Phantasma

#phan theory - my fan theories. The very reason I made this blog. Though this will include theories about other media someday (if I have any).

#phan essay - I forgot why I have this tag... I think it's just something lengthy that may or may not be a theory.

#reply blog - my replies to other blogs. And if ever you happen to remember me from elsewhere.

#gg theory - guilty gear theories

#gg fun post - guilty gear funsies

#gg quote - guilty gear funsies but about gg quotes

(I have other tags that I made for the sake of organizing my posts but it feels useless to search about them as of writing... I'll put it here when I feel like it'll be useful)

Just because someone likes science, it doesn't mean that they want to find a cure for cancer. That's like assuming every artist can paint realism. Or every programmer wants to work in cybersecurity instead of game development. It just doesn't work that way, especially since not all good people want to serve everyone for their entire lives. Some professionals just wants to utilize their creativity for entertainment's sake. And that includes scientists.

In fact, there are studies made for the sake of gaining knowledge, even if it has no immediate benefit for society. And that, is Basic research.

"Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena...Though often driven simply by curiosity, basic research often fuels the technological innovations of applied science."

- Portions of Wikipedia's definition

In addition, despite being an expert in life sciences, Asuka might have more interest in math based on some points, such as:

1) his major (bioinformatics) ultimately deals with computing biological data,

2) the name of his radio show is "Clear Numbers" (at least, based on how both his Japanese and English Strive page quotes on it),

3) how his voice lines made several references to physics (though it might be hard to reference biology in there anyway), and

4) based on this line:

"Just Asuka. The boring man with a fondness for math that you know so well."

- Asuka replying to Sol's question about his identity, Strive story mode, Omen

He might also have an interest in philosophy based on his philosophical discussions with Frederick/Sol in Overture Material Collection and Xrd Sign, Devastation A, and also based on, whatever Asuka R# meant by his interest in truth/reality (I'll reserve my assumptions for this one because it feels vague).

But, regardless of what his true interests are, why did Asuka chose to do stuff against his will? It's possibly because of this so called "teacher's will". Which, although not directly mentioned in the story, might be implied as "service to humanity".

"The pupils he left behind continued to await their master's return, but began searching for a way to stop the robot on their own. One chose to educate the people and help them evolve. Another thought to halt the advancement of humans, suspending them in their current state. The pupils will eventually become known as the Gear Maker and Conclave."

- A portion of Asuka's story about the Universal Will's origin, Xrd Rev story mode, Cause A

So, which of his actions are actually "his"? That's, where speculation comes in. Unless he directly states it (which is unlikely, at least for most details), we'll never really know for sure.

At most, I can only suggest which might be truly his decision or not. And I don't know about you, but I find that entertaining, so here's what I think:

Gear Project

For humanity, because it was originally made for medicinal use.

Turning Sol and Aria into Gears

Personal agenda, because the military kills witnesses, so he was desperate to save his friends (based on Guilty Gear Begin).

2nd Gear Project

For humanity, so that he will have full control over the Gear research.

"It was never my intention for Gears to become weapons of war. With the collective information system I've built, we can give orders to the weaponized Gears. We can stop the wars... In order to do that, I needed to be involved in its development. That's the reason why I've created Justice."

- Asuka explaining the nature of his past actions to Sol, Xrd Rev story mode, Cause A

Destruction of Japan

For humanity, to prevent the Universal Will from manifesting in their world. However, he did so with guilt, even during the act:

Lab Tech 1: Are you serious?! You'll vaporize Japan!

???: Fire, Cecile.

Lab Tech 1: I...I can't...

???: I'm sorry, I should never have asked you. I'll do it.

Lab Tech 1: Sir...!

???: Firing gamma ray. Aria, I'm sorry!

- A portion of Asuka's flashback before his reveal, Xrd Sign story mode, Kaleidoscope B

Accepting I-No and Raven as subordinates

Personal agenda, because he genuinely wants to help them:

"He can be a little mean sometimes, but he would never use people as pawns. He's trying to save you and Raven. That's the truth."

- Jack-O to I-No in I-No's Xrd Rev episode mode

I argue that this perspective made his relationship with them genuine instead of transactional (though I don’t know if I-No felt the same way).

Helping Sol survive

Both for humanity and personal agenda, as his friend (as seen by his care for him in the past and in Strive later) and carrier of the FoC.

"The only things that could stop me now are the Flame of Corruption or the Scales of Juno."

- I-No after turning into a god, Strive story mode, Strive

Helping defeat the Conclave, Ariels (Universal Will), Happy Chaos, and I-No

Both for humanity and personal agenda, as the world and everyone he cared about is at stake.

Creating Jack-O Valentine

Both for humanity and personal agenda, as a physical patch for Justice and a way of returning Aria.

Removing the Flame of Corruption

For personal agenda, because in time, Sol will lose control of himself (based on the implication in this scene). Though he might also hurt a lot of people in the process, Asuka's response focuses more on Sol:

Asuka: As with the Tome... Our world has no need for his power.

Vernon: Bullshit. Tell me, who is Sol gonna hurt?!

Asuka: Himself.

- A portion of the conversation about "getting rid of Sol", Strive story mode, Conclusion

This made me believe that he cares more about Sol getting hurt than... Well, in his defense, that can be solved when it happens, hopefully.

Taking the Tome (and FoC?) to the Moon

Mostly for humanity, because it's inevitable for evil people to use the Tome (and FoC?) for selfish reasons, and the moon is the safest place to hide it. In addition, having a guardian alongside it helps secure it from those people. However, I think Asuka also did this out of atonement based on what Slayer mentioned in his path in Guilty Gear XX:

"So you live only for atonement."

and based on what Asuka R# mentioned,

"Your duty, and your penance for throwing the world into chaos."

For context, Asuka R# was wondering if he was made to replace Asuka.

Clear Numbers

Both for humanity and personal agenda, because he believes in the potential of obejctive data:

"We often misunderstand each other's feelings. We don't always agree. But we can't reject the other's entirety. What we lack is accurate knowledge...The Tome teaches about the nature of our world. What we need is not a call to action... but numbers. Just numbers, free from ideology, profit, and value."

- Portions of Asuka's explanation regarding the "Accumulation of Good Will", Strive story mode, Conclusion

And arguably, as I proposed above, I think it's because he likes math. I think of it as making your hobby into a job, but that might just be me.

Creating Asuka R#

Personal agenda no doubt. It's not like he can use this on earth, and if the clone serves as his back-up like sci-fi stories does, maybe it can be useful. But he straight up created another unique human being by tweaking his personality a bit and letting him be conscious. There's three possible reasons for creating Asuka R# (wanting to try out creating an artifical human, wanting someone to talk to, or wanting a replacement for himself), but arguably, those are still under personal agendas.

Battle Method Turing Test

... Personal agenda. Because of the nature of Turing tests to determine if an AI is considered "intelligent enough". In this case, it might be meant for

1) making a human convinced that they're fighting a real person (and create better illusions?)

2) creating an AI smart enough to... have their own fighting style??...

Yeah, this is personal agenda alright. Even if there are benefits, I think it'll be just as indirect as (or arguably more indirect than) the benefits of basic research.

Lastly, his future actions—whether it's for humanity or himself—will now be done in his own terms, based on his declaration,

"I've never decided anything for myself before. I followed the influences around me, tried to adapt myself to them. My long list of aliases is a testament to that. I've never truly been myself. Thinking back on it now, it seems the same could be said for my becoming a scientist. In turn, I've always pushed the responsibility for my presence in this world... ...onto everyone else."

- Asuka to Sol in their meeting before the G4, Strive story mode, Omen

Disclaimer: I didn't include his actions in Lightning the Argent (through Raven) because there isn't a complete fan translation of the story yet. So, yeah, I had zero clue which ones were his actual commands and which ones were Raven's decisions. Well, aside from the collection of a sample, but I had zero context for what it is for: experiment? identifying the source to help Sol? I don't know. And I'm not taking my chances on machine translators.

In the novel, Asuka shot Frederick at the neck and presumably injected the Flame of Corruption at the same time. For the rest of the story, he occasionally feels a burning sensation in his neck, notably whenever he uses the most of his superhuman abilities.

So now, I can't help but wonder if it was coincidental or intentional. It didn't help that the camerawork just, stopped there for a second or so.

Like, it's bordering between awkward animation (in story mode) or coincidence. But if it was coincidence, I was expecting something like this:

I guess both are barely noticeable anyway, if you didn't pay enough attention. Or if you payed too much attention. Like I did...

But the shape of the window doesn't seem to be intentional, that's for sure.

But who's to say that it can't be both coincidental and intentional? Like, "Oh hey, it looks like this, might as well." Regardless, I propose that it might be intentional, because having a christian halo is somewhat related to what he just said in this scene:

"We left normal behind a long time ago."

Which, I argue to be related to his discovery of magic that earned him the title "Savior"

Though I personally believe that they initially want Bedman's existence to be ambiguous except for "this bed could be haunted," this interpretation could also imply that Bedman is somewhat present, like a ghost.

And the thing is, there's a character who was implied to be unable to move on to the afterlife because of having only half a soul, that being: Raven. Daisuke mentioned that the coin in Raven's left eye symbolizes having only half a soul (based on an uncommon interpretation of Greek tradition that both eyes needed to be placed with coins (specifically Charon's obol) during burial so that the spirit can cross the underworld).

Therefore, if a portion of Bedman's soul is in the bed, then his soul (wherever it is) was basically incomplete. And if the logic from Raven's case will be followed, then... BEDMAN IS ALI-

However, there were still some problems:

1) Will they follow that part of Raven's lore?

Retcons happen, though the fact that they maintained the coin design in Xrd improved the chances of keeping this lore. But unless they release Raven in Strive, the details were still up in the air.

2) Bedman is nowhere

It wasn't the first time for Guilty Gear to tackle the concept of souls. From the formation of Magical Foci, Zappa's ghosts, Happy Chaos' possessions during the Crusades, REI possessing Giovanna during fights, and now Lucy's existence in Guilty Gear (though still possible to be a forced explanation) all had something to do with souls, spirits, or ghosts. However, deleting his ID complicates the situation since aside from being a soul, it also turned him into a multi-dimensional being, which are closer to GG's vampires and werewolfs.

And since (to my knowledge) there isn't much information about multi-dimensional beings in general (probably because they just introduced the concept in Happy Chaos' arcade story), then it is hard to draw a conclusion on what could happen to him as both a multi-dimensional being and a soul in an unknown location. (Like, does the soul still act like a soul or a multi-dimensional being? If the soul is located in the Backyard, then it's prone to becoming a Magical Foci. But if it's near the afterlife, can it leave that area as a multi-dimensional being? There's too many possibilities).

But let's say his soul is just, out there somewhere, just staying still. Maybe someone can find him? Asuka perhaps? But again, his multi-dimensional nature may make it difficult to find his soul (in wherever he is) due to his lack of ID. It's probably like looking around blindly in the vast universe. Also, aside from the soul...

3) Bedman's body

Raven still has a body when he gained immortality, Bedman on the other hand...

And based on Happy Chaos' explanation of (naturally born) multi-dimensional beings, they need to convert themselves into lower levels of information before having a physical body (at least, that's how I understand it). But since Bedman already lost the "converted version" of his body (that is, one that was already compatible with their world), he may no longer have the information/matter/unit needed to have a proper physical form (unless he steals it from other worlds, but it's not like he can do much as a soul, and I doubt he'll let the other Delilah without a brother nor steal someone else's body).

So in order to physically return Bedman back to their world, Asuka would have to either create a new body, or use that unfinished Happy Chaos unit. However:

4) How will they handle his power?

His body will also need to be able to sustain Bedman's extremely high brain processing power. Delilah was only cured because of Bedman's omnipotence in his temporary Absolute World, but without that, will Asuka be able to find a solution for him? We certainly wouldn't want Delilah to die like he did just so he could live.

However, this was less of an issue given how Asuka also held the Tome of Origin, and how they could always come up with a new magical/physics rule to make it work... If they want to make it work.

5) Will he still have a narrative purpose?

His story represents a classic tragic tale. If they are going to turn back from that, it must be for a very good reason. Question is, for what? If things go south, they can make Asuka voluntarily come back to earth, Happy Chaos can call I-No, and Delilah is already stronger than Bedman. So, what else will Bedman bring?

At most, Bedman's greatest asset was his fast thinking and ability to create his own Absolute World. Without limitations, he may be able to counter a god-like being. At the very least, his mind can be used by someone other than the main cast for evil or "supposedly good" purpose (though that's adding more salt to the tragic angle, and that might make it distasteful if overdone). Regardless, I think it has to be an enemy so great to require another overpowered back-up, but too great and the series will not have much conflict left to continue the story. And that might place his speculative comeback further into the end of the series.

So, in summary:

Should they follow Raven's lore where incomplete souls are immortal, some sort of miracle must happen for them to even find Bedman. That may be Giovanna's heightened smell, Slayer's intervention, Asuka using the Tome, there's a lot of possibilities. But he's been introduced as an overpowered character with limitations, so bringing him back (with or without limitations) would also require a problem that is just as big.

Either way, one thing's for sure: Bedman is still there somewhere...

"Scales... A well-calibrated scale uses counterweights to keep itself from breaking. Order, systems, stability. A scale that doesn't move is no scale at all."

The first two lines are self-explanatory, while the third line listed possible examples of counterweights for whatever the scale was meant to represent. Though the words used were still quite broad to fully guess what it could mean, since maintaining anything helps prevent it from breaking. That is, it must remain stable, often through order, that is created by systems. And whatever the scale is meant to represent, it is something that loses purpose or meaning the moment it is not used.

"That's not allowed."

And we either don't want that, or it's something that shouldn't happen for some reason. That reason being:

"The world as we see it is shaped by mankind's emotions."

So, here's my theory: scales. Whatever the scales are meant to represent, they are nonetheless used for balance. And the world is still unbalanced, because mankind allowed emotions to run rampant. We have known that in the Guilty Gear universe, too much emotions already caused problems in the past, as Jack-O explained:

"...the world got possessed by humanity's emotions during the war. So the backyard cut off the source of the illness. That was the first mistake. The part that got cut off was given tremendous authority. And became all-powerful."

- Jack-O explaining I-No's origin in Strive story mode, Omen

Thus, seeing this problem, he commented:

"Your conclusion is meaningless."

Now, I believe that this is more personal, since he's now referring to Axl Low. What conclusion, exactly? I suggest, Chaos meant Axl's solution to problems:

"...he rarely thinks about anything deeply and generally goes with the flow..."

- GG World/Axl Low from Strive

You could say that he's the kind of person who focuses on the present, much like Sol, thus preventing them from being torn by philosophical or societal problems like Asuka and Happy Chaos. However, what if said "flow" stopped?

"Please don't stop the flow"

- Drift, Happy Chaos' battle theme in Strive

I think there's a reason why Chaos' song mentioned this line, and that being, the "flow" could indeed, stop. That is, by either letting mankind live through order to the point where they lose their humanity, or by letting the world be destroyed by mankind's emotions. Which are both possible, based on past events and insights that Ariels, Happy Chaos, and I-No gained from the future.

"Mankind will dream. He will prize his purpose. And he will love. Though the robot assumed it was those very urges that comprised a "soul," it predicted that mankind would one day strip itself of any impulse."

- Origin of Ariels' motive, Xrd Rev story mode, Cause A

"His mission is to stir up the world so that humankind does not forget its own humanity."

- A portion of Happy Chaos' description in GG World

"Something has to change. That dull gray world... Time to put it to the test."

"Now time might actually start to move a little in that awful future..."

- Some of I-No's dialogue in I-No's arcade mode, Xrd Sign

"Finally, the day is here. My chance to light up this dull future with amazing fireworks!"

- I-No's dialogue in Axl Low's arcade mode, Xrd Sign

Basically, I interpreted what he said as: "The world needs to be balanced, and you're doing nothing about it."

However, I wondered, "Why did he even have to contact Axl in the first place? Why did Chaos even discussed about scales?" Then, I thought: What if their interaction is actually a "counterweight" in itself? It could be the reason why he brought up "scales" in the first place. So, what is he balancing? What is he preventing from breaking? It's definitely not Sol's presence, since he's already willing to participate the moment they felt that something was off.

Maybe Axl at first, but when Chaos already showed himself the first time, Axl was already guarding the area, anticipating that someone will come. However, he didn't expect that something bad will happen until after that scene, during which, he managed to save people due to his prior knowledge. Was it to save people? Because it seems like that's all it does. But, why? He didn't mind killing off the guards later and letting the soldiers die, why does he seem to care here? Then I realized, he was doing it for a much, bigger picture... The G4.

Interestingly, the US president, Vernon, sounded too optimistic after the incident:

Vernon: Your former ally has been detained by the Illyrian government. It's a real weight off my shoulders.

Asuka: The I-No I know would never let herself be captured so easily.

Vernon: I imagine they're interrogating her right now... So why don't we save the anxiety-inducing conversations for after she's escaped?

- Shortened conversation between Vernon and Asuka in Strive story mode, Omen

I'm guessing this was because, on paper, the incident was handled "smoothly." A building collapsed, but everyone inside was saved by a hero and the culprit was imprisoned. However, when some people did die, they took the matter more seriously:

Goldlewis: What's the damage report?

Operator: Initial reports say 48 police and soldier casualties. But that doesn't account for the numerous civilians caught up in all this.

Goldlewis: Was this a political group? Some single idealogue?

Erica: Illyria tried to warn us. I downplayed the danger because I-No was in custody. These deaths are my responsibility.

- Discussion during their attempt to reclaim the White House, Strive story mode, Myth

Therefore, if people had died in the building, perhaps Erica (and maybe even Goldlewis) will also think twice about continuing the event, and consequently dissuading Vernon. He might even consider Asuka’s suspicion, and wait for further information from Illyria (especially since, they knew about Chaos' existence anyway. I don't even know why the US didn't know that despite knowing I-No's detainment. Plot hole I guess or they relied on the news instead of direct communication?)

In addition, if ever he was too late, Axl cannot go back in time to save those people:

"Well, you are able to access "any" world... So it's not impossible. However! If you do use your...irregular...powers, this world just becomes another possibility. Poof! Gone in a flash."

- Portion of Jack-O's explanation about Axl's power, Axl Low's arcade mode, Xrd Rev

"Two worlds. In other words, the past in which you lived, and the present. Two timelines. By reasserting one of them, the possibility of the other disappears."

- Sol reiterating Axl's dilemma, Xrd Rev story mode, Contact B

Thus, Axl Low can't travel back in time to change the past, or else the entire "present" where he came from will disappear (and somehow that counts as killing for him, which he didn't like). Thus, the most that he could do is to stop time and move alone there, like how he saved the people in the building.

Based on these info, I theorize that Happy Chaos intentionally creeped out Axl in the scene so that he could save the people in the building, which then allowed everyone in the White House to have the confidence to continue the G4, all while hinting about his plan in the same scene.