Each of the bonus dungeons and their bosses represent a different phobia.
Slither would be Claustrophobia, Grimclaw is heights/falling, Mr. Cat is strangers, the Mad Queen is a loved one turning unpredictable and abusive, Ebeezil is the fear of dying in your sleep, the Imaginary Number is a fear of being lost, both physically and metaphorically, the Whisper Weaver is spiders, the Haunted Mansion and by extension, Turnbuckle is Tropophobia (the fear of moving or making change), the Doomsday Clock is the usual "THE END OF TIMES" fear.- To add to this:
- The claustrophobia comes from Jimmy being stuck in a hospital room.
- The Beehive, while not optional, is considered a Nightmare Zone, and obviously represents Jimmy’s fear of sickness, specifically his cancer. Same thing with the final dungeon.
- Turnbuckle could also represent his guilt for abandoning Jonathon Bear, and possibly other toys as well.
- Jonathon Bear’s Playtime Forest and the Halls Of Greed both represent Jimmy’s guilt for stealing the Jonathon Bear plush in the store. The former is filled with mutated versions of the show characters, while the latter is filled with treasure chests, but punishes you for picking the wrong ones, and the Golden King boss does nothing if you leave his treasures be, but gets stronger the more you steal.
- Imaginary Numbers could also represent Jimmy’s math anxiety and struggles in school due to his dyslexia.
- The Mad Queen and “loved one turning abusive” could represent his… rocky relationship with Buck. Or perhaps Helga wasn’t quite the perfect mother she seems, given her resemblance to the Queen.
- The Mad Queen can represent the more generalized fear of not understanding what's happening and a lack of agency. The dungeon's emphasis on arbitrary rules represents his parents need to, well, parent him. No child likes being told to do their homework and go to bed, add in getting shepherded from doctor to doctor, put on a ton of unpleasant medicication, getting quarantined, etc. and it starts to look a lot more like aimless abuse to someone too young to fully understand their own situation.
- The Beach Babe boss could represent both his fear of attractive women (as seen with the normal Beach Babes) and fear of drowning (one of her attacks and her strongest).
- The Temple of the Inward-Looking Eye also represents thalassophobia, since the temple is underwater and has scary fish enemies. The Doomsday Clock is general thanatophobia, stemming from his terminal cancer.
- Information Isle is another manifestation of his fear of cancer, specifically the idea that it can turn you into an ugly, rotting carcass/zombie.
- Accelerated Dynamics is Jimmy’s fear of ending up in a Soul-Crushing Desk Job should he ever beat his cancer (which he doesn’t).
- Finally, the Heart Prison represents Jimmy’s fear that his family secretly hates him for being a burden.
Lars really did get married outside of Jimmy's dreamscape.
To a woman who is a geek, similar to him, and him climbing the ladder to the moon was symbolic of him moving out, in addition to that, Lars whole character arc of self-improvement was symbolic of him improving himself in real life.Ebeezil is an actual deity in the game's 'verse, and not something imagined up by Jimmy.
This leads to Jimmy defeating him being a case of Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?.The Pulsating Mass is not just a representation of cancer as implied, but also a representation of Jimmy’s self-hatred.
It is made clear that Jimmy's cancer has caused a lot of pain to his family, and as seen with the "Family" boss in the Heart Prison, he carries with him the fear that his family hates him for it. As such, he blames himself for what his family is going through. The reason the Pulsating Mass inexplicably hates Jimmy is because it is Jimmy's self-hatred taken form, and on some level Jimmy thinks he deserves his torment. This, combined with the other fears of the Nightmare Zones, all make Jimmy think he is a worthless boy. As such, the true goal of the game is not to beat Jimmy's cancer — as he ultimately succumbs — but to confront and overcome his fears and self-hate so he can pass on in peace, understanding that his family will always love him.