Some lore, theories and descriptions of the game and It's characters.

[Kerosenn]

Hello, my name is UnknownEntity or PixelEntity. I'm not an active member on the forums, but I'd like to write a forum post about the lore of DST as it is one of my favorite parts of the game and holds a lot of information. I'll be writing these in sections to avoid clattering of information. I'll begin with the Constant. I'll highlight the titles of the sections and important pieces of information in purple. This is my representation of the lore of DST and may be false or true as time goes on as Klei expands Return of them and ships out character reworks. I'd like to also quickly mention a little theory of mine that most of the characters are forgotten or considered "Dead" in the real world and they get pulled into the constant because of that, or assumed dead or forgotten after being pulled inside.

 

The Constant is the deadliest game of chess.

Most of you know that The Constant is realm(s) currently ruled by Charlie or the Shadow Queen who overthrew Wilson from the shadow throne who before claimed the shadow throne at the end chapter of Don't starve named "Checkmate". The entire game or world of the constant is a game of chess and shows a conflict between Shadow and Lunar. An example being the clockworks and their corresponding shadow forms. In chess, there's a rule called Pawn Promotion where when a pawn, reaches the other side of the board can be promoted to another cheese piece such as knight, rook, bishop, and Queen, based on the player's choice, but in Don't Starve the "Pawns" or characters automatically turn into the "Queen" through the Nightmare throne by reaching the end of adventure mode, Possibly signaling there is another Entity who is controlling the characters or perhaps it's referencing the player. In chess, there are 16 Pawns combined, and 22 pieces in total on each side that aren't the king or queen. There are currently 16 DST Characters and 22 Characters combined with Don't Starve and it's respective DLCs. (F for Warbucks as he is no longer in-game and he'll ruin the connection to the chesspiece numbers). The 16 Characters of DST are pawns to the main two rulers, Shadow And Lunacy, Black and White. The players are both side's pawns as they both help the Entities gain power and use items made from the opposite Magic to oppose the other. 

Shadow Magic and Lunacy.

There are two main forms of magical power in DST, Shadow, and Lunacy. Shadow and Lunacy are opposites of each other, insanity, and enlightenment, warmth, and coldness, star caller and moon caller. Both of their origins are mainly unknown, but two Entities rule over them. Charlie and "Them", Both entities take advantage of the characters by making them use their magic to aid in their survival so they can both gather power and gain the upper hand from each other. Example being the Glass Cutter having no drawbacks and being identical to the Night sword with the secret buff of having double durability against creatures made out of Shadows or Nightmare fuel. Another example would be Charlie "Absorbing" energy from the Ancient Gateway as the Characters plunge into the Forge then Gorge. Shadows could represent wild or instinct, Example being the Ancients presumably exchanging their bodies and previous sense of will into becoming aggressive shadow creatures after abusing usage of Nightmare Fuel. Lunacy could also mean calm or intelligence, an example being that Wormwood was born from vines slowly growing around a piece of the moon that fell off and eventually forms together a humanoid figure.

The Characters: DST 

I'll start this off by saying that the descriptions below may not be accurate or maybe already known to members of the community but I'll list them down here below anyways.

Wilson

Wilson is a self-titled gentleman scientist who used to live alone in his cabin in the woods, not much is known about his backstory besides this. One day Wilson fails yet another experiment and Maxwell shortly seizes the opportunity to gain his attention through promising "Secret Knowledge" to him, Wilson excitedly agrees and gets tricked by maxwell as he has created Maxwell's door and is quickly similarly drawn into the Constant as Charlie and Maxwell did.

Willow

Willow is an orphan who had a stuffed bear doll named Bernie, One night in the orphanage a Terrorbeak had gotten inside and went to attack Willow while she was sleeping, but she quickly woke up from the growl it made and attempted to escape the locked room. Before the Terrorbeak closed in on her she held out Bernie in defense and for unknown reasons the Terrorbeak had quickly left, but the moment of relief was short as two caretakers quickly busted into the room as they assumed someone had broken inside only to find Willow beside the door. (It is unknown if the Terrorbeak retreated because of Bernie or because humans other than Willow were coming.) They take Bernie away from Willow and lock Willow inside the storage closest as punishment. Soon after being locked the Terrorbeak returns assuming that willow is defenseless, Willow panics and sets the whole orphanage ablaze damaging Bernie and process and she slowly leaves, her entrance to the constant is unknown.

Wolfgang

Wolfgang is a muscleman with a fear of the dark and Wendy. His origins are mostly unknown, But character quotes suggest he's of European descent and he has the possibility of being referenced in the Incredible Strongman poster in the William Carter puzzle with the potential of his small form being the actor drawn on the poster.

Wendy

Wendy is an 8-10-year-old girl whose origins are unknown besides the fact that her twin sister Abigail had died in an accident and she doesn't mourn her death because she feels she will forget her. There are the potential Wendy's and Abigail's souls are linked and she only needs Abigail's flower to make Abigail manifest.

WX-78

WX-78 is a robot with a hatred of organic substances while ironically needing to fuel himself with it. His origins are unknown but he seems to see almost everything mechanical as a relative or his interpretation of organic. His design and colors are similar to the Ancient Hulk of the Hamlet and other Clockworks.

Wickerbottom

Wickerbottom is an old lady with a love of reading. Not much is known her origins but at the start of Winona's short there's a board with several articles and pictures with one reading about the burning of a New York Library

Woodie

Woodie is the pure manifestation of Canada a human who talks his ax named Lucy. Not much is shown in Woodie's trailer, but quotes suggest he has worked at a lumber camp. Woodie has 3 Were-Transformations similarly like how Pigs transform through monster meat.

Wes

Not much is known about Wes besides that he had angered Maxwell that he locked him inside an invisible box and that he practices balloonomancy.

Maxwell and Charlie

Maxwell was from Englishman named William Carter. He had boarded a ship named The Quest that had deported for America on July 26, 1901. Once he arrived in America he tried to his business by being a magician in New York, However, his show wasn't successful as he was in debt to man named George T. Witherstone who was a magicians supplier, he had also had a relative named Jack Carter who had sent him a letter asking how he was doing in America. William was a victim of a train crash and was presumed dead, after this, he had written a letter to Jack confirming his status but presumably never sent it and took on a different Persona as the Maxwell The Great. Around this time he was searching for an assistant, that assistant was Charlie who at first thought that the shadow figures that he showed at the shows were fake. But after Maxwell attempts to pull a shadow figure manually out of the Codex Umbra it reaches to pull him inside. He breaks free but then the umbra opens its self and turns to several pages before multiple hands come out and pull both Charlie and Maxwell inside. Leaving the theatre abandoned and disheveled. Maxwell was the r of the constant for some time before Wilson succeeds in his game and gets Pawn Promoted to the ruler of the shadow throne, returning Maxwell to the constant. Wilson's unintentional reign was short-lived as Charlie steals the throne for herself and is both the king and the queen of the game.

Wigfrid

Wigfrid's backstory is unknown but her title states she was a Performance Artist and suggests she took on the persona of the character she was roled as.

Webber

Webber is a young boy who was sent into the constant by Maxwell after being promised something he deeply desired. Webber was sent to the Constant and is now inside a spider that tried to eat him when he arrived, the spider is still living and he treats it like a part of himself often saying "We" or "Our" instead of I or mine. His grandfather might've been Scottish based on his quote for the Tam o' shanter.

Warly

Warly is a talented cook who tended to his mother, who couldn't remember him he fed her her favorite dishes in attempts to make her remember him these worked momentarily but she quickly goes back to her normal state. after one of these meals, he was pulled into the constant and left his mother alone.

Wormwood

Wormwood is a humanoid figure made from plants given intelligence through the piece of the Moon, he awakens at an Altar where the crystal had landed and is very curious about the wildlife he tries to replicate their behavior, but due to him looking threatening they runoff. saddened by the fact he couldn't make friends with the animals he heads back to this altar and goes to sleep in the comfort of plants.

Winona

Winona is Charlie's sister and was a worker at the Voxola Factory and suddenly an explosion has happened in presumably Wagstaff's office causing part of the roof to collapse. The rest of the workers evacuate to safety while Winona heads straight into the Main office to see a portal similar to Maxwell's gate was built and a Figure getting pulled inside. Winona tries to pull the person out but ends up pulling off their glove and they get fully pulled in, the portal was damaged and Winona quickly tries to repair it. As she turns it back on she sees Charlie before her balance in Personality and Charlie reaches for Winona and Winona tries to pull her out, but then her Demon side overpowers her and brings Winona into the constant. The Portal is later destroyed in the collapse of the roof leaving her fate unknown to her co-workers.

Wortox

Wortox is an Imp who had come to the constant through the Ancient Gateway as revealed by a quote. He was friends with Krampus and pulled pranks on the survivors, After Krampus stuffs a beefalo baby into his sack Wortox tears the sack freeing the baby beefalo, enraged by this Krampus attempts to attack Wortox from the back but Wortox accidentally absorbs his soul cursing him and causing his appearance to change into a form more similar to Krampus.

Wurt

Wurt is a young female merm guardian, She's vegetarian It's suggested that Wickerbottom taught her lessons through character quotes, and also as Merms speak crude English besides the king.

A fun fact

Shadow Chesspieces can't be spawned by chesspiece statues made with moon glass, showing that the Lunacy can compete in shadows in more ways than one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Canis]

1 hour ago, PixelEntity said:

There are currently 16 DST Characters and 22 Characters combined with Don't Starve and it's respective DLCs. (F for Warbucks as he is no longer in-game and he'll ruin the connection to the chesspiece numbers).

You're probably not going to be happy when the final DLC character comes out.

[-Nick-]

Also sir, Wx-78 does have lore and a origin, in the Winona short there can be seen a piece of paper with a Wx-78 separated into parts. Wagstaff is the inventor of Wx-78 with some quotes backing up this.
When Examining a Floaty Boaty Knight:

Other Quotes:




And finally the nail in the coffin to prove Wagstaff invented Wx-78, when he examines Wx-78 on the nightmare throne:

[metallichydra]

1 hour ago, Canis said:

You're probably not going to be happy when the final DLC character comes out.

solution: remove wes

[Mooagain]

Bit of lore on Wendy I've found:

According to Wortox, the flower is a separate sentient entity to Abigail. The Flower seems to have "Eaten" the soul of Abi, which is why nothing happens when you give her a telltale heart.

[Nino123]

Wes is probably french or at least, he came to Paris (maybe for "l'exposition universelle").

Warly first came to the Gorge (as we can see on one picture)

I'm not sure the Weber's case (he's half spider) is official. Maybe someone can attest that?

 

 

[Mooagain]

49 minutes ago, Nino123 said:

I'm not sure the Weber's case (he's half spider) is official. Maybe someone can attest that?

It says in game that Webber is a human in a spider's body.

[Nino123]

Cool, i didn't know that. Thank you.

[LimeGreenINC]

My headcannon is that Wickerbottom had a cat who died, and Maxwell offered her knowledge (like he did to Wilson) to bring her cat back, but instead trapped her in the Constant

Some quotes to confirm this:

- quotes for the Lucky Cat Jar trinket

- Maxwell's quote for a dead Wicker

[minespatch]

34 minutes ago, LimeGreenINC said:

- Maxwell's quote for a dead Wicker

Perhaps she wanted immortality?

[DavePlaysDST]

i heard somewhere that wilson didn’t  get along with his family

[NoscopeFelix]

1 hour ago, minespatch said:

Perhaps she wanted immortality?

Perhaps, but I can’t see her personality wise wanting Immortality. She’s one of the smartest characters and would know immortality is a double edged sword. Just what I think though.

[WildWildWes]

1 hour ago, DavePlaysDST said:

i heard somewhere that wilson didn’t  get along with his family

I do remember the devs saying on a stream a few years back that Wilson's family loves him but he makes them kind of uncomfortable.

And my philosophy on lore, since it's given so sparingly, is "anything they say on the streams is canon until proven otherwise"

[minespatch]

4 hours ago, WildWildWes said:

I do remember the devs saying on a stream a few years back that Wilson's family loves him but he makes them kind of uncomfortable.

And my philosophy on lore, since it's given so sparingly, is "anything they say on the streams is canon until proven otherwise"

"Hey KrisRF, tell us Innkeeper Lore."
"Inn keeper lore...? Um, his favorite color is Periwinkle."

[maradyne]

11 hours ago, WildWildWes said:

And my philosophy on lore, since it's given so sparingly, is "anything they say on the streams is canon until proven otherwise"

geneveve is best girl playable genny pls

 

Huh, I had always assumed that Wicker's wish/bargain that resulted in her being brought to the Constant was related to wanting to keep her knowledge from slipping away in her old age (I definitely remember her mentioning an upside of writing books being that written word is immune to brain fog, though I can't find it now; I wonder if a quote was changed?), but the cat thing is a nice find.

[GetRektKids]

Also it seems the Ancients use latin? 

 

Is there any connection with that at all?

 

Also for the King and Queen, I think that the queen didn't nessecarly die, but just got corrupted. In the image below you can see that skulls are put above the obviously dead, they are not above the Queen therefore she isn't dead but corrupted. 

 

I also think that the Queen is the mind and soul of the Ancient Fuelweaver, begging you not to open the gate, talking about her husband also. The queen is shown (In the image below) fighting off the darkness and presumbably closing the portal, which stops the darkness from spreading further. Also a note to take in the Queen is light and the King is Dark You can see when she is fighting her eyes are white, but in the image above when she got corrupted her eyes went dark, JUST LIKE THE KINGS. Now I know this could symbolize death, but I think otherwise

                                                                                                                                                                       Dark eyes /\

 

[GetRektKids]

Interesting Willow quotes....

 

Willows quotes for a compass, the west has the dots after it while the rest have exclamation points.....

N- "North"

S- "South!"

E- "East!"

W- "West...."

 

Siesta Lean-to- "They taught us how to make these in Girl Scouts."

Willow was in the Girl Scouts?

Moon Glass Axe- "The moon HATES trees."

Interesting... Maybe just talking about how good the ax is, or maybe the Moon does hate the trees.

Florid Postern- "The vines coil away from my lighter... weird!"

Interesting.....

 

She Also hates rocks....

Celestial Portal- "It's made of some kind of jerk rock I can't burn."

Moon Rock- "Just another rock to me."

Rocks- "What's the point of collecting these again?"

Boulder and Meteor- "It's, like, a rock."

Rock- "Oh great, another stinkin' rock!"

Sea Stack- "It's just a big boring sea rock."

Cave-in Boulder- "Let's just smash it up."

Willow really hates rocks...... This isn't lore intensive, I just though it was funny

Interesting Willow! Afterlife intercom???

Ancient Pseudoscience Station- "Oooo! An afterlife intercom."

Interesting Willow! Afterlife intercom???

 

That's most of the interesting Willow quotes, I will find more interesting character quotes later

 

[Mooagain]

2 minutes ago, GetRektKids said:

Also it seems the Ancients use latin? 

That's just the language Maxwell translated the runes into

2 minutes ago, GetRektKids said:

I also think that the Queen is the mind and soul of the Ancient Fuelweaver, begging you not to open the gate, talking about her husband also. The queen is shown (In the image below) fighting off the darkness and presumbably closing the portal, which stops the darkness from spreading further 

 

1. Those two ancients are not proven to be king and queen, that's just what some people call them.

2. The staff wielder is most likely the fuelweaver, as he (confirmed male) is using the power of the shadows, just like in the murals.

55 minutes ago, GetRektKids said:

That is willows quote for a fishing rod. ONE letter off of the new expansion Hook Line, and Inker

 

Hook line and sinker is common phrase, Google it.

[GetRektKids]

41 minutes ago, Mooagain said:

That's just the language Maxwell translated the runes into

1. Those two ancients are not proven to be king and queen, that's just what some people call them.

2. The staff wielder is most likely the fuelweaver, as he (confirmed male) is using the power of the shadows, just like in the murals.

Hook line and sinker is common phrase, Google it.

That's just the language Maxwell translated the runes into: Thanks!

Hook line and sinker is common phrase, Google it: Not saying it's anything, just thought it was cool.

The staff wielder is most likely the fuelweaver, as he (confirmed male) is using the power of the shadows, just like in the murals: I think otherwise. I think the queen isn't necessarily the Fuelweaver, but the embodiment of him. The mind and soul. The Queen is the one who fought of the darkness, and most likely closing the portal.The King does use the power of the Shadows (Darkness), and  does cause a grim demise. While the queen uses Light, and fights off the grim demise.  When the Queens fought and closed the portal, her soul got corrupted. I think she is the one begging not to have you open the gate. A quote to back my statement up is when you die while fighting the Ancient Fuelweaver, the Fuel Weaver will go over to the portal deactivate it and say "Metheus...."  It is possible they are talking to themselves (If the King is the Fuelweaver) but what I think more likely is The Queen greeting Metheus as the creature collapses. Almost as going into heaven and seeing your loved ones. 

Those two ancients are not proven to be king and queen, that's just what some people call them: That's fair, it just seems to fit the role. 

[Zeklo]

1 hour ago, GetRektKids said:

The staff wielder is most likely the fuelweaver, as he (confirmed male) is using the power of the shadows, just like in the murals: I think otherwise. I think the queen isn't necessarily the Fuelweaver, but the embodiment of him.

The problem with using King & Queen is the implied gender.

It was confirmed on a stream way back that the Fuelweaver is male, and Metheus is female.

We can infer the Staff Wielder is male/Torch Wielder is female if we apply the common use of softer/harder shapes referring to female/male respectively but that's quite subjective. Thus flawed.

Ultimately it would be a fair assumption to refer to them as Gatekeepers, as its a term we know applies to the ancients where King/Queen may not.

[-Variant]

3 hours ago, GetRektKids said:

End Table (burnt)- "Alright, alright, so I was wrong about the hand!"

Wrong about what Willow???

Everything else you said has an interesting point I want to look into, but this quote here is a reference to the Stage Hand, which is the end table with a shadow hand under it. The quote itself is referring to a replica you can build, and burn, which lacks the hand.

And the rocks and Florid Postern thing are just pointing out the obvious, which she can't burn them. 
Everything else though caught my eye. Definitely something to look into.

[maradyne]

5 hours ago, GetRektKids said:

Also for the King and Queen, I think that the queen didn't nessecarly die, but just got corrupted. In the image below you can see that skulls are put above the obviously dead, they are not above the Queen therefore she isn't dead but corrupted.

Came to the same conclusion back when the puzzle was being figured out, haha. Bit of a different interpretation on which body belongs to who, but I like seeing the discussion.

 

2 hours ago, Zeklo said:

It was confirmed on a stream way back that the Fuelweaver is male, and Metheus is female.

Huh...knew they confirmed Fuely, but I wasn't aware that they confirmed Metheus.
With everything else in mind, that would about solidify their identities, eh?

 

4 hours ago, Mooagain said:

That's just the language Maxwell translated the runes into

Given what we've seen of their language, it does make sense. Their words on the main mural at least directly represented objects or concepts rather than a bunch of variations; Latin's better with representing that sort of thing than its decedent languages.