Wild theory about The Man in the Wall: Could he have been human once?

[Brinstar7777]

During the new war quest line, The Man in the Wall, when you're chasing him down Lua's hallways, summons shadowy duplicates of himself. Shadowy duplicates that are incredibly similar to the zombies Rell summons during the Chains of Harrow questline. Which led me to a theory: what if the Man in the Wall is actually a pre-orokin-era human who stumbled into the void, got trapped, and lost all personality and sanity during his stay?

Crazy? Probably. But it would explain why the Man in the Wall is so interested in the Operators: they entered the void and managed to get out, and thus represent a potential way out of the void for him. It would also explain why he assumes the form of the Operator: he's trying to imitate the operator in hopes of doing what they do and crossing the gap between the Void and 'reality'.

[-Krism-]

I still believe Wally is the personification of the Void, working a bit like an Eldritch entity, but this is a very interesting theory

I could seriously see a plot twist like that happening

[Brinstar7777]

4 minutes ago, Ailia_Grimm said:

I still believe Wally is the personification of the Void, working a bit like an Eldritch entity, but this is a very interesting theory

I could seriously see a plot twist like that happening

Actually, perhaps both theories could be correct, as 'Wally' could be a former human who got twisted into a personification of the void by the extreme void exposure he had to endure.

[Tesseract7777]

This is definitely something I have considered and it interests me as a possibility. 

The new Entrati stuff with Albrecht Entrati made me believe that either: 

A) He basically is the man in the wall, corrupted by the void.

or 

B) (the one I think a little more likely), that the voids "presence" or consciousness, if it really does have one of its own, posssessed Albrecht Entrati's body, and is using it to project himself outside the void to make himself more powerful, and mess more with the real world. 

If the void didn't have a consciousness of its own for real before Albrecht Entrati entered but was just pure chaos and possibility, then maybe he basically became the voids sentience where before it didn't even have one. 

All theories, or some aspect of them, could potentially be true imo.

[Brinstar7777]

4 minutes ago, Tesseract7777 said:

This is definitely something I have considered and it interests me as a possibility. 

The new Entrati stuff with Albrecht Entrati made me believe that either: 

A) He basically is the man in the wall, corrupted by the void.

or 

B) (the one I think a little more likely), that the voids "presence" or consciousness, if it really does have one of its own, posssessed Albrecht Entrati's body, and is using it to project himself outside the void to make himself more powerful, and mess more with the real world. 

If the void didn't have a consciousness of its own for real before Albrecht Entrati entered but was just pure chaos and possibility, then maybe he basically became the voids sentience where before it didn't even have one. 

All theories, or some aspect of them, could potentially be true imo.

Yeah. Perhaps 'Wally', as Ailia_Grimm has chisened him, was just pure chaos until Albrecht entered and 'woke up' his dormant consciousness? 

[-Krism-]

10 minutes ago, Tesseract7777 said:

This is definitely something I have considered and it interests me as a possibility. 

The new Entrati stuff with Albrecht Entrati made me believe that either: 

A) He basically is the man in the wall, corrupted by the oiv.d 

or 

B) (the one I think a little more likely), that the voids "presence" or consciousness, if it really does have one of its own, posssessed Albrecht Entrati's body, and is using it to project himself outside the void to make himself more powerful, and mess more with the real world. 

I just had an idea. I always thought that Wally was just in the Void, (a bit like the Darkness in the comics from the same name if you even know about it), until Albrecht ,& later us went inside the void & found him

But what if he never existed? As in, he was born the moment we entered the void?

 

EDIT: I don't really believe it, but I still want to share every bit of theories my mind comes up with just in case

[-Krism-]

1 minute ago, Brinstar7777 said:

Yeah. Perhaps 'Wally', as Ailia_Grimm has chisened him

I heard & saw that on random videos & topics, I just find it easier to say than "The Man in the Wall" everytime

[Brinstar7777]

Just now, Ailia_Grimm said:

I just had an idea. I always thought that Wally was just in the Void, (a bit like the Darkness in the comics from the same name if you even know about it), until Albrecht ,& later us went inside the void & found him

But what if he never existed? As in, he was born the moment we entered the void?

That is possible, but I think it's more likely that the Void's influence had forced Wally's consciousness into dormancy, and the presence of another consciousness, namely Albrechts and later ours, reawakened it.

[TeaHands]

I still think he is us from the future, our character is a walking paradox, so i can see us existing in two places at once. Just us at different ages, but it's hard for our operator to comprehend that due to our lack of knowledge on the void.

But I can also see it being some poor soul lost in the void.

[-Krism-]

Just now, Brinstar7777 said:

That is possible, but I think it's more likely that the Void's influence had forced Wally's consciousness into dormancy, and the presence of another consciousness, namely Albrechts and later ours, reawakened it.

Could be, I don't really see us actually fighting him in any way, but (talking about the end of the game here):

If he is an Eldritch-like entity, we could trap him in the void by destroying every bit of void-related technology in our dimension

 

If he was human like in your theory, we could potentially put him out of his misery. Who knows, maybe all this power is hurting him in some way? Could be a cool ending

[TARINunit9]

19 minutes ago, Brinstar7777 said:

Actually, perhaps both theories could be correct, as 'Wally' could be a former human who got twisted into a personification of the void by the extreme void exposure he had to endure.

I think calling him a single human is missing the point. He is human in the sense he is all humans, he is literally made out of human emotions. Not just one human's emotions, all of our emotions

[(PSN)IndianChiefJeff]

What if, long before the Void was truly understood & harnessed for all of it's benefits, there was a scientist? A predecessor, or perhaps even an early-age Orokin, even an Archimedean. Someone who was sent into the Void, either intentionally or otherwise. Having been trapped for what seemed like an eternity, this man was driven to mania. In this existential hell, this mysterious dimension, the man came to manipulate the Void. And he eventually came to master it. Having understood all that could be learned about the Void, in spite of his demented state, he still yearned to return. Every significant event that caused a disruption in the Void, he reached for it, like a gate that would inevitably close. The closest he ever comes to escaping, he soon realizes that his physical form has long since expired. His spirit, now one of the most powerful presences in the Origin System, reaches out to those touched by the Void, the Tenno. He sees through our eyes, feels as we do, understands, yet cannot truly help us. We too are doomed to his fate.

In this "Wall" of text is a mere hypothetical, speculation at its best. Duviri is the missing piece to this jigsaw puzzle, I can only wait in anticipation for what it could reveal.

[Brinstar7777]

2 minutes ago, TARINunit9 said:

I think calling him a single human is missing the point. He is human in the sense he is all humans, he is literally made out of human emotions. Not just one human's emotions, all of our emotions

Good point, though we're only saying he USED to be human.

[-Krism-]

We also need to remember two things:

First, there is an actual wall inside the void, hundreds or more kilometres wide that the Zariman Ten Zero hit while inside the void, as shown in the Rell comic:

Spoiler

 

Second, these guys:

Spoiler

Spoiler

What are their connection with the Void & maybe even Wally himself?

[(PSN)slightconfuzzled]

Interesting hypothesis with credible reasoning. 

I think, right now, I'd personally prefer TMITW as strictly not human. Rather, more like some sort of cosmic entity that taps into cosmic horror tropes. Like end game type antagonist. I view their interest in Operators (and Albrecht Entrati) as a natural curiosity, that might occur when a sapient creature happens to discover a new type of minor smaller sentient creature. Sort of like how we might act if we lived for thousands of years then came across a cat for the first time. You attempt communication with it, but the gulf in understanding and knowledge and experience, and being is so alien and different, you sort of fall back to more primal instincts. Oh also with my human and cat example, its a human that could be antagonistic towards the cat, to be clear. 

Thats why I think it messes with us time to time, also I think it views itself as somewhat of a guardian of us, but not necessarily out of compassion or warmth, but again its curiosity, and one that could switch to more sinister acts/behaviour. Like if we imagine a very ancient being who existed in the Void for a long time, and it happened to glance on to flickers of new, unseen, alive, presences, and we have taken its interest. Now its also become aware of what we consider reality and is also intrigued/curious about that too. Except its limited here so seeks ways to bridge the gap. 

Just the idea that it has to take on the person its confronting appearance, because we either can't really comprehend it, or that its a bizarre attempt to seem more "normal" or "relatable" or its 'clumsy' attempt at communicating with creatures so foreign to it (sort of how we create those unsettling robo versions of animals that tap into uncanny valley to study them), and that there is this contrast of acts that seem like care and empathy, but clearly also aren't, that just feels so very much cosmic horror to me. 

Could see it played out lots of ways though including OP's, and would probably enjoy it too. TMITW is one of my fav parts of Warframe. 

[Brinstar7777]

11 hours ago, (PSN)slightconfuzzled said:

I think, right now, I'd personally prefer TMITW as strictly not human. Rather, more like some sort of cosmic entity that taps into cosmic horror tropes. Like end game type antagonist. I view their interest in Operators (and Albrecht Entrati) as a natural curiosity, that might occur when a sapient creature happens to discover a new type of minor smaller sentient creature.

Yep, that's also a potential theory. However, I think that BOTH theories are true, that 'Wally' is a former human who got twisted into the cosmic horror he is now. That story explains his interest in us (we can 'bridge the gap' and he seeks to copy us in an attempt to regain his humanity or leave the void), why he messes with us from time to time (he's trying to figure out our capabilities and what we can do), and why it assumes the appearance of the person he's engaging with (it's the closest thing to a 'normal' form he can manage after being in the void for such a long time).

[(XBOX)CI shadow2397]

Maybe we’re just sitting on the floor of a intergalactic crack house and the man in the wall is really just hallucination and we’re just imagining what we’re doing. The grineer are actually cops, corpus are just local shop owners and pathos is your average entrepreneur. The infestation are just wild animals that live around the area, the orokin are just government officials. The warframes are your imaginary friends.

[(PSN)slightconfuzzled]

12 hours ago, Brinstar7777 said:

Yep, that's also a potential theory. However, I think that BOTH theories are true, that 'Wally' is a former human who got twisted into the cosmic horror he is now. That story explains his interest in us (we can 'bridge the gap' and he seeks to copy us in an attempt to regain his humanity or leave the void), why he messes with us from time to time (he's trying to figure out our capabilities and what we can do), and why it assumes the appearance of the person he's engaging with (it's the closest thing to a 'normal' form he can manage after being in the void for such a long time).

 

Oh I definitely get what you mean with your hypothesis, and I would be fine if this happened, and the bit I suggested, I am not claiming my preference going to happen etc etc but my preference is that TMITW was never ever at any point human. Ever. Like, I read a lot of comics, so I have read of like... hundreds of different characters who end up twisted and powerful, and some of those use to be human/humanoid types, like say Galactus, and then some have just being of a more bizarre alien like beginning, because the 'reality' or 'realm' they originate from, is so foreign and different, the rules are different, etc so more like the original Beyonder or the Empty Hand (I thought of the latter because they follow the cosmic horror naming convention, of describing something about the being, because even the actual true name is vague/mysterious/unknowable)

Again, its just a silly personal preference, I don't expect others to feel similar. The reason I have this preference, is because in Warframe, I feel like too much has originated from humans/humanoids already descended from humans, modified from humans, and the Origin system. To me it would be nicer to have characters far removed from that for contrast and to add a kind of tension. The closest we have are the Sentients... but even that is tied to our system. So an actual, outside force could be fun. 

Like imagine if someone told you that Cthulhu or IT was once a human. They were just twisted etc could be great story material, lots of interesting potential, at the same time, also something interesting, unique and special about removing any relatable, familiar, identity to them, even if its their past. Was Cthulhu ever a baby or a child? In our reality, because of time, and biology, probably right? Thats reasonable... except wherever, whenever they were conceived... time and biology don't matter? Its not the same, its - we don't know? We can't comprehend, it doesn't make sense, its weird, and chilling and attempting to know would wreck our senses and brains etc etc 

[MqToasty]

Having played too many JRPGs and consumed too many 40k storylines, I always imagined the Void to represent the collective subconscious and unlimited potential of humans.  And as a manifestation of that, Wally is basically the abyss gazing back into you, which explains why it looks like you and knows about you.

But I admit, him being an actual human who fell in earlier could be a refreshing twist to the formula.

[Brinstar7777]

7 hours ago, (XBOX)CI shadow2397 said:

Maybe we’re just sitting on the floor of a intergalactic crack house and the man in the wall is really just hallucination and we’re just imagining what we’re doing. The grineer are actually cops, corpus are just local shop owners and pathos is your average entrepreneur. The infestation are just wild animals that live around the area, the orokin are just government officials. The warframes are your imaginary friends.

That conclusion suggests that we're actually mass-murdering Animals, Cops, and Shopkeepers on a daily basis.

[(XBOX)CI shadow2397]

46 minutes ago, Brinstar7777 said:

That conclusion suggests that we're actually mass-murdering Animals, Cops, and Shopkeepers on a daily basis.

Or we’re just some stick and banana wielding annoyance who thinks they are slaying people

[AuroraSonicBoom]

Yes. Yes is was.