Bayonetta Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Built from an alloy the Devil himself would kill to get his hands on. Don't break these, cause they're one of a kind. ― Rodin
Scarborough Fair: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

Scarborough Fair is the name of Bayonetta's signature weapons, a set of four large caliber handguns that act as her default weapons in the game. They are the only weapons that don't need to be unlocked by collecting Golden LPs, through clearing certain difficulties, or by completing a certain task. They are an all around weapon, and very popular with both newer and veteran players.

Scarborough Fair: Video and Lyrics

File:Scarborough Fair

Celtic Woman cover of Scarborough Fair.

Are you going to Scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine

Tell him to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seam nor needlework
Then he'll be a true love of mine

Tell him to find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea strand
Then he'll be a true love of mine

Are you going to Scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine

To see the full lyrics of the century old ballad, please see Scarborough Fair on Wikipedia.
For the full break-down of the lyrics of the ballad in relation to the Bayonetta series, please see Scarborough Fair (Music)

In-Game Description

"Crafted by the famed demon-smith Rodin, these four guns have been crowned with the names Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. Pushing Bayonetta's magic to its limits, these guns' rate of fire and stopping power are incredible."

Design

According to Muneyuki "Johnny” Kotegawa's blog, who designed and modeled all of the weapons in Bayonetta, he approached the design of Scarborough Fair as well as the game design in general based on three criteria. First that the lead character was female, second that she was a modern witch, and third the guns would have to be fired with both hands and feet. After a spirited debate with co-designers Mari Shimazaki (a.k.a. Shimako) and Hideki Kamiya they decided on a color balance based around pitch-black clothing, white skin, gold ornamentations, and the red ribbon accent. It was then that it was decided that the guns in her hand should be red which would not only compliment her color scheme but also allow the player to keep better track of her limbs during the fast paced action combat.

With all that in mind, Kotegawa developed several weapon designs based on real world guns so that the end product no matter how fantastic would still remain convincing. After working on various designs, co-designer Kamiya showed a preference to the gun based on the Derringer. Kotegawa had believed that Kamiya selected the Derringer because it was a gun capable of rapid fire, simple, and rugged, however when he asked his co-designer about the selection the answer was "This design would look hot in a girl's hand." The name "Scarborough Fair" is a reference to an old English ballad that focuses on four herbs; Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. The herbs became the names of each individual pistol with the idea that witches and herbs are closely linked.

Accordingly, Bayonetta's guns each have their name on them, with a complimentary saying. On each gun it says "Scarborough Fair, Made by Rodin" and under that, the name of the gun. In her right hand, green jeweled, is Parsley, which says "Parsley, ever joyous". In her left hand, red jeweled, is Sage, saying "Sage, ever strong". Her right foot has Rosemary, blue jeweled, saying "Rosemary, ever reminiscent", and her left foot has Thyme, white jeweled, saying "Thyme, ever courageous". All of which are under Rodin's Copyright.

How to Obtain

These four handguns are automatically given to Bayonetta after the prologue by Rodin.

Unique Traits

Scarborough Fair Use

Bayonetta using her Scarborough Fair during an ambush in Vigrid.

A quick well-rounded weapon. Using a Dodge-Offset (holding Punch or Kick while dodging with Right Trigger/R2,) will cause the handguns to fire numerous rounds as Bayonetta flips out of harm's way. All bullets fired by the Scarborough Fair will ricochet off of surfaces at least once and attempt to hit nearby enemies. When compared to other weapons available in the game their damage is a bit low, but their flexibility of being both efficient in melee and ranged combat make them quite valuable throughout the game's duration.

Bullet Climax: Bayonetta will stand motionless and take aim allowing the player to manually aim at various enemies on the screen around her.

Charge Modifier: Holding down the corresponding attack button will cause Bayonetta to fire off five shots before transitioning into her next attack. This allows the Scarborough Fair to accumulate combo points easily on smaller or slower Angels, or deal damage at safe distance from more dangerous enemies.

Elfin Knight variant

In Bayonetta: Bloody Fate, an anime film adaptation of the first game, Bayonetta initially wields a set of 4 red guns named "Elfin Knight". They appear to be based on earlier concept art for the Scarborough Fair weapons as the barrel shape and detail are almost identical. In the anime, Bayonetta uses these guns until her first encounter with Jeanne. The battle subsequently destroys the weapons to the point where they crumble to pieces. In her final battle with Jeanne, Bayonetta then receieves Scarborough Fair from Rodin as an upgrade for the destroyed Knight.

What is interesting to note is "The Elfin Knight" is an obscure, traditional Scottish folk ballad which shares similar lyrics with "Scarborough Fair." Much like the Elfin Knight guns are based on an earlier design for Scarborough Fair, the ballad named "The Elfin Knight" is an earlier version of the song that became "Scarborough Fair".

Gallery

Bayonetta Images

Bayonetta: Bloody Fate Images

Trivia

  • These four handguns appear to canonically be Bayonetta's preferred weapons of choice in combat as she uses them in every cutscene where fighting takes place.
  • The Scarborough Fair cannot technically be unequipped, as pressing the Shoot Button will cause Bayonetta to use one of them to fire at her current target regardless of the weapon currently held in her Hand slot in any given set.
  • The set name and the name of the guns get their name from the traditional British ballad, Scarborough Fair.
  • In the language of flowers, Parsley means festivity, Sage means wisdom and immortality, Thyme means strength and courage, and Rosemary means remembrance. By the end of the game, Bayonetta has all four of these qualities.
  • The Umbran symbol can be found in the Scarborough Fair if you combine two of the guns on top of each other.
  • The Scarborough Fair is based on the real world Derringer Pocket Pistol, they are extremely large however in comparison to their real-world equivalent.
  • Despite the guns being initially replaced by Elfin Knight at the beginning of Bloody Fate and not received by Bayonetta until much later, promotional artwork for the movie still depicts them in favour of the Elfin variant.
  • If Bayonetta wears the Galactic Bounty Hunter costume while equipping these guns on her hands in the Wii U version of the first game, Scarborough Fair will be replaced with Samus Aran's arm cannon, which also fires energy bullets instead of actual bullets. This is also true for Love is Blue in the second game.
Advertisement