Gehrman

"Tonight, Gehrman joins the hunt."

- Gehrman

Gehrman is one of the very first hunters of the Healing Church. He became the host of the Hunter's Dream under the control of the Moon Presence and is one of the final bosses of Bloodborne.

Appearance
Gehrman has shoulder-length, grey hair and wears a black hat along with a brown leather jacket and trousers, a tattered mantle and a scarf. He can always be seen bound to an ornate wheelchair and he carries a cane with him. Also, his right foot is missing, replaced by what appears to be a peg leg. For most of the game, he is bound to a wheelchair, only getting out of it when ready to kill the Hunter.

Personality
At first, it is to believe that he is a senile old man, struggling to remember his name

Despite his gruesome task as a hunter, Gehrman saw it as a "dirge of farewell, wishing only that his prey rest in peace, never again to awaken to another harrowing nightmare", implying he knew from the start that all of the beasts were once men, taking on his duty to put them out of their misery.

History
At the start of the beast scourge, Gehrman was the first of the Yharnamites to take notice of the beasts and became the first hunter. His garb tells us that by making adjustments to his everyday clothing and tools, Gehrman equipped himself to hunt the beasts. At some point, Gehrman would associate himself with various, important figures in Yharnam and Byrgenwerth, including Master Wilheim, Laurence, Ludwig and Lady Maria.

As the plague spread and more people became aware of it, the church began sending out specially-sanctioned hunters of their own, and even recruited civilians to join the hunt. Soon enough, Gehrman and his workshop became invalidated as the church set up a workshop of their own. Not wanting to fall behind, Gehrman called upon a Great One to help him, and with its assistance via a contract created the Hunter's Dream. As the hunt dragged on and hundreds of hunters came and went, Gehrman realized he was bound to the dream and could never escape it.

The goal of each hunter called to the Hunter's Dream was to kill a Great One and end the night. When this goal is fullfilled, Gehrman ends the contract and kills the Hunter in the Hunter's Dream, allowing them to awaken from the dream. When the Hunter refuses, Gehrman then tries to do it by force.

Should the player suceed in killing him, freeing him from the nightmare, the Moon Presence will appear to replace Gehrman with the hunter that killed him.

Trivia

 * Given that he had to recall his name when he introduces himself, it is likely that either this was him pretending to be senile, or that "Gehrman" actually is not his real name and is simply a title of some kind.
 * With Gehrman's choice of weapon - a scythe - it is likely that Gehrman was  a groundskeeper of some kind to Wilheim before the scourge.
 * Gehrman had a strong infatuation with Lady Maria, but was very shy around women (hence why he keeps a copy of How to Pick-up Fair Maidens in his workshop). Because of this, he created a fetish doll in her likeness. A living version of this doll came into existence when he was bound to the Hunter's Dream, but he grew to resent it when it lacked her strong personality.