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Five and Dolores

As we know, Five got stimuli in the apocalypse around the age of 13. In the destroyed world around him, there was little to nothing left in tact. He states in the show that he had to survive on whatever he could. In the show, we see him dragging around a red wagon filled with whatever he found that deemed valuable to him. In his wagon, there's a mannequin he named Dolores which Five is allegedly married to. We don't exactly know why he decided, "Yeah I'm gonna keep that," but I came up with a theory for that.

In episode 2, Five finds himself stuck in the apocalypse, trying to go back to his family. Unfortunately, he's unsuccessful and ends up thriving in the apocalypse for decades. With the little there is in the fiery future, Five somehow finds Dolores. Five, being all alone, probably decided to keep a human like companion with him. You can see Five talk to Dolores as if she's a real person. Maybe overtime Five actually believed Dolores was real. Now, Five is extremely smart. How could he believe a doll is alive? The apocalypse he was in contained zero sign of any life and lots of smoke and debris. It's possible that Five went a little insane; that's understandable. He needed someone out there talk to or be with.

Even if he knew that Dolores was just a mannequin, he still has some emotional connection with her. Though his family was gone, Five had Dolores. When Luther, the meanie pants he is, took Dolores and threatened to drop her out the window, Five was immediately ready to shoot him. That shows the emotional stance Dolores has with Five. Sadly, all things come to an end including Five's irrational relationship with Dolores.

Five ends up returning Dolores to the store he stole her from. He says, "Yeah. I have a lot of growing up to do. I'll never forget you Dolores."
From those words alone, we know he still treats Dolores like a person and has to leave her in order to grow. Five never had the chance to truly grow up. He only grew up literally in the apocalypse but spent his time focused on survival other than living. Dolores kept him a bit more sane and allowed him to feel less alone even if he was really alone. Dolores is Five's reminder of the apocalypse and the time he spent there. Once he gave her away, he was free of the horrible experience in the apocalypse and he can finally grow up right.

a/n: i haven't written anything in a long time and i'm sorry. this theory was kind of more emotional and made me really feel bad for five. honestly the character has gone through sh*t but who hasn't in his family.