Interpretation

[little jake the goat]

Hylics, by its' very name, seems to have many ties in theming with the three divisions of man of gnosticism, although I do not intend to discuss the context of belief systems here, or merits there of, as I do not believe argument over such topics is constructive.


In terms, "Hylics" is one of the three divisions of man. They are purely material with no spiritual component, and are "incapable of salvation" or ascension. Throughout the game, almost all of the people you talk to, including prevalent NPCs, seem to generate poetic, but non-descriptive sentences that lack purpose. And, discussing with the clayman near wayne's house, he describes the nearby settlement to as "The hylic city".

Other things to note that support this, certain NPCs that sell animal food are content to "stand here forever" after their purpose is served, indicating that they have no higher function. There also seems to be many ruins and glyphs of great meaning that they seem to be apathetic to.
(maybe Dedusmuln could help us out)

-There is also the term for Psychics, the next division, beings who have spiritual components amidst their material ones. They are capable of 'learning higher knowledge', but do so with great effort. For my gaze, these can be your compatriots, as they are not directly involved with the conflict between the lunar cycle, only assisting you in your quest to thwart Gibby.

--Finally, Pneumatics. Purely spiritual beings bound by no material essence. These can be the ones of greatest importance: The six-eyed poet/dracula, The Three Sages, Gibby, and Wayne.

In my opinion, it is my firm belief that the main conflict of the game is the passing of the moon phase, in which Wayne is destined to supercede Gibby as the next hierarch of the heavens. The journey, in essence, is a transformative one. Not necessarily of the self, but the material world around you. In doing this, Gibby is defeated, and Wayne is marked as the moon-bearer for the next age. This can be inferred in Hylics 2 seeing that Wayne's dwelling and world have completely changed, and is populated with Wayne-like beings, many of which bear their own will.



Even with the lack of subtext to the world, there seems to be a lot that has already happened in it. I can accept that there is no intention to provide such lore, in fact, canonically it is non existent beside what you see bare. I do not intent to rewrite Mr. Lindroth's works, this is just my take with filling in some of the gaps.

There is much more to discuss, such as the nature of TVs, Gestures, Paper cups, the Afterlife, the Chasing Totems of Death, and much more. Thoughts are appreciated

[little jake the goat]

In addition, in Hylics 2; there is a figure of notable authority and assumed power at the crest of the Waynehome settlement. He directs you to your first destination, and is regarded by the smaller/lesser Wayne's as a sort of parental figure of knowledge, usually with some affection in their regards much how a child might regard their own parent.

But, could this "Old Wayne" be the previous Wayne from Hylics 1? Could it be, in the passing of the suggested moon phase, that Wayne and his essence became woven with some cosmic authority, to reincarnate as a sage-like, benevolent figure? Perhaps the Wayne you play as in Hylics 2 is some sort of descendant, rather than the Wayne we remember? (Although he does recognize Pongorma, who is strangely lacking in vigor, although this could be a knowledge that all Wayne's possess.

[little jake the goat]

Along with this, Pongorma and the others could possibly have "ascended" with Wayne due to them participating in his Pneumatic quest of cosmic importance. Their personalities seem to differ from their previous incarnations, but how could this be? Could it be that their image is passed down, much like Wayne's to be inherited? Who knows.

[little jake the goat]

i swear i will uncover all of the secrets

[little jake the goat]

It also seems that this universe is a warped version of our reality, or perhaps a layer 'in a different form of imagination' (quote from tolkien) Many different common place items are used by the clay beings, but not necessarily in the way we use them. Using dynamite can figure that the clay beings have a form of telekinesis, or having some control over the material in their world. You could tie this to Wayne and his crew being psychics/pneumatics, as the term 'pneuma' is referenced in Hylics 2 as the item that allows you to fly through the air, unbounded by the material laws of gravity. As far as the 'artifacts' go, some seem to be commonplace or known of: Dynamites are sold in stores at high prices, but the sacred 'paper cup' has to be scouraged for.

Perhaps a reason for Dedusmuln's zeal for artifacts, these items could hold some considerable 'power' to the claybeings. The paper cup with the water cooler allows you to gain more willpower permanently so you can better mould material clay into sacred, moving sigils that project designated effects to the reality.

Also, on this last note, the Televisions could be artifacts from humans, before the great 'event' that formed the Hylics world. They bestow knowledge incomprehensible to the clay beings, only understood by the pneumatics and utilized in their efforts. Humans could have formed the clay beings much like the dolls in the movie 9, thus their artifacts and creations hold great spiritual power over the clay.

[Petil]

I have not played Hylics 2 but as i see it, Hylics is a sturdy of absurdism. The game is much like normal RPG but its too... weird. It embraces the bizarre to the point of nothing being bizarre anymore since a new status quo is created. The absurd is shown as equal to normal

[wornms]

I like to think Wayne is a crescent moon, fighting the full moon, Gibby.

[Útost Alronbem]

"Cochlea & Eustachia" is surreally absurdist.
Hylics isn't.
Nor is it madness, for it's built on logics and with meaning while madness lacks one or another or both.

We don't know which 'fantastic assumption'(*) gave birth to this unusual world - but it lives according to that. To the damn letter.
Clay is not what makes this world IRL (in its IRL, of course). It's a tool for making it perceivable for us.
Are Hylics world dwellers all-clay, like silicon based life forms about which biologists and science fiction writers alike dream day and night? Or not? Who knows (well, author may or may not know)...

I'd say that Hylics is, essentially, Adventure Time which dared to take full step forward instead of half-step.
In both, humans (or pretty human-like creatures with human-like culture) existed. In both, humans have perished but SOME inconceivable (for new inhabitants of this world) artifacts outlasted them.

(*) According to A. Kalugin (science fiction writer from Russia with a plenty of good books which are still due to get the praise these deserve under his belt) 'fantastic assumption' is an integral component of any good science fiction, which defines not _laws_ according to which fantastic world lives but _differences_ of such world's laws vs our real world.

[Pneumatic Dragon]

My interpretation of wayne is that he represents changing tides as a whole. He doesn't just defeat gibby, he straight up blows up the moon. I also think the entire story is a metaphor for change wrought by those that have the willpower to act enough to illicit that change.

My interpretation of the name of the game being Hylics is that everything and everyone in the game is actually a hylic, they are all literally made of clay, or more accurately, they are programs, destined to perform the bidding of the game creator and the player of the game overall. We as players, and outside observers are capable of shaping the clay and nature of the world to fit our divine understanding of the world as we are not hylics, but psychics or even pneumatics.

I also represent the world as a post post post apocalypse. My reasoning for this plays into the fact that there's hylics in all facets of the world, and none of them know how to act in accordance to the artifacts in actually understanding them. Dedusmuln only knows how to operate the water coolers because he learned to through study, but it was always in his nature to do so as that's his ultimate role in the game. He still obeys the laws of his creation. This goes for all interactions in the game with objects. One cannot interact with them in any meaningful way, just in the ways that they're intended, which we all know from our personal experience there's a bunch of multilayered ways to interact with something as simple as a water cooler or tv

I think that the whole game exists as a critique for the nature of beings in general. Where the up close nature of any one being is something that appears so complex or random. That complexity and that randomness could maybe even come from a soul. From far away, or especially from an outsider perspective, beings all behave exactly as expected, we are still limited by the laws of our own logic, and in that way, this game is an example of intense philosophy. Beings, people, game NPCs all have emergent complexity, but at some level we're all just bundles of information that's more or less understandable depending on what level of knowledge one possesses on the goings on of those beings.

[Seerite]

this is such a good take