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Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 13.
Glados: The Portal games gained unexpected
popularity upon the release of the first game
in 2007.
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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
Number 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.
