Overlooked some stuff, Like I forgot that the super arts have descriptions. Will look into making a second part to this that fixes some mistakes and is more encompassing!
Honestly Im confused. Where did elder kettle get a power so OP that was able to destroy the devil and his soul forbidden pawns. Where did elder kettle get the potion that gave cuphead and mugman their powers. Porkrind probably but if elder kettle did purchase it from porkrind. Where did Porkrind get a potion of such power along with the other potions adding onto the power that Cuphead and Mugman already have?
If you go to the dlc island and talk to the cat who sells newspapers he actually recognizes the boys and say that they are the ones who beat the devil. Also the boys already know Ms. Chalice in the dlc. It wouldn’t make sense for them to know her that early on. Yes they have met her during the mausoleums. But they dlc is only unlockable after meeting Ms. Chalice. That’s why they would know who she is
a good thing to note is that you cant play as chalice in the mausoleum fights where you save her (for obvious reasons) even if you equip the charm, so it can be read that the cookie is only obtained afterwards
Yeah its pretty obviously canon that dlc takes place after the mausoleums Also probably after the brothers beat the devil because the guy selling the news mentions it
@@kerfrizz3050 He has different dialog if you haven't beat the Devil yet. I'm told he has different dialog if you haven't beat any stages yet, but I haven't verified that myself.
Something I find interesting about the Astral Cookie is that it doesn't just bring miss chalice back to life, given that the form she takes in the DLC is much different to her 'True' form that appears in her Super 3
@@LucDaMan4 i agree with this. Also if the show is canon to Cuphead (in the way how the FNAF books aren't the same timeline as the games but the lore in the books exsist in the games) then the form she takes in the game is her real form
For lore reasons: I think bc she's just switching bodies with one of the boys. The boys are younger than her, so the body she takes on still stays the same age, thus her looking younger For design reasons: they needed to make her cuter/younger so she fits among the cupbrothers
Hey, how about doing a theory on why some of the old bosses are in debt with the devil like, why does the devil want a vegetable’s soul? Edit: some of these ideas are good and all, BUT WHY A GENIE IN DEBT HE CAN DO ANYTHING Same with the bee because she turned herself into a plane with a magic book (or she sold her soul for the book)
I think Another point to D'Jimmi would be his phase two appearance where The sarcophagus he comes from also seems to relate to the astral plan further by the planet shaped attacks and weird for he takes on in this phase
6:21 - It's not much but I'd like to point out that this death dialogue is the only one in the game that's *not* in quotation marks... which tells me that when you die to the boss, instead of a snarky comment being said, a statement / fact is being told. The whole situation surrounding the secret boss is really mysterious and ominous and I like it for that.
I believe I have an answer to why there are no marks on the quote. this is because on the second island of the main game you meet quadratus who when spoken to says “through all your battles and all my rhymes you have failed and perished X times.” Which suggests that the bosses (or even just some of them) don’t themselves say their kill quotes and it is instead him. But since the secret fight is supposedly in the astral plane, he may not have any influence or even know you are there, allowing the angel and devil to say it instead of him. But that is just my way of looking at it.
On the “DLC” part of the game’s menu, there’s a ticket for DLC island dated June 30th, 1932. Cuphead takes place in 1930, so the DLC takes place 2 years after the base game. The being who rows the boat has something resembling a clock (though not directly one) for a face. I assume that when he rows the Cups to Isle IV, it’s at a fixed point in time and he uses some magical time travel during the boat ride.
interesting. I think the boatman is a compass. But despite that, timeline wise it does take place after the game, but events wise, since they acknowledge if you beat the devil or not, it might not be a sequel.
@@Pogobro In the opening cutscene of the base game, Devil says that Cuphead & Mugman need to get all soul contracts before midnight tommorow, there's no reason for Cup duo to have a side adventure when their lifes are in risk.
I personally think the angel and demon boss ties into the devil, mainly because the devil was known to be an angel at one point, so maybe the angel was the devil as an angel, and the demon as him as a demon. I think they are like 2 versions of himself, or they are like the angel and devil that sit on his shoulders.
I actually pondered that maybe the Angel would be whatever shred of goodness remains in The Devil. Especially since the Angel is pushed aside by the Demon in the game over screen and doesn't really do much to help you. If anything, it also reinforces that the Devil could choose to be good if he gave a damn about it, but he much prefers to be evil and can't resist its tempting call. This could also be seen in The Cuphead Show when he and Cuphead are on the verge of becoming sorta friends until the Devil finds out he's not wearing the magic sweater, which leads him into going right back to snatching up his soul.
My biggest take on Saltbaker is that he's completely working upon his own merit. I would think that the devil had a small influence seeing as he's the main one to collect souls but Saltbaker has learned of this realm and wants total control of the dead. Also another point: souls that aren't claimed by the devil go to the astral plane and remain there. This means chalice died sometime ago and made contact with Saltbaker but how and why? If he's the best baker in the land and can make food come to life where did he get these powers? Maybe Saltbaker has a contract with Devil?
I agree. If the Devil really was important to Saltbaker's plans, I feel like Saltbaker would have mentioned him in the speech before his boss battle. Saltbaker really seems like someone who wants all the power for himself.
I think that the most reasonable explanation would be that saltbaker started as a regular chef, then started experimenting with food and discovered astral plane. Maybe by accident, most likely he was tempted by the devil but didn't gave in. Now with the knowledge of astral plane his cooking reached new high. Probably somewhere along he found miss chalice. His persuit of combining cooking and astral plane drove him crazy which would explain why he wanted to gain control over whole astral plane. But that's just a theory. A game
I think it’s a nightmare, and cuphead is dealing with his conscience after defeating the devil. After you beat it the man at the grave gives an ominous message alluding to one more powerful than the devil taking his place. I forget the rhyme exactly though.
@@sarafontanini7051 ‘With a greater foe, more evil shall go’ is the rhyme I was referring to. I suspect this implies that though the devil was defeated, there will be a more dangerous threat in the next game (or perhaps it means Saltbaker? I don’t personally think so though)
@@MrMelonsz I personally think it has a more interesting and grounded addition to the lore as a dream. Cuphead dealing with his conscience and questioning how right besting the devil was adds a lot of questions and complexity to an otherwise straight forward narrative. Not to mention the broken hourglass being a commentary on the illusions time plays in our dreams is great in my opinion.
There is an unused animation of the Devil boss fight where he holds his hands forward and wakes up. And seeing the Devil skeleton in the background in the same pose as the unused animation seems to be proof that the secret boss is scrapped phase. I think I also saw a comment saying that phase 2 of the Devil fight is labeled as phase 3 in the game files. Here's how I think it would have gone: After the Devil takes off his skin and jumps down the hole, you fight the secret boss. After they are defeated and get sucked into the skeleton's eyes, the Devil regrows his skin and continues with the rest of the fight we know, using that unused animation. If that's the case, it makes me wish that MDHR just added that scrapped phase to the Devil fight rather than making it a secret boss. Still, this was an interesting video.
I think the reason saltbaker didn’t just immediately take chalice is because he wanted to use her and the boys to gather the other ingredients, if he was powerful enough to take on those bosses then it would make sense to trap chalice but then we wouldn’t have the game and this implies he needed them to do his dirty work. This astral plane stuff is really cool! Appreciate the lore vid :)
The newsboy, literally one of the first NPCs you’ll see in the DLC, mentions the fact that the devil was defeated already. Therefore making the DLC a sequel. It’s also called the delicious LAST course, which implies it’s after everything else.
@@squibi-o5522 Yep, if you go to inkwell isle 4 before beating the devil, the dude has a different dialogue, so even though it is a sequel lore wise, you can visit it whenever you want in game
My view on the Devil is that he’s incredibly powerful, on the level of the biblical Devil, but he chooses to use his powers to do meaningless things like run a casino. However, when the Devil dreams, his consciousness goes to the Astral Plane and his good and evil sides run the world. Remember that Lucifer was an “Angel” before he was a “Demon.” Just like how the secret Devil boss has an angel and a demon side. It seems like the Devil’s good and evil sides affect things on earth while he’s asleep. The devil side brings down fire to the earth, while the angel side brings rain. And when the boss is beaten, the devil and angel side are both sucked into the Devil’s body. I think this is to allude to the idea that both the player and the Devil are asleep, and they both wake up when it’s over.
The way I look at the angel devil fight is that it’s supposed to be the devils mind like they went in to his mind while he’s sleeping, the skeleton in the back during the fight kinda occasionally slightly moves up and down giving me kinda sleeping vibes but that’s just what I think
So at the end of the boss the Demon and angle get sucked into who I believe is death (obviously) so do the demon and angle represent heaven and hell but why do they get sucked inside him? I think that after you defeat them you damage the astral plane and that the skeleton isn’t death but the relic as the relic gets stronger. But that’s just my theory wanna hear others thoughts I’m the comments. Edit:please keep in mind that the astral plane is more confusing than the entire history of humanity
@@mysteriousdestiny6672 yeah I know as in the defeat picture they seem to be crying and when you defeat them they have a surprised almost betrayed look on their face
@@hoppy78 Exactly, in the defeat photo it looks like he feels bad. And even in the fight, his attacks don't hurt you..but like then when you lose the battle he looks shocked.
depending on who you play as in the final boss, he will capture the other soul. If you play as Ms. chalice, he will capture Cuphead. If you play as Cuphead or Mugman, he will capture Ms. chalice. And if you play as p1 Cuphead and p2 Ms. chalice he will capture Mugman. It's just whoever you aren't playing as.
Here’s my theory on the secret boss: The big skeleton is death, the angel represents heaven, and the demon represents hell. Where you are at is a sort of limbo in between heaven, hell, the astral plane, and the living world. Side note: I believe that heaven and hell make up the astral plane together btw. Anyways, this limbo is where souls are judged and sent to the two different sides of the astral plane, and cuphead has accidentally slipped in here by taking a nap in a graveyard (maybe they thought he died?)
1:57 It could actually be either because the npc that gives you three coins changes dialogue depending on if you defeated the devil or not so really it could be either
He only says that if you beat the devil. If you haven't, he says something about Isle 4 being a place you can't handle- or something like that, I don't remember off the top of my head. So technically the DLC can take place at any time.
Two things: • The angel is the devil in disguise, you can clearly see it from some details like the devil horns he has. • I think the devil might be hauntimg Cuphead and Mugman in their dreams.They grew too strong for him to beat them so he just haunts them everytime they go to sleep simply out of spite. I'm assuming the DLC takes place after the base game, of course
Seems to me like The Astral Plane has something to do with the Super Arts. Super Art 2 lets you become immortal by "Crossing into the Astral Plane" Super Art 3 for Cuphead and Mugman literally breaks out the Stand Power and has a powerful ghost of themselves smash shit up. Leaving a heart that they can parry to try and build it back up. While Ms. Chalice's variant of the third super has her busting out an army of actual souls with an astral spear. Miss Chalice gives you the supers while she's in the Astral Plane, so maybe Saltbaker wants to have the Wondertart because he knows that Cuphead, Mugman and Miss Chalice are able to utilize the Astral Plane in some capacity, and wants to have control over it to fully understand what these powers they have fully are. Maybe that's what his attacks are in his boss fight, it's just Saltbaker's versions of super arts. The actual magic movement of ingredients that he does are probably like what the Cup folk do for their Super Art 1. Manipulating the contents of their body in an offensive manner. Saltbaker probably just uses the salt in his body. The pink Mushroom he puts into his head when going from 1 to 2 is probably comparable to Cuphead and Mugman 's super meter cards. Stage 2 is basically like the invincibility art for Cuphead and Mugman because when you activate the art for Cuphead and Mugman, their heads blow to massive sizes before they come out invisible. Maybe this is just Saltbaker's version. The last two stages are the easiest ones for me to pindown. It's Saltbaker's answer to Super Art 3. Even down to having a heart that you're able to Parry to build up more super.
@@Pogobro I wonder if the reason has his body back after the fight is because of the fact that you're able to (and actively encouraged to) Parry Saltbaker's heart. Like how when you Parry the heart of the ghost of Cuphead, Mugman or Ms. Chalice when they die. They just magically get their bodies back
Yep, all of the Super Arts are related to souls in some way: Super Art 1 for Cuphead and Mugman is a beam of energy that comes from their straws. That beam of light is made from their liquids that are inside their heads. A common theory is that these liquids inside the cup brothers heads are actually a symbolic representation of their souls. So the Super Art 1 is literally Cuphead and Mugman firing their souls in the form of a beam of energy; Super Art 2 for Cuphead and Mugman is literally crossing the Astral Realm in order to become an ethereal ghost like being, but without actually turning into a ghost, as they are still able to interact with the physical world; And finally, Super Art 3 for Cuphead and Mugman is literally a copy n' paste of the Stands from Jojo: they're able to manipulate the very own essence of their souls in order to beat the shit out of their opponents. Now, an explanation as to why Mrs Chalice's Super Arts are different is that she's able to utilize more advanced Astral techniques than Cuphead and Mugman, as she's more experienced with the Astral Plane. In her second Super Art, she literally MATERIALIZES a shield for her, while in her third Super Art, not only is she able to change her appeareance, but literally summons a whole army of ghost dishes. She CLEARLY has more control over these Astral powers rather than Cuphead and Mugman. Maybe Saltbaker is obssessed with all of this power and wants it all for himself. As a final theory, i'd like to point out that the whole Cuphead's arsenal might be Astral based. We already established the conection between the Astral Plane and the Super Arts. To be able to utilize a Super Art, you have to to have a full Super Meter. So maybe, Cuphead's bullets are actually made of this "Astral energy", and the more Cuphead hits his enemy with it, the more this "Astral meter" is filled, allowing him to utilize more powerful Astral techniques, those being the EX moves, until the bar gets full, where he's finaly able to use the fully fledged out Super Arts.
When you were talking about how you can see the astral plane from Mrs chalices porta, and the eyes of the pyramids from the last faze of Jimmy the great, you forgot that in Jimmy's 3rd faze the (sarcophagus faze) you get a great better look at the astral plane including ghost mummy's and planets that are in the astral plane.
I think the DLC is just a side trip that is set before or after the main story, depending on when you fight it. That instead of being 100% pre Devil or Post Devil, it is much rather a little side adventure the two can go on whenever they want. Second, I believe that the devil and angel fight is there to show to the players that the devil does have a good side, yet to the cups that he is pure evil. And with the losing message saying your soul is now trapped, it can maybe work as a trap that, when the devil sees you escaping pre Devil fight, that he tries to take your soul that way, and post Devil as a last ditch effort to get the soul of the ones who have bested him
There is also a mention of the astral plane in the description of the second super art which states that you cross the astral plane to gain your invincibility.
I was interested in the astral plane too, and searching it up on the Internet seems to suggest that in philosophy, the astral plane is often compared to ideas of heaven. Therefore its very likely that in Cuphead the astral plane is also an allegory of heaven or atleast this universes version. With the secret boss fight taking place in the astral plane, I think its intention is to tell the origins of the devil. The presence of the skeleton of the devil is supposed to signify that what we are witnessing is about the devil, without having the fight actually involve the devil. And then you have the angel and the demon, perhaps suggesting that like in the bible, the devil used to be an angel before turning into what we know as the devil. Therefore in the cuphead universe, it is likely that the devil used to be an angel that came from the astral plane, but for an unknown reason became evil and invaded the inkwell Isle. The idea of the astral plane being like heaven is also supported with the cups and chalice having halos in their ghost forms, and the cursed relic becoming the divine relic - with divinity usually being linked to heaven like imagery. Its either that or the secret boss fight is a metaphor for the story of cuphead. Our heroes are placed into the clutches of the devil after betting there souls, and are told by elder kettle that "when the time comes, do the right thing" with the devil even giving you a choice to join him or fight him. So the angel and the devil are the personification of that choice, with our heroes deciding to stay good and fight the evil invading inkwell Isle - one thing that might deprove this though, or might not have been thought of, is if you chose to join the devil, wouldn't you fight the angel in the secret boss fight? These are all just my thoughts on the astral plane and the secret boss fight though so who knows
As a side note, maybe the devil can take souls because he came from the astral plane, and therefore knows how souls work. Heck his powers may even come from the astral plane, but there's no way to prove or disprove any of that it's just a cool theory
I believe that the secret fight takes place in a limbo between the astral plane and the physical realm because the background is the the same as the portals so that could be like a big portal which all of that would explain why miss chalice still needs to portal into the stage.
"Astral" is typically used as an offhand term for "spiritual". Angels, demons, ghosts, and the devil are all spiritual beings. Rather than physical. Genies, or djin, in their original folklore were also partly spiritual. Being somewhere between humans and angels on the spiritual power scale.
In the ending of the dlc chef saltbaker is shown to do community service with a prison outfit on, eventually through the panels his expression and outfit change to show that he is now doing it, not out of obligation, but out of choice. He then rebuilds his bakery and makes everyone treats. And with Ms chalice at the end, is it possible that he just made another wondertart? Could Ms chalice come back into her physical form if she gave up her astral soul? Or do they need another one entirely?
I think depending on the order you play the game in then yes it can be a sequel and also no, it can just be a part of the regular game. It seems most people play the dlc after the base game though and that makes sense.
there are multiple in game character comments about CH and MM having already smacked the devil around saltbaker's being aproximatly "you boys sent the devil packing so i guess you got luggage to spare" when discussing difficulty of gathering the Wondertart ingredients
When I first saw the secret boss, I thought it was more of cuphead(or mugman) fighting his own demons in a sense, as if he felt the devil still had a hold on him in a sense, the idea running through his subconscious that he can never escape the looming, dark night that is the devil.
The dream fight being another phase of the final fight would actually make so much sense since he does jump out of his own skin in the beginning of phase 2!
One thing this video misses is that Saltbaker doesn't necessarily take Cuphead's soul at the end. It depends on whether or not you have the astral cookie equipped. If you don't have it equipped when you go to fight Satlbaker, Saltbaker will have taken Chalice's soul instead.
I think with Chalices portals to the asteral plane, that’s a trick she’s developed from her years of trying to flat out escape it, hence why she’s just able to do it with no real need of explanation. She also probably uses those portals in the mausoleums.
Two things to point out 1. The devil skeleton is holding the platform kind of like the phase two devil death screen and 2. During the devil knockout animation it’s horns turn into colors resembling that of the angel and devel/demon.
This is a good theory for it, I am also interested in Ms. Chalice being a Goddess or a warrior of some type as when you go to rugged ridge, you see there is a statue of her in super 3 form.
the description of the secret boss achievement says "survive the nightmare" its probably just cuphead remembering when the devil jumped out of his skin
There’s actually a boss under the employment of King Dice who has connections to the astral plane: Mangosteen. His entry in The Art Of Cuphead on his background states the following: “As a link to Mangosteen’s connection to the Inkwell Isle’ ethereal astral plane, we softened the lines and saturated the colors on this background to heighten the other worldliness.”
Personally I agree with the idea that this was supposed to be the Devil’s second phase, but since they added it in a separate part of the map with a whole new mechanic it makes it seem like the lore changed. Even though there’s not much to explain background wise, I feel as if the fight actually takes place inside the broken relic. It would make sense, since they both contain “astral energy” and after you defeat the boss the relic “wakes up.” Even though this theory doesn’t explain the Devil’s skeleton, it kinda makes sense. You could also think that maybe the platform he’s holding is the broken relic but that’s more speculation, not much to back it up
Doesn't the newspaper kid at the start of the dlc say the devil is dead after you defeat him? Also, I'm pretty sure since you fall asleep on a grave to access the fight amd the hourglass guy is broken (not to mention the whole fight is the angel and the devil judging cuphead) we're probably dead during the secret boss.
The newspaper kid says you defeated the devil, not killed. And once you beat the devil it shows him beat up and raising a white flag, still clearly alive. Also you have the ability to the DLC and this boss before you even beat the devil
THEORY: THE ASTRAL PLANE IS CONNECTED TO OUIJA BOARDS?? I've been watching a lot of the astral plane related stuff lately and I'm still very confused so I'll probably re-watch them. But a certain thought went through my head while watching these. And it may not be relevant but I still want to mention it anyways cause I see some similarities. I'll set this up in multiple parts, I really think this may be connected and if you do to consider liking it so other people know this. I don't know if anybody else has noticed this but why is the astral plane giving ouija board vibes? Just think about it 1.So if you look at the top of a ouija board there is a sun and a moon. The sun represents good and the moon represents evil. And isn't that pretty much what the cards represent in Mortimer's fight? Good and evil/deception? Also the moon on the ouija board looks similar to the moon in Mortimer's fight. 2.Another thing to mention is what Ouija boards are used for. They are used to contact spirits and sometimes end up contacting demons, in some horror movies. It also acts as a portal to our world. And isn't the Astral Plane connected to spirits and how they can enter our world and the Astral Plane? 3. Another thing to mention is that the portals that Chalice makes from the Astral Plane are in the shape of a circle(oval) and in the middle of the planchette there is a circle that Also Ouija boards are just related to Occults. So let's talk about the planchette (I suck at spelling) So the planchette is in the shape of a heart and one of Ms.Chalice's super arts summons a heart. It may not be relative but still. Something that is very important to mention though is that sometimes the planchette is depicted with an eye on it. Some planchettes even has stars on them to! And by now we know how lots of the eyes have reference to the Astral Plane. All I'm saying is that there are lots of similarities between Ouija boards and the Astral Plane lore and theories.
He only says that IF you have beaten the devil. If that is not the case he'll note that you've still got some way to go and gives you the coins as a little aid instead of as a reward.
Bro I was really confused and searched up what it is on UA-cam yesterday but I couldn't find anything, thanks for this video even though I don't play the game, your editing is also hilarious
So are we just gonna brush over the fact that if you beat the devil and then talk to the newspaper npc on Isle IV, he mentions it and gives you money for it?
the way i always saw the fight is cuphead’s conscience, wondering if he did the right thing by defeating the devil and maybe even all of the other bosses. of course, you have the devil and the angel, but something interesting is that every-time you try to turn to the angel, it turns into the devil, possibly symbolizing that no matter how hard cuphead tries to be moral, he ends up on the wrong side of the tracks at the end of things. just some thoughts
Actually if Chef SaltBaker was telling the truth to make the wonder tart, then someone must had their soul taken for the wondertart to be made because Ms Chalice has her own body.Though it could be possible that if he wanted control over the Astro plane,you would need a soul to control it and you wouldn’t need a soul to bring someone back to life.Though I do not think this is the case.So someone may have been robbed of their soul,I don’t think he was lying about the wondertart bringing someone back to life though.
I think the astral plane is a afterlife place which is probably why saltbaker wants powers from it. Chalice gave you small powers after defeating the pink ghosts so most likely the wondertart was a much more potent. The devil doesn't need a wondertart since he has alot of souls and hell but he could be a banished being from the astral realm like how lucifier was to heaven.
My question is, what is ACME's role in all of this? Like we know for sure they're probably behind the root packs sentience due to the ACME grow, and we also know they have a HQ or owned building in the background of the pier. So do they play a bigger role then it might seem or are they just a background detail?
I think an interesting takeaway from the secret fight is that cuphead, mugman, and miss chalice, never actually see the angel version of the devil. He’s always behind them. Makes me wonder if it’s a metaphor. That maybe there’s more to what’s going on, and the characters just can’t see it themselves
since the secret boss was originally phase 1.5 of the devil fight, maybe the skeleton would've faded away back into the devil once the phase was completed, in which that unused animation would be played
I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but the Cuphead Art Book has mentions of the Astral Plane with the Dice Palace mini-boss Mangosteen. It states that the devs "placed a portal to the astral plane inside Mangosteen's mouth as a cheeky nod to the mythology of what one might find if they broke open a magic eight-ball." Again apologies if this has been said before, but I thought it was interesting considering how Mangosteen's attack looks different from the other interpretations of the Astral Plane so far. Great videos btw! It's a treat to see the clever little editing gags and indie game suggestions! It's definitely been a fun little channel binge for sure 😄
Now that I think about it, the Dream Devil fight's background is totally a reference to Golden Axe II's character select (And by extension, a skeleton with bowls set-piece in Mystic Mansion from Sonic Heroes). Not intentional in my book and totally has no weight on this video, but eh. That tidbit aside, very good theory on how the Cuphead world's Astral Plane works.
About 7:01, maybe she found a way to revive herself during the epilogue, but no one saw. And, maybe like the Astral Cookie, she turned the age of a kid. Maybe she just enjoys being a kid?
my theory is the secret boss is a fragment from the devil that separated from him when you beat him. Also in the trailer revealing the release date it implies the dlc takes place after the main game.
@@Pogobro and actually howing aces was the last boss i beat out of the normal ones and it still took longer than salkbaker howling aces is not hard untill you get to the final phase but still probs my fav dlc boss so 😐
You know, I just thought of something involving the skeleton. The secret level is a dream that they thought of, so how would they perfectly know what the devil’s skeleton looks like? They only see it after fighting him.I may be dumb but like I think that’s got something to do with it.
I really enjoy these cuphead lore videos. It is a topic that not many talk about but it is very interesting and enjoyable to watch. Keep up the good content
I think the fight is the devils attempt at getting back at you after beating him by trapping your soul in the astral plane, by using a spell or something
I find it interesting that ghosts and the astral plane are connected to salt, and "Saltbaker" is trying to take control of it. In terms of gameplay it was probably just a neat little joke but in terms of lore it could've meant something else.
You know that the secret fight has both the devil and you guessed it… the devil, both of them are the devil as one of them is the devil before he became, well the devil.
Another example of The Astral Plain in the main game is that not only can djimi rip cracks into the plain, he can also do that on the inside of his sarcophagus were he makes ghosts fly out of it.
CAN YOU PLEASE talk about the "calix amini" sign in the run and gun with the giant cyclops. It's shown twice alongside other things and it's clearly meant to be important but I don't know why no one is talking about it. Ms chalice's third super is also kind of a call back to this
My theory about the astral plain is that miss chalice is the princess of the astral plain so chef saltbaker thought if he got rid of chalice by bringing her back to life he could rule
6:11 my theory is that this fight is just Cuphead/Mugman is dreaming about the process of the devil being made. We don't know when the DLC takes place or if it's even canon, so this theory could be wrong. It would make sense as the devil can't be dead AND the devil would still be alive due to the other person near Satlbaker's bakery knowing the two mugs from beating the devil, and the entrance even mentioning that they are sleeping during this fight. It could also make sense since the devil could've just came into Inkwell and done his stuff, we never knew where he was actually created. Unrelated part: I believe the reason why Saltbaker wanted to eat the wondertart was because when he first mentions it, he states, "One bite and it's total control of the astral plane." So I guess he just wanted control of the astral plane idk?
the background is actually a bit of a reference to an unused phase in the devil boss as when you chase after him he was originally supposed to be in the background with his hands being the stage before he moves forward and you fight on the platforms
3:04 It references the astral plane in Cuphead and Mugman's second ultimate. The one with the invincibility. So yeah there is a reference to the astral plane before Ms. Chalice.
Overlooked some stuff, Like I forgot that the super arts have descriptions. Will look into making a second part to this that fixes some mistakes and is more encompassing!
1 MINUTE AGO???
Honestly Im confused. Where did elder kettle get a power so OP that was able to destroy the devil and his soul forbidden pawns. Where did elder kettle get the potion that gave cuphead and mugman their powers. Porkrind probably but if elder kettle did purchase it from porkrind. Where did Porkrind get a potion of such power along with the other potions adding onto the power that Cuphead and Mugman already have?
@@jtanielu21 probably the sailor,he looks like somekind of wizard,but who knows
Also at the beginning there is a news person that gives you coins because you beat the devil
Dude, look at the horns of the devil, when he dies, like 1:26
They are blue and orange
If you go to the dlc island and talk to the cat who sells newspapers he actually recognizes the boys and say that they are the ones who beat the devil. Also the boys already know Ms. Chalice in the dlc. It wouldn’t make sense for them to know her that early on. Yes they have met her during the mausoleums. But they dlc is only unlockable after meeting Ms. Chalice. That’s why they would know who she is
yeah I was wondering why he didn't mention this likely just missed it considering it's pretty big evidence for why this dlc is a sequel
If you talk to the cat without beating the devil he gives different dialogue too.
@@Jaocob. Oh he does? I've only seen people talk to him after they've beat the game so sorry about that
@@VoidWorldGaming yes, the cat says that he thinks the boys aren’t ready, but says he’ll give them a few coins just to help them out
@Good Caterpillar the boys have their powers in the dlc too
a good thing to note is that you cant play as chalice in the mausoleum fights where you save her (for obvious reasons) even if you equip the charm, so it can be read that the cookie is only obtained afterwards
The same argument could be made for the other fights so it can also be read that it is obtained beforehand
Or that she wandered off and got herself trapped in there again.
Yeah its pretty obviously canon that dlc takes place after the mausoleums
Also probably after the brothers beat the devil because the guy selling the news mentions it
@@kerfrizz3050 He has different dialog if you haven't beat the Devil yet.
I'm told he has different dialog if you haven't beat any stages yet, but I haven't verified that myself.
@@MunchKING The credit’s song for the dlc says that the brothers already paid their debts when they first met Chef Saltbaker
Something I find interesting about the Astral Cookie is that it doesn't just bring miss chalice back to life, given that the form she takes in the DLC is much different to her 'True' form that appears in her Super 3
Yea I was wondering was that her true form or just a super
My idea is that her young form is her idealized version of herself (who knows, maybe she just wants to feel like a child again)
Super art 3 is "Legendary Chalice" and regular form is "Miss Chalice"
@@LucDaMan4 i agree with this. Also if the show is canon to Cuphead (in the way how the FNAF books aren't the same timeline as the games but the lore in the books exsist in the games) then the form she takes in the game is her real form
For lore reasons: I think bc she's just switching bodies with one of the boys. The boys are younger than her, so the body she takes on still stays the same age, thus her looking younger
For design reasons: they needed to make her cuter/younger so she fits among the cupbrothers
Hey, how about doing a theory on why some of the old bosses are in debt with the devil like, why does the devil want a vegetable’s soul?
Edit: some of these ideas are good and all, BUT WHY A GENIE IN DEBT HE CAN DO ANYTHING
Same with the bee because she turned herself into a plane with a magic book (or she sold her soul for the book)
To cook vegetable soul soup
@@daffodilove genius
@@daffodilove he better share
@@markomajstorovic6751 and he did not, thus the bri'ish cups shot the devil with blue nerf bullets
Or one on the height or age of cuphead and mugman
I think Another point to D'Jimmi would be his phase two appearance where The sarcophagus he comes from also seems to relate to the astral plan further by the planet shaped attacks and weird for he takes on in this phase
I agree but the planet shaped attacks are the eyes of the red worm boss
u look like deez
*form
I have a bigger question about our boi D'Jimmi: is he an anthropomorphic sausage?
No
6:21 - It's not much but I'd like to point out that this death dialogue is the only one in the game that's *not* in quotation marks... which tells me that when you die to the boss, instead of a snarky comment being said, a statement / fact is being told.
The whole situation surrounding the secret boss is really mysterious and ominous and I like it for that.
I believe I have an answer to why there are no marks on the quote. this is because on the second island of the main game you meet quadratus who when spoken to says “through all your battles and all my rhymes you have failed and perished X times.” Which suggests that the bosses (or even just some of them) don’t themselves say their kill quotes and it is instead him. But since the secret fight is supposedly in the astral plane, he may not have any influence or even know you are there, allowing the angel and devil to say it instead of him. But that is just my way of looking at it.
I know I’m kind of late but I played the secret boss on the ps4 and their death quote had quotation marks
@@voch123 Yeah, I think a patch update added them in. Guess the lack of quotations was an oversight.
@@LuigiMan200 Dang, I liked the theory though
On the “DLC” part of the game’s menu, there’s a ticket for DLC island dated June 30th, 1932. Cuphead takes place in 1930, so the DLC takes place 2 years after the base game. The being who rows the boat has something resembling a clock (though not directly one) for a face. I assume that when he rows the Cups to Isle IV, it’s at a fixed point in time and he uses some magical time travel during the boat ride.
interesting. I think the boatman is a compass. But despite that, timeline wise it does take place after the game, but events wise, since they acknowledge if you beat the devil or not, it might not be a sequel.
@@Pogobro yep
wait he looks like the "tra la la beware hands" guy
@@pomelo9518 from undertale?
@@Pogobro In the opening cutscene of the base game, Devil says that Cuphead & Mugman need to get all soul contracts before midnight tommorow, there's no reason for Cup duo to have a side adventure when their lifes are in risk.
I personally think the angel and demon boss ties into the devil, mainly because the devil was known to be an angel at one point, so maybe the angel was the devil as an angel, and the demon as him as a demon. I think they are like 2 versions of himself, or they are like the angel and devil that sit on his shoulders.
The devil having a angel and a demon is both hilarious and somewhat concerning
Yeah, because they transform into each other.
*the comma should be before the mainly, not after it.
I actually pondered that maybe the Angel would be whatever shred of goodness remains in The Devil. Especially since the Angel is pushed aside by the Demon in the game over screen and doesn't really do much to help you. If anything, it also reinforces that the Devil could choose to be good if he gave a damn about it, but he much prefers to be evil and can't resist its tempting call. This could also be seen in The Cuphead Show when he and Cuphead are on the verge of becoming sorta friends until the Devil finds out he's not wearing the magic sweater, which leads him into going right back to snatching up his soul.
@@muddashucka9743 oh no, the grammar police are here
My biggest take on Saltbaker is that he's completely working upon his own merit. I would think that the devil had a small influence seeing as he's the main one to collect souls but Saltbaker has learned of this realm and wants total control of the dead. Also another point: souls that aren't claimed by the devil go to the astral plane and remain there. This means chalice died sometime ago and made contact with Saltbaker but how and why? If he's the best baker in the land and can make food come to life where did he get these powers? Maybe Saltbaker has a contract with Devil?
I agree. If the Devil really was important to Saltbaker's plans, I feel like Saltbaker would have mentioned him in the speech before his boss battle. Saltbaker really seems like someone who wants all the power for himself.
Pehaps, but doesn’t salt ward off evil? If anything, I would think he’s trying to destroy the devil using the astral plane
I think that the most reasonable explanation would be that saltbaker started as a regular chef, then started experimenting with food and discovered astral plane. Maybe by accident, most likely he was tempted by the devil but didn't gave in. Now with the knowledge of astral plane his cooking reached new high. Probably somewhere along he found miss chalice. His persuit of combining cooking and astral plane drove him crazy which would explain why he wanted to gain control over whole astral plane. But that's just a theory. A game
If Saltbaker had a contract then why wouldnt the devil ask Cuphead to also go after him since he needed all the soul contracts?
@@bgoinsowo1277 probably forgot about him
I think it’s a nightmare, and cuphead is dealing with his conscience after defeating the devil. After you beat it the man at the grave gives an ominous message alluding to one more powerful than the devil taking his place. I forget the rhyme exactly though.
That would suck if it was the case. “It was all a dream!” Just seems so unccreative and bland to me.
the ryhme is referring to the broken charm, which "awoke" and now curses you if you equip (cause it hates bravery) upon beating the bonus boss
@@MrMelonsz it was proven in the achievement that you get after defeating angle and devil that you escaped the nightmare
@@sarafontanini7051 ‘With a greater foe, more evil shall go’ is the rhyme I was referring to. I suspect this implies that though the devil was defeated, there will be a more dangerous threat in the next game (or perhaps it means Saltbaker? I don’t personally think so though)
@@MrMelonsz I personally think it has a more interesting and grounded addition to the lore as a dream. Cuphead dealing with his conscience and questioning how right besting the devil was adds a lot of questions and complexity to an otherwise straight forward narrative. Not to mention the broken hourglass being a commentary on the illusions time plays in our dreams is great in my opinion.
There is an unused animation of the Devil boss fight where he holds his hands forward and wakes up. And seeing the Devil skeleton in the background in the same pose as the unused animation seems to be proof that the secret boss is scrapped phase. I think I also saw a comment saying that phase 2 of the Devil fight is labeled as phase 3 in the game files. Here's how I think it would have gone: After the Devil takes off his skin and jumps down the hole, you fight the secret boss. After they are defeated and get sucked into the skeleton's eyes, the Devil regrows his skin and continues with the rest of the fight we know, using that unused animation. If that's the case, it makes me wish that MDHR just added that scrapped phase to the Devil fight rather than making it a secret boss. Still, this was an interesting video.
you can just see it in the files. it was a scrapped phase of the devil
That’s actually the entire original concept!
thanks for saying it for me lol
I think the reason saltbaker didn’t just immediately take chalice is because he wanted to use her and the boys to gather the other ingredients, if he was powerful enough to take on those bosses then it would make sense to trap chalice but then we wouldn’t have the game and this implies he needed them to do his dirty work. This astral plane stuff is really cool! Appreciate the lore vid :)
He did if your not playing as ms.Chalice
The newsboy, literally one of the first NPCs you’ll see in the DLC, mentions the fact that the devil was defeated already. Therefore making the DLC a sequel. It’s also called the delicious LAST course, which implies it’s after everything else.
The newspaper boy has 2 dialog options.
1 after you defeat the devil and 1 before you defeat him
@@Pionterus So the fight has nothing to do with if the Devil has been defeated or not, the dlc takes place whenever you decide to visit it.
@@squibi-o5522
most likely
@@squibi-o5522 Yep, if you go to inkwell isle 4 before beating the devil, the dude has a different dialogue, so even though it is a sequel lore wise, you can visit it whenever you want in game
My view on the Devil is that he’s incredibly powerful, on the level of the biblical Devil, but he chooses to use his powers to do meaningless things like run a casino. However, when the Devil dreams, his consciousness goes to the Astral Plane and his good and evil sides run the world. Remember that Lucifer was an “Angel” before he was a “Demon.” Just like how the secret Devil boss has an angel and a demon side. It seems like the Devil’s good and evil sides affect things on earth while he’s asleep. The devil side brings down fire to the earth, while the angel side brings rain. And when the boss is beaten, the devil and angel side are both sucked into the Devil’s body. I think this is to allude to the idea that both the player and the Devil are asleep, and they both wake up when it’s over.
The way I look at the angel devil fight is that it’s supposed to be the devils mind like they went in to his mind while he’s sleeping, the skeleton in the back during the fight kinda occasionally slightly moves up and down giving me kinda sleeping vibes but that’s just what I think
So at the end of the boss the Demon and angle get sucked into who I believe is death (obviously) so do the demon and angle represent heaven and hell but why do they get sucked inside him? I think that after you defeat them you damage the astral plane and that the skeleton isn’t death but the relic as the relic gets stronger. But that’s just my theory wanna hear others thoughts I’m the comments.
Edit:please keep in mind that the astral plane is more confusing than the entire history of humanity
This skeleton is Devil's
yeah the astral plane is more a concept then a fully fleshed out story beat
My question is why is the Angel even working with the devil. He looks like he should be a good guy
@@mysteriousdestiny6672 yeah I know as in the defeat picture they seem to be crying and when you defeat them they have a surprised almost betrayed look on their face
@@hoppy78 Exactly, in the defeat photo it looks like he feels bad. And even in the fight, his attacks don't hurt you..but like then when you lose the battle he looks shocked.
depending on who you play as in the final boss, he will capture the other soul. If you play as Ms. chalice, he will capture Cuphead. If you play as Cuphead or Mugman, he will capture Ms. chalice. And if you play as p1 Cuphead and p2 Ms. chalice he will capture Mugman. It's just whoever you aren't playing as.
Also if you play as Mugman instead of Cuphead, then use the astral cookie, Mugman's soul will get taken in single player mode.
Plus he still needs the player to gather the ingredients for the wondertart
Here’s my theory on the secret boss:
The big skeleton is death, the angel represents heaven, and the demon represents hell. Where you are at is a sort of limbo in between heaven, hell, the astral plane, and the living world. Side note: I believe that heaven and hell make up the astral plane together btw. Anyways, this limbo is where souls are judged and sent to the two different sides of the astral plane, and cuphead has accidentally slipped in here by taking a nap in a graveyard (maybe they thought he died?)
1:57 It could actually be either because the npc that gives you three coins changes dialogue depending on if you defeated the devil or not so really it could be either
One of the NPCs (I believe it’s the little paper boy cat) reference that Cuphead and Mugman are “the cups that took out the devil.”
"If you sent that imp packing" is said also in reference to the Devil.
oh snap you are right NICE!
He only says that if you beat the devil. If you haven't, he says something about Isle 4 being a place you can't handle- or something like that, I don't remember off the top of my head. So technically the DLC can take place at any time.
@@vinni3bobinnie511 he says something like “you look like people who can’t fight.” And stuff
Two things:
• The angel is the devil in disguise, you can clearly see it from some details like the devil horns he has.
• I think the devil might be hauntimg Cuphead and Mugman in their dreams.They grew too strong for him to beat them so he just haunts them everytime they go to sleep simply out of spite. I'm assuming the DLC takes place after the base game, of course
Seems to me like The Astral Plane has something to do with the Super Arts.
Super Art 2 lets you become immortal by "Crossing into the Astral Plane"
Super Art 3 for Cuphead and Mugman literally breaks out the Stand Power and has a powerful ghost of themselves smash shit up. Leaving a heart that they can parry to try and build it back up.
While Ms. Chalice's variant of the third super has her busting out an army of actual souls with an astral spear.
Miss Chalice gives you the supers while she's in the Astral Plane, so maybe Saltbaker wants to have the Wondertart because he knows that Cuphead, Mugman and Miss Chalice are able to utilize the Astral Plane in some capacity, and wants to have control over it to fully understand what these powers they have fully are.
Maybe that's what his attacks are in his boss fight, it's just Saltbaker's versions of super arts.
The actual magic movement of ingredients that he does are probably like what the Cup folk do for their Super Art 1. Manipulating the contents of their body in an offensive manner. Saltbaker probably just uses the salt in his body.
The pink Mushroom he puts into his head when going from 1 to 2 is probably comparable to Cuphead and Mugman 's super meter cards.
Stage 2 is basically like the invincibility art for Cuphead and Mugman because when you activate the art for Cuphead and Mugman, their heads blow to massive sizes before they come out invisible. Maybe this is just Saltbaker's version.
The last two stages are the easiest ones for me to pindown. It's Saltbaker's answer to Super Art 3. Even down to having a heart that you're able to Parry to build up more super.
yep! I totally forgot supers had descriptions. Will probably have to do a part 2
@@Pogobro I wonder if the reason has his body back after the fight is because of the fact that you're able to (and actively encouraged to) Parry Saltbaker's heart. Like how when you Parry the heart of the ghost of Cuphead, Mugman or Ms. Chalice when they die. They just magically get their bodies back
Yep, all of the Super Arts are related to souls in some way:
Super Art 1 for Cuphead and Mugman is a beam of energy that comes from their straws. That beam of light is made from their liquids that are inside their heads. A common theory is that these liquids inside the cup brothers heads are actually a symbolic representation of their souls. So the Super Art 1 is literally Cuphead and Mugman firing their souls in the form of a beam of energy;
Super Art 2 for Cuphead and Mugman is literally crossing the Astral Realm in order to become an ethereal ghost like being, but without actually turning into a ghost, as they are still able to interact with the physical world;
And finally, Super Art 3 for Cuphead and Mugman is literally a copy n' paste of the Stands from Jojo: they're able to manipulate the very own essence of their souls in order to beat the shit out of their opponents.
Now, an explanation as to why Mrs Chalice's Super Arts are different is that she's able to utilize more advanced Astral techniques than Cuphead and Mugman, as she's more experienced with the Astral Plane. In her second Super Art, she literally MATERIALIZES a shield for her, while in her third Super Art, not only is she able to change her appeareance, but literally summons a whole army of ghost dishes. She CLEARLY has more control over these Astral powers rather than Cuphead and Mugman. Maybe Saltbaker is obssessed with all of this power and wants it all for himself.
As a final theory, i'd like to point out that the whole Cuphead's arsenal might be Astral based. We already established the conection between the Astral Plane and the Super Arts. To be able to utilize a Super Art, you have to to have a full Super Meter. So maybe, Cuphead's bullets are actually made of this "Astral energy", and the more Cuphead hits his enemy with it, the more this "Astral meter" is filled, allowing him to utilize more powerful Astral techniques, those being the EX moves, until the bar gets full, where he's finaly able to use the fully fledged out Super Arts.
When you were talking about how you can see the astral plane from Mrs chalices porta, and the eyes of the pyramids from the last faze of Jimmy the great, you forgot that in Jimmy's 3rd faze the (sarcophagus faze) you get a great better look at the astral plane including ghost mummy's and planets that are in the astral plane.
I think the DLC is just a side trip that is set before or after the main story, depending on when you fight it. That instead of being 100% pre Devil or Post Devil, it is much rather a little side adventure the two can go on whenever they want. Second, I believe that the devil and angel fight is there to show to the players that the devil does have a good side, yet to the cups that he is pure evil. And with the losing message saying your soul is now trapped, it can maybe work as a trap that, when the devil sees you escaping pre Devil fight, that he tries to take your soul that way, and post Devil as a last ditch effort to get the soul of the ones who have bested him
The angel and the demon were supposed to be a "phase 1.5" And are even coded before the devil's phase 2
There is also a mention of the astral plane in the description of the second super art which states that you cross the astral plane to gain your invincibility.
I was interested in the astral plane too, and searching it up on the Internet seems to suggest that in philosophy, the astral plane is often compared to ideas of heaven. Therefore its very likely that in Cuphead the astral plane is also an allegory of heaven or atleast this universes version. With the secret boss fight taking place in the astral plane, I think its intention is to tell the origins of the devil. The presence of the skeleton of the devil is supposed to signify that what we are witnessing is about the devil, without having the fight actually involve the devil. And then you have the angel and the demon, perhaps suggesting that like in the bible, the devil used to be an angel before turning into what we know as the devil. Therefore in the cuphead universe, it is likely that the devil used to be an angel that came from the astral plane, but for an unknown reason became evil and invaded the inkwell Isle. The idea of the astral plane being like heaven is also supported with the cups and chalice having halos in their ghost forms, and the cursed relic becoming the divine relic - with divinity usually being linked to heaven like imagery.
Its either that or the secret boss fight is a metaphor for the story of cuphead. Our heroes are placed into the clutches of the devil after betting there souls, and are told by elder kettle that "when the time comes, do the right thing" with the devil even giving you a choice to join him or fight him. So the angel and the devil are the personification of that choice, with our heroes deciding to stay good and fight the evil invading inkwell Isle - one thing that might deprove this though, or might not have been thought of, is if you chose to join the devil, wouldn't you fight the angel in the secret boss fight?
These are all just my thoughts on the astral plane and the secret boss fight though so who knows
As a side note, maybe the devil can take souls because he came from the astral plane, and therefore knows how souls work. Heck his powers may even come from the astral plane, but there's no way to prove or disprove any of that it's just a cool theory
I believe that the secret fight takes place in a limbo between the astral plane and the physical realm because the background is the the same as the portals so that could be like a big portal which all of that would explain why miss chalice still needs to portal into the stage.
I was beginning to wonder if anyone was ever going to make these type of videos on this beautiful and incredibly-detailed game! BRAVO!
"Astral" is typically used as an offhand term for "spiritual". Angels, demons, ghosts, and the devil are all spiritual beings. Rather than physical. Genies, or djin, in their original folklore were also partly spiritual. Being somewhere between humans and angels on the spiritual power scale.
In the ending of the dlc chef saltbaker is shown to do community service with a prison outfit on, eventually through the panels his expression and outfit change to show that he is now doing it, not out of obligation, but out of choice. He then rebuilds his bakery and makes everyone treats. And with Ms chalice at the end, is it possible that he just made another wondertart? Could Ms chalice come back into her physical form if she gave up her astral soul? Or do they need another one entirely?
I think depending on the order you play the game in then yes it can be a sequel and also no, it can just be a part of the regular game. It seems most people play the dlc after the base game though and that makes sense.
D.L.C is a sequal, that news reporter guy says the lines of: "Weren't you the ones that defeated the devil?" So yeah, pretty much it is.
if you beat the devil i think
That’s only if you beat the devil first, he has different dialogue if you haven’t.
there are multiple in game character comments about CH and MM having already smacked the devil around saltbaker's being aproximatly "you boys sent the devil packing so i guess you got luggage to spare" when discussing difficulty of gathering the Wondertart ingredients
When I first saw the secret boss, I thought it was more of cuphead(or mugman) fighting his own demons in a sense, as if he felt the devil still had a hold on him in a sense, the idea running through his subconscious that he can never escape the looming, dark night that is the devil.
I understand you've interested in indie stuff, Can you make a video on Cross over Heathfire?
The dream fight being another phase of the final fight would actually make so much sense since he does jump out of his own skin in the beginning of phase 2!
One thing this video misses is that Saltbaker doesn't necessarily take Cuphead's soul at the end. It depends on whether or not you have the astral cookie equipped. If you don't have it equipped when you go to fight Satlbaker, Saltbaker will have taken Chalice's soul instead.
7:01 Finally someone else than me noticed it!
yeah still no idea what thats about
I think with Chalices portals to the asteral plane, that’s a trick she’s developed from her years of trying to flat out escape it, hence why she’s just able to do it with no real need of explanation.
She also probably uses those portals in the mausoleums.
Two things to point out 1. The devil skeleton is holding the platform kind of like the phase two devil death screen and 2. During the devil knockout animation it’s horns turn into colors resembling that of the angel and devel/demon.
This is a good theory for it, I am also interested in Ms. Chalice being a Goddess or a warrior of some type as when you go to rugged ridge, you see there is a statue of her in super 3 form.
2:38 I asked Jake Clark (Goopy's designer) if he was dead and he said he wasn't killed. So it's probably just 30s cartoon logic.
the description of the secret boss achievement says "survive the nightmare" its probably just cuphead remembering when the devil jumped out of his skin
thats a great theory wow. i gotta start digging deeper if Im gonna make these videos
Finnaly someone said it! I came in the comments specially for this
There’s actually a boss under the employment of King Dice who has connections to the astral plane: Mangosteen.
His entry in The Art Of Cuphead on his background states the following:
“As a link to Mangosteen’s connection to the Inkwell Isle’ ethereal astral plane, we softened the lines and saturated the colors on this background to heighten the other worldliness.”
Could you imagine if that dream fight was the final phase in the original devil fight, jeez. That’d be one of the hardest bosses ever made
Personally I agree with the idea that this was supposed to be the Devil’s second phase, but since they added it in a separate part of the map with a whole new mechanic it makes it seem like the lore changed. Even though there’s not much to explain background wise, I feel as if the fight actually takes place inside the broken relic. It would make sense, since they both contain “astral energy” and after you defeat the boss the relic “wakes up.” Even though this theory doesn’t explain the Devil’s skeleton, it kinda makes sense. You could also think that maybe the platform he’s holding is the broken relic but that’s more speculation, not much to back it up
Doesn't the newspaper kid at the start of the dlc say the devil is dead after you defeat him?
Also, I'm pretty sure since you fall asleep on a grave to access the fight amd the hourglass guy is broken (not to mention the whole fight is the angel and the devil judging cuphead) we're probably dead during the secret boss.
The newspaper kid says you defeated the devil, not killed. And once you beat the devil it shows him beat up and raising a white flag, still clearly alive. Also you have the ability to the DLC and this boss before you even beat the devil
THEORY: THE ASTRAL PLANE IS CONNECTED TO OUIJA BOARDS??
I've been watching a lot of the astral plane related stuff lately and I'm still very confused so I'll probably re-watch them. But a certain thought went through my head while watching these. And it may not be relevant but I still want to mention it anyways cause I see some similarities. I'll set this up in multiple parts, I really think this may be connected and if you do to consider liking it so other people know this. I don't know if anybody else has noticed this but why is the astral plane giving ouija board vibes? Just think about it
1.So if you look at the top of a ouija board there is a sun and a moon. The sun represents good and the moon represents evil. And isn't that pretty much what the cards represent in Mortimer's fight? Good and evil/deception? Also the moon on the ouija board looks similar to the moon in Mortimer's fight.
2.Another thing to mention is what Ouija boards are used for. They are used to contact spirits and sometimes end up contacting demons, in some horror movies. It also acts as a portal to our world. And isn't the Astral Plane connected to spirits and how they can enter our world and the Astral Plane?
3. Another thing to mention is that the portals that Chalice makes from the Astral Plane are in the shape of a circle(oval) and in the middle of the planchette there is a circle that Also Ouija boards are just related to Occults.
So let's talk about the planchette (I suck at spelling) So the planchette is in the shape of a heart and one of Ms.Chalice's super arts summons a heart. It may not be relative but still. Something that is very important to mention though is that sometimes the planchette is depicted with an eye on it. Some planchettes even has stars on them to! And by now we know how lots of the eyes have reference to the Astral Plane.
All I'm saying is that there are lots of similarities between Ouija boards and the Astral Plane lore and theories.
The dlc is in fact a sequel, the guy who gives you 3 free coins mentions how you beat the devil
how could I miss this oof
He only says that IF you have beaten the devil. If that is not the case he'll note that you've still got some way to go and gives you the coins as a little aid instead of as a reward.
Bro I was really confused and searched up what it is on UA-cam yesterday but I couldn't find anything, thanks for this video even though I don't play the game, your editing is also hilarious
thanks! slowly getting better I think
So are we just gonna brush over the fact that if you beat the devil and then talk to the newspaper npc on Isle IV, he mentions it and gives you money for it?
this is gonna be the same thing as the mushroom reference from last video
@@Pogobro Thanks for the heart. And sorry if this came off rude lol, just wanted to put that on the table
any DLC of a game is either continuation of the main game or a side story set-in the same time of it just at a different location.
Fun fact: If you go into the final boss without equipping the astral cookie, Miss chalice will appear in the glass case, captured
the way i always saw the fight is cuphead’s conscience, wondering if he did the right thing by defeating the devil and maybe even all of the other bosses. of course, you have the devil and the angel, but something interesting is that every-time you try to turn to the angel, it turns into the devil, possibly symbolizing that no matter how hard cuphead tries to be moral, he ends up on the wrong side of the tracks at the end of things. just some thoughts
2:55 ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED
Actually if Chef SaltBaker was telling the truth to make the wonder tart, then someone must had their soul taken for the wondertart to be made because Ms Chalice has her own body.Though it could be possible that if he wanted control over the Astro plane,you would need a soul to control it and you wouldn’t need a soul to bring someone back to life.Though I do not think this is the case.So someone may have been robbed of their soul,I don’t think he was lying about the wondertart bringing someone back to life though.
7:28 put on captions
I think the astral plane is a afterlife place which is probably why saltbaker wants powers from it. Chalice gave you small powers after defeating the pink ghosts so most likely the wondertart was a much more potent. The devil doesn't need a wondertart since he has alot of souls and hell but he could be a banished being from the astral realm like how lucifier was to heaven.
My question is, what is ACME's role in all of this?
Like we know for sure they're probably behind the root packs sentience due to the ACME grow, and we also know they have a HQ or owned building in the background of the pier. So do they play a bigger role then it might seem or are they just a background detail?
What are the "ACME"?
ACME is just a reference
ACME is most likely just in reference to the ACME company in Loony Tunes,
I think an interesting takeaway from the secret fight is that cuphead, mugman, and miss chalice, never actually see the angel version of the devil. He’s always behind them. Makes me wonder if it’s a metaphor. That maybe there’s more to what’s going on, and the characters just can’t see it themselves
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He can capture mrs chalice if you play as cuphead
You cut your “please subscribe” message at the end off. You also had some typos.
@@Spytagen the ending was on purpose
6:00 someone tell Pogo what 'allegory' means because he did not use that right
The Devil skeleton in the secret boss reminds me of of the unsed animation at the start of the second phase of the Devil boss
yes I believe they are connected
since the secret boss was originally phase 1.5 of the devil fight, maybe the skeleton would've faded away back into the devil once the phase was completed, in which that unused animation would be played
@@OctoNap maybe when you are in the Astral Plane you can travel in time and time
I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but the Cuphead Art Book has mentions of the Astral Plane with the Dice Palace mini-boss Mangosteen. It states that the devs "placed a portal to the astral plane inside Mangosteen's mouth as a cheeky nod to the mythology of what one might find if they broke open a magic eight-ball." Again apologies if this has been said before, but I thought it was interesting considering how Mangosteen's attack looks different from the other interpretations of the Astral Plane so far.
Great videos btw! It's a treat to see the clever little editing gags and indie game suggestions! It's definitely been a fun little channel binge for sure 😄
there is an npc who confirmed that this dlc is a sequel
He only ays that if you beat the devil. If you do the dlc before he gives you coins out of pity
I literally just realised that Delicious Last Course and Downloadable Content's acryonyms are both DLC
If MatPat covered this I’m betting at the end he would say “But hey! That’s just a theory, A GAME THEORY!”
Goopy doesn't die cannonicly and the rowboatdude (tm) is a clock
no thats a compass
Now that I think about it, the Dream Devil fight's background is totally a reference to Golden Axe II's character select (And by extension, a skeleton with bowls set-piece in Mystic Mansion from Sonic Heroes). Not intentional in my book and totally has no weight on this video, but eh.
That tidbit aside, very good theory on how the Cuphead world's Astral Plane works.
oh thats really cool!
Something wears about it is that in the dlc when in the astral plane they’re ghosts, but in the main game it just makes them invincible
what if since chef saltbaker turned out to be evil the devil turned out to be good
No the devil tried to steal cuphead and mugmans soul
@@yoshi282 because they lost in gambling against the devil
@@TeaTabby
The devil is evil
@@Somtejesstudios yes, the devil is evil, but they still gambled against him and lost
The angel version of The Devil looks like he could be his twin brother that he always despised.
Salt Baker actually does trap Ms.Chalice's soul it depends on who you're playing as when you fight him. He can also trap Mugman's soul.
About 7:01, maybe she found a way to revive herself during the epilogue, but no one saw. And, maybe like the Astral Cookie, she turned the age of a kid. Maybe she just enjoys being a kid?
my theory is the secret boss is a fragment from the devil that separated from him when you beat him. Also in the trailer revealing the release date it implies the dlc takes place after the main game.
maybe saltbaker wants the secret boss to maybe find some way to fuse it with the devil control him. somehow?
pogobro: hes obliviously the hardest boss on the island
ester Winchester: thats where your wrong
interesting, for me Esther was about 4 tried, salt baker was 7
@@Pogobro and actually howing aces was the last boss i beat out of the normal ones and it still took longer than salkbaker
howling aces is not hard untill you get to the final phase but still probs my fav dlc boss so 😐
@@RachelForbeshowling aces animation is SO good
@@Pogobro ikr but the screen flipping messes me up...
You know, I just thought of something involving the skeleton. The secret level is a dream that they thought of, so how would they perfectly know what the devil’s skeleton looks like? They only see it after fighting him.I may be dumb but like I think that’s got something to do with it.
I really enjoy these cuphead lore videos. It is a topic that not many talk about but it is very interesting and enjoyable to watch. Keep up the good content
I'm more concerned about saltbaker cross contaminating raw dough and limes, plus where Ms. Chalice's LIPSTICK WENT!
I think the fight is the devils attempt at getting back at you after beating him by trapping your soul in the astral plane, by using a spell or something
However the only issue with this idea is that you can fight this boss before beating the devil.
I find it interesting that ghosts and the astral plane are connected to salt, and "Saltbaker" is trying to take control of it. In terms of gameplay it was probably just a neat little joke but in terms of lore it could've meant something else.
You know that the secret fight has both the devil and you guessed it… the devil, both of them are the devil as one of them is the devil before he became, well the devil.
You mentioned villains reforming by the end is a trope of 40's cartoons, but I struggle to think of even a single example.
A quick fun fact about the dlc is that if you play as Cuphead or Mugman Miss Chalice will be trapped in the jar instead of of one the brothers
I think you should make a werner werman theory it has a lot of potential.
Another example of The Astral Plain in the main game is that not only can djimi rip cracks into the plain, he can also do that on the inside of his sarcophagus were he makes ghosts fly out of it.
dont forget that in one fase of djimi the great hes in a tomb showing the astral plane
CAN YOU PLEASE talk about the "calix amini" sign in the run and gun with the giant cyclops. It's shown twice alongside other things and it's clearly meant to be important but I don't know why no one is talking about it. Ms chalice's third super is also kind of a call back to this
I think the astral plane is more like a portable dimension and the cookie is a tool to swap someone's place and making him a soul
My theory about the astral plain is that miss chalice is the princess of the astral plain so chef saltbaker thought if he got rid of chalice by bringing her back to life he could rule
Pogobro one of your cuphead videos was in a lessons in meme culture video for a few seconds
can you please share the video with me?
Sure! : ua-cam.com/video/yLCOImCd1oM/v-deo.html
Time is 1:34
Djimmi second with the coffin looks like he comes out of the astral plane.
I think pogobro,that Chef Saltbaker wants the wonder tart for cupheads soul so he can bring the devil back.
6:11
my theory is that this fight is just Cuphead/Mugman is dreaming about the process of the devil being made. We don't know when the DLC takes place or if it's even canon, so this theory could be wrong. It would make sense as the devil can't be dead AND the devil would still be alive due to the other person near Satlbaker's bakery knowing the two mugs from beating the devil, and the entrance even mentioning that they are sleeping during this fight. It could also make sense since the devil could've just came into Inkwell and done his stuff, we never knew where he was actually created.
Unrelated part: I believe the reason why Saltbaker wanted to eat the wondertart was because when he first mentions it, he states, "One bite and it's total control of the astral plane." So I guess he just wanted control of the astral plane idk?
4:03 it’s also kinda wild to me how a glass salt shaker expects to take control of the DEVIL
the background is actually a bit of a reference to an unused phase in the devil boss as when you chase after him he was originally supposed to be in the background with his hands being the stage before he moves forward and you fight on the platforms
It's satisfying that the video is in 4k
3:04 It references the astral plane in Cuphead and Mugman's second ultimate. The one with the invincibility. So yeah there is a reference to the astral plane before Ms. Chalice.
yep, I totally forgot that the supers had descriptions when I went back and read through the charms. Might need to do a part 2 with corrections etc