Confusion with Archive Outfits
This may be very unimportant and dumb to ask about, but there is something I’ve been wondering about some lore outfits from the Archives. Maybe others are wondering this too, or they already know the explaination to it and I’m just an idiot. You can also roll your eyes about this, thinking I’m overthinking something that does not matter at all. But hear me out.
I love the Archives and what it does to enhance the lore of this game, and with that, I also love that the Rift can reward players with outfits relating to the backstory of the characters that you’ve just unlocked. I personally don’t have much with outfits that don’t have anything to do with the lore. Don’t get me wrong, many cosmetics in the store are simply amazing, making characters look completely different with awesome detail, it’s just not my thing. These lore outfits, on the other hand, are way more up my alley, because they reference an event from a character’s past.
But... some of these outfits from the characters don’t make much sense in the context of their story... in my point of view anyway, I may be missing something that explains it all.
There are a good bunch of outfits that make a lot of sense. Kate’s Flower in the Dark, Rin’s Accursed Armor, Claudette’s Lab Intern. These are outfits for several occassions because... well, that’s what people do, they have several outfits for different moments. Kate tries to empty her head by going outside, so she has an outfit for hiking. Rin has kendo lessons, so she has armor for protection during those lessons. Claudette has gloves, an ID card and a jacket, because she is a student collecting samples outside. These make perfect sense. This goes for Jane and mostly David too.
But there are some outfits where the “occassion” argument doesn’t apply, and I don’t know if there is another explanation. This is mostly with Killer outfits. Julie from the Legion is the most confusing to me. So, her outfit gained in Tome III is the Bush Party outfit. What makes it so confusing to me is... why does she wear it in the cutscene of Soldiers of Mayhem? In fact, why do all members have the Empty Stare mask in it? Why don’t they have their base masks in it? It would seem to me that the grinning mask of Frank and Julie would be the one they would use standard. It is basically their trademark. At the last note of the story, Julie says “All we need now is a proper mask.” after giving them a bunch of plain ones, probably the Empty Stare, considering the cutscene you unlock upon gaining this note is about the moment right after it. What bothers me is, this cutscene portrays the exact moment we’ve read about in the standard backstory of the Legion. The first kill that immediatly caught the attention of the Entity. I feel like that, in an important moment like this, especially the one right before they get caught by the Entity, they would have their base outfit we first saw once they were added, not the one we actually see in the cutscene. Not to mention the Legion Pin add-on they have. With something like that, you would think their grinning mask is something iconic they would constantly use to identify themselves.
Herman is also slightly confusing to me. The head of MKAwakening outfit looks different from his base head. Also... why exactly would he do that to himself? I do know that this outfit references his early life working at the facility, or perhaps even before it. He also experimented with one of his fellow students the same way. But why would we see it happen on himself then? When, while working at the facility, would he have gained this look and why? Not to mention it would have serious consequences on his face to begin with, making it weird that he has to undergo this kind of make-over twice, when you consider the Entity’s forced modifications.
As for Evan, I do find it weird that he seems to have two Trapper outfits. I don’t see why he would have his base Trapper outfit and his Good Son one too. It does reference his earlier days though, with the description saying that he uncovered his true nature and that his weapon was a prototype for his cleaver. Still, I wonder why he would have that outfit too. In fact, I wonder why he would have any outfit like that, including his base, prior to being caught by the Entity, seeing as he wouldn’t really need it to get his dirty work done.
The last two I find slightly confusing, but not too much, and who are easier to explain away, are Dwight and Anna. With Dwight, I just wonder if he shouldn’t have his base outfit too, with the tie and all. To be fair though, it is possible to have several outfits for work. Besides, something tells me Story by Another Name takes place a few years before the standard backstory of Dwight, making it understandable that he wants to look more hip as an adolescent, thus Trendy Techy. Lastly, Anna, who kinda has the same thing going on as Legion, but with several possible explanations that make it make sense. First off, we see her standard backstory portrayed in the cutscene too. Seeing that killing soldiers could be the thing she does most, you would think that she would use her base outfit for this, to her, “normal” occassion. However, her outfit does consist of stolen soldier attire, because she needs to survive, and she’ll loot anything to do so, and a horse mask, which could be because she has several masks and, like a child, wants to use more of them on several occassions. Maybe at that moment she just decided to go with the horse mask.
These are my thoughts. Looking back though, specifically on Herman and Evan, maybe these aren’t supposed to be real outfits they actually, but more symbolic outfits of something that had happened in their lives. I do wonder why you saw flashes of Herman to his MKAwakening outfit in the cutscene in that case though...
Anyways, what do you think? Do you have any idea why exactly these outfits are related to the lore? I would love to hear your thoughts and to get an understanding of it all.
Again, maybe I’m just an idiot who just doesn't pick up basic clues to why things are the way they are. If that’s the case, please tell me it in a nice manner. 😂
Comments
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To answer each outfit you have a problem with.
1) Legion: honestly the entire Legion archives is a massive retcon. The cutscene retcons the the initial killing of the cleaner as Joey and Susie don't take part and Julie doesn't hesitate like she did in the original
Also also a lot of the text changes previously established elements Julie coming up with the name and the idea of the legion, vandalizing Joey's old place of work before they have their name or their staple mask setup makes even less sense considering Jeff is meant to paint the mural.
2,) This does indeed happen before Dwight initial backstory so there's no real problems here
3) it's likely that the huntress just used that outfit as a fear tactic against the soldiers rather than on it being something she regularly wears
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