This guide does not include any information regarding the new tape audios or the map Usher Manor that were added into the game recently. Once we have collected all of the new tapes and gathered all the information we can about the new map, some theories here may be changed or added on to.

(Please note: These theories do not relate to WNO lore in any way. They were made based on information gathered in WN2 and game elements from WN2 primarily. Even in the case of Nikolai and Subject 23, only the map Bunker 51 and the items found in that map were used from WNO, not the story behind them.)

One thing we have to keep in mind is that this game draws heavily from the Lovecraftian Cthulhu mythos and many of the elements that we see have been inspired by that mythos.

The theory begins with a few of the gods from this mythos. These gods are Cthulhu, Tsathoggua, Nyarlathotep, Dagon, and Olkoth. If you are unfamiliar with these gods, here are links to their wiki pages:

*Cthulhu: http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Cthulhu

*Tsathoggua: http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Tsathoggua

*Nyarlathotep: http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Nyarlathotep

*Dagon: http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Dagon

*Olkoth: http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Olkoth

Cthulhu is known to be in a deep slumber in our dimension deep in the ocean under the sunken city of R’lyeh and he has been this way for many years. The other gods I mentioned above wanted to free Cthulhu from his slumber so they banded together. From this moment on, they became known as “The Pack.”

The Pack, however, did not have any idea how to free Cthulhu. Even with their combined strength and knowledge, it appeared as though nothing could be done. That is until they discovered humanity… On the very planet Cthulhu was imprisoned, a sentient species was taking shape. This drew The Pack’s attention because they discovered something inside these beings that they had never seen before: a soul. Upon witnessing them, the Pack began to believe that they could revive Cthulhu using the life energy harvested from the essence of these souls.

But there was another problem. The gods could not enter into our dimension in their god-like forms and could not gather the souls they needed themsleves. This was when they came up with an insidious plan… They created a prison in the shape of a pillar. This pillar would house different entities that The Pack believed to be viable killers from many different dimensions. The pillar would then draw on the energy of the imprisoned monster to create a projection of the monster that would be invulnerable to even the strongest of human weaponry. The projection would then mercilessly hunt down any humans who were in the vicinity when the pillar was activated. The projection would gather the souls of those it killed and it would bring them back to the pillar to be collected by The Pack. This process became known as “The Hunt” (name taken from in-game tutorial) and the pillar is what we all know as “The Artifact.”

From this moment on, The Pack began to influence humanity and created situations where a Hunt could begin. Most of them induced visions in the minds of many people while Nyarlathotep and Olkoth found ways to enter into our dimension. Nyarlathotep had the ability to appear in human form and speak the languages of human beings. Using his abilities, he took direct control of certain societies, usually becoming their ruler. Once doing so, he convinced them to worship the Pack and Cthulhu, even convincing the people to perform human sacrifices to the gods in the form of Hunts. The humans believed it to be their “divine duty” and the only way to the afterlife. They sacrificed themselves willingly, not knowing the terrible fate that would meet them. Olkoth also decided to split a part of himself to take possession of a human to gain a physical presence in our world. This other half then entered The Artifact to become the Olkoth monster.

The first known example of the gods controlling humanity occurred Gobekli ruins. The Pack’s presence was so strong in this area that the people living there constructed shrines to each of them as well as a sacrificial chamber to house The Artifact. It is believed that Astaroth was the first monster chosen for imprisonment in The Artifact even before Olkoth who followed after. Being a Duke of Hell, there is no doubt The Pack had heard of him and his ability to kill. With this fact in mind, the room in Gobekli ruins with four Astaroth heads was most likely the sacrificial chamber where Hunts were held. Since Astaroth was the only monster the people knew about, they began to worship him as well under the leadership of Nyarlathotep.

As the years progressed and The Pack gathered more and more souls, new monsters were added into The Artifact. The human population exploded and The Pack found that they had to be much more secretive in their attempts to start Hunts. Their names quickly became legend and they faded into obscurity. However, a few humans never truly forgot about them and even went as far as to establish cults to each deity as well as Cthulhu. Their goals were to bring Cthulhu out of his slumber and to aid The Pack in their efforts.

That is when we reach the current in-game timeline. After waiting and patiently gathering souls for millennia, The Pack almost had the number they need in order to bring Cthulhu out of his slumber. It is at this point that the in-game tape audios come into play.

Here is a link to the tape audios that will be discussed in the following paragraphs:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yl4cbqgzf60jlvq/AABPO8SfEqEd8pGDbzsvvtnsa?dl=0

For clearer audio, please view this video by Yeilding Business: The narrator’s story begins with the “Strange Frequencies” tape. It is at this point that The Artifact is trying to draw the curious humans to it by emitting these frequencies. This prompts an investigation led by what is assumed to be three people. Next we learn (in the tape called “Came Here First”) that another group of investigators seems to have come before the narrator’s group. This group’s fate is never discussed and we are left to wonder what exactly happened to them. However, it is highly suggested that they fell victim to The Hunt. In “Supplies” it appears as though this group’s supplies were ravaged for some mysterious reason further establishing that a Hunt occurred.

The next tapes to pay attention to are the ones called “Worth It” and “Test Results.” These tapes are talking about the discovery of the Artifact itself. In “Worth It” the investigator group seems to know what kind of power is harnessed within The Artifact (they discovered this in “Test Results”) and the narrator seems extremely worried when his group talks about “controlling it.”
The next group of audios to pay attention to are the “Broken”, “Deserve This”, “Each Other”, “Who Could’ve Thought Right”, and “Makes Sense Now” tapes. The last four tapes I mentioned are basically lamentations by the narrator about their current situation and how he feels like something is terribly wrong with the place they are investigating. However, in “Broken”, the group hears a strange buzzing sound but cannot identify it. I believe this to be the Artifact releasing one of the monsters. It is at this point “The Hunt” began for this doomed group.

The next group of audios to pay attention to are “Girl”, “Water”, “The Outcome”, “This Place”, and “Stay Here and Wait”. During all these tapes, the narrator’s group is being hunted down one by one by the monster. It begins with the death of a girl who is around 8-9 years old in “Girl.” She may have been the lone survivor from the other group of investigators who were killed in The Hunt. She was most likely not around to witness her group’s activation of The Artifact and therefore was not a target. However, she most likely witnessed the narrator’s group activate The Artifact and she tried to warn them of what would happen, but was killed before she could speak. That is why the tape cuts off so suddenly. It can also be assumed that the “He” that is referenced in “Stay Here and Wait” and “This Place” are probably the other investigators who were with the narrator. The narrator is most likely talking about a different person in each one though due to the fact the investigator from “Stay Here and Wait” was most likely killed by the monster after he went scouting. In “The Outcome” the narrator realizes that he and the other team member are probably the last two to survive the onslaught.

The penultimate group of audios to pay attention to are “In My Brain”, “Spending the Night”, “Sleeping in the Day”, “Staring at Each Other”, “Hell”, “Head Filled”, and “Those Eyes.” “Spending the Night” talks about the narrator presumably sleeping amongst the corpses of his dead group possibly to disguise himself from the monster that is hunting him. “Hell” and “Head Filled” details the narrator’s own grief about the situation he is in and how he wishes he would’ve stopped his group from tampering with The Artifact when he had the chance. “Sleeping in the Day”, “Staring at Each Other”, “Those Eyes”, and “In My Brain” however are incredibly interesting. The narrator seems to be having direct telepathic conversations with the monster that is hunting him. The monster is most likely Subject 23 who was forcefully imprisoned within The Artifact (this is discussed in the Subject 23 section) by The Pack. Subject 23 sees an opportunity to break away from the Artifact’s control for long enough to tell the narrator how the Artifact can be destroyed for good. The Narrator’s head becomes filled with knowledge about the Artifact and The Pack’s evil plans.

The final group of audios to pay attention to are the ones that are most relevant to the investigator group we play as in-game. The tapes “Warmth”, “Gain Knowledge”, “Book”, “Gate”, “Is This Recording”, “Portal”, and “Where Am I” all drastically shift the story. In “Gain Knowledge”, the narrator decides not to give into his fate and he tries to fight back against The Pack. “Book”, “Gate”, “Portal”, and “Warmth” all discuss the various methods that the narrator uses to try and destroy the Artifact. “Book” is referring to Grimoires, “Portal” is probably referring to the Rift, and “Warmth” is probably referring to the light prism. In “Gate” the narrator most likely has discovered the location of the sigils which power The Artifact in-game. The “key to the abyss” is not an actual key, but a metaphorical one referring to the sigils. However, by the time we listen to “Is This Recording” and “Where Am I”, it is clear the narrator has lost his mind before he could find them. The immense amount of knowledge that he gained as well as the constant supernatural events he witnessed became too much for him to handle and he was unable to destroy the sigils and was more than likely devoured by the monster at the end of “Where Am I” because it cuts off very suddenly.

With all of this in mind… We can now understand why we are hunting tapes and other various objects in-game. We aren’t trying to win “The Hunt”, we’re trying to cheat it. The tapes are directions left by the narrator of them for anyone else who gets trapped like his group did. He guides the group we play as through deciphering Grimoires, opening arcane chests, destroying light prisms, and closing rifts in order to destroy The Artifact. If they are able to succeed in doing so in-game, then The Artifact is destroyed for good. The souls that were once trapped are now released and The Pack’s only foothold in our world is gone forever. However, if the group fails in-game, The Pack will finally have the required amount of souls to awaken Cthulhu and he is now free to rule our world. This is the “Ancient evil” that has “awoken” according to the message you receive if you lose as the investigators in-game.

Gobekli Ruins:

Since Gobekli was released in WN2, I was able to do a very thorough investigation with a friendly monster. What we found in the ruins was quite striking and strange. Below is a link to the pictures I took during this investigation.
They are in an online Dropbox similar to the tapes from the last section and will also be referenced frequently: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/q4898mry20esqu5/AAA5jvI8C0Vzz_dP15R6_DIRa?dl=0

*The first things we discovered were numerous “areas” with their own special markers on walls and giant statues in the center. They were also littered with small minion-like statues that seemed to be based on the larger statues.

*The second thing we discovered was that there was an area on the map that was completely and utterly dedicated to Astaroth. The room contained four gigantic stone head carvings of the monster as well as a pool of unknown liquid in the center.

*The third and final thing we discovered was that there was a heavy military presence in the area. There are at least two different military camps present that we could find. However, they were all completely deserted and it looked like a very bloody massacre had taken place in each camp. We also noticed that every sign around each camp perimeter was in English.

We honestly didn’t know what any of this meant at the time, but as we did more research things started to become clearer.

~The Octopus area that we found is actually an area dedicated to Cthulhu, the fictional octopus-like god from H.P. Lovecraft’s works. This discovery led to further investigation into the other statues found in different areas of the map. This information has been confirmed by the dev Soy1Bonus, as well as the following facts:

~ Tsathoggua=toad statue. Tsathoggua is often described as being “very squat and pot-bellied” and “his head was more like a monstrous toad than a deity.”

~ Nyarlathotep=Pharaoh statue. This was interesting because of its more symbolic representation of the god. Nyarlathotep is a god in the Cthulhu Mythos who often lurks among humanity. He can appear in thousands of different forms and even has the ability to speak many different human languages.

~ Dagon=dragon statue. This was the most confusing one because there aren’t any dragons in the Cthulhu mythos as far as we knew. We theorized that the statue could represent Dagon due to the similar spelling. When we asked Soy1Bonus directly about he said that “It’s supposed to be a more dragon-ish version of Dagon” confirming our suspicions.

Monster Bios:

Olkoth’s bio was the main source for the theory that he split a part of himself to appear as the monster we see in the game. It says the monster is a “reincarnation of an ancient evil that has possessed the body of an unfortunate victim.” The fact that it also wants to “increase the size of its collection of human souls” only solidified this idea. In fact, every monster’s bio says that one of their main goals is to collect human souls in some way (minus 23, read his theory to find out why):

Rusalka: She is known for “feeding on weaker creatures to travel betwixt worlds.” Since she is here, we can assume that the “weaker creatures” most likely refers to humans.

Darcy: Her goal is to “seize the fragile human essence.” It can be assumed that this is referring to human souls.

Astaroth: His goal is to “conquer all humanity” and most likely seize their souls given the fact he is a high-ranking demon.
Subject 23’s bio did give us the name “The Pack” however. It specifically says “He’s been terrorizing Europe for years, sacrificing hundreds of lives to The Pack.”

Tapes:

The tape audios were all found in game and each one that is possible to find has been found. Soy1Bonus confirmed that there were 29 unique audios to be found in the game and all 29 are present in the Dropbox. What they mean is still up to interpretation but we felt they fit the main overarching theory extremely well.

Ghosts:

If you die in WN2, you come back as ghosts in game. This gives you an opportunity to help your fellow investigators one more time while they are still alive. This mechanic is what inspired the “soul collecting” theory behind The Artifact.

As stated in the overarching theory,

引用自 Brain98：

"Olkoth also decided to split a part of himself to take possession of a human
to gain a physical presence in our world. This other half then entered The
Artifact to become the Olkoth monster."

I believe that at the end of "White Noise: A tale of horror" (the standalone before White Noise Online), the unnamed investigator who went looking for his friend, who'd placed 8 tapes and gone missing became Olkoth. I believe that his friend got killed by Subject 23 and the unnamed protagonist got possessed by Olkoth. I believe this is what lead to these gods starting to take ahold of humanity on a grander scale.

This event was the nexus event that led to the rest of the timeline occurring.

Now, I have no idea how White Noise Online fits into the storyline yet. It could be non-canonical as all the characters (except Invisible Man/Woman) make an appearance in the second game.

- Moh4wk

*Note: All of these lore theories take place in the same world as WN2 where The Pack , The Artifact, and Cults who worship The Pack exist. They all assume what I have written above is true. Also please note that evidence for each theory will follow the theory itself in the same section.

The suggested reading order to get the entire picture is:

*Kurt

*Maria

*Vincent

*Shaira and Corey

*Subject 23

*Nikolai

*Okiku (unrelated to the other stories)

This theory relates both Kurt and the map Abbey of the Savior together.

Kurt’s parents were nothing special. They were just normal parents who realized at some point that they simply could not take care of Kurt anymore no matter how much they wanted to. The money simply wasn’t there. After arguing about it for the last time, Kurt’s parents left him on the doorstep of a local convent hoping that he would get a better life with them.

What Kurt’s parents didn’t realize was that this convent wasn’t an ordinary convent. It was an evil place inhabited by the servants of The Pack known as “The Brotherhood of the Forgotten.” As Kurt grew up, he witnessed numerous arcane sacrifices and evil rituals being performed by the members of the Brotherhood. These things terrified him and he rarely spoke about them ever again, becoming more and more introverted as time passed. On top of this, he was told to stay within the grounds of the convent and he was never allowed to leave for any reason. He was forced to learn about Cthulhu and The Pack and to worship them as gods.

But Kurt never truly accepted anything the Brotherhood told him. He believed the group had false goals and that none of what they believed truly existed. Through willpower alone, he was able to persevere through his torment into adulthood. And that’s when everything changed.

One night, the Brotherhood decided to attempt something that was a “rite of passage” for any Cthulhu worshipper. They wanted to summon The Artifact. What they did not know was what legend forgot to tell them… The Artifact housed a monster inside of it that would slay all of those who activated it and sacrifice their souls to The Pack.

As the Brotherhood approached Kurt to force him to help with the ritual, Kurt decided that enough was enough. He openly renounced his faith in The Pack to the Brotherhood. This ended with Kurt being thrown in a holding cell deep within the old church where the Brotherhood would deal with him after summoning The Artifact. This last act of defiance inadvertently saved Kurt’s life.

As Kurt sat in his holding cell, he could still hear the horrible chants being made by the members of the Brotherhood. He knew they were wasting their time. Nothing they had ever done had truly worked before. No sacrifice they made would be able to bring this object of legend to them.
And suddenly there was silence followed by a small clicking sound. This clicking sound grew louder and louder until it abruptly ended in a piercing ring.

That’s when all hell broke loose. All Kurt heard were the terrible screams of the members of the Brotherhood as they were hunted down one by one by some sort of beast. They were helpless to defend themselves, but the beast kept coming until everyone outside had been silenced. He could hear the beast’s breathing as it stood on the cobblestone floor of the Abbey far above him. In the very next moment, the monster and the source of the noise vanished into nothingness along with the bodies of the cult members. And Kurt was left alone in his cell… with the memory of that night haunting him forever.

Kurt’s bio was the main source for his connection to the Abbey of the Savior map as well as his backstory regarding his parents. According to his bio, Kurt was “abandoned by his parents in a convent” which led to him becoming a “lonely and cautious” person. The Abbey’s bio gave rise to the theory that a cult that worshipped The Pack was present in that area at one time. According to the bio, the Abbey was “a place of devotion for the Brotherhood of the Forgotten.” The members of this cult also “disappeared without a single trace” which inspired the theory that The Artifact was summoned in the area.

I feel that the convent Kurt was left at would most likely be Saint Martin from WNO. I feel it would be more fitting for him to be tied to a map from the game he originated from rather than one from this game.

Like Kurt and the Brotherhood of the Forgotten, Maria was also raised in a town that worshipped The Pack. However, they were not very open about this and often hid their true identities from the world at large. Also like the Brotherhood, the town decided that they needed to summon The Artifact to show their devotion to the gods, not knowing about “The Hunt” either. Luckily for Maria, she was off in a neighboring town getting supplies for the family and she did not witness The Artifact’s activation. When she returned, she found that her village had been flattened and it looked as though life had not existed in the area for years. From that day forward, she began investigating paranormal activity and vowed one day to have revenge on whatever took her family away from her.

This all comes from Maria’s bio. The town where Maria lived “disappeared all of a sudden, along with all of its inhabitants.” This suggests her town met a similar fate as the Brotherhood did from Kurt’s story.

Vincent was always a D-list actor. He was never asked to star in any big films and his work was often looked down upon in Hollywood. None of his movies ever received good reviews and just barely made their money back from production costs. Vincent had given up. He had no other options. He had trained to be an actor his entire life but yet he still failed every time he was hired. That was until he learned about The Pack.

Vincent had always known about The Pack from stories he was told as a kid, but he never believed any of them. If anything, he thought those who did were complete lunatics. Nonetheless… Vincent figured he would try and contact The Pack in a last ditch effort to reach stardom. He purchased an old spell book that contained the incantation necessary to directly “speak” with The Pack. Vincent completed the chant without making any mistakes… and nothing happened. He couldn’t help but laugh at himself in that moment. He had become one of the lunatics who had believed in this old story that would obviously never work.

Then the ground shook beneath Vincent’s feet. A sharp ringing sound pierced his mind and a deep voice bellowed “Speak mortal. What is it you seek?” Vincent told the god that he wanted fame and wealth and that he would trade anything in the world for it. “Your wish shall be granted… at the price of your soul” the god said. Vincent, being as desperate as he was, readily accepted the offer.

From that moment on, Vincent rose to stardom. He was the top pick in Hollywood for decades. People never got tired of his work and he was constantly hired without question. It was almost like the memory of his previous failures had been completely erased. He reveled in his fame and glory for many years.

And then Vincent began to age. As he aged, he found that he could no longer work in the movie industry. His body wouldn’t let him. He was becoming oddly frail very fast and he didn’t understand why. Then he remembered the deal he had made… and Vincent realized with a sinking feeling that his time was almost up. And that The Pack was coming to collect.

Vincent’s bio was the main inspiration behind this theory. It specifically says that Vincent “signed a dark pact to reach stardom decades ago” and that “now it’s time to pay the price.” Vincent’s character also seems to be inspired by Vincent Price who was a famous horror movie actor.

Corey was a troublemaker at Eastmore College. He wasn’t a bully, but he had a knack for vandalism especially if it was school property. Because of this, he often found himself face-to-face with the school’s principal. The principal hated Corey. He hated Corey so much that he often threatened to get him sent to a correctional facility. However, Corey usually laughed this off because he knew something like that would never happen. And the cycle continued where the principal scolded Corey and Corey said he would never get into trouble again.

What Corey didn’t know about his principal was that he was an extremely high-ranking member of the Brotherhood of the Forgotten. The principal worshipped The Pack fervently and knew about the legendary Artifact. He believed that it was an ancient prison that Pack worshippers used to seal their enemies in… and he knew just who he would use it on.

The following day, Corey sat before him because he was accused of vandalizing his office when the school was closed the night before. As usual, Corey denied any claim that it was he who did any of those things especially since the security cameras were dead. That was when the principal began muttering to himself. He muttered the well-known evil incantation that is used to summon The Artifact. Corey stood from his chair shocked as a gigantic pillar blinked into existence. Then all of a sudden, he began to fade. The principal continued to mutter his curse until Corey had completely faded and had become trapped within The Artifact.

Corey had been missing for over a week by now and it was assumed that he had run away. The principal was relieved to finally be rid of his problem forever. But what he didn’t realize was that his curse did not end with the incantation… He suddenly began to notice that his left hand was fading. And then his right hand. And then his left arm. The principal screamed in terror as he suffered the same fate he had placed on one of his students.

Throughout the years, many other students began to disappear in this very same manner until finally the school was closed down. No one knew where these missing students went or what happened to them, and Eastmore College fell into disrepair as the years passed by. No one ever dared set foot in its supposedly haunted halls.

During all of this, Corey remained trapped within the Artifact. He never aged even when his former school fell into disrepair and he never needed any physical nourishment. What Corey soon began to realize, however, was that there were evil creatures trapped in this prison with him. Creatures that wouldn’t spare him for a second if they found him. So he remained hidden and he waited until he could find a way to escape.

**************************************************************************************************************************
Shaira was born with the incredible gift of being a medium. She could communicate with the dead with ease. This often scared her when she was young, but as she aged she began to see the dead the same way as she would view those who were alive. People needed peace with their deceased loved ones and Shaira was known for giving this to them. She was also an extremely adept fortune teller and she had become a master of the arcane arts in her adulthood.

Then one day Shaira’s life changed forever. She found a book with odd inscriptions on it in her study that had been left to her by one of her parents. It was an old spell book written by those in the Brotherhood of the Forgotten. Within the pages, Shaira saw an inscription for summoning an ancient Artifact that was created by the gods. Curious as to what this “Artifact” was, Shaira began to practice the incantation.

After practicing for many days, Shaira finally felt she was ready to give the incantation a try for real. After the incantation was spoken, Shaira quickly realized that nothing was happening. For some reason, she did not have the power to summon The Artifact. She tried again and again with the same result. However, on her tenth try, she began to hear a voice. It was the voice of a young boy, pleading for help. It grew louder and louder, telling Shaira to open a rift she had summoned using the incantation. Shaira, reacting quickly, reached in and grabbed the boy before the rift shut without a trace seconds later.

The boy was Corey. He told Shaira about everything that had happened to him. He also told her about the evil The Artifact contained and that it must be destroyed somehow. Shaira realized how lucky she was that she was unable to summon The Artifact at its full strength, for she would have been killed. From this moment on, Shaira agreed to train Corey in the mystic arts and the pair vowed that one day they would destroy The Artifact once and for all.

The key plot point about Corey being from Eastmore College was confirmed by the dev Soy1Bonus. Both Corey and Shaira’s bios also provided a lot of information to build this theory. Corey was “threatened to end up in a correctional home” and he “didn’t hesitate for a second and ran away.” The part with Corey “running away” was used as a cover up story in the theory above. Shaira is often “absorbed in spritism books or ancient rites” and is a “renowned fortune teller.” This information inspired her curiosity in The Artifact that she found in a “spritism book”. The bio of Eastmore College also says that “disturbing rumors encouraged students to stay away from this once famous institution.” These “rumors” could be the disappearing students mentioned in the theory above. The fact that Corey and Shaira also came together in the same DLC also inspired their connection from the theory.

Subject 23 is interesting in the case of the main lore theory because he is not a demon or ghost of any kind. He is a corporeal alien being who is from a different planet entirely. And yet, he still somehow ended up within The Artifact and provided the tape narrator with the tools he needed to destroy The Artifact.

Here’s how it is believed to have happened:

Subject 23’s story begins on his home planet that is an inferno. There is only one hour of night on this planet, and its surface is extremely volatile to the point where almost nothing lives on its surface. Everything is forced to live underground, even the much larger creatures. Throughout the planet’s life, massive tunnels have been dug by these creatures under the earth resulting in numerous caves. An entire ecosystem exists where logic would deem it impossible.

This is where Subject 23 was born. His species is one of the dominant ones on this planet. They are expert hunters who use echolocation to relentlessly hunt down their prey in the tunnel systems. Their body’s skin cells have adapted to become incredibly strong and almost armor-like when exposed to light sources and the members of the species can control this ability at will. This ability allows them to walk around on the planet’s surface unharmed by the toxic landscape for more than an hour. They are also extremely intelligent, being able to communicate effectively with other members and even establish hierarchies.

One day, however, Subject 23’s life changed dramatically. The planet’s surface simply could no longer handle the intense amounts of radiation it was receiving from the sun and it began to split. And not just a minor split, but a split straight to the core of the planet, causing a chain reaction. The planet suffered an intense explosion where it lost almost a half of its surface to space. Nearly every member of 23’s species was wiped out in a matter of seconds… but he survived. Nestled in a capsule of a titanium-like rock, Subject 23 awoke to find himself drifting alone in space. He had no family, no food, and no home. Without any options, he resealed his capsule and let his skin cells form their armor.

The next time he woke up he was in a containment cell in Bunker 51. He had crash-landed in the area after passing through a wormhole that brought him within range of Earth’s gravitational field. He didn’t remember much about the impact except for an incredibly loud noise and a jarring crash. But none of that mattered. All Subject 23 knew though was that he needed to break free from the cage he was placed in.

The next few months were hell for Subject 23. He endured as the scientists stuck him with needles day after day over and over again in order to obtain fresh DNA samples. Soon enough 23 came to the horrible realization that his captors had learned of his ability to clone himself. At least twice a day he was forced to do this, an effort that crippled Subject 23. He didn't know what his captors wanted with the clones or what they did with them. Frankly, he didn't care.

The rest of Subject 23's day was spent hibernating and watching. Watching the man who looked back at him. A tall man standing in a green army uniform. The man who allowed his suffering to continue. They studied each other day in and day out. Never breaking line of sight. Subject 23 could tell this man wasn't like the others. He wasn't afraid. Subject 23 knew that when he broke out that man would be afraid. They all would be... and he was going to revel in every moment of it. For he had found his method of escape. A small crack in the top left corner of the holding cell was forming. All it needed was a push.

With a sudden rage, Subject 23 smashed the glass and broke out of his containment cell. He used his armor-like skin to overpower the guards in the area and the scientists. He massacred everyone in the facility. As far as he knew, no one had survived... not even the man in green who was probably buried beneath the pile of guards.

This is when The Pack found him. They witnessed the destruction that Subject 23 had wrought on the humans in the area and realized that he had the potential to be a perfect killer for The Artifact. But The Pack had to test him first. They had never tried using a corporeal being before and they weren’t sure if they could control him effectively. From this moment on, Subject 23 was The Pack’s slave. He killed for them for many years without any choice in the matter. And the military hunted him wherever he went.

Finally, after Subject 23 had killed and sacrificed hundreds of people to The Pack they deemed him ready. They forced him to go to the old Gobekli ruins where he was subsequently imprisoned within The Artifact. The military finally tracked Subject 23 to this same location, but they were too late… Upon their arrival, they activated The Artifact… and Subject 23 once again rose to hunt.

Nikolai grew up in a small town in the heart of Siberia. The weather was punishing and every day of Nikolai’s life was a fight for survival. Both of his parents died when he was only ten years old to Pneumonia, making Nikolai realize that no one will take care of him and he must take care of himself. He knew he had to do something to escape the freezing tundra he was born into. As Nikolai grew into adulthood, he decided to enlist in the Army. This would allow him to escape the death trap that was his home in favor of a more stable job and housing.

Nikolai was very dedicated to the Army. He excelled in basic training and outshot every member of his class. He beat every record the training facility had in every race or obstacle course possible. He had finally found a purpose for his dreadful life and he made it his goal to rise through the ranks.

And rise he did, all the way to the rank of Colonel. Nikolai was put in charge of his own battalion of soldiers and tasked with ending border disputes quickly throughout Russia. His forces became known as The Angels of Death because of their unfeeling efficiency and extreme secrecy. No one knew who any of the members of the Angels of Death were to protect them from retribution killings from those they silenced. Nikolai was on top of the world.

That was when his commanding officer approached him with a proposition. The commanding officer had intercepted an encrypted message from the United States asking the American scientists that were in Russia to return to help weaponize “Subject 23.” Neither Nikolai nor the officer in their years of shadow work had ever heard of an American weapon called “Subject 23” and were immediately interested. The officer ordered Nikolai to infiltrate the facility where “Subject 23” was located and to either destroy the weapon or steal it’s schematics for Russian use.

It took many years and lots of identity cover-up before Nikolai was finally admitted into Bunker 51 as head of security. Once he gained access to the facility, he was immediately taken aback by the things he saw. Strange otherworldly beings sat in cages staring at him and alien technology laid on examination tables everywhere. He knew he would have to report all of these things to his commanding officer, but his main goal was Subject 23.

After many more months, Nikolai had finally gained the trust of the facility staff and he was well liked in Bunker 51. His security detail followed him without question and he kept people away from the facility with great ease. And then one day, Nikolai’s security detail was tasked with protecting the scientists who were analyzing Subject 23. This was the moment Nikolai had been waiting for.
What he saw was not what he expected… Subject 23 wasn’t a physical weapon. It was an extremely pale alien that was said to have armor-like skin. It was very unassuming and very humanoid in appearance as it sat silently in its cage.

Nikolai began to learn many disturbing things during his time watching over Subject 23. He discovered that the Americans were performing terrible experiments to try and create supersoldiers based on 23's DNA. It started with human subjects originally... The test subjects were often full grown humans who had their DNA forcibly spliced with 23's and were most likely to survive the process based on test results. However this was never the case. Each test subject died a painful death. They were often driven insane by the process and many of them mutated extra limbs as the new DNA overpowered their own. Nikolai saw hundreds of people die in this manner and was haunted by it ever day. The scientists even began testing on human embryos at one point. Directly injecting the foregin DNA while they were still developing and like the other subjects, many did not survive the process. But those who did were placed in containment cells and their growth was monitored. In all the years he had been alive, Nikolai had never seen such horrors as he did while working at Bunker 51.

But everything changed when a huge breakthrough was made... The scientists had learned that Subject 23 could make clones. The beast had somehow evolved a mechanism to create a perfect flesh and blood clone that contained its exact DNA. These would be perfect for testing and harvesting. Even though these clones could not move and were not sentient, it always made Nikolai nervous to see two or more of the beast at one time. He didn't like how often they made the beast copy itself.

After months of watching over Subject 23, Nikolai grew suspicious of the beast. It wasn’t like the other creatures in Bunker 51 who would try in vain to escape their holding cells by pounding on the glass or shouting. All Subject 23 would do was stand still for days at a time not moving a muscle. Nikolai knew this being was more intelligent than anyone in the facility realized. But before Nikolai could even finish the thought, the creature screamed and smashed through the Plexiglas cage that it was being held in.

The scientists didn’t stand a chance and they were immediately consumed by the ravenous creature. Nikolai ordered his men to open fire, but the beast’s skin deflected every bullet without any affect. His security detail was quickly overpowered by the creature and killed instantly. Nikolai knew he had to run.

And run he did, closing every possible security door he could find on his way out. He knew there was no way any human weaponry could harm this creature so he tried to trap it again until they could find a way to kill it. Nikolai immediately checked the security cameras in the area to make sure the beast was still trapped. To his relief, it was. He saw the pale monster standing still once again with the dead bodies of his team around it. Nikolai felt a mixture of guilt and relief as he went to inform his superiors about what had happened.

But that’s when he heard the screams. They erupted from the east wing of the Bunker. Nikolai ran to where the screams were coming from only to find Subject 23 annihilating everything that moved. The beast showed no mercy and held nothing back. Nikolai was in disbelief and shock. He ran back to the security camera to find that Subject 23 was still in his holding room standing completely still… It had cloned itself.

Then suddenly the power went out. Now the world was in complete darkness. Nikolai had no choice but to find a place to hide. He knew why the beast cut the power. It used echolocation to hunt and it didn’t need the light to see. But it knew that its prey did.

Nikolai felt his way through the darkness all the way to the morgue. He quickly opened a door on the casket wall and slid inside. He had hoped that the metal door would disrupt the monster’s echolocation and make his presence unknown to the beast.

The screaming eventually stopped and Nikolai continued to hide in the wall. Many hours had passed and Nikolai was in great pain. But he knew he had to survive. He didn’t spend those long years in Siberia and in the Army only to die here on foreign ground to an alien monstrosity. Suddenly, he heard Subject 23 enter the room. It was emanating clicking sounds, no doubt trying to see if anyone had survived his attack. It remained in the room for twenty long minutes and Nikolai couldn’t do anything but stifle his breathing.

Then the monster disappeared without a trace. It had blinked out of existence… And Nikolai now sat alone amongst the dead in the facility realizing just how much his life had changed.

Subject 23’s bio and overall appearance was the main inspiration for his theory. Because of his large ears, and lack of eyes, and high perception stat in-game, we inferred that Subject 23 hunts using some form of echolocation. The extremely pale skin as well as the muscular physique suggested that members of Subject 23’s species most likely lived underground and were well adapted to climbing around in caverns. The Unfazed ability found in-game gave rise to the “skin cell armor” part of the theory. Subject 23’s bio also told us a lot about him in general. He is “an alien monstrosity that managed to escape Bunker 51 after consuming all of the scientists in the area.” He also has been “terrorizing Europe for years, sacrificing hundreds of lives to The Pack” which both gave rise to the middle parts of the theory. As for the latter parts of the theory, we noticed while investigating Gobekli ruins that the signs surrounding the military base were all in English, suggesting that it was the US government that was involved in the area. We also had this confirmed by Soy1Bonus who said “Yes, they’re supposed to be American.” There is also pretty gruesome evidence that a massacre of some kind occurred in these camps as evidenced by the blood spatters and overall disorganization. This led to the idea that 23 was imprisoned in this area by The Pack and his first Hunt was held here.

Most of the evidence for Nikolai's theory came directly from his in game bio. He was a “former army member tasked with protecting a secret research laboratory.” This quote inspired his connection to Bunker 51 and to the Army. His trait “survivor” was the inspiration for his great ability to survive and thrive in any situation. It was due to his quick thinking and survival knowledge that he lived through his encounter with Subject 23.

The "Human test subjects" ideas came from actual exploration of Bunker 51 in WNO. Here are the pictures I took during this investigation: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qgpbk9kac6jjww6/AAC7eMfREweAqo1tX3AiKwhHa?dl=0

In Bunker 51, we found embryos that bore strong resemblance to Subject 23. We also found exact copies of Subject 23 that were found in many laboratories as well as a holding tank.
The morgue section of the map also inspired the idea that Nikolai hid in a casket holder on the wall during Subject 23's raid on Bunker 51. The space would be wide enough to fit a human being, but he would have been very uncomfortable hiding in this location. Not to mention, immune to echolocation. (See "Nikolai's hiding spot" picture). The failed full grown human test subject idea was inspired by the numerous "body bag" boxes we found in the map and the rather large morgue that was also present.

Moh4wk's Note:
Although I like the idea of Nikolai being there during Subject 23's breakout of Bunker 51, I feel his character is tied to Alvira Shelter. As supported by some of the tapes that can be found there and the location itself. The "shelter" itself is a guise, when in reality it's a secret lab that focuses on the experimentation of people, presumably with whatever's in the gas canisters (maybe?) and locking their test subjects in jail cells. (Reference tapes: GetAwayWithThis, Gas, HardToBreathe, WayTooManyCells) It also could be possible that Nikolai has come in contact with the unnamed investigator whose tapes we're listening to, as he mentions a russian guy in the tapes tied to Alvira Shelter, but that could be a reach. (tape: Russianguy)

Okiku was niether happy nor sad. She simply existed outside both time and space. A spirit who, for an eternity, would direct lost souls to the afterlife. She knew her role was a necessary one and without her, some spirits would never recieve the peace they needed. But she always wondered... What or who was this so-called "afterlife" that she always brought people too? She began to realize she only knew the direction and not the destination. For she herself was not able to enter the afterlife yet and she had no memory of who tasked her with her vital job.

So she began to search for answers. She crossed dimensions and traveled from world to world only to find herself right where she started. She had no answers and it seemed like none would ever be found. Then one day, The Pack found her.

The Pack immedietly realized that there was no malice in the creature that they were looking at now. She was merely a passive spirit guide and nothing more. They almost turned their backs on her completly until they realized she was on a quest... A quest for answers. Answers that they could give her. Even though they were all lies.

Okiku was shocked one day when a chorus of voices boomed through her head. They told her they were her masters. That they were the ones who'd given her the job she now held. Okiku was overjoyed hearing this. She'd found the ones she'd been looking for! She was ready to hear everything they had to tell her. And she had many questions of her own that needed answering.

As they talked, Okiku began to realize she'd been making a terrible mistake. Her masters showed her the Artifact and told her of its powers. They said that this was the true afterlife and that she'd been damning spirits instead of saving them. She was told that her purpose was to lead the spirits here all along and that somewhere along the line she had forgotten this goal.

Overwhelmed with sadness at the thought of the numerous spirits she had led astray, Okiku began to cry. She had found the answers she was looking for... She knew the location of the one true afterlife now... but to know that she'd been doing her job wrong for millennia was too much. It was at this point that her masters offered her redemption.

They told her that if she entered the Artifact to become one of its keepers, she would be forgiven for her mistakes. Once inside the Aritfact, she would become tethered to Earth forever and her new assigment was to bring lost souls to the Artifact. They taught her how to build an idol that would serve as a beacon to lost souls, guiding them closer to her. They called it the "Purger," and told her it would cleanse those who were lost of their past sins.

Now fully equipped and ready to do her job correctly, Okiku stepped inside the Artifact willingly. Instantly she felt her powers drain. The Artifact began to reshape her, giving her a hidious coporeal form. Her teeth sprouted up like yellow daggers and her tongue became forked. The rest of her body became rigid and doll-like. A large scar tore its way down the front of her new face, forever reminding her of her past mistakes. This new miserable husk would be hers to forever inhabit... and she knew it was a small price to pay for what she had done.

Once on Earth, Okiku became The Pack's most loyal servant. She obeyed their every command and bought into every lie that she was told. She even killed living people simply because The Pack told her they were dead. They were her masters. Who was she to question them?

Now Okiku, who was once a peaceful spirit guide, spends the rest of her days as a monster... Forever wishing to attone for the "mistakes" she had made, not realizing she was making more with each passing day.

According to her in-game bio, Okiku is an "old spirit related to death" who "escorts (human) souls to the afterlife" once their "flame of life burns out." This idea set the tone for the entire theory presented on this page. Also in her bio, it is stated that "Okiku does not have an evil nature." This single statement gave rise to the question: If she's not known for being a killer or having an evil nature, why would The Pack want her for the Artifact? This train of thought inspired her manipulation by the Pack instead of forcible servitude like we see with the other monsters.
The Purger idol (the idol that comes with the Okiku DLC) contained further information as to how Okiku might have gained more victims for the Pack. The idol's description says that it is "able to draw wayward souls, as an offering to the dark ones, to carry out a cleansing ritual." This led to the idea that the "cleansing ritual" might have been a ruse created by the Pack in order to convince Okiku to gather souls in a more efficient manner.

These theories were all created with the help of many different people who were just as dedicated as I was to finding answers. Without them, none of this would have been possible.


Deadly Vanitas who played a friendly monster and allowed me to find many of the tape audios from the Dropbox. Upon finding the different areas scattered throughout the ruins and realizing Cthulhu was in the game, he also provided key research into the gods from the mythos. Knowing hardly anything about the Cthulhu mythos myself, this research was critical to establishing the overarching theory. The “Corey and Shaira” theory was also his idea that I built upon. He also helped string together many of the other theories you see here.

Achtung_X who played a friendly monster and allowed me to scout out the Gobekli map without any pressure. He allowed me to take the photos you see in the Dropbox currently and also provided research into the gods of the Cthulhu mythos that I am extremely grateful for. He also gave the idea that Nikolai may have worked in Bunker 51.

YieldingBusiness who helped transcribe a few of the tape audios that I couldn’t make out. He also created the youtube video with clearer audios for each tape as seen in the Overarching Theory Part 1.

Scoobie101 who added on to the transcription ideas. Their comments in one of my previous lore threads inspired the idea that Subject 23 was in contact with the narrator of the tapes as well as the idea that the 8-9 year old girl was a part of the previous expedition.

Soy1Bonus the dev who confirmed much of the information we needed to help build these theories. He also steered us in the right direction when it came to the tape audios revealing that 29 tape audios were present and that they weren’t monster based. His confirmation that Cthulhu and elements of its mythos were in the game also proved to be a huge help with everything.

kokigero in the comments section who pointed out the Purger idol's description and how it aligns with Okiku's lore.

I hope you all enjoyed and if you have any ideas of your own feel free to post them in the comments section.

Subject 23 and Nikolai's sections were added on to and edited a bit. New information for Subject 23's theory begins at "The next few months..." and ends with "pile of guards." New information for Nikolai's theory begins at "Nikolai began to learn..." and ends with "the beast copy itself." Nikolai's hiding place during the attack was also changed from his locker to a casket holder on a wall in a morgue. Also, a seperate evidence section for these two theories was added instead of having their evidence at the end of each respective theory. This was done to have all of the information in one place and to unveil new evidnece we found while investigating Bunker 51 in WNO.

Added a disclaimer in the guide's description.

Added the Okiku section.

Added a Youtube video with clearer tape audios to The Overarching Theory Part 1. The acknowledgements section was also updated.

Added on to the Okiku section with further information regarding the Purger idol.

Moh4wk was added as a co-contributor, reformatted the guide, and added some theories and footnotes with his thoughts.

New guide thumbnail was created. Render of Olkoth was captured by Frozens316 and Moh4wk created the overall thumbnail.