Mukade=Mystery

At the old forum we had a couple of Mukade-threads, so let's try to revive some of those in here.

First of all, let's discuss who Mukade could possible be... just another Syndicate thug, with or without a chrysalis ? a cyborg ? an android ? an alien ? Konoko's dad ?

Post here what you think !

I have deliberately not touched on everything, and maybe even left out something, just so I wouldn't be told that I have taken the words from everyone's mouth.
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Just a Syndicate thug? Maybe, if you consider only his moves because then he is actually just like any other ninja in the Syndicate(*); however, if you consider the extra skills he has (like teleporation and at-will phase cloaking) as well as his much higher health levels, then no, he is not one.

(*) - But are the ninjas really from the Syndicate or a separate organisation that is 'partnered' with the Syndicate? Bah, it doesn't really matter... just plain-old nitpicking.
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It is not easy to determine whether or not he has a Chrysalis since we have not seen any powers that can tell us much.

Perhaps the teleportation and at-will phase-cloaking is his Chrysalite powers? (**)

I have previously mentioned about the above being technologies instead of being skills he learnt as a ninja but from the way they work, it does not seem to be so. If they were technology, Mukade would not need to 'gesture' in the way he does when teleporting or cloaking, as if he is gathering energy and power to perform the skills.

(**) - Virumor once mentioned that Chrysalite powers might differ from Chrysalite to Chrysalite. It might or might not be true, but if it were then perhaps it might explain why he does not go overpower -- it is a Hasegawa-Chrysalite-only power.

Hmm... I have not touched on everything and it is still a bit long... sigh...

Now... perhaps someone would like to continue?

WJTW

The fact that Konoko can feel Mukade inside her (don't get dirty thoughts now!! ) - the whole telepathy thing - and Mukade's speech surely makes it a big possibility he's indeed a Chrysalite. But for the same it could all be trickery.

I think it's just technology. I mean, neither the cloaking nor the teleporting is anything special, is it? Konoko can cloak as well if she has a phase cloak. Note that Mukade's cloaking isn't permanent, so i think he has just a whole bunch of phase cloaks with him - maybe someone should try to determine how long Mukade stays cloaked, as normally it can't be longer than 1 minute without causing cellular damage.

This post has been edited by virumor on Apr 27 2005, 02:07 AM

I sense a two-person-only thread... this thread...

Do you refer to the 'torn apart' speech? Well, yes, it does make sense if he were Chrysalite since he was torn apart to implant the Chrysalis, as someone mentioned in the old forum.
But do you think Mukade has other forms of implantation that is not a Chrysalis. He could be saying that they were both torn apart to implant technologies for the benefit of their 'masters'.

Still, I wouldn't rule out trickery since Mukade is a ninja and trickery should be part of his resume. This could be just a way to keep Konoko off guard, to make her reluctant to attack someone 'similar' to her, someone who is 'on the same boat'.
And it looks like Mukade's plan (if confusion was his intention) did kind of work as Konoko still questioned their similarity and differences before deciding to step on Mukade's neck.

If it were technology then I think Konoko will find it funny that Mukade has to do those 'mystical actions' and gestures when he cloaks or teleports whereas she does not need to.
So... we can conclude Mukade is a pretentious fellow.

Yes, a timing will be good. If it were technology then the cloaking time should remain the same throughout. If there are drastic variations then perhaps it will mean Mukade can control it at will, and hence not technology, or it could also be a different type of cloak that allows for on-off?

What do you think will be the effect of this cellular damage? Permanent invisibility, perhaps?

WJTW

I would kind of assume cellular damage would cause death, but in the oni universe (oniverse?) you never know.

Perhaps, perhaps. The easiest assumption (which I, for some reason, did not think about... ) would have been death.

Permanent disability of certain body functions might be possible as well.

But the phase cloak seems to be able to automatically disable itself so I doubt prolonged usage will be much of a problem unless some people decide to alter it to make it last longer.

WJTW

Or alter it to kill somebody. Maybe this would've been a better way for Griffin to get rid of Konoko : on Konoko's next mission, supply her with some altered phase cloaks, so that if she uses one she dies due to severe cellular damage... in a report to his superiors, Griffin could then claim "it was a horrible unfortunate accident".

This would've been more sensible than trying to kill Konoko by destroying an Atmospheric Conversion Center. It might even have worked.

This post has been edited by virumor on May 10 2005, 09:13 AM

the more and more we look at his griffins plans, the more we find in ways to improve them.

The idea Virumor suggested is quite interesting. It is a great idea for Griffin to make use of this to do away with Konoko safely and efficiently.

But the question is whether or not the TCTF has access to phase cloaks, or is it just an illegal weapon used by ninjas and the Syndicate. If they had access, then it would be strange that Konoko was not provided with any phase cloaks throughout her missions with the TCTF. The TCTF agents we fought in later levels did not use phase cloaks either, if you exclude the ones in the dream level.

Actually, the phase cloak does appear in Level 13, found somewhere at the top-most level of the room with the Damocles Machine -- the machine Shinatama was seated before she was capture by Barabas. There is actually another one here, although it not exactly 'found'. This other phase cloak is in the possession of an engineer (the one with Karen) and only gave up the cloak after being killed.

So, perhaps phase cloaks are lying around just for the player's benefit and the TCTF does not really possess phase cloaks? The phase cloaks that are in Level 13 could simply be bloopers on Bungie's part. It could also possibly be Bungie's way of easing gameplay since with a cloak on, you can actually get out of the Damocles room without going toe-to-toe with any TCTF agents.

Well, powerups are not really logically placed (why are hypos placed on top of containers and boxes?) so a phase cloak in the 'wrong place' might not be much of a surprise.
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Could phase cloaks be outlawed because of the potential problems it can create, like crimes being convicted 'invisibly', albeit the temporary invisibility granted is not complete -- we can still see the cloaked person faintly.

Scientists and civilians do not give us phase cloaks whether up-front or when they die, except for that engineer in Level 13.

Come to think of it, phase cloaks were not used, as far as I can remember, by Syndicate troops either. In fact, the only Sydicate operative to have ever (in-game) used a phase cloak was Mukade; not even the ninjas used them...

The phase cloak being outlawed definitely would not deter the Syndicate from using it and so it puzzles me why Syndicate operatives were not using phase cloaks themselves.

Could it even be because only 'special' individuals can use phase cloaks? This does not make much sense but in the game we have only seen Konoko and Mukade making use of them.

WJTW

Hmm yes, the fact that phase cloaks are so rare in the game (unlike for instance, force shields) and never used by the TCTF safe by Konoko, plus the fact that the Syndicate is specialized in manufacturing and/or importing illegal technology, makes the above a convincing argument.

Still, this wouldn't necessarily mean that Griffin wouldn't use any of the phase cloaks they found during raids on the Syndicate or develop some of his own, right ? After all, the man is rather unscrupulous.

Well lucky us.... two invisible ninjas really are a pain in the butt. Imagine two invisible valkyrie furies or (the horror) two invisible engineers!

Poor Konoko...

PS : again a very nice essay, bossman.

But what made it stranger is that even Syndicate units -- ninjas included -- were not seen using phase cloaks. One would have expected ninjas at the very least to use these cloaks but they didn't. In fact, in 'real-world' levels, only Konoko and Mukade have ever used the phase cloak...

So, if the Syndicate are assumed to not possess any phase cloaks then Griffin probably wouldn't be able to, either.

It would have been rather good actually if there were more phase cloaked enemy units in the game, even if they were only ninjas and no other character types. The rooftops would have been the best place.

Thanks for reading it.

WJTW

It wouldn't be that effective, really. After 1 minute, they would turn back visible.

That could be the reason why it was not implemented.

Still, Bungie could have allowed the AI to cloak at different times as Mukade does. They don't need to be cloaked all the time. Perhaps they can start cloaking when Konoko walks through a trigger, and after a while the cloak will wear off. Subsequent cloakings will be done by the AI until they die, also like Mukade.

WJTW

Cloaked snipers in level 10 would be cool...

Hmm... yes, that will be cool. Imagine a Mercury Bow fire coming from nowhere and noone we can easily see. Still, it might be easier as we get closer since the AI will stay put. It will be scarier if Bungie has several 'sniping areas' for the snipers to move around...

WJTW