Note: This article contains spoilers including the story and ending of Little Nightmares.
The ending to Little Nightmares has a lot of players naturally puzzled. As the eerie end credits rolled, a lot of fans spent time gazing at their screens wondering what they had just witnessed. Once the credits ended, many people came up with their own theories as to what had happened, although some don’t quite add up.
After scratching my head wondering what the undoubtedly baffling ending meant, I came up with my own theories as to what occurred. As I started to connect pieces of the puzzle for myself, I started to notice why so many players found Little Nightmares so appealing.
What’s outstanding is that the entire tale is communicated without the use of dialogue, returning back to the days of silent film. While the characters do moan and groan, there is no text in Little Nightmares whatsoever.
As a result, Little Nightmares is subtle yet impactful, similar to some of the best video game stories. Be that as it may, the ending is clearly baffling. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s first review the story of the awesome puzzle game with horror elements, Little Nightmares.
Little Nightmares Story Explained
Little Nightmare begins with a very short, dark cutscene of a lady who appears to be wearing a mask. Since the brief cut scene is blurry, we don’t fully understand who she is at this point in the game. Later on, we discover that she’s a Geisha-like figure known as the Lady. Frightened by the nightmare, Six, the lead protagonist, rapidly wakes up from the comfort of her not-so-comfy looking suitcase.
But where is she? Six is on the lower deck of a vessel known as the Maw, a ship she’s likely been on for most of her life. We say this since there are several photos hung to the side of the suitcase, items that suggest she’s been on the vessel for some time.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t start hanging photos in a room I don’t plan on sleeping in long-term. Especially not in a suitcase. As Six leaves her gloomy bedroom in an attempt to escape the prison, you’ll notice that her only possession is a lighter found in the pocket of her bright yellow raincoat.
This, as well as her climbing skills, is useful for travelling through the dark vessel and it’s very tight spaces. While she plans her escape, Six is almost immediately pursued by some of the wicked inhabitants of The Maw. Soon after eventually escaping from her enemies, Six encounters the Eye Security System. This system is used to fittingly keep an eye on the prisoners of the Maw who, if spotted by the Eye, are immediately incinerated.
Lovely, isn’t it? As this is the case, Six learns to stay hidden in the shadows to avoid the Watchful Eye.
Not long after she discovers the Eye Security System, Six learns that there are more abducted children on board who are kept away in gloomy cages. Others seem to have their own room, toys, and food to survive. Possibly to make them fat and healthy enough before the Guests chow down on their flesh and bones.
As to be expected, Six is one of the starving children, skinny from lack of food, which in turn, makes her weak. As she holds her stomach in agony while attempting to make her way through the ship, a caged child can clearly see that Six is starving. As a response, the unknown child throws the small protagonist a loaf of bread.
Later on in the game, Six finds herself locked away in a cage thanks to the blind Janitor who managed to capture her. Shortly after being captured, she finally manages to escape, facing the Janitor for herself in a head-to-head chase that leads to him losing both of his extra-long arms.
While attempting to find a way out, Six ends up in the Kitchen where she meets repulsive Twin Chefs for the first time. In need of meat, the Chefs attempt to capture Six in order to serve her to the Guests.
But by this point, Six knows how to avoid the inhabitants of the Maw, so she scuffles through the Kitchen and makes her way to the upper decks.
Not today, Satan!
On the upper deck, Six notices the Guests boarding the Maw one-by-one, too plump to pass one another. “Why are they piling onto the ship,” you may ask?
To partake in an unlimited buffet served by the Lady, the same woman we briefly saw in the first cut scene. I mean, who wouldn’t want to eat as much food as possible in one sitting? Too bad most of the food is made from the bodies of the Captured Children.
Once she avoids the greedy Guests, Six eventually finds herself in the Lady’s shady abode. After running away from the hungry Guests on an empty stomach, Six is now clearly starving. As she enters a room in the house, a Nome offers Six a sausage almost as big as herself.
Hungry, confused and inevitably terrified, she refuses the sausage and instead feasts on the innocent Nome. Is Six slowly turning mad just like the other inhabitants of the Maw? Maybe she’s just desperate and delusional? At this point, maybe the only thing you can ask yourself is, “Why?”
Little Nightmares Ending Explained
After devouring the innocent Nome, Six follows the mysterious Lady up to her dark living quarters. As we will address in detail, later on, the Lady of the Maw is a Geisha-like leader who smashes every mirror in sight.
As a result, the Lady has never seen her own reflection and, much like Six, remains in the shadows of the vessel. The Lady is also known for her power of stealing the life force from other beings, a power that Six wants for herself. Why does she want this power?
To defeat the wicked Guests who previously attempted to devour her. With the intention of obtaining life absorption, Six uses a mirror to force the Lady to look at her own reflection, causing her to become weak and eventually knocking her back. Conquered, she eventually collapses to the floor before Six consumes her as she did with the Nome.
At the end of the game, Six returns back to the dining hall and uses the life absorption power to swallow the souls of every Guest that attempts to get close to her. As she walks into the sunlight, the Nomes watch as Six leaves the Maw alive and full.
Full of human flesh, nevertheless, she’s certainly not hungry anymore. Once the end credits finish rolling, Six appears small on top of the large Maw, a vessel that could initially be mistaken for an island with a lighthouse or a large chimney. Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that the Watchful Eye symbol appears above a door that Six previously walked out of. Now if that doesn’t give you 1984 vibes, then I don’t know what will.
What Is The Maw?
Little Nightmares takes place entirely on a strange underwater vessel known as the Maw. Every year, the mobile island arrives at the exact same time, but never in the same location.
Once the vessel arrives in an unknown place, the hungry Guests pour in, hungry and ready to stuff their faces with food made by the Twin Chefs. Once their bellies are full, some say that the Lady eventually kills them for her own immortality.
Others, including myself, say that they are processed into food and served to next year’s Guests who will also be processed into meat. What are your thoughts on the matter? Either way, they will never return home to tell the tale of what occurred on the Maw.
Important Characters of the Maw
As you may now be aware, the Maw is full of interesting and scary-looking characters: some you may want to befriend, others you certainly want to avoid. Needless to say, some strange characters of the Maw stand out more than others.
Unfortunately, players aren’t given much information in regard to the range of characters onboard. For this exact reason, we have decided to share some information on some of the most important characters in the game. Let’s start the list off with the main protagonist, shall we?
Six
As the haunting experience begins, you take control of a tiny nine-year-old girl known as Six. No, not Eleven from Stranger Things, Six from Little Nightmares.
Bearing nothing but lighter, basic climbing skills and a vivid yellow raincoat, she looks like she should be hanging out with Pennywise in the sewers underneath Derry.
But instead, she’s confined in a vessel known as The Maw. On a mission to escape, she begins her course by making her way through the lowest deck of the ship. Aside from her bright yellow coat, one thing you’ll immediately notice is how skinny she is, indicating that she’s in a malnourished state.
Nevertheless, she’s determined, ready to do what it takes to survive on the ship.
Who Is the Lady?
First appearing at the beginning of Little Nightmares, the Lady is a Geisha-like leader of the Maw who is said to cast a spell that keeps the engines running.
Many theories suggest that Six is the daughter of the Lady who imprisoned her for being more beautiful than she is. Considering the Lady is obsessed with beauty, spending most of her time obsessed with her appearance, such a theory makes sense.
Although, some players may disagree. Despite the fact that she’s obsessed with her looks, the Lady is known for smashing every mirror in sight since she can’t bear to look at her own reflection. Which is likely why she wears a mask to cover her face.
The Captured Children
As you progress through Little Nightmares, you’ll notice that Six isn’t the only child on board. As a matter of fact, Six, the Girl and the Runaway kid meet many children who were also captured by the residents of The Maw.
Most of which can be found in a jail cell located at the bottom of the vessel. Some are left in the darkness with no room to move, others are given toys to play with as they wait for the inevitable.
Sadly, it seems as though they are processed in the Kitchen and made into meat for the hungry Guests. Just when you thought Little Nightmare couldn’t get any more frightening…yikes!
The Twin Chefs
The Twin Chefs are vulgar enemies in Little Nightmares that spend their day in the kitchen cooking and processing food for the hungry Guests. With that being said, as repulsive as they look on the outside, we don’t actually know what their real faces look like since they are both wearing masks.
One theory is that the Twin Chefs used two corpses from some visitors of the Maw to make their masks and possibly a whole body suit. Which makes sense considering the Guests are just as plump and gruesome as the Chefs themselves.
The Guests
The main purpose of the Maw is to feed the guests who travel to the vessel annually to partake in a seemingly never-ending feast.
For the visitors, the Maw functions as a resort where they can satisfy their large appetites by devouring as much food as they can get their hands on. Who wouldn’t want to board a ship where you can overindulge on what seems to be the best food and drink in town?
As visitors pour in annually, the Guests appear to be an important part of the Maw’s life-cycle in that it wouldn’t exist without them.
Once on-board, the Guests spend most, if not all of their day devouring the food prepared and cooked by the masked Twin Chefs. As if the feast wasn’t already enough, the Guests are evidently willing to kill, fight and even die for more food as they attempt to chase Six across the dining hall.
The Janitor
Every kitchen requires a janitor to clean, sanitize and prepare the space ready for cooking the best food in town. On the other hand, this is the Maw we are talking about, so we didn’t expect the Janitor to have a bucket and mop in hand.
As a matter of fact, I don’t think he’s even capable of carrying a brush since he is known for his bizarrely long arms that contrast his very short legs. He’s basically the opposite of a T-Rex.
Instead, this caretaker prefers to patrol the Maw looking for any trespassers such as the escaped children. One thing you’ll immediately notice is that the Janitor is blind, but that definitely doesn’t stop him.
The Nomes
The Nomes are timid little creatures with papery white skin found across the Maw: sometimes dead, other times alive. Given that they are so small, the Nomes can easily outrun anyone on the vessel, which is likely why the other inhabitants don’t seem to bother them. At least, they were fine until Six decided to eat some of them in order to satisfy her hunger. As the expression goes: “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”
In total, there are thirteen Nomes that Six interacts within Little Nightmares. When noticed, most of them will run away into tight spaces, possibly to avoid being eaten.
In the Secrets of the Maw DLC, we discover who the Nomes really are. After escaping the long-armed Janitor, the Runaway Kid attempts to get away with the help of the Nomes who he requires to power the furnace. Using them to solve puzzles, the kid eventually befriends the Nomes on his journey through the Maw.
Once they finally light the furnace, they all gather around the hot flame where their shadows can be seen. Albeit, some shadows aren’t as you’d expect. The shadows cast by the little Nomes reveal not themselves, but the shadows of the captured children, which suggests that the Lady transformed them into Nomes as punishment.
Conclusion
Little Nightmares is an emotional rollercoaster that ended with us all simultaneously saying: “What the crap?!” Puzzled, curious and honestly slightly disturbed, many of us came up with our own theories as to what happened. Some ideas totally make sense, while others don’t seem to add up at all. Which is why we’re curious as to what you think happened on the Maw. If you have any theories as to the story and the ending, feel free to let us know below.
Even though we did spoil the entire game, we highly recommend picking it up for yourself if you haven’t yet played it already. After all, nothing beats playing the game for yourself. To further improve your experience with the game, we suggest turning off the lights, putting on a high-quality gaming headset and turning the volume way up. Just, remember to wash your hands after you inevitably poop your pants.
If you’re too tough to scare, then you may be interested in reading our guide to the best horror games on the market. But be warned: these games are sure to keep you up at night.