Do you know who Player could be?
For the first time, I'll be doing a complete analysis of Poppy Playtime, gathering information and analyzing it down to the smallest detail. I want to explain why I believe Richard Lovitz's character is the true protagonist, emphasizing everything Mob has left behind, including the Fortnite notes that few people analyze in depth.
I also try to speculate on how Rich might be hiding something else, and how Player's guilt in the game could be because he's one of the conspirators at Playtime Co...
Okay, let's start from the beginning. Rich first appears in Chapter 1 of PPT. There, on the VHS tape, he complains about the mess of boxes in the warehouse and the company's terrible management of it. Rich, along with his partner and friend Avery, are warehouse workers who probably use the GrabPack a lot for their jobs.
They work on the factory's upper floor, at "ground level," as Rich would later say in his letter in Fortnite. Like the other workers on that floor, they're completely unaware of everything that happens below. But how much do they really not know? Well, it seems that they, the warehouse workers, can access the Game Station and Playcare levels, as revealed in Chapter 3, where Rich travels to Playcare with Stuart, his shipping manager.
Rich makes a comment to Stuart, after Stuart asks him if he doesn't like the place, explaining why the whole Playcare situation is wrong. His argument is very coherent: children need fresh air, not to be locked up six feet underground. He also mentions that Playtime didn't allow the staff to talk to the children… which is ironic considering they encouraged staff to adopt children, as seen in the poster in Chapter 1.
Rich's comments about how awful Playcare seems to him stem from his own experience there, likely several times, perhaps even carrying boxes back and forth with Avery. Clearly, he speaks from experience, knowing what he sees and having a firm belief that it's not a better place for orphans. This is due to one thing: Rich, being a "ground level" worker, leads a normal life outside the factory, unlike those who work lower down (the scientists) who live there.
I've come across the idea that the city we see in episode 5 is actually the scientists' residence, and I certainly believe it. After the words of Jessica Newman, a Playcare orphan who grew up and apparently graduated as a scientist, only to continue working at the factory—her whole life revolving around it—it seems she could live there. Apparently, the scientists lived deep within the factory, in those buildings we see in episode 5, so they could be present at all times and conduct their experiments. This clearly wouldn't be the case for Rich.
Rich goes from being grumpy, hated, and having very few friends, to improving his character thanks to his wife, who helps him see that he has a good heart beneath his temper, something Stuart himself also recognizes. Because of this, and Stuart's retirement, Rich is promoted to Head of Shipping, and here the analysis becomes deeper and (in my opinion) more entertaining.
In Chapter 5, we discover something very important about Rich: he was completely unaware of the shipments to the labs. The packets of poppy seeds, the irrigation pipes, and everything else passed right behind him. He didn't know that things arrived at the factory and were then sent underground. This is also explained in Fortnite, in the letter entitled "Intake Manifest - Poppy Seeds", where Eddie Ritterman tells Harley and Leith that "Should anything else be required of me, you need only ask." In other words, everything that arrived at the labs was managed by Eddie, not Harley Sawyer as many believed. Many argued that if Rich is player, it was impossible for Harley not to recognize him, and yes, it's quite possible, since everything was managed by Eddie Ritterman, not Harley Sawyer.
The Fortnite note implies that Eddie Ritterman was responsible for ensuring that Harley and the other scientists obtained what they needed through him, and no one else. This suggests that Eddie and Leith were keeping a close eye on Rich, as they wanted to prevent him from seeking information or investigating anything outside of the orphan experimentation. This explains why Leith Pierre mentioned Rich on the cassette tape with Eddie Ritterman in Chapter 5. Rich, simply by doing his job well and being appreciated by the workers, was already bothering Leith, who then sought Eddie's advice on what to do about it.
(My apologies if my English is TERRIBLE, I'm trying my best with a translator, sorry)
Getting back to the topic, here's the other fun part: where is Rich's office? Well, we'll have to go back to the Fortnite notes and chapter 3 again.
In Chapter 3, upon entering Home Sweet Home, we are immediately enveloped in red smoke, triggering a hallucination in which we walk down an "infinite" hallway. A radio plays, telling us about Elliot, the body found on his property, and other events. As we move forward, we find a radio on the floor. Stepping back, we can decipher the message, which tells us that "we missed an important meeting." Interestingly, on the tape in Chapter 5, Eddie tells Leith to give Rich another promotion (1). Continuing down the hallway in the hallucination, we come across a simple office with the phrase "guilt haunts you" written behind it. (2)
Assuming that this is the "important meeting" the protagonist missed, given that the call between Leith and Eddie takes place a week before HoJ. Also, Eddie's idea was to make Rich one of them, possibly another executive, perhaps the head of production, who is believed to own the fifth slide from Chapter 2.
In the letter Rich writes to Avery in Fortnite, he addresses him as the head of shipping. Upon reading the letter, it becomes clear that Rich mentions Avery working upstairs, at "ground level." However, when he refers to those working downstairs, it's where he is, and he observes the paranoia there. This implies that his office is indeed on the same level as Playcare, which aligns with the hallucination shown in Chapter 3 and supports the theory that it could be the protagonist's office, located on the same level as Playcare.
With all this in mind, we can say that everything points to Rich being Player. It's true that Isaac mentioned they hadn't planned an identity for the protagonist, but that this changed after chapter 3. Since his departure, everything indicates that things have changed, because, as he himself said, it seems Mob no longer follows Isaac's notes. And yes, that's fine, because even Isaac doesn't know who Player could be. Yes, Isaac mentioned having several character names, but none like the official protagonist, so it's pretty silly to think Mob would follow something that later seems incomplete. And yes, Player isn't just any character; he's THE PROTAGONIST. He can't just be anyone. They need Player to be a strong enough character to understand what's happening, discover the hidden things in the factory, understand and forgive Poppy, continue with his plan, help her in any way he can, and move forward with the whole tragic story. He can't be a "simple employee" as many say; he has to be someone who understands that strange things were happening, but perhaps didn't have the courage to find out and do something… Or perhaps he did, because the title of Rich's letter file in Fortnite is known as "Playtime Conspiracy Part 1." As far as I know, there isn't a Part 2, and everything could indicate that, very possibly, Rich knew something, perhaps little or nothing, and that's why he sends the letter to Avery, to find out if those rumors reached the top, perhaps to make sure whether his friend knew about this or not.
Rich even ordered Avery to stay out of everything that was happening. Why would Rich give instructions to his friend if it was just rumors? Did he know something? Was Rich uncovering something while running the shipping department? This enters the realm of theory, but it's very likely that Rich was in contact with the conspirators, especially Preston Willard. And that's why Rich wanted to find out how much was known and how far those rumors reached the top of the factory. But if that's possible, what exactly happened to Rich, his supposed promotion?
It's safe to assume that Rich might have suspected something, overheard something, or learned something about what the factory was apparently doing. If so, Rich would have found a way to indirectly warn his friend to stay out of it. But as we know, the only innocent ones at Playtime Co. were the children, and yes, Rich is a character who strives to get ahead in life. This is clear in chapters 2 and 3, when he's demoted and when he sees an opportunity for promotion. Ultimately, after being demoted, Rich is recognized; he finally found a way to move forward in life. And like any human being with normal ambitions, Rich turned a blind eye. Yes, I have a theory and a supposition that if Rich knew something about what was happening at the factory, but he chose not to investigate further. He distanced himself from everything the conspirators were plotting so he could move forward in life. It sounds very sad, but our man with a heart of gold is still just a human being, and humans aren't perfect.
Can you imagine Richard Lovitz accepting Leith Pierre's offer? It's possible that, even to Leith's surprise, he accepted the promotion. Of course, the paperwork would take quite some time, so Leith might have given Rich a short break until the documents were ready. Perhaps that's why Rich was able to survive in HoJ (if he is Player, which I think he is)… On the other hand, there's also the possibility that Rich took some time to consider whether to accept or not. This would also apply to what was said on the radio in Chapter 3, during the first hallucination. It's possible that, in one way or another, Rich saw the promotion as a way to progress despite all the bad things happening at the factory where he worked, unaware, or perhaps unwilling to know, of everything that was going on beneath the surface of the factory.
I certainly like to think that Rich, our man with a heart of gold, might have accepted the promotion deal. This would make things very interesting and would also give more weight to the burden of guilt that Player carries, not only because he's the "sole survivor" (since he's not the only one; Eddie seems to have survived as well), but because he could have done something, perhaps by not giving in to his ambition. But Rich is human above all else, and we all want to get ahead in life. Of course, returning to the factory is important; it's not just about wanting to know what really happened, since Rich would already be sensing throughout chapters 1, 2, and 3 that his colleagues are dead, but also as a way of atoning for the decision he made.
I also love imagining Rich's face when he found out his supposed promotion was because Leith couldn't send him to see Boxy Boo anymore, haha. That would mean Rich (if he's the protagonist) would also want to beat the crap out of Leith, because yeah, the guy deserves the worst after running the factory during its darkest period, especially with the Playcare orphans. Plus, it would make more sense for Harley to be an ally, since he also has a score to settle with Leith (and Eddie).
Having said all that, and I hope I haven't forgotten anything, I think, and I have a feeling, that Richard Lovitz is, in fact, the Player. Of course, some will say that Rich's voice makes him sound "old," but in an interview, Rich's voice actor, Kovach, stated that his voice was meant to sound rude, not old. So this can be considered a possibility, since the developers of Mob didn't plan an exact age for Rich. If he ends up being the protagonist, I'd say he'd be between 45 and 50 years old, because I think in a video game, where the protagonist survives train wrecks and huge falls, anything is possible. Also, after falling into the poppy gel, he could have ceased to be human. Do you think Harley would intervene to experiment on the Player so he could survive a little longer and fight the Prototype? Well, that would be getting off-topic, so I'll leave you with a poll to see what you think.
Do you think that if Leith had sent Rich to Boxy Boo, he would have died? Perhaps he would have survived and, upon leaving there, would have gone to see Leith in person, and the story would be different and shorter(?) hahaha.
Do you think that if Leith had sent Rich to Boxy Boo, he would have died?
Nope, if he's Player, he's the Butcher of Playtime.
I'm sure of it, Rich would be another Rowan Stoll.
Voting ended onMay 28
