"Centipede" was the nickname of the Takeda clan's miners, as they were specialized in crawling inside narrow spots to collect ores and the Centipedes of Sekiro seem to have the same role as they're mostly found in caves. The fact that they drop Black Gunpowder and Yellow Gunpowder is probably a nod to the origins of the Monks in the Sunken Valley, where they used the Centipedes to collect trading goods for the Snake Eyes clan, hence the presence of a mixed religion of both the Great Serpent and the Buddha in that place. But a probable defeat at the hands of the Ashina, led the Monks to be spirited-away to Senpou Temple via the Large Fan, which is still located in the Buddhist Shrine of the Gun Fort, just underneath a statue holding serpent skin.
@@br3hbmc79 『甲陽軍鑑』に拠れば武田家の金掘り衆は、トンネル戦法を得意とする工兵部隊で、百足衆と呼ばれたとも言われる。大蛇が河川を象徴し、砂鉄の採集や製鉄の技術者集団を表すことと比して、ムカデは地下坑道を掘り進み、自然金などの鉱石を採集する技術者集団を表しているという説がある。 From wikipedia page for ムカデ.
It's easy to look at some enemies and accept them as being a mystery box that isn't meant to be understood, but the Long-Arm Centipedes just feel strange in how obviously important centipede symbolism is in the game, but how far removed from the stuff actually relating to centipedes they seem to be.
i never realized those were metal hooks, just thought of them as centipede legs just protruding all over them as they were somehow overexposed to the centipede infested waters or something
At surface level, the Long-Arm Centipede could be a reference to the fighting style of “The Centipede” from the “Five Deadly Venoms”. There are five distinct fighting styles based on animal with their own unique ability. The Centipede style’s main attribute is its immense speeed, which the Long-Arm Centipede very much has with its blitzing moveset.
I think there's a greater theme of animal or animism metaphors for each of the bosses in the game. Things like the placement of the Snake Eyes makes me feel like it's symbolic. They coexist right next to a literal beast of a snake who has pretty (somewhat) good eyes that keep watch over the valley... They may have the same animal name, but do they represent the same being? idk not necessarily. Stuff like owl, butterfly, and great ape made me have these thoughts too while playing the game. If... the Folding Screen Monkeys could be construed as a ghost like metaphor for the sins and evil deeds of Senpou temple, then the centipedes could be....? idk And why long-arm?? Is there some sort of short-arm variant? or regular-arm??
Based on the Sixth Prayer Necklace, these "centipedes" seek leadership and often change their names to show loyalty, with these centipede chiefs gaining the title of "Long-Arm"... Them having a hierarchy makes it seem like a clan or some sort. If it is a clan, maybe it's not done in experimentation, but self mutilation done in honor to the immortal centipede. Still not a lot about these guys, so chances are they're just a enemy design the devs liked but couldn't fit in anywhere and decided to have them throw ranks with the Monks.
Assuming that they mutilate themselves to look like centipedes, maybe they flocked to the monks at Senpou temple as a sort of affirmation of the monks' research into centipedes, maybe even forming religious crossover.
They are so good at horrific creatures and enemies. No other even comes close and they also of course do the best armored/warrior type enemies aswell as big majestic monsters like dragons
That'd be boring. Most horror games are just glorified walking simulators. Action horror is the way to go (Bloodborne), maybe survival horror with resource management, but just straight horror has me thinking of Alien Isolation.
@@Lunartic_ Once you know the trick it's easy but they come in so fast that you want to get distance and study them when getting in their faces with parry spam is the right choice. It's an interesting challenge in that it involves the player doing what feels "wrong."
@@specialnewb9821 Literally never been the case with me or with anyone I know. Everyone rushes in to parry their attacks until they win because they made it so easy.
Them being an experiment of the monks becomes more (gruesomely) believable when you remember all the smaller centipedes, who could be small children. Also, the, uh... dopey af look they have on their faces is kinda similar to the pinwheel guy.
Small centipedes are actually the same size as sekiro and just feel small because of their position. They are grown men (not gyobu/isshin/owl size grown but still)
@@siobhanelysia8852 Pretty sure that's just the "other grown men" that's large. IIRC wolf is around as tall as a regular ashina soldier/senpou monk/okami warriors or any other humanoid trash mobs
The way I always imagined them is like... They're people who uncovered the truth of immortality and its relation to centipedes, but weren't nobles or part of the temple, and in pursuit of that immortality, they went insane and subjected themselves to whatever the hell made them end up as they are. So they basically got the message of centipedes = immortality, but that's as far as they got. In an effort to become immortal, they've taken on the traits of centipedes. In a way, it sorta reminds me of Solaire and his "sun".
These are probably inspired by one of the monsters in Blade of the Immortal. One of the big arcs in that manga revolves around the main character, who's an immortal thanks to horrifying flesh creating worms, being captured and experimented on by government officials in an attempt to learn the secrets of his immortality; of course it results in the deaths of hundreds, but one of the few survivors is an extremely tall, lanky man on whose arms they stuck swords, who's completely lost his mind and now acts like and animal, called the Nui (a Japanese chimera). So the idea that they're experiments is probably on the money. There's tons of ideas Sekiro and even Bloodborne took from Blade of the Immortal, from the whole searching for immortality in case of war, to its connection with Buddhism, Orin's namesake and likeliness, Western giants with unbeatable armor, a character who straight up has the Beast Claw, and lots to do with the character's motivations. If you liked Sekiro, I highly recommend it; calling it "samurai Berserk" doesn't quite do it justice, but it'll probably give you a sende of the scale and weight of the story and the quality of the art and characters.
Was gonna write this myself if nobody had done it yet. When I first came across one of these, I immediately thought about BotI and how it reminded me of Nui. At that time I didn't know parts of BotI were inspiration for Sekiro but once I did, the themes made more sense and it just made me excited since BotI is one of my fav manga.
These guys crack me up. Starting with bloodborne, the soulsverse really started to lean into character models with unnaturally tall and lanky physique. My bro and I always found this particular aesthetic choice a little bit goofy, and have always referred to those types of characters as "long-arms." These guys are literally the epitome of that evolution - it almost makes me feel like From was in on the joke with me all along and this was their acknowledgement.
Unnatural proportions are uncanny and terrifying. Take me for example, I'm like 5'10" with ordinary proportions. Now give me another foot or two of height, make them arms reach down to my knees, and I'm suddenly nightmare fuel.
Imagine if one of these suddenly appearer in the double ape cave after killing shichiman warrior, stood up on two legs and started sprinting towards you full speed....
i always thought that the hooks were tendrils from having the centipede inside of them. its actually quite neat to know that they were just metal hooks, and opens up a ton of questions as to why they were made this way! thanks zullie :3
Zullie, you put so much effort into your videos. I don't know if it is said much, but thank you. For those that love these games that From Software releases, your efforts are a treasure and a blessing. Even these little examinations are enough to entertain and enlighten to the craftmenship of that little outfit in Japan (though now large). God bless you.
I have always found their significance to be like you said, experiments…but why? Their depiction is very similar to how people suffering from leprosy were described in medieval Japan. They look very close to the leprosy patients in princess mononoke, too, minus the blades and hooks lol. These people actually handled toxic things like gun powder because they had no other means to make a living, and sadly would die anyways. So my thoughts are, Miyazaki is using visual story telling to say these senpoku monks are using leprosy victims to make these human abominations. Leprosy is a contagious disease, but I think that goes to the poisonous “nature” of the centipedes, but also their fiery burn attacks which may be allusions to them once being makers of gunpowder. We see the similar bandaged men throughout the game using cannons.
The room where you find the centipede in the Senpou Temple, is rumoured to be a portal to a dlc that might never happen. It has the same bell you ring to teleport to the divine child's realm. I believe there might have been a dlc planned for a smaller world where it shows their background.
I still remember the first time I stumbled upon this guy behind the sniper fortress. I was like "Centipede Giraffe?? Really?? Is this some kind of Hideo Kojima collab?" xD
all i can say about these guys is that the first one i fought finally made the game click in my head by finally learning how good parrying is. freaky bastards but thanks to them the rest of the game felt much better
to me thats a great example of why From are great gameplay designers. You could brute your way through without parrying, but they built the whole game around it. So they throw a centipede at you to kinda force you into having that aha! moment and then the game really unlocks its potential. They tend to do this as the skill check boss and it always to me makes the game more enjoyable
I always figured that they were early experiments in centipede immortality but their inner centipede grew out across their limbs and scrambled their brains. So now they're a puppet controlled from the inside.
Another classic example of From's unsettling character designs. Taking something and making it more centipede-like is a pretty good way to add wrongness to something though. Standard centipedes are bad enough, merging them with something just takes the creep factor up another level. I think it's something to do with them having so many legs.
I kind of assumed that they aren't metal hooks but actual centipede legs. Like the centipede inside has grown beyond a parasite and is now almost wearing the person like a skin puppet, literally held together by rope and bandages.
I always thought they were monks or cultists that believed they'd gain immortality by understanding the centipede, hence why they try to look and act like one. Sort of a "be like water" mentality.
As a failed experiment maybe they constructed themselves into a what a crazy person would believe a centipede would be thus no longer being a failure and feeling unfulfilled. So they go around thinking they’ve become this enlightened immortal being (which may explain the happish expression)
It bothers me way too much that the claws on their feet make no sense and would be uncomfortable. Forget about the hooks embedded in their flesh everywhere else.
The more I look at their attire, the more I think they might have a deeper connection to the Snake-eyes clan. I know the centipedes are ostensibly used for mining material to trade with the Gun Fort, but perhaps they also once came from there
It's a reference for the manga/anime titled "Mugen no Juunin Blade of the Immortal". Basically Sekiro is kinda based on its premise: an immortal samurai that is a guard to some girl and mc basis immortal due to some magic worms and there's a monsters like those centipedes that are created by combining mc's parts of body to other ordinary people that are not immortal.
The wraps do remind me of the valley ashina gunner clan, considering the first one is fought at their fort too. Maybe some experiment done on them by the senpou monks/any doctor with grey morals willing to side with them?
@Zulliethewitch Great use of the village music from Tenchu Z. I absolutely loved that game back in the day and it’s a shame they never remade or remastered it.
Maybe when they learned about "centipedes" and "immortality," they didn't take it literally, and thought that by emulating centipedes it'd somehow make them immortal?
I wonder if they are in there as a way if saying that people would go through untold cruelty to get what they want. Even if it means harming themselves or others.
I feel like a lot of people don’t know that similar to how dark souls take inspiration from Berserk, Sekiro also references another manga, blade of the immortal. A lot of things are very close to the manga, and this one in particular also look like the failed immortality experiments from the original manga.
