20 Confirmed Video Game Fan Theories — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:00] Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the things gamers theorized before they were confirmed or became canon about video games.

[00:24] Number 20, the Arkham Knight Identity, Batman Arkham Knight. Before the release of the third Batman Arkham game, fans were speculating a lot about the identity of the titular Arkham Knight. Ha, just kidding, it was really obvious, right?

[00:39] Let those left behind find hope in his sacrifice. Long-time Batman fans immediately noticed the similarities between Arkham Knight's look and Red Hood, aka Jason Todd, the second Robin in the trailers for the game.

[00:52] Although Rocksteady Studios tried to throw fans off the scent by claiming that the Arkham Knight was a new character, the eventual reveal during the game's finale showed that fans were actually spot on.

[01:04] You really have no idea. Do you, Fred? Number 19, Space World Pokémon, Pokémon Gold and Silver.

[01:17] Same theories are right throughout this massive franchise, but one of the more mysterious bits of lore surrounds an obscure Japanese trade show called Space World. At the 1997 event, a playable demo of Pokemon Gold and Silver revealed an early build of the game,

[01:34] featuring many Pokemon who never made it into the final game, or so the rumors went.

[01:48] Little footage of the event survived, and the internet wasn't what it was back in 1997. Fans only had a word of mouth and a few fan drawings of the lost Pokemon to go on for decades. Then, in 2018, a ROM of the incomplete build was released,

[02:03] which confirms the long-held theories about the Pokemon and what they looked like. Number 18, Egg People, Rocket League.

[02:18] Given that it's a soccer game with rocket-powered cars, you wouldn't think there'd be much to theorize about Rocket League, right? However, that didn't stop fans from speculating about who, or what, are driving these cars, and who's watching.

[02:34] The audience appears populated by simple egg shapes, likely due to the difficulty in rendering a realistic audience at the time of the game's release. However, fans funnily designed the location into lore,

[02:46] claiming that this must mean that the world of Rocket League is populated by egg people. Fan theories became so prominent that the developers decided to actually make the idea into a reality. Guess the egg was on their face all along.

[03:06] Number 17, Post-Apocalyptic Settings, Kirby Series. This bright and bubbly platformer series is another that feels fairly simple on the surface, Without any complications, however, fans noticed something suspicious in Kirby 64 The Crystal Shard, for instance.

[03:25] When selecting Shiver Star, the world appears to have the same land masses as Earth, which led to fans theorizing that Kirby is set in a post-apocalyptic version of our universe. This theory eventually came true after a fashion with the release of Kirby and the Forgotten Land,

[03:41] which is set amid the ruins of a dead civilization, which bears many landmarks and technology similar to our own, meaning that it is set after an apocalypse, even if it's not exactly on Earth.

[04:00] Number 16, Fighting Ryu and Ken's Master, Street Fighter Franchise. In the original localization of Street Fighter 2, one of Ryu's victory quotes was mistranslated as, you must defeat Shen Long to stand a chance.

[04:18] Fans speculated that this Shen Long must be Ryu and Ken master A hoax article in Electronic Gaming Monthly suggested a method of facing the supposed secret boss as a prank Ultimately though this rumor joke came true

[04:32] Not once, not twice, but three times. The article inspired the creation of Street Fighter II Turbo's secret boss, Akuma. It also led to Ryu and Ken's Master, Gilkin, eventually appearing in the series. Finally, it led to a real character named Shen Long, at long last, debuting in Street Fighter VI.

[04:50] Number 15, cut playable character Chrono Trigger. Even with its multiple endings and semi-sequels,

[05:03] this time travel RPG still had players wondering about loose ends and what ifs. Some fans believed that Chrono Trigger was meant to have an ace party member.

[05:17] This was ultimately confirmed when a previously untranslated Japanese player's guide with character designer Akira Toriyama's character sketches was revealed. One picture features a mustachioed old man with the caption,

[05:29] The Mysterious Cut Character Sage. While you may not actually get to play as him, he does appear in the game as Jaspar, the Goro of Time, who appears at the end of time. Because he was cut early in development, his playable sprites weren't even included in the game,

[05:44] so this guide was the first confirmation of this rumor. Number 14, the Vault's Secret Purpose Fallout Franchise.

[05:59] The famous vaults that litter this post-apocalyptic franchise are so disaster-prone and full of social experiments that fans have long theorized that there must be some deeper reason behind them. Well, besides supposedly preserving humanity in the wake of nuclear war,

[06:14] In 2023, Fallout creator Tim Kaine revealed that his intention behind the vaults

[06:30] was that they were meant as experiments for the best and brightest of humanity to escape Earth in the event of a nuclear apocalypse. The cryo-sleep and social experiments were meant to test the viability of a multi-generational starship.

[06:43] I love you. Both of you. We love you, too. Oh, my God! Number 13, Ermac is real. Mortal Kombat series.

[06:55] Street Fighter isn't the only fighting game series to turn a fan-theory character into reality. In the original Mortal Kombat, a selection below Reptile Battles reading Ermac led fans to believe that a character named Ermac could appear.

[07:08] In reality, it was short for Error Macro, to look for errors. Fan rumors persisted, though, and they were fueled by yet another EGN hoax that displayed the name supposedly Ermac as a red-collar-swap ninja.

[07:20] Eventually, Ermac debuted for real as a secret character in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and what do you know, he was a red ninja.

[07:33] Number 12, Doomguy's ancestor, Doom, and Wolfenstein's franchisor. Despite being the poster child for the faceless space marine archetype, Doomguy does have a backstory. Many fans noticed several Easter eggs and similarities between the Doom and Wolfenstein games.

[07:55] This led fans to theorize that B.J. Blaskowitz, protagonist of the Wolfenstein series, is in fact Doomguy's ancestor. While some might chalk it up to both series originally being made by id Software, where, according to the company's founders, Tom Hall and John Romero,

[08:10] Blastoise is indeed several generations removed from Doomguy. Mowing down evil with increasingly bigger guns is a family affair through its genes.

[08:25] Number 11, E.T. Cartridges Buried in the Desert, E.T. the Extraterrestrial The video game tie-in of E.T. the Extraterrestrial is often hailed as one of gaming's biggest disasters. It's even, somewhat unfairly, blamed for the video game crash of 1983.

[08:43] After many of its copies went unsold and Atari was noted for having buried many things in a New Mexico landfill rumors suggested that the entire stock of unsold cartridges were actually buried there An excavation in 2013 did

[08:56] indeed reveal many copies of E.T., as well as other Atari games and hardware. Although it remains unconfirmed if all the leftover cartridges are in tunes there, I mean, it did go really, really deep, this extraterrestrial rumor was both figuratively and literally down to earth.

[09:11] Number 10, All Bonds, GoldenEye 007 All it takes are a couple of ambiguous rumors to spark a theory.

[09:26] Before us kids had that good old internet rumor, had it, that you could play as all of the different Bond actors in GoldenEye's multiplayer. Connery, Moore, Dalton, and of course, Brosnan. However, this was just an April Fool's prank from, you guessed it,

[09:39] Electronic Gaming Monthly. That is, until Rare came out and said otherwise. As it turns out, all-bond mode was supposed to be in the final version of the game, but didn't actually make the cut for various reasons.

[09:51] Which explains why using a game shark allows you to see images of past bonds in the character select screen.

[10:03] Number 9, Secret of Nukes. Metal Gear Solid V, The Phantom Pain. The patience has stabilized, but there's no telling how many will make it. The warhead we seized ruptured during transport. No game can escape the curiosity of data miners.

[10:18] When a hidden cutscene was discovered in the game's files, players were left wondering how in the world to unlock it. The prevailing theory was that the only way to do so was for all players to surrender their nukes in the online multiplayer mode.

[10:30] Konami supported this theory and said they'd been keeping tabs since the game's release. But for every last player in the community to surrender their nukes, well, seems unlikely. God, it looks like someone's developed nukes together.

[10:42] I guess maintaining a nuke-free world is going to be harder than the disarmament ever was. Number 8, Canadian Shepard, Mass Effect 3. Commander, you're not supposed to call me that anymore, James.

[10:54] I'm not supposed to salute you either. We gotta go. The Defense Committee wants to see you. Sounds important. Well, I'll be, gosh darn. Shepard's from Canada? Well, we may not have any direct confirmation from the developers,

[11:07] but the proof is indeed in the pudding when you observe bits and pieces of the game. For starters, there's the slight accent, which can be hard to spot, but it is there. Then there's the fact the prologue takes place in Canada.

[11:19] All right, or Shepard can just, you know, come right out and put the meal in the coffin. Promise you, in a few months we'll be sipping drinks back in Vancouver. Vancouver. Not Paris, not Venice.

[11:32] Vancouver. Yeah, that dialogue, it just confirms it. Shepard is from Dentula. Tell that to the defense committee. Number 7, The Shinra Company's Final Fantasy VII.

[11:46] Among the many connections of the different Final Fantasy story arcs, this was one of the most shocking. In Final Fantasy X-2, one of the main characters is named Shinra. Does that name sound familiar to you? Well, for those of you who haven't played Final Fantasy VII, the Shinra Company was essentially a manufacturer of Mako energy and easily accessible electricity.

[12:07] Scenario writer Kasuhige Nojima created the Shinra character, thinking that Shinra would go on to start the company. We'll just go ahead and take that as part of the official canon now.

[12:19] Number 6, Multiple Timelines, The Legend of Zelda Series. This one caused quite a number of headaches among Zelda fans.

[12:33] For quite some time, we were left in the dark, wondering which games across the series happened at which point in Link's life. Is there a possibility that there are multiple Links? Well, answers were given when Dark Horse Comics published Hyrule Historia,

[12:46] a book written by Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and Akira Himakawa. The chart confirms what had long been the prevailing theory among fans, that not all of the games take place in a single timeline,

[12:58] and that the ending of Ocarina of Time had something to do with it. It's a little complex to explain here, but it's cool that Nintendo helped clarify things.

[13:13] Number 5 Symmetra is on the Spectrum Overwatch franchise From Oregon Spring County Representation is important in video games. It can allow players to feel a connection with their favorite characters.

[13:25] It's something they can relate to as common characteristics, and these details can help more people feel included in the games they play. Our lovely Indian architect required a little more investigating, though. Fans had reason to believe that Symmetra was possibly autistic,

[13:38] and when the comic A Better World was released, Symmetra said something about being on the spectrum. When director Jeff Kaplan confirmed that she was indeed autistic, he said, quote, she does a great job representing just how awesome someone with autism can be, end quote.

[13:53] You must send them back. Send it online. Number four, it was all a play, Super Mario Bros. 3.

[14:05] The answer to this was a long time coming. Ever wondered why Super Mario Bros. 3 opens with a curtain? And why are the platforms hanging from the top of the screen? It's almost as if everything is a play. Ooh!

[14:18] Yeah, it's one of the most obvious of theories on this list. But it kind of felt like an attorney before we got a straight answer from Shigeru Miyamoto. In 2015, during an interview with Nintendo UK, Miyamoto was asked if the game was a play the whole time,

[14:32] answering with a simple nod. Finally! Number 3, Giovanni's Son Pokemon Series.

[14:47] You know, sometimes we don't really care about our rivals that much, so long as we shut their big mouth in a Pokemon battle. Yet, there's something oddly intriguing about our rival, Silver, in Pokemon Gold and Silver.

[14:59] In Fire Red and Leaf Green, a Team Rocket scientist will speculate if Red is Giovanni's son before correcting himself and mention Giovanni's son has red hair. The idea that Silver is Giovanni's son was only solidified

[15:11] when HeartGold and SoulSilver hosted a promotional event where Celebi could take the player to a flashback of Giovanni abandoning his son. What a sorrowful secret.

[15:27] Number 2, Mary's Body, Silent Hill 2 You were always so forgetful. Remember that time in the hotel? Maria?

[15:39] This was as big of a twist as an M. Night Shyamalan movie. How can it be possible to receive a letter from your wife when she has been dead for the past three years? Trick question, kids. You can't. Anyways, Iron Hill 2 was confusing in its multiple endings, especially with the in-water ending.

[15:55] While most fans believe Mary's body has been in the trunk the whole time, they only got half of the truth. Designer Masahiro Ito tweeted out that Mary thought he was actually in the backseat of James' car, not the trunk. You know, you'd think James would notice something like that, right?

[16:09] I'm alone there now. In our special place. Waiting for you. If you love games, be sure to check out WatchMojo's new game, Terrible Influence.

[16:23] Just launched for purchase at TerribleInfluence.com. Terrible Influence is a satirical board game about the dark side of things from the writer of the most popular girls in school and us. Watch Mojo. Oh, man.

[16:35] I can make an apology video. Oh, you so would. Click on the link in the description to check out the game and be the first to play Terrible Influence. Number one, Sonic meets MJ. Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

[16:51] Doesn't this music sound familiar? Many gamers in the mid-90s certainly thought so, as many were led to believe that legendary pop star Michael Jackson might have worked with Sega on the soundtrack for Sonic 3.

[17:03] Developers of the classic platformer have come out to say MJ did indeed work on the game, mainly the Carnival Night Zone music, but it wasn't for as long as one might think. The King of Pop was uncredited and left the project due to the sexual abuse allegations against him.

[17:18] Many of the songs had to be reworked, yet somehow fans were able to identify Jackson's unique style. So, is there a true video game rumor we forgot to mention?

[17:33] Verify your favorite theories down in the comments.