SHIFT 3 SPOILER WARNING ⚠️
About BB’s scar and family background
Has Laly ever confirmed that BB got his scar during his army years?
I don’t think she has, but please correct me if I’m wrong. If it has never been confirmed, I think there may be a stronger possibility that the scar happened much earlier.
Take all of this with a grain of salt because I could be completely wrong. Wall of text.
There are many details in BB’s way of speaking that make me think of this, but I can’t include everything because that would spoil his whole route. Also, Tumblr’s stoopid image limit won’t let me add that many screenshots, so y’all have to play it and find those details yourselves eh.
One reason I’m not fully convinced by my theory is that when MC asked BB what stayed with him the most, he said “my face.” I’m not sure if he meant his face was what stayed with him most from the army, or from his whole life. So I still can’t tell when he got his scar.
Laly said:
“I have no idea. xD People usually love characters with scars, but I don’t qualify BB’s scars as ‘good-looking’ scars. Part of his face is heavily damaged, he’s missing a piece of his ear (😏)… bro looks like he got eaten alive by dogs fr. But like his boss said, that whole physical appearance thing shouldn’t matter right? 😔”
That description makes the injury sound severe and animal like. His face was heavily damaged, and he lost part of an ear. Laly also said that he squints a lot and can’t wink. Lowk, maybe he just doesn’t know how to wink, but it could also be connected to the facial injury.
This is why I think the bear story might be more important than it first seems.
BB mentioned training with his dad when he was 7, and he also mentioned running away when he saw a bear. Even though MC pointed out that they live in a city, BB still reacted strongly to the idea. That could just be fear, but it could also suggest that the bear incident was traumatic. If he was attacked by a bear as a child, it would explain both his scars and why bears still affect him.
It could also explain why his dad saw him as a “failure.”
BB said that his family has different priorities from his. He also said that people care less about his first name and more about his last name because it carries weight. That makes me think his father’s side may come from a traditional military family, a highly religious family, or both. His family name may have status in Norway, while BB himself was expected to carry that reputation.
If he was injured during “training” with his dad, his dad may have viewed the incident as weakness instead of protecting him. BB’s scar could have become a visible reminder of what his family considered failure. That could be why he was pressured so much to live up to expectations afterwards.
Maybe his dad, brothers or both had important positions in the Norwegian military. If BB’s dad already saw him as a failure, he may not have wanted him in the Norwegian army. BB joining could have felt like proof that his dad failed to mould a “proper” soldier. BB did mention that he was much skinnier back then too.
Could that be why he said Norway army did not want him?
“Hey! Can you even lift a woman’s purse?”
The US Army may have been easier for him because nobody there knew his family name, his past or what happened to him. He could start over, even if he said it wasn’t easy.
That could also be why he doesn’t use his name much anymore. Maybe he doesn’t feel connected to it because it brings back memories of his family, expectations and trauma. Moving somewhere else may have made him feel like the weight of that name was finally lifted.
Maybe that’s also why he doesn’t correct people about his nationality or tell people his stories. He’s afraid that if he shares too much, people will recognize the details, connect the dots and figure out who he really is or where he comes from. Being mistaken as fully German might feel safer because it creates distance between him and the reputation attached to his Norwegian family name.
But he still prefers MC to call him W because his mom named him that. Maybe W is the part of his name that still feels like his own. Maybe his mom used to say it gently or affectionately, which is why he doesn’t completely hate it.
I don’t know what his relationship with his mom was like before. Based on what Laly said, it seems neutral now, but maybe they were once close and something caused them to grow apart. Or maybe she is no longer in the picture.
So maybe W is still a part of him, while M belongs to his dad, his brothers and the family legacy. It’s an overpowering name that feels unbalanced in his life and takes away his own identity. In Norway, he may have lived under the shadow of his dad and brothers instead of being allowed to be himself.
That could also explain why he said it wasn’t the first time people had mistaken his identity. Maybe he has a twin, or at least a brother who looks enough like him that people confuse them from behind. It could even be that people mistook him for his dad, but that seems less likely.
It could also explain BB’s discipline, uptight personality, and formal way of speaking. He was only in the army for four years and has been out for two years, but those habits still seem deeply ingrained in him. Maybe that’s because the military did not create those traits. It only reinforced habits that had already been drilled into him much earlier by his family, especially his dad.
If he grew up in a strict military or religious household, he may have been taught to speak carefully, control his emotions, follow rules and always be prepared. The army may have felt familiar to him because he had already been living under that kind of pressure long before he enlisted.
Also, BB has “The Sun Always Shines on TV” in his playlist. Could that song reflect his family’s public image? Maybe they look respectable, successful and glorious in the news or in public, while everything behind the scenes is rotten.
And could “The Unforgiven” be about his family, especially his dad? Maybe BB can’t forgive him for what he did, the pressure he put on him, or the life he forced him to live.
And the day that bear hurt him my fell on Sunday (Bloody Sunday)
And BB being O-negative makes this even more painful. If he was badly injured in a bear attack and lost a lot of blood, finding compatible blood quickly could have been difficult because O-negative is relatively rare. He may have come terrifyingly close to dying.
Imagine waking up after something like that, injured, scared and barely alive, only for his dad to look at him with disappointment instead of concern. Maybe his dad focused on what BB did wrong, lectured him, or treated the attack as proof that he was weak rather than recognizing that he was a child who had been seriously hurt.
That would be disgusting, ngl. It could explain why BB carries so much shame around failure and why he seems to believe he has to be useful, disciplined and strong all the time. If the person who was supposed to protect him responded to pain with disappointment, BB may have learned that being hurt was never enough to deserve care.
This might also explain why BB seems to live like he always needs to find a purpose. He may feel most useful when someone relies on him, like SLM. He said he can tolerate it, but when MC told him that he doesn’t always have to be that person and can rely on others too, he said that of course he does rely on others. Just not in the way MC meant.
Maybe BB only knows how to rely on people through duty, responsibility or being useful to them. If someone needs him, he has a role. He has something to do. Without that, he may not know who he is or what he is supposed to be doing.
Prime example: How does BB feel about being used as walking Blood Bag in his army days?
the thing is BB DOESNT think hes being used. in his mind, hes simply helping people who need him. but that doesnt mean hell blindly follow anyone! thats actually why i wrote the whole Paw Pizza scene, it clearly shows that BB chooses very carefully who he respects. if he believes someone isnt worthy of leading him or doesnt genuinely care about others, he wont give them that part of himself. his loyalty is unconditional once its earned but earning it is the hard part. and once someone earns that loyalty, hell often give far more of himself than he ever asks in return - Laly said, I quote
That could be why he enlisted in the US Army and wanted to continue. The military gave him structure, rules and a clear purpose. But maybe his sergeant eventually saw that BB had no real direction outside of being a soldier. Not because he was weak or incapable, but because he seemed lost and had no anchor in his own life.
Maybe his sergeant thought “This boy has no idea what he wants to do with his life.” Keeping someone like that in the military could be dangerous, especially if they are only staying because they have nowhere else to go. So maybe he let BB leave because he hoped BB would find a purpose that belonged to him, not one forced on him by his family or the army.
That could also be why his sergeant helped him get a job at Paw Pizza. Maybe BB did not have much experience outside of military training, discipline and survival. A normal job could have been a way for him to slowly build a life outside of the army and figure out who he is when nobody is telling him what his purpose should be.
Another thing that might connect to this is BB’s philosophy about “choosing the right leader to follow.”
If his dad was a commander, and his leadership caused BB harm, ignored his needs or contradicted everything a good leader should be, then it makes sense that BB would have such a strong opinion about leadership. Maybe he grew up under someone who expected obedience but offered no care, protection or guidance in return.
That could be why BB eventually left and decided he needed to find the right leader for himself. He may not hate structure or following orders. In fact, he seems to need structure. What he rejects is blindly following someone just because they have authority. He knows firsthand that someone can have power, status and a respected name while still being a terrible person to follow.
It could also connect to the way he talked about the hat. Even when it was dirty, he said it only needed to be wiped off and it would still be good to use.
Maybe that is how he sees himself.
In his family, he may have been treated as a failure, but not fully discarded. They may have kept him around as someone useful enough to have nearby, but not important enough to truly value. Like a side character, an outsider or something patched together that can still serve a purpose when needed.
Maybe BB thinks that even if he is damaged, scarred, or “dirty” in other people’s eyes, he can still be useful. He can still work. He can still follow orders. He can still have a purpose.
That is sad because it suggests he may measure his worth through usefulness rather than believing he deserves care simply because he is a person.
Why I think BB may have been close to his mom before
I think BB may have had a closer relationship with his mom when he was younger because she might have understood the pressure he was under.
If his dad really was controlling, authoritarian and obsessed with the family legacy, then his mom may have been living under that same pressure as his wife. She may have known exactly how strict he could be and how much he would try to impose his beliefs and expectations on BB.
Maybe she saw what was coming but felt powerless to stop it.
That could be why she named him W and had him watch war documentaries from an early age. It may not have been because she wanted to push him toward the military. Maybe she was trying to prepare him for the kind of life his dad was going to force on him. If she could not protect him directly, teaching him about war, discipline and survival might have been the only protection she knew how to give.
Maybe W was also her way of giving him something that belonged to her, something softer and more personal than the identity his dad wanted to force onto him.
If she had little influence in the family, she may have been expected to support the family image rather than challenge her husband openly. In a household built around status, authority and legacy, she may not have had much room to speak up about important decisions or defend her children.
That could explain why BB may still have complicated feelings about her. He might remember her as someone who cared about him, but also as someone who could not stop what happened to him.
I also mentioned earlier that BB’s family could be heavily religious. If that’s true, then why does BB seem to have no preference when it comes to religion now?
Maybe he doesn’t want anything that reminds him of his past life. If religion was tied to his family’s expectations to uphold their legacy, then distancing himself from it could be another way of distancing himself from them.
That might be why he deflected when MC asked whether it bothered him that he had no burial arrangements. Maybe it does bother him, but he doesn’t want to talk about it. Or maybe he genuinely feels detached from the idea of a religious burial because he left that part of his life behind.
I asked a friend from a Catholic family about it, and they said that someone in BB’s position might feel like they don’t deserve a proper burial in their religion anymore. Not necessarily because the religion itself says that, but because the person may carry shame, guilt or the belief that they have lost their honor.
Maybe BB feels like he walked away from the life his family wanted for him, so he no longer has a place in that world. Or maybe he believes that he failed his family, his faith or the identity they forced on him. That could be why he seems so indifferent about burial arrangements, even if the subject may hurt more than he lets on.
Obviously, this is only a theory, but the bear story, the scar, his reaction to bears, the weight of his last name and his distance from Norway all feel connected to me.
Oh, and Idk if Laly used the real calendar for the game’s setting, but I checked the 2007 - 2008 and 2009 calendars, and the game dates seem to be one day behind the real life.
For example, October 12 2009, falls on a Monday in real life but on a Sunday in the game (RJ work shift). BB’s employee ID says January 14 2008. In real life, that date was a Sunday, but in the game timeline, it would be a Monday, which makes more sense as a work start date.
We know BB worked at Paw Pizza in 2007, but we don’t know exactly when he left. My assumption is that he met RB on the same night he got jumped by 10 guys while delivering (HERE is my 1st theory). If he quit the next day, or within a week, then he may have been unemployed for around 2 weeks or more before starting at the garage.
If he started at the garage on January 14 2008, that would place him leaving Paw Pizza sometime in late December 2007.
BB said he got jumped at 1am on a Friday. The last Friday of 2007 in real life was December 28, but if the game calendar is one day behind, then the last Friday in the game would be December 27.
And BB’s lucky number is 27. RB’s suit also has 27 on it.
Maybe I’m looking way too deeply into this, and I could be completely wrong, so please don’t take it too seriously.