History WMG / DarkestDungeon

* The swine folk apparently crown the [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority physically strongest among them]]. Even if Wilbur controls the Swing King, he himself isn't that physically strong, so he would not be considered the king.

The Heir and the Ancestor are set up to be [[NotSoDifferent Not So Different]], in a sense. Both have thrown away the lives of hundreds to achieve their ends, the Heir is implied in the ending to [[spoiler:off himself]] just like the Ancestor, and both end up neck deep in the affairs of the Occult for one reason for another. However, their reasons for doing so are almost complete opposites. The Ancestor was an incredibly selfish individual who committed many of his crimes simply out of boredom, while the Heir's deaths were all focused towards a noble goal. While the Ancestor was directly responsible for more than a portion of his body count directly, the Heir's guilt is only in murder by inaction, if even that. They cannot, do not draft in unwilling to face the horrors of the dungeon, and when those who have proved themselves need help, the Heir will provide it. Therefore, if the Ancestor [[spoiler:was a puppet to the Heart of Darkness, who is to say there is not someone guiding the Heir? someone opposite the Heart of Darkness. A so called creator who views his creations as nothing at best, who desires to destroy what he has made... what could be a foil to such a monstrosity? One who neglects to even account for their existence in this world, who has no deep ties to the peoples of this world, no debts to pay or collect, yet follows the Heir through Hell and back? ...You.]]

* Jossed, [[spoiler:The Heart of Darkness is the real BigBad and was impersonating the Ancestor during the first phases of the fight, who was really dead.]]

[[spoiler:It's not a benign god by any means, but its core motivation is that of a MadScientist seeing how perfect it can make its creations before leaving the planet, destroying it in the process. It regards empathy as a positive trait, so when it was awoken by how [[ForTheEvulz despicable]] the Ancestor was, it [[EvenEvilHasStandards decided that it had gone wrong somewhere]] and decided to begin [[BodyHorror reformatting]] humanity into something a little less [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters vile]] than the species that produced him. When you fight it, it [[SecretTestOfCharacter tests]] your heroes via the [[HeroicSacrifice Come Unto Your Maker]] move to see if they will give up their lives for the sake of humanity -- something even the scared ones submit to, [[RestoredMyFaithInHumanity which is why it allows you to kill its avatar and leave the planet alone for the next eon or so]]. But the trial, as Q would say, never ends -- eventually, someone will disgust it enough to wake it up and there will be no one to provide a counterpoint, or eventually it will decide the experiment has reached completion and destroy the planet... but not for a while yet.]]

* [[spoiler:In NG+, any hero who interacts with the transcendent terror during the tutorial will instantly get a wagonload of stress while babbling, "Time -- an endless cycle! Iä! Iäää!"]]

* Why the townspeople never cut the Heir any slack as he raises up the Hamlet. Why should they -- [[RippleProofMemory he'll just destroy the Hamlet later on.]] ([[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts Heck, the Abbey and Tavern even increase their prices for the same services as the heroes level up.]])

* This ''cannot'' be the case as if the entire thing is a [[spoiler: GroundHogDayLoop]], and the Heir really is [[spoiler: the ancestor]].. then who exactly [[spoiler: Unearthed the portal]]? The Heir does everything in his/her power to [[spoiler: set things right]], and since the Heir is [[spoiler: The ancestor]], that means the ancestor [[spoiler: also did everything to set things right]]. So who exactly [[spoiler: is responsible for the estate to be in such a poor condition?]] The Heir [[spoiler: kills himself]] as soon as he [[spoiler: seals the Heart away]], so he doesn't [[spoiler: go through the same {{Moral Event Horizon}}s that the ancestor did.]] And if the Heir [[spoiler: doesn't]], the Ancestor [[spoiler: didn't either. So.. we run straight into a TemporalParadox object-loop variant.]]

Lord Aldia is removed from the cycle, and yet still as attached to it as any mortal is. Undying and eternal, he gets to watch the cycle repeat forever. Aldia attempts to influence things from the background in each successive cycle to find a way to break it for good (such as artificially prolonging the Age of Fire or shortening it), but ends up losing a bit of himself as well until he becomes the eldritch entity we find at the end. What we see of the final boss is just basically the degenerate form of him, stripped almost completely down. Eventually, after a few more cycles he'll be little more than a pulsing madness.

[[WMG: The ending [[spoiler: Might not have been a time loop restarting, but the Ancestor's last memories before death]]]]
In a last ditch effort to stab at thee from beyond either the abyss or the grave [[spoiler:The Heart of Darkness tries to do away with the Heir/your will to live by making things seem pointless.]] But there are a few clues that point in a lighter direction. The exact same narration remaining in the Ancestor's voice, for one. The spirit that warns of timeloops in the NG+? [[spoiler:Looks like the Ancestor, not you, didn't get off scot free for all his crimes.]] ]]

The reason will be because bats are one of the many natural predators of mosquitoes, and considering much of imagery involving the vampires that will be appearing in the upcoming DLC so far involve mosquitoes heavily, and the nature of both animals being mostly nocturnal (mosquitoes become more active at night, [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle by the way]]), it would seem fitting that a man dedicated to purging the parasite based undead would take up a creature that preys upon their symbolic animal. It would also fittingly ironic on a meta level as well, as in traditional media it is usually bats that are associated with vampires, and in this game we have a zealous man of the cloth taking up an animal that, in most other depictions and franchises, he would be completely against.

The Crimson Curse is regarded as a tragic but morally neutral sickness that does not impinge the moral character of those with it, ergo why the Caretaker just starts stocking Blood vials when he realizes vampires are about -- vampires who haven't gone all bug hybrid yet are simply victims of a plague, and even most hybrids are stuck in a delusional state, more pitied than feared (the [[AristocratsAreEvil Crimson Court]] happens to have been evil ''before'' the Countess infected them, and thus they combine their already vicious attitudes with an actual biological need for blood). The Fanatic, on the other hand, is the Light Church's equivalent of a radicalized terrorist -- he may have a sympathetic past, but he's channeled his anger into a desire for destruction that disgusts pretty much everyone who doesn't share his cruel creed.

...They're just an ActionSurvivor and or [[NonActionGuy Non-Action Person]], and the Heroes are escorting them through dungeons. Depending on how you play the game, perhaps their role is to issue orders and [[ApocalypticLog take notes]]... Or maybe they're just there to watch the carnage, [[BadBoss regardless of which side it's on]].
It would explain their involvement with the fight on the Old Road (they need to be escorted to safety from the wreck of the carriage, after all), it explains who afflicted heroes might address when they pass turns or perform random actions (as the player and thus possibly the heir does give the heroes orders), and why they're [[spoiler:the one who makes the SadisticChoice during the fight with the [[BigBad Heart of Darkness]]. They become a ShellShockedVeteran, GoMadFromTheRevelation and [[DrivenToSuicide shoot themself]] because of the horrors they've witnessed firsthand.]]

In the Houndmaster's comic, he encounters corrupt lawmen that have killed an innocent women. In the Bounty Hunter's comic, he kills those very same lawmen. It's not a huge stretch for the Houndmaster to have hired a professional to deal with them.

There's been some discussion on the Light and its followers, and what that means in a [[CosmicHorrorStory Lovecraftian universe]]. More specifically, [[spoiler: the Heart of Darkness claims to be the creator and destroyer of humanity. If true, then does that mean the Heart is the Light under a different name?]] The most obvious solution is that there are multiple great powers within the Universe, some of which have an interest in cultivating followers. One of Lovecraft's inspirations, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/WilliamHopeHodgson William Hope Hodgson,]] used benevolent-yet-mysterious powers who opposed the more sinister [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]], and appeared in the form of light.

* With the Color of Madness DLC out its possible that The Light has ties to The Thing From the Stars.

The Heir and the Ancestor are set up to be [[NotSoDifferent Not So Different]], in a sense. Both have thrown away the lives of hundreds to achieve their ends, the Heir is implied in the ending to [[spoiler: off himself]] just like the Ancestor, and both end up neck deep in the affairs of the Occult for one reason for another. However, their reasons for doing so are almost complete opposites. The Ancestor was an incredibly selfish individual who committed many of his crimes simply out of boredom, while the Heir's deaths were all focused towards a noble goal. While the Ancestor was directly responsible for more than a portion of his body count directly, the Heir's guilt is only in murder by inaction, if even that. They cannot, do not draft in unwilling to face the horrors of the dungeon, and when those who have proved themselves need help, the Heir will provide it. Therefore, if the Ancestor [[spoiler: was a puppet to the Heart of Darkness, who is to say there is not someone guiding the Heir? someone opposite the Heart of Darkness. A so called creator who views his creations as nothing at best, who desires to destroy what he has made... what could be a foil to such a monstrosity? One who neglects to even account for their existence in this world, who has no deep ties to the peoples of this world, no debts to pay or collect, yet follows the Heir through Hell and back? ...You]]

One of the more popular [=WMGs=] is that the Ancestor is not what he seems [[spoiler: in that he's actually [[BigBad Heart of ]][[EldritchAbomination Darkness]]]]. If so, that would explain his tone towards when speaking of the Farmstead, which he refers to with uncharacteristic malice. Should the above spoiler be true, then the malicious tone of the narrator towards the Farmstead could very well be characteristic of that theory; [[spoiler: that the narrator is the Heart of Darkness, and his malice towards the Farmstead is directed to the Comet, which it recognizes as a potential threat.]]

* Alot of the aspects of the Crimson Curse are very similar to the Vilebloods from bloodborne, Especially the Bloodlicker enemy, who, like those afflicted with the Curse, has a massive distended belly full of blood and are more insectile than batlike, The Countess was one who was too much even for the inhabitants of Cainhurst and sought to create her own little queendom in the Estate, Hell, the entire game could exist in the Bloodborne universe, and [[spoiler: The Heart]] is a more antagonistic GreatOne [[spoiler: Like the Moon Presence.]]

It would also explain why the Highwayman and the Crusader start together. The Highwayman knows whose family he killed so he's seeking redemption by putting himself at the mercy of the man he wronged, and the Crusader can't bring himself to be angry at the Highwayman because he believes, with his borderline-fanatical devotion, that their deaths were the Light's punishment for his moment of weakness at wanting to return home by making sure he no longer has a reason to. It would also explain how the Shameful Locket still turns up - The Crusader tasked himself with forgetting his family, according to his own Crimson Court set, so he gives his last keepsake from them, the locket, to the Highwayman to serve as a reminder of his promise to be a better man.

[[WMG: The Sequal will be missing 2 of the original heroes]]
either just as a reference to or the explicit canon choice for who dies to the heart of darknesses two insta kill moves

It's fight has a galaxy for a backdrop, the mechanics of the fight are totally alien compared to any other boss, it's only fought when the room is as dark as interstellar space, and it has no connection to The Heart (as demonstrated by the first boss of the Darkest Dungeon being a Shambler that ''has'' been corrupted by the heart). Altogether these facts would seem to indicate that the Shamblers are quite literally out of this world. As for what they're here for, given how prominent their spawn are in a given battle, it's quite likely that it's trying to feed us to them.

The adults themselves wouldn't be likely to eat us, given that they have teeth more suited to herbivory (the VolumetricMouth could serve a number of purposes. perhaps it serves a display function, perhaps the mouth [[BizarreAlienBiology doubles as the orifice from which the offspring are birthed]] ala [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SuperMarioBrosAssortedNasties Birdo]], or perhaps the adult simply needs to swallow certain vegetation whole like a snake). The spawn however do have pointed teeth like a carnivore. A creature having vastly different diets at different stages of its life [[RealityIsUnrealistic happens all the time even in earth biology, after all]]. Caterpillars generally feed on leaves, but adult butterflies generally feed on nectar. Tadpoles generally feed on algae, but adult frogs generally feed on... any creature they can fit in their mouths, really. Also note that both of these larvae bear little to no resemblance to the corresponding adult form, whereas with the Shamblers you can actually make out which structures in the larva likely become which ones in the adults. The ring of eyes, for example, likely all bunch up on one side of the trunk as the creature grows, much like the eyes of a flounder do (though the species' fondness for complete darkness may indicate that these organs aren't actually "eyes" in the strictest sense). Then one mouth grows bigger while the others wither and fuse shut, and finally one day the creature detaches itself from whatever rock it's rooted to and flips upside down, it's antennae having developed into locomotive tentacles.

In any case it's actually likely that the adults are feeding far more than just the heroes to their spawn. After all if even humans with guns, swords, and magic make for such easy prey, what hope does, say, a random deer or bear have? Heck, maybe the Necromancer and Collector have to compete with these things for bodies behind the scenes.

In any case it's actually likely that the adults are feeding far more than just the heroes to their spawn, since if even humans with guns, swords, and magic make for such easy prey, what hope does, say, a random deer or bear have? Heck, maybe the Necromancer and Collector have to compete with these things for bodies behind the scenes.

The adults themselves wouldn't be likely to eat us, given that they have teeth more suited to herbivory (the VolumetricMouth could serve a number of purposes. perhaps it serves a display function, perhaps the mouth [[BizarreAlienBiology doubles as the orifice from which the offspring are birthed]] ala [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SuperMarioBrosAssortedNasties Birdo]], or perhaps the adult simply needs to swallow vegetation whole like a snake). The spawn however do have pointed teeth like a carnivore. A creature having vastly different diets at different stages of its life [[RealityIsUnrealistic happens all the time even in earth biology, after all]]. Caterpillars generally feed on leaves, but adult butterflies generally feed on nectar. Tadpoles generally feed on algae, but adult frogs generally feed on... any creature they can fit in their mouths, really. Also note that both of these larvae bear little to no resemblance to the corresponding adult form, whereas with the Shamblers you can actually make out which structures in the larva likely become which ones in the adults. The ring of eyes, for example, likely all bunch up on one side of the trunk as the creature grows, much like the eyes of a flounder do (though the species' fondness for complete darkness may indicate that these organs aren't actually "eyes" in the strictest sense). Then one mouth grows bigger while the others wither and fuse shut, and finally one day the creature detaches itself from whatever rock it's rooted to and flips upside down, it's antennae having developed into locomotive tentacles.

It's fight has a galaxy for a backdrop, the mechanics of the fight are totally alien compared to any other boss, it's only fought when the room is as dark as interstellar space, and it has no connection to The Heart (as demonstrated by the first boss of the Darkest Dungeon being a Shambler that ''has'' been corrupted by the heart). Altogether these facts would seem to indicate that the Shamblers are quite literally out of this world.
As for what they're here for, given how prominent their spawn are in a given battle, it's quite likely that it's trying to feed us to them.

It's fight has a galaxy for a backdrop, the mechanics of the fight are totally alien compared to any other boss, it's only fought when the room is as dark as interstellar space, and it has no connection to The Heart, as demonstrated by the first boss of the Darkest Dungeon being a Shambler that ''has'' been corrupted by the heart. Altogether these facts would seem to indicate that the Shamblers are quite literally out of this world.

The adults themselves wouldn't be likely to eat us, given that they have teeth more suited to herbivory (the VolumetricMouth could serve a number of purposes. perhaps it serves a display function, perhaps the mouth [[BizarreAlienBiology doubles as the orifice from which the offspring are birthed]] ala [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SuperMarioBrosAssortedNasties Birdo]], or perhaps the adult simply needs to swallow vegetation whole like a snake). The spawn however do have pointed teeth like a carnivore. A creature having vastly different diets at different stages of its life [[RealityIsUnrealistic happens all the time even in earth biology, after all]]. Caterpillars generally feed on leaves, but adult butterflies generally feed on nectar. Tadpoles generally feed on algae, but adult frogs generally feed on... any creature they can fit in their mouths, really. Also note that both of these larvae bear little to no resemblance to the corresponding adult form, whereas with the Shamblers you can actually make out which structures in the larva likely become which ones in the adults. The ring of eyes, for example, likely all bunch up on one side of the trunk as the creature grows, much like the eyes of a flounder do. Then one mouth grows bigger while the others wither and fuse shut, and finally one day the creature detaches itself from whatever rock it's rooted to and flips upside down, it's antennae having developed into locomotive tentacles.

In any case it's actually likely that the adults are feeding far more than just the heroes to their spawn, since if even humans with guns, swords, and magic make for such easy prey, what hope does, say, a random deer or bear have? Heck, maybe the Necromancer and Collector have to compete with these things for behind the scenes.

The adults themselves wouldn't be likely to eat us, given that they have teeth more suited to herbivory (the VolumetricMouth could serve a number of purposes. perhaps it serves a display function, perhaps the mouth [[BizarreAlienBiology doubles as the orifice from which the offspring are birthed]] ala [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SuperMarioBrosAssortedNasties Birdo]], or perhaps the adult simply needs to swallow vegetation whole like a snake). The spawn however do have pointed teeth like a carnivore. A creature having vastly different diets at different stags of its life [[RealityIsUnrealistic happens all the time even in earth biology, after all]]. Caterpillars generally feed on leaves, but adult butterflies generally feed on nectar. Tadpoles generally feed on algae, but adult frogs generally feed on... any creature they can fit in their mouths, really. Also note that both of these larvae bear little to no resemblance to the corresponding adult form, whereas with the Shamblers you can actually make out which structures in the larva likely become which ones in the adults. The ring of eyes, for example, likely all bunch up on one side of the trunk as the creature grows, much like the eyes of a flounder do. Then one mouth grows bigger while the others wither and fuse shut, and finally one day the creature detaches itself from whatever rock it's rooted to and flips upside down, it's antennae having developed into locomotive tentacles.

In any case it's actually likely that the adults are feeding far more than just the heroes to their spawn, since if even humans with guns, swords, and magic make for such easy prey, what hope does, say, a random deer or bear have?

The adults themselves wouldn't be likely to eat us, given that they have teeth more suited to herbivory (the VolumetricMouth could serve a number of purposes. perhaps it serves a display function, perhaps the mouth [[BizarreAlienBiology doubles as the orifice from which the offspring are birthed]] ala [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SuperMarioBrosAssortedNasties Birdo]], or perhaps the adult simply needs to swallow vegetation whole like a snake). The spawn however do have pointed teeth like a carnivore. A creature having vastly different diets at different stags of its life [[RealityIsUnrealistic happens all the time even in earth biology, after all]]. Caterpillars generally feed on leaves, but adult butterflies generally feed on nectar. Tadpoles generally feed on algae, but adult frogs generally feed on... any creature they can fit in their mouths, really. Also note that both of these larvae bear little to no resemblance to the corresponding adult form, whereas with the Shamblers you can actually make out which structures in the larva likely become which ones in the adults. The ring of eyes, for example, likely all bunch up on one side of the trunk as the creature grows, much like the eyes of a flounder do. Then one mouth grows bigger while the others wither and fuse shut, and finally one day the creature detaches itself from whatever rock it's rooted to and flips upside down, it's antennae having developed into locomotive tentacles.

The adults themselves wouldn't be likely to eat us, given that they have teeth more suited to herbivory (the VolumetricMouth could serve a number of purposes. perhaps it serves a display function, perhaps the mouth [[BizarreAlienBiology doubles as the orifice from which the offspring are birthed]] ala [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SuperMarioBrosAssortedNasties Birdo]], or perhaps it's simply an intimidation display). The spawn however do have pointed teeth like a carnivore. A creature having vastly different diets at different stags of its life [[RealityIsUnrealistic happens all the time even in earth biology, after all]]. Caterpillars generally feed on leaves, but adult butterflies generally feed on nectar. Tadpoles generally feed on algae, but adult frogs generally feed on... any creature they can fit in their mouths, really.

It's fight has a galaxy for a backdrop, the mechanics of the fight are totally alien compared to any other boss, it's only fought when the room is as dark as interstellar space, and it has no connection to The Heart, as demonstrated by the first boss of the Darkest Dungeon being a Shambler that ''has'' been corrupted by the heart. Altogether these facts would seem to indicate that the Shamblers are quite literally out of this world.

either just as a reference to or the explicit canon choice for who dies to the heart of darknesses two insta kill moves

It shares many similarities to Lavos: buried in the center of the planet, it waking up will destroy the planet, had some involvement in humanities' evolution, possibly came from outer space, grants power/insanity to those who worship it, and it big enough that the final battle is inside it.