Bayonetta 3 takes the series and pushes it forward in almost every way. Something that fans latched onto when Nintendo published the game's release date trailer was new character Viola. This character shows that not only can players take on the role of the powerful witch Bayonetta, but also a new character, a witch in training.
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Nintendo hasn't provided many details on Viola at the time of writing, but there's a lot said in the Bayonetta 3 release date trailer that fills in the gaps in the knowledge the company has shared. The official word from Nintendo is that Viola is a secondary character in Bayonetta 3's story that players will occasionally control in addition to Bayonetta. She's a feisty witch in training and appears to be much younger than Bayonetta, including the versions of Bayonetta from other dimensions or universes.
Viola may only be a witch in training, but she has control of a giant demon Cheshire cat, her equivalent to Bayonetta's many demon summonses. What Viola lacks in experience, she makes up for in knowledge. She appears to be the character who knows what the enemies attacking Earth are. As she says, they're not demons or angels, they're man-made monsters called Homunculi. Why Viola knows all this, we're not sure, but it's possible that she's from a dimension or universe that the Homunculi have already destroyed, and she somehow escaped.
Viola uses a katana-like sword to fight enemies and is capable of slicing and deflecting bullets, even at close range. She doesn't look like she has any firearms to speak of but combines her melee attacks with her Cheshire demon for a combination of short and long range attacks that decimate any nearby enemies. This is almost the opposite of Bayonetta, who specializes in combining firearms with her melee attacks for devastating effects.