Lore theories/ Speculation? (Major Spoilers)

[Jinxishere]

Alright,
After admittedly too long playing this game I am really eager to hear people's take on the lore. I know the game is brand new so I'm really excited to see how public take on it changes as time goes on. I'd love to hear input on anything if I wrote something wrong, or even just additional theories!
Going through the game so many times, there were a lot of cool things I noticed over time. What got my attention the most was the letters dated to MC. I assume they're all addresses/ about MC since there's a lot that implies it's their past they refuse to remember.
TL;DR- It seems like MC has been controlled by a Likho, who keeps them alive and possesses them to feed, It seems like MC remembers memories that might not be their own, such as drowning and passing the Likho on- since its kind of confirmed MC cant die? Or is being kept alive by the spirit- (loooong seeming life span, comments on their age through arthritis, "being hard to kill" according to potato, and the letter dates all kind of lead me to that conclusion. Their guilt and inability to face themselves and let go keeps their victims trapped in a cycle with them, until MC allows them to move on.
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-MC has dreams that resemble some of the folklore beings posted on Cooking Companions social media beforehand, such as the Likho: " an embodiment of evil fate and misfortune in Slavic mythology, a creature with one eye, often depicted as an old, skinny woman in black" (resembling MC's first dream?) It also furthers into the common ways someone meets or gains a Likho, entailing "Likho cheats a person and rides on his neck. The person wants to drown Likho, jumps into a river, drowns himself, but Likho floats out, to chase other victims." If MC isn't just super super old, the Likho was passed onto them, and they may be sharing memories of past victims. Whats weird about this to me is in some dialogue, I think its Mariah who mentions seeing the same sort of nightmares MC has that takes them over. They were apparently also known to come and eat people. It seems like MC has gained a supernatural friend determined to keep feasting, as long as MC feeds it- and as long as "victims are drawn to this place," the Likho keeps eating.
-Another notable mention is another spirit mentioned on the media pages, regarding different folklore, is the Kikimora, an evil house spirit in Slavic mythology that lives behind stoves or in the cellar, groaning for food. Besides strangling people, its said in different tales they're also known for kidnapping children. MC Finds a child's sock under the floorboards, and a borderline ransom note in the bookshelf about a stolen child. From Wikipedia ( i know they aren't the best source-) "It was believed that she frightens people, knocks travelers off the road, and also kidnaps children."
The behavior of the kikimora more reflects to Karin, I think, than MC. MC, even at the start of the game, thinks to offer Karin a dead rat they find. Karin is also the only member seemingly direly affected by the events, in the way it just sends her further down a spiral into becoming, essentially, a monster worse than MC.
-Aside from the dreams, in the ending where cornbread (or Razael), is found, you can ask him one question. If you ask him what you are, he tells you to face yourself in the mirror, but when you try during gameplay, MC says "h#ll no." There's scenes with Karin and potato, when asked "how long you've been doing it," or what your secret is, they either scoff like a joke, or take note (like Potato.)

- Some of the letters are dated as early as 1794, 1826, and I assume the game takes place somewhere in the 1930s, though I may be wrong about this.
-My guess for the year mainly surrounds the mentions of each characters backstory- They all talk about leaving Ukraine, starving, etc. A major event in Ukraine (according to google) Was the terror famine in 1932-1933. We also know the game takes place in the Tatras Mountain, between Slovakia and Poland.
- When MC gets asked how long it took them to perfect it, or what they are, their answers aren't shown, but it seems to be a large unbelievable number, as Karin calls you "funny" for it. Maybe the spirit that's latched on to MC is keeping them alive so it can keep feeding? And their victims aren't allowed to leave until MC lets them go, which is accomplished in the OG demo... for the sole reason you aren't aware of what you've done, because you choose not to remember.
- The Chompettes are also revealed to not be the characters we meet, but past victims MC wont let go of, for one reason or another, they refuse to release them, and in passing comments and creepy snide, its revealed the Chompettes were killed in one night.
- A random notable mention, during nightmare mode, a spirit on the stairs speaks in what I think is Portuguese? Rough translations is this odd, unsettling, almost comforting dialogue (which seems to be some type of trap from former victims.) It just really stood out to me, considering the rest of the game focuses on mainly Slavic/ Polish/ Russian themes, the language transition was very much noticeable.

These are just things I found interesting/ felt out of place. I'd love to see other peoples thoughts.

[Phoenix-san]

I think you most likely got it right. I had thought of mc as kind of ancient wizard, extending his life by consuming others, but your interpretation is more interesting.

About dead mouse part at the start of the game - it might have something to do/ foreshadow Karin's backstory that she tells you if you max out her hearts. She's not ready for dead mouse YET as in she's not desperately hungry yet.

And seriosly screw that elusive cornbread. How in the hell i trigger that...

[BearBee]

There are what seem to be a TON of references to the Baba Yaga myths of eastern Europe specifically. She's a super-old-school figure in Slavic myths and way too complex to cover in detail so I'd encourage at least a Wikipedia skim if you're not familiar, but she appears in a lot of various legends as everything from a prophet or mystic to a trickster type figure. But most relevant to this...

* Baba Yaga, is, of course, portrayed as a cannibal (or maneater, at any rate, if she's not counted as human) in a lot of myths about her. If you're reading a spoiler thread about this game - or even if you've just taken an educated guess about the themes in the game - I probably needn't explain the relevance.
* There's a legend where a boy fools Baba Yaga when she tries to cook him by pretending not to understand how to lay down in her pan, so she shows him how and he shoves her in the oven. The protagonist dreams this exact scenario from Baba Yaga's perspective. In some versions of this legend he pulls this exact trick on Baba Yaga's daughters first.
* Another dream sequence mentions the protagonist biting trees with their iron teeth, which are another trait sometimes attributed to Baba Yaga (or similar cannibal-hag figures, like Gvozdenzuba, whose name means "Iron-Tooth"). The mention of the bag of chickens and dogs seems to be part of an unrelated folk tale about an old farmer who tricks a fox in this manner.
* After emerging from the basement and greeting the four named characters, the protagonist asks if they arrived of their own free will, or were sent. This is something Baba Yaga asks of visitors in some legends. The "correct" answer according to some cursory web searches is that one came of one's own free will (or to offer a vague or indirect answer). Karin says they were sent, which the protagonist comments is the wrong answer.
* Of course, the cottage has a cauldron, which is an iconic bit of Baba Yaga's kit (or that of any spooky mountain-forest witch), but those wouldn't be uncommon in old houses so this might not mean much.
* This is a more tenuous connection, but the chicken bone in the floorboards might be a reference to Baba Yaga's iconic chicken-leg cottage.

I'm not quite sure how to translate all this to the story, but it seemed initially to me like the protagonist either is, is possessed by, or is otherwise somehow symbolic for, this particular legendary cannibal-crone. I didn't know about the Likho legend, so that's interesting reading! It seems the dream sequences maybe tie in more than one particular bit of folklore, so it's not all just the big B.Y. apparently. I was pretty sure until reading this theory that this was basically all just about Baba Yaga and that maybe the other dream sequences were bits about her that I hadn't managed to find, but it seems clear now that there's more of a mixture, and our main character might be connected to multiple different folkloric man-eaters. It's not unusual for characters in these kinds of myths to get shuffled around a bit. Perhaps whatever the protagonist is, or whatever influences them, is the sort of being that inspired these various myths about various forms of old wilderness-dwelling hermits that eat people.

There is more connection to the Likho legend than what Atlasishere already astutely pointed out! There's a myth in which a blacksmith tricks the Likho into being bound to a chair so he can forge new eyes for her, which our protagonist witnesses from the Likho's point of view. There's definitely a recurring element of the protagonist's dreams putting them in the monster's perspective (though not every time). I haven't found anything clear about the dream where the protagonist can't get someone into the oven due to their strong legs, but I'd expect that's definitely yet another one of those types of myths, maybe about some other similar figure. It's worth noting Baba Yaga, the Likho, and the Kikimora are all female. The game is very evasive about the protagonist's physical qualities, including traits like age, sex, and so forth. Some of the other characters' reactions seem hard to square with how one might react to the sort of ancient crone associated with these kinds of beings, but it's hard to know how to interpret that.

[dorohn]

I have a question on the first run ending and nightmare mode, is the nightmare mode canon to the story line? Or did the game actually end at whichever ending you get on the first play-through ending? (I got the Karin ending) The transition from the first play-through ending to the nightmare mode kinda confused me a little.

[Jinxishere]

Originally posted by Phoenix-san:

I think you most likely got it right. I had thought of mc as kind of ancient wizard, extending his life by consuming others, but your interpretation is more interesting.

About dead mouse part at the start of the game - it might have something to do/ foreshadow Karin's backstory that she tells you if you max out her hearts. She's not ready for dead mouse YET as in she's not desperately hungry yet.

And seriosly screw that elusive cornbread. How in the hell i trigger that...

Im fairly sure its done by examining the mirror. I actually had to tweet the devs for a hint after about 4 hours of trying. Rather than maxxing people (aside from anatoly) I basically just... went to the batrhoom, and spam clicked anything I could examine, especially until MC gets mad when you try to make them look. I also played it from the regular game, to nightmare mode, to NG+ and didnt even think I had it. Then cornbread came...

[Jinxishere]

Originally posted by dorohn:

I have a question on the first run ending and nightmare mode, is the nightmare mode canon to the story line? Or did the game actually end at whichever ending you get on the first play-through ending? (I got the Karin ending) The transition from the first play-through ending to the nightmare mode kinda confused me a little.

I think Nightmare mode, aside from being there for fun gameplay, might legitimately be MCs nightmares, the things MC is haunted by, considering in nightmare mode is where the girl speaking Portugese comes, the flashing sights of your dead friends, the bloody walls, in their dreams MC found karin, but when nightmare mode ends, it resets it back and always follows the same loop of karin becoming stronger until you kill her, where she becomes another spirit you refuse to let go. It seems like its things MC is haunted by in their nightmares. But, then again, im like 90% sure the game says its just for fun so well see?

[Jinxishere]

Originally posted by BearBee:

There are what seem to be a TON of references to the Baba Yaga myths of eastern Europe specifically. She's a super-old-school figure in Slavic myths and way too complex to cover in detail so I'd encourage at least a Wikipedia skim if you're not familiar, but she appears in a lot of various legends as everything from a prophet or mystic to a trickster type figure. But most relevant to this...

* Baba Yaga, is, of course, portrayed in many myths as a cannibal (or maneater, at any rate, if she's not counted as human) in a lot of myths about her. If you're reading a spoiler thread about this game - or even if you've just taken an educated guess about the themes in the game - I probably needn't explain the relevance.
* There's a legend where a boy fools Baba Yaga when she tries to cook him by pretending not to understand how to lay down in her pan, so she shows him how and he shoves her in the oven. The protagonist dreams this exact scenario from Baba Yaga's perspective. In some versions of this legend he pulls this exact trick on Baba Yaga's daughters first.
* Another dream sequence mentions the protagonist biting trees with their iron teeth, which are another trait sometimes attributed to Baba Yaga (or similar cannibal-hag figures, like Gvozdenzuba, whose name means "Iron-Tooth"). The mention of the bag of chickens and dogs seems to be part of an unrelated folk tale about an old farmer who tricks a fox in this manner.
* After emerging from the basement and greeting the four named characters, the protagonist asks if they arrived of their own free will, or were sent. This is something Baba Yaga asks of visitors in some legends. The "correct" answer according to some cursory web searches is that one came of one's own free will (or to offer a vague or indirect answer). Karin says they were sent, which the protagonist comments is the wrong answer.
* Of course, the cottage has a cauldron, which is an iconic bit of Baba Yaga's kit (or that of any spooky mountain-forest witch), but those wouldn't be uncommon in old houses so this might not mean much.
* This is a more tenuous connection, but the chicken bone in the floorboards might be a reference to Baba Yaga's iconic chicken-leg cottage.

I'm not quite sure how to translate all this to the story, but it seemed initially to me like the protagonist either is, is possessed by, or is otherwise somehow symbolic for, this particular legendary cannibal-crone. I didn't know about the Likho legend, so that's interesting reading! It seems the dream sequences maybe tie in more than one particular bit of folklore, so it's not all just the big B.Y. apparently. I was pretty sure until reading this theory that this was basically all just about Baba Yaga and that maybe the other dream sequences were bits about her that I hadn't managed to find, but it seems clear now that there's more of a mixture, and our main character might be connected to multiple different folkloric man-eaters. It's not unusual for characters in these kinds of myths to get shuffled around a bit. Perhaps whatever the protagonist is, or whatever influences them, is the sort of being that inspired these various myths about various forms of old wilderness-dwelling hermits that eat people.

There is more connection to the Likho legend than what Atlasishere already astutely pointed out! There's a myth in which a blacksmith tricks the Likho into being bound to a chair so he can forge new eyes for her, which our protagonist witnesses from the Likho's point of view. There's definitely a recurring element of the protagonist's dreams putting them in the monster's perspective (though not every time). I haven't found anything clear about the dream where the protagonist can't get someone into the oven due to their strong legs, but I'd expect that's definitely yet another one of those types of myths, maybe about some other similar figure. It's worth noting Baba Yaga, the Likho, and the Kikimora are all female. The game is very evasive about the protagonist's physical qualities, including traits like age, sex, and so forth. Some of the other characters' reactions seem hard to square with how one might react to the sort of ancient crone associated with these kinds of beings, but it's hard to know how to interpret that.

this is such a cool take, I hadnt even thought of looking into other folklore that way, thats a really good catch. I do know, from previous discussions done in Demo forums, the Devs said major lore points had been found (They said this I think on twitter and steam) and I cant wait till its all pieced together.

[HusbandoGoddess]

If you've played through the ending with Potato and talked to Raspberry alone, it's implied that the MC has control over storms. So, if we were to believe MC is a creature of some sort, it's highly likely they are someone who can create rainstorms.

[HusbandoGoddess]

My theory on the Chompettes is a little wonky, so forgive me here.

The Chompettes are victims whose bodies are still rotting in the basement. We never see the main character throw out anyone's body once they're rotten. They make note that Mariah's body has gone bad, but they never get rid of it. The reason I believe this is because of the secret ending with Cornbread.

• When you ask cornbread why no one else is here, he tells you that you're not allowing them to move on. However, cornbread moved on. This could be because you either have eaten him, disposed of his body, or forgotten about him. I'm to believe it's one of the first two options.
  
• Cornbread at the start makes mention how his body is no longer present, but his spirit is. So again, his body is no longer around.
  
  
  However, what is bugging me about this theory is that newspaper clipping where a child's body was discovered in a barrel of potatoes. Who was this victim? Are they a chompette? If so, my theory on the Chompettes being victims stuck in the cabin doesn't stick because that body was found outside the cabin.
  
  Anyway, I have one last idea. As said in the game, Potato is not an original chompette. Here's the information I found in regards to potato.
  
• During the fight with Karin, depending on when you talk to them, you'll get different text. In an exchange with Bread, he asks why you they're here. You explain and then he says, "That explains potato."
  
• Potato hides in the basement. He was also involved in the "Room Incident", which after it happened, Bread could hear whispers at night much like how we hear Mariah whispering to everyone.
  
• Potato was caught off-guard by MC and was killed very quickly in the basement.
  
• Left grade school to work at the butchery, become very knowledgeable about cutting meat...
  
  From this information, this is what I can theorize.
  
  1) Potato was killed in the basement. Everyone's hiding spots seem to be the place where they died.
  2) Potato could have been the original owner of the cabin. Perhaps he lured the original chompettes there, maybe the MC as well?
  3) Potato could have been a murderer. It'll explain his odd behavior and why he urges MC to venture outside the cabin to kill others.

[BearBee]

Originally posted by HusbandoGoddess:

If you've played through the ending with Potato and talked to Raspberry alone, it's implied that the MC has control over storms. So, if we were to believe MC is a creature of some sort, it's highly likely they are someone who can create rainstorms.

Oh shoot - that gives us a tie in to another Slavic legend! One that came up in my reading was the Planetnik, a demon that could cause or predict storms. There are other various Slavic mythological beings attributed with control of storms though, so it's hard to pin this to a specific one. But it seems like these demons were associated specifically with the Tatra mountains, where this game takes place.

[Jinxishere]

Originally posted by BearBee:

Originally posted by HusbandoGoddess:

If you've played through the ending with Potato and talked to Raspberry alone, it's implied that the MC has control over storms. So, if we were to believe MC is a creature of some sort, it's highly likely they are someone who can create rainstorms.

Oh shoot - that gives us a tie in to another Slavic legend! One that came up in my reading was the Planetnik, a demon that could cause or predict storms. There are other various Slavic mythological beings attributed with control of storms though, so it's hard to pin this to a specific one. But it seems like these demons were associated specifically with the Tatra mountains, where this game takes place.

Oh shoot, thats super interesting. It makes me wonder what kind of being MC is, since they have ties to multiple folklore tales. We know for sure theyre tied to a Likho, at least. Thanks for sharing

[BearBee]

Originally posted by Atlasishere:

Originally posted by BearBee:

Oh shoot - that gives us a tie in to another Slavic legend! One that came up in my reading was the Planetnik, a demon that could cause or predict storms. There are other various Slavic mythological beings attributed with control of storms though, so it's hard to pin this to a specific one. But it seems like these demons were associated specifically with the Tatra mountains, where this game takes place.

Oh shoot, thats super interesting. It makes me wonder what kind of being MC is, since they have ties to multiple folklore tales. We know for sure theyre tied to a Likho, at least. Thanks for sharing :boozehound:

It might not necessarily be 100% accurate, but at the moment my most concise summary of the game I've settled on is "Cute anime dating simulation VN where everyone has a crush on you - and you're Baba Yaga." It seems unlikely the player character is literally her, but imagining Mariah or Anatoly getting flustered while talking to a ghastly, questionably human forest hag with a giant nose and a hankering for human flesh is funny enough to me that I can't bring myself to commit to a more sane theory until more information arises.

[malaysiaskc]

Originally posted by HusbandoGoddess:

My theory on the Chompettes is a little wonky, so forgive me here.

The Chompettes are victims whose bodies are still rotting in the basement. We never see the main character throw out anyone's body once they're rotten. They make note that Mariah's body has gone bad, but they never get rid of it. The reason I believe this is because of the secret ending with Cornbread.

• When you ask cornbread why no one else is here, he tells you that you're not allowing them to move on. However, cornbread moved on. This could be because you either have eaten him, disposed of his body, or forgotten about him. I'm to believe it's one of the first two options.
  
• Cornbread at the start makes mention how his body is no longer present, but his spirit is. So again, his body is no longer around.
  
  
  However, what is bugging me about this theory is that newspaper clipping where a child's body was discovered in a barrel of potatoes. Who was this victim? Are they a chompette? If so, my theory on the Chompettes being victims stuck in the cabin doesn't stick because that body was found outside the cabin.
  
  Anyway, I have one last idea. As said in the game, Potato is not an original chompette. Here's the information I found in regards to potato.
  
• During the fight with Karin, depending on when you talk to them, you'll get different text. In an exchange with Bread, he asks why you they're here. You explain and then he says, "That explains potato."
  
• Potato hides in the basement. He was also involved in the "Room Incident", which after it happened, Bread could hear whispers at night much like how we hear Mariah whispering to everyone.
  
• Potato was caught off-guard by MC and was killed very quickly in the basement.
  
• Left grade school to work at the butchery, become very knowledgeable about cutting meat...
  
  From this information, this is what I can theorize.
  
  1) Potato was killed in the basement. Everyone's hiding spots seem to be the place where they died.
  2) Potato could have been the original owner of the cabin. Perhaps he lured the original chompettes there, maybe the MC as well?
  3) Potato could have been a murderer. It'll explain his odd behavior and why he urges MC to venture outside the cabin to kill others.

I’m also curious about the chompettes, specifically potato.

If Potato was the previous owner of the cabin and a murderer it would make sense. The newspaper clipping mentions that a victim was stuffed in a barrel full of potatoes by the “Butcher of Zakopane”. And potato was a butcher.

And in the demo, Potato specifically said, “I cornered the four in this basement room… and all of us ended up dead.” The Chompettes all have hatred towards potato even if he was one of the victims but it would make sense if it happened like that. And the chompettes, seem to be fine with locking him in the basement room. Since he wasn’t an original chompette.

I also want to talk about the achievement “Give me back my knife” it was him saying it to the Mc after Karin dies in the basement. He even says that you were a murderer and a thief for taking it from his body.

But earlier in the game when Karin was whittling something with the knife, Cabbage says.“Wait, isn’t that your knife, why did you let her have it?” because they recognize it as yours rather than potato’s.

And if you were one of the victims, why did they all die? In the original thread, maybe the entity Likho/Baba Yaga had latched onto potato, then it latched onto the Mc when he was killed. So it would jump from person to person. Because in the conversation with potato before you go to the basement, “I don’t care if you come back alive...maybe the red-haired woman will let us move on. Or will she act just like you.” makes it seem regardless if you die that the possession would continue.

I also believe in the possession theory because most of the actual murders would happen when the Mc is asleep. And Potato would say that they would collapse in the middle of the hallway sometimes, or that the Mc couldn’t recall where they would sleep and wake up.

“Before I came to the cabin I use to read the classics.” Potato said in a conversation. So was someone else a victim to the entity before it clung to Potato then eventually Mc?

Maybe the Mc and Potato ended up fighting separately from the group and killed him in the process, that’s when they could’ve taken his knife. Because it’s implied that the Mc killed the chompettes, not Potato.

People who die in the cabin follow different rules, and they know the kitchen well. Potato died in the basement but the rest of the chompettes died in the cabin. And if they all were originally in the basement, how did they go up in the cabin? Did the Mc betray the rest of the victims who later became chompettes because they wouldn’t let them go in the end from the amount of guilt?

I’m not very good with theories, but I wanted to have a discussion about this since everything is still so vague about the “basement incident.” so please respond to this if you guys either disagree or have something to say about some of my points.

[toadspells]

Originally posted by HusbandoGoddess:

My theory on the Chompettes is a little wonky, so forgive me here.

The Chompettes are victims whose bodies are still rotting in the basement. We never see the main character throw out anyone's body once they're rotten. They make note that Mariah's body has gone bad, but they never get rid of it. The reason I believe this is because of the secret ending with Cornbread.

• When you ask cornbread why no one else is here, he tells you that you're not allowing them to move on. However, cornbread moved on. This could be because you either have eaten him, disposed of his body, or forgotten about him. I'm to believe it's one of the first two options.
  
• Cornbread at the start makes mention how his body is no longer present, but his spirit is. So again, his body is no longer around.
  
  
  However, what is bugging me about this theory is that newspaper clipping where a child's body was discovered in a barrel of potatoes. Who was this victim? Are they a chompette? If so, my theory on the Chompettes being victims stuck in the cabin doesn't stick because that body was found outside the cabin.
  
  Anyway, I have one last idea. As said in the game, Potato is not an original chompette. Here's the information I found in regards to potato.
  
• During the fight with Karin, depending on when you talk to them, you'll get different text. In an exchange with Bread, he asks why you they're here. You explain and then he says, "That explains potato."
  
• Potato hides in the basement. He was also involved in the "Room Incident", which after it happened, Bread could hear whispers at night much like how we hear Mariah whispering to everyone.
  
• Potato was caught off-guard by MC and was killed very quickly in the basement.
  
• Left grade school to work at the butchery, become very knowledgeable about cutting meat...
  
  From this information, this is what I can theorize.
  
  1) Potato was killed in the basement. Everyone's hiding spots seem to be the place where they died.
  2) Potato could have been the original owner of the cabin. Perhaps he lured the original chompettes there, maybe the MC as well?
  3) Potato could have been a murderer. It'll explain his odd behavior and why he urges MC to venture outside the cabin to kill others.

do you remember how you were able to get the cornbread end? I made a thread post, and looked her in theories and found these all to be really interesting, but cant seem to get cornbread! thank u! :)

[Jinxishere]

Originally posted by toadspells:

Originally posted by HusbandoGoddess:

My theory on the Chompettes is a little wonky, so forgive me here.

The Chompettes are victims whose bodies are still rotting in the basement. We never see the main character throw out anyone's body once they're rotten. They make note that Mariah's body has gone bad, but they never get rid of it. The reason I believe this is because of the secret ending with Cornbread.

• When you ask cornbread why no one else is here, he tells you that you're not allowing them to move on. However, cornbread moved on. This could be because you either have eaten him, disposed of his body, or forgotten about him. I'm to believe it's one of the first two options.
  
• Cornbread at the start makes mention how his body is no longer present, but his spirit is. So again, his body is no longer around.
  
  
  However, what is bugging me about this theory is that newspaper clipping where a child's body was discovered in a barrel of potatoes. Who was this victim? Are they a chompette? If so, my theory on the Chompettes being victims stuck in the cabin doesn't stick because that body was found outside the cabin.
  
  Anyway, I have one last idea. As said in the game, Potato is not an original chompette. Here's the information I found in regards to potato.
  
• During the fight with Karin, depending on when you talk to them, you'll get different text. In an exchange with Bread, he asks why you they're here. You explain and then he says, "That explains potato."
  
• Potato hides in the basement. He was also involved in the "Room Incident", which after it happened, Bread could hear whispers at night much like how we hear Mariah whispering to everyone.
  
• Potato was caught off-guard by MC and was killed very quickly in the basement.
  
• Left grade school to work at the butchery, become very knowledgeable about cutting meat...
  
  From this information, this is what I can theorize.
  
  1) Potato was killed in the basement. Everyone's hiding spots seem to be the place where they died.
  2) Potato could have been the original owner of the cabin. Perhaps he lured the original chompettes there, maybe the MC as well?
  3) Potato could have been a murderer. It'll explain his odd behavior and why he urges MC to venture outside the cabin to kill others.

do you remember how you were able to get the cornbread end? I made a thread post, and looked her in theories and found these all to be really interesting, but cant seem to get cornbread! thank u! :)

i Dont know if someone told you already, but check the achievement help thread, its the highlighted answer :)

[Guard10hit]

I would say that the MC didn't accept himself to be the Butcher serial killer. He would always tell himself that he’s just doing his whole cannibal killer stuff to get good meat or for fun or something until he met the four characters(Karin, Gregor, Anatoly, and Mariah), especially the Chompettes. If mc moves towards potato or karin’s route, he fully accepts himself to be the butcher, cannibal serial killer like he always was and won’t give a damn about how many lives he takes and consumes. Fully embracing his inhumanity and the butcher serial killer identity. These are hinted at when the dialogues were about "your reign of terror" "boil and cook companions, families, and friends" "devouring hundreds of men, women and children” and stuff like that. But Mariah still haunts mc along the way.

The true good ending would be the mc killing Karin and following her inside the East room as she bleeds to death. In that part, the mc hears Karin, Gregor, Mariah, and Anatoly demanding you to turn on the lights in that room, face the corpses of many the mc killed or butchered as “corpse food,” and recognizing himself as a butcher serial killer. But with regrets and sorrow. Mainly for the four characters. The mc vows to be recognized as the butcher serial killer and face the consequence for his actions fully with commitment. I believe that the whole “Potato died in the basement,” is the mc’s redemption from his butcher, cannibal serial killer identity.
Basically, the potato is the mc’s manifested identity of the butcher serial killer and he killed it along with his tainted actions. The potato being the manifestation can be hinted of him speaking eerie details about human bodies and hunger related subjects. And that the mc blames the potato and chompettes as the real culprits for his actions, resulting in Karin thinking that "you lost it."

Some fun notes: Mariah seems to be the only one to know that you’re the butcher serial killer hinted that she said she was “grateful that you didn’t use meat for the vegetable stew.” Yet despite knowing your secret, she still wants to see the good in you. She believes in you to make the right choices. Even after you descretated her. It’s also why Mariah has the most screen time in the game after her death, along with her discrete version of Mariah appearing in the alternated menu screen. It can also be implied that she developed deep feelings for the mc.

I really don’t think there were any supernatural involvements that made the MC butchered and killed many people. This whole butcher thing had been going on for awhile as hinted in the bloody newspaper and the two complaint notes. The only supernatural thing were just Gregor, Mariah, and Anatoly haunting the MC, after butchering their corpses for food. And the MC was fighting himself to either be redeemed of his butcher serial killer identity or fully embrace it. Again, MC turning on the lights in the room where the four characters’ corpses are stored, could be the good ending because he’s ready to throw away his identity, recognize who he is and face the consequences of his action.

For the "how did you perfected it?" that Karin was asking. She was asking how the mc cook and process human meat for "slaughter stew"