Bayonetta
The titular Umbra Witch, like the other returning characters, has got a redesign, though Bayonetta's, Jeanne's and Luka's are the most drastic. Not much about Bayonetta has been changed. She remains her cheeky, teasing yet somewhat funny and sadistic personality, as well as several techniques and Infernal Demons. Most interesting is that she seems to have grown in power. She can tap into Umbran Climax, which works like serious mode and/or Climax Brace in the first game, by having a full magic gauge. Whilst it looks like it'll be used often early in the game, as you get more and more techniques, you'll be spending magic quicker, and the enemies will start going for quality over quantity if it's anything like the first. It also has torture attacks to compete with for the full magic unleash thing. This mode powers her up, makes most attacks Wicked Weaves, with combos ending with Infernal Weaves, summoning a large part of the demon to deal large damage, and it isn't just leaved for Madama Butterfly, either. Speaking of her, she, Gomorrah, Malphas and Madama Styx are all confirmed to be back, however Madama Styx is only seen in Jeanne's Wicked Weaves so far, and Gomorrah seems to become replaced/unusable after he knocks Jeanne's soul out of her body and Bayonetta seemingly kills him. However, seeing as Balder killed him in the first game and he's back...So far, Gomorrah and Phantasmaranae seem to have forgotten all the tasty angel snacks she has given them, with Madama Butterfly and Malphas seeming to be staying loyal. She also has new Infernal Demons, such as a three headed sabre-tooth tiger, who is also winged, a bull-frog like demon, a chimera like demon, and an armored horse-like demon. She refers to Loki as 'little one' as she did to Cereza in the first game, and seems intrigued by how angels and a Lumen Sage are after him. Even in Inferno she stays calm and eager to save Jeanne, giving Madama Butterfly a brofist before shit hits the fan in Inferno. She retains the Panther, Crow and Moth Within abilities from Bayonetta 1, and seems to retain them from the get go, but has obtained a new 'Snake Within', which seems to work as an aquatic variation of Panther Within. The witch is armed with many new items, like Love is Blue, her new pistols, to Kafka, demonic bow and arrows, to Undine, cannon-like weapons which can be attached to both legs and arms, and can switch between ice and fire variations, seemingly this game's 'version' of Durga. This isn't even scraping the surface, with whip boots, dual rapiers that can be equipped to both hands and heels, as well as a three-bladed scythe that can shift into a rifle for its Charge Modifier!

Jeanne​

Bayonetta's formal rival and childhood friend, Jeanne returns! She's been redesigned with a red biker suit, referencing her favorite way of transportation. Free of Balder's brainwashing, she now fights side by side with Bayonetta as they fulfill their contracts with Madama Butterfly and Madama Styx, and possibly other demons. However, when Gomorrah's portal fails to close and he frees from his conduit (Bayonetta's hair, in this case), he tries to attack his summoner, Jeanne tackles her friend out of the way, leaving her soul knocked out her body and dragged to Inferno. Jeanne's also had a redesign, with long hair. Interestingly enough, whilst Bayonetta has replaced Scarborough Fair with Love is Blue, Jeanne has kept All 4 One, yet replaced its feathers with kitty cat plushies, possibly referring to how she's more serious and patient, whilst Bayonetta seems to take fun in what she does and acts on impulse. It's unknown if she can fully summon Madama Styx now like Bayonetta can summon Madama Butterfly, or if she can access Umbran Climax, but it does seem likely, as Bayonetta and Jeanne are near equals in power. Interestingly enough, many speculate that Madama Styx will be a boss battle, as Jeanne's soul seems to belong to her. Seems likely with both that and the Infernal Demons rebelling against the Umbra Witches. Jeanne's been confirmed as a playable character on the two player online 'Tag Climax', perhaps hinting at her being playable in the main game, even if just a altered skin-change for Bayonetta.

Rodin​

Rodin seems to have had a smaller redesign, but it's still fairly cool. Since only clips have been see of him, we can't really say much, but he seems a bit too happy with the thing he's holding. Perhaps a spear, judging by what looks like a handle and point. Maybe a new weapon for Bayonetta? What role will he play in the new story? I mean he seems to be the only character who's been to Inferno before, and it was tough for him to handle... Poor Bayonetta... It's likely he'll continue his role in the first game as the shop keeper/bartender and Bayonetta's source of weaponry. Rodin believes that Bayonetta would have to start making miracles to rescue Jeanne, and due to the prevalence he has in trailers, he seems to have a bigger role in the game.Luka
Whilst we know the least about Luka than the other characters, he's had the biggest update out of all the boys. His scarf is now in his jacket rather than out, and he has a cowboy hat. In Bloody Fate, his father has a similar one. That's sweet, trying to imitate his father XD The attention to detail is pretty cool. He mentions the 'Overseer', the creator of the Eyes of the World, and the physical world (presumably after Jubileus split the first time and the universe became a new) and the 'god of chaos', like Jubileus and Sheba are attributed to light and dark. It's likely his role won't be as big as the first game due to at least a good amount of the chapters taking place in Inferno, but he was missing from Paradiso chapters in Bayonetta and still managed to make a good amount of appearances. Enzo

Bayonetta's informant returns, and it seems like he's performing a similar role to the first game, but a bit more active. He flies Bayonetta out to near Fimbulventer, as well as inform her about it. It's likely he won't play a role as big as the other four returning characters above.

Masked Lumen
Just as Bayonetta thought she killed Balder, the 'last Lumen Sage', another pops up! With Jeanne technically dead, he's hunting down Bayonetta to rid the world of the Umbra. He seems able to summon the Cardinal Virtues/Audito (so far being shown to summon Fortitudo and Temperentia) in the same way as Bayonetta summons demons, but using feathers as conduits rather than hair. He can also seem to use a variation of Wicked Weaves with Fortitudo's dragon heads, and use the Lumen Sage's equivalent of the Umbra's Witch Time: Light Speed, where they speed themselves up it seems the world is super slow, where as Witch Time does actually do that. There's many theories about him. Maybe it's Balder!? Maybe it's Luka!? Maybe Bayonetta's twin brother!? After all, she is the child of Balder (A sage) and Rosa (A witch). I'd like to see him without the mask, it always makes me curious when I see stuff like this. He uses a double bladed-staff like weapon, which he can split up and use like swords. He can also summon fireballs and at one point, unleashes a golden shock wave at one point. Lumen Climax? Due to his voice, he does seem like a man, as does the fact that the Lumen and Umbra seem to be male and female exclusive, but you never know. He may just be a she! He seems to function like Jeanne in Bayonetta 1, a recurring foe with similar powers, such as the ability to turn into a magnificent white wolf! Since Bayonetta's and Jeanne's Panther/Lynx Within powers had an Okami reference, I can't wait to see if they do it with this one, especially as the Lumen have an affinity with the sun and fire! For some reason, he's also interested in Loki, and was attacking the poor boy before Bayonetta shows up and rescues him, resulting in a ground battle that leads to the air. Perhaps he's similar to Valiance, and wants the boy for this 'Remembrance of Time' power? Is he in league with Valiance and the other angels?Loki
A young deadpan snarker who Bayonetta meets in Purgatorio, near Fimbulventer. Loki seems to be unaware of Purgatorio and/or why he's in it. Oddly, he seems associated with blue as the sages are with yellow/gold and the witches with red (and in mostly Bayonetta, purple), perhaps a third clan who looked over Chaos, as the Umbra and Lumen looked over darkness and light? He claims Bayonetta will need his powers to enter Fimbulventer, and has been shown to be playable on at least one occasion. He possesses a lot of agility which he uses to dodge angel's attacks, before throwing his cards at them to finish them off. However, this is not enough to out fox the Masked Lumen, who attacked Loki before Bayonetta intevered, the child and witch thinking each other were allied with this odd character. Bayonetta refers to Loki as 'little one', which is what she refers Cereza to. However, Cereza seemed to be about four or six (possibly much, much older, as Jeanne and Bayonetta are over 500 years old yet look only about in their mid twenties), whilst Loki seems to be in his tweens, or due to his snarkiness and his insistence he's not a child, a young teenager. Just what is this 'Remembrance of Time' power he possess? It seems, due to a scene where Bayonetta has to collect pieces of a grave to restore the Witch Grave which has to do with the 'Remembrance of Time' in a time limit, it seems to restore things to its original state. He seems to use cards as his main weapon... He's a very mysterious character, and it seems likely he'll play a huge part in the plot. Angels are attacking him and ignoring the women who slayed GOD to get to him... Why is he so important?