WMG / Twisted Metal

Calypso's real name is William Sparks.

This is practically fanon. His daughter's name is Krista Sparks, suggesting Sparks to be his surname. And in Twisted Metal: Small Brawl, the character is named Billy Calypso.

The Black Box in the first game involved Quatro.

The alien ship that shot down an airplane was a bounty Quatro was after. Commander Mason works at Area 51 (one of the levels in Twisted Metal III), which have connections to the Galactic Center.

The timeline

Despite certain games considered Canon Discontinuity, here's how all the games can fit (with a few alterations):

~1900s: A circus-type caravan called "High Octane" travels across the country, spreading destruction everywhere.

~1971: During the Vietnam War, a soldier and his squadmate Benny were taken captive. The soldier was forced to eat the deceased Benny. This event drives him insane over the next few years before he dies and becomes the Grim Reaper, aka Mr. Grimm.

~1985: A young boy named Marcus Kane finds himself amazed by the High Octane contest. He steals an ice cream truck and runs off in its pursuit. Though he'd later abandon this pursuit and become a family man and ice cream seller using the same truck, the experience would always stay with him, causing a boredom with his life which would grow into the split personality Needles and even drive him into a mental ward.

~1993: A man named William Sparks, his wife, and daughter Krista died in a terrible car crash.
~William made a deal with Mr. Ash to come back to life in exchange for souls.
~He also obtained powers to offer wishes from Minion (as a result of a deal or by trickery).
~His newfound power and his resurrection manifested into or attracted Mr. Ash's demon known as "Black", which inhabits his prized possession - a ring.

~1995: William re-emerged and changed his name to Calypso.
~He came across the High Octane traveling circus. He took over and renamed it the Twisted Metal tournament. He placed the Arena in Los Angeles.
~The 1st ever Twisted Metal competition takes place.
~Bruce Cochrane is searching for a way to make his South Central neighborhood safe.

~1996: The 2nd annual competition.

~1997: The 3rd annual competition.

~1998: The 4th annual competition.

~1999: The 5th annual competition.

~2000: The 6th annual competition.
~Needles Kane escapes from the mental ward after finally getting Marcus to make the clown mask and taking over his mind, then kills Marcus's wife and youngest son (daughter Sophie got away, Needles didn't see eldest son Charlie) and becomes a serial killer called Sweet Tooth. Among his victims shortly after was a man named Scott Campbell at a local circus, who became a wandering spirit.
~Three days later, Scott's wife gives birth to a baby girl.
~Sweet Tooth starts searching for his friend from the mental ward, Crazy Harold the Wacky Lunch Sack.

~2000/2001: The "Jungle Wars of South America".

~2001: The 7th annual competition.

~2002: The 8th annual competition.

~2003: The 9th annual competition.

~2004: The 10th annual competition. Minion is the winner.

~2005: The 11th annual Twisted Metal competition. The event where the first game takes place.
~Agent Amanda X was hired by the people of L.A. to take down Calypso.
~Sweet Tooth's split personality Marcus Kane steals the abandoned Roadkill, and plans to enter the next competition.
~Marcus Kane's father, the original Charlie Kane, ends up as Calypso's slave and becomes Dark Tooth.
~Sweet Tooth eventually runs into a rejected preacher named Jebediah who is somehow able to curse him with his iconic flaming hair.

~2006: The 12th annual competition. Twisted Metal 2 takes place.

~2007: The "Great Earthquake of 2007".

~2008: Twisted Metal III takes place.

~???: Sweet Tooth leads a coup of midget clowns to overthrow Calypso and takes over the tournament. Twisted Metal 4 takes place.
~Calypso and Sweet Tooth fight over the ring, and end up releasing the souls and trapping them inside as they fight for control.
~A boy named Billy found the ring, and holds his own little "tournament". Twisted Metal: Small Brawl (more or less).
~Calypso and Sweet Tooth are eventually freed from the ring.

~???: Warhawk captures Sweet Tooth in the city of Midtown. He is sent to Blackfield Asylum nearby, which is where Calypso comes across and holds a new tournament. Twisted Metal: Black takes place.
~Jebediah the Preacher enters the tournament. He ends up in a coma after trying to commit suicide before it's over.

~???: Twisted Metal: Head-On takes place.

~???: The Grim Reaper finally catches up to William "Calypso" Sparks and destroys him. His hunger sated by this, he leaves Mr. Grimm behind for good to go about his duty. Daniel Grimm, leader of the Skulls gang, later finds the Reaper's motorcycle and takes it for himself.
~Mr. Ash likes William's work with Twisted Metal, though, so he decides to take over the Calypso name and image, and forms a major manufacturing company as a front to conceal the game from anyone he doesn't want knowing about it.
~Sweet Tooth's focus goes back to finding and killing Sophie Kane, "the one that got away".
~Ash!Calypso manipulates a psychotic model who shares William's daughter's name into becoming the new Dollface, then hosts a new tournament. Meanwhile, the Preacher's awake again and somehow knows who he is. PS3's Twisted Metal takes place.

• (NOTE: this WMG was modified by a different troper than its originator to incorporate the 2012 version.)

Another Potential Timeline for the Twisted Metal Franchise

Note: Just like the above Timeline, this will attempt to put the games in a linear order, but will have some differing points, as well as have more general, concise points:

~Circa-1900s: A traveling circus/demolition derby called "High Octane", run by an enigmatic man named "Calypso"^note this isn't THE William Sparks Calypso... at least, not yet, traveled from town-to-town, allowing prospecting contestants to compete in a vehicular Blood Sport to claim one wish. When High Octane travelled to one town in particular, a young boy named Needles Kane^note this isn't THE "Marcus Kane = Needles Kane"... at least, not yet was enthralled by the destructive circus, and ran away to follow it wherever it went.

~Circa-1930s-1940s: Finally getting old enough to drive, Needles Kane hijacks an ice cream truck, and uses it to enter one of the High Octane contests. After winning the contest, Needles presented himself before Calypso, and asked for his prize: namely, that he'd be the "star" of the High Octane competition. Calypso granted this wish, but there's a little catch: while Needles would be able to compete in the High Octane competition as a "star", his entire bloodline would be cursed with his bloodlust and dementia, and would be forever damned to become murderers who eventually join the High Octane competition. Naturally, Needles being Needles, he had NO problem with that whatsoever.

~1970s-early 1990s: Fast-forward decades later, and the latest line of the Kane family, Marcus Kane, would be born in Alabama in 1974. He would eventually grow up to be a family man, but the spirit of the original Needles Kane would haunt him, eventually performing a Split-Personality Takeover that got him committed to the psyche ward (yes, I'm basically implying Marcus Kane is basically the Identical Grandson to Needles Kane. What? It's not like Twisted Metal isn't Mind Screw-ey anyways...)

~1993: A man named William Sparks, his wife, and daughter Krista died in a terrible car crash (which may or may not have been William committing suicide after suffering bouts of depression over his dead sister). Although it's not exactly known what happened to his wife and daughter at the time, William went straight to hell, and spent two full years trapped down there.

~1995: William eventually encountered Minion, the real manager of the High Octane competition (with "Calypso" merely being his human form's pseudonym). Minion, in his arrogance, accepted a little challenge from William: if he could outdrive him in a race, William wouldn't just get out of hell free, but would also obtain Minion's powers to offer wishes. Beating all odds, William outdrove Minion, and claimed Minion's powers from his own.
~William also made a deal with Satan to come back to life in exchange for souls from running Minion's High Octane competition, sending both the losing drivers and killed bystanders alike straight to hell. This newfound power attracted Satan's most powerful demon, known only as "Black", to Calypso's side, which manifest's itself as his prized possession - a ring.
~William re-emerged from Hell adopted Minion's former pseudonym of Calypso, and took over the High Octane traveling circus, renaming it as the Twisted Metal Tournament. He placed the Arena for the competition in Los Angeles, and holds the first annual Twisted Metal Tournament there.

~1996-2004: The Twisted Metal competition was held on an annual basis in L.A., steadily becoming more ambitious and destructive in its scale. Local law enforcement, the military, and even mercenaries and hitman are called upon to stop the tournament and Calypso, but all to no avail. In the 10th annual competition, Minion is the winner (although whatever wish he had is not known, it was likely meant to be only the first step to getting revenge on Calypso for stealing away his tournament).

~2005: The 11th annual Twisted Metal competition is held, and the events of the original Twisted Metal game occur here.
~Both Satan and The Grim Reaper (under the pseudonyms Mr. Ash and Mr. Grimm) both compete to lay claim to Black, and Calypso's soul, respectively. However, both of them fail to do so, and Mr. Ash may indeed have been outright killed in the attempt (or at least, he never competes again).
~Captain Carl "Buzz" Roberts, an LAPD officer wanting to end Twisted Metal, wins the tournament, and wishes for a world without Twisted Metal. Calypso being Calypso, he "grants" the wish by launching Carl and his patrol car into outer space.
~In the contest, both Marcus "Needles" Kane and his father, Charlie Kane, would be "killed" in the tournament, but thanks to the original curse placed on the Kane family, neither of them "stays" dead - Needles Kane would manifest as a Literal Split Personality from Marcus Kane, leaving Marcus "free" from Needles, but utterly confused and baffled at the world around him. Convinced the events of the series were All Just a Dream, he steals the abandoned Roadkill, and plans to enter the next competition to free himself. Charlie Kane, meanwhile, would be recognized for his raw driving potential by Calypso, and ends up as his personal slave, being given the "Dark Tooth" vehicle to compete next year.
~The other confirmed "survivors" of the 11th Twisted Metal include Bruce Cochrane, Mr. Grimm (not that he could've been killed to begin with), and possibly Jeff and Mike (assuming the "Mike" from Mike and Stu isn't the same guy).

~2006: The 12th annual competition is held, this time on an international scale after the last Twisted Metal Tournament completely obliterated Los Angeles. Twisted Metal 2 takes place here.
~The LAPD dig up the remains of Krista Sparks, and piece what's left of them into a machine designed to detonate and kill Calypso after she won the contest. However, this plan becomes moot when Krista is defeated and killed (again) during the competition.
~Captain Jamie Roberts, who joined the competition to find her missing brother, wins the competition, and wishes to be with her brother again. Like the first time, Calypso abuses the wording to launch Jamie into outer space too, but since Jamie was more savvy, she had her squad car outfitted with rocket boosters to navigate her car back to Earth after saving Carl.
~The other "survivors" of the 12th annual contest are Marcus Kane (although possibly suffering brain damage, given his new motivation with Twisted Metal 3), Bruce Cochrane, Mr. Grimm (again), Captain Rogers (who simply elected to graft his head onto a 20-year old body that was, uh... "donated" to him), and Axel, although the last one had both his arms and legs blown off when his vehicle was destroyed... Thankfully, somebody fixed them up, and even covered up the artificial limbs with a human skin-like covering.

~2007: The thirteenth annual Twisted Metal Tournament is held (fittingly, as out-of-universe, this is where the series goes downhill) Twisted Metal III takes place.
~Needles "Sweet Tooth" Kane wins this competition (and this time, it seems like NOBODY ELSE survived and even Mr. Grimm was so badly mangled by Sweet Tooth that he deluded himself to be A Pirate 400 Years Too Late). This time (instead of the stupid-ass "I want to eat all the candy and ice cream I want" ending from Twisted Metal III), Sweet Tooth wished to rule Twisted Metal, and made good on this wish by leading a coup against Calypso with a pack of midget clowns. Calypso was tossed out of his office window, Sweet Tooth claimed the Ring of Power with Black's powers still inside of it, and officially took control of the Twisted Metal competition.

~2008: The fourteenth annual Twisted Metal Tournament is held, and Twisted Metal 4 takes place.
~Calypso wins the competition, and demands to take control of his demon, Black (through the Ring of Power he had manifested in) and the Twisted Metal competition. When Sweet Tooth and his clowns refuse, Calypso fights them over the ring, and in the process, they end up releasing the souls from the ring, blasting Needles, Calypso, Black and even Marcus Kane into the Twisted Metal: Black universe (with Marcus' assumptions that Black takes place in Needle's head being only sort of right, as it was the black imaginations of both Needles and Calypso that lead to the creation of the "Black" universe.
~Back in the "real world", a boy named Billy found the ring, and holds his own little "tournament": Twisted Metal: Small Brawl (more or less).
~In the Twisted Metal: Black universe, Needles, Calypso, and Black had all lost memories of the "real world", with only Marcus holding an inkling of what really happened. Eventually, Marcus "Minion" Kane wins the Twisted Metal competition (or at least manipulates events so the contest winner would fulfill his wish), and takes himself, Needles, Calypso and Black back to the main timeline, and in doing so slams a giant Reset Button back on Twisted Metal 2 , leading to the events of Twisted Metal: Head-On.
~As an aside, the aforementioned Reset Button also leads to the Twisted Metal 2012-reboot verse, with the Black Needles taking over the Reboot Marcus.

~Alt!2007: The other thirteenth annual Twisted Metal Tournament commences, and Twisted Metal: Head-On takes place.
~Like last time, Jamie won the prior competition. Only Mr. Grimm, Marcus Kane and Axel return from Twisted Metal 2, with the others presumably being killed by the Reset Button, (although Mr. Slam and Krista Sparks Came Back Wrong as PhysicalGhosts).
~It is unknown who "wins" this competition, but during the competition, Marcus and Needles Kane "meet" each other again, and perform a Split-Personality Merge with each other, before claiming control of the vehicle only known as "Tower Tooth".

~PS3 Reboot!Timeline: The events of the 2012 Twisted Metal game take place - presumably takes place over the course of three years, with each of the three contestants fulfilling their storylines in chronological order.
~The Marcus Kane of the Reboot timeline is convinced to carve "Needles" Kane in the form of a mask, and when he does so, Needles performs a Split-Personality Takeover on Marcus - he then proceeds to butchers Marcus' wife and youngest son, with only his daughter, Sophie Kane, escaping. Either because Needles was so blinded with revenge against Sophie, or because he wanted another "heir" for his work, he left Marcus' eldest son, Charlie Kane, alive. Over the years, Needles would hunt for Sophie Kane, until he competed and won the first Twisted Metal Tournament hosted in the 2012 game. Demanding Calypso send him to Sophie now, Calypso does so - but reveals that Sophie had committed suicide sometime ten years ago, and as a result, Needles would be Buried Alive with her rotted corpse. Needles would spend his final moments angrily screaming empty threats at Calypso.
~1 Year After Needle's Story: After his top lieutenants, The Brothers Grimm, were murdered by Needles Kane, Daniel Grimm competed in the Twisted Metal competition one year after Needles Kane. He ultimately triumphs, although this version of Dollface (either a person who just HAPPENED to have the name of Calypso's daughter, or was some sort of Split-Personality Merge between Main!Krista and Black!Dollface that had Gone Horribly Wrong for both of them) survived plummeting into Devil's Canyon after Grimm destroyed the Iron Maiden. Daniel Grimm gets sent back before his father is killed attempting a stunt, but only results in killing his father in a car accident when he shows up in the back of the truck, and ends up with Future!Grimm fighting with his father over control of the truck before crashing. While both Past!Grimm and Future!Grimm survive, Past!Grimm grabs his father's revolver, and shoots Future!Grimm dead, not knowing it would be his future self.
~1 Year After Mr. Grimm's Story: After barely surviving the last tournament, Krista "Dollface" Sparks competed in the next Twisted Metal competition, which culminates in her destroying Sweet Tooth's Carnival of Carnage (which Needles' followers, The Clowns, created after Needles was killed by Calypso.) Believing that she would only go back to the start of her career if she took the mask off, Dollface wishes to star on the biggest runway and winds up on the biggest airport runway instead, getting her lower half crushed under a commercial jet's landing gear.
~Some Time After Dollface's Story: A short while after Dollface won Twisted Metal, Charlie Kane goes out to his sister's/father's grave, and digs up Needles Kane's mask. Taking up Sweet Tooth's mantle, Charlie Kane vows to use next Twisted Metal to claim revenge on Calypso, and sped off. However, shortly after he left, Calypso takes himself over to the grave, and resurrected Sophie Kane as his latest minion, giving her an altered version of Dollface's mask. It's unknown what'll happen now, but with both of the Kane children in play (and likely at each other's throats), it WILL end with blood...

The Saints will be guest characters in a future installment.

Come on, don't act like you can't see this happening. They're no stranger to driving cars, murdering innocent people, and leaving unspeakable amounts of destruction in their wake. Only dilemma is: what would they wish for?

Marcus Kane will come back as Minion.

He would make a Deal with the Devil to get revenge on Calypso for tricking him. Also, it would make for an interesting Mythology Gag from Twisted Metal: Black.

A central theme of a sequel to the 2012 installment will be a battle for Sweet Tooth's legacy, culminating in a battle between the Kane children.

The Sequel Hook in the ending is likely leading up to some confrontation.

The two boys that drowned Raven's friend are the Twisted Metal: Black version of Mike & Stu.

Two idiot kids who drowned a girl for no good reason, it seems to fit the profile.

• Probably jossed, as they "star" in this promotional webisode for TM Black. Not only do they look different from the two guys who drowned Kelly (although they're definitely Jerkasses for hijacking their current ride from somebody), but atop of that, they get themselves killed by trying to jack Mr. Grimm's motorcycle, and end up on the losing end of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from him.

Why you see the same opponents you just killed in the next match.

Calypso resurrects them and regenerates their car to keep the tournament going, and only after the victor has won all the matches do the other competitors stay dead.

• That, or Gameplay and Story Segregation: the Reboot in particular HandWaves the other drivers away as being merely Mooks for their gang leaders, which are the real contestants.

Calypso is Discord.

Hey, it's WMG. Doesn't make sense? Nothing makes sense with him. Check here.

TM 2012 Calypso can cross through the other canons as a power, assuming they're not just his illusions altogether.

Everything about Twisted Metal 2012 Calypso implies he's the Devil. The Preacher believes he has the ability to manipulate time. And most of his trophies are items from earlier games, despite most of the games being very shaky on continuity with each other and especially with his game. Not to mention the Blades of Chaos from God of War and the cover of War of the Monsters which don't even take place in the same universe.

In the reboot, being trapped in Calypso's painting was part of the Preacher's plan all along

As something of a bonus in the game, we see Preacher Jebediah in a few cutscenes, claiming he will stop Calypso. He later ends up trapped in the painting alongside a horde of people. At first it looks like he just got defeated by Calpyso, like everybody else. But pay attention to his speech earlier in the game: "[...] I will wake the suffering from their slumber of fear! And once awaken, we shall rise on this very night and tear down your tower OF SIN!". Being trapped there was his plan all along, so he could create an uprising from within the prison to free the people trapped in there.

• Let's hope Calypso doesn't figure that out.

The second game of the rebooted series will either start or culminate in a breakout from Calypso's painting prison.

Sure, the painting is basically Hell, and Calypso himself is basically the reboot universe's version of Satan, but (assuming the painting holds the souls of those who were killed in the Twisted Metal tournament) with Needles Kane, Mr. Grimm, Dollface and Preacher inside of it? Come on, a breakout is just begging to happen with those kind of inmates inside of the asylum. Assuming the painting prison takes cues Blackfield Penitentiary from Twisted Metal: Black, this can even happen with Reboot!Mr. Grimm and Reboot!Dollface double-teaming with their Black counterparts - come on, who wouldn't want to see a driver/gunner team of a Dreadlock Biker and a Cannibal Shell-Shocked Veteran from The Vietnam War, or an Ax-Crazy, It's All About Me Action Fashionista with a Nice Girl In Black who's still willing to Pay Evil unto Evil? Together, They Fight Calypso!

In Twisted Metal 2, Mortimer is the son of the Teacher from Pink Floyd's The Wall.

And Calypso is actually Eddie the Head from Iron Maiden!!! I Can't resist!!! Plus, Minion is Snaggletooth from Motorhead!!!

The radio talk show host in the reboot is actually Calypso himself (or one of his minions).

The female hostage in Sweet Tooth's live-action ending for the first game was an ice cream lady who originally drove the truck.

Gene Ruttish is Boomhauer from King of the Hill.

He learned how to control his powers and moved to Arlen to start a new life.

Twisted Metal and Five Nights at Freddy's take place in the same universe.

The Colour scheme of Twisted Metal: Black and Five Nights at Freddy's are similar to each other. The same Brown, Black, Gray and Orange colour scheme that was seen in Black. World's most famous family pizza place is apparently not the strangest wish Calypso would have granted. Not to mention Twisted Metal 3 and 4 have very similar graphics to FNAF in their endings. Plus Sweet Tooth murders children, it is entirely possible he was the murderer. His Ice Cream Truck may have also been a former truck that was owned by the Pizzeria.

If they ever make a live-action movie...

• It'll be called Twisted Metal: High Octane.
• Captain Spears will be The Hero.
  • Doubtful, since Carl Roberts is deemed the canonical winner of the first Twisted Metal (since the plot of Jamie Roberts is set with finding him again), and Captain Spears ending has him die in the crossfire of a battle when he tries to save his old squad. The best Captain Spears can be is the Deuteragonist, or a Hero Antagonist who's forced to fight Carl during the contest.

Calypso is the youngest of three brothers, the elders being Mr. Roarke from Fantasy Island and Willy Wonka

Whimsical tricksters who tempt you with your heart's desire... yet their gifts always come at a cost, often a disturbing cost. Calypso, being the "edgiest", is probably youngest.

Sweet Tooth will return in the reboot sequel as an evil spirit or demon.

He doesn't care if Calypso is the Devil, no one screws Sweet Tooth.

Bloody Mary was cursed to never find love by someone even more powerful than Calypso.

Bloody Mary is the only instance where Calypso outright fails to grant someone a wish. He doesn't grant it to her straight. He doesn't twist it into something horrible. He doesn't refuse to grant it. He just fails and it's never explained why.

All we know that Calypso's powers are somehow demonic and there are demons more powerful than him. Perhaps one of them intervened.

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