Pestilence, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, is a boss which can be encountered instead of a traditional boss in the Caves and Catacombs once the player has beaten the game for the first time (killed Mom).He is a bloated, diseased, and zombie-like being that lazily leans back on his rotting steed as it carries him around.

Pestilence can take poison damage (via The Bean, The Common Cold, Bob's Rotten Head, The Virus, and Bob's Curse), but his sprite will not change color.

He will always be the boss when Book Of Revelations is used in the Caves or the Catacombs.

This boss has two main phases:

Contents 1 Phase 1 2 Phase 2 3 Alternative Colors 3.1 White 4 Gallery 5 Trivia 6 Bugs 7 Video

Phase 1Edit

• Like Sloth, he fires a lobbed projectile similar to IPECAC, which explodes on contact with the ground and does one heart of damage. It also leaves a green glowing puddle that damages you if you step on it.
• His movement leaves a large, green creep.
• He summons Chargers and Spitties periodically.

Phase 2Edit

• After reducing his health to one half, his head is destroyed, leaving his body still mounted on his horse. It still leaves the green puddles of creep wherever it goes and fires the green bombs more rapidly. Also, the horse begins to summon red and black Flies, with the same coughing sound as the Hive (to compensate for the fact that he is no longer able to summon Chargers and Spitties during this phase).

Alternative ColorsEdit

WhiteEdit

Phase 1 shoots 6 white bullets and summons Trites. Also leaves a white creep (similar to the Widow's) that slows down Isaac if stepped on.

Phase 2 summons a small Spider and shoots 6 blood bullets.

GalleryEdit

TriviaEdit

• Pestilence often erroneously replaces Conquest in popular culture. Originally Conquest is the first of the four horsemen of the apocalypse as depicted in the Bible (Rev. 6:2).
  • "A Forgotten Horseman" might be reference to Edmund using the biblical incorrect Horseman in the original game or the absence of Conquest in a large part of popular media.

• Pestilence is the only horseman in the game that doesn't grab his horse.

BugsEdit

• Occasionally, regular Pestilence will fire three of its shots at once, like a Super Sloth. It can fire as many as 5 of these shots in a rapid succession.
• Occasionally, as soon as the battle with Pestilence begins, he will fire a single IPECAC shot towards Isaac while he is in the doorway without showing his animation.
• Pestilence may glitch into the wall if you push him hard enough, rendering the fight impossible.
• May fire 6-8 of his shots at once if lag occurs.
• When poisoned, Pestilence will not turn green, but he will still take poison damage.

VideoEdit

Cain vs. Pestilence - TBoI 1.4 Petden(00:33)
640 views

The Binding Of Isaac PESTILENCE(01:11)
281 views

The Harbingers					Related
Famine	Pestilence	War	Death	Conquest	Headless Horseman

Bosses
Basement	Larry Jr. • Monstro • The Duke of Flies • Gemini • Steven • Famine
Cellar	Widow • Pin • The Duke of Flies • Famine • Gurdy Jr. • The Blighted Ovum
The Caves	Fistula • Peep • Gurdy • Chub • C.H.A.D. • Pestilence
Catacombs	The Husk • The Hollow • The Blighted Ovum • The Carrion Queen • Peep • Pestilence • The Wretched • Gurdy Jr.
The Depths	Loki • Monstro II • Gish • War • Mom
Necropolis	Mask of Infamy • Daddy Long Legs • The Carrion Queen • The Bloat • Loki • War • The Wretched • Mom
The Womb	Scolex • Blastocyst • The Bloat • Death • Conquest • Daddy Long Legs • Triachnid • Teratoma • Mom's Heart • It Lives
Utero	Teratoma • The Bloat • Death • Conquest • Daddy Long Legs • Triachnid • Lokii • Mom's Heart • It Lives
Sheol	The Fallen • Satan
Cathedral	Isaac
The Chest	???
First to fifth and seventh level	The Fallen • Headless Horseman
Devil Room	Krampus

Start a Discussion Discussions about Pestilence

You can find discussions about everything related to this wiki on The Binding of Isaac Wiki Forum!