Does anyone have any scans for the Truth of the Universe? (Earthbound)

[TheGatememer]

So I've been looking on The Truth of the Universe's profile, but I'm kind of uncertain about it, due to the lack of scans and links in the profile. I've looked up on the Earthbound Wiki, and I found nothing.
The closest thing I could find to Fate Manipulation is that "Ness coming to the Sea of Eden was pre-destined truth). Not much more than that. I also can't really find where it says it specifically selects "chosen ones", and that they are "destined" to defeat the evil. This is contradicted by the fact that Giygas actually won in an alternate timeline. Not to mention, this logic can be applied to so many verses, where there are "chosen ones" that defeat the evil in the prophecy or whatever (Take regular show or Ninjago for example). There is also nothing I could find about them controlling fate itself. And I can't see how this also applies to Lucas, as far as I know, there is no mention of the Truth of the Universe in mother 3. In fact, the only time the "truth of the universe" is ever mentioned, is that one quote, and nothing else.

So in short, I'm somewhat doubting it's abilities to control fate, and I'm somewhat even beginning to doubt it's existence.

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

@TheQuirkyBoy @ShadowGamerOmega @Chrisras

I believe it was mentioned on Ness's profile and it's the reason they have passive Fate Manipulation. But I'm pinging them in case one of them has the scans.

 

[TheGatememer]

Scans would be appreciated

 

[GiverOfThePeace]

Me, Vile and Quirky are going to basically put together a response to explain what truth is, we're also planning on an explanation blog so we don't get threads like this in the future.

Quick thing though, if you're going to admit you don't fully know the verse/you don't know where something comes from you do not say stuff like "this is disproven" cause you can't say a concept's disproven if you don't know the reasoning nor scene for the concept in the first place, it gives off the intention you're here to purely downgrade no matter what the answer is rather then genuinely asking a question.

 

[TheGatememer]

I am asking the question though, I want it to be clarified, since I thought that was a contradiction. I was wondering if there was anything else that shows they have fate hax. I do apologize if I gave off that vibe.

 

[VileShadows]

I am asking the question though, I want it to be clarified, since I thought that was a contradiction. I was wondering if there was anything else that shows they have fate hax. I do apologize if I gave off that vibe.

No worries. We will respond soon.

 

[VileShadows]

Sorry, my the links in my reply were broken. Give me a minute to fix it and resend.

 

[VileShadows]

Okay. First off, I would like to mention that Giygas taking over the universe in the future before the game begins is a moot point because that future was unwritten and he never even directly fought the chosen four. Additionally, EarthBound having timeline splits is an outdated interpretation of time travel for the verse that we no longer use, so it's not like a new timeline was created where the chosen four succeed and the old timeline was left to darkness, that future is literally unwritten from the timeline as the events are changed in the past, thanks to Buzz Buzz traveling back in time to warn Ness.

Let's move on to scans though. There are quite a few so bear with me here.

Legends of Localization: EarthBound / MOTHER 2 Translation Comparison: Monkey Caves

These monkey-filled caves are filled with localization changes too! Ki ki kya!

legendsoflocalization.com

To start, I have linked the scan that mentions the Truth of the Universe directly and in the greatest detail, with the text block that I want you to see being this one. Here we can see Talah Rama mention the Truth of the Universe by name, stating that Ness and Jeff meeting with him was predestined fate and that when all four of the chosen ones gather, order will return to the universe. The Truth of the Universe is mentioned by name again when you speak to the old man in Magicant, stating that the Sea of Eden is a place where Ness can touch it. While not mentioned by name, Poo's master relays a message from the heavens to Poo, telling him about the same prophecy of the chosen four that Talah Rama had mentioned earlier. Buzz Buzz himself at the beginning of the game also mentions that this prophecy exists in his future and that he believes Ness is the chosen one it speaks of.

Legends of Localization: EarthBound / MOTHER 2 Translation Comparison: Lost Underworld

Whoa! Everything's so big... or is everything tiny? Let's dig into the localization and learn about the universe!

legendsoflocalization.com

When Ness talks to the talking rock in the Lost Underworld, it tells him about his destiny of saving the universe from Giygas. The rock calls him a chosen one and says that the universe has a system of destiny, which you can see in this text block. Additionally, there is an object that Giygas uses to predict the future called the Apple of Enlightenment. Its prophecy states that Giygas will fail due to the existence of Ness, a prophecy that both he and Pokey try to defy and of course end up losing anyway. Even when Ness and his friends are backed up against a wall with seemingly no way to win, Paula's prayer manages to reach the Player themself, with their prayers ultimately destroying Giygas and winning the battle. After Ness returns from the past after defeating Giygas and talks to Apple Kid (one of the most intelligent characters in the verse), he even remarks that Ness's calculated odds of victory were about 99 to 1 in Giygas's favor, but his "courage" allowed him to prevail.

While the Truth of the Universe is not mentioned directly in Mother 3, its presence is still alluded to. There are scenes in both Mother 2 and Mother 3 where the main cast takes a short break to drink some coffee or tea, during which they receive a brief exposition about their journey from an unknown entity.

Examples can be found here:




We assume this unknown entity to be the Truth of the Universe, as it is an omniscient being that exists throughout all of time and space and would be the only being that would logically both know this information and be able to telepathically communicate with characters from two separate universes (in the original script of Mother 2, the coffee scene even ends by saying "may the goddess of good fortune smile upon you always"). Lucas also receives the same level of fate protection that the chosen four of Mother 2 receive, and he himself is a chosen one whose destiny is to pull the needles and awaken the Dark Dragon.

Now let's talk about the fate protection itself. The most blatant example of this is Mother 2's game over screen, where upon defeat Ness is able to return to his journey. On the surface this doesn't appear to mean much, but if you refuse to continue your journey after a game over, the game will mention how Ness's defeat must have been a bad dream (the music track for the game over screen is also literally called "Bad Dream"), implying that his defeat was unwritten from reality and turned into a bad dream. This sequence also exists in Mother 1, and although the cast of Mother 1 currently lack fate protection, we are planning to revise this, not only because of that sequence but because they are also guided by the Player, who is directly mentioned in Mother 1 and is established as an important force in the game's narrative in both Mother 2 and Mother 3. This sequence isn't present in Mother 3, though the game over screen functions identically by sending Lucas back to the last save frog he talked to. Due to the numerous instances of fate being used as a narrative device as well as Ness's journey being predetermined to succeed due to the universal system, this should absolutely not be dismissed as a game mechanic. Aside from the game over screen, there are several other instances where fate skews events in favor of the protagonists, which I will list below.

• Buzz Buzz is able to successfully travel back in time and warn Ness about his destiny in order to avert the dark future, despite the fact that the future he comes from is completely ruled by Giygas and escaping him and his army would be extremely difficult.
• Ness and Paula are trapped and incapacitated by enemies in Threed, however this only ends up working in their favor as Paula reaches out to Jeff, allowing them to meet as Jeff comes to their rescue in the Sky Runner.
• Apple Kid has the Mach Pizza delivery guy deliver the Zombie Paper to Ness so that he can trap all of the zombies in Threed and proceed with his journey, however the Mach Pizza guy just wants to give it to some random person to get it over with. This random person he chooses happens to be Ness himself, and the Mach Pizza guy insists that he is Ness and must take the Zombie Paper despite not knowing that it actually is Ness.
• Ness and Jeff are required to search the desert to find the Yogurt Dispenser that was dropped by Escargo Express's "neglected class" in order to access the second elevator of the Monotoli building. This leads them to meet Talah Rama, a meeting which he states to be predestined fate.
• The Starmen kidnap several characters, most notably Apple Kid and Dr. Andonuts, however this ends up backfiring as the chosen four deactivate the Starman Base and free them, allowing them to finally meet and begin work on the Phase Distorter.
• As previously mentioned, the chosen four are unable to defeat Giygas on their own, and even the combined prayers of everyone on Earth isn't enough to finish him off. Even after Paula's prayer is absorbed by the darkness and it seems all hope is lost, her final prayer miraculously reaches the Player themself, who proceeds to send their own prayer that finishes off Giygas and wins them the fight.
• Lucas wins "rock, paper, scissors" against all five members of DCMC in order for Duster to leave the band and return to the playable cast. This by itself isn't too impressive as the individual band members tell you what the other band members usually lead with, however whenever Lucas picks the wrong option, something will always happen that causes a redo, guaranteeing Lucas's victory. The characters even refer to their game of "rock, paper, scissors" as asking destiny for guidance.
• Hinawa is able to protect Lucas even after her death. This includes things such as appearing in Alec's dream and telling him to pile hay on the spot where Lucas would end up falling as well as pacifying Claus in the final battle, preventing him from killing Lucas. Duster even comments on how lucky everyone is to have been saved from their fall from Thunder Tower.
• An unused block of text implies that even if you say no to pulling the final needle, Lucas will do so anyway, stating that "No one can stop Lucas from pulling the needle. No one.". Fate overrides even the will of the Player.

I hope this all clears up the confusion. If you have any other questions, I will be happy to answer them, though still be aware that many things in the verse are undergoing revision. The explanation blog that GiverOfThePeace mentioned will be created later and will be published alongside the rest of the CRT when it drops.

 

[TheGatememer]

This makes much more sense, thanks for putting in the time to put this together.

 

[VileShadows]

This makes much more sense, thanks for putting in the time to put this together.

No problem. I'm willing to help clarify things whenever it's needed.

 

[TheQuirkyBoy]

So, I'm guessing we can close this thread now? The OP seems satisfied with the provided scans.

 

[TheGatememer]

yep go ahead

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

I will close this