The Pinocchio-Themed Characters of Lies of P

Exploring the links between Lies of P and The Adventures of Pinocchio, as well as that one forgotten film adaptation that currently sits at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

When developing a new Soulslike game, South Korean developer Neowiz Games wanted to make sure it had widespread appeal. For the setting, the art team focused on the concept of “Gotham Paris”. And so the architecture in the game is belle époque with a gothic twist, at once familiar and darkly different. While, for the story, the writers turned to Pinocchio for inspiration. But not so much the Disney version as the original Italian novel by Carlo Collodi.

The Adventures of Pinocchio is far more ghastly than the simplified Disney adaptation. For instance, the Disney film shows Pinocchio and his friend Lampwick being turned into donkeys. But it conveniently forgets Lampwick’s fate from the novel – he is worked to death at a farm – so that Pinocchio, and the audience, can revel in the puppet’s feel-good transformation. Other episodes from the novel that didn’t make the Disney cut include the killing of the Talking Cricket by Pinocchio with a hammer; the hanging of Pinocchio by a pair of assassins; the catching and near-frying of Pinocchio by the Green Fisherman (a monstrous cave-dwelling humanoid); and the surprise appearance of four ink-black rabbits carrying a small coffin meant for the boy puppet.

Lies of P focuses on the darkness of the original tale. Those four black rabbits are now a ragtag brotherhood of assassins, who seek to persecute Pinocchio whenever he spins a lie. The three mentors – Geppetto, the Blue Fairy, and the Talking Cricket – all feature in somewhat altered forms. Geppetto is less an aged grump and more a suave, fashionably dressed genius inventor, likely harbouring a dark secret or two. The Blue Fairy is Sophia, a blue-haired woman with magical powers, an otherworldly voice, and a curious affinity for butterflies. The Talking Cricket is Gemini, a crackle-voiced computer program housed inside a lantern. The characters have been changed to fit the fashionable, and automaton-centred, world of late 19th-century Paris.

There are characters in the game that merely allude to characters from the novel. For example, there is a flame-powered robot called Fuoco, who alludes to the character of Mangiafuoco from the novel, the menacing head of a puppet theatre. Similarly, the Parade Master, the very first boss in the game, alludes to the character of the circus ringmaster, a top-hat-and-tailcoat master of ceremonies who rules the donkey-Pinocchio with an iron whip. Through these playful allusions, Lies of P invites the player to think about the inspiration behind a name, and rediscover the classic children’s tale on which the game is based.

0:00 Introduction

1:07 Pinocchio

2:54 Sophia

3:22 Gemini

4:07 Parade Master

4:49 Antonia

5:07 Polendina

5:39 Mad Donkey

6:04 Geppetto

6:46 Venigni

7:18 Shark Sub

7:51 Fuoco

8:47 Black Rabbits

9:50 Conclusion

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