Zynbel

"This is what happens when you listen to the voices of the underworld. They crawl into your soul and rot you from the inside. Defy the Gods like your mother, and the darkness will come for you too. Do you understand, Senua?"

Zynbel to Senua

Zynbel is a druid, husband of Galena and Senua's father. A man who is devoutly fanatical in his beliefs, he saw both his wife and daughter as being infected with a curse that could only be redeemed through appeasement of his gods.

Zynbel later manifests during Senua's quest as the Shadow, a dark and overwhelming inner voice that degrades Senua and attempts to emotionally manipulate her, just like her father.

Appearance[]

Zynbel only ever appears in person as a tall male figure wearing a hooded cloak of black. He wears simple face markings on his forehead and chin. As the Shadow, he only is ever heard as a voice.

History[]

From a young age, Senua had to live with her father's strict practices, contradicting her mother's caring nature about her affliction. When she turned five, Zynbel had declared Galena's psychosis to be a darkness that must be purged in order to keep the village safe. He burned Galena alive, assuring his daughter that she had been saved through his own hand. The memory was too traumatic and Senua believed that her mother died of her own accord instead.

Without Galena's influence, Zynbel's abusive nature began to reveal itself as Senua grew up. He would perform rituals upon her, lock her away inside the house for great lengths of time and didn't permit her to socialise. At the same time, he would also take on a false nature of being a caring parent after these abusive outbursts, attempting to manipulate his daughter to agree to what he wanted.

One day, shortly after Senua met Dillion, she returned home at Dillion's request to face Zynbel and declare her attempt to leave home. Zynbel reacted violently, hitting his daughter to the ground and chastising her for trying to defy the gods. Senua, gaining the strength to overcome her father's abuse, drew her sword to hold him back and left. Zynbel angrily replied that her decision would leave blood on her hands.

At some point during Senua's isolation in the wilds before she met Druth, it is heavily implied that Zynbel met with the Northmen before they attacked Orkney. He made a deal with them, leading the invaders to their desired treasures and people if they would allow him safe passage for his treason. What happened to Zynbel after this is unknown.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice[]

In the game, Zynbel's voice is that of the Shadow, the manifestation of Senua's inner darkness that taunts her at every turn. It pursues her throughout the game with behaviour similar to that of her father: attempting to degrade her into doing what it wants before simply saying it was only trying to help her get better.

By the end of the game, after Senua remembers the true nature of father's role in Galena's death, the Shadow reveals its face to be the same as Zynbel. It continues to insult and demoralise her as she fights the Northmen manifestations that Hela throws at her.