Hermit Gunsmith: Madman Magician?

As far as a brief search was able to turn up, there has yet to be a dicussion about this minor-yet-essential character.
So let's do it.

First off, some odd things about him I've noticed:

- When you get the Spur, the critter and population in First Cave explodes. Is this some Chaco-Jellyfish parallel?

- When you return with the Machinegun pre-labyrinth, he's "Out". Where does he go? What does he do there? If he's such a hermit, why'd he leave a sign?

- How come he doesn't wake up when you shoot him?

- Is he the mysterious helpful stranger of the Waterway Cabin? Is that cabin his weekend cottage?

- How come he can't recognize the Polar Star if it's part of the Snake?

- Is he secretly Tony Stark? I mean... He built this [Polar Star]. In a cave. With a box of scraps.

- Does he really think that keeping a gun in his pocket while he sleeps was a better idea than in a box?

- Is HE Pixel's in-game avatar/token reperesentation, put in for the sole pupose of arming our intrepid hero for his adventures?

 

I always thought the mysterious person who helps you in the cabin is booster.

Anyways another question would be, what the hell is he doing on a floating island? Was he one of the crew members? Perhaps responsible for the weaponry? Also yeah it is weird that when he makes you the spurrm that so many critters spawn.

 

I always thought the mysterious person who helps you in the cabin is booster.

Anyways another question would be, what the hell is he doing on a floating island? Was he one of the crew members? Perhaps responsible for the weaponry? Also yeah it is weird that when he makes you the spurrm that so many critters spawn.

Maybe he was one of the humans from 10 years ago who went into hiding?
Would explain his being there.
Who knows.
Doubt he's from the game-era team, though.
First Cave is a pretty long way from the Balcony.

Lesee...
Balcony > Last Cave > Plantation > Mimiga Villiage > First Cave (Assumes teleporters are working)
Balcony > Last Cave > Plantation > Outer Wall > Egg Corridor > Mimiga Villiage > First Cave (Assumes only Egg > Mimiga works)
Balcony > Labyrinth > Waterway > Resivoir > Mimiga Villiage > First Cave (Assumes a Miseryport to the Labyrinth)

Maybe in some long-forgotten past Quote attacked him.
Maybe that's why you wake up where you do.
(Though this would require him to have forgotten you... Not entirely impossible in 10 years of solitude...)

 

Hmm, interesting.
Where *does* the hermit gunsmith go? I mean it's not like there's anywhere to go in that little cave. And if he went down and (presumably) used the teleport, how on earth did he get back up?
Perhaps this Hermit Gunsmith was Prof.Booster's mentor/colleague, and the two of them were part of an expedition to the island >10 years ago. The gunsmith stayed and made... guns and maybe a booster pack of his own? And Prof.Booster returned to the surface.

Another question: What the hell does that guy eat?

 

I would have figured that the Gunsmith would have gone off somewhere to eat something, after all, there seems to be no food in the first cave, and you can probably assume he went to the Mimiga Village to get some.

Also he would find a way back up, after all, he was able to get there the first time, right? Maybe he made some sort of gun that propels you upwards? (*glances at Noxid*)

 

Another question: What the hell does that guy eat?

Mushrooms?

But really, maybe he eats critters. Nom nom.
Or bats.
Lotsa nutrition in bats.

Also he would find a way back up, after all, he was able to get there the first time, right? Maybe he made some sort of gun that propels you upwards? (*glances at Noxid*)

Uh-oh.
Methinks explosive has a crush on Noxid (Kidding).

Well, what kind of gun would that be?
Something similar to Curly's Machine Gun?

But in all seriousness, where does he get the parts needed to make a precision energy weapon in a cave. On a floating island.
I swear to God this guy is either a magician or Tony Stark.

 

I've got an idea for the population explosion thing.
Perhaps he does eat critters, and during the indeterminate amount of time it takes to upgrade the polar star, he doesn't take a break to go hunt and consume critters thus they reproduce rapidly and fill the cave to the limit at which the local ecology can support them.

 

There are a lot of guns lying around the Island for him to play around with.

 

I've got an idea for the population explosion thing.
Perhaps he does eat critters, and during the indeterminate amount of time it takes to upgrade the polar star, he doesn't take a break to go hunt and consume critters thus they reproduce rapidly and fill the cave to the limit at which the local ecology can support them.

Errr...
That actually makes sense. o.o;;
Wow.
Doesn't explain why the population stays up, though.
Unless he used his hunting gear to make the Spur?
...
Oh wow.
If that's right, he'd probably starve to death. ;~;

There are a lot of guns lying around the Island for him to play around with.

True, but how many are within humanly possible reach?
By my count, 1 if the teleporters are out.
It's the Bubbler in the Assembly Hall fireplace.

Heh...

o.o;;

 

Errr...
That actually makes sense. o.o;;
Wow.
Doesn't explain why the population stays up, though.
Unless he used his hunting gear to make the Spur?
...
Oh wow.
If that's right, he'd probably starve to death. ;~;

I can imagine that. The Hermit Gunsmith, moved by his relevation, decides that the time has come - he would give the thing that sustains his own life because his creation would finally give him the satisfaction of knowing his life's purpose has been fulfilled. This would be why he hasn't finished it already - He needs whatever thing it is to catch his food.
A moment of pure altruism and selflessness.

 

I love this dude, I love how your first several times through the game (unless you read a guide or something) he's just some dude that's kinda there that you steal the gun from since you must to progress in the game... but then when you fulfill the correct conditions and keep the weakest gun for the longest amount of time, figure out how to get Booster 2.0 AND get the idea to go back to him, he not only gives you the ultimate weapon but gives you such a cool, deep meaningful speech. Like he has more "deep" dialogue than anyone else in the game, but from an outward standpoint he's probably the least important character in the game to the story.

But it's fun to think that may not be the entire case.

I remember reading somewhere that the Hermit's speech was supposed to be an allusion that he's sort of Pixel's in-game representation of himself, both supplying you with your first and last weapons and giving an eloquent speech regarding things we should take to heart in the real world, all without having an impact on the game's story. Then again, Pixel represents himself as the kneeling man in the credits, and even gives the Hermit a name that's not his own.

I'd like to think the Hermit is a guy that had something to do with the robot raid 10 years ago, as a lot of you guys seem to think, and he just stayed on the island. It's likely, to me, that he is either Quote's caretaker after finding him after who-knows-what-happened in the battle, or even Quote's own creator. He stayed in that cave waiting for Quote to wake up and come to him; the Hermit himself may have learned much about the island and wanted to help, perhaps destroy the Demon Crown or Ballos himself, but being a single human he had no such power. Thus, he found a suitable robot from the war (or specifically looked for Quote, if he were his creator after all), found a nice out-of-the-way little pocket of the island where they wouldn't be found or disturbed, doctored Quote up and waited for him to "recharge" (which probably took so many years since he had to work from a cave without any special technology to help Quote recharge at any rate faster than a snail's pace). During this time, he spent aged MacGuyver'ing an ultimate weapon with which to equip Quote when he was ready so that he could destroy the evils of the island. During this time he likely became very absent-minded and senile, yet thought deeply about important issues that probably plagued him from the war ten years ago--especially if he played the part I thought he did, in creating androids and/or the weaponry they used to massacre Mimigas. Quote finally wakes up, and the rest is history.

There's also the idea that he may NOT have become that crazy or senile and may have perfectly remembered Quote and his mission, but is all deep and mysterious about the way he talks--rather than just telling Quote "if you'd have brought me back the Polar Star, I'd have made you the ultimate weapon, the one I meant for YOU SPECIFICALLY" he kind of beats around the bush about it and hints at it while acting like he doesn't know it was Quote himself who took it (doubly obvious if you talk to him with the Snake). And then rather than telling Quote upfront about his purpose and why they're in that cave and all the stuff from the past and whatnot, he just gives you some deep-ass speech out of left field because he's just cool and mysterious like that.

[/ESSAY] :3

 

tl; dr

 

tl; dr

means I won then

 

/me high fives ragnaroq

While your theory is pretty interesting, it doesn't seem... likely to me.
As for he (the hermit) being pixel's avatar in the world, I think that's pretty accurate, but the whole thing about the Hermit planning this ahead of time and preparing the guns for Quote specificly seems a bit outragous due to the text ("hey, isn't THAT my gun?"). It sort of disproves that a) the hermit knew him, and b) that he planed for someone to take the gun... although the whole "senile" or "guardian angel/ secret motives" thing could be possible... I still don't see it as being entirely plausable, but I guess Pixel did leave alot of the game to the imagination, so I'll see it as I want to, and you can totally have this scenario in YOUR Cave Story
Also, It would be really nice to see the exact text when returning to the Hermit with the Machine Gun, Snake, and Polar Star...
I've only read two of them, and only remember one.

 

Hmm, interesting.
Where *does* the hermit gunsmith go? I mean it's not like there's anywhere to go in that little cave. And if he went down and (presumably) used the teleport, how on earth did he get back up?
Perhaps this Hermit Gunsmith was Prof.Booster's mentor/colleague, and the two of them were part of an expedition to the island >10 years ago. The gunsmith stayed and made... guns and maybe a booster pack of his own? And Prof.Booster returned to the surface.

Another question: What the hell does that guy eat?

Since the cave is pretty damp (water dripping everywhere) one might assume there are some sort of mushrooms, or atleast fungi growing there. That or he eats the critters and bear grylls his way back to his cave-house.

 

I can imagine that. The Hermit Gunsmith, moved by his relevation, decides that the time has come - he would give the thing that sustains his own life because his creation would finally give him the satisfaction of knowing his life's purpose has been fulfilled. This would be why he hasn't finished it already - He needs whatever thing it is to catch his food.
A moment of pure altruism and selflessness.

Like Booster? Quote gets a lot of people killed. But main characters in video games sorta ruin a lot of people's lives.

 

bear grylls

Win.

I agree with Noxid's earlier theory about teh critters and food...

but if you leave first cave and then come back, aren't they still there? So is the gunsmith..... Does he begin fasting? How long could he survive? It would be interesting if you could go back there b4 doing Hell to see how he's doing....

 

I'd like to point out that the Gunsmith looks nothing like Pixel, and is rude and apparently lazy. Someone explain how this represents Pixel. The guy bowing in the credits represents Pixel. Note the lack of any similarities.

Also, I can see you guys are having fun, but you can't question the diet or ecosystem of anything in Cave Story. What do seven Mimigas eat? One fish and a few flowers (that Mahin is making good progress on already)? What do Hoppies eat? What do Sandcrocs eat? In the Sand Zone, their only prey would be the giant spinning suns. So while{
it is fun to discuss dietary habits of Mimiga Island inhabitant, keep in mind you're being ridiculous.

 

What do Sandcrocs eat?

Don't even.

 

Since the hermit's on a survival situation, he has to get as much protein as he can. These critters look disgusting to eat, but he can't afford to be squeamish.

Spoiler

Read that in bear grylls' voice...