15. The Mysterious Stranger
Red Dead Redemption has been described as an atmospheric and beautifully written game, with strong characters, engaging storyline and addicting gameplay. During the game, players can find countless Mysterious Strangers, for which they can do missions for. These usually range from running errands for them, intimidating others, and just simply talking with people.
However, one of these characters stands out among all others. A nameless, well dressed man can be found in all three regions of the game, and he speaks to John Marston in a somewhat condescending tone. He reminds John of his previous criminal life and that of his gang, before asking John to conduct missions of morality. Whether or not John completes the mission in a good way or bad way is up to the player,which the man seems to not care either way.
In the final encounter, John becomes enraged and attempts to shoot the man, but apparently misses before the gun jams and the man vanishes without a trace. Later, this becomes the site where John, his wife Abigail and the ranch hand Uncle are buried after the game's final mission. There are many theories as to who the man is, but three appear to be the most popular. People have suggested the man is God or some sort of angel, while others say he's the Devil.
However, the most credible answer seems to be the man is Death; evidence to support this is the man is neutral to John's actions, since he will collect his soul either way, he calls himself an accountant “of sorts”. Rockstar have not commented on the man, leaving it entirely up to players to analyze and interpret. Before we go any further, do you think video game theories could be true? Let me know in the comments with a simple yes or no. My answer would for sure be yes, there’s just too much evidence to support these theories. If you’re feeling generous, please leave a like as it really helps out.
14. The Pokemon War
Since its introduction in 1996, Pokemon has become an entertainment phenomenon, with a successful anime series and trading card franchise. While heavily targeted towards kids, there have been subject matter in the games seemingly targeted to an adult audience. The most famous is Lavender Towns original purpose of hosting the graveyard of deceased pokemon.
However, there is a major theory which brings the entire game into a different light. Fans have pointed out how the main character has no father, how his neighbour is an orphan, and how there are not a lot of adults found throughout the game, and those who you do encounter are either rather old, or act aggressive to the player. With the scarcity of people in the Kanto region, and an abundance of younger generations, fans have speculated there was a devastating war, leaving many people dead.
One of the gym leaders, Lieutenant Surge, is regarded as a respected soldier, and is even quoted saying “I tell you, kid, electric Pokemon saved me during the war!” This certainly puts a lot of backing behind this theory, and many people take is as credible. This even puts further explanation of the generations the video game titles have used, since Red and Blue is Generation I, as in the first generation after the war. Whether it is meant to represent a devastated post-war society or present a hopeful future is up for players to decide, but it certainly puts a dark spin on the most beloved children's franchises in history.
13. Glados
The Portal games gained unexpected popularity upon the release of the first game Players found the unique puzzle mechanics and comedic narration enjoyable, leading to a massive fan following. Hardcore players have analyzed to storyline and the layout of the maps, and various theories have arose as to the backstory.
The most popular ideas is Aperture Science is a rival company of the Black Mesa facility in the Half-Life franchise, and that both games take place in the same universe. The big focus of analysis has been the antagonist Glados, a large super computer which, at first, guides the player through the various puzzles, but then turns on you after she attempts to kill you and as you attempt to escape.
When players find Glados at the end of the game, she is revealed to be hanging from the ceiling during the boss battle. In Portal 2, Glados's backstory is revealed; she was Aperture founder's, Cave Johnson, personal secretary Caroline, and she had her mind placed inside the computer. This has led to disturbing revelations about Glados's design, as she appears to resemble a women in bondage hanging upside down.
Furthermore, unreleased audio from the game shows Caroline was forced into undergoing the procedure. This has fueled credibility that Glados's design was made to purposefully resemble a woman in bondage, as Caroline was an unwilling participant in the dark happenings at Aperture Science. While the game is overall a comedy, this does shed a dark tone on a beloved game.
12. The Madden Curse
Sometimes, it's not the games themselves which inspire theories. The Madden NFL games have been widely popular since the first game was released in 1988. With every new game, a new NFL player from a different team is featured on the box cover. A series of coincidences have led people to believe the Madden games are cursed, and will go after anyone featured on the cover.
Initially, the idea started as a joke, but as strange things kept happening to the people on the cover, it ballooned into an entire superstition. The first instance occurred in 1998, when Garrison Hearst was on the cover and later broke his ankle. Out of the 19 players to be featured on the cover since then, 17 have experienced personal, physical and career trouble, and several have had injuries which prevented them from completing the season.
This has led many to attest the Madden Curse is real, and players should decline to be on the cover. However, both the NFL and EA Games have dismissed the idea as mass hysteria and imagination run wild. This hasn't deterred fans from attempting to figure out a way to break the curse, and allow players to safely pose for the cover of future Madden games.
11. Limbo, Purgatory or Hell?
Limbo was a puzzle game released in 2010. It was praised for its simplistic, but beautiful artwork and immersive gameplay. The entire game contains no dialogue and minimal sounds, depending on ambient music and background noises to create the atmosphere of the game. While the story is largely left to speculation, it is believed the player is travelling to find his sister, but for reasons unknown.
There are subtle clues in the game which hint at the background story, and many theories have appeared since its release. The most popular explanation is the entire game takes place in either Purgatory or Hell, with the title being used as the main hint. Limbo is the first circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno, and is a place for those who were unbaptized reside, though not necessarily being punished.
Limbo is also a word used to describe being in between one plain of existence and another, which makes the idea it takes place in Purgatory as likely. Once the player completes the game, he walks slowly towards his sister, before the game abruptly ends. The main menu screen shows the area the game ends, but with a broken ladder and two groups of flies in separate areas. It is believed the main character died along with his sister, and he was somehow responsible for their deaths.
Therefore, he was sent to Purgatory, and must now navigate through the world to redeem himself. Another theory is the main character is on a mission to kill his sister, with the AI characters encountered along the way tasked with stopping you. Whichever the real meaning is is left up for speculation, but it certainly makes the simplistic storyline much more in depth and complex.
10. Luigi's Dead
Players of Luigi's Mansion will note that while the game is still very family friendly, it still has a darker tone than the rest of the Mario series. The game was a quick fan favourite, with the new game mechanics and with players controlling Luigi for a change. Ever sine its release, people have tried to analyze the game and it's strange storyline, leading some to believe Luigi is actually dead throughout the game.
Interestingly enough, this theory began as a result of a glitch found in the attic. Whenever lightning flashes, Luigi's shadow is cast several feet in the air and in the AI's default pose, not matching Luigi's stance at all. People thought it was meant to represent Luigi had hung himself in the mansion's attic, and now he is in some sort of Hell and attempting to escape.
Developers dismissed this claim, stating it was a glitch not caught during development and was too late to fix by the time of its discovery post-release. This has not dissuaded fans from adding to the theory, coming up with reasons why Luigi might be dead or have committed suicide.
A common theory is Luigi was tired of being in the background of his brother, so he took his own life. It is much too dark for a game meant to be child friendly, but it be the first time developers have added adult themes into video games. To this day, gamers continue to speculate about Luigi's Mansion, while the developers have stood their ground with the official explanation.
9. Satanic World of Warcraft
With a world as vast as World of Warcraft, it's no surprise various bizarre encounters occur. In the region of Goldshire, players have found a group of six children, who move together throughout the Elwynn Forest. The children seem to reside in a cottage, which they always stay near. The children spawn from the house at 7am server time, run to the Valley of Heros, then to Mirror Lake, and then right back to the cottage, where they stand in a distinct pattern before despawning.
Those who have explored the house have reported to hear unsettling music when in the house, and the children will sometimes stand in a pentagram pattern. Sounds heard in the cottage have also been a banshee scream, a ghoul call, growling, a woman crying, and a dark voice saying “You…will…die” and “Death is close.” This has caused speculation that the children are worshipers of some sort of Satanic entity in the World of Warcraft lore. One of the children has been rumoured to say “Remember C'Thun? Good ol' C'Thun.”
So far, no official explanation has been given about the children by Blizzard, but the community accepts them to be an easter egg meant to make players feel creeped out and speculate. There has also been comparisons to Children of the Corn and Village of the Damned, since both also contain creepy children conducting malevolent actions. However, the children appear to have no in game and real life consequences to players, but it surprising no creepypasta story has taken advantage of this to date.
8. Death and Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda series has a huge nostalgia factor on people today, and with each new game a new generation to admire its beauty. Back in 2000, Nintendo released Majora's Mask, a direct sequel to the critically acclaimed Ocarina of Time. Both games have similar themes in terms of time, but it is what aspect of time that have intrigued players. There is a huge theory about Majora's Mask that the entire theme is Death, and how people deal with the inevitability of death.
The five areas in the game is said to represent the five stages of grief: Clocktown is denial, with the citizens ignoring the falling moon in order to celebrate the carnival, the Swamp is anger, with the habitants blaming others for their despair, the Goron Village is bargaining, with the habitants begging Link to save them, the Great Bay is depression, with the people saddened by the circumstances befalling them, and finally the Ikana Valley is acceptance, with the spirits of the dead there accepting they are dead, and mainly keeping to themselves.
This has caused wide spread debate amongst the online community, and there is so much to discuss that it can't all be detailed here. There is so much speculation and analysis to give great credibility to this theory, and it makes for an interesting topic of analysis and discussion.
7. Braid and the Destroyer of Worlds
Back in 2008, Number None, Inc. developed the puzzle game Braid, and it quickly rose to the top of the Xbox Arcade charts. Game reviewers from Metacritic to Gamespot gave it overwhelming praise, furthering the games popularity. The game has you play as Tim, who is searching for a princess who was kidnapped by a monster. As the game goes on, it becomes more evident Tim is in fact the monster, which is revealed at the very end of the game.
Those who have analyzed the game have discovered links between the game's themes to that of the creation of the nuclear bomb. This has led people to theorize the game is an allegory of the guilt the scientists felt upon the bomb's creation. The evidence to suggest this are hidden messages players can find in the game, including the famous quote “Now we are al sons of bitches,” which was uttered by Kenneth Bainbridge after he witnessed the first nuclear test in New Mexico.
Furthermore, Tim is a scientist, and the main mechanic of the game is Tim's ability to alter the flow of time; it is speculated this is Tim's desire to reverse time so he would have nothing to do with the bomb's creation. While without this revelation, Tim appears to be the true antagonist, but now knowing what he wants to do and what the princess possibly represents, he becomes more of a sympathetic anti-hero rather than full blown villain. With the amount of hype and speculation surrounding this game, it is a further example of video games being an art form.
6. The Weighted Companion Corpse
Besides the non-existent cake which took fans by storm, Portal players also took a liking to the Weighted Companion Cube. It looks no different than the other cubes used for puzzle solving throughout the game, but this one has a heart on the sides, and is used in more than one of the rooms in the game.
However, once its purpose is complete, Glados asks you to dispose of the cube into an incinerator. Disturbingly enough, Glados warns the player not to listen to the cube should it begin to talk, even though it's an inanimate object. This has caused players to speculate there's more than meets the eye. The way Glados speaks about the cube almost makes it seem it has some sort of sentient being.
This evolved into people theorizing the Weighted Companion Cube is infused with the corpse of a previous test subject. The popularity the cube has taken outside of gaming has taken on a scary twist, since the real world literally grew attached to a fictional object, much like how Glados warns not to become too attached to the object in the game.
In the graphic novel Lab Rat, the story follows Dough Rattman, who has a Weighted Companion Cube with him wherever he goes, which talks to him unless he takes psychiatric medication. There is discussion in the book about the other subjects lost during testing, which have led people to believe the cubes and the dead subjects are related. In one of Rattman's hideouts, the companion cube is taped over the faces of people. The most compelling evidence is the achievement for incinerating the cube is called Fratricide, possibly hinting you have just incinerated a fellow test subject without hesitation.
5. Squall's Dying Dream
Final Fantasy has certainly redefined the RPG genre since the first game was released back in 1987. People have become engulfed in the Final Fantasy world, and its numerous cast of characters. The storylines have also been known to be complex and well written, even to the point where symbolism has been discovered within. By far the most popular symbolism discussion concerning the games is during the events of Final Fantasy 8.
The main character, Squall, suffers a grave wound during a fight, when he's impaled by an ice shard. However, in the next scene, Squall appears in good health and unphased, despite the severitiy of his inflicted injuries. Fans have wondered why this is, and have theorized Squall is in fact dead, with the remainder of the game being his dying dream before slipping into the afterlife. The dream is similar to the life flashing before ones eyes, but is instead representing Squall's regret of not living to his full potential, and him witnessing where he could have gone and what he could have been.
There are several points of dialogue which seem to support this theory, with Squall even acting surprised when he sees his wound is gone upon awakening.Also, during the ending, Squall is seated under a starry sky, as memories flash through his mind. This is believed to be Squall reliving his happiest moments before moving into the afterlife. As the Final Fantasy series continues, there is bound to be further deep meanings behind them, and the fans will certainly jump to analyze every bit and piece.
4. The Hell Valley Mystery
Mario Galaxy is a family friendly game, using the familiar Mario mechanics and implementing them in a space environment. However, one area has become a hotbed of discussion amongst players. In the Shiverburn Galaxy, the player must navigate over pools of lava, avoid fireballs and defeat enemies in order to progress. Players began to notice strange figures on the cliff faces looking down towards the player, and once viewed in first person, they appeared to be misshapen humanoid figures observing the player.
When checking the game files, someone discovered the name of the texture for the background above the cliffs is called “Beyond Hell Valley,” and the figures are labelled as “Hell Valley Sky Trees.” After this discovery, people began to dismiss the creepy figures, believing them to simply be bizarre trees, but their humanoid shapes still have provoked theories. The most common of the theories is these “trees” are actually aliens which inhabit the planet, and choose to study Mario from a distance rather than make direct contact. Nintendo developers have never made a statement about the Hell Valley Sky Trees, leaving the actual explanation hidden in the dark.
3. San Andreas's Mythical Creatures
With a game map as large as the ones in Grand Theft Auto, it is no surprise the developers have included hundreds of easter eggs. However, it is sometimes the fan speculation which becomes more intriguing than the actual content. When Rockstar released San Andreas back in 2004, it didn't take long for players to start writing about mysterious sightings in the game's vast backcountry.
Several mythical creatures were rumoured to be in the game, most famous of which was Bigfoot. People swore they had seen an humanoid ape creature in the region Back-o-Beyond, which is a rather bizarre and creepy area on its own. Photos were uploaded to the internet claiming to be evidence of Bigfoot, but they were either to pixelated to be confirmed, or were proven to be a hoax, either through mods or a glitch. Rockstar issued a statement that Bigfoot was not present in the game, but this did not deter gamers from searching frantically for the beast.
Several mods were made to include Bigfoot, and other mythical beasts. The hype also led to speculation that there were Megaladon sharks, a lock ness monster, giant squids and even aliens somewhere in the game, but none were ever confirmed. Rockstar seemed to enjoy the publicity the mythical creatures were bringing, and even provided fan service years later. In the Red Dead Redemption DLC Undead Nightmare, players can find not only several Bigfoot in Tall Trees, but also hunt down the Chupacobra. Achievements await those who kill a Bigfoot, titled Seven Years in the Making in reference to the time between the release of San Andreas and Undead Nightmare.
2. The Tetraforce
The Triforce is a major plot element in the Legend of Zelda series. It is the most divine object in the game's universe, holding the abilities of wisdom, courage and power. Zelda holds the triforce of Wisdom, and Link holds the Triforce of Courage, while Ganondorf usually takes possession of the triforce of Power in order to achieve his malevolent goals. However, fans have found hints of a possible fourth missing piece of the triforce, leading to the Tetraforce theory.
In several games, the number Four has a significance to the plot. Majora's Mask has four temples, Four Swords has you play as four different Links, there are four light guardians in Twilight Princess, and there is also a lot of discussion about Light and Shadow in the games. The Triforce itself has a blank space in the middle, which is also a triangle, though darkened. This is believed to represent the Triforce of Shadow, explaining all the evil in the world of Hyrule; evidence for this is the Shadow Medallion has an upside down triangle in Ocarina of Time.
In the Japanese language, the word for Four sounds similar for the word for Death, and so it is believed the fourth Triforce could in fact be the Triforce of Death. On a more positive level, there have also been references and use in the games mechanics of Time manipulation, leading many to believe the fourth piece is related to Time. This theory has gathered a lot of support simply because there are so many different theories behind what the fourth piece could be, and it could possibly be explained in future games.
1. The Earthbound Abortion
For the most part, Earthbound is a family friendly game. But once the game progresses, the story gets noticeably darker in tone. In the final level of the game, the main character, Ness and his companions travel back in time to fight the final boss, Giygas. Essentially the embodiment of evil, Giygas is a truly terrifying form, resembling a grotesque screaming face in its first form.
As the boss battle goes on, it becomes more and more terrifying and surreal. People analyzing the game noticed Giygas's final form seems to be the outline of a fetus, and people have speculated the final boss battle is representing an abortion. People have observed the Devil Machine, where Giygas dwells, resembles a cervix, with Giygas in an egg shaped vessel in the centre.
As the story goes, Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi had a traumatic experience in childhood, when he accidentally walked into a showing of “The Japanese Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty.” The scene playing was disturbing, and Itoi believed he was witnessing a rape on screen. This has led some people to believe Itoi is using the game as a way to cope with the memory, and is literally having an a fetus aborted due to it being a production of rape. None of the theories have been confirmed, but it continues to lead to speculation to this day.
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