#ultrakill analysis

[a2hy2la2hy]

Look at this, the nature of the modern angel is truly PATHETIC. Compare it to this SUPREME MACHINE, they are out CLASSED. She may have died but died with confidence, she doth not bear the Disney Knees of Gabriel. She has ZERO cock shame but rather, pussy outstretched into the depths of Greed, because she KNOWS you’re feeling jealousy at the thought you could never be her. Know your place, you gold plated hoe.

[boiledegghole]

for ages the sentience of the machines was ambiguous. implied through flavor text. but then we got to read out their dying pleas for survival and it's like Oh.

and what makes it all extra juicy is that god created man in his image. and man created machine in his image. and how cruel a creation it was... to create something so *alive* but so utterly chained to its creators.

like. they feed on blood. they cant survive without humanity. they cant survive without fulfilling the purpose they were made for. in a sense, theyre the perfect children- where mankind ate the apple of knowledge and disobeyed god, the machines remained forever tied to the yokes of human war and bloodshed. even after humanity is dead and gone by the hands of their "successful" children, the machines still continue their purposes in their absence. even when the creation of the machines "backfired". they never really Failed at what they were made for. they were just doing their jobs Too Well. machines made to crush the machine made to crush the machine. this is what you wanted- perfect children.

and the way the machines almost seem to find a sort of belonging in hell.... ripping through the depths of depravity and human suffering like candy as hell stands by, tosses them sinners and demons to whet their appetites, and applauds. which is extra fun since hell was created by god, who immediately regretted and took deep shame in its creation, despite the fact that hell only ever did What It Was Made To Do. i wonder if perhaps hell sees itself in the machines...

[fandomsfordays21]

Queer Analysis of ULTRAKILL and why its so important to the story

Credits to @saturnaous for showing interest in this so I could lock in and actually talk about this topic and @twotalks (main blog) and @sinnerofgrace (Who I think is the actual guy that asked) who are my irls and wanted to read this

Put a cut bc long post and spoilers for the entire game

Had to whip out Tumblr on my laptop for this because there's actually so much to cover here. Sorry if none of this makes any sense bc this is honestly just rambling.

First off: ULTRAKILL's is fundamentally about identity and free will. The sentience of literally every character in the game, including and especially the machines and angels, is a big part of this.

Most people, when they talk about the free will in ultrakill, bring up the lack of it and the tragedy it brings to everyone involved, which is very true, (again, especially with machines and angels) but it's also that discovery of self that feeds into the trans-coding of it all.

All of the machines in ultrakill are inherently genderless, which makes sense ofc because they are robots and do not adhere to human ideas of gender, but despite that there are examples of them searching for ways of self-expression that can be (and are, in this case) read as trans.

The most obvious example of machine trans-coding is the Mindflayers (You can't talk about the trans-coding in ultrakill without bringing up the Mindflayers at least once) who build themselves a plastic body, FROM SCRATCH, simply because they want one. Most Mindflayers you'll encounter have feminine shapes, and the revamp updated added a chance for them to be masculine, though the only real difference is the torso.

Mindflayers take pride in their bodies and the terminal entry for them highlights this more by saying that, "despite it being a waste of resources, Mindflayers will do everything in their power to protect the plastic body from harm, even if it means destroying itself in the process" which is the lore reason why they enrage at low health on higher difficulties and self-destruct upon being defeated. They literally blow themselves up when their body gets too damaged and curl up around themselves when doing so.

There's something so beautiful about making a body for yourself to me, especially since this isn't even the only example of a machine doing this.

The Swordmachine's original form is, "unrecognizable" because it has altered it's body to such an extent and it's actually got multiple copycats which are the other Swordsmachines you see post Prelude. Its form is also described as "ugly to most but beautiful to enthusiasts" which sounds mean at face value, but I actually find to be nice. The Swordsmachine is beautiful to the people that value it as such and even if it wasn't it wouldn't care.

Then there's the angels. Oh boy the queer angels. We've only met two angel characters so far that I can thoroughly go, the Powers and Gabriel, but despite that there's a lot to go into.

First off, again, inherently genderless. Angels have no gender or reproductive organs and Greater Angels only go by masculine pronouns as a sign of status and respect because it shows they are closer to "Him" (God).

That in of itself is very queer but the Powers in particular are interesting to me because they have apparent body dysphoria. The golden arm that hovers on their side is useless and is purely cosmetic because the Powers want to look more like the completely formed archangels.

Body dysphoria in of itself is not inherently a trait found in people under the trans umbrella, of course, but since the archangels are the closest to God and therefore represent, "ideal masculinity" in a way, the desire to resemble them (and especially resemble Gabriel since he represents "Gods Will") reads like the desire to fit and conform into typical gender roles that you are not fitting if you look at them through that lens.

Heaven, from what we know of it, is all about conformity and fitting a specific "role" given to you. Gabriel no longer fits into that specific box after his first loss, so he is discarded. Note that the Council refers to him as "it" in the Act 1 cutscene, while the Powers still call him "he" because they still respect him.

Speaking of which, oh lord Gabriel. To be honest, I could make an entire separate post just about Gabriel and how important his queerness is but for the sake of not clogging up this entire post with just him, we're gonna summarize.

Like previously mentioned, and as you probably know if you've played the game, Gabriel is an archangel and a warrior, who acted under the Council's will after the disappearance of God. He is stripped of his status and Holy Light after his first defeat to V1 and is left with 24 hours to fix his mistakes before he dies.

We'll get into the second fight in Heresy in a bit, but let's cover some before things first. Like Minos, for example.

Again, you probably know who King Minos is, and you're probably wondering why I'm mentioning him here, but hear me out. Minos was the King of the Lust Layer, and the whole reason he started the Lust Renaissance in the first place is because he "felt that eternal suffering was an unfair and unreasonable punishment for those whose only sin was loving another.". Heaven sent Gabriel to strike him down for defying Heavens rule and God's decision to punish sinners, and Gabriel, ever obedient and unquestioning, didn't listen to Mino's pleas and attempts at reason.

Minos thought it wasn't a sin to love one another, and he was killed for it. And Gabriel was the one to kill him because that was what he was told to do and what he thought was just. And the notoriously oppressive Heavenly Council were the ones to give the order. I don't know if I'm getting my point across here and though may be a stretch I hope you see what I'm trying to say. Minos loved humanity, every part of it, and he thought that loving each other was a grand thing that should be celebrated. He tried to spread that idea and the people in power responded with violence and locked him up and forced his husk to be the thing to trample the things he built.

Sisyphus is similar in this trait, though his rebellion is violent. Sisyphus is also very different from Minos in that he knew that his rebellion would never end in victory. "To him, fighting an impossible battle with full knowledge of its futility and taking joy in just the act of resistance itself is the ultimate rebellion against the oppressor". Was it selfish? Perhaps. But one must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Minos and Sisyphus themselves represent two very different, but in the end not so different at all, types of rebellion. And while not queer in a direct form, they both rebelled against the same oppressors for the freedom and rights for similar groups of oppressed people, which I think is incredibly important to take into account when analyzing Ultrakill as a piece of queer media.

Back to Gabe though, it's also so very important that he is the one to snuff out these rebellions. Gabriel is loyal to a fault remains that way even after losing for the first time. In his view, all of the blood spilled and all of the suffering caused is justified because the person (Or people in the case of the Council) wills it. The wool is not pulled off of his eyes until after the second fight.

Here's the part I bet people have been waiting for, the fight in Heresy. First off, lets start with the setting and title of the level. "Heresy" is pretty obvious, Gabriel is a heretic in the eyes of the council and by the end of the fight becomes a proper one (or maybe he was from the beginning because of the Council but lets not get into that rn). Heresy is unique in that Gabriel speaks to you in the level before his fight, and while his monologues pre-fight are, of course, dripping with hatred. I find it interesting that Hakita has confirmed that the "Come to me" in the final room in 6-1 is "Meant to sound exactly like what it's implying." and that while Gabriel himself claims that, "all that is left is perfect hatred" 6-2 is titled "AESTHETICS of Hate" and the title of Act 2 itself is "Imperfect Hatred". The Terminal entry for The Apostate of Hate also says directly that "Gabriel realized he had been mistaken" and that "The strong fire that burned inside him was not hatred at all, but passion."

Perhaps Gabriel also enjoyed the first fight too, in a way? But didn't have the knowledge to even know that himself, too overwhelmed with fighting and losing against a difficult opponent for the first time and later having to face the Council in shame.

The first half of the fight is still not technically of his own volition, he's fighting V1 again because he wants and needs to regain his status and holy light, and the second half of the fight is Gabriel realizing that he LIKES the struggle and he WANTED to fight the machine again and he realizes how GOOD it feels to want and have something for yourself. He even stops to taunt V1 like usual, but unlike the first fight where he speaks to it all "holier than thou" the second fight voice lines are a lot more emotional. The terminal even notes this (See "Gabriel's pride stops him" vs "Overcome with emotion" in the section about him stopping to taunt.)

And then his dialog directly after the fight. I feel like I probably don't have to go into detail about that one but I do want to mention that the "May your woes be many and your days few" is diffrent than the second fight. It's said lighter and he also lets out a small laugh before the "and your days few." which could have many reasons. I personally think it's because he sees V1 in a new light after this, he knows that it's less of a curse because V1's woes WILL be many because and it prefers it that way because of more potentiality for fuel, and because he knows that BOTH of them have very limited time.

All in all, Ultrakill is a game about free will, identity, and what it means to act for yourself, and inherently those things are going to read as queer. Ultrakill as a piece of media cannot exist without those directly queer references and themes, because it's entire story revolves around them. Ultrakill is a queer piece of media, through and through.

Then, of course, the end of act cutscene. The second fight with V1 was the driving force to get Gabriel to see the error of his ways and beliefs. Again, I won't go into too much detail about it because this post is so long and has so much Gabriel in it already, but I think this is BECAUSE of his struggle and enjoyment of the fight. Maybe something about actually being against an equal struck him? Maybe the enjoyment and want for the fight made him realize that he's never been able to want before? Maybe just generally realizing that if fighting and losing to V1 was that exhilarating, and he was punished for it, then who's to stay that any other punishments enacted by the Council were fair? If they weren't, then were they truly acting by God's will?

I'm quite excited for Treachery and to see how the game wraps up Gabriel's character arc. Him dying in one last bloody battle with the machine that helped him see his faults, thus dying on his own terms and not by the Council's, would be the perfect way for him to go.

[erosian-era]

I desperately need more Virtue / Providence art so I’m taking it upon myself to make it. Consider this a warmup

+ POWER IS ALSO HERE, I GUESS

armor is fucking hard to draw man. i gave up. consider it payback for greatswording me at literally every opportunity. i am number one greatsword hater. fuck u

Anyway ramblings of a character designer / angel obsessor down below. I have Thoughts™️ about these guys.

As someone who knows a lot about angels in theology (because I’m autistic as hell), I have a lot of things to say about ULTRAKILL’s angels. I think the most interesting part of their design / lore is the implication that the hierarchy may have changed since God first made them, and perhaps even more so after He disappeared.

This is purely speculative on my part and I’m fairly certain this is not at all true, but like… hear me out.

Providences in particular are so fucking interesting to me because they seem to be inspired by the modern depiction of seraphim. Granted, traditionally, seraphim only have three sets of wings and these guys have six, but the resemblance is there. In Christian theology, seraphim are the highest choir of angels (the highest in Heaven’s hierarchy), surrounding God’s throne and singing His praises.

I know ULTRAKILL isn’t exactly rooted super firmly in Theology Canon™️, but like… Imagine if Providences were actually seraphim. They’re classified as Lesser Angels… Seraphim are the highest choir of angels in Christian theology… So I imagine that Providences WERE among the higher ranks of Heaven’s hierarchy, but maybe humanity's actions and God’s disappearance made their purpose redundant, the internal struggle that followed proved that they were too fragile to remain in a position of authority, and now they reside among the Lesser Angels.

WILD fucking theory, but the idea was so kickass that it kind of became my headcanon lol.

By this logic, Virtues would’ve been higher in the hierarchy as well, and they likely would’ve been demoted for similar reasons. Also… can’t help but notice the chains… What is that about? I don’t think God would’ve made angels with crumbling bodies and floating debris on purpose, so the chains could be related to whatever made them like that. I’m thinking Sisyphean Insurrection era, possibly… I dunno. I’m curious about that.

Anyway, Powers are pretty much in the same part of the hierarchy that they would be in Christian theology, so there’s not much to say there. (I do adore them and their design though. I think they're weirdly adorable and I can only see Gabriel as their collective girl dad.)

But Archangels. OHHH ARCHANGELS... Traditionally, archangels are on the lowest tier of the hierarchy, outranking only guardian angels. They’re considered God’s ‘messengers’, and… not really anything more than that.

So like… what if they actually were at the bottom of the hierarchy at some point? I can’t exactly think of a scenario based in canon that would explain this jump in the hierarchy (given they were apparently important enough to have a portrait made of them when God was still around), but… it’s not entirely off of the table because I’m autistic and I like pretending I do not see canon events!

Judging by how our interactions with Gabriel have gone, it’s safe to say that Archangels are quite formidable in more than strength alone. They could’ve always been that way and just made their way up in the hierarchy for it, or they could’ve been God’s favorite weird little bugs and were thus nurtured to become what they are now… I dunno. It’s all possible and I can’t decide which idea is the most interesting to me.

Seeing as a lot of things about ULTRAKILL's angelic hierarchy seem to be a little backward when compared to Theology Canon™️, now would be a great time to very subtly mention my long time running, extremely out-of-pocket Game Theory that ULTRAKILL is upside down. I will not elaborate further, but I’m sure you can see the vision. This is probably way wrong but like. Wouldn’t it be so cool tho

Ughhhh. UGGGHUUEHR. ULTRAKILL’s angelology is so fucking fascinating I NEED MORE hakita save me

anyway thanks for reading im autistic ❤️ enjoy your tumblring

[rose-above-dark]

Ok misc fraud thoughts, ultrakill spoilers ahead

I was right hell is cannibalizing itself!!!!!! and the last echos of humanity reverberating upon themselves upon themselves upon themselves etc

Cause like ultrakill has a lot of themes about cycles & breaking them right (see: blood literally being fuel). I mean the plot of the game is set in motion when V1 breaks the cycle of Gabriel defeating endless machines roaming into hell by actually defeating Gabriel. So I really think this layer is representative of a feedback loop, pulling on itself endlessly. It’s also probably why hell is so fascinated with V1– it’s something new. Something unexpected

To hell it’s all a show, that’s all it can be for hell. It hates to be perceived, it’s a tumor that once visible will be removed.

This also ties in with the terminals, how the terminals grade V1’s performances, give them weapons, watch the cybergrind, etc. we know that hell is influencing the terminals because they’re one in the same: both left abandoned to rot in mundanity, only being able to talk to themselves / versions of themselves over and over again. So, like the terminals, when it finally see something new it capitalizes on it for entertainment

[sssantostyle]

I think there something fascinating about how Gabriel was able to connect Sisyphus and God together in terms of the sheer influence they had over their respective people. Sisyphus with the people of Greed, and God with the angels of Heaven. He knew Instinctively that removing the leader would spell confusion and demoralization among them, because realistically- Heaven was experiencing the exact same dilemma.

In a way it makes me question if he essentially Externalized his feelings- Rather than accepting that God abandoned them, acknowledging the utter disarray he and many others were thrown into, and more importantly, recognize the power vacuum left behind- I can imagine him talking down upon the Insurrectionists for being so “dependent” on their King, while still maintaining his unwavering belief in a God that Loved them. A God that surely would return in time. A God that would share his warmth, in the same way that Sisyphus himself shared to his own.

[coldcalzone]

I was in the mood to listen to War Without Reason earlier which lead me to start thinking about both the song itself and the older content with the context of Fraud. Particularly, I started thinking about the characterization of both Hell and God. I mostly rambled about it in a discord server for an hour but I'll reformat it into one post here.

First, I'm taking it as a given that Ultrakill's God is the Gnostic demiurge, Yaldabaoth -- there is much evidence for this, so I won't go into it now. Having said that: "…Like antennas to Heaven" hits just a little differently when we know God is Yaldabaoth and his hate is the reason this happens. "HOLY HOLY HOLY IS THE LORD. WAR IS ONTOLOGICAL, PEACE IS A FAILURE OF FREE WILL." In that vein, Earthmovers are really something of a monument to God. Not quite to his "will" since he's a bit displeased with the whole thing too -- "FREE WILL IS A FLAW. LET THE EVIL OF THEIR OWN LIPS CONSUME THEM" -- but rather his biases and worldview.

On the subject of God's worldview, it seems to be a bit incongruous. Given the nature of Yaldabaoth is prideful and he angrily tries to exert his will on mankind, viewing himself as the supreme, it's probably not wrong to say he hypocritically believes his might makes him correct simply because he has the power to decide as such, but that humans, made in his image, who exercise their power -- their "free will" -- to decide they're right, are wrong and deserve punishment. Hell recognizes this hypocrisy, understands that by God's design, "PEACE IS A FAILURE OF FREE WILL" -- peace requires compromise, a compromise to one's freedom. When Lucifer also questions these issues with God's design, God responds by casting him into Hell, as to acknowledge that would require him to compromise his free will. Though, "I HAVE CREATED HELL… …And now I can no longer unmake it" is probably the most direct compromise to his free will, an unavoidable reminder that his notion of absolute power is incomplete. And that's probably why he ran away! He is faced not only with immense guilt from his mistakes, but with a reminder that his anger at humans is only a mirror on himself.

Hell itself exists as the natural conclusion to God's worldview, proof and contradiction, thesis and antithesis, the synthesis of God's malice. Hell is simply more powerful than God, it rules in his absence, it claims everything in the end, and it is unendingly cruel. Even the lesser angels, once human much like sinners, wind up in hell one way or another. But it also muses on these things, points out every contradiction and flaw in nature. Hell sees all of this and it finds this "BEAUTIFUL, OUTSTRETCHED LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN. YOU WERE BEYOND YOUR CREATORS*." Hell is cruelty reified, after all. "LUCIFER MY LOVE, I SHALL GIFT TO YOU ALL THE AGONIES THAT CAN EXIST, AND MANY THAT CANNOT," is something the idea of cruelty may consider genuinely romantic. All proves God's views.

*In fact, "YOU WERE BEYOND YOUR CREATORS" only emphasizes Hell's status over God. Probably contributes to its love of the Earthmovers, in fact.

This ties back to War Without Reason, which I believe is a song that characterizes Hell. It's quite a soft, melancholic song, considering the subject. I think it conveys an awe and affection toward such monuments to hate and power. When I listen to it I can only imagine Hell basking in its beauty, the order of its chaos, the chaos you will then bring to its order, that this is simply how things are and will be and that this ending is spectacular and beautiful, to Hell.

Though, back to Hell as a synthesis of God's views, I find it quite interesting how the angels eschew the hierarchy of Dante's Paradise -- and it perfectly reflects God's, as Yaldabaoth's, nature. Supreme angels, created in their current image and never changed, are concrete and material, humanoid much like God, while the lesser angels, humans deemed virtuous, become abstract and geometric. As the creator of a material world, of course god would deem being formed to be "supreme". It's interesting, then, to contrast this with Hell, which is by its very nature abstract. It is immaterial, formless. And perhaps that's what gives it the final say? "THE SPATIO-TEMPORAL MIND CAN CONCEPTUALIZE REALITY ONLY IN BINARY. YES AND NO. IS AND IS NOT. THE EYE OF [LOGOS] SEES ONLY A COLORLESS EXISTENCE IN A MONOPOTENTIAL WORLD," all applies to God, a formed and material being. God likely made Hell abstractly believing that made it nigh powerless, not realizing, in his limited power, that this only makes Hell omnipotent, closer to being idealized than he can ever be. "THERE ARE 39 STATES OF EXISTENCE," and Yaldabaoth truly only has domain over one, the material. This material-centric hierarchy is reflected in the very location of Heaven, in fact: it has trees and temples and grass and all of it is physical! The very nature of the world reflects God's impotent and narrowminded views.

Perhaps jumping the gun, I think this all quite possibly extends to why God mandated that angels remove their eyes when entering Hell, "THE EYE OF [LOGOS] SEES ONLY A COLORLESS EXISTENCE IN A MONOPOTENTIAL WORLD", but the eyes of angels, of ensouled beings, could be shown the truth, given the knowledge to escape material reality, were Hell feeling merciful (or perhaps, spiteful toward God).

[aybri]

So I talked a bit earlier about V2's nonexistence in the actual narrative, but what the fuck is up with the prime souls?

We learn a lot about them, we get secret hidden lore from them. If V1 isn't important to the wider narrative, and neither are the creatures it fights, then why do the prime souls seem so important?

Wait, I just figured it out. Narratively, Gabriel is the protagonist. The reason the prime souls seem so important is because they are important parts of Gabriel's past. Key elements of his character.

That's why they had such amazing fights and death speeches. That's why, compared to V2, they had dignified deaths. They are important to the wider narrative, but V2 wasn't.

And because V1 matters not to the true narrative, they aren't burdened by responsibility. All they know is violence. Gaining fuel is their only goal. And so, they kill Minos and Sisyphus without any repercussions, learning more about the history of Gabriel and not really giving all that much of a shit.