Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Murphy's been a bad boy ...

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Thommy Razor
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Thommy Razor »

I was thinking the screamers might be a representation of Anne's build-up of aggression, revenge, and anger. But that doesn't really work either, does it?
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AuraTwilight
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by AuraTwilight »

It could. Given that multiple people see the Screamers, they might have meaning for multiple characters.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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TheWeepingBat
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by TheWeepingBat »

I want to know more about "The Aristocrat" That's the only name I have heard him referred to.

Who is he?
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
He's the giant face you see at the end of mine train. "Did you enjoy the ride, Murphy?"

Just my opinion, he kinda looked like Sewell to me. Not too sure what the monocle was all about... Thoughts?
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AuraTwilight
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by AuraTwilight »

I once read a compelling theory that he was like a prison gang leader, surrounded by the "Weeping Bat" inmates that serve and protect him. If that has any weight, that might lend weight to him being either Sewell or Napier, though he doesn't sound like or resemble either of them.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Aerith Gainsborough
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Aerith Gainsborough »

I think the Aristocrat looks like Sewell. I mentioned in some thread that I thought the spotlight in his eye could symbolize the spotlights they use at prisons to shine on escaped prisoners. Perhaps it's supposed to be like the spotlight puzzle is in the penitentiary. It's supposed to symbolize how Murphy is being watched and forced out of his freedom, and Sewell has done this. Sewell is a CO, so he's constantly watching Murphy anyway. Also, he keeps Murphy from his freedom by framing him for Frank's death. On a moral level, he allows Murphy's guilt to keep stirring within him because he keeps making him feel obliged to do things for Sewell so that Murphy won't get in trouble for killing Napier. Also, the fact that he said, "Did you enjoy the ride, Murphy?" just makes me think of Sewell and how big of a smart ass and prick he is. Also the name Aristocrat would fit for Sewell. It means someone with power. Sewell has power over Murphy. He's able to control him for his own benefits thanks to Murphy's revenge and guilt.
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AuraTwilight
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by AuraTwilight »

That does make for a good explanation, Aerith. Buuut...the Aristocrat didn't call him 'cupcake', I'm not entirely sold yet. :PP
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Wigeke
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Wigeke »

And I'm pretty sure Aristocrat is a fan given name poking fun at the monocle so it makes no sense to use it as a basis for a theory.
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Aerith Gainsborough
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Aerith Gainsborough »

^Okaaaaay...? Even if you take that out, everything else I said works well with my theory. I don't need that name, unofficial or not, to help support the theory that I proposed above. It pretty much reiterates everything else I said, but within a title. Nothing more.
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teosoleil
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by teosoleil »

Wigeke wrote:And I'm pretty sure Aristocrat is a fan given name poking fun at the monocle so it makes no sense to use it as a basis for a theory.
So a monster having a nickname automatically disqualifies the monster for being in theories?

@Aerith, I really liked that explanation! I always thought it was Sewell but I never found a way to put it in my own words. Needless to say, you were spot on on what I was thinking :)
AuraTwilight wrote:That does make for a good explanation, Aerith. Buuut...the Aristocrat didn't call him 'cupcake', I'm not entirely sold yet. :PP
I always (jokingly) wondered why Sewell calls Murphy cupcake. At first, I seriously thought it was a sexual-dominance joke, like Sewell sexually assaulted Murphy while in prison or something. Yeah, my mind wasn't working when I was playing the game.
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Wigeke
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Wigeke »

teosoleil wrote:
Wigeke wrote:And I'm pretty sure Aristocrat is a fan given name poking fun at the monocle so it makes no sense to use it as a basis for a theory.
So a monster having a nickname automatically disqualifies the monster for being in theorie
No, but you can't use said nickname as evidence for a theory.
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Aerith Gainsborough
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Aerith Gainsborough »

Thank you very much, teosoleil. I'm glad we were on the same page. I'd love to find out more about this mystery 'Aristocrat.' I could be totally off the wall with that theory, but I think it makes some sense.

You're right, Wigeke, but you made it sound like my entire theory was shot to hell because I used an unofficial name for that figure. Perhaps you should word your posts more clearly from now on.
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The Adversary
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by The Adversary »

I thought Wigeke made himself pretty clear, for what it's worth.
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Aerith Gainsborough
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Aerith Gainsborough »

Either way, apparently I read it the wrong way for some reason or another and I'm providing helpful insight. When someone uses the term 'basis' I automatically assume that that person thinks that they mean it as the foundation for my point of view, speculation, theory, whatever, which...is what that word means. Easy mistake.
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by NanayaShiki »

Aerith Gainsborough wrote:I think the Aristocrat looks like Sewell. I mentioned in some thread that I thought the spotlight in his eye could symbolize the spotlights they use at prisons to shine on escaped prisoners. Perhaps it's supposed to be like the spotlight puzzle is in the penitentiary. It's supposed to symbolize how Murphy is being watched and forced out of his freedom, and Sewell has done this. Sewell is a CO, so he's constantly watching Murphy anyway. Also, he keeps Murphy from his freedom by framing him for Frank's death. On a moral level, he allows Murphy's guilt to keep stirring within him because he keeps making him feel obliged to do things for Sewell so that Murphy won't get in trouble for killing Napier. Also, the fact that he said, "Did you enjoy the ride, Murphy?" just makes me think of Sewell and how big of a smart ass and prick he is. Also the name Aristocrat would fit for Sewell. It means someone with power. Sewell has power over Murphy. He's able to control him for his own benefits thanks to Murphy's revenge and guilt.
I'm enjoying this ride, Aerith.
(translation: I like this theory)
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Overlooked Motel »

Hey everyone! This is my first post, so I hope I don't make a mockery of myself, but...I kinda thought The Aristocrat was JP Sater, or at least an Otherworld manifestation of him.

Stay with me here. The Aristocrat appears only once in the game, during the Devil's Pit train ride from hell, where it bursts through the wall right before the train crashes. Who was responsible for the very same train crashing and killing 8 children at some point in the recent past? That's right, JP. As the operator of the train, it's entirely possible that his guilt trapped him in the Otherworld after his suicide, forcing him to play the role of a monster who crashes the train just as he did in life, reliving his greatest moment of regret for all eternity. One of the game's main themes is the danger of allowing your failures and mistakes to consume you -- perhaps that's exactly what happened to JP. Sure, he protests that the newspaper reports were all lies, that he wasn't intoxicated, but he clearly does feel guilt -- so much so that he can't bear to live with it. Maybe his punishment (be it inflicted by the town itself or his own mind) is to literally become a monster.

And I'm really reaching here, but for some reason I thought the Aristrocrat's monocle might actually be the coin that JP threw into the ravine during Murphy's first meeting with him...because both are shiny. Okay, now I'm talking out of my ass, so I'll shut up.
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Luotka Snih
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Luotka Snih »

Overlooked Motel wrote:Hey everyone! This is my first post, so I hope I don't make a mockery of myself, but...I kinda thought The Aristocrat was JP Sater, or at least an Otherworld manifestation of him.

Stay with me here. The Aristocrat appears only once in the game, during the Devil's Pit train ride from hell, where it bursts through the wall right before the train crashes. Who was responsible for the very same train crashing and killing 8 children at some point in the recent past? That's right, JP. As the operator of the train, it's entirely possible that his guilt trapped him in the Otherworld after his suicide, forcing him to play the role of a monster who crashes the train just as he did in life, reliving his greatest moment of regret for all eternity. One of the game's main themes is the danger of allowing your failures and mistakes to consume you -- perhaps that's exactly what happened to JP. Sure, he protests that the newspaper reports were all lies, that he wasn't intoxicated, but he clearly does feel guilt -- so much so that he can't bear to live with it. Maybe his punishment (be it inflicted by the town itself or his own mind) is to literally become a monster.

And I'm really reaching here, but for some reason I thought the Aristrocrat's monocle might actually be the coin that JP threw into the ravine during Murphy's first meeting with him...because both are shiny. Okay, now I'm talking out of my ass, so I'll shut up.

That's an interesting theory. Tho, I'll say that the Aristocrat monster is a manifestation of him, not actually Sater, giving that to that very point, Murphy already knows what Sater did.
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by The Adversary »

I also thought the "aristocrat" was supposed to be J.P. He does tell Murph about the mine and train, and the "aristocrat" ends the trip by asking, "Did you enjoy the ride, Murphy?"
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teosoleil
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by teosoleil »

Wigeke wrote:
teosoleil wrote:
Wigeke wrote:And I'm pretty sure Aristocrat is a fan given name poking fun at the monocle so it makes no sense to use it as a basis for a theory.
So a monster having a nickname automatically disqualifies the monster for being in theorie
No, but you can't use said nickname as evidence for a theory.
Sorry, I misread your post like Aerith did. I thought you said the theory wasn't valid because it simply uses a fan-given name. Sorry! My apologies for that response.
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thy_butcher
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by thy_butcher »

My knee-jerk reaction to what I thought the "Aristocrat" was that it was a warped form of Kwekwaxawe. You learn about it from a document found in the Devil's Pitstop.
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Aerith Gainsborough
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Re: Monster / Character / Location Symbolism

Post by Aerith Gainsborough »

The Adversary wrote:I also thought the "aristocrat" was supposed to be J.P. He does tell Murph about the mine and train, and the "aristocrat" ends the trip by asking, "Did you enjoy the ride, Murphy?"
I didn't think of that, but that could be true. Especially how he says that line. It makes me think that it's sort of a punch towards the fact that his last 'ride' involved the murder of innocent kids. The spotlight or monocle in that respect could symbolize a train's headlight.

Wow, now I'm pro JP and pro Sewell. xD

Also, @Nanaya: Thanks! :)
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