The Story of Charlie O’Hare
Habromania spoilers below the cut
The Mad Hatter is definitely one of my favorite characters in the game and that’s exactly why I studied every second of that Bones animatic for any possible glimpse into his backstory. The lore is juicy.
Here are some of Charlie’s backstory cards.
Specifically the disease Lewis died from was tuberculosis or ‘consumption’.
Lewis isn’t the only O’Hare with some health issues. Charlie seems a little too anxious and odd for England at the time, which is only worsened by using mercury to turn animal furs into felts in his hats.
Side tangent-this is the pipeline of the Mad Hatter.
Hatters use mercury to make their hats —> the term ‘mad as a hatter is coined’ —-> Lewis Carroll (who I just realized is probably who the brothers is named after) writes the Mad Hatter character (it is possible he was inspired by Theophilus Carter, who did not have mercury poisoning) —> Erethism is also called mad hatter syndrome —> Charlie O’Hare, the Mad Hatter, has mad hatter syndrome.
Tangent over! Erethism can also cause tuberculosis, which is probably how Lewis (the brother, not the author) contracted it.
Charlie’s backstory also has a smidgen of class struggle to it, which may parallel the class struggle between the rats and mice in Wonderland.
Lewis wears the sunflower while Charlie wears the white rose. This flower symbolism persists in Lewis’s funeral and Charlie’s portrait respectively.
Lenore, the baby, obviously shares the name with the same tragic dead wife figure from the Raven (the poem, not the physical raven you can kill or bargain with), which makes an early appearance in the demo. Sydney has said that other Edgar Allan Poe works have inspired the game. This makes sense; Poe’s work often surround grief as his own life was full of death. Grief is a common factor among all three main characters. Charlie mourns Lewis, Alice mourns Jack, and Cornelia mourns the life taken from her (and possibly also the man she killed, but probably not).
I also think it’s cool that Constance is biracial; London was actually quite diverse at the time.
While institutionalized, Charlie meets a certain pretty lady. And a Dormouse and a Hare.
However, when Cordelia and Charlie try to escape, a bad thing happens. It results in Cordelia becoming the Queen of Hearts and very, very mad at Charlie. Personally, I think Cordelia had her heart removed. Just cause it’d be funny and a Tell-Tale Heart reference.
From then on, Charlie is the Hatter and is having tea before five o’clock when his execution is. Cordelia is real mad about him-maybe she thinks he has her heart? Or maybe he put it back in her body when she wanted it removed? All just theories; we really have to wait and see.
We don’t have a card for Charlie like we do for Alice and Cordelia that show their MBTI or Enneagram, but we do know he’s 29.
Colored pins are also a major motif for him in the game. They’re on his poker card and I think Alice takes one with her when she shrinks down.
I honestly can’t tell if Alice shrinks in the gardens or if the flowers are just fucking massive.
