I feel like more of her 'hallucinations' were actually her interpretations of the complexity of reality, with Aunt Grace implying that Fran's greatest ability was her imagination. Since she is an abused child, reality can be hard to understand, so she subconsciously uses her imagination to try and break things down to a level she can understand.
@@AngrySoybean i hope you're doing good If you ever feel like sharing something, or just talking to me, please feel free to do so Do things that makes you happy ❤️
The girl who gave Fran the green crayon, if you read her patient report, was sexually abused... hence the placement of the bloody handprints on her body... truly horrific!!
I don't really think Fran killed her parents. I think it's more like the guilt she felt I'd so bad she created memories that never existed. It is a possibility that Grace and Dr. Oswald killed them but Fran blocked it out.
@@Raiethstar yo that'd also explain the "please don't" she says at the beginning of the game! Maybe Fran's twin is the one who grew up in the mental asylum while our Fran grew up at home. Completely unaware of her twin until she broke out, found Fran's family, and murdered them for leaving her there
@@Raiethstar yo that'd also explain the "please don't" she says at the beginning of the game! Maybe Fran's twin is the one who grew up in the mental asylum while our Fran grew up at home. Completely unaware of her twin until she broke out, found Fran's family, and murdered them for leaving her there
That’s what I think purely because she physically couldn’t have. She’s ten years old and quite skinny, her parents were dismembered very cleanly which would suggest that whoever did it knew how to do it efficiently and had the strength to do it. I would accuse grace and/or Dr. Oswald because they have more strength and Dr. Oswald would know how to dismember them in a quick and clean fashion.
side note, at around 11 minutes when you’re talking about the little girl patient with handprints on her bed. it wasn’t to represent abuse but sexual assault. as well as the handprints on her body. thus the demon telling her it’s her fault and to be quiet
@@turtlemine4613He was one of the characters that hit my the hardest. I also believe that maybe, he wasn’t in the asylum because of his truama with being Sexually asulted. But instead, was put into the asylum because no body believed that he was abused by a member of the church, because religion heavily influenced people in the 1940s. So, no one would belive that he was abused by someone who may have been a priest. But that’s my own theory
At the end, I believe that Fran did die by getting shot from Oswald and that the police came into the asylum pushing Grace and Oswald out of their way and arresting them while they took Fran to the hospital but unfortunately she couldn't make it.
yeah, and her death was her happiness because it set her free. and since there is some time left of brain function after you die it's plausible. the happy world(the one with the tree people) is her personal heaven since she was there when she was paralyzed and when she was actually dead. but she was still alive when she was paralyzed so that's why there were still visions of bad things.
The very end of the game with Fran saying ,,I choose happiness." appears to me like she's dead and she goes to somewhere like heaven. Maybe she died in the forest after escaping the house or in the asylum or even kill herself and it was all in her mind. Or she goes through purgatory with Mr. Midnight as her guardian angel. But a part where she goes to the graveyard with the doctor felt real. It can be interpreted in many ways, the game is beautiful on its own. And this video's great and well explained since this is a bit complicated and scary game to my younger me. Keep going you're A STAR! ;) (I apologize if my comment is complicated too, wanted to share my thoughts)
I agree on the purgatory theory here. The game very well represents and shows the "5 stages of death" that is theorized someone goes through when encountering their end...
because the world fran sees at the end is a fragment of reality warped by her imagination she could have been shot by dr. oswald in the end leading to her death. I agree with your purgatory theory as well. (There were other points where she could have died but It seems more likely that she died at the ending bits)
@@randomperson4695 I think that the dr shot and killed her and that maybe the part where Fran is flying away and saying the ending lines is maybe her seeing her life flash before her eyes. Because her life is crazy, she’s on pills that makes her see stuff her life before her eyes ends with her seeing Ethirsta and all that.
I recommend you watch Super Horror Bros explanation and theories. He talks about 3 different ways to interpret the game, one being Fran is in a vegetative state in the asylum being experimented on and the whole adventure is her mind putting together what's going on around her body.
Fun fact: The red “Duotine” pills she takes are most likely Amitryptaline. It’s a medication used to treat depression and also nerve pains by adjusting chemicals in the brain. Although extremely rare, horrific hallucinations can be a side affect. I should know because I was on the medication for a short period of time, and although not to the same extent, I did experience similar hallucinations as in Shadowy figures, or Kamalas as she calls them. Another side affect is fainting and dizziness, something Fran experiences often. The medication also comes in red pills, although not in the longer shape Fran has them. It’s is extremely likely her whole experience was her going through an overdose, as that is when these side affects are more common. I never notice people mentioning this as an option, so I figured I would add my two cents.
Actually the game 'Little Misfortune' proves that what she was going through was real. And that the pills gave her the ability to see and travel through the five realms. They were using Fran as an expiriment.
@@kyaschafer7357 Really? I thought little misfortune was about a girl who was interpreting her death. I guess everyone connects the dots differently, although the similarities between the real medication and what happened with the story are interesting to note, even if I am wrong
@@itdobeSani Little Misfortune takes place in the same universe as Fran Bow. Itward and Benjamin are both spirits that guide children into the afterlife. It's all very literal lol
@@kyaschafer7357 Well yea, but just because they are both entities that help in the afterlife doesn’t necessarily mean that ever aspect of the stories have the same mechanics. None of this was explicitly stated by the creators so it’s all up to interpret
For me, I'd say the house bleeding represents the classic formality of "You can't go back anymore." With the death of her parents following her escape, I'd say the bleeding represents a Broken Household, similar to the destroyed mansion in Among The Sleep, also representing a broken home. One small detail I love about this game is that in the scene where Fran encounters her massacred parents at the opening cutscene, you can see a small pentagram written in their blood. Details, man. Another detail I noticed (that may not be all that canon) is how the pills are named "Duotine." Personally, it makes me think of how there are two parallel worlds that Fran must travel between in order to conquer Remor and get home.
Remor just means "remorse" it seems, like she killed her parents with remorse about it? Edit: Honeslty I think Itward was meant to purposely sound like "it was".
1:58 Minor correction: the Duoteine (however it's spelled) is not supposed to be an opiate. It's more likely an atypical antipsychotic. The suffix, "-ine" is given to most modern antipsychotics, examples: quetiapine, olanzapine, clozapine etc. Opiates are mostly reserved for severe pain. Although certain specific opiatre can be used for severe cough and chest pain due to something like pneumonia. Edit: Also, a coma and vegetative state are two separate conditions. Coma patients are unconscious and has a specific pattern on EEG. A person in a vegetative state is minimally conscious and are, at least, somewhat aware of their surroundings. They may look the same to the casual observer, but the brain is more active than one in a coma.
Alright, so a rough theory I've been working on for what happens in Fran Bow actually ties a lot into it's spiritual successor, Little Misfortune. In Little Misfortune, we learn that entities have been entering the third reality and targeting children as victims of cruel games that often lead to their deaths. I don't think Fran Bow is any different. Remor targets Fran, I believe, simply because he sees an opening and wishes to. He has immense power, after all, and is described as a prince, so he's presumably above the other dark entities. He kills Fran's parents to begin the game; a sort of murder mystery that Fran has to figure out without knowledge of the rules or other player. Because she's able to see Remor, she's placed into the asylum, where they prescribe her duotine in order to enhance this ability to see beyond the third reality, enabling the power to possibly even cross realities at will. Fran, unaware of this and wishing to find her cat, escapes the asylum. This enrages Remor, who intended for her to survive but only within the walls of the asylum. Fran uses her newfound power to escape his attempts to kill her or capture her, finding Mr. Midnight in another reality. I personally believe that Mr. Midnight is Fran's guardian, like Benjamin is to Misfortune. He was likely sent to watch over her because Remor was supposed to be nearby. We're not sure if the code for these protectors is in place during Fran Bow, but if it is, Mr. Midnight breaks many of the rules, especially in guiding Fran on her journey. Ithersta is where things get complicated, because there's two ways I'm debating on interpreting it. Either Fran really did fall and die, and she was somehow revived (presumably by Remor for the game), or she really did travel to the second reality and Remor spread news of her death despite it's false nature. Regardless, Ithersta only offers Fran further insight into her situation and she leaves, finding herself still in the forest. She encounters Itward here, who teaches her how this power works while taking her home. Fran has been missing for several months now, despite it feeling to her like mere hours, when she meets up with Dr. Deern again in front of her family's home. This supports the idea that she really is able to travel between realities, and that perhaps time in Ithersta passes slower compared to the third reality (a few hours Ithersta time = multiple months earth time?). Remor is able to capture Fran finally, bringing her back to the asylum where he's already exercised his control over Grace and Dr. Oswald, the two trying to convince Fran that Mr. Midnight was the real murderer, which she doesn't believe. Fran is shot, however she's revived and we see her in Ithersta - if we believe that the other realities are real, it would seem that Fran hopped one last time into Ithersta, presumably to live there in hiding in order to avoid Remor, who is much less powerful in the second reality. The fact that Dr. Deern, along with Grace and Dr. Oswald, see Itward and Palontras, I'm further inclined to believe that the other realities truly exist. From my perspective, it seems that Remor somehow got into contact with Dr. Oswald, prompting him to experiment on children, who were the only ones with minds he could mold to his vision, which eventually created Fran. Fran, being the product of his life's work, could traverse the realities with some help from the duotine. Though this was what Dr. Oswald wanted, he didn't seem to realize that Fran had made powerful allies, allies who came to her aid and attacked him and his co-conspirator when they threatened Fran's life. While it would seem that, in Little Misfortune, Benjamin failed to keep Misfortune alive but did save her soul, Mr. Midnight (with help) was able to keep Fran alive and stop Dr. Oswald from continuing his studies. This should've been the end of the realities mixing with each other, but Little Misfortune proves that to be a false conclusion, as it would seem that entities from the fifth reality are still able to visit the third reality, although few are able to be perceived (seen, heard, touched, etc).
Fun Fact: Fran Bow's abstract elements and surreal atmosphere are because the whole game was thought out after a dream that Natalia Martinsson (the main designer) had. So this amazing exeprience stems from a literal dream
This is actually really incredible and explains the horrors and oddities and Fran’s creativity and how it is taken advantage of by the hospital,incredibly Amazing job on explaining Fran Bows Story GamerSault
@Ikerrad oh thank you so much! I finished Miss Fortune too and was so excited with all the fran bow nods in it! I'm looking up that game you suggested right now! Thank you again!
played this game when i was a kid. i really liked Fran's personality, and im glad i found this video, because i never really understood the story when i was younger
I have a theory about the conjoined twins…I think those two subjects with cuts on their foreheads I believe that they had brain matter cut out and placed in the others brain,which might be why they’re represented by the two heads
I like the idea that it was real. I just don't like the trend of "oh, everything was fake!" kinda way. The idea that it was all in her head is honestly beautiful and shows the cracks and fixes of grief from a child. I prefer the idea that it is true because there were many parts of the story that wouldn't be possible without a lack of insanity. Little Misfortune is in the future of Fran Bow and I would love to see those characters one day meet in some way.
I have a theory that Fran become a mom of Misforntune bc when the mom took off the mask her hair is brown and at the end you see Etward pinecons guys the beetles and afran prob has connections with Misfortune bc how would she seen those figurs?
@@-queen0frobots- Nah, those appear because they live in the same world. Fran is dead at the end of the game and taken to Ithersta. We also see Fran driving around in a car after Misfortune dies as a fun easter egg. But no, Fran being Misfortune's mom just doesn't make sense.
Hrm... why not mention it was probably the aunt that killed the parents, then tried to blame Fran for it. And Fran, living with survivor's guilt, started to believe it. .. that kinda sounds much more likely. Remar is just survivor's guilt.
The immense joy I got when I saw this pop up on my feed. I haven't seen anything Fran related for so long, but I have been thinking about the game recently. How morbidly beautiful the game was. How depressing it was at the same time. It wasn't scary in a way other horror games were, but the story it was depicting was horrifying. A part of Fran Bow was even based off of a real life situation that one of the developers had experienced (If I can remember correctly.) Thank you for making this video, I've always wanted to see the clearer picture of this game I fell in love with.
As someone who was in a psych ward a couple months ago...the nurse is pretty accurate, and I can see how the whole experience can be even more traumatizing for a young child. Heck, I'm almost 18 and I left that place more traumatized than I went in. Luckily it isn't as bad as lobotomies or other forms of @buse anymore, but it was understaffed, dirty, and clearly unprepared to handle most of the children there.
ik this comment is old, but shit man, you must of went to a shitty psych ward. ive been inpatient twice and aside from one nurse that was cranky like in the game, it really wasn't bad at all. most of the staff were chill asf, the food was decent, and it was at least less boring than it should have been given the restrictions. i was 13 and 14 respectively so kind of a middle ground between frans age and yours at the time
I honestly think that most is Fran's experiences are "real". Maybe in another universe, just like earth, but with *actual* multiple universes. Sometimes Videogame Lore doesn't need to be connected to reality.
Id like to think that itward was the representation of death itself, he is not lightnor dark and he is fair in judgement, he wants to help fran but the only way he knows how to free her is through death and has also tried to make the twins live. He is only an observant who can offer advice but he is powerless to help them any more.
We're gonna do Little Misfortune too right since the two are somewhat tied? (Or completely, seems like the realities, spirit animal guides and even Remor makes an appearance in it)
@@reyalfa18 well in little miss fortune we learn that the ultra reality (the word that fran sees when she takes the pills) is real,and that there are 5 realitys one of which is the world that fran got turned into a tree (I forgot the name of it)
@@HomeScar498 and the interesting part is, both girls are claimed to be "dead" by the end of the game throughout the whole game actually. With Fran it’s more or less an Interpretational thing, but Little Misfortune finds out that she was dead the whole time. I think that’s also another interesting thing to consider when talking about both games being tied.
@@foxfires8237 Maybe those two are cousins or somehow related to each other? I mean both have animal skulls as a head that look nearly similar to the other. 🤔 Could be possible maybe.
I feel like this whole thing is about how children deal with trauma and how more often then not, its the people they thought they could trust that are the ones hurting them. I also have a sneaking suspicion that remor isn't a representation of mental illness but its actually a real person in frans life who she trusted but broke her trust so drastically that she can only see them as a demon monster now. It fits with the theme of adults manipulating and harming children. I do think fran is suffering from mental illness but that it came AFTER her parents death. A combination of manipulation and drugs has made her believe it was her who killed them (but the way they died doesn't work with what a child of her size and strength could actually pull off). Remor might actually be grace and whenever fran is being manipulated by her, grace appears as remor. kind of like frans traumatized mind cant except that the aunt she loves and the monster who hurts her are one in the same.
the saddest stories (in my opinion) is the little brown haired girl with crayons and the young blond boy with a cane Fran encounters. both are sexually abused kids which have had their brain broken in fragments due to maggots living in human bodies touching them, leaving their filth on innocent souls who did nothing to receive agonizing torment. i know they are fictional children but no child should need to battle such trauma. my heart goes out to all those poor babies in that asylum.
Here’s a bulletin note version of what I thought what went down in Fran Bow. WARNING ⚠️, it’s very long. (I spent a while trying to understand the story from the dialogue in the game TT) (Also there may be some grammar mistakes) -Fran’s mom and aunt are twins -They were experiments under Dr.O -Fran’s mom got pregnant with Fran -Dr.O was curious about Fran’s brain -Fran’s parents did not want to give her to Dr.O -Dr.O decided to murder them because they did not want to give in Fran. -Also with the help of Aunt Grace because she would be the guardian of Fran if they died. -Dr.O tricked Aunt Grace by saying he would help her. -Aunt Grace gave Fran to Dr.O -Dr.O conducted human experiments in the basement of a children’s asylum/an asylum he so happens to own. -There’s a fictional drug called Duotine that gives hallucinations to the user, too much of it gives access to Ultrareality -There is a red and yellow pill, they’re both Duotine but for different reasons -One of Dr.O’s experiments were twins, he tried combining them to see what would happen to their DNA -The twins failed whatever experiment and dropped them in a well. And they ended up killing each other for some reason that I forgot sorry -Dr.O switched Fran’s medication (yellow pills) with red pills -Fran takes these pills and goes into Ultrareality per pill and the effect wears off whenever she closes the bottle cap. -Fran realized that the asylum she’s at really sucks and escapes. -Gladys (Fran’s nurse) declares her as dead once she went missing because she would be in trouble/fired for not “taking good care” of her. -When Fran escaped, she was in a state where her realities and hallucinations mixed. Such as the time when she fell in the well. -After Fran fell in the well and escaped the twins cottage,, she went in a deeper state where she’s in her own heaven, or a personal place of peace (Ithersta) -Fran leaves Ithersta into a semi-subconscious state where she meets Remor and Itward -After Fran’s last moments with Itward in his cool spaceship, she crashed into the first reality. -When Fran walked to her house, Mr.Midnight goes inside the house and Fran goes back to reality. -Dr.Deern takes Fran to the cemetery to tell her the truth (the one her aunt wanted to tell her). -Dr.Deern reveals that her parents and cat are dead. (Since Fran is still just a kid, she doesnt really accept this) -When Dr.Deern and Fran left the cemetery, they both got kidnapped by Dr.O and her aunt and took them to the asylum. * just my note, I think Lemor represents Dr.O in the game because they both want Fran bow badly, the actual antagonists, and take place in the asylum -From here, Fran is back and forth in a semi-subconscious state in her room, Ithersta, and the asylum -Lemor (Dr.O) tries manipulating Fran Bow into thinking she killed her parents. Which is also probably an experiment to see how well he could. -When Fran meets Aunt Grace, her aunt kills Mr.Midnight in front of her. This lead to a situation where Fran attempts to choke her. -Dr.O shoots Fran in the back to save Grace. -Grace actually loves Fran, but Aunt Grace’s reaction is different because she really thought that Dr.O was trying to help Fran but she went insane (from the drugs) -Fran Bow dies and goes to Ithersta in peace… Fran Bow’s life really sucked… Her fate was pretty much in the hands of one person. It was pretty much over when she took the Duotine.
great job, a nice summary. they killed each-other as they want3d to kill Itward, but, because he’s-.. half real half not, they needed up murdering each other instead. update: nope, they did that as they thought if they’ll separate themselves, the strongest will survive as the weakest’ll die.. they both were weak, non accepting of their reality, so they both died
i honestly never saw fran bow as a mental kid, i saw her as a special kid with an ability to see beyond what she’s supposed to. fran bow is one of the realist game plays out there, there is a such thing as different dimensions. trees can actually talk, the wind can talk, everything from the earth can talk. it has a soul, this game play is such an eye opener, it’s not just a game. the pills are like magic she doesn’t even have to do anything besides swallow a pill and she can see things that no one else can that are beyond explanation. damn the person who made this game really knew what he was talking about.
Actually, Fran Bow was developed by Swedish studio Killmonday Games, composed of Natalia Martinsson and her husband Isak Martinsson! They also made a game called Little Misfortune, that was confirmed, is related to Fran Bow.
"between guilt and fear, i choose happiness" thats the most touching thing for me, its so hard to the walls of these prisons that traumas locks us in, but once you realise you can break free from it, once you realize how meaningless the fear has become, you are able to choose happines
None of this is her hallucination. It is proven that all od this and the moster actually exist in another game which is linked to this one named "Little Misfortune "
At 26:20, I believe that what was meant by "That she was the one herself, who transformed herself into a tree to save herself from the fall" is something else. I was reading this book about the psychology of mainly abused children. Usually the humans inner world would be in an strong interrelationship with the outside world. But if abuse happens, people who go insane have two options: They either cut their own roots,needs and demands and therefore only think what theyre supposed to feel instead of actually feeling, in order to fit into and believe a constructed reality given from outside, which in return can cause destructive and angry behaviour; whereas on the other side, where we have the "Schizophrenics", as they were called in the book, which did the opposite: They shielded themselves from the outside world to protect themselves, because they refuse to get themselves into a position where they have to feel guilt. But the last will happen at the cost of logical thinking, grasp on reality and etc.
The main reason I find it hard to believe the theory that Fran really did kill her parents, is the fact that the bodies were “perfectly sliced” and that they had a quick instantaneous death with no signs of a struggle. I find it hard to believe that a small 10 year old girl was able to overtake two fully grown adults at all let alone without them struggling, and then cause them to be sliced through neatly with presumably a lowly kitchen knife as shown by the intro sequence. Let me know your thoughts guys❤️
Here's an idea, this takes place during 1944 Know what else took place in 1944? THE War (World War Two) So here's my idea the asylum was "told" by the government to do certain experiments for the war, so my idea is that the asylum was doing the experiments and somehow Fran's parents found out either by somehow or by being spies or even being in the experiments...(so either she was born by her mother, or she was told she was so they could hide her) so that could explain how her parents were sliced professionally...cause it was done by a professional....like say tourture to find out spi stuff or to find out how much they knew about the "experiments" So you see its possible that it all took place in Nazi Europe, the whole experiment stuff could be because she is Jewish or whatever (since you know that's what they did) and all the imagination stuff happened due to the fact that *it was fricken Nazi Europe* and all the places she went were the "underground" people who were helping Jews (and other people) escape. Of course with Little Miss Fourtune it does say "since the war" and "products of the war" So either due to WW2 the whole "F.R.E.E." thing stuff was "created" OR the whole WWII Nazi stuff was apart of the whole "F.R.E.E." war thing....like a specific battlefield...but on like earth's reality and was part of a whole bigger war.
i love deern's line of "oh please lets focus" after fran was just like "oh u were abused as a kid weren't you? :3" i just love the feeling of "yes?? but what the fuck we're not talking about that right now"
Human experimentation was popular during WWII in both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Since this setting is obviously not in Japan, Fran would be living in Germany or somewhere equivalent in Europe. The experiments were conducted by medical professionals serving for the Nazi Party, all of which were almost perfectly executed here in the game. Clara and Mia is a perfect example if you've heard about the "twin experiment" on the Jews happening in Germany, many of them died due to infection or blood loss (yes, their storyline is accurate on the processes of the experiment which would involve, quite literally, sawing them in half and reattaching them). This game oddly captures the dark nature of this time in human history, which is very interesting and admirable that the developers would include such elements. I would like to think that Fran going to athirsta is a metaphor of the Allies in WWII, hoping that members of the Allies would save her during the time and would have to speak thier language to properly communicate with said members. I see so many symbols that I can't properly explain it! Remor could be the fear that the Jews have gone through in Germany
most of experiments if not all were in other countries where Germans create concentration camps. In my country were a lot of them (they still exist) and they had free people there for experiments. Just saying because idk why a lot of people think it all was in Germany and probably they also think Germans were victims but it isn't true. Yeah, Germans did IT all but mostly in other countries and victims were from other countries too.
I haven't played this game but I know everything about it lmao I can't play scary games with gore. It's the most artistic and atmospheric psychological horror game ever!
This explanation was very interesting but still something isn't right the book. The book tells another's person that came into fith reality and knows about those things. So this might suggest that maybe it is real. Still the book is really strange
I really don't like it when it's explained as "It's all imagination", personally I'm way mo4e of a fan of it being a supernatural game, and I think there's some evidence to support this in-game
I think the spirits in the house were the past 'ghosts' of Clara and Mia, since they appeared when the two were freed. One also has a stab wound, which represents how one attacked the other with the knife during the puppet show
I LOVED THIS SOOOO MUCH! honestly so glad you covered this since I don’t think I’ve found anyone else who has fully explained it! Amazing video I love your commentary and explanation!
Just checked out the website with your merch. It looks awesome and the variety of colours we can pick surprised me and I am impressed by how much of the merch you have. Feels like yesterday when you were aploading videos about LN. Just wanted to appreciate your work and effort you put into it. Keep going you're A STAR! ;)
I prefer to see the game as a dark fantasy game, but I can totally see how people perceive it in other ways. It honestly just makes the most sense to me since there are many things that can not be explained (ex. The exchange between her doctor where she seems to magically find out that he was abused). And also, there's a sequel in the works.
Big thing I had to learn in therapy was that two conflicting emotions can exist at the same time and I think that’s what Itward was trying to teach the twins. They can be angry AND sad. They can be angry, sad, and still have room to try and be happy. But they were so buried in their one emotional reaction (which is a justified reaction tbh) but there was never any wiggle room to try and make a better situation for themselves
This is really great, but I can’t help but laugh every time you say a kamala hints at mental health issues being present in a patient… yes, they are in a mental asylum.
I remember watching a playthrough of this game a while back, and this video did help me remember and helped explain certain events. While parts of the game, I can understand how it can be just a figment of the protagonist's imagination, a few points of the story do have some contradictions that would say otherwise and that the five realities do exist in a certain way.
So there is one really big problem with the idea that this is all in Frans head, the pills quite often let her see or hear things she has no way of knowing or allow her to get to locations she can't posable reach. To me this info means it's not all in her mind and the pills are acting as a conductor for powers she already has but has now way to control them.
Just a thought: what if Fran was lobotamized while unconcious because of the pills? The doctor wanted to do tests on her brain while in the asylum. What if the girl who claimed that Fran's thoughts were taken saw the doctor performing surgury on Fran's brain. And that is also the reason why Fran has hallucinations without the pills. The pills make it worse in the beginning which is why the hallucinations become her new reality the longer the game goes on
What I like most about this game is how it allows for so many different interpretations. I’ve seldomnly seen games that have such strong story telling. It is “just” a point and click adventure, which many would deem boring, but it is so compelling that it’s hard to stop playing. A fantastic piece of work, and I’m happy that it gained so much traction.
It’s not just similar, they actually are in either connected universes or the same one, since in the end of Little Misfortune, you see Itward, the flying heads, and the little pine cone men. You also see Remor in the game.
Hey man, you’re doing great! I found you yesterday and a suggestion I thought of is like what if did like stuff like this for older modern horror games like maybe Five Nights at Freddy’s, Slender (the original games), or SCP:Containment Breach? Anyway keep up the good work :)
I think the girl that had the bloody hand prints on her bed was physically abused by was sexually abused too. On the doll version of her, she had hand prints on the chest area and near her legs. I also think that when it saws no one will believe you (or something along the lines), it means that if she tries to tell anyone, no one would listen or believe her. I hope I explained this well.
When she was shackled to the bed it wasn't alternate reality her that didn't have mister midnight. It was younger her before she got mr midnight. Indicating that she had been to the asylum before the incident but couldn't remember it or it wasn't mentioned.
Maybe she was in and out of the asylum? She just goes and comes because of how she acted or what she saw, i like to think she saw remor when she was still a young child. Which is why.
It can't be Fran's imagination, because "Little Misfortune" takes place in the same Universe and the five realities exist. Misfortune could see what Fran saw, but in a different way. 2 separate people who never met can't possibly have the exact same imagination where unique creatures look the same. The pinecone people, Itward, and a few other creatures make cameos in Little Misfortune. Morgo, the monster in that game, looks similar to Remor.
they could be the same ‘species’ of monsters, maybe? also, they seem to have slightly different powers, but i feel like they are similar. those, after all, were made by the same person. also, a cool fact, misfortune was voiced by the games creator! which is, at least for me, very surprising.
What a beautifully made game. I never really enjoyed horror, but I find myself more mature and capable of handling it. I love this! I appreciate people can make stuff like this for those like myself to enjoy it as if with an old friend from elementary playing video games day and night on the weekends out of pure joy and happiness.
So i thing the story goes like this Leon Castillo discovers his ability to see other dimensions and their creatures. He soon learns more about them and goes on an adventure exploring these different worlds. After his journey ends he starts to do research on the whole phenomenon and teams up with few other people to do experiments on brains as that's a key to achieving these powers. Eventually he retires and entrists his fellow researcher and "disciple" Oswald to be in charge of everything and continue his work. For some reason his research focuses specifically on twins and when the time comes he did research on twins Lucia and Grace. Since back then, human experimentation was illegal, he didn't done anything major to them hence the two were able to live for so long till adulthood and be just fine. Eventually, the twins started to work with him on this messed up thing. He also founded the Oswald Asylum to have patients to experiment on as the experimentation on humans became legal. That's when he done these horrible things like lobotomy or fusing Mia and Clara toghether. Lucia got pregnant all according to Oswald's plan. The child was supposed to be used in his experiments and was predicted to be the perfect one (doesn't this count as selective breeding btw? Is this why Grace and Lucia weren't killed since they were perfect breeds?). But Lucia got attatched (not litterally) to her child and refused to let him do stuff to Fran. Soon Oswald and Grace manage to manipulate Fran into killing her parents, she runs away, they find her, kill Mr. Midnight and take her to the Oswald Asylum. The reason Mr. Midnight is a traitor is cause he was a gift from her mother and made her harder to manipulate or prone to rebel as he made Fran appreciate life or something. The ghost of the puppy in Little Misfortune is a hint that animals in this universe basically also have souls and can trancend to other realities as well. That means Mr. Midnight is a ghost. When Fran escapes the asylum she accidentaly falls down the same well the two stitched toghether twins were discarded to. These two's ghosts were trapped in this weird house, unable to move on to the afterlife. Fran in order to free Mr. Midnight "helps" them move on and continues her escape. Unfortunately, due to overdosing on the pills, she summons Remor and gets send to the second reality. She makes great allies there, learns many important things, leaves, finally meets Itward and they travel back home. Dr. Deern was fired after he has been investigating things and discovered the fact Oswald's people faked Fran's death and switched her medicines all behind his back. It seems as dr. Deern gets more and more insane over time which allows Remor to be able to pull Deern and Fran into the combination of 5th and 3rd reality ...or at least he makes them faint so Grace and Oswald could kidnapp the two and take them back to the asylum (i'm really not sure why the antagonists suddenly appear in -hell- 5th dimension so i guess they drugged themself as well) Then the final happens and i believe Fran does acctually survive. Not like that really matters since she choses to go to the second reality, never to come back to Earth making it pretty much an equivalent to her death at least from dr. Deern's perspective if he'll even rember her or see her dead body. In Little Misfortune, the story is similar but things are taking an opposite turn. Misfortune dies after trying to cross the road and gets put into a fake looped reality made by Morgo so he can play with her a little and eventually take her to The Beyond just like he did/does with other kids such as Hiro. Fortunately Benjamin the spirit animal fox saves and guides her into the afterlife, the 4th reality associated with death. Fran Bow on the other hand was alive from the start and was send to what is the opposite of 4th reality, the 2nd reality which is associated with life. But that's not the only parallel to the "sequel". Fran Bow is a little older than Misfortune, has a normal name since she was a planned child, her parents died (from her own hands), has a pet cat who's her best friend, the game has a pretty dark theme especially visually Misfortune on the other hand is a little younger, was an accident hence the name, her parents were alive but very unhappy, naturally repels animals possibly due to her quite disgusting side (i know she's adorable but she keeps puking everywhere), the game is styled to look sweet but has plenty of dark humor to balance things out The two games are different takes on a similar story and feel just about right to be in the same universe.
the ending in a nutshell: everyone good is dead. all dead. but wait, what's that? OH MY GOD IT'S JESUS HIM SELF COMING FROM THE HEAVENS TO SAVE EVERYONE!
As a person with DID Id like to just point out how many parallels to this specific condition we can se here. We have Remor that makes Fran's hands "do bad things" we see Mr Midnight and Itward, a benevolent beings of her imagination that help her along the way. Improperly chosen medicine can also amplify the psychotic symptoms of DID and make you "switch" more often and experience some really terrifying hallucinations. The other thing is the theme of guilt of things that you did while having no control.
This might just be me, but I feel this story really can be interpretated in two ways: 1. That Fran truly was imagining all of this in a way to handle trauma as she tries to figure out the world, or in near death experience. 2. The Five Realities are real and everything we see is what really happened. Both have plenty of evidence to either possiblity but neither are perfectly the answer. It's why I love the game (story) so much. The creators really did an amazing job with the writing and world building. It really is down to how you walk into a playthrough of the game, whether you see a young girl struggling with severe mental illness going through a terrible time of her life or a special girl who was destined to do amazing things that was being tormented by an menacing entity who didnt want her to fulfill her destiny. Its up to how the player sees it. And thats the beautiful of good story telling.
Franbow will forever be my favorite game, as it was for the past few years since I first saw it back in 2016 The game is honestly remarkable and is one of the most complex games, merging fiction with reality and coming up with the real truth of things that could happen to any child every day. It's a sad tragedy that ends off with you wanting more and I honestly feel so connected to it in some sort of weird way I can't explain or even understand really
I remember watching multiple RUclipsrs play this forever ago! Fran Bow has always had a special place in my heart, since it's when I first really started watching RUclips
I think I have a theory about this game's theme. My theory here is, that Fran is dead or on her deathbed and goes through the 5 stages of death: Denial, anger, bargain, depression and acceptance. I'll quickly go over each part. Denial: This is the harder of the bunch to find justification for. I honestly can't find much other than the people in the asylum not believing Fran's stories about a demon... This is really vague so if you have any clues to help here, let me know. On another point would I want to mention that the fact of finding several people with signs of a lobotomy suggesting that Fran herself might've gotten one and is now suffering the consequences. Anger: The sisters. They have hate towards Itward for no clear reason which could be a representation of Fran having anger towards her parents maybe? Like Itward can be seen like a Parent. He tells her bedtime stories, tells her that he will always be there for her and protects her. Just like a parent would do. And Fran is angry because they perhaps sold her to the Asylum for experiments or even abandoned her (Considering she was "found") Bargain: In that fantasy world (That I won't even try to pronounce the name of) is pretty much heaven. And Fran tries to bargain at several points. She "bargains" with death by ending as a tree to preserve her life, she bargains in some way to get her parents back and at the end bargains to stay in this world, which she can't yet. Keep in mind that I use bargain here in a very loose sense because the actual definition can be much more strict. Depression: Fran loses Itward after meeting him, she loses Mr. Midnight, later she loses her hope Mr. Midnight might be alive (Cat in the coffin) and finally she loses the professor who tried to help her (Perhaps this is also symbolic of the professor actually driving her to the hospital in the hope to save her life?) All this stuff is quite depressing towards her. Acceptance: She accepts the things that happened to her and at the end is able to enter the world mentioned before which might be heaven itself. This is a very rough theory but I feel like it's solid enough since there are multiple things that suggest this being possible.
I'm autistic and this game is so special to me. I'm so glad it's being talked about! Although I don't agree with it all being a delusion because she knew stuff that she wasn't told. I enjoy just thinking of it as a fantasy game with extremely dark shit
This game isn't scary... It's sad. It's all about mental health issues, abuse, suicidal thoughts, trauma and grief I think in theory Fran didn't kill her parents. Shes having psychosis, depression as she's grieving, anxiety, intrusive thoughts and so many more disorders, all caused by the image of having seen her parents dead. She relies on her cat as he is the only one who didn't judge her nor leave her. The kamalas are representing the abuse/trauma other victims have gone through. As Fran takes the pills she sees how the kamala say horrible things about the victims abuse, as she does so she thinks it's all a hallucination while in reality she can basically see the deep and dark meaning of the other patient's trauma. Throughout the game itself you see multiple victims of experiments as well, showing you how they were hurt. However as she gets further she starts being gaslighted by her aunt, and she starts believing it. Eventually she ends up being so crazy she starts believing in all the surreal things, denying everything that happened and that what she all saw and felt was nothing but a bad dream, even when her parents, her cat and all her friends died.
37:43 The letter demands Gladys to tell the newspaper that Fran froze to death, but the little letter piece on the right side said that she died in July? Usually, nights in July aren’t that cold, how’s that working out? It has always bugged me hahah.
@@kindarchaid9682 could be, but then I wonder why no one else just thought about it for a minute. Like if I would’ve read that in the newspaper I would be confused about it at least.
These are the types of games I enjoy, especially with markiplier screaming when theres jumpscares, I love the indie-ness of these games pixelated or not, the new game he played was sort of like this and enjoyed it much as this explanation of the story
What I'm wondering is how she killed her parents because it says they were cut perfectly and knowing how small fran is its hard to believe such skinny arms could do such damage I'd figure if she did it would look messy and not cut all the way. I think adults murdered her parents because they are perfectly sliced. They blamed fran for the murder which created a false memory showed by remor. Also Grace said they needed someone to blame, someone to point fingers at. Which sounds oddly suspicious. ALSO those two adults just happen to be in the forest when fran passes out.
Personally, I'd like to think aunt grace killed fran's parents and took her to the asylum to be experimented on, as well as lobotomized. The focus on other realities and realms, as well as mr. Midnight and going home, is possibly what fran dreamed of before getting lobotomized and killed off. Her medication was switched for a high dosage which caused heavy side effects, along with a possibly failed lobotomy, caused her to attack her aunt grace and had to be killed by oswald for safety. Itward is her imaginary friend that cared and wanted to protect her much like a parent, mr midnight being fran's best friend, both in real life and her imagination. As for other things that fran experiences like random cutscenes on her jumping, hurting mr midnight, i think that might be side effects of the medication that fran was taking but duotine was an opioid, which can easily cause addiction.
I think Itward is potentially a metaphor for mental illness. Since as long as xy exists, so does he. He is a gray area, neither good or bad. Others know about him too, not just Fran. He says he will keep xy (Fran, too) safe. Making it hard to escape. But he gives a chance - a chance to heal, which is so unlikely that some cling to that hope, because there's nothing else they know to turn to. It's either that small glimmer of hope, or it's Itward to choose as far as they know.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
"And nurse, don't ever let her take these again."
Fran: *so anyways I started blasting-*
(Popping of pills intensifies)
@Hashbrownz! LOL THAT MADE ME LAUGH MORE THAN IT SHOULD
Fran after taking the pills: *Itward are you Papyrus? Where’s Sans at?*
@@ajoe.8461 SAME lol
Chugging*
"And the weakest will die"
RUclips Ad: *HAPPY MUSIC!*
Bah XD
Wait why does this have ads this is not family friendly it has blood
@@neel3287 it's because it doesnt have swears
I got a moana add at that time💀💀
Saaaaaaaame
I feel like more of her 'hallucinations' were actually her interpretations of the complexity of reality, with Aunt Grace implying that Fran's greatest ability was her imagination. Since she is an abused child, reality can be hard to understand, so she subconsciously uses her imagination to try and break things down to a level she can understand.
This is very common with trauma in children
i think you have just explained the exact way of children with Trauma experience certain things regarding this manner.
Oh...
@@ArottingPast I’m a traumatized kid (extremely) and I don’t hallucinate tho
@@AngrySoybean i hope you're doing good
If you ever feel like sharing something, or just talking to me, please feel free to do so
Do things that makes you happy ❤️
The girl who gave Fran the green crayon, if you read her patient report, was sexually abused... hence the placement of the bloody handprints on her body... truly horrific!!
AND she hurts herself, when she was given the bandaids she said the red milk and the scars :(
@@meowwum I thought the nurses tied her hands together to not draw on the walls or floor
It’s also why she looks like a doll. Eyes like buttons, stitched on smile, and skin the perceived texture of fabric.
and the ghost thingy is humping her
10:28 - really sad.
I don't really think Fran killed her parents. I think it's more like the guilt she felt I'd so bad she created memories that never existed. It is a possibility that Grace and Dr. Oswald killed them but Fran blocked it out.
With such a strong twin focus in the game I always assumed the Fran had a twin as well.
@@Raiethstar Maybe that's why she kept seeing other versions of herself?
@@Raiethstar yo that'd also explain the "please don't" she says at the beginning of the game! Maybe Fran's twin is the one who grew up in the mental asylum while our Fran grew up at home. Completely unaware of her twin until she broke out, found Fran's family, and murdered them for leaving her there
@@Raiethstar yo that'd also explain the "please don't" she says at the beginning of the game! Maybe Fran's twin is the one who grew up in the mental asylum while our Fran grew up at home. Completely unaware of her twin until she broke out, found Fran's family, and murdered them for leaving her there
That’s what I think purely because she physically couldn’t have. She’s ten years old and quite skinny, her parents were dismembered very cleanly which would suggest that whoever did it knew how to do it efficiently and had the strength to do it. I would accuse grace and/or Dr. Oswald because they have more strength and Dr. Oswald would know how to dismember them in a quick and clean fashion.
side note, at around 11 minutes when you’re talking about the little girl patient with handprints on her bed. it wasn’t to represent abuse but sexual assault. as well as the handprints on her body. thus the demon telling her it’s her fault and to be quiet
The king-boy's Kamala:
"That holy man took all your clothes off,
Oh how pretty all the roses are."
@@turtlemine4613 oh god
@@basilbat273Honestly, a lot of the patients were most likely mentally, physically, or sexually abused.
@@turtlemine4613 yeah
@@turtlemine4613He was one of the characters that hit my the hardest. I also believe that maybe, he wasn’t in the asylum because of his truama with being Sexually asulted. But instead, was put into the asylum because no body believed that he was abused by a member of the church, because religion heavily influenced people in the 1940s. So, no one would belive that he was abused by someone who may have been a priest. But that’s my own theory
I like to believe that Itward is Fran's guardian angel
You mean guardian skelly
Yesss!!
I am your 666th like HAHAHAHHA
850th like
*THE GREATEST* GUARDIAN ANGEL
HE’S PAPYRUS’S UNCLE. YOU CAN’T CHANGE MY MIND
I'm so happy that people in 2021 still care about Fran Bow
@Good Night yeah but I know a lot of games with cool story but they were forgotten
Yes
OFC- I WATCHED VIDEOS OF IT BACK IN ELEMENTARY AND NOW I'M IN HIGH SCHOOL BUT IT'S ALWAYS BEEN ON MY MIND. it left such an impact
@@aslan7298 same omg the nostalgia is strong
I know right, I’ve been getting a lot of videos about Fran bow lately, it makes me so happy
At the end, I believe that Fran did die by getting shot from Oswald and that the police came into the asylum pushing Grace and Oswald out of their way and arresting them while they took Fran to the hospital but unfortunately she couldn't make it.
That's a interesting theory. An this makes it even sadder
@@Alexandra_Westheart y e s
yeah, and her death was her happiness because it set her free. and since there is some time left of brain function after you die it's plausible. the happy world(the one with the tree people) is her personal heaven since she was there when she was paralyzed and when she was actually dead. but she was still alive when she was paralyzed so that's why there were still visions of bad things.
@@mothersaiditsmyturn2play123 that makes sense but if she was paralyzed, how could she attack her aunt grace?
Or go to the graveyard with the Doctor
@@higaiwokeru She woke up from her paralysis after getting out of the third reality or fourth which is her heaven
The very end of the game with Fran saying ,,I choose happiness." appears to me like she's dead and she goes to somewhere like heaven. Maybe she died in the forest after escaping the house or in the asylum or even kill herself and it was all in her mind. Or she goes through purgatory with Mr. Midnight as her guardian angel. But a part where she goes to the graveyard with the doctor felt real. It can be interpreted in many ways, the game is beautiful on its own. And this video's great and well explained since this is a bit complicated and scary game to my younger me. Keep going you're A STAR! ;)
(I apologize if my comment is complicated too, wanted to share my thoughts)
its real, confirmed by little misfortune
I agree on the purgatory theory here. The game very well represents and shows the "5 stages of death" that is theorized someone goes through when encountering their end...
because the world fran sees at the end is a fragment of reality warped by her imagination she could have been shot by dr. oswald in the end leading to her death. I agree with your purgatory theory as well. (There were other points where she could have died but It seems more likely that she died at the ending bits)
@@randomperson4695 I think that the dr shot and killed her and that maybe the part where Fran is flying away and saying the ending lines is maybe her seeing her life flash before her eyes. Because her life is crazy, she’s on pills that makes her see stuff her life before her eyes ends with her seeing Ethirsta and all that.
I recommend you watch Super Horror Bros explanation and theories. He talks about 3 different ways to interpret the game, one being Fran is in a vegetative state in the asylum being experimented on and the whole adventure is her mind putting together what's going on around her body.
I’ve never played this myself, I simply remember watching Markiplier’s videos but I remember most of these things
I love your pfp and username-
Youre username is amazing
Same but with GTlive
Same also I love your name lol
Sameeeeeee it's been a long time since he played this game and I love itttt
Fun fact: The red “Duotine” pills she takes are most likely Amitryptaline. It’s a medication used to treat depression and also nerve pains by adjusting chemicals in the brain. Although extremely rare, horrific hallucinations can be a side affect. I should know because I was on the medication for a short period of time, and although not to the same extent, I did experience similar hallucinations as in Shadowy figures, or Kamalas as she calls them. Another side affect is fainting and dizziness, something Fran experiences often. The medication also comes in red pills, although not in the longer shape Fran has them. It’s is extremely likely her whole experience was her going through an overdose, as that is when these side affects are more common. I never notice people mentioning this as an option, so I figured I would add my two cents.
Actually the game 'Little Misfortune' proves that what she was going through was real. And that the pills gave her the ability to see and travel through the five realms. They were using Fran as an expiriment.
@@kyaschafer7357 Really? I thought little misfortune was about a girl who was interpreting her death. I guess everyone connects the dots differently, although the similarities between the real medication and what happened with the story are interesting to note, even if I am wrong
@@itdobeSani Little Misfortune takes place in the same universe as Fran Bow. Itward and Benjamin are both spirits that guide children into the afterlife. It's all very literal lol
@@kyaschafer7357 Well yea, but just because they are both entities that help in the afterlife doesn’t necessarily mean that ever aspect of the stories have the same mechanics. None of this was explicitly stated by the creators so it’s all up to interpret
@@itdobeSani The creator herself literally said so in a tiktok vid lol
For me, I'd say the house bleeding represents the classic formality of "You can't go back anymore." With the death of her parents following her escape, I'd say the bleeding represents a Broken Household, similar to the destroyed mansion in Among The Sleep, also representing a broken home. One small detail I love about this game is that in the scene where Fran encounters her massacred parents at the opening cutscene, you can see a small pentagram written in their blood. Details, man.
Another detail I noticed (that may not be all that canon) is how the pills are named "Duotine." Personally, it makes me think of how there are two parallel worlds that Fran must travel between in order to conquer Remor and get home.
Remor just means "remorse" it seems, like she killed her parents with remorse about it?
Edit:
Honeslty I think Itward was meant to purposely sound like "it was".
@@AngelEmfrbl Actually no there is an "R" in that name and if you read it backwards its says "Draw It" or "It Draw".
@@sephirothcrescent5768 phonetic play only.
1:58 Minor correction: the Duoteine (however it's spelled) is not supposed to be an opiate. It's more likely an atypical antipsychotic. The suffix, "-ine" is given to most modern antipsychotics, examples: quetiapine, olanzapine, clozapine etc.
Opiates are mostly reserved for severe pain. Although certain specific opiatre can be used for severe cough and chest pain due to something like pneumonia.
Edit: Also, a coma and vegetative state are two separate conditions. Coma patients are unconscious and has a specific pattern on EEG. A person in a vegetative state is minimally conscious and are, at least, somewhat aware of their surroundings. They may look the same to the casual observer, but the brain is more active than one in a coma.
And it makes since because Fran would have been on Meds like an atypical antipsychotic because of her trauma and dreams.
Thank you for sharing!
That's so interesting. Thank you for explaining
Nice u have 666 likes
I already thought it would be weird to prescribe opioids to a traumatic kid without pain problems lol
Alright, so a rough theory I've been working on for what happens in Fran Bow actually ties a lot into it's spiritual successor, Little Misfortune. In Little Misfortune, we learn that entities have been entering the third reality and targeting children as victims of cruel games that often lead to their deaths. I don't think Fran Bow is any different. Remor targets Fran, I believe, simply because he sees an opening and wishes to. He has immense power, after all, and is described as a prince, so he's presumably above the other dark entities. He kills Fran's parents to begin the game; a sort of murder mystery that Fran has to figure out without knowledge of the rules or other player. Because she's able to see Remor, she's placed into the asylum, where they prescribe her duotine in order to enhance this ability to see beyond the third reality, enabling the power to possibly even cross realities at will. Fran, unaware of this and wishing to find her cat, escapes the asylum. This enrages Remor, who intended for her to survive but only within the walls of the asylum. Fran uses her newfound power to escape his attempts to kill her or capture her, finding Mr. Midnight in another reality. I personally believe that Mr. Midnight is Fran's guardian, like Benjamin is to Misfortune. He was likely sent to watch over her because Remor was supposed to be nearby. We're not sure if the code for these protectors is in place during Fran Bow, but if it is, Mr. Midnight breaks many of the rules, especially in guiding Fran on her journey. Ithersta is where things get complicated, because there's two ways I'm debating on interpreting it. Either Fran really did fall and die, and she was somehow revived (presumably by Remor for the game), or she really did travel to the second reality and Remor spread news of her death despite it's false nature. Regardless, Ithersta only offers Fran further insight into her situation and she leaves, finding herself still in the forest. She encounters Itward here, who teaches her how this power works while taking her home. Fran has been missing for several months now, despite it feeling to her like mere hours, when she meets up with Dr. Deern again in front of her family's home. This supports the idea that she really is able to travel between realities, and that perhaps time in Ithersta passes slower compared to the third reality (a few hours Ithersta time = multiple months earth time?). Remor is able to capture Fran finally, bringing her back to the asylum where he's already exercised his control over Grace and Dr. Oswald, the two trying to convince Fran that Mr. Midnight was the real murderer, which she doesn't believe. Fran is shot, however she's revived and we see her in Ithersta - if we believe that the other realities are real, it would seem that Fran hopped one last time into Ithersta, presumably to live there in hiding in order to avoid Remor, who is much less powerful in the second reality. The fact that Dr. Deern, along with Grace and Dr. Oswald, see Itward and Palontras, I'm further inclined to believe that the other realities truly exist. From my perspective, it seems that Remor somehow got into contact with Dr. Oswald, prompting him to experiment on children, who were the only ones with minds he could mold to his vision, which eventually created Fran. Fran, being the product of his life's work, could traverse the realities with some help from the duotine. Though this was what Dr. Oswald wanted, he didn't seem to realize that Fran had made powerful allies, allies who came to her aid and attacked him and his co-conspirator when they threatened Fran's life. While it would seem that, in Little Misfortune, Benjamin failed to keep Misfortune alive but did save her soul, Mr. Midnight (with help) was able to keep Fran alive and stop Dr. Oswald from continuing his studies. This should've been the end of the realities mixing with each other, but Little Misfortune proves that to be a false conclusion, as it would seem that entities from the fifth reality are still able to visit the third reality, although few are able to be perceived (seen, heard, touched, etc).
Good theory!
I'm a little Lady y'know
@@sosomild I’m a little Ninya!
Great theory!
I love this theory. It makes perfect sense.
Fun Fact: Fran Bow's abstract elements and surreal atmosphere are because the whole game was thought out after a dream that Natalia Martinsson (the main designer) had. So this amazing exeprience stems from a literal dream
This is actually really incredible and explains the horrors and oddities and Fran’s creativity and how it is taken advantage of by the hospital,incredibly Amazing job on explaining Fran Bows Story GamerSault
I am soo obsessed with this game.
I love every single second and moment of it, it’s soo weird in a intriguing way.
me tooo I loved watching jacksepticeye play this
it is weird, intriguing, and sad all at the same time.. and its beautiful.
@_Chaotic_Lesbian_ Same!
Same! I just finished it for the 5th time today. I wish so much I could find another game like it 😭
@Ikerrad oh thank you so much! I finished Miss Fortune too and was so excited with all the fran bow nods in it! I'm looking up that game you suggested right now! Thank you again!
I've never even played this for myself, but after watching this, I can tell that I missed out on such a good horror game
here before this *possibly* blows up
Fran bow is like a mix of horror, adventures, and puzzles. I haven't played the game, just seen other youtubers play them
played this game when i was a kid. i really liked Fran's personality, and im glad i found this video, because i never really understood the story when i was younger
Hello again I see you everywhere
Recently bought it on Steam for around $5, it may be on sale still :)
Can’t we all just agree that this poor girl must be exhausted from journey imagination or not.
I have a theory about the conjoined twins…I think those two subjects with cuts on their foreheads I believe that they had brain matter cut out and placed in the others brain,which might be why they’re represented by the two heads
I like the idea that it was real. I just don't like the trend of "oh, everything was fake!" kinda way. The idea that it was all in her head is honestly beautiful and shows the cracks and fixes of grief from a child. I prefer the idea that it is true because there were many parts of the story that wouldn't be possible without a lack of insanity. Little Misfortune is in the future of Fran Bow and I would love to see those characters one day meet in some way.
I have a theory that Fran become a mom of Misforntune bc when the mom took off the mask her hair is brown and at the end you see Etward pinecons guys the beetles and afran prob has connections with Misfortune bc how would she seen those figurs?
@@-queen0frobots- Nah, those appear because they live in the same world. Fran is dead at the end of the game and taken to Ithersta.
We also see Fran driving around in a car after Misfortune dies as a fun easter egg. But no, Fran being Misfortune's mom just doesn't make sense.
@@kyaschafer7357 ah okay
Hrm... why not mention it was probably the aunt that killed the parents, then tried to blame Fran for it. And Fran, living with survivor's guilt, started to believe it. .. that kinda sounds much more likely. Remar is just survivor's guilt.
Fran bow really helped me when I was younger , it may be very disturbing but god , it makes me so happy and so nostalgic
The immense joy I got when I saw this pop up on my feed. I haven't seen anything Fran related for so long, but I have been thinking about the game recently. How morbidly beautiful the game was. How depressing it was at the same time. It wasn't scary in a way other horror games were, but the story it was depicting was horrifying. A part of Fran Bow was even based off of a real life situation that one of the developers had experienced (If I can remember correctly.) Thank you for making this video, I've always wanted to see the clearer picture of this game I fell in love with.
Most video game endings: the villain gets defeated
Fran Bow: dapper skeleton and sky axolotl saves little girl
As someone who was in a psych ward a couple months ago...the nurse is pretty accurate, and I can see how the whole experience can be even more traumatizing for a young child. Heck, I'm almost 18 and I left that place more traumatized than I went in. Luckily it isn't as bad as lobotomies or other forms of @buse anymore, but it was understaffed, dirty, and clearly unprepared to handle most of the children there.
ik this comment is old, but shit man, you must of went to a shitty psych ward. ive been inpatient twice and aside from one nurse that was cranky like in the game, it really wasn't bad at all. most of the staff were chill asf, the food was decent, and it was at least less boring than it should have been given the restrictions. i was 13 and 14 respectively so kind of a middle ground between frans age and yours at the time
I'm sorry you experienced that. It must've been so horrible and scary. You're strong and brave, wish everyone the best. ❤❤❤
I hate how the narrator constantly implies that half of the things Fran saw were figments of her imagination. What if they weren't, in universe?
@@reyalfa18 yeah, exactly! I'm personally into the idea that what happened to Fran was what was actually happening.
I honestly think that most is Fran's experiences are "real". Maybe in another universe, just like earth, but with *actual* multiple universes. Sometimes Videogame Lore doesn't need to be connected to reality.
Yes well this is his personal view on it so-..
@@tweekurr and I expressed mine so yeah =w=) b
People just love to make the "Everything was a dream and the protagonist is actually sleeping and self projecting their trauma" theories 😑
Id like to think that itward was the representation of death itself, he is not lightnor dark and he is fair in judgement, he wants to help fran but the only way he knows how to free her is through death and has also tried to make the twins live. He is only an observant who can offer advice but he is powerless to help them any more.
We're gonna do Little Misfortune too right since the two are somewhat tied? (Or completely, seems like the realities, spirit animal guides and even Remor makes an appearance in it)
Itward made an appearance in Little Misfortune at the end
@@reyalfa18 well in little miss fortune we learn that the ultra reality (the word that fran sees when she takes the pills) is real,and that there are 5 realitys one of which is the world that fran got turned into a tree (I forgot the name of it)
I don't think Morgo and Remor are the same but yeah there were some of the Fran Bow characters at the end
@@HomeScar498 and the interesting part is, both girls are claimed to be "dead" by the end of the game throughout the whole game actually. With Fran it’s more or less an Interpretational thing, but Little Misfortune finds out that she was dead the whole time. I think that’s also another interesting thing to consider when talking about both games being tied.
@@foxfires8237 Maybe those two are cousins or somehow related to each other? I mean both have animal skulls as a head that look nearly similar to the other. 🤔
Could be possible maybe.
I feel like this whole thing is about how children deal with trauma and how more often then not, its the people they thought they could trust that are the ones hurting them.
I also have a sneaking suspicion that remor isn't a representation of mental illness but its actually a real person in frans life who she trusted but broke her trust so drastically that she can only see them as a demon monster now. It fits with the theme of adults manipulating and harming children.
I do think fran is suffering from mental illness but that it came AFTER her parents death. A combination of manipulation and drugs has made her believe it was her who killed them (but the way they died doesn't work with what a child of her size and strength could actually pull off).
Remor might actually be grace and whenever fran is being manipulated by her, grace appears as remor. kind of like frans traumatized mind cant except that the aunt she loves and the monster who hurts her are one in the same.
This is probably the best theory yet because there's actual cases of this.
Someone made a theory like this because Remor always calls Fran "dear". The only other person in the game that do so is her Aunt.
@@missmoon0184 Mr. Midnight calls her "dear" all game too
It's so sad what these poor kids on what they had to go through😔
the saddest stories (in my opinion) is the little brown haired girl with crayons and the young blond boy with a cane Fran encounters.
both are sexually abused kids which have had their brain broken in fragments due to maggots living in human bodies touching them, leaving their filth on innocent souls who did nothing to receive agonizing torment.
i know they are fictional children but no child should need to battle such trauma.
my heart goes out to all those poor babies in that asylum.
Here’s a bulletin note version of what I thought what went down in Fran Bow. WARNING ⚠️, it’s very long. (I spent a while trying to understand the story from the dialogue in the game TT) (Also there may be some grammar mistakes)
-Fran’s mom and aunt are twins
-They were experiments under Dr.O
-Fran’s mom got pregnant with Fran
-Dr.O was curious about Fran’s brain
-Fran’s parents did not want to give her to Dr.O
-Dr.O decided to murder them because they did not want to give in Fran.
-Also with the help of Aunt Grace because she would be the guardian of Fran if they died.
-Dr.O tricked Aunt Grace by saying he would help her.
-Aunt Grace gave Fran to Dr.O
-Dr.O conducted human experiments in the basement of a children’s asylum/an asylum he so happens to own.
-There’s a fictional drug called Duotine that gives hallucinations to the user, too much of it gives access to Ultrareality
-There is a red and yellow pill, they’re both Duotine but for different reasons
-One of Dr.O’s experiments were twins, he tried combining them to see what would happen to their DNA
-The twins failed whatever experiment and dropped them in a well. And they ended up killing each other for some reason that I forgot sorry
-Dr.O switched Fran’s medication (yellow pills) with red pills
-Fran takes these pills and goes into Ultrareality per pill and the effect wears off whenever she closes the bottle cap.
-Fran realized that the asylum she’s at really sucks and escapes.
-Gladys (Fran’s nurse) declares her as dead once she went missing because she would be in trouble/fired for not “taking good care” of her.
-When Fran escaped, she was in a state where her realities and hallucinations mixed. Such as the time when she fell in the well.
-After Fran fell in the well and escaped the twins cottage,, she went in a deeper state where she’s in her own heaven, or a personal place of peace (Ithersta)
-Fran leaves Ithersta into a semi-subconscious state where she meets Remor and Itward
-After Fran’s last moments with Itward in his cool spaceship, she crashed into the first reality.
-When Fran walked to her house, Mr.Midnight goes inside the house and Fran goes back to reality.
-Dr.Deern takes Fran to the cemetery to tell her the truth (the one her aunt wanted to tell her).
-Dr.Deern reveals that her parents and cat are dead. (Since Fran is still just a kid, she doesnt really accept this)
-When Dr.Deern and Fran left the cemetery, they both got kidnapped by Dr.O and her aunt and took them to the asylum.
* just my note, I think Lemor represents Dr.O in the game because they both want Fran bow badly, the actual antagonists, and take place in the asylum
-From here, Fran is back and forth in a semi-subconscious state in her room, Ithersta, and the asylum
-Lemor (Dr.O) tries manipulating Fran Bow into thinking she killed her parents. Which is also probably an experiment to see how well he could.
-When Fran meets Aunt Grace, her aunt kills Mr.Midnight in front of her. This lead to a situation where Fran attempts to choke her.
-Dr.O shoots Fran in the back to save Grace.
-Grace actually loves Fran, but Aunt Grace’s reaction is different because she really thought that Dr.O was trying to help Fran but she went insane (from the drugs)
-Fran Bow dies and goes to Ithersta in peace…
Fran Bow’s life really sucked… Her fate was pretty much in the hands of one person. It was pretty much over when she took the Duotine.
great job, a nice summary. they killed each-other as they want3d to kill Itward, but, because he’s-.. half real half not, they needed up murdering each other instead.
update: nope, they did that as they thought if they’ll separate themselves, the strongest will survive as the weakest’ll die.. they both were weak, non accepting of their reality, so they both died
i honestly never saw fran bow as a mental kid, i saw her as a special kid with an ability to see beyond what she’s supposed to. fran bow is one of the realist game plays out there, there is a such thing as different dimensions. trees can actually talk, the wind can talk, everything from the earth can talk. it has a soul, this game play is such an eye opener, it’s not just a game. the pills are like magic she doesn’t even have to do anything besides swallow a pill and she can see things that no one else can that are beyond explanation. damn the person who made this game really knew what he was talking about.
You have a great imagination
@@fosminclorin tf is that supposed to mean 🧍♀️
@@szasszaturn it was a compliment?
Actually, Fran Bow was developed by Swedish studio Killmonday Games, composed of Natalia Martinsson and her husband Isak Martinsson! They also made a game called Little Misfortune, that was confirmed, is related to Fran Bow.
@@acat8736 I know
good lord, i haven’t heard about this game in *years* yet i’ve never clicked so fast
"between guilt and fear, i choose happiness"
thats the most touching thing for me, its so hard to the walls of these prisons that traumas locks us in, but once you realise you can break free from it, once you realize how meaningless the fear has become, you are able to choose happines
This is epic keep up the good work also very underrated.
None of this is her hallucination. It is proven that all od this and the moster actually exist in another game which is linked to this one named "Little Misfortune "
You know watching fran bow gameplays as a 7 year old wasnt a good idea
Same lol
Well whatching fran bow as a 5 year old wasnt a great idea eighter. Was it?
@@Kit.kat11-11 I'm not sure how old I was but I remember playing undertale when I was 9 lol
same. I had nightmares for months
I was 12 lmao
At 26:20, I believe that what was meant by "That she was the one herself, who transformed herself into a tree to save herself from the fall" is something else. I was reading this book about the psychology of mainly abused children. Usually the humans inner world would be in an strong interrelationship with the outside world. But if abuse happens, people who go insane have two options: They either cut their own roots,needs and demands and therefore only think what theyre supposed to feel instead of actually feeling, in order to fit into and believe a constructed reality given from outside, which in return can cause destructive and angry behaviour; whereas on the other side, where we have the "Schizophrenics", as they were called in the book, which did the opposite: They shielded themselves from the outside world to protect themselves, because they refuse to get themselves into a position where they have to feel guilt. But the last will happen at the cost of logical thinking, grasp on reality and etc.
Who else watched Markiplier play Fran bow way back in the day?
Nah daz black all the way
Yeah I did
I did
I watched the kubzscouts play it bro 😂
Same here
The main reason I find it hard to believe the theory that Fran really did kill her parents, is the fact that the bodies were “perfectly sliced” and that they had a quick instantaneous death with no signs of a struggle. I find it hard to believe that a small 10 year old girl was able to overtake two fully grown adults at all let alone without them struggling, and then cause them to be sliced through neatly with presumably a lowly kitchen knife as shown by the intro sequence. Let me know your thoughts guys❤️
Here's an idea, this takes place during 1944
Know what else took place in 1944? THE War (World War Two)
So here's my idea the asylum was "told" by the government to do certain experiments for the war, so my idea is that the asylum was doing the experiments and somehow Fran's parents found out either by somehow or by being spies or even being in the experiments...(so either she was born by her mother, or she was told she was so they could hide her) so that could explain how her parents were sliced professionally...cause it was done by a professional....like say tourture to find out spi stuff or to find out how much they knew about the "experiments" So you see its possible that it all took place in Nazi Europe, the whole experiment stuff could be because she is Jewish or whatever (since you know that's what they did) and all the imagination stuff happened due to the fact that *it was fricken Nazi Europe* and all the places she went were the "underground" people who were helping Jews (and other people) escape. Of course with Little Miss Fourtune it does say "since the war" and "products of the war"
So either due to WW2 the whole "F.R.E.E." thing stuff was "created" OR the whole WWII Nazi stuff was apart of the whole "F.R.E.E." war thing....like a specific battlefield...but on like earth's reality and was part of a whole bigger war.
i love deern's line of "oh please lets focus" after fran was just like "oh u were abused as a kid weren't you? :3"
i just love the feeling of "yes?? but what the fuck we're not talking about that right now"
Human experimentation was popular during WWII in both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Since this setting is obviously not in Japan, Fran would be living in Germany or somewhere equivalent in Europe. The experiments were conducted by medical professionals serving for the Nazi Party, all of which were almost perfectly executed here in the game. Clara and Mia is a perfect example if you've heard about the "twin experiment" on the Jews happening in Germany, many of them died due to infection or blood loss (yes, their storyline is accurate on the processes of the experiment which would involve, quite literally, sawing them in half and reattaching them). This game oddly captures the dark nature of this time in human history, which is very interesting and admirable that the developers would include such elements. I would like to think that Fran going to athirsta is a metaphor of the Allies in WWII, hoping that members of the Allies would save her during the time and would have to speak thier language to properly communicate with said members. I see so many symbols that I can't properly explain it! Remor could be the fear that the Jews have gone through in Germany
most of experiments if not all were in other countries where Germans create concentration camps. In my country were a lot of them (they still exist) and they had free people there for experiments. Just saying because idk why a lot of people think it all was in Germany and probably they also think Germans were victims but it isn't true. Yeah, Germans did IT all but mostly in other countries and victims were from other countries too.
I haven't played this game but I know everything about it lmao I can't play scary games with gore. It's the most artistic and atmospheric psychological horror game ever!
Underrated I found this game out when I was watching Markiplier Playthrough it was amazing
The fact that people are still making videos about this game is amazing!
It's such an underrated, amazing story.
I absolutely adore Fran Bow so much.
This explanation was very interesting but still something isn't right the book. The book tells another's person that came into fith reality and knows about those things. So this might suggest that maybe it is real. Still the book is really strange
I really don't like it when it's explained as "It's all imagination", personally I'm way mo4e of a fan of it being a supernatural game, and I think there's some evidence to support this in-game
it kind of gets confirmed in little miss fortune it's all in her head
@@satyalee6793 Actually it kind of seems that missfortune actually confirms that it wasn’t false.
@@satyalee6793but little misfortune literally confirmed that the 5 realities are real
Hell yeah the fran bow fandom is still alive
beautiful yet tragic game, so good. i’ll never forget it 💯💯🖤
@@angelbabyprincess agreed
I find it funny how a game went from horror to some kind of... Surreal otherworldly adventure game.
I think the spirits in the house were the past 'ghosts' of Clara and Mia, since they appeared when the two were freed. One also has a stab wound, which represents how one attacked the other with the knife during the puppet show
I LOVED THIS SOOOO MUCH! honestly so glad you covered this since I don’t think I’ve found anyone else who has fully explained it! Amazing video I love your commentary and explanation!
Just checked out the website with your merch. It looks awesome and the variety of colours we can pick surprised me and I am impressed by how much of the merch you have. Feels like yesterday when you were aploading videos about LN. Just wanted to appreciate your work and effort you put into it. Keep going you're A STAR! ;)
I prefer to see the game as a dark fantasy game, but I can totally see how people perceive it in other ways. It honestly just makes the most sense to me since there are many things that can not be explained (ex. The exchange between her doctor where she seems to magically find out that he was abused). And also, there's a sequel in the works.
Big thing I had to learn in therapy was that two conflicting emotions can exist at the same time and I think that’s what Itward was trying to teach the twins. They can be angry AND sad. They can be angry, sad, and still have room to try and be happy. But they were so buried in their one emotional reaction (which is a justified reaction tbh) but there was never any wiggle room to try and make a better situation for themselves
This is really great, but I can’t help but laugh every time you say a kamala hints at mental health issues being present in a patient… yes, they are in a mental asylum.
I remember watching a playthrough of this game a while back, and this video did help me remember and helped explain certain events. While parts of the game, I can understand how it can be just a figment of the protagonist's imagination, a few points of the story do have some contradictions that would say otherwise and that the five realities do exist in a certain way.
So there is one really big problem with the idea that this is all in Frans head, the pills quite often let her see or hear things she has no way of knowing or allow her to get to locations she can't posable reach.
To me this info means it's not all in her mind and the pills are acting as a conductor for powers she already has but has now way to control them.
Woah, Remor kinda sounds like the French word for guilt and regret (spelled remors)
Edit: *Well, there’s also the word remorse in English lmao*
Just a thought: what if Fran was lobotamized while unconcious because of the pills? The doctor wanted to do tests on her brain while in the asylum. What if the girl who claimed that Fran's thoughts were taken saw the doctor performing surgury on Fran's brain. And that is also the reason why Fran has hallucinations without the pills. The pills make it worse in the beginning which is why the hallucinations become her new reality the longer the game goes on
What I like most about this game is how it allows for so many different interpretations. I’ve seldomnly seen games that have such strong story telling. It is “just” a point and click adventure, which many would deem boring, but it is so compelling that it’s hard to stop playing. A fantastic piece of work, and I’m happy that it gained so much traction.
You should do the game called "Little Misfortune" next! It's similar to "Fran Bow".
It’s not just similar, they actually are in either connected universes or the same one, since in the end of Little Misfortune, you see Itward, the flying heads, and the little pine cone men. You also see Remor in the game.
@@trashmammal7798 Oh ok! Thank you for telling me!
Hey man, you’re doing great! I found you yesterday and a suggestion I thought of is like what if did like stuff like this for older modern horror games like maybe Five Nights at Freddy’s, Slender (the original games), or SCP:Containment Breach? Anyway keep up the good work :)
LET'S GO I'VE BEEN PRAYING FOR THIS ONE
Commenting for the algorithm. Thanks for the vid man, your channel is pure quality
I think the girl that had the bloody hand prints on her bed was physically abused by was sexually abused too. On the doll version of her, she had hand prints on the chest area and near her legs. I also think that when it saws no one will believe you (or something along the lines), it means that if she tries to tell anyone, no one would listen or believe her. I hope I explained this well.
When she was shackled to the bed it wasn't alternate reality her that didn't have mister midnight. It was younger her before she got mr midnight. Indicating that she had been to the asylum before the incident but couldn't remember it or it wasn't mentioned.
Maybe she was in and out of the asylum? She just goes and comes because of how she acted or what she saw, i like to think she saw remor when she was still a young child. Which is why.
It can't be Fran's imagination, because "Little Misfortune" takes place in the same Universe and the five realities exist. Misfortune could see what Fran saw, but in a different way. 2 separate people who never met can't possibly have the exact same imagination where unique creatures look the same. The pinecone people, Itward, and a few other creatures make cameos in Little Misfortune. Morgo, the monster in that game, looks similar to Remor.
they could be the same ‘species’ of monsters, maybe? also, they seem to have slightly different powers, but i feel like they are similar. those, after all, were made by the same person. also, a cool fact, misfortune was voiced by the games creator! which is, at least for me, very surprising.
What a beautifully made game. I never really enjoyed horror, but I find myself more mature and capable of handling it. I love this! I appreciate people can make stuff like this for those like myself to enjoy it as if with an old friend from elementary playing video games day and night on the weekends out of pure joy and happiness.
So i thing the story goes like this
Leon Castillo discovers his ability to see other dimensions and their creatures. He soon learns more about them and goes on an adventure exploring these different worlds. After his journey ends he starts to do research on the whole phenomenon and teams up with few other people to do experiments on brains as that's a key to achieving these powers. Eventually he retires and entrists his fellow researcher and "disciple" Oswald to be in charge of everything and continue his work.
For some reason his research focuses specifically on twins and when the time comes he did research on twins Lucia and Grace. Since back then, human experimentation was illegal, he didn't done anything major to them hence the two were able to live for so long till adulthood and be just fine. Eventually, the twins started to work with him on this messed up thing.
He also founded the Oswald Asylum to have patients to experiment on as the experimentation on humans became legal.
That's when he done these horrible things like lobotomy or fusing Mia and Clara toghether.
Lucia got pregnant all according to Oswald's plan. The child was supposed to be used in his experiments and was predicted to be the perfect one (doesn't this count as selective breeding btw? Is this why Grace and Lucia weren't killed since they were perfect breeds?).
But Lucia got attatched (not litterally) to her child and refused to let him do stuff to Fran.
Soon Oswald and Grace manage to manipulate Fran into killing her parents, she runs away, they find her, kill Mr. Midnight and take her to the Oswald Asylum.
The reason Mr. Midnight is a traitor is cause he was a gift from her mother and made her harder to manipulate or prone to rebel as he made Fran appreciate life or something.
The ghost of the puppy in Little Misfortune is a hint that animals in this universe basically also have souls and can trancend to other realities as well.
That means Mr. Midnight is a ghost.
When Fran escapes the asylum she accidentaly falls down the same well the two stitched toghether twins were discarded to. These two's ghosts were trapped in this weird house, unable to move on to the afterlife.
Fran in order to free Mr. Midnight "helps" them move on and continues her escape. Unfortunately, due to overdosing on the pills, she summons Remor and gets send to the second reality.
She makes great allies there, learns many important things, leaves, finally meets Itward and they travel back home.
Dr. Deern was fired after he has been investigating things and discovered the fact Oswald's people faked Fran's death and switched her medicines all behind his back.
It seems as dr. Deern gets more and more insane over time which allows
Remor to be able to pull Deern and Fran into the combination of 5th and 3rd reality
...or at least he makes them faint so Grace and Oswald could kidnapp the two and take them back to the asylum
(i'm really not sure why the antagonists suddenly appear in -hell- 5th dimension so i guess they drugged themself as well)
Then the final happens and i believe Fran does acctually survive. Not like that really matters since she choses to go to the second reality, never to come back to Earth making it pretty much an equivalent to her death at least from dr. Deern's perspective if he'll even rember her or see her dead body.
In Little Misfortune, the story is similar but things are taking an opposite turn.
Misfortune dies after trying to cross the road and gets put into a fake looped reality made by Morgo so he can play with her a little and eventually take her to The Beyond just like he did/does with other kids such as Hiro.
Fortunately Benjamin the spirit animal fox saves and guides her into the afterlife, the 4th reality associated with death.
Fran Bow on the other hand was alive from the start and was send to what is the opposite of 4th reality, the 2nd reality which is associated with life.
But that's not the only parallel to the "sequel".
Fran Bow is a little older than Misfortune, has a normal name since she was a planned child, her parents died (from her own hands), has a pet cat who's her best friend, the game has a pretty dark theme especially visually
Misfortune on the other hand is a little younger, was an accident hence the name, her parents were alive but very unhappy, naturally repels animals possibly due to her quite disgusting side (i know she's adorable but she keeps puking everywhere), the game is styled to look sweet but has plenty of dark humor to balance things out
The two games are different takes on a similar story and feel just about right to be in the same universe.
I watched the gameplay form jacksepticeye many months ago. I just fell in love with the story and fran bow also with little misfortune.
the ending in a nutshell: everyone good is dead. all dead. but wait, what's that? OH MY GOD IT'S JESUS HIM SELF COMING FROM THE HEAVENS TO SAVE EVERYONE!
This game is so dark, it deserves a bright Ending.
No one saw the similarities to Alice Madness Returns? Awesome games!! I love these type of stories
YES totally!! I’d also add Omori to the mix for some conceptual similarities
I remember watching Mark/Markiplier play this and I was just in awe at everything about it. Years later and I still love the whole thing
As a person with DID Id like to just point out how many parallels to this specific condition we can se here. We have Remor that makes Fran's hands "do bad things" we see Mr Midnight and Itward, a benevolent beings of her imagination that help her along the way. Improperly chosen medicine can also amplify the psychotic symptoms of DID and make you "switch" more often and experience some really terrifying hallucinations. The other thing is the theme of guilt of things that you did while having no control.
Yooo nice video, hope you get blessed by the algorithm.
Oml. That's how I got here! 🤣
This might just be me, but I feel this story really can be interpretated in two ways:
1. That Fran truly was imagining all of this in a way to handle trauma as she tries to figure out the world, or in near death experience.
2. The Five Realities are real and everything we see is what really happened.
Both have plenty of evidence to either possiblity but neither are perfectly the answer. It's why I love the game (story) so much. The creators really did an amazing job with the writing and world building. It really is down to how you walk into a playthrough of the game, whether you see a young girl struggling with severe mental illness going through a terrible time of her life or a special girl who was destined to do amazing things that was being tormented by an menacing entity who didnt want her to fulfill her destiny. Its up to how the player sees it. And thats the beautiful of good story telling.
Franbow will forever be my favorite game, as it was for the past few years since I first saw it back in 2016
The game is honestly remarkable and is one of the most complex games, merging fiction with reality and coming up with the real truth of things that could happen to any child every day.
It's a sad tragedy that ends off with you wanting more and I honestly feel so connected to it in some sort of weird way I can't explain or even understand really
This was an amazing video. I was absolutely glued to the screen. Partly because I love the game already, and you told this tail so well. Great job!
Love your content keep up this amazing work
I remember watching multiple RUclipsrs play this forever ago! Fran Bow has always had a special place in my heart, since it's when I first really started watching RUclips
I think I have a theory about this game's theme.
My theory here is, that Fran is dead or on her deathbed and goes through the 5 stages of death: Denial, anger, bargain, depression and acceptance. I'll quickly go over each part.
Denial:
This is the harder of the bunch to find justification for. I honestly can't find much other than the people in the asylum not believing Fran's stories about a demon... This is really vague so if you have any clues to help here, let me know.
On another point would I want to mention that the fact of finding several people with signs of a lobotomy suggesting that Fran herself might've gotten one and is now suffering the consequences.
Anger:
The sisters. They have hate towards Itward for no clear reason which could be a representation of Fran having anger towards her parents maybe? Like Itward can be seen like a Parent. He tells her bedtime stories, tells her that he will always be there for her and protects her. Just like a parent would do. And Fran is angry because they perhaps sold her to the Asylum for experiments or even abandoned her (Considering she was "found")
Bargain:
In that fantasy world (That I won't even try to pronounce the name of) is pretty much heaven. And Fran tries to bargain at several points. She "bargains" with death by ending as a tree to preserve her life, she bargains in some way to get her parents back and at the end bargains to stay in this world, which she can't yet.
Keep in mind that I use bargain here in a very loose sense because the actual definition can be much more strict.
Depression:
Fran loses Itward after meeting him, she loses Mr. Midnight, later she loses her hope Mr. Midnight might be alive (Cat in the coffin) and finally she loses the professor who tried to help her (Perhaps this is also symbolic of the professor actually driving her to the hospital in the hope to save her life?)
All this stuff is quite depressing towards her.
Acceptance:
She accepts the things that happened to her and at the end is able to enter the world mentioned before which might be heaven itself.
This is a very rough theory but I feel like it's solid enough since there are multiple things that suggest this being possible.
I'm autistic and this game is so special to me. I'm so glad it's being talked about! Although I don't agree with it all being a delusion because she knew stuff that she wasn't told. I enjoy just thinking of it as a fantasy game with extremely dark shit
This game isn't scary...
It's sad.
It's all about mental health issues, abuse, suicidal thoughts, trauma and grief
I think in theory Fran didn't kill her parents.
Shes having psychosis, depression as she's grieving, anxiety, intrusive thoughts and so many more disorders, all caused by the image of having seen her parents dead.
She relies on her cat as he is the only one who didn't judge her nor leave her.
The kamalas are representing the abuse/trauma other victims have gone through.
As Fran takes the pills she sees how the kamala say horrible things about the victims abuse, as she does so she thinks it's all a hallucination while in reality she can basically see the deep and dark meaning of the other patient's trauma.
Throughout the game itself you see multiple victims of experiments as well, showing you how they were hurt.
However as she gets further she starts being gaslighted by her aunt, and she starts believing it.
Eventually she ends up being so crazy she starts believing in all the surreal things, denying everything that happened and that what she all saw and felt was nothing but a bad dream, even when her parents, her cat and all her friends died.
37:43 The letter demands Gladys to tell the newspaper that Fran froze to death, but the little letter piece on the right side said that she died in July? Usually, nights in July aren’t that cold, how’s that working out? It has always bugged me hahah.
could've been a way to tell us that her death was a cover-up maybe
@@kindarchaid9682 could be, but then I wonder why no one else just thought about it for a minute. Like if I would’ve read that in the newspaper I would be confused about it at least.
@@kristina9608 I guess depending where she lived - like it gets super cold in the desert at night in summer
Impressive. Consider me subscribed. Ya might wanna break down Little Misfortune. Y'know, for the sake of flow.
10:40 on the clipboard it actually specifies that she was SA’ed. And the ‘stat quiet’ probably had a worse meaning along with the blood on the bed…
Stay*
These are the types of games I enjoy, especially with markiplier screaming when theres jumpscares, I love the indie-ness of these games pixelated or not, the new game he played was sort of like this and enjoyed it much as this explanation of the story
yay! more Fran Bow content!! I love this analysis a lot! super insightful!
What I'm wondering is how she killed her parents because it says they were cut perfectly and knowing how small fran is its hard to believe such skinny arms could do such damage I'd figure if she did it would look messy and not cut all the way. I think adults murdered her parents because they are perfectly sliced. They blamed fran for the murder which created a false memory showed by remor. Also Grace said they needed someone to blame, someone to point fingers at. Which sounds oddly suspicious. ALSO those two adults just happen to be in the forest when fran passes out.
Personally, I'd like to think aunt grace killed fran's parents and took her to the asylum to be experimented on, as well as lobotomized. The focus on other realities and realms, as well as mr. Midnight and going home, is possibly what fran dreamed of before getting lobotomized and killed off.
Her medication was switched for a high dosage which caused heavy side effects, along with a possibly failed lobotomy, caused her to attack her aunt grace and had to be killed by oswald for safety. Itward is her imaginary friend that cared and wanted to protect her much like a parent, mr midnight being fran's best friend, both in real life and her imagination.
As for other things that fran experiences like random cutscenes on her jumping, hurting mr midnight, i think that might be side effects of the medication that fran was taking but duotine was an opioid, which can easily cause addiction.
This game is one of the best I’ve ever played. It set out on a mission, and it completed that mission better than most games I’ve played.
I think Itward is potentially a metaphor for mental illness. Since as long as xy exists, so does he. He is a gray area, neither good or bad. Others know about him too, not just Fran. He says he will keep xy (Fran, too) safe. Making it hard to escape. But he gives a chance - a chance to heal, which is so unlikely that some cling to that hope, because there's nothing else they know to turn to. It's either that small glimmer of hope, or it's Itward to choose as far as they know.
Oh man I was waiting for this video, this game is a gem
i was waiting for a video like this, for forever! thank you!
Can you review Cube Escape? It's an underrated game with an interesting story.
YES! Rusty lake is great!
I always enjoy your videos! Thank you for putting in the effort to make these, they are all great!
I think Fran pills bringing her to well may actually mean without she's in a spirit realm cause how could Fran know that much about the twins?
Initial comment on seeing this on my recommended page! YESSSSS! Finally a Fran bow video summary!!!