Super Miriam is the secret final boss of Chapter III and can only be encountered by removing the seal covering the entrance of the Crucible. Miriam turned into this monstrosity when Gary and Malphas, as demonic spirits, both take over her body simultaneously as a last-ditch effort to stop John from disrupting the Profane Sabbath.
Appearance[]
Since Miriam's body is inhabited by two great demons, her physical appearance changed drastically. Her face looks like Gary's true form, Astaroth. Her vertical mouth, brown skin, and red wings are taken from Malphas' physical appearance. The only part that looks like her is her outfit, a ragged gray cloth. Her attacks are a mixture of Gary and Malphas' projectiles. Whenever she stops briefly, she screams in pain, her becoming this amalgamation is very taxing to her body.
Biography[]
This biography page, like most of everything else, focuses entirely on narrative and plot details. For gameplay details and a strategy to defeat her, check the headings in Chapter III and FAITH: The Unholy Trinity (which is a work in progress, sorry).
October 31st, 1987[]
Underneath the Crucible, Gary transformed into his true form, Astaroth, to stop John once and for all since he's been getting in his way of proceeding with the Profane Sabbath. Eventually, Malphas joins Gary's side to stop John, but he persists. With no better options, the spirits of Gary and Malphas inhabit Miriam's withered, almost skeletal body for their last effort of stopping John before they're banished by the cross. When this happens, the entire area goes dark and her body seemingly floats away. But suddenly, she reappears and screams in pain; transformed into an amalgamation of the demons. Here's a list of her attacks:
- She fires Malphas arrows while moving in a wave-like pattern, during which she fires a spinning triangle of skulls which spin anti-clockwise.
- She fires a single flame before making a U-shape dive movement into the center of the arena.
- She fires seven singular skulls that each explode into eight skulls after a few seconds, each flying into the cardinal directions.
- She moves into the center of the arena and encloses herself in a ring of fire, and a few skulls are fired into the ring from outside.
- She fires a rain of skulls while moving in a wave-like pattern, with Malphas arrows periodically being fired in addition.
- She summons a large diagonal cross of flames across the arena, during which she fires a spinning triangle of skulls which spin anti-clockwise.
- After flying off-screen and the music fades, she will make either a horizontal or vertical dash directly towards John.
Occasionally, between her attacks, she stops briefly while screaming in pain. With enough exorcising, Gary's and Malphas' spirits are temporarily expelled from Miriam's body. To counteract the two spirits returning to Miriam, John remembers a note he found in Garyland and catches himself on fire from a nearby torch. He transfers the flame to Miriam and she howls in pain as her body burns. Gary reverts back to his human form and kneels since his demonic form relied on her. Since all demons originate from Miriam, any remaining evil spirits or demons left in Connecticut (like the Spindly Lady in Chapter II for example since John never truly goes to Snake Meadow Hill Church) are heavily weakened and eventually disintegrate into nothingness. Malphas shrieks as his ghostly form disintegrates since he relied on her as well. As soon as Malphas disappears, Miriam explodes into a gory mess and her blood trickles down. Covered in blood, John stares in stunned silence as he watches Amy slowly drift from the darkness. From context clues, Miriam (barely) being alive prevented Amy from waking up, possibly because the demon that possesses Amy is tied to Miriam as well. With her gone, Amy drifts before him.
Trivia[]
- During the battle, John can take a total of 10 Hits from Super Miriam before dying. Each time he gets hit, John appears up close and says part of a speech.
- The last sentence John says before being killed is cut off, implying that the final word of his speech was going to be "MORTIS". This makes the full statement, "Faith without works is dead". Even though it seemed like he regains his faith during the fight, his mind isn't all there and his faith in God doesn't return until he finally exorcises Amy. This explains why his crucifix is brown all the way up until he's finished with Amy.
- Super Miriam's battle theme, 'Super Miriam', has text-to-speech that says "ASTAROTH". It says, "MALPHAS" as well. It's pretty much confirmed that "Astaroth" is supposed to be Gary since Gary is a demon originating from Hell.
- Besides, the fight right before Super Miriam plays a battle theme called, 'Astaroth', right before Malphas joins in. When he does, 'Malphas', plays.
- Sometimes, if you take too long to have Gary's and Malphas' spirit leave her body, flavor text is shown as a temporary break before the cycle continues. A small tune plays and there's text that says, "TIME TO TAKE A BREAK" and "DO YOU HAVE LIFE INSURANCE, JOHN?". It coincides with, "CONGRATULATIONS" right before Super Miriam appears. Here's a YouTube video that captures this[1], credit goes to 8cubed for posting it.
Quotes[]
- (Super Miriam Roars)
- (Super Miriam Charges at John)
Gallery[]
In Game[]
Collage of Hits[]
