Chapter 1: Who do we play as in Poppy Playtime?
Who do we play as in Poppy Playtime? It's a question we've had since day one of the franchise, but as the series slowly heads towards its inevitable end, we're running out of options. So let's take a look at our few remaining characters and solve this mystery once and for all. Hello, Internet! Welcome to Game Theory, the show that knows that for every theory we get right, we often get one wrong.
And Poppy Playtime is no exception. There have been three key mysteries plaguing us. I've actually been referring to them internally as the three P's of Poppy. Who is Poppy? Who is the prototype? And who is the player? I'm sure Yossi is profoundly pleased, perhaps even palpitating at the plentiful, practically preposterous proliferation of punchy plosives I'm presently producing. Sorry, bud.
Anyway, over the last five years, I have tried desperately to answer these three questions. One of them, we nailed pretty early on that Poppy was the daughter of Elliot Ludwig, a prototype we flipped and flopped over the next few years. Although technically, I was more right than I realized in my first episode as host, so long as you ignore the part where I also suggest it might be rich.
But that just leaves us with one mystery left. Who is the player character? This one has been the biggest enigma for me. mostly because we know so little about them. We know that they worked in the factory at some point, but they weren't important enough to be known by Harley Sawyer.
However, despite being an employee, they weren't present during the Hour of Joy, hence they're still alive ten years later and able to receive the note from Poppy telling them their colleagues had survived. Finally, they feel guilty about their involvement in what Playtime Co.
did, as seen in their Chapter 3 hallucinations and the message we hear from Poppy when we're dumped into the vat of Poppy gel at the end of Chapter 5. Hence why they returned to Playtime Co when told that there is someone they can still save.
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Chapter 2: What are the three key mysteries in Poppy Playtime?
But despite the lack of evidence, I did put together an answer. One that I was convinced had to be the right one. My theory was that we were playing as PW, Preston Willard, a scientist from Playtime Co and the owner of the orientation notebook. They fit everything pretty well. Obviously they worked for Playtime Co, they were involved in the experiments and felt very distressed at the concept.
And while that means they may have known Harley, it doesn't necessarily mean he knew them. Harley was pretty up himself, I could see him not paying attention to just another scientist with a lack of drive for what they did. But then the Chapter 5 ARG dropped just before the release of the game, and now I can Yep, PW was turned into a toy by the prototype.
This was supposedly a blessing because Preston was kind to him. But that does mean that PW is kind of out of commission. Even still, I refuse to believe that we are just a random character. Narratively, that would just be so unsatisfying and disappointing. You hear that, Bob? It would be so unsatisfying and disappointing.
For our story, our dedication, our sacrifices to matter, we need to be someone that we as an audience have some kind of emotional attachment to. Plus, let's be honest, the list of available options is getting smaller and smaller by the chapter.
So rather than wait around for the next chapter or two or twelve to tell us who we are, I wanted to go down the list of suspects, put them up against our criteria, and see who is the most likely to be our player character. Grab your shiny new pressure hands, theorists, because we're about to put the pressure on these characters to see which one fits that player-sized mold. First up,
Stella Graber Ah, Stella. One of the earliest characters we were introduced to in this franchise. In fact, she's been referenced in every chapter up until Chapter 5, which felt a little odd to me. Why has this character, who's been so prominent in notes, VHS tapes and ARGs, suddenly not been mentioned at all in this chapter?
Like, guys, we thought she was poppy after the very first chapter she was that prominent. Also, I never mentioned this in a theory, but I was convinced that Stella was going to be Lily Lovebraids once we saw that Preston got turned into a toy.
The line she gave in the trailer, It just sounded like the OG Stella we heard back in Chapter 1, the one who was so excited about the concept of living forever.
But alas, it was Miss Gracie instead.
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Chapter 3: Who is the player character in Poppy Playtime?
All this came to a head in the most recent ARG for Chapter 5. There's an email from Stella to Preston called End of My Rope, where she says she can't take it anymore. Later on, we got video evidence that Preston was involved in the Hour of Joy. I just couldn't stand by and watch it happen anymore.
Which added credence to my theory that Stella was in fact a big part of making the Hour of Joy happen. So she not only would have felt guilty because of the experiments, but she'd also have felt guilty about what happened to the employees afterwards. She didn't want that to happen. She just wanted the toys and orphans to go free. Feels like pretty good motivational evidence.
But motivation or story evidence isn't the be-all and end-all, and there are two things that make it so I don't think it can be stellar. Firstly, Harley. In Chapter 4 he says very distinctly that he doesn't recognise the player, but in that same chapter we hear this line from Leif.
You know, the project lead, Dr. Sawyer, wasn't sure about giving you that information in the first place.
Harley knew who Stella was. I mean, they were both executives at the company. It would be weird for them not to know each other, at least somewhat. But on top of that, Stella would have been in the factory to help make the Hour of Joy happen. And one of two things happened to the humans during that time. They were either killed and eaten, or they were turned into toys.
Preston was saved by the prototype for helping him, so Stella likely would have received that same fate. That's why there's no more audio of her in Chapter 5. Much like Preston, her story is over. Eddie Ritterman Eddie has been much more of a slow burn as a character.
We saw his name on a single piece of paper in Chapter 2, we heard his voice in the Chapter 4 ARG, and then we saw more of his personality in that same chapter.
Get done.
So he's clearly evil. But other than that, we don't have much to go off of, which would be perfect for our faceless protagonist. But what's more perfect is what we hear in this audio log between him and Leith from Chapter 5.
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Chapter 4: What theories exist about the identity of the player character?
That means we're out of executives, so the Harley comment shouldn't be much of an issue going forward. But it also means there aren't many characters left to choose from, so bear with me with some of these next options. Dr. Arkin's daughter. Now I know what you're thinking. Who on earth is Dr. Arkin's, let alone her daughter? And you'd be completely justified in wondering that.
We've never heard of this person before Chapter 5, but the reason I and a few online have pointed them out is because in this chapter we receive not one, not two, but three letters addressed to this character. They're all written by Dr. Arkins to her husband David and her daughter Julie.
They talk about her experience working in the factory, the scientists she meets, like those from the Young Geniuses program, how she missed her daughter's birthday, and how she was sold a vision of putting an end to death, which she then bought because she wanted that for her own daughter. But the final letter tells us that most of these letters never leave the factory.
likely because Leith was paranoid that information about these experiments would get out. But that means Dr. Arkin's daughter would have been left completely in the dark about her mother. All she'd have known is one day a tragedy happened in the factory and all of the employees went missing, including her mother. So if she were to receive a note telling her that employees were still alive,
that might mean her mother was still alive, and that feels like pretty strong motivation to go and see. Alongside that, Harley would have literally no idea who she is, and she'd have also not been present for the hour of joy. But the reason she wasn't present or recognised is because she's not an employee.
There is a world where you could argue maybe she took a spare employee uniform and badge that her mum left behind, so mummy just thinks she used to work here based on that, but one that's really speculative. And two, during chapter three, when we hallucinate thanks to the red smoke, we see a message that says, your presence was demanded 10 years ago and you didn't show up. 8-8-1995.
You were supposed to be here why weren't you here the player wasn't just an employee they were supposed to be there for the hour of joy in some way which only makes sense in a few cases either we were an employee that was just meant to be there that day we were an employee involved in the hour of joy like preston or stella or we were something else that was expected to be there An escaped toy.
If you thought the last one was a bit out of left field, oh boy, just wait till you hear this one. During chapter 5, you can find this note that is a little different from our usual suspect. Rather than a journal entry or a scientific report, this is a handwritten newspaper from The Better Press.
This feels like a reference to The Better Place, a location we talked about last time where the prototype has taken all the orphans once he turned them into toys. And the paper itself seems to align with this fact.
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Chapter 5: Who is Stella Graber and what role does she play?
And given his greater-than-thou attitude, I also wouldn't be surprised if the two never interacted while Harley was still human, simply because Rich was just a lowly shipment worker. Even if Rich was the head of a department, anyone that wasn't working in the labs would have been seen as beneath Harley. But that's not all the timing helps prove.
It might explain how he could have missed the Hour of Joy. Now, bear with me, this is going to get a little more on the speculative side, but narratively, I do think it really makes sense. This situation, in my mind, goes one of two ways.
With this discussion being only a week before the Hour of Joy, maybe Leaf thinks about Eddie's idea for a bit, but then eventually heads over to Ridge and offers him the job. It's a big deal, a new parking spot, a new car, big salary bump, but what would his subordinates think? Leaf would likely be able to see the hesitancy, but he needed Ridge to take the deal. So, hey, look, take tomorrow off.
Think about it.
and let me know only for tomorrow to be the day everyone was killed this would lead to rich feeling incredibly guilty about his people he should have been there for them but he wasn't and so when he hears there's some people left in the factory he has to go and see the only issue is the player's guilt seems to be tied to the experiments in some way which at this point rich wouldn't know about so this is my alternative suggestion leith doesn't think too much about eddie's suggestion it's eddie he trusts him and so rich gets his promotion the week before the hour of joy
Rich is not as calculated as Leith and so doesn't see the downsides of getting all this extra stuff. He takes the job and, as one of the new executives, is given top-level access to everything. And so begins his tour of the real Playtime Co. He is informed of everything Leith, Eddie and Stella have been doing. How they've been experimenting on turning orphans into toys.
Just like their founder, Elliot Ludwig, did years ago, creating Poppy and the prototype. We know Rich has a big heart. He cares about the orphans.
I get it. So when he realizes what's been going on, he can't stomach it.
But he's already signed up. He's stuck. Maybe after learning all of this, he takes a sick day. Maybe he tries to quit. Or maybe Leith tells him to take the day to celebrate his promotion. Either way. he misses the hour of joy.
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