Lady Butterfly

## Description

**Lady Butterfly** (まぼろしお蝶, Phantom Butterfly) is an optional Boss divided in two phases with one Deathblow Counter each.

Defeating her is necessary to complete the Hirata Estate Memory of the Young Lord's Bell Charm.

## Lore

Since childhood, Lady Butterfly trained in her illusion techniques in Usui's forest of mist and mystifications, to the far north of Ashina.

As an acquainted of Owl, she too joined forces with Isshin Ashina to retake the land that Shuzen Tamura stole from the people of Ashina.

The shinobi will later entrust her with the duty of training the young Wolf he one day found among the aftermath of a battlefield.

Years later, Wolf will meet Lady Butterfly again in Hirata Estate, deep within the Hidden Temple underneath the Audience Chamber, where she's holding Kuro in a trance. Realizing she sided with the bandits who assaulted the Estate, Wolf frees Kuro from the spell and sends him away. The shinobi is then ready to challenge his old mentor.

After defeating her for the first time, it's revealed that Wolf was fighting one of her illusions all along, while the real Lady Butterfly was sitting on the shoulder of the large Buddha statue.

Despite his victory at last, Wolf will end up backstabbed by his own Foster Father and brought back to life by the Divine Heir who'll grant the faithful retainer the power of his Dragon's Blood.

## Location

* Hirata Audience Chamber: once collected the Hidden Temple Key from Owl and defeated Juzou the Drunkard, it'll be possible to challenge her inside the temple.

## Moveset

### Phase 1

* **Perilous Sweep**: yells before initiating a sweep attack.
* **Counter**: deflects two attacks and counter slash right after, or dash back while throwing precisely 2 kunai.
* **Drop Kick**: hops quickly onto a couple of wires before dropping down with an overhead kick.
* **Flourishing Slashes**: slashes twice then finishes with an overhead kick. Another variation begins with two roundhouse kicks and finishes with a slash.
* **Kunai Throw**: throws kunai in an arc up to two times and may follow up with a slash.
* **Kunai Throw to Wire transition**: throws kunai twice in quick succession before leaping onto a high wire.
* **Waltz**: hops onto a low hanging wire then throws kunai up to four times in quick succession while dashing forward, slashing twice.
* **Whirlwind Kick**: hops into the air, executing a series of kicks and turns.
* **Wire Leap**: she leaps high onto a wire. From this position she may choose one of the following:
	+ **Perilous Swoop**: plunges herself at Wolf. If connected, she wrestles him onto ground then stabs him in the back.
	+ **Kunai Throw**: throws kunai in an arc.
	+ **Prowl**: quickly hop down to another wire, then lunges foward doing a three-hit combo.
	+ **Waltz**: throws kunai up to four times in quick succession while dashing forward, slashing twice.
	+ **Wire Hop**: hops onto other wires and reposition herself.

After Wolf performs one deathblow, the Lady Butterfly he had been fighting is revealed to be an illusion.

### Phase 2

In addition to the Phase 1 attacks:

* **Frenzied Flurry**: kicks Wolf away and, conjuring two sets of two butterfly projectiles, launches herself at him unleashing numerous consecutive slashes before ending the combo with a *Perilous Sweep*.
* **Illusion Spell**: conjures a mob of infinite spawning mist enemies which can be dispelled with the use of a Snap Seed. After some time has passed, she casts another spell which turn the remaining enemies into homing butterfly projectiles.
* **Kunai Throw**: same as above, but with magical butterfly projectiles.
* **Waltz**: same as above, but with homing magical butterfly projectiles.

## Recommended Equipment

1. Loaded Shuriken: allows to punish the boss everytime she attemps to leap on a thread.
2. Shinobi Firecracker: stuns the boss, creating an opening to attack or use an item.
3. Flame Vent: stuns the boss and deals Vitality damage.
4. Snap Seed: dispells the illusions during Phase 2.
5. Fistful of Ash: stuns the boss, creating an opening to attack or use an item.
6. Ungo's Sugar: mitigates the damage taken with low Vitality.
7. Pellet: compensates the low charges of the Healing Gourd.

### New Game Plus

1. Senpou Leaping Kick: deals high Posture when used to counter her *Perilous Sweep* attack.
2. Dragon Flash: allows to punish the boss everytime she attemps to leap on a thread deals.
3. Phoenix's Lilac Umbrella: spinning it makes it more manageable to fully deflect her *Frenzied Flurry* combo.

## Strategies

### Phase 1

Note that despite the boss being an illusion in phase one, Snap Seeds will have no effect on her.

It's common for Lady Butterfly to start off her first phase with a *Perilous Sweep*, so it's important to be cautious before beginning to attack her.

Lady Butterfly is extremely vulnerable to Step Dodge attacks, to the point of potentially ending up stunlocked. A common tactic is trading hits with her then executing a Step Dodge attack, which she can never block.

Using Loaded Shuriken is another crucial part in whittling down her Posture quickly thanks to her tendency of staying airborne, although if thrown too late, while she's already on a wire, they will be deflected easily, unless any spinning variation of the Shuriken is used in its charged mode.

Her aerial attacks can all be avoided entirely by just running backward, but her *Drop Kick* and *Perilous Swoop* can also be punished by simply walking away and then attacking once she lands.

Keeping constant pressure on the boss will help mitigate her quick Posture regeneration and can lock her in an exploitable loop: since she'll always react with her *Counter* move, after deflecting the the kick and attacking once, her following attack is probably going to be either a *Perilous Sweep*, which is telegraphed by the red kanji, if it isn't, it's safe to continue attacking her to trigger the *Counter* move again and again, until she finally uses her *Perilous Sweep*.

### Phase 2

At the beginning of the second phase, it's possible to just position oneself behind the spot where Lady Butterfly lands to start off the battle with some free hits.

In Phase Two, Snap Seed can be used to dispel her illusions before they become overwhelming, but it's important to note that the item works like an area-of-effect attack, so if not used near the centre of their spawn point, some might survive its use. It can also be convenient to kill this illusion without a Seed, since they always die in one hit and have a chance to drop a Spirit Emblem. If the illusions aren't killed in time, hiding behind any pillar is enough to avoid all magical projectiles.

### New Game Plus

Unlocking the Senpou Leaping Kicks Combat Art of the Senpou Esoteric Text will allow to deal way higher Posture damage when countering the *Perilous Sweep* move with it.

In the same vein, Dragon Flash can be used as a substitute of Shuriken to punish Lady Butterfly as she leaps mid-air of even if she has already landed on a thread.

The long *Frenzied Flurry* combo can also be made simplier to deflect by spinning the Phoenix's Lilac Umbrella up to four times.

**Wolf**: Lady Butterfly... Leave us.
**Kuro**: Who... are...
**Wolf**: Do what must be done.
**Kuro**: ...Yes.
 **Engaging in combat** | **Wolf**: Lady Butterfly, why...?
 **During battle** | **Lady Butterfly**:
* Now we're having fun, boy...
 **Defeating Wolf** | **Lady Butterfly**:
* You were still just a puppy.
 **After final deathblow** | **Wolf**: Lady Butterfly... Forgive me!
**Lady Butterfly**: You've...gotten stronger...Wolf...

## Notes

* Meeting nor killing this boss is needed to unlock the Phantom Kunai from Anayama.
* Defeating Lady Butterfly is necessary to be able to enter the Hirata Estate Memory of the Father's Bell Charm.

## Trivia

* Depending who's fought first, defeating either her or Gyoubu Oniwa will unlock Reflection of Strength on a new savefile.
* The forest she has trained her whole childhood in seems to be named after Owl's clan, as in the Shura Ending it's revealed that his real name is Usui Ukonzaemon (薄井右近左衛門). According to the Mist Raven's Feathers, it's also the home of an elusive bird no one ever managed to catch.
* The Sakura Droplet, that Kuro will later reveal to have been left by Lord Takeru, might hint that she too, like Owl, was yearning for the power of the Dragon's blood. Furthermore, the strong emphasis on kicks and jumps might suggest that she has also joined the Central Forces, just like him, and trained the Lone Shadows.

## Cut Content

 **Unknown** | **Lady Butterfly**: Oh, don't mind me. I'll be watching from up here.

Gallery
Lady Butterfly close upChallenging Lady ButterflyHiding Before Phase 2IllusionsCharmedConjuringThin ThreadDeathblowDispelledVitality and Posture Tutorial PreviewConcept ArtConcept Art

Videos
Sekiro™ Shadows Die Twice Lady Butterfly