Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Wiki
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Breath of Life is an activated item.

Effects[ | ]

  • Holding the active item button will deplete the charge bar. As the charge gets closer to zero, Isaac turns bluer over time.
  • Once the charge bar hits zero, Isaac will become invincible to all outside sources of damage. If the button is held for an additional second after hitting zero, Isaac will take damage for every second the button is held down.
    • Isaac loses invincibility once the active item button is released.
    • (in Repentance) While Isaac is invincible, he deals 3.5 contact damage to enemies and beams of light will strike down enemies touching Isaac, dealing 15 damage.
    • (in Repentance) Touching an enemy or blocking a projectile at the exact moment the invincibility activates will create a 4-way cardinal beam of light that deals 12 damage per tick for a total of 180 damage per beam.
      • If an enemy is standing in the center of all the light beams, they will take a total of 720 damage.
  • The item will recharge on its own, but cannot be used again until it is fully charged (even if the charge bar wasn't fully depleted).

Notes[ | ]

  • While not time-based, invincibility from Breath of Life is otherwise identical to damage immunity granted by the shield effect.
  • Breath of Life will prevent damage from Blood Donation MachineBlood Donation Machines, Devil BeggarDevil Beggars, (in Repentance) Hell GameHell Games, and (in Repentance) ConfessionalConfessionals, allowing them to be played infinitely for free.
  • (in Afterbirth † and Repentance) Once the invincibility takes effect, Isaac starts flashing rapidly.
    • (except in Repentance) Isaac will continue flashing for about a second even when invincibility has ended after releasing the active item button.
  • (in Repentance) Can not be used to prevent damage from the door to the MausoleumMausoleum.

Synergies[ | ]

  • (in Repentance) Collectible The Battery iconThe Battery: Adds an extra level of charge for Breath of Life, which allows Isaac to use it twice in a row. Releasing the active item button early will use up 1 full charge, and using the item before the 2nd charge is full will remove that extra charge.
  • (in Repentance) Collectible The Book of Belial iconThe Book of Belial + Collectible Birthright iconBirthright as Character Judas iconJudas / Character Dark Judas iconDark Judas: Judas leaves a damaging flame trail while the invincibility is active instead of creating beams of light. Blocking damage just as the invincibility begins deals heavy damage to all enemies in the room and grants Judas a temporary damage bonus.
  • (in Repentance)Collectible Book of Virtues iconBook of Virtues: Spawns 4 regular wisps on the inner ring when the four-way beam is created. Only 4 of these wisps can exist at a time. No wisps are created otherwise.
  • (except in Repentance) Collectible Isaac's Heart iconIsaac's Heart: When held down too long, Breath of Life no longer damages Isaac, resulting in infinite invincibility.
  • (in Afterbirth † and Repentance)Collectible Void iconVoid: Using Void with Breath of Life will immediately grant invincibility frames.

Interactions[ | ]

In-game Footage[ | ]

In Rebirth (except in Repentance)[ | ]

In Repentance (in Repentance)[ | ]

Gallery[ | ]

Trivia[ | ]

  • The Breath of Life refers to God breathing life into the soil to create the first human.
  • Breath of Life initially had a different animation, almost exactly alike to Collectible Chocolate Milk iconChocolate Milk's effect. However, this animation has one frame of Isaac holding his breath that isn't found in Chocolate Milk's sprites. It even has its own .anim2 file, paralleling Chocolate Milk's. The finished effect for Breath of Life is a gradual change of Isaac's skin tone, from perky pink to hold-my-breath blue.
  • Depleting the skill's charge turns Isaac a similar color to Character ??? (Character) icon???, who is implied to be Isaac after suffocating in his toy chest.

Bugs[ | ]

Bug Bug! (in Rebirth and Afterbirth) This item does not work with Broken Remote.
Bug Bug! (in Afterbirth † and Repentance) Replacing this item with another active item, switching into another active item with Collectible Schoolbag iconSchoolbag, or directly removing it via debug console while holding the active item key causes Isaac to take damage, even if the charge bar isn't depleted at all.


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