History YMMV / GameTheory

!!''Game Theory''

!!''Film Theory''

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Phase Shift", the opening theme also made specifically for the show.
* BizarroEpisode:
** The theory where he tries to prove ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} and Creator/ErnestHemingway are the same person is surreal, even compared to some of [=MatPat's=] more out-there theories. [[IntendedAudienceReaction Although considering the subject matter this may have been intentional.]]
** The theory that Jack from Film/Titanic1997... is a ''time traveler.'' [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Seriously.]] It's just as bizarre as the title sounds, as Matt tries to prove that Jack was trying to ensure a StableTimeLoop by making sure the Titanic crashed.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: Refers to [[spoiler:Arthur Fleck's murder of his mother]] in Film/Joker2019 as "a very aggressive pillow fight".
* EvenBetterSequel: His first DHMIS Theory received quite the praise. The second part was widely regarded as a satisfying and well-reinforced theory, possibly even [=MatPat's=] best. It helps that he outright said his theory wasn't the only possibility and cites the creators as a reason to watch other theories on the show.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** A straight example of the latter is his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4QOpYMsFXQ theory]] that the main cast of ''Film/RogueOne'' isn't heard of or mentioned in the Original Trilogy as they've turned to the Dark Side, and he takes the time to dismiss the idea of all of them being dead by the end of the movie, because would Disney/Lucasfilms ''really'' kill off their new characters in their ''Star Wars'' spin-off? [[spoiler:[[EverybodyDiesEnding Yes. Yes, they would.]]]]
** In the ''Anime/DeathNote'' theory, it says "Ronnie, 4:33am" in the Death Note, a year later, Ronnie "The Oni" Edwards killed himself. Which devastated Matpat as seen in his "Losing The Battle" video.
** The thumbnail of the video dealing with Article 13 features a graphic of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' being ground up. Only three days after the video was uploaded, series creator Stephen Hillenburg died of ALS.
** In his theory on ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', ''Who WON'T Survive Avengers Endgame!'', [=MatPat=] argues that Steve will [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]] himself to stop Thanos, and Tony will survive so he can retire from being Iron Man and settle down with Pepper and have a kid, claiming both serve as the culmination of their character arcs. While he got the scenarios right, [[spoiler:he got the characters reversed. While Tony and Pepper do have a daughter, Tony pulls a HeroicSacrifice by using the Infinity Stones to snap Thanos and his forces away, killing himself in the process. Steve survives the final battle but returns to the past to settle down with Peggy Carter, retiring from being Captain America and PassingTheTorch to Sam.]]
* HilariousInHindsight:
** [=MatPat=] argued that the tuppence in ''Film/MaryPoppins'' would have been worthless had Michael put it into the bank. [[spoiler:Come [[Film/MaryPoppinsReturns its sequel]], and it turns out the tuppence ends up being what was needed to save Michael's house]].
** [=MatPat=] constantly jokes that his Film Theories predicting future events don't actually happen, citing Rogue One, Last Jedi, and other such movies. Come 2019, though, and two of his theories, [[spoiler:Black Widow dying in Film/AvengersEndgame and Dany becoming the Mad Queen in Series/GameOfThrones]], end up becoming correct. Making this all the more funnier is that his theory for [[spoiler:Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker (another Star Wars movie), in which Palpatine created Rey as per a contingency plan]], ''also'' ends up being correct, albeit differently from how he predicted it.
** At the beginning of his theory that Detective Pikachu is Ash's Pikachu, he brings up the possibility that Pikachu is Tim's father, before dismissing it. In the actual film, [[spoiler:that's exactly how it turns out]].
** At the end of his theory "The 3 BIG Twists of Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier", he makes an admittedly out there guess in regards to who the BigBad of the series is: [[spoiler:Sharon Carter]], only to then say that they are more than likely ''not'' the BigBad. Well, when the final episode of the series aired, [[spoiler:Sharon Carter was revealed to be the true identity behind Power Broker, the GreaterScopeVillain who had supplied the Flag Smashers with their super soldier serums, killed Karli Morgenthau to preserve her identity, tricked Sam and Bucky into giving her not just a pardon, but a high ranking position in S.H.I.E.L.D., and is now set to take all of their government secrets and sell them to the highest bidder.]]
** His two parter on the {{Franchise/Disney Princess}}es states that WesternAnimation/{{Moana}} was excluded from the line because she doesn't wear a traditional dress. Moana was officially made a Disney Princess some time later.
* ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars: In his ''Zootopia'' video, [=MatPat=] cautioned viewers that his Film Theory and Game Theory series are intended for introducing people to new ideas that they can then research themselves and that the videos shouldn't be taken completely at face value. Given how his ''Zootopia'' video does discuss controversial real life topics like the War on Drugs and police brutality, it's probably for the best.
* MemeticMutation: Whenever one of [=MatPat=]'s theories are proven false, it is common to joke that he KnewItAllAlong and the studio changed it so that he would be wrong.
* OlderThanTheyThink:
** Same as in his Game Theory videos, [=MatPat=] has the tendency to not always distinguish between his own theories and those he is simply regurgitating, the most egregious example being his Game of Thrones theory. Not only had the R+L=J theory existed for years (and is easily one of the most well-known fan theories around), but certain terminology in the video (such as encouraging fans to come back to the video once the theory is inevitably confirmed in show to congratulate him for being right) has irked certain people, since it sounds as if he's actively trying to claim credit for it.
** His Simpsons theory on WhereTheHellIsSpringfield is more or less commonly known Simpsons trivia and not some mind blowing theory like he made it out to be.
** His ''WebVideo/EscapeTheNight'' theory was figured out by the fandom of the series about two years before the release of his video, and ''before'' he went on the show, in fact. Some fans were...not very happy about how the 'theory' was rather unoriginal.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: His heavily-criticized theory about ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012'' has a strangely [[Creator/AynRand Randian]] conclusion, especially for a film based on [[Literature/TheLorax a work]] that called out the impact of industry on the environment. [=MatPat=] claims the Once-ler and O'Hare weren't all that bad because they were simply acting within the tenets of supply and demand, and the one true villain of the movie were the townsfolk because they were the ones creating a market for the products. He even backs up part of his reasoning for the Once-ler not being a bad person with an instructional pamphlet from a ''logging company'', with the idea being that the Once-ler was justified in clearcutting the Truffula trees because logging companies replant the trees they cut.[[note]]While logging's impact on the environment varies on a case-by-case basis, with it even being beneficial at times, intruding into a virgin ecosystem and clearcutting all the trees would be devastating for the environment whether or not the trees are replanted afterwards, due to the logging's effect on the local microclimate of the habitat and the time it takes for trees to grow back.[[/note]]
** To his credit, it is implied at the beginning of the video that this is less of a message he aims to impart onto the audience and more of an example of how the movie [[BrokenAesop breaks the Aesop]] of the original book, but he never brings it up again by the end of the video.
* WinBackTheCrowd: His [[Creator/ThisIsIt Don't Hug Me I'm Scared]] theory has been more warmly received, for using far less shaky evidence and logic than his more infamous theories. It helps that this was a long-requested theory as well.

!!'''Food Theory'''
* AccidentalAesop: In light of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, Mat choosing to rest his voice when he falls ill and let Dan narrate the Mountain Dew Pizza episode, while also a mercy on our ears (especially Dan's), has an additional layer of "It's OK to take time off work if you get sick."
* FridgeHorror: Their choice to postpone the episode on All-You-Can-Eat Buffets until restaurants began to reopen normally makes an additional layer of sense when you consider that, at a buffet every customer touches the same serving utensils to serve themselves out of the same containers of food. If normal restaurants are dangerous, buffets would have been additionally so, so it makes sense they wouldn't want to encourage people to eat at them until it was safe.

*** "SANS IS NESS!" is even more popular online but in this case it's mocking his badly-researched ''Undertale'' and ''[=EarthBound=]'' video.

** All of [=MatPat=]'s ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' theories became this when he became a PromotedFanboy by appearing in [[Film/FiveNightsAtFreddys the movie]].

** Game Theory's episode about a crossover between the movie and TV sides of Franchise/TheDCU came true when ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' had almost every live-action DC character make an appearance, [[spoiler:including the [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse DCEU]] Flash who meets his [[Series/{{Arrowverse}} Arrowverse]] counterpart in ''Hour Four'']].

** In general, the argument that each video's point is that "[[CatchPhrase it's just a theory]]", and that they are ultimately supposed to be taken with a grain of salt. On one hand, some agree that the theories are only really for entertainment, aren't really being asserted as truth, and that the detractors are taking things too seriously; on the other hand, detractors believe this is essentially using the fan theory equivalent of ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars to excuse poor research and questionable sourcing (or lack thereof).

* {{Narm}}: It's kind of hard to take the "Mario is Mental" theory seriously when Matt grimly talks about Mario being an unfeeling sociopath while the video constantly cuts to Mario grinding Luigi's shoe in as both brothers awkwardly grin like it's the worst thing ever. The fact that [=MatPat=] would later admit in two separate videos that it was one of two starting points to his theory, appears to justify why he seems to keep coming back to this one shot.

* {{Narm}}: It's kind of hard to take the "Mario is Mental" theory seriously when Matt grimly talks about Mario being an unfeeling sociopath while the video constantly cuts to Mario grinding Luigi's shoe in as both brothers awkwardly grin like it's the worst thing ever.

* WMG/PoisonOakEpilepticTrees: Many of his older theories could fit this, especially the one about Sans from ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'' being Ness from ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWright Phoenix Wright]] being an AmoralAttorney, and MANY of his ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' and ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' theories.

*** This also crosses into FridgeLogic if you do your research and find out that [[https://nypost.com/2000/04/21/pokemon-earns-papal-blessing/ Pope John Paul II blessed the]] ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' franchise. This causes debates whether or not Pope Francis accursing video games invalidates Pope John Paul's blessing of ''Franchise/Pokemon'' or the other way around.

* FaceOfTheBand: [=MatPat=]; as far as most people care, Gaijin Goombah[[note]]Game Exchange and Culture Shock[[/note]], Ronnie[[note]]DNSQ[[/note]], Drake[[note]]Smash History and Crossover[[/note]], and Kenny[[note]]Also does Crossover[[/note]] don't exist.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Meta Example. The would-be pilot on buffet restaurants includes a live-action [=MatPat=] with motion tracked props, as opposed to the still image of Mat used in every other Food Theory episode; but the outro makes no secret on how much the editors did ''not'' like working with this. This has the implication that switching back to the still image was at least partly for their sake.

* ItsPopularNowItSucks: As Game Theory is considered one of the most popular non-"Let's Play" channels (with 17 million+ subscribers), it's natural that some will hate [=MatPat=] for his overexposure. Among all his videos, his Mario and FNAF ones are among the highest viewed yet also the most polarizing, with some viewers criticizing these videos for having too many research errors and relying too much hackneyed guesses instead hard science and history.

* AssPull: The theories on Mario, Undertale and FNAF have been accused of having rather contrived explanations that focus too much on speculation instead of hard evidence or confirmation by the creators. In particular, the "Mario is Communist" video has been criticized for focusing too much on red coloration as added to represent communism when most programmers view the red coloration more for color contrast ([[RedIsHeroic and also for its connection to heroism]]), though in that case even Mat himself pointed out how ridiculous that theory was at the end of the video covering it.

** "Sens," in mocking reference to the Sans is Ness video. It has become a small RunningGag among fans of "high quality video game ripper" Music/SiIvaGunner, particularly with "rips" involving music having to do with Sans or ''VideoGame/EarthBound''.

* WMG/PoisonOakEpilepticTrees: Many of his older theories could fit this, especially the one about Sans from ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'' being Ness from ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWright Phoenix Wright]] being an AmoralAttorney, and MANY of his ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' and ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' theories.

* {{Squick}}: [=MatPat=] believes that both the "mental" theory and the "timeline" theory hold up; in other words, even though Jumpman is clearly stated in the latter theory to be Mario's father, Mario is still a dangerous sociopath and man whore] What he fails to realize is this: if Jumpman is Mario's father, and Mario is potentially seeing Pauline on the side, it implies ''[[OedipusComplex he committed patricide to have intercourse with his own mother]]''.

** [[IKnewIt Music Man!]][[note]][=MatPat=] predicted the likelihood of Music Man returning when he saw a multi-legged animatronic teased in the third episode of Freddy & Friends: On Tour! His left field prediction was proven correct when he saw a giant Music Man in the final trailer for the game, shouting his name in excitement. [=MatPat=] would later react to a well-made StupidStatementDanceMix of this meme.[[/note]]

* ItsPopularNowItSucks: As Game Theory is considered one of the most popular non-"Let's Play" channels (with 9 million+ subscribers), it's natural that some will hate [=MatPat=] for his overexposure. Among all his videos, his Mario and FNAF ones are among the highest viewed yet also the most polarizing, with some viewers criticizing these videos for having too many research errors and relying too much hackneyed guesses instead hard science and history.

** When the Bestower Saga of ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerChampionsOfTheContinent'' was released, Mat decided to do the typical RonTheDeathEater theory. While he first tried to do it on TheChosenOne, he came to realize that they have no choice in the matter and changed it so the theory would be that [[GodOfGood Aelfric]] is an [[ItsAllAboutMe egotistical]] [[JerkassGods jerk]]. And then Bestower of All shows someone (Sazantos) not only reaching the same conclusion, but trying to create a world where none of the bad things that happened throughout the game happened to show the people that Aelfric doesn't give a fuck about them. And since ''Champions of the Continent'' is a prequel, Aelfric [[ButThouMust forces you to stop him...]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: His heavily-criticized theory about ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax'' has a strangely [[Creator/AynRand Randian]] conclusion, especially for a film based on [[Literature/TheLorax a work]] that called out the impact of industry on the environment. [=MatPat=] claims the Once-ler and O'Hare weren't all that bad because they were simply acting within the tenets of supply and demand, and the one true villain of the movie were the townsfolk because they were the ones creating a market for the products. He even backs up part of his reasoning for the Once-ler not being a bad person with an instructional pamphlet from a ''logging company'', with the idea being that the Once-ler was justified in clearcutting the Truffula trees because logging companies replant the trees they cut.[[note]]While logging's impact on the environment varies on a case-by-case basis, with it even being beneficial at times, intruding into a virgin ecosystem and clearcutting all the trees would be devastating for the environment whether or not the trees are replanted afterwards, due to the logging's effect on the local microclimate of the habitat and the time it takes for trees to grow back.[[/note]]

** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qTKRydIT3do I JUST SIMULTANEOUSLY WHIPPED AND NAE NAE'D!!]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** When people complained that there wasn't any sponsor in the ''Is The MMO Genre Dying?'', [=MatPat=] later put an annotation saying this video was sponsored by ''Game of War''. However, this soon lead to even more backlash from suspicions that the sponsor affected the outcome of the theory.
** His [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} W.D. Gaster]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wzxbR5vfjE video]] addressed criticism leveled at the Sans Is Ness video and Game Theory as a whole by reiterating that he doesn't try to claim his theories are canon and is only trying to introduce alternate ways of thinking based on evidence that may support what he says. Much like the above, the actual results of this were... divisive. It appears that even Mat has since realized how ridiculous the Sans is Ness theory was, and has made it a RunningGag.
** A common complaint about [=MatPat’s=] later theories is that they were stretched out to be far longer than his earlier ones, and that extra time was being used to make unfunny jokes instead of fleshing out the theory. Since these complaints, his videos have been consistently shorter.
** Matt was in the process of making a video on the Empire's "Fire Storm" weapon part of the Operation: Cinder plot shown in ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'' that Creator/ElectronicArts originally offered to sponsor. When the Loot Box and In-Game Economy controversies broke out and created their own fire storm, Matt decided it was better to distance himself from EA and declined the sponsorship, but elected to upload the video as it was most of the way done. He also added in a foreword at the start of the video explaining the situation and mentioning his stance on the matter.
** As mentioned under OlderThanTheyThink below, Matt has received criticism in the past for not acknowledging when a theory he's stating is actually an already established fan theory, instead of one he himself made. In his theory on ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' however, he specifically acknowledges and gives credit to the specific Redditors who found evidence that he himself was incapable of deciphering.
** The first episode on ''WebVideo/{{Petscop}}'' received a large amount of criticism from the series community for entirely basing it as a telling of the Candace Newmaker case, an interpretation that was largely debunked as just thematic references. A year later, [=MatPat=] did a sequel video where he avoided the same mistake.
** In ''Does Fortnite Make You VIOLENT?'', when [=MatPat=] surveyed his audience, he left open a gender section where the participants could list their gender identity. While it sounds inclusive in theory, many participants opted to jokingly self-identify as a random object such as a Coca-Cola bottle or a weaponized battle toaster. [=MatPat=] then proceeded to list out some of the more interesting "genders" on the list without realizing that many feel that self-identifying as an object is usually only done as a trolling tactic that attempts to delegitimize trans and nonbinary people. This has now painted him as a transphobe among his critics, which he didn't help by referring to the backlash against him as a witch hunt on Twitter. It also made him appear to be a {{hypocrite}} considering he had earlier tweeted to just apologize if a mistake is made. [[note]]It is likely that he was simply naive about the offensive implications of the meme, as he had also left open the age section where participants stated that they were "69lol" years old or 2 quadrillion years old and treated it with the same amount of seriousness. Of course, it certainly didn't look good when he noted how science might be "interested to explore" the 600 joke genders, although in context he was simply bragging about his massive and wildly diverse sample size in comparison to mainstream scientists.[[/note]] All that being said, in ''You ARE Your Character!'', he had another poll where he didn't make the same mistake, instead giving the four gender options of male, female, nonbinary, and preferred not to say, where he treated all options seriously.
** ''Kirby - Dream Land's Biggest Threat'' was the first part of a planned two-part theory that used evidence from the games to indicate that Franchise/{{Kirby}} was actually a destructive force of chaos rather than the protagonist he is usually portrayed as, with the second episode being planned to tie this in with [[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies Void Termina]] and other lore from the series. However, the episode received a lot of criticism for seemingly cherry-picking Kirby's motives as well as discounting the fact that he is still only a child, which accounts for most of his decisions; there was also the fact that the lore that the planned second episode would focus on had already been elaborated on by many other Youtubers. In response, [=MatPat=] instead made a different episode focused on Kirby's flight ability, creating a disclaimer at the episode beginning explaining his choices and acknowledging the criticism leveled towards his original theory.
** [=MatPat=] adding sources in the descriptions of his later theories, allowing his fans to read back his research. Especially in his science-based theories.

** A straight example of the latter is his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4QOpYMsFXQ theory]] that the main cast of ''Film/RogueOne'' isn't heard of or mentioned in the Original Trilogy as they've turned to the Dark Side, and he takes the time to dismiss the idea of all of them being dead by the end of the movie, because would Disney/Lucasfilms ''really'' kill off their new characters in their ''Star Wars'' spin-off? [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll Yes. Yes, they would.]]]]

* AccidentalInnuendo: At the same time MatPat released a theory that [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Nurse Joy is a Pokémon]], he also released a theory regarding edible Pokémon on the ''Food Theory'' channel. He even brings up eating Nurse Joy on the ''Food Theory'', as a sort of cannibalism joke (due to the Nurse Joy theory bringing up the "humans are Pokémon" theory). However, fans read "eating Nurse Joy" as "eating out Nurse Joy"; "eating out" is a way to call oral sex.