According to Platinum Games artist Yong-Hee Cho, Bayonetta's director Hideki Kamiya requested concept art of Bayonetta in Princess Peach's costume for the Wii U version. In addition, Kamiya also requested Cho to design a Mario Charm for Peach's costume and a Luigi Charm for Daisy's costume, and pulled Bayonetta's long black locks in favor of flowing fabric.

Cho also goes on to talk about the concept for the Link and Samus Aran costumes, with the second costume being based on the NES original. According to Cho, it was actually Nintendo who pushed for Bayonetta to show a bit more skin while dressed in her Link costume.

Additionally, Bayonetta in her Samus Aran costume was at one point given the ability to form into a Morph Ball like how Samus does in the Metroid series, but the idea was scrapped and instead was later implemented in the game's sequel, Bayonetta 2.

Exclusive only to the Wii U and Nintendo Switch ports of the first two games in the series, several costumes were added that are based on Nintendo characters with additional features tied to them:

• Both the Mushroom Kingdom Princess and Sarasaland Princess costumes resemble the princesses Peach and Daisy from the Mario series, with Mario and Luigi charms attached to their dresses respectively. Coins will drop instead of Halos once enemies are defeated and collecting them will play the coin sound effect from the series. Attacks that summon Madama Butterfly are now replaced with Bowser's hands and feet.

• The Hero of Hyrule costume resembles Link from The Legend of Zelda series. Equipping the Shuraba with this costume will turn the current weapon into the Master Sword. Wearing the costume replaces the Halos with Rupees as well as the standard sound effects with those from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, specifically because it is series director Hideki Kamiya's favorite Zelda game. If Jeanne wears the costume, sound effects from the The Legend of Zelda can be heard instead.

• The Galactic Bounty Hunter costume resembles Samus Aran from the Metroid series. Samus's blaster cannon can be used without needing to equip a weapon skill. Furthermore, Samus' visor works differently between the two games.

• The Star Mercenary costume exclusive to Bayonetta 2 resembles Fox McCloud from the Star Fox series. Equipping the Love is Blue/All 4 One with this costume will turn the current weapon into Arwing Guns, each having charms that resemble Fox, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy. If Bayonetta dons the costume, sound effects will be replaced with those from Star Fox 64. However, if Jeanne dons the costume, sound effects from Star Fox will be heard instead.

• The Chain Chomp foot weapon, also exclusive to Bayonetta 2, can be obtained by completing all chapters on Hard difficulty. The Super Mario 64 Golden LP can be given to Rodin and he will give Bayonetta the Chain Chomp, which plays sound effects from that game. Upon performing the Umbran Dance with either Bayonetta or Jeanne will give them Mario and Luigi's caps with both letters replaced with the letter B and J, while also having fake mustaches.