So why is Pinocchio Mute?

[Dollmaker]

I know the mute protagonist trope is common for Fromsoft, which this game obviously took inspiration from, but why?

It feels even weirder when its Pinocchio of all characters we're talking about, and how Lying is a big aspect of the character, even being a main mechanic in the game.

If they wanted a sorta silent protagonist i feel Wolf from Sekiro would have been a better inspiration, he doesnt talk much, but he serves the roll of protagonist well, and has a fully fleshed out personality, and similarly, he starts off being heavily reserved and hardly interacting unless needed, but throughout the game he opens up more to his allies and shows more emotion.

Something i cant really say for P, its often pointed out how he behaves, specially later in the game, but with the character being completely emotionless outside of maybe 2 scenes, it just comes out of nowhere.

You could argue how hes a puppet, but its made blatantly obvious how even non-awakened Puppets are more than capable of talking and displaying a "personality".

Idk, it was a weird decision, and considering the whole theme of a puppet becoming human, it feels like a missed opportunity.

[Limp Squirrel]

Not sure, since all the other characters have one. That said, voice acting is hit or miss.

Maybe they didn't want to attach a very specific persona to P, kind of letting players decide for themselves what P should sound like.

Or perhaps just a resource question.

[Scraps]

Honestly not too sure why this is, my guess is just playing it safe to not give the character an annoying voice, but you've got Gemini who monologues throughout the game. Even emotionless, Pinocchio has the choice of actively lying to people and they react to his responses. Some NPCs are obfuscated behind curtains, so it'd be a trick if we interpret him using body language.

My headcanon is that Gemini speaks and is Pinocchio's "voice" in these instances, really.