Let's dance, boys!― Bayonetta at the end of the first two games

Bayonetta (real name Cereza) is the protagonist of the Bayonetta series. She is a coquettish and mysterious Umbra Witch. Considered the black sheep of the Umbra Witches due to her Umbran and Lumen descent, she possesses a remarkable talent for Bullet Arts and possessed the Left Eye of Darkness.

In the first game, she was sealed away during the Witch Hunts until she was found and awakened 500 years later. Spending 20 years with amnesia, she battles against the angelic hordes of Paradiso and fights to end the malicious plans of the last Lumen Sage, Balder.

In the second game, Bayonetta journeys to Inferno to save Jeanne's soul while also uncovering a deeper plot of a former god conspiring to reclaim his lost power and discovering the truth behind the Witch Hunts.

In the third game, Bayonetta encounters new enemies called Homunculi led by Singularity, who intends to destroy the Multiverse. She meets Viola, a witch-in-training from an alternate universe who joins her to defeat Singularity.

Bayonetta's past is explored in Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, where her younger self is put to the test in Avalon Forest, a maze-like magical place where malevolent creatures known as Faeries reside.

As the main character, she is playable in all games in the series.

Do not fear your fate. Stand, Cereza. Stand and open your eyes. For with every truth, there is another one to be seen.

― Jeanne to Cereza

Jeanne is the former heiress to the Umbra Witches and Bayonetta's best friend. Befriending her during their childhood, Jeanne was responsible for sealing away Bayonetta during the Witch Hunts to foil the corrupted Balder's plan of resurrecting Jubileus, The Creator, during the Festival of Resurrection.

500 years later, Jeanne was revealed to have been captured by Balder's forces and subjected to mental reprogramming from his magical abilities. She worked alongside him in order to bring forth Bayonetta's memory and eventually becomes her ally after breaking free of Balder's control.

After Jubileus' defeat, she returns to being a high school teacher and vigilante who defends her students in her spare time in addition to hanging out with Bayonetta.

In the second game, Jeanne's soul is captured by the demons of Inferno after saving Bayonetta from being struck by Gomorrah. She is threatened to be lost in Inferno and consumed by the Infernal Demon, Alraune. However, she is saved and helps both Bayonetta and a past Balder travel to Fimbulventr and defeat Loptr.

Jeanne is the primary playable character in the final chapter of Bayonetta, and can be unlocked post-game to play in the main story. In Bayonetta 2, she is unlocked post-game and is also playable in Tag Climax. Along with Bayonetta and Viola, she is playable throughout Bayonetta 3, but only in her Spy Action chapters, Phenomenal Remnant chapters, as well as when facing Rodin or the Golem.