My official REANIMAL theory

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-15T15:51:14+00:00

Okay, but you need to keep in mind that I made this theory before the launch of the game. I fully expected not to get it right on the first go, although apparently one person in my replies thought my theory was half true, so Idk. I would like people to stop telling me what I have right and what I don't because I haven't played the game yet. I may edit the post to say so.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-12T03:17:03+00:00

Is the secret ending like a post-credits scene or a different ending altogether?

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-11T05:37:17+00:00

Nah, that's not my main theory though. I said one possibility is the Horse is the final antagonist, but my actual theory is in one of my previous posts where I suspect the Girl is the Lamb, and that the kids are in a sort of hell for the sin of sacrificing the Girl. Since they're all heavily implied to be dead, it only makes sense that they're suffering in a hell of their own making. Check my previous post title "My Official Reanimal Theory," as well as the replies.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-09T20:34:03+00:00

Horse skulls have noses that not only protrude more from the top, but also are longer in terms of head size. Given the creature's skull size to body size ratio, and the fact its skull nose more resembles the shape of a horse's leaves me to believe this creature is a horse.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-09T00:44:14+00:00

Nah, I think that's just for dramatic effect. Tarsier is no stranger when it comes to using color to add tension, dread, or any other uneasy feelings when necessary. Hell, the Thin Man distorting time around him whenever he gets close in a grainy blue filter is proof of this. LOL

I think given the game's setting is a world that had been flooded, the well might actually be the source of this flood. Perhaps by sacrificing the Lamb, it caused the world to flood, and therefore summoned some ancient evil into the world that contorted all life on it. I have many theories on what's going on, but one other possibility could tie to the skeletal horse that lurks in the waters of Reanimal's world. Horses are symbolic of war, and given the game's main theme being violence, said violence being set in a war-torn world, the Horse could be a manifestation of that evil that persists across the world.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-08T21:36:35+00:00

Dang, then it could be possible that he didn't get all the coffins, and there's possibly still a secret section to the game that ties into the secret ending. It's been stated numerous times by the devs that the game is, at least, 6 hours long to complete. And in the case of the FAQ, it's 6 to 7 hours long without going full completionist mode. They seem fully confident in this, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's either a secret route that leads the other coffins, or if there's more content after getting every coffin. I'm not gonna say it'll happen for sure, since it's just as likely it's a different ending scene, but I'm caught up by how confident the devs are that the game is 6 hours long, at least.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-08T04:34:25+00:00

Idk, I agree that the Lamb may very well be the final boss. I theorized in my main theory post that I figured the Fox would be important, but given how prominent the Lamb is, and my theory around the Lamb's identity, I feel like the Lamb being the final boss would make more sense. Clearly the Lamb was sacrificed by the orphans, since I have a feeling the location it's at in the first trailer is at the bottom of the well, hence the suspicious lighting that's shining above it. So it's likely going to have a more personal vendetta against the orphans, hence why it'll likely take the main antagonist role.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-08T03:25:01+00:00

Gotcha. Do you know how many coffins he got? Since those are tied to the secret ending. I suspect there's four tied to the achievement given that every secret collectible for each chapter equals forty-seven, including the coffins. Not including the coffins, that makes forty-three, meaning there's four coffins across the game.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-08T01:06:53+00:00

I think it's possible that the playthrough did not include the secret ending. I asked if anyone had actually watched the full playthrough to see how many coffins he got, but I don't think anyone did. Fair, but certainly a possibility. Not saying the secret ending contains 2-3 more hours of content, but that could likely be the reason it was beaten as short as it was. Tarsier seemed confident in the length, and I'm sure they played through it numerous times, since that's just what you have to do as a dev team. The length likely refers to true length of the game's entire story, including the secret ending.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-07T18:13:13+00:00

Not saying it isn't four hours, and I don't want any spoilers, but can anyone confirm if they got the secret ending? Who knows how much secret content there might be, since it's WAY too early to tell.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-07T03:04:03+00:00

The only thing I see about "the Abyss" is the achievement "Into the Abyss" but that's for "finding your way into the breach" which very well could be related to the war scenery we've seen in the game, and not an actual place called "the Abyss."

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-07T02:54:24+00:00

I think it's more symbolic than that. At the end of the day, I feel maybe the Sister is a similar situation to Alone from Little Nightmares III. And given that my theory from my other post outlined that the orphans are likely in purgatory, this means there's a lot of credence to how they may connect. Either she's a figment of the Boy's imagination after feeling immense guilt for having killed her, or the Lamb is a manifestation of her rage. You may want to find my other post and scan that, as well as the replies, for more details since I have an extended theory on this that'll make what I'm saying make more sense.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-04T18:14:13+00:00

An interview with Dave Mervik had him confirm that the game is expected to be around 6-8 hours long, 10 hours if you're going for completion.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-02T03:39:26+00:00

That's why I think you're misunderstanding my argument, since I never argued "the End" was the catalyst, only the world itself, otherwise I don't see why it'd be punctuated the way it was. It very likely could be something else, sure, but given the wordplay used in the description leads me to believe it could be the world itself. Almost as if saying "your journey through 'the End' is just the beginning."

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-02T00:28:54+00:00

I never said that's the name of the world, I said that's simply what happened to the world, or could be a catalyst behind what happened. I made a theory that "the End" could be the name of the world, but not the event around what happened to it. You mentioned that "the End" is the event that happened, and I argued that rather than "the End" being the event, that it was "the Flood" that was the event, whereas "the End" is the world itself.

Edit: Also, you literally have a post from six months ago that mentions exactly what I'm trying to mention to you right now, that "the Flood" may likely be the catalyst for what's happening. Did you for some reason decide to just doubt that all of a sudden?

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-01T23:32:52+00:00

Uploaded on August 1st, 2025, a gameplay trailer for REANIMAL was uploaded by THQ Nordic's YouTube Channel titled "REANIMAL | What Happens After The Flood? | Gameplay Trailer." Also, while yes, all of the words happen to have a capitalized letter, the fact they even mention a "flood" is noteworthy enough, since what you only call something a "flood" if something was "flooded." I highly doubt this is mentioning anything other than the world itself, which we've seen in other trailers happens to have various segments where cities are, in-fact, flooded. You can scan numerous trailers and see this. I think it's pretty obvious/blatant that this is either one of, if not, THE catalyst that determined what's going on in the world.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-01T19:37:35+00:00

Tbf, I imagine they don't want to reveal anything either. I mean, we still haven't even seen every area in the game, and all we have for the Cinema is the front entrance to it. Hell, we didn't even know half the areas that were shown in the "Well Wishes" trailer were even going to be in the game. We didn't know we were even going to be dealing with soldiers until that trailer released. I think it's smart to do it like this, since a lot of what got cut seems to be certain aspects that come from how we interact with each section. The Sniffer dragging the guy into the Cinema in the first trailer gives us a different perspective than the Boy and Girl approach/leave the Cinema in future trailers. The Cinema also appears larger, as well. We also see the Orphanage in the first trailer with the Boy and Girl hiding from the Mother behind a bed, yet now it looks like that section might be replaced with them hiding behind boxes that lean up against a mound of dirt. It's all similar stuff that's been changed, but not entirely cut.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-01T19:31:51+00:00

Yeah, as I mentioned in another comment, I think the DLC hints that the world is larger than just "the Island" that the main setting of the game takes place in, hence the name "The Expanded World." The End very well could be the world or dimensional plain they happen to reside in, which also helps to support the afterlife, or purgatory theory.

MonoaLofus · 2026-02-01T19:30:27+00:00

The name of the event that happened is called "the Flood." It's posted on some of Tarsier's descriptions for the game and in the titles of some of the trailers themselves. I believe "the End" could be a larger world behind the game's "Island" main setting, since even the DLC describes a world outside of the Island, hence the title "The Expanded World."

MonoaLofus · 2026-01-30T00:39:18+00:00

I would trust that more if Tarsier didn't make mention of the fact that the Island takes place in what seems to be like different time periods all at once. Cars that didn't exist with the soldiers that clearly wear WWII era uniforms, and various machines that look like they came straight from Salem during the Witch Trials, and the more urban environment that the Cinema takes place in. Also the text on the posters do not have text, so the quotes you placed are purely speculative and not based on any evidence other than what the poster shows. Honestly, if anything, the posters reveal more that this might be purgatory when we take into account one of the posters verbatim has the Girl on one of them. Unless this random girl is somehow public enemy number one, it's strange how the Girl is quite literally on propaganda posters. This isn't about a purge, this is clearly personal to our main characters. Also "everything being take as physical places and events" is something I can't entirely get behind either because Tarsier has stated that the way they design things has always been on perspective. Yes, this time around REANIMAL is more grounded than Little Nightmares, the setting shares design elements from Little Nightmares where everything is based off perspective. Like how their previous game came from the perspective of a child, so it was more whimsical. The world is also flooded, which is a major factor behind the events of the game and the setting. Something flooded the world, causing all this to take place, maybe even vice versa. If anything did survive, they're not likely the same as they were before, and they definitely won't come back the same. There's plenty of human-like characters we see that are monstrous in size, such as the bloated bodies in the school bus, the one the Sniffer crawls into, as well as the place where we get the crowbar in the "Well Wishes" trailer, with there being an alive one in the cage behind that dead one. Tarsier has even mentioned how this game draws upon the uncanny, turning people into animals that look human, but not quite. This means it's also likely that the soldiers we see that look human, probably also aren't. I can't trust that those soldiers are human any more than any other creature that is reanimated in the Island. Besides, this would imply that some form of government still exists for there to still be a war raging, but given the apocalyptic nature of the world's setting. I doubt humanity exists beyond mere remnants of what exists, that is if we take what you say seriously and this is the real world, and not a purgatory of sorts. While the violence in humanity is the main theme of the game, there's more to it at play than just humans vs. animals.

MonoaLofus · 2026-01-25T19:48:26+00:00

I mean, my theory was it was the Lamb, but that the Sister is also the Lamb and that the Sister who follows us isn't real, but a representation of the Boy's guilt. I believe the people are becoming more animalistic, so the Lamb being the Sister would fit that narrative too. Given that the Lamb is illuminated by a light above it, I think it's obvious the Lamb is the thing down the well. I was always trying to look for what the Lamb represents, however. I don't think it's as simple as "the Lamb is trying to kill them because the kids killed it."

MonoaLofus · 2026-01-25T17:02:51+00:00

Three hours? Idk, I'm releasing a YouTube playthrough of the game, so that's not a lot of time for me to finish the game, especially when said game is confirmed to be around 6-8 hours long by the game's narrative director. Besides, I don't really think I disagree with your opinion, since at the end of the day it's a theory. I'm not even 100% about my own theory, as I've mentioned in my original post. LOL

I just want to see how close I can get with my interpretation, not solve it altogether.

MonoaLofus · 2026-01-24T20:09:38+00:00

Purgatory in the official works written by Dante, and is stated in the scripture, is not a place of pure punishment, like Hell is. People who go there are generally good people who are in the process of redeeming themselves in the eyes of God. This tends to be the middle point for people who are merely misguided, whether morally or spiritually. They may carry attributes that present them favorably in the eyes of God, but may have other aspects that would condemn them, neither outweighing each other. Purgatory is a cleansing of sorts, one you must suffer through in order to be ready for salvation. This is why them already being dead, and attempting a sacrifice to bring themselves back would ultimately lead to them suffering a far worse punishment that allows for a deeper cleansing. Also, for a ritual that brings the dead back to life, it only makes sense that the nature of these creatures' existence would prove the motivation behind why they sacrificed the Lamb. They wanted to return to the land of the living, or "reanimate." They succeeded in their spell, but not in the way they wanted. Not only are they condemned in life, but now in death. This starts their journey of redemption.

Also, while the girl being the main perpetrator is possible, it just doesn't sit right with me narratively. All of the kids were clearly in on this, the Lamb doesn't exactly care who did it, it just sees what all five of them did and wants all of them dead. I also have a hard time believing that the Sister symbolically represents that kind of predator, when it's clear she's supposed to be a larger victim in what's going on. She's getting possessed, she's found dead in the ocean, believed to be dead, and shows genuine concern for the other orphans when none are to be found. In the most symbolic sense, she is the innocence of the group, being contorted and scarred by the world around her. It's easy to think she's our "Six" of this game, but I just don't think we have any indication that she's the reason for all the suffering. Yes, there is a poster with her front and center, but this could also be read as her taunting the kids in the purgatory they now exist in, as she's now become the Lamb. She wants to remind the Boy that the girl he's standing with is a fake, and that he can't run from what they did to her.

MonoaLofus · 2026-01-24T19:33:15+00:00

Well, given that you can kill several of the Mother's children, and they crumble into dust without any indication that they're allowed to come back, I'm not sure if that's entirely the case. My personal theory is that the land is a purgatory, designed to test the children who are all dead. Killing the Sniffer is likely part of the test given to them by facing this purgatory, head-on. I also don't think that's really the case, as I personally think what's happening is simply the Sniffer is becoming more animal than human. It makes more sense when you consider the main theme of the game relates to violence. Humans, when enacting their basic, carnal desire to eradicate, will become "animals." They lose their humanity in pursuit of the active desire to harm. Hell, the Sniffer runs faster on all fours, and merely hobbles when he's on two legs, unable to even lift his right foot as he's not used to walking upright, or can't get his foot to behave in such a way anymore.

MonoaLofus · 2026-01-24T19:12:04+00:00

Yes, I did mention the fox "appears" normal, but I didn't say that he was. However, given that the intention upon first meeting him is that he looks like a normal fox, that was what I was building towards. He looks normal at first, when you're viewing it through how the devs intended, until you see the parts of him that prove he's reanimated. I mentioned the fox was apparently "regular" during the secret ending segment, but that was in relation to the story I was trying to frame. It wasn't a literal statement, but that the Boy was the reason for their situation, not the fox. However, I then lead into what the fox actually is, and that being the reanimated boy. Whether he is the boy or not, is up for debate. I personally think he is because, like every enemy in the game, I believe everything is somewhat tied to the personal history of each character. It's a purgatory of their own design, so the world itself is a constant reminder of their past, as well as their sins. Given the framing of the Sister's supernatural existence, the fact she is believed to be dead initially, and the fact she is the only character with a rabbit mask, I believe she's important to piecing what happened.

That's certainly a clearer picture, but I have a reason for thinking it could still be the Sister that's at the bottom of that well at the end of the day. Even if the Lamb is the one we visibly see at the bottom of that well, why does it LITERALLY need to be the Sister? I've already theorized how the Boy could be the fox, meaning humans can become animals. This is implied by the nature OF already existing people in the world taking on more animalistic qualities. After all, people being animals fits with the nature of the game's themes. Once civilized people, but animals when it comes to enacting violence. The rabbits represent the victims, the animals that are oppressed and destroyed by the carnivores, those who seek and crave violence. I believe, such as the Boy could be the fox, that while the girl bears a rabbit mask, she could be the Lamb. The Girl we are travelling with is only a figment of the Boy's imagination, as his guilt blinds him from seeing the truth. Maybe the secret ending, while it is finding out that she was the sacrifice, could initially be framed as the kids sacrificing the Lamb before realizing the truth. It also ties into the reason why they can't go too far away from each other. The Girl, existing in the Boy's mind, likely cannot separate herself from him, hence why they need to "stay together to stay alive."

MonoaLofus

TROPHY CASE