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The Orphan is a major enemy of Valor Mortis, revealed in the April 9, 2026 Triple-i Initiative gameplay trailer. It is described as a Nephtoglobin abomination that lives in the sewers beneath one of the game's plague-stricken cities, making it both a story beat and a likely boss encounter.

What It Is

The Orphan is one of the visibly non-human horrors that the supernatural plague has produced. Where corrupted soldiers of the Eternal Guard still wear the shape of the Grande Armee they once belonged to, The Orphan has been twisted far past human form by exposure to Nephtoglobin, the plague-altered compound that runs through William's own resurrected powers. The creature anchors the lower, underground stretches of the world rather than the open battlefields.

Lair

The trailer footage places The Orphan in the city sewers, which suggests that William will descend below the streets at some point in the main path to confront it. Underground encounters generally play to the game's horror tone, with cramped sight lines and an emphasis on the dread the plague has produced rather than the parade-ground brutality of an open soldier engagement.

Combat Notes

Specific patterns, phases, weak points, and health values for The Orphan have not been publicly demonstrated yet. The April trailer showed only short cuts of the creature, and the encounter has not been included in either the October 2025 playtest build or the PAX East 2026 demo. Players should expect the broader Soulslike kit of parries, dashes, finishers, and off-hand Transmutations to apply, with arena-specific quirks revealed closer to launch. Practical tips will be added to this page once playable footage exists.

Place in the Story

As a named abomination rather than a corrupted soldier, The Orphan sits alongside human bosses such as General Lothaire, the Eagle-Bearer, and Sergeant Gaspard "Cannonhand" Dubois as one of the major figures the plague has produced. The wider context of the plague, the war, and the Eternal Guard is covered on the Setting and Story page.

Source

The Orphan was first shown in the gameplay trailer that debuted at the Triple-i Initiative showcase on April 9, 2026. All information on this page is drawn from that trailer and from accompanying official descriptions; any specifics not confirmed in that material are deliberately omitted until launch.