Bother

Bothers are spirits made up of the ashes of multiple deceased mortals. These spirits take up residence in burial urns to combine their strength in an attempt to escape the Underworld. They can be found crawling about in the highest reaches of the Underworld, the Temple of Styx.

They resemble and attack similarly to Wretched Pests, but are much stronger.

When a Bother spots Zagreus, it will move away from him in an attempt to find a safe position to fire from. Shortly after, it will launch a bright purple projectile into the air which falls in an arc, causing a large AoE explosion when they come into contact with the ground. The damage done by these will only affect Zagreus, unlike the traps created by Wretched Pests. Also unlike Pests, Bothers will move continuously, rather than try to hide and blend in.

A large red indicator showing the landing spot of the projectile and the entire area affected appears as soon as they are fired.

The projectiles can be deflected, but only when they are close to the ground, which happens when they have either just been fired or about to land.

A larger, tougher Bother will serve as a possible encounter at the end of one of the Satyr Tunnels. This Bother will send several blasts out at once, surrounding itself in a wide radius to discourage players from getting close enough to attack.

Codex entry

'...The dead share much in common with the living; each desperate for something they cannot articulate. For the dead, this can mean an unrelenting urge to gain the surface of the Master's realm, and break free (or try) using whatever means avail themselves -- even lurking in an unassuming bowl of ash. It is almost poetic how these petty souls detest the living, striving as they do to regain their own lives. And to what end? They fling themselves upon the threshold to the Underworld, inevitably shattering, their ashes spreading far and wide, so that they might reconstitute on some impending day or night, and give it another go.'

Trivia

Unlike the Satyr Cultists, Snakestones, Crawlers, or Gigantic Vermin, the Bother are confirmed to be deceased souls who have somehow made the long journey out of their assigned resting places and now wander the temple looking for a way out.
- It's unknown why Hades allows them to come so close to escaping, though if Achilles assertions that they simply smash themselves against the doors before reforming to try again is any indication, he may believe them to be simply too incompetent to succeed.