Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga is a witch that appears in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. She lives in the Woes Moor.

Baba Yaga tested many knights of the Brotherhood of Light as they came to her land, on their way to the Land of the Dead. Some died attempting to destroy the Scarecrows that had taken her keys. Others died inside of her music box attempting to find her blue rose. Still others she killed and ate. Those she found worthy she sent on to the Titan Graveyard.

As Gabriel headed to the land of the Necromancers, he encountered Baba Yaga, whom is said to be a witch from popular legend in the area. Yaga has Gabriel collect three keys from scarecrows that will allow her to open her music box. After getting the three keys, Yaga shrinks Gabriel down to a small size so that he can enter the music box and retrieve its treasure, a blue rose that will allow her to transform into her younger self. In return she opens the portal to the Titan Graveyard for Gabriel.

After Gabriel has traveled on, Zobek kills the witch to prevent her from hurting anyone ever again. He says that he does this because a comment she made greatly worries him. Namely that the "King of Angels" told her that Gabriel was coming. This worries Zobek, because that title is one that was traditionally given to Jesus in the old Catholic Church. Meaning that Baba Yaga may not be as "evil" as she is made out to be, and that Zobek kills her simply to prevent her from interfering with his plan.

Interestingly, it is said in the bestiary that the crows were sent to watch over her by the Crow Witch Malphas. A brotherhood letter found on a corpse in the Woes Moor also mentions that Malphas sent crows to spy on the witch who took her lover. This suggests that Baba Yaga is in fact the witch mentioned in Malphas' bestiary entry who enchanted Malphas' lover and lured him to his death, triggering Malphas' attempted suicide and subsequent transformation into a monstrous demon crow.

Trivia

 * Interestingly in the cutscene after the credits, a old woman can be seen which looks similar to Baba Yaga.
 * Baba Yaga is a witch in Slavic folklore, known for eating children and living in a hut standing on chicken legs. While her reputation is mainly of negative nature, in many tales heroes seek her wisdom and guidance, like Gabriel Belmont and the other Brotherhood Knights.