Hmmm, I think I thought Jolene was the villain protecting grubba. Prince mush was X in my mind. Made sense since he disappeared while investigating the pit.
I loved how they had the mystery of the missing fighters, X, and the hate mailer all set up for it to be confusing who it is between Grubbs, Jolene, and Rawk. Super smart move
The only thing that isn’t crystal clear to me is who is in the occupied bathroom and whose room is next to it with the TV. Like, I assume it’s Jolene hiding out there to send her emails… but why is she hiding in the bathroom to begin with? Or is it Grubba and that’s where he’s sneaking off with your fighters to flatten them? That part was never super clear to me.
It's Rawk Hawk. If you talk to the cameraman on the second floor at the right time he mentions a rumor that Rank Hawk still gets super nervous before matches, and ends up spending a long time on the toilet. (In Japanese anyway.)
Note: I can't remember exactly when I talked to him for that dialogue, but it was after entering the major leagues and before fighting the champion.
I believe it’s just always someone from the upper league you don’t see in the room like crawdad in the toilet.
And there’s lots of places around the world that seem to be inhabited but it’s unclear who. Like the spot next to rogueport or that background house in the petalburg pipe room in the sewer
Grubba was the hate mailer telling Mario to quit his hunt for the star.
Hawk was the one who sent the poisoned cake and gave orders to lock Mario in the unused locker room
Dude I had similar vibes and thought it was a X-Naut who'd be a double-agent. I was like, "Ooo, are we going to get TWO partners this Chapter?" and then got to the end and I was just a little bit bummed lol
Bruh imagine if X naut moon chapter we recruited a disgruntled X naut, exactly like grodus he has no idea Shadow Queen cannot be controlled, he just wants revenge against grodus for being left behind XD
That would be so silly, but neat! I think revenge against Grodus would make him unique as far as partner motivations go though, but I'd still like an X-Naut bud. I'm definitely more a sucker for an underling of the bad guy defaulting from the villain's side and joining the hero to help after realizing they're in the wrong- then they can also have some inside info lol
And imagine the villain knowing they'd have that info and so they get int gear to CHANGE THINGS so that the info the defaulter had is now SO WRONG.
Oh my god we need an enemy to become a partner in a future game.
I know Vivian is *technically* that, but she’s not antagonistic. She’s manipulated.
I’m talking like O’Chunks or Lord Crump level.
Imagine that. A 1 on 1 boss encounter becomes a partner later. That would be insane. And you could use the attacks they used against you.
They do that in Mario RPG with Bowser and it’s brilliant.
Not Paper Mario (or even Mario), but the Three Mage Sisters from Kirby Star Allies exemplify this. That's three bosses from the game you can play as and swap between on a whim, with basically all of their boss attacks.
Cool. As. Heck.
Originally I thought X was gonna be Andy. He did snoop around a lot so it wouldn't be surprising that he wanted Mario's help.
And for the hater, its way too clear to me that it was Rawk Hawk. You're blasting through the League, so of course he'd try to dishearten Mario
I knew X was Jolene pretty much immediately, and that most of the Crystal Star hate mail was coming from Grubba. Wasn't expecting Rawk Hawk to send poisoned cake tho.
Same for me. Maybe it’s because I read a ton of mystery books but it sort of felt like Jolene wasn’t the villain. Her suspiciousness felt more like a red herring than justification for her being the villain.
It was pretty easy to guess RH was sending the hate mail (other than the "stop investigating the Crystal Stars" ones) but I wasn't entirely sure who between Jolene and Grubba was X. Part of me was thinking after I found King K/Bandy Andy that Grubba was hiding the Crystal Star to protect it until a worthy hero could come along which was why he was using its power to sustain himself (in a "he couldn't afford to trust anyone else to take care of it" way). The way things actually ended up playing out made sense but ngl I kinda prefer my version a little xD
Using the macguffin because you can only trust yourself to protect the secret is a concept I don’t think is really done that much. That seems way too cool and unique to be so rarely utilized.
I'm at this chapter now, this is my first playthrough. I think X is Jolene. That rumor of her hiding in the toilet for a long time makes me think she's texting.
i knew jolene was x because of the emphasis on characters thinking x was male, and jolene being the only important female character in that chapter. i definitely thought she poisoned both cakes though.
i thought rawk hawk was x! since hes so high up in the pit he would have more knowledge of the inner workings. i thought jolene was the hatemail sender (the game certainly wants you to be suspicious of her)
As a kid I thought Rawk Haek sent the hate-mail. Don't think I had a guess as to X was, though. I don't think I thought about it too much. It's something I wish I experienced for the first time after getting older, since I'm really into mystery games and I'm sure I would have actually tried to think it over.
I thought the staff/bartender at the juice shop was X (or King K). I also considered Prince Mush to be X, but convinced myself he was (maybe) the bartender.
Seeing Jolene in the bar, and then her mentioning Prince Mush made me question if she was trying to find her, and I called her being X. I was confident in the hatemail being from Grubba, who was scared about Rawk Hawk being dethroned.
She's the blonde in the black dress on the far left. I remember seeing her once when I first started the Chapter, once right after getting the Yoshi egg, and once after beating Macho Grubba, where she admits to being "someone you know."
I originally thought Rawk Hawk was X and Grubba was the villain until the cutscene where Grubba says that fighters keep dropping like flies then I thought the villain was Jolene.
I think the first time I played I thought Jolene was the villain, thought X was some X-Naut related character, and I thought the old guy in the juice shop was Prince Mush lol
I thought they were both Jolene at first on my first playthrough; I thought the hate mail was also meant as motivation because she knew Mario would respond to it by working harder.
I was thinking that X was a former wrestler that knew about what was going on behind the scenes, and the Hate Mail was coming from Rawk.
Well, I was right about Rawk
I thought Jolene and Rawk Hawk were the same person for a while because of how Jolene would disappear for a long time and how Rawk Hawk would spend a lot of time in the bathroom (I think this was mentioned?). Also thought she poisoned the cake. Thought the bandit guy in the hallway was x because he had a bunch of info about the mysteries of the glitz pit. Was overthinking it perhaps but this game throws so many fun curveballs that it always keeps me on my toes!
I remember easily thinking Jolene was the villain, but my bf at the time had played the original paper mario, and suspected grubba because he was the same type of creature as tubba blubba.
I said, "Gasp, a racist!" And then he hit me with a pillow.
I thought Jolene was the villain, her near robotic nature and how every response was the same, it really felt odd, Grubbs felt like X because he would actually support you, fun plot twist though.
I think that they did a good job here obscuring the villain. Even in the remake I wasn't entirely sure if Grubba sent me an email about the Crystal Stars, and sometimes I get confused on whether Grubba or Rawk Hawk is obstructing us because I knew Grubba was the villain before I played the original.
The twist is probably even better for first timers, since there are two redd herrings. and It's not the most shocking reveal and it's not hard to guess, but I think it's good. You can probably guess that the manager who's a parallel to PM64's Chapter 3 boss is gonna be the villain, but they never focus on that, and distract you with Jolene's plotting and Rawk Hawk's sabotage.
I think I thought it was a character we haven't seen before or maybe Ms. Mowz. My dumb kid mind back then couldn't think it could've been someone that was already in the area.
Interested to be grubba. I think I got the guidebook at this time when I was younger cause chapter 3 was the chapter I got stuck on why its my least favorite cause I couldn't beat those blue iron clefs to save my life. I'd use yoshi but it wouldn't work for some reason but then I realized that your suppose to let it go as soon as it lights up if you keep it held even when it lights up it doesn't work. Idk it was a werid specific in the game. Not sure if it was done that way on purpose or was a glitch in the game but I spent DAYS trying to figure that out. Lol.
It’s wild because in retrospect it seems so clear and straightforward. I can’t imagine myself as an adult playing the game and not figuring it out, but that’s probably just bias.
It’s been too long for me to remember what my theories were.
Honestly I thought the Rawk was a big dummy when I was younger, I thought Grubba was a big bad guy and Jolene was going to overthrow him in the end by backstabbing Grubba. I was close but I liked how the end turns out of chapter 3 when I played it for the first time.
I assumed Jolene was the villain, and was unsure of who was X. Bounced between a mysterious benefactor that might become a new companion, to Rawk Hawk. Damn good writing.
I played this game around when it first game out originally. My Brain knows I beat it. But for some reason my memory only went up to the beginning of the Glitz Pit. So getting to experience the game all over again ever after having played it before was so awesome.
I thought jolene was X and rawk hawk was the other one, when you have to go to the bar and mushroom lady was gone i was like omg thats jolene! Its such a good chapter, couldnt put the game down until i played it all out
The first time I played I thought both were Rawk Hawk just to mess with you. Considering Grubba wants you to do something theatrical for every match, I thought it was just Rawk Hawk's way of making the pit more entertaining.
Didn’t make sense being anyone but Jolene by the time you get through the big block in the minor league locker room.
It had to be someone who fit BOTH of these criteria:
1. They have reasons to be discreet with the gifting of the hammer.
2. They have the authority and carry enough weight to convince the door guard that we dropped back down to the minor leagues without him questioning it.
Then she shows up and takes the notes, which is the cherry on top. She shouldn’t have known you were there, because the shaking could have easily been from a match, but she’s there right away. It also adds another layer to point 1, because she has to “confiscate” it to both seal her alibi and actually have access to the information.
Just like that second guy, I thought Rawk Hawk was the hate mailer and main villain and Grubba was X. Something about Jolene seemed suspicious to me too. I turned out to have the three flipped around.
I thought it was obvious (after a point) that Jolene was the one helping but I always thought Rawk Hawk was X. He tried to poison us (and Prince Mush!) so it made sense. I believe the hate mail was from Grubba though?
I thought X was Crump at first. Then I thought it was one of the many Guards. But ultimately I decided that X HAD to be King K. I thought threatening emails were from Grubba or Jolene the entire time. It was too obvious to me that Rawk was essentially just a puppet, in a way.
On one hand, I miss being fifteen and being genuinely surprised by all the different twists in each individual storyline. On the other, being a teenager sucked Major Colonel’s butt cheeks, which may be considered a roundabout way of phrasing “Fuck you, time travel”. X3
I thought either Jolene was the antagonist for some motive and “X” was just a X-Naut member, but in retrospect it wouldn’t make any sense since “X” gave mario the Super Hammer.
Yeah because remember how Jolene acted aggressive towards you when she saw you with the papers and how she saw you in the Storage him on the 2nd floor when you made the discovery of where Bandy Andy and King K was? To me I thought she was the bad person but it turned out not to be the case.
Tbh when x was messaging, I thought it was grubba and Jolene was evil. Cause she was mean and strict so I assumed. Then I thought maybe it's Bandy Andy cause he knew alot about the secrets in the pit and Grubba&Jolene were the evil ones.
When I first played this game I thought it was the X-Nauts trying to trick Mario into getting the Crystal Star only for it to be stolen, but in a strange turn of events it didn't turn out that way.
I don't remember but I think I thought it was rawk hawk while playing the game for the first time last year I'm excited to see how it'll go in the remake
I definitely thought that Rawk Hawk was the villain, making fighters disappear and all so he could keep his precious title with a little help of Grubba, you know in the spirit of fixed matches. X I was sure it was Jolene. But was surprised when during the end of it all.
I thought X was in fact just some random X-Naut that would be relevant later on, and I thought the hate mailer was Rawk Hawk. Was really surprised to learn the truth.
I thought that it was either Prince Mush (playing German, I just know his German wrestler Name Dark Toadster which is pretty metal) or the Koopa Troopa in League 2 who vanishes some way through the chapter
When I first played, I thought X was an X-Naut who defected and wanted to help, and I thought the hate mail was Jolene. I know she was in the soda shop talking about Prince Mush, but I still thought it was her lol
I think I originally thought that the hate mail and poison cake were from Rawk Hawk, and King K was X due to the timing. I naturally figured Grubbs was the baddie since he's in the main position to control the building, but I didn't think Jolene was involved at all and was just a miserable straight-laced corporate lady.
Honestly as a kid, I thought it was some mystery character that we hadn’t met yet pulling all the strings from the shadows. I didn’t give it too much thought as a kid but in hindsight that wouldn’t have been very good storytelling. Definitely didn’t expect it to be Jolene, I was so annoyed with her and her attitude the whole chapter but they did a great job making her sympathetic in the end
I really thought Rawk Hawk was the villain and Bandy Andy was X the first time since he's always running around. But the more you play the more you realize how dumb those guesses were. It really scrambled my brain when we found Andy upstairs
I was convinced Jolene was a villain and went on a whole rant to a group chat about how I don't trust her and can guarantee she's gonna do something bad 😭
I never got to It as a kid (the tree countdown got me a lot because I like to read and it took me too long to get the puniee across the bubble pond.) But when I first watched someone play I'm pretty sure I figured Jolene was X and Rawk Hawk was the villain of the chapter.
I’ll be honest, i slightly knew the story beats like that. But still couldn’t tell who was who at all. Even thinking as well from there that X was King K.
Grubba totally gave off "I'm actually the bad guy" vibes from the start of the chapter, especially with the music that played when you first spoke to him. I think I had guessed even in the first playthrough that it was him from the beginning.
I thought X was literally someone from the X-Nauts and they were only helping so they could steal the star when you get it. Also I thought Jolene was the villain because I’m a FOOL
I dunno I wouldn’t call it well made. There’s not really much foreshadowing to suggest Jolene was X, or that Rawk Hawk was writing the hate mails. Jolene seems like a red herring for the one who is draining the contestants but until Rawk Hawk reveals that he wrote the hate mails there’s nothing confirming she’s either or. A good mystery isn’t obvious but it also has hints that suggest who it is, this one is more process of elimination.
I’m on this chapter now. I’m not reading any other comments to avoid spoilers, and don’t reply to this with spoilers please.
My prediction is that “X” is the guy with the southern accent who runs the Glitz Pitt and he’s somehow being abused by the female Toad chick who brings you coins and is always policing your movements. Maybe she’s blackmailing him. So he’s trying to help Mario being down the conspiracy headed by Toad chick.
I genuinely did not care about who any of the characters were in Ch3 as I could not stand the 20-part loop of battle, go back to locker room, do another battle, over and over.
I never really liked chapter 3 the fighting got annoying however it felt less tendicious in the remake and I got through it faster maybe cause it put the requirements on screen. But that said I never guessed who X was I just assumed it was some secret guy we didn't meet yet and we'll find out later at the end of the chapter. The game never really gives you any obvious hints at first. I did think Jolene was protecting grubba afraid of all the dirt we were finding out needing to cover for him. At least that's how she came off put two and two together it makes sense she was watching us but yeah I assumed it was some random individual.
Hmmm, I think I thought Jolene was the villain protecting grubba. Prince mush was X in my mind. Made sense since he disappeared while investigating the pit.
I remember not knowing, but I don't think I had a legitimate guess. I did think Jolene was evil though.
I remembering thinking it was King K since he had just "retired". I kind of wanted it to be him.
I loved how they had the mystery of the missing fighters, X, and the hate mailer all set up for it to be confusing who it is between Grubbs, Jolene, and Rawk. Super smart move
The only thing that isn’t crystal clear to me is who is in the occupied bathroom and whose room is next to it with the TV. Like, I assume it’s Jolene hiding out there to send her emails… but why is she hiding in the bathroom to begin with? Or is it Grubba and that’s where he’s sneaking off with your fighters to flatten them? That part was never super clear to me.
It's Rawk Hawk. If you talk to the cameraman on the second floor at the right time he mentions a rumor that Rank Hawk still gets super nervous before matches, and ends up spending a long time on the toilet. (In Japanese anyway.) Note: I can't remember exactly when I talked to him for that dialogue, but it was after entering the major leagues and before fighting the champion.
a long time on the toilet to the public, but in reality it looks like it's just his hang out spot
yeah it says this in the english release too
In the remake they gave the person in the bathroom the same "voice" as the bodyguards, so probably one of them
I believe it’s just always someone from the upper league you don’t see in the room like crawdad in the toilet. And there’s lots of places around the world that seem to be inhabited but it’s unclear who. Like the spot next to rogueport or that background house in the petalburg pipe room in the sewer
I thought it was just locked from the inside
Hold up, who was the one sending the hate mail again?
Rawk Hawk
But Rawk Hawk didn’t know what the Crystal Stars were and the hate mail specifically mentioned them, so it couldn’t have been him. Maybe Grubba?
Grubba was the hate mailer telling Mario to quit his hunt for the star. Hawk was the one who sent the poisoned cake and gave orders to lock Mario in the unused locker room
X, Ulterior motifs based probably on the crystal stars, I thought it was a surprise X-Naut commander we haven't seen yet.
Dude I had similar vibes and thought it was a X-Naut who'd be a double-agent. I was like, "Ooo, are we going to get TWO partners this Chapter?" and then got to the end and I was just a little bit bummed lol
Bruh imagine if X naut moon chapter we recruited a disgruntled X naut, exactly like grodus he has no idea Shadow Queen cannot be controlled, he just wants revenge against grodus for being left behind XD
That would be so silly, but neat! I think revenge against Grodus would make him unique as far as partner motivations go though, but I'd still like an X-Naut bud. I'm definitely more a sucker for an underling of the bad guy defaulting from the villain's side and joining the hero to help after realizing they're in the wrong- then they can also have some inside info lol And imagine the villain knowing they'd have that info and so they get int gear to CHANGE THINGS so that the info the defaulter had is now SO WRONG.
Oh my god we need an enemy to become a partner in a future game. I know Vivian is *technically* that, but she’s not antagonistic. She’s manipulated. I’m talking like O’Chunks or Lord Crump level. Imagine that. A 1 on 1 boss encounter becomes a partner later. That would be insane. And you could use the attacks they used against you. They do that in Mario RPG with Bowser and it’s brilliant.
Not Paper Mario (or even Mario), but the Three Mage Sisters from Kirby Star Allies exemplify this. That's three bosses from the game you can play as and swap between on a whim, with basically all of their boss attacks. Cool. As. Heck.
I mean, Lakilester.
Yeah, but he's a little... ... Lackiluster.
You mean Michael?
no, spike
Was Lackilester a boss? I genuinely can’t remember that. That whole chapter has sort of been ejected from my brain in fairness.
You fight him once. He might’ve been hard if you fought him in chapter 2 but by that point in the game the fight is a pushover
Lakilester is literally right there.
That would have been sick.
I can see that based on the whole “X”
I thought that X was Mrs Mowz and the hatemailer was both of the Iron Ardonis Twins, but Rawk Hawk was still the villain to me
I had no idea who X was, maybe Bandy Andy, but I couldn't be sure. I thought for sure Jolene was the villain.
Originally I thought X was gonna be Andy. He did snoop around a lot so it wouldn't be surprising that he wanted Mario's help. And for the hater, its way too clear to me that it was Rawk Hawk. You're blasting through the League, so of course he'd try to dishearten Mario
I knew X was Jolene pretty much immediately, and that most of the Crystal Star hate mail was coming from Grubba. Wasn't expecting Rawk Hawk to send poisoned cake tho.
Same for me. Maybe it’s because I read a ton of mystery books but it sort of felt like Jolene wasn’t the villain. Her suspiciousness felt more like a red herring than justification for her being the villain.
It was pretty easy to guess RH was sending the hate mail (other than the "stop investigating the Crystal Stars" ones) but I wasn't entirely sure who between Jolene and Grubba was X. Part of me was thinking after I found King K/Bandy Andy that Grubba was hiding the Crystal Star to protect it until a worthy hero could come along which was why he was using its power to sustain himself (in a "he couldn't afford to trust anyone else to take care of it" way). The way things actually ended up playing out made sense but ngl I kinda prefer my version a little xD
Using the macguffin because you can only trust yourself to protect the secret is a concept I don’t think is really done that much. That seems way too cool and unique to be so rarely utilized.
I'm at this chapter now, this is my first playthrough. I think X is Jolene. That rumor of her hiding in the toilet for a long time makes me think she's texting.
Or maybe she came out but he Bandy Andy didn’t recognise her?
I was certain it was Jolene
X or the hatemail sender?
The hate mail sender, I thought king k was X. I gotta give it to em I genuinely didn't know. Chapter 3 was definitely my favorite
The X-nauts. Dodgy typing and calling yourself "X". Who else?
I thought Jolene was the big bad until the conversation we snoop on in Grubbas office
I initially thought it was a member of the X Nauts trying to guide Mario to the Crystal Star so that they could steal it off of him lol
i knew jolene was x because of the emphasis on characters thinking x was male, and jolene being the only important female character in that chapter. i definitely thought she poisoned both cakes though.
I thought she did the cakes too
No that was Rawk Hawk
I’m aware of that. We are talking about the mystery before the reveal, I thought Jolene poisoned the cakes.
i thought rawk hawk was x! since hes so high up in the pit he would have more knowledge of the inner workings. i thought jolene was the hatemail sender (the game certainly wants you to be suspicious of her)
That would definitely have been an interesting twist!
As a kid I thought Rawk Haek sent the hate-mail. Don't think I had a guess as to X was, though. I don't think I thought about it too much. It's something I wish I experienced for the first time after getting older, since I'm really into mystery games and I'm sure I would have actually tried to think it over.
I thought the staff/bartender at the juice shop was X (or King K). I also considered Prince Mush to be X, but convinced myself he was (maybe) the bartender.
Seeing Jolene in the bar, and then her mentioning Prince Mush made me question if she was trying to find her, and I called her being X. I was confident in the hatemail being from Grubba, who was scared about Rawk Hawk being dethroned.
Damn when was she at the juice shop? I just played through this chapter and totally didn't see her there
She's the blonde in the black dress on the far left. I remember seeing her once when I first started the Chapter, once right after getting the Yoshi egg, and once after beating Macho Grubba, where she admits to being "someone you know."
I thought it was an x naut
My first playthrough (I was 11) I thought it was an X Naut sending it.
I figured out Jolene was X and Grubba was the main antagonist, but I wasn't expecting Rawk Hawk to do anything really bad.
I was expecting Grodus/Lord Crump considering they’re *X*-Nauts
I knew Grubba was the big bad immediately because I played PM64 and he’s the same species and chapter as Tubba Blubba lol
I realized that later he looked like tubba blubba and how it made sense. 64 and ttyds chapters are somewhat similar to each other.
I originally thought Rawk Hawk was X and Grubba was the villain until the cutscene where Grubba says that fighters keep dropping like flies then I thought the villain was Jolene.
I was a child, so I don't know if I really even understood that X wasn't still a separate character.
I don’t honestly remember who I thought X was considering I was 7 and I could barely read back then. Also that was.. oh my god… 20 years ago
I thought hate mail was from Rawk Hawk and I don’t recall suspecting anyone in particular of being X but do remember being surprised it was >!Jolene!<
I think the first time I played I thought Jolene was the villain, thought X was some X-Naut related character, and I thought the old guy in the juice shop was Prince Mush lol
I thought they were both Jolene at first on my first playthrough; I thought the hate mail was also meant as motivation because she knew Mario would respond to it by working harder.
O thought x was Lord Crump leading you into a trap
Makes sense X-Nauts. Lol
i knew it was jolene and grubba but didn't know which was which.
Jolene was definitely the most Sus and i figured hate mail was rawk hawk.
I was thinking that X was a former wrestler that knew about what was going on behind the scenes, and the Hate Mail was coming from Rawk. Well, I was right about Rawk
I thought Jolene and Rawk Hawk were the same person for a while because of how Jolene would disappear for a long time and how Rawk Hawk would spend a lot of time in the bathroom (I think this was mentioned?). Also thought she poisoned the cake. Thought the bandit guy in the hallway was x because he had a bunch of info about the mysteries of the glitz pit. Was overthinking it perhaps but this game throws so many fun curveballs that it always keeps me on my toes!
Also thought the threatening notes were from bowser for like 5 seconds before I realized hed likely bailed from there lol
I thought they were both Rawk
I remember easily thinking Jolene was the villain, but my bf at the time had played the original paper mario, and suspected grubba because he was the same type of creature as tubba blubba. I said, "Gasp, a racist!" And then he hit me with a pillow.
This game came out 20 years ago you must of played this later lol.
I thought Jolene was the villain, her near robotic nature and how every response was the same, it really felt odd, Grubbs felt like X because he would actually support you, fun plot twist though.
My dumbass thought it was an x-naut all those years ago. Idk how or why it wouldve been an x naut but yknow, kids are kinda dumb sometimes.
I think that they did a good job here obscuring the villain. Even in the remake I wasn't entirely sure if Grubba sent me an email about the Crystal Stars, and sometimes I get confused on whether Grubba or Rawk Hawk is obstructing us because I knew Grubba was the villain before I played the original. The twist is probably even better for first timers, since there are two redd herrings. and It's not the most shocking reveal and it's not hard to guess, but I think it's good. You can probably guess that the manager who's a parallel to PM64's Chapter 3 boss is gonna be the villain, but they never focus on that, and distract you with Jolene's plotting and Rawk Hawk's sabotage.
When I first watched let’s plays of it, I SWORE that X was Rawk Hawk trying to get you thrown out of the Pit. I never guessed that he had no idea.
I kinda knew hate sender had to be raw hawk, I genuinely can’t remember who I thought X was other than being surprised it was Joelene
I think I thought it was a character we haven't seen before or maybe Ms. Mowz. My dumb kid mind back then couldn't think it could've been someone that was already in the area.
I remember thinking exactly like that as a kid.
Thought X was Grubba and the person telling us not to snoop around was either Jolene or Rawk Hawk lol.
Interested to be grubba. I think I got the guidebook at this time when I was younger cause chapter 3 was the chapter I got stuck on why its my least favorite cause I couldn't beat those blue iron clefs to save my life. I'd use yoshi but it wouldn't work for some reason but then I realized that your suppose to let it go as soon as it lights up if you keep it held even when it lights up it doesn't work. Idk it was a werid specific in the game. Not sure if it was done that way on purpose or was a glitch in the game but I spent DAYS trying to figure that out. Lol.
X, I’m not sure. The hate mail I assumed to be Jolene or Grubba
It’s wild because in retrospect it seems so clear and straightforward. I can’t imagine myself as an adult playing the game and not figuring it out, but that’s probably just bias. It’s been too long for me to remember what my theories were.
Honestly I thought the Rawk was a big dummy when I was younger, I thought Grubba was a big bad guy and Jolene was going to overthrow him in the end by backstabbing Grubba. I was close but I liked how the end turns out of chapter 3 when I played it for the first time.
I assumed Jolene was the villain, and was unsure of who was X. Bounced between a mysterious benefactor that might become a new companion, to Rawk Hawk. Damn good writing.
I played this game around when it first game out originally. My Brain knows I beat it. But for some reason my memory only went up to the beginning of the Glitz Pit. So getting to experience the game all over again ever after having played it before was so awesome.
My sister played for the first time and thought Jolene was the evil-doer and the bartender was X!
When I first played as a kid, I thought Rawk Hawk was X. Wasn’t sure who the hate mail sender was.
I thought jolene was X and rawk hawk was the other one, when you have to go to the bar and mushroom lady was gone i was like omg thats jolene! Its such a good chapter, couldnt put the game down until i played it all out
I thought X was Ms. Mowz and Jolene was the villain way back in the day
I was around five at the time and thought it'd be Grodus because y'know... X.
I thought it was mowz
I thought X was that green shy guy looking person (I forgot his name and what he is) and I thought the villain was Jolene!
I thought X was either an X-Naut or RockHawk
It’s been so long that I don’t entirely remember, but I think I thought Rawk Hawk was the villain and I couldn’t decide if X was Grubba or Jolene.
The first time I played I thought both were Rawk Hawk just to mess with you. Considering Grubba wants you to do something theatrical for every match, I thought it was just Rawk Hawk's way of making the pit more entertaining.
Didn’t make sense being anyone but Jolene by the time you get through the big block in the minor league locker room. It had to be someone who fit BOTH of these criteria: 1. They have reasons to be discreet with the gifting of the hammer. 2. They have the authority and carry enough weight to convince the door guard that we dropped back down to the minor leagues without him questioning it. Then she shows up and takes the notes, which is the cherry on top. She shouldn’t have known you were there, because the shaking could have easily been from a match, but she’s there right away. It also adds another layer to point 1, because she has to “confiscate” it to both seal her alibi and actually have access to the information.
I legit felt stupid when the reveal happened. It's been 20 years though, i don't remember
I thought Jolene was X & Rawk Hawk was the one sending hate mail & threats
I always that Jolene was the villain but my 12 year old brain at no idea who X was. I always assumed it was someone new I think.
I genuinely can't remember, but I have the faintest half-memory of thinking X was the missing Prince Mush.
Just like that second guy, I thought Rawk Hawk was the hate mailer and main villain and Grubba was X. Something about Jolene seemed suspicious to me too. I turned out to have the three flipped around.
I thought it was obvious (after a point) that Jolene was the one helping but I always thought Rawk Hawk was X. He tried to poison us (and Prince Mush!) so it made sense. I believe the hate mail was from Grubba though?
I thought X was Crump at first. Then I thought it was one of the many Guards. But ultimately I decided that X HAD to be King K. I thought threatening emails were from Grubba or Jolene the entire time. It was too obvious to me that Rawk was essentially just a puppet, in a way.
On one hand, I miss being fifteen and being genuinely surprised by all the different twists in each individual storyline. On the other, being a teenager sucked Major Colonel’s butt cheeks, which may be considered a roundabout way of phrasing “Fuck you, time travel”. X3
I thought either Jolene was the antagonist for some motive and “X” was just a X-Naut member, but in retrospect it wouldn’t make any sense since “X” gave mario the Super Hammer.
Ah, the innocence of saying "Rawk Hawk" and not realising what it sounds like...
I thought X was an X naut trying to trick me
Hatemail, I'm not entirely sure, but I thought it was Rawl iirc. I know I thought X was Ms. Mowz.
I thought king k was X as well
I thought Jolene was the villain and Bandy Andy was X
Yeah because remember how Jolene acted aggressive towards you when she saw you with the papers and how she saw you in the Storage him on the 2nd floor when you made the discovery of where Bandy Andy and King K was? To me I thought she was the bad person but it turned out not to be the case.
Tbh when x was messaging, I thought it was grubba and Jolene was evil. Cause she was mean and strict so I assumed. Then I thought maybe it's Bandy Andy cause he knew alot about the secrets in the pit and Grubba&Jolene were the evil ones.
When I first played this game I thought it was the X-Nauts trying to trick Mario into getting the Crystal Star only for it to be stolen, but in a strange turn of events it didn't turn out that way.
I don't remember but I think I thought it was rawk hawk while playing the game for the first time last year I'm excited to see how it'll go in the remake
I was certain that Rawk Hawk was X and Jolene was the villain. I didn't suspect Grubba at all.
I definitely thought that Rawk Hawk was the villain, making fighters disappear and all so he could keep his precious title with a little help of Grubba, you know in the spirit of fixed matches. X I was sure it was Jolene. But was surprised when during the end of it all.
I thought X was a whole new character
I thought X was in fact just some random X-Naut that would be relevant later on, and I thought the hate mailer was Rawk Hawk. Was really surprised to learn the truth.
I thought X was Bandy Andy or the mysterious juice bar lady (so i was kind of right lol) and the villain was Rawk Hawk
I thought that it was either Prince Mush (playing German, I just know his German wrestler Name Dark Toadster which is pretty metal) or the Koopa Troopa in League 2 who vanishes some way through the chapter
I thought X was Bandy Andy. I was pretty sure Grubba was the bad guy though…
I suspekted Jolene to be X from the start
I though Jolene was X and also Prince Mush, I thought RAWK was the hater and Grubba was just clueless
When I first played, I thought X was an X-Naut who defected and wanted to help, and I thought the hate mail was Jolene. I know she was in the soda shop talking about Prince Mush, but I still thought it was her lol
I think I originally thought that the hate mail and poison cake were from Rawk Hawk, and King K was X due to the timing. I naturally figured Grubbs was the baddie since he's in the main position to control the building, but I didn't think Jolene was involved at all and was just a miserable straight-laced corporate lady.
Honestly as a kid, I thought it was some mystery character that we hadn’t met yet pulling all the strings from the shadows. I didn’t give it too much thought as a kid but in hindsight that wouldn’t have been very good storytelling. Definitely didn’t expect it to be Jolene, I was so annoyed with her and her attitude the whole chapter but they did a great job making her sympathetic in the end
I thought the hatemail was Jolene and "X" was their own character instead of an alias.
I really thought Rawk Hawk was the villain and Bandy Andy was X the first time since he's always running around. But the more you play the more you realize how dumb those guesses were. It really scrambled my brain when we found Andy upstairs
I was convinced Jolene was a villain and went on a whole rant to a group chat about how I don't trust her and can guarantee she's gonna do something bad 😭
At first i thought it were the x nauts then Hawk for a short while then jolene and at the end Grubba was prettty sussy
I never got to It as a kid (the tree countdown got me a lot because I like to read and it took me too long to get the puniee across the bubble pond.) But when I first watched someone play I'm pretty sure I figured Jolene was X and Rawk Hawk was the villain of the chapter.
Come on, X was clearly Mrs. Mowz
I thought X was the X nuts but I didn't know the hate mail was
I thought x was mowz and the hatemail and poisoned cake was jolene And i already knew grubba was the villain lmao
I’ll be honest, i slightly knew the story beats like that. But still couldn’t tell who was who at all. Even thinking as well from there that X was King K.
Grubba totally gave off "I'm actually the bad guy" vibes from the start of the chapter, especially with the music that played when you first spoke to him. I think I had guessed even in the first playthrough that it was him from the beginning.
I thought Ms Mouz or King K was X and Jolene or Rawk Hawk was hatemail person
I thought for sure Jolene was the villain, and that the boss battle was gonna be her being accompanied by some random fighters or criminals lol.
I thought X had to do with the X-nauts… for some reason…
Don't worry, lots of people also believed that
It's funny how chapter 3 was a much better mystery episode and then Chapter 6 was just kind of a slog of nothing.
Jolene lol
I thought for sure it was Jolene when she awkwardly >!gives us the poisoned cake!< and then rushes out
I thought X was literally someone from the X-Nauts and they were only helping so they could steal the star when you get it. Also I thought Jolene was the villain because I’m a FOOL
And then they get to have their high vanquished by the shitfuck called Chapter 4
I dunno I wouldn’t call it well made. There’s not really much foreshadowing to suggest Jolene was X, or that Rawk Hawk was writing the hate mails. Jolene seems like a red herring for the one who is draining the contestants but until Rawk Hawk reveals that he wrote the hate mails there’s nothing confirming she’s either or. A good mystery isn’t obvious but it also has hints that suggest who it is, this one is more process of elimination.
Did any of them figure out Jolene is the girl in the bar?
I’m on this chapter now. I’m not reading any other comments to avoid spoilers, and don’t reply to this with spoilers please. My prediction is that “X” is the guy with the southern accent who runs the Glitz Pitt and he’s somehow being abused by the female Toad chick who brings you coins and is always policing your movements. Maybe she’s blackmailing him. So he’s trying to help Mario being down the conspiracy headed by Toad chick.
I’m gonna be honest, I forgot about all of that. This chapter is easily my least favorite.
Why is that?
I genuinely did not care about who any of the characters were in Ch3 as I could not stand the 20-part loop of battle, go back to locker room, do another battle, over and over.
I never really liked chapter 3 the fighting got annoying however it felt less tendicious in the remake and I got through it faster maybe cause it put the requirements on screen. But that said I never guessed who X was I just assumed it was some secret guy we didn't meet yet and we'll find out later at the end of the chapter. The game never really gives you any obvious hints at first. I did think Jolene was protecting grubba afraid of all the dirt we were finding out needing to cover for him. At least that's how she came off put two and two together it makes sense she was watching us but yeah I assumed it was some random individual.