By Iman Ahsan
Terraria is a popular action-adventure sandbox game that was developed by Re-Logic in 2011 where the possibilities are endless. In this game, you’re allowed to do anything you want whether it’s building your own treehouse or suffering through an intense battle with the Empress of Light during daytime. Personally, my favorite part of the game is socializing with the NPCs. Even though the NPCs usually just stand around and overcharge you on various items, they each contain an interesting lore. The Guide NPC, for one, is arguably the most handsome strangest NPC in Terraria.
From first glance, there’s nothing unusual about the Guide. He’s the first NPC to spawn upon the world’s creation before a house is even available. His main purpose is to provide helpful tips and display crafting recipes for the player, which doesn’t seem odd at first. However, when you take some time to ponder over this, exactly how does he have such an extensive knowledge about the world and its mysteries? Why is he the first NPC to spawn with the player?
Furthermore, it’s well-known that the Guide is used as a sacrifice to summon the Wall of Flesh, the final pre-hardmode boss that converts the world into hardmode once defeated. There’s a voodoo doll of the Guide that can only be found in the Underworld and dropping it into lava will summon the Wall of Flesh while simultaneously causing the poor Guide to combust. Strangely enough, the Guide and a few other NPCs seem to be aware of this as the Guide informs the player that they “will have to make a living sacrifice” once they’re ready to challenge the Wall of Flesh. Additionally, the Arms Dealer makes a rather harsh statement about wanting to “put a few rounds in it” (“it” being the Guide voodoo doll) with his gun.
Andrew “Redigit” Sprinks, the lead developer of Terraria, has made various statements that the Guide is the Wall of Flesh, but he also happens to be the brother of the ninja inside the King Slime, along with being the great grandson of the nymph, and he just so happens to be the son of the Moon Lord. However, it’s unknown whether this is actually canon or just a joke, but I’d argue that the Guide being the Wall of Flesh is the most credible because of his sacrifice in the underworld.
There’s a lot of mysteries that surround the Guide. Even his bestiary entry states that “his origins and unusual connections to this world remain a mystery”. It’s highly possible that the Guide may be cursed as in one of his dialogues, he will mention how he’s fond of the Zoologist and the Clothier because of the similarities they share with each other. Both the Zoologist and the Clothier are cursed NPCs, where the Zoologist is forever destined to be a furry anthropomorphic fox, while the Clothier was cursed as the “Old Man” whose captor was Skeletron. Additionally, upon the new addition of the Princess NPC, the Guide mentions how the Princess “makes him feel at ease, as though a curse was finally lifted from him”.
This just verifies the point that the Guide is a cursed NPC, and his curse is most likely him being doomed as the Wall of Flesh. There are numerous speculations about the Guide’s true identity. Perhaps he’s an ancient inhabitant of the world whose actual purpose is to train the player to become strong enough to defeat the Moon Lord (the “final boss” of the game) in hopes that the defeat of this boss may finally liberate him from his curse. Given the Guide’s unusual extensive knowledge and how he’s the first NPC to greet the player upon starting a new world, it’s possible that he may have been awaiting the player’s arrival.
The Guide NPC still remains a mystery in the Terrarian lore. Despite the several theories about the Guide’s origin and link to the world, it’s unlikely that players will ever completely solve the mystery about the Guide unless Re-Logic comes forward with a full in-depth explanation about the Guide.
