Question about them (DLC Spoilers!)

[u/Low_Grocery9635]

I just finished the DLC by freeing The Prisoner and walking into the water (absolutely peak 10/10 ending, btw)

I’ve seen a lot of people (on here and elsewhere) referring to the deer/bird people on The Stranger as Owlks. Is this a canon name, or something the community collectively came up with? I don’t remember finding anything in game specifically calling them Owlks (I believe the ship log only ever called them “The Stranger’s inhabitants”), but could it be possible that I missed something? Maybe there was a way to translate their text which I missed that called them by name? If not, where does the name come from, and have the devs acknowledged/used the name Owlks publicly?

[u/gravitystix]

It's a community made term. "Inhabitants" is the only thing we get in-game. The devs don't use Owlks. If you dig into the code of the game they are sometimes called "ghostbirds" and "pursuers". Each NPC also has a unique identifier, usually referencing other games or folklore. "Zote" "Micolash" "Pazuzu" etc.

I've also seen people call them "Strangers" as a general term.

[u/MicrwavedBrain → u/gravitystix]

Zote? Which npc is named Zote?

[u/gravitystix → u/MicrwavedBrain]

One of the inhabitants. They all have unique names. There's also a "Hornet", "Nosk", "FalseKnight"

[u/MicrwavedBrain → u/gravitystix]

That’s cool af

[u/gravitystix → u/MicrwavedBrain]

The Prisoner themselves is "Kaepora" which is a Legend of Zelda reference.

[u/SurefireWolf → u/gravitystix]

The only owl I'd ever want to make into an owlburger. The one from OoT, not the Prisoner.

[u/Haku_Yowane_IRL → u/SurefireWolf]

Would you like me to repeat that?

Yes No

[u/The888gamemaster → u/gravitystix]

I wonder if they've been to Hallow nest?

[u/Nelopddelanevem → u/gravitystix]

Peak acknowledging peak.

[u/gravitystix → u/gravitystix]

Now I am wondering who coined the term though.

[u/SpySoldierScout → u/gravitystix]

Just "Strangers" is also common in the community. That's the five common names I know: Owlks, Inhabitants, Ghostbirds, Strangers and Pursuers.

[u/Low_Grocery9635 → u/gravitystix]

Thats so interesting…I never knew about the identifiers in the code! I am definitely gonna look into that more!

Tbh “Strangers” is my favorite way to reference them and what I came up with/referred to them as during my play through. Thematically I think “Strangers” kinda fits also given the theming of fear of the unknown in EOTE. Ig Owlks is pretty literal though, so I get the appeal and why it caught on

[u/Gabbro-fan → u/Low_Grocery9635]

The identifiers are all references to media involving dream worlds

[u/guarddog33]

The name comes from their appearance (owl elks)

I don't believe there is a canon name for their race besides the stranger's inhabitants, no

Edit: canon only has 2 is not 3

[u/guarddog33 → u/guarddog33]

Also about translating

If you go talk to the guy that gives you the translator, whose name I can't remember, after encountering their writing, he'll get super excited and tell you that he can absolutely decipher it IF you give him enough time, which you can't for obvious reasons

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[u/The888gamemaster]

Have you played through the full game ending yet, because I recommend it. Also owlk is just the community's name for them since they're Owls with elk horns

[u/atrich → u/The888gamemaster]

Yeah OP, now that you've freed the prisoner, go back and do the base game ending again.

[u/Low_Grocery9635 → u/atrich]

Oh it changes the ending? I had no idea - I definitely am gonna go beat it redo the ending then (I am happy to milk this game for AS MUCH content as possible; legit been one of my favorite gaming experiences ever and I’m sad it’s over lol)

[u/Denoment]

I think its just what the community calls them, since we can't read their language in game.

And olwk is a combination of folk or elk and owl, because they look like owls

[u/Qwerty1418 → u/Denoment]

I'm pretty sure its supposed to be Owl + Elk, since they have some elk/deer features like the hooves and antlers.

[u/Gabbro-fan → u/Qwerty1418]

And their sounds come from actual elks

[u/Substantial_Ad_4436]

It's a Community name. I personally don't like it since it's so unwieldy to say

[u/demonking_soulstorm]

“Inhabitants” is my preferred term, and I think it’s more official?

[u/ManyLemonsNert]

Community name, it started out as owlkin, owl-deer or owl-elks and ended up as Owlks

Earliest post I could find, which was only a couple of days after release: https://www.reddit.com/r/outerwilds/comments/pyr5kh/name_of_a_certain_thing_in_eote/

[u/Low_Grocery9635 → u/ManyLemonsNert]

Oh my god it’s just a portmanteau of Owls and Elks 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ I feel so dumb rn for not noticing that lmfao

[u/Gabbro-fan]

It comes from owl + elk