The lore of Made in Abyss is woven from threads of ancient prophecy, cryptic warnings, and historical events that blur the line between myth and recorded fact. Beneath the surface of its vibrant, deceptively soft art style lies a cosmology governed by cycles, curses, and a vertical frontier that seems to possess its own will. To understand the Abyss is to decode the prophetic language that has guided—and sometimes misled—every generation of Cave Raiders. This article explores the deepest-cut historical events that underlie the series’ prophetic framework, connecting the dots between the discovery of the Abyss, the birth of the Delver culture, and the unsettling predictions that echo through the layers.

The Role of Prophecy in the World of Orth

Prophecy in Made in Abyss is not a simple fortune-telling device; it is an active force that shapes institutions, drives character motivations, and reiterates the central theme of humanity’s confrontation with the unknowable. From the nursery rhymes sung in Belchero Orphanage to the hushed mantras of the White Whistles, prophetic language functions as a living archive of accumulated suffering and hope. It binds the city of Orth to the Abyss, providing a shared mythology that justifies the persistent cycle of descent and the mourning that follows.

These prophecies appear in multiple forms: inscriptions on unearthed Relics, oral traditions passed among generations of Delvers, the seemingly innocent songs of children, and the erratic transmissions of the Interference Units deep within the sixth layer. What ties them together is their consistent reference to historical cataclysms—real events that the people of Orth either commemorate or deliberately suppress. By examining the actual history behind the words, viewers gain a more profound appreciation for the narrative's tragic inevitability.

Historical Events That Forged the Prophecies

The Abyss did not emerge fully formed in the public consciousness. A series of documented, yet poorly understood, historical milestones gave rise to the prophetic lore that now surrounds the pit. Each event left an imprint on the collective memory of Orth, subsequently reinterpreted as divine warning, promise, or riddle.

The First Descent and the Prayer Skeleton Legend

Long before the city of Orth encircled the edge of the Abyss, the giant hole was a forbidden mystery to the surrounding island communities. Oral histories preserved a cataclysmic event referred to as the “Great Sundering,” believed to have occurred roughly 1,900 years before the current timeline. The earliest recorded prophecy stems from this period: a skeletal figure found in a praying posture on the first layer, clutching a Star Compass. This so-called Prayer Skeleton sparked the idea that the Abyss calls out to certain individuals, implanting a compulsion to descend that is indistinguishable from a death sentence.

Local legend transformed the skeleton into a symbol of the “Chosen,” reinforcing the notion that the Abyss selects its explorers. This narrative undergirds Riko’s own journey; she inherits a Star Compass and experiences an almost hypnotic pull downward. The prophecy of the Prayer Skeleton does not promise treasure—it promises transformation, but at an unspecified cost.

The Founding of Orth and the Relic Rush

Around 1,900 years after the Sundering, settlers from distant continents arrived on the island, drawn by strange energy readings and the lure of Artifacts. The formal founding of Orth was precipitated by what Delvers now call the “Relic Rush.” During this explosive period, unearthing Artifacts of extraordinary power—Grade 1 and even Special Grade—was relatively common in the upper layers. This flood of treasures gave birth to a theocratic undercurrent: the Abyss was no mere geological formation but a divine being that demanded reciprocal offerings.

Prophecies from this era, etched into the walls of the first Guild Hall, warned that the Abyss would “take back what it gave.” The sudden depletion of easily accessible Relics and the deepening of the curse’s effects on higher layers are retrospectively viewed as the fulfillment of those warnings. The inscription patterns from early Orth are still studied by the Scholar Guild, though their meaning remains hotly debated.

The 2000-Year Cycle and the Birthday-Death Disease

Perhaps the most chilling historical event recorded in Orth’s archives is the appearance of the Birthday-Death Disease approximately 2,000 years after the Great Sundering. Unconfirmed accounts state that many children born on the island around this time died mysteriously on their birthdays, their bodies marked by the same geometric patterns seen on the Prayer Skeleton’s cloak. This event gave rise to the prophecy that the Abyss operates on a 2,000-year cycle, one that heralds a moment of “absolute arrival”—a convergence of the netherworld and the surface.

The cycle theory is reinforced by the discovery of the Pivotal Ring, a massive Relic deep within the fifth layer that shows signs of being reset exactly every two millennia. Characters like Ozen the Immovable have alluded to the dread associated with the upcoming “2000-year mark,” and Bondrewd’s desperate experiments are arguably an attempt to intercept or exploit whatever cataclysm the cycle will bring. The prophecy here is unambiguous: the Abyss will enact a fundamental reset, and those who understand the pattern must decide whether to flee, adapt, or become part of the mechanism.

The Great Expedition and the Phantom Layer

The single most studied historical event in Delver society is the Great Expedition, a joint operation led by several White Whistles roughly 50 years before the main storyline. Their goal was to breach the seventh layer and reach the bottom of the Abyss. The operation ended in catastrophe—only one White Whistle, Lyza the Annihilator, is known to have continued downward, and most records were lost.

However, fragments of Lyza’s notes and the recovered journal of her comrade, Torka, contain prophetic language describing the “layer of the dead” and the “pivot of souls.” These texts heavily imply that the seventh layer is a realm where consciousness and physical form separate, a place where the curse no longer merely damages the body but attempts to unmake personal existence. The prophecy that arose from the Great Expedition is known among high-guild Delvers as the “Threnody of Depths”: whoever reaches the bottom will witness the truth but will be unable to return unchanged—or at all. Lyza’s famous message, “At the netherworld’s bottom, I’ll be waiting,” is both a promise to her daughter and a fulfillment of the Threnody.

Interpreting the Prophecies Through Key Characters

History alone does not give the prophecies their weight; it is the living characters who reinterpret them through action and sacrifice. Each major figure in Made in Abyss embodies a distinct hermeneutic—a way of reading the ancient warnings that leads them toward salvation or damnation.

Riko and the Compass of Destiny

Riko, raised on the songs and stories of the Abyss, treats prophecy not as a puzzle to be solved but as a script to be performed. The Star Compass she carries is the very device that belonged to the Prayer Skeleton, recovered by her mother. Riko’s conviction that she is “drawn” to the bottom aligns precisely with the First Descent prophecy, yet she never intellectualizes this connection; she lives it. Her journey reenacts the mythical descent cycle, suggesting that prophecy in this world is less about predicting the future and more about repeating archetypal patterns until the cycle is complete.

Reg and the Interference Unit Prophecy

Reg, the amnesiac robot boy, is himself a walking repository of prophecy. The Interference Units—machines left behind by an unknown civilization—refer to him as “the prince of star-faring beings” and speak of a “Promised One” who will break the stagnation of the Abyss. This terminology does not originate from Orth’s human traditions but from the deep-layer machines that appear to have been waiting for a specific entity to appear. When an Interference Unit tells Reg that his existence is “the answer to the prayers of the past,” it reframes the entire concept of prophecy: the Abyss may not be a natural anomaly but an engineered system awaiting a key that Reg unwittingly represents.

Nanachi and the Brutal Economy of Sacrifice

Nanachi’s transformation into a Narehate—a hollow—is a living testament to the curse-laden prophecy that “the Abyss takes what you value most.” In the context of Bondrewd’s experiments, this proverb is a literal operating principle. Nanachi’s survival was not defiance but a negotiated sacrifice. The character’s intimate knowledge of the curse has turned them into a prophet-like figure for Riko and Reg, constantly warning of the cost of each layer while simultaneously acknowledging the inevitability of that cost.

Bondrewd and the Heresy of Ascension

The White Whistle Bondrewd, known as the Lord of Dawn, represents a terrifying corruption of prophetic reading. He views the curse as an invitation to transcend human limitation. His infamous cartridges—children he sacrifices to deflect the curse of ascending from the sixth layer—are the direct result of his belief in an “Ascension Prophecy.” He is convinced that the Abyss will yield its secrets only to those willing to become more than human, and that the next 2,000-year cycle will be a dawn for a new species. This interpretation, while monstrous, is not false; it is merely stripped of empathy. Bondrewd’s failure is not misunderstanding the prophecy, but misunderstanding that the prophecy’s fulfillment might require compassion rather than cold utility.

Ozen and the Stillness of Centuries

Ozen the Immovable, a veteran White Whistle, has survived in the Abyss far longer than most. Her relationship to prophecy is one of weary acknowledgment. She knows of the 2,000-year cycle, the Prayer Skeleton, and the various calamities forecast in the guild’s oldest texts, but she treats them as factual inevitabilities rather than causes for action. Her role is that of the guardian and informant, ensuring that new generations hear the warnings even if they ignore them. In her own words, the Abyss will “do what it always does,” and the only choice left to Delvers is how to meet that moment.

The Abyss Itself as a Living Prophetic Entity

Beyond the actions of humans and hollows, the Abyss itself seems to prophesy through its physical structure, its relics, and its malevolent curse. Scholars within the series debate whether the Abyss is a conscious organism, an ancient machine, or a natural portal. Regardless, its features consistently communicate a narrative that intelligent beings are meant to read.

The Layers as a Prophetic Descent

Each layer of the Abyss corresponds to a stage in a classic chthonic journey: the Edge of the Abyss (first layer) invites the hero; the Forest of Temptation (second layer) introduces wonder and danger; the Great Fault (third layer) represents descent into chaos; the Goblets of Giants (fourth layer) suffocate with humid dread; the Sea of Corpses (fifth layer) forces the hero to walk among the dead; and the Capital of the Unreturned (sixth layer) is the point of no return. This structure mirrors underworld descent narratives from global mythology. The Abyss does not just contain a story; it is a story, organized spatially. The prophecy is inscribed in the very geography, meaning every descent is a reading.

Relics as Prophetic Artifacts

Artifacts extracted from the Abyss often carry cryptic markings or functional behaviors that hint at future events. The Star Compass points not to magnetic north but to the center of the Abyss, as if it commemorates a moment when something arrived from above. The Zoaholic, a device that splits consciousness, seems purpose-built to cheat death—a direct countermeasure to the prophecy of the Abyss reclaiming souls. The Primal Thorn, discovered in the fifth layer, reportedly sang a tune that corresponded to a melody associated with the Birthday-Death Disease. These relics are not just tools; they are pieces of an incomplete message. The Guild’s ongoing efforts to catalog and interpret them mirror the process of reconstructing a shattered epic. For a detailed catalog of known relics, see the comprehensive fan-maintained resource on Relics.

The Curse as Prophetic Speech

The Curse of the Abyss is the most explicit form of prophecy in the series. Ascending from the sixth layer results in loss of humanity, while ascending from the fifth causes loss of senses, and so on—the curse escalates in a predictable, layered manner. This graduated punishment teaches a clear lesson: you may go down freely, but the toll for going back up increases until you can no longer return. The curse is a warning, spoken in biological and psychological trauma, that the Abyss does not allow retreat. It prophecies that the only way out is through—past the bottom. This is why the legendary White Whistles who sought the netherworld’s bottom are considered both fools and prophets: they heard the curse’s message and chose to answer it with total commitment.

Real-World Inspirations and Historical Parallels

The prophetic themes in Made in Abyss draw from a rich well of real-world mythology and esoteric traditions, adding another layer of depth for those who wish to explore beyond the screen.

  • Orphic and Eleusinian Mysteries: The concept of descending into the earth to gain hidden knowledge, risking loss of self, parallels ancient Greek initiation rites. The curse that prevents return without transformation is a direct echo of the warning given to Orpheus.
  • Dante's Inferno: The layered structure of the Abyss resembles Dante’s depiction of Hell, where each circle imposes a punishment that fits the sin. In Orth, the “sin” is curiosity or ambition, and the punishment is the curse.
  • Cave of the Sibyls: In classical antiquity, caves were considered oracular spaces where priestesses inhaled volcanic gases to prophesy. The Abyss’s force field and its atmospheric pressure on Delvers’ minds evoke this image of the subterranean prophet driven to altered states.

These parallels are not merely academic. The series’ creator, Akihito Tsukushi, has acknowledged inspiration from various mythic and video-game traditions, particularly the idea of a vertical dungeon that contains a complete world. The prophecies in Made in Abyss function as a narrative engine that channels these ancient story structures into a unique vision. For a broader perspective on the series’ inspirations, the official Crunchyroll page includes interviews and behind-the-scenes details.

The Prophetic Horizon: What Lies Ahead

As the manga and anime progress deeper into the seventh layer and beyond, the ancient prophecies become less metaphorical and more literal. The village of Ilblu, formed from the sacrificed body of a special Narehate, demonstrated that the Abyss allows creation of value and meaning from destruction—a theme that will likely govern the prophesied 2,000-year convergence. If the cycle holds, the current generation of characters, including Riko, Reg, and Nanachi, are living at the precise moment of reckoning. The Praying Skeletons, the Threnody, the birthday deaths—all of these point toward a single event that will either seal the Abyss permanently or fully integrate it into the surface world.

Whether this future is already written is the fundamental question the series poses. The prophecies are true, but they are also interpretations. In that gap between the word and the deed, the characters of Made in Abyss find their agency. The ancient warnings do not rob them of choice; they simply clarify the stakes.

For those who wish to inspect the source material that grounds these prophetic narratives, the official manga volumes contain additional lore illustrations and author notes that are often excluded from the anime adaptation.