Video discussing Bloodstained prequels/sequels

I find Miriam to be closer to "Leon" and ROTN closer to LOI in terms of story placement. A jumping off point for other games in the franchise for newcomers, requiring no previous experience to get into the story. Even if ROTN is in the middle of the story, it requires no previous experience in the franchise to enjoy and understand, something we can't say for sure about potential future games.

I personally wouldn't have Miriam as the protagonist to a sequel as there isn't many places she could go without some major changes. She's a paragon through and through so barring going insane and unrecognizable as a character I don't think she could become a villain the same way Soma could. I'd probably give the corruption storyline/mechanics to either Gebel (in a prequel) or to a new protagonist as the chance for it to happen to Miriam was admittingly wasted and now even less likely given the ending of ROTN.

Regardless of her role in the future, I'm with you on the romance thing.

If whip won the vote, I can see the Zangetsuto being replaced by an enchanted whip made by Johannes. However I can't really see Johannes in a MC role as even his best work was basically plagiarizing Alfred and he's implied to not be good at fighting anyway. 

Johannes in prequels would probably serve the same support role to Gebel as he did Miriam, giving him a front-row seat to Gebel's fall.

For sequels, he probably could become a master alchemist, but I don't see that happening any time soon. He's totally gonna adopt Anne if Anne is going to have any future appearances.

Gebel is probably the No. 1 candidate for a prequel protagonist. The corruption theme can be easily explored with Gebel as we've seen the results and he already has a story, finishing off the alchemists and maybe fighting off the demons as well with the potential that Gebel stops an alchemist from summoning Bael and getting his hands on the Liber Logaeth in the process. Maybe he knew Dominique's parents and maybe he has something to do with their deaths. The story would probably end with him being possessed by Gremory. The only problem I have with what I've outlined above is that Zangetsu clearly hasn't met Gebel before or at least non-possessed Gebel at least not to any significant extent since it's shown Zangetsu hates shardbinders when ROTN begins and he could clearly care less about Gebel's survival which would be odd given how much Zangetsu cares for his comrades.

For sequels, I can see Miriam trying to find a way to reverse Gebel's crystallization and this would probably be the only spot where she'd be willing to bend her morals, but she would know that Gebel would rather stay dead than for Miriam to turn back on her morals so this doesn't go very far. Or maybe she takes some sort of Faustian bargain, sacrificing her power for Gebel's life.

She's gonna be in every game. No doubt.

I never really thought of Anne being put into a MC role, but I think she has the most potential in sequels so I wouldn't be against it. Given how readily she takes up the mantle of shopkeeper and appears to have a knack for it as she does a pretty good job despite only having experience from observation. I mean she apparently learned how to purify shards, aka partially unstable demonic power, despite only being "showed" how to do it. Gameplay-wise I can see her playing the Vincent role in the future, but story-wise be more of a financial supporter ala Speedwagon as young enterpriser.

The fact she's in the dark about Dominique's true nature does bring up some interesting future potential if Dominique also returns as she could feasibly be manipulated by Dom as she is unaware, more on that in the Dominique section.

Now while I do see Dom as a Barlowe I also think she pulls double duty as a Mathias. I actually don't think she's done yet for sequels because if Bael is Chaos, I think Dominique would make a decent Mathias. The way I believe this would play out would be that she actually successfully merged with Bael and works as an avatar of sorts for Bael that needs to bring Bael back via proper summon in order to access Bael's full power. In this case she got what she wanted, power to slay god, but it is as much a shackle and a burden as it is ascension as she's doomed to forever attempt (and be thwarted) to bring Bael back or be completely subsumed by the very entity she is now a part of if her actions ever stray from that goal.

Now back onto that Anne point. I can see Anne being manipulated by Dominique into helping Dominique's plans if she is kept in the dark about Dominique's nature. This can result in some interesting scenarios such as Anne having the best intentions for everyone but Dominique still has her help bring back Bael.

As for prequels, Mr and Mrs Baldwin have a lot of potential to explore as does young Dominique. If a Gebel prequel has him working alongside the exorcists I can see Dom's parents dying in the process of helping Gebel stop the alchemists and maybe have Gebel break the news to young Dom saying something like "I wasn't strong enough."

Just want to say that I always guessed Alfred wasn't going to be a villain. I was really happy when I found the journal entry saying the "old friend" was getting close to the children because then I realized that alongside Miriam's "you were like a father to me" line that the old friend and Alfred were the same guy and that Alfred was good all along.

For prequels, I actually don't think Alfred would be particularly active. Given that everyone is surprised he's alive, I'm assuming he either faked his death or just went underground to bide his time. So I don't think he'd show up in the prequels at least not in person.

Given that we already of the COTM subseries, I doubt Zangetsu will be having his own mainline games, but I believe the original COTM covered Zangetsu's journey to England you could say it was a Journey to the West or his life in Japan. We all know he's alive, but IDK what roles in sequels he will play now that Miriam has inherited his duty.

Prequel Zangetsu deserves his own classicvania style adventure chasing down Gremory in Japan and England but I don't think his story would intersect much with Gebel's.

Conflating these 3 because there isn't much to say about them individually.

Bloodless could be Bloodstained's "legion", a reoccurring boss that ultimately has little plot relevance, but has subtle changes with each appearance to keep the fights interesting.

I don't see OD really doing anything outside of being his ol' librarian self as he just does not care about anything not relating to his books. He'll do favors for the heroes when he appears but I don't see him being proactive in helping them or the world at large unless they ask.

I'd be perfectly happy if IGA is canonized as a "giant space flea castle architect." There's almost no way you can make him canon in a method that isn't completely or half bonkers outside of saying he's just there and no one knows why, who, or how but he built these castles and that's it.

Much of what I could mention here has already been mentioned in the Dominique section. In short, Dominique becomes the main brain of Bael but is at risk of being consumed by Bael if she does not attempt to bring Bael back every time she returns to the human world.

Gebel as the protagonist with the corruption theme. Gebel works to finish off the Alchemists and help stop the flow of demons (maybe those two goals are the same). The entire Baldwin family makes an appearance but Dom loses her parents. Alfred doesn't show up and neither does Zangetsu, but they are both present in the setting. In the end Gebel finishes off the Alchemists but the demons keep coming. He tries to use THE BOOK to stop it but is in turn controlled by Gremory or put in a coma to be shipped to Gremory. Maybe Gremory was locked inside the book or something. This would take place soon after the demons first appear in the initial waves of the invasion.

I do not think Zangetsu would defeat Gremory, despite chasing her to England, as his first proper encounter with Gremory seems to be during the events of ROTN given how terrified Gremory is of him.

I'd rather have a brand new protagonist in a seemingly distant/unrelated setting ala OOE. Show how other parts of the world reacted to the existence of demons and the countermeasures they developed, once again, like OOE please just make OOE but modern. Have the cast of ROTN serve in supporting roles with Miriam specifically being a mentor of sorts to the new protag. There is potential for Anne unintentionally "betraying" the group by being manipulated by Dominique because Johannes and Miriam didn't want to break it to her. Oh yeah and Dom would be the main villain now that she is essentially Bael and would be working with Gremory to bring about Bael's return.