#730: Assumption Undone

I think it had a fourth effect: specifically, an effect on Kevin. Funny thing is, it's hard to pin down exactly what that effect is. He freaked out at Duke's death, but basically ignored his own wife's death. Both happened after the Omega Energy was extracted, and both are extremely inconsistent with one another.

I still do not buy the thought that the Kevin seen in most of Proto Man's flashback is Mirror Kevin; it's too much of a cop-out... but if it did happen, there is one possibility that explains the discrepancy: that there was a fifth effect: equal and opposite effects on Mirror Kevin.

Yeah, this is a surprisingly deep comic for the concept. This still amazes me.

That can't be exactly true. After all as evidenced by #720, Kingdom Come, they used the S.C.O.P.E. to fire upon the Sovereign. And that was before Hope's last words came. The S.C.O.P.E. was originally designed to defeat the Shadow King, because in the comic that showed the cat coming through the portal, one panel shows Wily hanging upside-down with a rope and Proto talking to him about S.C.O.P.E. They just simply gave it a new purpose when the Shadow King died, the Sovereign proved immune, and Hope's last words came into play.

Now, as for Omega energy itself...my theory is that it embodies the soul of all things. When the soul is forced upon a sprite, like in Omega-powered weaponry, the sprite rejects it, and the resistance causes the sprite to be destroyed. When they are touched, they accept the soul, and become "human" (or whatever species they are). I thought of this after remembering what Lisa said about how those with the purple text are "broken, but real."

(Also, sorry about not linking the comics; I'm lazy. )

Uh, exactly.

They had it at first to fight the Shadow King (and other foes, I suspect). They kept it to fight the Gamemaster, if it became necessary.

I was responding to this:

(emphasis mine)

Which doesn't even try to ask why the SCOPE was made in the first place. The answer to why it was made in the FIRST place is blindingly obvious.

(also, it actually EMPOWERED the Sovereign, although only a little bit - which I think demonstrates mostly how terrifyingly powerful she is)

Unscripted deaths, although death is a certainty.

The growth of pre-existing traits in a sprite, beyond what the game is meant to handle.

Rendering good meaningless.

Despair, nothing to hope for.

That last one really makes me think of Lisa. She couldn't remember anything about the Alex that saved her. The obvious conclusion is that it's because her role in the game is the reward--there's nothing to know about her other than "she's the damsel in distress"--and Alex's role was similar in this regard, as the classic protagonist. There's not really that much to know about him either, although more can be inferred from gameplay about him than her. I think. I haven't played the game she's from, so I don't know.

However, Lisa has the ability to stop time. Since Omega Energy can only amplify pre-existing traits, she must have had an embryonic ability to do so before being touched. The game ends once you rescue her, I'm assuming. What if the end of such games means time stops for that game world? That would imply that the real reason she couldn't remember anything about "Alex" was not that there was nothing to know about him--or rather, not only because of that. Instead, it was because time had stopped. The game had ended. There is nothing after happily ever after. The game had reached its end, and it was like the end of the universe.

That leaves the question of why this doesn't seem to apply to other games. The probability of a given game-universe not being dead is a possible reason--for instance, the Mario franchise isn't dying anytime soon. However, that doesn't account for over half the sprites in Nexus, or heck, over half the games out of it.

At any rate, I think Omega Energy has something to do with what happens *after* the end of a game. Here's why:

Enhancing pre-existing sprites can be seen like a character logically getting stronger after the game has ended, in a way. After all, you don't expect Crono or Frog to stop practicing swordsmanship, Lucca to stop inventing, or Magus to stop practicing magic just because Lavos is dead. Being touched is like an un-level-up in that regard, if that makes sense.

Good is meaningless and there's nothing to hope for. That's because there's no plot. No drive. It's hard to see because of all the angst, but we need to keep in mind: It's not a loss of hope, it's a loss of something to hope for.

Now, we can see that that's completely stupid--especially given Nexus--but what if a sprite can't? On some subliminal level, a touched sprite knows that their game is over even if their life is not.

Or rather, what if the sprite can't see it even without being touched? Because the lifespan of their game has run out. It's like a biological limitation. Perhaps then, touching a sprite means that they can see that they can't see it.

Unscripted deaths: Because there's no longer a script to follow once the game ends. Furthermore, as a human, you'd expect death to be inevitable. Crono is a human, he should die of old age eventually if nothing else kills him. Ditto Mario. But they are both sprites. They are both ageless unless the script calls for them to become older. Unscripted death literally does not happen in Videoland, except in the context of losing lives or party KO--and even those aren't in the script, technically. After all, just because you can die in a game doesn't mean the hero is supposed to die.

I know some of what I'm saying is probably obvious, but I'm just thinking out loud. I wanted to record my thoughts before I forgot them, then I wanted to expand on them.

At first, I was thinking Omega Energy was "true death", and I still do, in a sense...

But all this "plotline" stuff makes me wonder about the nature of sprites. That they are doomed to a set path.

Of course, a hero is supposed to win, and Extra Lives are merely a mechanic to ensure the story resolves itself properly, as do Continues and the Reset Button.

Essentially, I'm going to J. R. R. Tolkien's prequel work, The Silmarillon. Specifically, the Gift of Men (or the Doom of Men): Humans are granted the freedom to dwell on Earth for a (relatively) brief period and then die; they are not bound to this world. The fate of sprites may be akin to that of the Elves, who, though long-living, have little ability to change their own fates; almost as though their chances are scripted (in Silmarillon, they are bound to the Music of the Ainur). (Bolding indicates personal emphasis.)

Indeed, Omega energy seems to be the granting of this gift. However, sprites were not meant for it, much as elves were not meant for it, and so, only through the love of one of the younger race can one obtain it, and they are sundered from their people. Ergo, this energy becomes corrupted, in that it only evokes despair, not hope; much as the Evil One corrupted men's concept of the Gift, making Death a curse, rather than a blessing.

Which may explain Alpha energy: It too is the Gift of Men, but uncorrupted; such that it evoked Hope rather than Sorrow. Creativity rather than destruction. Possibility rather than futility.

If that is the case, then what does it make the Masamune?

Andúril, the Sword That Was Broken?

This post has been edited by Cyrus on Oct 20 2011, 09:38 PM

If you look back at the past, you can't change it, either. Our world is not much different than a script we don't know we're reading, in that sense. Hell, Crono has the freedom to change the past. To a lesser extent, any sprite using a save point can redo the past, but Crono and company are the only ones who come to mind with a story explanation for it.

Since the sprites and cartoon characters aren't going all 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead' I don't think they're not meant to be free willed.

I have to agree with Spriteless; and that you guys are overthinking it a bit. I don't think it's that sprites aren't free-willed so much as they simply don't have an inevitable death - all deaths are backstory, or part of the game's story, and not quite the same thing. I strongly suspect they don't die of old age, but not because of any scripted bond to their game or to the larger story of Videoland, but simply because they're not organic matter, and thus don't decay with age.