Stardew Valley NPC's and their drastically different backstories despite living in the same tiny village.

Before we begin, I have nothing but love in my heart for Stardew, every NPC (Leah best wife) and the dev (yes the ONE dev) Eric Barone & that this WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS relating to all the Stardew NPC's backstories!

In my 1000+ hours playing Stardew Valley, I have dated, married & divorced, every dateable NPC the tiny village of Pelican Town has to offer. Which has graced me with the knowledge of the sometimes fun, mostly incredibly traumatic backstory of each of them.

From Haley's seemingly normal popular girl filled childhood, to Shane being a depressed alcoholic, suddenly in charge of an actual human child, because his best friend died backstory. It seems every eligible bachelor and bachelorette has a drastically different and honestly absolutely wild backstory despite all living in the same tiny village.

Yet, it makes sense. People always seem to wonder how ''that farming game'' came to become one of the most beloved games in the cozy games community and beyond, with over 41 million copies sold worldwide (As of December 2024), but that is where I come in. I'm here to tell you why I think it has sold so well and one of the reasons is the NPC's & how all their backstories are incredibly intertwined within the games lore and settings.

Nothing would excite me more, than to tell you all about them. So grab a cup of some stardrop tea, find a comfy seat and hold onto your horses! (for the sake of length I'm going to attempt to only stick to backstories!)

We will format this by introducing each NPC in their respective pairings. Pelican Town offers you, the farmer, 12 options of candidates to fall in love with. 6 men & 6 women, each are technically linked to another as their 'match' & are heavily hinted at, in the games dialogue as being a little bit more than besties. ( •̀ ω •́ )

Alex & Haley

Our first pair is Alex, the popular sporty jock boy & Haley, the girly fashion loving popular girl.

Alex's mother died due to an unknown disease when he was young. His father was abusive, leading to him living in Pelican Town with his grandparents. He never learned how to read properly, likely due to his fathers abuse, but his motivation is gridball (the games version of American football). Alex loves gridball and all it has to offer, which for him was unfortunately not much. While he likely played to avoid addressing his feelings and shortcomings during high school, once it was over he was left with no team, despite still telling the farmer he would go pro 'one day'. Many of Alex's behaviours stem from his father, likely believing it was normal. He is arrogant and dismissive to the world, but once the farmer gets to know him we see a more emotional, softer side to him. Something he probably hid as a means of survival.

Haley on the other hand did not experience the tragic loss of her parents, but rather the absence of them. Haley lives with her older sister Emily who we'll get to later. Their parents used to live with them but left quite some time before the farmers arrival to travel the world, leaving them the house and very rarely, sending back presents or correspondence as to their whereabouts. This left Haley with very little direction in life, resulting in a somewhat spoiled girl complex. Despite this, deep down she feels lost, unsure of her talents with photography & feeling guilt about her mean girl ways. Haley clings to Alex, and together they both seem to be clinging onto the last remnants of being popular during high school. Yet there's more to Haley than what meets the eye, as further into her story we see her packing up clothes to donate to charity, admitting that she now sees that others may actually need them, where for her, they were just wants.

Elliot & Leah

Our second pair is Elliot, the hopeless romantic writer who lives in a shack on the beach & Leah, a mushroom forager physical arts artist who lives in a cabin in the woods.

Elliot is a man who prefers the finer things in life, despite living in a shack and is one of the few NPC's where the game doesn't heavily suggest things relating to their backstory....but that won't stop me. Elliot is mainly insecure about many things in life & although Haley would shut the door in your face if you suggested this, I believe them to be similar. At any chance possible he'll tell anyone that will listen that he is a writer, a creative, working on something bigger than life itself. All in seeking that one thing: admiration. Many theorise from this that Elliot was a mostly quiet, ignored child, developing his attitudes and behaviours in a way to stand out, to break free. He also decides to make the farmer his inspiration for his book, despite having just met you. This suggests that he may have not actually had all these brilliant ideas and stories already brewing and that possibly, writing isn't his passion, but rather something he simply picked one day in his attempts to be adored by the masses.

However when we take a look at Leah, we get the most visual backstory the game offers us. Leah is a forager, a true embodiment of cottage core, living alone in her small wooden cottage in the forest, carving wooden sculptures and painting pictures of her surroundings. However, she is very insecure about herself and her art, a common theme with the other NPC's. Leah doesn't believe her art to be good enough to actually make a living from it & these insecurities stem her ex-partner. (an ex girlfriend if your famer is a female and an ex boyfriend if your farmer is a male) Leah's ex -partner: Kel wanted the white picket fence kind of life, PTA meetings with kids & growing old in the city, far away from any kind of nature. Kel also didn't care about Leah's art or interests, believing them to just be silly hobbies, not worth anything. Leah decided to leave Kel and is now feeling guilty about it. She feels selfish for choosing her own happiness, further highlighting the way Kel must have treated her. When you give Leah a boost of confidence to sell her art online, she sells many pieces to ''some rich dude'' named Mr. K. Leah is happy that someone appreciates her art, yet we later see Kel lurking around her cottage uninvited and when confronted admits they are Mr. K and bought them because they want Leah back. Things take a turn for the better when either the farmer or Leah gets the option to punch Kel in the face.

Sam & Penny

Moving swiftly on to possibly the sweetest pairing, Sam, a still young at heart, pizza loving musician skater boy & Penny, the literal embodiment of an angel, uses her spare time to educate the children of the town, girl.

Sam still lives with his parents (as do most of these NPC's, housing costs found their way to Pelican Town too) and his younger brother, Vincent. His mother is an average middle aged woman, who never made Sam do his chores properly, or learn the basics, such as cooking or problem management, but his backstory is what unlocks a darker side to the lore of Stardew Valley. His father is fighting in an ongoing war between territories. Away for years at a time, Sam misses having a father figure in his life. Possibly resulting in the childish nature we still see in him, skateboarding on others properties, stuffing down pizza and playing his drums loud enough for all of the town to hear him.

It's quite the surprise to see his pairing is Penny. Penny lives in the most run down house within the valley, a tiny rusty trailer, with her aged alcoholic mother, Pam. Pam sleeps on the couch and has given Penny the one bedroom within the trailer which seems to be one of the very few gestures of love we see towards her daughter. Pam is a broke drunk, running up a tab of money she doesn't have at the saloon each night and Penny is the one that must deal with her when she returns home, sometimes having to be the one to even get her there in the first place. Penny cleans up after her mother constantly and when confiding in the farmer about her struggles, Pam barges in and tells Penny to stop talking. Penny also teaches the two youngsters of the town, Jas and Vincent. Pointing towards the idea that Penny could have had a much brighter life as a school teacher in the big city, if only she didn't have her alcoholic mother to worry about.

Sebastian & Abigail

Next up is Sebastian, the lives in basement, spends multiple hours alone playing computer games and only leaves his house to look at frogs or smoke 'loner' boy & Abigail, the hates her parents, dyed her hair purple to rebel and yearns for the mines girl.

Sebastian lives at home with his mother Robin, step-father Demetrius & academically superior half-sister Maru (who we will get to later). His room is in the basement, suggesting that him having his own proper room was not all that thought out. Sebastian is clever in his own ways that often go overlooked by most of the townsfolk. He works from home, as freelance programmer and many instances during the game we see people disregard his job, not seeing that it's a real job due to the less traditional route, but Sebastian prefers his lifestyle. Walled away from most people, he's secretly planning his escape to go and live in the big city away from the 'boring' constraints of Pelican Town. He feels lost and alone, and never bonded with his new father figure Demetrius. This is no fault of his own, Demetrius also prefers the company of his own 'real' child Maru. We do not know much of Sebastian's birth father but we can theorise through dialogue that Robin becoming pregnant with Sebastian is what cause the rift between the pair, which is perhaps what leads Sebastian to staying well out of the way of others, forever feeling responsible for breaking people apart, not wanting to do the same ever again.

Abigail however still retains both of her parents and lacks a sibling to compare herself to. Instead she lives at home with her over-bearing father (and arrogant owner of the local produce store) Pierre and her easier going mother Caroline. Abigail is a rebellious teen, one of the youngest candidates at a theorised age of 18. She hates her father for sticking traditional woman roles on her and dreams about going to the mines to fight for herself. Her past happens to be one of the most theorised parts of Stardew, as Abigail dyed her hair purple once, years ago & the colour never faded. Many believe Abigail is either the secret daughter or grand-daughter of the wizard of the town. She herself feels drawn to the wizards tower, often taking secret walks and hanging out in that area of the forest. Perhaps her fathers attempts to tie down her unruly nature reveals his own suspicions on the matter, trying to stuff his socially abnormal daughter into the traditional gender roles he deems appropriate, without stopping to ever consider her feelings.

Harvey & Maru

Although Sebastian cannot move on from his trauma, we shall move on, to Harvey, the aviation loving, cheese hating, concerned doctor of the town, boy (although more of a man at the theorised age of 30) & Maru, the over-protected, academic superstar, scientist tinkerer, girl.

Harvey is the town doctor and lives upstairs to his office, alone. When spoken to, he opens up to the farmer about his ambitions to become a pilot, and how those were quickly squashed due his poor eye sight. Harvey feels trapped within Pelican Town, being the only doctor but struggling with money. Leaving would grant him a better life, but he can't leave the townsfolk without medical care. Staying is what he feels like to be his only option, which further pours salt in the wounds of the man who wishes to be high in the sky, flying his own plane, away from everything.

Maru is Harvey's 'pair' within the game. As we know from Sebastian, she lives at home with her father, Demetrius and her mother, Robin, as well as her half-brother. Maru has her own proper room, with her own entrance and exit to the outside attached, although it stays firmly locked, probably by her over-bearing father Demetrius. There is no doubt that he has unhealthy ways of dealing with his own feelings. He attempts to block out any outside distractions for Maru, so she can focus on her own career within the sciences. In doing so, he fails to realize he is hindering her from growing into her own person. Maru is secretly building a robot in the small basement area below her room. Hiding it from her father, knowing he would be upset she wasn't working on science projects he deems more worth her time. There is no denying Maru may be feeling academic burnout & simply wants to focus on passion projects instead.

Shane & Emily

TW : suicide/depression for the following of...Shane & Emily. Shane is the depressed, near suicidal, broke alcoholic sad boy and Emily is the bright, vibrant, happy go-lucky, the world is wonderful if you stop to smell the flowers girl.

Shane lives with his aunt, Marnie, on the ranch. At first glance it seems like the small child, Jas that resides with them is Marnie's daughter and therefore Shane's niece. However, things take a darker turn as we learn that Jas Is Shane's god-daughter. In his old life, before Pelican Town, Shane had a best friend, who was Jas's father. He died unexpectedly leaving Jas to Shane's responsibility. What's next is theorised from dialogue during the game, but it's to be believed that Shane's parents wanted him to give Jas up for adoption so he could focus on his own career. Shane refused, moving him and Jas to the one family member he knew would understand and help - Marnie. With the weight off his shoulders, he fell deep into a pool of grief, for his friend, for his past life, for what could have been. Shane drinks every night at the saloon and is very stand-offish to the farmer when they first meet. Upon gaining more hearts with him, we see a scene in which he has gotten blackout drunk and attempted to throw himself off the cliffside, but thankfully, was so drunk, he didn't make it far enough. Afterwards he agrees to therapy and sticks to Joja colas, instead of beer.

Serving him those Joja colas is Emily. Emily lives at home with her sister Haley, and is the parent figure of the house, often organising chores and paying for Haley's things. She loves her crystals and their properties and is often seen meditating and surrounding herself with bright colours. While she seems like she may have a little less going on in her mind than others, getting to know her tells a different story. When her parents left, Emily was the one left responsible for Haley, despite still having been a teenager herself. Haley and her lack of grasp on the world when it comes to responsibilities frustrates Emily, but she knows she cannot move and leave Haley on her own. So she stays, working at the saloon with the owner Gus and finding joy in what she does have, her crafting, the nature surrounding her, and of course, spiritual dancing.

And that's the last of them! All 12 marriage candidates and their surprisingly different backstories despite living in the same tiny village. While a lot of this stuff is just theorised, they are all loosely based at least a little bit in dialogue or things from within the game.

So from bland Harvey and his poor eyesight to Shane's anti-alive tendencies I think it's safe to still say....that Leah is best wife. This was my first blog so don't be mean to me or I'll most likely cry!

Maybe there's even already another in the works for the rest of the NPC's that Pelican Town has to offer! (●'◡'●)