Summary[]
Introduction[]
When They Cry is a series of visual novels produced and published by 07th Expansion. The purpose of this page is to explain and scale upon the cosmology of WTC. Note that I will only use scans from Umineko, as it is the only work from this universe that I have read. I will likely update this page with more information at some undetermined point in the future. Enjoy your reading.
Cosmology Explanation[]
- First, let me clarify that the entire world of When They Cry is based on a "hierarchy of worlds", as explained in this interview. This information will be further explained later.
Human Domain[]
- The Human Domain is the "base" of cosmology, acting as the lowest existential layer of When They Cry. It is a universe like ours, and therefore a four-dimensional Space-Time Continuum.
- As explained by Lambdadelta, the humans beings resides in the Human Domain; acting as weak and imposing beings, limited by the fate, however, they have a "ground" (existence) to sustain themselves. Unlike the Creators, who can freely control the fate, buy by transcending any restrictions, can at any moment fall into the conceptual "void" they have become, as they have no "ground" to sustain themselves, being the inhabitants of the highest existential layer that exists.
Witch Domain[]
Nature of the Witchs[]
- Witches are the "middle" of the hierarchy of worlds, they are beings capable of manipulating the fate, but they still have restrictions to avoid falling into the Oblivion.
- Humans become Witches when they lose restrictions, becoming even higher existences, but the approval of a Witch is also necessary for a human being to transcend their Domain and enter the Witch Domain.
- Because of this, the nature of Witches is inherently qualitatively superior to the Human Domain, so that Witches like Beatrice have surpassed all human limits.
- Witches in themselves are nothing more than all beings that transcend the Human Domain, so technically every being in Meta-World is a Witch.
- In contrast to the Human Domain, which is physical, the Witch Domain is a purely abstract world, in which everything is decided by abstraction, which means that Witches themselves are abstractions.
- Note that the nature of Witches itself is "Beyond-Dimensional", so beings like Battler and Dlanor naturally transcends the concept of space/distance.
Endeavors[]
- The Witch World is naturally an infinite hierarchy, in which defines a being's position in this hierarchy are their Endeavors. In short; the more Endeavors a being has, the higher its position in the "hierarchy of worlds".
- The hierarchy works so that a lower layer is transcended and seen as a literal fiction or a chess game by a higher layer.
The Sea of Fragments[]
- The "Sea of Fragments" is the Witch Domain itself, being composed of infinite Territories (aka, Cat Boxes), which are Fragments that a Witch can freely control, the one who controls a Fragment is a Territory lord.
- In addition to the Territory lords, there are the Voyagers, a higher Class of Witches who can roam freely throughout the Sea of Fragments as they are not limited by a Territory, but suffer from the higher risk of becoming "seaweed" of Oblivion.
Beatrice Cat-Box[]
- The Beatrice Cat-Box is based on the Multi-Wave Function, so that different truths coexist within this Territory as different Fragments.
- Something important to note is that Fragments act as existential layers in a hierarchy.
Game-Board[]
- The Game-Board is the smallest existential layer of the Cat Box, it contains higher dimensions within itself, like an unnamed higher dimensional layer.
Reverse Side of the Game-Board[]
- This structure is "between" the Board and the Witch Domain, acting as a dimension higher than the entire Game-Board.
Meta-Room/Witch's Smoking Room[]
- This structure can be considered the "base" of the Meta-World, as it is the smallest layer shown of Beatrice Cat-Box and the Witch Domain. It is in this meta-layer that the debates between Beatrice and Battler occur; it transcends the Game-Board, so that beings in this Layer see it as a ficcional tale or a chess game.
Cathedral[]
- A structure in the Meta-World where Natsuhi's trial took place during Episode 5, it is an existential layer on the same level as the Meta-Room.
Heaven[]
- The HQ of Eiserne Jungfrau and other inquisitor teams, Paradise is a layer of the Meta-World that qualitatively transcends the Game-Board and its beings, having the same existential level as the Meta-Room and the Cathedral.
Unnamed Meta-Layer[]
- An upper layer of the Meta-World where Battler and Genji went after Battler became frustrated with the new Beatrice's personality.
Game-Master Layer[]
- A higher Meta-Layer where the Game-Master exists, with the Game-Master being a higher existence than other beings in the Meta-World.
- Another thing that confirms this layer being superior, is that all the other beings in the Cat-Box were just "Pieces" for the Game-Master (Battler).
Golden Land[]
- This is the most impenetrable and consequently, the highest existencial layer of Beatrice's Cat Box, being a layer created from the feelings and thoughts of Beatrice and Maria.
Hierarchy of Cat-Box[]
- Each of the infinite Fragments of the Cat-Box is an existential layer of an infinite hierarchy, so that a lower layer is transcended and seen as fiction by a higher layer, there is also an inaccessibility between layers, so that lower layers cannot view or affect higher layers. Since there are infinite Fragments in the Cat-Box, there are obviously infinite layers in this hierarchy.
- Note that this would mean that the Golden Land is the "top" of the Cat-Box, as it is the most impenetrable and highest layer of it.
Bernkastel Cat-Box[]
- Bernkastel's Cat-Box is a more existentially elevated Territory than Beatrice's, also having its own "Sea of Fragments" even larger than Beatrice's Cat-Box.
- All of Beatrice Cat-Box's Fragments exist within a single Fragment of this Cat-Box.
- Ushiromiya Lion saw all of Beatrice's games/Fragments as a Chess Game, making it clearer that Bernkastel's Cat-Box is an even higher hierarchy than Beatrice's.
Hierarchy of Cat-Boxs[]
- The entire Sea of Fragments acts as a hierarchy of infinite Cat-Boxes, as explained in the Requiem of The Golden Witch manga.
- This is also proven by the hierarchy of worlds explained in an interview, every structure in When They Cry is part of such a hierarchy, and the Cat-Boxes are no exception.
- This connects with Lambdadelta's explanation of the Witch Domain as an infinite hierarchy. Each ladder (hierarchy) is a Cat-Box/Territory. The hierarchy functions so that the entirety of the lower Cat-Box is transcended and seen as fiction by the upper Cat-Box, which has its own infinite hierarchy. In simpler and more direct terms: the entire Witch Domain is composed of infinite hierarchies.
Lambdadelta Friend's[]
- Lambdadelta's friends are monsters and Territorial Lords who could consider themselves an independent nation amidst the infinite hierarchies of the Sea of Fragments due to the great influence and power they hold.
City of Books[]
- The City of Books (aka Noble City of Books Carefully Selected by the Grand Witch of the Theater) is the highest Territory of the Sea of Fragments, acting as a library in which infinite other Territories are stored as fictions (books). It can be said that the City of Books is the "top" of the infinite hierarchies of the Sea of Fragments.
- The beings of City of Books even visualize all the layers and hierarchies previously mentioned as a mere chess game.
Senate[]
- The previously mentioned City of Books is a place overseen by the Senate, composed of the highest-level witches that exist in the Witches Domain, only those who are members of the Senate or are invited can manifest in the City of Books.
Oblivion[]
- Oblivion is the infinite void in which the entire Witch Domain floats, being a place devoid of the concept of deaths and life, Witches who "fail" during their journey to ascend to higher layers, end up falling into the Oblivion.
Realm of Gods[]
Aurora Study[]
- It is in the Realm of Gods (aka, Third Domain or Creators Domain) that Featherine and her studio reside, beyond the Witches' Domain, transcending the Witch Domain, on the same level that the Witch Domain transcends the three-dimensional human beings. Featherine's studio stores all the Umineko episodes as mere textual fictions.
Nature of the Creators and the Gods[]
- The Third Domain is the highest existential plane of the 07th Expansion, it is here that the Creators live, transcendental beings, devoid of any restrictions, capable of transforming "0" into "1". To a Creator or a Great Witch, the entire Witch Domain is just a Book, or even less.
- The Creators transcend even the concepts of life and death, but because they have no restrictions, they run the risk of "disappearing" into the transcendental void they have become.
Featherine true form[]
- Featherine herself is a Creator, but the story implies that the Featherine we saw is an avatar or something similar, having a self-imposed limitation, which is her memory device, which goes against the nature of a Creator, which is that of a being without limitations.
- Featherine's true form is confirmed to be the strongest character in 07th Expansion, being described by Ryukishii07 as "the author himself inserting himself into his story as the strongest character", as said in a Shinsou Kaimen Dokuhon interview, solidifying Featherine in her true form as the strongest character in the 07th Expansion, also being superior to the other Creators.
Conclusion[]
- Human Domain: Tier Low 2-C
- Game-Board: Tier Low 1-C 6D
- Meta-Room: Tier 1-A
- Catedhal: Tier 1-A
- Heaven: Tier 1-A
- Unnamed Meta-Layer: Tier High 1-A
- Game-Master Layer: 1 Layer in High 1-A
- Golden Land: 1 Layer in 1-S
- Beatrice Cat-Box: 1 Layer in 1-S
- Bernkastel Cat-Box: Three 1-S hierarchies
- City of Books: Infinite layers over infinite 1-S hierarchies
- Sea of Fragments/Witch Domain:Infinite layers over infinite 1-S hierarchies
- Oblivion:Infinite layers over infinite 1-S hierarchies
- Featherine Study: Two "sets" of infinite hierarchies in 1-S
- Creators and Featherine true form: 1 Layer above two "sets" of infinite hierarchies in 1-S