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Lore, From Ancients to the Fuelweaver [Theory]


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I've been spouting lore and theories in several different threads, and finally decided to make a single location for it. My most prominent theory is about the statues not being statues, but the bodies that the ancients left behind. Instead of making a wall of text, however, I decided to do something different and make it into a video. Hopefully that will keep people more engaged, and be easier to follow.

I'm no expert with this stuff, and not much of a speaker so forgive the quality.

While most of my interest lies with the statues, I go over a number of topics including some interesting details regarding some of the Fuelweaver's quotes. I tried not to make too many bold statements, aside from the statue one, but rather share things I've noticed. Which may or may not be relevant. That way you can come to your own conclusions, and add to your own surplus of ideas.

I very much want to hear everyone's own thoughts regarding everything lore. Different angles and opinions can draw us closer to the truth! We're all in the dark here, so there is no sure answer. Differing thoughts will occur, but let's keep our minds open shall we?

So what do you think?

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The statues are completely inorganic, there are no references to there being any kind of conversion process in existence which mummifies the ancients in Thulecite; or morphs them into it. The Fuelweaver's dialogue has already revealed that they are one of the ancients, and they look absolutely nothing like the statues either. They are likely just art, or some manner of religious symbol.

From the Curation thread.

Interpretation of where the Ancients went :

The Fuelweaver is likely what they actually were, horned beings, and the statues are either just artwork or renditions of something they saw and or worshiped. Seeing as the Fuelweaver makes explicit references to being the leader, or at least a high ranking member, of the ancients.

This is further supported by the fact that you can find fossil fragments buried all around the caves, and if you reconstruct them they form more then one different skeleton. Not just the Fuelweaver can be made, but other nameless skeletons as well. This can be interpreted to be that the ancients were scattered across the caves, possibly after the clockworks invaded or the nightmares spiraled out of control, and their remains ended up being buried in the earth. There are frequent tremors in the caves, it would not be difficult for their bodies to become submerged by falling rubble. And thus, you can find pieces of them all over; and when you rebuild their remains you can design several different models of the ancients because the remains are that of multiple beings and not just one.

Even if the other models of the odd skeleton as just mis-constructed alternate versions, the fossil fragments all can be used to repair the odd skeleton. Which means they are all bones of the same species, which would align more consistently across different skeletons. So taking out the multiple skeletons, the fact they all can be used to construct the odd skeleton proves they belong to the same species. They are all the remains of ancients.

The Fuelweaver, who is potentially their leader or a very powerful sorcerer among them, happens to be the only one you can resurrect. Possibly because of his power. And his consciousness after being revived specifically scales based on how close he is to the Ruins when it happens

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The Fuelweaver is likely what they actually were, horned beings, and the statues are either just artwork or renditions of something they saw and or worshiped. Seeing as the Fuelweaver makes explicit references to being the leader, or at least a high ranking member, of the ancients.

 This could explain the Guardian a bit, he could've been one of the Ancients. He might've just had one horn, I also think that the Guardian could've been a guard of the nightmare fuel. Maybe like a banker of nightmare fuel, or he could've guarded the ancient key. 

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16 minutes ago, The Curator said:

The statues are completely inorganic, there are no references to there being any kind of conversion process in existence which mummifies the ancients in Thulecite; or morphs them into it. 

There's no reference to them being non-organic or organic. Simply based on observation I decided, based on its texture and the quotes, for it be something real. You deciding to swing the other way is entirely valid as well. 

As far as mummification into Thulecite, yes there is no specific information stating which. That's why I looked at the context around it, with the similarities regarding the shadow creatures.

16 minutes ago, The Curator said:

The Fuelweaver's dialogue has already revealed that they are one of the ancients, and they look absolutely nothing like the statues either. They are likely just art, or some manner of religious symbol.

I have to disagree, as I stated in the video. In regard to "my world" and "this world", as also stated, "My city... in tatters..." does suggest they belonged to the ruins, but we shouldn't immediately decide that makes them an ancient—at least the same race.

17 minutes ago, The Curator said:

The Fuelweaver is likely what they actually were, horned beings, and the statues are either just artwork or renditions of something they saw and or worshiped. Seeing as the Fuelweaver makes explicit references to being the leader, or at least a high ranking member, of the ancients.

Webber clearly states the people depicted are bug people, and the statues also appear like bugs. The Fuelweaver doesn't fit that description. That doesn't mean it didn't live in the ruins though. You can be born one place and move to the next and call it its home all the same.

17 minutes ago, The Curator said:

This is further supported by the fact that you can find fossil fragments buried all around the caves, and if you reconstruct them they form more then one different skeleton. Not just the Fuelweaver can be made, but other nameless skeletons as well. This can be interpreted to be that the ancients were scattered across the caves, possibly after the clockworks invaded or the nightmares spiraled out of control, and their remains ended up being buried in the earth. There are frequent tremors in the caves, it would not be difficult for their bodies to become submerged by falling rubble. And thus, you can find pieces of them all over; and when you rebuild their remains you can design several different models of the ancients because the remains are that of multiple beings and not just one.

Even if the other models of the odd skeleton as just mis-constructed alternate versions, the fossil fragments all can be used to repair the odd skeleton. Which means they are all bones of the same species, which would align more consistently across different skeletons. So taking out the multiple skeletons, the fact they all can be used to construct the odd skeleton proves they belong to the same species. They are all the remains of ancients.

The Fuelweaver, who is potentially their leader or a very powerful sorcerer among them, happens to be the only one you can resurrect. Possibly because of his power. And his consciousness after being revived specifically scales based on how close he is to the Ruins when it happens

The fossils are in fact built incorrectly in these other forms as confirmed on stream. What your saying does make sense, but as I already said. Webber described bug people, and thus I cannot agree.

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2 minutes ago, Zeklo said:

There's no reference to them being non-organic or organic. Simply based on observation I decided, based on its texture and the quotes, for it be something real. You deciding to swing the other way is entirely valid as well. 

I have to disagree, as I stated in the video. In regard to "my world" and "this world", as also stated, "My city... in tatters..." does suggest they belonged to the ruins, but we shouldn't immediately decide that makes them an ancient—at least the same race.

Webber clearly states the people depicted are bug people, and the statues also appear like bugs. The Fuelweaver doesn't fit that description. That doesn't mean it didn't live in the ruins though. You can be born one place and move to the next and call it its home all the same.

The fossils are in fact built incorrectly in these other forms as confirmed on stream. What your saying does make sense, but as I already said. Webber described bug people, and thus I cannot agree.

If you actually mine them, they only drop nightmare fuel, gems and thulecite.

Being one of the original denizens of the world, makes them an ancient. Being one of the original denizens living with the rest of the original denizens in their original city, makes them even more of an ancient. Specifically making references to the city belonging to them, makes them even-even more of an ancient. Making specific references of kinship to the ancients, and being a powerful sorcerer of their craft of magic, makes them even-even-even more of an ancient.

As already stated, there is no evidence suggesting the statues are even real beings. They could very well be art or religious icons. There is no base or evidence to them being real. Any theory treating them as factual evidence to the existence of what they are depicting, is completely without foundation.

Already explained the counter to this, in the original reply. Literally already explained. And you are still treating the statues as if they are depicting a real species, which there is no evidence of.

 

Refusing to acknowledge the numerous facts proving the Fuelweaver is an ancient, while constantly touting the statues as a factual depiction of the ancients despite that there is zero evidence to that concept. This is a highly misguided view of the lore, especially seeing as you believe there is no evidence to the substance of the statues when you can literally mine them in-game to discover what they drop. Interest has been lost.

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19 minutes ago, Tylordian said:

 

 This could explain the Guardian a bit, he could've been one of the Ancients. He might've just had one horn, I also think that the Guardian could've been a guard of the nightmare fuel. Maybe like a banker of nightmare fuel, or he could've guarded the ancient key. 

Almost forgot to address this.

This was mentioned before at one point. The proof being that Maxwell states when examining the Guardian, how much the fuel has changed it. The guardian also bears resemblance to the odd skeleton, age and exposure to the fuel possibly accounting for the differences in appearance.

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12 minutes ago, The Curator said:

If you actually mine them, they only drop nightmare fuel, gems and thulecite.

I'm referring to the Atrium statues. Which cannot be mined, but show thulecite cores in the game files.

Spoiler

gA1K41F.png

 

12 minutes ago, The Curator said:

Being one of the original denizens of the world, makes them an ancient. Being one of the original denizens living with the rest of the original denizens in their original city, makes them even more of an ancient. Specifically making references to the city belonging to them, makes them even-even more of an ancient. Making specific references of kinship to the ancients, and being a powerful sorcerer of their craft of magic, makes them even-even-even more of an ancient.

I too have already stated these quotes are quite open ended, and the scenario you are putting in them is the default mindset. Which I am not disregarding. It is most easily interpreted that way, but if we only interpret in the default state and don't let out minds open for further ideas then we're limiting our own knowledge growth.

12 minutes ago, The Curator said:

As already stated, there is no evidence suggesting the statues are even real beings. They could very well be art or religious icons. There is no base or evidence to them being real. Any theory treating them as factual evidence to the existence of what they are depicting, is completely without foundation.

There's direct evidence for hardly anything. Especially if you decide to keep your focus on a single thing and not let the surrounding things clue in on the meaning of others. As I've already stated, Webber refers to the people depicted in the murals as bug people. Thus I simply decided to accept the ancients as bug people. Then it comes down to the anatomy of several types of bugs. The chitinis-looking overlapping plates on the back are an attribute of bugs. Tie the two together, and we have the statues depicting the ancients. Maxwell even quotes "A once proud race," for the normal ruins statues. To simply say they were proud due to a work of art, is entirely possible, but it's quite direct and almost implies the statue to be of this race.

12 minutes ago, The Curator said:

Refusing to acknowledge the numerous facts proving the Fuelweaver is an ancient, while constantly touting the statues as a factual depiction of the ancients despite that there is zero evidence to that concept. This is a highly misguided view of the lore, especially seeing as you believe there is no evidence to the substance of the statues when you can literally mine them in-game to discover what they drop. Interest has been lost.

Nothing is proven until it is outright said. We can prove nothing. We can only speculate. I've given several examples of my reasoning for the statues which you seem to have either missed or ignored. I'm even saying I get where your coming from, but cannot agree for xyz reasons provided. If this has lost your interest then so be it. Sadly, our attitudes appear to be incompatible. 

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I find it extraordinarily unlikely that the Ancients would fill their city to the brim with sculptures of random creatures that they in no way represent.  The mural examination quotes state that the original Ancients resembled insects or carapaced beings, which is what the statues would seem to show.  The Fuelweaver is likely possessed by one of the Ancients, but there's no evidence it shares their appearance.

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12 minutes ago, Battal said:

I find it extraordinarily unlikely that the Ancients would fill their city to the brim with sculptures of random creatures that they in no way represent.  The mural examination quotes state that the original Ancients resembled insects or carapaced beings, which is what the statues would seem to show.  The Fuelweaver is likely possessed by one of the Ancients, but there's no evidence it shares their appearance.

 The statues could've been another race, that showed the nightmare fuel to the Ancients, or they could've been a deity of sorts

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3 minutes ago, Tylordian said:

 The statues could've been another race, that showed the nightmare fuel to the Ancients, or they could've been a deity of sorts

Let's take a closer look at the Mural quotes.  Here's the Wiki page on them:

Quote

1º Mural- Depicts an old and underdeveloped civilization, composed of Insect(or likely Arthropod) people. They live in misery, suffering from hunger and fear. All before they discovered Nightmare Fuel

2º Mural- Something mysterious happens to said civilization. No character is able to decipher what is depicted.

3º Mural- Depicts the Nightmare Fuel taking upon the civilization, drowning it in darkness and giving the people enviable power.

4º Mural- Depicts the people shedding their skins and leaving their external body. Changing completely their appearance.

5º Mural- Depicts a massively advanced civilization, with high technology and prosperity. All the problems seem to be solved. This appears to be after the Nightmare Fuel and the advent of the Thulecite and before their eventual destruction due to the overuse of the same fuel.

This would seem to suggest the Fuel forcibly took over the race, rather than the substance merely being introduced to them.  Perhaps their shed exoskeletons were turned into art and statues, maybe as a way to remember their old selves - or as a reminder of the pathetic existence they had escaped.

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You know, something regarding the Ancient guardian hit me actually. With the prefab name being "Minotaur" and having to go through a labyrinth to to get to it... Well the parallels are obvious there yeah?

Well... that story is Greek...

Prometheus is also a Greek story... it might not be as far fetched as I originally thought...

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I have a feeling the atrium was a sacred place, already there when the ancients got there (basically the ancient gateway should be called the more ancient that ancient gateway) that's why it was filled with the old statues, before they shed their skin, it felt like a place where they got their fuel, where they found Them. This can go off into two different timelines.

A)The bugs fell, then the endoskeleton people arrived, they tried to do everything to stop the power of Them, they created clockworks, and had a guardian and a fuel weaver. Their race fell because of the onslaught of the nightmares of the previous race. They die off, and the clockworks become corrupted and destroyed by the nightmares and the fuel except the guardian, who continues to protect, Maxwell probably arrives right after the guardian is the only one left, still normal, the guardian tells the tale, he tells Maxwell to block it, he does. And the guardian slowly becomes the hairy dude, forgetting Maxwell.

B)The exoskeleton people loved the power and used it everywhere.The endoskeleton people on the other hand, were smarter, seeing that using it had a price whereas they tried to tell the bugs but they didn't listen. It can go off to two places from here:

1) The bugs civilization falls to the nightmares, the endoskeleton people tried to do everything to stop the power of them, They created clockworks, their race fell because of the onslaught of the nightmares of the previous race. They die off, and the clockworks become corrupted and destroyed by the nightmares and the fuel except the guardian, who continues to protect, Maxwell probably arrives right after the guardian is the only one left, still normal, the guardian tells the tale, he tells Maxwell to block it, he does. And the guardian slowly becomes the hairy dude, forgetting Maxwell.

2)The two races fight, the endoskeletons get control of the atrium and labyrinth. The guardian keeps the key, the fuel weaver closes the portal and the endoskeleton people fight off the bugs, now nightmares. They created clockworks, their race fell because of the onslaught of the nightmares. They die off, and the clockworks become corrupted and destroyed by the nightmares and the fuel except the guardian, who continues to protect, Maxwell probably arrives right after the guardian is the only one left, still normal, the guardian tells the tale, he tells Maxwell to block it, he does. And the guardian slowly becomes the hairy dude, forgetting Maxwell.

What do you guys think happened?

 

At the end of the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.

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59 minutes ago, Zeklo said:

Well... that story is Greek...

Prometheus is also a Greek story... it might not be as far fetched as I originally thought...

Thought this might come in handy

Also yes, @Zeklo stated with the character quotes, we can assume with some assurance that

  • The ancients were "not mammalian in nature " but are more "insect-like"
  • Nightmare fuel changes and corrupts those who use it in excess already proven and canon as with the Ancient Guardian being being "changed"
  • The ancient statues in the atrium closely resembles a corrupted version of what the Mage Statue looks like.
  • These insect-people are stated to have "shed" their skins and so we can also assume that through the excessive use of the nightmare fuel, they had developed their society but at the cost of their forms, the more they use the fuel, the more they are corrupted.
  • The nightmare fuel corrupts and changes and with the ancients using them in excess, they too would fall victim to this. Stated before, they "shed their skin" which holds up the theory that the ancients who changed in 2 phases:
    • From their normal form (The form depicted in the Mage statue) into the form they took depicted in the Atrium statues
    • Then from the form depicted in the Atrium statues and then "molting" out of it and into the Terror Beak.
      • The same could be assumed of the "Head" statue" and the Crawling horror if this line of thinking were to be followed though no depiction of the corrupt form of the Head statue is yet to be seen.
  • Again, nightmare fuel changes and corrupts and therefore we can also assume that like the Ancient Guardian, the Shadow Weaver was also one of the ancients but since he -- titled the "Shadow Weaver", his de facto title -- would be assumed to have handled more nightmare fuel than anyone and therefore become more corrupted/or had another reaction to the nightmare fuel changing him into a horned being.
  • The Ancient Weaver-- and @Spaartan posts at this point of me writing...
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(People posting before me! At least it ain't a double post then eh?)

So a friend brought up that the "Lend me your power, one last time," may be referring to the Woven Shadows that they summon, and not whatever lies on the other side of the gate. Sooooo.... I took a looksie and noticed something.

stalker_minion_idle.gif.275862fa93f5df4estalker_minion2_idle.gif.b370e78b6b3f89f

Hands and faces.

Now applying it to theory, immediately I knew one hole this could plug.

2peE1R9.png

The spines, the large mouth, the thin base. It all works, but then there was the hands. They just... aren't there...

Perhaps a bit more of a stretch is this...

RzV1Teq.png

I've always been curious about this. They look similar, but the atrium one lacks a face... it does have teeth tho.

(Still don't know what to make of the recurring strange brown substance)

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21 minutes ago, Zeklo said:

I've always been curious about this. They look similar, but the atrium one lacks a face... it does have teeth tho.

(Still don't know what to make of the recurring strange brown substance)

11 minutes ago, Spaartan said:

Its probably pre-shedded bug people

I don't know how I forgot to mention...

The Nightmare fuel appears to be "devolving" the ancient's forms but inversely, evolving their minds...

We see that the original depiction of the ancients were more, for a lack of a better word, "dapper" than the atrium forms... which would mean that from the more sophisticated forms, the nightmare fuel "devolved" their forms into that of a more nightmarish state, growing spines on their backs, the faces receding into their bodies and ultimately, hardening and shedding its skin and (as stated in a quote of monsters bursting out of them) coming out as the nightmare creatures... as with the evolutionary process seen in the real world, snakes used to have limbs which receded back as time passed; we would explain why the arms are not present in the terror beaks...

EDIT:

Quote

WILL WE NEED TO PUT SOMETHING THERE? THERE ARE THREE RIGHT? MAYBE WE KILL 3 BOSSES TO FILL EACH STATUE??!!

Or he could be looking at his hands saying "what have we done?" but then again, it changes to a form where it's raising up nightmare fuel so there's that...

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3 minutes ago, Spaartan said:

WAIIIT, WHAT IS HE HOLDING?!

WILL WE NEED TO PUT SOMETHING THERE? THERE ARE THREE RIGHT? MAYBE WE KILL 3 BOSSES TO FILL EACH STATUE??!!

IAMHPYED

The thulecite statues will carrying gems in the sockets on occasion, and the atrium ones, during a nightmare cycle, hold up their hands holding nightmare fuel.

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2 minutes ago, Asparagus said:

I don't know how I forgot to mention...

The Nightmare fuel appears to be "devolving" the ancient's forms but inversely, evolving their minds...

We see that the original depiction of the ancients were more, for a lack of a better word, "dapper" than the atrium forms... which would mean that from the more sophisticated forms, the nightmare fuel "devolved" their forms into that of a more nightmarish state, growing spines on their backs, the faces receding into their bodies and ultimately, hardening and shedding its skin and (as stated in a quote of monsters bursting out of them) coming out as the nightmare creatures... as with the evolutionary process seen in the real world, snakes used to have limbs which receded back as time passed; we would explain why the arms are not present in the terror beaks...

 

I have a feeling it is the other way around, they were very low people, looking like rags (A tortured soul? Because they were in the brink of death, low food, civilization, everything). They praised, Them, thus arms raised, to offer tribute. They became more advanced, enter thulecite form, then nightmare form where the nightmares inside come out

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2 minutes ago, Quoth143 said:

Calling it now, the Fuel Weaver is the Ancient version of Maxwell/Wilson. Someone out to gain knowledge only for it to go horribly wrong for themselves and others. 

Curious accidental dorkage goes throughout the ages.

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8 minutes ago, Spaartan said:

I have a feeling it is the other way around, they were very low people, looking like rags (A tortured soul? Because they were in the brink of death, low food, civilization, everything). They praised, Them, thus arms raised, to offer tribute. They became more advanced, enter thulecite form, then nightmare form where the nightmares inside come out

If that's the case, then the forms would be: Atrium Statue --> Mage statue --> Shadows?

RzV1Teq.png

Well philosophically, sure, the advancement of society came at the cost of their souls... making their outsides sophisticated while they were getting more and more rotten on the inside... eventually, this evil bursts out of them and their primal forms burst out even more devolved...

...

There's something about the progression the ruins and becoming more and more "civilized" the further away it is from the Atrium... like sure keeping to that, they were lowly and desperate and created the portal/sought power from the portal and then made their civilization making the starting point the Atrium, the heart and the civilization branching out of it to what we now see as the ruins... but that could also contradict with the depictions of the murals... in a way...

**stomach grumbles** I need food O__O

**gets up from computer and does not finish post**

 

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Personally I feel like the Atrium was a worship ground or a cult meeting place. The ancients were similar to the Rock Lobsters, only mildly more intelligent more bug like in appearance. Once they've interacted with the fuel, somehow the properties of it and their thulecite bodies caused them to become more powerful.

While overuse of the fuel was what lead to their downfall, you can see that all the magnificiant and magical things in the Ruins are made out of Thulecite and Fuel, and they all still function.

I think that overtime they started utilizing their own skin for thulecite, in order to utilize the fuel in better ways. The Head statues were actually reduced to just a head after enough parts of them were used for things, but their mind managed to make up for it. Besides, all of the statues have sockets. Either they contain gems, which implies the ancient that they once were, actually stored the gem inside of them in order to fully use its abilities on itself(An ability we imitate with the Psuedo Science Station's craftables), or nothing which wields an extra nightmare fuel and has a chance to even spawn a nightmare, meaning they didn't use the fuel enough to burst out of the husk fully.

Depth Worms were likely just the product of the fuel changing some Glowberrys' roots into the worms, explaining how their berries are entirely normal and healthy, and in fact are even stronger than the ones without a worm. Slurpers were that but for lightbulbs, explaining how their eyes are actually just the plant's bulb.

The Splumonkeys were probably brought in by the ancients to become test subjects, so they can see the fuel's effect on another living being. And here is where this gets interesting. The only shadows in the game are either made out of fuel and manifest when the nightmare fuel source(the cycle) is at its peak, the splumonkeys which only transform once that happens, meaning it takes a significiant amount of fuel to trigger their transformation, even while its incomplete, the beardlords and beardlings, which are probably always looking like this but you can't grasp their true form until your sanity is low enough to let the fuel affect you, shadow creatures which become physical once your sanity is low enough(as if they prey on a weak mind), Charlie(which has been changed by Them), and the Shadow Pieces(changed by Charlie).

The murals support my theory that once the ancients used too much fuel on themselves, due to how powerful the interaction of Nightmare Fuel and Thulecite is, the fuel and their mind just burst out of their bodies, becoming Shadow Creatures. You can only prototype the Psuedo Science Station's recipes as your mind doesn't meet the requirements to contain such knowldge. 

This process is similar to what Charlie caused the Shadow Pieces to go through. From their normal form, they petrified, and once their husk was broken, their shadowy forms were revealed. Thing is, they're the closest to a Shadow Creature anyone but Charlie has become. The only thing differentiating them is that they still need the Atrium to access their full abilities, where's normal shadow creatures are pure fuel. The Stalker, furthermore, is revived via this heart, and needs to be at the peak of the nightmare cycle in the atrium, where by the looks of the statues, they accepted their transformation, embracing the fuel. The further away it is from that high fuel source, the less mental capacity it possesses. And while its form is shadowy, it is still based on his skeleton, meaning it is not yet properly transformed.

TLDR: Atrium statues were a cult, cult finds fuel, fuel makes thulecite made insect people smart and powerful, insect people use their own skin and flesh in ways to utilize its interaction with the fuel, they burst out of their bodies as Shadow Creatures, and other than being near the source of the Fuel at it's peak, they may only manifest to prey on a weak mind in an attempt to take on a new body to replace the one they lost. Charlie's Shadow Pieces are a prime example of the transformation process, while it also shows that without thulecite, the entity cannot become a fully morphed creature. 

I discussed this with @Sketched_Philo a while ago, thought it would be fitting to throw our own theories in. 

Edit: Just got time to wach the video. Appearently we both were onto a bunch of the same things, heh.

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