| “ | Seek and you shall find. | ” |
The Oracle is a deity that appears throughout the Hello Charlotte series. It takes on multiple forms throughout, and refers to itself as though it were multiple people (using terms such as "we").
Overview[]
The Oracle was introduced in Episode 1 as the TV World's deity and creator; it was first mentioned by Felix after Charlotte finds him in the Library channel, stating that the appearance of an Oracle occurs once every thousand years. Said to be god-like, an Oracle is capable of creating alternate dimensions as well as the life that inhabit them. It has also shown the ability to inhabit the bodies of multiple living beings at once, a fact that is elaborated on further in Ep 2. In spite of their mortality, Oracles appear to be among the most powerful of gods, with seemingly no limit to what they're capable of; depending on the ending in Episode 2, Charlotte either destroys the world or consumes the ego of all living beings in her abuse of its vast power. The Oracle has no physical form nor gender, and normally requires multiple vessels to inhabit in order to interact with the world directly.
Hello Charlotte: Delirium[]
Though Delirium is not canon to the main story, nor does the Oracle have a real presence here, Charlotte is seen liberally abusing the Oracle's powers. There are instances in which Charlotte uses the Oracle's power to:
- Teleport herself and Anri to a bizarre alternate dimension made of meat and machinery.
- Completely heal Anri's fatal injuries after being forcefully removed from the clutches of the Reign's Core.
- Devour the Meat World and use that energy to teleport herself, Anri, and OSIRIS back to The House.
History/Backstory[]
What is known about the history of The Oracle, Delphi (aka TV World), and the Pythias has to be pieced together from the crumbs of information found in Hello Charlotte 1 and Hello Charlotte 2.
In Episode 1, very little about the nature of the Oracle and what it and the Pythias had been through is revealed. Instead, the TV World is explored in the aftermath of their downfall. The Slaughterland in particular was but a taste of the Second God-hunt, which isn't brought up at all until Episode 2. When the party came face-to-face with the Oracle in the final channel, it briefly reminisced on how it and its people used to thrive for eons until some of the Pythias violently persecuted the Oracle and its vessels. However, it is never made entirely clear why the Oracle was slowly dying; whether the violent uprising is to blame is up for debate/speculation.
Episode 2 portrayed the Oracle in a much darker light and provides a lot more backstory on the Oracle, its world, and its offspring. The fate of the Pythias was sealed when they managed to make contact with it through unknown circumstances. Some of them attempted to use the deity to connect their minds with one another and become as one, but the price for this wish proved to be a dire one. These Pythias, who came to be known as "Globalists", instead ended up having their memories, feelings, and thoughts shared among each other all without losing their sense of selves. This proved maddening to them, as not only were their minds "exposed" instead of "united", over time it became impossible for one to distinguish their own thoughts and memories from the overflow of information coming from the (presumably) hundreds of thousands of people.
A war between the Globalists and the Individualists—who sought to stifle the further proliferation of the Oracle—would break out and ultimately lead to the demise of this ancient race. The Globalists at first proved overwhelming due to their vast numbers, but at some point The Executioners organized and mounted a devastating counteroffensive against them in a bout that would come to be known as the Second God-hunt. The Slaughterland channel from the TV World was consequently littered with the corpses of many Pythias, and was where Charlotte and Felix discovered the last barely-living vessel of the Oracle. The Pythias drove themselves to extinction in a primal and desperate attempt to kill off all traces of the god they once revered. A memory Charlotte unearthed in HC2 showed The Original Frei recounting their downfall, during which he implied that the Oracle may not have been fully aware of the suffering it had caused them.
Personality[]
The Oracle's personality differs between Episodes 1 and 2. In Hello Charlotte Episode 1, the Oracle is shown to be a benign, gentle god during the two brief encounters with it. The Oracle seems sorrowful and melancholic, having suffered a great deal at the hands of its own children, the Pythias. In an act of kindness, the Oracle returned Charlotte and Felix home safely so that they would not fall into oblivion along with the world it had created.
In Hello Charlotte Episode 2, the Oracle changes completely, having long since perished and is now rotting away within Charlotte's heart. It takes on the likeness of the Librarian Frei that Charlotte met in the last episode in order to appear a bit more welcoming to Charlotte. However, nothing is left of the benevolent god it used to be. In stark contrast, "Frei" is brutally honest, cynical, and manipulative, and will often bluntly share its opinion with Charlotte even in times where she is distraught or desperate. Evidently, Charlotte's mind is what gives the Oracle its identity as Frei, and its amoral and nihilistic attitude is the result of her darker thoughts.
Initially, Frei remained asleep as Charlotte was up during the day, and awakened as she dreamed. It does not remain so for very long, as Frei grows increasingly active during the day starting in the early-mid part of Episode 2. Like the Librarian it's based on, Frei displays a fondness for books and reading, even turning Charlotte's dreamscape into a "Mind Library" reminiscent of the one owned by said Librarian.
Role in Plot[]
Hello Charlotte Episode 1[]
The Oracle watched over the dying world of Delphi they created. It is first encountered within the body of a fatally wounded Pythia girl, locked away within one of the buildings of the Slaughterland. After a brief conversation with the party, the vessel dies and the Oracle loses contact with them temporarily. Afterward, Charlotte and Felix use a TV Set to return to the TV Hall, where they would then proceed to enter the final channel. The Oracle, awaiting their arrival, greeted them and then went on to elaborate on the state of its world and what it had been through.
Having told them that the TV World would soon vanish, killing everything within, the Oracle—with Charlotte's consent—put itself within Charlotte's body and used her as its sole vessel in order to get them safely back to their world. After returning, Umbrella Man reacts with surprise to Charlotte being capable of containing that much power within her mortal body. The Oracle remained within Charlotte, mostly dormant, until it eventually perished inside her within the time between Episodes 1 and 2.
Hello Charlotte Episode 2[]
The Oracle by now has been deceased for an indeterminate amount of time, and at first appeared in Charlotte's dreams as a decrepit rotting mass of organs and machinery. It soon reanimates itself as a sort of undead zombie and adopts the likeness of Frei, who was friendly to Charlotte in the previous episode. In spite of its appearance, the Oracle was nothing like Frei and was a benevolent god no longer, as mentioned above. Most of the time Frei and Charlotte spent together was while she was asleep and dreaming, though as time went on Frei also became active during the day; only Charlotte was able to perceive Frei during these moments, as no one but her could see, hear, or interact with it in anyway.
The Oracle remained as Frei throughout the majority of HC2, however Charlotte merges with it in the Grey and White endings, both instances resulting in omnicide. During the Black Ending, the Oracle's guise as Frei began to fall apart likely due to the fact that Charlotte was dying, and thus it was no longer able to maintain stability. The Oracle's appearance fluctuated, at some points even taking on the appearance of the Pythia girl that served as its final living vessel in the first episode. Charlotte and The Oracle spent their final moments together embracing each other in this ending, with Freya remarking that they can "finally rest" at last. For more extensive details on Frei's role in the story, please visit: The Oracle/Frei.
Hello Charlotte Episode 3[]
Another entity that shares the moniker of "Oracle" was introduced in Episode 3. For more details on this parasite Oracle, refer to the corresponding subpage: The Oracle/Parasite.
In the third installment of the main episodes, The Oracle has become primarily a background character. Its first appearance occurs in the second half of the game on Floor 6; here, Charlotte Wiltshire O91 is discovered by Scarlett and Florence in a lab that has been frozen in a stasis field. A short investigation revealed that this Charlotte unit is some sort of "Oracle", but may not be quite like the parasite that's currently within Scarlett's body. They also learn that this Oracle was the source of some kind of TV World, and that it was being kept on life support just to preserve the TV World for as long as possible. As this is not the Charlotte they sought after, they soon left O91 behind to return to the first floor.
In the epilogue, Charles explains that Charlotte should have died when she allowed the Oracle into her heart, but the Oracle intervened. It turned her soul data into an old television set, which rested within the empty room of Mr. Eyler; the channel the TV was set to was where the entirety of HC2 appears to have transpired. Should the Puppeteer/player choose not to break the TV, The Oracle (as Frei) will appear in a brief, heavily distorted scene with Charlotte and tell her that it is time to go stargazing. This seems to be deliberate euphemism in response to the fact that Q84 was about to turn the White Society's members into "Pythias" for them.
Trivia[]
- The Oracle takes the form of the male Pythia librarian from the first game because Charlotte turned out to be more afraid of it than she let on.
- Though it is implied that more than one Oracle can exist, the presence of other Oracles is never once seen within the series.
Gallery[]
Visit The Oracle/Gallery to view the gallery.
Dialogue[]
Visit The Oracle/Dialogue to read this character's lines.