Was the Postal Dude 'Evil' or just ill?

[Faux Nugget]

From what we've see from his diary entries and the ending do you think the postal dude was completely aware and fully in control of what he was doing, or is he another victim of his own mad rampage as he's forced to come to terms with what he has done after he becomes sober from his own anger?

[Trick]

I don't think he was. It was the demon inside him who turned him into a killer.
He messed with his mind and made him think that everyone is evil and tries to kill him.
So the Dude always thought that he was the hero and cleaning the world from evil until he stood infront of his own grave and had his metal breakdown. According to a RWS developer the ending is meant "symbolic" so I figured that the Dude realized that the demon in his head completly changed his character and personality and he became a completly new person, that's what the grave is suppose to represent.

[Faux Nugget]

Originally posted by Trickstabber:

I don't think he was. It was the demon inside him who turned him into a killer.
He messed with his mind and made him think that everyone is evil and tries to kill him.
So the Dude always thought that he was the hero and cleaning the world from evil until he stood infront of his own grave and had his metal breakdown. According to a RWS developer the ending is meant "symbolic" so I figured that the Dude realized that the demon in his head completly changed his character and personality and he became a completly new person, that's what the grave is suppose to represent.

So do you think the man in the straight jacket is the old dude back in control of his body, or is that the demon stuck in his body and now captured and subdued?

[Trick]

Originally posted by (PG)Tompig-Titus:

Originally posted by Trickstabber:

I don't think he was. It was the demon inside him who turned him into a killer.
He messed with his mind and made him think that everyone is evil and tries to kill him.
So the Dude always thought that he was the hero and cleaning the world from evil until he stood infront of his own grave and had his metal breakdown. According to a RWS developer the ending is meant "symbolic" so I figured that the Dude realized that the demon in his head completly changed his character and personality and he became a completly new person, that's what the grave is suppose to represent.

So do you think the man in the straight jacket is the old dude back in control of his body, or is that the demon stuck in his body and now captured and subdued?

This is the only question I can't really answer. The thing I would like to know is who the girl next to him is.

[Faux Nugget]

Originally posted by Trickstabber:

Originally posted by (PG)Tompig-Titus:

So do you think the man in the straight jacket is the old dude back in control of his body, or is that the demon stuck in his body and now captured and subdued?

This is the only question I can't really answer. The thing I would like to know is who the girl next to him is.

Could that possibly be his parents attending his own funeral? Him not only contending with the possibility of his own death but the shame of what he's done to his own loved ones?

[Trick]

Originally posted by (PG)Tompig-Titus:

Originally posted by Trickstabber:

This is the only question I can't really answer. The thing I would like to know is who the girl next to him is.

Could that possibly be his parents attending his own funeral? Him not only contending with the possibility of his own death but the shame of what he's done to his own loved ones?

Thought about that too but then there comes the question why this is only happening on the hardmode ending. Maybe it's because the demon didn't take much control of the Dude in hardmode which is the reason why he is weaker. The journals from the Dude also only appear in hardmode which is another proof. Maybe the Dude killed his parents on the easy difficulty because the demon won full control. On the Hardmode however he didn't kill them because he still had some control over his actions. Sounds like a nice theory actually...

[Vile Sentry]

Can anyone be said to be evil or to "choose" anything when so much of what makes all of us is out of our direct control? We are all just blown around in the tornado of life and any of us could have been tossed into the type of situations that would have made us like him.

[Vile Sentry]

Originally posted by cyan0s1s:

Yeah I think 'evil' is too strong a word to use. It comes down to one's moral standards to determine what is considered 'evil' or not. Evil in the traditional sense I feel is too B&W. We are all shades of opaque. Some darker than others.

Exactly, although there's also a ying yang element too. The person who may seem the most rightous, someone who never harms anyone, is "evil" in the sense that they do not contribute to society. The person who contributes is also going to harm others through their action or inaction. A person who gives a homeless man a fistfull of money may be helping that man satisfy his drug cravings.

Postal to me just had an extreme version of this, someone believing they are a hero but also believing they are a one man death machine. Maybe the "split personality" demon thing is just a way to justify experiencing both.

[Vile Sentry]

Originally posted by CARRiON:

Evil is a spiritual term, and doesn't hold a lot of weight in any context because it's not clearly definable what it even is.

well it can have some weight depending on everyone's own interpretation of the term. I mean I think there is a value to labeling things that hurt innocent people as "evil" even if it's just to save time. For instance, people that abuse children, not many ways for a person to spin that into something that has more complexity to it.

I mean obviously you are right, I just don't see it as a purely spiritual term.

[Weirder Wonderland]

I don't think he's evil. He says ''Evil must die'' here, around 3:30 ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAYNMpHlgho

I think he only uses the words like evil, angel of death and demons to amplify - or to look more fearful and edgy - his mental state. Just like how mentally unstable people seem to often talk about God, demons and religious divine symbols to either justify their insanity or make it more magical, mysterious, powerful.

[L0G1STX aka MAGA Man]

Originally posted by Weirder Wonderland:

I don't think he's evil. He says ''Evil must die'' here, around 3:30 ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAYNMpHlgho

I think he only uses the words like evil, angel of death and demons to amplify - or to look more fearful and edgy - his mental state. Just like how mentally unstable people seem to often talk about God, demons and religious divine symbols to either justify their insanity or make it more magical, mysterious, powerful.

you mean catholics? they aren't all "unstable". just really guilty. i mean i'm an atheist too but jeez mentally unstable and insane is a little harsh. I'm hispanic so I know the catholic church very well. It doesen't take the bible THAT literal anymore.. It's more of a symbolic metaphorical thing as well.

And my theory about Postal dude? I think he was just a guy who hates his hometown. I think the people there WERE screwing with him. I think they shot at him first. I mean one of the hardest achievements in the game is Misunderstood Saviour (or something) that means you have to go through the game without killing the civilians. I believe this might be the "canon" way to play the game. I mean, it sounds far fetched and a little hopeful but remember the Postal movie by Uwe Bowl? It was kinda the same thing. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone, nor get into any trouble. And Postal 2 is kinda the same thing isn't it? You're always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think the scene where he goes crazy is AFTER the rampage. He gets put into an asylum and the doctors mock his "instability" not even realizing they themselves are part of the problem, hence the symbolism the devs are talking about.
I mean I live in Albuquerque, similar to Postal dudes home as far as scenery AND people. Even though I would never WANT to harm anyone, these stupid small minded people love to screw with me and make me feel bad about myself because I'm not another mindless drone wandering around with my mouth open. And the cops here are corrupt too. Seriously, look up APD scandals. Not only do the cops shoot people but they shoot EACHOTHER. I can easily seeing something like my theory playing out in real life to someone in the SouthWest or even just the South. People are generally retarded here.

[L0G1STX aka MAGA Man]

by the way the word that steam replaced with eternal hearts from binding of isaac rhymes with she farted. just replace the sh with an r and the f with a t. Why is that word a bad word? I'm not trying to offend disabled people, just people from Albuquerque. I'm from there, it's okay. Why is steam trying to get rid of descriptive language? That's a whole lot of male cow defecation if you ask me.

[Vile Sentry]

Originally posted by J'Mar DeDos El Medio:

by the way the word that steam replaced with eternal hearts from binding of isaac rhymes with she farted. just replace the sh with an r and the f with a t. Why is that word a bad word? I'm not trying to offend disabled people, just people from Albuquerque. I'm from there, it's okay. Why is steam trying to get rid of descriptive language? That's a whole lot of male cow defecation if you ask me.

It's funny, since people claiming it refers to "mentally handicapped people" are actually the ones calling those people retarded. Normal people don't seem to make that connection and just see it as a harsher version of the word moron.

[Tiffany A.]

Is the Postal Dude "evil"? No, that's such a vaguely defined term that it cannot be used to describe a character.

[Vile Sentry]

Originally posted by Oddheads:

Is the Postal Dude "evil"? No, that's such a vaguely defined term that it cannot be used to describe a character.

Well to be fair, most characteristics that we use to describe a character could be "vaugely defined" I mean how do you "define" a gay character when so many different people have different ideas of what constitutes gay?

Is it weird that I used that as an example?
I see your point obviously, there is no "true evil" but the idea that the term can't be used to describe a character, especially a fictitious one, is one I respectfully disagree with.

[Tiffany A.]

Originally posted by DriscolDevil:

Originally posted by Oddheads:

Is the Postal Dude "evil"? No, that's such a vaguely defined term that it cannot be used to describe a character.

Well to be fair, most characteristics that we use to describe a character could be "vaugely defined" I mean how do you "define" a gay character when so many different people have different ideas of what constitutes gay?

Is it weird that I used that as an example?
I see your point obviously, there is no "true evil" but the idea that the term can't be used to describe a character, especially a fictitious one, is one I respectfully disagree with.

There's always more descriptive ways of describing characters than "good" or "evil" though, as almost every character in fiction has some more depth than that which can be described with a single term.