Bloodlust
- Contributors
Bloodlust is a 2.0/2.1 Extreme Demon mega-collaboration level hosted by Manix648, verified and published by knobbelboy on 20 February 2018 after being dropped by its previous verifier Quasar. It is a buffed and extended remake of Bloodbath. Upon release, the level was placed at #1 on the Demonlist, surpassing Plasma Pulse Finale.
Bloodlust generated significant discussion for its extension and jump in difficulty compared to its predecessor and was the hardest level upon the remake's announcement. It is known for its detailed effects and designs, its hellish, stylistic visuals, and its difficult gameplay.
History
[edit | edit source]Creation
[edit | edit source]Bloodlust shortly started after Sonic Wave Infinity was started by Riot, whereas Manix648 was inspired by the idea of creating a 2.0 remake of Bloodbath, just as Riot created a 2.0 remake of Sonic Wave. On 28 March 2016, Manix released the first official preview of Bloodlust, showcasing the Bloodbath-inspired gameplay.[1]
A week later, on 6 April 2016, Manix released a second preview, showing more gameplay and an extremely difficult swing-copter section inspired by Hinds's part in Yatagarasu. Manix also mentioned that the level already reached 69,000 objects, indicating that Bloodlust would be one of the most object-heavy levels in Geometry Dash history.[2]
On 15 April 2016, Quasar released another preview of Bloodlust, buffing some parts and showing gameplay.[3] Around two weeks later, on 30 April 2016, Manix released a showcase of the ending animation that Manix himself made, with the Blood Moon from Terraria in the background.[4]
Almost a month later, on 6 May 2016, Quasar released his second preview of Bloodlust, showcasing more of the gameplay. He noted that this level was currently almost as hard as Yatagarasu.[5]
Verification progress
[edit | edit source]On 24 May 2016, Bloodlust was almost finished. Quasar started practising the level. He explained in a video that he had final and advanced placement exams, and that his hand had been severely hurt from playing too much Geometry Dash, which led him to take frequent breaks from the game. This stress took a lot of toll on him, and on 16 August 2016, Quasar officially quit Geometry Dash due to all the stress.[6]
After Quasar quit Bloodlust, Manix looked for a new verifier and chose knobbelboy, a talented Dutch player and creator known for making levels such as Dark RainBow Rebirth and Crying Souls. However, many doubted knobbelboy could verify this because the hardest level he had recently beaten was Bloodbath,[7] which had an enormous difficulty gap compared to Bloodlust. However, knobbelboy proved many wrongs when he got a record of 65-92% within a week, which was extremely quick progress and an amazing achievement for a player who had only recently beaten Bloodbath.[8]
knobbelboy got slightly sidetracked after that due to working on several more projects, such as his part for Fusion Z,[9] his part for Subterranean Animism,[10] and beating Athanatos.[11] This meant he had to take a break from Bloodlust and continue his progress in 2017.
After knobbelboy verified Artificial Ideology,[12] an Extreme Demon by Team N2, he continued to practise Bloodlust in March 2017, getting a record of 68%, making it to the extension.[13] However, knobbelboy was sidetracked once again, working on another big project—God Eater. Even though his first preview of God Eater did not receive many views,[14] his second preview exploded into popularity,[15] shocking the community with its amazing designs and art and even causing many community members to consider it as the 'best Geometry Dash level'.
After the God Eater montage controversy, knobbelboy continued to practise Bloodlust, getting a record of 18-85%, an amazing achievement that shocked the community and gained him more support.[16] He took a break from Bloodlust and got a record of 76% approximately two months after the 18-85% run.[17]
Five days after the new record of 76%, knobbelboy got what was then the worst fail in Geometry Dash history—98% on Bloodlust. This fail demoralized him, and afterwards, he failed at 97% and then got 97% again. He would then announce on Twitter that he got 91% twice and 96%.[18] This further demoralized him, but the community continued to support him. However, some people thought knobbelboy was taking too long to verify Bloodlust and wanted a new verifier.[19]
On 8 February 2018, a 240Hz player known as Crazen began practising Bloodlust, completing the 67-100% extension quickly. Many players started wondering why he was practising Bloodlust.[20]
Controversy and final stretch
[edit | edit source]The next day, Crazen achieved 52% on his own Low Detail Mode version of Bloodlust.[21] But he also revealed why he was practising Bloodlust, claiming that knobbelboy was taking too long to verify Bloodlust, and he would verify his copy himself. He defended himself by saying that knobbelboy stole Fusion Z from Manix, and now he would steal Bloodlust from knobbelboy as payback for stealing Fusion Z. This divided the community into two sides—knobbelboy's, who disagreed with Crazen attempting to steal the level and another side, Crazen's, who agreed that knobbelboy was taking too long and Crazen should replace him.[22]
Eventually, Crazen apologized to knobbelboy for the whole incident and dropped Bloodlust, leaving knobbelboy to verify the level. Even though some still wanted Crazen to verify, on 20 February 2018, after nearly two years of drama and turmoil, knobbelboy finally verified Bloodlust after 121,296 attempts, which at the time was the most attempts spent on a single level by a player.[23] Several players started practising Bloodlust before it was verified, including Sunix and Crazen.
The placement of Plasma Pulse Finale and Bloodlust on the Demonlist is formerly debated, with prominent players such as EndLevel and Skullo suggesting that the former should move to #1. Quickly after the beginning of this debate, Plasma Pulse Finale received an Insane Demon community rating instead of the well-fit Extreme Demon. This occurrence is likely due to players supporting Bloodlust's triumphant ranking purposely incorrectly rating Plasma Pulse Finale to 'prove' that Bloodlust is the hardest level. Although, there is little proof of this. Fortunately, this change was quickly reverted, with Plasma Pulse Finale returning to the Extreme Demon rating not long after.
Description
[edit | edit source]- 0-3% (Manix648): Bloodlust begins with a mini-ship sequence that requires extreme straight-flying due to several black 'diamonds' blocking the way. The background shows the Blood Moon from Terraria saying, 'Welcome back... To Hell. Prepare to DIE.' Above the text is 'Rautasieni', a meme between knobbelboy, GMTSean, and Alias (then known as Jacob Firestone), which means 'Iron Mushroom' in Finnish.
- 3-10% (weoweoteo/Quasar): Afterwards, the level starts similar to the original Bloodbath. A Low Detail Mode key is available to collect, but it does not work. At the top, the player can see Manix's and knobbelboy's nicknames. After the player exits the tight tunnel, a 'DIE!!' message is shown. The first straight-fly ship sequence from Bloodbath is replaced with a difficult triple-speed mini-wave segment. The rest of weoweoteo's part remains similar to Bloodbath but buffed. knobbelboy tacked on a text box above the gameplay reading, 'WEO WHY ARE YOU THE WORST GAMEPLAY CREATOR EVER!?'
- 10-19% (Vermillion/Pan): The mini-ship part has a few more obstacles than the original part in Bloodbath, but the gameplay is mostly the same. The following ball part was replaced with the original gameplay because Manix disliked the deco, and knobbelboy disliked the gameplay. The new part is generally harder than Vermillion's original part due to tricky timings and orb timings. Before Michigun's part starts, a large 'Bloodlust' text appears.
- 19-25% (Michigun): In Michigun's remade part, there are moving triggers, which require the player to be more precise. Also, the background briefly flashes black from a dark effect. Here, the paths are a bit tighter, and the hanging spikes in the ball section have been replaced with gigantic moving spikes. The wave part also includes slightly tighter spikes and slightly different gameplay.
- 25-30% (Evasium): In Evasium's remade part, the part remains mostly the same except for the darkness effect, which makes it harder for the player to see the spikes and obstacles. knobbelboy wrote 'really bad part' above the gameplay of the tight mini-wave. At 30%, 'Enter the beasts mouth' is written.
- 30-38% (Crack/Namtar): Crack's redesigned part was remade by Namtar, which makes it significantly harder to enter the 'tunnels' due to several more obstacles and significantly tighter spaces. The cube section before ASonicMen's part remains mostly the same.
- 38-42% (ASonicMen): ASonicMen's remade part has been mostly changed visually, reducing the number of sawblades and replacing them with walls and spikes.
- 42-48% (Quasar/nikrodox + Manix648) The subsequent ball part was replaced with a ship sequence and UFO segment involving diagonal flying and tight spaces. The last part before the auto cube section has been replaced with a hard yet short, half-speed swing-copter segment, originally made by Manix648 for Yatagarasu. The auto cube section shows a 'monster' with the text 'It is here... Prepare...' The player must jump at the end of the auto cube. Otherwise, they will crash into an invisible spike.
- 48-54% (Etzer): Etzer's remade part remains mostly similar except for the 'Keep going' text at the bottom with some buffs to the ship sequence, constant gravity changes making it significantly harder. The UFO section at the beginning is slightly harder due to tighter spaces and more gravity changes. There are two Easter eggs in this part: A '8)', representing Etzer's YouTube icon, and a text box reading 'The Curse' because knobbelboy died at that spot 12 times before passing it in the verification.
- 54-56% (Havok): Havok's remade part features changes in terms of gameplay and visual effects. The ball section is harder due to tricky timings and more orbs.
- 56-57% (Manix648) This part is a short mini-UFO that requires many tricky timings.
- 57-62% (Giron/Havok): This part begins with a difficult wave similar to the one in Bloodbath, with an antigravity portal about halfway through. The text 'Havok... Again' can be seen. The wave transitions into Giron's remade part, which is significantly harder due to a 'dark/corridor effect' limiting the player's vision and slightly tighter spaces in the ship section. Giron's signature at the end of the dual cube is replaced with the text 'Keep Going'.
- 62-66% (Ggb0y/Wabbit): Ggb0y's remade part is mostly the same, except for the decorations, which makes it harder to see for the player. Also, the player will have to use the Michigun route (jumping over the 'GG' blocks instead of dropping down). Otherwise, the player will instead fall into the spikes below in the original route. Next to the 'GG' blocks, the text 'Or not?...' will appear. The art in this part is made by Rustam.
- 66-72% (weoweoteo/Manix648): The extension part begins with the 'monster' shown at Michigun's part, 'carrying' the player with the text 'It is not Owen...' After this, the player enters a triple-speed ship sequence with gravity changes and a difficult robot segment. The gameplay in this part was originally made by weoweoteo for Yatagarasu.
- 72-76% (Manix648): Afterwards, a half-speed wave segment will appear in which the player must successfully pass through tight passages. This part ends with some fast-paced UFO and ball gameplay.
- 76-80% (Xaro): The player passes through a lot of very difficult segments with straight-flying sections containing many portals and UFO gameplay.
- 80-89% (Terron): The next part is a tight tunnel with numerous little spikes and changes. Here, the player must watch for portals that constantly change the player's gravity and game-modes. After this, a difficult cube section appears with a lot of orbs, a short ship section and some gravity- and size changes, and then the player turns into a mini-wave, ending the part.
- 89-94% (Willy5000): This part begins as a ship sequence that requires straight-flying. More game-mode and gravity changes appear, making the whole section extremely difficult. The part ends with more straight-flying.
- 94-100% (TMNGaming): The fast-paced segments stop, and the player slows down, with the 'monster' to the left of the background. The player transforms into various game-modes, moving at half speed. While it is slower, it requires extremely good timing and a lot of skill. After the segment ends, the background shows the sky with a giant blood moon showing the 'Bloodlust' text. There is also a triple-spike that emerges as the player approaches it as the final obstacle of the level. If they pass it, they will launch into the sky, and the level ends. The 'Decoration: Manix', 'LDM: Joshuawall' and 'Verification: knobbelboy' texts will appear along with the creators, art designers and Manix's dedications' names. There is one Easter egg in this part, a text box reading 'Noire <3' referencing a character in the Neptunia Games that knobbelboy likes, which would appear after jumping before the triple-spike.
Gameplay
[edit | edit source]First 10 victors
[edit | edit source]| Victor # | Player | Date Completed | Total Attempts | Furthest Fail | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verifier | knobbelboy | 21 February 2018 | 121,296 | 98% | YouTube |
| 1 | Skullo | 9 March 2018 | 8,245 | 98% | YouTube |
| 2 | Sunix | 9 March 2018 | ~16,000 | ? | YouTube |
| 3 | Rampage | 12 March 2018 | 12,669 | 98% | YouTube |
| 4 | hotball1 | 31 March 2018 | 12,290 | 98% | YouTube |
| 5 | VoTcHi | 10 June 2018 | 29,445 | 98% | YouTube |
| 6 | stardream999 | 14 July 2018 | ~56,000 | 91% | YouTube |
| 7 | Eandis | 29 December 2018 | ~15,000 | 98% | YouTube |
| 8 | xeonzz | 11 February 2019 | ~31,000 | 96% | YouTube |
| 9 | Technical | 16 February 2019 | 27,648 | 96% | YouTube |
| 10 | Dolphy | 16 February 2019 | 17,473 | 96% | YouTube |
Notable completions
Notable fails
- Combined failed at the extension 12 times.
- Nexus failed at 95% at the UFO part.
- Sunix, Technical, and Dolphy have all failed at 96%.
- Sunix had also failed at 91%, 76%, and 58%.
- knobbelboy, hotball1, Skullo, VoTcHi, rori, Makaron202, and npesta have all failed at 98%.
- hotball1 had also failed at 87% and 96%.
- Skullo failed at 98% on the triple-spike at the end. A day later, he completed the level.
- VoTcHi had also failed at 96% on the last normal-size wave; however, he also failed at 98% twice (once on the last straight-fly and once to the triple-spike at the end).
- Both rori and Makaron202 failed at 98% on the last straight-fly.
- npesta failed a total of seven times on TMNGaming's part alone: 95% twice, 96% twice, 97% once, and 98% twice, both times at the last triple.
- GuitarHeroStyles failed at 90%, 92%, 94%, and 96% twice.
- While verifying, knobbelboy failed on the second upper spike at the last straight-fly at 98% (or TMN's final straight-fly) and another one at 97%. knobbelboy's 98% fail was arguably one of the worst fails in Geometry Dash.[28] It was widely considered the single worst fail in the game's history until Rainstorm's 99% fail on Zodiac, which is arguably worse.
- The furthest fail on Bloodlust belongs to Dorami, who failed on the farthest edge of the third spike at 99.0%. This fail is considered worse than knobbelboy's. Despite this, it did not give Dorami a new best due to a bug in Mega Hack v7. Therefore, his record instead counted as 98%. He would beat the level later that same day.
Trivia
[edit | edit source]General
[edit | edit source]- Bloodlust's password is 121296, the number of attempts knobbelboy spent on the level.
- Bloodlust was ranked #16 in Geometry Dash Today's list of 'The Top 100 Greatest Geometry Dash Levels Of All Time'.
- The Korean community calls Bloodlust the 'Curse of the Red Moon'.
- Bloodlust vs Yatagarasu was a major discussion ever since Bloodlust was announced. Now that both levels have been verified, the vast majority of the community thinks Bloodlust is significantly harder. However, the original, unnerfed version of Yatagarasu is considered far harder than Bloodlust.
- Bloodlust's verification set multiple records upon release, being:
- The first level taking more than 100,000 attempts to verify.
- The first verification video to reach 10 million views on YouTube.
- The first level verification taking more than two years.
- One of the first levels to introduce over-decoration of its kind.
- Josh's 842,888 attempts spent to beat Bloodlust were the highest amount of attempts ever spent on a level at the time.[29]
- Zimnyte somehow got a full copy of Bloodlust before it was released, despite Manix648 and Quasar not wishing for anyone to receive it before its release. Despite this, he did not let anyone else, even his friends, share the copy. He played the level on one of his streams.
- On 1 April 2018, RobTop set Bloodlust as the Weekly Demon as an April Fools' joke.
- Unexpectedly, some players beat the Weekly Demon version legitimately, such as hotball1, who had already completed Bloodlust before.[30]
- Bloodlust had partially inspired Kenos, a level with a similar concept to Bloodlust.
- The verification video for Bloodlust is the most viewed Geometry Dash Demonlist level verification on YouTube, garnering over 12 million views.
- The former most viewed Geometry Dash verification before Bloodlust was Bloodbath.
- Bloodlust is one of AeonAir's favourite Extreme Demon levels.
- Aurorus used to have a part, but he was kicked from the mega-collaboration for hacking every single one of his achievements. Wabbit replaced his part.
- The 'It is not Owen' text after the 'GG' block references EndLevel's real name, Owen. Originally 'It is not Over', this change was made by RedHuseey, one of knobbelboy's real-life friends, sometime between knobbelboy's 98% fail and the verification of Bloodlust.[31]
- The part right after the 'redecorated and buffed Bloodbath' section is weoweoteo's original part in Yatagarasu.
- The half-speed wave segment that followed had gameplay somewhat inspired by csx42's part in Yatagarasu.
- The first wave had gameplay inspired by Sakupen Hell.
- The first wave section was originally a ship sequence tighter than the original ship in Bloodbath.
- After getting kicked out of Yatagarasu, Manix648 seems to have reused his part from Yatagarasu for Bloodlust (in an earlier version).
- The Blood Moon pixel art in this level at the beginning is probably inspired by Terraria.
- The symbols could also be inspired by Blood Sacrifice, Death Moon, Reanimation and a few other hell-themed levels.
- Notably, Terron's part has symbols and hazard formations borrowed from his other level, Reanimation.
- The sun at 62% could be a reference to the anime Soul Eater.
- If the player holds at the beginning, it will show the word 'Rautasieni', which translates to 'Iron Mushroom' in Finnish.
- Between Michigun's and Evasium's part, there is a text saying 'swag', which refers to what Riot said after passing Michigun's part on the attempt that he verified Bloodbath.
- When the player attempts to use the Low Detail Mode trigger at 3%, a text box that says 'HA HA! Low Detail Mode in this level?' appears.
- If the player jumps before the triple-spike at 98%, the text 'Noire <3' will appear. Noire is a character from the Neptunia Games that knobbelboy liked.
- Bloodlust was almost immediately rated after its release, being rated Demon and added to the Hall of Fame in one hour and rated Extreme Demon in no more than three hours.
- The achievement called 'Insatiable bloodlust', added in Update 2.2, was made as a reference to Bloodlust.
- The monster that appears throughout Bloodlust was constructed using two Yatagarasu birds mirrored.
- Bloodlust received an update that temporarily removed its moon in the first part on 3 July 2022. It was later shortly reverted.
- The player Squishyman67 failed at 98% in Bloodlust, as he planned to do a backflip before the final jump. However, due to the backflip, he mistimed the triple-spike. A few days later, he did the backflip and beat the level.
Demonlist
[edit | edit source]- Bloodlust was placed at #1 on the Demonlist on 21 February 2018, above Plasma Pulse Finale.
- This addition pushed Yatagarasu out of the Top 5, Artificial Ascent out of the Top 10, Niflheim into the Extended List, and Elements X into the Legacy List.
- Bloodlust is regarded as the 32nd instance of the hardest rated level in the game's history.
- Bloodlust was at #1 for 383 days before it was dethroned by Zodiac on 9 March 2019.
- Bloodlust was the longest-reigning #1 Demon on the Demonlist at the time. This achievement also makes it the second former #1 Demon to stay at its position for over a year after Bloodbath. The record is now held by Tidal Wave, who has reigned for 471 consecutive days.
- Bloodlust was moved down to #91 on the Demonlist on April Fools' Day 2021.
- There have been only three Top 1 levels that were Epic-rated: Bloodlust, Digital Descent, and GRIEF.
- Bloodlust was also the former hardest Epic-rated level until Cold Sweat was placed above it on the Demonlist.
- Cold Sweat had also pushed Bloodlust out of the Top 10 on 21 September 2020.
- It took over eight years for an Epic-rated Top 1 level since Bloodlust.
- Bloodlust was also the former hardest Epic-rated level until Cold Sweat was placed above it on the Demonlist.
- On 8 October 2023, both former Top 1 levels were pushed into the Extended List and Legacy List, respectively; Bloodlust was pushed into the Extended List along with Sonic Wave into the Legacy List after the placement of Instinct by Krazyman50.
- It occurred again on 20 April 2025, when the placement of Every End pushed Zodiac into the Extended List and Bloodlust into the Legacy List, making Bloodlust the last level rated in 2018 to fall out of the Demonlist.
- The placement of Every End on 20 April 2025 pushed Bloodlust into the Legacy List after over seven years, making Bloodlust the last level rated in 2018 to fall off the list.
- knobbelboy reacted to Bloodlust's downfall on Discord with a humorous comic.[32]
- Even though it fell off the list, Bloodlust managed to stay on the Demonlist for 2,615 record days, dethroning Sonic Wave's previous record of 2,508 days.
- This record has since been surpassed by Zodiac on 7 May 2026, which currently reigns as the longest-lasting level on the Demonlist, having stayed for 2,696 days until 26 July 2026.
- Bloodlust amassed 1,067 total victors during its lifespan on the Demonlist, making it the third level in the history of Pointercrate to reach a milestone of 1,000 victors, alongside Bloodbath (1,294), Sonic Wave (1,048), Cognition (1,232), and Zodiac (1,020).
Videos
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXt8_ZwPBsw
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsO-FLr5jRI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUYuIper4ug
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6S9KfM6rH0
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-oW0dTceGI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ur7wv6oG8U
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IapCZtxIpxk
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvbYps-8Eso
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggmVjHiRd6o
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmU0AOpGV7Q
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HixckMI3rwo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRfaroi9PpA
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGV6jZoya6E
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGLGxgVra18
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtCwQ1nAhOY
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIn-Emw2GoI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgVkw_IicBo
- ↑ https://twitter.com/knobbelnyu/status/949426873884344320
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YVaxTwKZEo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkkZls9I59w
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2UkVLB1Gjo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX-UTYqqYus
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SzKetF2btw
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA-vojsrxhw
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z92YNLAlDT0
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCWlTROyhM
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_F2UXB_Lz4
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YVaxTwKZEo&t=182s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rW5gnDuSk4
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHsiJn8pZNI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch/z1JkdVBzGkc
- ↑ https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/456448992482689025/1363605512893235281/7eacb76d509f01596d85ba8874ba9446.png?ex=6809efd8&is=68089e58&hm=baa2a8d4ed6c4dfbfd3dcc570d78514f8024d995e31e705579ba7e69d2562d53&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=838&height=1520
