The "multiple endings" in R-Type Final are actually distributed bits of a single story.
The endings all occur, in the order of Ending C -> Ending A -> Ending B, where Ending C is an attempt at reaching the Bydo source before it can evolve to become so damn insidious (which ends at stage 6.0, prelude to Ending A), and Ending A's tumble into the Bydo abyss ends at stage 6.1 (the prelude to Ending B).
The player's Bydo-fied ship is then stored for research, and eventually used as the template for this new bioweapon that couldn't possibly turn out the way it did in the timeline the Bydo came from... The Darius series takes place in the far future of the R-Type Universe.
Notice how, in the Bydo Dimension, the couple seem to become a fish midway into the level. This is symbolic of the ultimate in Bydo evolution. While they seemed to be dead, in truth the Bydo were simply biding their time, as usual, and evolving further. And when they returned...
WARNING a huge battle ship is approaching fast! You systems become weaker after being infected by the bydo.
Considering that you
killed the last bydo as well, its source of hatred is not strong enough to destroy ships in one hit. Rather, it uses the
Hot-Blooded determination to prolong the newly christened ship.
The Bydo are the real heroes, and they're doing everything in their power to prevent their own creation.
While, for the most part, we view R-Type from the perspective of a pilot giving his life to protect humanity, there's lots of material to suggest that humanity in R-Type is the biggest bunch of jerks in the universe. When the Bydo aren't around, we get busy slaughtering each other wholesale, and ultimately we create the Bydo, which are about as bad as every sci fi nightmare species combined and THEN some, because just being able to blow up planets wasn't enough for us anymore. We do this for the sake of efficiently committing genocide against our enemies. It's heavily suggested that the Bydo were created by perverting and corrupting human DNA to the absolute maximum until we'd stripped out the humanity and left it only able to expand and consume and hate. We consigned them to another dimension, and they did the only thing they could do: They converted everything to Bydo. We don't even know what was in that dimension before, but it sure isn't there now. It's the most extreme form of dumping toxic waste in the wilderness possible.
So when the Bydo finally break out, they come after us in a time period before we created them. We don't really know how time travel works in this universe, but as of R-Type final, it's at least assumed that making changes to the timeline will affect this timeline, so if the Bydo care about their own existence at all, what they're doing doesn't make sense. Furthermore, they know the future, and they still throw everything they have at you to keep you from getting there, where your force unit becomes the basis for their existence.
Then there's the imagery; remember, the Bydo define every aspect of Bydo space, so what we see there is all displayed intentionally. In the final level of Delta, the Bydo bombard us with images of human progress, the ultimate result being an organic area comprised of more obvious Bydo forms. The "standard" final level of Final has them showing us two humans having sex at different angles. I think all of this imagery is an attempt to communicate with us exactly what they are, and possibly a warning or a plea.
Nothing about their existence seems pleasant. They're like a cancer that can't stop growing aimlessly and metastasizing. It's suggested that they have an instinct for destruction, but that doesn't mean they aren't intelligent (they eat human thoughts, after all). I think they hate themselves as much as they hate us, and are desperately trying to commit suicide the only way they can - by preventing their own creation. We just keep stopping them, and continuing to be destructive, genocidal jerks all on our own.
The reason the Bydo where considered a viable weapon in the future where cause of a
Evil Versus Oblivion scenario.
The R-13 in 'Delta' was doomed because a combination of high bydo energy in its force and how its wave cannon deviated so severely from the norm
It appears to be made so heavily with combat that finer considerations were ignored, like the Lightning Wave cannon while having a tracking ability, suffers in overall stopping power and the modifications weakened its ability to attack both physical and wave spaces. Thus when the time came to break through the barrier separating the Bydo space from normal space, it failed. While the Hidden Pow Armor's force likely had a higher Bydo energy, its wave cannon largely functioned the same as the R-9's.
Notice how
pure stage 6.2 is compared to any other Bydo-held location. It's all made of bright, clear wireframes, right down to the enemies. Meanwhile the two Gridlock units fought at the end don't actively attack you, opting to
spawn lesser enemies instead. Their Bydo Lab entry also notes that creation of new Bydo life is what they're designed for. It's also noted that Dimension 26 is more than your average Hyperspace: it seems to allow one to travel across times and dimensions as well. Thus, it's entirely possible for 6.2 to be the
Phantom Zone the first Bydo were sealed in, with the player attempting to destroy them before they could become the
Eldritch Abomination Horde of Alien Locusts we see in other games.
As for why F-C takes place in an area similar to Dimension 26 and leaves the player with only one life, it could be their attempt to outrun the resulting Grandfather Paradox and take shelter in the 26th century. And the Bydo you fight on the way? They're enraged by what you've just done, and are trying to make sure you perish along with them.
The Alien/Other Civilization seen in Tactics II are a benevolent (or at least neutral) faction
Throughout the Bydo Chapter the Admiral says on multiple occasions that the alien fleets they came across are hostile towards them. They are given descriptions such as "They show clear aggression towards us", "Earth needs to be warned that there is such an aggressive civilization" and "No intention to interact with us. Such a divergent alien civilization...I wonder if it is even possible to communicate with them." Now going off these flattering comments on the species, it would seem they are a evil race who only wish to conquer and destroy. Right?
Well, there's a problem with that theory. We need to keep in mind who, or rather what is talking here. Later in the game, the Bydo Armada finally manages to return to the Solar System...and ends up perceiving humanity as nothing more then another hostile alien race. Clearly an adverse effect of Bydofication. So if they see their own species as this, who's to say they weren't delusional in their views on the Other Civilization as well? After destroying the fleet protecting their homeworld, the Admrial comments that there is no longer any hostile intent and that they were tricked into invading. Earlier on, you also come across an ruined city overrun by Bydo. It's a possibility that it was once a colony of the Aliens that was lost. So it's likely they are only defending themselves from the Bydo onslaught (which you yourself fight against at certain points).
Another point to bring us is that the Other Civilization's ships look like quite human like in design. Of course it's obvious they're alien craft, but they share enough similarities for there to be a connection. Humanity tried to communicate with the Bydo and they never responded. The Bydo didn't see them as humans. It seems to be a similar case with the Bydo and the Other Civilization. Who's to say that Man and Alienkind won't get along if they actually met down the line.
Ok, the abundant use of Force Devices and B-Series Fighters after Final might rub the Xeno's the wrong way. Let's try again with the GZRA perhaps...
The Solar Envoy is the original 26th century starbase from which the Bydo were created
The
Solar Envoy
, are described as "entirely different to anything encountered by the Human race," and implied to be capable of mass-producing recycled organic and inorganic matter to build new weapons. Weapons that also happen to be Bydo.
It's possible, then, that the Envoy is none other than ground zero, from which the Bydo Empire would emerge. The reason why it and the mechanized insectoid Envoy Guards protecting it are simply classified as "Phenomena" are due to mankind never actually encountering 26th century human technology other than whatever the Bydo had appropriated.
On the flipside, the Solar Envoy was built by whatever 26th Humanity was at war with and is just experimenting on the Bydo
Would explain why it looks so different to anything we've fought before, being perfectly angular and flat. Verdict's still out if it came back from the future or if it's native to the 22nd century. But in the official material (such as Illegal Mission), the Bydo were said to be stored in a structure similar in size and shape to the Moon. While the Envoy might be huge, it's probably not that big...and the opposite of round.The whole "entirely different to anything encountered by the human race" part could just as easily mean they're actual aliens.
