Melty Blood has revealed two more characters coming to the game as DLC, Powered Ciel, and a completely new character, a delightful young man named Mario Gallo Bestino. But who is this smug little kid, and what role does he play in Melty Blood?

Who is Mario Gallo Bestino

Mario is another new character that was introduced in Tsukihime – A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, a remake of the 2000 visual novel Tsukihime. He is a 14-year-old prodigy priest for the church who has moved to Japan to act as the head Bishop for Souya City (basically the same position that Kirei Kotomine holds in Fate/Stay Night).

This makes him the boss of every other church member in the city including Ciel and Noel and he loves to remind them of it. He has quite the sadistic side, gleefully flexing his authority and fights by using and controlling people like puppets including the other church members.

He does however also have an ulterior motive for coming to Japan. Mario is the son of a high-ranking member of the church named Cardinal Laurentis, who was actually previously mentioned in the Fate/Extra games. Laurentis seeks to learn more about the visual novel’s main antagonist, the vampire Roa and his ability to reincarnate in order to unlock the secret of immortality. In both routes, Mario attempts to seek out Roa for his father.

Mario in the Tsukihime Remake

In the Arcueid route, he plays a minor role appearing a couple of times to confront Arceuid and Roa for information, and fighting by controlling Noel as a puppet. In his final appearance, Roa reveals that there is no way for a human like Mario’s father to access immortality, which devastates the little man who then retreats to prepare reinforcements against the vampire. He isn’t seen again for the rest of the route.

He plays a bigger role in the Ciel route. He locates Roa but is saddened to find that Arcueid has already killed his current incarnation, stating that he does not have the luxury to wait around for another decade to find another incarnation. When he suggests that Arceuid should have kept him alive, she retorts by threatening to kill him and all of his agents.

And that is exactly what she does. When it is later revealed that the main character, Shiki Tohno has become Roa’s Latest incarnation, Mario attempts to study him however he is eventually forced to fight Arcueid when she gives in to her bloodlust after drinking Shiki’s blood. She massacres all his priests and then proceeds to rip off his limbs.

In the normal ending of Ciel’s route, it’s revealed he’s still alive and recruits Shiki to be a member of the church. His fate in the true ending is left unknown.

Mario in Melty Blood

In Melty Blood: Type Lumina, Mario is never mentioned however in Aoko‘s story mode, she’s been hired by an anonymous party to find more information on Roa. That more or less fits Mario’s M.O. It is likely that his route will have him doing something similar, finding Roa and attempting to get him to talk.

Moveset-wise, he plays similarly to Relius from Blazblue, summoning puppets and nuns to fight for him including Noel much as he does in Tsukihime, and much like in the novel, she really isn’t having a good time being launched at enemies against her will.

Are you interested in playing as Mario Gallo Bestino in Melty Blood Type Lumina?

Melty Blood Type Lumina is available for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. Tsukihime – A Piece of Blue Glass Moon is available for PS4 and Switch but is currently Japan exclusive.

Melty Blood Type Lumina

Publisher: Delightworks

Developer: French Bread

Release Date: 2021-09-30

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, Xbox One

Explore an all-new MELTY BLOOD world from scenario writer Kinoko Nasu, based on the events of Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-. Unique story events for each character give each playthrough its own feel, adding to the overall experience. Visuals have been updated with HD graphics, and include animation sequences by A-1 Pictures for special attacks. Dialog is fully voiced and will change depending on which characters are brought into battle, giving more insight into the characters' interpersonal relationships.