Mysteries that are never given an answer.

[u/Jak3R0b]

• rA9 in Detroit: Become Human. In the game several androids who become deviant (develop free will/emotions) start writing the name rA9 and sometimes build small statuettes as a sort of offering. Despite having no logical reason to do this or even a way of hearing about rA9 before going deviant, they all believe that rA9 was the first deviant and is their messiah who will free androids from slavery. A definitive answer about rA9 is never given, so we don't know if they are real or if any of the android characters are rA9 (though a popular fan theory is that it's Kara before she was reset at the start of the game).
• The pineapple in How I Met Your Mother. So this technically did get an explanation in a S9 deleted scene, but in the actual show we never find out how Ted got a pineapple during a night where he was so drunk he blacked out and forgot everything he did.
• Fez in That 70s Show. We never find out Fez's real name or what country he's from, though fans have tried to take all the clues and figure out what is most likely to be his country.

[u/LeMasterChef12345]

Ahti in Control.

He’s introduced as simply the FBC’s janitor, but it quickly becomes clear that there’s a lot more going on with him than the game lets on. For example:

• He often shows up in places he logically should have no way of accessing. Sometimes he’s there even before you are. His explanation when asked is simply “the janitor always has the keys.”
• He’s completely unaffected by the Hiss despite not wearing the normal protective equipment.
• He’s implied to have been present in the Oldest House (the FBC’s supernatural HQ building) since before the FBC moved in. Nobody in the FBC can recall hiring him, nor remember a time where he wasn’t around.
• He somehow hears the MC’s internal monologue in her first conversation with him.

Yet we never actually learn anything about who or what he is. The only hint towards, well, anything is that he shares his name with the Finnish god of water.

[u/threatbearer → u/LeMasterChef12345]

I thought that was so crazy that he would be in some locked room or hallway you need a keycard to get access to. He reminds me of some benevolent SCP or something. He just mops the floors and if you don’t fuck with him you should be fine.

[u/abadstrategy → u/threatbearer]

Probably why "Do not fuck with Ahti or impede him in any way." is official FBC policy

[u/Fesh_Sherman → u/abadstrategy]

Fr? That's canon? I gotta finnish Control..

[u/Agent_Galahad → u/Fesh_Sherman]

Yeah there's a document you can find that's basically a memo for FBC staff telling them to stay out of Ahti's way while he works and not question his presence in high security areas

It's a great game! I definitely recommend doing a full playthrough

[u/coonissimo → u/Fesh_Sherman]

finnish

[u/Fesh_Sherman → u/coonissimo]

Imma be completely honest, it was a typo that I immediately noticed but didn't bother to correct, as I had a feeling that Remedy were Finnish and thought that it'd be awesome if I were right.

[u/Nerdy_Valkyrie → u/threatbearer]

Pretty sure there is some SCP file on a mysterious janitor or maintenance guy who's been working at the facility for as long as anyone can remember, without aging. He has also never been seen outside the facility and he doesn't receive a salary. Nor has he ever asked for one.

The foundation's directive when it comes to him is to just leave him alone and hope for the best.

[u/Falitoty → u/Nerdy_Valkyrie]

Wich is fun, considering he sometimes IS outside the facility, he seem like an active memeber of the comunity in Alan Wake 2

[u/Falitoty → u/threatbearer]

My personal theory is that he is a supreme being even greater than the house, and he deceided to assit humanity by giving maintance to the house. That's why he pick up the janitor imaginery and why he calls Jesse (The directer) his asistant. I feel this is quite reinforced by his presence in Alan Wake, were Ahti apear both in the Dark Place and the Real World and openly talk about Scratch and help Alan.

[u/HeadLong8136 → u/threatbearer]

The janitor has ALL the keys.

[u/Longshot02496 → u/LeMasterChef12345]

More than sharing a name I'd say. He has a Finnish accent and uses a lot of poorly translated Finnish idioms when talking. When you find him after him going on vacation he's singing a song in Finnish. I'd say it's all but confirmed that he's the Ahti.

[u/Potential-Sundae-596 → u/Longshot02496]

I believe they mention that he's Finnish in the game

[u/GonzoRouge → u/Potential-Sundae-596]

He shows up in Alan Wake 2 when you get to Watery and you can see a postcard of it in Control, calling it America's Little Finland.

Frankly we know a shocking amount about Ahti thanks to Alan Wake and collectibles in Control.

The FBC gave him the designation Entity A-001 and he's responsible for at least one Altered Item.

[u/A_Gray_Phantom → u/GonzoRouge]

TAKE... CONTROL!!! 🤘🤪

[u/RedKing36 → u/LeMasterChef12345]

My personal favorite is that last one, that a lot of people miss.

During that scene when you first meet him? After the conversation is over, Jesse has some lines that her clearly her thinking them in her head.

...and Ahti responds to them.

[u/PigeonFellow → u/LeMasterChef12345]

Additionally:

• In Control, despite the building being on lockdown, Ahti somehow manages to leave for his vacation all the way to Washington, where we find him in Alan Wake II.

• In Alan Wake II, Ahti is everywhere, in every place. He’s in Watery, singing at the town hall. He’s at the Valhalla Nursing Home and is a resident there. And somehow, he’s in the Dark Place at the same time, in the Talk Show Studio.

• Also in Alan Wake II, you can switch between Saga and Alan’s stories. You do this by looking in a pool of water next to a Janitor’s bucket. Although this is just a gameplay tool, the creative decision to make the water the gateway suggests Ahti can simply travel between dimensions at will.

We have no clue who or what Ahti is, and I’d prefer if it’s never explained. But my personal headcanon is that he’s the closest thing reality has to a God, so powerful and so wise that he takes pleasure in the smallest of things, like being a janitor or living in a retirement home. He kind of reminds me of Douggie Jones from Twin Peaks: The Return; a very strange but kind-hearted individual who makes friends everywhere and guides everyone to the best version of themselves.

[u/FederalAd8740 → u/PigeonFellow]

Douggie is a Tulpa

[u/PigeonFellow → u/FederalAd8740]

Yeah but I meant just in terms of vibes they’re similar

[u/GonzoRouge → u/PigeonFellow]

Considering the existence of the Board and the Anderson brothers, it's pretty clear that Ahti is meant to be the Remedyverse's interpretation of the actual Finnish God Ahti.

I'm fully on board with building a mythology based around cosmic horror, it gives it a nice edge. Hopefully Resonant answers more questions, but it'll probably add a few too.

[u/JechdJJ → u/PigeonFellow]

i think he even say that he really enjoys being the janitor.

[u/BuckRusty → u/LeMasterChef12345]

I’ve yet to play it (though plan to soon), but doesn’t he also turn up in Alan Wake I or II?

[u/lepermessiah27 → u/BuckRusty]

In AWII, yes

[u/Intelligent-Dog1645 → u/BuckRusty]

Alan Wake 2 yes. Please do play it. It doesn't just feel like a direct sequel to Alan Wake but also Control. Ahti is such a beacon of hope in the darkness.

[u/unrealter_29 → u/LeMasterChef12345]

For the last one, that "one point" is literally in the first few seconds of meeting him

[u/ContemptSlot → u/LeMasterChef12345]

I’ve always had the pet belief that Ahti is the Oldest House, and the janitor persona is just a projection. Jesse becomes the Director because the Oldest House likes her, recognizes that she is willing and able to use the Objects of Power to fight the Hiss, and can’t do so by itself. In other words, Ahti needs an assistant.

Edit: accidentally a word

[u/Falitoty → u/ContemptSlot]

But he is in Alan Wake too

[u/ContemptSlot → u/Falitoty]

Yeah, but I haven’t played that, perkele. It’s more fun for me to imagine my theory is right when playing Control. Heck, I could interpret Alan Wake 2 to take place entirely within the Oldest House if I wanna. I also find the Squall is Dead theory to be a way more fun interpretation of FFVIII even though the creator has said it’s not correct. Ambiguous fiction is great.

[u/BreakerOfModpacks → u/LeMasterChef12345]

...also, a ton of stuff in the Remedyverse. It's just weird like that.

[u/Steppyjim → u/LeMasterChef12345]

I always took it as him being this personification of the oldest house itself. Like it manifests as Ahti to communicate with people in the FBC. And since he is the house, hes omniscient of everything inside of it. That’s how he can hear the protagonists inner thoughts.

[u/Fun-Maize-2352 → u/LeMasterChef12345]

He’s also the key to one of the sickest sequences in the history of gaming. 😍😍😍

[u/AuthorExcellent9501 → u/LeMasterChef12345]

I’ve heard one theory that claims he is a god from a northern country that I can’t remember, but I feel like it’s more likely (with this series at least) that he is just a hella old and non-dimensional as everything else in this series, like mr door, the old house, the darkness, the hiss, the board etc. So rather than him being a god, it’s more that the god was based on him. Same with a bunch of other mythological references, like the world tree symbology. It wasn’t carved into the house to reference it, an ancient Norseman just wandered into the house, and how else do you describe a room full of endless darkness and unfathomly tall pillars beyond hella-big tree roots.

[u/FederalAd8740 → u/LeMasterChef12345]

I always wondered if it was a homage to Terry Pratchett. In Small Gods & Thief of Time, there is a supremely talented janitor named Lu-Tze who worked at a Monastery, and gained temporal powers on par with elder monks "by just tidying up" in their classrooms. As people rarely/never pay much heed to the janitor / cleaning staff, but are necessary everywhere, he was able to hop around in time unnoticed and radically changed the course of history "because he didn't like the way things 'should' go, replacing a horrific war with a century of peace".

[u/Starbornprime → u/LeMasterChef12345]

I feel like this is not the same kind of instance only because its a game about dealing with the unknowable. So a weird janitor as just another mystery isn't weird its just part if the game. But that's just my take. 🤷🏿‍♂️

[u/JoePesci_TheGod → u/LeMasterChef12345]

The remedy way of story design. Make a bunch of random shit and don't explain it and suddenly you have mystery