A matter of survival

About the high-stakes framing of the game to addressing trauma and maladptive behavior using its most overt portayal: Shuuji.

cw: mentions of self-harm, death, trauma

Shuuji’s mistreatment of Lopmon being a metaphor for self-harm and a way to externalize his self-loathing as well as a way to portray the parental abuse he endured (continues to endure?) is a well-known fact by now (I want to believe). While Shuuji getting devoured by Wendimon is generally seen as comeuppance for his treatment of Lopmon, from the in-game description of the creature (Wendigomon is not completely evil, and kindness hides somewhere deep in his heart. But the power of rage suppresses this kindness, making him devote himself to destruction) and the fact it merges both Lopmon and Shuuji to finally voice their pain and downright suicidal ideation, it should be clear the imagery corresponds to Shuuji being swallowed by his own darkness, fully epitomizing the extremely destructive downward spiral he’s been since the beginning of the game.

In the vanilla pre-timeline split, the debacle wraps up with Shuuji’s death whereas in the Truthful route, after Ryo calls him out, Shuuji gets a very needed wake-up call and apologies to Lopmon, getting the chance to change his ways. Of special note is that Ryo not only punches and berates Shuuji—bringing his behavior into perspective— but he also seeks to demonstrate to him that even though he’s at his worst, he still has a place in the group, the others will still try to help him. This places the idea of Shuuji getting support and addressing his trauma and the pernicious behavior stemming from it as a literal life-or-death matter; for leaving it unchecked completely shuts down the possibility of him ever growing more authentic to himself since he ends up being completely at mercy of his anger and pain without any regard to reason nor kindness (not to mention the literally dying).

 This idea not only applies to Shuuji and Ryo, but arguably to most of the cast. When the kids can’t meaningfully address their underlying anxieties and troublesome behaviors and don’t get the support they need, the ensuing result is usually their death (after some really intense lashing out in certain cases—Aoi and Kaito). In this way, parts 3 and 5 —especially 5— could be said to be a cornerstone and primer to Survive core messaging: for the group’s continual survival and growth to be possible at all, it’s absolutely essential to foster a caring community for them.