— overview: (as of 2.2) a thorough look at sampo’s kit and gameplay, assessing for potential links to aha the elation.
☆━━━━━ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☾ ◯ ☽₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ ━━━━━━☆
Let’s start with the basics: his Path and element.
Nihility: The Path of the Aeon IX. Its symbol is reminiscent of both a sharp-edged eye and a black hole, which matches with the idea of “Nihility” seeing the universe as ultimately pointless and meaningless. Playstyle-wise, Nihility relies on debuffs.
For Sampo, I find the “Nihility” Path interesting, mostly because it implies a lack of something. A stripping down, a falling away. Hiding, shadows, disappearance — these are all concepts evoked by the “black hole” of IX. While I don’t believe Nihility to be the beginning of Sampo’s existence, it is important to note that this “lessening,” this “disillusionment,” seems to be enough of a part of him to warrant walking on the Path. (My personal theory is that the Nihility is directly related to Sampo’s position as Aha or an Emanator of Elation, and his walking on the Path is either due to a genuine “disillusionment” with his existence or a deliberate hiding of his true feelings — essentially using the Nihility as a cloak to obscure himself from prying eyes. Or both.)
Debuffs are also important, as it shows Sampo’s nature of avoiding direct confrontation. He isn’t a tank, or a healer, or a main DPS — he’s a DOT dealer. Damage over time. He waits for the seeds he planted to sprout and take down his enemies for him. This is reminiscent of the silhouette in Aha’s splash art to me, as both carry similar themes of shadows and operating from the background. (It also reminds me of the time Aha infiltrated the Express Crew and spent who-knows-how-long subtly stealing Pom-Pom’s leftovers — among other things — before finally being caught. Aha seems to have a preference for operating in chaotic yet patient, debuff-type ways.)
These general concepts can also apply to his Element — wind. Wind shear is a strong DOT effect, so my conclusions about debuffing and DOTs can carry over. However, wind is additionally interesting as its base element. I find it interesting that Sampo deals Wind damage rather than Ice or Lightning since his surname (Koski) translates to “water rapids” in Finnish. At the very least, Ice is a different state of water and Lightning is often associated with storms, but no — his element is Wind.
My main theory is that perhaps this symbolizes his ever-changing persona; like the wind, he flits from place to place, letting the currents of air take him wherever there is new Elation to experience, new money to be scored. It might also symbolize a want to be free. A want, like the wind, to drift away from land and soar in the sky. Wind is, after all, an extremely flexible element.
(A quick Google search has also revealed the element of wind to widely symbolize fleeting, transient, and elusive natures of being, as well as change, uncertainty, and the intangible. These are aspects I find relevant to Aha, as Aeonic consciousness is most likely all of these things — difficult to grasp, difficult to understand, a constant intangible state far above mortals. Wind also symbolizes freedom, which depending on what theory you go by, may be something Sampo is trying to obtain as well.)
Now let’s get into the real focus of this analysis: Sampo’s abilities. Let’s start with his Basic ATK, then work our way up.
So: Dazzling Blades. I feel like I should address the elephant in the room — Sampo wields dual blades.
We can see this clearly in his idle stance before his Basic, as he has them separated by hand (unlike how they seem to be combined in his splash art). I’ll leave my red string board connections between dual blades and dual consciousness, as well as the blades looking like snake fangs, for my outfit analysis. For now, let’s just focus on the ability itself. The dual blades Sampo wields allow him to be dexterous in his fighting style, constantly combining and breaking the two apart (trust me I am trying so hard to hold off on “the combining and splitting of dual blades potentially links to the combining and splitting of Aeonic consciousness” for my outfit analysis, ooh I am trying so hard).
For the Basic ATK, he uses both split-apart blades to deal damage. The icon art for this shows the weapon as a whole, and doesn’t seem to stick out much in my opinion. It’s a simple attack, steady, durable, and it plays on Sampo’s strengths and dual-sided nature.
(Note his confidence in this pose. No longer is the “separation” causing him to be more on guard — he seems more relaxed here, confident in his power. Hips thrust out to the world, fully open, no shame in sight. He is whole, now, and he is powerful. Yet, this delusional, dare I say Elated, confidence seems to go a bit too far to be safe or sane. Look at that head tilt. Man is drunk on power.)
Next is his Skill, Ricochet Love, which combines the blades together as Sampo tosses them between enemies. This higher level of power from Basic ATK to Skill includes combining both blades (both dual “sides”) to achieve a greater amount of damage. This does not have to be purely read as Aha!Sampo, and could also be seen as him combining both the “Fool” in him with his persona as Sampo Koski. Either way, reconciling these two parts of himself — these two “blades” — leads to more effective output. (Even the icon art shows this, with two circles appearing to be in motion.)
(Side Note: The combined blades seem to be inverted — if you’ve read my Aha splash art analysis, this may also tie into the seeming “inversion” of Sampo’s E6 and Aha’s silhouette. This could count towards the idea of “two halves of one whole,” or dual consciousness. Or it’s just a cool snake motif so his hand doesn’t get scratched when he throws. Who knows 🤷.)
The name “Ricochet Love” is also notable to me because it shares a similarity to the name of Sampo’s E1 “Rising Love.” We are once again getting heavy indications of “love” as a main function of his kit, and by extension his personality. “Dispersing love” (which can potentially be seen as “dispersing Elation” depending on how you look at it) seems to be a central theme for his character.
Which segways fairly nicely into his burst, Surprise Present.
Oh Lord, do I have so much to say about his burst. Saving the best for last, let’s start with the smaller details: “love” and deception. As we can see, the icon art (and direct usage of his burst) has hearts within hearts, even hearts seeming to function as eyes. That combined with the hiding of his upper face during his burst hints at a hiding of one’s identity as well as themes of “love” and dispersing it. In fact, it may imply that Sampo sees this damage — these DOTs, these debuffs — as a form of love themselves.
Okay, I can’t hold back anymore, I have to get it out:
(Caps Warning)
HIS BURST IS A BOMB I REPEAT: HIS BURST IS A BOMB. HIS BURST IS A HIDDEN BOMB THAT HE HIDES BEHIND HIS BACK BEFORE DETONATING. YOU KNOW WHO ELSE HID A BOMB. YOU KNOW WHO ELSE IS KNOWN FOR A BIG BOMB-RELATED SCANDAL? THAT’S RIGHT BABY AHA THE ELATION AHA THE ELATION BLEW UP THE ASTRAL EXPRESS! WITH A BOMB!!!
Sorry. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s see if I can collect my thoughts more coherently.
I would say Sampo’s burst is one of the most solid pieces of evidence towards an identity as Aha the Elation (right up there with the third person references and lack of boarding the Astral Express).
(Note: the only time he actively looks up is with the bomb, all other times are across or down. This subversion of expectation, of only putting oneself in a position of looking up if it’s to harm others to accomplish a goal — may further hint to “hidden” identity, as well as an Emanator potentially going against their Aeon (someone “above” them).)
As we can see in these screenshots, there is a clear deception to the entire thing, starting with the “just one moment” gesture and the closed case behind his back, following through the the sliding forward on his knees like he’s proposing, to eventually culminating in the opening of the case with roses and the “love” bomb. Beyond tying in to Aha’s modus operandi on the Express (gaining their trust, waiting for the right moment, then revealing the deception), it is also notable how the case obscures the upper part of his face. Aha’s splash art has an obscured upper face as well, and the opening of the case over his face is drawing our attention to the bomb — the gaud and the glamor of the masks — while his own, shadowed smile — the silhouette — operates in the background.
Beyond Aha, this obscuring of the face could also speak to a more general obfuscation of his identity within the Masked Fools, as well as the unpredictable “surprise” of Fools revealing themselves, but where’s the fun in that? I personally like to think the “love bomb” relates to Aha’s blowing up of the Express as some twisted form of “love” — that Aha perhaps sees “Elation” and “love” as overlapping concepts, which They then take upon Themselves to spread across the universe. Laughter, happiness, and Elation, after all, are all things that can result from love. (It is important to note that Aha in Aeonic form is most likely not limited to just “Elation as love,” but most likely encompasses a broader range of feelings and emotions about it — however, Sampo in human form may take on more of this idea as a result of being more “mortal-minded” in the moment. Or, an Emanator! or Doll!Sampo may absorb some of Aha’s views by osmosis, while still forming their own conclusions as separate entities.)
(Also! The name “Surprise Present” feels similar to giving a “gift,” once again implying that Sampo may view dispersing Elation as a form of “gift-giving.” It’s not a bomb, Pom-Pom, it’s a loving, handmade present!)
Before I close out, I want to look at his other talents real quick.
“Windtorn Dagger” is fairly straightforward, upping his chance to inflict DOT and giving it some scaled buffs. The icon itself seems to be reminiscent of a shield or perhaps the shoulder guard he wears. “Windtorn” also implies a wearing away, a potential erosion of a past self — whether that be Aha or Emanator status.
“Spice Up” sticks out mainly in name, tying back into concepts of Elation as interest, entertainment, and fun. It’s the almost compulsory need to make everyone more interesting, more Elated, or else it’s just not good enough. A boring situation needs to be changed, not abandoned.
“Trap,” of course, leads me right back to deception. Aha’s mortal form on the Astral Express was a trap. Aha seems to be good at getting ahead of the curve and setting traps. This implies that Sampo is more than he seems, and that whatever is lurking within his mind may spring out at a moment’s notice.
“Defensive Position” is a natural urge to defend oneself, to protect the more vulnerable parts of one’s being from harm. Not much to say here, only that the “defense” is not a shield or heal, but the regaining of energy (power) faster. This may allude to stretches of time where Sampo cannot use his full power, and must wait and hope for the right time to come around, or for him to properly “charge.” Or, of course, I’m reading way too much into things and it’s just a needed buff for his kit. But I’m not here to digress, I’m here to be delusional.
So, onward to his technique!
Most of what I would discuss here has already been discussed with his burst — this is yet another instance of him using a bomb to disorient and confuse, heavily tying in to Aha’s bombing of the Astral Express. A notable aspect, however, is the Blind effect. Sampo’s technique does not stun, or freeze, or confuse — it blinds. It allows the team to go undetected, undercover. The enemies literally cannot see the people that are right in front of them, and because of that their actions are delayed when entering combat.
While this could apply to a general Masked Fool status, again, I’m here to be fun and whimsical and silly! So, I believe this may allude to Aha being “right under our noses.” Just like his technique, Sampo may be obfuscating his own Aeonic (or perhaps even Emanator) status by whatever form he has taken, passing us by and interacting with us while we are none the wiser. The goal of this may be to catch us off guard later, delaying our action just enough so that Sampo can come out on top.
“Shining Bright” also ties to Aha’s splash art — the idea of blinding and misdirecting the viewer with the gaud and glamour of masks while the shadowed silhouette carries out its mission in the background. Basically: Boom! Flashbang!
I also wanted to note how when Sampo slashes destructible objects, they don’t shatter like with other characters, but rather cleanly, silently, slice in half. To me, this further emphasizes the “shadows in the background” nature of Sampo’s character, the idea of operating under the radar so silently even objects bend to his will. It may also speak to split consciousness, as nothing ever shatters into pieces, only breaks into clean, segmented slices.
Honorable mentions include: Sampo’s crowd controlled state and downed poses.
(Cutie pie, holding the blades close to his chest like a snake about to strike. Hip window on full display. Mr. Sampo Koski I’m love you.)
(Gremlin status, looking like a puppet cut from its strings. Hiding his face with his hair as much as possible. Oh, he is not having a very good time.)
(Pure creature mode. Fully hiding face. Interesting to note how he has a fixation on his face — “Hey, watch the face!” comes to mind — and hiding it. May be a Masked Fools thing, but I like to think it’s because either A. There’s some hidden power he doesn’t want us to see or B. Doll!Sampo is worried about “breaking.” He’s not like the other characters here, somewhat hiding their faces just because they’re bent over. No, he’s almost pushing his face between his knees, using them to bracket any view someone might get. Perhaps he’s trying to keep something in. Or maybe he’s just a puppet going offline.)
Some other downed poses for reference:
Overall, I think Sampo’s kit and abilities carry a lot of clues for Elation!Sampo theories. While most of this is pure interpretation, I feel like the bomb burst is a pretty strong connection, as well as the “Shining Bright” technique. There’s also definitely something going on with his downed pose — whether he’s just a dramatic person or it has bigger implications is up to the player. Even in a vacuum, I really love his expressive body language! (But also he definitely has the kind of delusional self-confidence I’d assume a higher Path being to have.)
☆━━━━━ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☾ ◯ ☽₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ ━━━━━━☆
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ જ⁀➴ thanks for reading to the end!
(template 1 from @/Mhuyo on twt, template 2 from @/dohwoodz on twt)
YIPPIEEEE ANOTHER ANALASYS FROM YOUUU :DDD man those are a joy to read
and as a fellow sampo yapper, duty calls, I must throw in a little somethin'
"Ricochet Love" always stood out to me the most, because of the possible implications?
Ricochet - to bounce off, to get hurt by something in the process of trying to attack, like shooting a bullet but the bullet ending up bouncing off some surface and shooting the shooter instead
like, okay, it might just allure to how how the blades go back tohim after he throws them
but what the hell does Love have to do with it?
recieveing love in return but in a weird way? that ends up hurting? or just simply being hurt because of giving love in general???
His love motifs in general are something very peculiar, because it's very not masked fool - like
The Fools don't "love", they laugh at lovers for their infatuation, because love can make you miserable, can make you act irrationally, even if it's fun for a while.
Yet here he is, having "love" written all over him both literally and symbolically
I feel like The Fools approach to love applies to all kinds of love, not just romantic one. As long as you are devoted to something that might leave you miserable in the end - they will make fun of it
And that brings me to the point how in some aspects Sampo's "love" motif might not necessary be JUST that of a "romantic" kind (although I think the idea of romantic love when it comes to him is pretty obvious, so i'm like 90% sure it's importatnt, too, but yeah, non-romantic love is also something i think is worth looking at alongside it).
So what example of non-romantic love can we point out when it comes to him?
There's one thing we know that we can say Sampo loves, and that is Belobog - the city and it's people
His character is strongly tied to Belobog in general
He's willing to save it despite it meaning he might have to do thing he does not want to (getting his mask back, taking the centre stage)
And yet, 'The Deeper the Love, the Stronger the Hate" (a line that can be applied to bot romantic as well as non-romantic love)
his love and devotion for Belobog won't be reciprocated, he will always be a criminal in the eyes of the public, seen as not much more than just some weird guy doing some shady business, even tho he already did play a crucial role with saving it once
-
When it comes to his ultimate (and his kit in general), It's clear to see that the love motif is combined directly with him just. throwing bombs. exploding stuff. yeah
And my first thought regarding that was "love bombing", a type of emotinal manipulation where Person A showers Person B with love and affection, to make them dependant and trusting, to later take advantage of that
For me it doesn't really sound like something sampo would do necessary? But the combination is still interesting and how it might apply to his character in some other way we have yet to see. He does give a lot of complments to his clents (us included) so I guess there's that.
-
His way of moving feels very... light. An oomfie of mine compared it to dancing. Sampo moves in a way that makes you feel as if he's been doing it for ages and he's just very very veeery used to every little movement he makes
-
When using his Basic Attack in the overworld (as in, outside of battle), whenever it hits the ground you can see it making an opening in the surface, that quickly heals itself, does it mena anything? no clue, but it's a cool detail!
Another cool detail? Him winking during the same attack. Feels like another subtle instance of him breaking the 4th wall imo
No footprints / water splashes when walking are obvious but yeah
okay that's it for now I think, once again TY for writing your analasis!!! Can't wait to see more:))
oooh yes !! sampo has so many “dual-sided” motifs, so it makes sense that his “love” would function similarly — like any kind of affection he gives will immediately come back to bite him in the long run !! which is pretty tragic when you think about it, he just gives and gives but never gets anything in return 😭 as a follower or emanator of elation this could mean his love is always demonized by those who dislike the elation or he’s never truly appreciated by aha themselves, but aha!sampo might just be insanely under-appreciated by other aeons as-is. doll/puppet!sampo especially would give so much love but only get pain back because he’s not really viewed by others as his own person 😭😭😭
plus the “ricochet” could also tie to compulsory existence, the idea that despite giving so much love, the primum mobile restricts which kinds of love he can give and how he can give it, essentially “constricting” him to his given path! so every time he tries to show his “true” love, he gets hurt 🤧
and yes the genuine love seems very antithetical to the masked fools to me too! i feel like sampo’s experience of feeling “genuine” love instead of just laughing at it is something that sets him apart from the rest, either as a powerful masked fool who’s become disillusioned with the whole organization, or as a higher being whose concept of elation reaches farther beyond what the fools have to offer !!
aughh i hadn’t even considered “hate” as referring to what sampo receives rather than what he feels 😭 it could really be an “unsung hero” type of thing where he saves everyone but no one knows and still views him as shady/annoying/a bad guy. i’m actually scared that the thing he doesn’t want to do will end up killing or “breaking” him, just because of his name (the sampo is eventually destroyed in finnish mythology) and the aha stuffed toy occurrence (i see a lot of ties between the toy and sampo himself, which is really worrying considering in the elation path the doll’s head. haha. literally explodes 😬). but here’s hoping the “breaking” is just his mask or revealing his true form or something 🤞🤞
love-bombing is such a great interpretation too !! i agree that the only true time sampo tends to do that is with his clients, but it makes so much sense coming from someone else towards him — considering an emanator!sampo would likely know aha personally (with their penchant for taking mortal form and all), i’d probably see those signs as pointing to how aha or the elation at large treats sampo (love-bombing followed up by chaos or cruelty) !! or, if sampo is indeed a toy “made in aha’s own likeness,” it may be residual personality bleeding over from the source, something sampo is slowly getting rid of in favor of his own, more nuanced personality !!!
and yesss dancing feels so accurate! i definitely see sampo as being incredibly old if not ancient, so him knowing exactly what to do and what steps to take could come from the experience of doing it so many times! the idea of “the ol’ song and dance” and him constantly performing for such a long time!!
yess raagggh the winking !! it’s like he’s performing not just within the game but for us, the player 😩 every time he does that it makes me teehee a lil like “👉👈 for me?? 👉👈”
and thank you again for the kind words 💖 i love sampo theories so much so i’m glad to see people enjoying them! 🤧
