My brother and I recently got this game called Risk of Rain 2. My brother loved watching Markiplier play (and break) the game a while ago, so we ended up getting the game a couple of months ago for my brother's birthday. I love the game and I’ve been playing it more than Persona 5 recently, and I am most definitely a Persona 5 fanboy. But, I’ve noticed some things in the game I have questions about. Things about characters, stages and more. Here are some things I’ve done some research on. Finding Acrid’s Origins Acrid is the newest edition to the Risk of Rain 2 cast. He was originally in Risk of Rain 1, and I have to say he is my new favorite character. I love the guy. He’s basically a loveable dog. But, he does not come without questions. Upon seeing Acrid for the first time, I asked my brother, the Risk of Rain genius, if Acrid was part of a race of enemies called the Lemurians. They’re purple alien lizard thingies that shoot fireballs out of their mouths. Acrid does look similar to these, so I thought he might be one of them. My brother said he had no clue, so that’s why I’m doing my own research. Acrid is the only survivor in-game that does poison damage. He has a very unique skill set, and while he does bear a resemblance to the Lemurian people, he differs in one very big way: None of the Lemurians deal poison damage. At this point, I was having a bit of a problem. There is no lore explaining who Acrid is to my knowledge, and there was no way he could be Lemurian. So, I turned to Risk of Rain 1. And I think I can guess what Acrid is. In Risk of Rain 1, the quest to unlock Acrid is titled: “Free the chained creature.” I’m thinking, “Wait… different from the Lemurians… locked up… this is starting to make some sort of sense.” His description in Risk of Rain 1 and his quest in Risk of Rain 2 makes all sorts of sense to me. His description in Risk of Rain 1 goes as follows: “And so it left, with a new hunger: to be left alone.” All of the survivor descriptions in RoR say “And so he/she/it left”, so I’m not gonna say that that really matters, but it does kind of tie into my theory. I’m gonna say that it “leaving” is after it was freed by the player character, and its hunger to be left alone probably has something to do with how the Lemurians treated him. One final thing before I say my full theory: in RoR2, the quest or challenge for Acrid is called “To Be Left Alone”. The quest requires you to go to a shop that exists in between time, go to a secret portal called the Null Portal, enter a secret area called the Void Field, and stabilize the cell, which is a series of 9 cells that have this AoE that prevents the player by being hurt by the environment, which normally damages you over time. Seems like Acrid was going to some great lengths to satiate his new hunger. Didn’t stop me playing on Easy Mode (or Drizzle), however. Also, when freeing Acrid in his cage in the Sunken Tombs, he immediately attacks you. Upon defeating him, you unlock him. Okay. Enough chit-chat. Here’s my theory: Acrid is a Lemurian, but a mutated one. Another RoR character is “mutated beyond recognition”, so mutation is very possible in this universe. Acrid is way larger than the Lemurians, who are like 7 feet tall, so they were probably scared of him. His poison abilities don’t help. We tend to be afraid of things that are different. They locked up Acrid in the Sunken Tombs and threw away the key. Acrid was really pissed, so when the player lets him free, he attacks. In RoR2, Acrid, to be left alone, goes to the Bazaar Between Time to the Null Portal to the Void Fields, just so no one could bother him. And I still did. Sorry Acrid. He’s my favorite character though. If you play RoR2, what’s your theory on anything that goes on in this universe? I really like the lore in this game, so I’m really open to ideas. Thanks, guys!