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- This is the page for the character Ib. Information on the game Ib can be found here.
Ib (イヴ Ivu) is the silent protagonist of the horror game Ib and the first controllable character in the game. She, along with Garry and Mary (v1.04), is one of the few characters that the player can control.
Appearance
Ib is a nine-year-old girl with brown hair and red eyes. Her hair is a dull chestnut brown, parted into fringed bangs across her forehead, with the rest worn long and down her back. She wears a white long-sleeved blouse adorned with a red ribbon, similar to the blue scarf that Mary wears, and a knee-length pleated red skirt that matches her neckerchief. She also wears black knee-high socks and red shoes with white soles and adorned with a small red bow on the top of each shoe. Her attire is very similar to a school uniform.
In the True Guertena Exhibit, during one of Garry's conversations with Ib, he notes that she appears to be skinny, wonders if she's eating properly and tells her to make sure she's eating nutritious foods. In the Safe Room, Garry compliments her fashion sense.
Also in the True Guertena Exhibit, in one of Mary's conversations with Ib, she notes that her hair is very silky.
Personality
Ib's personality varies depending on the player's choices. She seems to be shown with not much emotion, but kouri has drawn some of Ib's reactions to things. The player's choices of her personality affect the game's ending (the choices the player makes affect the way Ib talks to and acts towards Garry or Mary).
However, Ib is shown as reticent, reserved, and vacantly unreadable. Most of the time, she seems to have an unusual mental immunity to surreal events that would normally result in trauma. It is unknown whether she is simply too young and naive to identify when certain things are out of the ordinary or if she has the capability of not being affected emotionally, which prevents her from becoming overwhelmed.
But she is truly very kind, compassionate, and emotional on the inside. When the cursed gallery's events starts to ominously involve those who are significant to Ib (namely, her parents and later, Garry, with varying events depending on the player's route), Ib's mental state appears to be disturbed, as she expresses concern during those moments. After certain extremely tense moments, Ib expresses her affection physically, as she hugs Garry on two separate occasions. Ib is clearly frightened of the cursed gallery during the cutscene showing her nightmare. She is also very sensitive to others, as she felt sorry for Mary when she had to leave her behind.
Unlike Garry, she doesn't express or show her feelings very much. Because of her age, Ib is very innocent and naïve. She can't read certain words in the gallery and doesn't understand much of what is going on, although she is aware of the concept of danger. For example, in any of the endings in which Garry dies, Ib, upon seeing his body, will think that he is sleeping.
Ib picks up her Red Rose after she enters the cursed gallery of the Fabricated World. After she picks it up, the rose window on the interface will indicate that the rose has only three petals, but it can be restored to a healthy state of five petals after healing it in the nearby vase. Her rose is red and is symbolic for love and compassion, according to flower language. Unlike Garry's rose, her rose has only five petals. This may be because she is younger, and, thus, weaker than Garry.
It is, however, possible that Ib's rose is colored red for her personality. Red describes kindness, energetic spirit (that children usually have), bravery, liveliness, and strong mental rank.
Role
Ib, with her parents, one day visits an art museum featuring Guertena's artworks. Her mother gives her permission to look at the art on her own, and Ib goes on to explore the museum by herself. Eventually, she gets transported to the Fabricated World (read as "??? World," depending on whether or not Garry survives). After exploring a bit, she eventually finds the Red Rose. The rose is linked to her life, and if it dies, so does she. She doesn't understand this, however, because she can't completely read the sign next to where she found the rose.
As Ib keeps going through the cursed gallery, she will find Garry, collapsed on the ground and appearing to be in pain, yet holding onto a Small Key tight in his hand. After she picks up the key, if she inspects Garry, she'll have two options: to call out to him or to massage his shoulders, which will have little impact or will cause him even more pain, respectively. However, these options will become unavailable after Ib obtains the Blue Rose, which she will find being torn apart by the Lady in Blue. Since Garry, just like Ib, is connected to a rose, nothing will help him until Ib heals his rose.
The way Ib behaves towards Garry is chosen by player but is also partially controlled by the game. Ib seems to love Garry in the same way he does for her. Also, as the relationship with Garry can be chosen, it can be chosen with Mary as well, but there is no bond between the two of them. Ib seems to like Mary, since Garry said Ib may be sorry for leaving Mary there after he defended her from Mary once he found out/remembered the truth about her being a painting. Even if Ib understands Mary is a painting, she doesn't think about how dangerous Mary can be.
When Ib escapes with Garry into the Sketchbook, they soon end up in the Toy Box after Mary pushes them into it. Depending on the conversations between Mary and Ib, she may or may not be able to find her rose. If there are no petals above Ib after she wakes up, her rose can't be found. If the petals of her rose are seen above Ib, they will lead to the rose.
Relationships
Ib treats Garry as he does to her. She likes him very much and feels safe near him, and Garry feels the same way, sometimes even needing Ib for his own protection and sanity. Ib often asks Garry questions, some being what certain words she can't read are, others about Garry. Garry is very important to Ib, which is proven by bond point system. If the bond reaches eight points, Ib will be able to give him her precious handkerchief when he cuts his hand. Also, if Garry is driven insane in the Doll Room, she will hug him if she's able to restore his sanity. Otherwise, she will hug him when he saves her from Mary's attempt to stab Ib in the Brown Area.
Since the player chooses most of Ib's choices with Garry, not much can be told about their actual relationship. However, in one of the Ib All Alone endings she trusts him enough to return to the Fabricated World with the fake Garry, and in the Welcome to the World of Guertena ending, if Ib is unable to restore Garry's sanity, then she seems to give into despair and gives up, and in the Promise of Reunion ending, Ib acts pleasantly to Garry, caring and reciprocating his feelings for her.
Ib, at first, is glad to meet Mary so she can continue the search for a way out together. She appears to think of Mary as a friend (initially). Even though Ib may initially see Mary as a friend, Ib grows closer to Garry since they have known each other longer (since the start of the game). Ib acts very similar towards Mary as she does to Garry but players' choices given indicate it seems like Ib may not trust Mary as much. At times, Ib may be quite scared of Mary, especially in the bad endings.
Ib arrives at the art gallery with her parents and asks if she can go off by herself. Her mother complies under the condition that Ib doesn't get herself into trouble. Her mother seems to be a bit strict, but does trust Ib. When the lights go out, Ib's parents, along with everybody else in the art gallery, disappear. In the Fabricated World with Garry, she sees a portrait of her mother and father (Couple) and is noticeably disturbed. In a conversation with Garry in the Safe Room, when he compliments Ib's high-quality clothing that she is wearing, Ib states her mother picked it out for her. Mary also asks her about her mother when they are separated from Garry. If Garry lives and Ib's about to jump into the painting with him, Ib's fake mother will come (whom Garry cannot see). If Ib sleeps on the Final Stage, Ib will recall her mother giving her a handkerchief for her ninth birthday. Ib seems to have a good relationship with her mother and appeared to miss her. If Ib chooses to go with her fake mother, the result will be the Ib All Alone ending. In every ending that Ib escapes the art gallery, her mother has some sort of role, usually telling Ib that it's time to leave or talking to her about the paintings.
Not much is known about Ib's relationship with her father, as he speaks very little and is barely spoken of in the game. He does seem to have a more laid back attitude however. Ib came to the art gallery with her parents, and her father goes to the front desk to get some pamphlets. He disappears along with everybody else when the lights go out. In the art gallery with Garry, Ib sees a portrait of her mother and father (Couple) and is noticeably disturbed. If Ib escapes the art gallery, she can find her father looking at the paintings. If Ib sleeps on the Final Stage, Ib will recall her father giving her a stuffed animal of a bunny for her birthday, despite her mother's disagreement (since Ib has so many stuffed bunnies already). Ib and her father seem to be on relatively good terms, especially since kouri has drawn them together multiple times.
Trivia
- Due to her young age, many of the books Ib reads have words she cannot read (either she cannot read kanji yet, or the level is too advanced for her). These appear as "???".
- The "???" disappears when she is with Garry, as he can read them for her.
- At one point, her inability to read certain words is used to censor some naughty words in a book she finds, which Garry promptly closes and tells her not to read it until she's older.
- Ib looks braver than Garry due to her innocent behavior, which is caused by the naïvety of her age. Because of this, Ib's perception of objects in the Fabricated World is affected, such as seeing most of the blue dolls as bunnies. Since Garry is older, he understands what things in that world are capable of and is aware of the oddities of the live paintings, which is why his vision of objects is unaffected.
- Ib suffers from multiple hallucinations in the cursed gallery, two of them involving herself hanging, seeing the blue dolls as bunnies, and seeing her mother or Garry in the Ib all Alone endings. This may be linked to her being unable to understand certain aspects of the cursed gallery.
- If Garry dies, Ib describes him as sleeping; either she is too young to know what death is and that Garry is actually dead, or she does not want to accept what has happened to him.
- Ib's name may be a variation of "Eve," as "Ivu" (Ib's name in romaji) is the Japanese pronunciation of the name "Eve."
- In a private e-mail, kouri has stated that it was always intended for Ib's name to be pronounced "Ib" rather than "Eve."
- Her name may also be the short form of/based on the Japanese word "ibara," which translates to "thorn." However, ibara is not a good name, as it gives the implication that the person with that name "stings."
- Ib's favorite animal is most likely a bunny. In the Doll Room, she sees the blue dolls as bunnies; she is seen in many of kouri's drawings with a bunny; and she owns many stuffed bunnies in her home, to the point where her mother thinks she has too many.
Gallery
Ib as seen on her inventory screen.
Ib and Garry looking at their reflection in a
mirror.
Ib and Garry viewing their reflections in a mirror, with an unexpected
mannequin head.
Ib in the titular screen of the
game.
Ib's sprites.
Ib and
Garry on the cover of Quarterly Pixiv magazine Volume 10.
Garry, Ib, and
Mary rubber phone strap set.
Ib plate.
Ib
movic figurine concept.
A red headless statue wearing
Ib badges.
Ib drawn with a mouse.
Ib massaging
Garry's hip.
Garry and Ib solving a museum puzzle with a key.
Ib and her Red Rose.
Halloween 2012 Garry, Ib, and Mary.
Ib.
Ib.
"Come Ib."
Weakened Ib - discarded concept (menu image changes every time her
rose lost a petal) originally planned to be inputted into the game.
Ib.
Ib's Mother/Garry telling Ib to keep her
handkerchief/rose safe (déjà vu for Ib).
Garry breaking a
headless statue after trying to move it (one point added to his doom counter).
Ib with her Red Rose.
Mary's drawing of herself with Ib.
Ib and Garry making paper doll rain charms.
Ib and a key.
Banshee Ib (Halloween 2012).
Ib and her
father commemorating with Beaujolais nouveau wine.
Garry and Ib encountering the red skull of
Puzzle.
Ib fully protected for winter (2012).
Ib holding her Red Rose.
Garry and Ib wearing yukata for the 2013 New Year.
Mary tampering with Garry's hair (2013 New Year).
Ib eating a snow rabbit rice cake (2013 New Year).
Mary winning the Ib and Mary plush dolls from a claw machine.
Ib.
Ib.
Ib curiously reaching towards a fish head painting.
Ib hugging a rabbit.
Ib holding a promotional
Ib mug.
Christmas 2012 Ib.
2013 New Year
Mary and Ib.
Father's Day 2013 Ib and her
father.
Tanabata 2013 Ib and
Garry.
Paper cup Ib.
Ib lottery promotional picture.
"Thank you!!"
Realistic Ib.
Ib's 2nd Anniversary.
Halloween 2013 Ib.
Ib bathing in a glass of wine.
2014 Year of the Horse Ib.
Ib and Garry.
White Day 2014 chocolate Ib and rabbit.
Ib holding a stuffed fish.
Halloween 2014 Ib.
Garry teaching Mary and Ib about mille crêpes (Halloween 2014).
Halloween Ib 2014.
Valentine's Day 2015 Ib and Garry.
Ib with her Red Rose and Garry's hand.
Ib's 3rd Anniversary.
Ib wondering what gift she'll receive for Christmas.
The result of Garry plucking a flower from Ib's head.
Ib doodles.
Garry doodles.
Mary doodles.
Item doodles.
Ib's 4th Anniversary.
Ib's 5th Anniversary.
Halloween 2018 Ib.
Halloween 2018 Ib.
2019 Year of the Boar Ib.
Ib's 7th Anniversary.
Ib and Garry.
Ib's 8th Anniversary.
External links
References
- ↑ In the Safe Room, one of the possible conversations with Garry involves him asking for Ib's age.
