A theory I heard once about the upcoming survivor Kai/The Prodigy. Could he really be Robbie? It sounds crazy, and probably is, since it seems pretty clear Robbie was decapitated. And yet they seem like weirdly similar characters as well. First compare their appearances, both are wearing overalls and one sock, and on top of that their designs are mirrored as well. Robbie wears his sock on his left foot, while Kai wears his on his right. Kai's overalls have a tear above his right knee that's been patched, Robbie's overalls have a tear over his left knee. Additionally, both have a rodent motif, though subtle in Robbie's case, but in his concept art it's said Robbie's sack head is filled with mice. Mice are heavily connected to Kai, through his former pet Lambda and his (possibly fake?) origin of being a lab rat. Then you compare their lore. In Behold the Vilulf, Opal and Fifl seem strangely connected, both working in similar roles and associated with yellow flowers. Fifl gives Brynhildr a opal gemstone before Opal himself shows up. Fiona even notes the coincidental nature of that and believes Opal was imaginary because of it. From what we know of Kai, he was an adopted orphan to take part in this scheme to "shock the scientific community". He lied about having brain surgery to become a genius. Before then, he had always spent his time pretending to be a fool. Robbie was seen as being unintelligent by the other orphans, and his crybaby nature got him out of hard work. There's a connection to be drawn also from Robbie's decapitation and Kai's faked brain surgery as well. Then there's Robbie's costumes, strongly implying there's more depth to him than he lets on. It's a frequent theme that he's smarter than he looks, is often in a position of servitude and is torn between loyalties, which doesn't seem to crop up in his lore itself--(apart from his deduction "Conscience", which implies either Robbie or Dolores doubted their own morality)--but fits with what we know of Kai, as a servant of Svik's who is seemingly helping Brynhildr. The summer event this year dropped even more implications, due to outright stating Robbie is incredibly intelligent and only pretends to be childish, and his name in the event on top of things is even Kaimana. It's weird to think about because Robbie was seemingly beheaded right in front of Dolores, and otherwise it's hard to imagine him abandoning her in the asylum, and on top of that Bryn seemingly kills Opal at the end of her event. Still, can't help but notice how things seem to be lining up between them...
That is quite interesting.
On one hand, we do have some characters from the Vilulf story that happen to look identical to a playable character, notably Hvittungl Vilulf and Frederick Kreiburg, down to skin disorders.
On the other hand, Behold the Viluf's storyline is heavily connected to time and space, with 2025 as an IDV year focusing on time loops (such as the Echoes of the Summer event). Two of the gods tied to Behold the Vilulf- Aforgomon/Yog-Sothoth and Hastur (sometimes the same god)- are tied to time powers. So saying there's zero chance Kai and Robbie are somehow the same being or come from the same root is improbable.
Additionally, even if characters aren't each other, they could be heavily associated with each other either thematically or chronologically. To bring back a previous example, Hvittungl and Frederick are deliberately tied together. Both have a bird motif, both are revelatory figures, both were discriminated against for ill health and skin conditions, both are on the fine line being helpful and malevolent, and other similarities.
So, let's compare Kai and Robbie even more, shall we?
Robbie and Kai both have wilderness motifs, but in very different ways. According to Robbie's concept art, he took inspiration from folk horror in the USA, which is heavily tied to ghosts and the wilderness. As a ghost, Robbie is seemingly tethered to the cut down juniper tree and his axe, two items associated with forest. As I mentioned in my first overview of Kai, he is seemingly based off stories of wildlings and foundlings, similar to Murro. More specifically, Kai seems to be an exploration of efforts to "civilize" foundlings who were neurodivergent, while oftentimes giving them false stories how they were raised by beasts, with their disabilities being portrayed as the effects of an Edenic simpleness they could be "civilized" out of nature, some final score in mankind against the wilderness. Kai seemingly appears to be a subversion of it, faking being a prodigy for Dr. Arne. His connections to this pure wilderness are entirely farcical. In a way, that perfectly foils Robbie, who, while having some connections through camping, only became tied to the wilderness due to human cruelty, his headless spirit now one with the trees, searching for his sister he cannot reunite with. At their cores, both of their "associations" with wilderness are because of human actions, which connects, too, to Murro being an artificial wildling, neglected for Bernard's greed.
Speaking of this, it ties into the themes of disability for Kai and Robbie. It's very likely that, similar to the foundlings he's attempting to mimic, Kai is autistic or neurodivergent in some form, but is exaggerating then down-playing his disabilities to appeal to the neurotypical, abled people he relies on for food and shelter. This ties into how disability is featured in the "Performer" archetype in IDV; characters exaggerate or downplay their disabilities to survive. Orpheus, Alice, and Frederick, for example, downplay their disabilities. The Will Brothers and Violetta play up their disabilities. It depends on what they were rewarded for, but it heavily affects the performer. I think we can already see how it affects Kai via his expression. He looks irritated, almost burnt out, with exhausted eyes and tense hands. I wouldn't be shocked if either his act was exposed or he accepted the invitation to Oletus in an effort to escape. As for Robbie, Robbie was notable for being compassionate towards the disabled, such as his relationship with Steve from the candy shop. Robbie and Dolores were accepted into White Sand because of Ozzy/Veronica whose face was seemingly burnt in the Colosseum collapse (Robbie Seventh Letter). Dolores also became disabled, either as an intentional mutilation by the staff or from an accident through neglect, with Robbie's support of her becoming her metaphorical "other arm," and her taking up his axe in vengeance representing being alone (Robbie Third Letter). Robbie also took medication at White Sand, but what was the medication for is unknown. It's possible that he genuinely needed it, but it's equally possible it was used to try and quiet Robbie's distress over his family (Robbie Second Letter).
I'd also like to talk about the theme of compassion between Robbie and Kai. Robbie's defining feature is his compassion towards others. He's fond of wildlife, he's worried about his sister, he befriends Ernest and Steve. His death wouldn't have happened if he had tried to escape alone, but he wanted to save his sister (Robbie Sixth Letter). Robbie wants to help others out, with is part of the tragedy of Dolores taking up the axe to avenge him. Whether it's due to Robbie's ghost being corrupted by undeath, Dolores thinking it's what he would want, or something in-between, the contrast with Robbie's sensitivity towards his own feelings and the feelings of others with the violence in the aftermath of his death is tragic. Versus Kai who, out of survival, has to exploit people's feelings about him to survive. This is due to his "Performance" motif, but it contrasts with Robbie's sincerity. Opal, one of the two characters he seemingly bears similarities to, also aids Brynhildr, even though Bryn kills him and the other islanders at the end of Behold the Vilulf. This ties into a similar theme of a character's act of compassion causing their demise, such as Kurt thanking Naib or Emily trusting Riley. Both tie back into Orpheus and Alice trusting the Blanches, at the costs of the DeRosses' lives. There is a strong likelihood that Kai trusts Bryn or sacrifices himself for her, reinforcing the theme.
There's more I could go into, but you've already pointed it out yourself, and we're awaiting information on Kai's story. Hopefully we'll find out more soon.
