The Psychology of Psychonauts - Waterloo World 

I started these videos trying to get a better understanding of Psychonauts, but left them with a better understanding of myself.

It is implied in-game that Fred's straight jacket isn't actually secured, and he can physically take it off at any point. He actually tries to do so "in defeat", before Napoleon stops him, as it is part of the uniform. Given that you explained the meta-metaphor of the straight jacket as learned helplessness, I am surprised that you didn't make note that it worked in-universe too.

One thing id like to add is, the level makes is very clear Bonaparte isn't malevolent like the matador or jasper ,he genuinely here to help fred regain his fighting spirit , sure he cheats at the end but its just to keep fred on his toes and be ready for anything, once napoleón loses he gladly departs proud fred overcame his demons

It's also very telling that he takes off the straightjacket himself without any help after winning. He ALWAYS had the ability to remove the straightjacket but he just chose not to. He chose to be helpless even when he always had the ability to escape, he just needed to WANT to escape.

Fred seems a good orderly, but, he's sorely lacking in understanding of his field if he assumed crazy meant stupid/feebleminded. Crispin being insane had no correlation with his ability to strategize in a board game.

There is a spot in the "Lowest" level of Waterloo World, where Raz is smaller then the game pieces, that you can look in a window and see Fred and Napoleon in the room. It may just be a meaningless and fun recursion, but it could also be a small hint that patterns are cyclic. I honestly didn't expect an explanation on learned behaviour. It's odd/interesting, that the more "sane" of the patients, Fred, has the more "Straight Forward" treatment. Honestly, if you think too hard about it, Fred comes across as, well, a jerk. Not knowing the past or problems of Fred he comes across as someone who sees himself better then others (as a note, if you look at how Fred Introduces himself in that first memory vault, it's like the hero of a movie, like a Title "FRED".) There's a lot of interesting things one can think of, if new lessons from Psychonauts 2 are applied to the patients of Psychonauts 1, as an example, mental connections(associations), and their importance.

I have an alternate theory on the source and basis for Fred's mental trauma besides simply the humiliation of losing the Waterloo game itself. You've done a good job examining Fred and his history, but I think you're downplaying the significance of one crucial detail. Fred's opponent was Crispin Whytehead, the newly minted "Orderly" of the Thorny Towers who, upon our introduction to him, is maliciously tormenting Fred during a breakdown, all while watching and refusing to assist him, despite being in a helpless state. From there, talking to him further, we learn he willingly works for Doctor Loboto, and will only let us use the elevator he guards if we look like him as well, telling us to "go away and die" if we don't. His quiet, intelligent, and sadistic personality and demeanor, as well as his voice and manner of speaking, are reminiscent of famous fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter, whose considerable intellect, unflappable confidence and charisma, and cruel indifference to human life have all popularized the image of "psychopathy" in the minds of most casual audiences. Now, certainly, Fred does initially express a visible frustration at losing to the seeming-invalid Crispin in that last reel of the first memory vault, certainly, but there's also a subtler story of expressions going on in this level. I'll first go the route of making an assumption about Fred that I think can be reinforced by interactions with a game: Fred is a genuinely nice, well-meaning, and helpful person. He entered into the mental health profession and worked his way to Chief Orderly of Thorny Towers, where he still cared personally enough about the patients to go out of his way to try to help them, as evidenced by the sympathetic expression he has when seeing Crispin's catatonic state. Fred is conciliatory to other people, in a way that is certainly partially explained by his defeatism and lack of confidence, but not entirely. He *is* willing to just let Raz have his things, like the priceless coin, and we have no reason to disbelief him when he says that he would be sad if the peasantry of his mind kingdom died. Now if you follow Crispin's facial expressions throughout Fred's memory reels, you see the following progression: catatonia in his padded -> sadness as Fred first approaches him with the game -> concentration during the game itself -> elation during his first victory -> self-satisfaction at Fred's frustration and call for a rematch -> a steely-eyed grin as Fred shakily leaves the table. It's very likely that, depending on the time frame in which these 27 games took place, either all consecutively or over the course of longer period of time, Fred himself was able to observe these changes in mood, demeanor, behavior, etc. I find it unlikely that Crispin wouldn't begin talking as he began to open up emotionally, and we know how he talks when he does exercise the ability to do so. I think ultimately, the repeated losses at Waterloo translating to the genetic memory of Napoleon Bonaparte "possessing" Fred and roping him into playing the game is a semi-confabulated internalization of what Fred knows to be his *real* failure: In trying to do a good deed and help Crispin out of his catatonic state with play therapy, he reverted him back to his normal arrogant and sadistic personality, then gave him an increased sense of confidence and sense of power over what should be the chief authority figure overseeing his treatment. Fred didn't simply have his own confidence shattered by repeatedly losing a children's game to someone he thought was mentally feeble. Fred tried to help treat a distressed patient that he had taken pity on, and his efforts resulted in the return and reinforcement of unhealthy attitudes (Crispin's condescending arrogance and pleasure at seeing other people's displeasure) and behaviors (working for a mad scientist, not doing anything to actually help the remaining patients at the asylum despite assuming the title and authority of "orderly" over them) in a patient that was admitted to his care.

This resonated me in a way I did not expect. I’ve been struggling with finding a job for years due to my bad habits of procrastination and at this point I’ve become more reserved in looking for one. At this point I’ve accepted that I might not get a job anytime soon. This analysis is a good reminder that I shouldn’t give up on my efforts yet. I should replay Psychonauts. And get Psychonauts 2 soon :^) Edit: I actually finally got a job ;w; it’s only seasonal, but it’s everything I’ve been needing for years

I’m so glad you did this one with Fred Bonaparte, most people just gloss over him when doing reviews of him just thinking his just being possessed by the Spirit of Napoleon, there had to be a deeper reason why this was a world on his own.

oh hey look, the most underrated world in psychonauts : D happy this level was talked about (since no one does with this one lol)

After watching this video, and watching that clip of Crispin telling you "Get away from my elevator, and die", I think it's safe to say Crispin had a hand in Fred's torment. Yes, obviously it doesn't help when you lose to someone who was catatonic for who knows how long. However, I think that when Crispin started to get back into sanity, he started to maybe mock Fred, and made our poor Bonaparte feel worse.

The mental vaults for this mind scape are among my favorites. "Fear of failure" is something all people experience, but for those with low self-esteem, and a lack of recognition/success/indicators of forward progress for their efforts (People only reward the final result, not the "small victories" along the way.), it can lead to self-sabotaging behavior and not wanting to try at all in the future. I have experienced this cycle of "mental cobwebs" and "mind games" innumerable times, but quarantine seems to have brought out the worst of it.

Gonna be real, as some one who actually has DID, DID is more fitting for ford than Fred but the learned helplessness definitely fits I always saw Fred of more as someone who failed so much he felt like a disappointment to his blood he suffered some sort of nervous breakdown and a Napoleon complex joke. but this game is 16 years old so it may just all be speculative. and with ford it wasn’t really more obvious until the sequel. Won’t elaborate on that bc the game is too new

Ah yes, I've been looking forward to this one in particular, mainly because Fred (and Edgar to an extent) are probably the minds I relate to the most. Also, something else to add to Fred's long term conditioning and feeling of helplessness is the fact that he IS a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte; in that it can be assumed that all his life he has been living under the shadow of an incredibly famous historical figure, one that was renowned as a brilliant strategist. So not only is there that sense of being conditioned to accept every failure in his life as 'normal', but he probably felt he had a ridiculously high expectation to live up to. Heck, I'm willing to be that the game room in the level might actually be a memory of a room in Fred's own family home, with constant reminders of his heritage surrounding him. But that's just my interpretation.

I think the snails are also an important part of all this too. They themselves are willing to sacrifice after all, with a rather empowered and impassioned speech no less! Could they be the small, humble voices that Fred needs to get the ball rolling a bit more?

I think I heard a few stories about different personalities being aware of each other and some being able to communicate with one another, either through outside means (like leaving notes) or actively speaking with each other within their mind. But there are times where the other personalities are aware of each other, but the original or base personality is completely unaware. They can even have their own dynamics, like one taking a commanding role over the others or another acting like a protective sibling towards another.

I really can't wait to see you get to Bob Zanotto's brain in the sequel. No spoilers, it was my favorite brain to play through in the sequel.

That dog experiment shown in this video really makes me remember how much of an impact we as a species have on the world.

I remember looking for in depth analysis videos of each of these levels after replaying the game about two years ago and could hardly find anything. Fast forward to two weeks ago, I'm hype for Psychonauts 2 and search again...only to find my boy Gaming University coming in CLUTCH with the high quality dissections. I love the fact that you incorporate real psychology to explain what's going on in these levels. Absolutely amazing job with this game so far, and I can only hope that you will get around to the sequel at one point as well, since there's a lot to unpack in that game too! Keep it up.

There's one part that I heard from another video that I found interesting in Waterloo World, that being Napoleon's demeanor during the game. Napoleon isn't playing to win the game; he's playing to get Fred to stand up for himself and win. When Raz enters the game and says he doesn't understand how to play, rather than shooing him off, Napoleon gladly explains the rules. When the first soldier is captured in the game, Napoleon almost gleefully announces that Fred did something right for once. It's a tough love act, Napoleon doesn't hate Fred himself, he just doesn't want Fred to give up, he's acting tough because he has to and when Fred finally stands up for himself, Napoleon sounds rather happy at it. That video even suggested that Napoleon's trick during the end when he cheated and jammed the gears was also a test for Fred. So far, the loop has been repairing the bridge, recruit the soldier, and progress on. Now the rules have changed, now Raz must recruit the knight, a new piece, and platform his way to the stuck gear, a tougher challenge than the previous game loop. It was suggested that the reason Napoleon changed how the game had to be played was because he didn't want Fred to fall back into his old habits the moment things got tough and to accept that not everyone is going to play fairly out in the real world, some will cheat and play dirty and that it is up to you then to find a way around it. If it were the old Fred when Napoleon jammed the gears, he would have easily given up without considering that he has Raz at his side, a talented acrobatic and fledgling psychic, who could easily deal with the challenge. Fortunately for Napoleon though, Fred doesn't back down from the challenge, he steps up to lead him and Raz to victory, which in the end satisfies Napoleon and allows himself to be removed from Fred's mind.

I’d like to know what happened to Crispin. We never see what Fred did to him or whether he escaped Thorny Towers before it exploded.

I feel so sorry for those poor dogs

My god, suddenly so many of my recent actions - or rather inaction - makes sense. No wonder I keep looking at options for improving my life and then thinking "What's the point?" and not taking those options. Realising it may just be what I need so I can start getting better. Thanks, man!

As someone who relates a lot to Fred, I personally view him as someone who had a lot of pressure on him. Legacy, the duty of being a chief orderly-- with those things, I personally think that his self-confidence fell by the wayside, since not many people could be helped with the Psitanium influence. But that's my own theory, not rooted in much at all. Great video!

I didn't think there was much in this level but you definitely pulled a lot out of it. I probably struggle with learned helplessness after watching this and that's kinda of a sad realization to have but at least I know the fix is just trying and having help from people. Also it's kinda funny that Crispin actually ends up almost like an orderly at Thorny Towers since he was supposed to be a patient there...

Honestly, this video made me appreciate Waterloo World a lot more. I never considered it a bad level, just the weakest one, but I hadn't picked up on the aspect of learned helplessness to it. Hell, it's helping me appreciate a similar level in 2 a lot more as well.

I know this doesn't take reading into but Fred's reluctance to actually try might also be represented through his censors. They don't bother Raz in either of the first two layers of the mental world, but they do chase after him in the third one, the one where Raz is meant to do most of the work.

My personal favourite world in Psychonauts 1 (feels odd having to say 1 at the end of it now), i love the concept of the world, and always had my mind entranced by shrinking down to see new perspectives. The mental issues it deals with also, are something which really struck a cord with me, and made self reflect a bit. Needless to say it left an impact, which few have been able to match. Another great analysis, I really enjoyed your interpretations and ways that you explained them, its always a joy. Keep up the good work, and have a nice day.

As another man in the coments wrote "I started these videos trying to get a better understanding of Psychonauts, but left them with a better understanding of myself." I started with Control got into Alan wake which hit me heavily, but Psychonauts hits harder than anything, great game with emphasies on mental strenght and with you as the narator and with such good analysis its like the cherry on the cake.

This has to be the most provocative of your Psychonauts videos yet. As someone who failed a couple of modules last year I've had to learn that taking action is possible if I wanna succeed and I can't act helpless, thanks for vocalizing that

Man, and I thought I really liked Freds level and conflict before. I guess deep down I felt sympathy and understand what hes going through based on my own problems. Plus, I'm a big history/strategy game nerd. ...Also, random as it is, that shit about the rattle is fascinating as hell dude. Not only did I not realize how old it is, how something so simple can teach something so necessary.

I am so fucking happy that this game has become as relevant as it has. Psychonauts is truly a unique piece of interactive artwork and there is so much to say about it.

Waterloo world is not my fav level of the game , but the information and ur narration voice make me stay Excelent video 1 day and i realized that im like fred , i have no hope in myself. Have a nice day :D

Praise be to the almighty algorithm; may it shower this video with bountiful views. By my count, you're up to Meat Circus. Looking forward to that. Will you be covering the levels in Psychonauts 2 also? I am keenly interested in your insights into PSI-King's Sensorium, Bob's Bottles and Fatherland Follies in particular. And Cassie's Collection. And also Compton's Cookoff.

In life you don't understand psychonauts, psyconauts understands you

With the second Psychonauts game out, I look forward to see if you will continue this a video series to those levels as well

I do agree that the units on the board are another version of Fred himself requiring motivation, but my first impression was that all of the materials Razputin gathers are representations of things necessary to wage war. Firstly there is the willingness of your soldiers via propaganda, in this case in the form of a letter; second there is money needed to pay the soldiers who aren't entirely sold on a patriotic cause; and lastly the weapons needed to actually arm those soldiers. Do you think this accurate, or am I just showing my own procrastinating tendencies here?

okay, the raddle thing was kinda mindblowing. Wish I knew a way to give my friend his psychological raddle

This has to be my favorite level in the game, mostly because Napoleon is my favorite historical figure.

Watching these videos actually helped me get through a time that where my mind was more or less… unstable by simply allowing me to basically understand my own mind and fix some things that caused said unstablities in my mind, Psychonauts and these videos basically have given me a way to have better ability to understand.

Personally, I'm more curious about ol' Fred's arms. Why are they stubs in the physical/mental world but appear normal in his memory vaults? I figured that his ridiculously long legs are supposed to be an inverse of how Napoleon is stereotyped to be very short, but was Napoleon also stereotyped as having long arms? Or perhaps I shouldn't be wondering such dumb things since Psychonauts characters have overly exaggerated features to begin with. Either way, I would appreciate any insight into this bizarre character design.

GU: *give in depth description of learned helplessness* Me: "Have you been reading my journal?"

When I saw the picture of the fancy-looking baby rattle, I thought you were going to bring up the fact that Napoleon had a custom rattle made for his son Louis-Napoleon made out of gold and aluminum (aluminum back then was more valuable than gold due to how difficult it was to refine).

Hoping you release videos for Black Velvetopia and Meat Circus soon. I'm also looking forward to videos on the Psychonauts 2 worlds. I'll admit that Compton's Cookoff came out of left field for me. I didn't expect a person with anxiety issues to have a cooking show for a mental world, but it actually makes sense in hindsight.

Just binged watched the whole series tonight. Hope you finish it soon because I'm loving it.

Do you believe theirs any importance to the room inside the board that appears the same as napoleon and fred are playing the game? I can’t really think of anything and it’s probably just a neat Easter egg but idk.

I hope when you’re done with analyzing the levels in this game, you do the levels in Psychonauts 2! I love your voices!

As someone who has DID, I'm thankful that you used the correct terminology for the disorder. Also about the Alters ("fragments") knowing about each other some systems have alters that can know/remember each other, but some might not know about each other and or remember what the others say or do. Amnesia is apart of the disorder but some systems and even alters have worse amnesia than others.

Watching this video, my reactions. "Oh. Ohhh! O-oh... Oh crap." I uhhh, I may need to reflect upon my own thought processes now. My counselor may expect a call. Thank you for making this series, not only to delve into the inner workings of one of my favorite games, but explaining how abnormal psychology works and even how it can be treated.

Can’t wait for the video on the Psi King Level!

I can't wait for you to get to Edgar but mostly I can't wait to see you dive down into the new characters in Psychonauts 2!

The level that will drive you insane with its music AND TRYING TO FIND THAT ONE LAST FIGMENT

I think this is the first time someone actually talks about this one in depth.

Man I was pretty upset until you got to the point where seligman actually helped the dogs afterwards LOL

LOVED THIS ONE!!!! I was so excited for the next installment of this series!!!! 🧠

This series has been amazing so far. I can't wait to see your analysis on the remaining two levels and of course Psychonauts 2. It could be the difference in age in which I played the first game and when I played the second but I felt that Psychonauts 2 was much more obvious in their level presentation (though it did take me a bit to see that Hollis' Hot Streak is the misdirection of Hollis' heart after how the hospital treated her and the casino/hospital environment presents the idea of medical procedures being rigged games of chance), it still felt very relevant. Compton Boole *especially* resonates with me as I too have the same issues of being overwhelmed with responsibilities at times and face trials with judges which I assume represent the fear of others judging the person.

This was such a good video!! So sad abt them dogs tho...

Dude you are on fire with the psychonauts vids, looking forward to seeing the last few, Heres hoping you continue these kinda vids into psychonauts 2

There is so much hidden in the world of Psychonauts. I love these videos, teaching me something new. :)

This video is amazing! Watching this series is what ultimately made me decide to pick up Psychonauts on Steam, and after playing it, I can easily call it one of my top 10 favorites of all time

Man these videos are amazing! I hope you end up doing this for psychonauts 2 as well!

Hell yeah glad to see another Pschonauts video today.

Fenomenal, as usual!

All these folks in the comments taking away variations on "I just need to be more pro-active" and missing the very important point that it's specifically NOT a question of individual motivation, and having a support network of people patient and willing enough to help - even so far as hand-holding through every step - is the proven method. Never let anyone tell you that 'laziness' should factor in to whether someone gets help.

Nice were finishing off the first game

I cried at the Seligman's research part. I was in group 3 all my life. Damn, never thought I'll get a life-changing introspection from a Psychonauts video. ty for the video.

Man, I can't wait till you touch on Psychonauts 2 Ford's Mind and the other's Mind in the game Like Bob's Mind, that one was pretty neat to talk about

Although what you’ve shown and proven does strongly suggest DID, I had always suspected it to be Schizophrenia, or better terms, the stereotypical Schizophrenia where you have a voice in your head that talks to you directly making it difficult to differentiate from what’s real or not, schizophrenia is stereotyped as ‘having another person’. While true schizophrenic disorders are much different than that. I do agree that there is a sense of learned helplessness in Fred, and you make a strong point that it’s dissociative identity disorder, though I think that what DoubleFine was trying to imply was schizophrenia rather than DID.

favorite stage from the original! so glad its being covered

"Why do I think the way I do?" I... hadn't thought of that.

Finally, the best level in the game gets its representation.

As someone who suffers from depression, especially the "learned helplessness" symptom I think this video is masterfully done.

I'm really excited to see you analyze the psychonauts 2 levels (Cassie's Collection)

I just shared this with a bunch of friends hoping they'll clue in.

I cant Wait for your series on psychonauts 2. There are some awsome level in there

Are you planning on talking about Psychonauts 2's worlds after this? If you think these ones are thematically rich, I can't wait to see how you explore those ones!

Well personally I always pick Edgar Teeglee as the next mind in the Thorny Towers asylum to do because it's gets you the Confusion Grenades and rounds out your powers. Also finally helping Fred restore order to the Ruins of Thorny Towers and dealing with Crispin seemed a lot more fitting for the Penultimate Mental World of the First Game before the Big Finale imo. Can't wait for Said Mental world and the Big Great Loboto Episode to bridge the whole Trilogy of Games.

I got really excited when I saw the thumbnail for this video, I was too busy trying to figure out the frustrating mechanics of the platforming in that level to pay attention to anything important.

These videos made me buy psychonauts and replay them before I play the sequel lol.

absolutely loved this video! also love psychoanuts. liked and subscribed as well

I have a feeling that when fred was younger, he was ridiculed for not succeeding at certain tasks, which ended up planting the seeds and the games between him and Crispin, he finally snapped. It was probably also aided by Crispin likely mocking fred during the games, as Crispin is a harsh person in the game.

Ya boy experienced some learned helplessness as he wandered around this level trying to figure out what to do

This is great. I always had trouble finding good metaphors and such in waterloo world.

Didn’t realize I’d relate so much

Yay, another video!! I have been looking forward to these!!!

Wow, that was quite the video! Loved it

Excellent video. Can't wait for the one Black Velvetopia level next. After watching this one, I went back and watched all of you previous videos. I played through the psychonauts this month for the first time in my life, in anticipation of the 2, and boy I had a great time. Pity I missed it originally when it was released.

didn't expect a callout in a psychonauts video

I blown away because I am actually this Character, down to the Learned helplessness, the dissociation and I regularly play strategy games with someone who beats me everytime, and get this... he even uses a napoleon pfp

fred is another character that i found myself connecting with, this time on a more personal level, though until watching this i wasn't exactly sure how to describe it properly. ive been aware of the presence of it in my own mind and somewhat where it came from, but still didnt quite know what it was. i honestly didn't even know that there was a term for it until you explained what learned helplessness was. so thanks for that, honestly

Wow that’s really deep in the mind, cool video.👍

YES! My favorite level! Good concept and I like his personality!

Oh boy, this has shown that I have learned helplessness about art

Didn't expected the animal abuse story (>_

I clicked this video because I'm bored, and learned that I might have learned helplessness. This is what the internet needs. More videos, text documents, etcetera that use literature and media for education and introspection.

Awesome video! Particularly as, in as far as I am aware, no one else has done a video on what I find to be one of the most interesting levels in the game :) . Do you plan to continue this series into the sequel? I'd imagine that those minds are ripe for analysis.

I watched pysconauts 2 and can't wait to see you a deep dive on them

Well I thought Rin Yamaoka from Dead by Daylight was all "for the story" about taking into a decendant trait. But now I know "DID" from him, because of her Physical stress when getting hurt by bullies. And yeah this was probably the 1 level I thought of the less (not about fun) as a take over by a spirit than a mental problem.

7:40 Wow, okay.... I didn't expect to be called out by a video about a fictional character's mental psychosis.

I love the disclamer in the beginning. "Confidential Napoleon footage. Unauthorized distribution, reproduction, or siege is in violation of his majesty" Such a shame not many people read these disclamers