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Richtofen's Apotheosis & Ideology


Guest Ehjookayted

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Guest Ehjookayted

This won't be a full blown theory, rather just some information for you all to have a look at, with some of my input thrown in. Thanks to a few individuals for talking through some of this stuff: AlphaSnake, BBD, MMN, MonopolyMac, Tac Insert, Rissole, Faust... that's good for now.

Apotheosis: noun that denotes a man becoming a god, literally and figuratively. Examples include: Imhotep becoming Thoth, Kratos in God of War becoming the God of War, American society's reverence for George Washington.

[center:30djrm9i]apotheosis_center.jpg

The Apotheosis of Washington[/center:30djrm9i]

[center:30djrm9i]Richtofen's Apotheosis[/center:30djrm9i]

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]Alright, so let's look at the information. What is the focusing stone for Richtofen? It's all his power; the fact that you get all 8 perks from it is just the gameplay proof of what it truly represents. Many have researched this, including MMN and Mac, so I'll let them explain if they so choose. In other words, the stone appears to give Richtofen god-like powers. If that wasn't good enough for you, you have the fact that he devised a scheme to control the Aether.

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]So what does the Aether represent? Click here to find out: Symbolism of the Aether

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]Another thing I'd like to mention is that aether, as the Greek mythos reports, was the air that the gods breathed. It was also their plane of existence; that, in and of itself, leads me to believe that Richtofen made himself a god. Controlling the zombies is also an interesting thought. The zombies follow the intention of their leader, and if Richtofen is a god, the God, does that mean He is controlling a mindless army, one without free will? I think it does.

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]Symbolism: there's something I'd like to bring up. So the Aether and all this means that Richtofen (for storyline purposes) is God controlling the zombies, correct? How does that translate to Treyarch's grand theme? Well for starters, they believe God to be controlling people, with his will, leaving them with no free will. Do humans have free will under a tyrannical God? No. The zombies represent the mindless state of humanity under religion. Conversely, there is a malevolent, puppeteer, behind those puppets, forcing them to see a singular truth, that they believe to be absolutely true.

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]Religion corrupts the people, and they believe anything they hear, but is humanity really so weak? It appears that it is the case. So, this is getting crazy here. Treyarch seems to be throwing in a lot of themes our way. Now, you take into account our characters, who kill these mindless humans (zombies), who are the elite, perhaps more knowledgeable side of humanity, and you have the who idea of racial superiority. In this case, it appears that having the ability to think is that which separates our characters from being controlled like the zombies. So, now we have a lot of things going on here.

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]Here's a nice little list of what we've got so far.

  • Aether is the plane of the gods.[/*:m:30djrm9i]
  • Richtofen reaches said plane, becoming God.[/*:m:30djrm9i]
  • Zombies are subservient to their master, mindless peons.[/*:m:30djrm9i]
  • Richtofen uses them.[/*:m:30djrm9i]
  • God uses mindless peons for his work, leaves no free will.[/*:m:30djrm9i]
  • Zombies represent those who do not think because of religion.[/*:m:30djrm9i]
  • Three remaining characters think for themselves, kill zombies (mindless peons).[/*:m:30djrm9i]
  • Theme becomes people who don't think, die.[/*:m:30djrm9i]
  • Raises issue of people who don't believe in religion being superior to those who do (Tank, Nikolai, and Takeo-those who think, remember, they all have their own intentions- eliminating all the zombies- the mindless servants).[/*:m:30djrm9i]

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]What I'm noticing now is a sort of irony. In humanity trying to find their religion, which preaches free will, they are taking away their own free will. So now, we have found the ultimate irony of all religion, through observing a video game. Yet, there is another catch, of course. Notice how this man, this corrupter of good, achieved his power. He took control, switching places with Samantha.

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]Alright, making some head way. Let's take a look at Samantha's role very briefly. She's got herself in the Aether, by all coincidence. We can presume this to be the natural order. Richtofen, in soul swapping with her, is disturbing the natural order (her place in the Aether). Also, the order is disturbed in a more literal way: a man is now in a girl's body, and vice versa.

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]Transhumanism very briefly: trying to transcend mortality through means of technology. Obviously Richtofen does this, and in the end, he creates chaos out the whole thing. Thus, transhumanism is something to be avoided, as it creates universal chaos (indirectly lead to the partial destruction of Earth).

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]However, again, there is another wrinkle to this, what was worse for the zombies, the mindless peons, equivalent to humanity: being used as a defense by Samantha or being used to control the earth by Richtofen? Was it natural for Samantha to use the zombies? Probably not, it was just inadvertent. Nevertheless, these peons were still a victim of their god. In the end, religion gives power to God and takes it away from the people.

[tab:30djrm9i][/tab:30djrm9i]At last, we have nothing but conflicting views: superiority, transhumanism, manipluation, destruction of free will. In the end, we must apply these things as we sit, lest we fall into an eternal chaos.

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Guest BlindBusDrivr

Great post Eye

It ties together some of the strong but hidden themes in the story, even I am just picking up on some of this.

Also our 3 survivors have to think the hardest, to regain what they lost...

I'm glad to see you putting more work into the story :)

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Guest MegaAfroMan

You sir, have made formatting posts, an art form. You could probably make me believe that the "lorem ipsum" placeholder text contains wonderous information, all highlighted by beautiful colors.

Anyhow, I see your lines, but honestly I think they are somewhat of a stretch. Trying to claim zombies as mindless servants of religion? Plenty of other ideologies result in the "mindless" followings stated above.

Your lines make sense, and are drawn quite nicely. The logic of your arguments cannot be denied, but the context of its implications seem a bit too much for me. Still, this is a great post as always, and you really should continue these posts. They are great reads, and often get me thinking.

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Guest MixMasterNut

This discussion of Apotheosis very much reminds me of a discussion I've been having lately with AlphaSnake, over at the zombie labs :twisted:

Here is a rather interesting video posted today on Prometheus:

[youtube:hpu8ham4]enzaao300M0[/youtube:hpu8ham4]

Spot the familiar symbols... :wink:

Regards Alpha.

***PROMETHEUS SPOILER ALERT***

Ted talk 2023

[youtube:hpu8ham4]3GXYGTHl9pI[/youtube:hpu8ham4]

"We are the Gods now"

CHARIOTS OF THE GODS by Erich von Daniken

[youtube:hpu8ham4]br8bFtfc2dc[/youtube:hpu8ham4]

Watch Pt.1 @6:00 - 9:20

I've heard conspiracy theories as to the reason why our governments don't come out in the open about us being visited by extraterrestrial beings from outer-space is because of fear that our culture would be shattered in the same way this Polynesian tribe's culture has been destroyed after being visited by technologically advanced people for the very first time. These south pacific islanders believed their western visitors to be Gods, and revere them as such.

Would we do the same if visited by outer-world beings?

- Mix

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Guest darkjolteon

Mind-blowing, as always Eye! It's always great to see people adding yet more depth into the storyline even now! Especially since at times it feels very dry and empty :lol: I feel like we are moving ever closer to revealing all of Treyarchs secrets!

This time I will remember to give you them brainz ;)

Keep going dude, you're doing a great job!

-Jolteon

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Guest Shooter

This is great stuff as always Eh! I'll be sure to come back and brains when I get a reload.

It does some like a bit of a stretch for me as well, but it is very suiting to the current scenario we have in our story. I can definately see the connection. But I'm not quite sure that religion has THAT big of an impact on Richtofen's grand scheme. I think that there's much more darker powers at hand if anything. Apeothesis in general seems to refer to someone becoming a godly figure in a positive manner, in some cultures being voted so by the people. It would seem it refers to a human, who after doing great things for the people during his life, is seen as a god by those people after death. At least that's my understanding of it. Jesus Christ would be a prime example of this in Western religion.

And we know Richtofen sure wasn't the nicest dude when he was on Earth, so it's hard to see how he could be connected to such a type of godly state.

I do believe that Richtofen's plan was to become a god to the zombies, controlling them as he pleases. But his means of getting their, and his intention are much more darker. I think when most people think of the word god (and Apotheosis), you think of a positive figure. And in that case, Richtofen would seem more like a ruler than a god per se.

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Guest MixMasterNut

There's a reason why there is a map named Ascension in this game. It's much more than just a cool sounding word.

The word Ascension has multiple definitions to it, and each definition applies within the context of this game.

Definition of Ascension:

Ascension (physical): Moving Upwards

Ascension (religious): The concept of entering Heaven, or a higher plane of existence, without dying.

Right Ascension (astronomy): Right ascension can be used to determine a star's location and to determine how long it will take for a star to reach a certain point in the sky.

I don't think of Apotheosis as being exclusive to 'Good' aligned Dieties at all. Jesus Christ may be a perfect example of Apotheosis. But just because he's seen as a good aligned figure doesn't mean all Gods via apotheosis have to be good aligned as well.

When I think of Apotheosis, Greek mythology immediately comes to mind. And when we look at the Greek Gods, most Greek Gods can not be defined as purely 'good' or 'evil' entitiies. Most are seen as personalities of the universe, each showing strong character traits. And you get the full spectrum of included through those character traits, no matter whether the actions are seen as Good or Bad. The Gods are often quite capable of performing acts that are seen as both. You just accept the nature of these Gods for who they are.

I strongly believe that religion is intertwined into the story of this game. However most you of you have that angle confused. For the most part I think we need to take a big step away from looking at the game in a Christian perspective, and start taking a deep long look at this game from the perspective of the Occult. Hitler was an occultist. The Golden Dawn and Black Sun society were occultists. The Illuminati and Freemasons are occultist. This genre of the game is Nazi Sci-Fi. I hope you all see where I'm going with this. If you want a good perspective of the religious prophecies being fulfilled in this game, you need to stop thinking like a Christian, and start thinking like an occultist.

- Mix

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Guest Ehjookayted

A thing I liked from your post, Chris, was the fact that you pointed out the personalities of the universe. Now, I guess I can continue from this in saying that the Greek gods were also human in their morals. What I mean to say is that they made choices like us, and were neither good nor evil. In this way, it shows how gods can be loving yet destructive at the same time.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Monopoly Mac

Great thread and interesting idea. Richtofen is very much like a Satanist. He enjoys control, power, and being followed. This is why he lead the Griffin Group and also why he made the Shangri La villagers worship him. If the theory of Satan living through Richtofen is correct then that means he is trying to finish his great work. Becoming a god.

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