Coming from the same vein as Devil May Cry, Bayonetta is an outstanding hack and slash game that has much of the banter of the former game, only with a female lead. It gives the game a bit of a different flavor, making it something all it's own, despite the similarities between the two.
Just like with Dante, Bayonetta makes the game what it is. Without her character, the game wouldn't be quite as good as it is. She oozes all sorts of charisma and has a look that's beyond eye-catching. There's a lot of depth to her, helping make her such a popular character.
10 Appearances In Other Games
Everybody knows she made her way into Smash Bros, but there are three other characters she's been a DLC or secret unlockable character for. The first is Anarchy Reigns, an online beat 'em up game where she retained many of the abilities she had from the game. She was available as a secret character in Wonderful 101, alongside Rodin and Jeanne. The last game was Dx2 Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation as part of a collaboration with Bayonetta. Jeanne and Beloved also made their way into the game.
9 Hellena Taylor Pinnacle Voice Actress
Initially, she was meant to be the only voice for the character due to her British accent. The reason for this is that creator Hideki Kamiya found witches to be more of a European myth rather than something tied to Japan. It's a sound line of thinking though it led to Taylor having all sorts of issues with the pronunciations for summoning spells. She needed a fair bit of coaching from the voice director, but no one can complain about the results.
8 Birthday Watch
The numbers within her watch are 14111219 which correspond to the year/month/date of her birth, December 19th, 1411. It's an interesting little easter egg snuck into the game that only the most ardent of fans would notice.
It's always a plus when a developer puts in things like that or little callbacks to other games that helped paved the way, such as Devil May Cry. It shows off quite a bit of depth and encourages fans to go digging.
7 Importance Of The Ribbons
The ribbons seen in Bayonetta's hair initially read her name in demonic script, helping hint at how she came into the name as it's not her real one. As shown in the Eyes Of Bayonetta artbook, the ribbons were meant to be what bound the hands and feet of a dead witch, making sure they never escaped. It makes the name more than a little important to her, even if the name originated from Rodin, according to BloodyFate.
6 Magical Hair
The fact she and most witches have magic coursing through their hair is intentional for more than just the cool effect it has in the game. It calls back to European myths that stated women with long hair were more susceptible to the influence of Incubi. It's a ridiculous notion, but many older myths make very little sense, even in the context of them being a myth. At least the idea did lead to the great idea that hair magic was entwined with witches in the game.
5 Never Without Her Glasses
No matter the situation, Bayonetta is never seen without her glasses on. They are as intricate to the character as Dante's red coat is in Devil May Cry, just not looking right without them.
The one time she actually does take them off, before her fight with Temperantia, her face is off-screen, never showing how she looks without them. What makes it more interesting is that you see Cereza without them, giving a tangible difference between the two characters despite them being the same person.
4 Lollipop Powerup
During boss cut scenes, it isn't that irregular to see Bayonetta enjoying a lollipop. At first, you'd think it's just to show how unimpressed and otherwise unafraid she is of her foes. It fits her character and is a nice little quirk given her general confidence, but it goes beyond just that. The colors of the lollipops differ, and if you hit the button that corresponds with the color, you'll be granted a damage power-up. It makes some of the boss fights a fair bit easier and a true who knew moment.
3 Relationship With Luka
At first, their relationship can be called tense, considering Luka thought Bayonetta was the one who murdered his father. Once he finds out that is false, he starts to grow a friendship with her, despite how annoyed he gets from constantly being called Cheshire. What's interesting is that she constantly teases him because she actually likes him, but would never pursue a relationship due to how quickly he'd die in comparison to her. For a girl who's over 500 years old, that's not that surprising.
2 Serious Mode
Originally the design for Serious Mode was one of the first basic designs tested. The change came when the developers realized that Bayonetta struggled to deal with some of the larger enemies, thus the design was repurposed and used for Serious Mode, giving it some of that added flair and spice. The long flow of the hair certainly gave it a unique look, even if it got replaced by Umbran Climax in the second game.
1 Resemblance To Jubileus, The Creator
While they aren't exactly spitting images of each other, Jubileus has more than a few similarities to Bayonetta. They both wear the same type of glasses, have the same long flowing hair, and she even has something close to an Umbran watch on her chest. This is done intentionally to show that they are both the strongest beings on their dimension, Jubileus as an angel and Bayonetta as a witch. It's an interesting choice to make and one they even used with Queen Sheba, giving her the same type of eyewear.