Lies of P: Victorian Posthuman and Metamorphic Bodies

This chapter examines the video game Lies of P (loosely based on Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio) focusing on its depiction of the posthuman body. We argue that the game makes use of a vast array of Victorian tropes, and that it is precisely through these Victorian elements (to be found in themes, aesthetics, and settings) that the discourse on the posthuman body is articulated. Through the analysis of the game’s Victorian influences, we want to frame contemporary posthumanist concerns as already ingrained in Victorian cultural and scientific contexts. The chapter’s main focus is on matters of the body, its relationship with new technologies, its possible alterations, its deviance, and its connection with the human mind. We discuss how Lies of P explores the posthuman body and situates it in a Victorian context by paying attention to three main aspects: how the game depicts and re-interprets the London Great Exhibition (body and technology), the presence of bodily metamorphoses inspired by Victorian literary works (body and mutations), and the representation of the main character’s half puppet half human body (body and hybridity). We contend that through its Victorian influences, the game foregrounds body-centred posthumanist concerns increasingly relevant also for today’s society.