Even though Reanimal is a very short game, only lasting about 5 hours, its story is very complex and deep. The premise of the game is simple, but when you try to look at exactly what it all means, it can get very confusing.
Reanimal is probably one of the most disturbing games Tarsier Studios has ever made, but that is easy to overlook if you don’t dig deeper and look into its hidden meanings, secrets, and messages.
If you are having trouble fully understanding the story and ending of Reanimal, this guide has you covered. Read further to learn everything there is to know about Reanimal’s story as a whole.
It’s important to note that this is simply my theory and other players may have their own opinions.
Reanimal Plot Explained
Reanimal’s story focuses on two orphaned children on a quest to save their friends, lost in a worn-torn country filled with terrifying monstrosities. Their hometown has been broken down by war and even more destroyed through a giant flood that almost covers the entire countryside.
That’s the basis of Reanimal’s plot, but it goes way deeper than that as it is filled with hidden meanings, secrets, and an underlying message that will drive many fan theories for years to come.
The plot of Reanimal doesn’t really make sense until its final moments, so we’re keeping this section short. The next section goes into detail about the major story moments and how it ties the ending together.
Reanimal Story Explained
Due to the way the game’s story is structured, through flashbacks and cryptic moments, this guide will only go into detail about pivotal moments in the story that make the story come together and make the ending easier to understand. The moments below are important:
- The kids looking down into the well during the intro scene.
- The flood throughout the city.
- The war going on throughout the game.
- The lamb growing inside the girl.
- The girl’s pet rabbit.
- The boy’s blood oath scene
- The ending scene showing the boys dragging a corpse to the well.
What Does the Well Mean in Reanimal?
First, let’s discuss the intro scene where we see the orphaned brother and sister, along with their friends, looking down into the well.
This moment goes hand in hand with one of the game’s final scenes, where we see the group of boys engage in a blood oath. During this scene they cut their hands and draw blood inside a barn, placing the blood in a bowl that looks like a lamb head.
Later in the scene, we see the little girl rush into the barn, just to find her dead pet rabbit on the ground. Then, the barn doors close behind her. Holding up her knife as a form of self-defense, she is then knocked out by someone, which we can’t see who it is due to the darkness. However, the final scene explains everything.
In the final scene of Reanimal, we see the group of boys dragging a corpse to a well. Putting the previous scene and this final scene together, we can draw the conclusion that this corpse is the little girl, and the boys are the ones who knocked her out in the barn and ended up killing her with her own knife.
Remember at the start of the game, where we see all the kids, including the girl, look down into the well? This was the boys scouting out the well with the girl, before going through with their plan to kill her. They then used her pet rabbit as a way to bait her into the barn and kill her, hence the barn doors closing behind her and her getting knocked out.
It’s important to keep in mind that the final scene is a flashback and takes place before the events of the actual game. But you’re probably wondering why did they kill her? Well, let’s get into it.
Why Did the Boys Kill the Girl in Reanimal?
Now that we understand that the ending reveals in a flashback that the boys killed the girl, it’s important to learn why they did that and why the girl is alive during the events of the story.
The main reason the boys killed the girl is to use her as some sort of human sacrifice to a lamb deity in an attempt to stop the war. In other words, she was the “sacrificial lamb” in an attempt to fix the broken world these kids live in.
How did they learn about this lamb deity? I honestly have no idea, but it’s the only logical explanation as to why there is a common theme of a lamb throughout the game and why there is a lamb appearing inside the girl throughout the game.
Why is the Girl Still Alive in Reanimal?
So, the game shows a flashback of the boys dragging the corpse of the girl to a well at the end of Reanimal, so why is she alive throughout the game? The reason for this is because the lamb deity had migrated itself into her body, which is why we can see it inside her body during cutscenes throughout the story.
Think of it as some type of possession or paranormal activity. The lamb deity taking control is why we see the little girl visually sick throughout the game, as it’s the lamb inside her trying to take full control, but her body is repenting it.
This is also proven further during the final scene of Reanimal, where we see the little girl at the bottom of the well. Right before the credits roll, we see her levitate and jerk around, representing the lamb deity taking control of the girl’s body.
Other evidence for this theory is at the start of the game when players pull the little girl out of the water and onto the boat. She instantly attacks the boy but then stops herself. This is showing us that part of her remembers the boy killing her, but part of her is suffering from memory loss due to the lamb deity’s control.
The Flood Explained
The final scene of Reanimal can also explain the flood that has taken over the country. After we see the girl at the bottom of the well and her get consumed by the lamb deity, we then see the well begin to overflow.
My theory is that the lamb deity that the boys summoned through the sacrificing of the little girl actually ended the war by creating a massive flood. However, the aftermath of the flood was an entirely new version of hell.
Notice how the water isn’t normal colored and has a black hue to it? This is shown clearly in the ending well scene, where blackish liquid begins to pour out of it.
The reason the water doesn’t look normal is because the lamb deity didn’t flood the world with your typical water, but demonic substance in the form of liquid. That is why all people you encounter throughout the story are zombie-like, there are terrifying beasts, and the animals aren’t normal, as if the “water” did this to them.
Reanimal Ending Explained
Now that we painted a picture, we can fully explain the ending and story of Reanimal in general.
To summarize, the kids have been living during a war and officially wanted it to stop. The boys had learned about a lamb deity, and in an attempt to stop the war, they sacrifice the little girl to this lamb deity in exchange for peace. This is why the boys drag her corpse to the well and a group of lamb surround them.
In return for the human sacrifice, the lamb deity summoned a flood to stop the war but created a different type of hell for the world. A world with a different kind of war, filled with terrifying monsters and evil. In other words, the boys summoned another disaster by accident.
The lamb deity also took control of the girl’s body, which is why we see her alive throughout the events of the game. Remember, this is only my theory and other fans may have a different outlook on the whole thing.
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