Elle Fanning’s character in Death Stranding 2 is one of the major mysteries of the game we’ve encountered so far. The girl is found in a Chrysalis-like pod covered in the same tar that appears around BTs. However, unlike BTs, she seems very much alive, albeit with some odd characteristics. We have yet to get much information about her, but we do have a few theories as to who she may be, which we’ll discuss below.
Who is Elle Fanning’s character in Death Stranding 2?
The second trailer for Death Stranding 2 opens with Fragile and George Miller’s (as yet unnamed) character opening a chrysalis containing Elle Fanning’s character. When they saw into the pod, the tar substance that can be found in areas with a high concentration of BTs spills out.
We can also see marks on her arms that look like she’s been attacked by an octopus. These marks have a barb in the middle that shoots tar when tampered with, which appears to have the same effect on objects as Timefall. Notably, she also seems to have the same gold death mask we see form on bodies that are approaching Necrosis, even though she’s alive.
So far, we don’t have many clues as to her identity, but we will put forth a theory that makes sense given what we know now.
Elle Fanning as Lou theory
In the first trailer for Death Stranding 2, it appears that Fragile and a child we assume is Lou are in a bunker when an unidentified party attacks. Fragile attempts to escape with Lou but is knocked from her vehicle and passes out. In the second trailer, Sam directly accuses Higgs of killing Lou, so we assume she died in this incident.
Returning to the first trailer, Sam arrives at the bunker sometime after the incident and finds Lou’s BB pod on the ground. When he approaches it, a winged baby BT appears within. Later on, we also see tentacles that are very similar to those we see on larger BT monsters apparate in the BB pod as well. It appears that somehow, Lou’s unique relationship with the Seam, the Beach, and the World of the Dead may have allowed her to return to her pod as a BT.
The connection between Lou and Elle Fanning’s character is the tentacle sucker marks we see on the latter’s arm. It could be possible that Lou either grew this new body to replace her old one or found a body she could control. The latter theory is supported by the fact that Elle Fanning’s character has thin marionette strings suspended from her.
We also know from the dialog between two Drawbridge members in the trailer that new life can be created from the tar:
“That chrysalis we found her inside… it was filled with a fluid that contained amino acids. One identical in structure to the kind found in tar.”
“I’m sorry, there are amino acids in tar, as in proteins?”
“Of course. How else did you think that Chiral creatures could emerge from it? Some have even theorized that the tar is some sort of primordial soup.”
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – State of Play Announce Trailer
However, despite Lou being the obvious connection, Elle Fanning’s character could be anyone. Unfortunately, we just don’t have enough information yet to craft a solid theory. Knowing Kojima, we’re probably way off base, but that’s what we’ve got so far. The third trailer will likely come along sometime this year and completely blow this theory out of the water.
