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braxiations · 3 months

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Hylics - The PoolWayne Theory

Preamble

So, I’ve never really seen many Hylics theories be shared online. Most of what I’ve found is limited to discord servers like the Hylemxylem. So, I thought I might put my foot into the ring and share one of my own!

Now, this theory is pretty out there. I’ve done quite a lot of examining of both Hylics 1 and 2 and to my knowledge nothing contradicts my theory. I believe my idea explains quite a lot of things pretty well and adds some fun subtext to a lot of plot beats and history. However, it’s not the pure result of thorough evidence and 100% rational thinking. It’s basically a fun idea that explains some things and, in my opinion, is interesting.

The Wayne-poolman connection

To start, I’d like to point out an odd association between poolmen and Waynes. This is first seen before we even know what poolmen are: back at the Waynehouse. Here, we see Waynes slapping poolmen dummies as training.

Now, it’s likely that this is because poolmen are Gibby’s main infantry, and this is a point I’ll return to soon. Secondly, is Gibby Redivivus’ design. Atop his head is a Wayne head… or is it? While this is also called a warpo head by some, in actuality it’s literally just the poolman model’s head colored yellow.

Poolmen’s heads are crescent shaped, so this makes sense. My thought upon learning this was “ha, are Waynes basically just yellow poolmen?” Well… Looking at the chibi sprites for both Wayne (or Sat-Wayne as I’ll call him) and poolmen do reveal a pretty clear similarity. While poolmen’s heads flop around so much in battle it’s hard to notice them as crescents, whenever shown as static or simplified they generally are shaped as such.

Now, all of this is to establish that I believe poolmen and Waynes to be mirrors or counterparts to one another in some way. Personally, I think this was actually intended by Mason himself. As you’ve probably noticed though, this post is far from over.

Why does Gibby look like that?

Specifically, why does Gibby R wear a Wayne/warpo/poolman-dipped-in-yellow-paint head anyway? As many know, Gibby’s design in Hylics 2 differs from his design in H1 because it originally belonged to a (probably) different character, Fuller. In-universe, however, Gibby’s body is referred to as a “vessel.” His remains were likely put into or molded into this form by Odozeir and his followers. So, why on Fingerhead’s beige Earth would he endow him with THE FACE OF THE GUY WHO MURDERED HIS BOSS? Well, it seems that Gibby has been repping this symbol since longgg before his reconstitution, just not as a face.

In the platforming mini-games, we get our only look at the world before the Accretion. This confirms a few interesting points:

There was at least 1 other Wayne pre-Accretion, being Sat-Wayne himself. (Likely a Waynehouse too.)

A Hylemxylem (likely the one that became the Moon) existed pre-Accretion. (Seen in the bg.)

Gibby and Odozeir were allied before the Accretion. (Their faces are on flags together.)

This last note about the flags is important as the Gibby face used is his Redivivus design. As this was being used on flags way back when, it stands to reason that Odozeir fashioned Gibby’s vessel after the symbol itself. Likewise, this would also mean that the Waynehead was being used as part of Gibby’s iconography back then too… which is strange.

Waynes as an army

The nature of Waynes is a question that dances around the edges of Hylics 2, but it never really addresses it outright. Here’s what we know:

Waynes have a huge grudge against Gibby. They seemingly spend much of their time training in the event he becomes a problem again.

They’re all equipped for combat, seemingly naturally. They do have to train and they spend much of their time doing so.

They’re seemingly all clones of one another or something analogous. They can have some differences (some are more well-trained, at least one is either fem or trans (if Decres is canon), etc,) but most are identical.

Waynes are kind of a problem, at least in the Hylics 2 zone. Chuck, when speaking of his writing process for An Endless Cycle, stated that he wanted to invoke this feeling. With the seemingly mutant Waynes we’ve seen in the New Hylics teasers, Waynes might be growing out of control, taking a role similar to that of invasive species. Tl;dr: they probably aren’t a part of the local natural order.

Perhaps Waynes are entirely natural, eusocial organisms like ants and their soldier-like training simply comes from the fact that they’re sapient. Their contentious placement in the Hylics 2 ecosystem could merely be them being invasive. Their single-minded grudge against Gibby could be explained in a few ways. If H1-Wayne is indeed the Old Wayne from H2, perhaps he dedicated his… children(?) to keep Gibby at bay because it was his most notable accomplishment. Where this explanation might falter is the Wayne head symbol used by Gibby, which is still left entirely unexplained.

So… what if the symbol came first?

The theory What we know of the Wayne species’ nature, as listed in the previous section, is highly reminiscent of sci-fi ideas of modified super soldiers. In the Star Wars prequels, for example, literal clones meant only for combat are a prevalent plot point. While Waynes as ant-soldiers sufficiently explains many of these traits, the idea that Gibby’s yellow crescent predates the Waynes could only leave an artificial origin as an option. Now, of course, this point that Gibby’s symbol is older than Waynes themselves can’t be proven for certain. The oldest point in the timeline we have access to shows Sat-Wayne coexisting with the symbol. If one was older than the other we’d have no idea. What strikes me as odd, though, is why Gibby would ever associate himself with Waynes. While we don’t know if they’ve always had an antagonistic relationship, Sat-Wayne (who is again, the first Wayne we know of,) spends much of his time attacking Gibby and Odozeir’s forces. The conflict between the two groups has been ongoing, and it seems odd Gibby would choose to honor a species that has constantly attacked him for so many years without strong reason.

With this in mind, I will propose my theory: Waynes are not a naturally occurring species. Rather, they are the descendents of poolmen fashioned into super-soldiers by none other than the forces of Gibby. As such, they were changed to resemble the yellow crescent used as a symbol of Gibby for so long. Now, the manner through which this was done isn’t super important. I like to think they were selectively bred, but it’s just as possible they were genetically modified or given some of Gibby’s royal goop. It’s really just speculation.

As we have established, poolmen may be some of the primary infantry used in Gibby’s armies, especially pre-Accretion. (I would like to suggest that poolmen are the koopas of Gibby’s army, and tyros are the goombas.) With their strong resemblance to Waynes, it stands to reason that Gibby, looking for more capable soldiers, would use the poolmen as a basis. While poolmen are capable of speech, they’re generally represented as animalistic. Their only gestures used are lambaste and multiply, as well as the ability allotrope. As lambaste is literally just hitting someone, multiply is clearly their reproduction, and allotrope is a reflex, it stands to reason they aren’t capable of the hand movements required to use actual complex gestures. (They don’t even seem to have hands.) Other enemies such as the noncomfornist clearly show this ability. Thus, it stands to reason that Gibby would seek soldiers capable of doing such things. In fact stronger, modified poolmen are clearly seen in the form of poolmagnes, but they still don’t achieve these heights.

Many stories of advanced combat technology involve betrayal or an uprising from the technology itself. Thus, we may be able to explain why Waynes hate Gibby so much anyways. Created as sapient soldiers, Waynes would effectively be slaves. They would have no choice but to fight and participate in the tyrant’s cruelty. It seems likely that they would have rebelled, and Gibby may have retaliated harshly.

Sat-Wayne is alone in the Waynehouse he emerges from. H1-Wayne is clearly the only member of his species in the Hylics 1 zone. Many have noticed that the redesign of the Ghost enemies bear a strong resemblance to the skulls of Waynes. Further elaboration falls into pure speculation, so I’ll let you come to your own conclusions here.

Ultimately, we’re left with the following timeline:

Gibby employed poolmen for war.

Wanting stronger soldiers, he ordered his forces to create a more powerful breed of poolman, capable of complex reasoning and the use of gestures.

These Waynes proved too intelligent and rebelled.

Gibby reacted harshly, wiping out nearly all of them.

This begs the question of why Gibby still, by the time of Hylics 2, choses to use the yellow crescent symbol. I think this could be explained as a form of denial. If he casts aside a symbol that was always his simply because rebels used it, he would essentially be admitting defeat. Besides, an NPC in New Muldul talks about wretched anarchists who overthrew Gibby, not realizing who he’s talking to. The fact that a Wayne was responsible for killing Gibby might not be common knowledge. Gibby can simply ignore the uprising and continue to use it.

Other notes and convenient ties

One of my favorite parts of this theory is that it retroactively explains some other oddities in the games. For example, Wayne heads notoriously occur throughout the world or even on jars. If the crescent is a symbol of Gibby, who we know has influence throughout much of the world, this is rather easily explained.

It gives us an association between Gibby and the Waynes. Many have pointed out that both have names in reference to the moon: gibbous moons and waning moons. Gibby is notoriously prideful and arrogant, so perhaps he intended the Waynes to be made in his image, giving them a similarly lunar name.

It could explain the moon soldiers and their weakness. Many have noticed their resemblance to Waynes. Perhaps, after the rebellion of the Waynes, Gibby still desired more powerful soldiers. Moon soldiers could easily just be another artificial variety of poolmen, making them basically the cousins of Waynes. Their intense weakness could be attributed to avoiding the pitfall of making soldiers that are too powerful again. Maybe he hoped someone would see the Moon covered in soldiers and simply decide to back off. (It’s worth noting that moon soldiers might not be nearly as weak as we see them. Rather, the joke might be that at this point in the game Wayne and crew have become so strong that they’re killed in an instant.)

The fighting instinct of Waynes could explain the depression, purposelessness, and exhaustion of H2-Wayne that we see explored in Absent Moon. With this theory, Waynes would literally only exist to fight. Having defeated his greatest enemy, Wayne no longer has a purpose in life. Perhaps this lack of purpose has caused unrest in the Waynehouse, and will lead into the events of the New Hylics game that features monstrous, creature-like Waynes.

Old Wayne remarks on the “forecasts” of the stars, apparently able to glean meaning from them. Perhaps an ability to read celestial bodies is a holdover from their days as Gibby’s soldiers. While the Hylemxylem had not yet developed into the false moon of Hylics 1, this may have been planned. Perhaps the Moon could have sent or shone signals for the Old Wayne to interpret and relay to the Waynes under their command.

Warpos could essentially be reverted to an older, primal state by their consumption of poolwine. This doesn’t make much sense biologically but whatever.

Random biology notes

Poolmen probably contain hard, spiny components akin to the spicules found within sponges. These spicules would be poked out of their bodies in their allotrope attack. Perhaps this developed into the skeletons of Waynes. The way Wayne’s flesh and muscles melt off of him upon death is similar to how poolmen melt upon their own deaths.

Poolmen multiply and reproduce asexually, likely meaning they’re all more or less genetically identical to one another (there would be errors of course.) Wayne reproduction is more or less elusive, but their status as clones and low genetic diversity could be a remnant of their poolman ancestors.

I have a theory that the “egg pods” we see in the Waynehouse basement might be the Wayne equivalent of the hylethems that produce poolmen. However the connection between poolmen, hylethems, and hylem as a whole is a story for another time.

Summary and conclusion

I believe that Waynes are a sort of poolmen. They were either genetically modified or selectively bred from normal poolmen, as Gibby wanted to employ them as soldiers capable of complex thinking and use of gestures. These Waynes proved too powerful and intelligent, rising up against their creator. He had many of them slaughtered, creating a grudge that would last countless years and influence the Wayne species for the rest of time.

That’s basically it. Thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts, counterpoints, or additional ideas please feel free to share! I’d really like to discuss this with people!.

#hylics #hylics wayne #wayne hylics #gibby hylics #hylics gibby #hylics 2 #hylics theory

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braxiations · 3 months

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Hylics Analysis - The Significance of Hylem and the Afterlife

Hi, and welcome to another Hylics analysis! I’m hesitant to call it a theory because I’ll spend the majority of this post going over what I believe to be the canon intent. Most of this stuff is, in my opinion, pretty grounded, but I’ve seen so little discussion about it online. I aim to unpack the ways hylem unexpectedly appears in Hylics, its importance to the overall story, and what its true source may be.

Hylethems

The first, and really only direct mention of hylem comes from some workers in the caves of New Muldul. The workers are seen cutting away at pink cave formations called hylethems. Specifically, they cut away at odd tendrils protruding from the hylethems presumably called fronds (which is what they’re called internally.) The fronds themselves writhe, indicating that they may be alive. The minecarts of the miners are full of these fronds. One of the miners describes hylethems as “hylem-rich cave formations.” Another, crucially, says the following:

“Glove lathing. Burrito synthesis. All starts with hylethems. Find a rich vein, translates to a lotta bones. Lotta bones.”

This gives us two uses for hylem or hylethem fronds. The fact that the fronds are what’s being harvested might suggest they’re the items of value, not hylem itself, but this is pretty unclear. Maybe the fronds are full of the hylem? Really, the two might as well be synonymous for our analysis today.

While we’re here, I’d like to take the time to clear up a piece of dialogue that I see confuse people, being an NPC in New Muldul that describes the town’s primary industry as “calthemite husbandry.” I’ve seen people attribute the word “calthemite” to both insects and juice beasts, but calthemites are a real thing: they’re cave formations. Given that the harvesting of hylethems is shown in New Muldul, I think it’s safe to say that’s what they’re talking about here.

Standard uses of hylem

Hylem is stated to have two uses: burrito synthesis and glove lathing, though the wording of miner’s speech suggests they might have many more. Burrito synthesis is odd but rather self-explanatory, and implies hylem might have healing properties for both flesh and will (this’ll be important later.) Glove lathing is more interesting. “Lathe” and “lathing” have multiple, kind of convoluted meanings, but its usage here suggests either coating or shaping the gloves. This could either mean the gloves are coated in hylem, likely as a liquid, or the gloves are cut out of pleather and shaped by… the fronds? It’s really unclear.

The description of the tendril hand item is “The people of Mocetul shun lathing, and for gloves rely on other processes.” The long gloves are also described as “standard gestural combat garbs.” It seems clear that gloves are what enable the use of gestures, but whether or not lathing is responsible for this is questionable. The fact that the tendril hand was made without lathing suggests hylem isn’t critical to the use of gestures, however it might imply that it's the usual process that enables them. Regardless, lathing is clearly common and important and hylem is what allows it to happen.

What’s a Hylemxylem anyway?

Ah, the Hylemxylem, Gibby’s associated fortress. Before we discuss it, let’s take a look at its name. First is the word “hylem,” which is a term unique to Hylics (and also apparently the name of a music artist,) and “xylem.” In simplified terms, xylem is a sort of transport tissue within plants that takes in and distributes water and minerals throughout the plant. With this in mind we can basically translate the word “Hylemxylem” into “thing that takes in hylem.”

[Before we move on, I want to suggest an origin for the word “hylem.” This is largely conjecture on my part, but I believe Mason knew he wanted Gibby’s fortress to absorb a substance and wanted to use the word “xylem” in there. Needing a name for the substance and wanting it to rhyme, he added the “-lem” suffix. To complete it, he took from the game’s own title: Hylics. Why would he do this? Well, as we’ve seen glimpses of, hylem might be very, very important to the nature of this world.]

So, the Hylemxylem xylems hylem, that much seems pretty clear. With this in mind we can identify the pink goop flowing throughout the hylemxylem.

Seen throughout the hylemxylem is this strange, pink liquid, highly resembling that seen in the Afterlife. It fills many of the rooms, spews out of spouts, and appears to flow into the fortress via the tubes descending down into the waters. It’s this very liquid, described as “the terrestrial juice,” that Gibby floats in before his transformation. This, as implied by the name “Hylemxylem” itself, is hylem. But where does all this hylem come from? Of course, it’s possible that the tubes of the Hylemxylem bore into the ground, sapping hylem away from the Hylethems. However, we don’t need to speculate on this. In one of the few changes to the environment during the course of Hylics 2, we see where the tubes lead…

The Afterlife

That’s right. A detail I see often overlooked is that, after the raising of the Hylemxylem, many tubes appear in the Afterlife, each flowing with the pink substance that comprises the sea, up into the sky. These tubes only appear after the ‘Xylem is raised, implying they’re the very tubes pumping hylem into the fortress. A quick glance at the game’s internals confirms this, calling them “Afterlife Xylem Columns.” I really hope this isn’t ambiguous at this point: the pink liquid within the Hylemxylem is the same liquid that fills the Afterlife.

Thanks to Happy/S For Sprinkles for this photo! Also, it's a lot easier to see in-game that these tubes are flowing with the sea's liquid. You can pretty clearly see it flowing upwards.

Now, this leads me to two conclusions I hope you find reasonable:

Wait, we very clearly see the tubes of the ‘Xylem go into the ocean. Is the Afterlife in the ocean? Maybe in some weird bubble? That’d explain why there are fish flopping around in H1. Maybe it’s an underwater cave??

More relevantly, if the pink goo in the Hylemxylem is hylem, and the pink goo in the Hylemxylem is also the Afterlife goo, that must mean the Afterlife goo is hylem. X = Y and Z = Y. Therefore X must equal Z.

This is, to me at least, super interesting. Despite never being outright stated, it is very, VERY heavily implied that the sea of the Afterlife is hylem. This sea’s strange waters, mind you, comprises the pools and fountains we fall into to reach the Afterlife. It also comprises the sea that spits us out when we die. If it is true that X = Y = Z, then hylem is not only responsible for the burritos we eat, the gloves we use, or the seemingly the ascension of Gibby, but also for the repeated reincarnation of our party members. Remember how I earlier noted that burritos, synthesized from hylem, heal flesh and will? Well, that may be an extension of the life giving, healing properties of hylem as found in the Afterlife! That’s why, I believe, Mason named the substance of hylem after the games themselves. Without hylem, the story of the games wouldn’t be possible. It's a foundational element to the world itself.

This also explains the weird fixation the game has on hylem. While Mason might have some worldbuilding hidden in random item descriptions or one or two sets of NPC dialogue (the only piece of non-relevant worldbuilding mentioned more than once being Amulom,) hylem has 5, completely separate NPCs that talk about it upright (not even counting the other NPCs that talk about calthemites.) Hylethem fronds are even seen scattered around the places that Smuldunde visits for some strange reason. This conclusion, that hylem enables the events of the game, explains why; it isn’t irrelevant worldbuilding. Hell, you could even view the hylethems being mentioned so early on as foreshadowing for the Hylemxylem itself and Gibby’s ascension from the terrestrial juices. Like the ‘Xylem does, it seems likely that hylelthems sap hylem away from the Afterlife!

Conclusion

So, that concludes the analysis! Hylem is a powerful substance that enables the use of gloves and burritos, sustains the Hylemxylem, and allowed Gibby to ascend. Given the evidence we have, I think this is the conclusion intended by Mason himself. Perhaps we were all intended to figure this out on our own, but the abstract and indirect story-telling method of Hylics 2 obscured this. Hell, I’ve seen a ton of misconceptions about the Accretion despite things the game pretty directly shows us. Maybe I should make a post about that? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! I might make an addendum to this post as well going over some specific ideas like how the Moon might have processed hylem and why only Gibby ascends through it. After that I’ll probably cover either the symbols used in the world of Hylics or some speculation on Viewax. I might even put up a poll on which I should cover first!

#hylics #hylics 2 #hylics gibby #gibby hylics #hylemxylem #hylics theory #hylics facts

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