Why didnt Misery kill Quote instead of sending him to the labyrinth when Balrog knocked him out?

Jan 11, 2016 at 3:04 PM
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She couldn't directly say "kill the doctor and balos" but she wanted him to. Misery is not evil necessarily, but is controlled by the doctor. She barely has free will, but chose to send him there with the sliver of hope that he would escape.
 
Jan 12, 2016 at 12:50 AM
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If she wanted him to win it would explain why the boss fight was so easy considering she has the laws of the universe on her side and you have a gun and a jetpack

EDIT: Maybe she's the one that opened the jaguar-door thingy and supervised everything
Also she did see you in the core fight so she could have been checking on you
 
Feb 20, 2016 at 12:54 AM
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I'll repost something that I posted elsewhere about Misery, and how I feel that we really don't get the opportunity to see how strong she really is at any point in the game.

So I’ve been thinking about Cave Story a bunch lately and one thing that’s kind of quietly crept up on me is the realization that Misery is freaking crazy powerful.

Throughout the game, we see that she’s able to perform magical feats that far exceed that of any other character we see in action (with one possible exception, but we’ll get to that), including the ability to transform Balrog into a massive frog-monster, teleporting both herself and others, and lightning that can instantly kill a mimiga that’s apparently strong enough to defeat Balrog in one hit.

Her most impressive feat by far is that she apparently was the one who forced Ballos to create the Demon Crown, an artifact that’s stated to be permeated with Ballos’s soul. So in other words, she had to have been powerful enough to magically compel Ballos to tear out his soul and place it in the Demon Crown. Ballos wasn’t even able to stop this, all he could do was place a curse on Misery afterward to prevent her from using the Demon Crown’s power.

This is no small feat, considering Ballos is himself strong enough to destroy an entire kingdom in a single night should he ever lose control of his magic. That’s almost Dragon Ball Z levels of destructive capability by itself, and when Quote actually fights Ballos in-game he’s almost certainly holding back the large majority of his power since not only do we not see him manage anything that destructive, he makes it crystal clear that he wants to be killed. He’s lost control of his own hatred and madness to the point where he can’t help but attack, but has just enough clarity of mind to hold back and give the player-character a fighting chance.

So, with that said… how powerful is Misery, exactly? Throughout the entire game, we never see her do anything that would resemble putting up an actual effort. On the contrary, Misery seems to actively avoid trying to fight Quote directly for as long as possible, either letting a monster deal with him, sending Balrog after him, or simply teleporting him to a place where escape would theoretically be impossible. And even when Quote does fight her, she doesn’t really even seem to be trying. She just hovers in the air and casually tosses spells, making it apparent in her reclining pose that she’s only putting in the minimum amount of effort possible.

Why is that, though? It could be that being enslaved by the Demon Crown for so long has left her apathetic. Or it could be that she’s afraid of what her power could do if she were to stop holding back, given what happened with Ballos. Either way, it’s obvious that had she really been trying, Misery would have easily turned Quote to scrap metal the moment he became an inconvenience to the Doctor’s interests.
Misery's refusal to kill Quote even when she has the opportunity is consistent with her behavior across the entirety of the main storyline: she never at any point seems to be actually willing to do the dirty work herself, and when she is forced to fight she doesn't even bother putting any effort into it. I think it's clear from the way that she acts that she doesn't like being directly responsible for hurting anyone, yet at the same time has resigned herself to her servitude. She tries to find ways to serve the Doctor's interests while trying to avoid taking direct responsibility for killing his enemies, whether it be by delegating tasks or sending her foes someplace where she can put them out of her mind.
 
Feb 21, 2016 at 7:36 AM
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I disagree. The crown is a conduit to Ballos' magical power and the Doctor has been shown to have similar powers to Misery. Therefore Misery would have next to no power of her own. Being born into a family of powerful magic users with next to no magic of her own would encourage he to do anything to get said power. Hell, Misery is not levitating during the end credits after Ballos dies, but is standing on her own two feet. And convincing someone to do something is not always achieved by strongarming them, just FYI.
 
Feb 22, 2016 at 1:12 AM
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That would be assuming that the Crown grants powers to its slaves in addition to its master, which is not supported by anything you'll see in game. "Standing on her own two feet" doesn't give any indication that she's actually lost her power given that she does so at multiple points before Ballos's defeat.

We also see much less of the Doctor's magic than we do of Misery's in general. The most active feats we see from him come after he's been empowered by the Red Crystal, before that the most we actually see is him teleporting. It's implied that he had something to do with the Egg Corridor's destruction and the Core being turned undead, but it's never outright stated that this was something he accomplished by himself and not with his minions.
 
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Feb 22, 2016 at 1:16 AM
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Feb 22, 2016 at 1:19 AM
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The Egg Corridor is destroyed immediately after the Core is taken to be zombified and right when we know the Doctor has launched his largest and most successful campaign of enslaving the mimiga population. There's no way that it could have been subjected to such sudden and widespread devastation by anything natural, and nearly all the baby sky dragons were turned undead... exactly like the Core.
 
Feb 22, 2016 at 2:18 AM
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The Egg Corridor is destroyed immediately after the Core is taken to be zombified and right when we know the Doctor has launched his largest and most successful campaign of enslaving the mimiga population. There's no way that it could have been subjected to such sudden and widespread devastation by anything natural, and nearly all the baby sky dragons were turned undead... exactly like the Core.
Pixel himself said that the egg corridor exploded because of "old machine trouble". No-one maintained the place since Igor died.

That would be assuming that the Crown grants powers to its slaves in addition to its master, which is not supported by anything you'll see in game. "Standing on her own two feet" doesn't give any indication that she's actually lost her power given that she does so at multiple points before Ballos's defeat.
Then what is the motive in getting Ballos to create the crown? If Misery is so powerful to upend Ballos then why would she need a crown that bestows magic power from her weaker opponent onto the bearer. She obviously wanted it for her own use. I mean seriously, what is the point? The only way that makes sense is if Misery was weaker than Ballos.
 
Feb 22, 2016 at 5:29 AM
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Then what is the motive in getting Ballos to create the crown? If Misery is so powerful to upend Ballos then why would she need a crown that bestows magic power from her weaker opponent onto the bearer. She obviously wanted it for her own use. I mean seriously, what is the point? The only way that makes sense is if Misery was weaker than Ballos.
It's been a while since I played but...

Don't underestimate the power of fashion. Perhaps Ballos was once an all-powerful fashion designer. How else would he be trusted and loved by all the people?
He would guide the people's trends in a positive direction... But unfortunately the King would not have it; and so he cruelly imprisoned and tortured Ballos...

The torture... Being subjected to the King's horrible fashion ideas... eventually shattered Ballos' mind. And in an insane fit, he turned into a giant laughing yellow rock which destroyed the Kingdom in a single night.
p212779-0-hqdefault.jpg

Much, much later, Misery found out about Ballos' secret talent, and commissioned Ballos to create a true Crown, fit for a queen... The most exquisite crown of all... But, after placing the finished crown on her head, it twisted and deformed, shaped by the old King's fashion... becoming a large creep-eyed block! Misery hated it. But like a bad fairy tale, she was cursed by the rejected "Crown" and become the possession of anyone who liked to wear it. :muscledoc:
 
Feb 22, 2016 at 8:28 PM
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Pixel himself said that the egg corridor exploded because of "old machine trouble". No-one maintained the place since Igor died.

That does make sense, but I also kind of feel that this official explanation dilutes the feeling of desperation that the ruined Egg Corridor is meant to embody: it comes directly after nearly every character you've met is taken away and directly before Kazuma tells you that you should just give up and escape to someplace safe, and the sheer amount of damage that's been done is meant to make you feel powerless.

I always took the state of the Corridor to mean that the Doctor was responsible (either directly or indirectly), since the game goes so far out of its way to tell you "you're screwed, there's absolutely nothing stopping him now" at every point between the abandoned Mimiga Village and the Outer Wall.

Then what is the motive in getting Ballos to create the crown? If Misery is so powerful to upend Ballos then why would she need a crown that bestows magic power from her weaker opponent onto the bearer. She obviously wanted it for her own use. I mean seriously, what is the point? The only way that makes sense is if Misery was weaker than Ballos.

Well, she wouldn't need to be more powerful: just enough so to get Ballos to create the crown. He clearly didn't want to create the crown willingly, so if Misery wasn't at the least significantly powerful herself, how could she possibly have gotten Ballos to go along with it? The game outright says that Misery forced him to do it.
 
Feb 23, 2016 at 12:14 AM
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It wouldn't make sense for him to punish Misery for forcing him create the crown if that were the case. And Ballos probably wouldn't want to use his power outside his prison either: his dialogue and backstory make it apparent that more than anything else, he just wants to die.
 
Feb 23, 2016 at 12:15 AM
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That does make sense, but I also kind of feel that this official explanation dilutes the feeling of desperation that the ruined Egg Corridor is meant to embody: it comes directly after nearly every character you've met is taken away and directly before Kazuma tells you that you should just give up and escape to someplace safe, and the sheer amount of damage that's been done is meant to make you feel powerless.
How? This implies that the destruction of the Egg Corridor is an unintended consequence of Quote's actions. This actually applies guilt to the killing of Igor. It also cements the idea that no matter what he did back then there would be negative consequences. Which brings back the theme of powerlessness.

The game outright says that Misery forced him to do it.
Forcing someone to do something is a matter of convincing the end party to do something that they don't want to do in normal circumstances. Bribing and blackmail are perfectly good examples of this.
 
Feb 23, 2016 at 5:03 AM
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How? This implies that the destruction of the Egg Corridor is an unintended consequence of Quote's actions. This actually applies guilt to the killing of Igor. It also cements the idea that no matter what he did back then there would be negative consequences. Which brings back the theme of powerlessness.

Just to be clear, I'm not disputing its canonicity, I'm just saying I find the official explanation kind of disappointing. It goes from "holy crap, the bad guy is serious" to "you were careless."

Forcing someone to do something is a matter of convincing the end party to do something that they don't want to do in normal circumstances. Bribing and blackmail are perfectly good examples of this.

Ballos doesn't want anything other than someone to finally kill him, so bribery is right out. Blackmail would only work if he had anything left to lose, which is highly disputable. The only thing I could think of is if Misery had the guts to threaten her own mother and use Jenka as a bargaining chip, but I have a hard time believing she'd be that callous.
 
Feb 23, 2016 at 4:58 PM
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Ballos doesn't want anything other than someone to finally kill him, so bribery is right out.

Maybe his desire to be killed came after he created the crown? We know when we meet him he wants to be destroyed, but before that it's debatable.

Or if that is what he wanted, maybe Misery promised him death after the crown was created?
 
Feb 23, 2016 at 11:11 PM
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I can't help but think about Jenka, maybe she didn't know that they were making the crown beforehand, but she definitely knew about it, after it was made. How come she didn't try to destroy it herself? Was there a reason to that, explained in the game? Cause if there was...

Well then my memory is truly garbage...
 
Feb 23, 2016 at 11:14 PM
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I can't help but think about Jenka, maybe she didn't know that they were making the crown beforehand, but she definitely knew about it, after it was made. How come she didn't try to destroy it herself? Was there a reason to that, explained in the game? Cause if there was...

Well then my memory is truly garbage...
"Even as he was, she could not
bring herself to kill her own
brother..."
 
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Feb 23, 2016 at 11:26 PM
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And yet, a robot with a gun that shoots bubbles could kill him. That would be very tedious, but it could be done.
"Even as he was, she could not
bring herself
to kill her own
brother..."

also, are you doubting Qoute's ability as a fighter?
 
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Feb 23, 2016 at 11:40 PM
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"Even as he was, she could not
bring herself
to kill her own
brother..."

also, are you doubting Qoute's ability as a fighter?

Not really... but I always found it kind of dumb, how Quote is basically useless without a weapon.

Like, how come he doesn't have any installed ON HIM. I mean, he's a combat robot ffs.

Just get the gun out of his hands, now he can't do shit.

I also have the same problem with Curly.

Edit: I'm not doubting Quote, i'm doubting the weapon.
 
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