Bernkastel

"Did you know? They say that in chess, the player who moves first is twice as likely to win."

- Bernkastel

Bernkastel (ベルンカステル) is an extremely powerful witch that has lived for a thousand years. It is said that she lives in a world where concepts such as fate and possibility can be visualized. She can give birth to all kinds of miracles with her immense power but her heart ends up fracturing more every time she does so. She serves as a lesser antagonist in the first four story arcs of Umineko no Naku Koro ni but later becomes the main antagonist of the series.

Background
As an long-lived witch, a majority of Bernkastel's past is left unknown. In, Lambdadelta suggests that Bernkastel was originally a cat belonging to Featherine Augustus Aurora.

Relationship to Rika Furude
Bernkastel is the end result of the centuries of torment endured by Rika Furude, a major character from. Bernkastel references this in, wherein she she begrudgingly recalls her old catchphrase "Nipah~". All of Rika's negative emotions and memories eventually coalesced into the being Frederica Bernkastel, noted as the writer of the poems that open each chapter of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. After an unknown amount of time, Frederica Bernkastel became trapped in a Logic Error created by an unnamed Game Master. As a result, Bernkastel was made to step on a keyboard for centuries until she typed the word "miracle," which earned her the title "Witch of Miracles."

Appearance
Bernkastel's appearance varies somewhat depending on the adaptation. In the original visual novel, she appears to have the height of a teenager, however in the remakes her height is more similar to a child. In, Bernkastel appears identical to Rika Furude other than her emotionless eyes. As a general rule, Bernkastel as long blue hair and cold purple eyes. She wears a black and white gothic lolita dress adorned with a blue ribbon along with white socks and black shoes. She appears to have a cat tail with a blue ribbon tied to it.

Personality
Bernkastel appears as largely emotionless and easily bored owing to her extremely long life. Over the past several centuries, Bernkastel has grown indifferent to the concepts of life and death and becomes willing do whatever is necessary to propagate her own entertainment.

Legend of the Golden Witch
Bernkastel appears for the first time in {{legend}}'s ???? scene. She offers the reader advice on how to defeat Beatrice as a means of alleviating potential boredom.

Turn of the Golden Witch
Similarly to the previous arc, Bernkastel only appears in the ???? scene of. In it, she offers more advice to the reader on how to defeat Beatrice after Beatrice reveals that she knows about Bernkastel's prior meddling.

Banquet of the Golden Witch
Bernkastel briefly appears during EVA-Beatrice's coronation ceremony. She later appears in the ???? of to enlist Ange Ushiromiya in her fight against Beatrice.

Alliance of the Golden Witch
Bernkastel becomes Ange Ushiromiya's ally under the condition that Ange not reveal her true identity to Battler Ushiromiya. She forces Ange to instead go by the pseudonym "Gretel". She appears in the ???? of to discuss Battler's theories with Lambdadelta.

End of the Golden Witch
In, Bernkastel takes on a major role on the Human Side while Lambdadelta takes over for Beatrice as Game Master.

Trivia

 * Bernkastel is frequently likened to a cat, a comparison that is also visible in her character design with her catlike tail protruding from her dress.
 * In, Bernkastel expresses a strong liking for alcohol, similar to Rika Furude.