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Something eerie about Chapter 4...

Debbie82Debbie82
edited June 2011 in Tales of Monkey Island
I noticed that there is a legend that "Four Is Death". According to TV Tropes, "In Chinese Language, Japanese Language, and Korean Language, the words for "Four" and "Death", despite being written differently, are pronounced similarly (somewhat like "sì" in Mandarin, "shi" in Japanese, "sa" in Korean, and "sei" in Cantonese). As a cultural trope, Asian works of media tend to treat the number the same way Western writers treat the number 13 (except 13 isn't half a letter away from "death"). As a similar point of reference, point building floors and apartments are (mis)numbered accordingly to avoid the number, and some Japanese people prefer to say "yon" (another word for four) instead of "shi"."

I also noticed that in Tales of Monkey Island, four seems to be the very embodiment of death in Chapter 4, even though it may be a coincidence. As a result, I added Tales to the Four Is Death trope, and "Four Is Death" to the Tales Of Monkey Island trope if you want to see both. I wondered if the folks at Telltale have borrowed some "four is death" idea from Eastern culture while working on ToMI, especially Chapter 4.

Comments

  • Debbie82Debbie82
    edited May 2011
    I hate to double-post, but I want to know what you think of this.
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited May 2011
    Debbie82 wrote: »
    building floors and apartments are (mis)numbered accordingly to avoid the number

    I've been told that this is an annoying issue for firefighting squads in some Asian cities.

    As for the trope in ToMI - that's a pretty detailed collection of parallels, but all the same I think it's probably just coincidence rather than conscious design.
  • Debbie82Debbie82
    edited May 2011
    puzzlebox wrote: »
    As for the trope in ToMI - that's a pretty detailed collection of parallels, but all the same I think it's probably just coincidence rather than conscious design.

    Were the Final Fantasy games (FFII, FFIV, FFVII) coincidental, since the number 4 had something to do with the deaths of some characters? *coughAerithcough*
  • coolsomecoolsome
    edited May 2011
    puzzlebox wrote: »
    I've been told that this is an annoying issue for firefighting squads in some Asian cities.

    Then its there own damn fault if a death happens at number 4 and ppl can't get to it cos they don't know where it is! Although the building that has smoke coming out of it is a clue.
  • StarEyeStarEye
    edited May 2011
    coolsome wrote: »
    Then its there own damn fault if a death happens at number 4 and ppl can't get to it cos they don't know where it is! Although the building that has smoke coming out of it is a clue.

    Uhm, I'm fairly sure it's the issue of which floor, not which building.
  • Debbie82Debbie82
    edited June 2011
    Oh yeah, I forgot to add one more bit to the "Four Is Death" thing that I overlooked. In Chapter 5, guess what the fourth tarot card is labeled in the intro? That's right, it's "DEATH"! A bit eerie, wouldn't you say? :eek:
  • SarendorSarendor
    edited June 2011
    Hey, in Curse, the fourth tarot card Guybrush got was also death!

    But seriously now, this is quite an interesting point that you raise here! It is either a very strange coincidence, or it was somewhat planned. I would probably never have noticed.
    By the way, four happens to be my favourite number. Perhaps I should find a different one...
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