#generation loss theory

[knine-nights]

Genloss Theory 5

So, a detail I noticed that I haven’t seen talked about. In the final scene where Ranboo is tied up with the box around his head, his mask is damaged. On his left side it’s broken to the point you can see his face:

It was harder to see in the original (or at least, all I saw was a smaller hole) but in the Founder’s Cut you can see that a whole gash has been taken out of the mask.

I double checked and, when Ranboo is grabbed by Hetch just moments before, he’s grabbed by the body, not the head:

So something happened between him being grabbed by Hetch and him waking up. Something the audience was not privy to.

The thing about the mask is, canonically, it’s literally sewn into his face. An image released officially shows that the mask is sewn on and there are wires down his throat:

So the mask being damaged is a big deal, because they can’t just replace it with another one. This one is borderline permanent.

(I do think they could possibly replace it, considering they were able to literally rebuild Charlie from having his guts torn out, but it wouldn’t have been easy)

So, what gives?

My theory is that Hetch didn’t plan for Ranboo to survive. That damage to the mask is substantial and serious, not something easily fixed. And Hetch had Ranboo the whole time between his bow and him waking up. So if anything happened to the mask it was under his supervision.

Which leads to the second part of my theory, less supported than the first, I think they needed to damage the mask to be able to give Ranboo back his memories and mind. So they broke the mask only to torture him further in his final moments.

More theories

[luckystar1327]

hi allow me to be insane for a second

what if Zero is the founder

HEAR ME OUT

So we know they work at a store that sells/rents VHS tapes. And all the generations are on VHS tapes. So like what if. Yknow. That hand at the end of Gen 1 was Zero.

also, the most recent YT post called Generation 0 ‘My generation’. Guys guess what. Zero is from Gen 0.

idk. Probably super far off but like what if.

[watermelonbugs]

After watching Founder’s cut I have an idea. We know Showfall is capable of bringing back the cast members they’ve killed, right? We see it with Slime and Sneeg multiple times.

What if we killed the Hero for nothing? What if their death never released them at all, was just a ploy to make us feel as though we could be satisfied that we’d done the right thing?

What if he never needed to die?

[chefbeanart]

HIDE OR FIGHT

Founder's game: Afterschool Slash

It's right behind me, isn't it?

Theory: Ben is trans. Ben is Zero. Evidence? Yes

Also on the mirrors, details are switched out. Second person shows up, zero's name is gone. Coincidence? Nope! And the mask on the creature in this drawing is Hetch's mask. Reused masks? Maybe... A specific group that's manipulated? Hmmmm...

Ok thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

May shrimp gods bless you 🦐

[justyourautarch]

Some lil thoughts on the new GenLoss videos as of recent

In the “From the desk of the founder video” code (thank you random deleted channel for the decoding), to me it’s pretty obvious the founder is talking to Ranboo. Talking about how he (Ranboo) was special and could be used for something more, which would be Generation 1

- The founder also talks about how Gen1 was one of his favorites in “Welcome to Gen 0” and considering how special he talking about someone being special in Gen1, we can assume it’s ranboo

I really think that what happened with Ranboo inspired the founder to create the other generations, as it was the first of many. He wanted to recreate a situation like what happened with Ranboo and make it perfect (What perfect means to the founder, I have no idea yet)

Whatever the case is, this founder dude sounds like he (?) has a sort of obsession with these generations and making them beautiful/perfect, which I’m guessing is gonna mean they’re just as messed up as Gen1

[theflamingtrash]

GENLOSS THEORY TIME

what if the main cause of all the occurrences in generation loss was caused by some kind of nuclear disaster?

Just hear me out okay?

Evidence 1:

A lot of the Genloss OST has some kinda clicking noise that sounds a lot like a Geiger counter in the back of it, however it's just the songs that can be associated with hetch/showfall and the portal that was on the starting soon of episode 1 (example below)

Evidence 2:

The door that the genloss twitter posted is described as a "submarine or bunker door", ranboo confirmed it's not a submarine, meaning there's a good chance it's some kind of bunker? Why would there be a bunker in generation zero? Some kind of nuclear incident.

Evidence 2.5:

Adding onto that, there was a fallout shelter sign in the trailer for generation 1 episode 2, and it didn't get any further elaboration for it? It's a really weird thing to focus on with no kind of elaboration in the episode at all

Evidence 3:

The dimension doors in episode 1 of TSE are very apocalyptic like, the first door having that weird mysterious noise with it, the red sky in the second one, hell Ranboo described the third, unused door as "getting nuked"

Evidence 4:

Just think about the name "lostfield" for me with the potential of nuclear apocalypse in mind, what's the easiest way to lose a field (probably a town or city tbh), a nuclear explosion of some kind?

Evidence 5:

Apparently large amounts of radiation breaks down and destroys VHS tapes, increasing the rate of generation loss, which Ranboo has actually previously stated he's researched before (however I don't know where the clip is, sorry)

So, what's my current working theory?

So there's the portals that brought us to generation 1, based on the OST for that part of the stream being called "the holding portal" and in the game on the genloss website the red orb behind the dumpster working like a portal. I think that the founder, trying to make one of these portals in lostfield, messed up at some point, and caused some kind of nuclear incident, aka the Lostfield incident, a bunch of VHS's were in Lostfield and they all went through generation loss. They're the VHS' we're watching

I may discover more evidence in the future for this however for now that's all I can think of, so I'll add more as I think of it, and if you've read to here, thanks for reading, it means a lot that you like to listen to my dumb ramblings :D

[gaycatgenloss]

its gloopy time

okay so like I have had this theory for a while but I had to rewatch the first and second episode of genloss to fully explain it

okay so like gl!slimecicle is OBSESSED with slime right?

he has a ‘secret stash’ gl!ranboo finds in the fridge and gl!slimecicle goes “dont tell anyone I dont like rats!”

why wouldnt he want anyone to know?

well you know how the slime=blood in genloss? (which is canon because of the parallel in the ep.2 episode cover and the operation scene)

what if gl!slimecicle wanted to warn gl!ranboo behind showfalls backs?

he also had skulls and teeth hidden around the basement. he even had an urn (WHICH HE MIGHTVE KNOCKED OVER TO GET RANBOOS ATTENTION !!), and yes its supposed to be a silly joke but what if gl!slimecicle gained consciousness for a bit (or he may have done it subconsciously with the information that the contestants real minds can subtly communicate) and scattered the remains of old contestants to warn them about the gameshows real malicious intent? all of the ‘slime�� was just the blood and guts of the contestants. gl!ranboo didnt realize any of this. this could be a stretch but couldnt frank also have been a skeleton of a past contestant? what if showfall media realized what gl!slimecicle was doing and just made ‘frank’ a part of the show as a joke to distract gl!ranboo? honestly it mightve also been to try and warn himself and or to snap out of it, and it also couldve been to warn and untrance as many people as possible.

gl!sneeg was locked down in the basement for saying no to the game. do you think that gl!slimecicle put him there after saying no because there was a chance he mightve still been a bit conscious and could warn the next contestant? or did he put him there because starving/death of malnutrition is better than getting turned into a showfall slave?

showfall media mightve seen what gl!slimecicle was doing and made him be the operation victim as a form of punishment, and we all know that wasnt just slime. (googoobie 🤯)

alrighty thats one of my few theories about genloss lol

(I wrote this at 4:43 am Im going to finish the second episode and the third then go to sleep)

[hydriadd]

idk if this is a reach but there might be a connection between part of the new founders game and the yes video from the inauguration

[faloverfae]

Oh my god Zero's gonna find the Generation 1 tapes aren't they....

[misvin]

ok i know this is probably just some twitch thing i dont understand but i think its very interesting how the showfall extension integration whatever it is Still active on ranboo's channel. its almost like They're Still Watching.....

[kityenok]

So yknow how alot of people have talked about how the RGBtrio or atleast Charlie grew up at Showfall? Well i have a lil theory on what happened to Charlie's parents because im insane

I think that Charlie's parents are actually brainwashed employees of Showfall. They're no longer human, and no way of returning to how they once were. I think that for awhile Charlie lived a semi-normal life while his parents were just starting working at Showfall, but once they started becoming what they are now, they came and took Charlie away and covered it up somehow, not sure how yet. But either way, i think this is... much more horrific. Because, even if Charlie did make it out with Ranboo, what would they have to go back to? No family, no friends, just eachother, and that's it.

Im actually going feral over this. btw

[knine-nights]

Genloss Theory 14

So we’ve all seen the blueprints by now right?

The glasses for Charlie, the mask for Ranboo, and the hat for Sneeg.

I saw a post by @str4ng3-cl0wn where they said that Sneeg’s mind control is “just a hat.” And I was thinking “Hang on, yeah, why is it just a hat?”

Cause Ranboo’s is sewn into his face, Charlie’s is drilled into his skull, and meanwhile Sneeg’s can be taken off at any time. What gives?

Well, my theory kind of ties into another theory I haven’t posted yet. In the Cabin we see this photo on the fridge:

It’s a little hard to see but it looks like a younger version of Charlie. And in episode three Charlie can only remember “growing up” in a cabin.

So here’s my thought: Charlie and Ranboo were taken by Showfall a long time ago. And Sneeg wasn’t taken until recently. When Ranboo and Charlie were taken, Showfall was still perfecting their mind control and needed to be more extreme with their devices to make sure they were effective.

But as time went on, Showfall got better at their mind control stuff and could more effectively control someone without a permanent fixture. Then they captured more people like Sneeg and could control them easier. So Sneeg only needed a hat. And when it didn’t work they could use the mask like in Episode 2.

More Theories

[elle-oh-ell3]

i haven’t seen anyone talking about this- the poster up in slimecicle’s cabin. it’s a very random poster, but on first glance it reminded me strongly of the Autism Jesus Pose from Ranboo during the ending. This, as well as him waking up in this position during The Spirit of The Cabin, is interesting…

also, the way the skis and the woman’s scarf is positioned with the angle looks sort of odd, like the skis are wires or something holding them up, and I thought the scarf was a rope originally (yeesh)

[aweirdlisa]

My Big Boi Genloss Theory

Hello! Those who follow me on twitter know I've released a rather long theory document, over 12 pages long I believe, doing a pretty deep dive into all the genloss lore and how I believe most of it connects and plays out!

Those who wish to read the full doc are more than welcome to do so here, though I'll be making a revised and summarized (as much as i can) version for the tumblr folks right here!

So take my hand and follow me below!

Welcome to the Multiverse

We've all seen a certain red orb by now which first appeared on the generation loss website in the game centered around the Hero, a while before the Social Experiments were released.

As the Hero interacts with the orb behind the dumpster, we see visual glitches and suddenly find ourselves in a red tinted, damaged version of the world we were just in.

Well, next time we see this orb is around November 24th when the 2nd chapter of The Founder's Game (TFG) is released. Those who paid attention will have noticed it was hidden in the site's source code back when we encounter it.

The person we're controlling touches the orb and much like before, they wake up in a red tinted world, similar to the one they were in before touching the orb.

Now this red tint I keep bringing up may not have actually been there for the people in question, but it's a good way of conveying to us, the audience, that a change has occurred.

So how different-yet-the-same are these worlds? Well in TFG we're walking in a set of hallways with metal doors pre-orb, but a specific mention of posters of school clubs and teams let's us draw a similarity between this and the post-orb world. Even more specifically, the posters are "more worn than you remember", which makes the connection even less doubtful.

As Ben wakes up in LF High and wanders the hallways, we note that the environment is familiar to him, with the same type of school posters lining the walls alongside lockers.

So what does the orb have to do with the multiverse then?

Ben dies a lot in TFG, each time he wakes up again, the school is a little bit different. The changes become more surreal the more Ben comes to die. Lockers change colours, but then hallways physically twist and gravity acts strangely.

It's easy to brush things off as "part of the game", with Ben dying and resetting just being a mechanic. But we are clever enough to realise that whatever Showfall presents us is actually happening to someone, somewhere.

Another hint awaits us in the science lab in TFG, where we find a book titled "String Theory and Parallel Universes"

In an earlier theory I posted here on tumblr I already brought up a possible multiverse theory when we were repeatedly confronted with the "tunnels" in the genloss videos, but I will get back to this later.

If all these schools are supposed to be parallel universes, why do they differ SO much by the time Ben died a couple times? It could be happenstance that the changes get worse over time instead of random levels of chaotic. However the fact that the strange shifts happen so chronologically tells me that it's something else.

Now what could we possibly call a phenomenon where something gets progressively worse each time it undergoes a certain process?

It's Generation Loss Babyyyyy

The Generation Loss we often thought was solely connected to the VHS tapes has a much greater scope!

However it occurs, it definitely has something to do with the orb's influence or power, causing whoever touches it to relive a part of their world over and over (maybe within a pocket dimension?), until the generation loss sets in each time they die.

To tie it back to the Founder and TSE, it's interesting to look at the orb's possible influence in the earlier timeline as well.

At first I thought the rewinding of the Founder's Cut tapes was causing the Hero to relive their nightmare over and over, but now it seems like the tapes and VCR controls may just be that - controls to let the Founder use the orb and make people relive things until everything is to their wishes.

With how limited Ben's world felt, it's possible there are certain parameters set up by either the orb's limitations or the Founder, to create a controlled environment.

To me it feels like the generation loss is a symptom of the orb, either deliberately used by the Founder, or a side effect they can't quite control.

The Orb

Yes that red thing again. I believe it may be the centerpiece of our story, with the genloss symbol itself - however iconic and ever present - being more of an assist.

The orb is very dangerous, especially if it's a tool the Founder is using to create their "perfect stories". The effect of the orb affects many, and I believe it's possible it may have affected the very Founder themselves too, though I'm keeping that open for another time.

What we do know of the orb so far is that by touching it, you undergo its influence and "enter its world", however it's also possible to find the orb yet again within this world, which to me indicates touching the orb may provide an exit to whoever is under its effects. This may be the only way out for Ben, unfortunately I doubt his physical changes will revert.

Back in TFG, we're shown many mutations of Ben over time as he looks into the mirror.

Now there's plenty of people who have drawn the parallels already between Ben's unravelling and the robotic creature we saw back in chapter 2 in the holding cell.

As the multiverse and parallel universe theories go, there's a lot of different, but also similarities present between them. One such consistent theme is that of Ben's association with robots.

Each time he awakens in the class room, the class's subject changes, but his sketchbook doodles do not: There's always one of a robot.

Other details that follow this theme is when Ben is strangled with electrical wires by the creature roaming the halls and gets a computer screen thrown at him.

It's entirely possible Ben is undergoing something that the wire-creature from the holding cell has gone through before. It wouldn't surprise me if this was one of the many ways the Founder uses the orb.

The Founder and Showfall Media

We know very little of the Founder and Showfall, but by going through tweets, videos and any piece of context we get, we can try to figure some things out.

One thing that stood out to me for a long time was the special keynote we got in  “Announcement” over on youtube. A representative of Showfall tells us that they have been providing entertainment for families around this world and that they now have connected with a new frontier to which they want to bring their influence with a new live experience which ends up being the Social Experiments.

The wording is so specific and was some of the first near-solid proof to me that there’s something multiversal going on.

Even when referring to the Founder’s cut in the video "Again", there is the specific mention that it is the “first, a test of what is possible with infinity”, which at first sounded like a tape-rewinding situation, but now with the orb involved may mean literal universal infinity. A sort of disclaimer at the start of "Coming_Soon" also mentions that what wer're about to see actually happend, just not here.

At some point Showfall connected to a new frontier (our world) to show us TSE and “bring their influence” to us. Which might mean that Showfall (and the Founder) have plans to change or influence our world with their “entertainment” too.

In any case, we learn a bit more about this and the Founder’s behavior towards the matter of these stories and frontiers when we receive a letter from the Founder’s desk. It is encoded in what we’ve come to call the Founder’s Cipher, and was addressed to a certain “you”.

Within the text, looking back on it with the multiversal theory in mind, many sentences stand out like:

“There were many like you, but I knew you were special.”

“There is more beyond what I watch.”

“I can create anything.”

“I will create something perfect.”

It’s possible the Founder will use the orb and many more innocent victims to manipulate worlds and people to turn them into a perfect story. The precise motive as to why this is all happening is unclear, but we've been given some vague hints through a certain character Ben meets along his way.

It’s a bit too vague right now to be entirely certain, but when Ben encounters the Fortune Teller and presses its button, we are treated to some deliciously vague allusions of an internal struggle:

“You know this will kill you, you’re chasing someone else’s dream. You are losing everything in the process. What is it all for? The hope of salvation? The hope to do what you believe you are meant to be doing? What is it that you even want anymore? Is this even for you? Who is this even for? Answer me, please.”

We’re told that this audio occurs as the Fortune Teller’s mouth opens after Ben presses the button, so it’s easy to assume this is directed at Ben, which it might as well be, though if we were to assume it’s directed at someone else, like the Founder, the meaning of the text becomes very interesting.

What if the Founder is chasing someone else’s dream? Perhaps someone they looked up to? Someone they lost? This could be grounds for a motive on why they’re desperately forming perfect stories, testing what is possible with infinity, maybe to regain something or someone? Maybe out of revenge? Out of love? Out of spite?

Whatever it is, it has gone wrong and has cost them everything, to the point they may not even know themselves what it’s all for. Perhaps the Founder, through their research and endless experiments, has lost themselves to generation loss too, losing their humanity and everything else along with it. Maybe even more?

Sadly we can only speculate on who it addresses and what it precisely means, but the Fortune Teller has definitely peaked my interest.

Infinitely so (hah) when Ben encounters the machine again in a circus in chapter 6. Here, when we choose not to press the button, the Fortune Teller shows possible awareness of the fourth wall, of us being in control, as he says he’s glad we “explored our options”, but then ends up speaking without the button even being pressed. He even directly responds to the text we see on our screen where we claim to “not have time for this”, as he responds with “I think you do”.

The second time we hear the Fortune Teller speak, however, it’s specified that it is in a different voice:

“He is the end and the beginning, do you ever wonder why everything is happening like this? Or why this damn thing keeps appearing every single time? Or why everyone, everyone but me, seems to just ignore this? It’s not just that, it was never just that. You don’t get it, this isn’t for me. Or for you. It is for everyone here. This is important. What I do.. is finally important.”

The Fortune Teller then tells us it’s almost like “we were meant to see this” in his regular voice.

Now this second text reads as a recording of part of a conversation between two or more people. Someone is telling someone else that “he” is the beginning. So who is talking to who? And who is “he”?

If we are to assume the “he” is the Founder, then it sounds like this is a conversation between two coworkers who maybe work for the Founder, talking about possibly the orb appearing in places, and how it’s “for everyone”.

Though if we assume the person speaking is the Founder, then it may just be that the Founder was looking up to someone who started the work, and ended up finishing it for some reason, feeling like their work is important and impacts many. Though the first assumption feels more obvious.

It’s also fun to note that “beginning” was the password to the Founder’s Game website the first time we found it through the VHS tapes of the Founder’s Cut. However no fitting password has yet been found to the computer.

The Generation and Screens

Probably one of my favourite chapters in my big boy theory.

To look at the bigger picture of it all, what once may have been a simple timeline of literal generations, could now turn into a mess of universes and time periods that all come together to show us the true extent of the Founder’s influence.

I’ve mentioned this before, but another great visual marker of the bridging between “generations” is the text in the corner of several genloss videos, showing us when we’re dealing with generation 0 or generation 1. Much like a camcorder has the date in the corner of the screen, we see the generation something was recorded in. This goes hand in hand with the "tunnels" I've mentioned before.

Whenever we seem to move to Generation 1 we go forward through the tunnel, yet backwards when dealing with Generation 0.

At first I thought this meant time travel or a multiversal scenario, now I'm definitely more inclined to choose the latter. The tunnels appear to work as divides between the worlds, possibly using the orb to cross them.

Once again red is a prevalent colour, much like the red orb, the red tinted worlds, the generation loss symbol and the red square associated with the Founder.

Where do we stand in all this? Well mostly every form of visuals we’ve seen from Showfall or the Founder has been through a screen, be it the VHS tapes people bought, the Social Experiments through twitch, or the games through a literal monitor on the website which doubles up with out own phones/computers/devices we access the site through. It’s always screens (which honestly also really lends itself well for the “careful what media you consume” or “all media is influenced somehow” allegories throughout genloss).

(This post continues in part 2)

[ace-in-your-hand]

If you look at the box that Ranboo dies to, it's already incredibly rusty and bloody with dried blood on the spikes and rust all over it. People have already died in that thing, but who? Did Showfall perhaps have another hero before Ranboo or was this just another piece of a death game?

Or it could just be design choice to add to the horror, most likely.

[dreamcatcherwriting]

How could I have been so dumb How could we have been so dumb We thought Ranboo was "free" for much of the third episode, but all that time, the show's music was playing in the background Of course the show wasn't over if its music was still playing, but we all flat out overlooked it.

AUGH