Hi all! This one will be me rambling on why these particular cast of survivors were put in this COA. This was originally a post I wrote back in December on Tumblr but repurposed for the website for some more lore indulgence. COA Season is almost done but let’s give it a last hurrah with a post like this despite what’s going on in the community right now.
Granted, a newbie like me knows that each COA usually puts in the more recently added survivors as part of the story but rather it’s coincidence or on purpose by NetEase and Joker Studio, is a matter of guesswork because to me it seems deliberate.
Especially given the fact that poor Edgar fans had to wait like 5 years for his time to shine in COA, but why? I’ll try my best to explain in this article. Mind you, let me preface by saying that this is just my speculation and opinions. I’m usually not too great with lore analysis. Actually IDV is the first game I’ve done so much researching and lore diving in, so please bare that in mind and be gentle with me.
Note: Richard’s is a little confusing under the “Orphan or Family” category. I once saw a theory that Richard may not be an imposter so his father, mother, and sister are actually his family. The theory feels pretty much debunked with Peddler’s release last year.
But before I get really into it I’m gonna put up this table that’s basically the TLDR of this article and the video below so technically you could just stop reading here but if you wanna know more in detail about what I wrote in that table than please continue reading.
Anyways, for those that stayed then let’s start!
Previous Call of the Abyss Connections
I noticed when I did my research through the other COA stories that there was always a couple of people who had ties to each other in the actual canon storyline.
COA I with the whole Game 4 crew. Hell Ember was also the Hunter for this COA story.
For instance:
COA I: Self-explanatory.
COA II: Naib and Servais being in the same manor game.
COA III: Joker and Margaretha (bonus: Tracy, Eli, and Aesop end up in the same E-sports team together)
COA IV: The Morton bros
COA V: Patricia and Jose in the same manor game
COA VI: Annie and Ganji in the same manor game
COA VII: Adamil…enough said but Luchino and Arthur Byers (who people speculate could be an identity switch for Feaster) are in the same manor game together
COA VIII: Obviously Orpheus and “Little Girl”
COA IX: Okay, well, we know Alice and Evelyn are tied to each other as “faro ladies” as the latter probably taught the former. As for Florian and Alice, the orphanage, naturally, but the question is if they really had any interaction with each other?
Considering they had rather separate experiences (Florian is perhaps the only one who seems as of right now to have had the “best” experience at White Sand…like I read Emma’s birthday letter and they call her the Devil…my Lord…), so I have no idea if they actually truly met. It even sounds like Alice was kept isolated from the other kids for a long time.
Even though Florian helped manage the kids, he may have not crossed paths with her even though they were both there for years. Which seems odd but I noticed as I read Alice’s investigative reports on other characters who stayed at the orphanage, Alice makes no mention or even allusion to being remotely aware of the existence of the others. Even when you consider Emma who is only older than Alice by a year, Alice acts as if this is the first she’s heard of Emma Woods.
Granted, she could be trying to be completely objective and neutral which as when she’s in journalist mode, she should be, but I still think it would be nice to hear first hand experiences from Alice with the others at White Sand but then again, she really was going through it while there, so who knows.
Still, there’s Florian’s deduction note that mentions “Little Girl’s” birthday, the day the asylum burned. Interestingly, I thought about the fact that in his backstory it mentions this happened when he was nearly an adult…so maybe 17-18…still teens but quite a few people even now consider that the beginning of adulthood.
But this is all speculative and even if true, would it mean anything?
Why are these specific characters in this COA?
At first glance it doesn’t seem like they have anything in common (especially with the way I’ve seen people characterize Richard and even Florian I’ve seen be horribly mischaracterized usually in shipping contexts).
But they do. Each of them is living within a lie or dealt with lies which became the center of their life…to give you the short answer. Lies that they seek to either expose before seeking the ultimate truth that’ll give their life and purpose meaning. Long answer is me rambling about how there’s a bit more to just that theme that unites them all as seen in the table from before. I’ll know go over each section a bit more in depth starting with their family…or lack of one.
Orphan or Family?
I’ve already talked about before (on my tumblr) how both Alice and Florian more than likely lost their parents at similar ages. Heck, at the very least they both watched their parents die right before their eyes. But we don’t know how old Florian was when he lost them but by looking at how smol he is, we can hazard a guess between 6-8 years old.
Uh, speaking of 6 years old, interestingly Edgar’s sister died when he was 8, right? There’s a 2 year age difference between them so she was 6 when she passed away. His mother also died when Edgar was 6 himself. I swear if Florian really was 6 when his parents died…
Anyways, I guess NetEase/Joker Studio like the number 6 for some reason. 6, the age of tragedy. 6, the age of no return, 6 the age where one loses a family member usually a parent. 6 being the age of despair apparently.
Besides that, it’s interesting how both Richard and Edgar are so affected by their sisters. Richard we already know about but after reading some stuff on Edgar, it makes sense his sister, Ella, was a muse/inspiration for him. Her death negatively affected him as she horribly died waiting for their father who promised to meet her in the painting room.
“And young Ella, only six, forgotten by you on a sweltering afternoon. You were preoccupied with my “birthday celebration,” neglecting the game you had promised her. Her tiny body curled in the painting room, her face pale as an asphyxiated fish, waiting for you to open the door until her last breath.“
-From Edgar’s 2023 birthday letter in his own letter addressed to his father.
I mean, I can’t blame him for harboring such resentment towards his father for a long time when his sister died like that.
This shows Edgar with his sister and presumably his mother who he also held dearly. It’s said in his first birthday letter that “the inspiration they gave me started to fade into obscurity” so yeah, that’s really unfortunate.
Perhaps this is another reason why it seems as if this felt like a thing in the PV as Richard and Edgar were pretty much attached to the hip. And while Florian tended to go ahead of the others at times, he usually stayed quite near Alice.
Even did the spinnies right next to her like he wanted the attention. Remainder, amongst the four of them, Florian is the oldest here (granted, we don’t know Richard’s age yet but shhhhh).
Putting that aside, Evelyn is the one we know the least about though just like Alice and Florian, she also ended up in an orphanage. Considering she is 7 years older than Florian and 11 years old than Alice, it may not be White Sand that she was in. White Sand was started by Kreacher originally and is is 2 years younger than Evelyn…so she probably was in a different orphanage.
Colors and Feathers
Well, I don’t have too too much to say about this observation. It’s just that I saw people speculate that the feathers on everyone were possibly indicative of their roles as angels.
As for the color part, I remember when I watched IdentiTheoret’s video on COA lore (which you should all go watch btw) that in COA III, they talked about the colors used, specifically the usage of red and blue to represent corruption (by the Abyss usually) and beauty respectively. Interestingly, purple, the combination of blue and red, is also seen through Cthulhu itself.
Mechanic, Tracy, being swallowed by Cthulhu in COA III’s music video. Notice the reds, blues, and purples at work.
But COA III was a hot minute ago and the reds and blues in COA IX may represent something different. Speaking of purple though, for what it’s worth, both Florian and Edgar have purpleish feathers in their hair. So food for thought.
Lies and Truth
Left: “Faro Lady’s” Character Trailer. Right: Alice’s Character Song.
I’m not going to linger too much on this part too as I was hoping to keep this on the shorter side. I will already assume you know about Alice’s whole schtick on truth and lies. Even if you know the bare minimum, at least you’d know she’s a reputable journalist whose whole job centers around such a theme.
I think most people watching this understand what I’ll say about Alice if you pay even the smallest amount of attention to the main story. Instead, I’ll just say that we know she’s here under guise and infiltrating under the identity of being a believer. I talked before how that is one for one how she infiltrates the manor, by being someone else.
She also has to sift through the lies to find out the truth of this “Holy City.” Yet, her very existence is so overlayered with Orpheus’ memories of her, even in the COAverse that her own identity is also compromised. Who exactly is she? What is she to Orpheus? What is her goal exactly if even the mere potential sighting of her friend from childhood distracts her from her main mission?
Alice, in the midst of danger, sees the necklace that binds her to the past and her lost childhood friend.
Seriously, this moment was very akin to those “Alice” moments in Ashes of Memory when she’d be so close to safety, to achieving her goal and that voice saying her name would make her turn back and completely forget the present danger she’s in. God help her.
At least, even when she’s in danger of sinking into the depths, someone wakes her up…
Florian: That someone being this goofball. While we don’t know why he’s there with the others and what he truly thinks of everything, we know that he fits in this COA because of his “hero complex” being at odds with the fact that despite putting lives in danger to create “miracles” in every fire, Florian does seem devoted to helping others.
But this “hero complex” he apparently has more than likely came about due to his experience at the orphanage being told about his parent’s love and the “miracle” that came about due to it. He was also apparently a very good choice to showcase to donors for the money. I expect little Florian felt the pressure to please the adults and the orphanage staff and growing up with thoughtful parents, he probably wanted to aim to please as well.
I suspect learning the orphanage was less than stellar and drugging the kids set him off and made him realize the secrets and lies being hidden from him. In a way, I’ve actually likened him a bit to Mike Morton, but unlike our dear Acrobat (Hullabaloo), Florian found out and accepted the reality of things far sooner.
In short, it would make sense for Florian to be in this “Holy City” and pursue the secrets behind it because clearly things aren’t what they seem. And while he is out there frolicking through the streets and “woohooing~” Florian is definitely more observant and smarter than he appears…it just kinda seems as if he doesn’t want to appear so…but I also just think it’s part of his personality to be as bright and passionate as he is.
While his design notes stated he doesn’t necessarily do his job out of real kindness…since again, he just wants to feel that rush of being a hero, that doesn’t make him heartless or apathetic really, but it feels kinda of like he does what he wants without thinking too much in regards to the consequences even if it affects other people.
So basically, he’s a reckless loose cannon with a sense of self-righteousness.
Oh, right…and since we’re dealing with lies, did I say it literally lists he dislikes them?
With Evelyn, it’s also fairly obvious that the art of deception and disguise are traits that she has mastered. Even at a young age back at the orphanage, she had a talent for acting and had an incredible memory that served to get her adopted by Ms. Darragh who trained her to be a faro lady (naturally meant more masks to wear, more lies to tell, etc. etc. but through it all Evelyn keeps a sense of self).
Obviously we know she is in search of Martha who she considers someone who betrayed her (betrayed her trust and confidence). So again, that whole lies vs truth theme.
Side note: Her debut essence (above) followed the story of being a victim trapped in a hotel she couldn’t escape from. She was first led to it by Weepy back there who represents a Naga and also probably the snake who enticed Eve to take the forbidden fruit in the Bible. Interesting…
Speaking of essences, one of Edgar’s caught my eye:
So, this one was based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” and if you know anything about that story then yeah…this essence is basically that. Like, Naib’s fit is literally called, “The Man in Red.”
But for those that don’t know the story, it’s basically about a man named Prince Prospero who along with some rich people barricade themselves in an abbey to live in luxury and indulgence as a terrible plague called “The Red Death” wrecks havoc across the land.
This goes on for months until one day when Prospero holds a masquerade, a strange figure in a funeral shroud enters the abbey with symptoms from the plague. Well, Prospero wasn’t having it and wanted this guy out and confronts the stranger only to fall dead realizing it is “The Red Death” itself. The rest of the partiers end up dead as well from the plague.
In this essence, they switch it up a bit as the role of Prospero is given to Edgar who is a runaway taken in by a couple in a village pretty much brainwashed into seeking temporary madness during a time when “The Black Death” was claiming victims.
A “Man in Red” conducted rituals to his followers and determined to expose this illusion of false rituals and hope, Edgar invades him and seeks to unmask him only to find out this man in red is just made of death and decay. The villagers are also upset with him and it’s implied Edgar may have been killed by them.
Wild. You wanna expose the truth? But what if those fallen under the spell of lies don’t want to awaken and it leads you to falling into the sweet endless dreams of death instead? Great message *crying*
Similarly, if you read his first and second birthday letter, it’s clear lies were painting a dirty picture in his life. Edgar was sick of the superficial flattery and praise from those who weren’t actually appreciative or respectful of true art like his. It was all lies. Lies to seemingly exploit him and his talent and the fact that his father also probably saw him as a tool to shill out to those who wanted to indulge superficially into Edgar’s talents definitely led to Edgar’s estrangement of him later in life.
Apparently, in a thread I saw on Twitter, he also is one who is disgusted by classism and discrimination based on one’s own place in society so it makes sense he would scoff at Joseph’s whole image of being this so-called deity who can grant this “Eternal Paradise.”
Reason They Went to the Manor
Alice, Richard, and Evelyn go to the manor in search of someone who they hold dearly. For Alice, it’s her childhood friend who she spent most of her time with before the manor tragedy, but she still carries a doll of him and hopes to find him again to this day. I mean, we all know the story so I won’t waste time rehashing it.
For Evelyn, it’s evident that Martha meant a lot to her as well if you look at her deduction notes and even during the Qixi Festival, Evelyn’s wishing star referenced Martha most likely. Whether she cares for Martha as just her protege and future successor or if she cares for her as a friend has yet to be seen but we know Martha is her number one reason for going to the manor.
For Richard, it’s his sister who he hopes to find, not necessarily out of love, but due to the fact he sounds like he’s trapped in roleplaying the knight to her princess. Though the explicit and detailed reasons behind that are still something we can only speculate on.
I mean, not gonna lie though, when I look at this shot he does seem to be looking at her with genuine love/care but who knows the truth?
He could just be happy to be there and usurp the real Richard’s role…but let’s see…Richard was 4 when they were kidnapped and they only found him when he was 7…
Honestly, let’s imagine this is a fake Richard, he’s still a kid who was most likely orphaned and had no real parents or siblings. I’m sure most orphaned kids would be thrilled to suddenly gain a sibling they could play with 24/7 and similar to Orpheus and Alice, Richard and his sister seemed to be around each other a lot to the point they would cherish each other.
If it’s the real Richard, even better. Being separated for that long truly makes the heart grow fonder. Too bad whatever happened to him in those 3 years radicalized him against his parents and caused him to feel that pushing his sister down the stairs was the only way to keep her with him.
Anyways, I’m gonna stop going on about Richard. He’ll have his turn one day.
On the other hand, the only one in this COA whose reasons for going to the manor are unknown as of right now is Florian. Sure, we know he has that whole wanting to seek out “miracles” for the rest of his life thing going on but we don’t know the EXACT reason why he’s going to the manor.
Still from Fire Investigator’s Character Trailer.
I also mentioned this before (again on a tumblr post) but this is clearly the manor on fire, yes? Why does Florian have it when I don’t believe the manor would want to draw attention to itself through the media and HAS evaded suspicion from authorities. I only know of the manor being put on fire during one of the Game 3’s with Annie, Ganji, Victor, and Aesop. But I don’t think the fire was as extensive as shown in the picture above…though I could be wrong.
Anyways, Fin’s lore is too little to go on for the time being but he did get a letter meaning someone was okay with inviting an arsonist to the manor but for what reason?
Welp, that’s all I got. I shall rest once again in my hidey hole until another bout of inspiration strikes my fancy. Take care all!