The Ending Of The Ninth Gate Explained

Seigner's portrayal of the Girl is so mysterious that she never even gets a name. But despite this, she is in every pivotal moment of the film. Though Corso goes days without seeing her, she always shows up when she's needed. The Girl encourages Corso's pursuit of "The Nine Gates," though it is never entirely explained why she is so invested. But there are several clues that point to who the Girl is — or at the very least, who she represents.

The Girl is clearly not of this world. In addition to having no name, she miraculously comes to the rescue any time Corso needs her and she leads him to the correct engravings. In "The Club Dumas," this character goes by the name of Irene Adler, which is a clear allusion to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character in "Sherlock Holmes," a thief who, like the Girl, is manipulative and deceptive. 

But the biggest clue to the Girl's identity is the final engraving. When Corso finds the last image, the picture is of a naked woman astride a multi-headed beast — and she looks exactly like the Girl. With the way the Girl is depicted in the movie, she is likely meant to represent the "Whore of Babylon," a complex figure featured in the Book of Revelation in the Bible, and her downfall mirrors the fall of Babylon (via The Gospel Coalition).