This article is a compiled list of theories surrounding the creation and state of the Backrooms, listed by most plausible first.
Creation Theories
Collision Theory
Scientists in reality theorize that the cold spot in the universe is evidence of a Collision from another universe. The existence of the Backrooms proves this even further, as the Backrooms was the universe that collided with the real universe. The fact that it’s nearly impossible to enter and escape the Backrooms might be signifying that universes don’t obliterate each other, but actually merge in a way, combining, but very hard to interact with each other. This is however, just a theory, and most other interpretations of the Backrooms indirectly disprove this, but it is certainly a possibility.
The Government Theory
The Backrooms are a project by the governments and the ones that are generally controlling the biggest territories on the Earth to test quantum tunneling and teleporting. The Backroom Levels are areas constructed on isolated parks of the world by constructors that can't say to anyone why they built it, and the rooms aren't even that big, it is just the brain of the ones that explored it that thought it was that big. The entities are other experiments of the government that went wrong, so they put them there with food and water to see how they would interact with humans. If someone escapes it, the government is able to erase their memories, basically a lobotomy.
The Trap Theory
This theory states that the Backrooms are a set of rooms meant to trap Wanderers forever, never returning to the Real World. If this is true, it explains why there are areas that trap Wanderers within them like The Void and so few escapes from the Backrooms.
The Kauer Thesis
This theory states that the Backrooms are an illusory tulpa: an idea brought to life as a result of the belief in it. This theorizes that the Backrooms formed into reality due to people's increasing belief in the concept. Additionally, this would ultimately create the idea that the Backrooms already existed, possibly creating a paradox.
The Dream Theory
The Dream Theory is a theory that the Backrooms is all a dream and the people who experience it are actually in a coma and have the same never-ending nightmare as all the other people trapped in the Backrooms. A very small group of explorers believe the Backrooms is a dream; they think that the people who are able to use the internet have woken up for the coma but keep having a recurring nightmare.
Collective Unconscious/Idealism Theory
According to the famous psychiatrist, Carl Jung, humans have a “collective unconscious”, a series of ideas that we all universally share as a species. The Backrooms is one of these concepts. Liminal spaces are wired into our collective minds, as shared places. The Backrooms is simply a shared perception of liminal spaces. Practically, humans are only affected by the world as they perceive it, so when a human who has lost their mind, entered a coma, or fallen asleep gets a vision of this collective perception, they are sucked into it. People in the Backrooms are usually either dreaming, or experiencing delusions.
Void/Cosmology Theory
According to this map, the Backrooms are the second sphere of existence. The Backrooms are much "Wider" than reality, being infinite in multiple dimensions. There are infinite levels, and there is theoretically infinite space in each level + sublevel combination. The Frontrooms are simply infinite in one dimension, with a limit (Being the unobservable universe) to how much can be explored. The Backrooms 's only limit to exploration, human or otherwise, is the danger, and an infinite void which can be entered from most points on the outer rim of the Backrooms, which happens to be the most populated and explored. Noclipping, or quantum tunneling, allows humans to move through infinite distance, reaching the inner ring. The inner rim is incredibly dangerous, with many quantum tunnels leading to the Void, an increased number of fluctuations that could send wanderers to places such as Level REDACTED, and close proximity to the home of the gods. An area including part of the inner rim, called "Heaven", is the living place of the gods, and where a small amount of souls go after death (most don't qualify and go to hell). The middle parts of the Backrooms are vastly unexplored, since quantum tunnels rarely lead directly to them. A few massive quantum tunnels, one of which the level numbering system is based off of, wind through the midsection, but most are seamless noclips which simply seem like one is walking into a new level after going far enough or doing a specific task. Sometimes, these tunnels miss areas, making travel through them confusing, however these tunnels can never lead a wanderer to the void. This fact leads some to seek out the middle levels to make their homes there. In the Inner Void, there are many deities. These deities are responsible for the entities, and most of the Backrooms itself. Deities have two phases "Dormant" and "Active". Active deities are young, and actively create "Olive Trees", levels, and entities. They do not need much sustenance to survive. Dormant deities are older, and must consume souls to survive. Some of these deities dream up their own realities which subsume the Backrooms and trap mortals, which they can feed off of. Dormant deities create things called "Olive Trees", which essentially rent out consciousness to various creatures, wait for the creature to die, and then collect their soul to feed to their deity.
Shattered Reality Theory
The Shattered Reality Theory is a theory formed by scientists who dropped into the Backrooms. This theory holds that the Backrooms were formed at the Big Bang and is a separate universe from the Real World. It states that it is a correlated universe to our own and was a completely different universe with its own laws but was melded with the Real World by the force of billions of human imaginations 24 hours a day in the real world. The Backrooms became more and more like the Real World until it became what it is now. The believers of this theory state that the fake reality program found in The End was a failed device which was an attempt to create a new reality exactly like the Real World but always fails due to chaos theory.
Virtual Theory
The Virtual Theory is a theory that states that the Backrooms is a virtual simulation we were unknowingly put into. The theory also says that the Backrooms were planned to be a virtual peaceful utopia of levels, where humans and anomalous creatures could live in harmony, until they were accidentally corrupted, releasing all of the Backrooms and generating endless levels. A few minor colonies believe this theory.
Stacked Dimensions Theory
This theory states that the Backrooms may not be a dimension, but rather a collection of alternate dimensions with the same properties, dimensions that we call Levels could be actual alternate dimensions, for example, level 0 could be floating in a void; the view to other levels from any level maybe be portals that are sometimes inaccessible, the windows are in reality portals leading to another dimensions, entities have the capacity to travel between these dimensions.
Hell Theory
This theory is suggested by some religious people. They believe that the backrooms is hell itself, the place where dead unsaved souls are tortured endlessly. In this theory, Noclipping is considered a sinful act (thus explaining how noclipping can end you up in the backrooms) and the "levels" are designed to torture souls that end up here. They also believed that people or souls who are "dead" in the backrooms aren't actually dead, they're just on another level of torture.
Other Theories
The Level Numbering Theory
This theory attempts to explain what level numbers have to do with level properties. There is a whole page about level numbering, so this is a summarized version. There is a border between Reality and the Backrooms called the Reality Shift. The level number is the distance between the center of the level and the Reality Shift, which is measured through gravitational anomalies.
The Window Theory
From many investigations, we have found that the Backrooms may have windows. In the color corrected image of the Backrooms, some blueish tints on some walls are visible, along with bright lighting that can't be caused by the fluorescent lights. With this, we introduce you to the window theory. Following are constructed images displaying this theory
The Cameraman Theory
This theory attempts to answer the origin of most of the Backrooms level images. The existence of this entity is theorized due to it being unreasonable that Wanderers could capture such high-quality images of the Backrooms, especially images of dangerous or even impossible-to-reach levels. The physical form of this entity is unknown, and it could be thought that it lacks a physical form altogether; what is known is that it captures images of levels often instantaneously after their addition to the database, and that it travels through levels by unknown means.
"The One"
There is a theory that there will one day be a "Lucid", someone who noclipped into the Backrooms while dreaming, who will have the ability to noclip on command between levels, possibly even outside of the Backrooms. The One is believed to be the answer to truly escaping the Backrooms.
Entity Theory
This theory suggests that the entities of the Backrooms originated from their own planes of realities. This suggests that the human reality is not the only one affected by the Backrooms, but one of many. As an idea, entities may have been carrying viruses or pathogens from other realities, ones that could affect others from separate realities differently.
Him Theory
The Him theory is a theory that states that a divine entity, referred to as Him in modern writings/conversation due to the original language He was written in was unknown.
The text, from approximately 950-1000 years ago, reads:
"These corridors, elaborate lengths. These places of strange creatures and knowledge. These places of horrid nature yet fascinating, comes from んノᄊ who came from There. He who created this world for His purposes and to eat, who is of the greatest respect, frighteningly."
Carpet Fluid Theory
The Carpet Fluid Theory is a theory formed by colonies across the positive integer levels. According to them, "Carpet Fluid" is a chemical compound that when touched or smelled, can cause insanity reducing effects, as well as random feelings of disorientation, anger, or fear (The severity of which depends on the quantity of the liquid in the area). The substance was named "Carpet Fluid" due to the fact that it soaks the carpeted floors in Level 0. The substance, as the name suggests, smells strongly of old moist carpet. The substance can be found on many other levels. (Listed below)
- Level 0 - The substance that dampens the carpet.
- Level 1 - Can be found in some of the puddles formed by the fog.
- Level 2 - Can be found rarely in small pipes lining the ceiling.
- Level 3 - Can be found in small puddles on the walls, floor, and ceilings.
- Level 4 - Can be found leaking from small cracks in the ceiling or walls.
- Level 5 - Can be found in some machinery in the boiler room.
- Level 6 - Can be found heavily soaking most surfaces.
- Level 7 - Can be found spraying out of small hot springs on small, isolated islands.
- Level 8 - Can be found in some ores.
- Level 9 - Can be found falling from the sky in a similar way to rain in specific areas, as well as in the faucets in some houses
- Level 10 - Can be found mixed with dirt on the pathway, forming a mud like substance, but blended perfectly, and more like a paste then water.
- Level 11 - Can be found in fountains, vending machines, or any form of water transport or storage.
- Level 12 - Mixed with the lights, making it bright
- Level 13 - Can be found in everything that contains water (1%)
Level Reality Theory
A theory splinteting off of the True Level 0 Theory, the Level Reality Theory states that what we know as reality, or what we commonly refer to as "the frontrooms", is a level in itself. While lacking in much direct evidence, it is noted that we refer to Level 0 as Level 0, because it is the recognised as the beggining. But that is only to those that enter into Level 0. It is presumed that Level 0 is the "start" of the backrooms, but there is no way to prove it. If the Level Reality Theory is therefore true, it means that reality, or "the frontrooms", is just another level of the backrooms, and there are likely many levels "before" the frontrooms, with likely no beginning.
A seperate but related theory to the Level Reality Theory states that many legends of angels descending from the heavens may be proof that the frontrooms are not where humans originally related from, and instead descended from a higher level, and began to occupy the frontrooms due to its habitability.


