| abstract | - The "Limbo" of the game's title is not necessarily the limbo portrayed in the judeo-christian religion; it is a purgatory type stage of the spiritual world between life and the afterlife where one's fears and/or sins are confronted, and must be passed in order to continue on. This limbo stage is different for every individual who journeys through it, but forms itself into environments that each individual fears. Because the boy died, he must travel through it, but even though he's just a child, he is not exempt from the purifying process; it must be impersonal in order to fairly accommodate everyone who goes through it, and show no favorites. Thus, while journeying through Limbo, the boy confronts his fears. Among them are: bear traps, spiders, bullies (the shadowy figures he encounters who are constantly trying to kill him), someone taking over his mind (the mind worms; perhaps he was frightened by a magician who said he could hypnotize the boy) fire, drowning, electrocution, heights (the top of the buildings), big impersonal buildings (factories), loud machinery (buzz saws), darkness, loneliness, guns, and disorientation (gravity switches). Once he manages to overcome these obstacles, the boy falls back into Limbo's neutral state (ground with nothing about it). While falling, Limbo reforms itself into a forest, and from there, the boy is allowed to pass on to whatever lies beyond limbo. While journeying through this world, the boy must continuously head towards the light, as it represents God/purity/heaven, and is used as a good thing throughout the game (either in showing the way the boy has to go, a butterfly of light leading him in the right direction, burning mind bugs, the shaft of light that shines on the boy while breaking through the glass, etc.). Because none of the other children have light in them (the eyes) they are not real, and manifestations of the boy's fears. It is unclear if his sister his imaginary (she could be a manifestation, or we are simply unable to see her eyes), but upon reaching her, a sharp beam of light shines down on them both, suggesting that the boy can move on. Based on this theory, and on the obstacles the boy confronts, it can be theorized that he lived in the suburbs near a giant forest, and a large city. He was bullied constantly, his father was a hunter (based on the bear traps and guns), the boy occasionally ran into spiders while playing in the forest, which was also where his beloved treehouse was. His mother lived in a factory that he once visited, only to find terrifying, and subsequently never went to again. One day, while out in the forest with his sister, something happened that killed either both of them, or just the boy (if it was just the boy, he wouldn't know that his sister died), and upon waking in Limbo, finds himself in a world that's been exaggerated to accommodate his fears.
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