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Trying to learn more about the protagonist and what their past could potentially be (THEORY)

So, our mute history enthusiast that is the protagonist of Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion.

This is going to be a theory that I've been interested in making for awhile. I think there's more to the protagonist than some think and they're quite the tragic fellow under this theory. Some have already made some theories and speculation on them, such as their traumatic past and generally mentally unhealthy state being hinted at with Specimen 5 and 7, but I want to dive a bit deeper than that.

First, I'll talk about what little we already know about them. After that, I'll be analyzing Specimen 7, since they play a big role in learning more about our player character. Finally, I'll start to explain how I think the protagonists connections with those specimens, specifically 5 and 7, go a bit deeper and can give us insight into what their past and trauma could potentially be. In any case, let's relax, maybe grab a snack, and get right to it. Probably going to be awhile.

What do we know about them?

Looking at the image shown in the bad ending, which is basically the only time where we can get a decent look at them, they appear to be either a young adult in their 20's or a late teenager. They also sport some short hair that can make them come across as either male or female as their gender is supposed to be ambiguous.

Aside from that, it's also implied that they have red irises. There's the bad ending of course, but there's also Specimen 2's death screen where we can see some red eyes that could potentially belong to the player character as they become one with Specimen 2.

And there's Specimen 6's death screen where we can see their eye being forced open.

Of course, we also know that the motivation behind our character going to the mansion is that they're a history enthusiast wanting to discover the mystery behind it. The fact they're stated to be a history enthusiast rather than a historian could imply that they're an amateur who wants to become a historian. This is another thing that possibly hints at their young age.

Gameplay wise? Our protagonist (who from now I'll just be referring to as MC) shows some impressive feats. They're able to outrun a good handful of the creatures that we see throughout the base game and DLC's. They also must be pretty strong if they can carry a whole entire axe while walking or sprinting through a big chunk of the game. In terms of dealing with all these creatures and the horrors around them, they're pretty determined to push through it all and keep moving forward, this is probably how they were able to make it all the way to 1,000 rooms in the first place.

Not much else is known about our character besides that. So let's dive a bit deeper.

How can we learn more about them?

Throughout the base game you mostly run through the whole entire thing. Maybe you'll look at some notes or look behind you to see what Specimen is chasing you, but simply running and keeping a consistent and constant pace is what most players do at a certain point. That is until you reach room 406 and the game suddenly slows you down with this...

You suddenly hear the loud ticking and tocking of an old clock and you see something written on the checkerboard floor in front of you that states "threshold of consciousness". By stepping over the threshold, the wall in front of you crumbles and you're met with not only a giant clock in the distance, but also this cat that is simply known as the White Cat according to the credits (although they're more of a pinkish color).

She states that this strange place can help us, but also warns us that trying to receive help from this place will come at the cost at making us greatly disturbed or confused, and oh boy does it show once we go through a couple more rooms and are met with this.

We enter into a room that is split between two colors, pink and yellow, while in the center is a compass with an eye on it. Red worms wiggle around on the flood, repeatedly going back and forth between the opposite ends of the room. The cat is also here once again and she states "Two sides of the same coin. Knowing your projections can help you achieve freedom." A statement that sounds cryptic and vague for the sake of being cryptic and vague, but there is meaning to it along with the other cryptic statements that this cat will state later on.

The White Cat is basically MC's therapist. To be more specific, the method of therapy that the cat is trying to use here is Jungian therapy.

Jungian therapy is a form of psychodynamic/psychoanalysis therapy. The aim of Jungian therapy being to explore unpleasant or painful thoughts and experiences so the true problem can be pinned down and be resolved. This is done by bringing together the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind and thus making the person receiving the therapy feel balanced and whole. By stepping over the threshold of consciousness, we have entered our personal unconscious. Diving into subliminal, repressed, and forgotten memories.

With that info, we can decipher what's going on here. As stated before, the room is split into two halves. Pink and yellow. Both pink and yellow have positive and negative symbolism to them. Pink can symbolize compassion, comfort, warmth, calmness, and kindness. But it can also symbolize timidness, immaturity, impulsiveness, unconfidence, and being overly emotional. Yellow can symbolize happiness, energy, optimism, enlightenment, and hope. But it can also symbolize cowardice, envy, deception, mental illness, and betrayal. There's a handful of other meanings for both colors, but that's just to name a few.

As for the worms on the ground, worms can symbolize death and decay along with renewal and regeneration. Meanwhile the compass in the middle of the room can symbolize a few things. It could symbolize MC's independence and being willing to push themselves out of their comfort zone. It could symbolize them always finding a way to their home or destination. It could symbolize their motivation and inspiration, the values in their life, or the need to find balance. Or it could symbolize a literal moral compass and that the MC is free to choose whatever path they want.

So what does this room mean and what is the cat trying to say? The "Two sides of the same coin" line refers to how pink and yellow both have positive and negative aspects to them. By recognizing and becoming self aware of our positives and negatives ("Knowing your projections"), we open the path that can lead us to being free from our trauma. The worms represent that the protagonist has the potential of renewal and regeneration while the compass is supposed to represent that despite all of this, we have the choice to choose whatever path we want, even if one path is greatly worse than the other.

The next room we go in is an office building with some windows, some desks, and a single computer. The cat is also here of course.

This time she states "The mask you wear serves its purpose well, but be careful not to lose yourself in it." This is another part of Jungian therapy. The mask, which is also known as the persona, is basically what it sounds like. The persona is how you present yourself to others. Often times, this persona that we put on for others isn't who we actually are. It's our way of conforming to society as a whole and this can lead to not being able to show others who you truly are or manipulating others to your will and needs. Going to the computer in the room, it states quotes such as "Be part of something", "Put on your mask", "Follow the group", "You are not you", and "Become more than yourself". Basically the cat is warning MC to not become detached from who they truly are and that their violent and aggressive persona can have consequences. In other words, she's warning us about the bad ending.

An office of all things being the setting is interesting. Working at an office job can lead to pretty terrible consequences for your mental or even physical health. Consequences such as anxiety, stress, pain in the neck, shoulders, and back, eyestrain, metabolic syndrome, feeling overwhelmed, and of course, depression. Perhaps MC wants to be a historian, but is stuck at a terrible office job. Assuming that they already had mental issues before getting the job, working at an office most likely made their condition all the more worse, especially with having to put on a "mask" for others.

The next room has us alone with the cat in this outer space-like area. The ambience that we can hear in the background is calm and soothing, yet there's still a bit of eeriness to it. The cat here states "Balance is the key to keeping your mind free and sane." Basically stating what the whole point of Jungian therapy is and that if we want our mind to be mentally sane and feel free, we must seek balance within our mind, piecing together the conscious and unconscious. This is yet another warning to the protagonist about how indulging in their twisted and violent desires can lead to the bad ending.

As for the space-like area, outer space can symbolize many things. Perhaps the desire for freedom, expansion, and exploration while also wanting personal growth, self discovery, and being free of limitations. Perhaps thirst for knowledge and curiosity about our world and universe. Perhaps one's emptiness, loneliness, and detachment from others, reflecting a need for emotional connection and intimacy. It could also represent one's untapped potential, hidden desires, and unexplored aspects of themselves. Seems like we're learning more and more about MC the further we go.

After leaving the outer space room, instead of entering the area with the giant clock in the middle and making your way towards the wooden door like always, you enter into a short hallway. At the end of the hallway is a metal door and blood splattered on the floor and walls. Going through the door you enter into... nothing. There's nothing here except for you, the cat, and the wooden door illuminated in front of you. There's not even any ambience except for the ticking of the clock, creating an unnerving atmosphere.

Talking to the cat one final time, she states "Knowing your shadow can greatly help you, but be ready to see what you'd rather not be." Jungian therapy strikes again. The shadow reflects deeper, darker elements of our psyche. Our repressed ideas, instincts, weaknesses, shortcomings and desires. Our primal side that we often like to keep locked up and hidden. She's saying that being aware of these things can help us, but what we'll soon see that represents that dark mirror of ourselves, aka the Wall of Flesh, won't be pleasant.

With that, we go through the wooden door. We enter some odd and fleshy looking hallway. When we reach the end of it, we come across, not a door, but what looks to be some kind of portal. Going through it, the chase can finally begin.

The rooms are filled with a red mist and it's a bit difficult to navigate and see where you're going. The chase involves having to run through this little maze, while the walls flash these strange and bizarre images. Assuming these images are connected to MC like everything else has been, let's decipher them.

This freaky, fleshy, red eyed, and evil face could represent MC's dark and violent thoughts. A little piece representing our shadow.

There are two runes shown in the game. One red and one black. They don't bear resemblance to any real world runes that we know of and can decipher, at least from what I searched, but they can still hold meaning. Since the word rune literally means "secret" or "mysterium", the runes could represent MC's unknown thoughts and desires.

Hidden away at the back of their mind and kept secret, as shown in the form of runes. Using color symbolism once again, the black runes could represent MC's fear, depression, hopelessness, and overall mystery. Meanwhile the red runes could represent MC's rage, impulsiveness, aggression, and overall violence.

The legs we see on the wall could represent the phrase "have legs" as in if an idea, plan, or activity has legs, it is likely to continue to succeed or show the potential to succeed. Either that or it could represent the slang version of the word legs, as in longevity or staying power, enduring and being successful. The protagonist has the potential to succeed, to leave this strange and trippy place and the mansion as a whole, but they will need to have endurance and determination if they want to reach that success.

Aside from that, it seems like we're just running through empty halls with no threats in sight. What's chasing us? Well, if you look behind you for a couple seconds...

There it is. The Wall of Flesh. The wall of screaming corpses and skeletons. The wall of the protagonist's trauma, pain, agony, suffering, depression, rage, violent urges, loneliness, hopelessness, and mystery all molded into one being. This is your shadow. This is Specimen 7.

Now, despite the atmosphere and the overall unnerving appearance of Specimen 7, this chase isn't one without a sense of hope. Taking a quick listen to the soundtrack that plays while you're being chased, you'll notice that it sounds... oddly cheery. That unnerving feeling and sense of danger while listening to the track is certainly there, but it feels lessened compared to other tracks. I think the way some people have described this track is pretty spot on.

The calm, soothing, music box melody is supposed to represent the White Cat and everything she has taught you so far. The tense and more dangerous bitcrushed sounding percussion represents the wall itself. If you have headphones, you can even hear this bitcrushed groaning, almost hissing sound, that is presumably coming from the wall itself, at the beginning of the track. The whole entire soundtrack sounds like it's at conflict with itself, with one side trying to overtake the other.

Despite everything the protagonist is currently going through at this moment, there's a strong sense of hope when it comes to this chase them. It helps the player be able to calm themselves down and stay focused despite being chased and it makes sense. The wall isn't very fast. In fact, it's very slow. The only way you would be able to die from it is if you're slow at escaping or you give up and just stand there. Thematically speaking, I think it's perfect.

After all, that's what trauma kinda is. It's not this big monster that tries to rush you down within an instant. Rather, it's this mass of many factors and things that slowly and steadily creeps up on you. Affecting your mental state for the worst more and more as time passes. And when you're at your lowest? When you're too late? When you stand there and give in to the pain? That is when it finally catches you and you become another brick in the wall as a result.

That is what this is all about. Overcoming trauma and pain. Specimen 7 is a whole entire therapy session for MC. Why is a grandfather clock the first thing that they hear when stepping into room 406? Because there's only so much time they have. Whether that be with life in general or when they can seek the help they need before becoming a broken shell of themself. In the end, MC completes their therapy session and overcomes their trauma. Specimen 7 never chases you again. You only encounter it once, even in endless mode. They have done it.

So that's that right? Well... it still feels like we're missing something. We got the answers to what Specimen 7's deal is, but we also got more questions when it comes to our protagonist. We know that they clearly have mental issues and trauma. That's evident by CAT-DOS stating that Specimen 5 is extremely effective against victims with mental issues or weak wills and Specimen 7 specifically being stated to be only effective against victims with past trauma or psychological issues.

So they're mentally ill and are traumatized by something. Got it. But there also seems to be an emphasis on them being violent and dangerous?

There's Specimen 8 being stated to be extremely effective against violent victims, but there's also the whole deal with the bad ending where you don't heed the White Cat's advice and give in to your violent desires after obtaining the axe. Looking at this achievement here...

It's called "It Was Never A Mask". Meaning that the protagonist isn't putting on this violent and bloodthirsty persona or "mask". That's just who they are. Why are they so violent? What traumatized them? Why is their therapist a cat of all things? Why did they even go to the mansion in the first place? Was it really to "shed some light on this crumbling fortress of darkness"? Or was it something else?

This is where we can finally stop gushing about Specimen 7 and dive deeper.

What can we speculate?

Let's shift our attention towards Specimen 5. Aka Bab. Probably the most cryptic and confusing specimen in the base game, exceeding even Specimen 7.

What about her? Well, we know that there's some connection between her and the protagonist, considering she's effective against those with mental issues or weak wills, both of which are what our protagonist clearly suffers from. We already knew that, but here's something interesting.

One thing that I always found intriguing about Spooky's was this consistent theme and emphasis on parental figures or children. You have Specimen 4 with her whole child eating thing and her locale being a school. You have Specimen 6 and him referring to his puppets as his children. You have Specimen 8 referring to his violent deer as his children. And you have Specimen 11, who's meat is heavily implied to be made out of children, taking account of the "we will find you" on the fun rules poster, the skull in the shoes rack, and the room with the bloody chain that can be found in the play area. What's even more interesting is that all of these specimens are the ones you face when trying to close the Hellgate in the Dollhouse DLC, with Specimen 11 replacing Specimen 4 in HDR. So there's some consistency there.

Then there's Bab. Who probably emphasizes this theme the most. Firstly, she's referred to as "mother" by her cult members.

Secondly there's these... things... that you can see hiding and twitching under some of the grates in Bab's locale that kinda resemble small children.

And lastly, there's the whole entire room that takes place in a womb with what looks like a fetus in the middle, as we hear the crying and wailing of a baby in the background... you know...

That one...

My question is why though? What's the deal with these parental themes? What's the deal with these themes with Bab? What are we supposed to take away from this? Well, symbolism was a fantastic friend of ours while we were talking about Specimen 7. Why not use it again here? We know that MC was traumatized by something in the past and it has been dwelling on them since. We also know that MC is a violent person or at the very least has violent desires. Typically violence isn't something that comes out of nowhere. There can be a handful of factors behind the cause of it, but It's often a learned behavior, such as through abuse and neglect from childhood.

With all these parental themes with some of the specimens, along with Specimen 5 having an emphasis on being a motherly figure and also being connected to MC via the CAT-DOS entry, I think these themes and Specimen 5 specifically can be used as a clue to figuring out what MC could have went through that made them the way they are. Here's my theory.

Specimen 5 is supposed to be symbolic of the child abuse that our protagonist faced during childhood. From what we can gather from the notes, Bab seems to be very quick to anger. Having killed all of her cult members because they made 1 single mistake. Sacrificing someone who wasn't a virgin. What if MC's mother or whoever they were was similar? Getting angry and violent over minor things or mistakes, causing them to lash out and inflict pain on them? If we assume this, this could explain where MC's violent and dangerous acts and urges came from. They got them from the toxic and abusive family they were in.

Hell, we could take it a step further and say that the church that Bab originated from could also be a hint into how MC's family was. Maybe they were the religious type since, not always but sometimes, families of that type can be very toxic and awful in terms of the environment the children have to live in. As for other things like the weird womb room and the weird creatures hiding under the grates, they could have potential meaning too.

The fetus in the womb room and the baby crying in the background could represent how MC feels like they have been in a constant state of misery and pain since birth. While the little creatures under the grates could represent how they felt trapped in their home environment. Being unable to leave and escape their situation for years until they were able to grow up into an adult.

With this theory, Bab is basically MC's past coming back to haunt them. Which makes it all the more unnerving to see this faceless mannequin slowly stroll towards you. Similar to Specimen 7, dying to this thing is pretty hard considering its speed, which fits thematically. As I said before, trauma doesn't chase, it creeps. If the protagonist wants to survive Bab? They just have to make a run for it and not turn back. However, unlike running away from Specimen 7 where it was you trying to not let your trauma consume you, running away from Bab could be seen as running away from your past and problems, which can have its consequences. It makes sense and is fitting considering who our player character is.

Now I want to go back to talking about the White Cat for a second. Because I believe they also might play a role into MC's past trauma.

Another thing that I find interesting about Spooky's is that cats get brought up a handful of times. You have the two adorable cat posters, the "hang in there!" poster and the cat in a box poster, that you can sometimes see in the elevator. You have the machine that gives us info about the specimens that is named CAT-DOS. You have the White Cat of course. And finally you have the cat that was killed by Nurse Tanaka.

Which makes me curious. What exactly is the White Cat? You first see her in room 406 and after room room 421 she completely disappears. She's never mentioned or seen anywhere else in the game. Well, remember the threshold of consciousness? She doesn't appear until you step over that threshold. This is made more obvious in the original version of Spooky's where you can literally see her appear out of thin air the moment you step over the line. In other words, she isn't actually real.

By stepping over the threshold of consciousness, you enter your personal unconscious. Which is made up of forgotten and repressed memories as mentioned before. Which brings some questions. Why a cat as your therapist? Why was that the first thing that came to MC's personal unconscious? Are they a forgotten memory? What's the deal with cats in this game? Well, take account of what color the White Cat is... white.

The color white can symbolize perfection, cleanliness, purity, innocence, hope, clarity, openness, wisdom, and peacefulness. These fit the White Cat pretty well. The protagonist thought of a being that could bring them wisdom, peace, and most importantly, comfort while in their mind. This being took the form of a white cat the moment they stepped over the threshold. This could be because of what cats symbolize. Grace, independence, fortune, protection, patience, intuition, and mystery.

That could be it, but focusing on the forgotten memories thing, I think it's something more personal. Taking account of Tanaka's note about hitting a cat with their car and killing it as a result, I think that the White Cat is representing a dead pet that the protagonist once had. A repressed, forgotten, and painful memory taking form of something that can help them while they're stuck in their own mind. Not saying that the White Cat has to be the same cat Tanaka killed. Just that it could be a possible hint to the White Cat's origins. A friend of the protagonist that they would later loose.

Now that we got everything wrapped up, we can make a little timeline/story out of this.

Who is the protagonist?

In an unknown year, the protagonist would be born and thus enter into this world, but instead of entering into a world with love and care, it was instead a world filled with toxicity and abuse. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad at first, but overtime they would face physical, mental, and verbal abuse by their mother. Their father was either absent or they would inflict the same abuse on them. Overall, their life was a very bleak and depressing one. They did have some company though. Their cat. Despite the abuse they faced and how mentally drained and damaged they were from it, their cat always made them happy and feel love and warmth. The cat wasn't just a pet to them. It was their friend. Perhaps their only friend.

One day however, they would lose their friend, as the cat would be killed by being run over by a car. Now their warmth and comfort was gone. The one single thing that kept them going and made them feel somewhat sane was taken away from them. They felt alone and trapped in their abusive home. Nobody could bring them comfort now and they would suffer more because of it.

Not much is known about what happened after the cats death besides that, but eventually MC would leave their home behind once they grew into an adult. What came out the house was something twisted and broken however. Despite finally escaping their environment, they would continue to suffer from their very poor mental health. They were prone to becoming quickly angered or violent, which could have affected their relationships, work environment, or social status.

They were depressed and lonely. Talentless and limited. One thing that brought them some comfort was history. Getting to know more about the world they lived in intrigued them. So much so that maybe they would want to become an actual historian one day. But as of now, they were stuck in a boring and lifeless office job. Many thoughts and feelings would manifest as days, weeks, months, and eventually years passed. They wanted to do and become so much more, but they just couldn't. It felt impossible for them. That was until they saw an opportunity.

That old mansion. The many legends that they had heard about it. How anyone who enters into it will never return. They could go into that mansion and try to do something that nobody has ever done before. Learn about the history and origins behind the mansion and share it across the world. It was a risky and downright suicidal mission, but it's possible that due to the depression that they likely have, they wouldn't really care all that much. Either they could achieve their goal and finally be recognized for something or they would fail and die as a result. Either option was fine with them. So, they ventured into the mansion. Not knowing what strange horrors would await before them.

Conclusion

I think the protagonist of Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion is very interesting. I'm a fan of silent protagonists in general due to how open ended they usually are, leading to many fun theories and speculation about them. Our red eyed, axe crazy, history geek is no different. However, I was a bit disappointed in how they didn't seem to get talked about a lot in the Spooky's fandom after searching around for awhile. There's your theories about Specimen 7 and how they're connected to the protagonist obviously, but I hadn't seen anyone try to dive into what could've been their past trauma and why they're so violent in the first place.

I wanted this theory to focus on trying to figure out some potential backstory to our player character to the best of my ability, and although the theory may seem a bit out there in some areas, I think I did a decent job. This took awhile to make and going to all these websites to learn about Jungian therapy or color symbolism or what have you was pretty fun.

At the end of the day, it's evident that just by analyzing Specimen 7 alone, our protagonist is a sad, depressed, traumatized, and mentally ill one. No matter what you believe their backstory is, I think we can all agree on one thing.

This dude/gal/nonbinary pal desperately needs a hug. A tight one. A big ol bear hug.

Thank you for reading and have a good day.

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