(SPOILERS) Easy to miss disturbing secret in Fatal Frame 5

[curl-6]

NoirSon said:

curl-6 said:

Basically, one of the playable main characters, Miu, is the product of incest.

A book you find in the game talks about “shadowborn” children, basically children born of a ghost father and a living mother.

When Miu finds the requilary containing her mother, the ghost of the old woman who presided over the “ghost marriages” performed on Mount Hikami appears, and refers to Miu as a “shadowborn”.

Elsewhere in the game, we discover that her mother, Miku, entered into such a ghost marriage with her dead brother, Mafuyu. (Those who have played Fatal Frame 1 and 3 will remember his story)

Thus it is heavily implied that Miu is the shadowborn daughter of Miku and Mafuyu, and indeed the game’s official guide in Japan apparently confirms that she is.

The details of shadowborn conception are kept vague, so it’s not clear if Miku and Mafuyu literally did the nasty, but the end result is that a Nintendo published game has a protagonist whose parents are brother and sister.

Technically, it isn't the first time back in the day, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War on the Super Famicom  had incest in its plot.

I didn't know about that, but still, I never actually said it was the first time Nintendo have dabbled in incest. ;) Just that it's not something you expect to see in a Nintendo published game, especially these days. Plus, since it's not explicitly stated, I suspect some players finished the game without making the connection.