History WMG / TheBindingOfIsaac

[[spoiler: Here is my interpretation:
Alt floors could be a reference to Dante's Inferno, with darkness and evil increasing the more Isaac descends into the depths of Hell, all goes without mentioning that the depth of each floor's location corresponds to the depth of the circles' location in the Divine Comedy.

Downpour is an eternal storm, so is the Lust circle.

Dross has sinners drenched in water full of excrements, just like in the Gluttony circle.

The Mines are filled with lava, in the violents' circle, sinners are left in boiling blood, which, in several depictions, is represented as lava.

Ashpit is an endless desert where fire rains, like in the sodomites' circle, the Phrygian scale of Absentia, the floor's theme music, really conveys the idea of a desert.

Mausoleum is filled with sorcerers, in the Malebolge, sorcerers are punished among the various sinners located there.

Gehenna is a place of heresy whose walls are crimson, much like the crimson graves of the heretics' circle.

Corpse represents the betrayal of family, which is self-explanatory, given that it's Isaac's mom's dead body... Because he killed her to get there, also the ending you obtain for killing Mother shows Mom feeling betrayed by Isaac when he showed her how he truly felt about her.]]

[[WMG: The game is Issac's journey through Purgatory.]] Or as I like to call it, ''[[Film/JacobsLadder Issac's Ladder.]]'' Even before the confirmation that the game was Issac's DyingDream, I assumed he'd died and he was fighting the sundry monsters, lost souls (including several of his stillborn/dead siblings), and demons in Hell, just judging by all the blood, shit, bugs, etc lying around. There's even a supporting theory that the GoldenEnding is Issac telling God his life story. Each "new character" being a part of Issac's mind/soul/whatever represents something he needed to deal with before he was ready to go to Heaven.

* [[spoiler:Jossed. There are two new major bosses: Hush, a BonusBoss who seems to be a suffocated Isaac or ???, and Ultra Greed, the final boss of Greed Mode.]]

At one point, he decides it's so fun, he might as well [[UpToEleven throw in him defeating Satan]].

[[WMG: The game is Issac's journey through Purgatory.]] * Or as I like to call it, ''[[Film/JacobsLadder Issac's Ladder.]]'' Even before the confirmation that the game was Issac's DyingDream, I assumed he'd died and he was fighting the sundry monsters, lost souls (including several of his stillborn/dead siblings), and demons in Hell, just judging by all the blood, shit, bugs, etc lying around. There's even a supporting theory that the GoldenEnding is Issac telling God his life story. Each "new character" being a part of Issac's mind/soul/whatever represents something he needed to deal with before he was ready to go to Heaven.

[[spoiler:Let's start with how you unlock the tainteds. To ascend back to Home, Isaac needs to find his dad's note. Since he relives the argument that lead to his parents divorcing, it's safe to assume the note was his dad's goodbye note to him that caused moments Isaac repressed to come back. The Mother ending shows us that the mom locked her child in a closet as punishment. Where do we find Tainted characters? Lying in a closet. From the same thought train we can deduce that the Red Key is the key mom used to lock the closet. The achievements you get from unlocking these characters are all condescending in nature: 'The Deceiver','The Savage','The Capricious' etc. These all could have been things Isaac's mom called him when she was angry. In the same ending, we see Satan's figure fading into view while Isaac sobs in the closet. This could represent Isaac ''embodying'' his wrongdoings as characters. Isaac gets caught lying? While in the closet, he thinks up of Judas, a deceptive backstabber. Isaac poops himself? That's where ???, someone with nothing but his own feces, comes from. Isaac is caught stealing? That's how the scoundrel known as Cain is born. Over time, these alter egos mellowed down due to Isaac getting used to the abuse, but finding an old note and refreshing his memory, the roots of the playable roster came back as Tainted characters. Why tainted? They came from ''taints'' Isaac's mom perceived in her child.]]

[[spoiler:The Beast ending and the Ascent highlight an important thing in the backstory: Isaac's father stole money from his mother while she wasn't looking. This is most likely the source of why Greed is so ubiquitous throughout the game, culminating in Ultra Greed. Additionally, two specific Greed Mode unlocks are: Dad's Lost Coin, an Alcoholics Anonymous token, and Dad's Ring, which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dad's marriage ring]]. These two are unlocked with the Lost and the Forgotten, further highlighting the significance.]]

* This theory is given credence by the fact that in ''Rebirth'', [[spoiler:Dad's Key opens the room to the super secret boss, Mega-Satan.]]

* Either that, or it's supposed to mirror the story as it is -- God asked her as a test of faith. The reason He [[spoiler:stopped her so violently was because she showed no remorse in killing her son, which showed she had faith in Him but no compassion for fellow humans]].
** [[spoiler:It turns out that ''Isaac'' was the one having delusions...]]

* Confirmed, of sorts -- WordOfGod has stated that every enemy is also Isaac. Of course, what that means and whether it's literal or symbolic is up to you.

[[WMG: Isaac is an abused, unwanted child, and/or the spawn of Satan -- Either way, he wants to return to the womb and start over.]]
He's naked. He has no possessions. His weapons are all body fluids. Most enemies resemble Isaac. "It Lives" ''is'' Isaac as a fetus. Every form of Isaac is him dressed as a potential version of Isaac in the future. XXX/??? the Dead Baby -- to whom Isaac reacts in absolute horror -- is obtained AFTER YOU KILL ISAAC'S FETUS FORM. Every power-up mutates Isaac as well, representing future versions of him.

If we assume he's the spawn of Satan, it explains the offers and why he fights him at the end -- it's a battle for control over his destiny.

In the end, Isaac has a showdown with Satan and finds a final chest... which cycles through all the personas he has taken and returns him to his room. What's in the chest, the same sort of chest that's found in the Womb? A chance to start over -- Isaac can either keep his current life or try a new one (he chooses the latter).

Forget "BadFuture" -- Isaac doesn't even want his Bad Present.
* Isaac being the spawn of Satan, or some other kind of demon, is supported by the ending unlocked by beating [[spoiler:the Cathedral. You fight Isaac himself, and the ending is Isaac looking into the mirror and seeing a pitch-black demonic version of himself.]]
** And then it's all but confirmed by [[spoiler:the ending you get by beating Mega Satan, where Isaac actually ''BECOMES A DEMON''. However, the ending you get for beating the Lamb is more along the lines of ScrewThisImOuttaHere... at first glance. The endings you get for beating Hush and Delirium confirm that Isaac killed himself.]]

** Welp. [[spoiler:We've seen the ''true'' true ending. And the Very Definitely TrueFinalBoss is... an embodiment of Isaac's insanity. Mmmkay then.]]

Isaac, from birth, had to endure hardships. [[spoiler:His mother's womb is REALLY messed up. If he came out of that, alive, he has to be tough.]] After that, his father probably got sick as all hell. Possibly nymphomaniac of the millenium to keep that up. Most kids were broken before they even fully formed, leaving us the eyeless (taken out before they could fully form their eyes), headless (got so nasty a cranial infection that it had to be removed), and then genetic issues (the fly hives and the like being unable to physically take care of themselves). Isaac was so tough that he was able to resist all the problems, and his genetics were sound. Because he had to go through what is basically a warrior's challenge at birth, he was so much tougher for that, but because of that, he was too awkward around other kids because he never wanted to interact physically, so they teased him.

[[WMG: It´s all a Xanatos Gambit of [[spoiler:Satan]]]]

* {{Jossed}} by one simple fact: {{Word Of God}} has confirmed that It Lives is [[spoiler:Isaac.]]

They have the exact same skin tone, Greed wears the noose cut off... It's like he watched you descend from the Basement to the Depths, where he may fight Isaac out of spite. Note, Depths 2 is the last level for a shop, and that tends to get replaced by Greed. The Womb and Sheol don't have shops. Probably tried to pull a {{You Have Outlived Your Usefulness}} [[TooDumbToLive on a potentially overpowered kid?]]

Mother does think Isaac has been "corrupted by sin" -- because she saw the things he's been drawing, those macabre scenes (seriously, have a look at the pause menu) and monster designs. Immediately, she takes away his toys, which surely are to blame for Isaac's behavior. She has him read the bible instead.

Isaac is very young. One might assume pre-school age. Possibly even younger considering some of the many references to Number One and poop through the game. Too young to toilet train or fascinated by bodily fluids (including his tears of course) -- possibly both -- or just a case of a kid that is having trouble with the concept using the toilet yet (though you will see that I think the first as I continue). But he is also very smart. Possibly a young genius type that is too smart for his life experience. He is also possibly completely aware of his entire life from the point he was in his mother's womb with a brain developed enough to learn, to his current age... and his brain is only learning faster. A true wunderkind.

Being both young and smart, his short life up to now has been VERY traumatic to him. Being born (and remembering it all clearly) and having to cope with not being able to talk or walk or do anything but cry for attention (as his muscles refused to work even though his brain told them to and his body can't control itself because it was not developed enough) has been rather... distressing.

The setup of the game is such because of the games Isaac has played in his youth so far on his Nintendo Gameboy. One day maybe he will make his own game, but of course he does not fully understand how to code yet, so right now the game is pen and paper (and so far only a few pages worth in crayon... mostly pictures since even his intelligent brain gets distracted like a child and he ends up drawing a cool picture instead of writing down some odd rule he is already struggling to get from his brain to the page).

As to some of the themes of animal cruelty or eating animal food (or rotten food) in the game, well, he IS a small child, probably had a pet or two, and after they died (or an accident happened) Isaac might have done some exploratory post-mortem experiments on the dead pets. He is not disturbed (we hope), just curious. When it comes to gaining health from the food, he has probably had some of that food before... again, still a small child.

Satan (added in the Halloween update) is... Satan. Isaac's own Halloweens are not filled with the fun costumes and candy of other kids because his mother doesn't believe in that sort of thing -- hence there is no candy in the game... what kid would NOT add candy in a game of their making if they had candy a lot? So after his mother's explanation of why they do not celebrate Halloween, Isaac incorporated the horrible beast of Satan into his game.

* [[spoiler:Well, the Dark Room is a stereotypical final dungeon -- it's a dimension of pure darkness, for crying out loud! I dunno what the Lamb is -- probably some demon trying (and [[EpicFail epically]] [[PaperThinDisguise failing]]) to pass itself off as Jesus Christ Himself. (Seriously, the upside-down cross on the forehead isn't helping its case.) As for why it's fought ''[[DragonTheirFeet after]]'' Satan, your guess is as good as mine -- [[AvengingTheVillain maybe seeking revenge]] against the guy who offed its boss. Mega Satan, on the other hand, is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin clearly Satan gone]] OneWingedAngel -- because when ''{{Satan}} himself'' isn't enough of a challenge, well, [[IAmNotLeftHanded maybe it's because he was holding back?]] Then Hush is asphyxiation, and Delirium is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.]]

* All of Isaac's different personas aren't "playing pretend" in the traditional sense -- rather, he's grappling with his identity, and trying on several different personas (Eve is a stint with goth/emo, Cain and Samson with being "badass" and/or a delinquent, Judas with being cool and classy, and Maggy with being cheerful and "normal"). He's likely also grappling with gender issues, which his traditionalist mother either doesn't understand, can't accept, or doesn't even know about.

First of all, if the majority of the game is taken at face value, Isaac has clearly had an abusive childhood -- the sort of experience believed to foster DID. The other characters are, in fact, alternate personalities, who fight his mother in his place as a coping mechanism. In the [[spoiler:Twelfth Ending]], whichever personality [[spoiler:takes down Isaac]] is, in fact, [[SplitPersonalityTakeover subsuming the real Isaac]]. Assuming Isaac beats [[spoiler:The Cathedral]], then a SplitPersonalityMerge results instead.

Of the original Four Harbringers of the game, War is almost always considered the easiest to fight -- this in spite of being, you know, the personification of ALL COMBAT. Conquest only appears on the later levels, either replacing War or even after defeating him, and the distinction between Conquest's and War's domains is very minimal (hence why Conquest is replaced with Pestilence in most modern depictions of the Horsemen in the first place). Finally, their abilities are very similar:

[[WMG: Completing and using [[PlotCoupon The Polaroid]] brings the Stable Time Loop, and Isaac's suffering, to an end.]]
Completing [[spoiler:The Cathedral]] with six characters unlocks an item called the Polaroid. Take it into the fight with [[spoiler:Isaac]], and rather than fighting him, you instead fight [[spoiler:???[=/=]Blue Baby. By the end of the fight, he will rise in a column of light and AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, just like Isaac did in his previous fights with him.]] After this, Ending 12 makes a lot more sense. [[spoiler:His previous suicide attempt failed and turned him into Bluebaby. However, he managed to free himself and send himself to heaven by defeating him. This sinks in right after he does so... and he then realizes that he must kill himself and turn himself into Blue Baby once more to get his redemption and peace.]]

The book he's reading as he hides from his mother in the chest is the Bible, and he's been tearing out pages to write down his adventures on the back -- and reading Bible stories, which terrify him even more. When Isaac goes down to [[spoiler:Sheol]], he's sinking deeper into his fantasies and deeper into terror of his monstrous mother; the fight with [[spoiler:Satan]] represents, at once, the end of his fantasy and full integration into it (read: the multiple personalities fusing and [[spoiler:hiding in the chest to "escape his mother", suffocating him)]]. When fighting [[spoiler:Isaac]], Isaac decides that his mother is right: he is corrupted and unworthy of life. This is represented by [[spoiler:his looking like a demon in the mirror. When he eyes the chest, he has decided to hide in it and suffocate himself to death]].

Isaac's mother was fine and even supportive as her son took on separate identities. She loved him regardless of what he decided to be. His father, on the other hand, didn't. He was the one telling his mom that Isaac had become corrupted and needed to be saved (with this in mind, it suddenly makes sense as to why she also takes Isaac's clothing during her cleansing montage). Eventually his demands became more severe until the choice came down to Isaac or his father -- "to prove you love me above all else." His mother then did try to kill her son, but was stopped at the last moment not by the literal bible, but her faith. Isaac's father, either disgusted at what his wife tried to do or by her accepting Isaac's "sinful" ways, leaves.

This idea makes another theory more prominent: the entire game and fight against Satan and [[spoiler:himself]] is all in Isaac's head. After being mentally scarred by his mother trying to kill him, his father abandoning them, and everything they'd said to imply it was his own fault entirely, Isaac [[spoiler:locked himself in his chest with all his toys and clothes.]] The game is his dying mind scrambling up his memories, hating himself, and attempting to justify the actions of everyone around him. Only by [[spoiler:bringing the polaroid to ??? (his dead self) in the Chest]] does he begin to correctly remember what actually happened, [[spoiler:but by then it's too late and his real memories can only flash before his eyes.]]

If we assume that most of the game is metaphorical, and that most of the photographs are as well -- e.g. that Isaac wasn't really fighting against Satan/his own inner sin, that his Mother never really tried to kill him, etc. -- then why not the final one? In actuality, Isaac's father died, and his mother (though not nearly as abusive as she's portrayed) grew cold and distant due to his loss, one of the few acts of kindness she was still able to show being to reassure her son that Daddy was in heaven now. [[spoiler:And if all kids go to heaven, [[DrivenToSuicide there's a toy chest right there that might be airtight...]]]]

* Note that in order to fight [[spoiler:Blue Baby]], you have to obtain The Polaroid, a memento of those happier times. Without it, [[spoiler:Isaac gives in to despair]] -- but with it, [[spoiler:he realizes that there's still hope]].

[[spoiler:If you look closely, the events in the final cutscene fit in reverse chronological order: he dies from suffocating in the chest, his father leaves, his father steals money (resulting in his leaving)... at the very end, he sees his own birth. Furthermore, the Ascent itself involves going through all of the explored floors in reverse order, ending at where he was before he even imagined himself in the Basement. So, what is his life like before his birth? ''Nothing''.]]

[[WMG: [[spoiler: The arcades represent Isaac's father's gambling addiction.]]]]

[[WMG: [[spoiler: Isaac's father died at some point after leaving Maggie, and in the final ending he reunites with Isaac in Heaven.]]]]

[[WMG: [[spoiler: Isaac's father died at some point after leaving Maggie, and in the final ending he reunites with Isaac in heaven.]]]]

** Alternatively: [[spoiler: Bumbino is the original creation of Isaac, representing his dad as an angry, lashing bum who only cared about getting money. Similarily to how Isaac's mom found the drawing of Mother in an ending, his dad found the drawing of "Bumbino". Unlike Isaac's mother, dad took the idea of "This is how you see me? As a monster?" in the opposite way and [[HeelRealization decided to stop drinking so his son wouldn't see him as a monster anymore]], hence why Dad's Coin (which is shown to be an Alcoholic Anonymous token) is so important to Bumbo, the funny, sympathetic version of Bumbino, which Isaac later created to show how he now sees his dad]].

** Alternatively: [[spoiler: Bumbino is the original creation of Isaac, representing his dad as an angry, lashing bum who only cared about getting money. Similarily to how Isaac's mom found the drawing of Mother in an ending, his dad found the drawing of "Bumbino". Unlike Isaac's mother, dad took the idea of "This is how you see me? As a monster?" in the oposite way and decided to stop drinking so his son wouldn't see him as a monster anymore, hence why Dad's Coin (which is shown to be an Alcoholic Anonymous token) is so important to Bumbo, the funny, sympathetic version of Bumbino, which Isaac later created to show how he now sees his dad]].

[[WMG: Bumbino is a different side of [[spoiler: Isaac's father]].]]