[Character Study #2]”Psychologist” and Patient (Ada Mesmer and Emil)

Header image: Pomotional image of Ada and Emil for the 2021 Qixi Festival event which centered on their story.

Disclaimer: This was a long one (naturally, covering two people with intertwined stories is not easy). I also want you all to understand I’m not an Adamil expert especially compared to those out there who’ve been with the couple since the beginning so I apologize if I overlooked something or made a mistake. Thanks and on with the post.

Due to the recent news that Game 0 is in development and will be arriving soon (possibly by the end of summer, possibly in November—I’ve been hearing different things…), I decided it was finally time to really look into the lore of the central characters in the game. Particularly Emil and Ada, of course, as Emil is receiving his identity switch, “Herztier” from the side story.

That fact that Emil is getting a hunter identity inspired me in part to make this post as I knew a lot of people were expecting the identity switch to be Helena (who was labelled as the only “punisher” in the group) or Galatea which could still happen at a later date given what we saw from the trailer. Yet, Hunter Emil isn’t that surprising either.

Another reason I wanted to make this post is because this was a long time coming actually.When I first got into Identity V last year, I watched a stream of someone making a wife tierlist and when they got to Ada, they instantly berated her. They showed an intense dislike over knowing Ada was in a doctor-patient relationship which she could easily take advantage of towards her own selfish desires.

This always stuck with me because I felt there must be more to the story. This was also coming from a streamer who only had a surface level understanding of the game’s lore and Ada. So then, the questions stand as these:

1. Is Ada has awful as she sounds?
2. Does Emil make sense as a hunter?

Short answer: It’s complicated and yes, quite so.

Quick Backstory on Adamil

Before we get into the thick of it, let’s have a quick rundown of their backstories. Starting with Ada. 

2023 Global Birthday art for “Psychologist.”

Ada Mesmer grew up accompanying her father, a well-renowned and respected psychiatrist in his studies and work before becoming an assistant professor of Psychology herself. She would go on to be accepted into a laboratory for her work in psychology which was centered on hypnotism.

Ada grew fascinated with the subject and became obsessed with proving her research and experiments could help patients who were in pain. She hoped that through hypnotherapy, she could use subliminal suggestions to try and eliminate a patient’s pain or negative emotions.

Yet, her research fell through because none of the patients she experimented on would be receptive to the hypnosis because they were in too much pain. 

Feeling ever increasing pressure against those who continued to look down on her (including her own father who disapproved of her research), Ada decided to take on an 11-day training program at the infamous White Sand Street Asylum. She hoped that it would help her find the perfect experimental subject. And she did. She found Emil.

2023 Global Birthday art for Patient.

Not much is known about Emil’s past to those around him. Luckily, us players have his backstory to fall back on. Emil was the “runt” of four children born into a very poor and dysfunctional family. His mother was prone to having attacks herself and would break the dishes before having to be restrained to the bed to protect others and herself from harm. 

When the family became too poor take continue taking care of the children, Emil was given to a man who owned an underground dog fighting ring. At first, Emil would be forced to beg out on the streets for money and was often berated for not bringing enough money back home.

Eventually, however, Emil ended up wandering into the dog fighting ring one day. He got out alive but with some injuries. Unfortunately, due to the aroused audience who enjoyed such a display of a boy vs dog, Emil’s new guardian decided to bank on that and forced the boy into the ring with the dogs.

From that point onwards, Emil was treated more like a dog than an actual human being. He was fitted with a collar, confined to a kennel, and shackled inside it with nothing to eat by unidentified mush.

Due to this, his mental health rapidly deteriorated, his emotions became stunted as he had little human contact, and his behavior started to resemble the same dogs he was forced to contend with in the ring.

From the background story of Patient and “Psychologist.”

Somehow, Emil would escape from the dog fighting ring and would make his way to White Sand Street Asylum where he was found by the staff to be suffering from a high fever. He was forcibly admitted into the asylum where he recovered from his fever but ended up with amnesia.

He was a blank slate and could hardly remember the days of being a dog in the ring though those memories still remained buried deep within him.

At the asylum, his treatment wasn’t much different from the dog fighting ring unfortunately, if not worse. He was still placed in solitary confinement called “cages” for the most dangerous patients. He was subjected to terrible electroshock therapy and given sedatives that made him unable to resist the provided treatment. It also horribly messed up his nervous system and caused him to be more in a state where he drifted in and out of consciousness—hardly aware if he was truly alive or not.

It wasn’t until Ada arrived and took over his treatment that Emil would soon find some comfort in being treated by a gentler doctor who seemed to genuinely care for him. The feelings the two of them would grow for each other in those 10 days would cause them to escape the asylum together and journey far away to live contentedly with each other. 

Emil’s condition stabilized and even improved in the next 3 years until it suddenly deteriorated and reverted Emil back to how he was when he first met Ada. At her wit’s end, Ada decided it was time to swallow her pride and take up the offer of an old acquaintance who had promised a cure for Emil. It was time to go to paradise to find themselves.

Now, that was the condensed backstory of Ada and Emil, but naturally there are details we should more or less look into to explore this twisted relationship to decide if truly Ada is a terrible person, Emil feels right as a hunter, and if this relationship is actually represented right.

Ten-Day Memories Event aka Qixi Festival 2021

This event came out in August of 2021 at the same time Emil and Ada dropped as characters in the game. The Ten-Day Memories event was to serve as an introduction to these characters and provide us with a little more backstory on the days they met along with the build up to their escape from the asylum. I would highly suggest reading it yourself as I won’t mention everything it went over because that would obviously be a lot for an already wordy post.

However, I already want to share my thoughts and what I learned from the event:

• Ada is a very morally grey character and while I do believe you can freely disagree with how she did things, her love for Emil is sincere and true. Twisted, yes. Was her treatment of Emil at White Sand morally misguided? Quite so. Should she be demonized for it and what she did to him? Personally no.
• I noticed that Emil is babied a bit (okay, maybe not a bit) in the community and I understand why but he is still a grown man who, once he has moments of clarity, understands what he’s going through and what he wants.
• Understandably, you can argue that his drug-riddled mind and awful treatments causes him not to make the best judgements, but I personally didn’t always feel that way about him when reading his thoughts. (This will relate to Ada’s morally grey issue as well.)
• Their relationship is more than a simple reading of doctor-patient falling in love. Their relationship is terribly dependent on the other and is by no means a healthy relationship but both consent and knew what they signed up for. 

Those points were a bit longer than I wanted but let me explain the event further along with what I found to provide more context.

So the story here is that Detective Orpheus is wandering the manor and finds some items connected to Ada and Emil. One is a patient record and the other is an old trunk which are connected to Emil and Ada respectively.

You can choose one to explore whichever character you choose and as Emil or Ada you will make choices throughout the story based on “Reason” or “Emotion” that determines your final deduction tied to how Orpheus sees Ada and Emil and their relationship with each other.

First, let’s take a look at the Patient Record which tells Emil’s side of the story.

The Patient Record – Emil’s Story

From the Time of Reunion Teaser Trailer.

Now, I won’t go into everything as I said before but I think reading his record is pertinent in learning about the type of person Emil is and help us on how we should judge Ada in connection to him.

Firstly though, I wanted to say that another thing I saw some people sort of complain about when “Herztier” was announced is that they saw others wonder how someone like Emil could be a hunter who appears violent and aggressive.

Is Emil dangerous and violent?

Well, looking at one of the first things you read in the event, we have, in part, an answer:

“Diagnosis: Emil. Suffers from amnesia, manic fits, and severe aggressive tendencies.”

To be honest, it seems obvious to me that Emil can be aggressive despite looking like a naïve and innocent cherub here. Actually, his original design notes mention they purposefully made him look like that:

I think it worked wonderfully if not backfired a little bit considering some appear to be overly protective of Emil.

In addition, there’s Emil’s 2023 letter where Ada describes an incident on Christmas where Emil began to have terrible headaches again which led to him experiencing spasms. She also mentions he didn’t even recognize her throughout this fit which is important to note for later reference. While he didn’t attack her here, it’s important that we realize he can be unpredictable in this state.

Well, if this didn’t break my heart. Consider the fact it was his third and last Christmas as they went to the manor soon after this due to Emil’s condition worsening beyond Ada’s control. That makes this part of the letter all the more worse for it.

Another small instance of Emil acting out was described in the Ten-Days Memory event when on the third day of Ada’s visit, she goes to see Emil in his “cage” and saw him suffering an intense headache (starting to see a pattern here).

She tries to treat him herself but couldn’t as “He bared his teeth at me, trembling and gasping violently. He didn’t seem to be fully conscious.” 

Ada felt a bit threatened by him and perhaps trying her best to soothe him, she then proceeded to blow her whistle for help and realized to her surprise it did calm him. 

But all of that is to say that Emil can certainly be dangerous if not mentally unstable even towards those close to him. With that being said, there has been no concrete evidence he has hurt Ada directly though. 

Who is Emil? A Look at Him Through His Own Words

Another thing that piqued my interest with Emil in this is how he does appear cautious and wary while thinking things through with a thoughtfulness I didn’t ascribe to him at first (guiltily enough). He isn’t mindless nor blindly accepting of his treatment, his situation, or even Ada (initially) either.

Some other quotes of his that caught my attention:

“I’m… so tired all time. It’s that medicine they give me… Sometimes its a pill, sometimes its a nasty liquid…

But it always makes me float away… float away into the sky, where countless pairs of eyes are always staring at me…”

(Context: Emil recollecting where he is and what’s happening to him at the asylum)

——————–

“The doctors strapped me into the chair with no way out. It felt like a million needles were stabbing into me from head to toe… I… I tried to get out of this chair, but the restraints were too tight…

S-Stop! Please, doctor… Can someone please stop it?”

(Context: Emil is being administered electroshock therapy.)

——————-

“…Wait, Ada… Does this mean she woke me up? What is she planning? Does she really just want me to wake up?”

(Context: Emil’s reaction to Ada admitting she lowered his dosage to “wake him up” but in turn that causes him to feel more pain in his treatments.)

——————-

Is this a gift? What do people normally do when they receive one? Should I be polite and think her for being so kind to an insane person like me? And then… Should I give her something in return?

(Context: Ada has gifted him a flower after he chooses her over his medication.)

——————-

“It’s a lousy gift from a lunatic… I should just give it to her as quietly as possible…while…”

(Context: Emil after he has fashioned a ring for her from his bed’s wires.)

Hearing Emil through his own words and thoughts was really nice especially since we don’t get to see that often especially in the context of the OG lore. Even in some events or even the yearly anniversary messages, Ada usually speaks for Emil. His letters are also typically written by Ada.

Though this event also gifted us some of Emil’s written words in the form of a diary he kept after their escape.

While they lived alone together at their new home, Emil describes their day to day life in his personal diary. While the first entry in May is marked by spelling and grammar errors, his October entry shows great improvement and growth.

After reading Emil’s words, I felt as if some in the community see him as having the mind of a child when in fact, he’s just a grown man who grew up in horrible circumstances. I even felt a sharp pang of sympathy when he called himself a lunatic and felt upset for him.

Another thing I’m suddenly reminded of is how he is described in his experimental file as being “indifferent” and “emotionally blank” which paints a sort of bleak picture of Emil. Clearly, I disagree with that even if in part there’s some truth to it. Calling him indifferent makes him sound too apathetic and calling him “emotionally blank” strips him of his humanity. He may as well be a robot programmed by Ada to be the perfect lover but he is not.

Emil is fully aware of himself and what he is and what he chooses to do (when it is in his ability to do so).

But there is something about being fully aware that you are mentally unwell but knowing full well you can hardly do anything about it that gets to me. You still want to live a normal life and even better, you find someone you want to share that life with. This someone is the only relief and sweetness your awful life has given you and not only that, she can help cure you. Yet, life truly is never so gracious especially for IDV characters.

Old Trunk – Ada’s Story

From the background story of Patient and “Psychologist.”

Speaking of Ada, her side of the story gives us more insight to her character and her thoughts on what she does and why she helped Emil.

Initially, yes, she did view Emil as a fascinating subject. Her first electroshock therapy sessions she attended with Emil, she noticed how he accepted the treatment without much fuss and even smiled at the doctors afterwards, stating he gave the doctors: “A mindless, yet eerily natural smile…” and described Emil as “a friendly puppy and a tiny lab mouse all at once. How aptly named was the ‘Cage’ then, for a pitiful creature like him” when she saw he seemed to enjoy the treatment.

Granted, her words can be seen as belittling to some and that’s understandable because I was also sitting here thinking Ada truly saw him as an experimental subject first and a person second.

Yet, I will give her credit because the scorn she had towards the doctors of White Sand with her statement of how there were more untrained doctors than unhinged patients at the asylum was apt and garnered some brownie points towards her.

Putting that aside for now, let’s get to the heart of her side of the story and what I feel needs to be discussed.

We know that Ada eventually takes over Emil’s treatment and through this, she is able to reduce the amount of dosage he receives when being medicated. While this helps provide him with more lucidity in his life, it also increases the amount of pain he feels in his treatments. Ada does feel guilty about this and understands she is no better than those other doctors doing this to Emil. 

For a little more context, in the story, after he starts receiving these reduced dosages, Ada attends one of Emil’s electroshock therapy sessions. She can choose to simply observe the session and then use her whistle to calm him or she can start the “experiment” during his treatment by increasing the intensity of the electricity he receives. This is the player’s choice but it’s still understandable if you’re feeling any sort of disapproval or discomfort towards Ada upon reading this.

Regardless, the day after that session, Ada decides to confess to Emil what she has done. Not before thinking it over and knowing full well she was tormenting him and feeling conflicted about it.

Here another choice springs up where Ada is torn between trying to console him so he’ll forgive her or allowing him to hate her for hurting him (player choice again). Still, a part of Ada feels justified in what she was doing but still worried about what Emil will choose confesses to him and lets him decide between her and the medicine.

Emil naturally chooses Ada which fills her with elation and justification in the belief that what she was doing was right. “After all, pain and treatment are two sides of the same coin.”

I may be giving her too much credit, but I do believe if Emil had chosen medication, I feel Ada would’ve increased the dosage again. She didn’t have to ask him nor did she even have to tell him what she was doing. Emil didn’t have to power to do anything in regards to resisting treatment and even if he noticed a difference (which he did) would he really have gone to one of the doctors to tell them?

Not to mention, but Emil seemed more happy being able to be lucid and awake then staying trapped in the fog between being nothing more than a corpse and a dummy being feed pain.

There’s also something about Ada putting the decision down in writing as well that makes the result feel more consensual between both parties. Even at this point, Emil still feels a tad cautious wandering if waking up was the only thing Ada wanted from him, but feeling more affinity towards her than before.

A Brief Intermission – STEM Women in this Game

This section of Ada’s dialogue right here may emphasized just how easily it is to paint Ada as being a crazy researcher twisting her growing obsession in finding the perfect test subject into love for Emil but I find her growing feelings for Emil as genuine in her love and care.

While it may not be emphasized as much in her story, Ada is a woman in a male-dominated field. Perhaps the only reason she is able to work as a psychologist is because her father was already a prominent one. Even then, her research into hypnotherapy was looked down on.

Say what you will about hypnotism but at the time Ada truly believed in the help and healing it could provide. Plus, it was a bunch of men turning her down and telling her she was wrong. Men who Ada believed were only interested in chasing the trends of research and not something new that could benefit the field.

We have seen similar stories in IDV when it comes to Melly and Wendy especially. A not often talked about one is Keigan’s story who isn’t in the STEM field but still wanted to become a judge and attend law school. Yet, it was her brothers who went on to do so while her parents urged Keigan to take on a traditional role of a woman which she refused to do. Anyways, you get the picture here.

Also fun fact: Keigan is actually Ada’s sister-in-law because Ada has a sister named Betsy who married one of Keigan’s brothers.

But all this is to say Ada’s reaction to Emil isn’t an exaggeration. Ada has never been properly appreciated in her field of study by her colleagues nor by the patients she treats until Emil came along. Having someone finally appreciate the work you do after years of research and trying to help others, well, if you think that wouldn’t move you even the slightest, I don’t know what to say.

“At least…that’s what they called me back then.” I actually believe this is part of the reason Ada’s title is in quotes despite actually being a doctor and a professional in the field of psychology. Once she turned to hypnotherapy, Ada became less legitimate as a medical professional in the eyes of many of her peers. I could be wrong though.

Gifts of Flowers and Rings

The rings are clearly seen on these design sheets for Patient and “Psychologist.”

After this, Ada would return to Emil with a flower realizing she was developing feelings for him. In response, a confused Emil would ponder what to do with it and how he should return the favor (as seen before).

In the end, he chose to make a ring for her out of the wires from beneath his bed. Poor man was even fretting over how to approach her with the ring as he was worried he would scare her due to the fact she has seen his psychotic episodes before. 

Thankfully, Ada accepted it and while Emil was wondering if she even liked it,  she was beyond words “Ah, I can’t even describe how I felt just now!” 

See, for Ada this is a first. As mentioned before, this is the first time a patient has expressed any sort of compassion, gratitude, and/or understanding in her work and that feeling continued to blossom into love. She decided then and there that she would escape with Emil for choosing her over medication, for choosing suffering over sedation. The ring was a symbol of their pact together, a chain that binded them to each other. Ada herself would make a ring to give to Emil so they’d match. 

Interestingly, while you can see both rings on them, “Hertztier” doesn’t seem to have the ring anymore. I do wonder why. Hopefully, it’s not as if they got divorced or something but it’s something to make note of.

A slightly closer look at “Hertztier.” Neither form of Emil’s has the ring (though we can’t see wolf Emil’s other hand). Yet, we can see Ada’s hand at the bottom. She’s still wearing her ring so I again, what happens to Emil’s ring?

Thoughts on their Relationship

But yes, this was a quite messy and I felt like I hopped around a lot but that is the bulk of the story-side of the event.

In the end, Orpheus appears to be at a bit of a loss on how to describe their relationship. On one hand, it doesn’t seem to be a simple doctor and patient relationship or even a relationship of lovers. He notes that Ada and Emil are difficult to classify through common sense alone.

And it is that point I want to stress. I feel as if viewing Ada and Emil’s relationship through our more modern concept of what we think a relationship should entail between two people is a mistake often made in the community. It is also a mistake to look at their relationship as if they’re under normal circumstances. That part seems obvious but it’s naturally to fall into that line of thinking at times without realizing it.

But truly, their relationship is by no means normal. Nothing about Ada or Emil is normal. 

It’s a disservice to both of them if we put them into a box of this is how a relationship between two loving people should look like. Are they just lovers? Are they soulmates? We can slap label after label on them and nothing would feel like a 100% match because they are two many layers here to peel back.

I myself sort of viewed Ada negatively in a way when I realized that after reading through her lore a bit, it truly did feel as if she was trying to rewrite Emil into being the perfect experimental subject and lover for her regardless of what memories he had that could restore the person he once was. I just didn’t like the idea of erasing someone’s past like that as despite the awful memories, it makes a person who they are today.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Emil never really got a chance to even really figure out an identity of his own. He was spending his formative years being raised in a dysfunctional family, already exposed to madness at a very young age, and then spend the rest of the time being raised as a dog. 

From his deductions. Notice not only the descriptions but the titles as well. The guard apparently tried to take away Emil’s food when Emil attacked him in response. The 6th deduction note also long foreshadowed Emil’s hunter identity as well.

Hence why his hunter name is “Hertztier” meaning “heart-animal” in German because as terrible as it is to say, at Emil’s core, the place where he should have held innate humanistic qualities and traits, it instead houses that of a beast. He was raised like one than truly at the heart of it all is a wild dog who wanted to live like a human and only got that chance with Ada. 

While Ada has her faults and initially treated Emil no better than those around him (specifically with the electroshock therapy experiment), she was quick to change and switch how she wanted to treat him. I mean, she fell for him fast. Not even 2 weeks and she’s absconding with him from White Sand after sharing flowers and exchanging rings.  

Dare I say that if Ada never met Emil both as a young girl giving the poor boy some bread and at the asylum, Emil’s life would’ve been worse for it. In the three years they were able to live quietly together when Emil showed great development and mental stability, he was most likely at his happiest.

Ada meeting Emil for the first time. She is only able to help him by giving him bread in this instance. She does return to her father to ask him to help the poor boy out in the street and fails to understand why her father refused.

Also, I apologize as I don’t remember where I got these screenshots. I tried looking but I think I saw they’re from an artbook perhaps? I saw this on Twitter and nabbed them ages ago.

While there was some pain after their escape, it appears as if Ada never went beyond hypnotherapy to treat him which is a relatively painless procedure (mentally can be a different story though).

You really can’t look at Ada in black and white lighting. She is a grey character splashed with a myriad of grey tones. I honestly feel as if Ada suffers from the unfair scrutiny and scathing opinions that a lot of morally grey women in media face (and it is usually the women who bear the brunt of this).

In addition, thanks to the Ten-Day Memories event, we know Emil is perfectly his own person and not as blank of a slate as one would think. While he isn’t always capable of understanding everything going on around him or even capable of making decisions at times, I have learned he is quite insightful and cognizant in his own right. 

Similar to Orpheus, I find it difficult to label them as well. It’s too easy to call them lovers and soulmates but it also feels like it’s lacking a certain “umph” that would properly define and capture the essence of their relationship. Perhaps I’m overcomplicating it. 

But the definition of “lovers in a romantic relationship” feels like it needs some redefining when talking about Ada and Emil. Perhaps I’m also being self-indulgent when saying all of this but truly it does seem like defining human relationships can be terribly difficult especially in a game like Identity V where individual characters can have so much going on with them that connecting them to other characters unlocks a whole smorgasbord of intricacies and subtle details that will drive you mad.

From their official design notes. I had to look up with the Florence Nightingale Effect is as I had never heard of it. Apparently it is when a caregiver falls in love with their patient.

Granted, the developers themselves state they want Ada and Emil’s kind of love to not be even that but something beyond that. But what exactly? I think that is up to the individual to decide.

And honestly? I like that. That’s one of the things, one of the MAIN things that keep me stuck in the abyss of this game despite current circumstances. The lore feels well thought out (even though sometimes it does stumble) but for a live service game, that’s to be expected and it’s honestly amazing to me how it’s nearly been 10 years and the lore in this game feels as fresh and engaging as ever. 

You can interpret parts of the lore and its characters in so many ways and that’s okay. This is why it almost feels silly to argue over how to view the lore especially characters who have so many nuances and little things it would make you cry from frustration if you tried to understand it all. They also will just keep adding and adding more as the years go by so honestly, it is good to learn to chill when it comes to the lore.

But this reminds me of another reason why I am also looking forward to “Herztier.” We will get another (and more modern) character story PV on Emil. Remember even though Ada and Emil already have a trailer, Emil’s Hunter identity will receive one as well. He will also get a concept design video if the previous identity switches are anything to go by so I can’t wait to learn more about Emil and by extension Ada when that time comes!

Divergence: The Story of Game 0 and Concluding Thoughts 

So let’s revisit the questions I asked earlier:

• Is Ada a terrible person?
• Is Emil suitable to be a hunter? Should he have received an identity switch?

I believe I directly answered the first question but the second question wasn’t really directly answered though I’m sure by now you have an answer.

I’m really interesting in how they will represent Emil as a hunter since I know some are disappointed in not seeing Helena or Galatea receive theirs this time around. I personally liked the little surprise and unfortunately believe it fits completely that Emil gets his switch with the Game 0 story.

He reminds me of Melly a bit actually. They’re opposites in their identity switches where Melly yearned to become one of the little creatures she studied…or rather she felt the need to in order to survive and pursue her passion. If that meant spreading her wings, she’d gladly take it because she loves entomology.

Cute image belies the terrible reality Emil will face later on while Ada will have to face an almost unrecognizable Emil.

On the other hand, Emil became the very thing he fears and became the very creature at the root of his nightmares and pain. Emil wanted the exact opposite and desperately wanted to become normal to live as a normal person with his beloved Ada. 

They both were pushed to the brink of their humanity except for Emil it turned out way worse than either he and Ada would realize.

That makes the story of these two all the more tragic. It causes me again to bring up Emil’s missing ring. The rings symbolized their pact, the new beginning when they were both born again to live with and for each other. So what then when one of the rings goes missing? We know Emil does die after being shot (God, he was even put down like a dog…) but Ada goes missing, presumably dead. 

I guess we’ll have to see when Divergence drops later in the year. For now, I thank you all for reading this lengthy lore analysis. I want to reiterate again these are only my personal thoughts and deductions. Ada and Emil have a lot going on and while I did want to delve into essence stories (especially that latest one with “Dentist” as they’re both in it), all that deserves a whole other post. 

I look forward to the story of Game 0 and I can only hope that by the time it comes, the situation around Identity V and the community will be better (especially because this girl wants to finish up deductions for Patient who I was just starting to learn along with starting on “Psychologist.”)

Take care all and see you in my next post!