Who do you think "Richard" is? Not Jacket, Richard.

[goois]

I'd like to think he's the Grim Reaper or something, appearing to them before their demise and giving little hints of how they will die. What'dyou you think?

[sunny side up]

Well he kept appearing for Jacket in HM1 and Jacket lived. (he did predict him going to the hospital after an assassination attempt by Ritcher tho) And he appeared to the writer and the detective in HM2 but they were still alive by the end.
Still really like the idea of him being some sort of Grim Reaper thought

[bbbb]

I think he's just a D i c k.

[Magetta]

He is the opposite of why writer writing his book.

[Deku Scrub]

I think he's a Grim Reaper of sorts, but his appearance doesn't necessarily mean "you're next," just that he has some interest in you. I think he has a special 'affection' if you could call it that for Jacket, which is why he uses his appearance. Probably because Jacket is just so damn good at killing.

[Catgirl (male)]

I think he's a metaphor for characters starting to crack and become like Jacket. After all, he always appears to characters who you control i.e. characters doing all the killing.

[[FAUCᴇT] Psychopath]

Richard is the manifestation of Jacket's ego. In the first game it's rather straightforward, he is having an introspective moment on just what it is he's been up to all this time.

In the second game, none of the playable cast is Jacket. Instead they are all influenced by him in several ways. I'll save you the long writeup for each cast member, but I'll pull Evan aside as he's the most outstanding one.

Evan is non-violent. His game mechanics center around him not killing other people. He doesn't in the least enjoy hurting other people. However, he's become so enveloped with Jacket's story that he's let his family fall apart; they're scrounging for money to pay the bills and he rarely sees his wife and kids anymore.

Also, Jake and Ben never have Richard hallucinations and neither interact with Jacket at any point where he had been synonymous with Richard. Other than the introduction to hard-mode, of course, but that exists in a vacuum and not in the canon.

[goois]

Originally posted by Rasmus:

I think he's a Grim Reaper of sorts, but his appearance doesn't necessarily mean "you're next," just that he has some interest in you. I think he has a special 'affection' if you could call it that for Jacket, which is why he uses his appearance. Probably because Jacket is just so damn good at killing.

That's what I was thinking. Like Jacket was well known as a death-bringer that his appearence would just make you think "I'm ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dead and I'm not getting away".

[timeforplanZ]

Richard is the one person who can see they are stuck in an alternate and doomed timeline, the timeline where Jacket got the wrong number and didn't wipe out 50 blessings in the first game.

He seems to be going through a loop, repeating the events again and again, able to talk to people and influence them to some degree, or maybe not, he can't seem to change the outcome.

My interpretation so far =)

[Mike]

Groundhog Day, if Bill Murray just wanted to kill the same people over and over again.

[VanillaDjinn]

HM's setting is too realistic for the Grim Reaper. Also all characters can't suddently hallucinate Richard. The Henchman is too mentally-stable to imagine some random killer. If he's a personification of guilt then why are his speeches are SO EXTREMELY, CRUELY THREATENING? And why Richard? Why not an internal voice? Why not a character he talks to? He's probably the big bad. Or maybe not. Maybe he fights 50 blessings. Maybe he works for the government who fights 50 blessings. He's basically the HM's G-Man. The idea of WHO THE ♥♥♥♥ HE IS is actually the point.

[kittkött]

he is the colonel
"im sorry for killing your..."
"im not who you think i am"

*dialogue between Beard and Richard*

[VanillaDjinn]

No matter who he is, he's a hell of a fun guy!

[VanillaDjinn]

Also, about Richard's moving mouth and eyes. It can be just because of imagination. He's pretty creepy, you know. Or maybe he uses a fear gas like Scarescrow.

[Voltage1001]

He is something you will NEVER Understand

[among us balls]

I guess no forum is safe from necros...