It Lives

It Lives is a boss that can appear on the second floor of Chapter 4 (Womb, Utero, Scarred Womb). It is unlocked by beating Mom's Heart 11 times; after that, it permanently replaces it.

Behavior[ | ]

It Lives behaves identically to Mom's Heart, with the exceptions of different spawns for its phases:

In phase 1 its order is now:
- 2 Eyes
- 3 Flesh Mobile Hosts
- Polycephalus
- Fistula
In phase 2 its order is now:
- 2 Knights
- 4 Walking Boils
- Teratoma
- Chub
In phase 3 its order is now:
- 3 Lumps
- 3 Globins
- 4 Tumors
- 4 Hearts

Gallery[ | ]

It Lives! in-game.
It Lives! as one of Delirium's forms.

Unlockable Achievements[ | ]

A Halo - Defeat Mom, Mom's Heart, or It Lives! using The Bible.

Flooded Caves - Defeat It Lives! 16 times.

Dank Depths - Defeat It Lives! 21 times.

Scarred Womb - Defeat It Lives! 30 times.

Lost Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Isaac.

Cute Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Magdalene.

Glass Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Cain.

Shadow Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Judas.

Dead Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as ???.

Crow Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Eve.

Fighting Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Samson.

Wrapped Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Azazel
Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Lazarus.

Begotten Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Lazarus
Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Azazel.

Glitch Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Eden.

-0- Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as The Lost.

Goat Head Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Lilith.

Super Greed Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart on Hard mode as Keeper.

Smelter - Defeat Mom's Heart or It Lives! on Hard mode as Apollyon.

Marrow - Defeat Mom's Heart or It Lives! on Hard mode as The Forgotten.

Wisp Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart or It Lives! on Hard mode as Bethany.

Double Baby - Defeat Mom's Heart or It Lives! on Hard mode as Jacob and Esau.

Notes[ | ]

Just like Mom and Mom's Heart, using The Bible or XV - The Devil? against It Lives will kill it instantly.
Isaac can encounter It Lives in the nightmare boss wave of chapter 4 in Greed/Greedier mode even if it has not been unlocked.

Trivia[ | ]

It Lives! appeared in the original The Binding of Isaac. Unlike its appearance in Rebirth, It Lives had opened eyes, a simple poker face, and hung to the ceiling in a sideways position via an umbilical cord.
The music that plays during this fight is titled Ventricide.^[1] Ventricide is a portmanteau formed from the word ventricle (chamber of the heart) and the suffix -cide, which denotes an act of killing. This theme is used in other tracks, such as Matricide, Hericide, and Infanticide.
- Ventricide could also be a junction of the prefix ventr- (from the latin word venter), which could denote "belly", "stomach", "womb" or "fetus", with the suffix -cide.
- It Lives shares this theme with Mom's Heart, and therefore, both interpretations could co-exist.
It Lives, according to the developers, takes the shape of what Isaac looked like as a fetus.
According to Edmund McMillen, It Lives supposedly represents Isaac wishing that he were never born.
It Lives makes the same sounds as Mom's Heart.
- Like Mom's Heart, if Isaac takes damage from It Lives' Brimstone attack, Mom's laugh can be heard.
- Holy Mantle hits don't count towards that.
Despite being a major boss, It Lives isn't linked to any Ending, instead, it opens up entrances to both Sheol and the Cathedral, as well as ??? if beaten in under 30 minutes.
The unlock note for It Lives states "Your futures past awaits.", referencing Time Fcuk, another game by Edmund Mcmillen.
During the versus screen, It Lives' enemy/boss-spawning sound can be heard. It Lives is one of seven/five bosses that can be heard during the versus screen, the other six/four being The Stain, The Forsaken, Big Horn, Mom, Mom's Heart and Mother.

Bugs[ | ]

Bug!	Sometimes, if the boss intro is skipped, the game will not teleport Isaac into the center of the bottom of the room, resulting in immediate contact damage with one of the Eyes or It Lives, depending on the direction of the room's entrance.