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braxiations · 3 months

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Hylics - The PoolWayne Theory

Preamble

So, I’ve never really seen many Hylics theories be shared online. Most of what I’ve found is limited to discord servers like the Hylemxylem. So, I thought I might put my foot into the ring and share one of my own!

Now, this theory is pretty out there. I’ve done quite a lot of examining of both Hylics 1 and 2 and to my knowledge nothing contradicts my theory. I believe my idea explains quite a lot of things pretty well and adds some fun subtext to a lot of plot beats and history. However, it’s not the pure result of thorough evidence and 100% rational thinking. It’s basically a fun idea that explains some things and, in my opinion, is interesting.

The Wayne-poolman connection

To start, I’d like to point out an odd association between poolmen and Waynes. This is first seen before we even know what poolmen are: back at the Waynehouse. Here, we see Waynes slapping poolmen dummies as training.

Now, it’s likely that this is because poolmen are Gibby’s main infantry, and this is a point I’ll return to soon. Secondly, is Gibby Redivivus’ design. Atop his head is a Wayne head… or is it? While this is also called a warpo head by some, in actuality it’s literally just the poolman model’s head colored yellow.

Poolmen’s heads are crescent shaped, so this makes sense. My thought upon learning this was “ha, are Waynes basically just yellow poolmen?” Well… Looking at the chibi sprites for both Wayne (or Sat-Wayne as I’ll call him) and poolmen do reveal a pretty clear similarity. While poolmen’s heads flop around so much in battle it’s hard to notice them as crescents, whenever shown as static or simplified they generally are shaped as such.

Now, all of this is to establish that I believe poolmen and Waynes to be mirrors or counterparts to one another in some way. Personally, I think this was actually intended by Mason himself. As you’ve probably noticed though, this post is far from over.

Why does Gibby look like that?

Specifically, why does Gibby R wear a Wayne/warpo/poolman-dipped-in-yellow-paint head anyway? As many know, Gibby’s design in Hylics 2 differs from his design in H1 because it originally belonged to a (probably) different character, Fuller. In-universe, however, Gibby’s body is referred to as a “vessel.” His remains were likely put into or molded into this form by Odozeir and his followers. So, why on Fingerhead’s beige Earth would he endow him with THE FACE OF THE GUY WHO MURDERED HIS BOSS? Well, it seems that Gibby has been repping this symbol since longgg before his reconstitution, just not as a face.

In the platforming mini-games, we get our only look at the world before the Accretion. This confirms a few interesting points:

There was at least 1 other Wayne pre-Accretion, being Sat-Wayne himself. (Likely a Waynehouse too.)

A Hylemxylem (likely the one that became the Moon) existed pre-Accretion. (Seen in the bg.)

Gibby and Odozeir were allied before the Accretion. (Their faces are on flags together.)

This last note about the flags is important as the Gibby face used is his Redivivus design. As this was being used on flags way back when, it stands to reason that Odozeir fashioned Gibby’s vessel after the symbol itself. Likewise, this would also mean that the Waynehead was being used as part of Gibby’s iconography back then too… which is strange.

Waynes as an army

The nature of Waynes is a question that dances around the edges of Hylics 2, but it never really addresses it outright. Here’s what we know:

Waynes have a huge grudge against Gibby. They seemingly spend much of their time training in the event he becomes a problem again.

They’re all equipped for combat, seemingly naturally. They do have to train and they spend much of their time doing so.

They’re seemingly all clones of one another or something analogous. They can have some differences (some are more well-trained, at least one is either fem or trans (if Decres is canon), etc,) but most are identical.

Waynes are kind of a problem, at least in the Hylics 2 zone. Chuck, when speaking of his writing process for An Endless Cycle, stated that he wanted to invoke this feeling. With the seemingly mutant Waynes we’ve seen in the New Hylics teasers, Waynes might be growing out of control, taking a role similar to that of invasive species. Tl;dr: they probably aren’t a part of the local natural order.

Perhaps Waynes are entirely natural, eusocial organisms like ants and their soldier-like training simply comes from the fact that they’re sapient. Their contentious placement in the Hylics 2 ecosystem could merely be them being invasive. Their single-minded grudge against Gibby could be explained in a few ways. If H1-Wayne is indeed the Old Wayne from H2, perhaps he dedicated his… children(?) to keep Gibby at bay because it was his most notable accomplishment. Where this explanation might falter is the Wayne head symbol used by Gibby, which is still left entirely unexplained.

So… what if the symbol came first?

The theory What we know of the Wayne species’ nature, as listed in the previous section, is highly reminiscent of sci-fi ideas of modified super soldiers. In the Star Wars prequels, for example, literal clones meant only for combat are a prevalent plot point. While Waynes as ant-soldiers sufficiently explains many of these traits, the idea that Gibby’s yellow crescent predates the Waynes could only leave an artificial origin as an option. Now, of course, this point that Gibby’s symbol is older than Waynes themselves can’t be proven for certain. The oldest point in the timeline we have access to shows Sat-Wayne coexisting with the symbol. If one was older than the other we’d have no idea. What strikes me as odd, though, is why Gibby would ever associate himself with Waynes. While we don’t know if they’ve always had an antagonistic relationship, Sat-Wayne (who is again, the first Wayne we know of,) spends much of his time attacking Gibby and Odozeir’s forces. The conflict between the two groups has been ongoing, and it seems odd Gibby would choose to honor a species that has constantly attacked him for so many years without strong reason.

With this in mind, I will propose my theory: Waynes are not a naturally occurring species. Rather, they are the descendents of poolmen fashioned into super-soldiers by none other than the forces of Gibby. As such, they were changed to resemble the yellow crescent used as a symbol of Gibby for so long. Now, the manner through which this was done isn’t super important. I like to think they were selectively bred, but it’s just as possible they were genetically modified or given some of Gibby’s royal goop. It’s really just speculation.

As we have established, poolmen may be some of the primary infantry used in Gibby’s armies, especially pre-Accretion. (I would like to suggest that poolmen are the koopas of Gibby’s army, and tyros are the goombas.) With their strong resemblance to Waynes, it stands to reason that Gibby, looking for more capable soldiers, would use the poolmen as a basis. While poolmen are capable of speech, they’re generally represented as animalistic. Their only gestures used are lambaste and multiply, as well as the ability allotrope. As lambaste is literally just hitting someone, multiply is clearly their reproduction, and allotrope is a reflex, it stands to reason they aren’t capable of the hand movements required to use actual complex gestures. (They don’t even seem to have hands.) Other enemies such as the noncomfornist clearly show this ability. Thus, it stands to reason that Gibby would seek soldiers capable of doing such things. In fact stronger, modified poolmen are clearly seen in the form of poolmagnes, but they still don’t achieve these heights.

Many stories of advanced combat technology involve betrayal or an uprising from the technology itself. Thus, we may be able to explain why Waynes hate Gibby so much anyways. Created as sapient soldiers, Waynes would effectively be slaves. They would have no choice but to fight and participate in the tyrant’s cruelty. It seems likely that they would have rebelled, and Gibby may have retaliated harshly.

Sat-Wayne is alone in the Waynehouse he emerges from. H1-Wayne is clearly the only member of his species in the Hylics 1 zone. Many have noticed that the redesign of the Ghost enemies bear a strong resemblance to the skulls of Waynes. Further elaboration falls into pure speculation, so I’ll let you come to your own conclusions here.

Ultimately, we’re left with the following timeline:

Gibby employed poolmen for war.

Wanting stronger soldiers, he ordered his forces to create a more powerful breed of poolman, capable of complex reasoning and the use of gestures.

These Waynes proved too intelligent and rebelled.

Gibby reacted harshly, wiping out nearly all of them.

This begs the question of why Gibby still, by the time of Hylics 2, choses to use the yellow crescent symbol. I think this could be explained as a form of denial. If he casts aside a symbol that was always his simply because rebels used it, he would essentially be admitting defeat. Besides, an NPC in New Muldul talks about wretched anarchists who overthrew Gibby, not realizing who he’s talking to. The fact that a Wayne was responsible for killing Gibby might not be common knowledge. Gibby can simply ignore the uprising and continue to use it.

Other notes and convenient ties

One of my favorite parts of this theory is that it retroactively explains some other oddities in the games. For example, Wayne heads notoriously occur throughout the world or even on jars. If the crescent is a symbol of Gibby, who we know has influence throughout much of the world, this is rather easily explained.

It gives us an association between Gibby and the Waynes. Many have pointed out that both have names in reference to the moon: gibbous moons and waning moons. Gibby is notoriously prideful and arrogant, so perhaps he intended the Waynes to be made in his image, giving them a similarly lunar name.

It could explain the moon soldiers and their weakness. Many have noticed their resemblance to Waynes. Perhaps, after the rebellion of the Waynes, Gibby still desired more powerful soldiers. Moon soldiers could easily just be another artificial variety of poolmen, making them basically the cousins of Waynes. Their intense weakness could be attributed to avoiding the pitfall of making soldiers that are too powerful again. Maybe he hoped someone would see the Moon covered in soldiers and simply decide to back off. (It’s worth noting that moon soldiers might not be nearly as weak as we see them. Rather, the joke might be that at this point in the game Wayne and crew have become so strong that they’re killed in an instant.)

The fighting instinct of Waynes could explain the depression, purposelessness, and exhaustion of H2-Wayne that we see explored in Absent Moon. With this theory, Waynes would literally only exist to fight. Having defeated his greatest enemy, Wayne no longer has a purpose in life. Perhaps this lack of purpose has caused unrest in the Waynehouse, and will lead into the events of the New Hylics game that features monstrous, creature-like Waynes.

Old Wayne remarks on the “forecasts” of the stars, apparently able to glean meaning from them. Perhaps an ability to read celestial bodies is a holdover from their days as Gibby’s soldiers. While the Hylemxylem had not yet developed into the false moon of Hylics 1, this may have been planned. Perhaps the Moon could have sent or shone signals for the Old Wayne to interpret and relay to the Waynes under their command.

Warpos could essentially be reverted to an older, primal state by their consumption of poolwine. This doesn’t make much sense biologically but whatever.

Random biology notes

Poolmen probably contain hard, spiny components akin to the spicules found within sponges. These spicules would be poked out of their bodies in their allotrope attack. Perhaps this developed into the skeletons of Waynes. The way Wayne’s flesh and muscles melt off of him upon death is similar to how poolmen melt upon their own deaths.

Poolmen multiply and reproduce asexually, likely meaning they’re all more or less genetically identical to one another (there would be errors of course.) Wayne reproduction is more or less elusive, but their status as clones and low genetic diversity could be a remnant of their poolman ancestors.

I have a theory that the “egg pods” we see in the Waynehouse basement might be the Wayne equivalent of the hylethems that produce poolmen. However the connection between poolmen, hylethems, and hylem as a whole is a story for another time.

Summary and conclusion

I believe that Waynes are a sort of poolmen. They were either genetically modified or selectively bred from normal poolmen, as Gibby wanted to employ them as soldiers capable of complex thinking and use of gestures. These Waynes proved too powerful and intelligent, rising up against their creator. He had many of them slaughtered, creating a grudge that would last countless years and influence the Wayne species for the rest of time.

That’s basically it. Thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts, counterpoints, or additional ideas please feel free to share! I’d really like to discuss this with people!.

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