The Ferryman is a Supreme Husk introduced as a boss in 5-2: WAVES OF THE STARLESS SEA, and is the eighth Husk-class enemy that the player encounters in ULTRAKILL.

Ferrymen are bright blue skeletons whose upper bodies and heads are concealed under featureless white cloths. They are adorned with golden bracelets and anklets, and wear necklaces with chipped, halo-like ornaments connected at the back, making it appear on top of their heads. They also carry gilded ivory oars in their right hands, which are wielded as weapons.

Behavior

Ferrymen are incredibly quick and aggressive, and choose their attacks based on the player's movements, employing advancing attacks such as Lunge and Spinning Leap to close the distance when the player is fleeing and using defensive moves like Tornado Swing to trip up aggressive motions. They will react to any aerial movement with Uppercut, a fast, unparriable attack covering a huge swath of airspace, and will perform the persistently-tracking Lightning Cast to continue pressuring players who lay out of their reach entirely.

Parrying a Ferryman will call down lightning directly on top of them, dealing 3.5 explosive damage to nearby enemies while leaving both the player and the Ferryman unaffected.

Ferrymen move at a maximum speed of 32 units/s with an acceleration of 1000 units/s², and have a turn speed of 36000 degrees/s.

Attacks

Dodge Roll

The Ferryman will roll towards the player if they are fleeing or away from the player if they are aggressive with their attacks.

Oar Slam

The Ferryman will jump onto their oar for a moment, then slam it down onto the player after a slight delay, causing a blue explosion. This attack deals 25 damage on a direct melee strike or 35 damage with the explosion, and can be parried.

Lunge

The Ferryman will lunge towards the player if they attempt to flee. This attack deals 25 damage and can be parried.

Tornado Swing

The Ferryman will backstep from the player if they are approaching and then dash towards them, spinning their oar around them. This attack deals 25 damage and can be parried.

Spinning Leap

The Ferryman will leap towards the player if they are fleeing while spinning their oar around them. This attack deals 25 damage and cannot be parried.

Kick Combo

The Ferryman will stand still for a split second and then perform two dashing kicks toward the player. Each kick deals 25 damage. The first kick is unparriable, while the second kick can be parried.

Oar Combo

The Ferryman will stand still for a split second, perform an overhead, and then a swipe with their oar. Each hit deals 25 damage. The overhead is unparriable while the swipe is parriable.

Uppercut

The Ferryman will perform an uppercut when the player is airborne. This attack deals 25 damage and cannot be parried.

Lightning Cast

If the Ferryman is unable to reach the player, they will begin casting a tracking lightning strike, telegraphed by their oar glowing a bright blue and a pillar of light with a silhouette of a lightning bolt, similar to that of a Virtue. After a few seconds, it raises its oar to the sky and summons a large lightning bolt that explodes on top of the player, dealing 35 damage. The attack will be canceled if the player returns to the ground, and the Ferryman will then chase after them. The lightning bolt can be chargebacked back into the Ferryman, which deals 10 damage and awards the + Ride the Lightning style bonus.

Lightning Cast explosions are 35% larger and faster when the Ferryman is Radiant. This also applies to lightnings strikes triggered when the Ferryman is parried and when a close-range cast is canceled by the Jumpstart Nailgun on higher difficulty settings, but does not apply to lightning chargebacks.

Strategy

The Ferryman is an extremely quick and relentless enemy that can easily combo an inexperienced player. Their agile nature makes attacks such as Shotgun swapping ineffective, and it also makes aiming with Revolvers and Railcannons a much harder task.

Staying grounded while fighting Ferrymen is vital, as their Uppercut cannot be parried and their Lightning is extremely dangerous. Parrying their attacks with the Feedbacker is very effective due to the lightning they summon after being parried. Stamina should be spent wisely, as dashing is vital against the unparriable attacks in the Ferryman's arsenal.

The Marksman Revolver's Coins are a valuable tool for damage, and hitting them with the Alternate Revolver's primary fire or the Electric Railcannon can do grave damage to the Ferryman. Sawblade traps are excellent against Ferrymen and wipe out their health pool within seconds. Projectile Boosts are also a solid tool for dealing damage to Ferrymen, as missing can still deal some damage to Ferrymen from the resulting explosion. Placing a Magnet on the Ferryman and then unloading both Nailguns on it is a fantastic way to kill a Ferryman extremely fast. More experienced players can also use Overheat Storage for practically infinite Overheat Nailgun heatsinks for as long as they can keep the combo up.

Difficulty Changes

Harmless

Attacks are 33.3% slower.
Ferrymen no longer predict their target's movement in melee.
Ferrymen no longer use their Lightning Bolt attack.
Roll cooldowns are 4 seconds longer.

Lenient

Attacks are 11.1% slower.
Ferrymen no longer predict their target's movement in melee.
Ferrymen no longer use their Lightning Bolt attack.
Roll cooldowns are 2 seconds longer.

Violent

Attacks are 11.1% faster.
Ferrymen use their Vault Swing attack instead of their Vault.
Lightning Bolt cooldowns are 2 seconds faster.
Lightning Bolts follow their targets 50% faster.
Rolls no longer have a cooldown.

Brutal

Lightning Bolts can be casted at closer ranges.
Lightning Bolts cannot be interrupted unless the Ferryman is killed, parried, or is connected to a Jumpstart Nailgun cable.

Terminal Entry

Ferryman

TYPE: Supreme Husk

DATA:
Ferrymen are rare husks whose powerful bodies, trained skills and blind faith have granted them the chance of becoming the transporters of souls between the layers of Hell.

They have each been given a holy cloth by Heaven as a symbol of their devotion to God's order, which they wear over their bodies to hide the human form that they've grown to despise as a reminder of their sins in life stopping them from becoming angels, to the extent that they have torn off their own skin and flesh, leaving behind only bones.

Due to the holy power emanating from the cloth, Ferrymen's skeletal bodies have slowly been colored bright and radiant, and their skulls have enough latent energy to open gates that otherwise stop Husks from exiting their places of torment.

Each ferry can only have one Ferryman at a time, so when a new Ferryman is formed, it will fight another to the death in order to take their place and inherit their cloth. The loser's skull is taken as a trophy and used to grant the winner passage across the layers in order to transport the souls of the damned to their destinations.

Ferrymen will often use the knowledge from their past life to improve their ferries, growing past the need for oars, which are now used by Ferrymen only as weapons.

As the influx of souls has ended with the death of mankind, the Ferrymen have lost their purpose and now wander around aimlessly, hoping that the angels would grant them passage into Heaven, despite Gabriel being the only one who cares about their efforts.

STRATEGY:
- Ferrymen choose their attacks based on their opponent's actions. When approached, they move to safety, and when retreated from, they'll apply pressure via attacks with greater reach.

- Despite its looks, their uppercut is quite dangerous and can be difficult to dodge. It's best not to stay in the air for too long.

- Some of their attacks are parryable and some are not. Pay attention to the color of their warning flash to learn which are which.

- Ferrymen may attempt to cross a retreating opponent up by rolling behind them before attacking. Keep track of their position and if they roll too often, try being more aggressive.

Media

FERRYMAN
General
Class	Supreme Husk
Health	45 (5-2 Boss First Phase); 45 (5-2 Boss Second Phase); 90 (5-2 Boss Total); 30 (Common)
Weight	Heavy (Grounded)
Rank	5
Locational Damage
Head (200%)	;
Limbs (150%)	;
Conditional Modifiers
Flammable	;
Airshot	;
Splatters	;
Magnet Pull	;
Damage Type Modifiers
	Shotgun Parries: 150%; Friendly Fire: 0%;
Radiance Multipliers
Health	1.5x
Damage	1.35x
Speed	1.35x
Appearances
	5-2 P-2; The Cyber Grind
Cyber Grind Data

Icon

Gameplay Demonstrations

A Ferryman performing an oar combo.
A Ferryman kicking twice.
A Ferryman performing a stinger.
A Ferryman backstepping before swinging forwards.
A Ferryman uppercutting.
A Ferryman slamming their oar.
A Ferryman casting a lightning strike.

Concept Art & Renders

Concept art by Francis Xie. This art can be seen in 5-2.[1]

Audio

Spawn
Footstep
Attack 1
Attack 2
Summon Lightning
Lightning Strike

Trivia

Ferrymen are based on the mythological Greek character Charon, the ferryman of the underworld and a character featured in Inferno by Dante Alighieri. Charon accepts coins from the dead as payment to lead souls across the River Styx to the afterlife. Another mythological ferryman known as Phlegyas appears in Dante's Inferno, when Dante and Virgil try to cross the River Styx in the Circle of Wrath.
While only blue-boned Ferrymen are found in ULTRAKILL, their radiance can turn them many vibrant colors, as non-blue Skull Keys found throughout the game suggest.^[1]
Ferrymen cannot be dismembered by any means, but killing one via a parry will destroy their body entirely in the ensuing lightning strike.