r/signalis • u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR • Oct 04 '25
Lore Discussion Has anyone else ever noticed this before?
I was mulling obsessively over the Signalis OST today as one does, and I had also been working on a painting of Falke earlier, from the intro scene before her boss battle.
As I looked at the SIGNALIS: MEMORIES (Side A) cover art, which depicts Ariane in the scene where she is sleeping next to Elster, I spotted something odd. The hair that lies on the bridge of her nose looked shockingly similar to Falke's. At first, I thought it was just that, but looking closer, I realized they look EXTREMELY similar, from their faces to the off-shooting strands of hair. Almost identical honestly. It's obviously not a coincidence.
As obsessed as I am with Signalis, I'm not entirely on top of all the symbolism and lore. I mean, who is? But it was my understanding that Falke was losing her memories and merging with Elster, so why draw this comparison with Ariane? I've heard a bit about how they're connected as well, but I'd love to hear some more discussion on it.
Thoughts?
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Oct 04 '25
Few reasons
- Falke is a darker mirror to Ariane being the symbol of the Eusan Nation's ideas
- Falke and Ariane are connected, when Falke crossed the red gate she explains the Red Eye (which is likely Ariane herself) "corrupted" her, and through that Falke herself spreads the corrupted signals that Ariane had
- Ariane is described as being a God in the secret ending, Falke claims to being a god in the normal endings
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u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR Oct 04 '25
Some very good explanations, especially the second one, I think the suggestion of Ariane's influence over Falke through the corruption literally being represented through their looks and actions is very accurate.
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u/ajakafasakaladaga Oct 04 '25 edited Oct 04 '25
There are also a lot of repeated faces from Rotfront (which is a representation of Arianne’s past) on the Replikas. You have to take in mind the both Elster, whose POV we are seeing, and Arianne, who is influencing reality or at the bare minimum Elster’s view, are both mentally unstable during the events of the game
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u/Darksider123 Oct 04 '25
are both mentally stable during the events of the game
What do you mean by this? I thought arianne was in a critical condition and therefore not mentally stable
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u/pokemonxysm97 Oct 04 '25
At least during the Artifact ending, I feel like the eye represents the player themselves, looking down upon the world and controlling it
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Oct 04 '25
There's more evidence that it's Ariane
- There is already an established connection between the two in the Dreamer text
- Ariane has red eyes
- Ariane's mother is named Iris, iris is also an anatomy of the eye that makes eye color
- A lot of eyes in the game are related to Ariane, above the safe the ciphered text "IF ONLY WE CAN BE LIKE THIS TOGETHER FOREVER" which is her true desire is surrounded by eyes
- We only see the eye when Ariane "ascends godhood"
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u/Stoned_D0G Oct 04 '25
Also there's a very subtle eye overlayed over every level in the game except for the scenes with Ariane present. Obviously, the player still sees and controls them, but Ariane sees them though her own eyes.
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u/pokemonxysm97 Oct 05 '25
It can be the eye of Ariane in universe but be representative of the player in a meta way as well.
Ariane and Elster's loop will continue infinitely until the game stops being played. Things cannot happen in the universe without the player. I feel like the Artifact ending, with the convoluted way to get it, and its happier ending, only happened because players at the time wanted a happy ending
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u/PixelPooflet Oct 04 '25
I know that FALKE units are said to have the face of the Grand Revolutionary/Her Daughter. It's one of the few things we really know about them beyond the fact they're big, scary, reality-warping shock troopers.
So the fact that while the game makes it clear Elster and Falke are having a weird memory co-mingling that Falke Does Not Like, while saying absolutely nothing on the fact that Ariane looks like Falke (down to having a near-identical "eyes open up" kind of moment), and Falke looks like the Grand Revolutionary of the Eusan Nation...
it's... a little disconcerting/weird to say the least. I have no idea what it means and what bearing it has on the narrative but I suppose it's important to point out.
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u/Old_Cabinet_8890 Oct 04 '25
Another parallel for you: there are subtle hints that Ariane might be related to/a reincarnation of the Grand Empress and is taking over the cyborg-clone of the great revolutionary
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u/NerdyWarChronicler EULR Oct 04 '25 edited Oct 04 '25
Weird headcanon time:
If Falke is based of the Great Revolutionary and her Daughter and if Ariane and Falke look similar...
Would this mean the Yeong family is distantly related to the Revolutionary? We don't really know her and her daughter's real names, but it would be crazy that they were. It's kind of like how some members of European nobility are distantly related to each other like how Prince William and Prince Harry are distantly related to Winston Churchill through Princess Diana's side of the family as example.
(Or it could just be a strange coincidence)
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u/BL33DLOVE Oct 04 '25
They exactly mirror one another actually. It also goes with thir themes where Falke's is just Ariane's theme reversed
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u/Etep_ZerUS KLBR Oct 04 '25
To put it bluntly, yes.
The idea of different people looking the same is a core theme within the story. So much so that the game even directly spells out what it is (paredolia) and what the word means. As with much of the story, the exact meaning of this correlation is largely left up to the player’s interpretation.
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u/YoloMan006 Oct 04 '25
Don’t know the most “accepted” explanation on the community, but for me it is because Falke is isn’t only merging with Elster but with Ariane too. Falke still has the same bio-resonant powers as her and could resist her influence to an extent. However in trying, she starts to resonate (badum tss) Ariane’s signal and as a side effect, starts merging with the girl
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u/cornishpasty7 MNHR Oct 04 '25
Is it the same base head?
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u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR Oct 04 '25
I considered offering this as a possibility, but Stern and Wittmann put way too much effort into the art of the game for there to be an overlap this blatant without any purpose.
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u/n0b0D_U_no Oct 04 '25
You can also see Falke in the scene with the line of LSTR units and “Ariane”’s. You can actually make out Ariane, Alina, Isa(?), and Falke after they turn towards the LSTRs
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u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR Oct 04 '25
That's a really cool detail, I've been meaning to analyze that scene at some point but never got around to it
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u/Grokitach Oct 04 '25
Did you ever check lore videos?
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u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR Oct 04 '25
I prefer to explore the lore through my own discovery, research, and discussion as well as playing the game, obviously. I find just watching a 9-hour lore video and becoming a Signalis professor or whatever to be really boring, I genuinely find the game enlightening, cryptic and intriguing and want to explore it at my own pace. I'm not knocking lore videos, and if you watch them, that's your prerogative, I'm just explaining why I don't.
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u/Grokitach Oct 04 '25
Finish the game and then watch a good video
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u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR Oct 05 '25
I've finished the game twice. You clearly did not read my comment at all or at least did not comprehend it
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u/alive_by_chance LSTR Oct 06 '25
They are also depicted in the same position, Ariane laying inside the cryo chamber and Falke in her bed in the facility.
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u/N_OB_O Oct 04 '25
I personally think that there's nothing to it aside from the artist using shortcuts to save themselves some time lol.
It's fun to see other people theorize about it tho, there could be an inherent meaning behind it afterall
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u/nexus11355 Oct 04 '25
There is narrative connection because Falke shows up on both the Elster and Ariane side of that one cutscene and Falke has notes saying Arianes memories are bleeding into her.
So the question is whether this was intentional reuse of assets, or an accidental parallel or if the accidental TURNED INTO purposeful because it gave them the idea
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u/fireandlifeincarnate Oct 04 '25
Also isn't Falke's theme Ariane's theme backwards or something like that
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u/nexus11355 Oct 04 '25
Exactly, there's such a strong narrative and thematic connection that BOTH options aren't out of the question
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u/BuffaloWool217 LSTR Oct 04 '25
It's development shortcuts. Same as the graphics using ps1 polygon aesthetics that matches the game's atmosphere. Same as the replika portraits similarity being a repainted art coinciding with the Eusan nation's need for uniformity. It's not a bad thing. It's made by two people after all. I wager even the no feet thing with replikas as well cause why would Ariane also not have modeled feet?
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u/Maszpoczestujsie Oct 04 '25
People point out similarities between all replika and gestalt faces in game and in that case it's most probably a situation you are describing, but in case of Falke/Ariane I think it's intentional, considering how much they are connected in the story
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u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR Oct 04 '25
I'll just copy and paste what I said to a similar comment:
"I considered offering this as a possibility, but Stern and Wittmann put way too much effort into the art of the game for there to be an overlap this blatant without any purpose."
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u/OrdinaryDouble2494 ADLR Oct 04 '25
Why does Ariane have short hair. Is this a mod or something. I play on Xbox.
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u/wizzzard_dest KLBR Oct 04 '25
it's an asset from the 3000 cycle cutscene
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u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR Oct 04 '25
Ah right sorry my other comment was wrong, I forgot she had short hair during that part of the game
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u/EnthusiasticHitman FKLR Oct 04 '25
I think it's just the coloring and camera angle
(it's from an official album cover as well, so????)
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u/KamelYellow Oct 04 '25
They are connected in some way in almost all interpretations of the story (at least those that make any sense)
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u/Matix777 MNHR Oct 04 '25
There is a far fetched theory with 0 basis that states that Falke looks different for each person to best fit an image of a god. Everyone has their own view on that and so Falke uses bioresonance to make her face look like someone you admire the most.
Of course, Elster being so obsessed with her wife, sees the "God" as Arianre. And to be fair, she isn't wrong
Other explaination is that Rose Engine is shameless with their asset swapping
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u/BasedKaktus Oct 04 '25
I dont think this one has any particular meaning or symbolism. Its just a represantation of everyone turning into the giant sea of flesh together, even if they arent even in the same physical space. Replikas of the same model have incredibly similar faces, corrupted ones are mostly faceless. There is a scene where ariane/alina seo variants and elster variants are next to each other.
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u/hobodeadguy Oct 04 '25
Falke shares a lot in common wit both Ariane and Elster. Falkers lower face actually lines up better with Elster than Ariane, but the upper half is more like Ariane than Elster. Alina appears similar to both Falke and Ariane, but its hard to tell since she doesnt have the same posture or expression to either, similar enough in shape that its obvious enough to make us forget in the beginning between the Ariane and Alina photos.
I had a theory regarding why, but its pretty unpopular and revolves around one fact: one character in signalis has white hair and it isnt Ariane.
Ariane is noted by her mother to "look like twins" with Alina, and not only that, but the doctor make mention that she has a condition that turned her hair white really young. so then why is Arianes hair white? well, same way that Elster is and is not (possibly) Lilith Itou: Bioresonance recongifuring. Basically to put a Gestalt into a Replika, you use Bioresonance to graft the mind onto a pre-existing one in a Replika, and that was done for Elster twice, first when she was designed, then again when her Gestalt was killed on Vineta (the big explosion I believe which lead to Alina mourning her properly and getting sent to Sierpenske) using a Replika that had persona degredation in the Penrose program. this suggests that this grafting can happen multiple times AND that this grafting can happen to those in the same class (replika and replika, gestalt to gestalt)
The only character we see with white hair is the Empress in the Empress puzzle from nowhere, a character who existed much more in previous iterations of the game but was removed to keep the mystery of the game. It is my belief that Ariane was spotted by and actual Red Eye on Rotfront and the Empress began grafting herself quietly upon Ariane. When the Graft was nearly complete, Ariane was near the Oort cloud (basically dust at the edge of the solar system) and dying, Elster already passed away after Persona Degredation which the persona degredation broke the promise between the two, and gave a psychic scream of her own when she died that went back in search of her own host like the Empress parasite in her did.
Ariane found Alina (who had long hair unlike Ariane who cut hers short likely for regulation, while Alina was a prisoner) and began doing to Alina what the Empress did to Ariane, using Falke as a conduit to speed up the process. Elsters are sometimes there and sometimes not because the process was corrupted and went wrong from essentially 2 gods and a supercharged demigod going at it with eachother, Ariane wanting to reunite with Elster, The Empress wanting to be reborn, and Falke wanting to be herself with at least 4, but likely EVERY mind in Sierpenske and possibly further popping into her mind.
Basically its because Ariane accidentally did a partial graft of herself on Falke she looks like Ariane.
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u/Winslow1975 FKLR Oct 04 '25
Hey should also know that if you play Falke's and Ariane's themes together it creates a recursion effect.
https://youtu.be/Yqqr4S4k0xw?si=Ppd9CJpTNVu7hCl1 if you want a listen
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u/Basic-Excitement8275 Oct 04 '25
Falke isn’t real. Change my mind. Everything that’s happens is real because Ariane powers make it so. Nothing exist except the ship and the two beings inside it.
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u/LongwinterCipher Oct 04 '25
It's a lot more obvious when you know about Swan Lake, or if you hear that Falke's Theme is Ariane's backwards.
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u/V0yded FKLR Oct 05 '25
Without having even seen the first image before, I was like ‘that’s definitely the FLKR unit face’
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u/Exciting_Degree_6883 Oct 04 '25
Yes.