Theories and Rumors

While the publication of The Diary of Ellen has managed to shed some light on many of the game's mysteries, there are several topics that remain uncovered and many more that have been recently open for interpretation. And with a growing fanbase, it is only expected that many theories about the game's history and events would spawn. Amongst these theories, there are also rumors, most of which are false and immediately proven wrong.

Theories

These are fan-generated theories that attempt to explain certain aspects of the game and novella. Not all of these theories have been confirmed and thus some should not be immediately accepted as canon unless Fummy states otherwise.

The Invisible Bird is the Crow

In The Diary of Ellen, a crow regularly visits Ellen's house to deliver medicine made by his witch. It is possible that the invisible bird Viola frees from the cage is the Crow since the bird appears to be a crow. However, since the Black Cat is visible to Viola, the Crow should also be visible seeing that both of them are demons. The bird from the cage isn't as visible as the cat is though.

Viola's fate

• Viola's soul gets eaten by the Demon when she dies.
• In the "Good" Ending, Viola survives.
• Viola can be saved.
• Viola becomes the new witch after Ellen.

The Legless Girl is inspired by Teke Teke

At the end of the game, when Viola (in Ellen's body) chases after Ellen (in Viola's body) by dragging herself with her hands (since her legs were cut off) it may be a reference to a Japanese yōkai called "Teke Teke," a monster/ghost girl missing her legs who also chases after people on her hands. Teke Teke is also said to be extremely fast, much like Viola is at the end as well.

Ellen's age / Time period

• It was speculated by many fans before the release of the novella, that due to their "friendship," Ellen would be around the same age as Viola, who is 13 years old.
• While it is never mentioned what Ellen's true age might be from the game and the novella, several indications of how much time has passed during Ellen's reign as a Witch.
• By applying real-world time to the story, the closest indication to when Ellen was born was somewhere after the fourteenth century, thus making Ellen's age around 100-400 years old.
• Viola and Ellen may have met for the first time around the 1800s.
• In the game, there is a newspaper article reporting Ellen's status as missing and her parents as dead, as well as the house burned down. Since the printing press was not invented until 1440-1450, this narrows down her age even further.
• In chapter three, perhaps the biggest indication was that it was revealed that there was a recent breakthrough in guns as people stopped using bows and arrows. In history, guns weren't invented till the early modern age (c. 1500-1800) whereas bows and arrows existed since ancient times. However, this is considering the story takes place in Western Europe, which is likely due to the western style of the house.
• In chapter one, it was indicated that Ellen lived an era where there were no decent doctors for her degenerative disease and mentioned that people saw her as repulsive to even touch. It is also implied that some sort of feudalistic system was in play as Ellen's father may have been a gardener while her mother asked if he got a loan from the union.
• The above assumption was rendered moot with the release of "The Diary of Ellen" novella. It is revealed that as a result of her contract with the Black Cat, Ellen was shown to have never aged at all as her body stayed how it was when she was seven, minus the illness due to being protected by the house, and now continues to live on as a parasitic soul that inhabits Viola's body.

MV Extra mode is Ellen recalling her memories

Due to many significant differences between the traps and diary entries to the ones seen in Normal mode, Extra mode could not have occurred. One of the possibilities to explain it is that Extra mode takes place within Ellen's memories after she switched places, recalling the events of that time. Another thing that indicates this is the additional text of Ellen's thoughts at the end of the True Ending in Extra mode, which could be interpreted as Ellen finally realizing what made Viola die of despair.

Rumors

These are fan-made rumors that have turned out to be false. None of these are to be accepted as canon as they were made in an attempt to prove something that wasn't in existence in the game or novella due to misinformation or was made in an attempt to confuse the fanbase. 

The Frog can be saved

Several fans have claimed that it is possible to save the frog by instead feeding the piece of strawberry shortcake provided in the Mirror Room to the Snake. This is false, because after solving the Mirror Puzzle, any inanimate item that has been placed remains fixed in its assigned position for the rest of the game. This means that the cake can no longer be picked up again.

• In addition, should the cake be somehow retrievable, it is highly unlikely that a carnivorous snake would accept it.

Viola is the Eyeless Girl from Mad Father

Read more: Viola#Theories

Due to the similarities to their sprites, the fans speculate that these two characters are the same. However, Viola is actually an altered sprite from a free resource site, with more details added by Fummy. Since Mad Father and The Witch's House were not made by the same creator, this assumption is false. Also, the eyeless girl has dark blue eyes and Viola has green eyes.

In the "Good" Ending, Viola survives

Since Viola's fate is never revealed fully in the "Good" Ending, many fans assume that Viola survives and Ellen dies. However, this is not the case; both The Diary of Ellen and the True Ending of The Witch's House reveals that Ellen possessed Viola's body before the events of the game, and the game begins shortly after Ellen possesses Viola's body. Therefore, no matter which ending the player gets, Viola (who is still trapped in Ellen's body) dies.

Viola can be saved

There has been a rumor that Viola can be saved if the Legless Girl, who is Viola in Ellen's body, catches the player at the end of the game. This is not true; due to Ellen's contract with the Demon, time is reset whenever Ellen dies, ensuring that the contract is fulfilled. In any instance when Viola catches Ellen, time will be erased, thus making a scenario, when Viola captures Ellen permanently, impossible.

• If Viola was able to capture Ellen somehow, Viola still would not be able to be saved. If she tried to switch bodies with Ellen, most likely, Ellen would not provide the trust needed to perform the spell. As hinted in The Diary of Ellen and in the "____" Ending, due to the health of Ellen's body, Viola would still die, regardless of Ellen's fate.

Viola becomes the new witch after Ellen

Fans have been thinking that Viola becomes the next witch. In the True Ending, the Demon shows up and then vanish with Viola. People have theories that he teleported her back to the house and cured her so she can become the new witch. Though it is probably not true since it is more likely that the Demon ate Viola's soul and got rid of the evidence that there was once a witch living there.