How exactly did Balrog get dragged into the whole Demon Crown affair?

OK, so we all know the story. Jenka's brother Ballos goes crazy. Then a while later, Misery, for some strange reason, forces Ballos to make the Demon Crown, possibly using his own eye in the process. Ballos is angered by his niece's rudeness, and curses her. But wait. What about Balrog, who was also cursed? How was he involved? And no, don't give me any theories that Balrog is related to Ballos and Jenka. He's a toaster. They're not.

 

He's 1. Most likely a robot or construct
2. Based on a bar of soap.
3. Could easily have been cursed to change shape (it's not like Misery can't do that)
So "being a toaster" is not a valid reason to say they're not related

 

He's 1. Most likely a robot or construct
2. Based on a bar of soap.
3. Could easily have been cursed to change shape (it's not like Misery can't do that)
So "being a toaster" is not a valid reason to say they're not related

Good point... But if Misery changed him into a bar of soap, or a suitcase, or a lunchbox, or a toaster, or whatever Balrog is, then why did she do that and who was Balrog originally? It just brings up more questions. And how would Balrog be related to Jenka and Ballos?

 

You shouldn't completely disregard the idea that Balrog could be related to their family. Sure it's unlikely. But, this is CAVE STORY, home of the Mimigas, humans turned Mimiga, Balrog turned BalFrog, talking dogs, floating islands, and magic!

WARNING BOSS POST APPROACHING

Spoiler

While I don't think Balrog is directly "of their family", perhaps he was created for Misery, by their magic? A homunculus of sorts? To be a familiar?

Jenka and Ballos, seem to have magical dogs always around them. And the one near Ballos glowed as if he had magic (or was a ghost as some say).
[SUB THEORY : PUPPIES CONTROL THE ISLAND/Jenka's magic involves puppy power]
Perhaps, you don't select your familiar; but it is selected for you? Like a test of magic, and usually you'd get something like an animal familiar... But, instead Misery got Balrog...

Spoiler

Or perhaps, Balrog belongs to a race of unknown creatures that we know little about :

Spoiler

http://www.joystiq.com/screenshots/cave-story-beta-version/3948128/#/0

Some even suggest he is a robot... though I don't subscribe to that theory...
Perhaps he is a magical creature, able to absorb and use all types of things. Super missiles, bat/dragon [for mini-wings], the ability to smash through stuff perhaps due to something extremely dense and hard... Maybe he looks a bit different with each item he takes on?

IF he were a robot though, you would think he would have come during the 10 years ago war. But, his familarity with Jenka makes me think that they know each other better than that. Besides, is it even possible to add people to the curse?!

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On to the main question, how did Balrog get dragged into the Thomas Crowne Affair....
Well, Balrog is probably more of a follower than a leader. Misery may have had a good plan, and she easily convinced Balrog to come along.

"With that power, we can turn you into a normal familiar! Or maybe even back to a human!"
"Really?! Huzzah!!"

I dunno though. The real question is What was the "Demon Crown" supposed to do? What was its purpose? Was she just after power? Or did the Crown just twist her mind with the curse?
And why a Crown? Not to mention its HUGE size.... wouldn't you want something.... smaller, simplier for yourself?

And what is the nature of the curse... Does it influence minds? Why is it called ">>Demon<< Crown". Does it actually literally have something to do with demons? Originally?

Some possibilities :
The Crown was intended to be a curse and a crown. But, it was intended to be used on someone else... ...maybe Balrog. Balrog can be a lousy familiar if he is one. He goes against her orders, gets things wrong, busts up places unintentionally probably...

If Balrog was cursed properly, he would be the perfect servant, and she would wield that extra power the demon crown gives.

Or, Misery was just power hungry for magic. Maybe her magic wasn't strong enough to accompish her goals, and she convinced Balrog to help. Or maybe as some speculate, she has NO magic, and this was the only way she could inherit her power.

[Some magic can only be passed on after the passing of the next in line of a bloodline. Jenka and Ballos seem like they are going to live FOREVER. Maybe this was the only way to gain that power ahead of time...]


Looking at the Crown, I wonder if there isn't a power hungry curse upon the Crown. Looking at Ballos' past, a king, that probably wore a crown; perhaps became hungry for Ballos' power; or grew to hate him for some reason. Maybe he wanted to expand his kingdom...

But, what we do know : Miakid took the Crown, destroyed the robots, and attempted to destroy/conquer the world.
The Doctor took the Crown, and was attempting to do the same.

What if the Crown twists or draws certain people to the crown. And warps them or brings out their desires, that are like what the original King did to Ballos.
Maybe no matter what your intentions are with the crown, maybe you'll betray the people that trust you, and then seek to destroy/conquer to sate some crazy ambition, thirst for revenge, or something.

Maybe that whole thing is just part of Ballos' curse.


I once thought that the purpose of the Crown, was to control the island itself. I mean how does one move the island to conquer the world? I can't imagine sending Frenzied Mimigas down to the forest, and to slowly make their way to where the humans are... It is more likely that the island moves about, and that perhaps the Crown is the key to controlling it.
After all, one of the "Crowning" features of the Demon Crown, is its ability to control things. Such as the Mimigas who have ingested the Red Flower.
And that Red Flower (Demon Flower* as it was once called in game), is connected to the Core, which is connected to the Crown, which is connected to Ballos!

Red Flower transformations are reverted upon the Core's destruction.
The island floats because of the Core.
The Demon Crown controls those who have ingested the Red Flower (or its substance)
Those that absorb the substance, become mad, wild and powerful.
Ballos is plagued by wild magic, and that magic was used to create the Crown, which cursed Misery and Ballos. It will return as long as Ballos lives.
The Doctor was killed, and yet he rose from death because of the Red substance. Yet he disappeared soon as the Core was defeated.
The Core is the heart of the island.

To sum it up :
My theory is : Wild Magic comes from the Source, Ballos.
It is kept seperated from Ballos or drained or fed off of, by the Core.
The byproduct of the Core causes the island to grow Red Flowers occasionally.
These flowers cause you to be filled with Wild Magic from Ballos.
The Demon Crown controls those with Wild Magic.

If the Wild Magic pulses throughout the island in some mostly innocent form or another; if the Core is the key to the island's ability to fly, then the Demon Crown which controls that wild magic could control the island's movement, among other things.


So maybe what Misery wanted was to control the island, to have a kingdom of her own. Who were those Winged Statues based off of? What if Misery dreamt of her kingdom in the sky? Her statue...


Balrog would have liked the idea of having a kingdom, I imagine. A grand ambition~

Then again, perhaps Misery wanted revenge against the world. If she had been alive during the time that Ballos went crazy and destroyed that Kingdom. What if Misery lived there, and witnessed the destruction of her home, and everyone in it.
After all, a name like "Misery", seems to have some meaning of import.
If she knew about what the King and its people did to Ballos, turning him into a monster, when he might have been the kindest man there... Maybe she wanted revenge on the world when she created the "demon crown".


.... THEORIES! SO MANY

What else... What if... well anyway, returning again to the OP.
Balrog, why did he get cursed? If he tagged along with Misery, then they probably would both be cursed.
Or alternatively, if Misery did this on her own, but Balrog is Misery's familiar, perhaps the curse inadvertently was passed on to Balrog as well.

And lastly, what if the curse did not happen right away, kind of like the Red Crystal. What if Misery had a purpose for creating the Crown, and was able to work towards that goal... for a while. Before it twisted, and became a curse.

And then there's the theory : "Bad Luck, So Sad"; Balrog was taking a walk and ran into Misery. The Crown fell to the floor, and cracked the Red Eye.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Thus the curse fell upon the both of them.

 

I believe that Balrog merely follows Misery instead of being cursed. He has exhibited will on multiple occasions and only speaks of Misery being cursed and not himself.

Plus assuming he was a robot he would have been introduced prior to Miakid's reign, as a robot belonging to the original Human residents, like Malco. You can tell that both Malco and Balrog were both primitive in design compared to the soldier models used in the red flower war. So Balrog would have known Misery and Jenka for longer than just ten years.

 

I believe that Balrog merely follows Misery instead of being cursed. He has exhibited will on multiple occasions and only speaks of Misery being cursed and not himself.

What has led you to believe that? Sure Balrog is generally more laid back about the whole thing, but do you really think he would have explained his intentions to Quote in Grasstown to "break" him because it was the Doctor's order, but then after Ballos was defeated had the desire to go off and live with him and Curly? If he was supposedly worthy of Quote and Curly's presence after the fall of Ballos, would his Toroko red flower force-feeding have really been done of the free will? Let's not also forget that when the Demon Crown assumes its idle state, both Misery and Balrog are shown contained inside bubbles on either side of the throne until another man takes up the Demon Crown, as shown on the title screen.

 

One thing, Balrog refers to Jenka as "auntie" in Cave Story on WiiWare. It's possible he was accidentally cursed, or tried to defend Misery. Something like that.

 

One thing, Balrog refers to Jenka as "auntie" in Cave Story on WiiWare. It's possible he was accidentally cursed, or tried to defend Misery. Something like that.

Yes, I noticed that. But is that translation canon?

And X-Calibar, that is a very good theory. Makes a lot of sense. But if Balrog is Misery's familiar, then how is it that he did things that would anger her, like helping Quote and Curly in the labyrinth? Although that theory is supported by how Balrog is never actually seen disobeying Misery over the course of the game. And bringing up the fact that in the Nicalis translation, Balrog calls Jenka "Auntie", Balrog could be Ballos's son. But either Ballos had a son after he went crazy, or Balrog is Ballos's son who died and was encased in the toaster/suitcase/lunchbox/bar of soap that is Balrog's current form. Or Balrog simply called her that out of respect or a possible closeness with Misery.

 

One thing, Balrog refers to Jenka as "auntie" in Cave Story on WiiWare. It's possible he was accidentally cursed, or tried to defend Misery. Something like that.

Yes, I noticed that. But is that translation canon?

I'm afraid so. NICALiS owns the rights to Cave Story; hence, what they deem cannon is cannon, which includes their translation. Which really bugs me because I hate the NICALiS translation.

And bringing up the fact that in the Nicalis translation, Balrog calls Jenka "Auntie", Balrog could be Ballos's son. But either Ballos had a son after he went crazy, or Balrog is Ballos's son who died and was encased in the toaster/suitcase/lunchbox/bar of soap that is Balrog's current form.

This has been discussed before, and I, along with almost everyone else in this community, believe that was just an expression, and dismiss the idea that Jenka is actually Balrog's aunt.

 

Just noticed something to further prove the "auntie" thing: BALrog and BALlos

 

Hmm... I suppose the only way to really know for sure if there was any kind of familial relation between Balrog and Jenka, Ballos, and Misery is to ask Pixel himself. But right now, I'm going with the "Balrog is Misery's familiar" theory proposed by X-Calibar.

 

Who were those Winged Statues based off of?

I thought that the doctor based the statue off momorin because he probably thought she was dead after he pushed her off the island... it would also explain the angel-like wings.

 

I thought that the doctor built that because he thought momorin was dead after he pushed her off the island... that would explain the angel-like wings

No, I disagree. The Doctor was a cold, calculating person who didn't care about anything. I've always thought that it's been there since the Island was created. I myself believe that it's based off of Misery.

 

No, I disagree. The Doctor was a cold, calculating person who didn't care about anything. I've always thought that it's been there since the Island was created. I myself believe that it's based off of Misery.

Seems legit, but misery doesn't have wings...

 

Seems legit, but misery doesn't have wings...

That's a good point, but the Island was there long before any of the Demon Crown's owners were. Jenka and Ballos, on the other hand, are very very old. As old as the island. It's very possible that one of them created the island, along with the statue, which could have been based off of Misery, and added wings for aesthetic appeal. Or perhaps Misery died at one point and Jenka found a way to revive her, and succeeded.

 

It said Ballos was restrained to the Floating Island by Jenka. She possibly made the island.

 

It said Ballos was restrained to the Floating Island by Jenka. She possibly made the island.

Precisely the point I was making. She has to have made it or at least have considerable power over it if she managed to confine Ballos to the Island.

 

I think misery was once a great chef and didn't want to leave her loyal toaster behind and so brought it to life to acompany her.

 

It said Ballos was restrained to the Floating Island by Jenka. She possibly made the island.

Precisely the point I was making. She has to have made it or at least have considerable power over it if she managed to confine Ballos to the Island.

You sure are assuming a lot thinking she created the island. Assimilating all the necessary matter to make such a large assemblage of earth in a way hospitable to Mimigas would really be quite a magical accomplishment that I'd be surprised even Jenka at her peak would have been able to do. I can't prove you directly wrong, but it never says anything about Jenka creating the island, just that she confined Ballos to it.

 

You sure are assuming a lot thinking she created the island. Assimilating all the necessary matter to make such a large assemblage of earth in a way hospitable to Mimigas would really be quite a magical accomplishment that I'd be surprised even Jenka at her peak would have been able to do. I can't prove you directly wrong, but it never says anything about Jenka creating the island, just that she confined Ballos to it.

True. Making such a big island IS quite a magical accomplishment. But Jenka and Ballos are old enough and powerful enough that they could've done it, albeit with great difficulty. However, it's more likely that Jenka made it than Ballos. Prime Jenka is implied to be even stronger than Ballos, and Ballos's magic was too out of control to make the island. But, it's also possible that neither Jenka nor Ballos created it and that it's been around longer than they have, which is saying something. And that the statue is based on someone other than Misery. Perhaps if Ballos did create the island, it's based on his deceased wife, who clearly possessed no magical power.