The Psychology of Psychonauts - Meat Circus 

The fundamental problem that both characters have is that their dad’s were bad at communicating with them as many dads are

It's amazing how Raz could handle multiple and complex traumas that he's literally seen inside people's mind. That's one resilient and strong willed kid.

It really is tragic just *how much* Morceau tried to emulate his father in his desperation to please him. His father was a workaholic, so Morceau became an overachieving student (and this may have carried over into adulthood; it could well explain why he spends most of the game passed out at his desk if he's been habitually running himself ragged). His father never smiled, so Morceau takes himself very seriously, to the point of treating a summer camp for children like he's a drill sergeant training recruits for war. His father was a serviceman, so Morceau gave up the chance to go to college trying to join the armed forces. Whether or not his father was actually a large man in real life, in Morceau's mind he's been inflated into a towering behemoth, further emphasizing how much of a "runt" Morceau himself is, and further feeding into his desperation to prove himself to this built-up image of the man that existed only in Morceau's own head.

It always felt wild and wonderful that Oleander was also the one who said at the start "you shall chase his dreams, you shall fight his demons, you shall live his nightmares!" And in this level, through shared trauma, Raz is doing pretty much exactly that. Chasing Mr. Bun, fighting the representation of the father while going through that same feeling of paternal disappointment.

It's such a shame seeing Oleander's story being so half-baked in the full game. Like him teaming up with Loboto or turning over a new leaf both feel really underexplored and make the ending that much more shallow imo. It makes me real happy to see how you all brought his story together in this video and it made for a awesome watch!

It also seems like the Inner Child continues to be put under even stronger repression. Little Olly runs into Raz's caravan in an attempt to hide from the Butcher, as he no longer feels the Happy Meadow is safe.

One detail I liked was the later part of the stage where Augustus’ astral projection tried to communicate with Raz. On first brush, he looks like a ghost that’s haunting Raz, but once Raz reaches the end, it’s revealed to be the real Augustus attempting to reach out to him. In that sense, you could say that Raz is haunted by the specter of his father until that point, and it’s reflected in the gameplay.

The Lipo doc was very telling. I used to wonder why Oliander would think that his dad would want to kill him, now we can conclude that he was a runt himself and thus feared that he would meet the same fate as the bunny.

Another quick thing about Oleanders father, according to the semi-scrapped background, he himself was an ex-serviceman who became a workaholic butcher and was never seen smiling. As a kid, I don't think Oleander would have the perception, as you have mentioned, to understand if his father was fighting his own mental scars too (that indirectly can bring harm to others too). He seemed to have problems connecting or even talking to his own sons, Oleander doesn't have a single memory of his father congratulating for him for his achievements, even if he did not outright abuse them. At least Psychonauts 2 had enough time to go a bit more indepth into each character's psyche.

"WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET TO THE MEAT CIRCUS GAMING UNIVERSITY?!?!" GU-"Now..." "Huh?" GU-"I SAID NOW!" "NOW WHO WANTS TO GO ONTO THE CHILDHOOD TRAUMA?! THE FUN NEVER ENDS!"

4:06 Huh. The game implied that Oleander’s dad was the usual “No son of mine is going to grow up to be a sissy!” kind of abusive parent, and that he butchered the bunny in front of his son both in an attempt to make him not like cute and fluffy things anymore, and to punish him for liking them to begin with. (“Real men don’t like bunnies, real men kill them!”) This is worse, because he wasn’t trying to hurt his son, he thought he was teaching a grim but important truth to him.

A detail I find super vital to Oleander's character - when you find about the Mr. bunny situation - is that he can talk to animals using his psychic powers. It's heavily implied that when young Ollie was bonding with the runt of the litter he was telling it telepathically how to do tricks and it could speak back to him, so when the rabbit ends up on the chopping block while young Ollie watches on in horror - he is most likely hearing and feeling the pain and fear the runt is in and how it feels towards his father Butch combining with the message his father is trying to convey (maybe something like don't invest time in something that will end sadly or something) - passing the feeling of dying in fear onto him and instilling a true sense of what it feels like to end up on the chopping block and on the wrong end of the cleaver (and consequently the wrong side of his father's anger). Oleander most likely heavily repressed his psychic powers so as not to stand out more among his peers and so he would never feel that same fear coming from an animal until some point during or after his attempts to join the military, and unlike the other counselors who are known for shooting or floating around Oleander provides obstacles and terrifying situations that scare the campers instead of teaching campers to talk to or understand animals - he's trying to pass on the message that the world is terrifying and cruel so you need to try very hard to get where you want to go - what he felt throughout his search for a spot in any part of the military as he tried desperately to make someone understand that he could be so much more then his height if they let him.

An interesting detail on Oleander is that he has a giant scar going down his face, which could symbolise that he was scarred for life

Something else to understand about Oleander is how his psychic powers and techniques are mostly defensive in nature and ability. In basic braining he seems more able to hide his daemons more then the other counselors, the two techniques you learn form him are basically force field projection, he can disable your psychic shots, he erects walls in his 2nd fight, in Rhombus of Ruin he's able to block the nightmares everyone else has, and the only reason he lost a 3vs1 psychic fight is because Ford did something he didn't expect. Basically he really doesn't want to show weakness.

Its interesting that the retrieving of an inner child really shows in the next games. In Rhombus of ruin Oleander has a huge dance party(and its not quite clear if he was in trance or just really into music), something that would probably be considered "wrong" by his father. In the sequel he insists on using a "speech turtle" in Loboto's Labirinth. He may got some age regression, but in a good way - he learns that its okay to be silly and empathetic and to not be ashamed of that

I really did feel for poor Oleander after reading the LiPo doc. But as is constantly stated trauma doesn't excuse bad behavior. But learning about Egegore was interesting. While I do believe that Raz's perception of his dad was definitely exaggerated... I do think there was something done or said to drive into believing that he he hated psychics ... like his reaction to the pamplet... and *SPOLIER* there is also the possibility that Ford's tampering had a lot to do with it as well. Also, I appreciate the call back to Augustus's everything I've got line line in game 2. Nice work as always, GU!

0:45 - "A chimeric mental world" Just hearing that particular adjective and knowing the context; it gave me shivers. Love your vocabulary.

Man I've been waiting for this so much! Not only because of the level itself, but also because this means Psychonauts 2 levels are next! Ooooh I'm so excited!

I genuinely got chills when I realised that The Butcher uses the same words and phrases as Lil' Oli...but to mean something entirely different

This is actully the best day of my life , no joke Something to add : morceau was described as a mama's boy . Im sure he was his real-self with her

Me: I'm fine, I'm totally over Meat Circus. Video: MEAT CIRCUS HEME PLAYS IN THE FIRST SECOND Me: (vivid ptsd flashbacks)

I wish you touched on more of why the level is filled with meat. Like seeing a bunny killed infront of him, traumatized oleander and lead to his depiction of inner bodily material to become morphed and how possibly this ties to Rasputin’s depiction of the circus in this level. Maybe Oleander also got kicked out of the militaries for being completely unable to handle gore because of the trauma he experienced as a young child? Anyways good series. Shame it’s over now. If you ever do one on psychonauts 2 I’m gunna need to get a PS4 or Xbox one to play the game before I watch it.

Generational trauma is all around us. Be kind, because you never know what somebody is going through, no matter how infallible they may seem.

As annoying as this level was gameplay wise, it's such a clever idea to have Raz and Coach's minds fused to explore their shared trauma and fragmented relations with their dads. Thanks for the videos, been playing the series for the first time and have learned so much not only about the characters, but myself and how to understand others!

Well done Soldier, get some rest and listen to whatever music you need to get the song out of your head. We appreciate what you do.

Now that we got through the first game, we can continue it with the "Rhombus of Ruin", and explore the hallucinations (or lack of in Orleander's case), the concept of music therapy, and the memories of Dr. Loboto's inner child... and how his redemption is only half baked, as he did attempt to blow up the place despite his efforts to take a step in the right direction.

I'm glad I found a channel that appreciates this game as much as I do

Just wanna mention that Raz is also 10 years old and going through these traumatic experiences, not only of Oleander’s but his own. Plus the added trauma of the second game, if there is a DLC coming out I think it should be titled “Raz goes to therapy!”

Many games I fall in love with are ones with themes that make you think… nothing made me think more about the characters, the world, the impact, and the application to my own life then Psychonauts did. Both 1 and 2 have a heavy focus on mental health, and they portray them so so so well. These are not villains. They can be antagonized, but their emotions can be justified by the fact that they are human like you and me and Raz and any other psychonaut. They face trauma, they struggle with the same mental issues we all do, and their lives are shaped and changed by their surroundings. These are people with healthy potential who become spoiled by a force outside of their help, and they try to cope with mannerisms that aren’t healthy but it’s what they know. Raz and other psychonauts don’t fix these people. They help teach them healthy coping mechanisms and the mind missions help oil the dry cogs so to speak. They come out of it understanding themselves more and from there, know how to begin healing. It took me a few years to realize how true the saying “Knowing is half the battle” really is… If you can admit to yourself the ugly truths, you are already winning that war. The Raz helps his patients reach this stage of self awareness. From there, it’s up to them. This is the kind of focus on mental health we need and I don’t think Psychonauts could have come back into the spotlight at a better time.

Hey man, just found your channel, got Psychonauts on steam and been playing it for the first time, and it is growing on me, I think it's gonna be one of my personal favorite games. The humor, story, soundtrack, the exploration of human mind and even the graphics and control that's i though would be clunky but it works very well. Anyway, watched your videos on the levels i completed and I've been loving the series, that's all I wanted: A short story recap and deep psychological analysis of the characters in the game and the meaning of the objects in the game in the character mind. You man truly deserves more attention on this platform, easy subscribe and like, keep up the good work. Now I'm gonna go back to this game, I need to help Napoleon and the big painter guy

This entire series has been an absolute treat, thank you

I hope you'll continue the series by covering the minds in Psychonauts 2

Thanks for the videos of all the brains of Psychonauts 1! One thing I want to tell, is that how Raz sees people in his own mind with different hair or skin color like his father, one thing thta took my attention was that the game cover says "from the mind of Tim Schafer", so you could say that why some characters are blue skinned, with abnormal features like really big ears, etc is because you are seeing the perception of Tim's mind. Is a bit far fetched, and I think is just the unique style of the game, but I found it very interesting because it could still be.

13:32 " ....in order to confront the egregor of they're shared daddy issues " sounds so funny to me

I love Raz’s dad as a character

This level scared my inner child with the “Little bunny”, “My Face!”, and then his dad going “Razputin” in the blue face

With that we're done with the original Psychonauts, great job. Now to see you delve into Psychonauts 2 to see what this team can do with almost 16 years of experience and much more time and budget under their belts. Speaking of I'm betting that you'll combine Lobato's minds in both Rhombus of Ruin and Psychonauts 2 to save time and since it's the same character albeit under different stimuli which I bet will be the case for the 4 different aspects of Ford Cruller's and Hollis Forsythe's minds.

I hope you'll continue this series with Psychonauts 2 (and maybe the Rhombus of Ruin), That game had some fun minds to explore.

Fantastic as always, these breakdowns have been nothing but a treat. I hadn't even heard of an Egregore before but how it represents an amalgamation of their shared trauma is really fascinating here. I have to ask, where do you find the images that you use when discussing the principal terms (the angels and fallen angels under Egregore, or the Person Perception? You use these on the other videos too and the artwork is fantastic and really good.

Darn it! Now I need to buy and play Psychonauts 2 before you do Ps’nauts 2splained! Else, all the cool stuff will be spoiled right in front of my very own two eyes! *NOW* where can I get my thirst that could be mistaken as bloodlust for childhood trauma??? Jokes aside, congrats getting through every single level and finding the stories behind them. I learned a bunch of things about both mental issues, the story of Psychonauts perfectly blended in with the gameplay, and a couple other things I don’t feel like listing. Hopefully I’ll be able to play Sequelnauts, and that you’ll cover those levels with the same quality here, if not even better. Much respect.

In my time zone this came out at four o'clock.

Man I love psychology and Psychonauts, this series is so cool! I wish you continued it with Psychonauts 2 and other games :)

Traumas can seem small for other people and sometimes irrational but to that person it is everywhere and in everything; having a pet is a big deal as a child and having a family member or someone else kill it and you seeing that happening would damage anyone let alone a impressionable child Oleander went on to try and control his life by trying to fight or defend against a threat something he could never do as a child and was then regularly and continually rejected as a young adult; that will grow bitter resentment in most people saying his story was half baked is incorrect but it was rushed I’ll give you that

I just beat this game for the first time the other week and loved it, but it was unfortunate that the final level felt to be the weakest

Wow, I really didn't think this video would actually happen. The video on the milkman conspiracy hooked me; the series recently got me to binge and then 100% the game, but this level was missing.

TL:DR: Insightful analysis by you and also insight-provoking in me. I've been looking forward to this. Your Psychonauts and Control videos routinely broaden my perspective of mysticism (like the Kabbalistic Tree of Life) and the way it provided early arguments about psychology. While I doubt the Book of Enoch had significant influence in Western Europe (or anywhere outside Ethiopia), mentioning the interpretations of it is fodder for thinking about how singular concepts get turned into dualistic ones and then into the idea of an additional unaffiliated party. There was an observation in a theology book I had read (much younger) that there was a human difficulty in imagining infinity (and a nebulous unipole) so there was a temptation towards dualistic thinking (linear bipolar conflict). Your example helped jar the idea that as such dualistic theories lack much explanation for all scenarios, the addition of unaffiliated actors becomes popular in such evolutions until there is presumably another more abstract observation about the connectedness of all things and thus some infinite force is at play. I'm thinking of some instinctual revolutions between animism to trying to isolate more powerful forces to trying to identify a more abstract force to a lack of satisfaction with the nebulousness of the abstract force to seeking powers at all levels and so the cycle continues. While such theorizing about stages of transition between theological positions might seem unsupported, note that the Roman thinkers around 100 AD were already trying to narrow down the notions of how many versions of Zeus there were and were increasingly referring to unspecified god in the singular (like the Stoics). While educated thinking may tend to be more in favor of abstract ideas, the general social mood tends to swing between abstract notions and less abstract ones and the thinkers in such times wrote in such ways. For example, 1700s-1800s Jewish mysticism has to be understood in part as a response to the trend among the views of Spinoza but even more mystically-inclined Jewish communities have shifted towards a more abstract style of analysis. Early 200s Christian thinking tended to be relatively abstract (especially compared to the mystery cults in the Roman Empire at the time) but latter Christian debates around 800 tended to be over more tangible expressions such as the proper types of food to eat in the calendar and the hagiographic exaggerations became more prevalent and then various cycles of abstraction-tangability reversals happened. It is my speculation that some of the psychological ideas of the mystics might be revealed by looking at which side of the theological phase-transition they were on and thus the direction of their yearnings for meaning.

Thanks for making this video while not overusing the Meat Circus theme music.

“I’ve got you Mr. Bunny!”

Haha I love how videos about the Meat Circus or the Aquatos family always have that circus music in the beginning - it's too iconic not to include!

just wanted to say that i love your psychology of psychonauts videos so much!!! i get so happy whenever i see a new one and i watch all of them several times after you upload them bc i find them incredibly interesting :-)!

Thank you so much for this treat of a series!! Absolutely can't wait for the next video and then the Psychonauts 2 ones! Now they just need to make a 3rd so you can cover that too :D (And so I can play it of course~)

I was not expecting this video series to talk about THE BOOK OF ENOCH of all things lmao. Love it.

So… Basic braining: a mindscape created by dreams one wishes to come true Sasha’s shooting gallery: a controlled environment that shows the dangers of repressing emotions Mila’s dance party: when one overcompensates with positive vibes in an attempt to hide past mistakes Brain tumbler: when multiple minds are fused and a symbolic way of showing what’s to come for the hero Lungfishopolis: the mind of a creature controlled by indoctrination and propaganda Milkman conspiracy: the twisted mind of a conspiracy theorist further warped by kill commands Gloria’s theater: when constant abuse leads to a life of self destruction Waterloo world: how to help someone to not give up at the first hurdle Black velvetopia: a vibrant world that shows how to let go of bad memories and free yourself from hatred And meat circus: how childhood trauma can change someone for better or worst, and how a shared fear can create something far worst

Man, what a great video!! As always!! It amazes me the way that you actually invest time to research and comprehend these minds! Can't wait for the next ones (specially for Gristol's)! PS: It would be very cool if you also make a video about Dr. Loboto's mind in Rhombus of Ruin!

This is a great series and I want to see them do it for Psychonaughts 2. I also want to see if they could do it for American McGee's Alice. It would be interesting.

I appreciate that Raz and Oliander both keep up a friendly relationship going forward, even if they have some friction here and there.

gameplay wise, I never really understood why so many people complained about meat circus. I played the ps2 version first, so idk if thats the nerfed one, but I never had problems catching mr. bun, because I used invisibility instead of holding him and waiting for oly

You could also take Oleanders first name to also be like "Morsel'- as in, a small piece of food/meat, like the way butchers take animals and carve the meat into smaller pieces. Or, you could also take Morceau meaning small piece/fragment to relate to the way his psyche was fragmented

Please more videos like these!!! Loved this series of analyzing paychonauts levels :D

Fantastic series, I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to your analysis of the second game!

Love all these deep dive videos for the Psychonauts series you do. I can't wait to see if you do one on Dr. Loboto

Great video! Im SO excited for you to cover psychonauts 2!

The fandom is aliveeee! Also thank you so much for the video) I enjoyed it

Thank you so much for this awesome series.

Can't wait to see you tackle Loboto's Labyrinth

It's interesting that there is a term for losing a part of yourself when you lose an aspect to adapt to society. Is there a term for a complete break from the soul? Potentially, could this apply to sociopaths who recognize they need to wear a mask to fit into society and learn little by little to "fit in better"? When someone learns how to cope is this always then followed by a soul loss? (My argument is no and yes. After all, if it was a complete yes, any learning would relate to the loss of a piece of a person's soul) When considering the effect of the soul loss and Oleander's change, could there be other changes for soul loss within a person's psyche such as imitation of a role model being replaced with anger towards or even jealousy of them? What could come from a religious standpoint when this concept is applied? Could there be a certain methodology for determining whether someone will cave to learning the rituals and concepts of the new system to fit in versus being maladaptive but trying very hard to understand? I guess the last piece of the puzzle for this concept: Is there a true way to recover that lost piece of yourself? It seems like Psychonauts directly says that the person needs to confront their inner trauma to be better, but is that really the best way? Is it the only way? Can a piece of the soul really be restored by breaking out of the conformity that they endured at first? Or will they lose a second piece of their soul, the new, gained genuinity from the time they spent building themselves up after that trauma.

Lovely. Great job. Thank You for making this fantastic video. :)

You know what really gets me about Oleander? I guarantee that his dad is similar to Raz's dad. Not the monster we see in the Meat Circus. But just a man doing his job. In his mind, he might have just thought the conversation he had with Oly was just standard fair for his family, or even thought his words improved Oly's life, seeing as he went on to do incredibly in school due to intense discipline. Yeah the way he treated the rabbit was bad, killing it for being small, but the same mindset could be said for the dad in Charlotte's Web. Plus, I doubt Oly's dad knew he had developed the ability to hear animal thoughts so he couldn't know how this would affect Oly

Yes!!! I have be looking forward to this all november!!

Amazing video as always! Well done!

Thanks for all these vids gave me a more in depth of each mind of the first game and I hope you do the other games minds I would love to see your thoughts on them

This level gives me PTSD

Man not only is this vid good but its Info also helps me write for a character in my own series thanks!

I think you nailed this series, and I think that its probably because... You gave it Everything you got.

I love these videos. There are a few channels out there that break down the psychology of Psychonauts, but none of them have videos as well executed as yours. You’ve clearly done your research and put a lot of time into each one of these. Do you think we will be seeing video revolving around the minds in Psychonauts 2?

Coming back to the game through these video, it surprising the Air Force had no desire for Oleander considering how well personell of shorter stature do as pilots

I never knew about the clairvoyance fact thank you that's really cool

Can't wait to see what you do for the sequel

I love this series. Once we head to the second game I would love to give a proposed timeline because the next game has a very interesting timeline and because psychonauts has a very messed up one. Simply put, the game takes place in the 1980s, early 1980s. This isn’t so bad until you get to the lore behind thorney towers where everything gets messed up. It says the tower was closed in the 20s yet Boyd is clearly imagining a 50s neighborhood. Edgars mind could take place in either the 50s to 70s. Fred is somehow the orderly of all of this. The only one that makes sense to be here a long time is Gloria. So why does this matter? The second game really throws this off and I’ll talk about this when we get to some more appropriate minds in the second game. Namely a special one of the sensory kind.

this great video now time to wait for you to do The Psychology of Psychonauts 2

Ooo man we had a training at my job maybe a year or so ago and it was all about the judgement we make right when we meet someone and letting that go it was the best training class I ever took.

totally off topic of everything but MAN the music slaps in this level!!!!

And thats a wrap. Good job.

Love these vids

Decided to join the notification squad!

I know it’s a bit outside the in-lore scope of the video, but another interesting thing is the music, I mean the song feels like it’s laughing at you, mocking you. Like how both raz and oleander might feel belittled for who they are (raz being a psychic, oly being a ‘runt’). I thought that was interesting within the context of the lore you talked about here.

On this video has got some MEAT to it should be very intresting. Respect and keep up the epic work.

real pumped for this one

I love this seiries. I was wondering if you were going to do the minds in psyconauts 2?

I'm excited to see what you'll do for the newer worlds I know that will be a while since Psychonauts 2 is still new and such and you'll have to do abit more playthroughs to get a full grasp and such but I'm excited still

do you have any plans on covering the Psychology of Psychonauts 2? great video btw!

Loved this!!!! A great conclusion to this series!!!! 👏👏👏👏 Are you going to be doing Psychonauts 2 as well?

This was super cool! I've been slowly working my way through this series, but I decided to jump ahead to this video as I'm working on an Oleander-centric fanfic and thought this would be useful, haha. Also cool to learn some new words here--"chimeric" and "egregore"! One thing I'm slightly confused about though is where in canon it's stated that Oleander's mental state was affected by the psitanium? I can't find a source for that anywhere (the wiki does state it but it doesn't give a source) and it seems to directly contradict canon--Ford does state that it can make "unstable people more unstable" but that's in contrast to how it HELPS psychics, and in Ford's own case, he's incredibly unstable but the psitanium stabilizes him. It also wouldn't make much sense since both Whispering Rock and the Motherlobe are built atop massive psitanium deposits, and it wouldn't make sense for them to remain there if they negatively impacted all the psychics around. (...Hrm, wonder how that impacted Gristol, though...) My thought regarding Oleander was the psitanium wasn't involved in his breakdown--it was just the end result of a lifetime of trying to make up for his perceived shortcomings (no pun intended) and to try to show himself as worthy in the eyes of his father, only for his father to die before he could see Oleander accomplish anything. That would screw ANYONE up, no psychoactive minerals required! Otherwise though this was a really fascinating video. I'm super excited to see you cover RoR and Psychonauts 2!

After seeing all of these psychonaut vids you posted, I think it would be interesting to review some of the Abnormalities in Lobotomy Corporation, alongside the Distortions/E.G.I in Library of Ruina. All three of these things represent pieces of a person's personality taken physical form, just as these mindscapes (I think that's what it's called) represent the person they belong to.

Is there going to be an outro video for this game or just straight into the next game? I feel like there should be a little cap off, but it's up to you! I'll be happy just to see what you come up with next. This is a great series.

Great episode as always. :D When you'll make episode about Loboto, you can mention Phineas Gage. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage His case proofs, that brain damage CAN change human behavior.

A detail i noticed was that in psychonauts 1 and 2, there is a final battle where Rasputin gets more power from a family member, in the first game it is limited and lasts for short bursts, as augusto is not that trained, while in the second game the extra power is unlimited because it comes from lucrecia who is a train psychonaut

A good video! Egregores sound like a very interesting concept What's the song at the end? So few creators actually list these things.

Psychonauts made me smile. Im glad Game Pass exists

Ya please do more soon