Catherine: Trailer Speculation Continued: Stray Sheep

**WARNING**

The following post is simply me letting my imagination run concerning Catherine.  This is not essentially news in the real sense of the word, simply me recording my own conclusions.  They are probably wrong.  But they may very well be right, in which case this could be considered spoilers.  If you want to avoid spoilers on what may be the coolest game in a long time, avoid reading this post!  If you want to watch me connect dots and find some clues then by all means proceed!

I realized something upon seeing Vincent’s ex-girlfriend in the trailer and taking another look at the game’s logo. As you may notice, the image is divided in half — one side dark, one side light. The person who is represented as light is Catherine, but she is surrounded in darkness with a white ankh, the symbol for woman, fertility and all that jazz:

The person who represents darkness bears a striking resemblance to Vincent’s ex-girlfriend judging simply by the hair and glasses.  You may even notice that Catherine dresses in white and the ex in black.  She has the symbol for male next to her face. HMMM. Interesting. The game does seem to focus on genders an awful lot. Could there be characters whose genders aren’t what they appear?  The symbolism in this logo definitely seems to be telling us something.  What does it mean that the whiteness surrounding the ex-girlfriend is pouring out around the circle — or is it Catherine’s darkness engulfing the white around the circle?

Here is another discovery from my recent play through of the video.  It clearly says “stray sheep” in the background behind Catherine.  At first I thought this was one of the many words that float around the characters to set the mood:

But this seemed almost hidden.  Upon re-watching a few more times, I realized that it actually says “stray sheep” on the chairs of whatever establishment is shown in the trailer. I can conclude from this that the name of the bar/conveyer belt sushi place is named, “Stray Sheep.” Assuming this were any other Japanese game, we could easily write this off as nonsense. But sheep play an unusually large role in Catherine based on what we’ve seen.

What does this mean? Well, the idea of a stray sheep represents a weak, defenseless creature separated from a group where it would be safe — safe from being picked off by wolves and the like.  Another meaning comes from a religious sense which would mean someone who strays from God and his teachings, more specifically Jesus who is the shepherd — something which a sheep needs to follow in order to avoid harm.  Is Vincent a stray sheep when he is in the bar, reality, or simply when sinning? Any of these possibilities makes sense.

"If you don't want to die, then you have no choice but to climb."

The one place it is clear that Vincent is not a stray sheep is in his nightmares, where he is consistently shown in a group of other sheep.  Not only is he in a group, but the sheep have a goal; they are in a sense being “herded” up the never-ending staircase and away from death (see above).  But by who?  Who is their shepherd?  Well there was a mysterious voice which spoke to Vincent telling him he was still “only a lamb.”  Is this person the shepherd?  Possibly.  But the person who seems like the most likely candidate (and I mentioned earlier) would be the bartender:

Think about it. He very well could be the owner of Stray Sheep which would make sense for a shepherd.  He witnesses young people sinning, front row center, and what’s more he probably communicates with them.  Perhaps he selects them for the nightmare world thus returning them to the flock.  Again, this is all speculation but assuming up until now I have everything correct, what are his intentions?  Is reaching the top of the stairs a good thing, or bad?  Is he trying to save people from their sins, or simply punish them?

Anyway, he looks like a nice enough dude — he is dressed in white and… are those sunglasses?  Indoors?  HMM.  Sorry, Mr. Bartender:  I think I will pass on today’s “special”.

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