The Witch Hunts Are Over

The Witch Hunts Are Over or the Game Over screen is shown when the player loses all of their health or fails to fulfill certain conditions in both games so far, Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2.

When the screen appears, a red skull and crossbones will appear above Yes and No to denote one of the player's failings. Multiple skulls will appear for each time the player dies, for a maximum of five. Each skull adds a penalty to the player's overall score for the Chapter by one medal ranking.

If the player selects Yes, the screen fades to white and the Umbran Elder's voice proclaims "The shadow remains cast!", allowing the player to continue the game. If the player selects No, Bayonetta's contract with the Infernal Demons is fulfilled and she is dragged down into Inferno, ending the game.

Appearances
Traditionally, the game over screen will be met if the player loses all their health (and does not have a Red Hotshot to give them any last chances). However, there are also many instances in both games where the player can be met with an instant game over:

Bayonetta

 * Bayonetta/Jeanne/Zero lose all of their health.
 * The player fails any instant-death Quick-Time Event.
 * Cereza dies in an escort mission or the player fails to catch up to the Joy in time in Chapter VI.
 * Bayonetta's lipstick bullet misses Father Balder in the climax of Chapter XVI.
 * Jeanne falls off the rocket at any point in the Epilogue.
 * The player fails to escape Jubileus' "Black Hole" attack. (Only on Normal, Hard and Non-stop Climax difficulties)
 * Jubileus' soul hits a planet in the final phase of her battle.
 * Bayonetta and Jeanne fail to destroy the body of Jubileus in time in the Epilogue.
 * Falling off the collapsing serpent platform in Chapter V results in being eaten by an Inspired.
 * In the motorcycle segment in Chapter VIII, having a head-on collision with another car.

Bayonetta 2

 * Bayonetta/Jeanne/Rosa lose all of their health or both players lose all their health in Tag Climax.
 * The player fails the button-mashing Quick-Time event against Valiance, fails to jump across the jet debris into the second verse in time or takes too long to finish Belief's final phase in the Prologue.
 * The player fails to escape Valiance's sword pinning Quick-Time event.
 * Loki dies when fighting alongside the player at any point or during his single verse in Chapter V.
 * The player fails either Quick-Time button-mashing event against Insidious in Chapter VII or takes too long to kill the Insidious in its final assault in Chapter XVI.
 * Bayonetta is caught by Resentment after being turned into a child.
 * Loptr's body misses Gomorrah's mouth in the final Climax attack.

Bayonetta

 * If Jeanne dies at any point in the Epilogue on her way to rescue Bayonetta, the screen will be empty.
 * Despite the fact that Bayonetta's body can be destroyed in failing some of the Quick-Time events, her body will still appear in one piece on the screen.
 * Any time Cereza dies, her Cheshire doll will fall to the ground, in a rather haunting fashion, and will be the focus of the screen instead of Bayonetta. Selecting to not continue will cause a single demon hand to grab the doll before the screen instantly blacks out.

Bayonetta 2

 * The only characters that can appear on the screen are Bayonetta, Jeanne, Rosa, and Loki. In Tag Climax mode, where Balder and Rodin are playable characters, neither of them will appear on the screen if either player uses them and subsequently loses the round.
 * If Loki dies during his solo verse in Chapter V, his body will be on the screen instead, and declining to continue will cause the screen to fade to black.