Which Theory Still Holds Up?

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Introduction

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The November Smash Direct gave us a lot to talk about. New characters, DLC predictions, and the new Spirits mode. But the most interesting thing to come up is the World of Light Adventure Mode, and how everyone thinks it will play out.

As I see it, the best way to predict the future is to study the past. By that, I mean looking at the stories of the previous games to ask one simple question. How will Ultimate add to the lore of the Super Smash Bros series?

But instead of coming up with a brand new idea, I've decided to look at two prominent theories to see which one holds up best with the new trailer, and what could be added to them to strengthen their arguments. That sounds like a lot of work, but really it's just summarizing what's already been explained. The only real nuance is the Ultimate section. I guess most content on the internet is just restating preexisting ideas, so I guess this isn't anything new (ironically).

A refresher for people who haven't seen the trailer a thousand times already

Lastly, let's run a second vote for which video theory has the strongest clickbait thumbnail.

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Background / Generally Agreed Apon

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Before I talk about each theory, it's probably better to go over some general knowledge that are the roots to both theories.

The first thing to take note of is that the fighters in the game are toys (or trophies depending on the game), that come to life through the power of imagination. This fact immediately makes anyone attempting to stitch a coherent story between the games to read between the lines, and think more philosophically about the games. From this point onward, nothing is black and white.

The next thing that both theories will focus heavily on is the behavior of both Master Hand and Crazy Hand. When taking the idea of the characters being trophies into consideration, it's not very hard to believe the Bosses are the hands of whoever is playing with them.

These to ideas serve the purpose of determining who the story is about, and what is happening in their mind and in the real world. The only problem with this line of thinking is that it's very open to interpretation. So dispite the following theories being rooted in the same facts, they take them in drastically different directions.

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Theory 1

Smash is About Living with Autism

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This theory was proposed by Lockstin on his YouTube channel, Gnoggin, on November 27th, 2014. I won't be covering every detail of it, so I heavily suggest watching it to hear a more in depth explanation than what I'm about to give.

But for those of you who'd rather not watch a 30 minute video to read a 5 minute blog, here's the important details (Spark Notes).

Smash 64 is the start of a young boy's obsession with Video Games (specifically Nintendo). Durring play time, he can only have the dolls do things that would be in their character to do. And he uses his right hand as the final boss instead of imagining a brand new character. This is all explained by various traits that can be seen in people who have this condition.

The boy grows up a bit for Melee, trading in the dolls for action figures. This would also mark the first appearance of Crazy Hand. Crazy hand is explained to be the personification of asperger's, which can create the feeling to always keep some part of their body moving. The boy just so happens to do so with his left hand.

Brawl's Subspace Emissary is mostly about the pressures to fit in, with Taboo being the personification of bullying from the people who are trying to help him by controlling him.

That left Smash 4, specifically Master Core, to be his fight with depression, with each form it takes being a representation of each stage.

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Believability at the Time

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The best way to describe the theory was believably unrealistic. Believable because everything made sense in context and there were little to no obvious holes. It's just easy to doubt that was the intentions of Nintendo and the entire development team. It's just a very neat coincidence.

But the reason this one stuck out to me the most was because of how much work as a creator went into it, and how much I, as the audience, was able to learn from it. It gave us a lot about the game and real life reflect on. Are character cuts (besides 3rd party characters) apart of the lore, or was it a coincidence that happened to add a bit of ? What real organizations are actually hurting more than they are helping?

Things like this prompts those curious enough to research for themselves and learn something new about the world around them. Things like that, even if it's stupidly unbelievable, are still worth making for that alone.

On the other hand, this theory does require an open mind to even consider it. Not to mention it relies on Smash 4 to be the last game in the series to keep itself in the conversation. And to be honest, most people at that point already assumed that any new Nintendo Consoles would get it's version of Smash.

For those who like arbitrary ratings:

The "Living with Autism" Theory scores a "Spin Off" out of "Canon" on the Believability Scale

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How it Could Expand

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An important part of the World of Light trailer is the fact that Galeem (the winged thing in the sky) had an army of only Master Hands. This is important, as the only way for this theory to stay alive is if their is only one Crazy Hand.

Lockstin made it very clear that these hands represent people, mostly just the boy who we've been seeing grow up. If Crazy Hands sporadic movements is due to a symptom of Autism he suffers from, their should only be one Crazy Hand.

But is Galeem and his army more bullying personified? Who is taking control of his life this time? And how does all the cloning and spirits play into this theory? I've tried to think of ways to answer those questions, but I could never reach a conclusion that I was satisfied with.

If I had to guess though, a direction this theory could be taken is by focusing on reoccurring bouts of depression, but that's a topic that was already explored with Master Core. There could be room to explore this concept, but it would take someone more knowledgeable on the topic than myself to do so.

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Theory 2

Smash is the story of Sakurais Inner Struggle

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This one was proposed (or at least brought to popularity) by Mat Pat of Game Theory. And to be honest, he kinda cheated.

It starts with explaining how smash is about a kid growing up and struggling with society's judgement about adults playing with toys. He also explains how Master Hand represents the Creative side, while Crazy Hand represents the enjoyment of destroying your own creations. A pretty basic concept to start with.

However, it expands to really be about game director Masahiro Sakurai's problems with his games becoming over sequalized, but being unable to see other people taking up his position. Of course, there is more about what each boss represents, but that's literally all you need to understand to see where Mat Pat wanted to take this.

Relating the story of a game to it's creator is one of the easiest, and least controversial connections you can make. It also happens to be the easiest thing to expand on if a new game were to release.

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Believability at the Time

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Let's just say this Theory is as easy to believe as it is to sleep through. It could be my growing indifference to his humor, but I was very tuned out when revisiting this one. It would be fair to say that half the video is spent going over, and providing evidence for the general knowledge I explained earlier.

But I will give him props for his ability to find small details in a scene to make a reasonable guess. We already knew this was a child playing with toys, but by looking at the details of the room allowed him to make a pretty accurate guess at the age of that child in 64 and Melee.

That information is really only there to reinforce the roots and to set up a mind blow when he talks about how old Sakurai was at landmark points in his life. It's supposed to shock the audience and make the last few minutes more dramatic. But I'd argue this allows you to get the same thing out of the theory as someone who skipped the first ten minutes.

Lastly, relating any body of work to it's respective creator is literally the safest and easiest analysis to make. It's the kind of thing they have you do in grade school to make you better at critical thinking. The only reason I keep bringing this up is because it makes the theory very easy to believe. It's a familiar idea to us, so it isn't hard to get on board with it.

The "Sakurai is Smash" theory gets a "Research Paper" out of "Story Board" on our Believability Scale.

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How It Could Expand

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Just like with Lockstin's theory, this one also benefits from their only being Master Hands in the invasions. In the context of a developer's journey, they could represent an influx of creative input and expectation from either (or both) fans and publishers. Specifically, expectations that he feels he can't meet.

And all of that could make it feel like the image of the game has been corrupted. All that's left is Kirby, his first and probably most prised creation. It's also entirely possible that Kirby's perspective in the game could be Sakurai's perspective in the real world. Saving the world of Smash could also be saving his creative integrity.

It's definitely a stretch, but hopefully it shows how easy it is to expand on a metaphor when it translates the events of the story to the life of the author or game developer. It's entry level theorizing. Sans is Ness, on the other hand, is an expert level of thinking.

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Thoughts?

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This is a poll after all. So I'd appreciate you scrolling back to the top to vote for the one you thinks has more legs to stand on. Maybe you could even explain your reasons in the comments. 'Cause if there is anything I learned from blogging on Amino, asking for the reader's opinion the best way to never recieve comments.

But really, I'm just hoping to give everyone something to think about.

going for the record of shortest closing section.