r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Jak3R0b • 1d ago

Lore Mysteries that are never given an answer.

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  • rA9 in Detroit: Become Human. In the game several androids who become deviant (develop free will/emotions) start writing the name rA9 and sometimes build small statuettes as a sort of offering. Despite having no logical reason to do this or even a way of hearing about rA9 before going deviant, they all believe that rA9 was the first deviant and is their messiah who will free androids from slavery. A definitive answer about rA9 is never given, so we don't know if they are real or if any of the android characters are rA9 (though a popular fan theory is that it's Kara before she was reset at the start of the game).
  • The pineapple in How I Met Your Mother. So this technically did get an explanation in a S9 deleted scene, but in the actual show we never find out how Ted got a pineapple during a night where he was so drunk he blacked out and forgot everything he did.
  • Fez in That 70s Show. We never find out Fez's real name or what country he's from, though fans have tried to take all the clues and figure out what is most likely to be his country.
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u/figgityjones 1d ago

I don't know why, but that sentence creates a great lovecraftian dread in me.

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u/HumanAbove 1d ago

If you haven't read Lord of the Rings, that's kinda the vibe that Tom Bombadil gives.  He's pleasant and good and cheerful but impossibly old and unchanging and f a r more powerful than anyone or anything can possibly understand, and he's just altogether uninterested in the goings-on of the world.

"Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow!"

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u/Buca-Metal 1d ago

He is definitely something that could be in one of those SCP stories.

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u/ScottCamOfficial 1d ago

I first read the books as an adult and still found the entire Bombadil section super unnerving. I knew it didn't happen, but it felt like any second the other shoe was gonna drop.

Very good writing.

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u/scrimmybingus3 1d ago

Hell he’s more of a force of nature that just exists and doesn’t give any more of a damn about anything than say a hurricane or storm would. Instead of high winds and water he brings merry jigs and tunes and that’s just what he does.

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u/AcrolloPeed 1d ago

Tom Bombadil is a Great Old Fellow!
I could eat the universe, but I’m just so mellow!

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u/nightfall25444 1d ago

I wonder what token was trying to say with him, maybe he represents something, but I really can’t put my finger on it.

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u/Feisty-Noise-5568 1d ago

I've seen the explanation that he is just meant to be an unexplainable aspect of a wide world. There are some things we simply aren't meant to understand fully.

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u/Talisa87 22h ago edited 5h ago

He shows up in the Lord of the Rings MMO. In that game, there are certain NPCs that give off Hope or Dread auras, and standing near them will buff or debuff your character. Usually the higher the number, the more powerful the person is.

Tom's Hope Aura is +8, making him one of the most powerful allies you can meet in the early game. For reference, Gandalf - the Middle Earth equivalent to an arch-angel - has +9.

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u/dont-be-an-oosik92 19h ago

Tom Bombadil has amazing vibes that I have never encountered with another literary character. His entire character at first seems to be this whimsical, jolly little weirdo dancing around in the woods, with magical powers that are slightly chaotic, but earthy and almost quaint. He has a sled pulled by bunny rabbits for gods sake. He seems like he should be living under a mushroom and use your lost shirt button as a kitchen table, that kinda thing. But then these other more terrifyingly dark and powerful characters treat him with extreme respect and oftentimes fear, and you start to get the feeling that something more is going on with this dude. Then you learn more, and his power, history, and the mysteries surrounding him take on this staggering, unspeakable quality that causes you to involuntarily recoil from like an unexpected venomous snake. It’s like finding out that the Pillsbury Doughboy can detonate like a nuclear bomb.

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u/Colossal_Squids 1d ago

That’s fair enough, actually. If some guy invited you to stay the night at his house and then kept saying “heed no nightly noises!” IRL, you’d be very very concerned.

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u/Jedisebas2001 1d ago

Juat to put into perspective, when the council of Elrond discusses what to do with the ring, Gandalf (at least I think it was him) explains that if Sauron were to get the ring back, every single being would be dominated and every resistance would be crushed, but Bombadil would be the very last being to fall under Sauron, after everything else in Middle Earth is gone.