There’s something that deeply bugs me about Skateboard characterization in the phighting fandom. People seem to assume his entire personality is just skateboards. Reading fanfiction about him can feel difficult because he’s written like a cardboard cutout. Just. Nice. Kinda goofy. Probably smokes weed. Just a Chill Guy archetype who’s there to be Boombox’s friend and not do much else. He’s caring, but he’s not much more.
Boombox has sort of skyrocketed into a fandom favorite and I CAN SEE WHY. He is ADORABLE, he’s handsome, he’s funny, he likes music, but most importantly, he’s a juicy character. He’s happy on the surface but deeply depressed and lonely deep down, his masking represented by the LITERAL mask on his face. He’s deeply relatable from multiple angles. Whether you’re depressed or autistic or have a personality disorder or, hell, if you’re just KINDA LONELY, he’s great!
But despite his many similarities, Skateboard has not taken off in the same way, and I rarely see people appreciate him. SOOOO…
In all fairness, a good 89% of Skate’s dialogue is skating related. At a surface level, this is ALL he has going on </3
Like jesus. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER HOBBIES BRO.
However, the first of Skate’s traits makes itself clear when we examine his history with Windforce.
Boombox was exiled from Splintered Skies and his trauma, and ways of COPING with said trauma, are very clear. We know he:
Is deeply depressed and has low self esteem
Zones out a lot
Uses music as a way to express his feelings
Masks his emotions to appear cheerier and okay to others
Among other things!
For Skate?
He must be distracted CONSTANTLY and is restless. This may be another reason for his constant skating; he needs to MOVE.
He’s always working to make things better for others. Although he’s not exactly earnest to a corny extent (see: Sword) he is very caring, just in a quieter way. His letting Coil stay with him whenever he wants is him caring for his friends. He is VERY loyal.
And there’s one more thing. That I find. Really interesting.
Now for those of you who are unaware, every single piece of dialogue in this game is so so outdated. We really can’t learn a lot about the characters from their dialogues because it’s been a WHILE since they were written, and a LOT has changed. These lines are from before the splintered skies lore came out.
But it’s interesting when you think about the fact that Skate WASN’T accepted into Splintered Skies. He was the one who FAILED to prove himself, and was subsequently thrown away. Like he was useless. While his best friend was accepted in…
Of course Boombox came with him and they lived happily ever after, but this. “Chill guy” persona. The way he’s always talking about “going with the flow,” the fact that he is seemingly quite braggy and overconfident. Doesn’t it kind of seem like he’s trying to overcompensate for something…?
Anyways. I’ll leave you with that. I just like this little guy :p
This post will include many screenshots and a full length essay :]
(Disclaimer!! This post is not currently screenreader friendly, none of the images have IDs. I may add IDs later though. This will also contain spoilers for all of DITF!!!!)
I'll start with basic things and get much more complex as we go down, feel free to skip around :D
Sect. I - Who is Venomshank?
This is Vemomshank! He's one of the seven Sword Deities in Phighting. As for his powers, we know a few things about him -
He has control of an army of zombies and can summon them at will.
Venomshank will, on rare occasion, go into a "feral" state, in which he loses complete control of himself and becomes very violent. We don't exactly know why or how this happens, but we do know his mask has locking mechanisms to keep him from biting people when in this feral mode. (PS. I really hate calling it his "feral mode" but we literally canonically only get that term for it)
Venomshank's mask is a plague doctor mask, and although we don't have any records of a plague happening in Phighting, it can be assumed that he has SOME sort of medical knowledge or prowess.
Due to the name "Venomshank," it's a very common headcanon that his powers, or maybe just his interests, involve poisons, venoms, or really any medicinal/mind-altering plants/substances. I don't THINK this has ever been confirmed true, but it can be assumed.
Though he may look quite intimidating with his mask, Venomshank is a very kind inphernal, noted to be one of the 'softest' of the deities. We'll go very in-depth on his personality later :]
Sect. II - Sisyphus
Venomshank has a pet bird named Sisyphus!
According to Venomshank, this is no normal pet bird! "Sisyphus is a part of myself— My wings! We've been together for as long as I can remember! He also serves as another pair of eyes in case I ever lose sight of little Sword..."
Despite being able to control Sisyphus, he can't see through him at all times. In DITF, we see that Sword tells Sisyphus to "cover for him" while he leaves, without batting an eye from Venomshank, so Sisyphus is his own character.
Something I've wondered many times- Why is he named that?
The Greek story of Sisyphus is a popular one, but in case you don't know it, a VERY brief summary is that Sisyphus cheated death and was then forced by the gods to roll a boulder up a hill for the rest of eternity. Every time the boulder neared the top, it would roll back down, and he would be stuck in the horror of manual labor forever.
Not only do Greek myths and gods NOT exist in Phighting, but Sisyphus is a simple little birdie, and Venomshank himself doesn't seem to have many parallels to the story either. For now, it seems there are one of two scenarios going on here:
Sisyphus was chosen simply because it's a cool, divinity related name
OR
Sisyphus was chosen because the myth is meant to directly tell us something about Venomshank's character
Not too sure which yet though.
Sect. III - Venomshank's Relationships
Venomshank has many notable relationships!! I'll give them each a mini section.
III.A - Sword
Venomshank is Sword's mentor figure, and the two live together in Crossroads.
Sword has no parents (that we know of), and it's unclear where he came from, but Venomshank somehow ended up raising him. Although it has been explicitly stated that Sword sees Venom as a mentor rather than a father, we can still examine his parenting skills, or at least his skills at raising a child.
Venomshank gives Sword daily training to help him protect himself and become stronger with his gear. When asked in a fan QnA if he thought Sword would ever be strong enough to take him on in a duel, Venomshank said:
"Hmm...I'm not sure.He is a clumsy one, though, has a good heart. There is no need for him to become a great warrior, however, no matter which path he takes I will try to support him best I can."
So, Venomshank is at least very supportive of Sword and his interests.
While he is a very strict parent, keeping Sword indoors at most times, giving him a particular curfew, hiding secrets from him, and keeping him very sheltered, it's clear that he cares DEEPLY for Sword. He only wants his trainee to stay safe, even if his methods of ensuring it may be a tad over-the-top.
Now, let's talk about Venom's secretive nature.
There's one thing we know for sure Venomshank didn't tell Sword about. He purposefully hid the Scorch from Sword, not wanting to know about what Firebrand had done and the people that died, despite Lost Temple being Sword's home region. Not only did he hide it from Sword as a kid, but Sword didn't know even by the time he was 24, so it seems Venomshank didn't plan on telling him for a WHILE.
However... There's more to Venomshank's secrets than just this.
Let's take a look at some recent DITF panels! (Spoilers if you didn't read it, all credits to Soda and the DITF team for their hard work!!!!!!!!!!)
Now. I know that was a lot, but there's a lot of necessary context in there. Let's go over this scene.
They're talking about the Scorch at first, specifically, Windforce is trying to get Venomshank to rule Crossroads in Firebrand's absence. They are talking VERY openly about this. They don't appear to have any qualms discussing the Scorch itself.
Venomshank refuses, and Windforce starts very rudely poking fun at his decisions towards raising Sword. This comes to a head when she says, "I bet you didn't even tell him the truth yet."
Venomshank, VERY IMPORTANTLY, asks, "What truth?" This implies there's more than one.
Now, if Windforce was referring to the Scorch here, SHE WOULD HAVE SAID SO. She CLEARLY has no issue speaking about it, they were JUST talking about it.
Instead she says, "THAT truth."
Windforce and Venomshank both know something very important concerning Sword, something that Sword does not know, and it's clearly meant to be something other than the Scorch itself.
Now, it's a good time to mention Sword's heritage.
Through the many rewrites and retcons of Phighting's lore, one thing has stayed true for years-- Sword is related by blood to Venomshank and the Swords.
We don't know how, we don't know why, but Sword wasn't JUST adopted by Venom, he is BLOOD RELATED to him in some way, and it seems to go a lot more in-depth that "he's just Venom's son or something."
It is completely possible that the 'secret' Venom has been keeping has to do with this heritage. We'll keep that in mind for later!
III.B - Darkheart
Venomshank and Darkheart are siblings. Venomshank is closer with Darkheart than anyone else, though their relationship still seems a bit antagonizing.
While they seem to care about each other, Darkheart is often shown poking fun at Venomshank, sometimes about VERY sensitive topics. Darkheart has been shown to be very unempathetic in the past though, it's very in character for him to ignore/belittle the emotions of others (ex: telling Sword he's a failure that one time). It's important to remember that Darkheart is specifically a moral gray figure, not a villain, but definitely not a saint either.
I will bringing this panel up again later, but for now we can glean two important things here.
First of all, Darkheart refers to Sword as mortal and questions why Venomshank is bothering with raising him. Remember how I said the 'secret' may have something to do with Sword's deity blood? If so, this implies that Darkheart is either being coy or genuinely doesn't know this secret.
Darkheart is also touching some nerves with this particular line; "You know what happens when deities get close to mortals-this story always ends the same way." Likely referring to Sword's death (this is the part I'll touch on later, as it's very important.)
Venomshank doesn't seem to enjoy the company of any of his siblings, so while he may be closest with Darkheart, that doesn't exactly mean they're the best of friends...
Still, they seem to care about each other in some weird mean way, so that's nice.
III.C - Windforce
The relationship between Venomshank and Windforce is something I hadn't ever really thought about until the most recent DITF update, where we've suddenly got a LOT of information about their relationship in a flashback sequence.
Windforce (presumably as a last resort after every other deity refused) asked Venomshank to rule over Crossroads after the Scorch, to which he vehemently refuses.
Windforce has been characterized as quite cruel in the past, and, of course, isn't a fan of being told no. She pokes fun at Venom's decision to focus on raising a kid rather than rule a faction- (a very interesting line coming from her, considering that she is raising a child WHILE raising a faction. She specifically says "Oh sorry, you're too busy playing house." Every day we get more Ban Hammer Neglect Evidence.....)- which he seems very displeased about.
She then mentions "the secret." It's strange Windforce would know this, considering Venomshank is very clearly uncomfortable around her, and DARKHEART doesn't even know anything.
With some major extrapolation, this is the conclusion I can offer: Windforce and Firebrand are close, so anything he knew, he may have told her. Sword is from Lost Temple. Firebrand set fire to Lost Temple for seemingly no reason. Firebrand is a major narrative haunter in DITF, so it's likely we'll be getting more info on him. If Venomshank knows about Sword's heritage, and Sword's weird heritage has ANYTHING to do with Firebrand, which it likely does, then Windforce could know by proxy to Firebrand. ALL SPECULATION.
III.D - Others
Rocket - Due to Sword and Rocket being best friends, it's very likely that Venomshank has some acquaintance with him. We know Rocket finds Venom very intimidating, but it's unclear how Venom feels in return.
Zuka - Because Zuka has worked with all of the deities before, and because Rocket and Sword literally met through Venomshank and Zuka, we know these two must know each other somehow. It's unclear exactly how they feel about each other.
Illumina - While Darkheart most likely hates Illumina due to them being opposites (deities of light and dark respectively), Venomshank has also been stated to dislike Illumina, though it's completely unclear why.
Ghostwalker, Firebrand, and Ice Dagger - It's unclear how Venomshank feels about his othr siblings, but he must have some opinions on them at least.
Sect. IV - OCD RAMBLE
Venomshank has OCD.
.
...
Obsessive compulsive disorder can be broken down simply into two main parts. VERY basically, obsessions are "Unwanted intrusive thoughts and urges, usually about a specific subject or subjects, that cause anxiety, panic, and/or guilt from the person affected." Compulsions are "Repetitive actions or mental processes you must complete to ease the unwanted urges and in a way feel "cleansed" of your thoughts."
Simply put, if you had an obsession about. Murdering someone. You might have repeated visions or thoughts of killing them, which would then cause you a lot of anxiety, and you might think, "Am I a bad person? I don't really wanna kill anyone"
And then a compulsion might be. Sleeping with your knives in a locked safe, that way you can't get to them in the night.
Sometimes a compulsion may make NO SENSE also. Again, this is a DISORDER, it's not meant to be logical. So maybe, the obsession is getting sick, you don't wanna get sick, and then the compulsion is. Eating a piece of candy.
Realistically, would that help at all? NO! But that's how it often works.
It's ALSOOOO worth noting that people with OCD are not always aware of what they're doing. I've become more aware of my compulsions over time, but for a long time I thought it was just. Totally natural to be guilty and anxious constantly and have to do weird tasks to make it stop! I had no idea what was up!
Sorry, it's just. ITS IMPORTANT THAT WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT WHAT THIS DISORDER IS.
Now, that being said, how does this apply to Sir Venomshank?
Well, it's difficult to analyze the mind of someone with a mental illness like this from the outside, but I'm gonna try my best.
I'm gonna say this again before I get into it, but OCD is. A disorder. Disorders are very complex, they don't make sense, they're difficult, and with OCD, obsessions and compulsions are often very unclear and hard to parse. I can point at Venomshank all day and say "Look he's exhibiting Symptoms" but I can't claim this is canon in any way, and you can totally disagree with me and call me crazy.
ALL THAT BEING SAID. Here we go :-]
Venomshank's Mask
Venomshank's mask has a lock on it to prevent him from hurting people when in his feral state. We can see in this flashback (which takes place ten years before present day) that he was comfortable without his mask while at home (though it's unclear if he had the mask at this time at all).
In the present day, he is ALWAYS seen with his mask on, except in QnAs and silly art that takes place outside of canon. He trusts himself and his own instincts less, likely due to the feral episode we see him undergo in the flashback ten years ago.
2. Keeping routines
This one's not as strong but literally LOOK AT HIM.
Remember he literally said "Yeah I'll support Sword no matter what," so this isn't some "aarggrgrgrg I need my trainee to do everything SPECIFICALLY WHEN I SAY TO!!!" he genuinely just likes keeping thigs punctual... (Also he was probably worried about Sword being gone for so long, but STILLLLLL)
Exhibit b:
He just want to stay on schedule and this asshole is here </3
This one's not too important but keeping routines can be a way for people with OCD to maintain a sense of control over things.
3. Reasoning
OCD can be a fear of something happening TO you, or a fear of hurting someone/something ELSE. For me, it's both!! I am very scared at the possibility of getting sick, but I also having intrusive thoughts surrounding hurting others.
This evidence is very supplemental, but Venomshank is a very special case because he DOES have episodes where he loses control of his body and can hurt people.
Many people who develop OCD will feel intense shame and guilt over mere thoughts and things they haven't done, but for Venomshank, whose urges are not only strong, but sometimes become completely uncontrollable, it makes sense that he would feel immense fear about it happening again.
In his case, the obsession IS going into that feral state again, and every compulsion is a way to "prevent" it from happening (although we know it's not preventable)
4. Isolation
This is the biggest point. One of Venomshank's most noticeable character traits, something that ties everything together...
It's common for those with OCD to withdraw from family and society for fear of hurting others. If you're having intrusive thoughts every time you look at a stranger, of course you're gonna wanna go inside and never see a stranger again, because "What if it comes true? What if you really hurt them?"
Venomshank isolates both himself and Sword at home and refuses most contact with the public. He doesn't tell his secrets even to those who are absolutely closest to him, and he seems VERY lonely.
Let's talk about this panel again!
"You know what happens when deities get close to mortals."
But what does happen?
Windforce is literally KNOWN for throwing people off of the island she rules, and even those that get to stay are put under not-so-great working conditions.
Firebrand's kid married a mortal and now they're both so utterly defamed we've never heard their NAMES.
Zuka worked with every deity and had the favor of a few, and then one ripped off his damn arm.
This panel isn't just about the fact that mortals will, inevitably, die. It's about deities SPECIFICALLY causing harm to those they care about.
This is, likely, one of Venomshank's WORST fears, and whether Darkheart knows it or not, he's touching a VERY sensitive nerve here.
The way VENOM hears this is "If you don't get rid of Sword you're gonna accidentally kill him dude" which is a really fucking awful thing to say to someone with OCD </3
AND IN THIS SHOT, Venomshank is surrounded by visages of zombies, staring up at him innocently. People he's formerly bitten and turned. THINK ABOUT THAT. GOD.
At the end of the day, it's impossible to know if Venomshank really has any sort of disorders.
On one hand, his situation as a deity and his ability to go feral are VERY unique to him. One could argue that his issues CANNOT be classified as OCD, and are only an extension of that part of himself. Simply an "allegory," perhaps.
It's very difficult to tell, as. Most OCD symptoms are in the LITTLE details, y'know? Like, I don't know how many times Venomshank washes his hands in a day! I don't know him!!! And I don't know what he thinks. So it's impossible to know :(
In my personal opinion, he's OCD-coded as fuck and I love him very much :-]
Sect. V - Feral State
Venomshank's "feral state" is completely unique to him, as we know of NOBODY else in Phighting with these sorts of states. We don't know much about it, but I feel it deserves it's own section, as it is important to his character!!
When asked about his feral state, his answer was; "Well...I'd go more in depth but I really can't, I don't exactly remember all that much whilst in my monstrous state, just fleeting memories only hours after I snap out of it." Rather than a drowsiness or drunkness, Venomshank is overtaken as a whole, and cannot remember a thing he says or does.
So how does this happen? Is it due to a specific emotion? Can it happen at any time?
Well, the newest comic update has given us some answers, so let's analyze it for clues!!!
Venomshank and Windforce are arguing. He seems uncomfortable, but is talking, articulated, and seemed completely normal.
Windforce goes further and threatens Sword's saftey, even pulling out her own weapon and advancing into the house. At this point, Venomshank is very angry, but he still seems like his normal self.
It's at the very end when we see him begin to change. Sword sits on the ground injured, and at this point Venomshank has summoned his gear and is planning on (most-likely) sneak-attacking Windforce out of this house. However...
His walking becomes less controlled and we see his eyes are now green, which would seem to imply he's now fully slipping out of consciousness and into his more violent state.
It's unclear if this was triggered BY his anger directly, or if it was just a coincidence in timing, however, it would add another layer of depth to his constant calm and put-together nature, if anger truly is what triggers him to go into this state.
He'd HAVE to be calm all the time, lest. This happens...
Sect. VI - Appreciation
Look at him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful <3
--
yeah that's all I got I LOVE YOU VENOMSHANK KISS MEEEEE
It’s so important to me that you understand that all three of the Thieves’ Den trio are dealing with CPTSD (or at least childhood trauma) and they’re all presenting in different ways and it’s SUCH. AN INHERENT PART OF THEIR CHARACTERS. COME HERE
Shuriken was raised to be a Darkage warrior and likely faced a lot of pressure from his elders to be “better” than his sister. Meeting and befriending Vine Staff while still being in Darkage’s high control environment likely led to a LOT of cognitive dissonance. He’s been raised to love and trust his parents and superiors, so why do they lie to him? Why are they so controlling of him? Isn’t he good enough? Why can’t everyone get along?
Shuriken doesn’t understand he was in an abusive environment, so this mental battle will CONTINUE for him into adulthood. He’s so much happier in Crossroads, but at the same time, he’s had to leave behind friends, family, community, not to mention a lucrative future in the military. It’s likely his body and nervous system cannot handle being in such a mundane environment, as he’s SO used to pushing himself beyond his boundaries that being comfortable feels WRONG.
This cognitive dissonance is represented by his two sides, Shuriken and Silver Shadow. Shuriken pretends to be living a normal, happy, comfortable life, meanwhile continuing to overwork himself and put himself in danger as the Silver Shadow, because he truly believes that’s all he’s good for and he cannot imagine himself without this side of him.
Being trained for a military job, being a baker is fun but he can’t HANDLE that, he NEEDS to use his gear, he loves that thrill, it’s what he was made for.
Shuriken feels incomplete without Darkage, but he also feels very guilty, which is one reason why he hides his alter ego. Slingshot and Vine Staff finally have their perfect life, and he views himself as selfish for missing Darkage at all, despite being raised to view it as an important part of his identity. He was deeply hurt and abused there, but he misses it anyways, and he doesn’t quite know why.
Slingshot was very clearly stressed out in Darkage. He’s been using baking as a form of escapism since he lived there, and despite receiving military training as well, he lacked friends or family to put any real pressure on him. He was lonely. Moving away felt like freedom, like he was finally being saved. He could finally be himself.
He’s still dealing with the trauma with it, but unlike Shuriken, Slingshot has no reason to miss Darkage. He loves his new life and his bakery, and I think if he ever found out Shuriken MISSED that place, he’d be very confused or maybe even feel betrayed. Of course, they’d get over it, but I think Slingshot would have a lot of trouble understanding where Shuri is coming from.
Slingshot is extremely perfectionistic because it’s been drilled into him that he has to keep up a perfect mask. If he let slip any unhappiness or discomfort to the elders in Darkage, they’d think he was betraying his faction or letting worthless feelings get the better of him. His perfectionism when it comes to masking parts of his identity carried through into smaller things too. His baking has to be perfect, his cafe has to be perfect, or else what good is he?
Slingshot and Shuriken are parallels to each other in this way, and there’s something important about them. They both use Vine Staff as a way to process their feelings (? let me explain)
A lot of Shuriken’s guilt comes from thinking about Vine Staff. What would his sister think if she knew he was longing to go back to the place that exiled her so carelessly?! Shuriken cares very deeply for his sister, so of course these feelings would make him confused
Slingshot thinks Vine probably agrees with him about hating Darkage, and also wants to make things perfect FOR her, so SHE can be happy and heal from her trauma.
VINE STAFF would agree in ways with BOTH of them. Being isolated from a young age was horrific, terrifying, being emotionally neglected and having to care for/comfort herself. She was literally in a constant life or death situation for the first 15+ years of her life, and it HAS messed with her.
She’s weary of anyone from Darkage and probably has trust issues in general. She’s so used to isolation that she struggles to accept affection or make friends.
At the same time, she did have a REAL connection with Thieves’ Den’s wilderness, and misses feeling so connected to nature. Living in a city with so few plants and bugs and so much light pollution, let alone any plants she’d recognize from Thieves’ Den, is VERY difficult, especially since her gear is PLANT THEMED! SHE MISSES NATURE!
Hence, she both agrees with Slingshot in absolutely hating the Darkage clan, but empathizes with Shuri because she does miss her home.
AND LIKE. I FUCKING HAVEN’T SEEN ANYONE MENTION IT???? THEY LINE UP SO GOOD HOLY FUCKJJK
Because gears are in a constant cycle of reincarnation, there’s lots of art and graffiti and notes left near the spawn points that will say things like “Boombox wuz spawned :p” or “Lightblox was here” etc etc. Oftentimes dying inphernals will leave long letters taped near spawns to say hello to whoever gets their gear next.
The spawn itself is very holy, so you won’t find much art left directly in them, but the outside is COVERED from floor to ceiling. Because newspawns can usually read, it’s sort of a fun first activity for them to do, trying to find what their predecessors might have left them.
Since the dawn of the internet, inphernals sometimes record videos for their future gear-holders too.
Usually inphernal society is violent, chaotic, not very sentimental, but there’s this sort of unspoken rule about spawn graffiti. It’s very personal. It rarely ever gets destroyed or painted over, cause everyone kind of understands wanting to leave a legacy behind for whoever comes next.
I think the horror of a character like Sword, if he isn’t mortal, would be not knowing he won’t die.
Like, there’s every chance that Sword is mortal. But. Suspend your disbelief. Imagine he won’t die of old age. And he DOESN’T KNOW.
Medkit’s getting old. Sword just turned 30. He still feels so young. Isn’t aging supposed to start taking an effect by now?
He turns 50, and his horns don’t go gray. Rocket’s horns are gray. Medkit is deteriorating quicker than ever. Sword still looks like a teen.
Medkit is gone. Rocket is going. Sword still feels young and spry.
At first he thinks he just got “lucky” (though having to watch his loved ones go makes him feel more unlucky than anything). He’s won the aging lottery! No gray horns? Silver lining, right?
But the other phighters grow old and die too. Soon he’s all that’s left. It’s becoming apparent that something unnatural is happening. Another generation comes and grows and goes and Sword is still sprightly and colorful. Why won’t he die yet? Why is this happening?
Venomshank finally takes pity on him, having realized much earlier what’s going on. Sits Sword down, tells him something must’ve happened. He must be special. He must be immortal too, by some glitch of nature. Sword doesn’t really know what to say.
He kind of tries not to believe it. He’ll die any day now, right?
But it keeps going. It keeps going and he doesn’t know what to do. He can’t handle this.
Analysis of The Church of The True Eye (From a cult survivor)
(tw for discussion of cults and religious trauma)
DISCLAIMER! Although I was in a cult, I am NOT an expert on this topic. It is possible I got things wrong, so apologies if that’s the case :<
- What makes TCOTTE a cult?
Many people assume that a cult is just any weird or unique small religious group, but this definition is inaccurate.
A cult is an organized, harmful group. Cults can be religious OR non-religious, though.
Most cults have a clear leader or group of leaders whom manipulate their members with the promise of something desirable such as safety, heaven, divine powers, etc.
So why should we consider The Church a cult and not just a regular religion? Let’s go down the list of reasons!
The existence of an “insider vs outsider” mentality
Notice how inphernals in the cult refer to themselves as “us” “we” “our family” etc. The use of “family” specifically is interesting. We know Father Overseer ‘The Father’ is the group’s main leader, implying that everyone within this cult view themselves (literally or metaphorically) as his ‘children.’
There is a clear line between when somebody is in the group or out of it. With most regular religions, you can choose to follow the doctrine in whatever way you please, and you won’t get “kicked out” for doing things “wrong.” You could go pick up a Bible and start going to church right now, begin practicing Christianity, and there would be no “entrance test.” You don’t need to PROVE your loyalty. You still have freedom.
You MUST remain loyal to the family and Father Overseer, however. In DITF he genuinely KIDNAPS Medkit just for moving too far away. Members are also forced to remove an eye as a sort of ‘loyalty test,’ which is an EXTREME act of self-harm just to prove your worth to Overseer.
In TCOTTE, you cannot leave. When Katana left, he was forced to flee to an entirely different faction, leave his biological family behind and cut contact completely. The Broker even threatens him with DEATH during their phone call.
It’s also been stated that Scythe’s job is to kill off anyone who may speak out against the cult, meaning it is EXTREMELY dangerous to leave.
You can’t just say you’re part of the family, you MUST abide by their very specific rules or be killed for it.
2. The promise of something
A quote from Grappling Hook, DITF - “A stranger from an unknown paradise, a ‘phernal that spawned without a gear… Or so he claimed, spoke of salvation for my people, for all of us who had lost everythin’…”
Cults will usually promise something in return for your loyalty. In the cult I was in, the promise was freedom from the Earth and access to the 5th dimension, the fulfillment of your divine contract. You may be thinking, ‘What does that even mean???’ And the answer is, I DUNNO EITHER!
The thing about these promises is that they will never truly be given. They’re usually magical promises of paradise and heaven, if you’re just willing to give your time, money, and dignity up for the leaders.
Overseer’s promise is ‘salvation.’ He came immediately after the Scorch, meaning many inphernals were left homeless, disabled, and lacking any family. His deal is safety in return for loyalty, a NEW family to he a part of.
It’s very important that he made that initial claim that he was spawned with no gear, because it’s something we understand is physically impossible. By claiming this, he could gauge which inphernals would leave immediately at the mention of something unbelievable like that and which ones would stick around and therefore be easier to manipulate.
His claim to be gearless (as my Cool Mutual pointed out in the reblogs) also further separates him from his members. He’s not like them, he’s not like ANY other inphernal because of this thing he’s saying is special about him. It’s important that he makes his members feel like he’s on their side while also making it clear that HE is the leader and they are the followers.
Many inphernals had also lost their religion at this time. They worshipped the SFOTH loyally, only for Firebrand to betray them in such a monumental way. The idea of new church to join, with a new leader and a new god, was likely very enticing.
These promises are made and dangled over your head constantly, which is how leaders manipulate their followers into crazier and crazier acts. For example, Scythe was likely a completely normal person before joining TCOTTE, but she is now willing to actually KILL other inphernals simply because Overseer tells her to. This isn’t because she’s crazy or maniacal, it’s because she has been manipulated over YEARS into believing that this is the only way she can remain safe and happy.
Promises are made to keep members loyal, and we can see Overseer doing just that.
3. Mundane control
Have you ever noticed that everyone in TCOTTE is wearing teal and blue? Combined with how everyone is missing an eye, it really makes it obvious when someone is affiliated with the church.
This is another tactics cults use to unite their members and strip you of your individualism. By making everyone dress, eat, or act a certain way, people lose their sense of self and act solely as a group.
This adds further significance to the use of ‘we’ and ‘us’ when Inphernals in the cult refer to themselves. They subconsciously view themselves as one big group.
It can be very hard to leave a cult when you feel like you’re physically attached to your fellow members, and that without them you’d have no sense of self.
Dress codes like this seem innocent at first, but by getting everyone to go along with them, leaders are furthering that “us vs them” mentality and isolating their members even further from the outside world.
4. Isolation
Many cults will forbid their members from EVER interacting with those outside. Luckily TCOTTE seems a little looser, as Medkit is still allowed to be friends with Sword and Broker has his connections with Zuka and Rocket, but we can still see this in practice in some ways.
Sometimes in cults, things aren’t explicitly ‘forbidden,’ but you still understand you aren’t supposed to do them. We can see this with Medkit moving to Crossroads, which Broker and Overseer both CLEARLY state their distaste for.
It’s. A little hard to explain this point, actually, but it’s important to remember that not every rule a cult has will be clearly stated, which only furthers members’ sense of confusion and fear.
In the cult I was in, I noticed that I had never heard of anyone being happy after they left. When my parents would tell me stories about members who didn’t worship with us anymore, they would say those people had “gone crazy” or “lost their spark” and such.
Nobody needed to tell me I wasn’t allowed to leave, because I picked up those social cues. There were a lot of things like this, things nobody ever told me but I understood them anyways.
It may not be forbidden to move out of Lost Temple or make strong connections outside, but it’s clearly discouraged heavily, and those unspoken social restrictions can be isolating enough.
- Why do inphernals join cults?
A common misconception is that cult members must be gullible, dumb, or even evil themselves because of their beliefs. This is very untrue!
TCOTTE was able to gain traction due to how unsafe those in the area felt at the time, likely desperate for a place to go and a family to be a part of.
Also, considering that the many of the Wranglers are injured, running low on supplies, and Chuck and Sword’s supply run was ruined by an ACTUAL EXPLOSIVE, it’s safe to assume that TCOTTE eventually became openly hostile to those residing in Lost Temple who resisted joining, meaning many inphernals may have joined after being severely threatened.
- What is Overseer’s goal?
Some cult leaders actually become so on accident, but it’s very clear that Overseer went into this with a plan.
It’s likely that he didn’t mention the eye-gouging thing at first, rather he waited until he already had many loyal members to introduce more extreme and hard-set rules. Manipulation is a gradual thing.
He also despises when people talk against him, so much that he is willing to have any opposers KILLED.
Well, I have a few theories here, but any of them could be wrong or right. This last bit of the post will be more speculative than the rest.
The first option is that he began the group simply because he craved power over others. This is a common reason why people in real life start cults or manipulate others— they want to be in control of a situation and hurt others to do it.
There is, however, the possibility that Overseer had a deeper motive.
Have you ever noticed that Lost Temple’s government is never mentioned? We’ve never really gotten any information about a leader, any sort of laws or law enforcement, really ANYTHING.
Grappling Hook said that, if not for the Wranglers, TCOTTE would’ve taken control of all of the land around the Spawn, and it’s likely that was at least part of Overseer’s motivation. He would be basically the leader of the whole region, giving him a LOT of political power and the ability to spread his doctrine even FURTHER.
My second theory (with much less evidence) is that, if Overseer is truly one of Flipside’s parents, he started the cult specifically to spite Firebrand/the SFOTH as a whole.
It’s ALSO likely that he genuinely believes his own doctrine and believes he’s doing the right thing by spreading his word further, unaware of his own manipulation. Sometimes dangerous people really don’t even realize what they’re doing until it’s too late.
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In conclusion, I LOVE TCOTTE SO MUCH !!!!! Maybe it’s strange that I like to study cults in fiction, but it. Gives me clarity about what I went through, I suppose, and I’m always interested in learning more about these things :]
If there’s one thing you should take away from this post, it’s that cult members are not horrible evil weird people, they are victims of mass manipulation and are often left traumatized if they’re able to escape. Even members of TCOTTE like Scythe and Broker who literally murder/threaten to murder people are, at heart, people who are hurt and scared and trying to find their way in the world. It doesn’t excuse their actions or their crimes, but it still EXPLAINS them at least.
If I got anything wrong or overlooked something crucial. Tell me!!!!
The thing that interests me so damn much about Hypertana is that they have the exact opposite outlook on life.
Hyperlaser is extremely unhappy with where he is in life. He does not want to work for Blackrock, he especially doesn’t wanna work for SUBSPACE, and although he’s…. Surviving. He’s not really living the life he wants.
And when asked why? “This is the way I’m meant to be.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, this is ABSOLUTELY Blackrock’s doing to an extent. I think everyone living there has been manipulated to be a certain way, to think that they have no other choices, that they HAVE to remain. It certainly isn’t fun or easy to defect, if Medkit has taught us anything.
But like. He really has just accepted his fate. He’s specifically called out as one of the only non-robotic soldiers left in the faction. If he left they would probably just replace him with a robot, he COULD get out, but he’s just kind of…. Not trying.
Katana is the EXACT opposite of this. He escaped True Eye and is now on a lifelong mission to clear the world of its corruption. He’s not just doing things for himself, he has like. Almost a savior complex, I’d say. He genuinely wants to save the world.
I’ll use a metaphor okay. Imagine it’s raining. The NORMAL response would be to pull out an umbrella, maybe take shelter, or if you can’t do that, just try to get where you need to be as quick as you can, right?
Hyperlaser is not pulling out his umbrella, he’s not even getting to shelter, he’s not even continuing his journey to where he wants to be. He is just standing in it. He’s just letting himself get all soggy and wet and sad and cold. Maybe it would be difficult to get away from it, but he could TRY, and he’s choosing not to.
Katana has not only taken shelter and dried off, but he has made the decision that he will MAKE SURE it NEVER rains again. Even though that goal is INSANE for one person to try and accomplish, even though he is already safe and dry and could just continue living, he has dedicated his life to this goal that he truly may never complete.
