#gameoverse theory

[solarkness]

Something I find fascinating about GameOverse is the implied disrespect for children's media or non-violent media several characters hold. I am sure they'd rationalise it away if asked, but:

Kaboodle literally calls Gobbles non-violent and wishes Gobbles was a sharptoothed dinosaur eating everything in sight (wish for him to be violent, depiction at odds with the entire theme of Gobbles' Children's Media). The skills Gobbles has (Reading, Writing, Learning) are considered useless & Gobbles a waste to save, even though those are crucial base skills to learn. While Kit disagrees & consoles Gobbles while engaging with Gobbles where he is, she finds it hard to argue with Kaboodle (reminiscent of someone who disagrees but is in an environment where it is a widely held opinion). Dusk supposedly sent them on a recon mission as punishment for recruiting Gobbles, even though Dusk recruited Kit - The issue is not recruitment, it is with Gobbles. Maturity & combat capability are stark contrasts between Kit and Gobbles, so I think Gobbles' lack of both is what Dusk disapproves of (same as Kaboodle).

When entering Flapper's world, Kit immediately dismisses Flapper as a background character for being helpful, trusting & forthcoming. These are virtues and flaws often given to Children's Media protagonists, but she still considers them to be background character traits. I think this is because she has unresolved biases she is not aware of, where mature / grittier media is the 'norm' and 'how it should be'. We know her setting took itself seriously (played the adventure straight, scarred catgirl etc.) and was pretty gritty with how brutal the opening transformation was.

Fold is confused about Flapper not being able to read, but happy to take advantage of Flapper's naivety. Proceeds to manipulate Flapper while looking down on Flapper for childlike behavior (and accidentally hurting Fold, but Fold never talks to Flapper about it, just assumes Flapper should know). Generally seems to find Flapper annoying but puts up with him to complete his goal, INSTANTLY abandons Flapper once Flapper is no longer useful. Gobbles, a fellow Children's Media protagonist, is the only one to neither immediately dismiss Flappers nor treat him as just a tool.

Since Flappers is capable of and uses violence, I think it is moreso a case of characters subtly looking down on children's media - Which reflects the biases many real people have, knowingly or not. Gobbles is looked down on because he is a Children's Media protagonist played straight to the point his group gets saddled with a recon mission. Flapper is dismissed as background character for not being mature enough, and then manipulated using that. Since they're Children's Media, they aren't treated seriously. Kit tries, but even she has her hangups due to everyone around her looking down on them.

[poketfriend-blog]

You're telling me that Gobbles has the ability to instantly learn and apply every single skill and information simply by seeing it? Makes sense since he's from the edutainment game but like. That would make this chubby little dino the most OP character on the Farcade side. Show him how to fight, code, pilot, all of it! I want to see Syntax trembling in fear at the mere mention of Gobbles the Destroyer.

[chainsaw-rockz04]

My theory on Kaboodle's origins:

[drama-glob]

So, I'm guessing it was Fold that helped Kit and Kaboodle win their game and get their world destroyed. >:( Well well well, I certainly look forward to Kit and Kaboodle getting some much needed revenge on him in the future because he's definitely got it coming along with everyone from Syntax. ;)

[minty-the-meowstic]

I think Kit and Scratch might’ve been girlfriends. This would make Kit’s backstory even more tragic.

[paintsplash1712]

So Gameoverse just came out and I already have a theory for it surrounding the mysterious man who saved Kit.

This guy seems to be involved with the organisation Kit joins with how he seemed to have tech to temporarily stop the destruction of her game to save her so I assume he's a higher up, maybe even one of the leaders?

Anyway, my theory has to do with his very obvious inspiration: Sephiroth or more accurately Tetsuya Nomura characters like Seph or Riku from KH. The long hair, the androgynous features, it obvious Nomura was an inspiration.

Something funny I realised is that Sephiroth in the Remake series is kinda doing the same thing Kit's team are doing. Stopping the good guys from winning because if they do the worlds they live in will die (or at least that's what theorised as of only having the first 2 parts of FF7R) and it makes me wonder if this person who saved Kit was in a similar role to Sephiroth.

Like he was a big bad villain of his game who feels regret of not being powerful enough to stop his protagonist from defeating him so his planet could survive. Maybe he founded the group as a response?

IDK, it's just an observation I had.

[justmenoworries]

So I can't help but feel that Dusk's timing here is suspicious.

He shows up right after Kit and Kaboodle win and their world is destroyed as a result. Just after the two of them were forced to watch their home village be disintegrated, along with their friends and family. When all hope is lost, he appears on the scene to extend a hand to them and take them in. How'd he know to show up right then and right there?

I have two theories on that.

Number one is the most simple: Dusk tried to save Kit's world and failed. We can assume that Syntax and Farcade already existed by the time Dusk recruited Kit and Kaboodle. Remember how Kit gets her plan to defeat Malice from a piece of paper?

(Note the wording on the paper. Kit is referred to as "you" not "Me". So Kit didn't draw and write this herself.)

And remember how Fold turns into a cheat sheet in Flapper's world to help Flapper win? And how Kit's paper landed right next to Malice and Mayhem and the next time we see them it's on Syntax's battleship?

Yeah, I think it's safe to say Syntax was meddling here. Dusk might have tried to stop them from aiding Kit, but in the end he wasn't successful. So he made the best of the situation and recruited Kit and Kaboodle to Farcade. So they could, in the future, succeed where he didn't. If Dusk was personally at the scene and couldn't save Kit's world, that adds a lot of potential drama to their relationship. To Kit, Dusk is the hero who tried to prevent her world's destruction, who took her and Kaboodle in during their darkest hour and gave them a new purpose, a new family. But Dusk? He's probably riddled with guilt over his inability to prevent this Game World's demise.

Number two is a bit darker: Dusk intentionally let Kit and Kaboodle's world die to gain them as allies. Dusk looks to be a fair bit more powerful than Syntax's goons. I find it kinda hard to believe he wouldn't have been able to keep Fold and, if she was present, Miss Information or the Floaties in check. So how'd he lose? Well, maybe he let them win. As strong as Dusk probably is, I doubt he alone could foil Syntax's plans. To effectively go up against them, he'd need allies. Competent ones at that. Plus, we know Dusk has a very "Needs of the Many" view on Farcade's mission. Kaboodle reveals that the recon mission we see them on in the present is Dusk punishing Kit for trying to save who she can and not focusing enough on the big picture, which is preserving the Gameoverse as a whole. He was also not pleased that Kit saved a "useless" hero like Gobbles.

(While Kaboodle calls Gobbles 'useless' first, Kit repeats the word specifically when bringing up Dusk's opinion of Gobbles. So yes, Dusk straight-up called Gobbles useless. Yikes.)

And we know he couldn't have recruited them with their homeworld still standing, since the Gameoverse's rules are very strict when it comes to breaking kayfabe. So maybe he thought to himself "What is one Game World against the continued existence of the whole Gameoverse?" Kit and Kaboodle are very versatile and strong fighters. Who knows how many other worlds could be saved with them at his side?

And this might be me overthinking, but in his first and only pilot-appearance, Dusk is framed almost exclusively in shades of gray. Maybe to symbolize moral grayness?

[spam-monster]

Current Gameoverse theory: Warrick, Dusk and Miss Information are all from the same game.

Warrick was the flawed antihero Dark Souls/Shadow of the Colossus protagonist who would stop at nothing to reach their goal - he thinks as long as he can gain the power to restore worlds it doesn't matter how evil he has to become, and he recruits villains because he found most heroes weren't willing to sink that low.

Dusk was the well-intentioned extremist antivillain with a tragic backstory trying to maintain the natural order in his world while Warrick tried to defy it - he does not believe the rules of the universe can be changed and they should try to preserve the worlds that are left instead of chasing foolish dreams of restoring their world. Even if those worlds have to suffer under the bad guys, it's better than destruction.

Miss Information was the parody annoying video game helper to Warrick's hero; her teaching game mechanics but being dumb about everything else is an intentional character trait and she was really just there for eye candy.

Additionally, Fold was a hero and one of the first recruited back when Warrick was trying to get heros to help him, he's just been broken by trauma and turned cynical and been working for Warrick for so long that he feels he can't quit now even if he wanted to. His design screams "quirky snarky Rare-esq puzzle platformer protagonist" to me.