The Death Screen Has LORE? [ULTRAKILL] 

Everyone saying its reused for convenience but we are forgetting who the developer is, this man does everything with intention and triple layers everything

I think it’s probably just reused for convenience but if it does have lore implications, it could be hell acknowledging V1 dying and reviving it for more ‘entertainment’.

I always figured it was V1 giggling to itself as i think it plays after clearing a room too. i was pitching and speeding down the swordsmachines laugh too and noticed it.

There's even an octagon around the skull when you die. What are octagons most commonly used for? Stop signs. What makes you stop in the game? Locked doors. Coincidence? Probably.

in that case, the swordsmachine sound modulator emulates the sound of this laughing entity. wonder where that thing even came from?

also the fact that the laughing death skull was also used as the door lock icon before

Hakita be like, “The fuck It’s a door- I mean yeah you found the secret to Ultrakill!”

I bet they reused it here because when you get locked in a room and enemies spawn, that's usually when you die, lol

Real talk, i had that same idea of hell bringing V1 back for its entertainment, hell can supposedly spawn enemies whenever it wants and it's all just a spectacle to it; to the point that it modified Strays into Soldiers and created Stalkers so it isn't too far fetched to think it is bringing V1 back to keep on watching it either struggle or pass whatever it's stuck on. Even Minos and Sysiphus having a voice line for when you respawn may indicate that you are indeed just instantly coming back to fight them again

what if the doors aren't actually locking, but instead, V1 purposefully sees them closed to motivate itself to collect more blood than needed in the arenas?

The door locking didn't use to have a red X with a crusty, low-detail skull icon on it, it had the skull and crossbones from the death screen in early builds of the game. Even more ties.

*SPOILERS BELOW (P1 & P2)* . . . . . . . . When you beat Sisyphus Prime (P2's boss), you get some lore on the computers at the beginning of each level. Turns out, the computers somehow gained sentience and the points you get from beating a level as well as the rankings are the computers essentially telling you "Good job! You entertained us!" (as the computers use these points and the weapons you can buy with them as a way to incentivize machines to do crazy fights for their amusement as it is implied they are bored because they are forced to be in one spot for all eternity). With this in mind, it could be that the computers are locking you in a room "forcing" you to fight for their amusement. When you die, the computers "laugh" at you using the only sounds they have available to them (i.e. the door lock). This would also explain the respawn mechanic as it is said in P1's terminal that the way things are transferred between the layers of hell is that physical object's information is converted to radio waves and then transferred to other computers to be reassembled back into physical objects. The computers could be storing radio waves so that they can have the ability to remake machines they like. Then, whenever a machine dies, they "resurrect" it via the stored waves. However, when the computers "resurrect" the machines they slightly alter this process (i.e. alter the radio waves to slightly change machine's memory storage system to include information that the machine had from its "past lives" which would also explain why the machines get better after every death as this would further help to entertain the computers) to include the "laugh" in the machine's memory as punishment for not being good enough to win the fight and entertain the computers. I think that P3 will either confirm or deny this for us (as each Prime Sanctum's reward is further lore about the computers at the beginning of the level). There's also the possibility that Hakita is reusing assets to help reduce the amount of space that the game takes up as he's not a AAA game studio and actually cares about the people playing his game.

feel like reading too much into this but interesting theory either way

Pretty sure this same "ha" sound was used in the Swordsmachine's engine sound effect too.

could go in a different way, cus in the p-2 uhh terminal it says that the shop terminals uses machines as entertainment so there is a chance that the death screen AND the door locking comes from the terminals

Probably convenience, but we have to remember that this is the same guy who canonized the game being in a PS1 aesthetic in the first place with the Sentry's lore entry, so I wouldn't be surprised if he leaned into the two being connected in some future level. Or possibly with the superorganism ARG going on at the moment.

Many things are done for convenience sake that later turn out to fit neatly into lore! I assume the revolver was first made to look cool and sci-fi-ish, with the little story of its invention and usage written after the matter, for example

Reversing the theory, this also implies that each time the door locks is Hell itself laughing at you.

Dont forget that there is also lore for graphics in this game too

It doesn't mean anything. Reusing sounds with different effects is a veeery common technique in sound design. Either way, good job on finding this one

I heard somewhere that all levels is a living body. So death sound and door lock may be the virus that blocking and killing everything that wasn't its immunity. So if the door lock virus can't defeat the V1, it send enemies. And maybe they are agresive because they was manipulated by this 2 viruses. That kinda explain why on some levels doors locks at every room, but in like 1-3 (where yo got challenge "kill only one enemy". I don't remember) you can skip the doors. So it knows where you are not ready for the fight so it can kill you easily. Sorry for mistakes. My English is not very good. I tried to write without mistakes. Can I get your like please? :3

I think this could very well be reused due to convenience, but remember who's the man who created this masterpiece of a eletronic video-game media Outstanding find! I haven't seen anyone talk about this at all.. What makes this even more interesting is indeed the recent lore surrounding hell being a sentient force, and the fact that you're being watched for entertainment at all times. It could very well be, and I think it was probably reused due to convenience, but that doesn't instantly scrap this theory at all, which makes it even more fascinating

It starts to make sense when you find out what hell really is

In the new P-2 the terminal details the point system, this stems from "boredom". The terminals that you get money from get bored and manipulate the world around it to watch the robot fight other things for nothing more than entertainment, the better it looks the more points you get from the terminals, the better items they give you for fighting. It might very well be that those terminals are locking you in the room AND laughing at you when you die. I have a feeling that since these terminals have sentience and love watching you fight, you could also get revived in worlds, and will actually stop V1 from opening doors in their programming (As doors locking in the flesh-world 3-1 and 2 seems illogical). I bet the entire reasons V1 is down here is for the entertainment of the terminals. Also, i doubt it's convenience when the game has a in-lore reason to why the graphics look pixellated (which is because they render the world at a lower resolution in favour of performance in battle.)

No, i haven't heard it until this video

I recently watched a video explaining Super Mario Bros. soundtrack, and the death sound there is a part of a melody that plays when you get a life (green mushroom). There, the author said that it might suggest that Mario can't die and the game is endless. Because dying and starting over is basically the same thing. So, I think here it's as convenience as a deliberate choice too. Very interesting find!

I’m with you… it feels connected.

the sound originally comes from inputting 'ha. ha. ha.' into BetterSAM which is where all of V1's fanmade voicelines come from

So hell chuckles and locks you in and when you die, he laughs at you.

Hakita once said that v1 being locked in these rooms and things like that have a lore, so maybe this have sense

Fun fact:the p2 lore you get after u beat it directly talks about something that is watching u for entertainment

I like to think the death screen is just V1 running a simulation of the fight in his head to find the best possible outcome before actually fighting.

There's always something on purpose, even in such small details. Like MINOTAUR's death animation and the files reading which states that its last desire before death is to see the sky

Hakita really do be pulling a Toby Fox on us

It may also be the terminals laughing, because it's likely that all the gameplay you're seeing is just pre-recorded footage, being played in a terminal, which is why you were "inserting disc 2" for act 2.

Hakita: haha speed up this sound and you get "ha", ima go add some funny feature with it. This guy:

This is the exact moment where UKTRAKILL turned into UNDERTALE

I love ultrakill lore man I'll never get tired of it

"you cant hide anything from us hakita" Hakita: *you sure?*

It might be the terminals reviving you because if you die, the terminals have no entertainment.

It's probably the doors laughing at you, which is a fun concept

I like to think that the death is "locked" for V1 as there are still enemies to kill. Doesn't have to do anything with reality of game, just sounds badass.

This is a reach so excuse me if I make you pull any muscles, but the death screen skull has an octagon around it, like a stop sign, whereas the doors have an X. When you die in ultrakill its just a very brief stop before continuing once you're ready, but the doors require you to overcome a force stopping you from continuing. (The stop sign part admittedly makes sense from a design point, the X on doors is pure reach to make them connected)

this is just for convenience and that door sound was added most likely with the early access release if not before that. another point is that this happens alot in the game, with the ambience in 2-4 and 2-1 being the spinal staircase song slowed down a ton, and guts being slowed down glory

Video: *Intricate Lore*. Hakita: "oh shit I forgot a door sound maybe I'll just slow down the death sound maybe no one will notice

If I were to wager a guess, it's probably the Terminal's locking the doors and laughing at you after you die.

If the death screen did have lore it’s because v1 is running simulations about the level and when he would die he’s just try’s again until the player beats the level then v1 levels the hellevator and fights

If it does have lore implications, its most likely the terminals as they are the reason you are encouraged/rewarded for style

its also the sound used for when you clear a room so it might aswell be all just Hell itself talking

they're WATCHING US man, they want to squeeze every drop of STYLE outta your tiny lil frail machine body and they give you POINTS???!!! LIKE HOW IS A MAN SUPPOSED TO GET A PIZZA WITH POINTS??? HELP ME!???

Hakita LOVES reusing sound in this game.

Imagine that you're playing so bad, that even door is laughing at you 💀

This is Hakita we’re talking about. This man put hampter, crash bandicoot, and a fucking existential dating simulator in this game. I wouldn’t put this theory past him

that's also the sound for when the room unlocks

I think it could be that the doors and stuff aren't physically locking themselves, more so that the big X is just apart of V1's programing. since it's a robot designed to kill things it would make sense that it's programed to not be able to run away from combat. My theory on the laughing is that it's the terminals/ shops mocking V1 or with the doors it's them eager to watch V1 fight. It makes sense since the terminals/ shops are already grading V1's performance with the style meter and level ranks.

Maybe this ties in with the terminals being alive and watching machine footage for entertainment. Maybe the terminals have access to the doors.

Hakita, watching this: hm... I think I will add it to the lore.

We'll need to see what hakita's reaction to this is

lore mfs when two nanoseconds of a sound is similar to another

This reminds me of 2015 - 2016 when people were messing with all audio files in UNDERTALE to find connections (and sometimes succesfully so)

I think it's more of the "vending machines" locking the doors for their convenience

What happens is that when we die, We actually respawn, And the characters that we fought are aware of this, Just like how when we replay a level the same monsters get spawned infront of us, When we die at levels P-1 and P-2 the prime souls say things like "Useless!" and "Keep them coming!", As they remember that we have just fought them, So hell that wants more enjoyment doesn't want its most precious bloodlust toy to go waste, So hell re-arranges us after we get destroyed and puts us back to fight, To watch us again since we do something different every time.

i think it's more about convenience... not having to make a whole new sample for a locking door and reusing an asset by just slowing it down saves some time and effort.

I like how he says IF you have died in ultrakill

Talking about "force watching for entretainment". What if the terminals are the ones locking the doors (you gotta see the lore drops from P1 and P2 to understand)

it laughs when it locks the door to try and kill you, and laughs harder when it actually succeeds

"This is just speculation" People go such lengths to not say "this is just a theory..."

This reminds me of the time i learned in old console cartridge sold games where "disk space" was a limitation soundfiles were often reused and just sped up or played backwards. Banjo kazooie did this with the sound people made when talking. With modern available space though I doubt this is the reason though.

Could be the terminals from what the player learns after completing P-2. Locks V1 in a room and laughs at him if he dies.

The terminals mock your failure

Well you are right about the doors locking it was confirmed in the arg saying hell isn't trying to protect itself but instead wants entertainment so hell locking the doors and putting enemies to fight does make sense is out right confirmed

Fighting for entertainment reminds me of the terminal entry after p-2.

I always thought he was saying “FUCK”

Personally I hear “Fuck.” And this is V1 being like “god fucking damnit I gotta do that again”

That sound is called 8bitahh and it’s reused in a lot of places for example the swordsmachine

I think it has something to do with the terminals, maybe they're the ones locking doors? They watch you fight everything for their own entertainment, and made the cybergrind just so that machines could still entertain them without their lives being in danger, so maybe they somehow have control of the doors/security systems of each layer. The only place that this theory doesn't add up in though is Gluttony, as the doors are made of flesh and not of metal/technology, meaning they couldn't be influenced by the terminals. Idk

im pretty sure the death screen sound is the v1 ai voice just going h or some shit, prolly just reused it for the doors

Skull reaction

Takita Fox

I think that due to him killing so many, he is sent to hell after dying. Then he kills more, repeating the cycle.

Would it be crazy if the door lock became a Greater Demon-class enemy that emerges from the door, grows a body, spawns enemies, and barrages you with a flurry of Hell energy attacks?

When you haven’t found size 2 fish yet.

On the topic of someone or something warching us for their entertainment, yeah, the machines that sell us the weapons and stuff are pretty much confirmed to have been doing that according to the latest entry in the terminals in P-2. (If i remember correctly)

that metal pipe caught me off guard lmao

this might tie to the fact that terminals in this game are sentient. they are stuck in their body and the only thing they see is you fighting in hell. they locking doors is just a way of trying to see you fighting and the death screen is laughting at you for failing to entertain them.

I think its the terminals Cause theyre are other V1 and V2 roaming around the world of hell or just other robots in general.

I think the doors don't really close. it is the system of v1 that prevents him from accidentally going further to get as much blood as possible, and when v1 receives a lot of hits, this screen notifies that the system is in critical condition

Habits has said that there is a reason why the doors lock when you enter a fight…

Ultrakill is driving us crazy 😭😭

For everyone wondering, (SPOILERS) In P-2 after you beat the Prime at the end, you'll encounter a terminal that basically says the same terminals you buy variants of guns from, are betting on you, which is why theres a ranking system from Destructive to Ultrakill, the terminals control the doors in hell, so basically this means the terminals laugh at you whenever you die.

Yeah that's our final boss. We will be fighting hell itself.

Swordsmachine is also uses this sound, if you try to slowdown the pain sound of swordsmachine after first wave you'll hear the same sound

I always thought it was sound that enemies are about to spawn not just door locking...

To add on top of your theory, in earlier builds of the game the same skull was used for the door lock symbol before being replaced with the simpler one later on. Just a fun thing I saw when watching the development videos on Hakita's channel :)

probably the terminal locking the door

I dunno where I got this but it vaguely stated that since V1 is a machine, everything it does is a calculated simulation and every time you die, it displays this like a "nuh-uh, you cant do that" and it boots you quickly back to where there simulation was going on smoothly (Checkpoints) Basically, there is no room for failure in V1's thought process (simulation) That is why you have to P rank everything to satisfy the simulation

or hakita doesn't want to spend too much time into making door sounds lol

Sooo, from the lore i know, the terminals watch you fight, and get entertained by this, and science the turn objects into data, and data into objects, they could have stole the data of the door sound and used it to laugh at the robots for dying

That's just a theory, A GAME THEORY

The last room in 0-4 you can actually skip if you high enough