Doki dooooooki! Hey folks! Before we descend into Doki Doki madness - this
video is sponsored by Amino! Amino is an app that powers over a million
different communities and honestly, I’ve been using this app since 2016. I really really enjoy it and you can find
me on a handful of different Aminos. I recently joined the Doki Doki Amino community
at the turn of the year, and it’s the ultimate place for great Doki Doki Literature Club
content, fan art, cosplays, videos - you name it. You can find me on the app under SwankyBox,
so be sure to click the link in the description and say hello! I want to thank Amino for once again supporting
the channel, and without further ado, let’s begin the video! Doki Doki Literature Club is a game that starts
off joyful and lighthearted, but takes a swift turn towards the dark lands. Not even a swift turn. It’s like an olympic nose dive! And it does so in a very creative way. Once this takes place we want to know all
there is to know about these four girls. We are eager to figure out every single aspect
of their story and piece it all together. In my last video we covered how there is really
only one solution to all this madness. Whether the next installment is actually a
game or just something that is alluded to, but will never be real, the solution we can
derive from it is the same. People have mentioned that any future works
done by Team Salvato won’t be tied to the Doki Doki universe, but that doesn’t mean
that won’t change. Even if the fan art on the store page wasn’t
canon, success can surely change things, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens. However, even though Doki Doki seems to have
been analyzed from top to bottom, there is still one mystery that remains. Sure, we know that these four girls are claimed
to be from a separate universe, but that doesn’t answer all the questions. Because there are five people in this story. Not just four. In this small world that runs from the residential
town area to the school, we only have five people adding life to this disjointed place. Four of them we interact with daily, but one
of them is someone we live vicariously through. The Protagonist, who is controlled by you,
the player, is the only other variable present in the game. And if you ask me, he’s far more mysterious
than any of the four girls. Let me lay the ground work real fast before
explaining why. In Doki Doki Literature Club, you play the
only male we know of in this universe. He is heavily into anime and video games,
and pretty much fits into the otaku label pretty well. He doesn’t seem to have great social skills
or confidence, but based on our actions and our progression, it seems he is way better
than it seems. I feel like a lot of people who were in similar
situations would have difficulties doing a lot of the things he did, yet he proceeds
with them without as much hesitation as I would believe. It’s contrary to what we would expect, but
in the world of a visual novel, we give it the pass because the Protagonist can reach
any outcome. We only get to see the Protagonist one time
throughout the game too. We know he has brown hair and wears a long
black shirt because he can be seen hugging Sayori. His arms can be seen throughout the game as
well solidifying that this is indeed the Protagonist. While he seems to be a very average male,
the community is certainly divided by him. On one hand he seems to be an innocent boy
who is stumbling through life and has interest in his female schoolmates, where on the other
hand, he can come across as manipulative and uncaring based on your actions. I think this is what is so perplexing about
the Protagonist in general. He’s a vessel for the player, but he is
still planted in this world. If these four girls are here despite being
from another world, what about him? If the game is altered, his actions are affected,
but there’s something that’s off about the way this character is set up. He isn’t like all the other characters. He has planned responses like them, but he
is bound to a different set of rules. Or perhaps… He’s above the rules. You see, the only character within Doki Doki
Literature Club who can’t be blackmailed by their character file is the Protagonist. He can’t be deleted like any of the other
characters because he doesn’t have a file. Even if Monika wanted to, which she doesn’t,
she couldn’t do it. He’s a window to the outside world, so if
he was gone Monika might very well go insane. But this puts him in an interesting place. He’s the ticket to freedom in some regards,
but on the flip side, he’s also the one in which judgement can be carried out. If anything changes in the game around him,
his memory is altered like everyone else. His responses don’t seem to have access
to the same awareness that the Club President holds, but through the player he is able to
restart this world and resume it any time he wants. The other characters simply act accordingly
when this happens. It kind of reminds me of that episode of Black
Mirror… *record scratch* Yes, I know, I know. I reference that show a lot but Season 4 is
out and it’s so good! Anyways, there’s an episode that has to
do with a video game in which someone has absolute control over the universe and the
game characters simply respond accordingly to his actions. I don’t want to spoil it because the episode
is great and screws with your head, but it makes me wonder if this is what the Protagonist
could be for Doki Doki. Everyone is programmed to adore him, but if
these characters are here against their will, despite not remembering it, what is his story? For someone who operates on a separate set
of rules, why was he put in this universe? Is he from the same place as the four girls? If experimentation was taking place, was he
one of the bad guys? Did he mess up and get banished here alongside
these other experiments? But more so, why is he different? If the 3rd eye refers to gaining awareness
of being inside of a game, what kind of eyes does someone have if they are a window to
the world inside of a game? A set of eyes an outside player can see through
to experience a game world they aren’t a part of? There’s tons of questions and it’s kind
of trippy to think about. If he is a character from this other world,
he has lost more than any of the other girls. They still seem to retain aspects about them
that mirror their former selves. However, the Protagonist seems to be completely
wiped. He lacks extended interests, ambition, and
simply acts as if other people’s interests are his own. It’s kind of manipulative and creepy in
some regards. A sociopath, perhaps. But let’s dive into some of the cryptic
things within this game. Obviously people have been decoding this game
since launch and a lot of things have surfaced. One thing in particular I want to touch on
is a file called CAN YOU HEAR ME.txt. It showed up in my root directory for Doki
Doki when I played through it on my Mac. The file states the following - and I’ll
break down why I find it interesting in regards to the Protagonist afterwords. "There's a little devil inside all of us." Beneath their manufactured perception - their
artificial reality - is a writhing, twisted mess of dread. Loathing. Judgment. Elitism. Self-doubt. All thrashing to escape the feeble hold of
their host, seeping through every little crevice they can find. Into their willpower, starving them of all
motivation and desire. Into their stomach, forcing them to drown
their guilt in comfort food. Or into a newly-opened gash in their skin,
hidden only by the sleeves of a cute new shirt. Such a deplorable, tangled mass is already
present in every single one of them. That's why I choose not to blame myself for
their actions. All I did was untie the knot. Now this can be assumed to be Monika speaking
about the other girls, but I think this same logic can be applied elsewhere. All of the girls still maintain their mentality
beyond the artificial one we are in. It’s honestly horrific to think about. Based on what is written here, it shows that
despite acting one way in the game, they are aware they are trapped in a digital body and
can’t do anything about it. It’d be like being in someone else’s head
watching them go about their lives, but never being able to interact, break free, or speak
at all. Trapped there for all eternity in an echo
chamber with no way out. But what if this wasn’t Monika speaking? I mean, we usually assume it is because of
her role in everything else… But all the characteristics listed can apply
to all the girls - even Monika. Technically putting these girls within a digital
universe and setting them free would be the same as untying the knot. They are free, but still in captivity. And perhaps that’s where the Protagonist
comes into play. I’m not saying this is the Protagonist talking
because it’d be a baseless claim, but that doesn’t mean we can’t derive purpose from
it. Doki Doki in itself is an experiment if you
think about it. All these girls are put into a trapped void,
given glimpses of reality, and then are driven insane by what ifs. The one who is there to experience every moment
of this is the Protagonist. Whether he was a real person or not, he is
there to see everything that takes place. We guide him as the player, but in the realm
of a game world, that doesn’t mean other people couldn’t be running this simulation
as well. Perhaps the scientists we see involved with
the Project Libitina report are still involved. It sounds like the effects of those experiments,
or at least what is being diagnosed, sounds unrecoverable. If those patients die, they’re gone. But if you simulate these tests within an
additional game world that you could boot up and repeat over and over again… You could mitigate that loss of life. However, in doing so, you create a suspended
state of suffering that these girls will forever endure. You may find the results you want, but you’d
have to be pretty inhumane to make that decision. Behind the smiling face of the bashful Protagonist
could very well be something sinister… We are blissfully unaware when we pick up
the reigns and guide him, but when we’re offline in a game-world sense, he could be
serving a completely different purpose. Now that’s definitely a lot of overthinking,
but, it does make you wonder… But now that I’ve dumped that on all of
you, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What role do you think the Protagonist actually
plays? Was he a human at one point, or simply a camera
used to experience tests first hand? Let me know your thoughts in the comments
below! And with that… Thanks for tuning in for this alternative
analysis of a cryptic game! The rage game “Getting Over It” seemed
pretty straightforward, right? Heh... Well... I have some news for you. Why don’t you click on that video and see
what’s going on beneath the surface? Anyways, thanks for watching guys and gals,
and until my next video - cheers!
