Aria

Aria is the maternal grandmother to Cadence, mother to Melody. During the days of the plague, she aided in providing care towards those that had befallen the illness. However, after obtaining the Golden Lute to heal, the villagers became greedy and became violent towards her. Aria, fearing the power of the Lute, sought out and revived Octavian in the hopes that he would help her destroy it.

Octavian reveals the location of the shrine he first encountered the Lute, before offering to be the one who takes it there. In reality, she was tricked by the man into losing the Lute and stabs her in the heart. Eventually, she is unintentionally revived by Melody and pushes the NecroDancer to his death. Taking the Lute from her daughter, Aria backtracks through the Crypt to properly destroy the instrument.

In the game, Aria is limited to half a heart, cannot obtain new ones, and can be killed in a single hit or by dropping a beat. She starts with a dagger, a shovel, a Nazar Charm, and a Potion. She cannot pick up other weapons, from which it can be derived that her soul is somehow bound to the weapon that killed her. She also goes through the zones in reverse order, as indicative of her ascent from the depths of the Crypt.