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Mother Apollonia, also known simply as the Nun, is the titular main antagonist from Puppet Combo's 2018 indie survival horror game Nun Massacre. She is a paranormal symbolic being stalking the protagonist Mrs. McDonnell throughout the game and has several theoretical explanations behind her existence.
Biography
The contents of many notes found throughout the religious boarding school haunted by the Nun are the main source of information and theories about Mother Apollonia. The simplest way to interpret things is that Mrs. McDonnell (protagonist) sends her daughter to a catholic boarding school where at first nothing seems out of the ordinary and she is taught about the bible and religion itself. Then, the Sisters put her and possibly other children under the caretaking of Mother Apollonia, who seems nice and genuine in her beliefs. However, as the time goes on, she takes extreme measures in teaching her the way of the Lord and starts physically and mentally abusing the girl, while the child herself claims that she is the only one to receive such harsh punishments for no reason whatsoever. The chastisement grows more senseless and sadistic, turning into a pure torture. What happens after this point is shrouded in mystery, but supposedly Apollonia either goes insane and slaughters her coworkers and children, forcing others to escape or the boarding school itself gets abandoned after McDonnell's daughter dies and Apollonia is left alone. Either way, she sends Mrs. McDonnell a letter about her sick daughter to trick her into coming to the school with the intention of murdering her. The outcome of this story depends on the ending achieved by specific actions executed in the game. Two potentially bad endings include Mrs. McDonnell accidentally falling into the Nun's trap set in the vents, which leads her to die from the Nun vomiting a stream toxic blood on her and the other occurs if the protagonist finds both green candles (one hidden in a locker with a digital lock and the other is in the cabinet with the rope preventing it from being opened) in the school halls on the top floor, places them in the chapel and lights them. From behind the stained glass emerges a crucified cadaver with it's head replaced by the statue's head. Bringing this head to the decapitated statue seen earlier and placing it there results in the protagonist being locked away in the inner yard with the statue with a dug up grave suddenly appearing behind her. Two notes near it seemingly don't make any sense and McDonnell is forced to lie down in a coffin at the bottom of the grave and to close its lid, burying herself alive. The good ending requires the player to find all four tapes with the "Children's Show," depicting an eerie clown doll named Bongo talking about being left alone without his best friend, referring to the part of the daughter's diary where she mentions that Mother Apollonia tried to take away her Bongo the clown doll, making her lie about throwing it away when in reality she hid him where "he could watch over her." Watching all the noisy and disturbing tapes using every TV available in the school, each wooden cross located near the TVs falls off the wall. The protagonist now has to navigate through the vents, find the place that is too sheer to climb and the cross literally makes her levitate in the air, transporting her there. After a long and twisting corridor, we are suddenly transported to the room featured in the tapes, where Bongo the clown is hanging by a chain and Mother Apollonia for some reason has shrinked significantly and is trapped in a cage with a gas canister near it. She cries and pleads McDonnell to let her out, but the protagonist ignores her begging, douses the cage with gasoline and lights it on fire, burning her alive. Bongo the clown communicates with McDonnell, telling her that she is forgiven and a long staircase illuminated by a heavenly light appears in the wall, compelling her to ascend. She goes up the ladder and the game ends.
Theories
If we are to believe that everything that has occurred is metaphorical and paranormal in nature, then several possibilities can be proposed.
The first and most plausible theory is that the Nun is nothing but Mrs. McDonnell's fanatical alter-ego and that she was the one who subjected her daughter to psychological and physical suffering. This theory is reinforced by the fact that, in the beginning at McDonnell's home, we can open her daughter's room near the bathroom, where the aforementioned clown doll is present, while the heroine herself refuses to come into the room, as if struck by guilt and fear. According to her daughter's diary, she had Bongo with her all along after her mother had dropped her off at the school and has never seen her mother since, making the presence of Bongo in the protagonist's home strange and suspicious.
Also, the notes that appear near the grave in the bad ending mention the mother that will try to save her daughter from the pain and that leaving her to the Sister is the only solution in "saving the child." The lines talking about the "home that will be her school" and the "woman that will be her teacher" seem like a way of explaining that Mrs. McDonnell turned her own home into the religious school and gave up on her loving mother personality, letting the second one that symbolizes her blind devotion and fanaticism to torture her daughter to the brink of insanity.
Throughout the game, a malnourished bald figure of a child without any clothes on will appears randomly in the halls, running away from the protagonist and crying in agony. In one of the last entries of the daughter's diary, she claims to have been stripped of her clothes and shaved bald by Mother Apollonia. The figure, who is very obviously supposed to represent Mrs. McDonnell's daughter, flees from the protagonist, as if she were the one who hurt her. In the good ending, Bongo the clown forgives McDonnell for something and grants her entrance into Heaven after she deals with the Nun, killing her evil alter-ego, which could also be a metaphor for her committing the ritual of self-immolation to repent for all the suffering she inflicted upon her daughter.
Anoter, simpler, theory suggests that Mrs. McDonnell was guilty in the sense of neglecting her daughter and letting her rot in the school, tortured by Mother Apollonia. Her guilt resulted in the revival of Mother Apollonia as a demon and turned the entire school building into her personal hell, where she is supposed to suffer for her sin and find salvation, hence the symbolic puzzles and traps scattered throughout the school and the Nun's inhuman powers.
Perhaps the least complex theory is that Mother Apollonia was a psychotic and fanatical member of a religious cult, meant to brainwash children. The eye logo and letters CFV are seen on one of the TV screens. The same symbol and letters can be found on the parcel in Feed Me Billy and on the box containing the tapes in Scary Tales Volume 1. If CFV is some kind of a cult, it clearly has supernatural capabilities, suggesting that the Nun might have been possessed by a demon worshipped by the cult.
Appearance
Mother Apollonia is a tall white female dressed in an old-fashioned nun robe. She wears black leather gloves and wields a large butcher knife. Her eyes are gouged out with black liquid oozing from them. It is unknown whether it is her actual face or if she wears a mask.
Personality
Mother Apollonia fits the profile of a psychopath almost perfectly, while possessing psychotic tendencies. She is cunning and extremely cruel, lacking empathy and enjoys murder and torture. Her believing in "the ways of the Lord" and his teachings is merely a facade and she never hesitates to violate these sacred laws and mock them, twisting them in the way so she can bring as much pain as possible. She was able to write a letter to Mrs. McDonnell just to lure her in the school, indicating awareness and a semblance of intelligence. While roaming the halls of the school, she constantly whispers something (supposedly prayers) and upon spotting and pursuing the protagonist lets out deafening shrieks of anger and insanity. If the protagonist chooses to hide under the bed or in the closet, Apollonia can easily find her there if she is not careful. Sometimes, instead of searching for Mrs. McDonnell, she will simply hide herself in the dark and wait for the player to run into her. When caught in the vents or in the wire pit, the Nun will watch the protagonist to savor her suffering a little before ending her life.
She isn't really delusional and knew what she did to McDonnell's daughter was wrong and caused her harm. The fact that other children haven't received the same treatment suggests that she just picked the most vulnerable out of them to satiate her sadistic urges. She is quite cowardly and manipulative. When trapped in the cage, she resorts to begging and lying her way out of her demise.