Bloober Team's latest title and the newest Xbox exclusive, The Medium spends the majority of its seven to eight-hour story diving deep into the history of not only its main cast but also the history of Niwa Resort and many real-world events that occurred between the 1940s and 1990s. While many details of the main characters are presented openly to the player, there are several aspects that can fly under the radar.
There are also several interesting facts surrounding the cast of The Medium, as well. Bloober Team was able to get long time video game voice actors such as Graham Vick, William Roberts, and, most notably, Troy Baker to play the role of the antagonist Maw.
10 It's Implied That Marianne's Mother Died In Childbirth
Late in the game, after Marianne discovers the Red House in the far corner of Niwa, players can find a Memory Shard of Lily talking to Maw about her mother. Notably, she has been absent from all conversation until this point.
Specifically, Lily mentions that the loss of their mother was all Marianne's fault. Marianne instinctively defends herself despite not knowing why. The subtext here implies that her mother died during childbirth.
9 Thomas Was Imprisoned By The Nazis and Red Army
Shortly before this revelation about Lily and Marianne's mother, players are able to step into the shoes of Thomas once again. They can enter Henry's mind in an attempt to save his daughters from their burning house.
Just before this instance, Henry mentions that Thomas was once a prisoner of the Red Army, but that's not the only time that Thomas was a prisoner of war. In a diary entry, it is mentioned that Thomas escaped Poland during World War II having been imprisoned as a child due to his unique powers. That's some heavy emotional baggage.
8 Troy Baker's Voice Isn't Always Modulated
While each actor in The Medium plays their part spectacularly, there are several standouts among the cast including Sadness and Maw. However, in a video by Bloober Team showing off several aspects of their game, they also show how they managed to record most of Troy Baker's lines as Maw without adding voice modulation to give it the monstrous sound.
Considering how haunting and alien his voice sounds as Maw, this is an incredibly impressive feat of voice acting by Troy Baker. It just shows why he is such a sought after actor in the industry.
7 Hound and Childeater's Voice Actors Played Their Hosts As Well
The monsters in The Medium -- Maw, Hound, and Childeater -- are all manifestations of a human host after experiencing a traumatic event. This caused parts of their spirit to split off. Unfortunately, it is never quite explained which traumas lead to monster-fication or why there aren't more monsters around.
While Maw doesn't share a voice actor with its original host, the actor who plays Hound is the same as its host: Henry. Childeater's actor is the same person who plays its original host: Richard. While this does make sense from a lore standpoint, it is a little weird hearing Troy Baker play the role of a little girl's monstrous spirit.
6 Lilianne's Powers Could Have Been Far More Devastating
Shortly before the game ends, it is revealed that Thomas is both Lily and Marianne's father with all three having unique medium powers. For a long time, it wasn't known exactly what Lily could do, but it is revealed later in the game that she can split off aspects of her spirit of her own free will -- including Maw.
This is similar to how Thomas can sever a person's spirit from their body. However, it is also later revealed that she did this with Sadness in an effort to guide Marianne towards the truth. Considering how dangerous all of the monsters were, her powers could have been much more devastating if she wasn't so well adjusted.
5 The Three Aspects of Lilliane Are Played By Three Different People
Aside from Marianne, the character who gets the most screen time is definitely Lilianne -- her older sister and fellow medium. For Richard and Henry, their spiritual aspects are played by the same actor.
In Lilianne's case, Maw, Sadness, and Lilianne are all played by different actors. One exception to this, however, is that Sadness and the young version of Lilianne are both played by the same actor.
4 Jack May Have Been A Victim Of Maw
Just before Marianne finds what remains of Francis and the Red House, she is stalked by Maw in some sort of train yard area that looks somewhat like a derelict house. She is also confronted by an image of her adoptive father, Jack, who claims that she failed him. Curiously if theoretically, he shouldn't still be around. However, shortly after the player finds Jack's tie, Maw also shows up to ruin the party.
Maw seems to know a lot more about Marianne than they otherwise should and may indicate that Jack's mystery illness that took his life was actually the result of Maw possessing him. While this doesn't make a lot of sense considering Maw wasn't able to leave Niwa, they may have been able to influence Jack in some other way to kill him.
3 Maw and Lilianne Share Some Lines
For most of the game, no clear connection is drawn between Maw and the other spiritual beings. They seem to be entirely unique until Childeater is revealed. In the final scene, Maw and Lilianne's connection is confirmed not only when she explicitly tells Marianne of this fact, but also when they both share the line that Maw has been repeating throughout the game: "it all ends in me".
While both lines have vastly different meanings, it does bring into question what others of Maw's lines may have also been spoken by Lilianne. Furthermore, it begs questions around the significance of the shared lines.
2 Jack's Apartment Appears In Observer
In the opening of the game, Marianne spends a short amount of time searching around Jack's apartment building for his tie clip so that he can be buried with it. But this isn't the first time that gamers have been able to explore this particular building.
In Bloober Team's previous game, Observer, this particular apartment is the main setting for the story. Of course, the game takes place in a sci-fi setting nearly 100 years after The Medium takes place in the late 90s.
1 Richard's Voice Actor
While Troy Baker may be the star of The Medium despite not being the protagonist, there are several other notable voice actors used in the title. None have quite a lengthy resume as Richard's voice actor: William Roberts.
Roberts has appeared in a large number of video games over the years including Killzone 2 and Horizon Zero Dawn. But his most recognizable role is his part as the aging monster hunter Vesemir in The Witcher 3.