Little Nightmares: Is Six the Daughter of The Lady?

Making a case for why Six might be the daughter of The Lady of The Maw.

In Little Nightmares, players are given little to no information regarding the various characters aboard The Maw, including Six and the infamous woman known as The Lady. A few fan theories have cropped up following the release of Little Nightmares, specifically in relation to the game’s strange story and ending.

We’ve already covered the story summary and ending explanation of Little Nightmares here at Indie Obscura, but we didn’t go into detail about one theory in particular that we can’t seem to shake off… is Six the daughter of The Lady?

Note: This article contains several story spoilers for Little Nightmares.

Is Six the Daughter of The Lady?

When we finished playing Little Nightmares, we couldn't help but wonder whether Six is actually the daughter of The Lady. This resulted in us asking several questions, such as how did Six end up at the bottom of The Maw in the first place?

Little Nightmares makes it clear from the very beginning that The Maw is a dangerous place to anyone who isn’t an employee (The Janitor, Twin Chefs), one of the Guests, or The Lady who appears to run The Maw. Furthermore, it's obvious that the only real way to reach The Maw is by boat. 

How did Six end up aboard The Maw in Little Nightmares?

Because of Six’s relatively untouched status at the beginning of Little Nightmares, it's plausible that Six is in fact the daughter of The Lady of The Maw.

There are several pieces of evidence to suggest this, so let's start with the things that set Six apart. When you first meet Six, you instantly notice her bright yellow raincoat and her endless lighter.

Six stands out thanks to her bright yellow raincoat and lighter.

In contrast, the other entities aboard The Maw are either dirty, damaged, monsters, captive children, or gluttonous Guests. Out of everyone and everything you encounter, Six bears the strongest resemblance to The Lady (aside from her size being nearly identical to that of the Nomes). 

Going a step further, Six actually seems quite well-off compared to everyone else aboard The Maw. Well, aside from her small stature and extreme hunger pangs. However, could Six's hunger actually be by choice and/or design?

The Guests of The Maw appear to primarily dine on human children that are butchered by the Twin Chefs and processed into meat. This is further emphasized by the bodies found hanging around The Maw, the strange shoe graveyard, and the variety of cages meant to harbor children prior to consumption.

From what I can gather, The Lady doesn’t appear to eat humans in the same way that the Guests do. Instead, she consumes their life essence which resembles a sort of black mist. In a way, she feels somewhat similar to a vampire as her weaknesses are both the light and mirrors (vampires reportedly cannot see their own reflection). 

The same can be said of Six, who consumes a variety of things, but never any of the meat that the Guests eat. What’s interesting is that when Six is offered what appears to be a sausage by a Nome towards the end, she rejects it and consumes the Nome instead.

Is this because the sausage is made up of human meat, and Six either cannot ingest it, or refuses to?

Furthermore, does Six really "eat" the Nome in the traditional sense of the word, or does she simply consume its life essence in a similar manner to the way she consumes Guests at the end of the game? We ask this because the Nome's body is still left behind after she’s done “eating” it. 

The same can be said of the rat she comes across, as its corpse is also left behind when Six is done with it. In contrast, when you see Six consume the piece of bread tossed to her at the beginning of the game, the bread is fully eaten and nothing is left behind.

Six retrieving the bread thrown to her in the beginning of Little Nightmares.

Both The Lady and Six appear the most “human” of all the characters you meet in Little Nightmares, aside from the hanging bodies and shadowed children (who are likely there as food).

So, it’d make some semblance of sense that they wouldn’t be interested in eating human meat. Instead, they seem to sustain themselves through a sort of essence or life force (as indicated by Six gaining strength from living things like the rat, the Nome, and The Lady at the end).

Six fleeing from The Janitor in Little Nightmares.

Another thing I found interesting is that when The Janitor captures Six at one point in the game, he tucks her away in a cage. This seems curious to me, as he doesn’t outright kill her. 

Is this out of respect to his employer, The Lady? I’m not too certain, as there are moments where The Janitor and the Twin Chefs do attempt to harm Six in Little Nightmares. At least from what I can infer.

While Six’s interactions with the creatures of The Maw don’t exactly confirm her identity as The Lady’s daughter, they do present another interesting thought. What if Six was put at the very bottom of The Maw by The Lady in order to keep her safe and out of harm’s way?

We don’t know how long The Lady has been in charge of The Maw, nor do we know what her motivations are for running it (aside from using it to sustain herself by consuming the essence of the Guests). Additionally, we don't know why Six is allowed to move freely about the ship for the most part while the other children aboard The Maw are kept imprisoned in order to later be prepared as food. 

Six in a cage beside other children in Little Nightmares.

If she was captured and imprisoned in order to become food, why would she choose to hide at the very bottom of The Maw after escaping? In doing so, she’d need to then climb back up the various levels, past multiple areas of danger, in order to get to the top and leave. All while fending off her extreme hunger pangs.

It’d make more sense if she began her journey of escape from the area where the other children are kept.

Six watching Guests board The Maw in Little Nightmares.

This, and more, lends credence to the thought that Six is The Lady’s daughter. During the brief moments where we can actually catch a glance at Six’s face, she looks almost like a miniature version of The Lady. To top it all off, there are several portraits of Six found in The Lady's bedroom.

Some suggest that Six might've been cast aside when The Lady realized Six is more beautiful than she is. However, Six could have also been cast aside if The Lady saw her as a threat to her power. I feel the latter is more plausible considering that when Six consumes The Lady’s essence at the end, she’s able to take on her full powers and in doing so, becomes the new “leader” of The Maw.

Six bears a striking resemblance to The Lady of The Maw.

At the end of Little Nightmares, Six is no longer frightened, and she’s able to walk confidently through the dining hall consuming the essence of Guests.

All of this is extremely fascinating, even if we may never know for certain whether or not Six is in fact the daughter of The Lady. Keeping all of the game’s story nuances in mind, though, you can’t deny that there are several signs and indications that seem to suggest this.

What do you think? Is Six the daughter of The Lady, and if not, what’s your theory as to her mysterious backstory? Let us know in the comments below!

By reading through this article, you should now know why we think Six is the daughter of The Lady in Little Nightmares.

Morgan is a writer, indie game lover, and socially awkward coffee addict. Need something? Morgan can be reached at morgan.shaver@allgamers.com or if you like, you can say hello using GIFs on Twitter.

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