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Loyal Theorists, today we’re diving into Choo Choo Charles, one of the year's most popular indie horror games. Unsurprisingly, there is a TON going on underneath the surface here and Charles has done a great job of sprinkling LORE all throughout the game. I’m here today to present said lore to you… and maybe make a few train puns along the way. So ALL ABOARD the TheoryTrain!!
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Credits:
Writers: Matthew Patrick, Tom Robinson and
Editors: Dan "Cybert" Seibert, Tyler Mascola, JayskiBean, Pedro Freitas
Assistant Editor: GeekyPeanut
Sound Editor: Yosi Berman
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Hello Internet… *Cough* *Clear throat*
Hey, I don't know if you can tell this, but my voice is shot. I apparently caught what my four year old
had: food poisoning coupled with extreme muscle stiffness, subsequently followed by four days
of not having a voice. And I recognize that in order for this video
to go up in any semblance of a timely fashion, it needs to get recorded. So if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to
hand it off to Head Editor Dan. I'm going to now put all the ice on all of
my no
des *cough* and I'm going to rest my voice in the hopes
that I can finally record this incredibly long, FNAF timeline episode. Anyway, Dan! ow, all right. I will talk to you later. Hello Internet! Welcome to Game Theory. The show that always choo choo chooses violence
just like how you should always choo choo choose to hit that subscribe button. Go on, do it. And I can't believe Matt made me read that. Yes. Hi. Hello. It's Head Editor Dan stepping in for a very
sick Matt whose voice apparently h
as died and gone to theory heaven. But enough about that, dear viewer. Let me introduce you to Choo Choo Charles,
an indie horror game where your goal is to stop an unstoppable man-eating-spider-train. Okay. The moderately stoppable man-eating-spider-train. Okay. He might be a little stoppable. Anyway, regardless of his threat level. It's our job to get rid of them. To do that, we must find three mystical eggs
in various mines throughout the island. While on our quest, the game presents us with
a bunch of questions. Questions about a mysterious background. Questions about the nature of this evil spider
train. Questions about pickles. Just pickles. Wrong you are Matpat. This is going to be a great episode. So what secrets are lurking in the corners
of the island of Aranearum? All aboard the crazy train, loyal theorists. Because this episode is about to go off the
rails. Ga, why does he write these puns? Let's start with the simplest question first. What exactly is Charles? I've repeated
ly called him a man-eating-spider-train. And if you play the game normally, yeah, that's
largely what you're going to walk away thinking. But if that's your understanding as to the
true nature of Charles, then shoot dang, my friend, you are wrong. It turns out Charles isn't actually a train
at all. I know that sounds crazy, considering I'm
talking about a nightmare fuel injected version of Thomas the Tank engine. But stick with me here. One of the earliest missions in the game is
to unlock a che
st for a man named Darryl. Inside that chest is a stone tablet that seems
to be depicting people fighting off a giant spider monster. Huh, now doesn't that sound familiar? The fact it is literally carved into a stone
tablet and looks like an early caveman drawing implies the spider creatures have roamed the
land of Aranearum for tens of thousands of years. It would seem to suggest that the spider and
the train are two separate pieces and the spider ultimately came first in this sort
of twisted c
hicken and egg scenario. This also makes sense based on the way the
island was named. The island is named Aranearum, based on the
word Aranea, Latin for Spider. So where does the train park come in? Well, to understand that, we need a bit of
history about the island. Throughout the game, we learn the story of
Warren Charles III, a rich tycoon that started a gold mining operation on the island. And we see evidence of his operation everywhere. Large open mineshafts, mine carts, tools,
tall buildin
gs full of essential mine related paperwork. But most importantly, he brought his trains. Warren is the reason for the rails running
all around the island. He needed mining trains to carry his spoils
to and from the mines. In fact, when we get our first train from
Eugene at the beginning of the game, you can see the Charles Mining Company logo plastered
on the side. So on that note, have you ever stopped to
take a look at Charles' train cabin? I understand that the answer is likely no. When a sp
ider-train is doing everything it
can to eat your face, naturally, you're not going to walk towards it and ask for an inspection. But if you do manage to get a closer look
right before you devoured, you may notice on the side of the cabin is a logo for the
Charles Mining Company. The train belonged to Warren. It was not part of Charles' original body. In fact, I think we can pinpoint exactly when
Charles came into possession of the train. In the first mine we visit, there's a note
left by Eugene
that tells us this. While mining the farthest tunnel we broke
through a wall and into a large Cavern. There's something strange here and we don't
know what it is. Now, Charles isn't what they immediately find
here. According to another note, this is when they
find the mystical eggs that we've been tasked with collecting. They found a whole nest of eggs while clearing
out debris from the cave-in. And when they start using the eggs, this is
when Charles first shows up in all of his train glory. W
hile the prison was extracting life energy
from a batch of eggs. That's when Charles attacked for the first
time. So while Charles wasn't found within that
cavern, I do believe that's where he was laying dormant. It was also here where he would have taken
over one of the mining trains that the miners had left behind. Why do that? Well, humans have advanced a bit since the
old caveman drawing days. Their technology is better, more deadly. No longer are they fighting with bows and
spears, they hav
e guns and flamethrowers. AND BAZOOKAS! Bazookas is just a fun word to say, guys. Let me have it. Plus, Charles has proven himself to be strangely
intelligent. Quote:
I've been staking out the area for days and Charles has never crossed the old wood bridge. Somehow the beast is cunning enough to know
it's dangerous. Charles saw the explosives and mining equipment
and quickly realized he couldn't survive an onslaught with those more advanced humans. So he used what was around him the mining
train
that the crew had been using to transport supplies to and from the mine. This gave him a layer of protection from their
bullets and made him far more deadly. Which leads us to the events of the game and
stories we hear about the rich tycoon Warren Charles III. While we and the rest of the island want to
take down Charles, Warren appears to have other ideas. He has hidden the eggs in three mines across
the island, which means that nobody is able to summon and fight Charles. He even takes away th
e weapons of the locals
in order to stop them from even attempting to fight Charles. So immediately this guy gives off strong villain
vibes, but his evil deeds don't stop there. We're told in another note found on the island
that he made us bring our families to this hell hole
so we never need to leave or to keep information about his business practices away from the
mainland. That's right. Warren is a shady businessman. Shocker. So not only did he accidentally release an
ancient spider demon, n
ot only did he lure everyone away from the mainland to keep them
quiet about his dirty dealings. But he also committed the biggest sin of all. He didn't issue his workers their W-2s. Now how were they going to file their taxes? Wow. Thanks, Matt. Really wanted to think about tax season right
now. Though, I have to ask, what did you expect
from a guy with a horseshoe mustache, cowboy hat and yellow suit? Call me crazy, but with an outfit like that,
trustworthy isn't the first thing that springs t
o mind. Banana Cowboy is what immediately springs
to mind. Editor, can we get a banana cowboy? Oh, that is excellent. That said, there are even larger accusations
being thrown at Warren. The local theorist Greg, A CONSPIRACY THEORIST! suspects that Warren may actually be using
Charles in a plot to take over the world. And you can tell that Greg is trustworthy
because he doesn't wear a yellow suit. In fact, he's so trustworthy, he doesn't wear
anything. According to Greg:
Warren Warlord III is tr
ying to hatch and raise more of these eight legged critters;
a whole army for who-knows-what purpose… Warren must have realized how powerful these
things are, and rather than protect us from them, wants to use them to TAKE OVER THE WORLD So there we have it. Case closed. Warren is in cahoots with Charles and is trying
to conquer everything. Right? Wrong. You guys know Matt. You know that Matt personally loves yellow
jackets. You guys also know that Matt isn't going to
just trust any theory out t
here, especially when the accuser signs his name “genius
extraordinaire”. So we did some digging to see whether Warren
was really the mustache twirling villain everyone thinks he is. And if you go through the game and find all
the notes, you start to see a different side of the story. A note you find in a random shack on the northeast
side of the island tells us that the Charles family is rather wealthy with lots of success
in the mining industry. However, the writer goes on to say, I'm surprise
d
he's choosing to take such a risk here. Some people have taken this to mean that Warren
knew something everyone else didn't. That he knew about the eggs. If this family was so wealthy, why would he
risk coming to the island just for the sake of gold? And while that certainly makes a lot of sense,
it's far from the only interpretation. In fact, if you find more of the lore sprinkled
across the island, you quickly come to learn that Warren isn't as wealthy as everyone thinks
he is. During the mi
ssion for Ronnie, in the center
of the island where we have to climb a series of old towers built by Warren to retrieve
some paperwork, there's a note you can find that tells us “we will need to strike gold
fast if we want any chance of avoiding bankruptcy”. The note is written in the first person. It's from the perspective of a person who
set up this mining operation and given these towers are where important employee paperwork
is filed, files that Ronnie tells us no employee ever received. It
gives me reason to believe this note is
from none other than Warren himself. He set up the mining operation. He was looking for gold and it's all because
his company was running out of money. He wasn't necessarily bankrupt from the expedition,
but he wasn't far off. And this was a last ditch effort to save the
company. That's why he took the risk. It wasn't for the spider eggs, thank God. It really was for gold. Again, I've seen people online suggest he
was looking to sell these eggs for profit
only to realize how dangerous they were. But that also doesn't line up with what we
see in the game. The character Gail tells us that while under
Warren's orders, he was responsible for hiding the eggs and protecting them. We also see this echoed in a note from one
of the mine shafts. Make sure nobody goes near the egg. If you see anyone that shouldn’t be there,
shoot them immediately. No risks can be taken. As soon as it finishes, kill it, and bring
the body to me. He's talking about the spider
eggs hatching. He's doing the exact opposite of what Greg
was expecting. Rather than raising them to make an army. He's actively trying to kill them once they
hatch to stop more death from occurring. Warren isn't selling the eggs. He's actively hiding them, locking them away,
and then having armed guards protect them from being stolen. He fears that destroying the eggs will only
anger Charles and make him stronger. That’s not an option. So instead, the only solution is to isolate
the eggs. Wait
for the baby spiders to hatch and then
kill them. What's even less evil is that after the Charles
incident, Warren starts evacuating people. At least according to the note from Gail. Yeah. Everyone on the island is convinced this guy
is evil and wants everyone to stay and die on the island. But at least to start with that wasn't actually
the case. I've been praying someone from the first evacuation
group would just send back another boat, but I guess they all think that George's supply
boat is
still evacuating people. Fun fact. We actually know someone that was on the first
evacuation boat. During the game's tutorial, we hear this line. Good old Eugene. May his memory live on. Just like Matt's voice. When you consider all of this, it absolutely
explains why Warren never informed the mainland about the cave in. This wasn't about hiding bad business practices. It was about trying to stop others from coming
to the island and either dying to the sharp legs of Charles or trying to destroy
the eggs
themselves. He was afraid of escalating the situation,
and his fears are 100% founded because look who decides to show up. Us. and what do we do? Escalate the situation. We kill Warren's guards. We steal the eggs. We try to do the exact thing Warren was trying
to prevent: destroy the eggs. And lo behold, it makes Charles stronger. The only mistake Warren made was doubting
us. He didn't expect us or anyone to be able to
win the final battle. But can you blame him? We're talking about a g
iant hex spider protected
by a train shell. I'd have my doubts too. Warren isn't the villain of Choo Choo Charles. He's just a businessman, desperately digging
for gold to try and save a dying family business, only to unearth a horrible monster instead. And if that wasn't bad enough, his employees
abandoned him. They all turn their backs on him and betray
him. He saw the danger that was in front of them
and actively tried to prevent Charles from becoming stronger. He evacuated people from the is
land and he
didn't tell anyone else about it so that there wouldn't be more deaths. And what did he get for his good deeds? Some face to face time with a monster he tried
so desperately to keep contained. Or maybe, just maybe, Warren knew something
bigger and something more dangerous was coming. And I'm not talking about the cave full of
Charles eggs that show up during the Post-Credits scene. Oh, no, my friends, I'm talking about this
ominous warning found in a hidden note from one of the shrin
es where? Beware the bus. His name is Gus. He’s not on the island though so don’t
worry too much. When you go back to the mainland, don’t
ride the bus. Gus bus bus the Gus, he’s bad and fast. Charles fears Gus. Forget about spider trains. Now we're talking about something really scary. Spider-busses. Great. Got to be honest, the scariest thing about
the spider-bus would be the germs coming from the guy sitting next to you. Now, that is what I call horror. But, hey, it's all just a theory. A GAME
THEORY!. Thanks for watching. And hey, if you want to keep riding the rails
of quality content, be sure to check out some of our other indie horror theories like this
one on the monster Inside Amanda the Adventurer. Or if you like the idea of a video game lying
to you, you can always check out the lore of Evertale, the game that really made fake
ads to get people to download it. That one is a real wild ride. As always, don't forget to subscribe. This has been Head Editor Dan and I'm going
back
into the editor dungeon where I will maybe find some scraps on the floor.
Comments
Can't believe that MatPat actually let Dan out of the editor's dungeon for this, props to him.
The best part of this episode is Dan dying from reading all of MatPats puns
Charles being a giant spider that is using a train as a shell also makes sense from a biological standpoint. Some other invertebrae use larger objects as protective shells to protect themselves from predators, most notably hermit crabs. Charles just took this concept, but upgraded to a steel shell.
Ok but sequel to choo choo Charles being about a giant spider Bus named Gus would be fantastic. Maybe Two Star could bring back a couple characters from Choo Choo Charles and have like a mini hunting team for the museum
I absolutely LOVE Dan’s personality in this. Even if he’s mainly reading the same script, his personality still shines through at times (like when he dies at matpats puns)
Dan being the narrator didnt take away a single bit of the usual charm, absolutely loved it
The fact that charles fears gus the talking schoolbus that educates kids on bus safety was really just icing on the cake
Fun fact: The dev of this game had also combined a spider model and a train model to make charles.
Can’t believe that Choo Choo Charles is actually an animatronic from the 1980’s that was stuffed with murdered children
The fact that Dan is so aware of MatPat's puns is amazing. A great sub in, hope MatPat gets better soon.
If Charles fears Gus, how sure can we be that Gus is also a spider?
Dan sounds like he's gotten enough sleep and peace of mind compared to MatPat's normally FNAF-tortured and obsessed rambling. Which is hilarious because I'm assuming Mat writes his scripts, and Dan is reading it.
I've never been so nervous for an episode of Game Theory to go live... Hope you all enjoy the episode despite it being this guy narrating.
Honestly was really nervous not having MatPat voicing it, but Dan KILLED it! I would 100% listen to Dan do an episode again (especially having him die over Mat's puns lol). Great episode Dan!
Honestly, having Dan narrate is apreciable. It's a change of pace, it's refreshing. It would be nice to see him voice a video every now and then. (not that I want Mat's voice to hurt more often mind you.)
Even before seeing this it was my personal theory that Charles was a spider using the train as a protective shell, and honestly it's such a cool concept for a terrifying train monster.
I like when Dan takes over,it's a rare treat every now and then.It's like when Matpat has someone with him during a Theory...just shakes things up ya know.
I love that when matpat asks for the editors to do something nothing happens but when dan asks It does
We need more episodes with “head editor Dan.” Btw, it hysterical how he was dying from Mat’s puns
Okay, when I heard the pun about the song “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osborn, I almost cried! That song is probably one of the most nostalgic songs from my childhood! Going off the rails on a Crazy Train!!!!