A NON-COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF ELDRITCH LORE LINKED TO IDV
TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR EVERYTHING UNDER THE FUCKIN SUN.THIS HOWARD COWARDICE LOVECRAFT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.WE HAVE ALL THE DAMN-ISMS.
Hastur The Feaster:
Haita the Shepherd, Ambrose Bierce. https://americanliterature.com/author/ambrose-bierce/short-story/haita-the-shepherd
An Inhabitant of Carcosa, Ambrose Bierce. https://americanliterature.com/author/ambrose-bierce/short-story/an-inhabitant-of-carcosa
The King in Yellow, Robert Chambers. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8492/pg8492-images.html
Yidhra The Dream Witch:
Where Yidhra Walks. Walter C. DeBill, Jr. Could Not Find a Free Digital Version.
The Dreams in the Witch House, HP Lovecraft. (Considered a Nyarly Story However I Personally Think it Fits IDV Yidhra More than EOD) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Dreams_in_the_Witch-House
Antonio the Violinist:
The Music of Erich Zann, HP Lovecraft. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Weird_Tales/Volume_5/Issue_5/The_Music_of_Erich_Zann
Grace the Naiad:
Shadow Over Innsmouth, HP Lovecraft. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Shadow_Over_Innsmouth_(1936)
Eyes of Darkness, Most Likely Nyarlathotep:
Nyarlathotep, HP Lovecraft. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_United_Amateur/November_1920/Nyarlathotep
The Cats of Ulthar, HP Lovecraft. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Weird_Tales/Volume_7/Issue_2/The_Cats_of_Ulthar
The Dream Quest of Unknown Kaddath, HP Lovecraft. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Dream-Quest_of_Unknown_Kadath
Herbert West: Reanimator, HP Lovecraft. (Blog Runner Believes The EOD Cult Is Connected to This Story Somehow) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Herbert_West:_Reanimator
Under the Pyramids, HP Lovecraft. (WITH SPECIAL GUEST AND EFRON INSPIRATION HARRY HOUDINI). https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/up.aspx
Ithaqua The Night Watch:
The Thing That Walked on the Wind, August Derleth. https://cthulhufiles.com/stories/derleth/derleth-the-thing-that-walked-on-the-wind.html
Ithaqua, August Derleth. Unable to Find a Free Digital Version.
An Inhabitant of Carcosa, Ambrose Bierce. (Blog Runner Believes IDV Itha’s Design Has References to This) https://americanliterature.com/author/ambrose-bierce/short-story/an-inhabitant-of-carcosa
The Black Goat, Most Likely Shub-Niggurath:
The Last Test, HP Lovecraft and Adolphe de Castro. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Weird_Tales/Volume_12/Issue_5/The_Last_Test
Ivy The Shadow/Yithian:
The Shadow Out of Time, HP Lovecraft. https://hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/sot.aspx
Assorted Guesses for Whatever the Hell is Going on With Norton “Fool’s Gold” Campbell:
The Transition of Juan Romero, HP Lovecraft. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Transition_of_Juan_Romero
The Curse of Yig, HP Lovecraft. (One Guess for the Identity of the Mine Beast) https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cy.aspx
The Inhabitant of the Lake And Less Welcome Tenants, Ramsey Campbell. (Another Guess for the Mine Beast) https://archive.org/details/inhabitantoflake0000camp
Darkness, My Name Is, Eddy C Bertin. FREE DIGITAL VERSION NOW ACQUIRED THANKS TO A PAL. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OmV6IGJGAl36j7_GU87VOGrF8A9XhHDu/view
The Fan Run Lovecraft Lore Wiki, Full of Cool Folks: https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page
I PLAYED CRYPTIC NOTES SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO (NOT CLICKBAIT)
Joking aside, I mentioned once or twice I'm part of a team working on archiving all of Identity V (including the little birds with methods some may deem... unnatural). We avoid logging in to do so, barring designated scapegoats.
However, the designated scapegoats suck at Cryptic Notes and needed help. You may have guessed from my mentions of being high-rank before the boycott, my willingness to main a tie Hunter in hight tier, and my constant allusions to games like Silent Hill or Bloodborne.... I am a difficulty sicko. A freak. I like my games hard and I like them irritating.
So last week I was called in to help the designated scapegoats archive Cryptic Notes and, after a few frenzy-fueled nights of playing, acquired everything (including stickers and tags). I've been declared the Cryptic Notes Collector to either play or help collect everything for next update.
What did I think of the new game mode?
Not good.
So, Cryptic Notes.
The pitch of the game is that it's like Lethal Company or Content Warning but, after playing it, I think shovelware Resident Evil or Amnesia knockoffs are better comparisons, with the extraction element being pasted on as currency and an obligatory time limit of twelve minutes.
The map is procedurally generated with items either scattered around, with certain rooms such as the piano room, the master bedroom, and the Muse room being identifiable by their gold outlines on the maps.
The game mode is horribly unbalanced. It's very RNG-reliant: Sometimes you see the most difficult enemies once in an entire run, other times several spawn at once, but it's obscenely easy (even on hard mode with randoms) in a group and obscenely difficult single-player...
Well, it was. Then I figured out how to cheese it.
How to Cheese Cryptic Notes
As of the writing, this is what I do to cheese Cryptic Notes.
What you need:
Shotgun - deal with Sighs (balloons), Wraiths (not!Banes), and Big Dolls. Make sure to reload.
Hydra staff - deal with other enemies. Allows you to dash to dodge damage and parry ability which protects from Wraiths too.
Syringe - Heal when your ability is on cd in safe zones.
Mint - to run fast without wasting stamina, good for exploring fast
Goggles - Allows you to see in the dark for several minutes
Item of your choice (ex: Flamethrower or emergency tp book)
Healer build - gives you free heal every 60 seconds and spares you from one instance of lethal damage
What to do: After making sure all your items set up, run outside and go towards the wall to your left. There should be some rubble that allows you to climb up to a wall leading to a 2nd floor door. Go through this door and turn on your night vision goggles.
From here, go run around the 2nd floor looking for two things: Locked Boxes (represented by a purple/gold vault icon) and locked wooden boxes. Collect as many purple and, more importantly, gold items you can get until you are either full (go back to lobby to deliver items then rush out) or fill your quota of 80000. Kill everything except baby dolls and pale men (axe guys reading) on sight. But if they turn hostile immediately pump them full of lead or set them on fire.
Rooms that you should keep an eye out for are master bedrooms, ballrooms, and Muse music box rooms. These almost 100% have a guaranteed A or S box in them. However they're most likely to spawn strong monsters like Wraiths so be prepared.
If you find a Muse room with the music box, make sure to deliver the music box LAST because to open the treasure room (has 4 guaranteed A/S vaults). it must be opened with the music box.
The best part about this is the profit: In hard mode, you can get 700 logic points per run, regardless of if you live or die, so you can get more logic points from Cryptic Notes than most QM, Causal Modes, or Ranked.
You can get 10000 logic points in about an hour, so you can max the logic path in about 4 hours, not all of which have to be done at once.
If you are not boycotting or soft boycotting (f2p), congrats, enjoy your new way to cheese the logic path. Bathe in your wealth.
I don't want to touch the mode until I'm called back to my personal hell.
The Lore
I'll separate this into a future post, but the lore is, as I have complained about with Cage of Yesteryear, more interested in 1. Explaining the Winston (Oletus) Manor lore for people who weren't paying attention and 2. Drumming up questions that probably won't be explained satisfactory. It's bad.
The general idea is an alternate universe where Orpheus seemingly didn't exist, so, as a result, all three Winstons (including Alice) died in the Massacre, with the protagonist being a new part of raiders breaking into the decrepit Manor, only to learn something spoooooky is going on.
The Codex Entries were missing until the 25th. For a mode they hyped up since May, it's telling to me they couldn't even prepare smaller entries before the release date. The developmental pipeline is fucked.
The Entries themselves hype tidbits about Arthur Winston/Dennis having conducted deals in the Mediterranean before. More disappointingly, it implies Jules Winston/Alice DeRoss is special and chosen by Winston/Oletus Manor in some form and that's why she was called the Cursed Girl, not because of misogyny and unfortunate circumstances. Everyone in Winston/Oletus is trapped during the night of the Massacre, which is definitely 100% what people asking for more information about the Dreamlands wanted. Arthur Winston was being compelled by the Manor to try and murder his wife and daughter, which was part of his erratic actions before the bandits murdered him.
Oh and no explanation for the little boy in the family portrait. The portrait in the text only has three people. Maybe they'll reveal there's a secret second son everyone forgot but I am tired of Moffatian bullshit.
The one interesting thing that came from any of this is that the protagonist, who is part of a second group of raiders and looks suspiciously like Orpheus, has a daughter he's trying to afford medication for, which provides some insight as to how Memory developed. That's it. Out of thousands of words that's it.
I am well-aware there are two more parts for Bringer of Doom waiting to be added, with more lore and more enemies. Including Miss Nightingale. I still think the same.
The Gacha
It's technically free but the gacha in Cryptic Notes is filled with dark mechanics to try and make you play more.
First, there's two gachas. The first gacha is made from the ink currency you get from selling items you retrieve in the mode. You get one free pull a day, with each pull giving some blueprints as pity, which can be exchanged for items in the shop. So, by both selling and waiting for free daily, it's incredibly easy to get all the items. Not too bad.
But then there's the weapon reskin gacha. After pulling the weapon from the first gacha, you now exchange the ink and the feathers you can collect in the game mode to roll a dice to reskin each part of the weapon. There are five different parts and you can lock four so they don't change between rolls, but you have to roll in order to unlock the other parts. So, if I wanted to, say, get the rare sword design (based off The Divine Comedy) I would have to roll several times praying I get the handle, the hilt, the blade, the color, and the trait correct. I burned through all of feathers I had collected in the mad days of quest completion trying to get the rare item alone and, therefore, decided it was not feasible to archive the other swords. It's bad.
You can see how predatory this is to try and guarantee people continue playing Cryptic Notes to get the sword they want.
Is It Worth It?
I say this with a lot of passion, as someone who has played dozens of horror games, including extraction, survival, and asymmetric horror, and I say this as a fan of IDV since 2018.
Cryptic Notes was a mistake.
Yes, the mode will be patched, yes the mode will have expansions, yes there will be even other books. I know all of this and my opinion will not shift.
First off, let's look at the resources invested in every single Cryptic Notes season: A book with an entire story split over three chapters; three lore entries for each of the monsters, classics, and other significant items; a procedurally generating map with additions per chapter update; multiple monsters with several stronger variants; and a final boss.
All of that without an indication that the production pipeline of the rest of the game are slowing down: the annual story update, Christmas, both anniversary events, Halloween, Summer, several characters a year are still happening in spite initial suggestions otherwise.
This mass production is unsustainable without costs to either your team or implementation of low quality Hail Marys like Gen AI. We are already seeing the consequences of this with issues like the Fatty Wang Skin Plagiarism.
"But the seasons are several months long!" I know, and it's still not enough.
Because we also don't know the internal structure of Joker Studios, which already is split between Sea of Remnants and IDV, we don't know how many resources are now permanently redistributed towards Cryptic Notes. Imagine if these resources were distributed towards something else, such as biannual story updates, or IDENTITY Swaps.
But that's not what people want. People want skins for their faves and, when push comes to shove, characters like Memory are going to be given more lore, more love, more quality than characters who are trapped in limbo like Arthur Byers. The CN Server has speculated on some of the Essences that will be chosen and based off the names, it's for stories like Lily, Alva, and Melly. The only unpopular character I suspect could be chosen is Efron, due to Field of Reeds possibly referencing the Egyptian afterlife. Not exactly a Jeffrey or Jose-based Essence.
The Lore, too, represents a downgrade I have feared since Cage of Yesteryear. It's spoon-fed, it reduces tragedies from terrible miracles to something spoooOoooky, and it doesn't trust you to like Alice enough on characterization that it has to implement special powers for her. Oh and the doll implies that one of Winston/Oletus' quirks is that it splits people's souls, so have fun for that being the explanation for Nightinalice or Orph's DID or any ID Swap!
And Essences too are no longer unique glimpses into alternative worlds but just novels Orpheus wrote, of which the writing is so bad I've spent several days trying to decide if it was overly-machine translated, machine generated, merely poorly-written, or all of the above.
Sure, you can say this is all "Orpheus' perspective," and that it should be taken as just that, but novels are always twisted allegories and the writers should be experienced enough to know this. Again, just because you say someone breathes through their skin doesn't mean it's the reason you modeled them in a bikini.
The Joker Studios devs (either by choice or forced by NetEase) are so incapable of trusting you will play this game voluntarily that the gacha system is filled with dark mechanics so you have to keep doing runs, keep playing, keep getting stuff. Maybe you'll get the sword skin you want. Just one more game.
If it's supposed to be a chill single-player alternative, then why have complete random generation of enemy spawns, some of whom can kill you as simple as two balloons wrapping around you? (Of which one of my fellow archivists, who played Elden Ring fine, could't even complete regular mode, as a counterpoint to anyone who says "just play regular.") If it's PvE cooperative, then why incentivize randoms letting you die to steal your stuff without punishment? If it's Survival Horror, why have completely randomized levels and a time limit, prompting irritation than fear? And if it's Extraction Horror, why not embrace the cooperation and the silliness that made these games popular, without an entire gacha and currency system tied to it? Cryptic Notes is trying to be everything and succeeds at nothing.
Most egregiously, it's more profitable to play Cryptic Notes than the actual game. Once you figure out how to cheese the game-mode, you'll collect more steps on the logic path quicker from Cryptic Notes than the rest of IDV. So, unless you really want the portrait frames for Ranking, there's not really a.... practical reason why you should play the game over Cryptic Notes. You can just take photos on the maps for birthdays. You can get event items from Cryptic Notes. So either they patch it to be less profitable (dissuading people from playing it) or they let Cryptic Notes outshine the game itself.
I think, in another timeline, if Cryptic Notes was the new game instead of Sea of Remnants, and that it had significantly more quality care placed into it than "started at the very least around Cage of Yesteryear based off the jump mechanic," then I would've found it a quirky little spin-off to Identity V. But combined with everything above, the intense crunch/quality drop, and the looming paranoia about Gen AI, I cannot look at it as anything but a wannabe Tomb Raiders willing to sacrifice everything about Identity V- the lore, the designs, the gameplay- to stand proudly on the bow of a sinking boat.
For me, all of Cryptic Notes has been a "Sumeru" moment for me, referencing the region from Genshin Impact: A point where the flaws in the developmental plan are not past the tipping point but nearing it, where pandering to the fanbase rather than respecting them is taking priority. Divergence/Game 0 will have a lot of heavy lifting to prove the spirit of Identity V remains.
The worst part about it is, due to how tight-lipped live service games are regarding development, it's impossible to tell whether this (the game mode, the lore, etc) was always the plan or somewhere it went wrong.
I spent eight years waiting for an answer but do I want one?
HIPPITY HOPPITY HAVE A FUCKIN MSPAINT GRAPH ABOUT THE CURRENT ELDRITCH ENTITIES IN IDV.
PRIMARILY BASED ON HOW THE PANTHEON IS SET UP IN THE LOVECRAFT LORE VERSE.
NOTES:
SOMETIMES HASTUR IS AN AVATAR OF YOGS, SOMETIMES HE'S YOGS' KID. AS PER MOST CTHULU MYTHOS IT REALLY FUCKIN DEPENDS.
ITHAQUA HAS SOME WEIRD SHIT GOING ON. UNCLEAR WHETHER IDV ITHA IS IN FACT ITHAQUA,SOME GUY POSSESSED BY HIM,ONE OF HIS RANDOM DEMIGOD KIDS, OR WHAT.
I INCLUDE YOGS AND AFORGOMON AS ONE GUY DUE TO FIONA'S WHOLE SPIEL IN THE BRYN EVENT. AS WITH HASTUR IT TENDS TO BE A FUCKIN TOSS UP WHETHER THEY ARE ONE GOD OR TWO RELATED GODS OR BOTH.
THE LACK OF CTHULHU AKA PERHAPS HOWARD'S MOST WELL KNOWN CREATURE REALLY DAMN CONCERNS ME. WHERE THE FUCK IS THE OCTOPUS.
I see you mention Orpheus being similar to/inspired by Heathcliff often! I was wondering — is this something that’s been stated by, say, the developers somewhere, or a connection you personally made? Either way, I find the comparison really interesting. Do you have any other ideas on literature inspirations for him?
You just activated my trap card.
I'm making more structure essay on the subject, but I can give a preview of it here.
This is a connection I made personally, but note how Joseph is very clearly inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray even though it's not directly confirmed. Identity V is particularly interested in engaging with Gothic Horror and Cosmic Horror in particular, due to being part of these genres. Therefore, looking at these genres can provide insight Identity V's story, including Orpheus as the central character.
Looking at gothic horror, we can immediately see some similarities. Like Dr. Jekyll he's addicted to a substance he experimented with, like Frankenstein's creature his story is one of personal vengeance wrapped around scientific grief. But what about the core of Orpheus? What best fits the circumstances that lead to Delphi, the experiments, the grief?
There's one Gothic Horror story centered around an accursed estate and the liminality of one twisted family: Wuthering Heights.
Heathcliff isn't a perfect analogy to Orpheus (Orph is white), but we can find similarities. Heathcliff's position in the family, the same one that drives him continuing the cycle of abuse, is one of liminality. Heathcliff is an adopted child, picked up, supposedly as a foundling, by Mr. Earnshaw. It's left ambiguous if this is true. Its effects on Heathcliff, though, are clear. Part of the reason why Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw have such a strange, unhealthy relationship is the very thing that prevents Heathcliff from inheriting Wuthering Heights: he is a chosen son and not a biological son. He is close enough to trigger the taboo of incest in 19th century readers, but not close enough to cross boundaries in a way that likely had Elizabeth Lavenza transformed from orphaned cousin to charitable case in the 1831 edition of Frankenstein. It's familial, it's romantic, and it's platonic, because it cannot exist in the traditional family structure. But combined with the other system structures, such as Heathcliff's race and class alienating him from familial acceptance, it turns their bond into something desperate and choking. A desperation that surpasses both's deaths, allowing them to haunt the estate afterward.
Like Heathcliff here, Orpheus is a liminal child, though the source of his familial liminality is that his biological (or "biological" if you go for the bastard theory) is abuse rather than foundling status. He was, by all accounts, more a DeRoss to both the DeRosses (Bonbon Fourth Deduction) and Orpheus himself, using the title "Baron DeRoss" even in private (Martha Second Letter, Demi First Letter). This liminal status meant, in spite having the records for Bane and Alice, he wouldn't be considered their family in the eyes of the law. The only reason he could even become Baron DeRoss was because Oletus Manor is in Glasgow and the Barony was more easily transferred in Scotland post-1874, aligning with IDV's pseudo 19th-20th century aesthetic.
If you're curious as to why Lord Melbourne could adopt Alice, then, it's because she was orphaned. For the majority of cases, abuse was not considered an important criteria to separate child from parents, regardless of the DeRosses' wealth compared to the Blanches.
This liminality, much like Heathcliff, is what makes Orpheus bitter, too. We don't know how exactly he connected to the Mediterranean Deal Participants, given the years between his abandonment/escape from the Blanches and his mass donations to Alice and Bane's health is unknown, but we know he did to afford their healthcare. We can easily see how these participants could've encouraged Orpheus' negative traits, such as self-loathing and fear, and prevented him from grieving. Likewise, even though Heathcliff had already declared his intention on vengeance, we don't know where he was between leaving Wuthering Heights and returning a wealthy man, but we know it didn't stop him.
Orpheus and Heathcliff both feature an animal motif (birds and canines) and both target people who either directly wronged them or had the misfortune of being distantly connected. In some ways, Orpheus is worse, due to engaging in monster crimes. In other ways, Heathcliff is worse, due to engaging in intimate violence. Orpheus also seems to be a better parent to whatever psychological-paranormal entity Memory is. Speaking of...
We can also see, through Heathcliff, Orpheus has many features of Hareton, who, when showed kindness by Cathy II, did not fall to the same path of hate Heathcliff set him up to follow. Hareton, I suspect, represents Detective and Charm, who, while facing the same misfortunes and more-some as Novelist and Nightmare, do not fall into the vengeful, fear-based thinking the past two identities did. Part of why is the circumstances: they did not have Bourbon, Lamb, Barriere, and maybe Kreiburg to encourage them.
But there's another character from 19th-century fiction who loses himself on a path of vengeance. One whose identity issues could be compared to Orpheus' DID.
I want to bring in Edmond Dantès, the Count of Monte Cristo.
Edmond Dantès was a naive sailor whose life was ruined by three associates of his, where they framed him as a mastermind rather than an unknowing messenger, and a corrupt judge who saved is own skin over an innocent man's. Dantès is kept in solitary confinement for years, until he meets Abbe Faria who, even after death, is essential for Dantès escape and discovering the fortune of Monte Cristo. Free, he learns that fourteen years had passed, the conspirators had grown rich, his father had died of starvation, his beloved fiancé had married one of the conspirators (also her cousin, the Taboo returns), and almost everyone forgot he existed. Nothing remains. Dantès response is to take the treasure of Monte Cristo, become the count, and spend the next nine years crafting a masterful vengeance plan to destroy anyone who has ever ruined him. And boy does he do so.
Something curious about Dantès is that he has several identity issues. The Count acts almost independently at times, with Edmond Dantès only appearing in key moments, something that adaptions like Gankutsuou delve into. But he also has the personas of Lord Wilmore, Sinbad the Sailor, and Abbe Busoni, who has the same personality as Faria. Wilmore considers himself an enemy of the Count and sabotages him at times, without a clear benefit for Dantès in the long run. I think we can compare Dantès, Sinbad, the Count, Busoni, and Wilmore to Orpheus' five major identities. The Count seems to fit with Nightmare, due to NM being referred to as The Baron of Oletus in COA.
The Count's great flaw (and the personas that aid him such as Busoni and Sinbad) is ruthlessness. He will do anything to get his vengeance, including killing innocent people whose crime was being related to the conspirators. This is similar to Orpheus' increasingly vague definition of "sin," which initially started with people who had wronged him in some form such as Freddy Riley and Edmund Reed, but extends to completely innocent people like William Ellis. However, this ruthlessness starts to hurt those he loves.
The Count also shows a resignation when he connects with Mercedes again. He loves her, but knows, in some form, he's gone too far, Later on, in despair, he challenges Mercedes' son to a duel with the expectation he'll kill him due to Albert (the son) believing the Count had dishonored his father. Mercedes saves both by telling Albert what his father did and Albert, in line with the theme of identity, disowns his father, and sets off to make his own name. The Count trying to get Albert to kill him reminds me of the implication Nightmare wants to die, seeing it as the only way he can free himself/Orpheus from the games, and why he mocks Alice about the idea she can save him.
One of the Count's skills is an expertise with drugs, which he uses to enact his schemes, and in a tragic moment of consequence, where he fails to save a little boy poisoned as a consequence of his actions. While he doesn't mind harming young adults, he draws the line at harming young children, so this consequence breaks him. Given the possibility Kai is a young adult pretending to be a teenager, there's a parallel with Orpheus never involving children in the Manor Games.
I think this is also important with Memory and Alice, given the little boy is poisoned by his mother in a murder-suicide. Memory burns up in the end of MEMORY and, in her SS skin, fades away after saving Other Memory. It could be metaphorical, representing the loss of childhood nostalgia, but it could also represent Alice dying in the Final Game, filtered through Orpheus seeing her as her child self. It's quite an ominous piece of intertextuality.
At the end of the novel, Dantès softens his vengeance, no longer ruining the lives of those innocent, even sparing one of the conspirators (who gets punished a different way). He combines the identities of the Count and Edmond to refer to himself as Edmond Dantès, the Count of Monte Cristo. I think this could be a potential resolution of Orpheus' unknown birth name with his identity of Baron DeRoss, where his names are combined into a new identity.
Also there's the falls in love and runs away with the woman that's kinda his adopted daughter but we're just gonna ignore that.
By similar logic, we can look at authors to speculate on Orpheus' inspirations.
The first author I want to bring up is George Sand, the long-time partner of Frederick Chopin, the historical inspiration of Frederick Kreiburg.
Sand today would possibly be considered non-binary, due to her/their* relationship to gender being acknowledged as unique even at the time and had changed their name legally to their pen name, George Sand.
*Sand privately used feminine pronouns, but was comfortable being referred to masculinely, and as mentioned changed their name to George Sand, hence why I am referring to them with she and they.
Sand's bibliography heavily featured drama and mystery, with many of their novels taking loose inspiration from real life persons, most famously Lucrezia Floriani being based off Sand and Chopin's relationship. While some blame the novel with causing their split, I don't believe it's the case, due to Chopin's encouragement of the novel. Still, I find it interesting regarding Frederick Kreiburg, who is currently the only Da Capo lacking a novel written about him- White Steed of Death is about Mary.
One of Sand's unique quirks was helping create puppets for performances in their estate. This is interesting, given the initial diegetic explanation for the puppet art style in Identity V was the imagination of Detective as he reconstructed the Manor Games. Considering Novelist and Nightmare's interests in prop-making and performance, it's possible to speculate Detective may have been creating puppets to reenact the Manor Games.
Sand and Orpheus were both flamboyant with troubled personal lifestyles and intense grudges. Their stubbornness would often come in conflict with other individuals who felt the same, such as Marie 'Agoult (Daniel Stern) and Chopin.
There are a few others (such as Hans Christian Anderson, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron), but I will leave the last here to be Oscar Wilde.
First off, Novelist Orpheus has a sense of fashion incredibly similar to how Wilde cultivated his personal dandyism, with a sense of exaggeration and audacity under aestheticism. The same artistic movement that included Dante Gabriel Rossetti (whose paintings are constantly referenced in IDV) and his sister Christina Rossetti.
Wilde had a complex reception even before his gayness was taken to court, but it allowed him to have a variety of unique experiences, such as drinking with miners in the USA. He was seen as frivolous, drama-seeking, but also damn good at times, which matches the reception of Orpheus' novels.
Oscar Wilde's most famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest, heavily focuses on the theme of identity and how it ties to this one family, and having different identities depending on the situation, only for the identities to happily resolve when the titular protagonist (Jack/Ernest) is reveled to have been the long-lost child of the family (and his name is Ernest). I think a parallel could be drawn between Orpheus' liminal family position with the DeRosses and Jack/Ernest's. The parallels between Jack/Ernest and Algernon/Ernest is meant to foreshadow they are indeed related, which we can see between Orpheus and Alice's parallels.
Wilde famously touched horror as well, with the aforementioned The Picture of Dorian Gray. I suspect Wilde being the author was the reason why they so quickly connected Orpheus to Joseph once the latter's video was revealed. Connecting author and character back together, in a way.
I also want to note that Wilde was a boxer and want to note a very high Nightmare wrecks Norton in DA CAPO.
These are just a few of the connections, but the way I try to connect is by identifying key moments or themes of a character, such as Orpheus, then look back on genres that inspire Identity V, such as Gothic Horror, to see what connections establish. Art isn't created in a vacuum and authors reference other authors all the time. It's a great web of literary canon.
The screenshots with English text are machine translated by my pc.
For those who don't keep track of Rednote and Weibo, though it's now gaining traction on NAEU Twitter thanks to implumon_UwU, a cosplayer who goes by the username 一条北方的咸鱼王 on Rednote spoke out on his outfit for the Time Raiders character Fatty Wang being plagiarized by the upcoming crossover.
The belief it was touched up or filtered using some form of Gen AI rather than plagiarism alone is due to the lack of zipper on the opposite side of the jacket and uneven number of shoelace holes on the boots. Due to the likelihood an actual artist worked on it on some form (and possibly plagiarized), I will leave it as a possible Gen AI touchup. It is undoubtably plagiarism.
Currently, demands for justice for 一条北方的咸鱼王 are exploding on Rednote, and are slowly gaining traction in Weibo, due to the stricter nature of IDV Weibo's community. It has also gained support from Asia and NAEU boycotters on Twitter. Due to all three communities participating and the potential legal matter, it may be responded to soon, but Joker Studios nor NetEase have made a comment as of this post.
I decided to make this post separate from my record regarding Gen AI usage in IDV materials due to the direct plagiarism circumstances. Right now, this means I suspect two images from the livestream were touched up with Gen AI, which is an improvement from the last few streams.
While this is a step backward due to a major plagiarism controversy having been more akin to IDV's early years (the Yidhra controversy for example), and now the possibility of Gen AI touch-up souring it, the passionate rallying of the there communities towards the affected cosplayer brings hope there will be a response. Combined with legal rulings making it more difficult to terminate employees solely for Gen AI in China, the soft thank you and apology of the most recent livestream, the exhibited blowback towards suspected plagiarism or Gen AI such as here and Ivory Tower in April, and I will not be surprised if NE gives up soon.
So don't give up hope. Remember these boycotts take months and progress isn't as simple as getting a statement.
Well, I have some good news to announce: Joker Studios responded. You can read it yourself in the link provided.
The justification was that Gen AI was not used but 1. the artists had over-relied on reference material, including the cosplayer's photo, 2. the design had been in the works since December, and that 3. the suspected "Gen AI" inconsistencies were the result of layer issues and artifacts from reworked iterations of the posters.
They have reached out to the cosplayer and the Time Raiders copyright holders. The Fatty Wang skin will be readjusted to look less like the cosplayer's interpretation. As an apology, they are giving away the Fatty Wang skin for free.
Some people are thinking Joker Studios is lying but, honestly, I think they're telling the truth, and the truth is something far more concerning.
Last year, they said that this year would've been more quiet, with less characters and more focus on good content over new content. Obviously, something happened behind the scenes, given (if Roy is added), we will have the same amount of characters added this year as last year. We are also having an entire new game mode added, several new crossovers, a side story, etc. The developers are being crunched to meet this level of content. And I think it shows.
Layer errors, misplaced number of shoelace holes, these are things supposed to be caught in quality checks over several weeks. The less time a poster is worked on, the more likely one or more of these errors will be produced.
Gen AI in a studio is a symptom of a greater problem, which is the focus on content over quality of content. Quality game design, artwork, writing requires time and labor. Both require well-paid, well-respected developers. Gen AI doesn't include that. It makes quantity.
I've voiced my concerns from the writing angle of IDV, starting with Cage of Yesteryear's drop in quality. I fear that will continue and the source of it is applying to an audience that cares only for the quantity of content, not the quality of it.
It's hard to tell whether this will change. Getting Gen AI out of IDV will help, but it also requires all three side of the fanbase to desire quality content over more content, which is challenging in the face of waifuism-infected whales. But it's a start nonetheless. I said before legal action will make them respond and it's working.
I WAS GOING TO MAKE A POST ABOUT HOW HOT WEREWOLF EMIL IS BUT THAT COPYPASTE CHIMERA MS NIGHTINGALE ALICE BEING FUCKIN REAL HAS KILLED ALL JOY IN ME FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO
JUST GODDAMN THAT THING IS SO FUCKING UGLY
UGLY AND CONCERNING ENOUGH ABOUT GAME QUALITY THAT MY MONSTER FUCKING ASS HAS LOST THE WEREWOLF CAUSED JOY
Eating a man? On pride month? How gay hahahhaha okay sorry sorry
You jest but cannibalism is among the most homoerotic actions. Through consumption you become one.
Other violent yet oddly intimate acts are similar, such as duels to the death or moral corruption. There's a reason Norton and Orpheus exploded after DA CAPO.
For a quick notice: Starting the 12th I'm going to be very busy until the start of July. Given IDV's lack of birthdays in June, it won't be much of a concern to this blog.
I will be lower activity, though. I'll probably document Valentina's birthday and Cryptic Notes later this month, since everyone on the test server has only been delivered the first part and nothing's been particularly revelatory, in spite my delivery service's screenshot aid. Main archiving concern there is the Bringer of Doom snippets per level. I might queue the impromptus for some previous bdays like Charles and Alva or small reactions. The Detective/Charm analysis will not be finished this month.
So some quick-fire thoughts before I dim the lights.
The Plagiarism: I'll be updating if more info comes out, but as I last checked there has been silence on Weibo and Rednote from Joker Studios or Netease's side. There may have been deleting of comments but I am uncertain, so do not take that as truth. There have been suggestions towards the cosplayer to take legal action, so we'll see if either the studio or publisher reacts before that.
There has been no reply from tips and pitches from any gaming-related journalists, but given this has all occurred in the span of a weekend on the NAEU side, this unsurprising. I will also explore whether or not Chinese news sources have discussed the controversy and will also consider approaching some gacha game-related news sources, since IDV has enough gacha elements they may consider it a subject that can be discussed. I will update if there is any change.
This could go in a couple different directions, depending on how it plays out. Given the undeniable plagiarism seen through the bracelet, I will be curious to see how it plays out. There may be a conflict of different copyright laws if the cosplayer goes to court. But given that relies on the cosplayer going to court, which NetEase will likely try to avoid, I can only speculate. It may accelerate NE abandoning Gen AI for IDV either way. The hassle is not worth the effort.
Unmasked Miss Nightingale: Wow and I thought Hydemare's modeling was bad. From glancing at it, I thought it was a fan-model given how haphazard it is. It's not a good sign it's real.
I hope upcoming models are better. Otherwise, after Queen Bee, I have opinions regarding the art direction of IDV's female characters. One that previously existed but is strengthened.
I will say from a writer's perspective I'm disappointed. It's superfluous given the existence of a certain ID swap and what Miss Nightingale has previously been. I do not think it fits the unmasked character.
I have a mixed stance on how IDV writes its women. This only sours it.
But, it is what it is.
I'm curious whether there's different Miss Nightingales or what the Detective one is, whether the difference is retconned or diegetic given the mirror birds, and what this says about Orpheus' perception, due to the framing of Bringer of Doom being a novel written by him, filtered through Alice reading it. Given Nightmare's death wish, I wonder if this is setting up Nightmare's behavior in the Final Game. I'm also curious how Memory relates to it. We shall see.
okay. okay here's my thing about "tell me the name of god you fungal piece of shit." I like the post, the text has a compelling pace, it got over eight hundred thousand notes for a reason. it's from 2018, and the eco / folk / eldritch horror tumblr genre definitely did already exist then, but it was newer so the post felt more novel at the time. I say variations on the "you cannot kill me in a way that matters" line constantly, I like it, I really do. that isn't how fungus and decay works irl, but I understand the idea being conveyed and can appreciate the emotional effect it elicits, which is really all I'm looking for when it comes to horror media, including social media based horror microfiction. I find the way some people talk about the post nowadays as though it personally Ruined all creative writing circulated on this site Forever and like it is somehow solely responsible for artistic displays of hegemonic christianity to be, like, silly. that is obviously not the case, it's a very "great man" way of analyzing social media trends. this is one person's short horror-comedy prose poetry text post about bursting into tears while trying and failing to shoot a mushroom with a gun. okay. but now, Here. here is My Thing. that is not what "extant" means. like at all. and, again, I understand what it's trying to convey in the context of a punchy one-liner, I don't begrudge the post's author using a word incorrectly, but I think they probably meant auxiliary, external, exiled, or extrinsic. "extant" means "something that exists," what the line actually says is "decay exists as an existing form of life," and if you want to reference it elsewhere then you really neeeeeed to change up the vocab or else you're going to end up saying a line that makes no sense. okay that is all.
So on the IDV Japan Twitter there has bee a countdown to the livestream of the Cryptic Notes game mode, and has been releasing the silhouettes of some of the monsters in advance. We can see the silhouette of the doll monster that chased Alice in the CoA trailer.
We know that this mode is tied to the Bringer of Doom novel by Orpheus, which is his version of Alice's story. There's a possibility it will connect to the novels the other Da Capos have, such as Thirteenth Gift (Norton), Queen Bee (Melly), Flute of Death (Orpheus), and White Steed of Death (Not about Frederick but he assisted in its opera production).
These monsters, therefore, may be tied to Bringer of Doom or one of these other novels. We can see a muscular person with floating hands like FG carrying a chain, a monocled individual, a little girl figure with a big plank, a figure carrying a big hammer, the doll monster, a four-armed individual carrying an axe and... someone else... someone familiar.
This includes the silhouette of Miss Nightingale. Depending on what this mode is, it could be the first confirmed main story appearance of her. Perhaps we will get some clues on her existence.
My theory is that she's some ghost of Mrs. DeRoss (the composer of the Nightingale motif), due to their similar dresses, eyes, and Miss Nightingale's mask starting where Mrs. DeRoss was decapitated.
But does that mean Miss Nightingale is a malevolent figure? She's being placed alongside the doll monster that attacked Alice.
Unlike all other nonhuman characters in IDV, she's never been portrayed as malevolent figure, more of a manager, perhaps even the personification of Oletus manor. Perhaps she will act as a storekeeper in the mode.
Reblogging to say that the next image is that of the doll monster acting as the iris of a red eye.
I find it interesting because, unless we have one more image, the countdown images were Axe Monster (green), Miss Nightingale (purple), and Doll Monster (red).
Miss Nightingale is tied to Orpheus, whose Nightmare identity is associated with purple. Alice is saved from the Doll Monster by Frederick, who is associated with red.
The last member of the current Manor Staff Trio is Norton Campbell, who is associated with green. If the palette choice was a clue towards this, then it's possible the Axe Monster may have a connection to Norton somehow.
MS N HAVING PURPLE MAKES ME THINK SHE IS CONNECTED TO YIDHRA SOMEHOW?
ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE FUCKING MINE BEAST EYE IS IN ONE OF THE OTHER PICTURES.AND JOHN HASTUR HAS RED EYES SO MAYBE FREAKY ASS DOLL THING IS LINKED TO HIM AND HIS CHILD DROWNING CULT SOMEHOW.
Hi!! I super appreciate all the written entries you made of Identity V characters, especially Orpheus and Frederick. I come to see (and appreciate) how deep their themes, lore, and personalities are after reading your posts. Especially Orpheus and his identities, I've come around to seeing him in a more sympathetic light.
Anywho, out of curiosity, how come you dislike the IDV wiki? I was reading your latest Orpheus post and saw that. I'm not so sure why... I think I remember you saying how it can be inaccurate at times? But I feel like I'm missing something else.
Hi there. Thank you for all the kind words. I have mentioned many times the purpose of this blog is to spark conversation. I highlight alternate theories to show that there's more than one way of interpreting the same story. I really appreciate being able of being a starting point.
I especially thank you for the words regarding Orpheus. I am an older player who was introduced to IDV from the perspective of Detective and Orpheus' childhood (Burke and Bonbon in particular), and I think it's important to highlight the historical and literary context that, in my opinion, makes him very sympathetic.
As for why I dislike the IDV Fandom Wiki.
1. Fandom Wikis Suck
Fandom is an awful wiki host. There is already an important video by Hollow Knight lore Youtuber mossbag about it here. To sum up some of the grievances in the video.
Fandom has an overwhelming number of ads that make it impossible to look unless you have adblocker.
Fandom once modified a McDonalds wiki without consent to advertise the Grimace shake.
Opening Fandom on mobile causes it to constantly reload and lag.
Fandom once attempted to implement AI-generated answers to wiki questions, which were often wrong.
Fandom makes it incredibly difficult to fork wikis and leave.
Recently, Fandom has made it difficult to read wiki comments without an account.
One of my personal issues with Fandom is that it often lags and is incapable of loading for days on my pc. I have to switch my browser if I'm lucky, or brave wading through the Fandom Wiki on my phone if I'm unlucky and Fandom is completely bricked on my pc.
Using the JP, CN, and KR wikis helps me in some regards, but they don't always have what I need, such as screenshots of letters in English, so there's only so much it can help.
2. Uneven Coverage
The Fandom Wiki has very uneven lore coverage and multiple sections are outdated. Because you mentioned Orpheus and Frederick, I'll be using them here to highlight my grievances.
Every version of Orpheus hasn't experienced a significant update to their lore pages since ToR, under the basis that there's no other "confirmed" lore about him. Considering we've had AoM, AoM II, Oletus Symphony, and dozens of letters from various characters including himself, this is nonsensical. Nightmare also had his child self's VA removed because "He wasn't the nightmare then." Even though Orpheus certainly wasn't a Novelist or Detective either. Villain Charm's page(s) is a joke.
In contrast, Frederick Kreiburg was declared "Unknown (likely deceased)" because in AoM II he went missing. While not the source of the misconception Frederick was deceased after the events of AoM II it certainly supported it. To compare, Norton Campbell's status is "Unknown." Considering in both DA CAPO. and ToR Norton is eliminated in the Final Game, you can see the double standard.
The Fandom Wiki struggles at establishing standards for nationality. The justification for Luca being Serbian is due to having Serb cultural dishes and one of his dishes "reminding traveling Serbs of their homeland." However, Alva has American dishes and is listed as Dutch on the Fandom Wiki, since while we don't know where he left to, he was born in the Netherlands and was buried there. Alva was partially inspired by Thomas Edison, who was American but descended from Dutch immigrants, for those curious, so either option is possible, but is unknown without clarification.
Moving on from Luca and Alva, Alice is listed as Scottish due to Oletus Manor being in Glasgow, in spite Manus de Capet, an Irish noble, having bought the Barony, establishing that nationality is not an indicator of Oletus Manor Barony. Frederick is currently the only Kreiburg to have any nuance in his nationality, having France and Austria being listed. The standard for evidence is arbitrary.
They are paradoxically both willing to speculate beyond known information for some characters such as Frederick or Alice and unwilling to speculate on others such as Orpheus.
Some lore pages having shallow analysis of the themes in a character's story. Hernando's page is currently listed as glorifying animal cruelty (bullfighting). The same Hernando who has to be physically and psychologically abused into enjoying bullfighting (Hernando Sixth Deduction), forced into killing his beloved calf Bailo (Hernando's Video), and whose disturbed love of bullfighting leads him to entering a human fighting ring that had abused Emil in the past (Video) (Hernando Eighth Deduction). So, a character who had to be psychologically and physically abused to participate in this sport, already lost his father to this sport, and eventually begins fighting/killing other people as an extension of this sport, in a horror game, is condoning it? To take this as the glorification of bullfighting is absurd.
For a different example, Finsen Hunter's page warns of medical experimentation on Leo, but leaves out Finsen was violently beaten and (almost) drowned by a mob on the suspicion he was a child killer (and ALL the implications tied to that). Dennis and Mrs. DeRoss have such warnings. Considering the demographics who face victimhood from mob violence (Finsen's subtext alludes to hate crimes on gay men, but other examples of extrajudicial violence include the lynching of Black people in the USA), sometimes having cultural or generational trauma from it, this is a serious oversight.
Part of the reason why is there has been less and less editing by the wiki over time. Most early skins and characters have cosmetics with descriptions and gameplay advice. Most recent characters don't barring the lucky exceptions such as Bryn. For example, this is Golden Candle's page (2018) and this is Arachnidopter's (2025).
This is currently at its peak due to the current Gen AI crisis and boycott. There haven't been updates to the Deduction Star and Nymph Award quotes for any of the characters, including popular ones such as Richard or Mary.
If the Gen AI crisis continues, I wouldn't be shocked if the Fandom Wiki grows more neglected.
3. Moderator Behavior
All of this would feel less daunting to confront if the largest moderators and editors didn't feel confrontational to alternate ideas. They are unprofessional in positions of power.
I've blurred the names dates, but this was a conversation between one of the moderators regarding changes to Orpheus' page, and a different conversation regarding Frederick's Hunter Identity. These were public conversations and still remain on the wiki.
I would like to note regarding the Orpheus conversation was about revisions in the theories section of Novelist's lore page. The section where people are encouraged to debate and theorize. I believe it's fair to say the moderator was overusing power to delete a subjective theory, then hid behind being a moderator to justify it. This is not how you should run a wiki, which is presenting itself as an objective source of information.
And the Mary thing I have 0 words for beyond a willful lack of understanding regarding the IDENTITY system, with no attempt to engage with the suggestion proposed that Mary and Frederick should be listed as different people, due to Mary not being Frederick's true Hunter Swap.
Ultimately it's usual Fandom Wiki issues. Not even the strongest one, for those who know about the Silent Hill Wiki Circumcision Drama (attached is a popular video essay on the subject; I don't agree with all of it but it's a good summary).
I respect the Fandom Wiki in many ways and have edited it myself. I thank them for being a useful source for JP Twitter, Weibo, and other IDV-important websites. But it doesn't remove the fundamental problems with Fandom, the inaccurate/arbitrary decisions on lore information, and behavior of the moderators. This is not how you should run something that's trying to be an objective source of information.
The unfortunate thing is, unlike many other games, there's no alternatives for NAEU fans. There's no wiki gg, there's no dot wiki. There's nothing.
To highlight the frustration, let me show you screenshots from the Limbus Company wiki and the Hollow Knight wiki, both of which forked from Fandom.
Look at the citations on the Hollow Knight page. Look at the expansiveness of the background, the personality, the story for Limbus. Both of these pages come from Silksong and a 2025 update to Limbus Company for reference. Now go to a character released in 2024-2025 in IDV and compare. Whether from a reference angle like Hollow Knight or a quantity angle like Limbus Company, they pale in comparison.
The only reason I continue to use the Fandom wiki here is a lack of alternatives. If you have to use it, do not trust any information that is not a primary source. Anything that isn't directly from the game or the IDV social medias, such as nationality, status, compiled overview, theories and conclusions, or even trivia should be treated with caution.
You know what? This blog isn't controversial enough, so time to throw a grenade in the water.
I find it very fascinating how, and this isn't exclusive to IDV, readings of IDV often feature what I like to call "Systemic Scapegoat Syndrome," where one character is declared the enactor of all bad deeds, so that the reader doesn't have to confront the idea that their favorite character is capable of systemic harm, or that harm is not always intentional and individual.
You can see this very well with characters such as Philippe, Orpheus, Keigan, and others unmentioned. Notably characters who often look "unattractive" as Hunters because The Halo Effect never dies. The individual actions of these characters (Philippe's physiognomy and its effects on Patricia, Luca, and Amanda/Dogma; Keigan's corruption of the justice system; Orpheus' vengeance quest) outweigh any commentary the text is trying to offer on the systems that hardened such characters in the first place.
What is the reason for highlighting Philippe's mother was likely killed by Richard Sterling, an attractive changeling in a wealthy white household, but Philippe focused on crimes supposedly conducted by poc and disabled people? What is the reason why Keigan felt the only way to retain power in society was disfigurement and corruption, and why is she placed in opposition to Edmund Reed? What are the systemic circumstances that lead Orpheus to having such a cynical outlook on the nature of humanity?
But assuming that a character like Orpheus' biases are the source of discomfort is much more palatable than admitting, say, that Mike Morton is enacting misogyny towards Margaretha Zelle.
From a horror perspective, it’s a shame. Gothic is so interested in the horrors of system, while cosmic fears an uncaring system, and for neither to be acknowledged is lacking. I suspect this is the source of the common complaint that “there’s no focus on horror” in IDV. It’s not bloody, but it’s much more disturbing.
But these readers want to be scared, not uncomfortable.
This has been a crack theory floating in my mind for some time, but with recent evidence, such as Demi's Sixth Letter, I wanted to bring it up. I'm uncertain how much I believe in it, but it's there and I want to bring it up.
The theory revolves around Orpheus being an illegitimate child of Dennis DeRoss.
I recommend you read this analysis of mine so I don't have to repeat my historical sources. I first floated the theory here, but hadn't considered it in depth.
Circumstances
We know very little about when Dennis and Mrs. DeRoss married, when the Blanches and the DeRosses met, and other factors, and some of the information is contradictory. We do know that, at the very least, the Blanches knew the DeRosses for quite some time (Burke deductions, Alice Third Letter, etc).
We also know that Orpheus is older than Alice, by either 3 years (according to their character file ages) or 6 years (according to the Anniversary Package Backstory). Assuming Dennis didn't have any extramarital affairs, this still gives time for Dennis to have met Mrs. Blanche and have had an affair with her before marrying Mrs. DeRoss and having Alice.
Physical Appearance
As time has gone on, Orpheus has been redesigned to look more like Dennis DeRoss over Mr. Blanche.
Note the height difference between Mr. Blanche and Dennis. Mr. Blanche is almost the same height as Mrs. DeRoss, Dennis is half a head taller than either of them.
Orpheus is a head taller than Alice DeRoss.
Facially, Orpheus also resembles Dennis and Mrs. Blanche over Mr. Blanche facially and body proportions. Mr. Blanche is a short, stout man, with a round face and strong body. His nose is wider and shorter than Dennis DeRoss' nose. Orpheus' features along more with Dennis', with an eye shape that looks like a mixture between Dennis and Mrs. Blanche's eyes.
The only feature I'd say Orpheus has that looks more like Mr. Blanche's features are his thicker brows, but I find it interesting how little Orpheus resembles him. Especially in IDV, which follows the "identical children" use of fiction, where sons look more like their fathers and daughters their mothers.
For example, compare Alice DeRoss, who has her mother's facial features, but her father's hair. Brynhildr looks like her mother, Lagertha II Vilulf, Marcus Throne shares the jaw-shape of his implied biological father Whittaker. Orpheus is an exception.
But he does resemble a brunette version of Dennis.
Detective looks more like Mr. Blanche than his ToR and AoM redesigns do, but it's hard to say whether this is Watsonian (signifying how depressed Detective is; seeing himself as one of the people he feared most), or this is Doylist (the human models were very rough in 2018).
Regardless, it bothers me.
Sam Bourbon
Sam Bourbon is one of the most important Orpheus parallels, since he is one of the individuals responsible for how Orpheus fell into a quest of vengeance in the first place. Sam also seems to have been in on the plot with Vilhelm Lamb to prevent Orpheus and Alice from reuniting, causing many, many problems in the timeline.
It's heavily implied in Demi's Sixth Letter that Demi and Sam share the same biological father. Even though Demi's father never appeared in her life, she was always well-provided for, and Sam was eventually sent as a ward to "take care" of Demi's mother (Demi Sixth Letter).
When you look at Demi and Sam's designs, in spite supposed being unrelated, they have similar features, such as beauty marks.
Note how both Bourbons have beauty marks on their lips.
Given how much Sam and Orpheus, Alice and Demi, are meant to parallel one another, with Alice and Demi both being experimented upon, struggling with psychiatric issues, and having unusual reactions to Delphi, it wouldn't be surprising if Orpheus shares similarities to Sam that extend to their backstories.
Inspirations
One of Orpheus' major inspirations is Heathcliff, from Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff is a foundling adopted into Wuthering Heights by the Earnshaws, but the classism and racism he faces from his adoptive family hardens him, and he wishes to push his suffering onto the next generation, Like Heathcliff, Orpheus is known by one name (Orpheus), returned years later to the haunted estate he buys with wealth obtained from unknown means, and continues a generational cycle of violence.
Something considered between fans and critics of the novel, with no way to prove or disprove it, was that Heathcliff is Mr. Earnshaw's bastard. Oftentimes, claiming you found a random child and pitied them enough to pick them up and rechristen them was a generous way of excusing bastards without making a fuss. Of course, this was only possible if the elite both wanted the bastard and were able to convince (or force) the mother into "withdrawing" custody, as much as one could due to the lack of laws concerning adoption in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
It doesn't change Heathcliff's liminality in Wuthering Heights due to his racial, lower class, and adopted status, but the interpretation provides an additional messy facet into Heathcliff being a part of the estate, as much as characters like Hindley don't want him to be. It also makes his relationship with his adoptive sister Catherine Earnshaw more "scandalous" than their liminal relationship and Heathcliff's race and class provide. It's incredibly easy to map this onto Orpheus and Alice.
Additionally, Orpheus takes heavy inspiration from The Count of Monte Cristo, which features a wronged man going a lonely path of vengeance across decades under a count title he acquired. One of the pawns in the Count's plans is Benedetto, the bastard son of one of his enemies, Villefort, though he does not know this for some time.
Benedetto's personality doesn't align with Orpheus, most notably his willingness to harm his adoptive family, but Benedetto being set up as a member of the aristocracy as Andreas Cavalcanti to destroy his biological family, which brings to mind Orpheus' efforts to reclaim Oletus Manor (like Dantès) being added by the aristocracy of IDV. Orpheus seems like a combination of Edmond Dantès/The Count and Benedetto and Benedetto's arc has to have his illegitimacy to make sense.
(Alexandre Dumas, the creator of the Count, had many illegitimate children himself.)
Dennis, Mrs. DeRoss, and Vilhelm Lamb could potentially be based off Lord Byron, Lady Caroline Lamb, and Lord Melbourne. Caroline had an affair with Byron while married to Lord Melbourne. Considering Dennis shares traits with Byron, such as a profound fascination with Ancient Greek mythology, the possibility Dennis is inspired by Byron must be noted.
Lady Caroline and Lord Byron's affair wasn't the only one the latter (or the former) had. Lord Byron was rather infamous for the many affairs and illegitimate children he produced. If Dennis is based off Byron, it would be surprising to not include the source of his infamous reputation.
Implications
The possibility of Orpheus being a bastard puts new meaning on his choice of (pen) name: "orphan." More-so than an orphan, a bastard was a child of nobody. While the orphan could be a victim of circumstance, the bastard was a failure from conception. Societal structures designed to uphold a strict transfer of material could not account for the problems illegitimate children provided.
Historically, bastard children were at significant risk of being murdered or abused by their caretakers. Most of the time, this was at the hands at the parents with "custody," such as the biological mother and her spouse. In elite situations, bastards were also at risk of being killed by their sires. Snuffing out a potential problem.
Part of the reason why is bastards in the Victorian/Edwardian-era United Kingdom were considered to be under the sole custody of their mothers. Only they had a say as to the child's wellbeing (barring legal intervention), and if they lost custody, such as with death, the child would be thrust into the liminal space. Their existence was a mark of social failure on both their biological fathers and "custodial" fathers, who were unable to do much but violence against them, barring the rare cases of wholehearted adoption. Transferring the child was a mark of defeat.
When the state intervened, bastard children were placed in workhouses to become "functional" laborers of society. In reality, this was often way to indenture bastard children as servants to be abused, with many dying of neglect or abuse in this position.
Because of all the above, bastards were often pushed towards unscrupulous lives, so that they could get around the societal barriers placed towards their existence. Many illegitimate children across history have sought to overcome their unfortunate circumstances by any means necessary.
So how does any of this apply to Orpheus?
For starters, it provides a new nuance to why Mr. Blanche and Mrs. Blanche helped orchestrate the Manor Massacre. For Mrs. Blanche, the DeRosses having greater concern about the bastard child than herself would've been aggravating (especially if Dennis and Mrs. Blanche could recall the liaison), and her tuberculosis meant that Orpheus was on the verge of becoming "free real estate" for the DeRosses to rechristen. Dennis would've left her in a socially compromising situation with no cost to himself, but all the cost to her.
Mr. Blanche, likewise, would see Dennis with extreme hostility. Dennis (and Orpheus) represent a threat to Mr. Blanche's position in society, one that Dennis, an aristocrat, can shrug off, but would make Mr. Blanche the laughing stock. It's possible he took out said anger on Mrs. Blanche for "betraying" him and Orpheus for being the product. It's possible Mrs. Blanche also blamed Orpheus. Note in Bonbon's Fourth Deduction, Burke notes Orpheus seems desperate to take the blame for any of the Blanches' bad actions. It's very possible this was a defense mechanism.
You might notice the lack of sentimentality regarding Orpheus. This is the sad reality of the bastards abused or murdered in this time period. They were pieces of property to be argued about. The Blanche effort to preserve their "family" wouldn't come from a sense of love, but from an effort to protect their social status. Note how Orpheus was almost murdered in the Oletus Manor Massacre and appears to have been a deliberate target. Orpheus surviving the Oletus Manor Massacre just meant that this "property" wasn't damaged by someone with an excuse to damage him. If they wanted to privately dispose of him, it would be far easier with the DeRosses out of the way.
Regardless of whether Orpheus was abandoned by the Blanches (as suggested by Burke, Bonbon, and Orpheus' Letters) or ran away from the Blanches (As Alice's informant suggests), he would've been in an easy position to be dropped into a workhouse. This would've positioned him as a "ward," much like Sam Bourbon, but unlike Sam, he did not have connections to wealth. Not unless he clawed them back himself.
Bastards were notoriously difficult to track as well, due to their complicated legal status. This could explain why Frye Reed and Alice's informant have such difficulty trying to locate Orpheus over the years. If there were already few records of Orpheus' existence, due to his liminal status, then it would be like trying to catch an echo. It could also tie to the many names Orpheus has. Bastards can only be "freed" of said status with rechristening, and Orpheus has to give himself one, due to his "twice-orphaned" status.
There's nothing in text that can directly prove or disprove this theory. It's entirely circumstantial.
Still, it's an interesting addition to the themes of family and society in Identity V, and brings food for thought.
