The Stranger

> His face is like a mirror isn’t it?
>
>

**Overview** Dialogue Gallery

**The Stranger** is a strange and mysterious character that appears at a few points throughout *Who's Lila?*.

## Appearance

At first glance, The Stranger is similar appearance to William, even having the same models in the overworld. Their faces however are quite different, with the Stranger having a much more androgynous appearance. In particular, he has a narrower nose, fuller eyelashes and lips, and a squarer jawline. When Tanya saw the Stranger right before her death, she initially thought it was William, but after looking closer realized it didn't look like him at all.

During his appearance in The Emperor Reversed ending, the narration describes him as follows:"A statue of sorts. It looks familiar... It looks so familiar... It may be made of wax. So lifelike it is. Does it talk? It looks so familiar… His face is like a mirror isn’t it? *You cannot help but gaze at it*"

## Personality

Little can be gleaned about the Stranger's personality since he has very little dialogue throughout the game. However, it is shown that he is obedient to Lila, saying whatever she tells him to and not hesitating to kill Tanya at her request. He never shows any emotions, giving the impression that he is quite cold-blooded. There are many theories about his identity, since his nature is never explicitly explained in game.

## Backstory

On the night of November 20, as seen in The Moon, William went to a party at Matt Hurley's house. While there, he encountered the Stranger, who was standing in the upper level of the living room. However when attempting to speak to the Stranger in most situations, he remained unnervingly silent. The The Stranger disappeared from the room once Tanya and Ellie arrived at the party.

Later on, when William and Tanya danced and shared a kiss in Matt's backyard, William suddenly met face-to-face with the Stranger. William was confused, asking where he was and who the Stranger is. The Strange merely replied with **"SHE HAD HER FACE"**. William started to protest this, asking more questions, but the scene cuts away before he can finish.

The Stranger next appeared during The Lovers, where he had seemingly taken William's place after Lila took over control of his body. He and Tanya stood in William's kitchen, with Lila instructing the Stranger on what to say and do. Tanya initially believed the Stranger to be William but then remarked that he doesn't look so similar after all. She expressed fear and confusion over what was happening, clearly distressed by the Stranger's presence and demeanor. It's not directly shown, but from Lila's dialogue it is implied that the Stranger was the one to murder Tanya.

## Plot

The Stranger can be encountered in the Forest, but only in the area accessible from the Yantra in the Burned Apartment. There, he can be seen standing in the river near the shore. He appears to be standing there motionlessly. A brief bit of narration (see above) occurs upon checking him. His face then comes into view but quickly morphs into something completely unrecognizable, resembling a middle-aged man with no eyes and an impossibly large smile carved into his face. The scene then cuts away and transitions into a conversation with The Emperor.

## Trivia

* Playing certain songs on the stereo at the party can cause the Stranger to give cryptic responses to them. These can be seen on this page.
* There is a lack of strong consensus in the community as to what gender the Stranger is, due to his androgynous appearance. Detective Yu and The Emperor Reversed narration both refer to him with masculine pronouns however, so that is what the wiki uses.
* When the Stranger speaks at the end of The Moon, the text is accompanied by a robotic voice. Note that it is different from the robotic voice that accompanies William's dialogue during Wheel of Fortune, which sounds as though it is a real human's voice that has been edited. On the other hand, the Stranger's voice sounds completely synthetic.
* The Stranger was at least partially inspired by the Mystery Man from David Lynch's *Lost Highway*.
* He is most likely also inspired by *The King in Yellow* by Robert W. Chambers. When asking Wheeliam about the Stranger, he will respond with a quote from *The King in Yellow*, in which there is a character known as the Stranger as well.
	+ The quote in question is "You, sir, should unmask. Indeed? Indeed it's time. We have all laid aside disguise but you. I wear no mask. No mask? No mask!". This is actually a string of lines from a few separate characters, two of which have removed their masks and ask the third to join them in removing his mask. He then explains that he has no mask, at the horror of the other two characters.