Golden Bough

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The Golden Boughs (황금가지, Hwanggeumgaji) are mysterious, tree-like branches that can be used to harvest great power. The collection of them is the LCB’s main goal and Limbus Company’s overarching objective.

Overview

The Golden Boughs are plantlike branches that emit a golden glow. The Boughs are a potent energy source, and they hold the essence of L Corp.'s technology. They can be found in the underground remnants of old Lobotomy Corporation branches all across the City, and despite being a recent discovery, they have caught the attention of many different factions, from private companies, to Syndicates, to Wings, many of whom are interested in making use of its powers. As they follow the distribution of L Corp. branches across the City, more than one Bough may be found in a single District.

The LCB team of Limbus Company has been formed specifically for the collection of Golden Boughs, with their Manager Dante containing a shard of a Bough in their prosthetic which allows them to connect to the other Boughs and perceive their location. The Sinners they are contracted to have also been shown to resonate with the Boughs: when close enough to them, a Bough will open up the rest of the group to a show of their memories. The Bough is also mentioned to emit an area of Qliphoth Deterrance.

It is possible that some unknown River had some part in the creation of the Golden Boughs.

Powers

The Golden Boughs are home to a variety of incredible, not-yet-understood powers. Seen most frequently is its ability to resonate with a specific Sinner when close enough to them, revealing the fathoms of their ego and making a viewable presentation out of their past or psyche. Rather than just Dante and the rest of the Sinners, everyone in the proximity is shown these. Each individual Bough lines up with a certain Sinner with connections to its resting site, associating with them so that they unconsciously understand where it is located (and later resonating with that particular Sinner as long as there is no outside interference).

When resonating with someone, the Golden Bough creates an interactable landscape reflecting the psyche, which anyone or anything in the area can walk around in. In Canto I: The Outcast, this is a twisted memory of Gregor's time during the Smoke War. In Canto II, Rodya's mind creates a massive, icy castle, while in Canto IV, Yi Sang forms a "play" of sorts taking place in the League of Nine's old workshop. Though each Bough will automatically begin to resonate with a Sinner, the ability to resonate with them is not limited to the group. Due to getting her hands on the Bough before the Sinners, Canto III: The Unconfronting shows Kromer resonating with the Bough and creating an ego-based domain instead of Sinclair. Compared to the Sinners, hers is exceptionally twisted and gruesome- taking the form of countless corpses stacked haphazardly into hills and mountains.

Those who know of the Boughs seem to be of the understanding that they can make anything happen; not only did Kromer aim to use one in order to “cleanse” society, Sonya also aspired to use the one he sought out for the sake of building an entirely new world. Faust and Hermann’s group wanting to amass all of them implies that there is even more to be gained by collecting more than one, despite their already immense power.

In Hell's Chicken, Dante is strangely able to understand the Papa Bongy distortion’s speech. Faust suggests that this may be due to the influence of the Golden Boughs the group has collected resonating with their head, pertaining to another potential capability of the Boughs.

During Canto V, Dante is revealed to see into people's hearts and mind, letting them see what they are thinking, or memories of their past. For example, when Sinclair is upset with Ishmael's callousness over the LCCB team, they sees memories of Effie and Saude, the guilt of their deaths. For Ishmael, they see her wish to kill Ahab when asked. For Ahab herself, they see memories Ahab sacrificing almost the entirety Pequod Town, her crew, to the Whale so she could reach the Heart.

In Canto VI, the Golden Bough is shown to be able to store and produce massive amounts of energy, which can be then channeled to produce incredible effects, from summoning a certain Identity from another Mirror World to the erasure of a designated person from every Mirror World. Extremely power-consuming applications, such as the pan-multiversal erasure mentioned above, will leave the Golden Bough burnt out, glowing a faded grey color instead of the usual gold.

Additionally, the Sapling of Light powers utilized by Dante after Canto VI is also connected to the Golden Boughs collected somehow, but seems to be in response to Dante earnestly wishing to help the Sinners, such as gaining a time slowing effect to reach the Erlking and save Cathy for Heathcliff, or enabling the usage of E.G.O without Sin Resources for Don Quixote's final clash against the First Kindred.

Known Seekers of the Boughs

The LCB

The LCB's main mission is to collect the Golden Boughs for reasons seemingly known to Faust and Vergilius, but unknown to the rest of the group.

As of Canto VII, they have successfully retrieved five out of the seven Boughs they've sought after.

New League of Nine Littérateurs

A subsection of N Corp. and the main group opposing the Sinners' objective of retrieving the Boughs. Hermann states simply that they will be seeing the group often due to needing the Boughs, and the Sinners being capable of finding them. They are also affiliated with the Yurodivye.

In Canto I, they manage to steal the Branch D-02 Bough from the Sinners.

In Canto VI, they used said Bough, in conjunction with the Bough bought by Catherine, for experiments to create "primordial humans", with the second Bough being used as a lightning rod to channel the energy necessary to the experiment. This Bough was returned to their hands thanks to Nelly, while the first was utilized, and retrieved by the LCB.

Yurodiviye

Sonya describes the strange feelings motivating his decision to let the Sinners have the Bough.

A group in search of at least one of the Golden Boughs, hoping to use them for the sake of building a new, better world which aligns with their ideals. Sonya expects to meet with the Sinners again while on their individual quests. They are also affiliated with Hermann's group.

In Canto II, Sonya steps back and allows the Sinners to claim the Branch J-03 Bough.

In Canto VIII, Sonya is suggested by Jia Qiu to be part of the New League of Nine Littérateurs, though how connected the Yurodiviye are with the League is currently unclear.

Known Bough Locations

Location	Description
Branch D-02	The abandoned L Corp. branch whose Golden Bough resonated with Gregor. It is located under a spot in the District 4 Backstreets, and has since degraded into a field of corpses and bugs. The Sinners failed to retrieve the Golden Bough at this location due to Hermann, Gubo, and Jia Huan swooping in and stealing it following Yuri's death. This was later given to Catherine by Hermann when it was discovered at the Wuthering Height, and used to summon Every Catherine before becoming white and burnt out. It was acquisitioned by the Sinners following the events of Canto VI.
Branch J-03	The abandoned L Corp. branch whose Golden Bough resonated with Rodion. It is located under a large casino in District 10's Backstreets, and is a large cave in the process of being turned into an expansion for storing vaults. The Sinners successfully retrieved the Golden Bough at this location, but only because Sonya allowed them to have it.
Branch K-02	The abandoned L Corp. branch whose Golden Bough resonated with Sinclair. It is located under the Sinclair family mansion in the town of Calw of District 11’s Nest, and has since been turned into a chamber for torturing those the N Corp. Inquisition deems heretics. The Sinners successfully retrieved the Golden Bough at this location, but only because Demian killed Kromer for them, and subsequently allowed them to have it.
L Corp. Branch in Nest K	A branch that housed the K-Corp.-owned Golden Bough which resonated with Yi Sang. The branch's interior morphed into a place from Yi Sang's memories in the form of a play focused on his life and how the League came to fall apart. It twists reality and reanimates the dead inside the K Corp. laboratory. The Sinners successfully retrieved the Golden Bough at this location, however they ended up unwillingly turning over their memories of K Corp.'s Singularity following Dongrang's attack.
Abandoned Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship	The Golden Bough that resonated with Ishmael. After the abandoned L Corp. branch was eaten –and spat back out– by the Pallid Whale, it is revealed that the Golden Bough lies within the Calamity itself, lodged in its heart. Alongside Pallid Mermaids, there are also Abnormalities from the abandoned L Corp. branch, as well as "Pequod Town". It can counteract the effects of "pallidification", the Pallid Whale's corruption on its victims. The Sinners successfully retrieved the Golden Bough at this location with help from the Indigo Elder opening the way, and Ishmael gains the Bough for the Sinners by piercing the beast's heart.
Wuthering Heights	Two Golden Boughs are reported to be located in the Wuthering Heights manor. One was moved from the T Corp. located branch to the manor, purchased by Linton with a sizeable portion of his family's assets by Catherine's wish, and the other lent by N Corp., presumably the one taken by Hermann's group from Branch D-02. Catherine's will states that Heathcliff is to receive her Bough when "the seventh lightning strikes". Two Boughs were used in summoning Every Catherine. The one attached to Catherine's coffin was left burnt out and white after the Bough was used by Catherine to erase herself from all Mirror Worlds. This bough was eventually retrieved by the Sinners. The other Bough attached to the Wuthering Heights rooftop is taken by Nelly following the defeat of Erlking Heathcliff and Every Catherine back to N Corp.
La Manchaland	An Urban Nightmare level amusement park run by Bloodfiends that appears ever-so-often in P Corp. The Bough itself came from a Lobotomy Branch that was built on top of it, but when La Manchaland manifested for the first time, the abandoned Branch was swallowed up, and the Bough was lodged within the First Kindred's body within the park's Ferris wheel. It managed to suppress much of the First Kindred's power, yet brought out his long suppressed thirst for blood. It was retrieved after Don Quixote defeated the First Kindred. Sansón was the one who left the Bough within the First Kindred for Don Quixote to properly claim it.
Daguanyuan	A colossal residence that acts as the governing body of District 8, and Hong Lu's old home. The Golden Bough is reportedly one of the gifts within the family's treasury, hence the LCA's orders for Hong Lu to participate in the Family Hierarch Evaluation. It was taken to the inner sanctum of the Xianren Elders that watch over District 8, the Tiekan Temple, after witnessing it's capabilities through Dante. It was initially absorbed by Jia Mu in an attempt to gain immortality, but was claimed by Hong Lu, who floods the sanctum and the entire temple to separate the Elders from the outside world.

Gallery

Cutscene ArtStory BackgroundsBattle BackgroundsCharacter SpritesOther

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  Sprouting from False Apple's head (disguised as Yuri) in Branch D-02
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  Branch J-03
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  Dongbaek stabbing Yi Sang with a Golden Bough
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  Catherine's coffin in the Wuthering Heights basement
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  Catherine's coffin in the Wuthering Heights basement
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  Heathcliff stabbing himself with a Golden Bough
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  La Manchaland's Don Quixote
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  La Manchaland's Don Quixote

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  Branch J-03
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  Kromer's Fathoms of ego in Branch K-02
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  Kromer's Fathoms of ego in Branch K-02
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  Golden Bough inside the Pallid Whale's Heart
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  Catherine's coffin in the Wuthering Heights basement
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  Wuthering Heights rooftop

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  Kromer's Fathoms of ego in Branch K-02
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  Kromer's Fathoms of ego in Branch K-02
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  Golden Bough inside the Pallid Whale's Heart
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  Wuthering Heights basement

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  Dongbaek
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  La Manchaland's Don Quixote

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  Jia Mu
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  Jia Mu partially fused
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  Distorted Jia Mu

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  Theater Main Story background image
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  The Golden Bough's Forced Arbitration status effect
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  Malattunement status effect
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  Featured in victory graphic after a battle is won

Trivia

• The concept of the Golden Bough, or ramus aureus, originates from Vergil's Aeneid. In the poem's sixth book, the item is instrumental to Aeneas's descent into the underworld, as the hero leaves it as an offering to the goddess Proserpina to be allowed on the ferryman Charon's boat and to be allowed into the Elysian Fields.
  • The Bough is commonly depicted as having a Y shape, symbolizing the path of virtue and that of vice. In the Middle Ages, its iconography was associated with that of the Tree of Eden.
  • In Frazer's The Golden Bough, a study of comparative mythology that influenced later depictions of the Bough, the Golden Bough of the Aeneid is identified as a mistletoe bough, as the plant often changes from green to yellow during winter months.
• Golden Boughs notably always end up in the heart of a person or a monster, or the "core" of an Abnormality.
• In addition to a branch, the Golden Boughs resemble portions of a nervous system.
• The in-game UI displayed upon obtaining a Golden Bough states "Ramus Aureus Receptus", which translates to "Golden Bough Recovered".
  • Similarly, the in-game UI displayed when Dante unlocks a new Sapling of Light ability states "Ramus Aureus Resonatus Est", which translates to "Golden Bough Resonance".

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