Oh Elh… The strange entity who only exists in the
files of Luigi’s Mansion. This swaying, hulking figure towers over Luigi if it is added back to
the game but the mystery sort of stops there. Probably one of the most eerie things about Elh is
that it has basically no references in any of the code. Just the model and animations in the files,
and no part of the game acknowledges this figure’s existence. So a few weeks ago I put out a video
covering the Elh mystery and outlining everything that is known. But from that point forward, it’s
quite fun to ponder about what this ghost-like entity could have been. And in this video we’re
going to be speculating just for the fun of it all. There’s no hard evidence for any of this,
but the comment section in the last video brought forth a lot of really cool ideas. Here are a few
Elh theories that would have completely changed the Luigi’s Mansion experience. This video will
be a bit more impromptu and off the cuff than my other videos, but I hope you find it entertaining
regardless. So let's talk about Elh being a chaser enemy. A foe that pursues you throughout
the game or in certain parts of the game, that you basically need to run from. So there was
a lot of comments on the last video talking about this concept and I think it's kind of really neat.
So this comment by poody_blue reads as follows: "Not gonna lie the whole time I had it in the back
of my head 'what if elh was a recurring chaser enemy that you couldn't beat up like the water
wraith from Pikmin 2'." So for those of you who haven't played Pikmin 2, the waterwraith is this
transparent enemy that gets on these rollers and chases you around and you basically have to avoid
it. And of course it hunts you down. Anyways back to the comment: "This would make sense as to why
the character was scrapped because a chaser enemy might not mesh well with a game 85% comprised
of narrow halls. Unless Luigi could hide somewhere via the crouching mode. Also not to
mention the way that Elh enters the set could be used anywhere. So hypothetically Luigi
could be exploring somewhere in the mansion and Elh could surprise him by rising out of the
ground prompting Luigi to have to run and hide. It's a fun theory in my opinion and would have
made for a sick obstacle." So that's the end of the comment and there's a lot of other
comments that talk about this same concept. With Elh's animations of basically appearing out
of the floor and also sidestepping and kind of closing in on you - it does make you wonder if
he was going to chase you through the mansion. Basically like a Mr. X or any kind of pursuer
enemy where you can't really defeat him, or you can't defeat him initially until you get a
certain ability. After all, Elh is paired with the elements fire and ice so maybe there is something
with that. Another comment is by the Burger King himself and in this comment, I'll paraphrase it
a bit, but it says: "When we play this game we feel a sense of calmness in the brightly lit
hallways or rooms once they are completed. Knowing this and having Elh constantly roaming
the mansion and potentially hiding around every corner would continuously leave a sense of dread
and nervousness." That's an interesting point, because in Luigi's Mansion, I actually grew
to really like the cleared state of it, right? It was very... Obviously it's nostalgic for me
now, but looking back at it, it did feel safe. I had cleared these rooms. I didn't have to worry
about anything in these rooms other than boos and obviously the blackout. But the fact
that something like this could completely change that experience. Now we don't know if Elh
was a pursuer enemy and if he could pursue you into areas that were lit up, but it's an
interesting thought. But to kind of close it out, there is no defeat animation or vacuuming
animation for Elh. I suppose it could just have an opacity change and just fade away on screen, but
unlike other spirits there is no sort of defeat tethered with this entity. But this sorts of
leads us to the next thing I want to talk about which is the concept of blocked progress. So in
Luigi's Mansion you have various doors like the spiked doors or obviously the doors that need
keys that block your progress. There is even a burning door that you need to use water to
put out, right? Now what if Elh was sort of an entity that blocked your progress? Like I
immediately think of Mido or the other Kokiri kid from Ocarina of Time who blocks your path
in Kokiri Forest. I guess you could even say the signs in Donkey Kong 64. Just something to prevent
you from moving forward until you had something or completed something. And this sort of goes well
with Elh's movements. That strafing left and right... It feels like someone kinda boxing you
in just like Mido in Ocarina of Time and how he slides left and right or the other Kokiri Kid.
It feels like that, it could be that right? So maybe Elh was something like that. It was just an
entity - a door ghost for a lack of a better term, that was made to keep you in an area until you
had the tools that you needed to get past it. It's definitely a very interesting thought
and other comments on the video mirrored this. Take AceDaniaMMX. They state "Elh's sidestep
makes me think it could've been some kind of body blocking enemy. Maybe an early check for if
Luigi had a certain element, where it could have an elemental core connecting its body parts that
would have to be destroyed so Luigi could move on" To be honest... I think I would have enjoyed
this concept a lot more than the spiked doors that Luigi's Mansion does? Just knowing there was
a spirit blocking your path that needed something to get past it is kind of neat. And that kind of
also leads us sorta to the next point. So another theory could be like this comment says by Willow
Whispers. "Do you think an item was supposed to be in the cage part of his abdomen? Like a key?" And
when I saw this I also commented as well because I had not thought of that before and it's actually
really interesting. So Elh's interior either held an item or it required an item. How would the game
have changed if Elh would have held a Mario item? Maybe it was his hat... His star, or something.
And it actually moved around the mansion to avoid you and you had to defeat that enemy to
gain what it had inside. That'd be kind of neat and it might even play into the idea of exploring
parts of the mansion that you did in the past. What's interesting is that we can also take
these ideas and sort of combine them as well. What if Elh was a combination of both the pursuer
enemy and also the container enemy? And this will go into my next point in a bit because the mansion
itself is kind of contained and it is not very big. In a bit I'll talk about areas other than the
mansion, but what if Elh was like a Phanto? Those creepy masks from Super Mario Bros 2 that chase
you when you pick up the key. Perhaps it maybe appeared to be like a statue and when you
grabbed the key it came to life and chased you? That would be pretty interesting especially if
you could not defeat it. Like imagine running through hallways dodging fireballs and ice and all
this other stuff while also having to deal with the normal ghosts in the mansion. That would have
been pretty intense and it definitely would have changed the experience of the mansion. But let's
kind of circle back around to a different video I did in the past about the exterior areas of the
mansion. Because what if Elh was an entity from outside of the mansion? Now there isn't concrete
evidence that Luigi could walk around the mansion, but the idea that Luigi used to climb out of
EGadd's lab makes me believe you had to walk to the mansion at some point. So Luigi would be
outside, in theory, in the huge outdoors area that we see him walking through in cutscenes and
at the start of the game. As things are now you just sort of warp between all sorts of different
areas. So a while ago I made a video theorizing about a cave or pathways that led outside of the
mansion. Because there is room data left over out of bounds that you can walk into if you disable
wall collision. One is next to the graveyard, and the other, the courtyard. You can see them
on this 3D model of a compilation of all the bounding boxes in the areas of the game. They
stick out a bit from the rest of the mansion. And for those curious, this large section is the
observatory for when you walk out into space. So if there was possibly more to do outside, could
Elh have been something out there? Like what if there was a path that went into Boo's Woods and
Elh ended up chasing you from out there and back into the mansion? That'd be kind of cool getting
pursued through the woods and then you get to the mansion and then maybe even realize that you
aren't even safe there. Just like that Phanto concept but now it's a much longer trek and you
have to get to a certain door in the mansion. Of course this is just spitballing things for the fun
of it. There is no real concrete evidence of this, but I do love thinking of concepts like this.
And for the last theory that I want you to think about... This is something that I actually just
thought of while talking through the rest of this. What if Elh was a ghost that Egadd made?
So we have Egadd's lab, the training area, and the gallery. And there is an overarching map
to these places. At one point I think you actually had to walk between them because you can explore
Egadd's lab. But what if Elh was just a training ghost that Egadd made to just teach the character
how to use the elements? Egadd is known for crazy experiments, so I wouldn't put it past him if he
took some of the elemental ghosts in the mansion, tried combining them, and then this Elh
monstrosity was created. And this monster is now what you use to learn how to defend
yourself with the different elements. Perhaps Elh would put out the different elemental ghosts
through its attacks and then you would have to suck those up and use those against Elh. That sort
of changes the feeling of this enemy quite a bit because now it's sort of something that actually
helps you by teaching. It's definitely far out there as an idea, but it would breathe more life
into that training room after we got done using it the first time. So with all of that said, keep
in mind this is all speculation and most of it has no concrete evidence to back it up, but based
off these theories... What do you think Elh could have been? Do you agree with any of the concepts
mentioned here? I'd love to know your thoughts so please share them in the comments below. And with
that I'll see you all in the next video. Cheers!
