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Theory: Characters who are directly representative of Irving and what they mean
LAYER 1: SAFE BETS
Box Guy in the Basement World
REASONING: He literally turns into Irving when you use the angler effect. I don't know if it gets any more clear-cut than that. There's also a bunch of dust bunnies around, and bunnies in general tend to be one of Irving's symbols.
MEANING INTERPRETATION: This is an area pretty tucked-away from everything else (you have to solve a moving box puzzle to get here). Could be representative of how Irving sees himself -- he's hidden himself away in some dusty corner with a bed and a desk and doesn't want to be found.
Pan Flute Player in Boiling Water World (Bestiary Entry #12)
REASONING: In the Curtain Den, if you interact with the racoon dog when you have the wendigo effect equipped, the racoon dog will rapidly switch between forms, switching to the monster at Junction Space and the Pan Flute Player before stopping alltogether. If we follow the logic that the racoon dog is trying to copy Irving, then any forms it switches to are extensions of Irving himself.
There's also the fact that when you go to Lucky's stand with the deer effect equipped, she remarks "A deer, of course..." Her unsurprised response would imply Irving has some sort of history with deer, though what exactly that isn't really the focus of this post (and is also very confusing).
MEANING INTERPRETATION: ???????????????? As previously stated, Irving's relationship with deer is very confusing!! I'll probably tackle it in its own post eventually. Maybe this means that Irving played the pan flute at some point though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Pan Flute Player has an interesting reaction to the wendigo effect though. They stop playing music and have a shadow cast over their face.
The Monster at Junction Space (Bestiary Entry #3)
REASONING: Same as the Pan Flute Player -- the racoon dog in the Curtain Den transforms into the monster when copying Irving.
MEANING INTERPRETATION: The monster is one of the only chasers in the game, and the only one who chases you unprovoked, but the bestiary makes note of the fact that it's protecting something rather than lashing out in rage. This means that between the chaser and the skeleton key lock, Irving is subconsciously REALLY trying to keep himself away from Junction Space and whatever it represents (which, again, is extremely confusing and not really the focus of this post, though I do have a theory post about that half-drafted). The whole "Am I even in my own dream?" comment from the Bestiary might have something to do with it...
LAYER 2: PROBABLY, BUT COULD BE SOMEONE ELSE TOO
The Shadow from the Incomprehensible Event (Bestiary Entry #22)
REASONING: The incomprehensible event shows a looming figure saying some "incomprehensible words" (though most of them are either symbols of sleep or nothingness, so it's not all that incomprehensible). The person on the left dissolves when the speaking figure utters the character "无" meaning "nothing" or "negative." This resembles ending #1 of Oversomnia in a LOT of ways. The looming figure on the right bears a striking resemblance to the pillars in the Dreaming Serpents World (a resemblance that's somehow even more visually obvious in older versions of the game, as seen in the image on the far right) and the sleep-related symbols also align with the idea of a DREAMING serpent. Ending #1 also shows Irving drowning/dissolving in a green river at the very end before vanishing from reality, which would also align with the event here where the figure on the left dissolves.
MEANING INTERPRETATION: The serpents are a Lot to handle. What they want, where they came from, how real they are and their influence on reality are all questions at the core of Oversomnia's mysteries. To quote the bestiary though, whatever they want, it's probably not good. Either way -- how I see the event is that either the monster approached Irving, or Irving approached it, and the monster ended up meddling in Irving's affairs with the end result of him possibly vanishing. How real this vanishing is and how "real" ending #1 is are up for debate -- the fact you "wake up" after ending #1, get a menu theme, and can then go chat with Lucky about Irving's worries are suggests that ending #1 might just be another dream. Alternatively, maybe Irving DID vanish from reality and the rest of the game is a dream in the afterlife. Or maybe he's been dreaming this whole time and nothing was real, etc etc. Ending #1 and the serpents have a dedicated post coming later too. Anyways, the only reason I hesitate to say with 100% certainty that the dissolving figure IS Irving is because we know for a fact some of his friends are also caught up in this whole serpent business. Lucky's the obvious one given her presence beyond the gate at the very north of the Dreaming Serpents World, but the figure depicted here doesn't resemble her too much (no skirt, no coat, no clover). There's also Irving's friend in Junction Space (bestiary entry #4) who goes through a door adorned with distinctly serpentine iconography. So the dissolving figure could be Irving as seen in ending #1, or it could be one of his friends.
LAYER 3: EHH YOU COULD ARGUE THIS ONE EITHER WAY
Pallid Beings in the Emergency Room (Bestiary Entry #31)
REASONING: A lot of my logic in this is based on two assumptions. Firstly, that the monster protecting Junction Space IS in fact Irving, as I argued earlier in this post. Secondly, that the pallid creatures are sick versions of the monsters from junction space. My reasoning behind that second point is based on an earlier post I made noting that the monster and the pallid creatures have a lot of visual similarities -- primarily white in color, big heads and bodies but small legs and arms, melty, have horns (only present in some pallid creatures), and have black circles around their eyes with black rings around their necks (only present in the pallid creatures still capable of walking). Additionally, the monster at Junction Space will send you to the Emergency Room if you get caught by it.
MEANING INTERPRETATION: Irving might be sick in some way, or had some sort of serious illness before. Could also be a dream-sickness? The monsters are melty, and Irving does dissolve in ending #1. Could be representative of that. There's also this sprite in the left of Irving's bathroom that could be a pill bottle, but it could also just be his laundry detergent -- it's too small to say definitively either way.
Oversomnia does, in general though, have a decent number of "sickly"/"guarding someone" type events. There's obviously the emergency room and the nurse here, but there's also the bat creature protecting the sickly person who you get vampirism from (bestiary entry #6) as well as the monster guarding the wilting flower in the garden center basement (bestiary entry #37) so even if you don't buy this exact comparison, there is some other possible evidence for the broader Irving Illness Theory.
LAYER 4: OK NOW YOU'RE STRETCHING IT
Person on the Pink Beach (Bestiary Entry #9)
REASONING: This theory requires you to believe all the other comparisons I've made up until this point. The only way you get to the Pink Beach is through meeting the ghost in the emergency room by using the tuning fork. If the emergency room and the pallid creatures are already representative of Irving, then anything connecting to them probably is too. Additionally, the figure on the beach is wearing a bone mask, like the Pan Flute Player is, except the Pink Beach figure is covering their whole face. Additionally, both the Pink Beach and Boiling Water World are EXTREMELY pink areas with a focus on water. ALSO the Pink Beach's music is the same as the Title Screen of Oversomnia, which could indicate that the Pink Beach is more important and more broadly emblematic of Irving and his dreams than it initially lets on.
MEANING INTERPRETATION: The bestiary entry for this area reads "Hidden away in a place where it had been forgotten was a beach made of pink sand. The only person on the beach had also been forgotten…" You COULD possibly interpret "the only person on the beach" to mean Irving in this context which could indicate that his friends have forgotten about him, OR he's worried about being forgotten. 50/50 shot on that one, if you believe it at all. Alternatively, it could be representative of something Irving's forgotten about himself. This IS where you get the skeleton key effect after all, and the skeleton key is all about unlocking hidden dreams and hidden memories!!
This post ended up being way longer than I expected. Thanks for reading this far.
