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let's discuss about the narrator

Aug 16, 2025 at 8:36 AM
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first of all i got to admit this is the most important discussion about the game
second, i am sure it's not one narrator , they are few
i think they are pixel's friends

- in-world-narrator : cthulhu, he is in the world helping quote even how to press jump button to go higher with fans

- fourth-wall-braker : debug cat , there is one hidden inside outerwall and one in balcony a reference to a debuger that helped pixel

- meta-narrator : this could be pixel himself leaving notes signs like "this is all folks" , the counter ,the map note.
and most of all he speaks to quote like "the door won't open" and for him like telling the password (the password is the game's name in reverse) lastly the text when quote is drowning and going to fight ballos.
 
Aug 17, 2025 at 7:36 PM
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(Sorry for a text wall, I'm very interested in the topic)

I'm unconvinced the game has a diegetic (edit: I'm not using this term quite right, in this case I mean 'diegetic' as in 'part of the world' as opposed to 'part of the game/text') narrator to begin with. It's certainly not the default assumption, and I can't think of any particularly compelling pieces of evidence to support it. Additionally, that you are convinced there must be multiple narrators instead of one, to me, implies convolution. To me, if there are lines of narration that have contradictory implications about the speaker's in-universe identity, then that's evidence that the narrator's identity is simply nondiegetic, because a nondiegetic narrator inherently has no in-universe contradictions.

Surely particularly notable lines of narration can reflect certain characters (though I can't think of any off the top of my head), but that doesn't mean that there is a consistent pattern to all narration; only that those particular lines reflect those characters (regardless of if there is any in-universe component, like Cthulu transmitting messages to Quote).

Speaking of though, if you do want to say there is a diegetic narrator, then how it works is handed to us on a silver platter: the narrator is transmitting messages to Quote. We know this is possible, because the first cutscene is a POV of Kazuma, which is explained by it being a transmission. A big convolution to me about Cave Story have a diegetic narrator is that it's not a particularly meta game outside of a few select fourth wall breaks. A diegetic narrator would be out of place in a story that is largely not meta (or doesn't have a good reason to have a diegetic narrator; think of stories that are told from the perspective of someone recounting events, for example), but if you were to bundle this into a larger, comprehensive theory that states that most things we see are diegetic, down to the hud for example, then it's much more compelling to me (even if the burden of proof gets much larger when proposing such a massive theory). What I'm getting at with this overlong paragraph is that it is possible (though unlikely in my opinion) that most cutscenes are reflective of what Quote is seeing (either in person or via transmission) and that the HUD is a part of Quote's vision (think Terminator), and bundle those together with this idea of a diegetic narrator.

As for the specific identities you propose, Cthulu makes senese, and Pixel is arguably the default assumption, but why the 'debug cat' in particular (and, who is this? the orange cat seen in the credits?)? Also, is the implication that Cthulu is based on one of Pixel's friends? Is Cthulu in the credits as someone in particular? Further, I'm wondering why the fourth wall breaker role would be different from the meta-narrator role - seems redundant to me; I see no reason to suspect these would be different. Additionally, the in-world-narrator role is strange to me too, because the example you gave is a gameplay tip - wouldn't this make more sense to be the fourth wall breaker or meta-narrator (so in my opinion, Pixel)?

Also, maybe this is what I should've led with, but you seem to count not only standard narration (text boxes with no in-universe speaker, like "Got the [item]!" or "The door is locked"), but also signs. This is narration technically, but in video game discussion generally that's not considered the same thing as 'narration', in my experience. Regardless, the issue here is that the signs are already known to be in-universe elements. Obviously King or Arthur or someone wrote "Welcome to Mimiga Town!" and "Resevoir" and the like. Santa wrote the sign in his house explaining instant death spikes. For more mysterious signs like "That's all, folks!", you'd presume that's Cthulu, Misery (of the three currently occupying the castle thing, she seems the most likely to write that sign), some other unexplained figure, or that there's no in-universe explanation at all and it's just a fun pseudo-easter-egg. What I'm getting at here is that the identities of the sign makers is effectively a different question from who the narrator(s) is(/are), since we already know the signs exist in-universe, and can make some educated guesses about the identities of certain sign writers.


Ultimately, my thoughts are this: there is one narrator, Pixel. For the most part, this narration is the standard video game narrator affair (albeit with a bit more personality than usual). This includes reading what is written on signs, informing the player about certain objects, explaining certain game mechanics, and giving boiler-plate narration ("You got the [item]!" and the like). It's possible that there are certain points where the narrator is lampshaded more than usual, or times where the narrator has a more direct in-universe presence, but I can't think of any, and I'm inclined to say that these instances should be regarded as stand-alone oddities rather than evidence that the whole of Cave Story's narration was written with the idea of a meaningful narrator in mind.
 
Aug 29, 2025 at 7:53 AM
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The hell narration can't be from Ballos, Misery, or Jenka, since they don't refer to themselves in the third person. The ghost dog couldn't be saying any of this to Quote, since he acts like Quote never heard any of that info. That leaves Balrog, who doesn't talk like that (though you would need to verify the Japanese text to be sure). No-one else knows that Ballos exists. It is easier to imagine that the hell narration is Pixel speaking directly to the player, and Quote doesn't hear any of it. It can't be a narration from someone in the future, because it talks about Ballos as if he were still alive. A narration from the past is possible (from the post-Halder era maybe), but that would still be directed at the player instead of Quote.
 
Aug 29, 2025 at 11:39 PM
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It is interesting the hell narration appears to be the same as what text begins when drowning near the core. Why would it appear then? Why would Pixel tell you that information then? I can understand being told that when entering hell to better understand the new story... But:
Did you know that the witch-woman Jenka once had a brother? His name was Ballos. Like his sister, he wielded powers far beyond those of mortals..."
Seems out of context, beyond just letting the player know that something has changed/on the route towards best end... Which is still awkward timing, like suddenly talking about the ending of a movie, half way through during a seemingly unrelated part of the movie.

So on one hand, it could just be Pixel with an unconventionally timed plot interjection... and a longgg pause before finishing the narration.
"Shhhh! Your part's not yet!" Pixel:"......?"

But if it was something Quote and/or Curly are seeing/recalling as well...
I do notice the Core dialogue ends soon as Quote is able to breathe again. Also Booster has to be alive for it to appear. And it seems like both Curly and Quote have to be alive for it to appear. Cannot enter Hell solo, and cannot enter Hell without the Booster v2.0...

It is also mysterious as to why Quote and for that matter Curly would head into Hell rather than flee the island during its unstable descent. There's nothing given outside the mysterious messages... Although, you also have to restore Curly's memories to proceed to Hell.

What awakens Quote at the beginning of the game? Was it Quote listening in on Kazuma's transmission? Was Quote dormant for 10 years? And just happens to wake up now? Slow self repair? ...Gunsmith been busy? Did something else revive him?

Does he have the ability to hear transmissions? Could silencing the Core allow them to sense where Ballos was/eliminating interference? Or did Quote only sense Curly? Could Curly be related to these... memories? Is that one reason Curly needed to be with you? To guide you towards Ballos?

Why does Booster visit Jenka in the credits? What is their connection? IS the final dog a Ghost Dog? In a place filled with countless dead, where Ballos is sealed... Could the dead be speaking?

Seemingly endless possibilities... Just have to make your own theory based on what we are given.
 
Sep 3, 2025 at 9:22 AM
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It is also mysterious as to why Quote and for that matter Curly would head into Hell rather than flee the island during its unstable descent. There's nothing given outside the mysterious messages... Although, you also have to restore Curly's memories to proceed to Hell.
I feel that the answer to that is simple:
  1. Curly was trying to flee the island, and failed (or maybe was on her way to Quote, who knows).
  2. Quote was going back to rescue Curly.
Hell B1 is not something you can do in reverse. For Quote he wanted to go back into the island, but last cave was closed off by rubble. Hell was the only passage back into the island. The question is more how Curly made it to B1 from Plantation rather than any question about Quote's motivations. Regardless... on finding Curly there would be no way for Quote to do B1 in reverse, so Quote has to go deeper. The door to Plantation is blocked, and the statue room is a dead end, so there is only one way to go. The first glimpse of the open sky is seen the moment the ghost dog appears, and then Quote and Curly's mission to destroy the crown takes over, otherwise I fully expect that they would've jumped off the island there and then.

In any case I see that as the significance of the Iron Bond, it is a representation of Quote and Curly having each other's backs.
 
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