Sensei Prime

Sensei Prime is the original incarnation of Sensei, whom the later iterations would be based off. His immense sadness and guilt over the loss of his family, Maya and his unborn daughter led him to create the Upside Down House and Kumon-mi as a way to right his wrongs and create a happy world free from misery. For a full history of his life, see the page Full Timeline.

## Early Life

As a child, Sensei Prime led a relatively normal life. His family was fairly poor and his parents fought a lot growing up. He seemed to exhibit some signs of depression or mental illness, although these may have been typical mood swings of a child/teenager. He seemed to be ambitious when young, wishing to be an astronaut, policeman or professional athlete, although it's unclear if these were lofty dreams of an idealistic kid or if they were actual realistic goals up until the car accident. Current Sensei seems to have numerous vague memories of people close to him dying of unknown illnesses, and when combined with his inability to remember anything about his parents it's possible that Sensei Prime's parents died when he was relatively young.

It's unknown how close Sensei Prime was to his brother, but it seems that Sensei was constantly put off by how much more confident and mature his older brother was compared to him. This conflict was likely escalated by Sensei's crush on his sister-in-law, something of which his brother seemed aware. After the car accident, Sensei Prime's only family and connection to the rest of the world was his niece Maya, which forced them substantially closer than they otherwise might be.

## Prime's Current Status

As of the current iteration of Sensei within Kumon-mi, it's unclear if Sensei Prime is still alive (and if so, what "alive" truly means for him). It is heavily implied that at some point Sensei Prime "jumped", however it's unclear what this actually means. It may have been that it was an actual literal suicide attempt that resulted in Prime's death. Alternatively it could be that Prime "jumped into the wishing well" and inserted himself into Kumon-mi.

Given that at least the Narrator and possibly all three gods of the trinity seem to have Prime's memories and/or shards of his personality, it seems likely that whatever is left of Prime is himself present in the system. It could be that Prime metaphorically poured his thoughts and his "soul" into his creation and the three gods are the result, possessing parts of Prime without literally being him. As a result if Prime literally jumped and killed himself, the gods may simply be hollow representations of who the original was. However if Prime actually entered the simulation himself, his mind and personality may still be "alive", either acting as the Narrator or split into fragments and controlling all three gods. The repeated motif of voyeurism and cameras throughout the game seem to indicate that *someone* is watching everything that Sensei does, so it seems likely that Prime's consciousness is still around and is living vicariously through Current Sensei's actions.

The distinction may seem largely academic, as even if the original Prime is literally dead his influence and his memories are still plastered all over Kumon-mi. However, if Prime's mind is still alive and active within Kumon-mi it may have massive implication for the story going forward.

## Morality

Sensei Prime's morality can be hard to pin down. There is virtually no way to argue that he is a good man; from coveting his brother's wife, to eventually falling in love with and having a sexual relationship with his own niece (to whom he was acting as a father figure), to becoming complicit in the abortion of his child, Prime was at best selfish and unwilling to control his own baser urges. Depending on how much he suffered from mental illness and the unwanted burden placed upon him by the death of his brother, some of his immoral actions may be partially explainable.

The true test of his morality depends immensely on just how heinous the Upside Down House is, and how much involvement he had in it's development. The House appears to mistreat the girls, malnourish them and perform experiments that at least sometimes result in the girl's death. It's heavily implied that Prime had at least some hand in these experiments and he may have devised them himself. It's also unknown where the girls originally come from; if the girls are previous mental patients and he is serving as their last ditch effort to recover from their various life-destroying neuroses, then perhaps some extreme measures may be justified. However if the running joke of Current Sensei being a human trafficker is in part based on Prime's actions, then Prime goes from an desperate obsessive trying to help people with dubious tactics to a full-on villain.

Determining the facts of Prime's morality along with his status in the current system is key to determining who, if anyone, can be trusted within the world of Kumon-mi. If Prime is actually completely immoral and willing to commit atrocities in the name of attaining happiness for himself or his creations, and is currently acting as the Concerned God and/or the Narrator then it means that Current Sensei has the voice of a monster whispering in his ear. While many of the more cruel things Current Sensei has done may be easily attributable to Nozomu, it could very well be that acts like kissing Yumi or taking Makoto's virginity may have instead been Concerned, whose only *actual* concern is the well-being of Current Sensei at any cost. Even if those specific acts weren't Concerned, the fact that Sensei has the voice of a madman in his ear seemingly acting in his best interest has dire ramifications for how well he will be able to navigate future hazardous situations with the girls.

Alternatively it is possible that even if Prime was a monster, the more monstrous parts may be contained within Nozomu's portion of Prime's personality. This would require a slight reshuffling of the timeline to ensure that Prime "jumped" back before the Callous Era of Kumon-mi, but it would leave the possibility that Concerned/Sekai still retain some of the more noble portions of Prime's mind and Nozomu is in fact the villain of the story with no regard for anything other than momentary happiness.