have a weird face detail on their armor over their stomach. The cape on their back is also stitched together in a way that the seams resemble the shape of the shawls of the Healing Church. There's a lot more to look into with them: their counterparts in the Hunter's Nightmare, their placements in the game (like watching over Iosefka's Clinic or Hemwick Crossing) and even IMO a visual similarity to the attendants in the Nightmare of Mensis.

[SasukeFromPart]

It's nice to see these creatures more in depth than usual as I just run everytime I see them with no hesitations lol

[realkingofantarctica]

I bet From Software was real proud of themselves when they created an enemy worse than dogs. In fact, I never even noticed the similarities to The Doll or Messengers because I was too busy downing sedatives and spamming R2.

On the topic of the name, I'm a big fan. To have a serene, alsmit graceful name such as 'Winter Lantern' be used to describe a radically repulsive and sinister being like this slightly makes up for all the times it has troubled me.

[HeyyaitsmeGoku]

And now they're in Elden Ring 💀 *Great*

[DeadKarr]

I like to think that because they are a corruption of both the doll and messengers they are the manifestation of the minds of hunters that lost their will and succumbed to the frenzy of the hunt. A tiny nightmare only strong enough to exist within the dreams of mensis

[jenova-demon]

I remember one of my favourite “Well Shit.” Moments ever was when I got to the Fishing Hamlet and went down the well where you get the Rakuyo, getting stuck on the ladder while hearing their singing in the background, having the one shark on the bottom walk around me and noticing the other shark staring at me on the ceiling while a bunch of enemies were splashing around above. I absolutely hate and love these enemies so much

[CheesusChrisps]

There was never a BB playthough where I did not completely dread their encounter. One of the most unsettling enemies in any game.

[LordKelvinX]

Before I learned how to parry-frame these things my solution was to strap on the Deep Sea 2 rune you get in Forbidden Woods. Then even if you get grabbed you'll usually have enough time to run away and Sedative before the Frenzy pops, meaning that all these things do is sight damage and negligible chew damage.

[imperialquietus]

I always thought they were called Lanterns because of their orange glow and because they emit that frenzy-inducing effect once you're in their line of sight
Just like a certain much-hated enemy from Dark Souls 3 also associated with lanterns

[MasoTrumoi]

Speculation, of course, but I like to think the Winter Lanterns would look different depending on who is navigating the dream and seeing them. To us, they are a corruption of the messengers and the doll, but maybe to a regular Yharnamite (who wouldn't be in the nightmare but bear with me) they might look more like friends and family, or like a childhood pet mixed into the head, that sort of thing.