Dark Esau

This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page.

Evil-doer
Full Name	Dark Esau
Alias	The Revenant Tainted Esau
Origin	The Binding of Isaac
Occupation	None
Powers / Skills	Self-duplication Powerful charge Inhuman speed Killing touch Invulnerability
Hobby	Hunting Jacob
Goals	Kill Jacob for stealing his birthright (player dependent).
Crimes	Attempted murder Stalking
Type of Villain	Vengeful Spirit

“	It's not yours.	„
	~ The flavor text when getting Tainted Jacob's Birthright effect, causing Dark Esau to split in two.

Dark Esau is a supporting antagonist in The Binding of Isaac, serving as the secondary antagonist of the Tainted Jacob run. He is the vengeful spirit of Esau, who was enraged by Jacob's betrayal for stealing his brother's birthright.

Appearance

Dark Esau is a black ghost with a demonic, almost predatory-looking smile, red-bloodshot eyes, and blood red hair that moved like fire.

Biography

Esau was Jacob's brother when he was still alive, being loyal to him until the very bitter end. That was, until one day where Jacob tried to get a second birthright from Esau. After his death, Jacob now felt remorseful for his actions, but Esau returned to the land of the living for revenge. Determined to kill Jacob, Esau will chase him down throughout the game, appearing 20-40 seconds after the player starts a new game or reaches the next floor.

Once spawned in, Dark Esau will stalk Jacob, keeping his distance so he could charge at him when the perfect opportunity presents itself. Jacob starts his game with the Anima Sola, which is the only weakness for Dark Esau, but can only be used once every 15 seconds and will not stop him for long. If Esau succeeds in attacking Jacob for the first time, he'll strip him of his body, turning him into a glost much like The Lost and forcing him to complete the floor without taking damage if he wants to get his body. Dark Esau will continue to trying to charge at him to finish him off. Prior to November 2021, it was possible to banish Esau back to Hell by depleting his HP, but doing this would force Jacob into his ghost form anyway, rendering any advantage he would have without Esau null. This was changed later on, as with Esau's hurtbox now gone, he became fully invincible to all attacks.

Despite wanting to kill Jacob, Esau can prove to be a powerful free familiar. When Esau breaks free from the chains or charges at Jacob, his hitbox also damages enemies and Bosses in Esau's way. Not only this, but his charge ignores boss armor, which would allow for the player to rack up damage on opponents very quickly, possibly one-shotting most early-game bosses.

If at any point in the game should Jacob get the Birthright, Esau will become further enraged and split in two, creating a fully-black clone of himself except for his eyes and mouth. This makes dodging him much more difficult.

Trivia

• Dark Esau is based off the real Esau from Abrahamic texts, who attempted to kill his brother, Jacob, after he and his mother tricked his father into giving Jacob a birthright meant for him.
• In a multiplayer run, Dark Esau will always chase Jacob and ignore the other players and his hitbox is ignored by every character except for Jacob. This is because he only wants to kill Jacob specifically, so he would have little malice towards the other characters.