It actually goes a little deeper than that. So, in accordance with Minion's secret messages, we know this game entirely takes place within Sweet Tooth's head space. This is the world "As he sees it" and this explains a lot of seemingly illogical things at first. Why they all start in the same cell. Why No-Face hasn't died from lack of food or water. Etc. But this also explains why the entire cast is fucked up, too. Because these characters, arguably, don't exist. They're merely extensions and fragments of Marcus Kane's personality, the true person behind Needles Kane. As described through the messages, Marcus has to conceal himself in his own subconscious, lest Needles, his conscious self, discover he's still alive in there somewhere and try to suppress him entirely. So he takes the persona of Minion, the "winner of last years contest" according to Needles. The "former" big guy, aka, the previous owner of their shared body. Ever think about how weird it is that every contestant "falls asleep" right after the Minion fight? That's because the fight didn't happen. Originally, that's just Marcus feeding Needles a narrative while Needles is asleep. But it also happens for every other character, implying they are all connected to Needles in some way. And interestingly enough, we know Needles in particular sleeps a LOT outside of what we see in the game. How? At his character select screen, he's uniquely described as someone with "Insomnia". No other driver has this listed and it's being paired with things like "Homicidal Tendencies" and "Psychotic Disorder". Awfully odd and out of place thing to add in for no reason, right? Wrong. It's there as a connection showing that these dreams Needles is having are where our visions of the other drivers are coming from. All of them. Even Minion, which is why he speaks in code. When Needles is not actively being played, this is what is going on. And every character has an odd connection with him too. Yellow Jacket for example being a direct familial tie to Needles. But then consider that Twisted Metal 2012, a game that largely takes after Twisted Metal Black, establishes that Needles killed his own family (Implying this may have always been a planned detail given the devs actually wanted a TM Black 2). And he had two daughters. Suddenly, the tale of the enstranged goth girl that drives Shadow makes a little more sense, as does the tale of Axel whose wife was "murdered by Sweet Tooth", interesting considering Needles murdered Marcus's wife, too. How about Needles' obsession with his mask in both games, and how he is more concerned with "getting his mask back on" after fighting off guards during his execution? Yeah, No-Face encapsulates that disconnect with his real face, and No-Faces' story even in some ways parallels Needles' malevolence towards Marcus as seen with the doctor and No-Face. These same themes are recaptured with Junkyard Dog who, once again and oddly enough, has the themes of having his face fucked up, murdering his wife, and then kills some other third string man who had been fooling around with her. Even characters who seem so physically opposed to Sweet Tooth such as the Priest have off connections; the Priest's story being one about him thinking there is another demonic murderous half to himself only to come to grips with the face that it was just him all along. But then why all of the virtuous denial? Does he have split personality disorder? Is he... Like Marcus? This is the real story underlying the ENTIRE game... We just never noticed. And once again, knowing TM 2012 was an attempt to recapture the original intent for a Black sequel, it makes a little more sense why most of the cast is suddenly missing but all of their cars are available.
@@idlehour Well… for Dollface, the mask was stuck to her face, and Mr. Grimm gets really pissed off when you touch Benny's skull. Also, I don't think masks and not wearing a shit compare to literal weaponry
They didn’t really wish for them though. In this game Calypso pretty much goes up to them with an offer they can’t refuse pretty much, and they accept it then take part in the contest.
@@FireIsTheCIeanser he was sent by the FBI I think. He was a demon in the original game that won the contest to collect calypsos soul and take it back to hell
So what are you in for? Sweet Tooth: I tortured and murdered dozens of people. Brimstone: I burned down a church and killed all the parishoners. Darkside: I spilled coffee on some papers. I guess they were really important papers.
Black was such an amazing game. Sick, twisted, dark. The endings had 2 themes, if you were selfish you were screwed. If you wanted revenge, Calypso was your best friend.
i liked the dark horror themed backstories of this characters. dark horror drama. hope this new tv series in 2023 keeps most of that. the trailers seem all too goofy and comedic. what did you guys think?
@@streetplaya23 Black is like the edgy teen. But they did keep alot of stuff from Black. The ONLY 2 characters i didnt like what they did with were Preacher and Mr. Slam.
@@Darksky1001able 😥 look like thats another tv series i'll just watch a recap on. i hope one day there's at least one 80% accurate and faithful to in-game story vg adaptation in the future, hopefull GTA IV, niko story was good
Notice how in the other campaigns, if your wish is to do something malicious or to cause harm, you get exactly what you wish for and something a little extra. But if your wish is to improve your life or set something right, there's always a monkey's paw twist. No doubt Calypso could make someone fall in love with Bloody Mary, but where's the fun in that?
@@ericdickert9795 Oh yes, the creepy as heck vibe in Twisted Metal: Black is very much intentional. Now combine this intentional creepiness with the dated, grainy, uncanny graphics seen here, and you have a recipe for one of the most haunting cutscenes ever created.
I love how Junkyard Dog is like "its only the second time ive killed someone" ah yes we will just ignore the bosses you killed and the other contestants lol
I mean in his defense they were trying to kill him too, I think it was more like the second time a murder was personal but I agree he did over look the contest lol
Outlaw's ending was the best. He travelled back in time (so somehow resurrecting all people that died in Calypso's contest) and saved that inoccent family. Even if he died at the end, that's a noble way to do it.
@@kennysnow7647 the creator is just making up stories of multiple playable characters. The canon is who you choose unless there is a sequel like Twisted Metal 1,2,3 and 4.
As a 8-10 year old, this game was SCARY AS HELL. Yet, I couldn't stop being intrigued by it. My older brother and I would play it in our bedroom and try to figure out the story for every character. I would want to beat the game with every character to unlock more of their 'puzzle' but I knew that meant I would end up hearing Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black," which would also make me scared, haha. I even remember that song coming up for an ending and I got up to use the bathroom to diffuse some of the tension I felt. This game was awesome and it sparked my imagination like crazy. Despite it being scary as hell and like a way more intense Courage the Cowardly Dog, it was a moment in time for childhood for sure.
LOL Paint it Black also gives me PTSD from this game. No one gets it when I say it's a dark, spooky song. Guaranteed we're similar ages. This game terrified me, pretty sure I had to return it. Too dark for me as a kid.
Same, I remember trying to return it to Walmart after beating because it would still creep me the eff out. Really enjoying the TV series now that I can appreciate the story.
Gents, are we going to act like we've never seen an auto or burst fire long rifle in a game before? Homeboy's only across the street. Roadkill shoots him with a pistol.
I love how in almost every game Sweet Tooth becomes a danger to Calypso when he wins yet he still insists that Sweet Tooth enters everytime. There was even one game where Calypso became a playable character and had to take his contest back from Sweet Tooth lmao.
sweet tooth won the tournament one year and his wish " i want to be the star of twisted metal" means he get an automatic invite every year so calypso stuck with him
@@the.dandy.man2 Yeah, while most characters are there for the wishes and stuff, Sweet tooth is one of the few that actually enjoys being there, all he wants is to kill people and he can do that forever in Twisted Metal.
To this day, after all these years, I’ve never been able to forget Preacher’s ending. Sometimes you want something so bad your mind makes you see what’s really not there...simply....Twisted...
We people always twist objective reality in our minds in order to make that reality more comfortable and convenient. Our minds aren't as reliable as we would like; we make our own realities and rarely is anyone willing to confront objective reality. Cognitive dissonance comes to my mind.
I think we can all agree that Shadow had the best ending in terms of state of mind. She still felt like her friend was with her and she got her revenge without going insane
Crazy 8 got his revenge and got to walk off scott-free without calypso screwing him over again like he did the others, and he got his first ever one-punch KO too
I think the smartest part of Mr Grimm's dialogue is how he never explicitly mentions cannibilism or eating people until the very end when he admits to himself that he's started to appreciate it more
I never played this game as a kid (my brother's did) but I was obsessed with the stories. I would just watch them over and over. Spectre was my favourite. Now I'm 31 and I still love weird creepy shit.
@Jessie Sewell I think it’s more of his sane self(Marcus) sub consciously existing and showing he’s buried under sweet tooth. And he misses being in control.
@@TheHippyProductions Mr. Grimm mentioning that though he hated it, he had a strong craving for human flesh. It shows he's still human despite the broken mind after all those years.
@@elmerromero6694 It's complicated, basically Twisted Metal takes place in multiple realities. As far as the main canon goes (made by the same company reformed multiple times), there's a cartoony universe which is TM1 -> TM2 -> TM Headon, and then there's a dark and serious universe which is TM: Black -> TM: Harbor City/Lost (unreleased). Twisted Metal 3 & 4 & Small Brawl aren't really considered canon (at best another alternate reality) because they're made by a different company and really don't fit in well with the other games. Here's where it gets really fucky though, the "dark and serious universe" is actually inside Sweet Tooth's head with every character in Black (including Calypso - notice how Calypso is missing the same eye as Sweet Tooth and has similar scarring on the chest etc?) being representations of Sweet Tooth's psyche. ...and in Twisted Metal 2 & Head-On it establishes that Marcus Kane is actually the split personality of Needles Kane (Sweet Tooth), and his endings hint that even the cartoon reality may be a fake one concocted inside his head.
If I were Outlaw and knew what would happen in my 2nd try, i’d still take it anyway. At least I wouldn’t go to the other side with innocent lives on my conscience.
I like how unlike most other characters that wanted revenge (aside from Dollface and maybe Raven) No-face decided to become a vigilante to get his face back, rather than a serial killer, and in Lost it confirms that he found a wife that loved him for him, and he even had a child whom he wants to get his new face back for so he doesn’t scare her with his current look. I freakin love that character so much, and he deserves his own spin-off honestly.
@@mcloud_edits Cut game that was supposed to come out after TM: Black. I forgot what it was called, but No-face was supposed to have a more fleshed out backstory, and it was really cool.
I miss this game. Don’t even think it could be remade and that makes me sad. The right amount of “dark”. Everyone flawed with an interesting story. The gameplay was so fun as a kid.
It's crazy that Sweet Tooth made up all the events in the game. The clues was in our faces. The first dead giveaway was Axel storyline, Charlie Kang, and Marcus which his language is all in number codes.
Could be that Marcus like the other games think it’s fake cause it’s hell on earth but actually is not There is no reason to trust Marcus is correct. I mean he is like that all the time
Considering the fact that Calypso can send people back in time and lift curses supposedly bestowed by God, it's not that much of a stretch that he could grant a man some sort of magical sight
He could have just been referring back to his boxing days back when he could see when he said that. Maybe he went up against a pretty weak opponent at some point or something.
"Maybe it wasn't all my fault." That's... something I hope to hear from more abuse victims. Some of them do think it is their fault. While most repond to abuse differently, it is never their fault for someone like Mr. Creel. Her story was the hardest to hear. I know she's fictional, but she represents a huge problem, and the victims of such a problem I just wanna hug and make them feel better about themselves. I'd hug her myself if she were real. And you know what? When she took the key and Mr. Creel's life deciding to become a vigilante? I'm more than fine with that. As far as I can tell, she broke beyond her trauma and has become a hero.
@@NinjakXNot sure if this 100% explains the question but he has a dog in the car that barks. Not sure how that exactly helps him see but it's the only reason we have
Twisted Metal Black takes place completely within Sweet Tooth's mind. The most obvious clue is Calypso himself, he and Sweet Tooth both share the same bad eye. It would only make sense that Sweet Tooth would put himself in a position of power in a world he's in control of.
Another thing worth taking note of is how drivers from previous games appear in Black. They are as Sweet Tooth sees them. Mr Grimm is a cannibal because he was an eater of souls previously. Bloody Mary is obsessed with her vanity and being loved, just like Ken Masters. YellowJacket is Sweet Tooth's father he sees as being dead to him. Also how different drivers make appearances in other driver's stories... Sweet Tooth's mask being made in Dollface's story, John Doe being "reconstructed" as Bloody Mary's groom, Preacher performing an exorcism on Billy Ray and Annie's baby, John Doe's gang in Outlaw's ending, Preacher cursing Sweet Tooth, etc. They're interwoven because there is no world outside of Midtown in this universe. Nearly every character is associated with another because they only exist to drive Sweet Tooth's narrative.
You should watch the three part twisted metal retrospective, David jaffe himself says that he only wrote that for minion because it was rushed and he wanted to be lazy.
The definitive proof that it is in his mind are the codes deciphered from Minion loading screens. They state: 1) I do not think this is real. 2) I must speak in code or he will discover me. 3) We are trapped in his head. 4) This is how he sees the world, how Sweet Tooth sees his life. It is not real. 5) All of us are trapped in his head. 6) I miss the old colorful world. 7) We will return to our world one day. 8) In the real world my name is Marcus Kane
So I’m noticing the asylum let outlaw keep his swat gear, namely his armored uniform and what appears to be a few grenade rounds. Can’t help but feel like they weren’t taking their jobs very seriously...
Then again, if you play as Minion and decipher his messages, all of this is in Sweet Tooth's mind so it could be why we see that because we're seeing through his eyes.
I find it hilarious that Outlaw was allowed to keep his SWAT helmet in the insane asylum. His story is a nice way of exploring a real problem. In fairness to Mr. Grimm before he went insane he didn't have a choice. Roadkill has such a tragic double-twist at the end.
There is a certain beauty in the way these stories capture human agony. The emotion gut punches and the raised hairs on my neck only illustrate the madness that can be human.
Yeah, he didn't do any sort of ironic twist to it. He just lobotomized someone and it didn't take... that's not even giving the wording of the contract.
I think there's probably a requirement that someone has to die in order for the wishes to be granted, in this case he could only grant it in a way Mary would be killing the suitor.
Wait, i'm confused about Darkside...SHE was the victim, yet She got locked up in the asylum? for what? getting a mask almost permanently attached to her head? for spiling some Coffee??
its a mental asylum. I'm pretty sure after dealing with that abuse and getting a mask bolted onto you you'd suffer some huge mental trauma. Even in the character select screen it says she's bipolar, has catatonic features and brain damage.
Well i agree that she would end up with some mental trauma, but That asylum is Waaaaaaaaay~ above a normal mental hospital, that place looks like it is meant for the Clinicly Insane, Sweet Tooth and the other guy who wanted to be a better killer than Sweet Tooth definetly belongs there, but Darkside? yea-no, wrong place for that i think.
Characters who wanted revenge: Junkyard Dog Mr Grimm Crazy 8 Shadow Axel Characters who wanted to fix a past event: Brimstone Outlaw Darkside Sweet Tooth Yellow Jacket Characters who had desires unrelated to their past: Spectre Warthog Characters who wanted answers: Roadkill Characters with a certain enemy in TM (Unknown Story): Manslaughter Minion
48:53 listen closely, you’ll hear the tune that plays when you unlock Minion. It probably happens in other stories, but the fact it’s Sweet Tooth’s makes it so interesting
Basically it’s because Minion and Sweetooth are the same person. Markus Kane/Minion is the “sane” side of their personality. Needles Cane is his psychotic alter ego.
Darkside, Grimm, Crazy 8 and Spectre are my personal favorites to play. Bought this game for nostalgia on the PS4 2 years ago digitally. Loved it, still creeps me out and I'm 22!
WarHawk was meant to be playable but they scrapped the idea because he's way too op and can fly however you can find his files in the game originally he had a red helmet that covering his entire face when you inspect the driver.
@@duncan91 no he doesnt, dweeb. Hes a minor npc whose death happens once during every characters victory, not 13 times in succession. And and if it passes, make a movie about the med-kit Shadow picked up last week. Doesnt need to happen.
Twisted metal black backstories in order: Junkyard dog-farmer turned murderer Brimstone-evangelist turned lunatic Outlaw-officer turned sorrowful murderer Mr.Grimm-Vietnam veteran turned cannibal Roadkill-FBI agent with amnesia Crazy 8-boxer super Star turned freak bent on revenge against a hateful surgeon Spectre-bride maid turned jealous psycho soon to be married (not!!) Dark side: clumsy employee wanting to be set free of the doll face mask her boss put her in forcefully Shadow: girl trying to fulfill best friend’s dying wish and avenge her death Sweet tooth: ice cream driver with split personality turned (cursed) sociopathic killer Yellow jacket: Small boy made dead father remote controlled just so he could be “alive” again Axel: severely depressed man wanting revenge against sweet tooth for his wife’s murder years ago Warthog: serial killer wanting to remove emotions when he kills people so he doesn’t have to be sad about them dying(not a patient surprisingly) Manslaughter: (not an asylum patient)(no info)
These guys will be completely insane and will have killed 5 people then be like: “I was locked up for 3 months, it’s the longest I’ve ever been behind bars.” Like huh?
One of my favorite all time games. This is the best TM game imo. Wish they would remaster this for next gen. Or even make a new one along the lines of this one. The dark & gritty nature fits this franchise so fucking well. I like the characters stories better then the earlier goofy ones. 🤞🏻 hopefully we see one in the future
Unpopular opinion: they should ditch the vehicular combat. Keep the tone and storytelling of this game, but make it a third person game where the gameplay through each character's story is different. Dismemberment is a must.
@@vanillawafer1182 Ditch the literal main unique thing of the series? Nah dont do that. We've got enough gritty dark gorey 3rd person games, Vehicular combat is probably one of if not the most uncommon game types out there. Especially ones like Twisted Metal. Personally I dont think the dark and gritty nature fits all that well, I mean the face of the series is literally a dude whose head is on fire and he's cool with it. Head-on had, imo, the best balence between the dark and gritty as well as the silly and ridiculous.
It's crazy how interesting each and everyone of the characters had a touching backstory of why they fought in the tournament. Makes you feel sorry for them...well, maybe except for Sweet Tooth.
@@kenobigaming5755to me it’s junkyard dog that’s the most sympathetic character , someone he loved tried to murder him, and then take his property and money 💴, I’m not justifying what he did, but we gotta keep in mind that when people are in anger, they would do anything that they wouldn’t normally do . Just saying
@@-AceItX- Calipso has power to turn back time and lift curses but he is afraid of one FBI agent haha. Anyways thanks for the answer, at least now I know.
They making a new tv show Twisted Metal 2023. In these cutscenes, i liked the dark horror themed backstories of this characters. dark horror drama. hope this new tv series in 2023 keeps most of that. the trailers seem all too goofy and comedic. what did you guys think?
I think it could also just be interpreted as from the perspective of Sweet Tooth. It’s all happening but the look of it is from his eyes. The minion codes mention that he wants to go back to the “colorful world” a reference to past twisted metal game designs so it could all still be happening In the world
@@falafel1980that’s exactly my point. He lives in a world with demons, the grim reaper, cops in space and rob zombie Like mr Grimm being a Vietnam vet is interesting until you remember the twist and realise “oh yeah in the real world he’s actually the reaper of souls”
"I had developed a special craving...." Good. I like the trail off, decent way to en- "....for human flesh." Yeah, we figured that part out Mr. Grimm, thank you.
Calypso in this game is in really Needles Kane without your mask because the black universe pass into Needles Kane mind are 3 Needles Kane in this game 1 is "Calypso" 2 is Sweeth Tooth and 3 are The Minion who is really Markus Kane the sanity version inside the clown mind
These really have that early 2000s vibe, even the song that plays on the very first one sounds like some of the music in the McGuire's Spiderman movies. I love it!
With outlaw even though he was killed in the end, technically calypso was still a good guy cause he gave the man his second chance and he saved the family.
There's a theory that says that the guy who kills agent Stone was possessed by calypso so he could get away with his usual monkey paw shenanigans. This Is possible if you look at the guys left eye which is blacked out like calypso's. This could also explain how the guy lands a fatal shot. From a building away. Without aiming and bleeding out. With a headshot. WITH A PISTOL
@@majinvegeta7777 Sit down because this on is a doozy Black is in fact sent with the single minded motivation of killing Calypso and he knows nothing else except this. The reason being someone else sent him to do it and to this day hasn't been revealed but there are two speculations 1. The C.I.A of the Black universe took someone and made him into the ultimate killing machine to hunt down Calypso simple and to the point. 2. Black is actually a Demon from the O.G. Universe as seen in the Twisted Metal Lost ending for Darkside, and that this demon was sent to the TM: Black universe to kill the much darker and more twisted version of Calypso
They making a new tv show Twisted Metal 2023. In these cutscenes, i liked the dark horror themed backstories of this characters. dark horror drama. hope this new tv series in 2023 keeps most of that. the trailers seem all too goofy and comedic. what did you guys think?
@@streetplaya23the show was surprisingly good. And, it definitely fits the twisted metal theme. Wild, goofy, dark and over the top. The cast crushed it. Great acting and production. Honestly, that horrible trailer probably made the show waaaayyyyy better by going in with no expectations.