The Masked Man

[hurtybitey]

Geez, I can't believe I'm doing this. I need no assisstance, nor any helpful tidbits in this particular discussion. There is one character that I have taken an interest in. He is the Masked Man. I would like to hear theories and ideas about him that some of you have come up with. What is behind his mask? Who is he? Where is he from? Does he have a far greater significance? Let me know what you think, please. All ideas are welcome, even if someone has already said them.

[hurtybitey]

Apparently there are no idea.

[*****punkz]

Well I have one. He is actually a dream/nightmare himself because his apperence gets reall changed depending on the ending your going for.

[hurtybitey]

Originally posted by 为什么你:

Well I have one. He is actually a dream/nightmare himself because his apperence gets reall changed depending on the ending your going for.

That's a pretty good theory! Thank you for sharing.

[Clord]

I think it's just a bad dream and if you get a good ending, it means that the person dreaming gets over his past that still torments him. That kid, Death and other characters are likely created by his own subconcious or whatever. This is why even when you get the bad ending, the character just wakes up in his bed despite what Death says.

That masked man likely presents his decide to stop Death instead of accept what happened. So when he tells how the dream world isn't all that bad etc, he just accepts his past and wake-up well rested.

Or it might be less obvious and that dream world is more real than the dreamer realizes, and there are actually people who are collectively trapped in coma and somehow the protagonist visits them.

[hurtybitey]

Originally posted by Clord:

I think it's just a bad dream and if you get a good ending, it means that the person dreaming gets over his past that still torments him. That kid, Death and other characters are likely created by his own subconcious or whatever. This is why even when you get the bad ending, the character just wakes up in his bed despite what Death says.

That masked man likely presents his decide to stop Death instead of accept what happened. So when he tells how the dream world isn't all that bad etc, he just accepts his past and wake-up well rested.

Or it might be less obvious and that dream world is more real than the dreamer realizes, and there are actually people who are collectively trapped in coma and somehow the protagonist visits them.

Those are pretty interesting.

[karosty]

I have been wondering the same thing....
Here are the points I noticed:
Masked guy's apperance changes depending on our actions.
He invites us to upper floor to punish us for our actions.
He takes the rubber from us when we do our work wrongly.
He asks us in one ending, whenever we want to erase him or to be erased by him. Could be a hint he is a person like others.
But in other ending with rubber he did not appear at all for me.
He runs to fight the source of earthquake in the beginning.
He cares for the reasons behind the problems in dream world.
He seems to be happy in good ending...

I am also interested about nurse character, evebody seems to know her and she is willing to help everybody... though she is being erased...

Ok, now that I think erasing somebody does not mean he is a person. Death erased herself afterall!

[hurtybitey]

Originally posted by karosty:

I have been wondering the same thing....
Here are the points I noticed:
Masked guy's apperance changes depending on our actions.
He invites us to upper floor to punish us for our actions.
He takes the rubber from us when we do our work wrongly.
He asks us in one ending, whenever we want to erase him or to be erased by him. Could be a hint he is a person like others.
But in other ending with rubber he did not appear at all for me.
He runs to fight the source of earthquake in the beginning.
He cares for the reasons behind the problems in dream world.
He seems to be happy in good ending...

I am also interested about nurse character, evebody seems to know her and she is willing to help everybody... though she is being erased...

Ok, now that I think erasing somebody does not mean he is a person. Death erased herself afterall!

Thank you for stating all of that. Now all the facts are on the table so new theories can be made. I have a few of my own that I have yet to share. I may post them at a later time.

[karosty]

I have noticed something....
Is he actually wearing any mask in the good ending?
Is he type of clown in the hospital to make children happy?
And when we get to the wrong endings, he needs to wear the mask over his face, because he cannot smile anymore or his face (and hair as we noticed) was burned or generally damaged?

BTW, He mentions WE are trapped in the dream, so he also wants to get out.

[hurtybitey]

Originally posted by karosty:

I have noticed something....
Is he actually wearing any mask in the good ending?
Is he type of clown in the hospital to make children happy?
And when we get to the wrong endings, he needs to wear the mask over his face, because he cannot smile anymore or his face (and hair as we noticed) was burned or generally damaged?

BTW, He mentions WE are trapped in the dream, so he also wants to get out.

Those are some good things to note., and i like your train of thought. Thanks for contributing.

[hurtybitey]

Time to post my theories.
1) He is either a devil or an angel and your actions affect not only your alignment, but his as well.
2) He has some serious face issues going on such as scars or deformities and uses the mask to hide it.
3) I realized while typing this that one theory was incorrect, and a new one rose up. In a neutral route, his mask only is broken after we kill a crow, kill a spider, or poke out the eye of the peeping tom. Those actions summon monsters. Killing the crows on the bridge brings the big crow monster to life, killing the one in the hospital awakens the scarecrow, killing the spiders makes the big spider agressive and summons various other spiders, and poking the peeping tom's eye out summons the Cyclops. My point is: Maybe we cause his mask to crack by summoning a monster that he encounters.

[karosty]

I thought, fine! Theories needs proofs. So I checked my theory about no mask.
==
What made me think that he has no mask?
Detailed nose, detailed lips, hair in top right side of his head, no strings on his ears, existence of cheek bones...

What made me rethink that?
Scar/crack on his forehead, looks like a damage on his mask. I have also compared the imagines in a graphical program and it seems that top line of his mask is in the same place.

But what about the cheek bones? I compared that good route face is thinner than bad route. There are no strings too, so... Mask has to be wrapped around his head, pulling the skin on his face and showing the bones.

But this theory has a weak point. If the mask was wrapped around his face, it means it is made from soft material. But in the bad route it is holded only by strings, it is clearly broken. Soft material would not explain crack on his forehead too...
==

Ok, let`s say I look too much into the details. Let`s say mask is made from some material that makes him look this way. In both cases he has a mask.

Question, what happened to him?

In bad route he has bruises on face, hair, his mask is broken, his clothes are damaged, buttons are lost. He has different shoes.
To lose all hair like this and to have such marks on face means he was burned by fire/explosion. He was either in bad place at the wrong time or he was fighting something. I think it is the second thing for one reason: he runs out to find the reasons of earthquake at the beginning of the second chapter. And we know monsters are appearing in the world, so he must be protecting hospital from them.
One more thing we know for sure: `your actions affect the dream world`. Therefore - the player is responsible for world to become decayed. The masked man is fighting monsters WE created. It makes a mark on the man`s mask: his eyes are crying because of pain (or is it blood from injuries? - back to the eyes motive), his smile and eyebrows express devilish, sarcastic smile, his words indicate he knows about your action and blames you for them. In some scenarios he even pushish you directly by sending you to the upper floor of the hospital.

Therefore I would say his actions are not actions of angel nor devil. Just natural human reaction - `eye from an eye` (omg eye motive again).

And hurtybitey, your 2) point is interesting. Why exactly he wear a mask? That is the main question I think. What is he hidding and why?

[karosty]

When I first time played the game I felt the masked man is somebody, who knows where to search for answers.. Narrator? Is he the developer himself?
Found in old version of the game:
https://youtu.be/01MHUkbIBUY?t=51 (being rescued again by MMan)
https://youtu.be/01MHUkbIBUY?t=500 (developer?)

[Desert Fox]

It's so cool to see your theories! One thing for sure... The masked man is not me :D Sometimes he knows as much as me but that's all :)

The whole series is about my own fears, experiences and thoughts so obviously you can find me in different characters and situations :D

[hurtybitey]

I'm so hyped up about this. I don't know what to say.

[karosty]

Me too! Hahaha!