E-EXCUSE ME?! (That drawing also made me think of how Ludwig's eyes were growing on his right shoulder too, so it could really be Moon's side effect but) EXCUSE ME! This theory sounds SUPER interesting?? So you think there were many Dolls mass-produced, and the one we meet in the Hunter's Dream is just one that "survived"? Or like what? Can you please elaborate, this sounds like a really unique take?
Oh you mentioned it on your reblog but yeah it is reminiscent of Ludwig! It's also really interesting how he's the only beast that obtain additional eyes... but instead of being in his head it create another head- ok anyway we'll talk about it another day let's go winter lanterns theory! XD
This time I will "try" to not divague too much on all the other theories & interpretations I know/have or we'll still be on it tomorrow π(sorry I failed)
Because if you ask me seriously what I think are the winter lanterns well I don't know π I'm not sure at all what the hell are they, why they're here and how they came to life. I have/know tons of possible ideas. I guess for a fic I could choose but canonically I really don't know what they are for sure. (I won't be referencing the demake versions that is really cool btw or the comics ver because I haven't read it yet!)
So well I think everyone who played Bloodborne know what this abomina- I mean enemy is.
They have a part of the doll body (form, clothes, wooden joints hands and fingers like the doll) they're made are made of messengers and have eyes (like mensis brain) and inflicted frenzy like the giant brain. + they have those horrible little jaws... and they sing this...
I'm unsure some say it's Mergo's lullaby other said it's the hunter dream music, some said it's neither... so if someone know... because really idk. It's beautiful yet disturbing. the voice is too deep and distorded.
(Did you know the doll was supposed to hum a lullaby in her sleep? When she nap there's black corner on the screen like there's a dialogue but there's nothing, it's the last thing remnant of this cut content. it's actually in ver 1.00 apparently)
They can be found in the nightmare frontier (3 of them I think), the nightmare of mensis (5?) and the fishing hamlet (2) in the hunter's nightmare (dlc). (Ok 10 of them, add the doll 11, add Maria 12, like the 12 hours of a clock. COINCIDENCES?!?! cough couch sorry yes it's probably the case but still hahah it's funny)
Ok so about the theory I was referencing here and referenced once in a while. I originally saw it on reddit but sadly I can't find the link anymore π
Basically, the original speculation said that the winter lanterns could have been created by Mensis (eventually healing church), to take care of Mergo, if I remember well. And then they become corrupted by the nightmare.
After thinking about this and other theories I read concerning the doll (that she could have been created by healing church originally and Gehrman recover the doll after/was given to him and then he made the clothes etc) and the extra knowledge I have on Japanese dolls (yes I made researches oh jp doll and it's even more interesting than the European victorian era one ahah) I could share the following ideas :
That maybe the winter lanterns were originally created by the church/mensis to help them + hunters in the nightmares. Because it was too dangerous to let humans go there for too long. But eventually, because no one cared properly for them, after a while, they become corrupted (or after Mensis did their ritual) and well become like this*. They would have been created after the original dolls because that had lot of potential or smt. They have clothes really similar to the doll but also the black church attire and without the dlc they are highly associated with the lecture building aka linked with church & mensis.
It's interesting to note 2 thing :
Their name come from the alkekengi plant (more explanation on reddit). they are called Hozuki in Japanese. (they even made little dolls with the grain hehe)
*So about the dolls in general. I believed the doll in Bloodborne is highly inspired by the mourning doll from victorian era (I explained here a little) but it's interesting to see how they traditionally view dolls in Japan (because the devs are Japanese). If you're familiar with the culture/legend in shintoism/buddhism, they believe that objects and especially the one we cherish the most, have a soul. So they think dolls have a soul and they have special ceremonies to dispose of them when they aren't needed anymore called "ningyo kuyo". A way to thank them to have been there during childhood and to free their spirit by purification (burning them in a ceremony with prayers etc). But why? Well if it's not done it's believed that the soul stay but would become an evil spirit. because they were abandoned and not taken care of anymore. there's Yoke who might come from here or another good exemple : branette/banette the Pokemon
So... I wouldn't be surprised if that's why they turned into nightmares monsters. The doll was actually treat with care and respected, was loved. Not the others. They probably didn't even have a face...
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There's really tons of other speculations on them so have a few others here as well :
Some people think it's failed attempt to the doll creation and they were discarded/abandoned but it don't make sense to me, are at least not like this. it's also highly possible that's it's some kind of "echo" of the doll + messengers. the 2 thing that are supposed to be to always be safe and nice. Some think only the hunter/us could see them or see them like this. It's unclear.
Also I do headcanon in part that they could have been Maria very own nightmares (they do have horrifying similarities with the patients of the researches hall... and some they are always in the nightmares).
The patients head (alone) cause frenzy as well. I feel like if the experiments had succeed (obtained additional eyes on the inside, for the patients), it would have been way too similar to a winter lantern. + they look similar to the doll and if we go on the headcanon that Maria used to wear smt really similar to the female black church attire during her time at the research hall well...they're based on her too. I imagined she could have been plague by nightmares of those but it's really headcanons territory.
Another theory I saw earlier while doing researches : they could have been human actually who transformed, past black church female doctors or hunters, but that don't explain the wood hands or why they transformed and all the other guys just died.
So yeah there's way too much thing it's always really interesting to know what people think
Next time I might share my more detailed headcanon concerning their creation + the doll hehe.
