lore? I feel like all the Survivors are from different timelines. (quotes provided)

[CatDrKahl]

While this one might be of more subtlety than some other things I've called attention to, I feel like evidence is most certainly there. Buckle up, M8s, there will be lots of quotes here. (and even then, I probably won't get all the evidence) As is mostly agreed upon, the Survivors were taken into the Constant around 1920.

"We wish they were shaped like dinosaurs."-Webber examining Honey Nuggets. Dinosaur-shaped nuggets were invented in 1993, after the release of Jurassic Park.

"Just like me mum used ta open from th'package."-Woodlegs examining Waffles. The very first premade pancake/waffle mix was made in 1888/9, Bisquik was made around the 1930's.

"Mum never let me have these"-Webber examining Powdercake. Twinkies (their obvious reference) were invented on April 6th, 1930.

"What does this inscription mean?"-Wickerbottom. "Letters and numbers... some sort of secret code?"-Maxwell. "Where's the automobile?"-Webber. All three examining a License Plate. In the United State, the earliest year that License Plates were issued statewide was in New York in 1901.

Given Webber referencing dinosaur nuggets, the earliest he could have been born is around 1993. Neither Wickerbottom or Maxwell know what a License Plate is, despite being the two smartest characters. 

[Bughead]

The different timelines is a very much plausible theory, at least in Woodleg's case. However, I don't agree that Webber was born in 93 because in his animated short Wagstaff drives a Ford Model T, produced October 1, 1908 to May 26, 1927. As much as some people like to cling onto retro autos, I don't believe that's very in-character for a man who's all about technology.

Edited March 18 by Bughead
me not reading lmao, feel free to correct if im a further scatterbrain

[qwertyxavier904]

Yeah, I had a feeling that since the constant and it's relation to time making little sense (they deadass say this in a loading screen quote), survivors could've been taken from different points of history from 1900-1999.

Wanda does imply that other "timelines" exist in her many quotes.

[qwertyxavier904]

Strange though, why the constant hasn't taken anyone, or has been influenced by anything past the end of our WW2.

Maybe Wagstaff is the possible exception to this, as he is *maybe* from a alt history, that takes place after WWI or 2. He has some quotes (like the dank sword one) that these "magic" items could be used in wartime I believe. Or he is coming from around when those wars took place, and is researching the constant to see if it holds anything that can be used in a war.

 

[-Kiyo-]

Trying to date Webber as a '93 abduction by trusting a stray quote more than his entire animated short is a stretch.

Some of those quotes are simply the writers lining up some fun references... like how WX-78 talks about seeing the blue screen during a character swap.

[qwertyxavier904]

BUT IT'S A THEORY, A GAM-

 

[slurper gaming]

5 hours ago, qwertyxavier904 said:

BUT IT'S A THEORY, A GAM-

 

kinda like that omori one

[-Kiyo-]

22 hours ago, qwertyxavier904 said:

BUT IT'S A THEORY, A GAM-

 

Oh but yes of course! I find it fun to speculate. I'm just not feeling the dinsosaur nuggets in particular.

I did wonder a lot about why Webber would know what a car is. But his short went ouf of the way to explain a lot of his character quotes.
"My father kept goats." - Webber on Volt Goats. There's goats in the short.
"Reminds me of grandpa." - Webber on Tam O'Shanter. You see a picture of his grandfather wearing a tam
"Father used to work on something like that." - Webber on Alchemy Engine. And then Webber's dad has a whole alch in his studio.

And as Bughead mentioned he's seen Wagstaff's car so he knows what they are.

[WhackE]

For Wicker and Maxwell not knowing what license plate is, sure they're smart, but they're also human and that means they're biased so I like to imagine they're old school and never really cared to learn about this 'new' technology, or they just never had much exposure to it.

Also I just remembered you probably shouldn't use quotes as definitive evidence for lore, they can be contradictive at times, and the devs did not put as much thought as you did when thinking about time period accuracy. It is fun to speculate though.

[Bughead]

Bonus trivia: Maxwell also uses Mx honorific when referring to WX-78 which was coined in late 1970. So yea.

--

some other thoughts on the matter:

Spoiler

I feel like both Max and Wicker had some time to learn what a plate is, given that in the state of California it was required (at least for motor vehicles) in 1905, the library was burned in 1911 (not sure if this is a concrete fact, i forgor my lore) so Wicker had at least 10 years given it was in the New York state. And I'm not even mentioning the possibility of newspapers or radio news broadcast, which should not be underestimated.

In such mysterious place as the Constant a plate of numbers can be interpreted as another piece of the puzzle, especially for the people who are looking for it everywhere. Nevertheless, as said above they can be simply biased or didn't have much experience with it.

 

Edited March 20 by Bughead