Hello and welcome to another theory of mine. This time we’ll be covering a side scrolling adventure game made using RPG Maker with horror-like qualities. The game takes about 20 minutes to complete and is a pretty good game. If you have not played/watched this game, I highly suggest that you do so before continuing due to obvious spoilers.
Now, I have a few theories, some important and vital, and some as just tiny tid-bits that add to the story.
Theory 1: My first theory is that the sea angel represents Mari’s mother, Ana. This theory is pretty easy to swallow, especially considering that Penn knew that there was an angel somewhere in Mary’s dream that could help her. The sea angel was the only one animal/person without a name, considering that the other characters all had names that were mixed in to the type of animal they were represented as (Bunnilda=Brunhilda, Foxanne=Roxanne, etc.). The sea angel also tries to stop Mary from heading down to see Boaris by telling her to not go there yet. And after you free the sea angel, she flies across the map, activating the paintings in order to allow you to enter the nightmare realm, and eventually the exit out of the dream realm.
Theory 2 (tid-bit): I believe that Mari’s father is a bit of a hunter. Whether this was a small time hobby of his or if it was his job at any point is unknown. This possibility came about in the nightmare realm’s living room when you find the three animals on the couch. A fox pelt, rabbit skin, and a penguin doll. If you continue down you will see a boar’s head hanging off the wall. Foxes, rabbits, and boars are animals that are commonly hunted especially by those who have excess wealth and do so for sport.
Theory 3: The two wilted petals represent when Mari’s mother was abused and when she fell into the coma. What we know is that the lily petals signify Mari’s innocence, and if you fail the red seed missions you will lose a petal per failed mission. One petal can be exchanged with Boaris if you accept his red seed, which has been generally accepted as Mari’s father raping her in the waking world. How Mari loses her innocence to the other characters in the waking world will be explained in one the following theories. Now, how did she lose the other two petals? I believe that when she was younger, probably a baby, her mother was heavily abused by Mari’s father to the point where in an attempt change the real world she got herself trapped in her own dream world. This can be supported by the journal she left to Glenn saying thank you for all of his help. The journal entry almost sounds as if she knows she probably won’t come back from her dream world if she tries to change the waking world. These two events could represent the two wilted petals.
Theory 4: Everyone knew what was going on but didn’t do anything. This one becomes pretty much acceptable once you start and fail the red seed missions. Bunnilda and Foxanne both enjoy the fact that you lost, while Penn is saddened by it, all because they knew what would happen. Now, in the waking world this would translate into both the maid and tutor knowing that Mari’s father was an a terrible abusive man as well his plans for Mari, but either didn’t care or supported him (probably the latter). Glenn on the other hand seemed to know what was going on, but was unable to act upon it due to forces beyond his control.
If Mari’s dad was a hunter as speculated, then it could be hinted from the nightmare realm who was helping Mari’s dad due to the animals on the couch. The skinned rabbit and the fox pelt were the only two who were actually hunted, the penguin was the only one who was a doll intended for children.
Theory 5: Mari’s dad killed everyone. This makes sense due to the animations after each red seed mission, Boaris’ reaction to opposition, and the Sweet Dreams ending image.
Each character has a specific glitch-like image flicker of them dying in the waking world once you’ve done their red seed mission. Bunnilda is shown falling from above, Penn seems to be decapitated, and Foxanne has either had her eyes gouged out or bullet wounds through her head. Now, this could easily be explained by Boaris’ extremely aggressive behavior when Mari refused to trade her petal for his red seed. It could be thought that Glenn had figured out what was going on and had planned to take Mari away before anything could happen, to which Mari’s dad reacted to by killing him (It would also explain why Glenn is always ‘traveling’ and never visits). This might have stunned the other two and caused them to reconsider what they were doing. Mari’s dad could’ve then noticed their hesitation or have grown paranoid and then killed them in order to prevent any mishaps. Now, if this is true, it’s possible to also speculate that Mari might have seen them die or made notice of it which would lead to her losing her lily petals to them. If you had completed their red seed missions successfully, it is possible that Mari was just unaware of their deaths and thus allowed her to keep her innocence.
Finally, the Sweet Dreams ending image shows a rabbit, fox, and penguin doll being hung on nooses with an empty noose by Mary. In the back we can see a shadowy figure which probably represents Mari’s father’s insanity in the nightmare realm. This ending implies that Mari’s father plans to kill her too.
Theory 6 (tid-bit): The radio host is Mari’s subconscious. She seems to know a lot about the dream world and even more about Mary than anyone else. Although the host does lie and tell Mary to stay on the pink path, this might just be a self-defense mechanism in order to keep Mary away from the nightmare realm and it is possible that she hadn’t worked out the dangers further down the pink path.
That’s about all I have on Dreaming Mary.
