Tainted Apollyon#34

Tainted Apollyon is a character added in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. He is the alternate version of Apollyon. Tainted Apollyon is unlocked by reaching Home and using the Red Key, Cracked Key, or Soul of Cain to access a special room in one of the walls while playing as Apollyon. Tainted Apollyon starts with 2 heart containers, Abyss in the consumable slot with 4 charges, and 1 red Abyss locust familiar that swarms erratically around Apollyon. When Abyss is used, items in current room are destroyed and turned into more locust familiars, with some items granting special types of locusts. They charge in the direction Tainted Apollyon is firing until they hit something, dealing Tainted Apollyon's damage per tick.

• The Tower - Defeat Ultra Greedier as Tainted Apollyon.
• Soul of Apollyon - Defeat Hush and Boss Rush as Tainted Apollyon.
• Rotten Beggar - Defeat Mega Satan as Tainted Apollyon.
• Abyss - Defeat Delirium as Tainted Apollyon.
• Apollyon's Best Friend - Defeat Mother as Tainted Apollyon.
• Echo Chamber - Defeat The Beast as Tainted Apollyon.

• Tainted Apollyon has four horns, unlike Apollyon, who only has two.
• The Hebrew term Abaddon, and its Greek counterpart Apollyon appear in the Bible as a place of destruction and an archangel of the abyss. The supposed crack on Tainted Apollyon's face is a reference to that void that is used to reference the bottomless pit which is Sheol.
• In Christianity, Apollyon appears in the Book of Revelations as the Destroyer and King of locusts, with him liberating his plague of locusts on Earth. Tainted Apollyon's cracked face referencing the events in the Apocalypse.
• XVI - The Tower and XVI - The Tower? propose a cycle of desired creation and destruction. The events in the apocalypse marking the end of the cycle to a new perfect era.
• The crack on Tainted Apollyon's face could also be a reference to Azami Kurotani from the manga Uzumaki by Junji Ito, who has a very similar crack on her face.
• The achievement for unlocking Tainted Apollyon is "The Empty", a possible title for the character. Apollyon Unlocks Tainted Apollyon Unlocks Characters Rebirth Afterbirth Afterbirth † Repentance Tainted The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
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