Lore of Rain World

This page contains the lore and backstory of Rain World. The contents of this article should always be supported by evidence from texts and excerpts found in the game.

Please discuss potential changes on the talk page to ensure your any additions are valid.

The events that transpired from the start to the end of the Rain World universe are complicated and entangled. The 's journey across the world is also riddled with clues and subtle messages of the past. Far more than just finding a home and a return to its family, its adventure is also a search for truth.

A number of pieces of evidence and excerpts acquired over the course of the game's storyline offer a logical and well-supported explanation in regard to the cause of the world's current state of decay and disrepair.

The game's original timeline is distinct and separate from the events of the Downpour DLC, which is considered an official alternative universe. For this reason, all Downpour-related lore has its own section at the bottom of the page.

The Ancients and Void Fluid
Eons ago, an ancient civilization inhabited the planet. Even such a developed society could not escape the grasp of the Great Cycle that impacted all living creatures. Birth, death and rebirth were connected to each other like a ring, making true death impossible. Death would simply result in a new awakening—a restart, a repeat. Stuck within a deathless loop of agonizing longevity, it had long been this civilization's goal to break free of this cycle—a process known as transcendence.

Even far before the storyline of Rain World began, methods and spiritual instructions were devised by beings such as monks to rid oneself of natural urges. These methods were practiced in an effort to escape the Great Cycle, but there is no indication that these instructions were able to achieve any success.

The situation changed drastically, however, with the Void Fluid Revolution. At some point in their history, the ancient civilization discovered what later came to be known as Void Sea far below the surface in the Depths. The Void Sea was comprised entirely of Void Fluid. While it was difficult to harvest the fluid due to its nature of dissolving anything that comes into contact, devices known as Void Drills were invented to gather up small amounts Void Fluid embedded in rocks slightly above the Void Sea, where its concentration is lower and wouldn't pose a risk to the equipment. The impurities such as rock and sediments were then filtered out to obtain a sample of the pure liquid.

This fluid was soon found to be an outstanding source of energy. Technological advancement quickly boomed, and the ancient civilization reached the height of its power.

After further studies, it was found that the Void Fluid does not just dissolve objects, it also removes them from the physical realm. Attempts were made to dig even deeper into the Depths to find higher concentrations of Void Fluid as well as uncover more information about it, but the ancients' equipment simply broke or dissolved. As later described, no one returned if they ventured too deep into the Depths. However, this property of the Void Fluid coincided with what the ancients thought to be the solution to escaping the Great Cycle. The civilization believed that the ability of the Void Fluid to remove one from the physical world was the transcendence they had longed for. Since any that came into contact with Void Fluid did not return, it was inferred that they must have broken free of the cycle. However, a risk was associated with taking the plunge into Void Sea to escape the world. Not even Void Fluid was enough to remove those with sufficiently large egos from the physical realm. This resulted in some "horror stories" in regards to semi-transcended abominations. Several ancients that did not entirely transcend are likely to be the six Echoes scattered in the world. These creatures claim to know how to transcend, but express a sense of regret and sorrow at being trapped between the mortal realm and the transcended realm.

In order to transcend, it seems that one would have to abandon all attachments and desires, entering an "effortless" state. The ancients once again turned to archaic methods to rid of one's natural urges and ego before deciding to use Void Fluid in order to avoid failure in transcendence. However, this seemed not to be an entirely perfect solution, which would explain why Iterators were constructed (see below).

Creating and Using the Iterators
The ancient civilization began using its technological prowess to create and construct the iterators. Iterator was the name given to artificial superintelligences of colossal size and incredible power that were constructed to solve the 'Great Problem'—to find the method of breaking free of the Great Cycle without the use of Void Fluid.

Seven iterators have been named but there are up to twelve total (including the named seven) which have been seen in-game. The seven mentioned are:
 * (5P)
 * ("Big Sis Moon" to iterators she is close to, such as Five Pebbles) (LttM,BSM)
 * (SoS)
 * Seven Red Suns (SRS)
 * Chasing Wind (CW)
 * Unparalleled Innocence (UI)
 * No Significant Harassment (NSH)

The Iterators were a combination of organic and synthetic components, relying on specially grown microorganisms as peripheral processing devices: their natural metabolism and reproduction could perform very complex calculations beyond the capabilities of electronics physically. In order to keep their electronic components cool and their organic components clean, iterators required absolutely gargantuan amounts of water. The iterators stripped their nearby ecosystems of water and pumped water vapor back into the atmosphere, where it would condense into rain and be used again. Due to this process and the sheer number of iterators built, the equilibrium of the world's ecosystems was severely disrupted or even destroyed, creating a dense layer of fog and clouds rife with torrential downpours and periodic flooding. Ultimately, this effect came to be known as the Rain. The ancient civilization compensated for this by moving away from living on the surface, and constructed immense, dense cities directly on top of the surface of the iterators' "cans"—massive, square shaped buildings which protruded like islands far above the cloud layer. In addition to computing the solution to the Great Problem of transcendence, the iterators were tasked with providing regular shipments of food, water, equipment and Void Fluid for energy to these colonies.

Fall of the Ancients and Pebbles' Madness
Unfortunately, the ancient civilization disappeared and collapsed before the iterators computed the solution to the Great Problem due to an as-of-yet unknown reason, possibly because the iterators could no longer satisfy the needs of the populace, or perhaps a massive transcendence movement of the entire population, leaving the surface cities dark and abandoned if largely intact. However, the iterators were left turned on, their final command being to continue working towards a method to transcend without using Void Fluid and guide lesser creatures on the path to the realm beyond should the solution ever be discovered. Over the next indeterminate amount of cycles up until the start of the game, the iterators did not achieve any major breakthroughs. Only claimed to have uncovered the solution, but she died almost simultaneously as the confirmation of success was broadcasted to the other iterators, causing the methods in which she attained this positive result to be lost.

Unable to find the solution after 's ascension and growing increasingly frustrated, another iterator—Five Pebbles—became convinced there was no solution to the great problem, there was no reason to keep trying to solve it, and that death was the only way out. It is likely he showed these beliefs off in iterator chat logs under the pseudonym EP, or Erratic Pulse. The ancients had anticipated this kind of thinking, however, and put taboos preventing self destruction within the iterator's genetics. One (and perhaps the only) way to circumvent these taboos was a very dangerous and repetitive shuffling of genetics that required a heightened water intake. The goal was to cause cells to mutate until the desired genetics were obtained: ones that would overwrite the encoded taboos. It is very likely Five Pebbles used this method to attempt overwriting his genetics. At some point Five Pebbles began drawing several times the usual amount of water, tapping into the neighboring iterator, Looks to the Moon's water source. Attempts by Moon to persuade Pebbles that water shortages would be fatal to her failed and she had to leverage her seniority in an attempt to make him stop, to which Pebbles responded that this plea has "ruined everything". Upon being interrupted, Five Pebbles lost focus of his genetic shuffling, and it is likely it became what is known as the Rot (or Daddy Long Legs). Five Pebbles attempted to rid his systems of the Rot, doing things such as flushing it out into Garbage Wastes, but it has proven resilient and still resides within him, slowly consuming more and more, day by day. It is unknown if Five Pebbles still uses extra water during the time that the three playable s take place in. Due to many cycles lacking water, Looks to the Moon's processes eventually seized, her facility compromised, and her primary cognitive unit descended into an amnesic, near-death state. The fate of Seven Red Suns, Chasing Wind, and Unparalleled Innocence is unknown, but No Significant Harassment is active and well at the start of The Hunter's story.

The Timeline of the Hunter, Survivor, and Monk
Hunter is sent by NSH with a pearl and a slag-reset neuron to help Moon in her state of decay. The Survivor's story is based on the scenario that the delivered the neuron and revived Moon, with the rest of its choices unknown. In the 's transcendence scene, the Hunter is seen with a strange purple goo coming out of it, before being seen in the arms of an iterator-like figure, presumably NSH.

One interpretation of this cutscene is that the Hunter was injected with some of NSH's microbes, and then sent by NSH to transcend under the cover of helping Moon. The goo seen coming out of the Hunter is believed to be these microbes. This also explains 's sickness- like in the Iterators, slag would build up off these microbes being worked, and would thus lead to organ failure in the organism. By doing this, NSH was able to effectively break the self-destruction taboo, enabling them to transcend with the Hunter.

A second interpretation is that the goo is the 's sickness (in this case presumed to be either cancer or some other terminal illness rather than slag buildup) being removed from its body upon transcending.

Sometime after these events, is separated from its family by heavy rainfall, and is eventually guided by one of Moon's s. The  leads the Survivor towards Moon with images of its family and encourages the  to bring additional neurons to repair her memory. After visiting Moon, the Survivor travels to Five Pebbles, achieves the Mark, and transcends. However, the player can choose to not transcend and/or steal neurons from Five Pebbles and give them to Moon. The player can also skip visiting Pebbles and Moon entirely, and instead pursue the es to gain maximum karma and transcend that way. The, upon transcending, is taken to the Void where many other transcended s are shown.

The is seemingly a younger sibling to the, jumping after its older sibling during the beginning cutscene. The 's story seems to take place shortly after the Survivor's story, but long enough that the world's have faded and no longer contain information. The is left with the same options as the  in terms of meeting the iterators and transcending. As of 1.7, it is revealed in the 's ascension cutscene that it finds the 's spirit in the Void.

The ending cutscenes could also be interpreted as the s' wishes manifesting as final dreams as they lose consciousness in the void fluid: the Hunter dreaming of being back with NSH, the finding its family and the  being reunited with its sibling.

Downpour - Campaigns
Rain World: Downpour, while not being canon, has a significant amount of lore in it, some hidden, some obvious. The campaigns of the new Slugcats happen at various times in the timeline, the most notable being the Saint, which happens in the far future. What is defined to happen, is not theoretically what can happen in game, but what canonically happens. The following Slugcat campaigns will be in timeline order.

Spearmaster
The earliest campaign in the timeline is that of the. The Spearmaster is a messenger for Seven Red Suns, and, in its campaign, goes to Five Pebbles to deliver a message. It is accompanied by a red overseer, one of Sun's. At some point in the campaign, it reaches Pebbles, who rips a data peart out of it's innards, then proceeds to cut Sun out of his life by destroying the red overseer. After this, the Spearmaster is sent to Moon's can, which is in mid-collapse. Moon rewrites the pearl that was previously ripped out of Spearmaster's stomach, and spearmaster takes it to Communications Arrays, which contains Moon's last message to her local group before collapsing. Spearmaster then returns to Sun, and lives out its life as a housecat.

Artificer
The campaign is much more small-scale in the sense that it doesn't really have a greater impact on the timeline at large, and is instead a more focused, character-driven story.

Throughout the entirety of her campaign, the Artificer is in constant conflict with the, having a hard-locked negative reputation with them at all times. As a result of all this bloodshed, the Artificer is constantly stuck at the lowest level of Karma, which represents the natural urge for violence and wrath. As a result, she must carry the corpses of the Scavengers she kills in order to boost her Karma in order to cross through higher-level Karma Gates. The reasons for the Artificer's violence are gradually inferred through dream-sequence cutscenes that play every now and then during hibernation. She was previously a mother to two s, however, it is implied that both were killed by Scavengers after straying too close to their treasures, thus putting her on a quest to avenge their deaths.

At the start of the campaign, the finds a small drone that then proceeds to follow her on her journey to  can. When she arrives, Pebbles reveals that the drone was originally a Citizen ID Drone from the civilization of the Ancients named Sothanthiel, and repairs it to a functional state again. He decides to capitalize on the Artificer's bloodlust for the and informs her that their main base of operations can be found in the abandoned  atop his can, and offers to let her in so she can enact her revenge, which would make her happy as well as stop the Scavengers from dismantling his architecture for scrap metal.

After this, the player has two options. They can either go into Metropolis and assassinate the, with the taking over its mantle and erraticating the remaining Scavengers from Metropolis and into Garbage Wastes and Industrial Complex , or they can ascend, which shows a cutscene of Artificer holding her pups for the last time before transforming into an  as the sins she has committed have locked her into Karma level one.

Gourmand
The is a Slugcat sent by the Tree Tribe of the Slugcats to scout out new land for homes. He travels to Pebbles, who opens the Retaining Wall for him. This also infers that Slugcats are not from the facility grounds, and may be a genetically created species, descended from a purposed organism that was a messenger. Anyway, travels back to Outer Expanse, and lives happily ever after, with his kids. After opening the Retaining Wall as the, Survivor and Monk can access Outer Expanse.

Rivulet
The heads into the Drainage System, presumably sent from another Iterator because the Rivulet opens with the Mark of Communication. The Rivulet heads to Five Pebbles, who is almost completely consumed by the rot. In an attempt to partially redeem himself, he asks the Rivulet to grab his and give it to. (Might want to add more to this one later)

The Saint
The Saint's campaign is notable for taking place in the distant future. So far into the future, in fact, that the world seems to have entered a sort of ice age, as the torrential rain that once plagued the world has now become replaced with endless blizzards and snowfall, with various species, namely Lizards, evolving adaptations like fur to survive the brutal cold. The world has changed in countless ways: has collapsed on top of the  creating the, the Rot has largely died off from places like the , nearly every region in the game has been renamed due to the passage of time, and more.

Because of this, and  have fallen into deep disrepair, and don't really have any clear-cut objectives for the Saint, in contrast to the other Slugcats of the Downpour DLC. As a result, Saint's campaign is relatively straightforward and similar to the : they must explore the world, increase their Karma level by meeting all of the Echoes throughout the world, then ascend by traveling into the Depths of. Upon completing their pilgrimage, they gain the ability to ascend other creatures, which can be optionally used to finally free and  from their earthly prisons should the player feel like backtracking that far.

When the time has come, the Saint will head down into the Depths as per usual, though in Saint's case, they must traverse through the hellish pseudo-mirror world of and enter the pool of Void Fluid at the top of the region. If the player chose to ascend and  as mentioned previously, they will be present in the puppet chamber that comes just before the ending with some unique dialogue. After entering the Void Fluid and swimming past the, a lone Worm will swim up to the Saint. The Saint proceeds to use its ascension ability on it, seemingly resetting its own karmic loop and sending it back at the start of the game as a slideshow of moments from the playthrough flashes on the screen as the tentacles of an echo jut from the Saint's body. The Saint is teleported to the start of it's campaign, with the distortion of an Echo and a golden ghost Slugcat (similar to the ones you can see in Monk and Artificer) next to it. The golden ghost dissapears, and so does the distortion, causing the credits to roll.

Downpour - Additions to Vanilla Lore
work on this soon - bent