Is Gehrman Evil?

No, not on what Bloodborne actually shows. Gehrman, the First Hunter, is a tired old man bound to the Hunter's Dream, who helps the player all game and, at the end, offers to set them free. He fights only if the player refuses. The darker picture of him, an obsessive who built the Doll in his student's image and serves the Moon Presence, comes from hints the game never confirms. (Bloodborne; Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)

The case for Gehrman#

From the start he is on the player's side. He welcomes the new hunter to the dream, explains that it was once a safe haven for hunters, and offers whatever tools are left. (Bloodborne)

His own weapon describes his outlook. The Burial Blade, which defined every weapon made at his workshop, says Gehrman saw the hunt as a dirge of farewell. He wanted only that his prey rest in peace, never again to wake to another nightmare. (Bloodborne)

He also hates where he is. Dozing in the garden, he mutters to Laurence that he has grown too old for this. Later he begs Laurence, Master Willem or anybody to unshackle him: "I've had enough of this dream." A man who wanted the hunt to go on forever wouldn't say that. (Bloodborne)

And his last act is an offer of release. Once the night is nearly over, he tells the player they've done well and that he will show mercy: "You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun." Accept, and that is exactly what happens. The hunter wakes in Yharnam at sunrise. (Bloodborne)

The case against Gehrman#

The darker evidence comes in pieces. The Maria Hunter Cap says that Lady Maria, one of his students, admired Gehrman, "unaware of his curious mania". The Doll's spare clothes, found in his old workshop, show a love for the doll that "borderlines on mania". Put together, many players read an unhealthy fixation on Maria that ended with a doll in her likeness. (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters; Bloodborne)

His coldness towards the Doll fits that reading. When he offers the player the workshop's leftovers, he adds, almost as an afterthought, "even the doll, should it please you". (Bloodborne)

Then there's the dream itself. A Third Umbilical Cord says a cord brought an encounter with the pale moon, which "conceived the Hunter's Dream". When the player beats Gehrman, the Moon Presence comes down at once. Most players believe he struck a bargain with it and serves it, the theory laid out on why Gehrman made a deal with the Moon Presence. (Bloodborne)

Last, the Fishing Hamlet. After the Orphan of Kos dies, the Doll says she can hear Gehrman sleeping calmly for once, as if something had eased his suffering. Some players take that as a sign he was part of the massacre there, or at least carries its guilt. He is never named at the hamlet. (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)

The fight: cruelty or duty?#

If the player refuses him, Gehrman sighs: "Dear, oh dear, what was it? The hunt, the blood, or the horrible dream?" He decides it doesn't matter, says it always comes down to the hunters' helper to clean up after these sorts of messes, and rises from the wheelchair. "Tonight, Gehrman joins the hunt." (Bloodborne)

Interpretation: the words sound more like duty than malice. He is the dream's keeper, and a hunter who won't leave is a mess for him to clean up. If he kills the player in the fight, he tells them to accept their death and be freed from the night. When he falls, he says only that the night, and the dream, were long. (Bloodborne)

So, is he evil?#

Interpretation: our answer is no. Everything he says to the player is either help, mercy or weariness, and every sinister thing about him rests on readings of item text. At worst he is a flawed man with an obsession and old guilt, kept on as the Moon Presence's caretaker long after he wanted out. Beating him is what finally ends his watch, so the fight can also be read as a release for him. (Bloodborne; Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)

Read more#

Gehrman has his full story, and why Gehrman is in the Hunter's Dream covers what holds him there. For the Doll's side, see what happened to the Doll.