History Fridge / TheEvilWithin

* Ruvik's attempt at invoking a MonsterSobStory in chapter 9 fall extremely flat, both InUniverse and out of it. But there's a good reason for that; Ruvik's a ''psychopath'' -- he has no empathy or sympathy of his own, so naturally he completely fails to understand how to induce either emotion in others!

* Listen closely to Ruvik's memory-dialogue at the start of chapter 10; it implies that at least some of the people found in his death traps were the people responsible for the fire. No wonder he's so blase about it; it's not just that he's evil, in his mind, it's a simple case of PayEvilUntoEvil.

* The Spotlight Creature that hunts Kidman is a nightmare version of ''herself.'' It's a feminine monster hunting for Leslie armed with only a light, like her. Possibly it's some sort of internalized guilt about being in bed with a shady organization.

* When you think about it, the localized title of the game has the very same meaning of VideoGame/ResidentEvil; Both speak of the evil that resides within someone/somewhere.

* [[KillItWithFire Fire kills anything short of a boss nearly instantly]], and their bodies are burnt to ash insanely quickly. [[spoiler: Ruvik's been pyrophobic ever since his CoolBigSis died in a fire]]. You're weaponizing the {{Big Bad}}'s greatest fear.

* [[KillItWithFire Fire kills anything short of a boss nearly instantly]]. [[spoiler: Ruvik's been pyrophobic ever since his CoolBigSis died in a fire]].

* Many players noted how Sebastian, Joseph and Juli rarely seem particularly disturbed by the stuff going on around them. It makes sense, in a way; they're trapped in a literal nightmare, after all, and it's fairly common for one's mind to accept and go along with whatever's happening to them in a nightmare even if their subconscious is terrified by it.

* Many players noted how Sebastian, Joseph and Juli rarely seem particularly disturbed by the stuff going on around them. It makes sense, in a way; they're trapped in a literal nightmare, after all, and it's fairly common for people to go along with whatever's happening to them in a nightmare even if they are subconsciously terrified by it.

* The Spotlight Creature that hunts Kidman is a nightmare version of ''herself.'' It's a feminine monster hunting for Leslie armed with only a light, like her. Possibly it's some sort of internalized guilt about being in bed with a shady organization.

* In addition to that, remember that Ruvik is well-established in-game as being both a sadist and a megalomaniac. Consequently, it makes sense he'd scatter useful weapons, tools and healing items across his twisted MentalWorld; he gets off on watching Sebastian struggle through his traps and creatures, anticipating his dread and relishing his hope growing, only to be snuffed by the next disaster. Combine this with his sheer arrogance [[SanityHasAdvantages preventing him from believing that Sebastian might actually stand a chance of defeating him thanks to Ruvik's own help]], it's no wonder that he's willing to "reward" Sebastian with the tools he needs to survive in exchange for entertaining him so much.

* The save rooms. I feel like an idiot for not noticing sooner, but the design on the doors that lead to the save rooms? It's the emblem for Beacon Mental Hospital.

** [[spoiler: The bait theory is most blatantly supported when, only a few minutes after it's been spelled out that Ruvik likes to lay bait to torment his victims - which is in the first place after Sebastian and Joseph have gotten separated yet again - Sebastian sees Joseph run past a doorway directly in front of him, pursued by the Keeper, and naturally runs to help him... when Ruvik appears in front of the doorway just long enough to be smug before he turns the room into a trap room and keeps Sebastian from helping his partner. To say the scenario seems staged by Ruvik would be understating things.]]

* Sebastion finds weapons, tools, and health items scattered all over the place. Why would that be so in an environment literally created and controlled by someone who wants him dead? Because he's ''also'' contributing to it, and would very much want those things.

* Joseph is constantly in need of saving by Sebastian. How on earth is he in the business? [[spoiler: With the knowledge that Ruvik lays bait in order to get his victims worked up, and that he is the only one who can consciously manipulate events in the mind-link, we can infer that Joseph probably isn't such a Distressed Dude in the real world - he has been made into one by Ruvik to toy with Sebastian.]]

* Sebastion finds weapons, tools, and health items scattered all over the place. Why would that be so in an environment literally created and controlled by someone who wants him dead? Because he's ''also'' contributing to it, and would very much want those things.