WMG / HetaOni

It is All Just a Dream

• Italy had a nightmare after World War II because after what happened to Japan, he was paranoid about anyone else he loved getting hurt, and this paranoia found its way into his worst nightmares.

Who or what the heck is Ryuuzu?

This troper thinks that he/she was the previous owner of the diary, and that somehow managed to escape , but left the journal to help some poor unfortunate souls....

• Now I've got that song in my head, and it does fit Heta Oni. Anyway, This would seem to be the logical conclusion, but nothing is really that obvious in Heta Oni, so I think this will be Jossed.
• This troper, on the other hand, thinks that Ryuuzu will end up being the Thing. The Thing is the only other one that can go back in time, after all...
• On that note, what does "Ryuuzu" mean anyway? This Troper went and looked into it and found the Japanese word "竜頭", which written in our alphabet would be Ryūzu (pretty close to Ryuuzu, right?). Ryūzu means crown, as well as watch stem. While crown doesn't necessarily fit to HetaOni's theme, watch stem works rather well, as it's the part of the watch used to set the time. So if Ryuuzu does equal to Ryūzu, then Ryuuzu is whoever can go back in time, whoever has the role equivalent to a watch stem. So that varies from Italy to England to the Thing to any previous victims! I realise this doesn't actually help come up with who Ryuuzu is though...
  • You are correct. Although in the game Ryuuzu is usually written in katakana, there's one point where Japan says "the previous name is Ryuuzu no Ko" and uses the kanji! The kanji he uses for ryuuzu does, indeed, mean 'watch stem'. Ko is written 'orphan', which raises some even more interesting questions.
  • On the note of the meaning of Ryuuzu, at first the translation "crown" might not make any sense. But actually, crown doesn't have to mean the thing that royalty wears, it can also refer to the spinning bit on a pocket watch stem, used to adjust the time. If the other translation is "watch stem", then it makes perfect sense. Also, just a hypothesis, but Ryūzu could be the actual name of the previous owner, and it only roughly translates to Ryuuzu because of the emphasis bar on top of the first "u". In English we don't have such a convention, the nearest way to emphasize a sound is by repeating it, thus the translation would spell the name as "Ryuuzu" as opposed to "Ryūzu". The intended name might've been "Ryūzu".

The nation-tans will meet up with the cast of Ao Oni

• Well, the characters from which Italy hears about the mansion appear to be those from Ao Oni so in a way, confirmed.
  • I doubt this will happen. The Ao Oni characters were talking about a different mansion ('their' mansion) and Italy remembered the compass direction wrong - I think they said it was 'North' but Italy told America 'East', but don't quote me on that.

The mochi is Ryuuzu.

Who else can it be?

• Gilbird is suspiciously missing...

Iggy will get his magic back, and get everyone out.

The monster is Ryuuzu

He was the first one to enter the mansion. After creating the journal and going through hundreds of time loops to save his friends, he went insane. Now, he uses the journal and mansion as a game, a means of entertainment. He watches as the current journal owner goes insane and gives up. He is determined to make others suffer as he did. He doesn’t know that Italy will be the first to break this vicious cycle.

• Alternately, whoever uses the journal CAN save their friends, but at the price of becoming the Monster themselves
• Alternatively, a person trying to go through time to save their friends from the monster is titled Ryuuzu. If they die, perhaps under certain circumstance, they lose all sense of self and become the monster themselves.

Holy Rome is trying to tell Italy something...

I'm betting it's 1)How to get out, or 2)How to kill the monster

• 3) Holy Rome knows how to get Iggy's magic back fully, and/or 4) Holy Rome's going confirm that HRE=Germany in the Heta-Oni verse
• 5) Or Holy Rome just a mask, it really is the Thing invading Italy's mind and using the face of the person he loved to try and coax from him where the Safe House is and to hurt him in the worst way possible.

About the mansion and the monsters...

What was the origins of the mansion and where were those monsters came from?

• Maybe they're what became of people who themselves went back in time but then gave up or failed to Set Right What Once Went Wrong, or they fell victim to the Lotus-Eater Machine theory below. Only that raises the question of where the very first Steve came from, as in the one that caused the very first victim (Ryuuzu...?) to go back in time.

It isn't real...

... Italy finally snapped under the strain of always being controlled and went psychotic. He lured the nation-tans into the house, and started killing them. However, in his insanity, he lied to himself and said "Steve" was chasing and killing everyone, and he was protecting them. That's why all of their last words were usually encouragement. He started losing his mind and forgetting stuff, so he made up the past time loops. In the end, he will finally realize what he did, and probably go even more crazy.

• What? WHAT!? Nonono, it can't be! God no, I refuse to believe this!
• Alternatively, it is real, but the loops caused Italy to snap and try to kill everyone, because let's face it, going through all that would be pretty damn traumatizing. It would be interesting Character Development, anyhow...

The voice Prussia is hearing...

... are the souls of the other people that died in the house. Nuf' said.

• My theory is that it's Holy Rome and, if there is indeed more than one, some other dead nation-tan/s, maybe one of the Ancients?
• On the other end of the scale, the voices are really the monster getting in Prussia's head and messing with him.
• What if the reason he hears them is because he is no longer a nation and will soon be joining them?

This proves Italy is a Time Lord

Because he can travel through time, ya'know. And the journal/clock is his TARDIS.

The monster is really an entity similar to the Teselecta from Doctor Who

Okay, hear me out. Now, in the episode, "Let's Kill Hitler" we are introduced to a group from a Justice Department in the future, who travel in a shape-shifting, time-traveling android in order to punish people who have committed great crimes in the past. Now, what if there was a rogue group in the Justice Department that stole an android in order to "punish" the nations, whom they deemed as the "source" of the crimes? Of course, they'd just start off with Italy and Co. but, move on to the others later. They take the form of an alien monster in order to freak them out. As for why they allow Italy to go back; it's just a twisted game and they actually planned to just kill the other nations later on, not withholding to the deal of just killing Italy and letting the others go.

Italy is the monster's Living Battery

Think about it. The monster is constantly getting bigger and stronger, yet there is no logical cause for this. Italy seems to be the mansions' target and he's losing sanity and memories quickly. Conclusion? If the monster ate Italy, it would be invincible. Cue Oh, Crap! moment.

• Well, it was said that all the other nations also got stronger. So, kinda like even though they're going back in time, everyone retains the strength they gained battling the monster/nations.

Latvia is a Steve

Translate Raivis (Latvia's "human name") into English and you'll find out why

The location is in an independent place and time

Japan says that the room that Germany built took 'years' but if Germany was the one who built it, that's impossible since I doubt that everything that happened while people still had their old icons happens in the span of time it takes to build the room. Whatever allows Italy to travel back in time also puts a sort of suggestion in Germany's head to continue building every time Italy restarts and they're led to the place.

• By most fairytale and magical standards, this is definitely the case. The safe room is above the second floor and below the third floor of the mansion - a border area. As for Germany, it may just be that the 2nd-loop Germany ended up spending years building the place after 2nd-loop England went back in time.

The nations aren't actually anthropomorphic in universe

They are literally their nations.Their minds emerge from the interactions of their people, Kinda like ours emerge from the interactions of our neurons. This explains why Italy couldn't convince them in the 2nd loop. His people don't remember what happen. The information is only stored in their minds implicitly. Many of their Idiot Ball moments can be explained as the metaphor breaking down. It also explains why their stats seem to have almost nothing to do with their militaries.

The mansion is a place that attracts regrets.

It explains what Holy Rome is doing there in the first place - he's got the regret of not fulfilling his promise to Chibitalia. It also explains why Japan's embarrassing hentai and that marriage license of France and England's (in the English version of the game) are in the mansion - those are both things Japan and England regret!

• That would also explain why Italy is so trapped there. He regrets being unable to save his friends, and until he successfully rescues them all, the regrets only get worse, pulling him in deeper.

The mansion is a Witch Barrier and the Steves are Familiars.

The mansion was originally home to a lonely rich girl who had a strong interest in aliens and the like. One day, after being bullied by some classmates for her hobby, the girl made a contract with Kyubey (having no idea he was from space himself) to meet and befriend one. Unfortunately the alien was taken away by the government and the grief of having her only friend taken away turned her into Witch. After killing her family and turning the mansion into her barrier the witch spends her days murdering anyone who comes into the mansion and taking joy from the pain of loss from the survivors.

In the end everything will work out when Madoka erases Witches from existence.

• The rich girl was a small nation.
• Or the fairy.

The events experienced by the Nations in Heta Oni brought about those of the Modern Warfare games.

While the Nations are trapped in the mansion experiencing all the madness and horror, what happens to their peoples back in reality? Simple: complete chaos. The world begins to destabilize bringing about all sorts trouble, including the rise of the Ultranationalists in Russia. If the games are any indication, torture and atrocities also become much more frequent parts of life, while the likes of Makarov and Shepherd are free to have their way with whatever they wish culminating in a pointless and bloody war that leaves Europe, Russia and the United States in tatters. One has to wonder whether all the ensuing bloodbath, both on the human and Nations' ends, are part of whatever the monster, "Steve" or Ryuuzu have in mind.

• There's also another possibility in explaining just why life in the regular world went increasingly sour as seen in the games. With the Nations effectively out of the way, their absence has caused a rift in reality itself if not leave the world open for Ryuuzu's machinations. Most people wouldn't be able to actually notice it, though the ones that do (like Makarov) might see it as an opportunity to seize control over as much as possible before everything goes to hell. And without the Nations stepping in to stop the chaos...you've got the events and bloodshed of Modern Warfare 3 happening. All according to plan...

"Steve" is a Phret

Phrets are evil spirits of the damned doomed to haunt earth. They can be extremely dangerous, dangerous enough to break a person's neck or even kill them. They are between 6 and 9 feet tall. Sound familiar?

• an extra level of Oh, Crap! can be brought on by realizing Ryuuzu could have died and become a Phret—not good for Italy, who "decided to become Ryuuzu".
• More information on Phrets can be found here [1] (Sorry if it's not the best sighting of resources, but it's the best that could be done.)

Italy's dream is a Lotus-Eater Machine and Holy Rome is the key out

Look at the dialogue for that scene and tell me it doesn't sound like a Lotus-Eater Machine. Basically, once the loop thing goes on long enough, whoever goes back in time will be put in one by Steve. Eventually the person going back in time will be convinced to stay and their physical body will become another Steve. However, if the illusion fails to trap the person (which is probably not that common, sadly), they learn how to get everyone out and then wake up. Holy Rome somehow found his way to the mansion and weaseled his way into the illusion to prevent this from happening to Italy, possibly due to the "mansion attracts regrets" theory above. Because of this the game will have either a Non-Standard Game Over if Italy stays trapped in the illusion, or Multiple Endings —-the Bad End where Italy gives in and everyone dies, and the Earn Your Happy Ending where he doesn't and then saves everyone.

The monsters are multiplying.

In one of the editions of the original Ao Oni (version 6 I believe) when some of the characters die, they are seen again as duplicates of the monster, distinguishable only by virtue of retaining their hair. Every time time is rewound, the nations that died in that loop become new monsters. As a result, the more resets take place, the more monsters inhabit the mansion... and the harder it becomes to escape.

• This has been headcanon for a while now. Actually, the more time loops might make more monsters, but it also adds memories and experience, so effectively it's Monsters vs Experience. Another headcanon to go with this is that the monsters still believe themselves to be escaping. They might even see their current-loop self as being a monster or doppelganger.

Related to the Modern Warfare WMG above, the events of that series are the result of Russia managing to escape.

Ivan manages to get out of the house, but the trauma experienced there broke his mind even further to the point that he became convinced that it could be cured by taking over the world. This allowed him to be manipulated and pulled about by the Ultranationalists and especially Makarov for their own ends, resulting in the events of the games. And with the other Nations still trapped, nothing stood in the way of Europe and America being invaded and virtually curbstomped to submission. It's only when America manages to get out sometime around MW3 that the tide turns.

Holy Roman Empire is not really trying to help Italy.

He is creating a pleasant fantasy world in which all nations survive, but it it not real. Eventually, he will ask Italy if he wants to remain in this fantasy or help his friends. That is why his choice after going into cardiac arrest was to go towards the Steve or into that place.

• Of course, he could also be a fantasy...

Russia and China will go back in time together.

They get the key from the past, therefore appearing to be villains to those selves.

• That is why in the extra Russia was seen trying to fight all those Steves, Japan confronted China, and China said that they had to "play" the role of the villains "again." The "again" just refers to them in the Cold War era.

Past!England will send Romano and Spain back to their time.

He will will realize that they were right and give them the remainder of his magic to give to England. Then he will go to the piano room and we will see that part where we saw him meet Italy, Germany and America.

Prussia turns into a Steve.

Just read the translation of scene ten here: http://tastetherinbow.blogspot.com/2011/07/hetaoni-extra.html

• Blog has been deleted.
  • New link, sans pictures unfortunately. In the original, one could see Japan talking to a Grey and calling it Prussia...

Why no one outside the area realizes what's going on

Let's face it, if you hear screaming in the forest, you're going to try to find out where the screams come from. And judging by how old the house is, there's probably no soundproofing, so someone would have had to hear the screams at one point. I believe that the reason that no law enforcement has broken down the door is that the house is hiding in plain sight — somewhere where there's a lot of screams can be heard, but are dismissed as part of the ride. After long thinking, I deduced that the most likely place that the mansion is hidden in is the show building for The Haunted Mansion in Orlando. Why? Because it's big and spacious, and no one gets suspicious about screams. And yet, no one ever actually sets foot on it. It's a perfect location for Steve to hide his victims.

• Or it could just be, oh you know, so isolated that not many people ever come around there and the ones that do all get killed off.

The mansion itself is a Genius Loci

A la Silent Hill, complete with the supernatural powers, like bringing its visitors into alternate dimensions. Steve itself, as well as all the other monsters, are also physical manifestations of the mansion's power. However, while Silent Hill puts its visitors through hell in order to get them to move past their sins, the mansion is just putting Italy through hell For the Evulz/ For the Lulz. It enjoyed Breaking The Cutie, and when Italy made the deal to keep going back in time until either he got killed or he managed to save his friends, it got especially happy with the prospect of Italy fail and fail again, as it's a Killer Game Master. It's power over the "game" is not complete, as Romano and Spain managed to join it, and the other nations are outside breaking the clocks (which are the locks to the mansion's alternate dimension. Break all the clocks, and the mansion fully rejoins the real world, where it cannot influence the flow of time). The mansion realized that this sudden change could be what would finally let Italy win, so it decided to move the key because there's no way it's letting Italy beat it.

Steve is related to The Thing (1982)

Well, in-game everyone calls Steve the Thing. And seeing as those killed by the Thing usually become Things themselves, this wmg could also be related to the "dead characters become monsters" wmg above.

Ryuuzu is the spirit of the house

In the first loop where Italy is the only one to get out, the Tony monster followed him outside the mansion. If it was just a house spirit, it would be bound to the house. In the second one, shortly before he dies, Italy says he became Ryuuzu, and got alll his friends out. I think the first one, the Toni thing made a deal that he would get all friends out with the journal by rewinding time, however, he would have to become a spirit. Italy excepted this deal and that was why [spoiler: he didn't care that he died in the second one.]] By the way, I was the one deleted the entry about it being Purgatory, but I wrote that one.

The mansion is a Thinny

The events of HetaOni happen at the same time as"The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords" in Doctor Who

• So, the events of the mansion happen in the 'year that never was' and the whole thing is a distraction for the nations set up by the Master so they can't advise/help their bosses or whatever it is that they do. The Master could also basically kill off any country in the mansion, creating chaos in that country.
• If Italy/England would let the year run its course without turning back the clock, the whole thing would reset like in the episode and they'd all be alive.
• The phone signal (and puzzle) comes courtesy of the Arch Angel Network.
• The mansion only partly cuts the nations off from their countries, so when Japan is forgotten in first time loop, it's because the country has been destroyed/whatever in real life (which I think is mentioned at some point in "Last of the Time Lords").
• The general messed-up-ness of time in the mansion is the Master's fault 'cuz he's a Time Lord and f*** normal time, that's boring.
• Italy's journal was given to him by Martha. Either that or he's got a fob watch hidden somewhere... That would be awesome.

Japan and Prussia both went back in time in at least one of the loops

• It's one possible reason why Japan sees so many more memories than the others, and why Prussia hears those weird voices...