History WMG / Cuphead

* Confirmed. The spider is back, and instead of a flying battle, he’s one of the mobsters fought during Bootlegger Boogie

** There is a fight in the Astral Plane, but it's a BonusBoss that doesn't require you to beat all the other levels.

* The Rook being an executioner could represent the angel of death, who is very much under God's control, as seen in the Literature/BookOfExodus.

* The King of Games is introduced with an uplifting choir song that sounds a bit like a hymn.

* Fighting a {{leprechaun}} or [[TheWizardOfOz wizard over a rainbow]]

* Confirmed! [[https://youtu.be/_U_bdmFX2Eg Die House]] is a VillainSong sung by King Dice, and it sounds pretty Calloway-esque. As to whether or not the final boss will sing is still up in the air, but at least we have this!

** Confirmed in general, including the theory's idea of what the good ending will be like. However, the following bits of the theory have been {{jossed}}: Rather than flat-out taking over Hell in the bad ending, Cuphead and Mugman become the Devil's servants. Also, there IS a bad ending and the closest thing to a GoldenEnding is the default good ending, and the difficulty level doesn't affect the ending you get so much as how it is affected by the duo's choice of handing over the contracts or not [[EasyModeMockery (except for the fact that neither of the two endings can be achieved in easy mode)]].

** ...Until now.

* Wally Warbles: Freedom to fly wherever he wanted, so he was made stronger than any bird, like the eagles he mentions.

* Well, the DLC will feature Chalice as a playable character, so maybe...

** The spider is also revived but retrofitted as the first stage of the Moonshine Mob.

** Jossed, unfortunately.

** Jossed: The Devil really feels that Cuphead and Mugman would make great servants for him, and when they beat all of the Devil's debtors, and King Dice himself, [[WeCanRuleTogether he offers to make them his demonic servants if they hand over the contracts]]. However, [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu if Cuphead and Mugman reject the Devil's offer]], [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu and beat him in battle]], his VillainousBreakdown ([[TheDevilIsALoser complete with crying like a baby in his last form]]) is indeed a sight to behold!

* There could be a psychological aspect as well, with some of the bosses having either made deals with the devil before for very sympathetic reasons and/or out of desperation, or had nothing to do with anything until the Devil sicced the [=PCs=] on them and they are just defending themselves. Revelations like these will definitely weigh heavy on the [=PCs=] consciences, and the Devil will laugh at their anguish.

** Confirmed in general, including the theory's idea of what the good ending will be like. However, the following bits of the theory have been {{jossed}}: Rather than flat-out taking over Hell in the bad ending, Cuphead and Mugman become the Devil's servants. Also, there IS a bad ending and the closest thing to a GoldenEnding is the default good ending, and the difficulty level doesn't affect the ending you get so much as how it is affected with the duo's choice of handing over the contracts or not [[EasyModeMockery (except for the fact that neither of the two endings can be achieved in easy mode)]].

* Confirmed [[spoiler:with respects to his second phase's ability to drop huge flaming poker chips on Cuphead and Mugman. Most of the gambling stuff in the game is unleashed by King Dice, however]].

By all appearances, all the bosses aren't good guys; in fact, they're villains. The Devil makes the two reapers to go collect on some sinners. It's sort of a 'X amount of souls in exchange for yours' kind of deal.
* Confirmed! The brothers need to collect contracts being held by each boss, [[spoiler:though the Devil has no intention of holding up his end of the bargain and — in the good ending — Cuphead and Mugman destroy the contracts and save all of their souls]].

Considering she's basically designed to look like an old cartoon and her fighting style is cartoon violence incarnate, she definitely wouldn't be out-of-place. Her final form may even be her Super Form that was only in the planning stages.

That's why he's sending them to fight all these monsters and crooks — since they didn't sell out to him like King Dice did according to the above theory, the Devil hopes that [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the thrill of fighting will turn them rotten too]].

King Dice represents soulless corporations who make games solely for money, with little consideration for anything else. Cuphead and Mugman represent Studio MDHR, who started at the bottom, but managed to succeed in realizing their dream by putting in intense amounts of work. Even when they received backing from Microsoft (Pork Rind and other allies), they still did work that most people wouldn't have the patience to do. And for that reason, they will succeed where some other games fail.

The emphasis will be almost entirely on gameplay, which, to be fair, the devs seem to have gotten down solid. If this is true, maybe these theories will be confirmed or jossed in [[AllThereInTheManual other sources]].

* They do all have a state where they go "crazy" and become particularly more monstrous or demonic, and seem to have some ability to pass this demonic state to other beings, like the Baroness does to her castle. Some of them seem to even unwillingly undergo a transformation, like they lost control over their own powers (most clearly seem with Hilda Berg).

It explains why several of the debtors act and appear so cartoonishly evil in their boss fights and defeat portraits. Those cheery, happy bosses seen in the Good Ending where the contracts are burnt heavily implies that they’re mostly good people, or at least are very happy for the accomplishments of the brothers. Grim Matchstick may act nice in his death quotes because his soul contract has yet to fully corrupt him (and he is the last boss on the list for Isle 2, maybe he got his contract late?). This also explains why The Devil hasn’t gone after these debtors himself. If these bosses are becoming evil the longer they hold onto their contracts, then eventually they can bring in some chaos to Inkwell Isle, giving him a pleasure to watch. People trying and failing to fight these debtors and/or gain their contracts can serve as entertainment for him too. And if The Devil does get the soul contracts back, he gets to control these bosses, as well as the one(s) who brought them in if the Bad Ending is anything to go by.

** "Family series" my butt. After all, with all the tobacco and alcohol references, gambling references, garbage like that and the Devil himself, ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids how did this manage to get an E rating??!!]]''

* Maybe he was an outcast from the other dragons for not having horns, since the baby dragons in "Rugged Ridge" have horns, but Grimm doesn't.
* When making the deal with the Devil, he may have said for two friends "to keep me company on a rainy day", meaning figuratively, when he's sad and lonely. However, the Devil took it literally (probebly on purpose) so that he only get's his friends when it's raining. That's why the extra heads don't appear in the battle until it starts raining.

He sold his soul to swing the battle in his favor. That's why he has his cat mecha; to infiltrate the cat army and destroy them from the inside.

Wanting superpowers aside, it might be possible to deduct what each boss wanted from the Devil in exchange for their souls by looking at their quotes, powers and transformations.

* Ribby and Croaks: Wanted to become strong fighters. They mention being born with fighting soul, but in truth were actually quite wimpy (supported by their Simple Mode knockout animation)

* Grim Matchstick: He was lonely. See entry above.

* Phantom Express: Probably was out of service for whatever reason, so it wished to be repaired and reclaim its job. It's also possible that the blind ghost, the skeleton conductor and the living chairs were all involved in bringing back the train, otherwise they would have nowhere else to work.

* Sally Stageplay: Fame and fortune. Obviously.

** Or the deal could have been how he gained a soul in the first place (on lease, of course).

** That actually makes sense. Chip (the axe guy) does say he was trying to fight off "casino debtors". My guess is that ''some'' of the bosses (like most of the first isle bosses minus Hilda Berg) gambled their souls why, whilst others made special deals.

* Rumor Honeybottoms: a strict, penny-pinching, but ''mostly'' HonestCorporateExecutive. May [[DoesNotLikeMen disdain males]], as most of her staff (excepting her head of security) consists of female workers like in real-life beehives.

Wally is presumed to be killed after his boss fight by being [[ImAHumanitarian eaten by his hench-birds.]] Should you reach the good ending, Cuphead and Mugman burning the contracts automatically frees him from being trapped in hell for all eternity.

Theories on what possibly happened to the bosses that do not appear at the epilogue.

* Dr. Kahl: Since it was his ''creation'' that sold its soul to the Devil, after the boys defeated him, Kahl immediately went back to the drawing board in order to figure out ''how'' his robot, originally made to be a lifeless war machine, gained enough sentience to actually sell his soul in the first place — and, for that matter, gained a ''soul''. Kahl doesn't join in the celebration because he both felt that he was never really involved with the whole soul contract plot in the first place, and he was busy with his research.
* They were all actually present to the scene. Just offscreen so that the crew can avoid drawing them all in a single page/panel (is my theory).

* Not only were German soldiers called Jerrys, which would match up with Werman's German theme and share the name of the Mouse from Tom and Jerry, [[spoiler:British soldiers were called Tommies which would again line up with Tom and Jerry]]. If we go on an above theory where Werner is in a war against the cats, it would make sense that the British Cats and German Rats would be fighting against each other because with the time period the 30's, both World Wars happened somewhere around then.

"Benevolent" is a key word here. He is by no means a bad person, and he certainly didn't ''want'' the Devil to take Cuphead and Mugman's souls. He would have preferred it if Cuphead and Mugman obeyed him and stayed close to home[[note]]As the intro says, he ''warned'' them not to go to the casino, he never ''forced'' them to stay at home.[[/note]], but if they didn't, he was ready. He had the potion right with him so that if Cuphead and Mugman got themselves in trouble with the Devil, he could send them on the path to fixing their mistakes. [[BatmanGambit He was aware of the Devil's greed]], so he came up with a plan to have Cuphead and Mugman take advantage of this and finally give the Devil what he had coming. However, it was also a test to see if Cuphead and Mugman were responsible enough to save the isle on their own. Kettle likely would have stepped in if they really needed him to, but they beat every enemy on their own, and in the Good Ending, they passed the test with flying colors. No wonder Kettle was brimming with pride.

* Not to mention, he’s the least game in the land.

* ''Floral Fury:'' In a society of sentient plants, a group of policemen try to thwart and discover the identity of the mysterious leader of a group of flower gangsters, who turns out to have been a DevilInPlainSight.

* ''Fiery Frolic:'' A knight tries to rescue a princess from a lonely dragon who kidnapped her for some company.

* ''Shootin n’ Lootin:'' A pirate visits a kingdom of sea creatures and ends up taming a whale, which he then uses as a ship. Has a FramingDevice of pirates swapping stories at a bar.
* ''Murine Corps:'' A group of militaristic mice sneak into a house through use of a [[spoiler: [[TrojanHorse Trojan Cat]]]] and proceed to wreak havoc on the homeowners.

* ''Dramatic Fanatic:'' A play is being put on, but behind-the-scenes, things keep going wrong and everyone is scrambling to keep the audience from finding out.

** ''Snow Cult Scuffle:'' A traveler wandering through a snowstorm comes across a building made of ice. They try to enter for some shelter, but are locked out, with a sign saying “MEMBERS ONLY”. They eventually sneak in by picking away at the walls, but stumble upon the secret proceedings of a blizzard wizard and his loyal legion of animate snowmen, who spot the traveler and chase them around.
** ''High-Noon Hoopla:'' A corrupt cowgirl cow girl travels in her mobile saloon to a down-on-its-luck town, claiming to be a sheriff, and scams everyone out of their valuables before they revolt and make her into sausages.
** ''Doggone Dogfight:'' A literal dogfight between a bulldog pilot and another canine flying ace. When the bulldog finds out his opponent is female, he falls madly in love with her and a FlashForward at the end shows them with four jet-powered pups.
** ''Bootlegger Boogie:'' Ant cops get a tip-off and raid a bug speakeasy. They dispose of the spider gangster running it, his fly flunkies, an insectoid singer and a drunken caterpillar who got roped in, only to be taken out by TheManInFrontOfTheMan: The snail MC, who rides in on an anteater.
** ''A Dish To Die For:'' A Literature/HanselAndGretel type story where a cook invites the protagonists, which are sentient food, into his kitchen with promise of food and then tries to bake them into sweets.

[[WMG: Baroness Von Bon Bon isn't realy a Baroness]]
That's just her stage name. Realy she is a performer of some kind for the carnival. Although what she does... I don't know. Maybe someone else has an idea.

All the debtors have two difficulty settings, simple and regular. Simple is when the debtors are left to fight Cuphead at their own devices, whilst regular is when eaither the Devil or King Dice intervene to make things harder.

* Ribby and Croaks: Are merged together as a slot machine. I imagine King Dice my have been behind this.
* Baroness Von Bon Bon: Was planning on use her shot-gun after her third minion (which she does in simple mode), but in stead get's the idea to use it during the fight with the third minion, she also gains the power to regrow her heads and make her castle attack.

* Beppi: After he falls of his horse, he's transformed into his chair swing form.

* They get the audience excited enough for Sally to appear for ovation. They may also have tampered with the scenery so that the (cardboard)chandelier will fall on Sally's husband and "kill" him.

This could explain why you can't get the contracts in simple mode. The bosses aren't just going to hand thier souls over to a couple of kids claiming to be sent by the Devil. Off course, if the Devil or King Dice were present, then that would be different.

You know how in the Switch version of the game, The Root Pack, Djimmi, and Sally Stageplay got secret phases? Well, the other bosses will get secret phases as well (1-3 at a time of course) But what should they be?

* Hilda Berg is a wind rotatey thing on the roof (weathercock). Alternatively, she may be a Lightner human.

* Chips Bettigan is a stack of poker chips, whereas Hopus Pocus is one of the cards from a poker's deck (most likely the [[{{Pun}} jack]]. Pip and Dot are dominoes, Mangosteen is the 8-ball from a pool table, Mr. Chimes is a cymbal monkey toy that was won from an arcade claw machine (and it still has the tag on the back of its head), Pirouletta is a roulette wheel, Mr. Wheezy is a cigar, the Tipsy Troop is the contents of the liquor drawer, Phear Lap is a mechanical horse-racer machine, and King Dice is a die. These are all fairly obvious choices.

* Why is he ederly? He was experiencing a mid-life crisis and went on a night on the town, he met some lady, one thing led to another, and out came Cuphead and Mugman.

* Based on a youtube comment I saw. It's a sorta Pinnochio kinda deal; Kahl wanted his robot to have true life, so he went to the Devil to ask him to give his robot a soul. The Devil obliged... and gave the robot a soul bound by contract. That's why the contract is for the ''robot'' and not the doctor himself: the Devil is claiming him as his property! No wonder Kahl stole the contract and ran off!

He must be a very important character to the DLC's story, considering the prominent role he has in the announcement trailer. What if he's actually an EvilChef?
* Adding on to this, he's either one of The Devil's minions, or even The Devil in disguise, seeking to take the souls of every inhabitant of Inkwell Isles.

* Seemingly jossed by the July 2 trailer, which shows him getting along with Cuphead, Mugman, and Ms. Chalice quite nicely. Unless, of course, he's just a very convincing HiddenVillain.

* CONFIRMED, though all of the above theories are jossed in regards to the circumstances.

** The spider is also revived, but retrofitted as the first stage of the Moonshine Mob.

[[WMG:The acronym "DLC" will have a hidden double - or rather, triple meaning.]]

* The release date tailer confirmed a knight-type boss, but that's all we know about them so far.

The battle seems to take place in an IcePalace, complete with a throne in the background. As noted on the Cuphead wiki, the Snowlem seems to be an escaped prisoner, judging by his broken handcuff. More likely, he is merely a minion you fight in (one of) the phase(s) leading up to the actual main boss, not unlike Baroness Von Bon Bon's court members or Rumor Honeybottoms's police bee. The actual main boss is probably either a WinterRoyalLady (possibly based on Literature/TheSnowQueen) or JackFrost.

* With the confirmation that Cuphead and co. are collecting ingredients to make a Wondertart, it's not unreasonable to assume that the new bosses will each be carrying an ingredient unique to them that the player will see upon defeating them for the first time. Possible ingredients and why the bosses have them include:

Likely as allies to the Cup Trio.

Whoever they are, they had their own reasons for not showing up in the main game, though they may have been the one who [[NoodleIncident won the bet with King Dice]]. Possibly a [[TwoGuysAndAGirl female villain]] as Ms. Chalice's EvilCounterpart.

* In IGN's "Worth the Wait?" video, we see some sort of ladder going into the sky in the world map...
** Jossed, unfortunatley

You know how the second Super Art is when you can summon ghosts to help beat up the boss? Well for Ms. Chalice, her ghost will be her initial mausoleum form.

* Ms. Chalice is on a *secret mission* from Chef Saltbaker, who seems like a candidate for twist villain. Ms. Chalice is easier to play as than Cuphead and Mugman. In the base game, you couldn't beat the final boss by using simple mode...

** in one phase, Esther takes a ride in what looks like a saloon on wheels and for another, she’s turned into what looks like sausage before resuming the fight. For her final phase she’s crammed inside a tin of sausages.

*** Alternatively, he needs to be properly subdued before the Gnome Berries become accessible. By only defeating the puppets, Glumstone is technically still left standing and, being a giant, he would be perfectly capable of defending the berries even after defeat. On the other hand, giving him a stomachache would render him unwell enough to either agree to hand over the berries or become unable to guard them anymore. Or, his sentient stomach ulcer is a problem for him and defeating it makes Glumstone feel better, leading to him gladly rewarding the berries as a token of gratitude.

*** Alternatively, the Anteater was the one guarding the Dough. Knocking him out meant there was nothing in the heroes way to get the Dough, the boss notwithstanding.

Esther Winchester is shown to be human-sized in the epiloge, yet is giant in her boss battle. The Anteater is unusualy massive, considering the bugs are all human-sized. The Chess Queen could be useing mushrooms, or she could just be a size-shifter. Chef Saltbaker starts the figth being giant-sized. Maybe he ate a shroom before the boss figth, then ate another before his second phase.

In his post-HeelFaceTurn song, Saltbaker sings "it's better to bake in heaven than to cook in hell". While this lyric is referring to his newfound realization that it's better to be good than evil, it could also have a DoubleMeaning about how he used to ''literally'' cook in Inkwell Hell as the Devil's personal chef, or simply the chef for the casino, which would be fitting since he was an EvilChef.
* This could explain why the first phase of his boss battle is similar to King Dice's. Both bosses being huge and in giant-sized versions of their places of work and attack with objects related to their jobs.

[[WMG: the King of Games is God's right hand man]]

In religion, the Devil was one of God's angels who was caste down into hell for rebelling against God. Who's to say that didn't happen in Cuphead's universe?

The Demon is always in front you because the Devil obviously [[CardCarryingVillain likes to show off his evil side]], and the Angel is always behind you because the Devil [[HiddenHeartOfGold has a good side that he hides from everyone]].

The Astral Cookie could be seen as a primitive version of the Wondertart. The Moonshime Mob may have been selling it illegally to Chef Saltbaker. But since the Mob was in the middle of being raided by police, they couldn't sell it to the Chef and so the heroes needed to get it

** They assumed the heroes were trying to steal the dough for themselves. Remember, the Mob couldn't sell it whilst the police were raiding the place. Even crooks don't like having their merch robbed. Eaither that, or they thought they were cops.

** The Pups: [[FunWithAcronyms Bravo, Alfa, Romeo, and Kilo]].[[note]]The current NATO-standard military alphabet, reflecting their being a younger generation.[[/note]] [[FunWithAcronyms Hunter, Oscar, Wally, and Lance]].

* Even in the game proper, he's pretty close to a PaletteSwap of your typical Santa depiction, beard and all. Accordingly, it's possible the Winter Whale was originally a bag of toys, the icicle-imps were originally elves, etc.

She clearly didn't do it on purpose, as she was surprised when it happened. However, she was only briefly dismayed about what happened, before getting back to the fight. Also, it's kind of suspicious that she had a floating can with a picture of herself appear completely out of nowhere. Unless it was ready on standby.

[[WMG: Esther Winchester is a LoveableRogue/Robin Hood style outlaw]]
She's clearly an outlaw of some kind but owns a fairly successful looking saloon and no one in the epilogue seems to have a problem with her. So this troper's theory is that she's a Robin Hood style outlaw who only steals from villains. Heck, she may have even robbed the Devil himself at one point and that's why she's hiding out on Isle IV.

Relating to one of the above WMG in this folder, which says that the bosses Regular modes are key to getting the ingredients.

* Pineapple Mint. The pubs use it as a weapon, but it probebly has other uses. IDK.

* Cuphead in: Inkwell Insanity

A prequel would inversely see them in the 1920's, possibly featuring an obvious crossover, perhaps leading directly into the events of the first game, resulting in the inevitable moral, "[[Videogame/BendyAndTheInkMachine Better the devil you know...]]"

** I think it will take place in 1940's or maybe in the mid-1930's, assuming {{VideoGame/Cuphead}} takes place in 1930.

The BigBad will be a goody-two shoes MoralGuardian who [[StopHavingFunGuys goes around banning "vices" like smoking and drinking]], leaving it to Cuphead and Mugman to stop them.

It will likely base its art style off of either Don Bluth or the cartoons often seen on Kids WB at around said period, like Tiny Toons, etc.

* As for what would happen in this sequel, guesses of what an 80s/90s Cuphead would be like:
** Cuphead and Mugman both have skateboards, and are dressed in skater fashion.
** The Devil is the manager of a local arcade, and is either a random Jerkass who [[PokeThePoodle pokes the poodle]], or is someone who revels in getting kids addicted to video games.

* [[BearsAreBadNews A snarling bear]], possibly wielding sentient hammer and sickle (after all, the 1920s were the time of the ''original'' RedScare.)

* A travelling salesman, who attacks with his various shoddy and shady wares.

** Warden Grimball: A tough-as-nails KnightTemplar of a [[WardensAreEvil prison warden]], bent on locking people up for the smallest infractions. May be coercing a chain-gang to act as henchmen.

** Mark Graveis: A zombie undertaker who loves to bury people alive. He'll fight using a shovel to hit and to dig up dirt at the Cup bros, and maybe the second phase will be him digging underground to pop out at them.
* A courtroom level where you fight a defense attorney, a prosecutor, and a judge as bosses. Expect them to be [[KangarooCourt kangaroos]], and expect shout outs to ''Franchise/AceAttorney''. The battle ends with the jury, who watch the fight from the background, [[HoldUpYourScore holding up score cards]].

** The little scientist guy who gives you the plane blueprints would, of course, be fought in a shoot 'em up level.
** The turtle who gives you the black and white mode would, being a pacifist, not attack you directly, even when brainwashed. Instead, he would probably use psychic powers, or be a FlunkyBoss. Or both.

* Construction Site Equipment like pile drivers, cement mixers, bulldozers, cranes or wrecking balls fought in a construction site.

* Or, going with a theory mentioned above, players three and four will be able to control some of the previous bosses.

Instead of being fully playable, the player will have the choice to swap the supers for the ability to summon the bosses to aid the brothers in battle. Each boss will perform an attack or ability that relates to their resective boss fight. For example: Cala Maria will petrify all enemies on the screen with her gorgon form, Grim Matchstick will scorch them with his flame breath, Djimmi will have his Cuphead puppet back up the brothers and so forth.

King Dice represents soulless corporations who make games solely for money, with little consideration for anything else. Cuphead and Mugman represent Studio MDHR, who started at the bottom, but managed to succeed in [[DoingItForTheArt realizing their dream]] by putting in intense amounts of work. Even when they received backing from Microsoft (Pork Rind and other allies), they still did work that most people wouldn't have the patience to do. And for that reason, they will succeed where some other games fail.

* Specifically, she will dress up as an {{Expy}} of Quick Draw's AlterEgo, El Kabong, likely as her final phase.

** The Anteater: Sammy Schnozz.

** The spider also does get revived, but as the first stage of the Moonshine Mob rather than on his own.

*** Alternatively, he needs to be properly subdued before the Gnome Berries become accessible. By only defeating the puppets, Glumstone is technically still left standing and, being a giant, he would be perfectly capable of defending the berries even after defeat. On the other hand, giving him a stomachache would render him unwell enough to either agree to hand over the berries or become unable to guard them anymore.

[[WMG:Possible stages/bosses for the sequel.]]
* Have at it, guys. Here're some to start you off...
** A coiling, mustachioed FarEast Dragon (hopefully without too many YellowPeril elements; give it water powers if the creators ''really'' want to have ShownTheirWork)
** [[BearsAreBadNews A snarling bear]], possibly wielding sentient hammer and sickle (after all, the 1920s were the time of the ''original'' RedScare.)
** A sentient jazz orchestra, bonus points for homaging Silly Symphonies' ''Music Land'' short.
** Some classical movie monsters, perhaps an outright MonsterMash, in homage to Franchise/UniversalHorror.
** An AbandonedHospital and/or BedlamHouse with sentient syringes, scalpels, gurneys, and MadDoctor (or DepravedDentist) at the end of it all.
** A stereotypical hobo, with a battered top hat and a bindle stick. Possibly fought on or in a moving train.
** A travelling salesman, who attacks with his various shoddy and shady wares.
** A caveman fought in a cartoony prehistoric realm. Rides either a giant dinosaur or a giant stone wheel for his final phase.
** Sentient (and ever-shapeshifting) neon signs, in homage to ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatPiggyBankRobbery''.
** Eight bosses homaging the other eight members of Creator/DisneysNineOldMen. May or may not be Dr. Kahl's colleagues/assistants/experiments. Just throwing out some ideas...
*** Woolie Wolfgang: A literal WolfInSheepsClothing, perhaps with a strong FairyTale theme.
*** Warden Grimball: A tough-as-nails KnightTemplar of a [[WardensAreEvil prison warden]], bent on locking people up for the smallest infractions. May be coercing a chain-gang to act as henchmen.
*** Lady Loonsberry: A sentient Tutti-Frutti hat that launches bits and pieces of herself at our heroes.
*** Jolly Jemstone: A cheerful but utterly ruthless miner who uses a monstrous DrillTank to hunt for gems and other precious metals.
*** Farmer Frank: A farmer who chases you down on a monstrous tractor, hurling the occasional pitchfork and weed-killer grenade.
** A courtroom level where you fight a defense attorney, a prosecutor, and a judge as bosses. Expect them to be [[KangarooCourt kangaroos]], and expect shout outs to ''Franchise/AceAttorney''. The battle ends with the jury, who watch the fight from the background, [[HoldUpYourScore holding up score cards]].
** A BadSanta, or TheKrampus.
** A WilyWalrus. This would make room for references to ''WesternAnimation/MinnieTheMoocher'', or even ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze''. May be a FlunkyBoss with seals and penguins, or perhaps ghost [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland oysters]].
** ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight. Wouldn't it be awesome to see Cuphead and Mugman fight the bogeyman? Maybe the battle would take place in a dark bedroom, where some kids are watching the battle from their beds [[FunnyBackgroundEvent in the background]], [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments cheering you on]].
** A TabletopGame/{{Chess}} Rook, which summons Knights, Ministers, and the Queen, who attacked based on the respective movement of their pieces.
*** Interestingly enough, the Devil's casino has towers shaped like chessmen. Potential mini-boss(es) that got left on the cutting-room floor?
*** Confirmed with the King of Games.
** A [[KingOfBeasts lion]] that summons his subjects at first (Assorted jungle animals)
** How about some of the [=NPCs=] from the first game? Maybe they would be BrainwashedAndCrazy, and mutated to make them big and scary.
*** The little scientist guy who gives you the plane blueprints would, of course, be fought in a shoot 'em up level.
*** The turtle who gives you the black and white mode would, being a pacifist, not attack you directly, even when brainwashed. Instead, he would probably use psychic powers, or be a FlunkyBoss. Or both.
*** The barbershop quartet could be a very fun boss, especially if they sing throughout the battle.
** A boss that's ImmuneToBullets and requires you to [[GoombaStomp parry off of a weak point a certain number of times in order to beat them]].
*** The King of Games is close to this, only some of the members of the court require the parry to be used in other ways.
** A parody of ComicBook/{{Superman}}, in homage to [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons the Fleischer shorts]]. He might be BrainwashedAndCrazy, or maybe he's just playing the BlackAndWhiteInsanity of the original Golden Age Superman to its logical conclusion...
** A space alien, utilizing retrofuturistic technology like ray guns and a flying saucer.
** A CuteGhostGirl fought in a haunted manor. Possibly possessing the entire house for her final phase.
** Wally Warbles' child, [[YouKilledMyFather out for revenge over the death of his father in the first game]].
** King Dice's daughter or granddaughter, Princess Polly Hedron, a GamerChick with a d16 for a head who summons various stock fantasy creatures to fight you. Each face of the die represents a different emotion. Sometimes it lands on a positive emotion and drops healing items or some such.
*** Why a d16 rather than the more popular d20? It's a [[WesternAnimation/ReBoot hexa]][[IncrediblyLamePun decimal]] die.
** Construction Site Equipment like pile drivers, cement mixers, bulldozers, cranes or wrecking balls fought in a construction site.
** A CrapsaccharineWorld with [[MyLittlePhony killer ponies]] as bosses.
** A live-action animator hand, drawing stuff into the scene to attack the player.
** Something from the [[TheGayNineties 1890s]], considering how much [[{{Creator/WaltDisney}} Walt]] liked the decade. For instance, a Gibson Girl.
** A WickedWitch who summons [[DemBones spooky scary skeletons]] from her cauldron in one phase, and in another has to be [[GetBackHereBoss pursued through the sky on her broomstick]] via platforming.

* Fighting an evil witch in a dark forest

*** Why a d16 rather than the more popular d20? It's a [[spoiler:[[WesternAnimation/ReBoot hexa]][[IncrediblyLamePun decimal]]]] die.

[[WMG:The sequel will be four-player co-op.]]
And players three and four will be Cuphead and Mugman's long-lost sisters.
* Or the players will be [[MemeticMutation Cuphead and his pal Mugman, and his pal Mugman, and his pal Mugman]].
* Or, going with a theory mentioned above, players three and four will be able to control some of the previous bosses.

[[WMG: The sequel will be set in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and will feature [[AdolfHitlarious Adolf Hitler]] and ThoseWackyNazis (or DenserAndWackier expies of them) as villains.]]
Going with the above theory of each game being based off of a decade of animation, the second game will feature parodies of {{Wartime Cartoon}}s to go with being set in the forties.

[[WMG: The sequel will feature Drive-n-Gun levels.]]
For is it not the duty of art [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ws1j8A6LlE to imitate life?]] Bonus point if, halfway through a level, the car has a completely scripted and unavoidable crash and you have to finish on foot.

[[WMG: The sequel will have voice acting.]]

[[WMG: The sequel will have the bosses from the first game be [[AssistCharacter Assist Characters]].]]
Instead of being fully playable, the player will have the choice to swap the supers for the ability to summon the bosses to aid the brothers in battle. Each boss will perform an attack or ability that relates to their resective boss fight. For example: Cala Maria will petrify all enemies on the screen with her gorgon form, Grim Matchstick will scorch them with his flame breath, Djimmi will have his Cuphead puppet back up the brothers and so forth.

[[WMG: The sequel will involve the brothers getting a [[PriceOnTheirHead Price On Their Heads]].]]
The sequel will start off with Cuphead and Mugman accidentally offending someone very powerful who will post a reward for their deaths. The rest of the game will be about the brothers (possibly with Ms. Chalice and Elder Kettle) trying to escape the isles while fighting off the bosses who will all be looking to cash in on the reward.

[[folder:Post release]]
[[WMG:If there is a sequel, it will be called The Second Reel.]]
No real proof, I just like this one.
** ''Semi-confirmed'': There is a sequel for the game, but it's actually titled, "The Delicious Last Course", where Cuphead and Mugman are joined by Ms. Chalice.
*** That's a DLC Add-On for the main game, not a full sequal.

* Root Pack: Once regular-sized vegetables, they became huge in order to avoid being harvested and eaten.

* Goopy: Probably wanted to become a big and strong boxer, thus he obtained steroid-like pills from the Devil. Supported by his surname "Grande" meaning "big" in Portuguese/Spanish/Italian and both his first and second phases using boxing moves.

* Hilda: Probably wanted to fly around, so she became a blimp (either intentionally or because the Devil was being the JackassGenie he is). Notice that her blimp body is not her original form.
* Cagney: TakeOverTheWorld (supported by second GameOver quote).

* Djimmi: Freedom from genie duty, so he's free to just use his magic as he wants.
* Wally: Freedom to fly wherever he wanted, so he was made stronger than any bird, like the eagles he mentions.

* Beppi: He wanted to create his own amusement park, which is why he can summon and turn into the attractions themselves.
* Matchstick: He was lonely. See entry above.
* Honeybottoms: She really needed that much honey, which is why she's so protective of it.

* Maria: She liked attention (as seen by her introduction), so she was made enormous to the point no one would miss her.

* Brineybeard: Most likely money to afford his own ship and/or to give sentience to the ship. Or he traded his soul for the ship itself.

* Sally: Fame and fortune. Obviously.
* Werner: Power to beat the cats. Thus a cat mecha (see entry above).
* Dr. Kahl's robot: Probably a failed experiment of Kahl that wished to become an effective destruction machine, so his creator could appreciate it.

[[WMG:Any sequels will see Cuphead and Mugman endure into other eras of animation history.]]
A prequel would inversely see them in the 1920's, possibly featuring an obvious crossover, perhaps leading directly into the events of the first game, resulting in the inevitable moral, "[[Videogame/BendyAndTheInkMachine Better the devil you know...]]"
* Or, more likely, a sequel revolving around King Dice becoming a DragonAscendant, considering his evil laugh is heard in the ending.
** I think it will take place in 1940's or maybe in the mid-1930's, assuming {{VideoGame/Cuphead}} takes place in 1930.

[[WMG:The plot of the sequel will be a TakeThat against UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode and {{Bowdlerization}}]]
The BigBad will be a goody-two shoes MoralGuardian who [[StopHavingFunGuys goes around banning "vices" like smoking and drinking]], leaving it to Cuphead and Mugman to stop them.
* This time, Cuphead and Mugman will be in debt to King Dice, who sends them out to stop the problem. When they reach the new villain, they'll have a choice to make, just like last time — but this time, it'll turn out that doing what their boss wants is in everyone's best interests this time, even though he only gives a damn about himself.

[[WMG:The sequel will fast forward to the Renaissance age of animation between the late 80s and early 2000s]]
It will likely base its art style off of either Don Bluth or the cartoons often seen on Kids WB at around said period, like Tiny Toons, etc.
* May depend, ultimately, on whether the Moldenhaur brothers have a nostalgic attachment to those cartoons as well.
* As for what would happen in this sequel, guesses of what an 80s/90s Cuphead would be like:
** Cuphead and Mugman both have skateboards, and are dressed in skater fashion.
** The Devil is the manager of a local arcade, and is either a random Jerkass who [[PokeThePoodle pokes the poodle]], or is someone who revels in getting kids addicted to video games.
** The soundtrack will either be 3rd Wave Ska or New Wave. Some of the final boss fights will have IndustrialMetal, NuMetal, or straight UsefulNotes/HeavyMetal music to invoke the RottenRockAndRoll trope.

[[WMG:Possible stages/bosses for the sequel.]]
* Have at it, guys. Here're some to start you off...
** A coiling, mustachioed FarEast Dragon (hopefully without too many YellowPeril elements; give it water powers if the creators ''really'' want to have ShownTheirWork)
** [[BearsAreBadNews A snarling bear]], possibly wielding sentient hammer and sickle (after all, the 1920s were the time of the ''original'' RedScare.)
** A sentient jazz orchestra, bonus points for homaging Silly Symphonies' ''Music Land'' short.
** Some classical movie monsters, perhaps an outright MonsterMash, in homage to Franchise/UniversalHorror.
** An AbandonedHospital and/or BedlamHouse with sentient syringes, scalpels, gurneys, and MadDoctor (or DepravedDentist) at the end of it all.
** A stereotypical hobo, with a battered top hat and a bindle stick. Possibly fought on or in a moving train.
** A travelling salesman, who attacks with his various shoddy and shady wares.
** A caveman fought in a cartoony prehistoric realm. Rides either a giant dinosaur or a giant stone wheel for his final phase.
** Sentient (and ever-shapeshifting) neon signs, in homage to ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatPiggyBankRobbery''.
** Eight bosses homaging the other eight members of Creator/DisneysNineOldMen. May or may not be Dr. Kahl's colleagues/assistants/experiments. Just throwing out some ideas...
*** Woolie Wolfgang: A literal WolfInSheepsClothing, perhaps with a strong FairyTale theme.
*** Warden Grimball: A tough-as-nails KnightTemplar of a [[WardensAreEvil prison warden]], bent on locking people up for the smallest infractions. May be coercing a chain-gang to act as henchmen.
*** Lady Loonsberry: A sentient Tutti-Frutti hat that launches bits and pieces of herself at our heroes.
*** Jolly Jemstone: A cheerful but utterly ruthless miner who uses a monstrous DrillTank to hunt for gems and other precious metals.
*** Farmer Frank: A farmer who chases you down on a monstrous tractor, hurling the occasional pitchfork and weed-killer grenade.
** A courtroom level where you fight a defense attorney, a prosecutor, and a judge as bosses. Expect them to be [[KangarooCourt kangaroos]], and expect shout outs to ''Franchise/AceAttorney''. The battle ends with the jury, who watch the fight from the background, [[HoldUpYourScore holding up score cards]].
** A BadSanta, or TheKrampus.
** A WilyWalrus. This would make room for references to ''WesternAnimation/MinnieTheMoocher'', or even ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze''. May be a FlunkyBoss with seals and penguins, or perhaps ghost [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland oysters]].
** ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight. Wouldn't it be awesome to see Cuphead and Mugman fight the bogeyman? Maybe the battle would take place in a dark bedroom, where some kids are watching the battle from their beds [[FunnyBackgroundEvent in the background]], [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments cheering you on]].
** A TabletopGame/{{Chess}} Rook, which summons Knights, Ministers, and the Queen, who attacked based on the respective movement of their pieces.
*** Interestingly enough, the Devil's casino has towers shaped like chessmen. Potential mini-boss(es) that got left on the cutting-room floor?
*** Confirmed with the King of Games.
** A [[KingOfBeasts lion]] that summons his subjects at first (Assorted jungle animals)
** How about some of the [=NPCs=] from the first game? Maybe they would be BrainwashedAndCrazy, and mutated to make them big and scary.
*** The little scientist guy who gives you the plane blueprints would, of course, be fought in a shoot 'em up level.
*** The turtle who gives you the black and white mode would, being a pacifist, not attack you directly, even when brainwashed. Instead, he would probably use psychic powers, or be a FlunkyBoss. Or both.
*** The barbershop quartet could be a very fun boss, especially if they sing throughout the battle.
** A boss that's ImmuneToBullets and requires you to [[GoombaStomp parry off of a weak point a certain number of times in order to beat them]].
*** The King of Games is close to this, only some of the members of the court require the parry to be used in other ways.
** A parody of ComicBook/{{Superman}}, in homage to [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons the Fleischer shorts]]. He might be BrainwashedAndCrazy, or maybe he's just playing the BlackAndWhiteInsanity of the original Golden Age Superman to its logical conclusion...
** A space alien, utilizing retrofuturistic technology like ray guns and a flying saucer.
** A CuteGhostGirl fought in a haunted manor. Possibly possessing the entire house for her final phase.
** Wally Warbles' child, [[YouKilledMyFather out for revenge over the death of his father in the first game]].
** King Dice's daughter or granddaughter, Princess Polly Hedron, a GamerChick with a d16 for a head who summons various stock fantasy creatures to fight you. Each face of the die represents a different emotion. Sometimes it lands on a positive emotion and drops healing items or some such.
*** Why a d16 rather than the more popular d20? It's a [[spoiler:[[WesternAnimation/ReBoot hexa]][[IncrediblyLamePun decimal]]]] die.
** Construction Site Equipment like pile drivers, cement mixers, bulldozers, cranes or wrecking balls fought in a construction site.
** A CrapsaccharineWorld with [[MyLittlePhony killer ponies]] as bosses.
** A live-action animator hand, drawing stuff into the scene to attack the player.
** Something from the [[TheGayNineties 1890s]], considering how much [[{{Creator/WaltDisney}} Walt]] liked the decade. For instance, a Gibson Girl.
** A WickedWitch who summons [[DemBones spooky scary skeletons]] from her cauldron in one phase, and in another has to be [[GetBackHereBoss pursued through the sky on her broomstick]] via platforming.

[[WMG: Some of the bosses will be playable characters in the sequel.]]
BroughtDownToNormal after their Hell-given powers were taken away, [[RedemptionDemotion of course]]. My personal votes are on Grim Matchstick, Captain Brineybeard, and Cala Maria, but anything's possible...
* Sally Stageplay and Werner Werman are also likely, since they don't need to be BroughtDownToNormal (Sally used mainly physical attacks and stage props in her fight, and Werner relied on his machines.)
* What about Baroness Von Bon Bon? She mostly relied on her minions so would also not need to be BroughtDownToNormal.

** The Saluki: Tam Turbine.
** The Bulldog: Bogey Barker.
** The Pups: [[FunWithAcronyms Bravo, Alfa, Romeo, and Kilo]].[[note]]The current NATO-standard military alphabet, reflecting their being a younger generation.[[/note]]
* Mortimer Freeze's Snowman: Frostbite.

* The Root Pack is a bunch of vegetables in the garden, obviously.

* Hilda Berg is a wind rotatey thing on the roof.

* Baroness von Bon Bon's castle is a birthday cake in the sweets drawer of the pantry.

* Grim Matchstick is a blowtorch.

* Werner Werman is a Lightner mouse, and the cat animatronic he gets captured by is a cat-ears headband with a metal reinforcing piece inside.

* Chips Bettigan is a stack of poker chips, whereas Hopus Pocus is one of the cards from a poker's deck. Pip and Dot are dominoes, Mangosteen is the 8-ball from a pool table, Mr. Chimes is a cymbal monkey toy that was won from an arcade claw machine (and it still has the tag on the back of its head), Pirouletta is a roulette wheel, Mr. Wheezy is a cigar, the Tipsy Troop is the contents of the liquor drawer, Phear Lap is a mechanical horse-racer machine, and King Dice is a die. These are all fairly obvious choices.

* Underwater battle against Shark, Whales, [[KrakenAndLeviathan Kraken]], or any other SeaMonster

*** Alternatively, the Anteater was the one guarding the Dough. Knocking him out meant there was nothing in the heroes way to get the Dough

[[WMG: Doctor Khal's Robot didn't have a soul at first]]
* Based on a youtube comment I saw. It's a sorta Pinnochio kinda deal; Khal wanted his robot to have true life, so he went to the Devil to ask him to give his robot a soul. The Devil obliged... and gave the robot a soul bound by contract. That's why the contract is for the ''robot'' and not the doctor himself: the Devil is claiming him as his property! No wonder Khal stole the contract and ran off!