Wreck It Ralph, just like so many other animated films, was an instant commercial success when
it was released in 2012.-No surprise, especially given that the director for the movie was
Rich Moore, the same director who worked his magic on so many episodes of Futurama and
The Simpsons.
It was lauded by critics, especially for the way in which it treated rather complex, mature
themes such as self-empowerment, willful change, and good vs evil.
All while giving us some sweet videogame references and a positive message.
It's sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, brought that feel-good positivity to the internet,
which, -let's be real: the internet could use more of.
But despite all the good vibes Wreck It Ralph and Ralph Breaks the Internet seem to ooze,
there's always another side to the coin... a darkness that balances out light, akin to
the principle of Yin and Yang Well, at least if you dig a little deeper anyway.
Which is what we like to do
I'm ______ with WickedBinge.
And these are dark theories about Wreck It Ralph and Ralph Break the Internet that Change
Everything.
Let's get started
Disney Princesses Have Stalkers
Let's kick off with a theory specific to the sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet.
This one involves all of the Disney Princesses that Vanelope stumbles upon.
As you'll notice, when Vanelope stumbles into their private room, all of them immediately
go on the defensive.
Each one of them armed and seemingly ready to kill.
-Cinderella smashes her glass shoe like she's ready for a bar fight, Merida grabs her bow,
Mulan unsheathes her sword Everybody is ready for a fight.
According to DeviantArt user trackforce, this is because they've all experienced stalkers
in the past.
Afterall, it is the internet.
In fact, the user suggests this is a subtle joke that suggests this happens regularly.
Afterall, the whole movie is a giant comedic commentary on the internet and well, unfortunately
stalking isn't exactly out of the realm of possibility
Calhoun's Back-Story Is Even More Tragic Than You Thought
We're kicking things off with a rather sad, dark look at Calhoun's past, one which will
make anyone's heart sigh and weep in sheer sorrow.
If you don't have a tissue or cloth with you to wipe your eyes, grab one quick because
we're about to take you on a very emotional ride courtesy of Reddit user ItsGotToMakeSense.
Everyone who's watched the movie knows that Calhoun's story is roped in sadness and pain.
But what if we told you that you might have missed an important detail which makes her
life all-the-sadder?
In the movie, we're shown Calhoun with her groom on her wedding day.
A wedding is supposed to be one of the best days in the life of a married couple, especially
a bride.
However, Calhoun's day turned into a complete disaster when a cy-bug charged into the chapel
and devoured her partner just as they were about to state their vows.
Literally, till death did them part.
This isn't the truly tragic part.
According to The Reddit user, cy-bugs transform into the entity which they consume.
To make matters worse, they tend to transform almost instantly.
Based on the scenarios we have seen, namely when a cy-bug ate candy
and when another one devoured Ralph's gun, cy-bugs transform within seconds.
You see where this is going, right?
Following the aforementioned logic, the cy-bug which ate Calhoun's groom and soon-to-be husband
turned into her now-dead lover within seconds.
Her once beautiful partner was now a mutated, unappealing creature which she had to kill.
This is where the real tragedy comes in.
It's not so much the fact that her partner was killed, rather that she had to stain her
own hands to do it.
The only thing more tragic than losing a loved-one is being the cause of his or her death.
This is the reason why the soldier states that Calhoun was programmed with the most
tragic backstory ever.
Vanellope's Father Might Be King Candy
Another interesting theory to have surfaced recently is the idea that King Candy might
be the biological father of Princess Vanellope.
Well, biological in the human sense.
Before we dive in, we need to thank Reddit user thepixelatedbanana for breaking it down.
The user begins the hypothesis by recreating a time in the past where King Candy was king,
ruler of Sugar Rush.
Hypothetically, Vanellope, as the father's daughter, was the princess of the kingdom.
Then, comes Turbo and turns the whole thing upside-down.
This is where we need you to use your imagination to really understand where the user is coming
from.
Based on the rationale provided, Turbo joins the action, longing to get in on some racing.
However, he faced an obstacle: King Candy would never allow someone as vile, repulsive,
and unsavoury as Turbo to roam freely in his kingdom.
So what does he do: completely remodify King Candy's code and take over his body while
removing Vanellope as a central player, that way he can be the superstar that he wants
to be.
Therefore, when Turbo dies, she inherits the power to rule, simply because her father was
King Candy.
She is the next-in-line to the throne.
Yes, we get that she's still a princess.
However, the way it she was received by the public was more like they regarded her with
an even higher degree of respect as if she were a queen.
Definitely a theory worth considering.
It's also extremely sad when you consider how Vanellope's life was drastically changed
by the efforts of one sadistic person who wanted to do things his way.
Ralph's Fate Is Doomed To Repeat Itself
This time, Reddit user SupaBloo is the harbinger of a tale so heart-breaking that it would
make even the strongest of people sob and wallow in sadness.
Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's still a bit sad
Before we even get into the theory, the crux of it hinges upon the notion that all characters
in the movie are afraid of having their games unplugged.
In doing so, there lives are ended, and when they are eventually reconnected, they restart
without any prior memories of their previous lives.
Memories of good times, bad times, fights, conversations: all gone forever.
With that as a solid base, we now bring it to Ralph and his insecurities.
The user is of the belief that Ralph has a deep, embedded fear that his life and fate
is bound to repeat itself, something over which he has absolutely no control.
His life is cyclical because it is entirely dependent on whether the game gets shut down
or not.
If there is a power outage or any freak accident which interrupts the state of the game causing
it to turn off, Ralph's life is cut short.
This means that all the hard work he put into becoming a good guy will go to waste because
he will be restored as a villain, something from which he has no hope of ever escaping.
Consequently, he, along with all the other characters for that matter, are constantly
in this loop, living in fear of their lives being snatched without a moment's notice.
Such a sad theory because Ralph really tries to make himself pure, but his efforts can
go up in flames in a moment's notice: his hopes, dreams, and aspirations are but mere
fantasies in a world where reality is always one power outage away.
That's gotta be a metaphor for something, no?
Ralph is a Virus
On the topic of Ralph's fate, let's talk about what happens in the sequel.
Reddit user MutantLlama has an interesting theory about Ralph's rampage at the end.
When he's tearing apart the internet, the news lady mentioned that nobody knows where
it came from.
So, the question is where exactly did this form come from?
Considering Ralph is just a piece of code from an old 80's video game and he's not an
actual user it would make sense that his old school programmers would have made him more
similar to other simple game characters like the insects in Hero's duty -- characters who
only think about what they're supposed to do.
Afterall, it seems like most of the other game characters just do what they're supposed
to do.
But Ralph just decides to out-of-the-blue go against his programming, creating a chain
reaction of defects in other games and the internet.
After all, how did BuzzTube videos get onto the internet without a user to upload them?
This user's theory suggests that at some point during Ralph's 20 years of operating, his
code acquired a defect that caused him to not act as intended, that resulted in him
being spread around from game to game, and eventually the internet doing damage along
the way.
Because he's a virus.
Yikes.
Say it isn't so.
The Nicelanders Feelings About Ralph Still Haven't Changed
Some things just never change.
The same can be said about the Nicelanders and their strictly hate relationship with
Ralph.
. This is a super-quick theory, but worth mentioning.
At the end of the film, there isn't even a glimmer of hope that their feelings towards
him have improved for the better.
To put it bluntly, they still hate him.
They throw Ralph's special cake in the mud right in front of his very eyes.
What's up with that?
Not to mention how cold they act towards the Sugar Rush characters who lose their game
in the sequel.
People can be so mean!
Do The Characters In The Game Really Die?
Albeit unlikely, there is a theory offered by Reddit user Pandarth_Omega which is interesting
and worth mentioning.
The user believes that unplugging a game does not equate to the death of a character.
Yes, it seems to defy every possible fact shown in the film, but based on what is being
argued, it might not be that far-fetched after all.
To preface our discussion, let's first take the conversation between Ralph and King Candy
which took place near the end of the movie's second act.
In a nutshell, King Candy suggests that Vanellope will die if the game is unplugged due to a
malware glitch in her system: she may cause the game to be regarded as Out Of Order due
to character issues.
Considering that Vanellope has a few software problems, when the game is restarted, she
will die.
Or maybe not?
According to the user, logically, this can't be the case.
They paint the scenario of a game being transferred from one arcade to another.
In such a case, the game doesn't change because the code remains the same.
Based on this logic, the same should be applied to the Wreck It Ralph universe.
The user believes that the characters have merely been brainwashed into believing that
they die when a game is restarted.
Instead, the characters are simply placed in a comatose state, eventually waking up
when the game is restarted.
To back this up, the user references the scene where the terrain simply turns into murky
pixels, specifically, where King Candy chats with Ralph.
But then again, if a game machine breaks and ultimately gets scrapped, it's probably going
to get scrapped and never get used again.
Which is essentially death.
Wreck It Ralph has a lot more to it than meets the eye.
A film with substance which will stand the test of time, you can bet that Wreck It Ralph
will be touching lives for years to come.
But what do you think?
Do any of these theories carry weight?
Do you have any dark theories about Wreck It Ralph of your own?
Let us know in the comment section below.
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But most importantly, stay wicked.