Posted on 10 September 24 at 07:25
So here’s my mega post on Lies of P vs The Adventures of Pinocchio…
… also some random musings about the game itself.
As a note, I read the 1892 Murray translation of The Adventures of Pinocchio so many of the word and phrase choices would be dated by today’s standards (for example the Land of Boobies, a booby in this case refers to a fool, layabout, or jackass, not breasts).
NOTE: I found it interesting that Adventures of Pinocchio was published in a serialized format in a newspaper like The Three Musketeers, later it was republished as a book. It is the third most translated book of all time behind only The Bible and The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de St. Exupéry.
Note about the author Collodi - Collodi was very politically active in trying to separate Italy from the Austrian Empire in order for it to form its own state. He started writing after seeing his political dreams actually become a reality a few years earlier. Collodi would have had a wildly different world view from us. One notable detail is his descriptions of male friendship. At the time male friendships were very affectionate, including physical affection and were valued by men as a higher form of intimacy than even between husbands and wives. Surely a minority of these friendships were actually homo-romantic in nature but this view of male intimate friendships was universal in western culture. This is why the interactions between Antonio and Gepetto in the first chapter seem so odd to us.
Lies of P definitely tries to incorporate as many proper nouns as possible from the book though often these appropriations bear little resemblance to their literary counterparts. In some cases though, there’s some interesting comparisons to be made. Here’s a side by side.
Carlos aka P / Carlo Collodi (the author) - this is obviously a tribute to the actual author of the Adventures of Pinocchio. P only has Carlos’ spirit (aka his ergo). Carlos is Giuseppe Geppeto’s dead son in the video game, that he is dead set on committing world altering crimes to resurrect in some way despite being what amounts to an absentee father. It is unclear how Carlos died from though it’s possible it was during an early career as a stalker (guard, and mercenary that hunts renegade puppets) as he is seen begging an unnamed female stalker for training and later is found dead by the same female stalker. It’s worth noting that in the book Pinocchio dies multiple times and is saved by providence and by dint of being a wooden puppet rather than a human boy. Death being impermanent for Pinocchio is a running theme. It’s worth noting that Pinocchio is especially devoid of common sense and being able to “see the writing on the wall” as well as being stubborn. We see this with P as well, Romeo tries to warn him what Gepetto is up to and P simply kills him.
The Nameless Puppet / no literary equivalent - mentioned her as tgis seems to be Gepetto’s early effort at resurrection of of Carlos, using a puppet and part of Carlos’ original body (thus we see The Nameless Puppet has both human and puppet weaknesses). In a way P and the Nameless Puppet are brothers, but the latter seems to have multiple ergos animating him, some of which may we awoken, making him volatile and either hateful or resentful of P. P having severed some of the controlling puppet strings during the fight then faces a more unchained and uncontrolled enemy that eventually defies Gepetto by trying to simply destroy P, killing Gepetto instead when he tries to stop him.
Sophia / The Blue Haired Fairy - this is one that has some pretty big notes that are parallel but has been also changed a lot to drive the Lies of P plot. The Blue Haired Fairy is at one point Pinocchio’s adoptive sister, but seeming to age more like humans is later encountered at a matronly age and becomes his mother (later she transforms herself into a blue goat for unexplained reasons). She has mystical powers but is not omnipotent, she fails to rescue Pinocchio from the “Dog Fish” (aka shark) and she’s able to become ill. However she seems to be able to uniquely, aside from Pinocchio, transcend death. She dies at least twice which is part of the inspiration for Pinocchio to finally not be a “lazy and worthless boy” (a running theme of the story). The Blue Fairy resurrects at the end of the story paralleling the Rise of P ending of Lies of P, where she gets immortality by having her ergo, previously granted to P, put inside a Sophia puppet. Interestingly Lies of P provides an explanation for P’s ability to resurrect after dying, much like Elden Ring does for The Tarnished: Sophia’s power allows her to rewind time, basically rewinding time to his last Stargazer visit (though since collected items remain the story mechanic has some plot holes). Simon Manus even complains about this specific power of Sophia’s saying that Sophia’s power was so great she had effectively selected the victor with it.
Gepetto / Giuseppe Gepetto - Gepetto in the book is a poor and penniless old man in ill health. He’d not be considered a model of good parenting today but seems to have been written as a long suffering parent that usually doesn’t deserve the ill fortune Pinocchio tends to bring upon him. In Lies of P, Gepetto is quite obviously the bad guy. If you listen to his dialogue he has a creepy habit switching to talking in the third person when speaking to P, saying stuff like “my son is very important to me”, it’s pretty clear he doesn’t mean P in this case but Carlos. He also complains about Donkey (the stalker) accusing him of being behind the Puppet Frenzy, bitterly saying “and it’s all based on lies”, however it’s true, and Gepetto is a liar throughout the story while spouting about how awful lies are, which is interesting as the lies are a principle way P becomes more human than puppet. In the book The Blue Fairy claims there are two kinds of lies, ones that make your nose grow and ones that make your legs short, though we never find out what makes which one which, we can only surmise that Pinocchio only tells nose related lies.
Polendina / Polendina - Poledina in Lies of P is a butler puppet for Lady Antonia in Hotel Krat. He has an awoken ego (all the puppets in Hotel Krat do, though it’s unclear how many of the humans realize that) and is in love with Lady Antonia. He mourns her eventual death by claiming he’ll erase his memories and become “just a puppet” again. This ability isn’t really explained (but may or may not be similar to what Gemmini experienced when losing his memories), but could very well be argued to be a form of puppet suicide. In the book Polendina isn’t actually a separate character, it’s a derogatory nickname for Gepetto due to his yellow wig, the neighborhood kids mock him and call him Polendina, which is apparently a sort of corn meal pudding. This name sends Gepetto into a fighting rage when he hears it.
Lady Antonia / Antonia - this is a gender swap for Lies of P but both character’s function as a close friend of Gepetto and help to kick off the plot of the story. In the case of Lady Antonia she has the same habit as Gepetto of weirdly talking about Carlos when she switches to speaking to P in the third person. It’s unclear what she knows of Gepetto’s plans but it seems like she knows more than she lets on and while she seemingly comes to like P and maybe doesn’t agree with Gepetto she seems to go along. Master Antonio is also called Master Cherry in the book and it is noted in Lies of P that Lady Antonia’s final letter to you “smells of cherries”. Antonio gives a piece of speaking wood to Gepetto who then carves Pinocchio from it. Antonio and Gepetto seem to be close friends though they get angry and fight a lot before quickly making up and resolving to remain friends.
Gemini / The Talking Cricket - Collodi never gives the Cricket a name but he’s how we initially learn about Piccochio’s initial lack fo character, the Cricket tries to give him some advice and Pinocchio immediately kills him by throwing a hammer (or hammer handle) at him, thereafter he appears as the Ghost of the Talking Cricket, until late in the story when we find him owning a cottage where he lets Pinocchio and an ill Gepetto stay. It’s not clear if he’s living or a ghost at this point. In Lies or P Gemini is actually a mechanical puppet who doesn’t remember a lot of things that he should. Pinocchio finds him broken but he gradually repairs himself but not to the point he remembers everything. For example he doesn’t remember that Carlos was the one that loved the “story of the wooden puppet” and doesn’t recall he once served the mysterious female stalker who found Carlos’ body. Interestingly he’s the only character in both stories to be able to access a sort of resurrection of his own accord. I’m not sure why he’s in a lamp called Monad’s Lamp.
Pulcinella / Pulcinella - in Lies of P Pulcinella is to Venigni what Alfred is to Bruce Wayne, he’s both a butler and a surrogate father, though in Pulcinella’s case he’s also a puppet with an awakened ergo. He dearly loves Venigni and Venigni seems to love him in return, and surely recognizes that he has an awakened ergo. This makes Venigni’s willingness to make and sell puppets driven by human souls all the weirder. Pulcinella is, like Arlecchino, a popular theater character of the era. In the book Pulcinella is a minor puppet character from the same troupe as Arlecchino/Harlequin, he helps Harlequin almost use Pinocchio as firewood at their master, Fire Eater’s, demand.
Fuoco (boss) / Fire Eater - I think this is simply a clever reuse of names, but it’s interesting thematically as Fire Eater tries to use Pinocchio as firewood. In the end Fire Eater shows great kindness to Pinocchio and even gives him 5 gold coins. Fuoco wasn’t really a bad guy, he was helping Romeo to fight the monsters the Alchemists had made and to thwart Gepetto. Again, I think P is a moron and wasn’t really the good guy, much like Pinocchio.
Medoro / Medoro - in Lies of P we only meet Medoro as an intrepid reporter trying to unearth the mystery of what is really going on in Krat. We learn he’s later died fighting a losing resistance against the extant calamity. In the book he is a servant of the Blue Haired Fairy, a poodle that can walk upright like a man and speak. (As with all dogs in the story it’s important to note that Collodi would have been familiar with dogs as working animals, not pets).
Arlecchino / Harlequin (possibly) - Arlecchino is a mass murdering puppet whose ergo has awakened (freeing him from The Grand Covenant). He’s previously murdered Venigni’s parents right in front of him in a 100% Bruce Wayne story. Arlecchino actually seems to be a mash up of The Joker, Harley Quinn, and The Riddler villains from Batman, his name literally translates to “The Fool” (Joker) or Harlequin (Harley Quinn). It’s worth noting that this is a popular stage character of the era as well and in the book Harlequin is a minor character from one chapter, also a puppet, from a troupe of performing puppets that all celebrate meeting Pinocchio.
Venigni / no book equivalent with one possible exception - Venigni is an insert for the Lies of P story that functions as literally Bruce Wayne. His parents are killed in front of him by a villain (Arlecchino) after they see his favorite movie, he raised by his butler puppet/father figure, Pulcinella, and he grows into a genius inventor that owns most of the industry in Krat, basically Venigni Works is Wayne Enterprises. As far as we know Venigni doesn’t have a Batman-esque alter ego and at least acts physically incompetent, but that’s a common story trope with Bruce Wayne as well. In a Krat full of Stalkers that literally wear animal masks I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Venigni show up wearing a bat mask in the DLC. Venigni is one of the few people in Krat that understands that puppets can have their egos “awoken” and regain their memories and humanity from their previous lives. This actually makes him somewhat parallel to the coachman from the book, who lures boys to The Land of Boobies and waits for them to turn into donkeys, once they are no longer recognizable as human the coachman sells them as donkeys. It’s difficult to think, having written this in the 1880s, that Collodi wasn’t making some sort of commentary on slavery and in Lies of P Venigni, even knowing that puppets contain human souls, still sells them to a public that does not. This doesn’t really speak well of Venigni’s character. In Batman stories usually the criminal behavior that made Wayne Enterprises powerful is narratively foisted off on Thomas Wayne, Bruce Wayne’s father.
Alidoro aka Parrot / Alidoro and Parrot - In Lies of P Alidoro is actually the Parrot who killed the real Alidoro over a financial dispute and took his place. The original Alidoro is Eugenie’s brother and has looked after her from afar, Parrot seems to know this and has a distinct dislike for Eugenie. In the book Parrot briefly mocks Piocchio for falling victim to Fox and Cat’s con and has no other role, Alidoro is a Mastiff police dog (probably Italian Mastiff) who chases Pinocchio and tries to swim after him in the ocean, but nearly drowns, begging for help Pinocchio saves him and Alidoro promises to return the favor if ever needed, which in about 5 minutes it is, a monstrous looking fisherman has caught Pinocchio and intends to ear him, Alidoro wanting to steal the fisherman’s food, sees Pinocchio and grabs him, running them both to safety. This makes both Alidoro’s heroic figures, albeit both who’ve worked for questionable sorts (the gendarmes in the book and the Alchemists in Lies of P). Alidoro was probably changed to a Shepherd dog mask to fit with the Bavarian setting of the Lies of P.
Eugenie / no literary equivalent - I liked Eugenie in Lies of P and I hope we learn more of her story in the DLC.
Undead Monsters / Green Haired Fisherman - I found the description of the monstrous fisherman to be reminiscent of the undead in Lies of P and wouldn’t be surprised if it partially inspired their design.
Fox and Cat / Fox and Cat - these characters are almost as important as Pinocchio himself in the book yet diverge in some important ways. In lies of P Fox’s real name is Claudia Volfe, she’s part of The Bastards group of Stalkers. Cat pretends to be her long lost little brother but isn’t in reality (and he’s a Sweeper, which is a rival Stalker group), it’s unclear if Claudia knows this but her love for Cat is real, his apparently real blindness is the motivation for most of their efforts which is why if you offer them enough Gold Coin Fruits to heal Cat’s blindness they relent and will never fight you. In the book they are unrepentant scoundrels (an actual cat, who pretends to be blind, and fox, who pretends to be lame) who realizing Pinocchio has money start a con. A nearby bird tries to warn Pinocchio so Cat eats him. They tell Pinocchio of a field where he can “plant his coins and a thousand new coins will grow on a tree” (thus the inspiration for Gold Coin Tree in Lies of P), they get him to an inn, eat a massive meal, stick Pinocchio with the bill, and tell him where to go at midnight, meanwhile they dress as bandits and wait for him (translated by Murray as assassins). During a scuffle Pinocchio bites off Cat’s paw, they later catch and hang him, as Pinocchio has put his money in his mouth and won’t open it, but being a puppet he dies very slowly and they decide to come back later. Interestingly this hanging if Pinocchio was where the original story ended. The newspaper convinced Collodi to continue the story several months later due to popularity. After Cat and Fox have left the Blue Haired Fairy saves Pinocchio. Shortly Pinocchio sees Cat and Fox again, and being dense still doesn’t realize they were the bandits even after noticing Cat’s missing paw. They continue with the coin tree con since killing him didn’t work, Pinocchio plants the money and of course Cat and Fox steal them and disappear as soon as his back is turned. This is when Parrot mocks Pinocchio for being a dolt. Later on when Pinocchio has learned to work and care for others he sees Cat and Fox again, now Cat is actually blind and Fox is lame and missing their tail, Pinocchio refuses to believe they need help and leaves them by the roadside to their own fortunes.
The Submarine / The Dog Fish aka Shark - in the book a shark, not a whale, eats Gepetto, and eventually eats Pinocchio too. I wondered if the submarine P used was meant to represent that and low and behold, you can see that the front end is painted to look like a shark and there is machinery that looks like gills.
Romeo aka Candlewick aka The King of Puppets / Romeo aka Candlewick - Romeo seems to have been largely invented by Collodi when he needed someone capable of talking Pinocchio into going with him to the Land of Boobies where there would be no school or any other requirements of boys to do anything but play and horse around. It was already established that Pinocchio was doing well at school and didn’t get along with the non-studious boys. But voilà we get Romeo, known as Candlewick for his tall and thin beanpole look, who is the one ne’erdowell who is Pinocchio’s favorite friend against every adult’s advice. He talks Pinocchio into going with him instead of finishing school and of course they are both turned into donkeys and sold (into slavery) by the coachman. Only Pinocchio, being a puppet, gets to survive this and Candlewick dies as a donkey. Pinocchio encounters him again right before he dies and grieves him. In Lies of P Romeo is Carlos’ friend and a puppet with an awakened ego (it is not clear how Romeo became a puppet), he seems to remember much more than P and, if there is a good guy of this story, it probably is Romeo doing the best he can in an impossible situation he had no hand in creating or perpetuating. He also knows Gepetto is a monster and will harm P, who Romeo considers to be Carlos (while Gepetto does not). Romeo tries to warn P multiple times, and when P obstinately pushes him, cries before forcing himself to fight P despite obviously not wanting to and feeling forced into it. I really like Romeo’s design in Lies of P, he’s tall and thin so it fits with his Candlewick nickname (which we find he has in Lies of P too). While Carlos was at Monad Charity House as a boarding school, Romeo was an orphan there. The adult who introduced the two sounded like Sophia. Carlos and Romeo both seemed to want to be trained as Stalkers and pestered an older adult female Stalker for assistance (we don’t know her name, she appeared to have a large feather as her only defining feature). The Stalker found them annoying and refused to help.
Simon Manus and Laxasia / no literary equivalents - I’m lumping these two together as they function as a villain and villain’s right hand trope. What is more Manus is just a trope as a megalomaniac villain who’s plans got out of hand and is now demented and harmed by his actions nearly as badly as his victims. Laxasia might be more interesting, we don’t really know what her motivations are. She’s the sole character who might be the mysterious female stalker who found Carlos’ body. She might be one of the “three” spoken about in one collectible that mentioned an alchemist (Manus) a tinkerer (probably Gepetto), and a stalker (Laxasia or possibly Venigni’s alter ego Stalker) that originally worked together.
Giangio / Giangio - in the book Giangio is a farmer who bought Candlewick (Romeo) as a donkey and when Candlewick dies he allows Pinocchio to do his old job of pumping water, which Pinocchio does to earn milk to give to Gepetto to nurse him back to health. In Lies of P we meet Giangio who is an alchemist who claims not to be and wants Gold Coin Fruit, claiming he has the Petrification Disease (he doesn’t). He later reveals his real name to us: P.P. or Phillipus Paracelsus, who was actually a real life alchemist with the most impressively long name I’ve run across in awhile: Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. Note the Hohenheim, fans of The Full Metal Alchemist will recognize that as the absentee father of the main characters who’d achieved eternal life via alchemy. We see in an end game cut scene that Giangio is part of an organization that somehow deals with immortality and immortals, in his final letter he even congratulates P on “being born” as a brother immortal, implying he is also immortal. The whole reveal of Giangio/Hohenheim feels very League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and I would not be surprised to see a version of that in a sequel.
Characters from other media:
D. Gray is the painter of Carlos’ portrait, obviously referring to Dorian Gray of A Portrait of Dorian Gray, who is a kind of immortal.
Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz who we see click the heels of her red slippers while walking in Krat.
The Arm of God - we don’t know much about what this thing is other than it powered Manus’ transformation as well as the Archbishop Andreus’ transformation during the time he’s stolen it. Gepetto also needs it to resurrect Carlos, presumably to create a new body for him. Its description said it was a literal arm of a deity which tried to elevate humans but failed and now ignores their cries, which could be a reference to Prometheus or a similar story from another pantheon or culture, perhaps Chinese as Eugenie and Alidoro’s family hail from “The Land of the Rising Sun” and worked closely with the alchemists for a time. Also this is the “arm” Giangio means when he says “we need to retrieve the arm”, not P’s Legion arm.