The Chinese version of the gameplay has much more details into the whole story’s lore, but I will try my best to interpret each story and piece them together with only the English version of the game. 

All information I used can be found on https://identityv.gamepedia.com/Lore but more links about the information can be found at the bottom of this site. 

The Beginning

The story begins with Orpheus, a detective who receives a letter discussing Mr. Reichenbach’s, a father searching for his lost daughter in the Oletus Manor.

However, the story is incomplete, and there are many times that aren’t answered. So far the game has only made the diary deductions for the main 4 survivors (plus Forward William Ellis) but that’s about it.

Due to the lack of updates on the other character’s deduction videos, some characters will remain listless (especially the newer ones) since there is little to no information about them. 

The Game

Although is no “confirmed” owner of the manor, I will go on the two most popular theories. Starting with Orpheus. So far we know that the survivors are playing is no later than the 1920s, because the Wild West ended around 1910. With the arms factory in ruins, making sense as, after WWI, all the weapons being produced were no longer needed after 1918. 

Orpheus is a detective who has two souls in his body. He starts an investigation to a mansion looking for a missing girl, but only comes upon many journals throughout the game. He begins reading each journal and starts to piece together what happened in the manor. The games play out as Orpheus’s memories, stating that each player in the game was doll-like. Which explains why the survivors in the game appear to have button eyes. 

Trying to understand the concept of the game, Orpheus enters the memories of these games as the “Lucky Guy” (as he isn’t actually a real player and is theorized to be the second soul in his body). Upon entering, he discovers that many of the hunters in the game were actually survivors first. With each player arriving at the manor at their own free will, in exchange for the Owner to give them something. 

For example, according to the diary, Leo Beck had been a survivor like everyone else but had broken one of the rules by not writing in his diary, thus returning to the game as a hunter. Now I believe that every hunter started as a survivor but they lost the game and are now forced to work with Miss Nightingale. 

In a more general aspect, all the hunters were entrusted with the mission of not letting any survivor escape from the manor; they do so by sending them back through the rocket chairs. , remember that the matches in Identity V are actually diary entries.

The Mysterious Owner of the Manor (or the creator of the “Game” is also the one who organizes the events). Inviting troubled people into the “Game” in exchange for some kind of grand prize to whoever wins it. No one can leave the manor until the game has been completed, even if the survivors die during a match.

The manor also has the ability to reincarnate survivors, just as they were able to bring Hell Ember (Leo Beck) back after the factory fire. Bringing him back as a hunter to guard and prevent any new survivors from escaping. 

Deduction Videos 

The gameplay sets out with 1v4 (one hunter versus 4 survivors) and there are already set groups in the lore, so I will organize each of the characters by their deduction groups. 

Video Theory #1

Manor Owner is Leo Beck (Hell Ember) who is the creator of the “game”. Leo Beck and Martha Remington (Beck) got married and had a daughter Lisa Beck, who has now renamed Emma Woods. 

But Lawyer (Freddy Riley) and Martha Becks had an affair and ran off together. Causing Leo Beck to grow in anger, and probably burned down the arms factory due to this. Which explains why in Lawyer’s deduction story there appeared a big man resembling Hell Ember and tried to attack him. 

The Doctor (Emily Dyer) for some odd reason wears the clothes of a nurse. But as innocent as she may look, she is hiding a secret, but soon enough the Lawyer finds out. Discovering that Emily Dyer is actually Lydia Jones, a doctor, who did illegal surgery on Martha Beck, killing her in the process.

Due to this guilt, the Lawyer must have killed the Doctor to avenge Martha. Which explains why the Doctor has an “Angel” costume… because she’s dead. 

Emma Woods gets sent to an orphanage (due to “daddy issues”) owned by the Thief (Kreacher Pierson). Emma gains psychological trauma and was sent to a clinic with Lydia Jones who promised to cure her as a child but couldn’t. , she performs electroshock therapy on Emma, causing her to go insane. 

Afterwards, the Thief (Kreacher Pierson) suddenly disappeared and many fans believe that he’s the one inside the scarecrow. The one that the Gardener (Emma Woods) burns down.

Video Theory #2

After ever four survivors, the game resets and the Owner brings in four new survivors to the “game”. But for some odd reason, this winter the game has five survivors… the Forward, Explorer, Magician, Mercenary, and the Wilding. 

Forward (William Ellis) and Magician (Servais Le Roy) have had some past conflict, involving ruining William’s future career in rugby. So far everyone else in the team is suspicious of the Magician. Meanwhile, the Forward begins checking around the mansion to see what everyone else is doing, when he catches Servais Le Roy and the Mercenary (Naib Subedar) dragging a boar’s body outside the mansion.

Discussing how they want to get rid of the “uncivilized one” which is the Forward (William Ellis)… The Magician (Servais Le Roy) had already been rumored to kill his own mentor, who’s to say what he’ll do to William. But one day Servais Le Roy goes missing, and the rest of the group theorized that if Servais is truly gone, then the Wilding (Murro) will take his place in the game. 

Later the Forward gets hungry and decided that he wants to eat the pig, asking the Mercenary to cook it for him, so he agrees. Upon finishing cooking the meal, he begins to question “Do you really want to eat that? It looks kind of disgusting” as a way to prevent Forward from actually eating it. Since the Magician probably told him to poison the Forward’s food. But the Mercenary doesn’t wish that fate upon him. 

Characters and their Connections 

Hell Ember (Leo Beck) is Gardener’s (Emma Woods) father. 

Lawyer (Freddy Riley) was “friends” with Leo Beck and convinced him to buy a failing arms factory. But he burned it down with him inside it when it failed. The Gardener (Emma Woods) was sent to an orphanage managed by the Thief (Kreacher Pierson). After the death of her parents, Doctor (Lydia Jones/Emily Dyer) decided to perform electroshock therapy on her but backfired when it caused Emma to go insane.

How he arrived at the manor:

Every hunter has their own motivations and reasons for going to the manor. Hell Ember (Leo Beck), went to the manor because the Owner promised him he could find what he had lost, his daughter. 

Thief (Kreacher Pierson) 

He claims to be a nice guy, who cares about the kids in the orphanage he runs. But he isn’t. He is a thief and a bit of a psycho. He opened White Sand Aslyum Street or how we call it “The Maze”. The children there were sent out to beg and work.

H also had 11 children with mental problems, which is not hard to believe. Yet, he had a crush on Gardener (Emma Woods), even though she is a minor. At one point, the Church bought the place, running the, and actually helped the children there. Later, he is given money to make another orphanage, but no one knows what he actually did with that money, because he was killed.

How he arrived at the manor:

Perhaps he wanted to make his wrongs rights, and fix all his mistakes and wrongdoings he did on those orphans. 

Axe Boy (Robbie)

After losing both of his parents at the age of six, he becomes an orphan under the White Sand Asylum where he works his life away. Until one day his head is chopped off with a bloody axe. We know that the Thief (Kreacher Pierson) owned this orphanage, so they must have had a connection together. 

How he arrived at the manor:

Maybe give life to Robbie again, since he doesn’t have his head. 

The Geisha (Michiko)

Michiko fell in love with Miles, a foreign army, and soon got married. But his dad didn’t like her and claimed Michiko had run away. But Miles refused to believe him and began searching for her, but she was never found. Perhaps his father had killed her in an attempt to rid of her. 

How she arrived at the manor:

We know Michiko was first a survivor before becoming a hunter, in The Lawyer’s (Freddy Riley) deduction video, he encountered the Geisha mask.

Meaning she had been inside the manor, prior to being a hunter. She probably got an invitation from the Owner who promised to help her find her lost husband.

Jack the Ripper and the Dancer (Margaretha Zelle)

Jack the Ripper is on the hunt to kill the Dancer (Margaretha Zelle). Many fans assume that the Dancer is implied to mimic prostitutes, which Jack is known for killing.

The Ripper, being inspired by the real serial killer of the same name, hunted down and killed prostitutes. In the game, they are seen as dancers, just like our survivor, the female dancer, who went to the manor after her friends were found murdered and felt unsafe where she lived. 

How she arrived at the manor:

The manor Owner promised her security, however, she did not know the Ripper was there as well.

Smiley Face (Joker)

Before being Smiley Face, there was once a hard-working Sad Clown who worked at Hullabaloo Circus at the Moonlit River Park. He worked alongside Natalie, an animal trainer, Mike Morton, the Acrobat, Murro, and “Smiley Face” (another clown, named Sergei). The Sad Clown had fallen in love with Natalie, but she was with the other clown.

Since Sergei and Natalie were in an abusive relationship together, Sad Clown offered for them to run away together, he even was the one who gave Natalie the music box. The Sad Clown then grew tired of working when no one appreciated him, so he killed Sergei (the abusive clown) and took over his role, becoming the new “Smiley Face”.

But now with Mike’s new letter, we now know that “Natalie” is an alias for the Dancer (Margaretha Zelle, who’s actual name is Fiona!). Also that the Acrobat (Mike Morton) was most likely the one who burned down the circus, giving our Smiley Face, that scar. 

How he arrived at the manor:

The Smiley Face is there to finally get some recognition, as he wasn’t really praised when he worked as a clown.

Mechanic (Tracy Reznik) and the Soul Weaver (Violetta). 

Soul Weaver was working in a circus as part of the freak show. It was her ultimate goal to perform on stage and gain the attention of many. Until the Ringleader (one of Dancer’s skins in the game) found her act “uninteresting”.

So the Mechanic (Tracy Reznik) helped her build the robotic limbs for Soul Weaver. Now Violetta and Tracy seem to have a good connection together. 

How she arrived at the manor:

The Soul Weaver arrived at the manor so she could finally perform her Human-Spider Performance and Mechanic wanted spare parts for her creations. 

The Priestess (Fiona Gilman) and The Feaster (Hastur).

The Priestess (Fiona Gilman) is a follower of Yog-Sothoth, who is related to The Feaster (Hastur). Fiona is also involved in the Lakeside Village Investigation with the Dream Witch (Yidhra) and the Evil Reptillian (Luchino).

Also, although not confirmed, theories say that the Priestess (Fiona Gilman) and the Seer (Eli Clark) are engaged. Even though it may or may not be true, I don’t doubt their connections since they seem to both be involved with mystic magics. 

How she arrived at the manor:

Fiona Gilman is a mystic who claims that her spirit guided her to the Oletus Manor. 

Coordinator (Martha Behamfil) and Mercenary (Naib Subedar) 

Coordinator (Martha Behamfil) and Mercenary (Naib Subedar) were war veterans together. 

Theories say that the Coordinator lost her fiance in a plane crash shortly before coming to the manor. And that the Mercenary used to be in the army but had hurt his elbows and dropped out.

Mercenary (Naib Subedar) also supposedly has ties to the Explorer (Kurt Frank) in being comrades in arms together. 

How they arrived at the manor:

All three characters had much experience on the real battlefield, so they all joined the game in high hopes they would take the grand-prize home. 

Dream Witch (Yidhra) and Evil Reptilian (Luchino)

Both grand deities with reptilian aspects, they must connect in some sense. For example, Dream Witch’s deduction is confusing but it may have some small relation to Evil Reptilian just because of the name, Dr. Luchino, is mentioned there.

How they arrived at the manor:

Now I have no idea how or why hey decided to join the game, but the fact they are deities and are forced to pay the Owner of manor’s games, truly tells you how powerful he can be. 

First Officer (Jose Baden) and Bloody Queen (Mary) 

There was a theory that First Officer was the merchant along with his father who may have bought Wu Chang’s umbrella onto his ship, and may or may not have been involved with Hastur.

Jose Baden was known as the famous Chief Officer who escorted the British Queen’s Marine Empire along with his father who was the captain of the ship. They were rich, powerful, and punctual, and never failed in serving the queen.

Legend said that the secret of the family was related to a pocket watch that was blessed by the Sea God (Hastur). The tides and waves always obeyed him and never delay his journey, because of this his family was highly valued by the Queen.

One day after attending an emergency, Jose waited for his father at the port but the ship that had served for the Queen had never arrived and seemingly disappeared. The Queen was enraged and thought the family has stolen her treasure and ordered all her wealth she granted to Jose to be returned.

Sometime later, Jose received news about the ship, and on the list of the missing items, there was an ancient umbrella from China (Wu Chang) which was about to be delivered to a place called Oletus Manor.

How they arrived at the manor:

Jose Baden probably arrived at the manor to retrieve their family and the Queen’s items. Although Bloody Queen had been executed by guillotine she most likely went to the manor to retrieve all her items back as well. 

Wu Chang (White/Black Guard)

Wu Chang brothers are twins who really loved and cared for each other. But one day, while it was raining one of the brothers waited under a bridge while the other went to get an umbrella. Yet, when the brother returned, he found out his other brother had drowned. 

How they arrived at the manor:

The Umbrella is obviously a very important item to them, but the manor must have gotten it somehow from the First Officer’s (Jose Baden) ship. Manipulating the Wu Chang brothers to join the game. 

The Other Survivors

Although they may not connect with other characters in the game, they all somehow found their way to the Oletus manor. 

Perfumer (Vera Nair)

The Perfumer is actually Chlor Nair, a girl well known for her talents in perfume making, but was often criticized by others. Vera Nair, her twin sister, noticed the situation and began advertising Chloe’s brand in an attempt to help her, as she was the more beautiful and charismatic sister.

However, Chloe saw this as Vera taking advantage of her, so she killed Vera, then taking her sister’s name and claiming “Chloe” had gone missing. But after learning the truth, she felt guilty of her actions and created “Euphoria” to make her forget everything that happened. 

Perfumer is also a native from France, so she might have some connections with Joseph or Bloody Queen. 

How she arrived at the manor:

Perfumer arrived to the manor by invitation, as the owner claimed he could help rid of her worries.

The Mind’s Eye (Helena Adam)

Helena Adam has a long life dream of attending college, so she enters the manor’s game in hopes of winning the grand prize to pay for college.

Embalmer (Aesop Carl)

Embalmer was adopted by an old embalmer and pulled out of school because he claimed he had autism. The old embalmer became his mentor and taught him how to murder people before embalming them. Where Aesop now prefers the dead over the living. 

Cowboy (Kevin Ayusa)

Although he’s from the Wild West 1910s, he meets a young native American girl and joins their tribe. However, as he grew older, he left the tribe and decided to roam Europe. Which may be where the Oletus Manor is located. 

Prospector (Norton Campbell)

After surviving a terrible mining disaster, he finds a meteorite based magnet which he uses to his advantage and gains more cash. 

Enchantress (Patricia Dorval)

Born on a slave ship, arrived in New Orleans with her mother, who taught her everything to know about witchcraft. However, after her mother’s, she discovers a curse within her blood. Trying to find her origins to rid of the curse, she encounters the Oletus Manor instead. 

The Other Hunters

Although they may not connect with other characters in the game, they all somehow found their way to the Oletus manor. 

Gamekeeper (Bane)

Bane Perez was one of the first hunters in the game that worked at the Oletus Manor before the game was even created. Being in charge of the forest farm and patrol cabin at the Manor. He raised a black-nosed moose like a child. However, accidents always happen, and a new hunting season was coming. Bane was wondering how he could hide the black-nose to ensure its safety, but he was too late. A team of fully armed poachers had already arrived.

The gunshots rang through the forest. When Bane arrived, he saw that the black-nose had fallen to the ground. He recognized a familiar face from the poacher’s team. It was the boy that he had rescued a few years prior. However, when Bane pleaded with him, they cruelly threatened to turn him into a Minotaur. They even cut off his tongue and put the head of the black-nose moose on him. They locked him up with a steel-jaw leghold trap and began a massacre in the forest.

After the poachers had left, the dogs dragged Bane back to the manor, where he somehow recovered. No one thought that his humiliation would turn Bane into a demon. He was transformed into a real Minotaur, and the mountain forest was his maze. Since that day, Bane shows no mercy to anyone who sets foot on his land.

How he arrived at the manor:

Bane, the Gamekeeper, is there to get revenge on those who once abused his kindness.

Photographer (Joseph)

After the pain of losing his twin brother, Claude, he becomes obsessed with art and “capturing the moment” in time. To never waste more of it, by losing the time spent with loved ones, Joseph began to kidnapped people to hold forever in his memory. So the trauma of losing his brother can fade away.  

Although both he and the hunter Bloody Queen are from France, they are from two different eras, so they are not related in that sense. 

How he arrived at the manor:

However, by now he would be 100+ years old, so it’s truly a mystery why he ever came to the manor.

Mad Eyes (Burke)

Burke was hired by a married couple with kids to renovate the manor, he was also living there. As he worked on the manor he was also working on some of his projects, like robots and limb enhancers (similar to Mechanic). The family he was working for meddled with his work sometimes and teased him, but he hated it.

Yet, eventually they grew on him. He didn’t realize this until a mob broke into the manor and executed the couple and the kids. after that day he made adjustments to his enhancers (adding weapons) and swore that he would never let anyone on the Manor’s grounds again. 

The Oletus Manor 

Whoever this “Owner” was, he obviously had a lot of power. Being able to call elder gods from Cthulhu myths (Hastur and Yidhra) for his game and control the rage in Hell Ember so he can use to fuel his own power. As well as time travel powers, with having Joseph join the game when he is from the 1800s era. 

The Owner most likely offers players promises of anything they wish. 

Just like survivors, each one could have there on intentions. For example, the Mechanic (Tracy Reznik) wants to know more about the machines on the manor instead of money.

Yet the Dancer (Margaretha Zelle) wants to be a millionaire and the Theif (Kreacher Pierson) wanted to build an orphanage if not mistaken. Too bad he burned alive on his first game. 

However, the name of the manor itself is interesting. According to the game lore, sometimes the name is even mistaken as the “Orpheus” Manor…

For more information, Check out these links: 

All Character: https://idv.163.com/character/index.html

Survivors https://id5.fandom.com/wiki/Survivor 

Hunters https://id5.fandom.com/wiki/hunter

Thank you so much for reading! Comment down below any theories I may have missed or any other interesting facts.