Cuff is the companion of the game’s protagonist, Frey Holland. Cuff is, well, a cuff. The player finds it in an abandoned room at the beginning of the game. This golden bracelet is the thing that transports Frey from New York City to the fantastical land of Athia.
Soon, we learn that Cuff is actually a sentient object that can converse with Frey and has bonded with her so that she cannot remove it. For the entirety of the game, Cuff helps Frey navigate through Athia, and battle the once-benevolent sorceresses called Tantas with the help of its power.
At the end of the game, it’s revealed that the final boss and ultimate villain of Forspoken has been Cuff all along. He is the ancient demon Susurrus that drove the Tantas insane and the one who caused the Break that threw Athia into chaos.
1. Cuff’s True Identity Explained
Once Frey defeats the 3 Tantas, she enters the realm of the final Tanta Olas, the Tanta of Wisdom. She beckons Cuff to lend his powers to finish the quest. It is here that Cuff reveals his true self.
Cuff’s true identity is that of the ancient demon, Susurrus, who was sent by Athia’s enemy Rheddig to bring down the powerful Tantas and destroy the country.
But with their combined power, the 4 Tantas managed to split Susurrus and imprison him within 4 vambraces that each wore on their body.
Due to Susurrus’s inherent brimming evil, the Tantas were gradually driven insane – all except Tanta Cinta, who was smart and capable enough to transport the cuff, with Susurrus’s essence, to another realm.
Previously, it had been revealed to us that Frey is actually the daughter of Tanta Cinta who had left her behind on Earth. Frey resented her for this, but Cinta had only done this to protect her daughter from the Break.
Cinta managed to send the cuff to Earth along with her daughter.
When Frey turned 21 and returned to Holland Tunnel where she was first transported by Cinta, the cuff was able to influence and bond with her and transport them both back to Athia.
Using Frey as his unwitting pawn, Cuff was able to defeat the captors that once overpowered him. When Frey arrives at the location of the last cuff, Susurrus is able to reassemble himself, which is when he re-emerges in his true demonic form.
2. Cuff’s Betrayal Was Foreshadowed
Cuff wasn’t always a vambrace – it was in his previous form that he had travelled to Athia. This should have been our first clue as to who he was and what he did to deserve ending up as a bracelet.
He was always shifty about his identity, skirting questions that might potentially reveal his true identity. His mystery, powers, and the fact that nobody apart from Frey could hear him, already should have raised the suspicions of seasoned gamers.
Everyone believed Frey was communing with the devil and was either crazy or cursed. But she was just being played by Susurrus. By making her believe that the Tantas were the cause of evil and destruction in Athia, Susurrus was able use Frey to reunite his 4 parts and reinstate himself to his former glory.
3. Does Forspoken have multiple endings?
Forspoken has 2 endings. In chapter 11, the player gets to choose which ending they want. The first will transport Frey back to New York while the second sees Frey fight Susurrus.
For anyone who has played the game, it’s very obvious which ending is the correct or true one. Whatever ending you choose, make sure you save the game so you can go back and try the second one.
In the safe or bad ending, Frey simply goes back to her old life where she finds her cat, Homer, after which the credits roll.
In the ending where you choose to fight Susurrus, Frey’s mother Tanta Cinta joins you in her dragon form to defeat the manipulative demon Susurrus.
Frey realizes that she doesn’t need Cuff’s power to fight because being Cinta’s daughter, she has magic of her own. With this realization she becomes Tanta Frey.
In the end, Susurrus is defeated. Frey is able to seal him in the form of a tattoo of a cuff on her own body.
4. Will there be a Forspoken 2?
According to the ending of Forspoken, it does seem that there might be a Forspoken 2 if the developers wish.
Cuff/Susurru is not killed; he is merely contained – that too, in the form of a permanent cuff on his former companion’s body.
Frey vows to save the rest of Athia from the effects of the Break; looking at the vast expanse of land, she says, “At least I’m not alone. Isn’t that right, Cuff?” The game ends with a snarky, characteristic remark from Cuff, going, “It’s Vambrace.”
We still don’t know whether Frey gets to go back to New York after this ending or who her father is. Forspoken 2 might be an actual possibility.
5. About Forspoken
Forspoken is an action-adventure RPG developed by Luminous Productions and published by Square Enix. The game was released on January 24, 2023, exclusively on PS5 and PC.
It follows Frey’s troubled journey in the magical land of Athia, where she battles against evil. Frey was an average New Yorker before she was mysteriously transported to Athia, where people, places, and cultures are foreign to her.
Frey must use her newfound magical abilities to combat monsters, save the Athians, and find her way back home.
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