= PROJECT MOON LORE GUIDE =
(I've posted a guide like this on Steam, but I figure it couldn't hurt to put an updated version on Tumblr, too. Also, a warning: This post is going to be very, *very* long.)
Hello, current Project Moon fandom and future/want-to-be fans!
Do you enjoy Limbus Company but don't know how to get into the other games and media to appreciate the greater lore of the series? Do you not actually have the money, time, or patience to endure a brutally punishing (and sometimes even janky) roguelike management sim, deckbuilder, or gacha game because we live in a capitalistic hellworld like the one this very series criticizes? Struggle with getting access to supplementary materials due to controversies and language barriers?
(Pictured: PM Twitter and the Limbus Steam Forums, on any given day. Seriously, what is wrong with some of you people.)
And especially important: hate how Reddit and Steam are full of dudebro coomers who are openly hostile to F2P, non-day one players who might grapple with all the previous issues on top of being more invested in story than waifus?
Then read on under the cut!
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This guide contains a comprehensive list of resources for you to be able to enjoy the Project Moon series to its fullest, including links to wikis, playlists, and more. Even if you can't play the games, I personally think those who can actually appreciate the series shouldn't be gatekept from the truly fantastic story and world that the games hold. Except Canto 6, we don't talk about Canto 6.
AND AN IMPORTANT REMINDER: THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS FOR CERTAIN PARTS OF THE SERIES, AND PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THE CONTENT WARNINGS BEFORE YOU GET INTO ANYTHING HERE! This is a very dark series that tackles and shows very heavy topics and content!
For those who can't read the text on the image, some of the common trigger warnings for this series includes:
Animal Cruelty
Drug Use
References to Alcohol and Tobacco
Injury and Dismemberment
Homicide and Suicide
Violence and Torture
Cannibalism
Kidnapping, Abduction, and Captivity
Psychosis
Diseases, Seizure, and Dyspnoea (aka shortness of breath)
Familial Homicide and Domestic Violence
Reference to Clowns (Coulrophobia)
Themes of Occultism and Spiritualism
Audiovisual Depictions of Gore
Uses of Sharp and Pointed Objects
Hospital and Medical References
References to Gaslighting and Bullying
Body Modification and/or Deformation
Flashing Lights (Photosensitivity)
Disorientation Induced by a Shaking Camera
Strong Language and Demeaning Words
Reference to Traffic Accidents
Uses of Guns and Instruments of Violence
Discriminatory Violence
Religious Torture and Violence
Enforced Ideology and/or Actions
War and Mass Conflict
Anyway, if all that didn't scare you off, on to the guide!
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=WIKIS:
When in doubt, there's always the wikis for being references and useful sources, from gameplay to story elements!
>>Cogitopedia - A WIP wiki run by members of the community, working on adding in-depth content for all of the games and supplementary materials.
>>LobCorp Fandom Wiki - Has data on every abnormality, including inaccessible ones and cut ones (such as Price of Silence).
>>LobCorp Wiki.gg - It only took eighty-four years, but we FINALLY have a LobCorp wiki no longer on Fandom! Rid yourself of the ads and bloat!
>>Library of Ruina Wiki - Has relevant character and world lore from key pages, and also has cut content like the CGs from the original planned ending.
>>Limbus Wiki.gg - Has ID Uptie stories and info about Mirror Dungeon encounters. (DO NOT USE THE LIMBUS FANDOM WIKI, IT HAS BEEN ABANDONED/VANDALIZED.)
>>Namu Wiki - Korean language wiki that has quite a bit of potential information. (Potential only in that I myself do not speak Korean to be able to verify it, and machine translation is never as good as the real thing. Use with caution!)
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=LITERARY SOURCES AND REFERENCES:
I've had enough of people with no standards or media literacy calling me an idiot for having, you know. Standards and media literacy. Listen, if you are GOING to base your games off of works of classical literature, I expect you to exhibit a basic understanding of the themes of that literature. Project Moon used to excel in this, but as of late KJH has shown that he is apparently able to be bullied and bought off by illiterate incels if they throw enough money and temper tantrums at him.
Still, as I'd rather people read and stop saying dumb shit as a whole (like "Canto 6 was so peak"), here is a list of known media and material that's relevant to Project Moon's worldbuilding and lore in one way or another. If you partake of even a fraction of this list and comprehend it properly, then congrats, you are already more educated on PM's lore than the average poster on the Steam Forums or Twitter, because as we all know: the average PM fans cannot and do not read.
PROJECT MOON UNIVERSE AS A WHOLE:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Jewish Kabbalah as referenced by the Tanakh, Midrash, and halakha (more specifically the aspects of the Kabbalistic Trees of Life and Death, as well as the meanings of Sephirah)
Christian Bible (more specifically the aspects of the Mark of Cain, and the Book of Revelations - especially in regards to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse)
Knowledge of traditional Korean culture (in particular aspects associated with the Joseon era)
Knowledge of art history (specifically various schools of art such as Pointillism and Fauvism, their styles, their leaders such as Henri Matisse, and the meaning behind their movements and artwork)
Knowledge of Greek mythology (specifically in regards to the structure of the Underworld and the rivers found there, the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice as set down by Virgil in Georgics, and of the Greek god Hermes)
Knowledge of Norse mythology (specifically in regards to Yggdrasil the world tree, and various godly artifacts - such as the spear Gungnir)
Knowledge of Buddhism (specifically in regards to the Preta spirit and the concept of Śūnyatā)
LOBOTOMY CORPORATION:
The Little Match Girl, The Red Shoes, The Snow Queen, and The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen
Beauty and The Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Under the Cherry Trees by Motojirō Kajii
Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber and Friedrich Kind
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
Alarune by Hanns Heinz Ewers
Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault
Snow White as collected by the Brothers Grimm
The Firebird as collected by Alexander Afanasyev
The Thing by John Carpenter
Knowledge of a very specific Korean messageboard urban legend regarding Welch's grape juice
Knowledge of Jungian concepts (specifically in regards to the collective unconscious theory)
Knowledge of Japanese mythology (specifically in regards to the Baku)
Knowledge of Taoism (specifically in reference to the concepts of Yin and Yang)
WONDERLAB:
The Adventures of Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Rapunzel as collected by the Brothers Grimm
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Revolutionary Girl Utena by Kunihiko Ikuhara
LIBRARY OF RUINA:
Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto
The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Nosferatu (NOTE: The entity encountered in Ruina is apparently meant to reference the 1922 film by F.W. Murnau originally, but I'd argue you can watch the 2024 Robert Eggers version, since it is near-identical in content and also a good film.)
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Town Musicians of Bremen as collected by the Brothers Grimm
Knowledge of tarot and the major arcana
Knowledge of astrology
DISTORTION DETECTIVE:
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Ozymandias by Percy Shelley
Knowledge of Egyptian mythology (specifically in reference to the goddess Wadjet and the Eye of Horus)
LIMBUS COMPANY:
DO NOT open your mouth about any goddamn aspect of Sinner lore or Limbus' story until you have proven you have read and understood, AT MINIMUM, any of the books on the main list here.
CORE TEXTS:
The Divine Comedy by Dante Aligheri
The Wings by Yi Sang
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Hell Screen by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
L'Etranger/The Stranger by Albert Camus
Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (READ IT. THEN READ IT AGAIN UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND THAT CANTO 6 IS DOGSHIT. NO, WATCHING EMERALD FENNEL'S RACIST MOVIE ADAPTION DOES NOT COUNT. READ THE BOOK.)
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Demian by Hermann Hesse
The Odyssey by Homer
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
SUPPLEMENTAL MEDIA:
Knowledge of Korean history during Japanese occupation and the Guinhoe/League of Nine literary circle
A Day In The Life of Kubo The Novelist by Park Taewon
The Mud Hut and The Cow by Yoo Chi-Jin
The Camellias by Gim Yujeong
The Sick Rose by Yi Heoseok
The Sea and The Butterfly by Kim Kirim
The Man of La Mancha and I, Don Quixote by Dan Wasserman and co.
The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
The Iliad by Homer
Momo by Michael Ende
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
And Then There Were None, Murder On The Orient Express, and The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie
Water Margin by Shi Nai'an
Book of Rites by Confucius
Knowledge of Gnosticism (specifically in regards to the concept of Abraxas)
Knowledge of Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise
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=LOBOTOMY CORPORATION:
Summary: Lobotomy Corporation is the first game in the series. It is a roguelike management sim where you play as "Manager X", tasked with handling employees and various monsters known as Abnormalities in order to generate daily quotas of a power source substance known as Enkephalin and a mysterious "Seed of Light" project. You are aided by an alleged team of AIs known as the Sephirot, and your very own personal assistant AI, Angela. It's often been likened to "anime SCP Foundation."
This is the game where everything begins, and without it, we wouldn't have the plot of Limbus (or anything else for that matter). This is where the Golden Boughs come from, this is where Abnormalities come from, this is even where Distortions come from - but we're getting ahead of ourselves on that front.
>>This playlist will allow you to watch all the cutscenes from the game, in order, for the canon ending.
All story cutscenes from Lobotomy Corporation.
>>This video also has the cutscenes, albeit not in order, HOWEVER, it does have the alternate, non-canon endings A and B (which are timestamped in the link for convenience).
>>WordsmithVids (also on YouTube) also has what is generally considered to be the most popular summary of the game.
(NOTE: Some people disagree with WordsmithVids and his interpretations of some of the characters as well as his content being "meme-y," so I advise you to watch at your own discretion and draw your own conclusions. That being said, if people have better recommendations, please send them to me instead of just complaining and bitching without offering solutions like that one guy on Steam did, thank you.)
>>This site contains transcripts/text of the entire game, albeit not in order like the cutscene playlist. It also has WIP sections for EGO weapons, gear, and other useful info.
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=WONDERLAB:
Summary: Wonderlab was a webcomic by the artist MIMI/Whitezombies, originally posted on the Project Moon Postype account. It follows the adventures of several employees - often called "nuggets" in fan parlance - Catt, Taii, and Rose, in a Lobotomy Corporation branch facility as they go about their day to day activities.
This webcomic was taken down after the Summer 2023 Incel Controversy, when incels stormed the Project Moon office in Korea and made enough credible threats that the former Limbus CG artist known as Vellmori was fired, and it is currently part of a second conflict over copyright. However, primarily for archival and personal reference purposes, the comic has been saved and rehosted in several forms.
>>Internet Archive version. This has just the comic in an on-site readable format.
>>A backup archive on Google Drive. This features the individual pages, a downloadable .zip of the archive, and a readable Google Docs version.
For those who may have ethical concerns about downloading a webcomic that was pulled due to controversy (understandable), once again, >>WordsmithVids has a summary.
(NOTE: This is NOT the place to discuss either the Summer 2023 incel controversy *or* the current (Summer 2024) copyright conflict. There are far better places to do that with people who are far better informed on the topic than I am. This post is solely for providing references and archives of lore material to help guide people into this series. DO NOT attempt to bring up the controversies here, I will not be acknowledging them outside of mentioning why certain supplementary materials may have been pulled and have had to be mirrored. I am just an archivist, not a lawyer or discourser.)
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=LIBRARY OF RUINA:
Summary: Library of Ruina takes place some months after the events of Lobotomy Corporation. A "Grade 9 Fixer" known as Roland finds his way into the mysterious, tower-like Library that has sprung up in place of the former main facility of L Corp, where he encounters Angela and the other Sephirot (all now Librarians). He begins assisting her in finding "the perfect book", which involves enticing people to come to the library through the sending out of curious invitations.
Now, unfortunately, there is not a playlist that splits up the cutscenes or puts them in order for Ruina.
>>These two videos have them all in compilation.
HOWEVER. A wonderful and dear friend of mine (@citroncynique <3) has allowed the guide they sent me to be reproduced/copied.
>>As such, there is a guide on how to watch the cutscenes in the order that makes the most sense, utilizing the timestamps of the previous two videos. It is not a perfect system, but it works at least.
>>There is also a written transcript archive for Ruina, by the same person who did the one for LobCorp, which also includes useful info regarding things like cards and keypages as well.
>>WordsmithVids also has at least two summary vids out.
However, due to financial issues at last update, he has not been able to continue his summary of Ruina. I am including them regardless. >>As well as his Patreon in case people want to support him in hopes of making it easier for him to work on the vids again.
>>There is also an almost FOUR HOUR LONG video essay that delves into Angela's character specifically after the events of LobCorp and Ruina. It is not required viewing like the rest of the materials here, however, I think it still deserves a mention just for the amount of effort and care that went into it.
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=DISTORTION DETECTIVE:
Summary: Taking place at roughly the same time as Library of Ruina, two Fixers known as Ezra and Moses and an N Corp. Taboo Hunter known as Vespa investigate the Distortion Phenomenon that is rapidly starting to spread across the City after the events of the previous games.
Originally released as a webnovel on Project Moon's Postype, Distortion Detective has 42 chapters and is technically incomplete/on hiatus. Project Moon, surprised at how popular the webnovel was, decided they wanted to potentially make an entire game based on the story. As of this writing, that has not happened (yet) but at least one character from the novel has appeared in Limbus Company, so there is still hope yet.
>>The DD series in its original form on Postype. This version was posted chapter-by-chapter, on Project Moon's Postype account and is (as of this writing, at least) still readable there.
>>A backup archive on Google Drive. This has the entire webnovel in a single document format (both Docs and downloadable PDF) featuring NishikujiC's official chapter illustrations up to Ch. 26, and includes the now-cut comic adaption of Ch. 19 by the artist Monggeu/koug99.
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=LEVIATHAN:
(Lord, this one. Like it wasn't a big enough pain in the ass already.)
Summary: After the events of Library of Ruina, and operating as a direct prequel to Limbus Company, Leviathan follows the Color Fixer Vergilius (aka the Red Gaze) as he grapples with his own personal traumas and comes into conflict with the Ring Syndicate, before being recruited as a guide for the LCB.
Leviathan originally started as a webcomic by Monggeu/koug99. Health issues with the artist resulted in the comic being discontinued and turned into a webnovel, whose translation was never completed and had to later be finished by fans. The comic portion has since been taken down as of the Summer 2024 copyright conflict and controversy, much like Wonderlab was. Once again, however, this has been mirrored for archival and reference purposes.
>>Original source of Leviathan on Postype. Due to the copyright conflict and the translation hiatus, the only chapters available are Ch. 12-15. The link is still included for posterity reasons and just in case the copyright conflict results in the chapters being restored.
>>A backup archive on Google Drive. This link includes the comic chapters, as well as the SnakeskinFS English fan translations for the last five chapters that were never completed, all in PDF form.
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=LIMBUS COMPANY:
Summary: After all the events of the previous games, a mysterious up and coming business known as Limbus Company has taken it upon themselves to send a group composed of 12 "Sinners" and their mysterious clock-headed Manager Dante to delve into the now-abandoned L Corp facilities in search of mysterious artifacts known as Golden Boughs.
Finally we come to the end of the shrubbery maze. Limbus Company is the latest chapter in the currently unfolding story of Project Moon and the City, a gacha game being used to fund other projects under the company umbrella.
Many people, once again, have ethical concerns about patronizing a gacha game. I for one agree with them, even as one of those patrons.
>>This playlist features all of the cutscenes for each part of the game story released so far (up to Intervallo 6.5-2/Murder on the WARP Express as of this writing).
>>There is also this site, which operates as a pure datamined text archive of all the story content.
>>And this site, which has all the in-game Observation logs as told by the Sinners, about the Abnormalities and enemies encountered in-game.
A collection for easy access to observation logs of enemies & abnormalities in Limbus Company. Some entries are combined due to identical co
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=BONUS/SUPPLEMENTARY:
This section, liable to be updated at any given time, is for links to materials or fan-creations that don't necessarily fit with the strictly canonical story materials found in the games and webnovels themselves but which otherwise provide useful resources or analysis. Note that the vast majority of material here is supplementary and not required, but recommended.
(Except the literary sources. You will read those, and that is a threat. I can't take another Wings-forsaken illiterate opinion on Canto 6, I'm going to start Distorting and biting people if YOU PEOPLE DON'T READ THE DAMN SOURCE NOVELS.)
YouTubers and Video Essayists:
DMrLeeds - Although some of his videos are (comparitively) quite old, it can still provide a good jumping off point for anyone who is utterly lost on what's going on in Limbus.
hydrojoy's essay on Benjamin - In addition to Angela, hydrojoy also did an in-depth analysis on Benjamin, aka B, aka Hokma, from Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina and their impact on the story.
MetiNotTheBadGuy's PM Character Essays - Meti has done several excellent character breakdown videos on some of PM's most notable villains/characters, including Roland, Kromer, and Dongrang.
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=ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Citroncynique. For being a truly amazing artist, putting in the effort of making a watch guide for Ruina's cutscenes, and getting me into this series and ruining my life forever by jingling a bugman with PTSD in front of me (<3).
MIMI/Whitezombies, Monggeu/koug99, NishikujiC, and Vellmori. Although several of these artists have left PM and the community on bad terms, I still think their efforts should be appreciated and supported, now more than ever.
SnakeskinFS. For finishing Leviathan's English translation.
Folex, Bek, WordsmithVids, hydrojoy, and the Lobotomy Corporation Archive. For posting their cutscene and summary/analysis videos.
NeedsMoreDoge. The Steam user who provided the original guide and backup on how to read Leviathan that I myself utilized.
The less than pleasant members of the community who spurred me into making this guide in the first place, out of pure spite.
And of course, readers like you and those members of the community who make me so happy to be here and be a part of this fandom. Genuinely, thank you all, I have never felt as welcomed as I do in the Project Moon circles I run in.
In addition to the references included here, I recommend you get involved in your PM community as well! Join communities and Discords, support content creators on social sites, help contribute where it's needed and in whatever way you can! The best way to counteract the worst elements of any fandom is to be a guiding and helpful element in your own right.
Thank you all for reading, and I hope this guide helps you out!








