♫ EarthBound - OST - Apple Kid's Theme ♫
Disregarding all stances on morality for
the sake of this video,
I'll be taking a completely objective
view of this controversial game
Theory. Please do not get offended by the
title or content within-
the things I say are all concerning the
theory
and do not necessarily reflect my beliefs. I'm
not here to see what's right or wrong,
this is completely to delve deeper into
whether this is true or not.
With that out of the way, let's begin.
Now EarthBound, as you may know, is one of my
favorite video games of all time.
Quirky humor, unique battle sequences,
distinct music, and clever dialouge make this game an absolute standout.
With a bright exterior, this game is as dark as one can get.
But would this game even attempt
to take on such a universally
controversial topic as abortion?
Before that's answered, let's see how far this game is willing going to go.
Pokey is the first instance that this game is not afraid to take risks.
Subtle references that are even more apparent
in the Japanese version
suggest that his parents are abusive. Sound effects of pokey being punished
clearly refer to a beating. His parent's neglect is one of the many reasons
people believe he joined forces with Giygas to begin with.
The next time we see him, he holds the
title as a second hand
to a cultist leader known as Carpainter. Their
motives are very similar to many
extremist groups
(to change the world to their liking). This
one just happens to want to paint
everything blue.
The kicker is they're willing to do
anything to make that dream a reality,
even human sacrifice- not to mention that
a little girl.
There is no shortage of drug references
either-
if the battle backgrounds aren't "trippy"
enough for you, after the kids defeat
Master Belch
and return to Saturn Valley they take a "coffee"
trip
as a monologue (by the narrator) of the kids
journey plays out
to the tune of some very psychedelic music.
Another scene is shown later,
this time with tea- but perhaps the most
prominent examples are an actual location
in the game
being an alternate reality to the city of Fourside. This realm initiates after
Ness halucinates
from being very near a relic known as
the Mani-Mani statue. frequent
flickering
neon lights take over the city, stranger-than-normal enemies appear-
people who speak nonsensically and erratically, as well as nightmarish sounds and
tones that mirror that of something
one would experience during a "bad trip".
More drug references include bars (turned to
cafes),
non-subtle drunks walking the town, hippies,
mushrooms that directly affect free
movement, causing Ness to veer while walking and
stumble in battle,
"Magic Cake" that takes you to a faraway land
inaccessible by walking, and traveling into
Ness's own subconscious to find himself.
What about sexual references? Not many-
the word "sexy" is used to describe the
Runaway Five: but more
interestingly, after the credits you can
visit Venus's mom in
Twoson. If you talk to her, it is revealed
that Venus will be doing a photography book- as the mother states that she hopes
Venus will keep her clothes on. Not a big
deal,
but still worth mentioning just to
state that almost every controversial
topic has been covered.
Violence? Well, there's that too and I'm
not talking about hitting stray dogs
with baseball bats.
Every kid friendly game has some sort of
battling,
not a big deal at all- the real
disturbing part that differentiates
EarthBound
and other RPG's is a key sequence of
events that
tasks the player with answering yes or no
questions. These aren't quiz related however-
they are Poo's master asking for his
permission
to have is arms, legs, ears, eyes, and mouth
ripped out of him until only his mind is left
to communicate with. And even that
is taken eventually!
If the player says "no" to the removal any of
these body parts,
they automatically lose the game.
Seriously! Your character is shown to take
damage
with each major part removed. When his ears are removed, the audio cuts off
entirely-
when his eyes are presumably gauged
out, the screen fades to black.
This is as far as the game goes for being
controversial.
So what have we learned so far? Nothing is
safe from being covered-
the range is incredible, and behind its
colourful
atmosphere lies some of the darkest
secrets of gaming. Now we get to Giygas.
all theories, aside this final boss will
still make the "Top
10's" of most disturbing bosses in gaming.
This is all for good reasons: his erratic
are unnerving, the cryptic music unsettling,
and the surroundings make you feel
entirely hopeless to what's happening.
He mutters things like, "It's not right... not right..." and
"I feel good..."- but it's time to answer the main
question:
What does this have to do with Giygas supposedly being a fetus?
In order to fight him, the party has to travel back in
time (how far back as not specified).
Before confronting him, the player has to
travel up pulsating
tubes that are so different to anything else
seen in the game-
to finally arrive at the "Devil's Machine"
which is said to resemble the female
reproductive system. During the battle
when Gigyas is unleashed, one can see a
clear outline of a human
fetus in the dead space of the background. It
has been debated since the beginning of
this theory
whether or not this is intentional- but
whether you believe it or not, one
cannot deny that it does look like one. Even the inspiration behind the creation
of the "Universal Cosmic Destroyer"
is disturbing. Shigesato Itoi, the
creator of
EarthBound, has stated publicly that the
idea of Giygas came from a childhood
trauma he experienced
when he was little, where he thought he
had walked into a rape scene in a
movie.
It ended up only being a murder,
but he was so distraught that his parents
became worried about his well-being.
One of the lines, "It hurts..." is believed to
come from within the film.
The combination of pleasure and pain
and the conflicting between them is
thought to be why it had been so scaring
for young
Itoi. But what does this have to do with
the "abortion theory"?
we know what he thinks the scene in the
film was about,
and if that leads to impregnation that
is reason for abortion.
The two are absolutely linked, and this game already goes very far
on these sorts of topics- so the theory can't and shouldn't be considered
far-fetched to any extent. Fans of the
game hate this theory and
want it to not exist, but it definitely has its reason for existing.
There's a lot to back up the bold statement, no
matter how unbelievable it may sound in
conversation-
if you know the context of the many controversial
things in this game,
and how far the game is willing to go, the theory seems right at home.
I won't say whether I believe it or not, but
I can respect the concept
because it's backed up by fact- and is
very possible.
With many connected aspects that seem too similar
to its accusations to be coincidental,
this may very well be intended by the
creator- or not!
But who knows. There is supporting evidence
that this isn't the case at all-
the pulsating tubes could be veins connected to a "Mother Brain" of sorts,
and the background could still absolutely be an unfortunate and
unintentional design flaw. Either way, it's
still interesting to contemplate-
and that's why we love theories right? To
know for sure wouldn't be
fun, so it's probably best to just be
left a mystery
and forever be something EarthBound
fans can argue about.
This has been Dark Aspects of Nintendo Games, with your host:
Thane from ThaneGaming. Thanks everyone, and I'll see you next time.
