Oddworld Questions & Answers IX

[Nepsotic]

I have a question. Who the fuck is/was Shrykull, or what was he? There's a lot of lore around Oddworld regarding the natives vs. industrialists and their history, but nothing regarding the mythos.

Shrykull was basically glossed over and is nothing more than a game mechanic, but do we know what exactly he is other than some godlike being?

[FennecFyre]

Nature's fury incarnate?

[JayDee]

Spirituality is rife in Oddworld's lore and I always felt as though the Shrykull was somekind of manifestation of the vengeful spirits of the Scrabs and Paramites. We know that Spirits have some kind of power and influence since they can also do things like open doors for Abe, or communicate with him through visions as we see in Abe's Exoddus.

I've spoken briefly to Lorne about Shrykull, though I was actually asking about other dualistic dieties so nothing interesting to learn about the Shrykull itself.

[Nate]

I have a question. Who the fuck is/was Shrykull, or what was he? There's a lot of lore around Oddworld regarding the natives vs. industrialists and their history, but nothing regarding the mythos.

Shrykull was basically glossed over and is nothing more than a game mechanic, but do we know what exactly he is other than some godlike being?

According to an old post that I can only remember because it was in response to one of my first posts and I recently looked through them when I hit my OWFaversary:

According to Alf, the shrykull is found in the wild but it is incredibly rare and powerful and no less supernatural just because they are found in nature. Maybe we will get to see more of them in a future game.

As for that pic... it is somewhere in Vykkers Labs but I'm not sure of the exact location.

I can't find the exact Ask Alf in question, but the archive on the old website doesn't include every entry, sadly.

[Nepsotic]

Nah I'm not having that, it's built up as some kind of deity so Alf's chatting some bollocks. The idea that it's some kind of mythical beast is interesting, though.

[Jordan]

I can't see any reason something like that would just naturally occur in the wild unless they were a Vykker-made hybrid that was released a long time ago. It being a spiritual manifestation works a lot better because it doesn't really have to make a lot of sense, especially if they're angry spirits. Angry spirits making a grotesque hybrid creature is way cooler than it just naturally existing.

[STM]

Besides, how would a scrab do the do with a paramite to create such a monstrosity?

[Vlam]

Speciesist!

[Varrok]

Eugenics supporter!

[Nepsotic]

I think the Scrab is a secret sub but he doesn't want us to know it.

[FennecFyre]

If the Shrykull is a living, mundane creature, then how could Abe take on its aspect?

Unless he's secretly Otherkin.

[Nate]

I think the point is that there isn't a distinct line between spiritual creatures and mundane creatures. On Oddworld, supernatural creatures of spirit occur naturally.

Remember that the Muds are based on various native tribes from around the world. In many of those cultures, supernatural creatures weren't things that existed in a legendary past, but still exist today, even if we're just not lucky enough to see them.

[Holy Sock]

Here's a question: Does anyone know if the Shrykull is game specific or if it was a part of the Oddworld films? There's this sort of demonic imagery in some concept arts which looks like that perhaps Abe would channel a different beast altogether? There's probably not enough information on the film to know but I was wondering in case.

[Vlam]

Here's a question: Does anyone know if the Shrykull is game specific or if it was a part of the Oddworld films? There's this sort of demonic imagery in some concept arts which looks like that perhaps Abe would channel a different beast altogether? There's probably not enough information on the film to know but I was wondering in case.

I couldn't find any information about it. The Shrykull was cut from Abe's Exoddus: The Movie.

[JayDee]

I feel as though the Shrykull being some kind of spiritual aspect that Abe can manifest is the most logical explanation, Abe even says it himself.

With hand scars complete, the spirits took form.

Plus we should remember that Mudokons (Or atleast Abe) are a species that turn into birds when they die and can bring back their dead. They seem to have this spiritual manifestation thing down.

[Nate]

I couldn't find any information about it. The Shrykull was cut from Abe's Exoddus: The Movie.

What are you basing that on?

[Vlam]

What are you basing that on?

The Oddworld Wiki.

[Nate]

The Oddworld Wiki.

That wretched hive of scum and villainy?

Seriously, though. Which page?

[Vlam]

http://oddworld.wikia.com/wiki/Abe's_Exoddus:_The_Movie

Why don't you believe me?

[Manco]

Well for obvious reasons really: wiki content should never be taken as gospel without an additional reference.

If you’re referring to this line:

In the game, the flashback took place after Abe regained the power to become Shrykull. In the film, the Shrykull is never mentioned.

It’s bullshit, as Abe never “regains” the power of Shrykull in AE. There’s just no puzzles using it in the first half of the game.

[Vlam]

My bad, I thought this Wiki was legit (you're a contributor).

[Manco]

I don’t write everything on the wiki, and I also don’t appreciate the dig at me.

[Vlam]

I was joking. "Chill out, yo".

It's true that the Shrykull isn't in the movie.

[Nate]

Also, I didn't notice in your post that you were referring to Abe's Exoddus: The Movie. I thought you were making claims about the actual Abe film.

AE:TM was made solely to be able to use the high-quality animation from AE to submit for an Oscar nomination. It lies within the game canon, not the film canon. So it's irrelevant to Holy Sock's question.

[Havoc]

Isn't the AE 'movie' just a cut and paste job of all the cutscenes with some Slig chatting it all into a coherent package? Who's bright idea was it to nominate that for an Oscar lol.

[Connell]

Isn't the AE 'movie' just a cut and paste job of all the cutscenes with some Slig chatting it all into a coherent package? Who's bright idea was it to nominate that for an Oscar lol.

Got to admit, it probably made a good PR stunt.

[Vlam]

There's also the Newscaster Mudokon in it.

[Xavier]

Isn't the AE 'movie' just a cut and paste job of all the cutscenes with some Slig chatting it all into a coherent package? Who's bright idea was it to nominate that for an Oscar lol.

It's a mud doing the reporting, not a slig. If you want it's available here:
http://oddworldlibrary.net/archives/...93/category/70

[UnderTheSun]

On the topic of Shrykull, here's a good Dear Alf morsel about it.

Shrykull isn’t a god of revenge. Shrykull represents the duality of nature, the balance of creation and destruction, love and hate, up and down, left and right, salt and pepper, pride and prejudice, and so on. Imagine you’re responsible for all that when some Glukkons parade onto your turf and start dismantling all your carefully-managed world with their slash-and-burn capitalism. You’d be out for revenge too!

A bit like human actions in the real world having devestating side effects. Take the Dustbowl. Too much destruction is met with more destruction in an attempt to rebalance. Or Godzilla emerging to eat the MUTOs we awoke.


With that, another question to add to the pile: in Abe's Exoddus, the Glukkons used spirit traps to capture Mudokon spirits. Given that industrialists are the opposite of the Natives in every way, spirituality not least of all, what's up with them making spirit traps?

[Nate]

With that, another question to add to the pile: in Abe's Exoddus, the Glukkons used spirit traps to capture Mudokon spirits. Given that industrialists are the opposite of the Natives in every way, spirituality not least of all, what's up with them making spirit traps?

Glukkons aren't anti-spiritual. They actually practice a malevelont form of occultism. Part of the distinction there is that they don't see it as important to imbue a sense of balance in their spiritualism.