#epithet erased theory

[blissocean]

anyone want a semi-analysis/theory post abt the extended great at cowboy? too bad here ya go

it's VERY likely with the clues given that the blaster who killed zora's parents was inscribed, inferred by how they were able to just levitate the box they found over to themself, AND fatally wound the salazars with a few gunshots.

bullets are said to not be lethal in universe unless imbued, so in order to pierce two grown adults enough to kill them they must have had an epithet to do it with! even if not her own like suspected, an epithet is still tied to zora's trauma and the reason her life was turned upside-down.

if not for those implied powers, the whole situation could've been avoided. but an inscribed blaster just had to cheat her out of the rest of her childhood and forced her to grow up way too fast just so she could make a living and survive on her own.

this brings me to another point; remember the speech zora gave in episode 7 about her hatred of epithets? how she claims epithets make life unfair and put others at a disadvantage just for not being lucky enough to be born with one? if we can assume that blaster was definitely inscribed, it can intertwine with that.

both zora and her parents were disadvantage by an inscribed criminal that day, which cost two people their lifes and one their childhood. she spent the remainder of her life training her own epithet, as much as she hates the power system, just to keep up.

i imagine she never wanted to feel as helpless as she did that day again. she didn't want to be one of those people at the end of the pyramid. training her epithet extensively for years was the only way she could keep up. To reach the same level as the people who ruined her life and take revenge on them. To help her get by in life.

She may hate stupidly powerful epithets, but without hers she never would've gotten as far as she did in life.

[feline17ff]

When I first tried Epithet Erased, the first episode, I thought, Indus' backstory, like it fits with his demeanor and his appearance, I thought he was from the past and somehow ended up in the present.

Like a caveman who was frozen, but not from the caveman era.

Yeah. So I thought that was what his tattoos seemed to indicate, and he didn't know laundry, and, spoke like that.

And then we only got the joke Mr barrier title card. It said that he had knowledge in history and language.

So yeah, that's a theory of mine. Maybe that's how Mera found out about the Amulet.

[abyssalshriek]

Theory about Bliss Ocean's "Screen Guy"

Epithet Erased Prison of Plastic Spoilers:

I think Naven is either the Bliss Ocean screen guy, or he is a red-herring for it.

The Bliss Ocean screen guy shows up to the meeting, well, on a screen, and Prison of Plastic introduces Naven with the mention that he prefers to do meetings digitally.

Now, I wasn't the one to think of this theory. I actually saw a post about this theory before I started reading Prison of Plastic. Because I thought it was a spoiler, I didn't look too closely at it when I saw it, which meant I misread it as a fact rather than a theory. Thus, I went into Prison of Plastic waiting for when this would be revealed.

That said, going in with this theory made a lot of things make sense. Naven saying they'd be surprised how much he knew about evil. The ominous way he spoke to Lorelai in the infamous "Will you murder me?" scene. The double-entendre of him mentioning that he is in charge of a major organization; sure, he could be referring to his company, but this could also be hinting towards Bliss Ocean if he is the screen guy considering in that same line he already mentioned his position at Stem.

Speaking of Stem, it is mentioned they have a practice of hiring a lot of Mundies, which would be similar to Bliss Ocean's goal of getting rid of Epithets.

One last thing from the story is that the person the electric lady texted in Episode 4 had a similar word choice and color as Naven, and also Naven's chauffeur has the same voice as the electric lady.

This sign is a bit more of a meta thing, but I remember seeing Jello mention he had the screen guy's voice actor agree to remain anonymous for now. I suppose it could make sense to hide it, but I could see some voice actors being hesitant to hide their participation. However, because Naven is voiced by Jello, and if Naven is screen guy, it would be pretty easy for his voice actor to agree to anonymity because the VA would be the same guy who wanted the anonymity.

Also, Lorelai says while Naven is in the room that she wishes she could get rid of her Epithet. If Naven is part of Bliss Ocean, and if they try to take the amulet again later, this could set up for a conflict of them taking Lorelai's epithet away with the amulet. She asked for it, didn't she?

[mishkatherunaway]

Hey! Did you know that today is Martin's birthday? Ugh I hate that dad

This is a Martin hate post

Though this theory I've heard is fucking CRAZY

SO YOU GUYS KNOW HOW THE HOVEL GOT WRECKED??? LORI WENT AFTER NAVEN BUT HAD NO CLUE MARTIN WAS IN THERE-

AND MARTIN LOST HIS PROTECTION RING-

I WOULDNT WANT THE GUY DEAD LIKE THIS CMON

TERROR

LORI IS GONNA BE SO MESSED UP IF HE ACTUALLY GOT HURT

IDC ABOUT MARTIN BUT OH MY GOD THE SISTERS

[ichigoofficial]

Me and @bigbadwolfy were talking about Epithet Erased earlier and we both came to a realization on something.

In the show, Molly strayed away from her group and ended up bumping into Sylvie and soon passing out, right? So what if...

Molly stayed with her group?

(SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!)

Never bumping into Sylvie, never falling asleep, and never being left behind in the museum? She'd end up going home safe and sound, unaware of the soon to happen robbery of the museum. She'd never meet Giovanni. Mera would never learn about her powers and how useful they'd be. In turn, Sylvie would be the protagonist in place of Molly, as he had plans to stay in the museum after dark to learn about the amulet he heard about during the earlier tour. Since Molly wouldn't be there, Sylvie would've ended up easily messing with the Banzai Blasters' plans and possibly having them arrested. One thing we figured would be the same was Sylvie ending up getting his epithet taken away by Mera, but soon he'd get it back when the police arrive and confiscate the amulet. With the Blasters not running away with the amulet and the police already having it in their possession, that would completely take away the Western Arc. Not only that, but since Molly never got trapped in the museum and met Gio, she never learned how to stand up for herself, so a majority, if not an entirety of Prison of Plastic never happens, due to her being unable to stand up to her own sister. Ramsey would also probably be dead since Zora would've already gotten to him as Percy never went to investigate Redwood Run.

So basically what I'm saying is; everything you see in canon wouldn't have happened if it weren't for a certain small and "meaningless" event happening resulting in a whole butterfly effect.

Sylvie basically caused this by knocking Molly out, vice versa with Molly bumping into Sylvie.

ANYWAYS thanks for listening to this probably meaningless theory session :3

[edgyonporpoise]

Prison of Plastic

Hey so I just finished reading/listening to Prison of Plastic, Epithet Erased’s book continuation, and my heart! Is full! My soul! Is nourished! And there is something spoilery! I have to scream about! Under the cut!

OKaY, so. I haven't seen Anime Campaign and I have no intention to, I wanna experience this story as it releases. BUT. Naven is absolutely 100% the secret final boss, right? They could be doing the whole "You thought the obvious twist villain was a villain, but there's a twist to this twist! Ooo~ooo~oo~~" but for now I'm operating on the assumption that he is and like. Fuck dude, he was so MAD.

In his little (hah, fairy) speech to Molly about talking to brick walls? That right there, is a normal person in a world with superpowers. Silly superpowers, but still, this story is very clear about how dangerous those powers are. This is a speech from someone who has Tried to talk it out, to have Mundie voices heard. He has tried to claw his way up, to build a respectable business run by, employing and catering to Mundies, to shove it in their dumb superpowered faces that normal people are still capable people.

And he is tired of being put down.

Tired enough to swing the wrecking ball through society, to tear down Epithets and everything they stand for. Think about it! Even if he is actually that nice guy we see, think about all the bullshit Epithets can cause. Think about the 17-year-old, so traumatized and scared of herself that she threw a tantrum so hard it took up his entire evening and nearly seriously injured 3 different people! (She threw Molly down a dumbwaiter. She nearly toppled literal tons of cake on him. She DISAPPEARED Rick's HEART!) Sure, it was an evening he had set aside for a speech class, but three hours late to finish it? He's a CEO of a multinational conglomerate. How many cross-timezone meetings did they have to reschedule? The fact that he takes the time out to make sure to urge Lorelai to check the message from Giovanni, even though no-one can see him and it doesn't seem to further any goal for recruiting Lorelai for his terrorist org besides making her feel better, makes me thing there's some sincerity to him. But that makes it all the juicier!

Makes me think of the line where Gio's spouting about people who think they're good but still do bad stuff! Makes me think about how Naven, snarky little pixie who's been playing along with Gio's rambles in any other way suddenly stops speaking at that point and doesn't come back in until after. (And maybe that's just for the flow of the scene but I can just imagine him floating in the background with suddenly flinty eyes while no-one's looking)

Makes me think of the little girl, the little girl he has implied he would kidnap (from what Molly's flashbacks said anyway) if it weren't for the laws holding him back, who crumbles under the weight of the world, of her family's business expenses. Yes, maybe Molly is right, maybe absolutely no-one knows what they're doing. But it is a human instinct to shield the children from the horrors of reality, to give them some small amount of time where they can be carefree. A shitty father, a bratty sister, and Epithets took that away from Molly.

Maybe Naven is just salty at Epithet users for looking down on him for being Mundie. Maybe he thinks he'll be doing the world a service, bringing it back to normal. Maybe he just thinks that these things are dangerous, and should be... Regulated in some way.

Maybe he's right? Even to people who do have these powers. People like Lorelai, who are scared of their own abilities. Or people like Mera, actively harmed by their Epithets. Or the whole IDEA of Ocean Country citizens being farmed for EXP. Damn, the idea of Down With Epithet Society makes a whole lotta sense.

And guys who make you think "Huh, that makes sense." are the most dangerous of all.

Silver-Tongued businessman, indeed.

[enteringdullsville]

The Teal Drewman, Tyler

Statistics

Aesthetic: Tough

Age: 25 (Season One)

Alignment: Enactor

Badge: Shark Fin

Color Type: Green

Debut: You Live Like This?

Effect(s): Jawbreaker (Tyler pulls his teeth out and uses them as daggers, spits them out directly, or releases a shockwave with his bite force); Bubble Bauble (Tyler chucks a water ball at the opponent); Waking Crash (Tyler’s aura mixes with water to form the shape of a shark); Riptide (Tyler projects a sharp edged disc of water)

Family Members: Drake Mugwyrm (Brother), Unseen Parents (Disowned)

Standout Traits: Mohawk, scar, shark teeth, jacket.

Rank: A- (Main Character)

Character Bases

His hairstyle was inspired by Lord Dominator from Wander over Yonder, but I don’t have that kind of space.

Development

Tyler’s design changed directly in correlation with his relevance. When he was just a major side character, he was the spring green Ringo and sported a reptilian design. The jump to ICT rebranded him as the viridian Ridley as seen below. Making him a more prominent character directly resulted in him having a more well known color as his base, hence him taking Hermes’ old color palette and his design and lizard motifs going to Clay.

As a result, Tyler gained more of a shark motif instead. His personality became a bit more rounded upon his promotion; he was largely a joke in RS, and while he’s not much more effective in ICT, he’s clearly more genuinely threatening. Of course, this only makes his redeeming qualities all the more rewarding. On a side note, the fact ICT is an in-universe organization is a group of sketch comedians and Ty isn’t usually the kind of guy to be seen with them in public should be entertaining.

Tyler’s skin color turns much more of a green as of Episode 34.

Be Rebellious

[jay-marti]

I have a thoery

Zora was epithet was nearly useless between star and orbit level and only got op at nova as at that point she can bend the rules because a sundial is just something that can tell time so it basically makes no sense for her to rewind things etc. what do you think of this theory?

I think it was probably fairly useless at Star Level but epithets are based on their interpretation by the user, so I imagine a traumatized and revenge bound kid like Zora would do her best to develop her abilities in a powerful way, that drive brought it to the level it is today and further beyond than how we even see it now.

My personal Theory is that epithet progression is primarily based on drive and a goal rather than training or any other thing.

[kryptickurrency]

Epithet erased theory: Bliss Ocean's fourth Officer.

I remember watching the seventh episode one day and hearing Percy say that Zora was the 3rd highest ranking officer in its organization (and everyone else knows who the other two are so I won't talk about them) but she said 4 but I think I might have a clue on who the 4th one might be.

Who is it you might ask? Well, I think it's Howie.

Reason #1. His attitude towards epithets

The guys got what Bliss Ocean's recruitin'. Yeah, a strong dislike towards epithets (and sometimes, the owners), but his thoughts are about how the world isn't fair (quite literally) because companies/employers prefer Inscribed people over Mundies, even if said Inscribed weren't qualified for the job. A good example is Gorou. A man who isn't even fit for the position of sheriff because he's extremely naive but got it because he was the only Inscribed person in all of Redwood Run. Not to mention the fact that Zora mentioned how Mundies have to work TWICE as hard just to get something. So that might also explain why Howie is so tied to his work, he literally has to work extra hard just to receive some kind of recognition even if it's a very small amount. Not to mention that a majority of the world's population are Mundies and in every 5 people are Inscribed. ( Talk about tipping the scales of society in others favor)

Reason #2: His interactions with Zora

This was one of the first things that caught my eye. And it's his behavior around Zora. When the pair first meet, she's at the train station he's renovating, standing on top of his work. Howie is annoyed at this, not just because Redwood Run pisses him off with really dumb jobs that aren't even real, and the one person who does have a real one doesn't even fit the requirements for it, but also because a nuisance just showed up and ruined the last good moment of his day. Top it off with the 'Zora develops an onsight relationship with everything (and everyone) 8ft around her' thing. So Zora just pissed off Howie and made him lunge at her, jumping off the scaffolding he was sitting on. And keep in mind that a typical scaffolding tier is 5'7 and he was sitting on at least 3 tiers (I'll get to this soon).

See now this is the part that caught my eye...With its dialogue. Howie falls and braces for impact but he's left floating in the air. And if I remember correctly he said that he should've seen this coming, leading to Zora saying yup. Just yup. I mean yes, Percy DID explain her epithet out loud but Howie probably (and I mean probably) didn't know that her epithet worked on people.

Or did he?

To add onto the scaffolding, a fall from the height he was sitting at, which would usually range from 17 feet or higher depending on the type of scaffolding, would result in a serious injury (like numerous broken and/or fractured bones) or death. So Zora probably wouldn't have caught him if he fell. If I'm going to be honest, I don't think Zora would have even bothered catching him, I think Howie would've been viewed as a minor obstacle in her path and might've used some sort of way to get him out of her path, like how she treated Bugsy when she saw that he was with the amulet: Shooting him with a barrage of bullets and the De-aging him (I think that's the term?)

But if he WAS part of Bliss Ocean then I have a feeling that Zora would have to care about his safety in this situation. Now that wouldn't mean she'd have to be nice to him, she could still be an ass but care for his physical well-being. And if he were to get injured in any way, Bliss Ocean won't have an operating top officer for weeks, and Zora would probably get in trouble for said injuries.

Now the next thing I'm about to say is what started this whole theory. And these are two lines of dialogue.

When Zora was on Howie's back, she shoots a clock, shattering the glass and causing it to fall off the wall that was holding it. Then this exchange happens.

Howie, begrudgingly: I'm going to let you get away with that. One. Time.

Zora, inconsiderately: Duly noted. Starts shooting more stuff.

These lines caught my attention, mainly because of Howie's line. Right before that exchange, she used her epithet to turn one of the scaffolding into rust, causing a leg to collapse. Now why did this line pique my interest? Well, you usually don't say that to a stranger, only a person you've known for a couple days, months, years or so. But the main point of this paragraph is that

Howie, wouldn't have known she was going to do that again if she was a stranger.

His tone also plays a small part in this. The guy sounds like he's ready to commit third degree murder. Zora's line is also very interesting to me because of her tone and choice of words. Zora's tone is careless, she doesn't seem to mind Howie obviously minacious tone. Her words are dismissive but fully aware of what he might do, but she does it anyway. And with that, Zora leaving him spinning in the air just so that she can chase Ramsey and Percy.

Though there is a part I'm trying to wrap my head around and it's when Howie scoffs and grumbles that Zora has an epithet.

Reason #3: The "opposite" diagram

So in EE, everyone's supposed to have an enemy. Molly has Lorelai. Giovanni has the Bliss Ocean leader. Percy has Ramsey. And Zora has Moot. This applies to all major characters. Why didn't I put Indus, Mera, and Sylvie? Because I don't know who their 'opposite' is. But for Howie I think I might have an idea. All the Bliss Ocean officers are paired with each other, with some traits that are similar and others that are different. Moot and Zora both have insanely strong epithets that affect them in a way. Most fans speculate that Zora is a cowboy from the past, so she has to use her epithet on herself to stay young and not crumble to dust. And Moot, from what @jelloapocalypse has said in a stream as a starter (since she's still in workshop), Moot can basically delete stuff with her hands. Which might mean she can't really do anything with them or else she'll delete something. Now who am I thinking for Howie? Yoomtah. Think about it, both are Mundies, have well paying jobs (Architecture rated 2 in t

NOTE: this is currently being edited, So excuse it for looking incomplete.

[myhandsarentsmudgediusedigital]

Why Giovanni Kidnapping Molly was the best thing that could've happened to Lorelei (aka: Why Lorelei was lucky Naven just wanted to go home)

So we don't know the exact laws of Taiga County of course, but if they're anything like US laws, Lorelei is very lucky Naven didn't press charges. "Assault with an epithet" is probably a class of laws all its own in that world, but since we obviously don't have that let's just go with plain assault laws.

Assuming Lorelei is tried as an adult (which considering she's 17 isn't much of a stretch), under US federal law she could be charged with the following (quick note: for the purposes of this I'm counting all the involuntary transformations as substantial bodily injury on the ground of it being "temporary but substantial disfigurement"):

2 or 3 charges of assault of persons under 16 resulting in substantial bodily injury (Trixie and Feenie, possibly Molly as well because some states don't actually require an injury, only an action that could cause one): Up to 5 years each

2 charges of simple assault (transformations of Rick and Naven): Up to six months each

1 charge of assault resulting in serious bodily injury (Rick, because if she hadn't healed him that dude would've died): Up to 10 years

1 charge of kidnapping (Naven): 8-20 years, depending on the state

Taking all this into account, Lorelei could serve a maximum of 31 years for her "playing". Now of course they'd probably go easy on her due to her age (not to mention the law being favorable to Inscribed anyways) but she still kidnapped a CEO of a high profile company and involved the daughter of one of the richest families in the world, so if Naven or Feenie had decided to press charges it's very very unlikely she'd escape entirely.

So overall, Lorelei is very lucky that Naven seemed to decide that confronting her trauma and losing the only person keeping the store afloat were enough of a punishment.

Sources:

[demifly]

I’m probably not the first to think of this but, Naven is the head of Bliss Ocean right? He’s incredibly rich CEO who is a Mundie and specifically doesn’t hire people based on their epithets. His chauffeur is the same lady seen at the end of the museum arc and the dark but honest way he talks to Lauralie in prison of plastic shows a side of him which I think is could more believably be apart f bliss ocean then his usual attitude implies. Also we know he had investments in the museum. Honestly I think it makes it much funnier in the way he interacts with Giovanni.

[the-baguette-bandit]

I'm reading the new epithet erased book and i think naven might run bliss ocean..........

[sk3pt1ck1ng]

I wanna post some theories of mine but I'm too lazy, so I'm only gonna ask once.

Do you wanna hear 'em?

[tourneys-by-me]

Multiple Elements Character Tournament - Round 1 (B) 7/12

Erin Ruunaser: Lightning, Fire, Life, Stone, Wind, Water, and Void

Percival King: Electricity and Earth

Propaganda under the cut

Erin Ruunaser: He's the current Elemental Magus and therefore has power over all six traditional magic elements, but he was also recently possessed by an ancient evil Void Dragon, which is broadly very bad for him but due to the nature of the connection, he does technically have power over a seventh element (being void) and therefore more than any human in history. SickTats McHubris, as we call him, is an Elemental Magus. Most mages can use one or two elements max, but he was born with (or given, if the theories are true) a connection to all six: Fire, Air, Lightning, Water, Stone, and Life. This is super rare, and it makes him a celebrity in the magic-science community. If that wasn't enough, he strolled into an ancient magic storm nobody else could enter and got himself a SECRET SEVENTH ELEMENT that nobody knew for sure existed: the Void. But unlike the other elements, the Void isn't dead: it's a STAR-EATING DRAGON, hungry for freedom. "Ow, my hubris!"- Erin, every day.

Percival King: Percy can use their epithet “parapet” to set up different towers that have different properties. Some are used for defense or traversal, but others are wizard towers, which send out electricity.

[hydragstudios]

(POP SPOILERS) Massive Epithet Erased theory

So, this is going to be a pretty big and out there theory, but I think this might be revealed to be true in the future.

I think Trixie Roughhouse... is the Harbinger for the Songstress.

On my fourth listen-to of Prison of Plastic, I had come to chapter two when I heard Phoenica talk about some of the traits the Harbinger has. Most notably, she says the Harbinger is about to hear demonic voices and can control the dead.

And what do we see Trixie do on her chapter, where she fights the Scaregrow? She is shown to be able to ward off ghosts with holy water, is capable to perform successful seances, and heard the voice of a crow that NO ONE ELSE can hear but her.

Trixie has the exclusive ability to hear the dead, control them, AND hear demons... all traits of the Songstress.

This can only mean one thing... Phoenica will have to defeat her best friend Trixie, in order to defeat the songstress.

On a smaller note for evidence, Trixie does share similar hair color and style to the picture of the songstress shown in the Sweetjazz museum, just saying.

[thelyingjoke]

hi bow i know we haven't talked in a while but i have been thinking So Fucking Much about DICE lately so i had to ask. u got any DICE hcs?

heyyyyy first off i am SO so sorry it’s taken me so long to get to this. i’ve been going through a lot of complicated personal stuff the past several months and it’s kept me off of social media…but i am back now! hopefully. i may not be the most active but i will try my best!!

NOW FOR THE QUESTION !!! DICE is a little funny for me…i love them so much and yet my mind’s perception of them constantly shifts…i can never seem to think of anything concrete for them. i love most theories about them to where i can’t decide which ones to believe in myself. like the 11th member…i really like all of the explanations people make for them. from cameraperson to pet to kokichi’s twin. I can’t decide which i like best so they’re all true at the same time for me.

for things that i CAN decide on…hm. Well they are Definitely orphans to me. and i think that like…that horse head in kokichi’s room? they all have one of those. they like to wear them regularly i think. it’s an extra mask. it gets pulled off their faces scooby-doo style to reveal the clown mask underneath.

and i Really like the card nicknames headcanon. but i think they have more than just standard deck names. like there’s Heart, Spade, Club, Clover, Ace, Joker. then you’ve got shit like Wild +4. Basic Darkness Energy. A Deal With Dark Ruler. Sour Cream From Steven Universe. they’re an unpredictable bunch…you can never guess what nickname they’re gonna use next.

the last one actually has an explanation. in an rp from like. jan 2019 i think? it was with DICE members and one of them pointed out how this guy’s hair looks like sour cream from steven universe

and in hindsight their hair is actually not that similar at all they are both just pointy. but that has stuck with me. and it’s funny. so i’ve been calling that member Sour Cream ever since

and speaking of comparing media…i imagine the group to have a dynamic similar to Giovanni’s Boys (gender neutral) from one of my favorite shows, the hit webseries epithet erased. they’re a gang of teenage petty criminals who are initially low-ranking members of an Actual criminal organization pyramid scheme but they eventually leave after giovanni proposes making their own evil organization. they’ve got goofy nicknames like Dark Star and Crusher and Flamethrower and Car Crash (but you can only get one if you earn it). giovanni wants to be a supervillain so bad and he is the sweetest guy ever who loves his minions so very much. these snippets from the book really fit DICE i think!

i look at them replacing hot dogs with cattails, and i nod and think…yes…DICE would do that…stupid but fun…that’s all they want…

they have their differences. giovanni and his boys (gender neutral) are very stupid. but i think the fundamentals of them both being groups of teens who just want to have fun and commit harmless petty crimes and who care so much for each other is Wonderful. i often think of this song to be DICE’s theme song even if i don’t think they are actually like how the banzai blasters are in the song. they’re smarter. But it’s a banger. i find them both very very fun (i think about kokichi saying lines from ee often…i have a list)

And this is not really a headcanon but i like how in the group photo everyone else has pants that at least Reach their ankles but kokichi is a rebel and wears pants that are just slightly too small for him. why does he do that. Weirdo (affectionate)