You convinced me to watch the series, so thank you for that! I don't get everything because I am not clinically insane enough yet to have memorised the entire World of Darkness Wiki, but I still enjoy it
Mine is "you present me with a two pronged road, one leads to hell, AND THE OTHER ALSO LEADS TO HELL! but meaty fool that you are! You do not realize I CAN JUST WALK OFF THE FUCKING ROAD!"
D's power is actually quite simple: he's got Faith. Not, seemingly, in God but in Humanity. And in World of Darkness, if you have *genuine, unshakeable faith* you can work miracles. Literal miracles.
Yep! I played two characters with true faith throughout my time in Hunter. One was the classic catholic priest with an unshakable calling from God to bring about the destruction of all nightfolk. The other was a doomer nihilistic edge lord who disbelieved in monsters so hard he started to subconsciously manifest the powers of faith in his judgements and wanting for destruction of those who try to bawk at the natural world and its set in stone laws... lmao
Apparently the whole policy has been unofficially revoked; it's not trustworthy enough for TTS to return, but GW seems to regret their choice behind the scenes.
@@Fly-the-Light as they bloody should. They lost a source of free advertising, killed it and salted the earth where it once grew. From a business perspective, that's a bad move. And from PR side, loosing good will results in less customers again!
@@Fly-the-Light Too bad their regret is not enough to actually make them move from unofficial to official. Or do anything that would actually regain any trust.
Even though we never got to see him in TTS, there is a wide consensus among the community that Kevin is an expy of Malcador. He's a powerful wizard, friend and confidant to Big E/D and they squabble a lot. Their friendship is kinda sweet, really.
More importantly, he was once Big D's enement, but as much as Kevin tries to deny it, he far prefers his humanity to any gifts or powers he may have received. He tries to force practicality and reason on Big D, pointing out the realities of society. All we need now is the resentment from his children on how much Big D trusts Kevin over them.
Also, D asked him (on their interrogation log) to be "the bearer oh his SIGIL", and Kevin's name is Malcolm... Malcolm the Bearer of the Sigil ~ Malcador the Sigilite.
@@watchm4ker The fact that Kevin is an Accountant fits this so well. Malcador created and led the Administratum, he was THE Accountant of the Imperium.
It's interesting how Alfabusa twists ideas from the Warhammer lore into interesting concepts for the World of Darkness. Like for instance... Horse is Horus.
The more you talk about Big-D the more it becomes clear to me just how analogous he is to the TTS Emperor. Surprisingly compassionate and optimistic, overy secretive to the detriment of those around him, mysterious, incredibly powerful, and very confident. Although unlike E, D may not have the power to back it up.
I genuinely think D is far more capable then even the show says explicitly. He knows things , literally no mundane human should know about the World of Darkness. Bare in mind there are Ancille vampires that see the whole Nodist philosophy of Cain as some kind of fairy tale yet D seems to know about him and his origins. He also knows about mages which is information that very few individuals , even supernaturals have. Lastly there is all the Horse stuff. There is definitely much more to D then we have seen.
@mortifidpenguin I one hundred percent agree. He is a character that seems to be played for laughs when it comes to serious moments (Pyotr's escape and the fight in the tunnel) but I think that D is holding back in a lot of ways. In the short for example, he goes alone to deal with potentially several vampires and is completely confident/unfazed. I think he is holding back and would love to see him get serious sometime.
To be entirely honest. I believe Big D is less an expy of the emperor as we know him and more an expy of the star child which in the TTS verse is a remnant Big E’s compassion and empathy he split off his being to be a better emperor. To me it makes more sense.
One of my favourite D moments is during the first audiolog where Kitten thinks their group could *probably* take on a werewolf and he grows completely serious for the first time.
@@Synthonymhonestly, any Noble Sidhe Artist or Mage of Arete 3 or higher can just complete fuck a garou's day unless that Garou happens to be an elder. The shortest shaft goes to vampires. Vampires in comparison to everyone else just kinda... Suck?
@@GreysonMacAllisterhere's the problem with all that: 1. Werewolves can do some pretty whack stuff with the right wyld spirit shenanigans 2. The Garou share their animal aspect's penchance for ganking their opposition into the dirt. So you'll never fight just one Garou. And all that is before we find ourselves in the murderous meatgrinder that is several different of the Fera teaming up on you. If you thing a Garou hits hard, wait until a Gural or Mokoké has had a go at you.
@@draochvar9646 Exactly. By the time a Mage is done turning *one* Garou into a sofa, theres a good chance that Garou's packmates are within striking distance.
Big D as an optimist... something else I observed, is that this version of him loves humanity in all its flaws, and is actively cheerful. The end, in which you said he's a good leader BECAUSE he's an optimist in a dark world, makes me realize why I like his character a lot -- while, ironically, despising the canonical version of the Emperor of 40k.
I just want to say this on the subject. In the podcast Adeptus Ridiculous, Bricky brought up how a book he would really wanna see for the Emperor is him in the beginning of who he was and then who he became over time. Centuries upon centuries of him living where his humanity is slowly eroded away from having to learn from mistakes and making difficult decisions until it’s gotten to the point that he’s become as callous and jaded as he became in order to finally kick off the unification wars on Terra. I firmly believe, what we’re seeing of Big D IS Emps, but with all of his faith in humanity still in tact without the centuries of becoming callous that have fully taken their toll on him. Eventually having to almost entirely rid himself of his kind humanity, because it made him make decisions based on how he felt, rather than cold and hard logic that was required within the Grim darkness of the future
@@deth-luv9318 Plot twist - this is the 40k universe, just back when emps was just a random perpetual uninvolved in ruling all humanity, and vampire hunting's just for fun.
I wanna posit that D isn't a Mercy Hunter. His insane level of knowledge, his use of very specific terms to refer to various creatures of the night or just the universe in general, his desire to inspire people to have faith in him, and his unshakeable belief in Humanity... I'm almost convinced D is an Elohim or Fallen. And, of course, for a Fallen or Elohim, the Delirium would be little more than a tickle, and Wizards might as well be nerds you could easily punch.
Honestly, given of what we've seen of him, Bid D seems to show parts of all 3 of virtues in how he behaves to quote the virtues short descriptions: Mercy: Their compassion and capacity for forgiveness, perhaps even for the most heinous of horrors, believing some souls are worth saving. Vision: Awareness of options and possibilities; an awareness of the big picture at stake in the war. Zeal: Faith in themselves, their cause, or in some belief that motivates them to continue their fight.
There’s a problem with the Elohim theory: they don’t have physical bodies, as long as they have Faith in themselves (which D definitely doesn’t lack). But with the Fallen idea, I could get behind. Every Demon has a mortal form; but which Lore he’d possess in that case, I can’t tell.
@@vaclavsoukup7302 I'm thinking he has at least some amount of Lore of Humanity, though I can't tell if he might have Transmutation or Radiance or possibly even Portals, depending on where exactly he is keeping Kevin
"Freedom never comes through surrender" in context is one of the hardest lines said in any piece of fiction, ever, and so perfectly encapsulates Big D and his philosophy, it's so simple it seems childish but, if you put any amount of conviction and skill behind a mind set like that it's actually kinda terrifying, the loss of TTS will always sting but bless the Ogrepopenhaung crew bringing us Hunter the Parenting
25:45 Sseth described it best regarding how Caine was cursed: "CAINE! For Crimes against your creator, and your fellow man, I sentence you to: Immortality! I'm also giving you super speed and super strength! You can also turn invisible. Uh, would you like to Polymorph as well?"
Sseth also points out that Caine’s curse was also the ability to have children, but as humanoid parasites and be forced to watch as they suffer and kill eachother, just like he did with his brother
Well in the lore its more Lilith's fault. Caine was cursed with immortality and that his progeny in any form will kill themselves Infront of him. Lilith was the one that helped him do the powers and vampire stuff.
my favorite part of the Caine story is that it is entirely god fault able was the first person to die Caine had no clue that hitting him with a rock would kill him and once again god punishes people for being ignorant while also punishing people for not being ignorant enough in this ted talk...
@@theironqueen2386Also Caine killing someone is what pretty much sparked the civil war among angels. Because before Cain commiting the first Murder, they didn't even understand the concept of murder and violence. The first Murder was literally the first stain in the purity of reality. And it was 100% God's fault.
Big D and Kevin's conversation, especially the "parable" Kevin tells, was an emotionally compelling story I wasn't ready for when I first listened to it. DeeDee and Kevin are such a great duo, and I want to hear more from both of them.
The big d/Kevin dynamic is basically speker d and earandil just being themselves. They're like it in their ttrpg campaigns. Speker usually plays a very over the top character and esrndil is a very grounded character constantly pull speaker back down to earth and getting frustrated with the characters antics.
Given the Expy themes of the show, and the parralel between D and Emps, I actually see Kevin as a potential Malcador counterpart. I wanna see more instances of D and Kevin being best bros despite reaming each other on petty shit.
Ah, yes. Someone finally making an analysis on this series that i love. Not only that, but someone that also agrees that Kevin is the best character of the show.
D talking about werewolves is so striking, I love that scene so much. He instantly drops all of his insanity and is laser-focused on warning Kitten. No crazy talk, no tangents, he calmly and precisely explains why tangling with them is a horrible idea and if you absolutely HAVE to then how to survive the encounter. It really drives home how terrifying they are.
Not my theory, but one I've heard making the rounds is that Big D is in fact a Kindred... who has achieved Golconda. It explains his apparent timelessness, his incredible knowledge of the ENTIRE World of Darkness, as well as his strength. It would also explain several oddities in his character. For example, how swiftly his jaw healed. Markus, whose human, is still recovering from broken bones and being shot in the current episode. Meanwhile D is already fighting, has no issues from his Blender Crusade, and his Jaw which was at LEAST dislocated seems to pose him no issue. I'd personally add that I think he's a Malkavian. It would explain his bouts of delirium, even post Golconda, and why when Kevin drank his likely incredibly Potent blood he got absolutely LIT up. Regardless, it's a testament to Bruva and the whole team how well they've emulated the setting that everything feels so authentically WoD while still being clearly THEIR creation and humor. Excellent analysis and thanks for coming to my Rambling 😂
That's... actually a really good theory. Especially with D's suspiciously rapid recovery times, along with the fact that if he actually killed Houdini like he said, that'd make him over 100 years old.
It does slightly detract from the whole humans vs cruel World But it also adds something very unique namely hope we would then know for a fact vampires Can be saved and that is an interesting change Personally i would say This is a good option for his backstory
A theory I’ve seen go around is that Big D is Gilgamesh or at the very least related to him. Personaly I like the idea of D being Gilgamesh meaning he most likely is the reason the story of Gilgamesh is well recorded
I remember looking into this theory when I first saw it and it's actually somewhat... interesting. See Gilgamesh holds a very weird spot in World of Darkness, by which I mean there's several different contradictory versions of his story but all heavily feature vampires in one way or another. In one telling, he was the first Hunter who may or may not have achieved immortality through some alchemical means. Another states that he was a Mage who sought immortality and obtained it by experimenting with vampires. The last one I remember holds that he was, himself, an ancient vampire, sired directly by Cain.
One thing to point out is that the name "Big D" is riffing off of the emperor's nickname of "Big E" and the name of his VA SpeakerD, who also voiced the non-tts emperor parts in tts. He's also still very close to the emperor I'd argue, or rather the interpretation of him we see in tts, like with the other characters. He is clearly very intelligent and wise from a long and storied life, but simultaneously completely insane and at times incompressible, he has a bright idealist vision for humanity despite being surrounded by darkness, he deeply cares about his family but often keeps them in the dark for what he thinks is their own good... The main differences are that the tts Emperor was a lot more cynical, mean-spirited, authorative and arrogant, on account of him being a giant god skeleton in constant torment.
I think the best way to understand D is this: he's the ACTUAL meaning of an optimist, people use optimism as "naivety" all too often that I think people forget the the actual, true definition of optimism is seeing the cards stacked against you and playing as hard as you can to win anyways. D is an optimist, but he is ANYTHING but naive. He doesn't play the game despite his chances, he plays BECAUSE OF THEM. Because as long as his chance isn't 0, he'll take it.
Glad to see people are getting SO DEEP INTO BIG-D'S LORE and enjoying our work, means a shitton to us. Especially after the swap. Great video chief! HOPE TO SEE MORE FROM YOU. HOPE TO SEE AN ANALYSIS OF KEVIN. YOU'D BETTER. Or not.
THE GREAT AND MIGHTY KEVIN will hopefully get an analysis one day. Definitely the next character I'd be most interested in doing something on. I have my theories, including a 99P store reference, D going to a 99P store, Kevin mentioning being close to the Lady Regent, and the store manager being in contact with the Regent. Coincidence? Potentially, but I know your groups writing too well to write it off as such yet. I just need a liiiiiiittle more to work with before I can do anything with Kevin. [wink wink, hint hint, nudge nudge, comedic shove comedic shove] But in all seriousness, ya'lls work is utterly incredible. Losing TTS stings, but I'm very much a glass half-full kind of person. I still hope one day it can come back, but if it never can, then I'd honestly say losing it was almost worth it for a series this incredible. I'm rooting for ya'll - Thank you very much!
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@@QosmicVoid Obviously, the regent learned from kevin that you need money, and decided 'What if I replace all the 99p stores with 99P stores? We will have 100 times more money!' becaause she has absolutely no idea still how economics work.
I’m late I know but as someone who has a friend who is a WOD lore master I must mention something funny she and I noticed. Horse is heavily implied to be a demon because their one of the few groups to know what an Elohim is. With how D vents to horse it’s my headcanon that big D went through the trouble to make a contract to worship and empower a demon through worship exclusively so he had someone to vent his family troubles or troubles that would get them bloodhunted to. If this is true / actually canon I find this absolutely hilarious.
"you Could kill them all, drink their souls! Go ham! do whatever! You're a demon! Why do you stay as a horse?" Horse: its fun... and i get free drugs soooo
@@draochvar9646 yep, ironically it seems Christianity in wod is one of the better things against the fallen, mostly cause it's pretty fucking hard to twist the fact that the big guy upstairs is you
Ya know, you say D is the most different from his original template in TTS, but i would say he's basically the same, but younger. If you compare them you can see some equal basic traits, but D is much more energetic and outspoken where E doesn't talk as much. The madness of D is very similar to E saying something completely random with perfect confidence, they both are secretive, but deeply caring for those close to them, both are capable of violence and kindness, both are clearly extremely powerful and capable, although D of course isn't at that same level as E yet, both have made powerful enemies, both might seem questionable, but they play a massive game of 5D chess behind the scenes. If you betray D by hakf of his most trusted, then put him on a torture chair powered by human suffering locked alone within his own mind, only relief being the insanity of the immaterium, you get E without a doubt.
I heavily agree with this. Big D is a spiritual successor to Big E, not because one is heavily different as a conceptual character to the other, but because Big D shows an alternative branch of the tree Big E lays at another end of. Big D lacks the cynicism and frustration Big E has, but Big E was no doubt once like Big D, it was how he got to the situation he finds himself in. In fact, thinking about it, perhaps Big E is so disgruntled because he had the unconceivable power to change the world for the better but failed and doomed so many through mistakes he thought were wise decisions. Maybe Big D is so much more upbeat because he is working from the bottom of the mountain upwards. He lacks power, but he has come to the mountain will all he needs to scale it. Big E meanwhile is trying to figure out how to stay on top of a mountain he isn't even sure he wants to stay on. Overall, Big E and Big D most strongly share the will to see through their plans, whilst E diverges with sourness in regards to how they've turned out.
Adding on to this, look at when we see Throne Emperor get Magnus's soul back from Tzeentch, or Big E's other insane machinations. The big difference is D is younger - E has admitted to how he lost his humanity over the milennia (hence the Fyodperor plotline), while D hasn't reached that stage yet. (Plus, Speaker D. Just Speaker. 😂)
@@mindwarp42I think Starchild was hinted to be the humanity Big E threw away to fight Horus, there’s a few lines he mentions where he “had to do it” for some desperate purpose. it could also have been to go on a massive bloody crusade in the first place tho, hard to tell. either way, the way Fyodperor reacts to the loss of _anyone_ kinda shows how troubling those decisions were to Emps.
27:18 Okay, this is another example of D badly explaining himself and coming across as insane and arrogant despite having reasons for saying that. Because he's right. _Most_ wizards are nerds you can easily punch. Not all Mages are demigods. Punching them is inadvisable, but mostly because it's like punching somebody who might be armed with a concealed knife. Even the weakest nerd can really ruin your life with it. Depending on their level of experience/enlightenment, they can are weaker or stronger. There's metaphysical limitations on their abilities I won't get into. They can kinda transcend those limits if they get enlightened enough. But the thing about violating reality is that being a powerful enough Mage makes _you_ a violation of it. Being an Archmage is somewhat looked down upon in Mage society, because you're a borderline inhuman creature that really cannot exist comfortably inside normalcy, but you still cling to your mortal coil and retain power because of it. People mostly expect you to Force Ghost out of your physical form like Yoda. And therein lies the problem. Mages run the gamut from barely Awakened mortals to incorporeal urban legends. You don't really know what they're capable of. Each Mage's journey toward Ascension is deeply personal to them, which also means their abilities vary wildly and are unique to them. So if you do have to fight one, you really do have to take them out before they even know you exist or are a threat to them. Bonus Lore: Marcus might actually be going through his Awakening into a Mage. He cast a curse on Slackjaw. _Unconsciously._ Not by rote learning or by following a formula. That would be linear magic. He warped reality with his will. And ironically, Marcus is a nerd that Slackjaw could easily punch. Until Slackjaw couldn't punch anymore.
@imerej2580 It's near the end, with Blacklaw's knives spontaneously exploding on him and then the booze he drank giving him salmonella after Magnus verbally wished that he'd get sick on it. It's not conclusive, but these are all consistent with Magnus using Entropy and Life sphere effects.
@@TheAngryXenite Oh, I'm thinking causality-alteration. That bottle, confirmed by the bartender, was specifically of a release of the booze that was recalled years ago for salmonella poisoning (somehow), but which was just forgotten about in the back. Meaning the bartender has memory of that particular bottle being a bad batch, but forgot about it. And it IS possible to alter causality and retcon past events in WoD as a certain type of wizard. If true, Marcus could have wish-retconned shit so hard he changed past events just to make sure a nasty bottle of brandy would conveniently be present here entirely subconsciously. I.e. That bottle, its salmonella, and the entire history of how it got there and all memory the bartender had of that bottle and the salmonella story Didn't Canonically Exist.... Until Marcus snapped his fingers and wanted "a cheated drinking game". Whole timeline bent and twisted and all of history changed in an instant just to make sure that bottle wound up where Marcus needed it.
Though it may be about Big-D, I have to give this video a BIG-A! ... Alright but THANKS for making a video essay about our funny Hunter show! Glad to hear that D's interesting enough to warrant you making this AND that our video essay succeeded in tempting you to WoD! It'll be real interesting to revisit this once more of D's character is revealed...
Aaah, sweet, delicious validation. I thank ye kindly, both for your kind words, and for your work on HTP! I have lost many hours wiki-walking WoD and I regret nothing. I also understand nothing but I'm sure I'll brute-force my way through eventually. Your statements about D are vaguely ominous - I've either hit the nail right on the head, or missed completely and somehow shattered a completely unrelated wall on Mars. Who knows, I may end up having the urge to make another depending on what happens. You've got your claws into me, and it was a pleasure to make this. Thank you for watching this dumb little essay - I'm looking forward for what comes next, and I'm rooting for ya'll!
*Not every Tabletop RPG is D&D.* In this case, they were playing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay; the fantasy counterpart to Warhammer 40K's sci-fi setting.
I will confess that I’m not actually that involved in the actual playing of most tabletop RPG's, 'cause I don't have any groups to actually play with. I'm mostly limited to the lore and that’s about it. To me, it looked virtually indistinguishable from DND, but you are correct, looking into it. I knew of Fantasy Warhammer, but not of the Roleplay game. I honestly thought it being part of the warhammer fantasy setting was part of some extended joke. So, apologies for the mistake there
As goofy as D is, the interview was startlingly brilliant. For having a license, some hints, and a prayer the whole thing was improv and analysis on a scale that is boggling. The fact that the sister thing was a fifty fifty shot and a miracle and testament that the odds were even that good - where he recovered with the chantry lie
Also that he knows his family so well that he can pretty much perfectly guess what their testimonies were! Also lowkey showing that Marckus is also smart af when he isn't being reckless.
@@toolatetothestory Something I've noticed with Marckus is that while he is incredibly intelligent and has good ideas, he executes them very badly. Like when Pyotr went apeshit after Diablerizing his buddies, Marckus correctly reasons that as an ambush predator, they'd have a better time fighting him outside. Which they do and Pyotr is killed much easier when he goes outside into the minefield. However, Marckus also makes a completely rookie mistake and somehow forgets he's jumping out of a 2nd-story window and breaks his fucking legs. Then moments later shoots himself in said broken legs because he told Door to _chuck a loaded gun at him from the aforementioned 2nd-story window._ Marckus is the definition of a highly intelligent but not very _wise_ person.
I actually CAN see how Big D is an expy of the Emperor. Maybe not the one on the throne, but the one we may have gotten if TTS had been allowed to continue. If hypothetically the Emperor had been revived by reuniting with the Star Child and perhaps his flesh also reconstituted with the Perseus Protocol...you know, since Big D is a massive weirdo. D is actually how I would imagine the Emperor if he had regained his base human sense of compassion and optimism. As stated by emps at the beginning of the Hateful Feud arc, he cast those elements away as he thought they were anathema to the progress he envisioned. Big D to me just seems like the fulfillment of that idea.
I genuinely think Big D’s personality is both to inspire his family and to hide his true self considering Vampires are trying too know everything about you to make sure you don’t know they exist And him acting crazy and energetic is a bit of a mask to hide the real truths of what Big D knows, i don’t doubt at all he knows a insane amount of info about Vampires and who he hunts Also i think Kevin is based off Malcador
If he is acting crazy, he pulls it off very well and we can see how that works in his favor on the second part of the 99P blender episodes. The store owner lets D leave even after knowing he found “the pit” only because she found anti-psychotic medication on him. If D actually needs them or not is not important, what it’s important is that having them on his person saved him from being “disposed off”.
@@minibotas9496 he does have moments of utter seriousness and calmness and he is a genius as he planned for being caught by cops, he took Kevin’s meds, and he acted like he clearly knows a lot about vampires and other mythical creatures and knows the dangers of his knowledge especially with what he makes the family call the vampires despite clearly knowing the true names of what they are
Big D is a perfect example of a Chaotic Good Character. Whacky, but Wise; Cocky, but Cunning; Strange, but Smart; and Headstrong but Heroic to a fault. An Unlikely Champion of Light in a World of Darkness.
I adore the Bro-Trip series. Partially because Vulkan is my favorite Primarch. I have a soft spot for both gentle giants and kind people in a cruel world.
@@thomasfoster7387 I would love that. Though I'm not entirely sure how it would work with how Kinfolk work. Then again, it is Big D we're talking about.
I think the thing with how D acts about Cain and mages is basically part of the cosmic confidence game he finds himself in similar to the Emperor. On one hand he knows that his opposition is neigh unassailable, but at the same time, willpower and confidence has absurd power with in the world and he plays it like he did with Kevin. Kevin has his refuges of humanity still even though he is technically a monster now, Big D's gambit with that is to be confident and composed enough to manipulate the world around him with what he does know, what he can figure out, and what he can do to turn people to his own goal with his force of personality. Big D is mad, crazy as a loon sure, but that is part of the trick he is playing by turning it to his advantage. He likely understands full well that Cain would kill all of humanity with a fart, but counter to that, he also is fully aware that Cain hasn't done this yet. He probably plans to "kill" Cain the same way he "killed" the Great and Mighty Kevin to get to the person that is Kevin Wettsworth.
@@thetau4866they called him feral, he managed to nail a vampire with super speed in the dark with a revolver *mid leap*, he LOVES meat and has the strength to haul full grown boars. Him being a werewolf COULD be plausible.
@@otakon17 He could even be a werewolf that was born a wolf but stays in his human form. In essence, a wild wolf puppy in kid form that likes video games. We'll know for sure once he walks into the umbra willingly, that would def confirm it.
Thanks for this wonderful video. Concerning your points on being sick of all the edgy and grimdark media wearing you down, I'm grateful that you've been able to put to words the same feeling I've had concerning the general tone of media for a long time as well. I just hope that slowly shows like Hunter the Parenting get more time in the sun: that despite the dark, there are people bearing the torch of hope. You've nailed the appeal of Big D for me by this and confirmed it even more. Thanks mate!
Returned for a second and third listen session while I painted the walls at home. I really like this 'audiolog' and listening again helps me grasp your point better (since English is not my native tongue). A like and subscribe for you good sir!
That part about killing Caine reminds me of the quote from President Lincoln: "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends" and considering how old D is implied to be...
I saw someone years ago posit that Big D was the Emperor's delirium dream after the ending of TTS. Which is... Maybe a bit reductive. Hunter stands on its own, and is made a bit better by knowing the inside baseball jokes from TTS, but the idea that HtP is only just like that season of Dallas strips it of its own drama and character. I'm thrilled to see this video, and see a deep analysis of the series as an original work, separate but with flavors from TTS. Here is hoping Bruva and Co. bring half as many folks to WoD as they did to 40k.
I love the bit about D's optimism. One of the striking things about the VTM universe is that it doesn't *have* to be that dark. A lot of the vampires in VTM see themselves as monsters, damned and irredeemable and intrinsically different from humans, when in reality they think and feel just like humans do. D sees the bullshit for what it is - just an excuse for vampires to not try and be better, and calls it out.
Worth noting: In WoD, the Imbued (that is, hunters) actually go increasingly insane as they grow more experienced and powerful, although most don't live long enough for it to become very apparent. So, D being totally off his rocker most of the time kinda makes sense. Also, I do think D could be viewed as an interpretation of the Emperor in a different context, since they actually share a lot of traits beyond just the superficial ones. Even D's claim that he wants to kill Cain mirrors the Emperor insisting that he need to defeat the Chaos Gods - both of these feats being effectively impossible. It's just that the Emperor doesn't work in the setting of Hunter: The Reckoning, so D is basically the Emperor but as a character in that setting. The Emperor is not as crazy as D, but the Emperor is not a high level hunter. D isn't as sardonic or temperamental as the Emperor, but D hasn't spent ten thousand years as a pseudo corpse stuck on a torture chair. I think they have the same basic core, around which their respective characterizations have been built to suit the story they're in.
That i agree, Big E is a leader whose responsiblity is too heavy for him to bear alone. It is inconsivible that they would have similar mindsets as Big D is only dealing with a group of people against a big threat, we see that Big E had at least tried to teach people to be better. But as the responsiblity grew so did the need of people who were close to him to bear his name like a hat of a ship captian to manage the vessel that is the emperium. Big D has way less variables and more time. Big D can teach, soicalize, understand and learn. Big E doesn't have it.
Eh depends on the Hunter, as Imbued are the less preferred option to play as one. In Chronicles of Darkness, where all gamelines were basically rebooted into being balanced (instead of werewolves BTFO vampires while wizards turned everyone into cheese) they also introduced normal humans as Hunters, and EVERYONE liked that so much better. Being a superhuman fighting the superhuman? Expected. Being a normal fighting the paranormal? Exciting! This concept was carried back into WoD and exists in the new edition now. Because of course it was, it's a great concept.
I doubt he's a high level Imbued. That always ends in a violent death, either because you die fighting supes normally, or because you unlock your fifth level of Edge, which GUARANTEES you a death within the next year or so, presumably because in your profound fanatic insanity you seek out an absurd mission.
One of my favorite things about Big D is the overt implication that he was the one who punched Houdini in the gut and killed him, because wizards are nerds you can easily punch
I like to think the way BIG D's personality was conceptualized is that Alfa and co. were playing/discussing something related to World of Darkness and Speaker D just started talking like that (16:22)
Big D's life is like walking through a minefield, but all the mines have different rules that you *must* follow if you want to navigate the field safely. this one requires that you step on it with your LEFT foot, this one requires making a bird sound as you step over it, that one over there requires that you pretend it isn't a mine, and move forward as if it wasn't even there. Trying to navigate a life like that would drive anyone mad... You can't eat that cereal, it's poisoned by vampires. you have to buy *that* particular brand of milk, or the vampires will know you breached the masquerade, but don't drink it, or you'll become a ghoul; make sure to buy 3 rolls of toilet paper when you walk into that store, or they'll know you are immune to their subliminal messages. Now imagine having a family that is a part of your hunt. you COULD tell them some info, but what if kitten accidentally says "tremere" when he was out with marcus buying a christmas tree, and he meant to say "can we buy a tree here"? what if Marcus asks the wrong question when at the local chip shop? what if boy manages to recognize a vampire, based on the info Big D gave him, and he runs from it in public? They'd chase him, capture him, and torture him for information.
Thing with magse, they may be powerful but they are sitll 1000% mortal and are a loooot more limited than you think they are. They theoretically ahve that potential but they ahve to apply theri will against the rest of humanity... Somethign called the 'paradox'. Some have very powerful wills and can bend and twist the rules more than others, especially in groups. They have rules and rituals they follow to use their powers. Knowing how they do their tricks, makes them easier to defeat. His fear of werewolves though..... The werebeasts of the setting are some of the most powerful creatures around. while not invincible they are immensely powerful and killing one is no lean feat for man or monster.
I actually learned about the Paradox not too long ago - It's a hilariously absurd but consistent and interesting way to limit Mages with such overpowered Magic.
@@QosmicVoid The interesting thing about Paradox is that it also makes an interesting case for why all the supernatural "stuff" in WoD remains hidden in the shadows: Without realizing it, without understanding how or why, Humanity *won.* Collectively persuaded by the Order of Reason, Humanity *forced* all the horrors of the world into the dark corners of the night and wanted *nothing more to do with them.* And that if Humanity were to be awakened to the terrors of the world around them, there's a potential for even worse backlash.
@@watchm4kerwell mostly. Most of the Fera, and the Garou in particular, actually don't really care about humans knowing about them, since the cause the Delirium anyway.
@@QosmicVoidthe way I’d describe it is like having the ability to cheat and bend the rules of reality, but you have to be able to explain it away, or else it doesn’t work. You’re manifesting an effect, but there must always be a cause of some sort. Houses don’t just burn Down randomly, they demand some sort of cause. Say maybe the gas lines were leaking, and rats chewed the wiring, or someone tried to light a cigarette.
paradox isn't that big of a handicap. as long as you don't fail and don't make a habit of big displays of vulgar magic in the same place you can get away with practically anything. even time magic (the biggest of deals, its always vulgar, its got the most active guardians, and it has the harshest paradox) is fine if you are skilled enough and don't massively over step. the issue is that you are just as likely to kill over from a gunshot as any random guy off the street, if you aren't prepared you are simply mortal.
Played Zweihander one time, you have to roll for LITERALLY everything, appearance, attributes, class, sex, etc. I straight up rolled a Gambler that looked just like Big D according to the book...it was TOO good to pass up! So i named him Big D, best Tabletop Session Ever!
My thoughts on why Big-D is so different from the Emperor is that (besides the fact he's not a constantly-in-pain corpse that's stuck in a chair and now can walk/do drugs) he doesn't have as much of a god complex as emps. Insanely confident: yes, but here he doesn't believe he is the literal pinnacle of mankind and only savior....he's just a regular person (from what we can tell). Most 40k novels involving emps shows that he has real issues with the capacity for having love or care for others, including his own sons, because he usually see's himself above them and he's always "I know I am right". Which in turn, TTS sprinkled those elements to show how bad a father he was and he would get tunnel vision on what is the right course of action. For Big-D, he actually is able to express love for his progeny, think about other's needs beyond his own goals, ponder that he might be in the wrong, and all around be more human.
Mages have one big limitation to them: non magical witnesses. The more absurd and unexplainable their action and the more "sleepers" see their action, the more heavy the back lash they face, up to and including being deleted from existence.
bsically they can't go around and do random bullshit since they are bound by rest non awaken humanity view on reality that is why they must do it in secret or make magic that it look like some thing possible like fire ball in form of cocktail molotov
7:10 I was in the same boat when I discovered not only VtM but also Champions Online and Cyberpunk 2077 were all based on tabletop games and in the case of Cyberpunk, that it was a series of tabletop games set in different years, 2013, 2020, 2030 and 2045 with the video game actually being set farther into the future of the tabletop games' world and the 2045 setting being a prequel to the video game.
Surprised you didn’t mention Russ CASUALLY summing a dwarf from another universe-franchise and making a dark eldar cry after bringing a god into reality for a moment
D is also implied to have been alive longer than modern civilization, since he collects swords(which he seems to be fond of from experience rather than it being a hobby), and references events he shouldn’t have been alive to witness(such as the death…or murder…of Houdini). He also references that he’s been “deliriously obliterating fools like (Kevin) since the 90’s,” though he never specifies the millennium. He’s also a prolific liar, a wellspring of kindred lore that _he should not be able to know,_ and he’s stated once before that he’s gunning for the Third generation. Guys…I think D may be Caine. After several thousand years of Golconda yes, but Caine all the same. Edit: Caine’s immortality was never meant to be a gift. God cursed him to wander the Earth, it was _Lilith_ that gave him the powers and disciplines of a vampire, making all of our lives harder. The flood was God slapping Caine down for trying to make himself comfortable in his cursed life, like “So you think you have a good thing going here, huh? _WELL GUESS WHAT BUDDY”_
In my headcanon, he literally IS the Emperor, but in the ancient times many thousands of years before he rose up out of hiding to become Emperor, hiding his true abilities.
I am going to sound like a nerd saying this, but I am pretty sure this isn’t the case. (Yes, I am now the “um, ackchually” guy.) This is going to sound really dumb, but the Emperor says in one tts episode that he didn’t think anyone he introduced to “Big E” survived the “encounter.” This can’t be the case in HT:P because Markus and Door are his biological children, and D knows this, hence why he refers to them as sons while referring to kitten as his son in law. It does seem likely that he was born at the same time as the emperor, though, given how he references an ancient board game and defaults to an ancient Mesopotamia measuring system in his head in the “How not to get arrested” video. Again, sorry about the “I’m, ackshually,” it’s just that I like trying to prove or disprove theories like these. Believe whatever you want, I’m just saying.
When you describe Big D, I can understand why he doesn't refer himself as a God. It is because all the progress done was done by a mere human, a person who is defying the world and the status quo for a better one. A God would be seen as all knowing and all powerful being who can easily solve problems but Big D is powerful being yet still struggle against the cruel world. I can respect his mindset after learning this. Unfortunately his communication skill is kind of terrible. It kind of lead to the Horus Heresy for Warhammer 40k. Still, not as bad as the Warhammer 40k counterpart.
My personal opinion is that Big D *is* an expy for the Emperor, just the Emperor before his internment upon the Golden throne, Emps is so cynical and sarcastic because of him spending 10 millennia on a fancy-ass chair as a conscious rotting corpse, while simultaneously trying to keep the Earth from exploding with his psychic powers.
I just realized something: In WoD, Caine is *literally* immortal; Not ridiculously hard to kill, but *impossible* to kill. He simply *cannot die.* And the true cruelty of such a curse is that every setting in the WoD has an end-of-the-world scenario, like the Gehenna in Vampire or the Apocalypse in Werewolf and such, and whichever one happens *Caine will survive it.* He's doomed to quite possibly wander a barren and lifeless rock or a world overrun with creatures of unspeakable madness and horror forever, or at least until the sun expands and consumes the Earth, and even then he'll spend a few million years burning on the sun's surface until the sun itself dies. That's right, *the sun will die before he does.* It's rather grim and horrific when you actually think about it; Big D managing to somehow kill him would be an act of incommensurate mercy.
To me, Big-D does feel like an expy of the TTS Emperor... sorta. In TTS the character we usually call "Emperor" is supposed to be but a splinter of Emperor's whole self - a more cruel and jaded one, it seems. Big-D feels more like what I imagine TTS Emperor full version to be. But, since we never actually saw that Emps this one is effectively his debut, a new character. Anyhow, cool analysis, thanks!
I think Big D is what Alfabusa wants Big E to be. We saw hints of this with the resurrected Fyodperor with an actually caring father figure. It is my belief that Big E, in TTS canon, was exactly like Big D before he became the emperor.
Just realising that one big factor Big D mirrors with the emperor is how they both kept information on the greater threats they were facing from their sons in an attempt to keep them safe, which only led to them getting more hurt. DAMN Bruva Alfabusa and their team are good.
The reason why Big D says he made a mistake with the Mother bit is that he could have simply said something along the lines "I will get in contact with her and make sure she knows I'm alright." Rather than identifying what their relationship is he could have just acknowledge the Officier rather than add more to it.
I think the best thing about Big D is the fact that he really did get that damn blender for 99 cents. D broke reality because his will is faith in humanity is that strong
Hey! Long time fan of TTS and just saw this in a cross post. This is really amazing and I deeply agree with you about Big D and do find him to be better to The Emperor. You did a great job and I hope to hear you come back to this when HTP is over.
The thing about markus fucking up because d didn’t tell him not to let them eat each other is D’s biggest mistake in the show so far. I assumed vampires would be poisoned by each others blood at the tine and had the mother of all OH FUCK moments when the door got broke
Big D is what I imagine the Emperor would be like before he constantly had to deal with literal galaxy ending threats, space demons, and the threat of human extinction around every corner.
Hilariously enough, if you look into Magnus, he genuinely wanted to go loyalist again, but his big fuckup and Horus being sneeky straight up forced his hand. He's a traitor not because he wanted to, but because the flow of events forced him to accept a deal that has him stuck under Tzeentch. And honestly, D is such a great character because in all the ways that matter, he IS the Emperor still, they're still using him to comment on 40K. And we see that best in his contemplative chat with Horse (who is a stand-in for Horus). His regret over the perceived need to hide knowledge of the warp, "Especially from you, children who have not betrayed me" "What if I did fully bring you into the light? What would you do with the real truth Horus? Would you die hideously to the things hiding in the dark? Or would you fall in other, far more sinister ways? Or might things... Actually... Turn out for the better? Could they?" Or the both of them standing for this unrelenting pride and almost reverence for humanity's potential. Sure the Emp is much more brutal because it's 40k and everything is more brutal, but you still get glimpses of that character underneath, like Cawl's interaction with him in the labs where he appears as just another normal size dude with majestic hair and a labcoat, talking about his dreams for the future of humanity.
You can say what you want, but the writing chops of Bruva Alfabusas group are off the imperial charts! Its insane how compelling, smart and complex they can write. My favourite being the interrogation, the mental game of cat and mouse between Guy and Big D...i was enthralled for the entire time!
To be fair to Big D's comment on how you can punch mages, there is a bit in the lore I believe, where a group of wizards decided to turn a bunch of vampires into chairs, the problem is among those vampires were some Tzimicze and Gangrel (shapeshifter vanpires essentially), who changed themselves back and murdered the mages, that were sitting on said vampire chairs. So sure, you can break a planet in half with a spell, but do you have enough time to cast it before a supersonic speed vamp snaps your neck? The whole setting is balanced out like that I believe.
Its incredible how this series mixes W0D with 40k TTS together. It really feels like a fever dream coming from the Emperor. he represents the Emperor's often contradictory and fractured mental state so well. It's implied he's far older than he lets on and secrets only he knows. The mystery is so engaging.
Big D is the emperor of mankind before the age of strife and no one will be able to convince me otherwise. He created the primarchs to have the traits of his old children.
I always think of Big D's personality as if Emperor finally got out of the Golden Throne after over 10000 years of Constant Pain in the Golden Throne and Fully Recovered but not completely Mentally. Obviously went Insane but still manage to retain his compassion and humanity.
This video made me realise why i like the character of D so much. I have been through some heavy stuff in my life and have hit rock bottom once. Thinking thoughts very similar to those of kevin in the part you let play in full, thinking this was it and that it could not improve. But after hitting my lowest point had a realization. I could not keep going like this. I needed to change something. My personal situation at the time could not be improved except by waiting but i started doing small things. Learning things, helping people where i could. Slowly over time things started improving. Things are still not good at the moment for me, but now instead of spiraling ever downward i am clawing my way out of this shitty pit and will reach out for everyone i can help get out too. Ds optimism, to me, does not read as naive, not as blind hope for hopes sake. It reads as an ambition to make things better, an utopian drive knowing that if we dont get there at least we will be closer. It reads as the optimism of someone who knows just how bad the world is or can be and who wants it to improve because he knows that. Its the complete oposite of naive optimism, of thinking everything will just turn out alright, its optimism through experience , where everything will improve because i will spend blood, sweat and tears to make it so. Also i had a short convo with speaker D for something completly unrelated and he was very kind.
You've convinced me to watch the series. Also if I remember correctly World Of Darkness also has mad scientists powered by trauma who by their vary unhinged nature and desires can bend reality and make the impossible possible because they can tap into the building block of reality in a way no one else can utilize, to the point where if a normal human gets a hold of one of their inventions it simply stops working.
It is worth noting that there are a few hints that Big D is much older than his appearance suggests, perhaps thousands of years. At the very least he looks very good for a grandfather.
Rewatching this after the recent Ghoul Hunting audiolog and, why, the analysis stands mostly true! Caring and compassionate, knowledgeable and intelligent, deeply aware of the literal Abyss of all reality's horrors but, while scarred by it, still unshakably determined to set everything right. The audiolog also gives a new perspective to D's relationship with Marckus, that D in fact [SPOILERS REDACTED] and believes [GO WATCH IT YOURSELF].
One thing I've personally noticed, theres nothing that contradicts the idea that Big D IS the emperor. We went through his backstory on TTS, and the timelines don't really diverge or contradict with other until at least 20,000 years after Hunter the gathering is set
i absolutely love Big D in hunter the parenting because he acts like what tta emperor alludes to how he was during the crusade but an actual ok parent sometimes
My favorite line of dialogue from HTP was when Kevin said "I am Houdini >:)" to which Big-D responded with something like "No... you can't be! I KILLED HOUDINI!" because of the implications this has in the World of Darkness lore. Further expanded on in the 99p store episode as well.
My personal theory is that Big D is Seth the third born father all of humanity aka Bid Dad Some account claim Seth was the first ghoul and that would explain the anachronic reference Big D make since he would be millennia old This also explain Big D optimism We are his children it's normal he want the best for us and I think his objective is to give back his humanity to Cain thus killing Cain the vampire
D has some similarities with Emps, but has differences that make sense in that D is a full Mortal and not an (mostly) Emotionally Numb Skeleton with a billion+ screaming psychic souls whirling around in him. He HAS human emotions and feelings, but the BIGGEST point that truly separates him and Emps as characters is this: D CARES how other people view him. A simple insult from Kevin about D's brain being Bad Meat (during a rather spirited debate about obtaining a cheap blender, a conversation that im not even 100% sure is canon) makes D almost viscerally upset that Kevin would say that. Granted he could have just been taking the piss in that instance, and its probably NOT that deep. Honestly just the fact that D is amicable and cooperative with a creature like Kevin is another huge point that separates him and Emps. Emps entertains the idea of working with Xenos so long as he can use them as tools. D sees Kevin more as a Comrade or even a FRIEND it seems. (He might have actually called him a friend in a part of a video i dont remember) Perhaps D is a more PERFECT form of Emps? If Emperor had held onto his humanity and not cast aside his compassion and empathy, or lived more as a human rather than a Higher Being...maybe he would have been more like D? D is not stable or normal by any means, but hes gives a shit. He tries to look into himself and tackle his own faults and wants the best for his family and friends, Humanity, and even the beings living alongside Humanity. The fact he embraces a Vampire and a Ghoul as comrades could lead us to believe that D doesnt just want to help Humanity, but their supernatural neighbors and find balance between the races
The fact that Big-D can be deconstructed to reveal such quality I feel, is not just indicative of the skill Alfabusa's team has, but also of Speaker-D's incredible talent at bringing the character to life through tone and enthusiasm.
The world is filled with monstrosities, demons, immortal parasites. God has either abandoned the world, stopped existing, or is using it for entertainment. Death is almost assured. And yet, D continues to smile. Something is still worth fighting for.
35:14 - 36:26 Honestly that is almost 1:1 what I see the TTS Emperor to be, and I would bet my left kidney to what the Emperor was like pre-heresy. We see a good chunk of this in Foydperor. To me Big-D is the TTS Emperor if, instead of being inserted into the World of Darkness, he lived his entire life in it. The way he views Caine like he views the Chaos Gods is par for par.
I finally got myself to watch Hunter: The Parenting much like you did, and I wasn't disappointed. I think that if there is a thread that DOES deeply unite The Emperor and Big-D, it's that they are 'transformative characters?' Like, they look at the source material that has some kind of very strongly established, stone wall truth ("The emperor is a static husk," "The hazards of the World of Darkness are insurmountable in their complexity," ) and apply imagination like, "what if...?" Through imagining these barriers CAN be interacted-with, CAN bend under force, and what personality would have to exist behind that force, what would have been hard stops are now full of possibility. I think it's also related to that optimism you're talking about at the end of the video.
Honestly I think part of why Big D is the way he is is due to the fact that E was stationary, while D is fully flesh and blood, and far more fun to animate
I like to think that D is acting the fool and thinking the fool because he knows that there are vampires and other creatures that can read his mind. By keeping himself from making too much sense, they can discard him as being insane, just long enough for him to blow their heads out. Makes a lot of sense considering he does everything he can so his children do not know too much, or too little. However, that balance is always a bit hard to follow when dealing with vampires. (Keep in mind that certain vampires, Tremere or Tzimisce, are very much able to create city-sized domain where they can hear key words, even when whispered.)
Wow, i can't believe your process getting into hunter the parenting was basically the exact same is mine. I didn't touch it until very recently because losing tts hurt, but hunter the parenting is possibly the best thing the team at alfabusa's channel ever made. I'm glad i watched it
An analysis of THE GREAT AND MIGHTY KEVIN is now out!
I can’t wait too see how the plushie ads effect this video
@@mossksempire7190 The answer to that is "Immediately."
You convinced me to watch the series, so thank you for that! I don't get everything because I am not clinically insane enough yet to have memorised the entire World of Darkness Wiki, but I still enjoy it
@@mossksempire7190to
"I am an accountant! Do you have any idea how much I HATE MANKIND?!?" Has to be my all time favorite Kevin quote.
"Come forward so that I may have a sippie" always gets me
Mine is "you present me with a two pronged road, one leads to hell, AND THE OTHER ALSO LEADS TO HELL! but meaty fool that you are! You do not realize I CAN JUST WALK OFF THE FUCKING ROAD!"
His first line is golden as well “HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS” or something like along those lines.
As a former accountant, this is a line I FELT.
D's power is actually quite simple: he's got Faith. Not, seemingly, in God but in Humanity. And in World of Darkness, if you have *genuine, unshakeable faith* you can work miracles. Literal miracles.
Yep! I played two characters with true faith throughout my time in Hunter. One was the classic catholic priest with an unshakable calling from God to bring about the destruction of all nightfolk.
The other was a doomer nihilistic edge lord who disbelieved in monsters so hard he started to subconsciously manifest the powers of faith in his judgements and wanting for destruction of those who try to bawk at the natural world and its set in stone laws... lmao
@justvibing4796 He's ego is so massive reality just 'corrects' itself around him.
@@RaptorJesusBasically what Mages are in WoD
I used to play a mage character who was a former cia agent and his powers came from his believe of america.
quite literally the most based character type imaginable
'You cannot spontaneously materialize 10 additional apples, it's the law of reality."
Mage: "Well not with THAT attitude you can't!"
Knowing the Mage lore in WOD I do, this amuses me in many ways
@@QosmicVoid Thanks for getting the joke, excellent analysis btw!
*Magnus fills throneroom with apples*
Did somebody need some magic ???
@@karsonball2619MARCKUS! How many times must you be told?! PLAYING GOD IS A SOMETIMES THING!
On a positive note; one of the OG creators/execs of GW was a massive fan of TTS and IS NOT HAPPY of GW's stance against fan-created content.
Apparently the whole policy has been unofficially revoked; it's not trustworthy enough for TTS to return, but GW seems to regret their choice behind the scenes.
@@Fly-the-Light as they bloody should. They lost a source of free advertising, killed it and salted the earth where it once grew. From a business perspective, that's a bad move. And from PR side, loosing good will results in less customers again!
@@Fly-the-Lighti doubt that, but if proven right, im more than happy
Regret because they realized fan content was millions of dollars free marketing per year.
@@Fly-the-Light Too bad their regret is not enough to actually make them move from unofficial to official. Or do anything that would actually regain any trust.
Even though we never got to see him in TTS, there is a wide consensus among the community that Kevin is an expy of Malcador. He's a powerful wizard, friend and confidant to Big E/D and they squabble a lot. Their friendship is kinda sweet, really.
More importantly, he was once Big D's enement, but as much as Kevin tries to deny it, he far prefers his humanity to any gifts or powers he may have received. He tries to force practicality and reason on Big D, pointing out the realities of society.
All we need now is the resentment from his children on how much Big D trusts Kevin over them.
Also, D asked him (on their interrogation log) to be "the bearer oh his SIGIL", and Kevin's name is Malcolm... Malcolm the Bearer of the Sigil ~ Malcador the Sigilite.
@@watchm4ker The fact that Kevin is an Accountant fits this so well. Malcador created and led the Administratum, he was THE Accountant of the Imperium.
It's interesting how Alfabusa twists ideas from the Warhammer lore into interesting concepts for the World of Darkness.
Like for instance... Horse is Horus.
@@GenericProtagonist118what!? The FUCK!
The more you talk about Big-D the more it becomes clear to me just how analogous he is to the TTS Emperor. Surprisingly compassionate and optimistic, overy secretive to the detriment of those around him, mysterious, incredibly powerful, and very confident. Although unlike E, D may not have the power to back it up.
I forgot people got into HTP without watching TTS before it so I was taken aback by this comment lol
I genuinely think D is far more capable then even the show says explicitly. He knows things , literally no mundane human should know about the World of Darkness. Bare in mind there are Ancille vampires that see the whole Nodist philosophy of Cain as some kind of fairy tale yet D seems to know about him and his origins. He also knows about mages which is information that very few individuals , even supernaturals have. Lastly there is all the Horse stuff. There is definitely much more to D then we have seen.
@mortifidpenguin I one hundred percent agree. He is a character that seems to be played for laughs when it comes to serious moments (Pyotr's escape and the fight in the tunnel) but I think that D is holding back in a lot of ways. In the short for example, he goes alone to deal with potentially several vampires and is completely confident/unfazed. I think he is holding back and would love to see him get serious sometime.
I would say Big-D is not like the emperor, he is like the star child.
If you watch the last few episodes and see the star child: that's Big-D
To be entirely honest. I believe Big D is less an expy of the emperor as we know him and more an expy of the star child which in the TTS verse is a remnant Big E’s compassion and empathy he split off his being to be a better emperor. To me it makes more sense.
One of my favourite D moments is during the first audiolog where Kitten thinks their group could *probably* take on a werewolf and he grows completely serious for the first time.
fr WOD werewolves are absolutely never to be fucked with
@@Synthonym unless you're a mage of at least middling power, then you might be able to fuck one up if it doesnt get the drop on you.
@@Synthonymhonestly, any Noble Sidhe Artist or Mage of Arete 3 or higher can just complete fuck a garou's day unless that Garou happens to be an elder. The shortest shaft goes to vampires. Vampires in comparison to everyone else just kinda... Suck?
@@GreysonMacAllisterhere's the problem with all that:
1. Werewolves can do some pretty whack stuff with the right wyld spirit shenanigans
2. The Garou share their animal aspect's penchance for ganking their opposition into the dirt. So you'll never fight just one Garou.
And all that is before we find ourselves in the murderous meatgrinder that is several different of the Fera teaming up on you. If you thing a Garou hits hard, wait until a Gural or Mokoké has had a go at you.
@@draochvar9646 Exactly. By the time a Mage is done turning *one* Garou into a sofa, theres a good chance that Garou's packmates are within striking distance.
I like how Big D is an example of just how ridiculous the Emperor from 40k would be without his wealth and psychic powers to compliment his charisma
Big D as an optimist... something else I observed, is that this version of him loves humanity in all its flaws, and is actively cheerful. The end, in which you said he's a good leader BECAUSE he's an optimist in a dark world, makes me realize why I like his character a lot -- while, ironically, despising the canonical version of the Emperor of 40k.
What do you think about the star-child from the last TTS episodes? I would say, thats pretty much Big-D
@@Luwi1996yeah cause he is the good guy part of the emperor ( most of it)
I just want to say this on the subject.
In the podcast Adeptus Ridiculous, Bricky brought up how a book he would really wanna see for the Emperor is him in the beginning of who he was and then who he became over time. Centuries upon centuries of him living where his humanity is slowly eroded away from having to learn from mistakes and making difficult decisions until it’s gotten to the point that he’s become as callous and jaded as he became in order to finally kick off the unification wars on Terra.
I firmly believe, what we’re seeing of Big D IS Emps, but with all of his faith in humanity still in tact without the centuries of becoming callous that have fully taken their toll on him. Eventually having to almost entirely rid himself of his kind humanity, because it made him make decisions based on how he felt, rather than cold and hard logic that was required within the Grim darkness of the future
@@deth-luv9318 Plot twist - this is the 40k universe, just back when emps was just a random perpetual uninvolved in ruling all humanity, and vampire hunting's just for fun.
The star child infused emperor if you will
I wanna posit that D isn't a Mercy Hunter. His insane level of knowledge, his use of very specific terms to refer to various creatures of the night or just the universe in general, his desire to inspire people to have faith in him, and his unshakeable belief in Humanity... I'm almost convinced D is an Elohim or Fallen. And, of course, for a Fallen or Elohim, the Delirium would be little more than a tickle, and Wizards might as well be nerds you could easily punch.
Honestly, given of what we've seen of him, Bid D seems to show parts of all 3 of virtues in how he behaves
to quote the virtues short descriptions:
Mercy: Their compassion and capacity for forgiveness, perhaps even for the most heinous of horrors, believing some souls are worth saving.
Vision: Awareness of options and possibilities; an awareness of the big picture at stake in the war.
Zeal: Faith in themselves, their cause, or in some belief that motivates them to continue their fight.
There’s a problem with the Elohim theory: they don’t have physical bodies, as long as they have Faith in themselves (which D definitely doesn’t lack). But with the Fallen idea, I could get behind. Every Demon has a mortal form; but which Lore he’d possess in that case, I can’t tell.
@@vaclavsoukup7302 I'm thinking he has at least some amount of Lore of Humanity, though I can't tell if he might have Transmutation or Radiance or possibly even Portals, depending on where exactly he is keeping Kevin
@@arueshalaetablebuildingsociety The basement might be bigger than we've seen.
To quote Kevin "You are a demon!"
"Freedom never comes through surrender" in context is one of the hardest lines said in any piece of fiction, ever, and so perfectly encapsulates Big D and his philosophy, it's so simple it seems childish but, if you put any amount of conviction and skill behind a mind set like that it's actually kinda terrifying, the loss of TTS will always sting but bless the Ogrepopenhaung crew bringing us Hunter the Parenting
25:45 Sseth described it best regarding how Caine was cursed:
"CAINE! For Crimes against your creator, and your fellow man, I sentence you to: Immortality! I'm also giving you super speed and super strength! You can also turn invisible. Uh, would you like to Polymorph as well?"
Sseth also points out that Caine’s curse was also the ability to have children, but as humanoid parasites and be forced to watch as they suffer and kill eachother, just like he did with his brother
Well in the lore its more Lilith's fault. Caine was cursed with immortality and that his progeny in any form will kill themselves Infront of him. Lilith was the one that helped him do the powers and vampire stuff.
my favorite part of the Caine story is that it is entirely god fault able was the first person to die Caine had no clue that hitting him with a rock would kill him and once again god punishes people for being ignorant while also punishing people for not being ignorant enough in this ted talk...
@@theironqueen2386Also Caine killing someone is what pretty much sparked the civil war among angels. Because before Cain commiting the first Murder, they didn't even understand the concept of murder and violence. The first Murder was literally the first stain in the purity of reality. And it was 100% God's fault.
@@NameIsDocLilith taught him magic, but The Crone was the one to teach him how to make progeny.
Big D and Kevin's conversation, especially the "parable" Kevin tells, was an emotionally compelling story I wasn't ready for when I first listened to it. DeeDee and Kevin are such a great duo, and I want to hear more from both of them.
I just can't wait to see their escapades fully animated again
If you wanna hear the VAs of those 2 play dnd(well pathfinder) together I recommend you checkout rotgrind
The big d/Kevin dynamic is basically speker d and earandil just being themselves. They're like it in their ttrpg campaigns. Speker usually plays a very over the top character and esrndil is a very grounded character constantly pull speaker back down to earth and getting frustrated with the characters antics.
Given the Expy themes of the show, and the parralel between D and Emps, I actually see Kevin as a potential Malcador counterpart. I wanna see more instances of D and Kevin being best bros despite reaming each other on petty shit.
Ah, yes. Someone finally making an analysis on this series that i love. Not only that, but someone that also agrees that Kevin is the best character of the show.
Kevin is hands down the best character, I fucking love that little vampire wizard.
@@miriam5047 It will be very cathartic when he gains a win
@@natanaelsantos3924 probably when gets a chance to put one of his claws up the regent's ass
I read this in Kevin's voice
THE GREAT AND MIGHTY *_KEVIN!!_*
That bit about "an optimistic character in our world where everything is so sickeningly pessimistic and cynical" really struck me. Amazing video!
Yeah he's like the Arbiter Soul of WOD it's based
D talking about werewolves is so striking, I love that scene so much. He instantly drops all of his insanity and is laser-focused on warning Kitten. No crazy talk, no tangents, he calmly and precisely explains why tangling with them is a horrible idea and if you absolutely HAVE to then how to survive the encounter. It really drives home how terrifying they are.
Not my theory, but one I've heard making the rounds is that Big D is in fact a Kindred... who has achieved Golconda. It explains his apparent timelessness, his incredible knowledge of the ENTIRE World of Darkness, as well as his strength. It would also explain several oddities in his character. For example, how swiftly his jaw healed. Markus, whose human, is still recovering from broken bones and being shot in the current episode. Meanwhile D is already fighting, has no issues from his Blender Crusade, and his Jaw which was at LEAST dislocated seems to pose him no issue. I'd personally add that I think he's a Malkavian. It would explain his bouts of delirium, even post Golconda, and why when Kevin drank his likely incredibly Potent blood he got absolutely LIT up. Regardless, it's a testament to Bruva and the whole team how well they've emulated the setting that everything feels so authentically WoD while still being clearly THEIR creation and humor. Excellent analysis and thanks for coming to my Rambling 😂
That's... actually a really good theory. Especially with D's suspiciously rapid recovery times, along with the fact that if he actually killed Houdini like he said, that'd make him over 100 years old.
It does slightly detract from the whole humans vs cruel World
But it also adds something very unique namely hope we would then know for a fact vampires Can be saved and that is an interesting change
Personally i would say This is a good option for his backstory
@@TheRedMan77that also explains his many exes and children, he had so many relationships because he's been around for a while
It also explains why he taught door in an esoteric Sumerian unit of measurement.
A theory I’ve seen go around is that Big D is Gilgamesh or at the very least related to him.
Personaly I like the idea of D being Gilgamesh meaning he most likely is the reason the story of Gilgamesh is well recorded
Interesting, considering there's a gangrel Methuselah that claims to be enkidu. Wonder how that would work out
I was thinking the emperor was also Gilgamesh as one of his identites throughout history
Also The Great and Mighty Kevin is TTS Malcador
I remember looking into this theory when I first saw it and it's actually somewhat... interesting. See Gilgamesh holds a very weird spot in World of Darkness, by which I mean there's several different contradictory versions of his story but all heavily feature vampires in one way or another. In one telling, he was the first Hunter who may or may not have achieved immortality through some alchemical means. Another states that he was a Mage who sought immortality and obtained it by experimenting with vampires. The last one I remember holds that he was, himself, an ancient vampire, sired directly by Cain.
I've seen a theory that's he's a Solar Exalt.
One thing to point out is that the name "Big D" is riffing off of the emperor's nickname of "Big E" and the name of his VA SpeakerD, who also voiced the non-tts emperor parts in tts.
He's also still very close to the emperor I'd argue, or rather the interpretation of him we see in tts, like with the other characters.
He is clearly very intelligent and wise from a long and storied life, but simultaneously completely insane and at times incompressible, he has a bright idealist vision for humanity despite being surrounded by darkness, he deeply cares about his family but often keeps them in the dark for what he thinks is their own good...
The main differences are that the tts Emperor was a lot more cynical, mean-spirited, authorative and arrogant, on account of him being a giant god skeleton in constant torment.
I think the best way to understand D is this: he's the ACTUAL meaning of an optimist, people use optimism as "naivety" all too often that I think people forget the the actual, true definition of optimism is seeing the cards stacked against you and playing as hard as you can to win anyways.
D is an optimist, but he is ANYTHING but naive. He doesn't play the game despite his chances, he plays BECAUSE OF THEM. Because as long as his chance isn't 0, he'll take it.
Glad to see people are getting SO DEEP INTO BIG-D'S LORE and enjoying our work, means a shitton to us. Especially after the swap. Great video chief!
HOPE TO SEE MORE FROM YOU.
HOPE TO SEE AN ANALYSIS OF KEVIN.
YOU'D BETTER.
Or not.
THE GREAT AND MIGHTY KEVIN will hopefully get an analysis one day. Definitely the next character I'd be most interested in doing something on. I have my theories, including a 99P store reference, D going to a 99P store, Kevin mentioning being close to the Lady Regent, and the store manager being in contact with the Regent.
Coincidence? Potentially, but I know your groups writing too well to write it off as such yet.
I just need a liiiiiiittle more to work with before I can do anything with Kevin. [wink wink, hint hint, nudge nudge, comedic shove comedic shove]
But in all seriousness, ya'lls work is utterly incredible. Losing TTS stings, but I'm very much a glass half-full kind of person. I still hope one day it can come back, but if it never can, then I'd honestly say losing it was almost worth it for a series this incredible. I'm rooting for ya'll - Thank you very much!
God I love H:TP so much
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@@QosmicVoid Obviously, the regent learned from kevin that you need money, and decided 'What if I replace all the 99p stores with 99P stores? We will have 100 times more money!' becaause she has absolutely no idea still how economics work.
I’m late I know but as someone who has a friend who is a WOD lore master I must mention something funny she and I noticed. Horse is heavily implied to be a demon because their one of the few groups to know what an Elohim is. With how D vents to horse it’s my headcanon that big D went through the trouble to make a contract to worship and empower a demon through worship exclusively so he had someone to vent his family troubles or troubles that would get them bloodhunted to. If this is true / actually canon I find this absolutely hilarious.
"you Could kill them all, drink their souls! Go ham! do whatever! You're a demon! Why do you stay as a horse?"
Horse: its fun... and i get free drugs soooo
My favourite bit regarding that is that Horse almost genuinely seems to care for Boy, or at least genuinely considers him his nephew
@@aCatNamedGarbagei imagine the demon realized: shit I'm starting to love mankind again FUCKING BIG D
@@theenderdestruction2362well the Fallen are ... complicated, so that wouldn't really be surprising.
@@draochvar9646 yep, ironically it seems Christianity in wod is one of the better things against the fallen, mostly cause it's pretty fucking hard to twist the fact that the big guy upstairs is you
Ya know, you say D is the most different from his original template in TTS, but i would say he's basically the same, but younger. If you compare them you can see some equal basic traits, but D is much more energetic and outspoken where E doesn't talk as much. The madness of D is very similar to E saying something completely random with perfect confidence, they both are secretive, but deeply caring for those close to them, both are capable of violence and kindness, both are clearly extremely powerful and capable, although D of course isn't at that same level as E yet, both have made powerful enemies, both might seem questionable, but they play a massive game of 5D chess behind the scenes. If you betray D by hakf of his most trusted, then put him on a torture chair powered by human suffering locked alone within his own mind, only relief being the insanity of the immaterium, you get E without a doubt.
I heavily agree with this. Big D is a spiritual successor to Big E, not because one is heavily different as a conceptual character to the other, but because Big D shows an alternative branch of the tree Big E lays at another end of. Big D lacks the cynicism and frustration Big E has, but Big E was no doubt once like Big D, it was how he got to the situation he finds himself in. In fact, thinking about it, perhaps Big E is so disgruntled because he had the unconceivable power to change the world for the better but failed and doomed so many through mistakes he thought were wise decisions. Maybe Big D is so much more upbeat because he is working from the bottom of the mountain upwards. He lacks power, but he has come to the mountain will all he needs to scale it. Big E meanwhile is trying to figure out how to stay on top of a mountain he isn't even sure he wants to stay on. Overall, Big E and Big D most strongly share the will to see through their plans, whilst E diverges with sourness in regards to how they've turned out.
My guess is Starperor is what D would’ve been had we been given more time to explore his character.
Adding on to this, look at when we see Throne Emperor get Magnus's soul back from Tzeentch, or Big E's other insane machinations. The big difference is D is younger - E has admitted to how he lost his humanity over the milennia (hence the Fyodperor plotline), while D hasn't reached that stage yet. (Plus, Speaker D. Just Speaker. 😂)
@@mindwarp42I think Starchild was hinted to be the humanity Big E threw away to fight Horus, there’s a few lines he mentions where he “had to do it” for some desperate purpose. it could also have been to go on a massive bloody crusade in the first place tho, hard to tell.
either way, the way Fyodperor reacts to the loss of _anyone_ kinda shows how troubling those decisions were to Emps.
27:18
Okay, this is another example of D badly explaining himself and coming across as insane and arrogant despite having reasons for saying that. Because he's right. _Most_ wizards are nerds you can easily punch. Not all Mages are demigods. Punching them is inadvisable, but mostly because it's like punching somebody who might be armed with a concealed knife. Even the weakest nerd can really ruin your life with it.
Depending on their level of experience/enlightenment, they can are weaker or stronger. There's metaphysical limitations on their abilities I won't get into. They can kinda transcend those limits if they get enlightened enough. But the thing about violating reality is that being a powerful enough Mage makes _you_ a violation of it. Being an Archmage is somewhat looked down upon in Mage society, because you're a borderline inhuman creature that really cannot exist comfortably inside normalcy, but you still cling to your mortal coil and retain power because of it. People mostly expect you to Force Ghost out of your physical form like Yoda.
And therein lies the problem. Mages run the gamut from barely Awakened mortals to incorporeal urban legends. You don't really know what they're capable of. Each Mage's journey toward Ascension is deeply personal to them, which also means their abilities vary wildly and are unique to them. So if you do have to fight one, you really do have to take them out before they even know you exist or are a threat to them.
Bonus Lore: Marcus might actually be going through his Awakening into a Mage. He cast a curse on Slackjaw. _Unconsciously._ Not by rote learning or by following a formula. That would be linear magic. He warped reality with his will. And ironically, Marcus is a nerd that Slackjaw could easily punch. Until Slackjaw couldn't punch anymore.
could you point to the exact scene where Marcus curses Slackjaw? I think i missed it
@imerej2580 It's near the end, with Blacklaw's knives spontaneously exploding on him and then the booze he drank giving him salmonella after Magnus verbally wished that he'd get sick on it. It's not conclusive, but these are all consistent with Magnus using Entropy and Life sphere effects.
@@TheAngryXenite Oh, I'm thinking causality-alteration.
That bottle, confirmed by the bartender, was specifically of a release of the booze that was recalled years ago for salmonella poisoning (somehow), but which was just forgotten about in the back. Meaning the bartender has memory of that particular bottle being a bad batch, but forgot about it.
And it IS possible to alter causality and retcon past events in WoD as a certain type of wizard. If true, Marcus could have wish-retconned shit so hard he changed past events just to make sure a nasty bottle of brandy would conveniently be present here entirely subconsciously.
I.e. That bottle, its salmonella, and the entire history of how it got there and all memory the bartender had of that bottle and the salmonella story Didn't Canonically Exist.... Until Marcus snapped his fingers and wanted "a cheated drinking game". Whole timeline bent and twisted and all of history changed in an instant just to make sure that bottle wound up where Marcus needed it.
Though it may be about Big-D, I have to give this video a BIG-A!
...
Alright but THANKS for making a video essay about our funny Hunter show! Glad to hear that D's interesting enough to warrant you making this AND that our video essay succeeded in tempting you to WoD!
It'll be real interesting to revisit this once more of D's character is revealed...
Aaah, sweet, delicious validation. I thank ye kindly, both for your kind words, and for your work on HTP!
I have lost many hours wiki-walking WoD and I regret nothing. I also understand nothing but I'm sure I'll brute-force my way through eventually.
Your statements about D are vaguely ominous - I've either hit the nail right on the head, or missed completely and somehow shattered a completely unrelated wall on Mars. Who knows, I may end up having the urge to make another depending on what happens. You've got your claws into me, and it was a pleasure to make this.
Thank you for watching this dumb little essay - I'm looking forward for what comes next, and I'm rooting for ya'll!
Let’s gooo
@@danny_decheeto8300 I've located you once again
hello yes brother I am in severe pain@@gubus2494
*Not every Tabletop RPG is D&D.*
In this case, they were playing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay; the fantasy counterpart to Warhammer 40K's sci-fi setting.
I will confess that I’m not actually that involved in the actual playing of most tabletop RPG's, 'cause I don't have any groups to actually play with. I'm mostly limited to the lore and that’s about it. To me, it looked virtually indistinguishable from DND, but you are correct, looking into it. I knew of Fantasy Warhammer, but not of the Roleplay game. I honestly thought it being part of the warhammer fantasy setting was part of some extended joke. So, apologies for the mistake there
@@QosmicVoidWell find one.
@@CloseingStraw97There are probably much nicer ways you could've phrased that, you know.
@@AnonymousONIagent Yes.
@@CloseingStraw97In three words, you became one of the reasons people don't want to join TTRPGs.
As goofy as D is, the interview was startlingly brilliant. For having a license, some hints, and a prayer the whole thing was improv and analysis on a scale that is boggling. The fact that the sister thing was a fifty fifty shot and a miracle and testament that the odds were even that good - where he recovered with the chantry lie
Also that he knows his family so well that he can pretty much perfectly guess what their testimonies were! Also lowkey showing that Marckus is also smart af when he isn't being reckless.
@@toolatetothestory Something I've noticed with Marckus is that while he is incredibly intelligent and has good ideas, he executes them very badly. Like when Pyotr went apeshit after Diablerizing his buddies, Marckus correctly reasons that as an ambush predator, they'd have a better time fighting him outside. Which they do and Pyotr is killed much easier when he goes outside into the minefield.
However, Marckus also makes a completely rookie mistake and somehow forgets he's jumping out of a 2nd-story window and breaks his fucking legs. Then moments later shoots himself in said broken legs because he told Door to _chuck a loaded gun at him from the aforementioned 2nd-story window._ Marckus is the definition of a highly intelligent but not very _wise_ person.
I actually CAN see how Big D is an expy of the Emperor. Maybe not the one on the throne, but the one we may have gotten if TTS had been allowed to continue. If hypothetically the Emperor had been revived by reuniting with the Star Child and perhaps his flesh also reconstituted with the Perseus Protocol...you know, since Big D is a massive weirdo. D is actually how I would imagine the Emperor if he had regained his base human sense of compassion and optimism. As stated by emps at the beginning of the Hateful Feud arc, he cast those elements away as he thought they were anathema to the progress he envisioned. Big D to me just seems like the fulfillment of that idea.
I genuinely think Big D’s personality is both to inspire his family and to hide his true self considering Vampires are trying too know everything about you to make sure you don’t know they exist
And him acting crazy and energetic is a bit of a mask to hide the real truths of what Big D knows, i don’t doubt at all he knows a insane amount of info about Vampires and who he hunts
Also i think Kevin is based off Malcador
If he is acting crazy, he pulls it off very well and we can see how that works in his favor on the second part of the 99P blender episodes.
The store owner lets D leave even after knowing he found “the pit” only because she found anti-psychotic medication on him. If D actually needs them or not is not important, what it’s important is that having them on his person saved him from being “disposed off”.
@@minibotas9496 he does have moments of utter seriousness and calmness and he is a genius as he planned for being caught by cops, he took Kevin’s meds, and he acted like he clearly knows a lot about vampires and other mythical creatures and knows the dangers of his knowledge especially with what he makes the family call the vampires despite clearly knowing the true names of what they are
@@Splashzone263Big D is a character more familiar to the supernatural than the Mundane
Big D is a perfect example of a Chaotic Good Character. Whacky, but Wise; Cocky, but Cunning; Strange, but Smart; and Headstrong but Heroic to a fault. An Unlikely Champion of Light in a World of Darkness.
I adore the Bro-Trip series. Partially because Vulkan is my favorite Primarch. I have a soft spot for both gentle giants and kind people in a cruel world.
Vulkan live
STOMP STOPM
I have a feeling that Corvus, Vulkan and Russ will return as various Fera. specifically a Corax, Mokole and Garou respectively
@@thomasfoster7387 I would love that. Though I'm not entirely sure how it would work with how Kinfolk work. Then again, it is Big D we're talking about.
@@forge4119 oh, he has probably reared a great many Homid Fera in his day.
I wasn't sure about Corvus for most of it, but his reaction to the Japoli situation sold me on him. "Oh. Oh, that I hate."
I think the thing with how D acts about Cain and mages is basically part of the cosmic confidence game he finds himself in similar to the Emperor. On one hand he knows that his opposition is neigh unassailable, but at the same time, willpower and confidence has absurd power with in the world and he plays it like he did with Kevin. Kevin has his refuges of humanity still even though he is technically a monster now, Big D's gambit with that is to be confident and composed enough to manipulate the world around him with what he does know, what he can figure out, and what he can do to turn people to his own goal with his force of personality.
Big D is mad, crazy as a loon sure, but that is part of the trick he is playing by turning it to his advantage. He likely understands full well that Cain would kill all of humanity with a fart, but counter to that, he also is fully aware that Cain hasn't done this yet. He probably plans to "kill" Cain the same way he "killed" the Great and Mighty Kevin to get to the person that is Kevin Wettsworth.
The thing is, depending on what you take as canon. Caine is already a pretty chill, dude, and would probably just hang out with D.
@@Shinigami13133 He's jobbing as a taxi driver in an american city and hasn't murdered everyone in the state yet.
He HAS to be chill.
minor nitpick but the "commercial break" transition slides explain that Door actually adopted Boy.
Which episode?
@@thepopulargirl1784 2, reading it also seem to strengthen my theory that boy is a werewolf.
@@thetau4866they called him feral, he managed to nail a vampire with super speed in the dark with a revolver *mid leap*, he LOVES meat and has the strength to haul full grown boars. Him being a werewolf COULD be plausible.
@@otakon17
He could even be a werewolf that was born a wolf but stays in his human form. In essence, a wild wolf puppy in kid form that likes video games.
We'll know for sure once he walks into the umbra willingly, that would def confirm it.
Puberty sickness...
Oh my D you're right!
"Fear not! We can rebuild TTS entirely out of cyberdongs!"
"Magos I don't believe that's possible-"
"DID I F(redacted)ING STUTTER?"
The Parable of Kevin Wetsworth is the first thing from this series I saw. And I immediately binged the whole rest of it.
Thanks for this wonderful video. Concerning your points on being sick of all the edgy and grimdark media wearing you down, I'm grateful that you've been able to put to words the same feeling I've had concerning the general tone of media for a long time as well. I just hope that slowly shows like Hunter the Parenting get more time in the sun: that despite the dark, there are people bearing the torch of hope.
You've nailed the appeal of Big D for me by this and confirmed it even more. Thanks mate!
Returned for a second and third listen session while I painted the walls at home. I really like this 'audiolog' and listening again helps me grasp your point better (since English is not my native tongue). A like and subscribe for you good sir!
That part about killing Caine reminds me of the quote from President Lincoln: "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends" and considering how old D is implied to be...
I saw someone years ago posit that Big D was the Emperor's delirium dream after the ending of TTS. Which is... Maybe a bit reductive.
Hunter stands on its own, and is made a bit better by knowing the inside baseball jokes from TTS, but the idea that HtP is only just like that season of Dallas strips it of its own drama and character. I'm thrilled to see this video, and see a deep analysis of the series as an original work, separate but with flavors from TTS.
Here is hoping Bruva and Co. bring half as many folks to WoD as they did to 40k.
To be fair, the delirium of a nascent Star Father is a pretty big deal in the warp.
@@essexclass8168 Agreed. Given that their tabletop game resulted in real people showing up and continuing to be present afterward...
I love the bit about D's optimism. One of the striking things about the VTM universe is that it doesn't *have* to be that dark. A lot of the vampires in VTM see themselves as monsters, damned and irredeemable and intrinsically different from humans, when in reality they think and feel just like humans do. D sees the bullshit for what it is - just an excuse for vampires to not try and be better, and calls it out.
Worth noting: In WoD, the Imbued (that is, hunters) actually go increasingly insane as they grow more experienced and powerful, although most don't live long enough for it to become very apparent. So, D being totally off his rocker most of the time kinda makes sense.
Also, I do think D could be viewed as an interpretation of the Emperor in a different context, since they actually share a lot of traits beyond just the superficial ones. Even D's claim that he wants to kill Cain mirrors the Emperor insisting that he need to defeat the Chaos Gods - both of these feats being effectively impossible. It's just that the Emperor doesn't work in the setting of Hunter: The Reckoning, so D is basically the Emperor but as a character in that setting. The Emperor is not as crazy as D, but the Emperor is not a high level hunter. D isn't as sardonic or temperamental as the Emperor, but D hasn't spent ten thousand years as a pseudo corpse stuck on a torture chair. I think they have the same basic core, around which their respective characterizations have been built to suit the story they're in.
That i agree, Big E is a leader whose responsiblity is too heavy for him to bear alone.
It is inconsivible that they would have similar mindsets as Big D is only dealing with a group of people against a big threat, we see that Big E had at least tried to teach people to be better. But as the responsiblity grew so did the need of people who were close to him to bear his name like a hat of a ship captian to manage the vessel that is the emperium. Big D has way less variables and more time. Big D can teach, soicalize, understand and learn. Big E doesn't have it.
Eh depends on the Hunter, as Imbued are the less preferred option to play as one. In Chronicles of Darkness, where all gamelines were basically rebooted into being balanced (instead of werewolves BTFO vampires while wizards turned everyone into cheese) they also introduced normal humans as Hunters, and EVERYONE liked that so much better. Being a superhuman fighting the superhuman? Expected. Being a normal fighting the paranormal? Exciting!
This concept was carried back into WoD and exists in the new edition now. Because of course it was, it's a great concept.
They didn't show any powers, so they just mortals (H5 or Hunters Hunted) or low level Imbued
I doubt he's a high level Imbued. That always ends in a violent death, either because you die fighting supes normally, or because you unlock your fifth level of Edge, which GUARANTEES you a death within the next year or so, presumably because in your profound fanatic insanity you seek out an absurd mission.
I love that big D is just speakerD with the reigns let off.
Also, big D could be early stage big E before all the 40k shenanigans
One of my favorite things about Big D is the overt implication that he was the one who punched Houdini in the gut and killed him, because wizards are nerds you can easily punch
I like to think the way BIG D's personality was conceptualized is that Alfa and co. were playing/discussing something related to World of Darkness and Speaker D just started talking like that (16:22)
An analysis filled with love, can you find anything better?
If you give me an hour I'm sure I could come up with something witty to respond with.
I couldn't.
@@QosmicVoid Ironically, this exchange became said witty response
Nice lmao
Big D's life is like walking through a minefield, but all the mines have different rules that you *must* follow if you want to navigate the field safely.
this one requires that you step on it with your LEFT foot, this one requires making a bird sound as you step over it, that one over there requires that you pretend it isn't a mine, and move forward as if it wasn't even there.
Trying to navigate a life like that would drive anyone mad...
You can't eat that cereal, it's poisoned by vampires. you have to buy *that* particular brand of milk, or the vampires will know you breached the masquerade, but don't drink it, or you'll become a ghoul; make sure to buy 3 rolls of toilet paper when you walk into that store, or they'll know you are immune to their subliminal messages.
Now imagine having a family that is a part of your hunt. you COULD tell them some info, but what if kitten accidentally says "tremere" when he was out with marcus buying a christmas tree, and he meant to say "can we buy a tree here"? what if Marcus asks the wrong question when at the local chip shop? what if boy manages to recognize a vampire, based on the info Big D gave him, and he runs from it in public? They'd chase him, capture him, and torture him for information.
"I am an accountant! Do you have any idea how much I HATE MANKIND?!?"
As a retail worker, I can not stress how relatable that line is.
Retail would be such a wonderful enviroment to work in, if you could just not have to interact with the customers in any way, shape, or form.
Thing with magse, they may be powerful but they are sitll 1000% mortal and are a loooot more limited than you think they are. They theoretically ahve that potential but they ahve to apply theri will against the rest of humanity... Somethign called the 'paradox'. Some have very powerful wills and can bend and twist the rules more than others, especially in groups. They have rules and rituals they follow to use their powers. Knowing how they do their tricks, makes them easier to defeat.
His fear of werewolves though..... The werebeasts of the setting are some of the most powerful creatures around. while not invincible they are immensely powerful and killing one is no lean feat for man or monster.
I actually learned about the Paradox not too long ago - It's a hilariously absurd but consistent and interesting way to limit Mages with such overpowered Magic.
@@QosmicVoid The interesting thing about Paradox is that it also makes an interesting case for why all the supernatural "stuff" in WoD remains hidden in the shadows: Without realizing it, without understanding how or why, Humanity *won.* Collectively persuaded by the Order of Reason, Humanity *forced* all the horrors of the world into the dark corners of the night and wanted *nothing more to do with them.* And that if Humanity were to be awakened to the terrors of the world around them, there's a potential for even worse backlash.
@@watchm4kerwell mostly. Most of the Fera, and the Garou in particular, actually don't really care about humans knowing about them, since the cause the Delirium anyway.
@@QosmicVoidthe way I’d describe it is like having the ability to cheat and bend the rules of reality, but you have to be able to explain it away, or else it doesn’t work. You’re manifesting an effect, but there must always be a cause of some sort. Houses don’t just burn Down randomly, they demand some sort of cause. Say maybe the gas lines were leaking, and rats chewed the wiring, or someone tried to light a cigarette.
paradox isn't that big of a handicap. as long as you don't fail and don't make a habit of big displays of vulgar magic in the same place you can get away with practically anything. even time magic (the biggest of deals, its always vulgar, its got the most active guardians, and it has the harshest paradox) is fine if you are skilled enough and don't massively over step. the issue is that you are just as likely to kill over from a gunshot as any random guy off the street, if you aren't prepared you are simply mortal.
“Don’t you get smug with me, SpeakerD.”
That’s SpeakerD’s secret, he’s always smug.
Played Zweihander one time, you have to roll for LITERALLY everything, appearance, attributes, class, sex, etc. I straight up rolled a Gambler that looked just like Big D according to the book...it was TOO good to pass up! So i named him Big D, best Tabletop Session Ever!
My thoughts on why Big-D is so different from the Emperor is that (besides the fact he's not a constantly-in-pain corpse that's stuck in a chair and now can walk/do drugs) he doesn't have as much of a god complex as emps. Insanely confident: yes, but here he doesn't believe he is the literal pinnacle of mankind and only savior....he's just a regular person (from what we can tell).
Most 40k novels involving emps shows that he has real issues with the capacity for having love or care for others, including his own sons, because he usually see's himself above them and he's always "I know I am right". Which in turn, TTS sprinkled those elements to show how bad a father he was and he would get tunnel vision on what is the right course of action. For Big-D, he actually is able to express love for his progeny, think about other's needs beyond his own goals, ponder that he might be in the wrong, and all around be more human.
Mages have one big limitation to them: non magical witnesses. The more absurd and unexplainable their action and the more "sleepers" see their action, the more heavy the back lash they face, up to and including being deleted from existence.
bsically they can't
go around and do random bullshit since they are bound by rest non awaken humanity view on reality
that is why they must do it in secret or make magic that it look like some thing possible like fire ball in form of cocktail molotov
7:10 I was in the same boat when I discovered not only VtM but also Champions Online and Cyberpunk 2077 were all based on tabletop games and in the case of Cyberpunk, that it was a series of tabletop games set in different years, 2013, 2020, 2030 and 2045 with the video game actually being set farther into the future of the tabletop games' world and the 2045 setting being a prequel to the video game.
"HOUSING SHOULD NOT BE A COMMODITY!" thank you D for being correct.
Nicely done, well spoke, good stuff! Subbed!
I will make every effort to be deserving of it - Thank you!
Surprised you didn’t mention Russ CASUALLY summing a dwarf from another universe-franchise and making a dark eldar cry after bringing a god into reality for a moment
D is also implied to have been alive longer than modern civilization, since he collects swords(which he seems to be fond of from experience rather than it being a hobby), and references events he shouldn’t have been alive to witness(such as the death…or murder…of Houdini). He also references that he’s been “deliriously obliterating fools like (Kevin) since the 90’s,” though he never specifies the millennium. He’s also a prolific liar, a wellspring of kindred lore that _he should not be able to know,_ and he’s stated once before that he’s gunning for the Third generation.
Guys…I think D may be Caine. After several thousand years of Golconda yes, but Caine all the same.
Edit: Caine’s immortality was never meant to be a gift. God cursed him to wander the Earth, it was _Lilith_ that gave him the powers and disciplines of a vampire, making all of our lives harder. The flood was God slapping Caine down for trying to make himself comfortable in his cursed life, like “So you think you have a good thing going here, huh? _WELL GUESS WHAT BUDDY”_
In my headcanon, he literally IS the Emperor, but in the ancient times many thousands of years before he rose up out of hiding to become Emperor, hiding his true abilities.
More importantly, he's the Emperor as Adventurer and Hero
I am going to sound like a nerd saying this, but I am pretty sure this isn’t the case. (Yes, I am now the “um, ackchually” guy.) This is going to sound really dumb, but the Emperor says in one tts episode that he didn’t think anyone he introduced to “Big E” survived the “encounter.” This can’t be the case in HT:P because Markus and Door are his biological children, and D knows this, hence why he refers to them as sons while referring to kitten as his son in law. It does seem likely that he was born at the same time as the emperor, though, given how he references an ancient board game and defaults to an ancient Mesopotamia measuring system in his head in the “How not to get arrested” video.
Again, sorry about the “I’m, ackshually,” it’s just that I like trying to prove or disprove theories like these. Believe whatever you want, I’m just saying.
Big D is just nicer and more
human version of big E
which is ironic since Emperor is all about humanity.
When you describe Big D, I can understand why he doesn't refer himself as a God. It is because all the progress done was done by a mere human, a person who is defying the world and the status quo for a better one. A God would be seen as all knowing and all powerful being who can easily solve problems but Big D is powerful being yet still struggle against the cruel world. I can respect his mindset after learning this.
Unfortunately his communication skill is kind of terrible. It kind of lead to the Horus Heresy for Warhammer 40k. Still, not as bad as the Warhammer 40k counterpart.
"I'm not a god but worship me like one :^)”
My personal opinion is that Big D *is* an expy for the Emperor, just the Emperor before his internment upon the Golden throne, Emps is so cynical and sarcastic because of him spending 10 millennia on a fancy-ass chair as a conscious rotting corpse, while simultaneously trying to keep the Earth from exploding with his psychic powers.
I just realized something: In WoD, Caine is *literally* immortal; Not ridiculously hard to kill, but *impossible* to kill. He simply *cannot die.* And the true cruelty of such a curse is that every setting in the WoD has an end-of-the-world scenario, like the Gehenna in Vampire or the Apocalypse in Werewolf and such, and whichever one happens *Caine will survive it.* He's doomed to quite possibly wander a barren and lifeless rock or a world overrun with creatures of unspeakable madness and horror forever, or at least until the sun expands and consumes the Earth, and even then he'll spend a few million years burning on the sun's surface until the sun itself dies. That's right, *the sun will die before he does.*
It's rather grim and horrific when you actually think about it; Big D managing to somehow kill him would be an act of incommensurate mercy.
To me, Big-D does feel like an expy of the TTS Emperor... sorta. In TTS the character we usually call "Emperor" is supposed to be but a splinter of Emperor's whole self - a more cruel and jaded one, it seems.
Big-D feels more like what I imagine TTS Emperor full version to be. But, since we never actually saw that Emps this one is effectively his debut, a new character.
Anyhow, cool analysis, thanks!
the best way i heard WOD mages described is "They are a god but only when no one is looking"
I think Big D is what Alfabusa wants Big E to be. We saw hints of this with the resurrected Fyodperor with an actually caring father figure. It is my belief that Big E, in TTS canon, was exactly like Big D before he became the emperor.
Just realising that one big factor Big D mirrors with the emperor is how they both kept information on the greater threats they were facing from their sons in an attempt to keep them safe, which only led to them getting more hurt. DAMN Bruva Alfabusa and their team are good.
Kevin I think is an analogy to Malcador
*The Great and Mighty Kevin
The reason why Big D says he made a mistake with the Mother bit is that he could have simply said something along the lines "I will get in contact with her and make sure she knows I'm alright." Rather than identifying what their relationship is he could have just acknowledge the Officier rather than add more to it.
There is also an allusion to the fact that Big-D is a *lot* older than he looks, potentially even Immortal levels of old.
HE KRILLED HOUDINI 🦐
Doesn't he talk to horse about them doing stuff together in the '30s? Considering the series is set in like 2006 or something...
@@mathias3721 Yea. And I think it's kind unclear *which* 30s he is talking about.
@@eddthehead123 Didn't he mention it was during the Prohibition? Which would've been 1930s
@@mathias3721 Probably. It's been a while.
I think the best thing about Big D is the fact that he really did get that damn blender for 99 cents. D broke reality because his will is faith in humanity is that strong
Hey! Long time fan of TTS and just saw this in a cross post. This is really amazing and I deeply agree with you about Big D and do find him to be better to The Emperor.
You did a great job and I hope to hear you come back to this when HTP is over.
The thing about markus fucking up because d didn’t tell him not to let them eat each other is D’s biggest mistake in the show so far.
I assumed vampires would be poisoned by each others blood at the tine and had the mother of all OH FUCK moments when the door got broke
Big D is what I imagine the Emperor would be like before he constantly had to deal with literal galaxy ending threats, space demons, and the threat of human extinction around every corner.
Hilariously enough, if you look into Magnus, he genuinely wanted to go loyalist again, but his big fuckup and Horus being sneeky straight up forced his hand. He's a traitor not because he wanted to, but because the flow of events forced him to accept a deal that has him stuck under Tzeentch.
And honestly, D is such a great character because in all the ways that matter, he IS the Emperor still, they're still using him to comment on 40K. And we see that best in his contemplative chat with Horse (who is a stand-in for Horus). His regret over the perceived need to hide knowledge of the warp, "Especially from you, children who have not betrayed me" "What if I did fully bring you into the light? What would you do with the real truth Horus? Would you die hideously to the things hiding in the dark? Or would you fall in other, far more sinister ways? Or might things... Actually... Turn out for the better? Could they?"
Or the both of them standing for this unrelenting pride and almost reverence for humanity's potential. Sure the Emp is much more brutal because it's 40k and everything is more brutal, but you still get glimpses of that character underneath, like Cawl's interaction with him in the labs where he appears as just another normal size dude with majestic hair and a labcoat, talking about his dreams for the future of humanity.
I'm so glad to start seeing video essays on Alfabusa's stuff, especially one that is done so well. I really hope the algorithm picks this up
You can say what you want, but the writing chops of Bruva Alfabusas group are off the imperial charts!
Its insane how compelling, smart and complex they can write. My favourite being the interrogation, the mental game of cat and mouse between Guy and Big D...i was enthralled for the entire time!
To be fair to Big D's comment on how you can punch mages, there is a bit in the lore I believe, where a group of wizards decided to turn a bunch of vampires into chairs, the problem is among those vampires were some Tzimicze and Gangrel (shapeshifter vanpires essentially), who changed themselves back and murdered the mages, that were sitting on said vampire chairs. So sure, you can break a planet in half with a spell, but do you have enough time to cast it before a supersonic speed vamp snaps your neck? The whole setting is balanced out like that I believe.
Its incredible how this series mixes W0D with 40k TTS together. It really feels like a fever dream coming from the Emperor. he represents the Emperor's often contradictory and fractured mental state so well. It's implied he's far older than he lets on and secrets only he knows. The mystery is so engaging.
Big D, a man who's living in a world where being insane and only pretending are the best defense against the vampire, the wizard, and the Belgians.
Big D is the emperor of mankind before the age of strife and no one will be able to convince me otherwise.
He created the primarchs to have the traits of his old children.
The Probing of Kevin is just soo good, I've listened to the entirety of it like 5 times.
I always think of Big D's personality as if Emperor finally got out of the Golden Throne after over 10000 years of Constant Pain in the Golden Throne and Fully Recovered but not completely Mentally.
Obviously went Insane but still manage to retain his compassion and humanity.
I cannot wait for the fourth real episode of H:TP
I need more H:TP content
looking like they'll be taking down the Tremere Chantry that grew out of the corrupted local chapter house of the arcanum
This video made me realise why i like the character of D so much. I have been through some heavy stuff in my life and have hit rock bottom once. Thinking thoughts very similar to those of kevin in the part you let play in full, thinking this was it and that it could not improve.
But after hitting my lowest point had a realization. I could not keep going like this. I needed to change something. My personal situation at the time could not be improved except by waiting but i started doing small things. Learning things, helping people where i could. Slowly over time things started improving.
Things are still not good at the moment for me, but now instead of spiraling ever downward i am clawing my way out of this shitty pit and will reach out for everyone i can help get out too.
Ds optimism, to me, does not read as naive, not as blind hope for hopes sake. It reads as an ambition to make things better, an utopian drive knowing that if we dont get there at least we will be closer. It reads as the optimism of someone who knows just how bad the world is or can be and who wants it to improve because he knows that. Its the complete oposite of naive optimism, of thinking everything will just turn out alright, its optimism through experience , where everything will improve because i will spend blood, sweat and tears to make it so.
Also i had a short convo with speaker D for something completly unrelated and he was very kind.
You've convinced me to watch the series.
Also if I remember correctly World Of Darkness also has mad scientists powered by trauma who by their vary unhinged nature and desires can bend reality and make the impossible possible because they can tap into the building block of reality in a way no one else can utilize, to the point where if a normal human gets a hold of one of their inventions it simply stops working.
It is worth noting that there are a few hints that Big D is much older than his appearance suggests, perhaps thousands of years. At the very least he looks very good for a grandfather.
Rewatching this after the recent Ghoul Hunting audiolog and, why, the analysis stands mostly true! Caring and compassionate, knowledgeable and intelligent, deeply aware of the literal Abyss of all reality's horrors but, while scarred by it, still unshakably determined to set everything right.
The audiolog also gives a new perspective to D's relationship with Marckus, that D in fact [SPOILERS REDACTED] and believes [GO WATCH IT YOURSELF].
One thing I've personally noticed, theres nothing that contradicts the idea that Big D IS the emperor. We went through his backstory on TTS, and the timelines don't really diverge or contradict with other until at least 20,000 years after Hunter the gathering is set
i absolutely love Big D in hunter the parenting because he acts like what tta emperor alludes to how he was during the crusade but an actual ok parent sometimes
My favorite line of dialogue from HTP was when Kevin said "I am Houdini >:)" to which Big-D responded with something like "No... you can't be! I KILLED HOUDINI!" because of the implications this has in the World of Darkness lore. Further expanded on in the 99p store episode as well.
Houdini is canonically a Tremere Vampire in World of Darkness.
No, I'm serious. Google it. It's hilarious.
My personal theory is that Big D is Seth the third born father all of humanity aka Bid Dad
Some account claim Seth was the first ghoul and that would explain the anachronic reference Big D make since he would be millennia old
This also explain Big D optimism We are his children it's normal he want the best for us and I think his objective is to give back his humanity to Cain thus killing Cain the vampire
Great deep dive! I have one additional detail for you.
Kevin is the Malcador to Big-D's Emperor.
D has some similarities with Emps, but has differences that make sense in that D is a full Mortal and not an (mostly) Emotionally Numb Skeleton with a billion+ screaming psychic souls whirling around in him. He HAS human emotions and feelings, but the BIGGEST point that truly separates him and Emps as characters is this:
D CARES how other people view him. A simple insult from Kevin about D's brain being Bad Meat (during a rather spirited debate about obtaining a cheap blender, a conversation that im not even 100% sure is canon) makes D almost viscerally upset that Kevin would say that.
Granted he could have just been taking the piss in that instance, and its probably NOT that deep.
Honestly just the fact that D is amicable and cooperative with a creature like Kevin is another huge point that separates him and Emps. Emps entertains the idea of working with Xenos so long as he can use them as tools.
D sees Kevin more as a Comrade or even a FRIEND it seems. (He might have actually called him a friend in a part of a video i dont remember)
Perhaps D is a more PERFECT form of Emps? If Emperor had held onto his humanity and not cast aside his compassion and empathy, or lived more as a human rather than a Higher Being...maybe he would have been more like D? D is not stable or normal by any means, but hes gives a shit. He tries to look into himself and tackle his own faults and wants the best for his family and friends, Humanity, and even the beings living alongside Humanity. The fact he embraces a Vampire and a Ghoul as comrades could lead us to believe that D doesnt just want to help Humanity, but their supernatural neighbors and find balance between the races
The fact that Big-D can be deconstructed to reveal such quality I feel, is not just indicative of the skill Alfabusa's team has, but also of Speaker-D's incredible talent at bringing the character to life through tone and enthusiasm.
The world is filled with monstrosities, demons, immortal parasites. God has either abandoned the world, stopped existing, or is using it for entertainment. Death is almost assured.
And yet, D continues to smile.
Something is still worth fighting for.
35:14 - 36:26 Honestly that is almost 1:1 what I see the TTS Emperor to be, and I would bet my left kidney to what the Emperor was like pre-heresy. We see a good chunk of this in Foydperor.
To me Big-D is the TTS Emperor if, instead of being inserted into the World of Darkness, he lived his entire life in it. The way he views Caine like he views the Chaos Gods is par for par.
I finally got myself to watch Hunter: The Parenting much like you did, and I wasn't disappointed. I think that if there is a thread that DOES deeply unite The Emperor and Big-D, it's that they are 'transformative characters?' Like, they look at the source material that has some kind of very strongly established, stone wall truth ("The emperor is a static husk," "The hazards of the World of Darkness are insurmountable in their complexity," ) and apply imagination like, "what if...?" Through imagining these barriers CAN be interacted-with, CAN bend under force, and what personality would have to exist behind that force, what would have been hard stops are now full of possibility. I think it's also related to that optimism you're talking about at the end of the video.
Honestly I think part of why Big D is the way he is is due to the fact that E was stationary, while D is fully flesh and blood, and far more fun to animate
I like to think that D is acting the fool and thinking the fool because he knows that there are vampires and other creatures that can read his mind. By keeping himself from making too much sense, they can discard him as being insane, just long enough for him to blow their heads out. Makes a lot of sense considering he does everything he can so his children do not know too much, or too little. However, that balance is always a bit hard to follow when dealing with vampires.
(Keep in mind that certain vampires, Tremere or Tzimisce, are very much able to create city-sized domain where they can hear key words, even when whispered.)
Wow, i can't believe your process getting into hunter the parenting was basically the exact same is mine. I didn't touch it until very recently because losing tts hurt, but hunter the parenting is possibly the best thing the team at alfabusa's channel ever made. I'm glad i watched it