#Madcom analysis

[ms-scarletwings]

There’s a blink and you’ll miss it moment in Expurgation where Sanford kills a soldat in a manner that had me cringe back with a surprised “OH” when I caught it

This take down disturbed me for two/three main reasons

- It potentially acts as soft confirmation that these eyepieces are surgical implants that cannot just be removed from an ATP soldat’s face like a scope or goggles (without severely maiming them)

- Despite this, Sanford is strong enough to easily dislodge and drag it across the soldat’s face anyhow, actually using the modification against them

- It’s still very possible that eyepiece isn’t physically grafted into their heads after all, and Sanford might actually have just jammed it straight through and up this individual’s skull through brute force alone

Im literally 50/50 on this considering this is the same fighter that was capable of pummeling a half mag to death with his bare fists. At this point I truly believe him when he claimed he could change a tire without using a jack in MPN2.

[ms-scarletwings]

This really reminds me a lot of why in my opinion one of the most fun yet underrated dynamics in the series is that between Deimos and Hank, specifically. Hank has gotten canon one on one synergy time with just about everyone else at this point. And when he does, it often really shows more about the other person than himself… because he’s consistently a bit of a poor team player to begin with, so it takes someone who can keep this in mind to work with him. If you are teamed up with Hank, he seems expectant of you to just pull your weight and stay out of his way. Yeah, maybe he will lend you a hand or two if it’s convenient and knows you’re a competent asset; do not expect to crutch on him or slow him down, though. Otherwise, he won’t actually mind your presence. He’s the main character, and you’re either something to eliminate, or some party member to tag along.

Christoff is willing to pair up with Hank out of strategy and desperation, and doesn’t forget he’s still a menace. Doc is well, ever-adaptable Doc, and has the most history with the guy, even if in off-screen backstory. Almost surprisingly, Sanford especially makes a pretty frictionless combination with Hank as shown in both Project Nexus and the main animated series. Understanding who they both are makes it make a lot of sense. Sanford and Hank are the strongest and most aggressive pointmen of the main group. They both carry a straight to the point, ‘no bullshit about it’ aura when it comes to getting in the zone of completing a task, they both do not hesitate to be particularly brutal toward their opponents, and they both are famously tenacious and hard to put out of commission across the narrative, even when acting solo. Where they mainly differ is the fact that Sanford is a soldier with humanity while Hank is a soldier without soul. Sanford in my opinion could gut an enemy armpit to hipbone and be shouting smug taunts, but Hank is alone in the fact that he would rush down and chainsaw-butcher an unarmed, fleeing grunt from behind. It’s the quiet moments that turn a little awkward and show there’s really nothing else there between them other than sharing a space out of circumstance.

And that’s probably fine by Sanford. He’s a guy who has his own relationships, who can stay in his lane and just focus on the job. They work well together because they are both cocky and unafraid of the other, but secure enough that there’s no ego headbutting there either. In fact the only time I remember Sanford getting bristled with Hank’s coldness was not for any rude af behavior directed at himself, but at Hank being mocking while he was in the middle of patching Deimos up following the truck crash. They both have, nonetheless, shown what they’re 100% willing to do if they think the other has ran wildly off the rails and needs to be stopped. Easy come, easy go.

And then there’s Hank and Deimos, a hypothetical battlefield pair-up I find just, so, so interesting to mull over and so potentially disastrous. I think this because Deimos has repeatedly shown himself as the one member of the main cast who has not been having it click for him how socially hollow Hank truly is. Deimos’s PN dialogue characterizes him as a generally chummy type who almost to a naive degree still believes in good guys and bad guys, and that he’s aligned with a team of the ones who fight the bad guys. He’s the resident giver of the benefit of doubt and across the whole franchise shows the most effort thrown in to actually avoiding unnecessary conflict. He’s the one who tried to persuade cannibal savages to back down in the middle of them trying to kill him and his comrade. He’s the one who was initially more trusting toward the unarmed Romp.fla betrayers. He’s the one who tried to talk Hank down from the ‘we don’t have to do this/we don’t want to do this’ angle, while Sanford just met Hank’s asinine stubbornness with common sense stubbornness.

And this extends well outside of combat in the way that he repeatedly keeps trying to sort of reach out to and involve Hank (and why not, they’re on the same team, right?) in small little ways… that are just completely met with shameless, deadpan apathy. It makes me wish I could have seen him react to the fact that Hank didn’t even bother to remember their names but at least remembered him as ‘the funny one’ of the duo. I’m sure they understood something has definitely been up or very off with Hank, but I imagine that it didn’t originally sink in just how much of a scary wall there was separating them that went deeper than “man our coworker is kind of an asshole.” I wonder if the real impact of ending of MPN is the fact that it’s the turning point where they both found out entirely.

thinking bout how weird it must be for sanford and deimos any time they have to be around hank for longer than a day....

camping out in the middle of nowhere with this... barely even a person anymore. who has made it so so very clear that all they care about anymore is continuing to sate their hunger for bloodshed. trying to go to sleep, knowing that the tool that killed all those agents in front of their eyes is in the next tent over, grinding their teeth in anticipation of more combat.

knowing that the only person they listen to is miles away, and might not pick up the call in time... that doc might let it happen, even, considering it easier to retrieve bodies and S-3LFs from the other place than to go out and get them back....

and its not that sanford and deimos arent perfectly competent killers themselves, but they're still, yknow, people. who joke around, make conversation, high five each other. who don't fly into a blood-rage, foaming at the mouth in giddy, animalistic joy when they get to kill again. who know how to hold back, how not to give in to their worst impulses at any given time.

sanford and deimos can read each other. they can tell what the other is thinking most of the time. hank? his head is like a black box made of swiss cheese. not the slightest clue what's running through it, only that it's full of holes and doesn't quite work right.

hank, of course, doesnt notice any of this. he's just waiting for the time to pass until there's something for him to do again. left numb without anything to scratch the primal itch.

[docsbestkissedoperative]

wow! great teamwork from the aahw that would NEVER remind sanford of someone else-

.......oh

[sewer-sermon]

ok like i swear im not insane when i say that i don't figure crackpots cult as an actual cult in the real life, "actively harmful to the members within it" sense. i don't think it's the most morally sound thing to be doing (esp bc it targets vulnerable people, in mentally weak positions) but at the same time i think it could be so much worse (especially when you're up against the "WE MASS PRODUCE HUMAN BEINGS TO SEND THEM TO DIE" factions!)

like. so many of the people that crackpot is indoctrinating aren't just random strangers. they're coworkers, people he used to know and work alongside, people he can sympathize with for suffering through similar mental ailments, and people he was ALREADY rallying to have freed from the asylum before nexus fell!!! (one of the snoopables is an email chain between him & hofnarr, requesting that his patients be released & insisting they weren't insane, just prophets)

none of the fanatics give any sign of being afraid of crackpot either, and if krinkels wanted him to read as an unsympathetic asshole like the rest of the faction heads he certainly could've added that in, like idfk a line where some fanatics r like "ohh noo we must stop you or His Buoyancy will hit us with rocks XP !!!". fear is a very strong tactic of rule in real life cults.

im not denying crackpot has an ego (have you seen the statue in the commercial district??) but i don't think it completely defines his actions like phobos's did- if anything i feel like the fanatics revere him out of a legitimate respect and he encourages it bc no one's ever given him any FUCKING respect b4.

if anything really the cult is just one big survival tactic. the nature of nevadeans is just that they need to form groups to survive and usually those groups require a strong belief system to be held together. The Agency could frankly be considered a cult in the real life definition, it just doesn't look as much like one outwardly because it's not directly said and they don't have candles and sermons and cartoonish shit like that.

also i feel like i should point out they're the only faction that managed to make peace with zeds n r taking care of them as actual people instead of monsters? because u know. zeds are people and have been shown via tricky to be capable of some level of sentience.

just saying all this bc im kinda sick of seeing crackpot portrayed as a mustache twirling villain who eats babies for fun or something. yes his actions are reprehensible but i still do not believe he is an evil person.

EDIT: UGH I FUCKING KNEW I WAS FORGETTING A POINT there is also literally the line where he refers to the fanatics as HIS CHILDREN and himself as THEIR FATHER. HE'S TAKING CARE OF THEM!!!!! GEEEUUHHHHH

[fluffydeoxys]

my analysis of the second chapter of @sleepwalk-station's comic OR1G4M1! Keep in mind this basically spoils the whole thing, so I recommend reading its comic first! (Also the way I've written/spoken in this is more or less speaking directly to the creator, so I apologise if my phrasing is confusing at any point LOL)

I would really recommend reading it, a lot of passion and love has been put into its creation and I think its a really wonderful madcom fanwork. blasting you with my mind beam

[christnarr]

been saying this thank you......wonderful analysis

id also like to add this drawing that krinkels did of hank using a cane because it makes me smile

Hank J. Wimbleton is disabled and you cannot change my mind

I mean, for starters he’s missing his lower jaw and has a metal prosthetic, so even if everything else I believe about him is directly stated to be false, he’s still disabled.

there’s no way in hell is brain works correctly anymore. He’s been shot in the head multiple times, and his head has been slammed into the ground hard enough to completely destroy his lower jaw. So that’s multiple traumatic brain injuries which can cause plenty of long term issues.

He also literally blew himself up. His body got ripped apart by the blast, which is gonna damage basically everything.

That shit comepletely tore through his body. That’s multiple parts that’ll need to be reattached. His head is gone. His arms are gone. His legs are gone. That’s not gonna be fun to repair, or to recover from. Technically it’s straight up impossible to recover from because his fucking head is gone, but this is Hank J. Wimbleton. So we’re gonna pretend it’s possible to come back from this.

These are from a site that was specifically talking about arms and hands, but presumably it’d be similar for other parts of the body. Basically this guy is never going to be the same as he was before the series started.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[euclidity]

People are gonna find me through my sheriff analysis and go on my account and expect it to be like jebsheriff or some shit maybe even a tasteful marshmallowpie No i draw and write exclusively for the gacha life bait ship sorry you don't get canon madcom you get a fucking parody oc made 20 years ago x sheriff. Unironically

[nolongeronlyhereforthewhispangle]

expect a long MadCom 12 analysis post when I get the chance because I have. thoughts.

[jormshands]

Sanford character analysis no one asked for ❤️

Sanford is an odd one. His voice and tone doesn't really match with the personality he displays at times.

Out of him and Deimos, he seems to be the de facto leader, but only in specific scenarios. He is the one that thinks ahead more, the more observant one, the more quick to fall on a judgment one. Throughout the episodes, he is usually behind Deimos- who rushes past first, and scans for danger Deimos might have missed, however that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy causing pain. It is shown to be Deimos that takes the direct orders from Doc and plans with Sanford's assistance. In contrast to Hank and Dei (at least outwardly with dei) Sanford seems to actually feel pressure of getting the mission done, which is different from Hank's more lackadaisical determination as in wanting to get the job done but not getting worked up over it. In madcom 11, Sanford seems to reach a breaking point, he falls to his knees and screams in pain and frustration, going as far as to try and jump off of a pilar to kill himself. This displays he is the most in time with his emotions, though in fight mode, to grieve over deimos. Out of the bunch he actually feels emotions like an average person would.

However, in game he does show tendencies of optimism, such as, "maybe we'll get lucky," and often is the one to steer Deimos forward when he gets worked up. It could be argued to be more realism when a mag that happens to have an explosive on him appears, and how he informs Deimos "better hope we reach that shut off valve first" referring to the gestalt chasing them. He also uses some aspects of realism with the sheriff, berating him for acting so careless about the safety of the nexus, "If we don't put their soldier cloning and training program to an end, it's only a matter of time until we end up like every other dead citizen in this wretched place. You thinks that don't include you too?" He's not necessarily thinking he's saving the world and trying to get the sheriff to "join the good side" he's informing him that everyone will die including the sheriff and then there will be nothing left. He sees that as common knowledge.

In romp.fla, he was the more judgemental and assertive one in the new situation, the first to shoot, even startling Deimos into firing as well, showing Deimos looks to him for calls to action occasionally in situations of confusion. In shakedown he is absently critical of Hank and even Deimos to a certain degree. Once Hank completely misidentifies San with Dei, Sanford gets more short and clipped with them. Also in his stress he and Deimos have a rather passive aggressive conversation over the radio about the gestalt. Deimos is actively being chased by it and Sanford pressuring him to unlock a bridge for him to pass. He is plenty capable of doing things himself and is a decent thinker. He might not be at Deimos' level of fast thinking but he clearly can come up with unique ideas such as trying to blow the armor off of the riot guard when Hanks "just hit him" and Deimos' "make the robot hurt him" didn't work. He is the demolitionist expert and can work with bombs at a strikingly fast pace. He's even quick and agile enough to plant a c4 on an enemy's back.

He also took charge in the interrogation of the sheriff and his goons, barking out and being commanding and stern, "We're taking down the Nexus with or without your help...and we're happy to do this the hard way. Your choice," and "We have NO IDEA who that is. But you've got one second to get out of our way." Though he is capable of losing his temper towards the end, "What exactly do you think we're here to do, Sher? Shut you down or something? You and your little "operation" out here!?" He yells at the sheriff like the answer is blindingly clear. He also snaps at tricky almost immediately, but that could lead to him just being really fed up, "Make some sense, you mad clown bastard! What are you trying to tell us?!"

Also with his other half, he seems to have a lesser threshold than his partner does. As in what he can tolerate before getting miffed. "That's twice I had to climb over wreckage today. I'm over it." And What happens when we get to the top? I'm kind of done with all the surprises." It seems at first he's willing to dash in with his partner, but, being the most "human like" he eventually gets to a point where he wants to leave. This is pertaining to what's harming him. Not other people.

He also seems to have a bit of an ego on him. Many of his voice lines are him mocking, taunting, insulting other people or gassing himself up. This only happens when fighting which suggests he is quite a fan of maiming and killing. Even if you forgo the voice lines, his attitude and how he carries himself as this big tough guy are still there. In 7.5 he teases and taunts an atp soldat to come closer in a rather cocky manner, then proceeding to beat the soldat to death as well as taking a hostage and just beating them up when they already showed no resistance. People seem to forget he's also a wanted torturer, implying long and drawn out sessions and not quick merciful kills. In 5.5 after being thrown out of the building by tricky, he quickly and more eagerly than usual charges into battle while Deimos stays behind. He also has wiped his hook off to clean it on the bodies of his victims, displaying a complete lack of empathy for those he's killed. He's the one that speaks up most and the one that tries to put pieces together in game and will relay that information back to Deimos, who seemed overwhelmed in a new environment, asking questions and getting startled from time to time while Sanford doesn't seem to.

He seems to be more focused than Dei however in how he carries himself. He's often the one to drag Dei back to earth when he gets worked up, such as with Gil when Deimos was initially going to burst through the door until Sanford talked some sense into him "he's already dead", therefore actually making the headstrong Deimos submit to him and begrudgingly agree. He does seem to add some insight and wisdom to Dei as well, like knowing if deis recklessness and chiming in with "don't want to piss off the locals" and Deimos agrees, talking about his weapons and readiness to fight.

In the harchar streams, Hans cited that Sanford is more laid-back and "just looking out for his little friend" similar to how a "bodyguard" works. He seems to work well with teams as he seems more preoccupied on details than the big picture before him, something Deimos is the opposite of; he sees the big picture and forgoes little details at times. This seems to display a bit of a foil to Deimos, he keeps himself serious on the outside, but has an outgoing side inside while dei is vice versa. Including that, when Hank was fighting for his life with tricky, he and Deimos had decided to goof off in the rift, displaying some of his quirkiness and finding the ability to have fun during a massive mission. He also was a bit laid back with Deimos during the lift to the science tower, the two going back and forth about how old the nasty thing was. This leads me to believe that while he makes himself assertive and strong around others he's not all that close to, around Deimos or people he finds close he allows himself to be a bit more laid back and fun loving, displaying the parts of himself he keeps hidden. He only seems to let this side show when around Deimos and not really anyone else

[likeantennaestoheaven]

Greetings Humans!!!! I’m Whitty [Short for Whitmore] and I’ve uploaded my conscience into the internet so I can Beam Images of my own Making Straight into YOUR COMPUTER!

Translation: Hey I’m Whitty and I draw a lot so you should look at my drawings teehee :-)

BASIC INFO:

 INTERESTS: 💥- high tier faves.Please talk to me about these 🧨-mid tier faves. I don’t mind talking about these

💥- OFF, Madness Combat, Metal Gear Solid, HLVRAI, Sonic the Hedgehog, Ultrakill, Sam and Max, Kirby

🧨- Splatoon, Earthbound, The Magnus Archives, Welcome to Nightvale, Punch Out!, Celeste, Smile for me, Undertale/Deltarune

TAGS:

#whitposts -main tag

#whitart -art tag

#whitshitposts -shitpost tag

#whitty bedtime -sleep tag

LINKS:

[old intro post]

[Sanford MADCOM character analysis]

[My Toyhouse]

[ms-scarletwings]

Took longer than expected to hunt and pin down the most haunting soundtrack from MPN2 but now that I have…. Goddamn.

I really mean… this is bone chilling to me, in context. Down to the title. Out of everything Locknar contributed to this game it sticks out like a gangrenous thumb. Here we had this collection of off the wall energy Drum’n Bass, pumped up electronic smacks that bopped you through every step of wanton mayhem and carnage, and then, completely out of left field, this was the ambience backdropping the final fight of the whole adventure.

Most impactful to me probably because I feel how it highlights something incredibly tragic about Hank J Wimbleton himself, as I listen to the theme of his “betrayal”.

Not in a way that makes you feel pity for him, but something closer to horror? Horror at knowing that maybe in another time and place there was an otherwise unremarkable man behind those goggles. That there is still a man now, with humor and personality and feelings and wants like anything else harboring a soul, but sure as can be not a shred of mercy. He’s not a numb shell, but actually so disturbingly full of bloodthirst, of ruthlessness and arrogance. It’s almost easy to forget how much anger he can also have when he communicates the bulk of it through action alone.

You know that saying about how the dog that doesn’t bark should be feared so much more than the one that does? The scariness of Hank is the scariness of the dog that will lunge without a single sound of warning, save than a heart-stoppingly quiet stare through you.

There’s some ungraspable method to his madness that makes him all the more uncanny for it, too. He will run a chainsaw through a fleeing, unarmed opponent no hesitation, but he won’t bring himself to jump a toll booth arm he could go out of his way to raise. He’d slaughter his only allies in cold blood, but would take a pause to pat a kitten if he encountered one. We know he wanted to pursue hobbies, that he’s dabbled in real estate, but the path of a neverending cycle of dealing & receiving death comes most natural to him, and he has no strong enough interest in fighting that destiny.

You’d look into a monster like that and think the worst thing would be seeing emptiness. Hank is scary because you’d look into his gaze and instead find a solid pool of red that blocks you from seeing whatever may be further down. He doesn’t even hide a damn thing, really, people just don’t want to believe their own eyes. They want to think if anyone were that cold blooded and dangerous they couldn’t be the same person that works with 2bdamned and the goals of Status Quo, that they wouldn’t proactively protect Sanford in a fight and be capable of the calm, even goofy moments between storms. That kind of lethality is much more comfortable to be around if you can imagine its only being directed at those who deserve it or brought it upon themselves.

For better or worse, Hank isn’t even the kind to take advantage of this; he just simply is what he is without a single shit to give for the reaction it gets him. He’s no hero, he’s no megalomaniac, he’s definitely not a showman like Tricky. It’s no performance and it’s no secret behind a facade: this is the most wanted, deadly person in Nevada- borderline a force of nature you can avoid, you can work with, but you cannot stop and you cannot appeal to some sympathetic vein or better nature inside of it. Doc likely understands this entirely. Part of the entire reason he employs Hank rather than become another one of the failed lineup of his would-be assassins is because he keeps score, and every army that has ever stood in the way of that walking disaster hasn’t succeeded.

And maybe he has seemed to prove it is the smarter bet to make, but in this moment here came our reminder that it’s still a gamble of its own. There is logic and consistency to how Hank ticks. He still is the same guy we came all this way with, all the fun and hijinks included, but in this moment not a single second of it is going to matter. And in this moment your only surprise was staring down the same madness from the other side of the barrel. For years we beloved the protagonist from every other angle as the audience, but what, did we ever wonder, have the victims always seen, looking back at them face to face?

Nothing but a murderer.

[fandom-anthropology]

You ever notice how some characters are just like fandom angst magnets? Like the fandom seems unified in making a certain character constantly go through The Horrors in AUs and fics. And I think it’s mostly dependent on how canon treats that character.

Like for example, Hunter from The Owl House. There’s a lotta fics that dive deep into his trauma and recovery given that the show is only able to tackle so much.

Deimos from Madness Combat also fits this in like three different categories: a canon event in the series, an implied event in the series, and one entirely invented by fanon, that being the Phobos brother Headcanon.

We’re also starting to see this recently with Luigi from Super Mario. Now to be fair, Luigi has always kinda been an angst magnet regarding games like Super Paper Mario. But this newest angst content largely revolves around what he went through in the movie.

Who are some of your favorite angst magnets?

[docsbestkissedoperative]

i like to think that everything and everyone in nevada is in a constant state of damage.

lab coats left shredded from combat, headphones and goggles full of scratches, leather turning almost white from constant use, sharpened swords with nicks on its blade and hilt, bandages turning yellow and dark red from the neglect, scars and stitches lining so many people's bodies

and no matter how pristine a place may look, there are still cracked screens and computers hidden somewhere, paint flaking off the walls, water damaged ceilings, buckets made to catch leaks from broken pipes, dried blood on all surfaces from never ending slaughter

the environment itself has it too, with its jagged mountains and bleeding sky and rocky floors

there's just something about the setting and its people that gives a sense of wear and tear at all times. like it exists as a part of nevada. essential, irrefutable. nothing can escape it

[sewer-sermon]

hi hello its 3:30 AM and i am physically about to fall over anyways this fuckin post [(tumblr dot com)/arowanaprincess/721886431053758464?source=share ] reminded me of your post [(tumblr dot com)/poryphoria/718433397277638656/thinking-abt-thematics-i-personally-think-project]

sure hope the links dont fuck themswlvs over. anyways

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm trying to figure out what parts of madcom are what and. i think everything related to project nexus. madness prpkect nexus the game on steam with a funny little storyline. meta-wise. i think it is a tragedy (heavy quotations on that) because it did not have to end that way. if only phobos had listened. if only hank had stepped down.

and i think. at some point. at some part of project kobold, it locked itself firmly into the fact it had to end that way. with all the preliminary preparation, integration behind the scenes, everything. at some point it’s just a speeding train and gonne is riding it to its conclusion. it is a machine (geddit) with no failsafe and the off switch is long broken. had to end this way, only way it could ended

dichotomy of meat and machinery, too, because people are messy and weird and could well have changed their minds, and the machine is tireless towards whatever end it works towards. you can (you could’ve, can’t anymore) change people’s minds. you cannot stop whatever clockwork force you meddled with once you are tangled enough

idk what my point was meant to be. i’m gonna collapse now

please drop a something in my askbox if the links broke ill try to resend them btw

SORRY BOUT THE DELAY, was in a vc when i saw this & needed a sec to properly gather my thoughts once i got outtie

but GHOUGGHH GOD IF THIS DOESNT FUCKIN BEAT ME TO SHREDS!!!!! i fucking LOVE parallels this shit drives me INSANE DUDE AAVVHH. (VERY VERY GLAD YOU SEE ALL THAT AS A TRAGEDY TOO, BTW. madcom as a whole and phobos and hank r literally textbook "doomed by the narrative" tragic motherfuckers and every time i think about them i step one inch closer to the deep deep chasm of insanity)

not much else to say on the matter other than i think this is a really fucking cool read on things and im generally super fucking fond of your takes on this series & please please god you or anyone at all can ALWAYS feel free to toss stuff like this in my ask bin box bc i find it SO ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL EVERY TIME this made my night :}}}}}}} !!!!!!!!!!

TALK TO ME ABOUT MEDIA ANALYSIS ILL KISS YOU ON THE MOUTH

[2eds]

naw i dont do upset posting or anything but. if i lose my madness combat special interest im going to be so upset. i dont think im gonna but i havent been drawing as much either so thats probably it. i love madness so much i habent gotten the chance to talk about it either. i might make a long post about my ideas aboutttt their characters and stuff

[n0maku]

finally went and finished the deadmos adventures (i had only watched through sacrifice.fla to start) and i might be slightly deranged with the amount of reaction/analysis notes i’ve made on it