The Medium is Bloober Team's newest psychological horror title. It may not be the scariest game in recent years, but The Medium offers a compelling story that, once completely uncovered, will send shivers down your spine.
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The game's narrative and hidden plot elements are arguably its strongest suits. Many will get a fairly decent picture of the game's overall story after finishing the game, but there are also a couple of lore elements and storylines that are hidden to the players. Only those who are willing to dig deeper and explore this game's creepy world will be able to fully grasp the game's story and backstory in its entirety.
10 Marianne's Mom
At the beginning of the game, the players will be led to believe that Marianne was the sole survivor of a tragic family accident. It was initially thought that Marriane's parents and sister died in a car crash.
As the players progress through the game, however, they'll later find out that that isn't the case at all. Marriane's father and sister are still alive, but her mother died giving birth to her. This is implied when young Lilianne blames Marianne for their mother's death.
9 Thomas's Past
Thomas is a character whose past is portrayed to the players only at the surface level through the story. Marianne and Lilianne's power comes from their father, Thomas. Because of his abilities, Thomas actually suffered a pretty rough childhood.
It is believed that Thomas's powers were awakened after a near-death experience. When he was young, he was captured by the Nazis during the invasion of Poland. After his captors learned of his "potential," he was experimented on extensively until he managed to escape.
8 Jack's Death
Although Jack only appears during a small portion of the game, he is still a very important character in terms of the story. He was Marianne's foster father. He passed away just before the events of the game, but the reason for it has been left vague.
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While traversing the Spirit World, the players can find a memory of Jack saying how he's worried about a surgery, which may be the cause of his death.
7 Lilianne's Imaginary Friends
Lilianne has always had her powers, thanks to her parentage, but her true strength remained dormant until a specific traumatic event happened to her. When she was still a child, Lily had an imaginary friend that she'd often speak with, and her friends would tease her for it.
This imaginary friend later became the spirit Sadness. Like Thomas, Lilianne has the ability to directly interact with her spirit form.
6 Why Marianne Forgot About Her Family
When Marianne was just 3 years old, her family home was attacked and burned to the ground by a man named Henry. Marianne and Lilianne were both saved by The Maw, a spirit manifested by the older sibling.
Marianne sustained burns from this ordeal. She was brought to the hospital in an effort to save her. This also caused Marianne to be put in a coma. When she woke up, she had no recollection of the events leading up to that point. Thomas decided to leave her at the hospital, believing it would be better for her to begin anew.
5 Thomas's Plan
It was always Thomas's intention to separate Marianne from the rest of the family in order to give her a normal life. That would also allow him to focus on helping Lilianne, whose powers had grown immensely, to the point of being uncontrollable.
After their house got burned down, The Maw became untethered to Lilianne, making it even more dangerous. Thomas did a lot of experiments to figure out how to stop The Maw and even separate himself from the spirit realm. He eventually figured out that salt was the way to do this, which is why his office and Lilianne's room are lined with salt, along with an IV bag of sodium chloride.
4 Richard Was Abused As A Child
Richard's father was a soldier for the Polish army who died while on active duty. Richard was still very young at this time and the event left him and his mother completely distraught. As time passed, Richard's widowed mother eventually found a new lover.
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Unfortunately, Richard's new stepfather wasn't as loving as his biological one. His stepfather would often abuse her mother. The young Richard would often attempt to protect his mother, but this only angered his stepfather more, causing him to physically assault the boy as well.
3 Richard And Rose
During Richard's roughest moments in his childhood, he met a girl, Rose, with who he would create a close relationship. At one point, Rose gave Richard a gift, something he would apparently "keep safe." It is later revealed that his gift is a necklace of the star of David. Rose is a Jewish girl and it is implied that Richard and his family are helping Rose hide from the Nazis.
Unfortunately, Rose would later pass away. It is implied that Richard's mother incriminated his stepfather as an act of desperation. She made it seem like it was he who was hiding Rose and other Jewish individuals, thus Richard's stepfather was captured and killed, along with his beloved childhood friend.
2 Richard's Actions And Consequences
Richard and Thomas were very close friends when they were young. As adults, Thomas would entrust Richard to take care of Lily while he goes to work on how to suppress their medium powers.
In the beginning, Richard and Lily would grow close. Richard also mentions that Lily reminded him of a person he knew in the past, Rose. Both Lily and Rose had the same floral name and they even looked alike. This made him obsessed with Lily, which led him to do inexplicable things with her. When Thomas found out, he used his powers on Richard, which left him in a vegetative state.
1 The Maw
The Maw is a manifestation of Lily's traumas which spawned after she was abused by Richard. It was trapped in Lilianne's soul until their family house got burned down. In exchange for freedom, The Maw agreed to save Lilianne and her sister from the fire, which is why they survived the tragedy.
As a freed spirit, The Maw grew more powerful and evil. Despite Thomas's best efforts to suppress it, it could only be temporarily held back at best. It would possess creatures of all kinds, humans and animals alike.