Father Balder

""My name is Balder. But if you so choose, you may address me as... Father""

- Father Balder

Father Balder is the main antagonist in Bayonetta. He is the last Lumen Sage (representatives of Light) and the CEO of the Ithavoll Corporation, that can control angels and light and is trying to use it to lure Bayonetta (the title character and the Left Eye) into reviving Jubileus the Creator.

He was voiced by an uncredited Liam O'Brien.

Story
Balder was one of the main Lumen Sages that started the attack on the Umbra Witches (representatives of Darkness), but differently from them, he, as the Right Eye of the World, had other plans. He secretly got one of the Witches pregnant with the soon-to-be Left Eye of the World, planned to be used in the rebirth of Jubileus. Years later, after the massive slay of the Lumen Sages, Balder became the CEO of the Ithavoll Corporation, located in Isla Del Sol. He first "appears" as a voice that constantly calls Bayonetta as his "dear, sweet child", especially after she meets a little girl called Cereza, and fights her old rival, Jeanne. After finally reaching Balder, she finally learns he is her father, and that Cereza is her own past self, brought in by Balder to recover Bayonetta's memories of being the Left Eye, making her achieve his goal. However, the witch is not pleased with this conclusion and tries to attack him, but fails. Balder fuses Cereza into himself and fights Bayonetta while both fall from the Ithavoll Building, but Bayonetta manages to shoot Balder in his forehead with her lipstick, apparently killing him.

Return and death
However, Balder survives the shot and kidnapps Bayonetta, trapping her to the God statue's left eye, while he takes his place in the right eye, launching the statue into space. However, Jeanne follows them and frees Bayonetta from her prison. The statue loses control and Balder is left helpless, as he is literally crushed by the statue "in the blink of an eye".

Trivia

 * His name, Balder, is the name of the god of light and of beauty in Norse mythology.
 * Balder was 22-years-old when he fathered Cereza.
 * The battle with Balder is similar to Dante's battle with the The Despair Embodied from Devil May Cry 2, who attacks in a very similar manner, alternating between sword and whip-like attacks while deftly circling around their foes.
 * Balder possesses some small similarities to the Resident Evil antagonist Albert Wesker, and Devil May Cry 4 antagonist Sanctus in terms of appearance, personality, and goals. Both were powerful, wealthy, intelligent, but mentally unstable individuals obsessed with killing off humanity and replacing it with their own ideal world without any concern for the well-being of others, including their own allies. Finally, prior to their own deaths, they were owners of powerful international corporations (except for Sanctus who is the leader of the religious group of demon hunters known as the Order of the Sword) that used a false image as a cover up for playing a part with superhuman monstrosities and they had manipulated events from behind the scenes while leaving their own identities shrouded in mystery.
 * Balder is voiced by the uncredited Liam O'Brien, who was also known for doing the voice of the Devil May Cry 4 antagonist Sanctus.
 * A slight similarity Balder shares with Sanctus is that they both required a descendant of a powerful family (Nero and Dante were the descendants of Sparda, the demon who Sanctus and his people, the Order of the Sword worshipped, and Bayonetta/Cereza being a descendant of the Umbra Clan and Balder himself.) in order to awaken a powerful colossus (Jubileus who is similar to the Savior) that posed a threat to not only the human world, but the demon world as well. However, Jubileus would, in a sense, also pose a threat to Paradiso when she went berserk from not having Bayonetta/Cereza serve as the Left Eye.
 * Balder's wings during the boss battle may be a reference to the fallen angel Lucifer, said to have assumed the guise of a twelve winged angel as one of his forms, and was considered the highest of all angels. The fact that Balder is considered a traitor to the Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches, while convincing people to his cause of slaughtering the Witches, fits with the Lucifer myth as well; Lucifer rallied a third of the heavenly host to take over Heaven.