Lies of P: All Endings Explained (Lore and Story) 

The thought of a gothic horror version of Wizard of Oz as a souls-like game makes me very excited. I hope it's a sequel and not just some DLC.

How did a new developer create such a masterpiece. This game is a 10/10

the fact that this is the studio's first attempt at a souls-like game is absolutely mind-blowing.. Neowiz did something very special here

The Dorothy ending is quite possibly the coolest twist I’ve seen a video game do in years. The idea of playing a souls like in Oz is so exciting to me that came multiple times.

I believe the post credit scene is linking to how fairytales such as Pinocchio and the wizard of oz are timeless stories and so are basically “immortal”

Is it weird that I wanted a worse fate for gepetto? The man caused the deaths of thousands and abused the main character to the point of trying to kill him, but he either wins or gets a tragic death.

In one of the notes, it says that puppets are unable to cry because they have not souls. No soul means no place to store the tears. Pinocchio crying showed Geppetto that he did have a soul and that his son has likely been by his side the entire time

Gotta love how the cat is left unharmed even in the evil ending

True ending i take it more like Ghettpo didn't think it through. P is Carlo, Carlo's Ergo has slowly and nartualy been growing within P. Thus in the end Carlo and P merge together to become one being. Thus he got his wish, he got his son back, but he's so blinded by his own fault for his death he refuses to think P can become Carlo

Geppetto is just straight up a psychopath. He never cared about his son when he was alive and saw his death has an opportunity to remove what he disliked about Carlo: his rebellious nature (the mischievous part). Romeo also mentions that Carlo was "an unstoppable fellow", meaning he was most likely stubborn as well, another quality that Geppetto would dislike as a control freak. The constant "Be a good boy." is not just a narrative aspect but a real life tactic of abusive parents. Along with empty apologies, gaslighting and resorting to physical violence, which Geppetto mentions multiple times during the Nameless Puppet fight, hinting that he mostly did so on Carlo. There's a reason the Portrait of a Boy is one of a child that is sad and almost on the verge of tears. Let's say the subject hit close to home and my hatred for the old man was palpable. Speaking of hate, another aspect that most likely backfired on Geppetto and led to his death is that the amulet this boss gives you mentions the following: _It is unknown whether the Nameless puppet had an ego. This is because multiple cores holding concentrated Ergo were used to boost its firepower. If this puppet could feel only one emotion, it would be hatred._ This is just baseless speculation but something tells me that, if the Nameless Puppet was indeed made with remnants of Carlo's body, the memories Geppetto mentions ended up in the Ergo of Nameless while the ego (the personality) of Carlo ended up in "Pinocchio". Hence the hatred, which turns into a slight moment of regret when he plunges his blade thru Geppetto (you can see Nameless putting his hand on his father's arm). Cutting the strings freed that hatred and made him the unhinged boss we get in phase 2. It might also hint at a rather gruesome death for Carlo. Nameless is not just missing a left arm, which hints as to why Real Boy Carlo still has a Legion Arm, but also the entirety of his lower body. Maybe it was in a fight or an unfortunate casualty but it clear it wasn't pretty to look at. Maybe Gemini is involved as his name is called out by the "legendary Stalker" yet we know next to nothing of him so DLC will have some answers?

The protagonist is never actually refered to as Pinocchio or P in game. With the post credits reveal and the letter we find where Giangio used to be, we could surmise that P in Lies of P is actually Paracelsus

I just noticed that in both the goodish and the true ending Geppetto places his hand on the Boys chest. I think he realises that, in the true ending, he has a heartbeat and not mechanical springs ticking. Once we have enough humanity for the true ending the text when we gain humanity changes. It goes from "Springs react" to "Feel warmth" It's maybe fair to say that Geppetto can feel that warmth when he touches "Carlo" and he realises what he had done.

The "Rise of P" ending might be the best fate a souls-like protagonist ever had, at least from the ones I've played. Also, ngl when I saw that Alchemist call himself Paracelsus I was like "You motherf....". Especially since I recalled the quote about how the dose makes the poison. Well played devs. Well played.

Whats crazy that i realized is that the nameless puppet actually seems like it cares for geppetto as it grabs his arm in surprise and sadness 6:05, as if to say "Father!?"

Fairly certain the ending hinges on the hidden humanity stat. You gain it throughout the game by doing human-like actions (such as praying at the shrine). After enough humanity, your appearance changes, and cat in the hotel no longer hisses at you. I am quite sure that because of your high humanity, P cries while holding his father which causes him to realise that you have become a real boy. With low humanity you don’t cry, and he dismisses you as a puppet before dying.

Based on the final ending you talked about, a Wizard of Oz-like DLC or even woven into the sequel would be dope.

You know how much of a piece of shit Geppeto is when even after having Carlo back he decides to leave him again despite spilling all that sentimental bullshit of spending more time with him during Nameless Puppet fight.

8:51 I actually take this slightly differently. When I saw this I assumed this was us giving all our ergo, our puppet life, to Sophia, and us moving in the end shows that we lived, meaning we are now human with no puppet life force

You can get the true ending even if you tell the truth most of the time. I told couple white lies here and there but I was honest. It could be that when you listen to the songs at the hotel, you become more human with each song as when the song ends, it says your springs are reacting. There are many more ways to gain humanity

I kinda assumed we made the sophia puppet her design isn't that complex or unique aside from the hair, so P could of either made her himself or modified an already made puppet. Also in the hidden workshop area before the Romeo fight you find a note about his conversion into the king of puppets almost certainly written by Geppetto. The note makes it pretty clear that Geppetto has no idea who Romeo is other then a boy around his sons age with the same general education and skill set so perfect for testing his theories. Let that sink in for a moment. Geppetto transformed his sons BEST FRIEND into a puppet not as part of his plan to awaken Carlo's personality but by sheer coincidence...Gepetto doesn't even know what his sons best friend LOOKS like never mind his actual name. This makes me think that at the end of the day he knows basically nothing about his son at all. So I suspect that in those final moments in the golden ending he realised we likely had been just like Carlo for a long time and he simply never realised and that's what he's sorry for.

I hope the info we learned from the Rise of P ending culminates in a full sequel. This game absolutely blew my mind. The true souls like combat with a flushed out enthralling story (vs vague story flushed out by lore+item descriptions. Nothing against the traditional souls story telling style… it’s just having an easily understood fascinating story in addition to souls combat and level design was a breath of fresh air into an ever filling genre. Not only that… but the inspiration and spin on a children’s fairy tale twisted into an imaginative dystopian “wonderland” was unlike anything I’ve seen before. I can’t wait to see what this studio put out next. Amazing game!

The game is absolutely amazing, imagine a jack in the beanstalk sequel. Imagine all classic stories in this amazing game style

The post credit scene is basically the equivalent of Nick Fury showing up at the end of Iron Man.

The only way to get the best ending is to give Sophia peace, I've lied through the whole game, saw it on the nose growth as well, but I didn't know that I should give Sophia her peace, that's why I got the goodish ending. So I think it doesn't matter that much if you lie or not when it comes to answering Sophia.

Excellent video. Thank you! This was so well done and gave so many great answers, I appreciate it

i really appreciate this entire break down but what you thought the true ending meant was MID!! Geppetto absolutely didnt feel sorry *simply* bc "damn homie i failed to recognize you as a HuMaN, mad disrespectful on my part gang 😢😢😢" what he felt was utter shame, because in that very moment he realized his REAL BOY was in front of him this whole time. and all the danger he put his SON through was for nothing. that is why he apologized. he wasnt looking at the tears of some puppet who developed feelings those tears belong to CARLO! the same logic applies to why Sophia could return once CARLO placed SOPHIA's ergo into that puppet!!

The endings have me convinced that the nameless puppet is "Pinochio" and our puppet is just some generic character able to jump from one fantasy story to another and fit in as I have seen some talk about our protagonist potentially being able to take the role of Tin Man (Metal man looking for a heart) I also think the name "Lies of P" is meant to be "Lies of Paracelsus" so with this whole time power thing so yeah, he might actually be the main character puppet but from the future where he is 100% human

I feel like Lies of P is the best story in any Soulslike game. It was so coherent and that Dorothy reveal was honestly so hype! Excited for what this universe becomes.

I got the Rise of P ending and I messed up by telling the truth a few times early in side quests. I think all you need is to max P's Humanity Points, let Sophia die in peace, and tell Simon you gave her peace. That's it I think. Also I was hoping the NPC named Belle was actually Beauty of the Beast Belle, but it doesn't seem like she is. But she doesn't say anything to disprove it either. I thought she'd be cool as a future protag too if they wanna go that route.

I hope the end credits is hinting at a sequel, with the studios taking old stories like this and turning them into a souls like game with their I own twist and turns

Great video! I just realized that Sophia holding P in her arms could be a visual callback to the Saintess of Mercy, which lets you respec, and has the inscription, "You puppet, who dreams of new life." (And that statue is also an allusion to Michelangelo’s sculpture, La Pieta.) So there seem to be a ton of body resurrection symbolism going on... And that's a great insight about P being the Tin Man! Though I wonder who would be the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion in the Lies of D DLC/sequel. In any case, I love the idea of Bloodborne: Puppets Die Twice pulling an Avengers-style ludic universe.

In the original novel, Geppetto never had a son named Carlo before making Pinocchio. It's interesting that in the span of a year, two Pinocchio adaptations have come out that have a Carlo as Geppetto's tragically deceased son- this game and Del Toro's movie.

I'd love for them to make a sequel around the Wizard of Oz! Maybe Alice in Wonderland cool be great also with its characters and world

Finished my first playtrought of lies of P and got the "rise of P" ending and I'll say, in my opinion not once has a souls-like game made me shed a tear like that ending and the beautiful music it includes easiest my game of the year

Our unnamed Pinocchio doubling as Dorothy's Tin Man in a sequel would be pretty epic.

I think the "It's so good to see you" goes deeper and is in reference to Carlo inhabiting P and essentially merging the two characters into one the killing machine granted a heart which also fits with the upcoming sequel with the tin man being granted his heart (P/Carlo). Carlo knew Sophia and P resembled him which explains her first lines when greeting him in person "I'm so happy to see you" implying she is happy to see a form of Carlo. But by saying "Good to see you" it implies a reintroduction after a long time of not meeting. She is not talking to just P, but Carlo as he finally merges with P as a new form of a sentient puppet and is granted humanity. Also resembling, but reversing the saintess statue initially a woman holding a puppet likely in referal to Gepetto creating puppets in the image of humans and the revolution that brought. Then it is turned to Sophia and P showing the Puppets giving birth to a new form of humanity and a new revolution brought about with puppets and ergo and P being the progenitor (In real life La Pieta is a statue of mary holding Jesus and it is the source material of the saintess statue thus backing up my theory).

I really love the implication that we might get an overarching universe featuring timeless classics and a connected story. Plus a game focused on the Wizard of Oz could be awesome since we've seen games like Alice Madness returns and now lies of P. I could also imagine Paracelsus taking on the role of the wizard in disguise (something he did in this game too) since he already has the looks for it. Especially if P ends up involved in the story as well only to discover the truth about the wizard and recognize a familiar face

I'm glad I happened to get the Rise of P ending on my first playthrough! I believe I lied a majority of the time, but certainly not all the time. I also "gave peace" to Sophia and got the gray hair. Like you, I suspect those two things are important for getting that ending but don't know for sure. I also did a good deal of other things that gave "humanity," like listening to records and choosing to kill a certain character. (The things that make it say "The Ergo is whispering" or "You feel warmth," etc)

Amazing explanation! I'm glad you took the time to research all this and male the explanation as comprehensive as possible. 10/10 video

man just beat the game today, what a game. usually the brand"soulslike" always implies it isnt as good as souls or a inferior version. But lies of P is up there for me with games like bloodbourne and sekiro. some of the bosses like puppet king, green monster,nameless puppet, etc are incredible bosses and my all time fave now.

Picked this game up 2 weeks ago with zero expectations. Just beat the Nameless Puppet and can’t put into words how much I enjoyed this game.

Lies of P 2 Lies of D.

I had the "I'm sorry son" ending and I somehow felt like he was saying this to his dead son. Not me the puppet.

Every time you die the clock on the heart is Sofia turning back time to get you

Loved that you were super concise with your explanations. Great job man.

i like how gepetto was somehow able to react that fast and throw himself between to stop the attack

Mad Respect, Lies of P has the Soul of From Soft game. Thank you.

As far as the refusal endings go, in Gepettos room there is a portrait of pinoccio, if you lie his nose grows and at some point it is long enough that the tip of that nose turns gold, i believe when that happens you have lied enough to be considered human and get that ending, if it hasnt turned gold you are still considered a puppet.

I wonder if Dorothy could be an antagonist for the DLC to get that heart for the Tin Man.

Fantastic video man!

Looks like I’m gonna have to beat the game 3 times in 17 hours wish me luck!

Such a great job outlining all of this.

The best part about how this game is laid out is the fact that you don't need 15 30 minute lore videos to understand what happened in the game or endings.

This was a great game. Challenging and interesting lore. Hopefully they make another one. The only thing they could add is branching paths and increase the level of secrets and exploring Otherwise I have nothing to complain. Top notch stuff.

I really hope these deveopers keep making games like this but with different fairy tales such as alice in the wonderland or red riding hood that would be awesome looks like Wizard of OZ might be next tho.

See disney? thats how you adapt story.

I have a question, in the true ending P gives his ergo energy to Sophia, he "returned" the life that her give us, but if continues and play in the hotel in the letter sophia speaks with us like we are alive, and the characters speaks with us to. So I dont understand, the characther truly died? Or is a live and just share the ergo energy with sophia. Sorry for my english i m not so good with that.

I do hope sophia will get a more human looking puppet body, line carlo did

Great Video!

God's left arm could be a reference to 'God's Left Hand' and perhaps Ergo could be used to create the 'Philosopher's Stone'.

Perfect explanation. Nothing to add after finishing the game 3 times...Thanks!

I can't help but read this as Lifes of Pi

How is this video out already? Good work.

the arm the group is talking about is the one geppetto had. it even has the symbol of the freemasons on it when you see it in the cutscenes before and after the nameless puppet boss fight.

Great explanation

Dorothy wore silver slippers in the book. It is only in the movie version that it was changed to ruby slippers (this was a stylistic choice due to the red being easier to see in non-close-ups).

Its so crazy how if you get the ‘real boy’ (bad) ending, your legion arm automatically changes to puppet string ie the body Gepetto brought along to revive has the puppet string attached to his arm.

Thanks for the video, it definitely sucks getting the worst ending and not being able to change it

They are making the fairy tale version of the avengers can’t wait

I feel like I always lied through my play through an still got the puppet strings ending I did however let Sophie live

You can see that Giangio’s name is Philippine Paracelsus in the Eye of Uroboro’s description too, as it says that he created the weapon

From what I've seen for the endings, the bad ending is either you tell the truth most of the time so you don't even get the option to refuse, or you refuse regardless. In order to refuse you must get to the 2nd message that shows up when you "lie". And in order to get the best ending, you must give sophia peace, and also you have to ge tthe 2nd message (I believe) in order for your hair to turn grey. If your hair turns grey then you get the best ending if you refuse gepetto. I originally thought that the endings were determined by if you tell all lies or tell all truths, but its bases on your humanity, which you get when you have that red swirl and a message like "Your springs are reacting". If your humanity is too low, then you cannot refuse gepetto, he will take your heart regardless. If you don't give sophia peace and your humanity is high enough you get the puppet string severed ending. And if you give sophia peace and high enough humanity, then you get rise of p.

i was hidding for the third ending at my first go, unfortunately my game crashed at the cut scene right after killing the nameless puppet, i restarted the game but it brought me back to the hotel and i automatically skipped all the ending scenes and even the achivment it self, ive got the butterfly letter and played on the piano, is there any chance that i can restart the cutscenes or should i just accept my fate :(

thank you for the opportunity to learn

I litteraly just finished my playthrough, and was wondering which ending i got, and i got the True ending, took me 35h to complete as much as i could in a single playthrough, amazing game !

What a great game. Loved it. Will pick up DLC or what ever comes next

They snuck in dialog to "in game" to explain how we revive. That Sofia rewinds time, every time we fall.

My theory is that the MC and Paracelsus are the same person from different timelines created by listener magic like Sophia’s. Paracelsus mentions that our MC is a new brother, which could mean something more literal than what we see at face value. Since the MC is only referred to as “P” and never actually Pinocchio and obtains hair like Paracelsus. Whose name also starts with a “P”. The height between the two is also nearly the same. I really think they may be the same puppet from different timelines. Paracelsus had potential to break free from either the time loop or just in general had potential to become human and fix is “Krat incident.” He is now scouting to see if the other timeline versions of him that have similar potential. Like our MC.

Good video!

"Free from strings" is only achivable via Keeping sophia alive, I did a run unlocking Golden Lie and getting that, its only about that one choice not related to whether you lie or not.

For the Free from the Puppet strings and Rise of P endings it’s 100% about if you kill Sofia yourself AND lie until your heart starts pounding. I played though it myself lying the same ammount/getting the same humanity level and got the different endings because my first run though I didn’t kill Sofia. She’s the catalyst for the final change, which actually may tie into the story of Pinocchio? Just speculating but absorbing her ergo may cause the final change into a real human like the blue fairy’s magic

You can get the true endingeven if you tell more truths than lies as long as you tell somo lies and take other optional humanity-rising decision such as killing the dog mask impostor or the riddler murderer puppet.

If you for sure want the goodish ending or the True ending it is for sure the Sophia choice and the choices you choose from up to that point. From my lore knowledge she reads and interacts with ergo different in a more profound way in which she is able to turn back time and have P or Carlo go through Krat trying to be a real boy as re-living the memory of the down fall of Krat and his transformation with you defeating Simon and giving you his ending dialog of not being choosen.

Something I just noticed after the Tinman comment, Pinocchio's hair is also more silver a reference possibly for the future of these games. Also, the Arm of God is stated to be a piece of the parts of god that the Organization is looking to put back together, meaning there is probably 5 games/DLC planned in total for each missing limb and maybe even a sixed fighting with the group of fairy tale figures we meet along the way like Dorthey. On that note Peter Pan is probably next as DLC as the Directors message showed concept art for a flying pirate ship, meaning DLC is most likely other Fairy tale stories that go in between the bigger narrative Games. Great video btw!

I think I’m the end we give the puppet the ergo she gave when we free her free her and it looked like Pinocchio died in her arms or went lifeless but that doesn’t make sense because she knew that we’d find her letter

I knew something was up with Gepetto the more he talks, and there were things that i caught on to before he was even made to be the bad guy.

Got Rise of P on my first playthrough And i just got the Real Boy ending

I don't know if I'm interpreting the story wrong, but in the end game it was showing visions of someone dying, and I believe gep is focused on retrieving all parts to truly revive his dead son, and carlo isn't his sons soul as the wavelengths you get to listen to say that carlo grew up in an orphanage, and the soul within the heart is Carlo, but the body was made to look like gep's son, very confusing story. Plus I don't understand the beginning where Sop was guiding him from the train station saying someone got to gem, were they trying to steal them both? Plus gep was the true mastermind having carlo kill all his fellow puppets and sim to acquire all the power to revive his son, and so if sop could communicate with puppets and Sim could read minds wouldn't they know of geps deceit? At end game sim warns that gep was waiting after u defeat him, meaning he was aware of his intentions, which means soph may of been as well.A lot of confusing facts in the story. In the end game u find a letter stating the first puppet was a miracle of God found by alchemists, taken apart and then the rest was created, but the credits when u first enter the hotel show them discovering ergo and putting it in puppets, idk if that's a messup or correlated at all. I've concluded tht gep started the frenzy to gather souls for the arm of God, and Carlo was deceived to lie to get his heart more powerful for gep's plan, and sop may of been aware of gep's decept as she can communicate with the puppets who were actually trying to help carlo stop Simon, but she led him there just to save herself

On my first play through, I always lied and did everything that most online guides says will get me the "real ending" like give Sophia peace and listen to all the records, find the portrait etc, refused the heart, fought the nameless puppet and I got the "Free from the puppet string" . Maybe you need to get one of the other endings firs before you get Rise of P?

i killed spohia and i still got the "goodish ending " telling like half likes half truths maybe

I just thought of something, what if in the sequel the ends are tied to either becoming a good witch or bad witch

It's weird why he let P not be under the grand covenant, because when he brings carlo back to life, carlo seems to be under the grand covenant as he does everything geppeto says

I got the second one. And that after credit. Got me so hyped.

Just out of curiosity, do you need to have the long white hair in order to get the best ending along with everything else?

I complete LOP yesterday (what a great game ) and I chose every choice like a human would. Lied of the most time but said the truth when I had to . So , finally I gave Sophia Peace and refused to give my heart triggering the TRUE ENDING without knowing it. I'm so damm satisfied,and just found this video to understand some lore content.

I'm so glad people love this game. Its so amazing.

I got the rise of P ending and I showed Sophia mercy and mixed between lies and truths

Sophia's power is related to time you say... She can literally manipulate time, it's hinted many times in game especially towards the end. just to clarify, not just related to time... she can manipulate time, a reason we resurrect at a Stargazer every time we die.

Wizard of oz souls like could rival the fromsoftware souls. Thats one banger world building.

I am kinda confused as to why Geppeto kills everyone in the hotel. I would say its because they found about about Law 0, except thats not a requirement to get this ending so idk. You were already reborn so he doesn't need more ergo, right? Which as I understand it, is the original basis for his plan, is to get Ergo to revive Carlo