Melquiades

"I have witnessed the exhumation of the Archbishop. I have witnessed how they cleansed his bones in wine to then dress him in silk and gold. I saw them place the most beautiful jewels on his face and kiss his forehead. I watched as they placed rings on his fingers and kissed his hands. They lifted him up, calling his name, and swayed him to make it look as if he was walking again."

**Melquíades, the Exhumed Archbishop** is the boss of the Mother of Mothers. He is adorned with holy robes, colorful jewels, a golden crown, and a golden staff. Several arms hold him up during his boss fight, which can be hit but will not affect the boss' health bar.

## Behaviour and Tactics

* **Hand Grab**: Multiple hands reach up from the bottom of the platform and attempt to grab The Penitent One.
* **Staff Plunge**: **Melquíades** plunges his staff down in the direction of **The Penitent One**.
* **Heavenly Beams**: Multiple blue beams strike the platform from above.
* **Plunging Beams**: **Melquíades** plunges his staff directly downward across the entire platform. After each plunge, a blue beam strikes from above.

During the fight, multiple arms support **Melquíades** high above the platform. Although attacking the arms does not affect the boss' health bar, continuously attacking them will cause the **Archbishop** to fall to a height where he can be attacked. Attacking his head deals considerable damage, so the strategy is to keep attacking the arms until **Melquíades** falls, attack his head, and then repeat. Using Sacred Blood (or whichever version of the ranged attack you have acquired thus far) is a fantastic way to attack multiple arms at once.

Dodging is effective for avoiding the **Hand Grab** and **Staff Plunge** attacks. When the Archbishop is about to perform his **Heavenly Beams** attack, he will close his fist. The beams will first appear as a thin, transparent blue beam that can be dodged through. After a couple of seconds, the beam will widen and turn light blue, which is when it can deal damage. These beams are mostly evenly spaced apart, but this is not always the case. The **Plunging Beams** attack is very similar, except **Melquíades** will plunge his staff into the ground and the same blue beams will appear just after he strikes, always evenly spaced apart. Avoiding the beam attacks is as simple as standing out of the line of the beams.

## Relevant Item Description

Take all the jewels, all the precious stones, all the gold from those chests to consecrate him, for today we will clothe the saint and raise his body to the highest.

## Trivia

* A Catacomb Saint in Switzerland, specifically St. Pancratius of Rome.
* Reclining catacomb saint
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* **Melquíades** is the Spanish derivation from Greek Μελχιάδης *Melkhiadēs* (ultimately from Semitic root *mlk* "to rule"), another name of Μιλτιάδης Miltiadēs, bishop of Rome (retroactively termed "pope") from 311 to 314, when Christians were given legal status within the Roman Empire.
* The design of **Melquíades** is based on the Catacomb Saints, or Jewelled Saints, which were bodies exhumed from the catacombs of Rome. They were decorated with gold and precious jewels and regarded as relics of certain saints from the 16-19th centuries. Like Melquiades, they were often placed in a reclining position. In regards to his garments, he is clothed in pieces from traditional Catholic Pontifical Vestments, especially the gloves, rings, and shoulder covering garb inspired by cape-like vestments called copes.
* **Melquíades** crosses his first two fingers throughout the boss fight. Although today the gesture typically symbolizes invoking luck, the origin is in the early ages of Catholicism and was used to invoke the power of Christ for protection from evil.
* The design also bears similarity to the painting Finis Gloriae Mundi by Juan de Valdés Leal.