Top 20 Video Game Fan Theories That Turned Out To Be TRUE
#20: The Arkham Knight’s Identity “Batman: Arkham Knight” (2015)
Before the release of the third “Batman: Arkham” game, fans were speculating a lot about the identity of the titular Arkham Knight. Ha! Just kidding - it was really obvious! Longtime Batman fans immediately noticed the similarities between the Arkham Knight’s look and Red Hood, a.k.a. Jason Todd, the second Robin, in the trailers for the game. Although Rocksteady Studios tried to throw fans off the scent by claiming that the Arkham Knight was a new character, the eventual reveal during the game’s finale showed that fans were spot-on.
#19: Spaceworld Pokémon “Pokémon Gold & Silver” (1999)
Fan theories are rife throughout this massive franchise, but one of the more mysterious bits of lore surrounds an obscure Japanese trade show called Spaceworld. At the 1997 event, a playable demo of “Pokémon Gold & Silver” revealed an early build of the game, featuring many Pokémon who never made it into the final game…or so the rumors went. Little footage of the event survived, and the internet wasn’t what it was back in ‘97. Fans only had word of mouth and a few fan drawings of the lost Pokémon to go on for decades. Then, in 2018, a ROM of the incomplete build was released, which confirmed the long-held theories about the Pokémon and what they looked like.
#18: Egg People “Rocket League” (2015)
Given that it’s a soccer game with rocket powered cars, you wouldn’t think there’d be much to theorize about “Rocket League.” However, that didn’t stop fans from speculating about who, or what, are driving these cars and who’s watching. The audience appears populated by simple egg-shapes - likely due to the difficulty in rendering a realistic audience at the time of the game’s release. However, fans spun this design limitation into lore, claiming that this must mean the world of “Rocket League” is populated by egg people. Fan theories became so prominent that the developers decided to make the idea into a reality. Guess the egg was on their face all along…
#17: Post-Apocalyptic Setting “Kirby” series (1992-)
This bright and bubbly platformer series is another that feels fairly simple on the surface, without complications. However, fans noticed something suspicious in “Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards” - Earth. When selecting Shiver Star, the world appears to have the same landmasses as Earth, which led to fans theorizing that “Kirby” is set in a post-apocalyptic version of our universe. This theory eventually came true, after a fashion, with the release of “Kirby and the Forgotten Land,” which is set amid the ruins of a dead civilization which bears many landmarks and technology similar to our own, meaning that it is set after an apocalypse, even if it’s not exactly Earth.
#16: Fighting Ryu & Ken’s Master “Street Fighter” franchise (198
In the original localization of “Street Fighter II,” one of Ryu’s victory quotes was mistranslated as “you must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.” Fans speculated that this “Sheng Long” must be Ryu and Ken’s master. A hoax article in Electronic Gaming Monthly suggested a method of facing this supposed secret boss as a prank. Ultimately, this rumor/practical joke came true, not once, not twice, but THREE times! The article inspired the creation of “Street Fighter II: Turbo”’s secret boss, Akuma. It also led to Ryu and Ken’s master, Gouken, eventually appearing in the series. Finally, it led to a real character named “Sheng Long” at “long” last debuting in “Street Fighter 6.”
#15: Cut Playable Character “Chrono Trigger” (1995)
Even with its multiple endings and semi-sequel, this time travel RPG still had players wondering about loose ends and what-ifs. Some fans believed that “Chrono Trigger” was meant to have an eighth party member. This was ultimately confirmed when a previously untranslated Japanese player’s guide with character designer Akira Toriyama’s character sketches was revealed. One picture features a mustachioed old man, with the caption “the mysterious cut character, Sage.” While you may not get to play as him, he does appear in the game as Gaspar, the Guru of Time who appears at the End of Time. Because he was cut early in development, his playable sprites weren’t even included in the game, so this guide was the first confirmation of this rumor.
#14: The Vaults’ Secret Purpose “Fallout” franchise (1997-)
The famous vaults that litter this post-apocalyptic franchise are so disaster prone and full of social experiments, that fans have long theorized that there must be some deeper reason behind them. Well, besides supposedly preserving humanity in the wake of nuclear war. In 2023, “Fallout” creator Tim Cain revealed that his intention behind the Vaults was that they were meant as experiments for the “best and brightest” of humanity to escape Earth in the event of a nuclear apocalypse. The cryo sleep and social experiments were meant to test the viability of a multi-generational starship.
#13: Ermac is Real “Mortal Kombat” series (1992-)
“Street Fighter” isn’t the only fighting game series to turn a fan theory character into reality. In the original “Mortal Kombat,” a selection below Reptile Battles reading “ERMACS” led fans to believe that a character named “Ermac” could appear. In reality it was short for “error macro,” to look for errors. Fan rumors persisted though, and they were fueled by yet another EGM hoax that displayed the supposed “Ermac” as a red palette swapped ninja. Eventually, Ermac debuted for real as a secret character in “Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3” - and what do you know, he was a red ninja.
#12: Doomguy’s Ancestor “Doom” & “Wolfenstein” franchises (1981-)
Despite being the poster child for the faceless space marine archetype, Doomguy does have a backstory. Many fans noticed several Easter eggs and similarities between the “Doom” and “Wolfenstein” games. This led fans to theorize that B.J. Blazkowicz, protagonist of the “Wolfenstein” series, is in fact Doomguy’s ancestor. While some might chalk it up to both series originally being made by id Software, according to the company’s founders Tom Hall and John Romero, Blazkowicz is indeed several generations removed from Doomguy. Mowing down evil with increasingly bigger guns is a family affair, it would seem.
#11: “E.T.” Cartridges Buried in the Desert
“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
The video game tie-in of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” is often hailed as one of gaming’s biggest disasters. It’s even, somewhat unfairly, blamed for the video game crash of 1983. After many of its copies went unsold and Atari was noted for having buried many things in a New Mexico landfill, rumors suggested that the entire stock of unsold cartridges were buried there. An excavation in 2013 did indeed reveal many copies of “E.T.”, as well as other Atari games and hardware. Although it remains unconfirmed if all the leftover cartridges are entombed there (it went DEEP!), this “Extra-Terrestrial” rumor was both figuratively and literally - down to earth.
#10: All Bonds
“GoldenEye 007” (1997)
All it takes are a couple of ambiguous rumors to spark a theory. Before us kids had the good old internet, rumor had it that you could play as all of the different Bond actors in “GoldenEye’s” multiplayer: Connery, Moore, Dalton, and, of course, Brosnan. However, this was just an April Fool’s prank from Electronic Gaming Monthly...that is until Rare came out and said otherwise. As it turns out, “All Bonds” mode was supposed to be in the final version of the game but didn’t make the cut for “various reasons” - which explains why using a GameShark allows you to see images of past Bonds in the character select screen.
#9: Secret of Nukes
“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” (2015)
No game can escape the curiosity of data miners. When a hidden cutscene was discovered in the game’s files, players were left wondering how in the world to unlock it. The prevailing theory was that the only way to do so was for all players to surrender their nukes in the online multiplayer mode. Konami supported this theory and said they’ve been keeping tabs since the game’s release. But, for every last player in the community to surrender their nukes? Seems unlikely.
#8: Canadian Shepard
“Mass Effect 3” (2012)
Well, I’ll be damned. Shepard’s from Canada? We may not have any direct confirmation from the developers, but the proof is in the pudding when you observe bits and pieces of the game. For starters, there’s the slight accent, which can be hard to spot, but its there. Then, there’s the fact that the prologue takes place in Canada--Alright, or Shepard can just come right out and put the nail in the coffin! Yeah, that dialogue bit just confirms it; Shepard is from Vancouver.
#7: The Shinra Company
“Final Fantasy VII” (1997)
Among the many connections of the different “Final Fantasy” story arcs, this was one of the most shocking. In “Final Fantasy X-2”, one of the main characters is named Shinra. Does the name sound familiar? For those of you who haven’t played “Final Fantasy VII”, the Shinra company was essentially a manufacturer of Mako energy and easily accessible electricity. Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima created the Shinra character, thinking that Shinra would go on to start the company. We’ll just go ahead and take that as part of the official canon now.
#6: Multiple Timelines
“The Legend of Zelda” series (1986-)
This one caused quite a number of headaches among Zelda fans. For quite some time, we were left in the dark wondering which games across the series happened at which point in Links life. Is there a possibility that there are multiple Links? Well, answers were given when Dark Horse Comics published “Hyrule Historia”, a book written by Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and Akira Himekawa. The chart confirms what had long been the prevailing theory among fans: that not all of the games take place in a single timeline, and that the ending of “Ocarina of Time” had something to do with it. It’s a little complex to explain, but its cool to see Nintendo help clarify things.
#5: Symmetra is on the Spectrum
“Overwatch” franchise (2016-)
Representation is important in video games. It can allow players to feel a connection with their favorite characters. It’s something they can relate to with common characteristics and these details can help more people feel included in the games they play. Our lovely Indian architect required a little more investigating, though. Fans had reason to believe that Symmetra was possibly autistic, and when the comic, “A Better World”, was released, Symmetra said something about being “on the spectrum.” When director Jeff Kaplan confirmed that she was indeed autistic, he said: “...she doe a great job representing just how awesome someone with autism can be.”
#4: It Was All a Play…
“Super Mario Bros. 3” (1988)
The answer to this was a long time coming… Ever wondered why “Super Mario Bros. 3” opens with a curtain? And why are the platforms hanging from the top of the screen? It’s almost as if everything is a play--ohhhhhh! Its one of the most obvious of theories on this list, but it felt like an eternity before we got a straight answer from Shigeru Miyamoto. In 2015, during an interview with Nintendo UK, Miyamoto was asked if the game was a play the whole time, answering with a simple nod. Finally!
#3: Giovanni’s Son
“Pokémon” series (1996-)
You know, sometimes we don’t really care about our rivals that much, so long as we shut their big mouth in a Pokemon battle. Yet, there’s something oddly intriguing about our rival, Silver, in Pokemon Gold & Silver. In “FireRed” & “LeafGreen”, a Team Rocket scientist will speculate if Red is Giovanni’s son before correcting himself and mention Giovanni’s son has red hair. The idea that Silver is Giovanni’s son was only solidified when “HeartGold & SoulSilver” hosted a promotional event, where Celebi can take the player to a flashback of Giovanni abandoning his son. What a sorrowful secret…
#2: Mary’s Body
“Silent Hill 2” (2001)
This was as big of a twist as an M. Night Shyamalan movie! How can it be possible to receive a letter from your wife when she has been dead for the past three years? Trick question, kids: you can’t. Anyways, “Silent Hill 2” was confusing in its multiple endings, especially with the “In Water” ending. While most fans believe Mary’s body has been in the trunk the whole time, they only got half of the truth. Designer Masahiro Ito tweeted out that Mary’s body was actually in the back seat of James’s car, not the trunk. You know, you’d think James would notice something like that.
#1: Sonic Meets MJ
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (1994)
Doesn’t this music sound familiar? Many gamers in the mid-90s certainly thought so, as many were led to believe that legendary pop star Michael Jackson might have worked with SEGA on the soundtrack for “Sonic 3”. Developers of the classic platformer have come out to say MJ did work on the game, namely the Carnival Night Zone music, but it wasn’t for as long as one might think. The King of Pop was uncredited and left the project due to the sexual abuse allegations against him. Many of the songs had to be reworked, yet somehow, fans were able to identify Jackson’s unique style.
Is there a true video game rumor we forgot? Verify your favorite theories in the comments!
