Bodhi

Bodhi is a major villain in both the novel and game versions of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. She is a vampire and the chief ally and sister of Jon Irenicus.

Bodhi was formerly an elf, like Irenicus, but after his attempt to drain the Tree of Life and gain immortality they were both exiled and stripped of their elven nature. Her way of dealing with the curse was to become undead.

Bodhi started a thieves' guild with vampire members to compete with the Shadow Thieves in Athkatla and led the protagonist of the story to Spellhold into the waiting hands of Irenicus. Later on, when Irenicus attacked Suldanessellar, she guarded the Rhynn Lanthorn that was needed for entering the elven city.

In the novel
In the novel, Bodhi, posing as an ordinary woman, presents herself as a contact who can help Abdel Adrian find his sister Imoen and his lover Jaheira. Her neutrality in the task is compromised from the very beginning, however, when she sees Adrian fighting naked and feels stirrings that she has not felt for centuries. She can't help but start blatantly seducing him from their first encounter. But as she's supposed to, she also informs him that she can arrange him passage to Spellhold if he can come up with an appropriate payment. He has no money, as he was earlier stripped of literally everything he had, but she "happens" to know of a job he could do to gain it. After debating about whether he can start killing for money again and deciding it will be justice since he's killing an assassin, he agrees to kill Aran Linvail, in this story a minor criminal of no consequence. When he returns to Bodhi after that, she seduces him for good and sleeps with him. He has obvious apprehensions because he should be saving his lover, but because she's physically attractive he can't resist the temptation. During the intercourse she drinks his blood, confirming her impression that he is no mere mortal man. She flees as a bat before sundown, but has already fallen in love with Adrian.

Later on Bodhi is seen visiting Phaere in Ust Natha, but the next thing of consequence she does comes when she is holding the Rhynn Lanthorn that Adrian is sent to obtain by the elves of Suldanessellar. Instead of fighting, she tries to seduce him again, and is about to succeed when he suddenly turns into the Slayer and rips her apart.

Role in the plot
The player can see hints of Bodhi's guild of vampires fighting the Shadow Thieves almost from the beginning of the game, but she herself can finally be encountered only after the party has gathered 15,000 of the 20,000 gold they were supposed to pay the Shadow Thieves for a lead to finding Imoen and Irenicus. At that point, Valen will contact the party on Bodhi's behalf and speak of a more favourable offer, but an agent of the Shadow Thieves will also do likewise. The player will encounter Bodhi if they take up the offer to meet her in the graveyard after sundown. She will offer to help for the fifteen thousand the player already has, but will make it clear that she will also require their services in fighting the Shadow Thieves, and that her side is quite ruthless and evil. She will also express an interest of her own in Irenicus, but not reveal anything more. The player can accept her offer and fight against the Shadow Thieves, ultimately storming their headquarters and killing Aran Linvail, and also gaining access to Bodhi's underground crypt complex. Alternatively, they may choose to work for the Shadow Thieves instead, sabotaging Bodhi's operations and ultimately destroying her vampires in the crypt, though she will herself flee after fighting the party. If the character is a thief, however, Bodhi will assume they are too inclined to be loyal to the Shadow Thieves and withdraw her offer upon meeting them.

Bodhi resurfaces again at Irenicus's side in Spellhold once he has captured the player character. She calls herself his "sister" and serves him as a near-equal ally. She has been rejuvenated by the divine Bhaalspawn soul Irenicus stole for her from Imoen, and after Irenicus does the same thing with the player character to restore himself, he charges her with disposing of them, Imoen, and their party. Bodhi, however, chooses to play with them in a maze under Spellhold, where the sanity of wizards was once tested, but which is now full of monsters, and whose creator (Dace) is under Bodhi's "influence", having become a vampire. Bodhi proposes to give them time to run before coming after them, but instead intercepts them with a number of vampires just before the end. The protagonist is able to flee nevertheless, for as they close into combat, the now uncontrolled taint of Bhaal within them causes them to turn into the Slayer, frightening Bodhi off.

Irenicus proceeds with his plan to attack Suldanessellar even though he loses to the player character in Spellhold. While he hides the city with rakshasa corruption magic, so that Elhan and his troops are unable to return from their fight with the drow from Ust Natha and defend the city, Bodhi moves back to her hold in Athkatla with the Rhynn Lanthorn. To retrieve it, Elhan, who can't send an army of elves into an Amnian human city, asks the player character to retrieve the Lanthorn so that it may be used to dispel the illusions. They have no choice but to do so, and depending on circumstances may recruit the Shadow Thieves (led by the skilled assassin Arkanis and this time better prepared to fight vampires), the Order of the Radiant Heart and even the Companions of the Hall to help them. Once they reach the cemetery, Bodhi will appear and steal away the protagonist's love interest, if any. She will turn them partially into a vampire so that they will fight against the protagonist in the final battle. Once Bodhi is defeated, she will retreat to her gondola-like coffin, where she can be staked once and for all, causing Imoen's soul to return to its rightful owner. Clues will also be found in her lair for returning the vampiric love interest character to normal.

Traits and abilities
Bodhi calls herself Irenicus's sister, but it's not clear if this refers to an actual biological relation. According to Demin, she was once a known and popular figure in Suldanessellar, if not as much so as he; and she was also the one who "pulled him into her madness", as they began to seek power without regard for consequences. This ultimately led to Irenicus's attempt to drain the Tree of Life, and the exile and punishment of the two. They were stripped of their connection the elven spirit and cast out. Henceforth they were known as the Exiles, and the elves were ashamed of and reluctant to speak of them.

Bodhi sought to counteract her cursed state by becoming undead, but this failed to even give her back a longer "life" than that of a human. She did gain great power; she was far more powerful than an ordinary vampire, and than any of the ones serving her. With Imoen's soul infused into her, she grew even stronger. Her physical abilities were truly formidable, and she was fearsome in close combat. In addition, she possessed at least most of the usual vampire abilities, such as energy-draining touch and the ability to survive being "killed" by returning to her coffin. She had a large number of vampiric followers she was seemingly easily able to create, although she did not have enough time to fully turn the player character's love interest in the time it took for them to fight through her lair - perhaps explaining why their body was left intact when they were killed in the battle. Some books in her lair suggested she had actively studied vampirism, fitting her intentionally becoming undead.

Bodhi is shown as cruel, evil, and even sadistic, delighting in playing with her opponents before destroying them. Perhaps the only thing she actually cared about after her being cursed was her hatred of and desire for revenge on the elves of Suldanessellar. She was not nearly as dispassionate as Irenicus, who had lost almost all emotion, but showed about as little regard for the lives of others.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
 * Games
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn