Line #278 Headscratchers/HenryStickminSeries


1	!!Refrain from using Administrivia/FirstPersonWriting, please. It's more distracting than Henry's dance to use such first-person writing. Keep the folders Administrivia/ClearConciseWitty when describing things.
2	!!All spoilers are unmarked!
3	----
4	[[foldercontrol]]
5
6	[[folder:Sending the Cake]]
7	* Who sent Henry the cake?
8	** Knowing how CrazyPrepared he is, he probably sent it to himself; he gave it to the post office ahead of time with specific instructions to hold it for a few weeks before mailing it.
9	** He does seem surprised when it opens, so it’s likely that he didn’t know about it beforehand. More likely, it was sent by the Army guys as a test for Henry. Hence how they find him no matter which ending he gets in ''Prison'' — they were keeping tabs on him the whole time.
10	*** It’s possible he’s just surprised that they let him have it without tampering.
11	*** But by this point Henry hasn't shown any superior skills or luck, so why would the military care?
12	*** Like it was said above, they've been keeping tabs on him since his bank heist, so they've at least been interested since then. A test would also help showcase his abilities. If it didn't work, he'd be promptly sent back to his cell or killed; otherwise, he would've proven his worth.
13	*** If that's the case, why didn't they capture him before ''Diamond''? If they were keeping such close tabs on him, they probably knew where he was at any given time, and it's not like they incentivized him to go after the titular Diamond since he saw it on a news broadcast.
14	*** It's possible that they didn't need him until ''Airship''. Not to mention how he's an unpredictable wild card that they would only use if they absolutely had to. This seems reasonable since you turn against the Government in half of ''Airship'' 's endings.
15	*** Also, it's worth remembering that one of the possible ways of getting out of the prison is by having a lawyer get him off the charges. Part of the reason Henry initially agrees to help the government is because they're willing to give him a pardon for his crimes. The government may have predicted Henry would steal the diamond, and so waited until he did so that they could have the leverage of a pardon over him, as he wouldn't have been convicted of any crimes that could be pardoned if he took the legal route out of prison. Although this is a moot point, as shown below.
16	** There is a secret event in ''Mission'' that shows that the package was sent by some sort of timeline-fixer activated by the Center for Chaos Containment. The implication is that, with no in-universe explanation for how the package arrived, but so many events depending on that package (without it, Henry would still be doing time for his first crime instead of all the adventures of the rest of the series), they sent it back in time to sustain a StableTimeLoop.
17	[[/folder]]
18
19	[[folder:Recruiting the Burglar]]
20	* So, in ''Airship'', the whole reason the Army sends Henry after the Toppat clan is because they don't have any proof yet that the Toppats are criminals, and thus can't arrest them. However, in the ''Relentless Bounty Hunter'' scenario Henry breaks into the ship and arrests the Toppat leader for the military. How can they do that without proof? Also, in the ''Pure Blooded Thief'' scenario, when Henry goes rogue and steals the ruby the Military moves in to personally deal with the Toppats anyway, which again contradicts what they stated earlier.
21	** Henry's goal wasn't specifically to find evidence against them; his goal was to take them down by any means.
22	** What his exact goal was in ''Airship'' is likely governed by SchrodingersGun; Early on in the ''Government Supported Private Investigator'' route, Charles outright says that the point of the mission is to find evidence against them. For the ''Relentless Bounty Hunter'' scenario, him capturing the Toppat leader [[FridgeBrilliance could have been among the crimes that he was subsequently pardoned for]]--''he'' did that, not the Army, so you could argue the latter is technically not guilty. As for the ''Pure Blooded Thief'' ending, imagine that big ruby held a similar importance to the diamond in the previous game, so the fact that the Toppat clan had it in their possession was probably sufficient proof. Granted, they didn't know this until they saw Henry with it, but considering the events of ''Bank'' and ''Diamond'', it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch for them to assume that, if Henry aborted their stated mission, it was probably for something valuable (especially since they noticed where in the ship--the vault--Henry had set off the alarm). It was a risk that they took, but not an unreasonable one.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Circumventing the Pardon]]
26	* If Henry really gets pardoned for his crimes in ''Airship'', why does he end up in prison again in ''Complex''?
27	** It could be interpreted as him getting captured on a heist if he took over the THC]], or on a mission/still being on good terms with the Government Agency from Airship Relentless Bounty Hunter/Government Supported Private Investigator or POSSIBLY Pure-Blooded Thief.
28	** Given how bad Henry's luck is, he could have just been picked up off the street and then identified as a wanted criminal later.
29	** Remember, Henry was sent to take the Toppat Clan down by the military team that captured him in the first place, not the government. Sure, his past crimes may have been erased from the official registry, but as we can see in the teaser, there's still evidence of them. Besides, whatever it is he did in ''Airship'' was illegal; joining the Toppat Clan, stealing the ruby in the airship's vault, or just invading the ship and killing/taking away the people inside (since Henry's kidnappers state not having sufficient evidence against the Toppats, this would still qualify as a crime).
30	** The Wall isn't affiliated with the government that pardoned Henry. They brought him in for their own reasons.
31	*** Most likely, since one of the [[ShrugOfGod conflicting reports]] in ''Complex'' say Henry teamed up with ''his'' government, rather than ''the'' government. In addition, the ending where you get rescued by Charles in ''Complex'' is called "''International'' Rescue Operative."
32	*** Confirmed. The ''Thief/Allies'' route in ''Mission'' confirmed that the government that imprisoned Henry and Ellie and runs the Wall is a different government than the one that pardoned Henry at the end of ''Airship''.
33	*** WordOfGod in [[https://youtu.be/_UAglhsIMnk?t=11751 this developer commentary]] has confirmed that this is the case.
34	** It’s likely that despite being pardoned, Henry could not resist pulling a new heist and was caught.
35	** Note that when Henry receives his pardon, it says "All crimes ''PRIOR TO'' 2013." This means that the Airship incident and crimes later to be had still count to his record.
36	*** That'd be kind of a dick move on the Government's part, to say he still has a criminal record ''because'' he helped them even though he helped them to get that record expunged.
37	*** That or Henry can’t pronounce the word “library”, which (as written on the pardon) invalidates the pardon. Henry almost never speaks, and we never hear him say “library”.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Justifying the CCC]]
41	* Why does the Center For Chaos Containment even exist?
42	** Because the games are set in a world where magic, futuristic technology, doomsday weapons, superpowers etc. from tons of different games all exist. Chaos is very likely to ensue in such a world.
43	** Why does anything exist?
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Crashing the Airship]]
47	* How is “Airship” at the last choice in Revenged a fail? Henry successfully kills Reginald there, but dies himself. The exact same thing happens with “Staple”. In the real world, it can be explained by the fact that we can’t have both of them be correct, but there’s no in-universe explanation.
48	** Perhaps Puff was aiming for VengeanceFeelsEmpty theme? After all, “Airship” means that Henry pulls a TakingYouWithMe in an awesome (and hilarious) manner because he's willing to go all in just to kill Reginald (and die on his own terms), but “Staple” means that Henry wanted to get his revenge and make a clean getaway, so Reginald got the last laugh with his own TakingYouWithMe by fatally shooting Henry, meaning that Henry has one final minute to wonder if his revenge was [[WasItReallyWorthIt worth all the trouble]]?
49	** According to [[https://youtu.be/nW9g0CTQqhI?t=7851 this]] [[WordOfGod developer commentary]], he simply thought the the "Staple" option was cooler.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Recapturing the Escapees?]]
53	* Why does The Wall only pursue Henry (and by extension Ellie) in the ''Thief/Allies'' route?
54	** Out of the ''Allies'' missions, it's the only one where Henry doesn't have an affiliation with the government or the Toppat Clan so perhaps they are more reluctant to chase as opposed to when Henry is still a common criminal?
55	** Not only that, but it's the only one where Henry earns the most ire from the Wall pretty much immediately. As elaborated on the Fridge page, every other ending has him gaining a decent head start in some way (''Rescue'' and ''Ghost''), or have him either presumed dead or actually dead (''Dead'' and ''Betrayed'', respectively). ''Allies'' is the only one where the Wall can immediately pursue Henry and keep track of him, on top of them having greater motivation to do so since that ending had Henry start a full blown PrisonRiot instead of quietly escaping on his own.
56	* However, this raises another question. Why doesn't the Wall attempt to pursue Henry in ''Toppat King''? If they went after Henry in that route, it would be a double profit for the Wall in that they could also attempt to apprehend all of the Toppats at once.
57	** We don't know the route Henry took to get to the rocket base in the ''Executive/Allies'' route. Since Henry was the Toppat Clan leader, it's entirely possible that he knew about his agents nearby (like the ones seen at the bar at the start(s) of the missions immediately following ''Presumed Dead''), and his route to the jungle base used a more covert means than the motorcycle used by Ellie. With Henry and Ellie having mysteriously "vanished" to who-knows-where, the Wall wouldn't have any leads to follow.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Defending the Station]]
61	* It’s said multiple times that the Toppat orbital station is impossible to take down. Why is this? In numerous endings, this orbital station is destroyed. There doesn’t seem to be any reason why it’s impossible to weaponize another orbital station, and set it to fire upon the Toppat orbital station when in an optimal position. Even if there were no other orbital stations that could get close enough to take down the Toppat orbital stations, why not just send a weaponized spaceship to take it down?
62	** Every route that has you trying to stop the Toppat station from launching has the Government pulling out all the stops to do so (one line in the ''Government/Rescue'' route mentions they're "putting all their potatoes in one sack"), and Charles mentions that the flying saucer he uses to get you into space in the ''Government/Dead'' route is a "Secret Government Prototype". It's possible that the Government doesn't have much in the way of space-worthy technology (at least, nothing that can stand a chance against the Toppat station's defenses, which we learn from ''several'' Fails are nothing to sneeze at), and only started working on it once they failed to keep the Toppat station from launching. Most routes that start with the Toppat station already launched mention that it's only been in space for about a week or so, which isn't a lot of time for the Government to make much headway on that, letting Henry beat them to the punch. Indeed, ''Government/Dead'' seems to be among the ''latest'' possible times for the station to have been in orbit (up to one or two weeks), so the fact that the Government has a prototype ''at all'' for a potential space assault is a testament to how hard they've been working on the issue.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Establishing the Chronology]]
66	* When does the series take place? According to the security footage of the bank in ''Prison'', ''Bank'' takes place on August 27, 2008. Implied by the tally marks in ''Prison'', Henry's been in jail for 33 days. According to his pardon in ''Airship'', ''Diamond'' occurs in 2012 at the latest. This would mean that the series takes place over at least five years. This is contradicted by the Multiverse Correction ending, which states that the series takes place over approximately one year. To add to this, the Gadget Gabe gadgets were reviewed in multiple years, with some gadgets having been reviewed in 2015 and 2018.
67	** ''Bank'' likely takes place on August 27, 2008, true. However, ''Prison'' does not have a definitive starting date - the tally marks only imply that Henry was held in ''Red Mesa'' Penitentiary for 33 days, not that it had been 33 days since he was arrested. Even so, that cell could have been in use before Henry was thrown in, so we have no idea how long he was held. Furthermore, the Multiverse Correction Ending puts the “approximately one year” date as the same day Dave received the package, not the same day Henry was arrested.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Harpooning the Rocket]]
71	* What exactly was Right Hand Man hoping to accomplish with the last choice in the Thief/Dead route? Since Henry already hijacked the rocket by that point, ''none'' of the possible outcomes are beneficial to the Toppats. To be specific, the only possibilities are the rocket falling on top of the Toppats' base, causing who-knows-how-much damage (Stage or time-out); the rocket crashing in the distance, leaving their base intact, though still at the expense of their rocket with a majority, if not ''all'', of the clan's valuables and personnel still on board (Full Throttle); or Henry successfully escaping to make the space station his own luxury resort, with all the Toppats left on Earth stated to have been arrested (Precise Shot). It's a PyrrhicVictory at best and a decisive, crippling defeat at worst, as [[MortonsFork no matter if Henry gets away or not, the Toppats lose the rocket]]. Knowing this, Right Hand Man could've just [[KnowWhenToFoldEm let Henry go]] to prevent any risk of Henry dropping the rocket on the Toppats' heads. Why didn't he?
72	** Considering Henry outdid the Toppats once before, maybe he just refuses to let him do so again, [[HonorBeforeReason at any cost.]]
73	** Also, its possible that, as long as the rocket made it back to earth mostly intact, they might be able to recover and try again. It'd be expensive and time-consuming to get things together for a round two, but he probably considered that better than a full blown defeat.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Locating the Jungle]]
77	* There's a whole bunch of questions concerning where Completing the Mission takes place. For these questions, we first need context. Bank and Prison presumably take place in New Mexico due to the name of the Prison (West Mesa is a real place in New Mexico). Diamond is less clear, as Henry may have fled states, but the CCC scene does give us an implication that Henry might still be in New Mexico, as the CCC is labeled as "somewhere in the southwest", and Clyde Jenkins says "The Museum", implying it's not that far away. Airship is up in the air, but judging from the deserts, it might still take place in New Mexico. Complex reeks of Russian inspiration, with English only being used as the main language there due to both criminals and guards seemingly being from all over the world. There are some non-English speakers in Complex, but only one of them gets lines. The Wall is somewhere in Russia, most likely Siberia, so how does Henry (and Ellie sometimes) get to the Dogobogo Jungle? How do Dimitri and his comrades get to the Dogobogo Jungle? Why is Charles chasing Toppats in Russia during the Valiant Hero ending when he works for the American government? Why are American government soldiers and Toppats in a Russian bar? Is this just an alternate universe where Russia sold more than just Alaska to America?
78	** [[WordOfGod According to Puffballs,]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/HenryStickmin/comments/iomukz/we_have_a_official_confirmation_buy_puffballs/ the Wall is located in Canada.]] Henry crosses a border in ''Presumed Dead'', so the bar is presumably in America, explaining why American soldiers are there. If the Dogobogo Jungle is in Central or South America, this would fit well with Henry and Ellie being able to travel to that area on land.
79	*** Didn't expect The Wall to be in Canada, interesting!
80	*** One thing to consider about South America: There is no road from Panama to Colombia thanks to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darién_Gap Darién Gap]]. If the Dogobogo Jungle is in South America, Henry and Ellie would have had to sneak aboard a ship or ferry at some point, or else made a journey on foot through difficult terrain that would have taken several days (taking the bike with them, too).
81	** Puffballs confirmed on the developer commentary that ''Escaping the Prison'' is in Arizona. We can presume that ''Breaking the Bank'' also takes place there.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Keeping/Fencing the Diamond]]
85	* It's unlikely that the Jewel Baron can be canon with Unseen Burglar. In Unseen Burglar, Henry seemingly sells the Tunisian Diamond, but in Jewel Baron, he still has it.
86	** Well, probably, unstated anywhere, there are actually combinations of endings prior to ''Airship'' that aren't canon, just like how ''Rescue'' and ''Betrayed'' are restricted to specific paths from ''Airship'' itself.
87	** Initially wondering how he was able to sell it without someone raising the alarm about the guy who initially stole it. [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief If we accept that someone would take it without turning Henry in]], maybe he actually rented it out as opposed to selling it; so whoever's displaying it is paying him regularly for the privilege but he still technically owns it and can take it back whenever. He could have also done this with the Romanian Ruby for all we know, and leasing out the full set is probably gonna be more lucrative than the sum of the parts.
88	** On that note, both ''Jewel Baron'' and ''Stickmin Space Resort'' don't seem to be canon with ''Intruder on a Scooter'', either, since Henry's scooter is demolished at the end of that path, and he still has it in both of the former paths, with the latter giving it an upgrade. That would mean ''JB'' is only canon with ''Just Plain Epic'', thus spreading the question further of how much pre-''Airship'' endings are able to be canon with one another.
89	*** What would stop him from just buying (or building, if he made them himself) a new one?
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Pressing the "On" Button]]
93	* Regarding one of the engine room Fails in ''Mission''... if "off" stands for "offense", then what does "on" stand for?
94	** On-guard, AKA defense.
95	** Alternatively, knowing this series' sense of logic, it might mean "on fence" AKA still deciding, and so pressing ON might have actually been a self destruct or power deactivate button. Henry had the answer right there and got unlucky with his button presses.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Rethinking the Revenge Plan]]
99	* In a similiar way to the RHM above, what was [[KnightOfCerebus the Warden]] thinking at the climax of the ''Toppat Recruits'' ending? Olyat was killed, and he's on a rocket, which is going into space. He could have, dunno, joined the Toppat Clan as they have super-low recruitment standards, or just played dead for long enough to hide in the Toppat Rocket. Was he really that revenge-crazy that he decided to just kill Henry before thinking about his own survival?
100	** [[BluntYes Yes, he was]]. Considering the situation from Dmitri's perspective, this was the closest he had ever gotten to exacting his revenge on Henry and Ellie, especially considering that, unlike Grigori, he had somehow managed to knock Ellie unconscious and pin down Henry [[MadeOfIron even after getting riddled with AK-47 bullets moments prior]]. All he had to do was overpower Henry to throw him (and certainly Ellie immediately after) out the gaping hole in the rocket that they were standing mere feet away from. Granted, [[VillainBall he instead took this opportunity to angrily yell at Henry about his ruined reputation]] before getting thrown out the rocket ''himself''. Even if that weren't the case, this ''is'' [[BadassNormal Henry Stickmin]] we're talking about here, so Dmitri would've still gotten himself into an uphill battle. All in all, it's clear that the Warden suffered from a severe case of RevengeBeforeReason, as he considered the insurmountable risks of swiftly killing Henry and Ellie by throwing them out the Toppat rocket to be risks worth taking.
101	** Why would the Warden even join the Toppats? It makes no sense since they are all criminal and he hates criminals, no matter how petty their crimes are (There's even innocent people in the Wall). Why would the Toppats even let him join their side anyway?
102	*** To "defend" the Toppats, they would let anyone join.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Rescuing the Toppat Leader]]
106	* In ''Toppat King'', why didn't the RHM just fly down from the bay door to grab Henry? He still has his cybernetic enhancements, which grants him flight as shown in his fail from the Jeep section, and even though Reginald may hold a little bit of skepticism, the RHM was more than willing to team up with Henry when they were surrounded by guards, and even Ellie on the Jeep, who wasn't even recruited yet.
107	** RHM doesn't seem all that happy about teaming up with Henry earlier, implying that it was TeethClenchedTeamwork on his end out of necessity (since they were surrounded) and acknowledgement of the fact that Henry is the leader like it or not. Ditto him joining Ellie on the Jeep; she had the leader's greenlight already, so RHM went along with it. Considering his UndyingLoyalty to Reginald, it's possible that RHM would have rather Henry be left behind so Reginald could take back his title (especially with the common interpretation that Reginald was always planning to overthrow Henry when he got the chance, so RHM probably assumed Reginald would be cool with Henry being left behind); only fully accepting Henry's leadership after Reginald gave it his approval.
108	** Alternatively, considering everyone was on a ''rocket taking off at escape velocity'', it's possible the RHM wouldn't have time to fly down for Henry and get back safely before the rocket left the atmosphere.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Rescuing the (Other) Toppat Leader]]
112	* Given RHM's UndyingLoyalty to Reginald, why doesn't he try to free him from government detainment in any of the ''Relentless Bounty Hunter'' paths? True, sending in a Toppat raid would paint a target on the clan, but he could very well do it himself. He has flight, an energy shield, and his laser eye can vaporize three government soldiers at once as proven by ''Master Bounty Hunter''.
113	** He'd have to know where Reginald was taken, which isn't necessarily a given by the time he's given his upgrade.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Making the Plan]]
117	* How long did Henry and Charles (and Ellie in the case of the latter) spend planning their method of entry in both ''Special [=BROvert=] Ops'' and ''Triple Threat'' if they had 2 hours before the rocket was intended to launch, only for Sven to announce that the rocket was launching soon just a few minutes later? This could be explained away in ''SBO'' by the fact that in the Wrench fail, Sven notes that the engine wasn't quite ready yet until Henry [[NiceJobBreakingItHero inadvertently jumpstarts it]], but in ''TT'', the rocket launches mere seconds after Henry and Ellie pull off their diversion, which only takes about one minute to pull off.
118	** Considering Sven is clearly in a hurry to launch, its possible that the "2 Hours" was the Government's estimate based on their own sources, whereas Sven probably made damn sure it was a lot sooner against their expectations.
119	** Alternatively, it's a ''big'' rocket; it's possible the bulk of the time in between when Henry (and Ellie in the latter) get inside and when the rocket launches was spent wandering trying to find their objective without getting caught, and the passage of time just wasn't portrayed the best.
120	** The rocket has an emergency launch protocol that can be activated from the cockpit, as seen in ''SSR''. The reason why the rocket took off so soon in ''TT'' is because Sven panicked and activated the launch protocol while Henry and Ellie were distracting everyone else - if someone broke into your rocket and danced past all your gang members, wouldn’t you do the same? As for why Sven didn’t activate the launch protocol in ''SBO'', Henry got into the rocket completely undetected, and by the time he was the engine had been sabotaged so the protocol couldn’t be activated (that and Sven was busy pointing a gun at Henry).
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Ignoring the Fugitive]]
124	* The ending to ''Free Man'' seems a little bit unclear. Obviously, the Toppats are stuck on the station without power, but that begs the question. How did the Right Hand Man get back onto the station if he was critically damaged (he literally lost his right arm) and was floating adrift in space? Without power, it's doubtful there's any easy method of entry into the station, and if he flew back to the station with his cybernetic enhancements, why doesn't he just fly back down to earth to grab Henry? You ''could'' make the argument that he'd burn up from atmospheric reentry, but for one, he can breathe in space with his augmentations, and two, if he can control his flying speed, It's not like terminal velocity should be an issue for him.
125	** Considering the reason the Station is bust is because he captured Henry and Henry destroyed the core in his escape attempt, he probably decided Henry wasn't worth trying to contain [[KnowWhenToFoldEm and just let him go to save the Clan from further damage]]. Even if they manage to repair the core and keep going, Henry has proved to be someone you don't really want to mess with, so leaving him alone would be the pragmatic option.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Pawning the Goods]]
129	* In ''Cleaned 'em Out'', Captain Canterbury says that the Toppats' stolen treasures are worth quite a lot of money, incentivizing Henry to steal the treasures from them. However, considering Henry is on good terms with the Government, what does he do with all the treasures once he gets his hands on them? Does he pawn them off like he did with the Tunisian Diamond in ''Unseen Burglar'', does he keep all the treasures to himself, or to keep up his trust with the Government, does he give the treasures back to them for an undisclosed amount of money?
130	** He appears to keep the treasures. Even if the government pardoned him, Henry may still be greedy.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Prosecuting the Toppats]]
134	* The reason why the Government couldn't take down the Toppats in ''Airship'' is because they can't pin them to any crimes, and until either ''Pure Blooded Thief'' or the Missile fail in ''Rapidly Promoted Executive'', they haven't directly attacked the Government. By the time of ''Mission'', the Government is justified in trying to take down the Toppats in the ''RBH'' and ''GSPI'' paths, since they have evidence documenting their crimes, as well as in the ''PBT'' paths, because they engaged in direct conflict with the Government. However, how are they allowed to directly take on the Toppats in ''Toppat King'' or ''Toppat 4 Life''? Not only have they not gotten any evidence of their criminal records, but the Toppats haven't been shown to be taking on the Government directly. In fact, in ''TK'' and ''[=T4L=]'', they seem to be ''evading'' the Government, more than anything.
135	** Once they got to the point of being ready to launch the Orbital Space Station, the Government probably decided, "Fuck it. We'll deal with the red tape later; we need to take them down ''now''."
136	** Alternatively, in the case of ''Executive'' endings, they loopholed it by saying that they're still after the ''leader'' of the Toppats, who still has a criminal record at this point (''RPE'' is the only ''Airship'' ending where we know for a fact that Henry was not pardoned; ''PBT'' and ''GSPI'' are ambiguous). They can't target the Toppat Clan directly, but if the clan just so happens to get caught in the crossfire...
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Ruining the Economy]]
140	* So, this was probably a lack of foresight on Charles' part, but is the destruction of the Toppat Orbital Station in ''Valiant Hero'' necessarily a good thing? With the station exploding, it would imply that all of the stolen treasures onboard the station were destroyed with very little time for the evacuating members to extract them from the vault. At least in ''Jewel Baron'', Henry has the excuse about only caring for himself and the Norwegian Emerald, but with Charles, why would he opt for the most destructive route if it comes at the cost of priceless artifacts, arguably causing the economy to tank with the nullification of treasure worth? This action would likely put a hamper on trade investments and the stock market, which, yes, would serve as a lack of motivation for surviving Toppat members, but for average citizens, they would be suffering the same fate as what's left of the Toppat Clan.
141	** With the Toppat Clan hoarding the treasures on the space station, they're basically removed from the economy anyway (not like the Toppats are selling them or even leasing them out for a cut of tourist revenue). Not sure how their destruction changes that. Better to cut the losses and keep the Toppat Clan from making things worse. Even if you were right, it's Charles; thinking his Greatest Plan through isn't his style.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Identifying the Target]]
145	* In the end screen to ''Master Bounty Hunter'', Henry has five targets up for grabs. The two he's captured are Reginald and the Right Hand Man, and he has three roaming targets. The first being Gastro the Toilet Wizard, and the second presumably being Ellias Bahtchin of the CCC. However, there's a third target wearing an eyepatch that is currently unidentifiable. Who is this mystery target?
146	** It's probably Travis DeGroot.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Locating the Surgeon]]
150	* WordOfGod states that The Wall is located in Canada, and that the employees are primarily immigrants, with most of them being Russian. However, given that Dr. Vinchpinsilstien seems to be unaffiliated with The Wall, what's a Russian lady such as herself doing in the oceans of Canada?
151	** She may simply travel all around the world. Or she may know about the inmates' treatment in the Wall so she stays around it in case people gets thrown in the sea.
152	*** Her bio confirms that she does indeed travel the world. So she was just in the right place at the right time.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Pardoning the Pals]]
156	* The Pardoned Pals ending makes no sense. Why would Henry join Charles? He has no reason to, Reginald already said he and Ellie can join the Toppat Clan if they just give the Romanian Ruby. Is he so greedy he can't give up the Ruby?
157	** Maybe it was the less risky choice? Henry may think that the Toppats may betray him if he joins them on the spot after dealing with the government and giving them back the Ruby, even if the Toppats ends up ''not'' doing it if he and Ellie do join them. He didn't want to take the risk.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Recruiting the Copilot]]
161	* Winston Davis joins the Toppat Clan due to Henry framing him for attempted murder, but Puff has said every ending is canon. So, why did Winston join the Toppats despite Henry (except for the framing him) doing nothing wrong to him? Heck, he even glares at him.
162	** Maybe the whole incident cost his job despite not being arrested. Throwing the bag in the truck was his idea, after all.
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Reporting the Escapee]]
166	* So, during the File ending, Henry was clearly caught two times by the guards. Once by Rupert and Dave, and again when the guards in the elevator spotted Henry outside his cell. The second time is egregious since the guards should've raised the alarm the moment they saw Henry escape into the Janitor's office, so why didn't they?
167	** The Grenade fail implies that they chose to just wait outside the door, likely under the assumption that Henry couldn't stay in a broom closet forever and not anticipating an AirVentEscape. By the time they realized what happened (and the first two guards woke up), Henry could have been long gone. So yes, he was spotted, but those that spotted him have zero useful information to recapture him so it's moot.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Evaluating the Wall]]
171	* It's established early on into their introductions that Henry and Ellie are superhuman by nature, and that almost nobody else in this world is. ...That is, with the exception of The Wall. In ''Toppat Recruits'', they show multiple signs of being superhuman to the point of rivaling Henry & Ellie. They're first able to fend against Henry's Government, which while not being anything outstanding, is still a rather impressive feat. Then, Ivan Petroteva ''somehow'' manages to chase Henry and Ellie up the launch tower despite the fact that the helicopter that originally contained the Bukowski Twins knocked them several stories up the tower. Then, after Matteo Gurtchev shoots out the bridge and Henry survives in his typical superhuman fashion, Dmitri and Grigori are shown to have followed the two onto the rocket despite the bridge being shot out. Bonus points to Grigori for surviving being hit by a car and only coming out with a broken arm and a cast in time to follow Henry to the Dogobogo Jungle. To cap it all off, Henry and Ellie open fire at Dmitri and Grigori, and while Grigori [[KilledOffForReal dies for good]], Dmitri is able to ''survive being peppered with bullets'' and knock Ellie into a concussion. He only dies when Henry tosses him miles down out of the rocket. How does The Wall have this many crazy abilities at their disposal when they're normally shown to be average humans unlike the likes of Henry & Ellie?
172	** It's possible that everyone is more or less normal with the exception of them getting random temporary superpowers (with some exceptions). While Ivan has no excuse, Dmitri and Grigori have:
173	*** Dmitri and Grigori could have just jumped through the hole in the bridge or take a different way.
174	*** Henry's ''awful'' aiming could be the reason for Dmitri surviving.
175	[[/folder]]
176
177	[[folder:Identifying the Voice]]
178	* In both ''Special [=BROvert=] Ops'' and ''Little Nest Egg'', there's a whiny, scared voice alerting the higher-ups of the Toppat Clan about present dangers.
179	-->'''SBO:''' Uh, sir?! You might wanna get us outta here! We got the Government coming right now at our front door! ...Sir? Hello? At least open the locks and let us get to our weapons!
180	-->'''LNE 1:''' Mr. Macbeth! Passenger Car 3 has been smashed by a tank! We're under attack!
181	-->'''LNE 2:''' He got away! We can't follow him through the tunnel!
182	* Question is, who does this voice belong to? The only hint we have to go off of is that, if the voice can't follow Henry through the tunnel, then they have to be part of the caravan.
183	** Well, he's 100% not Burt Curtis, so that guy is off the list.
184	** Is it really important? There are hundreds of Toppat members so why this specific one should be this important?
185	** [[WordOfGod Confirmed by Puffballs]] in the second Henry Stickmin Developer Commentary to be Fred Worst.
186	[[/folder]]
187
188	[[folder:Using the Escape Pod]]
189	* So, the ''Jewel Baron'' ending reveals that the Toppat Leader has his own escape pod. However, in the ''Valiant Hero'' ending, Sven doesn't go in the escape pod, and instead takes a Luxury Escape Pod. Why?
190	** ''Jewel Baron'' has Reginald remain in his luxury room/escape pod for the entirety of the route, from beginning to end. However, ''Valiant Hero'' shows Sven still in the cockpit (the “Beam Aboard” fail has him point a gun at Henry) and not in that pod. It’s likely that when Charles pulled off his Greatest Plan, Sven travelled from the cockpit to the nearest escape pod - which happens to be the Luxury Escape Pod he’s in when Henry and Charles get there.
191	[[/folder]]
192
193	[[folder:Getting the Promotion]]
194	* In ''Airship'', Hubert Galeforce is captain. In ''Mission'', he is promoted to general, with his bio stating that he got the promotion thanks to raiding the Toppat Airship. That is all good and well in most pathways, but somehow he is also a general in the paths that follow the ''Rapidly Promoted Executive'' ending. In that pathway of ''Airship'', his mission against the Toppats was a complete failure, with Henry taking the offer to become the new leader, and the Toppats remaining at large. How come he was still promoted afterwards?
195	** As diverse as the storylines for ''Mission'' are, it'd be almost impossible to write the bio so that it'd be true in ''every'' timeline. Maybe we're just supposed to accept that the bio is only true for three out of four endings.
196	*** The problem with this notion, though, is that Charles flat-out refers to Galeforce as General in ''Toppat 4 Life'', indicating that the promotion actually went through.
197	*** Maybe in that specific timeline, he earned the Promotion for something else off-screen. Maybe a raid on a different sector of Toppats (The Airship is stated as being one specific divison of Toppats in the Government/Rescue path) that was more successful.
198	[[/folder]]
199
200	[[folder:Nuking the Chaos]]
201	* The Center for Chaos Containment are firmly established to be [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] trying to keep chaos from spreading by any means necessary, even through outright destruction. However, it seems like they don't know how to properly assess the means to contain chaos based on their level readings. At a chaos reading of 10.6, which is far above average, they mainly focus on trying to destroy the area that has chaos going on in it; nowhere else besides a single city if going for [[YouNukeEm the nuclear option]]. On the other hand, if they only detect ''minor'' chaos readings coming from an established government, there are a few special choices they can opt for. These include [[NuclearOption wiping out the government with a nuclear missile strike]], [[WorldOfSilence freezing the Earth into a permanent, non-chaotic stasis]], or best of all, ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt literally causing the end of the world]]'' ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask via crashing the moon into the planet]]''. Heck, based on the Dark Energy Bomb disc, it doesn't even seem like the CCC is all that concerned for their ''own'' safety. Are they just blind to rational judgement entirely?
202	[[/folder]]
203
204	[[folder:Shooting the Spacecraft]]
205	* How fast was Charles flying the government spacecraft for the Toppats to not shoot him down in time? Clearly faster than in the Drop Off fail, but judging it by speed alone, he looked like he was flying as fast as Henry was in ''Jewel Baron'', which still wasn't fast enough to avoid being shot unless using a Barrel[[note]]Aileron[[/note]] Roll or Mosquito Mode. Point being, Burt, WhyDontYouJustShootHim
206	** From the moment Reginald says "Well, just shoot it down." in the opening cutscene of ''Jewel Baron'', it takes Henry seven seconds minimum (assuming "Mosquito Mode" is picked as soon as it pops up) to impact the space station. From when Charles says "This calls for some bold action!" in ''Valiant Hero'', it takes him about four seconds to do the same. On top of this, if the opening cutscenes are accurate, Charles starts further away from the station than Henry was at that quoted moment. So yes, Charles was flying much faster than Henry so it's believable that Burt didn't have time to react.
207	[[/folder]]
208
209	[[folder:(Not) Fleeing the Airship]]
210	* After Henry had stapled Reginald to the airship, why did he even think for a ''second'' to stay on board? Not only did he stay and walk towards the central control panel, which wouldn't have served him anything, but he also forgot about the fact that the reason he made it onto the airship in the first place was by sprouting wings out of his new cybernetic spine. He could've just flown up and over the airship and watch it crash for a satisfying bout of revenge, rather than stay on board and get shot by Reginald, leading to his own death.
211	** Since he had no reasons to think Reginald had an hidden gun, he could afford himself to walk away like a badass for a few seconds before flying away with his wings before the airship crashes. He wanted Reginald to see him victorious a bit before Reginald loses everything he has.
212	[[/folder]]
213
214	[[folder:Disembarking the Rocket]]
215	* How the hell did Dmitri and Grigori go back to The Wall with Henry and Ellie in the "The Wall" FAIL at the end of the Thief/Allies route? The Toppat Orbital Station was literally gonna launch in, like, half a minute.
216	** Added egregiousness is formed when realizing that the bridge is also shot out.
217	** They asked Reginald to let them have Henry and Ellie and the time to leave the rocket, in exchange, the Wall wouldn't attack the Toppats. Reginald agreed because they already have to deal with the government. Or Reginald let them use an escape pod.
218	[[/folder]]
219
220	[[folder:Not Taking the Action]]
221	* What exactly constitutes Henry not doing anything during the second part of the hallway run in ''Complex'' as a fail? Not only is he out of the firing range of Thormund, as the bullets stop throughout the whole ordeal, but once he stops moving, Friedrich and Haroldt do ''literally nothing''. Henry could just start running again, and he'd likely have nothing to worry about.
222	** Friedrich and Haroldt were probably just momentarily stunned silent. They'd grab Henry or something once he tried to move past them.
223	** Not only does nothing stop the guards from grabbing Henry after the fail screen, but Henry is still cuffed which would make his escape almost impossible even if he managed to run past them.
224	[[/folder]]
225
226	[[folder:Breaching the Hull]]
227	* In TCW, how the hell does Henry, with only a helicopter-propelled hat, ''bust through two layers of metal and come out of it completely unharmed?''
228	** Cartoon physics. The game in general seems to flip-flop on realism based on RuleOfFunny.
229	[[/folder]]
230
231	[[folder:Appointing the Dragon]]
232	* Sven Svensson become the Toppat Leader in four endings, but who is his [[TheDragon Right Hand Man]]?
233	** He hasn't chosen one yet. He's still new to being the leader, and the rocket plan is a high-stress project; picking a right hand is probably a relatively low priority for him.
234	[[/folder]]
235
236	[[folder:Recovering the Headphones]]
237	* How were Charles' headphones recovered in ''Valiant Hero'' so that they were able to place them over his tombstone?
238	** They weren't; the headphones on the tombstone are a new pair.
239	[[/folder]]
240
241	[[folder:Meeting the Bear]]
242	* So in a FAIL for ''Complex'', Henry encounters Freddy Fazbear in a highly secure section of The Wall. What is this section? Maximum security? Guards' barracks?
243	** Perhaps Freddy is a guard here seeing as otherwise, he'd be in a prison cell.
244	[[/folder]]
245
246	[[folder:Overlooking the Hat]]
247	* In ''Just Plain Epic'', what was stopping Henry from stealing Dave's hat and blending in after he ran into the pillar? Both of the guards in the WWII exhibit were out cold, and there was nobody else around. Heck, if he's lucky, Henry could've been seen as Smith.
248	** Even if he did, there were two guards in the same room as the Diamond that would probably question where one of their own guards was going with it.
249	** Because they would recognize that Henry isn't one of the museum guards. Stick figures can tell themseves apart and there is much less museum employees than Wall employees, so seeing someone you never met before would be suspicious.
250	[[/folder]]
251
252	[[folder:Reaching the Launch Base]]
253	* At the beginning of the ''Toppat Civil Warfare'' path of ''Mission'', it's stated to be several days after ''Complex'', and the Toppat airship is still on the way to the secret launch base. However, on the ''Revenged'' path, which takes place mere hours after ''Complex'', the airship is almost at the base, despite the fact that they took a detour to pick up Henry from the Wall (likely ''away'' from the Toppat base, since the Wall is in Canada and the base is likely somewhere in South America). Exactly how was a detour like this faster? And, if it wasn't, what were the Toppats ''doing'' on the airship in ''Toppat Civil Warfare'' if they weren't heading for the launch base?
254	** Edging into WMG a bit, but the Wall is almost certainly on the shoreline, and the doctor's bio states she travels all over the world. Her ship could have been sailing south whule she was working on Henry and crossed paths with the Airship (which had to take some kind of detour back into the desert for unknown reasons if the TCW path is any indication, giving her time to catch up) 10 hours before Henry woke up. We just don't know how much time passed between her picking up Henry and Henry waking up, nor how close or far she was from the Toppat base whether she realized it or not. On top of that, we don't know how long it took Henry to catch up to the Airship once he took to the air.
255	[[/folder]]
256
257	[[folder:Identifying the Intruder]]
258	* In the ''Special [=BROvert=] Ops'' path of ''Mission'', Sven manages to identify Henry as the one who "arrested" the Airship division of the Toppat Clan. How could he have known this? In ''GSPI'', the only ones who could have identified Henry are Benjamin Bourseious and Matthew Norbert (both of whom were blasted off the ship, presumably to their deaths), as well as the Right Hand Man (who was arrested along with the rest of the airship's division). The news report states that the Government was tipped off by an anonymous source, so how could Sven possibly know Henry was responsible?
259	** The Government didn't attack arrest the Airship Division literal seconds after getting the evidence, as far as we know. It could have taken them hours, days or maybe even weeks, all of which are enough time for the Right Hand Man to alarm the rest of the clan.
260	[[/folder]]
261
262	[[folder:Determining the Timeline]]
263	* During the Spirit Forme sequence (''Mission'', Executive/Betrayed path), Reference punches the Right Hand Man into another timeline. The thing is, this other timeline doesn't seem to line up with any of the endings of ''Airship''. It's a timeline in which Henry never defeated the RHM, so Executive and Bounty are both out. However, the airship is visibly still flying, which contradicts ''Mission'''s descriptions of Government (Airship Impounded) and Thief (Airship Destroyed). What does that leave?
264	** Reference tells the Right Hand Man that this is a timeline where he never ''met'' Henry. Ergo, this is a timeline where Henry might not have been recruited to bring down the Toppat Clan at all. A timeline that was not in the game's storyline, at the very least.
265	** Could be a post-fail timeline where Henry never caught Galeforce's attention.
266	[[/folder]]
267	[[folder: Entering the Airship]]
268	In the very beginning of Executive/Ghost route, how the heck did Ellie burst unto Toppat airship, while Henry's vehicle was moving downwards to the roof?
269	[[/folder]]
270	[[folder:Not Shooting the Pals]]
271	* What exactly was it in the Thief/Allies route of ''Mission'' that was stopping Reginald, RHM, Dmitri and Grigori from just shooting Henry and Ellie as soon as Henry signaled for Charles's help? Dmitri and Grigori in particular had had their guns aimed right at the pair at the time.
272	** Reginald didn't seem like he had a gun at the time (Yeah, he and RHM do throw AK's to Henry and Ellie in Toppat Recruits but they might've grabbed those from an armory offscreen). Right Hand Man does have a pistol in that moment, but he was busy aiming it at Charles' helicopter and probably didn't notice Henry signaling for Charles. As for Dmitri and Grigori, I can't honestly make a case for them. Maybe they wanted to grab the duo alive and refrained from shooting, or their escape was that fast and they couldn't shoot them in time.
273	[[/folder]]
274	[[folder:(Not) Starting The Civil War]]
275	* Alternatively, Why Ellie shouldn't join the government to get revenge on Henry in the Executive/Ghost route? She instead, when trying to hunting down the bad leader, appears to be willing to join the Toppat Clan (and eventually becomes their leader).
276	** As said before in the Fridge section, Ellie says that she knows about the Toppat Clan during the credits of ''Pardoned Pals'' as well as the beginning of the ''Capital Gains''. '''Only''' the Toppat Clan, not the Government. The only routes where she did join them are the start of ''Triple Threat'' and one of the two endings in Thief/Allies, with the former Henry, being a government agent, has a new loyal ally which is enough for the government [[MoralityChain to allow her]].
277	** It wouldn't really make sense for Ellie to contact the government and say "I was locked up at the Wall, a prisoner escaped and abandoned me. Can you guys help get revenge?" Especially since Ellie herself is on the government watchlist.
278	[[/folder]]
279	[[folder:Using the (Sitckmin) PAWNCH]]
280	* If the Stickmin Punch can be only used in Henry, why does Ellie also do this? It's that some sort of ShipTease?
281	** It could be that Ellie is on Henry's level of power, if not above it. In the Undetected way of ''Diamond'', Henry can try to use the Falcon Punch on the rooftop guard, only to fail. I admittedly don't know much about Captain Falcon but I think he would be a lot more powerful than Henry for the latter to mimick his move. Ellie on the other hand, is a stick person like Henry and potentially more powerful than him, so she would able to mimick the Stickmin Punch.
282	[[/folder]]
283	[[folder:Beginning the Civil War]]
284	* Who started the civil war around Toppats? Henry or Ellie?
285	** Due to the route ending on a {{cliffhanger}}, there is no way to be definitely sure, but thinking about it, it's mostly likely a revenge driven Ellie. With a small group, it wouldn't be in Henry's interest to start a civil war until after he gets some resources, meanwhile Ellie has the entire Toppat Clan under her command now. But then again, looking at the last failure options in TCW, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think Henry wouldn't try something first...
286	[[/folder]]
287	[[folder:Maintaining The Reputation]]
288	* So we all know Dmitri exemplifies the WardensAreEvil trope to scary degrees. My question is, how would he be able to maintain the [[VillainWithGoodPublicity good public image]] he claimed to have lost in Toppat Recruits for all the five decades he's been in charge? The Wall has a LOT of employees who could've been whistleblowers and exposed his illegal actions and the horrible state of the work environment. And then there's the Canadian government. Did they really never bother to check in with the complex once, just to make sure everything runs smoothly?
289	[[/folder]]

Context Headscratchers / HenryStickminSeries