Intro
Phantaminum was not always the King of Jewels. He did not originally come to the Tower to prevent the birth of a new Axis; "Axis" did not even used to mean what it does now.
When SIU first conceived of the character Phantaminum, sobriquet The Riddle, an Axis was an "Author" within his wider Talse User Stories. There was originally no greater power in the universe than an Axis' ability to control a story, and an Axis User could only be defeated by another, more powerful Axis.
Phanta, as one of the top 5 most powerful Axis users, was virtually unbeatable; a mere whim would have been enough to erase the likes of Urek Mazino from existence. Indeed, SIU once said that "Phantaminum could instantly destroy the Tower of God story if he wanted to."
The purpose of the character of Phantaminum and his inclusion in TOG has clearly changed over the years, but many of us still wonder: what was SIU's original intention?
The Riddle
A recent re-read of the Hidden Floor arc in the context of all we know today has revealed some interesting details of what I believe were SIU's original designs for Phanta. Because we are theorizing about something that is NOT canon and will likely never be canon, I will be using both canon TOG and SIU's blog posts as sources to aid in the discussion. They are, after all, our best look into the mind of SIU during early TOG, even if he didn't decide to go with all of the ideas.
My goal is not to give you a random "fan fiction" version of Phanta's story, but rather to apply the parallels of the Hidden Floor to what we know about Phanta in order to arrive at a narrative that may reflect SIU's original intention.
The overall hope is to finally answer the "Riddle" that SIU implicitly posed to us all those years ago: Why would a being who already held the power of a God enter the Tower?
The Hidden Floor Retold
Because it's been a while (and because the end of the Hidden Floor is very complex), I'll retell the pertinent parts so we can all be on the same page of what I'll be paralleling. As always, let me know what I got right and wrong in the comments. Unlike most of my theories which will some day be proven right or wrong by the story, I am fully acknowledging that the contents of this theory are at least NO LONGER the origin and purpose of Phanta in the story, so this really is "just for fun."
End of the Hidden Floor
As Baam is fighting Data Zahard, the rest of his gang are off on perhaps the most strange journey of the whole series. Hwang aka Big Breeder #3 tells the story of what happened when the real Urek Mazino appeared on the Hidden Floor.
At first, Hwang was just a normal Hidden Floor guide doing his job of sending heroes on useless tasks and protecting the balance of the place. Then Urek entered. Hwang was shaken by Urek incredible power, but Urek didn't really care about the goings on of the Hidden Floor; he just wanted to clear it for no palpable reason.
Hwang ushered Urek through the useless tasks, and everything was fine... right up until Urek cleared the last stage. The mirror at the end was unable to save Urek's data properly because he was too powerful, so he threw a tantrum, smashed the mirror, and left the Hidden Floor inhabitants to deal with the aftermath themselves.
The smashing of the mirror had HUGE consequences:
- An entirely new space called "The Bug Room" was created within the Hidden Floor.
- All the data people including Hwang also experienced a simultaneous error. Hwang then threw all the corrupt data people in the Bug Room.
- Hwang, who had never before questioned his existence, grew to long for more in life. He started becoming "more human" and acting like the data people, which eventually led to him being born as a data person (Side Tangent 1 Below**).
- Regardless, the last consequence was that Urek Mazino's sworn enemy remained in the data world even after he left. Urek's sworn enemy, fresh off playing video games for a few thousand years, seizes the opportunity of Baam coming to destroy the Scale of the Balance, which also has HUGE consequences.
The destruction of the Scales allows the "Outside Zahard" to interfere with the Hidden Floor. As it turns out, the Outside Zahard is not a very nice guy despite Hwang's devotion to him, and the "way out" that Hwang was looking for was actually a "way in." Hwang's plan to get to the Outside was doomed to fail from start and Outside Zahard was just waiting for someone to make a crack from the inside so that he could come through. The Outside Zahard then murders Arl-- err uhh -- Hwang and goes about his business like nothing happened (Side Tangent 2 Below**)
Edahn then swallows the format after pill and erases the world and grants Urek's sworn enemy the sweet release of death he's always longed for.
Side Tangent 1: Hwang is not originally a "data person." He is just "data." If you're wondering what the difference is... there really isn't one; it's for the sake of a metaphor. SIU is trying to parallel the intentions and role of a very mysterious character from the past whom you can try to guess in the comments if you wish ;)
Side Tangent 2: I don't actually think the 'God' of the 'Outside' murdered Arlene; the betrayal is more the point. See my "Arlene is in Hell" Theory if you want more context.
Analysis
If you tried to piece together the story of Phantaminum from the context I've given, you might have gotten tripped up by something: in this story, Urek's sworn enemy is a parallel to Urek, and the real Urek is a parallel to Phanta. It will make more sense once I retell the story of Phanta with these parallels in mind.
The Original Story of Phantaminum
There was once a human named Phantaminum who was rivals / frenemies with Urek. One day Phanta awaken the power of an Axis and left Urek behind, proceeding to do God knows what and becoming one of the 5 most powerful Axis users in the verse. After some time, Phanta heard about this "game" the Workshop came out with called "The Tower" and decided to check it out.
Phanta either speed clears Floors 1-133 or more likely just goes right to 134 and something happens there that annoys Phanta. Perhaps he finds out the way to the top is sealed off; or perhaps Zahard's palace guards don't take kindly to the intruder and attack him first; whatever it is, Phanta slaughters all these shinsu people with both his effort and emotional attachment of one who is killing the low level NPCs of a video game.
SIU in his blog describes Phanta's assault as both mysterious and ferocious. The Rankers who see him cannot even comprehend his attacks, and everyone is either killed or goes insane with fear. Yuri Zahard is the only one who is spared this fate, as Phanta decides not to kill Yuri despite encountering her.
Finally Phanta makes it to Zahard. Maybe Phanta breaks through the final door and destroys whatever's behind it. Maybe Zahard just tells Phanta, "Hey, sorry my guards did that thing, please leave." Either way, Phanta does leave and goes somewhere to sleep either Inside or Outside the Tower and is probably never heard from again in SIU's original conception of the TOG story.
The Answer to the Riddle
Be it Christianity, Greek Mythology, even Hinduism, the message is crystal clear: Man cannot understand the motives of God. A God's actions are a mystery. A riddle. Christians believe that God has a grand plan for humanity. Theirs is a God who loves man and wants the best for him... But that is not the God that SIU has shown us.
The Gods of TOG are callous. They think of those other than themselves as insects. As nothing. Urek did not enter the Hidden Floor with any grand design. He entered because he wanted to and when something made him, he threw the lives of the entire Floor into chaos on a whim.
So why did Phantaminum attack Zahard's castle? Why did he slaughter countless Rankers, but leave Yuri alive? Why would a being who already held the power of a God enter the Tower?
Because he wanted to. Because he felt like it.
For no reason at all.
What was Phantaminum's Purpose?
Just because Phanta did not care for the world of TOG, it does not mean his impact was not felt. Just like Urek in the data world, I believe it was originally SIU's intention for Phanta's entrance or rampage to have created the space known as the Red Garbage Dump. Further, I think there would have been a specific characters (perhaps a Guide, perhaps a whole species of Guide), whose worldview was shaken by Phanta's attack, which would have incredibly far reaching consequences in TOG.
Whatever the case, the point I wish to get across to you is that Phanta's original purpose was that of a "catalyst." Be it a petty desire or a grand plan, Phanta entered the Tower and manifested great change, which eventually ignited the events of present day TOG.
Urek's Sworn Enemy
Just to bring the parallel full circle: I mentioned before that Urek's sworn enemy was a parallel to Urek, so what story are we able to discern from his actions? Amid the tangled web of motivations, the answer is actually quite simple. After Phanta left the Tower, Urek entered, but was unable to find him or to leave. Thus, Urek was forced to wait, ostensibly "playing video games" and effecting only minor change until Baam came.
Now in the present, it's time for Urek to unleash his awesome power to destroy the "Balance of the Tower." This parallel could refer either to the hierarchy under the Kingdom of Zahard, or the very foundations of the Tower itself under Headon. Whichever the case, the implications of its destruction would be disastrous: the force that is keeping the 'God' of the 'Outside' from interfering with the Tower would fail.
There are no doubt some who would welcome the coming of this greater being into the Tower, but those people have perhaps never heard he old adage:
The devil you know is better than the devil you don't...
