Untitled Cave Story Prequel

After seeing as transcribing the story of Cave Story into a webcomic proved difficult when plot atmosphere preservation was kept in mind, I still wanted to be able to introduce people to the conflict and story introduced into the game. By creating a new scenario that leads into Cave Story, it is possible to provide a backstory to the Cave Story's scenario, create a new story that can easily be told from a first person perspective, and introduce new characters and plot devices that can compliment the original game.

I'm thinking of delving into what leads into the original war brought upon the island by the surface. I ultimately want to replicate what made Cave Story a cult classic, which includes the deeply emotional and situational conflict inflicted upon its characters. While its main character cannot be Quote, I believe it is still possible to allow the player to place themselves into the main character's shoes via other literary methods.

Within the story, I want to highlight tropes such as ethical and psychological egoism as the motives for the main antiheroes / antagonists. Cave Story repeatedly showcases characters with well-intended actions being met with fatal punishment. And while it isn't a direct example, it was uncovered in the story that characters such as Balrog and Misery are serving against their own interests when they were cursed to be slaves to the Demon Crown's owner. Actions not aligning with their psychological desires; acting maliciously to the island, while simultaneously wanting to do good. In addition, Dr. Date Fuyuhiko was a part of the original research team that came to the island, which included the Sakamotos, Itoh, and Professor Booster.

Meanwhile, psychological egoism is the view that mankind itself is selfish and self-serving, which is briefly implied within Cave Story whenever "the surface" is mentioned. Ultimately, this form of egoism is intended to be the main catalyst for the war that brings our favorite silent protagonist upon the island.

In Cave Story, the killer robots target one of the island's main inhabitants, Mimiga, in order to recover the Demon Crown for the surface. However, Quote, Curly, and in addition new characters such as Aristle and Kisaragi, are tasked with destroying the Demon Crown entirely. This story is placed right before Cave Story's beginning, but after the events where Ballos became imprisoned. Around ten years before the events of Cave Story, Miakid becomes the Crown's holder. Just before then, it was laying dormant with no owner. It was time where Quote and Curly arrive at the island. This story's placement within this decade is unlikely, as this is the time period where killer robots have already invaded the island, whereas this story will be leading up to this action.

New Characters

Name	Other names	Roles
Solo		Main character
Aristle
Kisaragi		Team 9 member
Anzen
Hash		Director from the Surface

"Returning" Characters

Name	Other names	Roles	Alive?
Quote		Sedentary main character	Near the end
Curly Brace		Secondary sedentary char.	Near the end
Arthur		Number one of Mimiga Village	Yes
Ballos			Yes
Balrog			Likely
Cthulhu		Original inhabitants of the island	Yes
Dr. Date Fuyuhiko		Doctor and researcher	Yes
Itoh		Cowardly engineer	Yes
Jack		Young member of Mimiga Village	Yes
Jenka			Yes
Kanpachi		Member of Mimiga Village	Yes
Kazuma Sakamoto		Male Sakamoto	Yes
King		Young member of Mimiga Village	Yes
Mahin		Member of Mimiga Village	Yes
Misery		Jenka's daughter	Yes
Momorin Sakamoto		Female Sakamoto	Yes
Professor Booster			Yes
Red Ogre			Yes
Retcon Robots (Team 9)		Taskforce against Core	Yes
Sandaime		Member of Mimiga Village	Yes
Sue Sakamoto		Daughter of Momorin	Yes
Tetsuzou Kamadani		Gunsmith	Yes
Zett		Wise member of Mimiga Village	Absolutely

Quotes

• I'll live in your shoes, so I can be with you every step of the way.
• 15 years in seven days
• It's been a long time since we had a picnic at
• It's almost as if I've known you before.
• The Big Blue

Themes

No real solutions - ⌀

I already intend for this story to end in a scenario where its characters have no real solutions to their conflict. This will be represented by the ⌀ mark which will be a recurring symbol straight from the beginning. While it was an idea that originated before this project, it also fits in line with the trope of Quote, the Colons, and Curly's names, where they are all based on symbols. To be more accurate, programming symbols.

Within the story, circular references such as "Zero with a diagonal line" or similar will be made.

Conflict with the phrase "Nothing can be truly understood or grasped with certainty.", being proceeded with a retort that specifies that current conditions cannot continue.

Story

It's been a long time since we had a picnic at

Hell Narrative

Aeon	Nicalis
Did you know that the witch-woman Jenka once had a brother? His name was Ballos. Like his sister, he wielded powers far beyond those of mortals..	Did you know that the woman named Jenka had a younger brother? His name was Ballos. And like his sister he possessed magical powers that no man had.
He used his magical powers to help and guide people, and the people loved and trusted him in return. Even more than they did their own king...	He led and protected the people with his magical power. They loved and trusted him, Even more than their own king.
The jealous king had Ballos apprehended and thrown into prison, where his punishment was brutal and cruel. Humans can be terrible creatures indeed...	Jealous of Ballos, the resentful king caught and imprisoned him. His punishment was severe and cruel. Humans truly are terrible creatures...
Under the extreme cruelty of the torture, Ballos's magical abilities finally ran wild. The king was engulfed in the swirl of magic and destroyed in an instant. In a single night, the kingdom that Ballos so loved was reduced to ashen ruins.	Ballos was driven into a state of pure, uncontrollable rage by the punishment. Weakened by the torture, he was helpless to contain the fury. The king and kingdom were swallowed by Ballos' wild magical force. The life that he loved so dearly was turned into ruins in a single night... ...Shrouded only by fiery hot ashes.
Jenka, seeing her brother's madness, confined him to this floating island. That was the most she could do. Even as he was, she could not bring herself to kill her own brother...	Driven insane by his punishment, Ballos was confined to the floating island in the sky by his sister, Jenka. That was all she could do. For Jenka, killing her own younger brother would be impossible.
It was Jenka's daughter Misery who made Ballos create the =Demon Crown=. She was subsequently cursed by the crown, forced to do the bidding of all who wear it. If the crown is destroyed, the curse is lifted. However...	Jenka's witch daughter, Misery, is to blame for the Demon Crown... She forced Ballos to create it. Because of this offense, she was cursed by the Crown, compelled to obey whoever possesses it. The curse can be lifted if the Demon Crown is destroyed. However...
Even if the Crown is destroyed, it will only rise again every time, so long as Ballos yet lives. Such is the strength of his soul that permeates the Crown.	The Demon Crown will be restored anew an infinite number of times so long as Ballos' heart still beats... That is the supreme magical power of his eternally enraged soul. It is intrinsically imbued into his evil creation, the Demon Crown.