Anima Sola will always target Dark Esau if he is present.
While Dark Esau is chained down, using Anima Sola again will release him and cause him to charge directly at Tainted Jacob, damaging and burning enemies in its path. This will not use up additional item charges.
Dark Esau deals no contact damage to Jacob while chained down.
If used in a room with no enemies, Anima Sola will immediately summon Dark Esau.
If Birthright is obtained, the recharge time is lowered to 10 seconds and the chain duration is increased to 6.67 seconds.
Notes[ | ]
Enemies other than Dark Esau can also be released. This will not cause them to do anything special.
If The Visage's mask is chained down when it runs out of HP, it will outright die instead of becoming temporarily inactive, leaving only the heart to be fought. It is unknown if this is a bug.
If Mom's Heart/ It Lives is chained down before it can spawn the Eyes at the beginning of the fight and is damaged enough to advance a phase by the time the chains break, the Eyes will not spawn.
If an enemy is in the middle of attacking with tears, their tears will still be fired after the effect ends. This happens even if the enemy has zero HP by the end of the ability.
If used against The Beast during her chase attack, the destructible pillars will stop spawning until the effect ends.
Synergies[ | ]
9 Volt: Halves recharge time, allowing for chaining enemies much more frequently.
Book of Virtues: Spawns a dark wisp that orbits the locked enemy and shoots at them. When the enemy dies, the wisp despawns.
Car Battery: Two enemies will be chained simultaneously. If only one valid enemy is present, it will be chained for twice the duration. Using Anima Sola again will unchain the enemy closest to Isaac first.
Trivia[ | ]
"Anima Sola" translates to "Lone Soul" or "Lonely Soul" in Latin. In a Christian context, it refers to a lone soul stranded and suffering in purgatory.
The most popular depiction of this concept also involves both a chain, binding the lone soul's hands, as well as flames, like those following Dark Esau.
A splash of color in the chains can also be seen in the Anima Sola's icon, depicting said flames.
The Anima Sola shares its name with an enemy from one of Edmund McMillen's other games, The End is Nigh. [1]