Not to be confused with Real Life (Song).
This Article Contains Spoilers! This article may contain major plot spoilers that threaten to ruin elements of the story! |
–Heather
Heather before Mike wakes up.
At the end of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, everything previously thought to be known about the Raposa World is brought into question. Once Wilfre is defeated, and the Raposa return to their respective villages, the Raposa from the Village gather around the Eternal Flame. Mari then asks The Creator to tap on the flame, which triggers the ending cinematic.
The ending cinematic shows a family—a father, mother, sister, and brother—walking to their car after a day at the carnival. On the return trip, they are involved in a car accident. The subsequent slides show the sister, Heather, standing over her brother, Mike, who is in a coma and lying in a hospital bed. The next two frames then show the boy waking up and being hugged by his sister. The final frame shows plush Mari and Jowee dolls which belonged to the two siblings before the crash.
This implies that the Raposa, as well as everything in their world, are not real and were simply dreamt by Mike.
In Drawn to Life: Collection, the ending cinematic was changed due to a ratings complaint. In this ending, two siblings, again presumed Heather and Mike, are playing outside catching fireflies. The brother climbs a tree in pursuit of one of the fireflies but the limb he is standing on breaks, causing him to fall. The brother lies unresponsive on the ground for a few moments until he wakes up unharmed after his mother and sister pray for him. Like the original ending, Mari and Jowee dolls can be seen in the final frame.
Real Life Comparisons[]
There are many similarities between the imagined world and the real world. This list disregards the modified ending.
Mike represents the young boy who fell into a coma after the car crash. He is the younger brother of Heather. In the coma, Mike dreamt up the Raposa world and its inhabitants, the Raposa, based upon the two dolls he and his sister had in their possession before the crash.
In both games, Mike is the only human in the Raposa world.
In the game, Heather represents Mike’s older sister before the crash. Because of her role in the game, not much about her real personality is known. Heather’s appearance in the Raposa world as well as the real world remained consistent. In the game, the left side of Heather’s face is covered in Shadow. This directly correlates to the bandaged side of Heather’s face in real life. Since the Raposa Heather's face is no longer half-Shadowed once Wilfre is defeated once and for all, one can assume that this indicates she will make a full recovery in Real Life as well.
The Creator is the role taken by the Player. In the context of the game universe, The Creator assumes the role of acting on behalf of Real Life's God, who, in turn, represents or alludes to God from the Bible. The Real Life God doesn't directly control what happens in the Raposa universe so, via the Player assuming the role of The Creator, Real Life God is working through you.
In the beginning of Drawn to Life, The Creator is shown to have drawn everything in the Book of Life and is responsible for bringing it all into existence. Throughout both games, the Raposa pray to The Creator in times of need. Many Raposa look to The Creator for guidance and answers to their problems.
The Hero is assumed to represent or allude to Jesus from the Bible. In the Raposa world, The Hero is created by The Creator in order to save the world from Shadow and Wilfre. Many Raposa regularly request the help of The Hero because it is believed they were sent to be their savior.
The Raposa are the main inhabitants of Mike’s imagined world. Their appearance is based upon the two dolls that belonged to Mike and Heather before the crash. In accordance to Mike’s dream, Raposa were created by The Creator.
Additionally, other minor comparisons can be made, such as: The Book of Life, The Bible; Dr. Cure, a nurse or doctor assisting Mike; Wilfre, the smoke from the crash or Satan; Cricket, a police officer interrogating Heather at the start of the game.
Trivia[]
- Wilfre, The Creator, and Heather are the only three beings initially aware of the fact that the Raposa world is a dream by Mike.
- When speaking to Wilfre, The Creator says, “You will not have him. He will fight you. He will win, he is not yours to control.” Wilfre then replies, “…You don’t care about us! Only him...” Also, whilst being pulled into one of Wilfre’s portals, Heather says, “Kemi-Kewa, you must stop Wilfre! Kemi-Kewa!!”; Kemi-Kewa is “Wake Mike” spelt backwards.
- Interestingly, Mike himself was never aware of the Raposa world being a dream.
- When speaking to Wilfre, The Creator says, “You will not have him. He will fight you. He will win, he is not yours to control.” Wilfre then replies, “…You don’t care about us! Only him...” Also, whilst being pulled into one of Wilfre’s portals, Heather says, “Kemi-Kewa, you must stop Wilfre! Kemi-Kewa!!”; Kemi-Kewa is “Wake Mike” spelt backwards.
- Mari and Jowee likely represent Mary and Joseph from the Bible.
- This is supported by the fact that "Mari" and "Jowee" are misspellings of the names "Mary" and "Joey", respectively. (Joey can be extended into Joseph)
- Mike, after being rescued from the City Gate, says that he must be dreaming.
- Despite Heather being Mike’s sister in real life, the two don’t seem to be aware of this and seldom interact within the game’s story.
- After finishing the story of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, Mike can be seen sleeping in the "Delete Save" bed in the starting room.
- This may imply that the Raposa World still exists in Mike’s imagination and dreams, even after waking from his coma, with the Raposa World Mike being asleep when the Real World Mike is awake.
- In The Art of 5thCell, Joe Tringali says, “The original ending for Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter was purposely done in a different style from the game, to reinforce the real world vs. the imagined world…” [sic]
- There is a lyric in Real Life that says “when your colors fade” that alludes to both the imagined world and the real world.
- In the imagined world, this refers to Color being drained, which would refrain Mike from waking. In the real world, when a person’s color is said to be fading, they are dying.
- In the original ending, Mike is not wearing the same clothes his sprite is wearing. In the modified ending, he is wearing the same clothes his sprite is wearing.
- The inverse is true for Heather.
- It is unknown how Wilfre knew about the real world.
- Jeremiah Slaczka says whether or not Mike's parents survived the crash is left for the player to assume
- Mike likely wasn’t in a coma for very long. This is supported by the fact that Heather remained in the same clothes as she was in before the crash, she was still being questioned by a police officer, and that Mike wasn’t attached to any life-support machines.
- According to Jeremiah Slaczka, the modified ending is not canon.[1]
- Furthermore, 5thCell had little involvement in the modified ending.
Media[]
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