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amoeba-shaped-rock · 1 year ago

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Arknights's Phantom and the Black Cat(s)

Preface – What is the Black Cat?

Phantom, or Lucian, is known to be based on the work Phantom of the Opera. His Blood Diamond costume is also a reference to the Masque of the Red Death, a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe – a well known gothic lit writer (gothic in this case meaning the architecture in the European Middle Ages). This may be because in the musical, Erik is shown to be wearing a costume referencing the short story. Plus, Phantom’s birthday, 19th January, is also shared by Poe.

The Black Cat is a short story written by Poe. Luci and Ms Christine, by extension the Playwright as well, share similarities with the themes and characters in The Black Cat. Given the references to Edgar Allan Poe as stated above, all of these may be intended. (or maybe I’m overanalysing, but the similarities are still interesting to think about in regards to the characters and the direction HG wants to develop them)

(Warning: This post contains spoilers for the 4th ending)

PART 1 – About The Black Cat

The Black Cat – Summary

An unnamed narrator recounts his life, and says that he will die soon, to the gallows. He mentioned loving animals and his wife, particularly a black cat called Pluto his wife gave him, but at some point, alcoholism took over him and made him violent. He mentions being abusive to his wife and pets except Pluto, until one day Pluto ignored him – which made him hurt Pluto too, and poked one of Pluto’s eyes. Pluto got physically better, but it was terrified of the narrator. The narrator hated this fact because he still loved Pluto, but then talked about how he got possessed by alcoholism to give in to his violent impulses and killed Pluto – hung him from a noose. Mentioned that he knew he shouldn’t, but there was an intrinsic part of him, humanity itself, that loves to break laws because it shouldn’t be broken. His house burned down except one wall where a carving(?) of cat with a noose appeared. He got freaked out, but he missed Pluto, so when a similar cat appeared on top of an alcohol barrel, he adopted it. Pluto was a black cat, but this other cat has a splosh of white pattern on the whole chest. At first he loved it, but then because it kept reminding him of his crimes, he grew to hate it. And the cat started to love him even more, and followed the narrator everywhere. One day he and his wife went to his basement for an errand, and the black cat ran in between his legs. Annoyed, he tried to kill the cat, but the wifey shielded the cat. He killed the wife, hid the body behind a wall, and the cat disappeared. He was happy and relieved for 4 days bc the cat is gone, but neighbours and police got suspicious of him. They checked his basement for 3 or 4 times, and bc the narrator is so proud of managing to get away with his crimes, he told the police that the house is well built while knocking on the wall where he hid the body – and then there was a sound of a yelp. The police took down the wall and found the corpse, and the unnamed black cat, with a white pattern that resembles a noose on its chest and around its neck, stood on top of the head of the corpse. The narrator blames the black cat for his crimes and his arrest.

The Black Cat – Major Themes

Unreliable Narrator – the narrator questioned his own sanity multiple times, and he himself mentioned that he was under the influence of alcohol most of the time. There are plenty of inconsistencies within the text, further telling us that we must not take his words at face value. He considers himself a rational and logical man who does not believe in superstition, but times and times again we see him pray to God in fear, or justifying his crimes by saying that he got possessed. He tries to explain events with logic and reason but a lot of times his excuses are farfetched.

Sanity (or rather the lack of it) – He starts off the story in a rather calm tone, but descends further into rage and madness as we approach the end of the story. The contrast in language is strong (example: calling his cat a dear friend, vs at the end calling it a monster and Satan). He also constantly considers himself ‘possessed’ by a fit of rage/perverseness whenever he commits violence.

Absolvement of guilt – he constantly blames alcohol and possession for his own crimes, in an attempt to absolve himself from guilt. He blamed his cat’s death on alcohol and his wife’s death on the unnamed black cat, even though he admitted he wanted to do those. If he really was possessed, like he claimed, does that remove him from the consequences of his actions?

Black cats as a harbinger of bad luck – Black cats were often believed to bring bad luck. In The Black Cat, this is both true and not. From the narrator’s point of view, Pluto and his successor was the cause of all “misfortune” that had happened to him. However, considering that the narrator is an abusive husband, the black cats can also be seen as the harbinger of justice, exacting punishment onto the narrator for his crimes.

Home as a source of anxiety and restlessness– Another subversion of a popular theme where home is a symbol of safety. The narrator felt anxious and stressed in his home, where he was reminded of his crimes, so he spends his life away at the tavern to drink. The only time he saw his home as a source of happiness and safety was after hiding his wife’s body.

Supernatural or Hallucination – Considering that the narrator admits he was losing his mind, it is hard to take his words at face value. If we do take them at face value and believe him, it seems that something supernatural is at work, which is common in gothic literature. For example, Pluto’s spirit who came back to haunt him and exact justice upon the man who killed him. Another interpretation is that he hallucinated under the influence of alcohol and the guilt at the back of his mind.

PART 2 – In Relation to Phantom and those in his orbit

Phantom and The Narrator

Despite some core differences with regards to alcoholism and animal abuse, Lucian shares some similarities with the narrator.

They both had a black cat as a pet

Both are unreliable narrators, and constantly question their own perceptions of reality

Both started out kind and normal (if we were to believe the Narrator’s words) until at some turning point in their lives when they started to commit violence

Both were haunted by their pasts

Both seem to hallucinate their past, whether from guilt or from a supernatural force

Just like the narrator, Lucian considers the troupe his home, but also finds it a cause of unrest.

Both justify the murders they choose to commit, the narrator with alcohol and human nature, while Phantom uses his sense of justice (battle voiceline: “The guilty must be punished”). Also noteworthy is Lux’s theory (linked below in the additional reading section) about how the incident on Phantom’s debut night wasn’t entirely an accident, but a premeditated assassination too, which I think is a compelling argument.

Ms Christine and the black cats

Pluto is an important companion of the narrator, and so is Ms Christine to Phantom. Both are described to be a beautiful and affectionate black cat. Pluto himself didn’t have much of a characterisation beyond that bc it died early in the story, but Ms Christine also have a number of similarities with the unnamed black cat

The unnamed black cat has white fur shaping a noose on the neck, while Ms Christine is always shown wearing ribbon, infection monitor, etc on her neck

Very intelligent

Was picked up at a drinking establishment (tea in Luci’s case)

Follows their humans to a lot of places (this is true of Pluto too) (actually can confirm cats do this a lot in general)

Drops hints for the people who were searching for clues

There might be more, but so far these are all that I can find.

The Playwright and the unnamed black cat

Considering that Ms Christine has a lot of similarities with the two black cats, one might be tempted to stop thinking there and then, but the Playwright also surprisingly shared a number of similarities with the unnamed black cat. (He is a feline for narrative purposes I tell you) However due to the lack of material, this section is limited and works on assumptions, theories and possibilities. May need to update this section when we get more information.

He has white hair, similar to the unnamed black cat. Not only this, his white hair trails from near his temple, to behind his ears, through his neck and shoulder, and ends at his chest. There is also a white lining on shirt that runs through his entire abdomen, just like the unnamed cat, who has a patch of white fur around the neck and on the chest. Is it a stretch to say that his white hair and part of shirt form a noose? maybe, but the similarity to the cat is there.

The unnamed black cat is constantly mentioned with a noose - usually associated with two things: the gallows, or suicide. Not sure which one of these can be applied to the playwright (although I’m leaning towards suicide), but he is associated with deaths and endings.

Pluto is also named after the Roman version of Hades, the god of the dead. the playwright is also associated with godly powers (ability to manipulate reality) and deaths.

Soon after Pluto died, the narrator’s house was set on fire. The cause of fire is never explained. The Playwright is associated with death by fire. Also noteworthy that in ACT 1, it was mentioned that the fire consumed everything he treasured, just like the fire that burnt all of the Narrator’s wealths and treasures.

More details with regards to Act 1: In the short story, the black cats are shown to be antagonists from the narrator’s point of view, but when looking at the piece objectively, we can conclude that the cats are the ‘hero’ and the narrator is the ‘villain’. Similarly, The Playwright is an antagonist and a boss to fight in IS2, but in Act 1 he is described as a hero. With this information and the fact that Lucian hasn’t escaped the troupe’s brainwashing completely, there might be a role reversal later on in the story.

The unnamed black cat can be seen as a harbinger of justice, exacting revenge on the man who abused his pets and wife. Throughout the route to his ending, it was mentioned and emphasised many times that The Playwright is working towards revenge.

Just by being associated with the troupe, he reminds Phantom of the incident on his debut night

Since he is the one who wrote Phantom experiences into reality, in a way he stays with him all the time and gets in Phantom’s way, similar to the way the black cat follows the narrator around and run between his feet to get in his way

If the “youth” in Crazy Puppets encounter was truly him, then he, just like the unnamed black cat, assisted people in their investigations, in this case the RI.

Despite being the antagonist of their stories, neither the black cat nor the Playwright showed any hostility. (as per his description. except contrary to that description we had to fight the playwright… HG why)

The police found the black cat and the corpse during the 3 or 4th time they searched the narrator’s basement. Incidentally, the playwright is in the fourth ending, and requires you to complete an IS2 adventure at least once prior.

The short story ends with the narrator blaming the black cat. The playwright is often associated with endings, and it’s noteworthy that he took the blame for the events in PCS, saying that mistakes happen in the script

Not the black cats specifically but both him and ms christine has a lot of ribbons on them. Wonder if there’s some sort of meaning/symbolism to it.

PART 3 - Extras

not required reading but gives additional context:

link 1: The Black Cat

link 2: Lux’s thread about Phantom’s past