Who or what is the shopkeeper? Let's take a look at everything we know for certain. This is a shorter video because we know so little, but we will get to the bottom of this *well* (hint, hint). The shopkeeper is my favorite character, so let me know: which Tunic character intrigues you the most? Join in on more Tunic Deep Dives here --> kzread.info/dash/bejne/gJuXs8ednrDZY84.html

When i first saw the shopkeeper i turned right back around

@Mote.

Жыл бұрын

the music that plays makes it even scarier

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

I did the same thing! I thought it was a boss fight!

@samtarkk1

Жыл бұрын

Lol same

@dragonico1040

Жыл бұрын

Me too

@somewhere-else

Жыл бұрын

i said “nope nope nope nope nope”

A lot of people got scared when they first saw the shopkeeper, but I was just like “aww hiii” and always called him “friend” or “my friend :)”

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

He’s such a good friend! I did get scared the first time he flew in though

@Imperial_Squid

Жыл бұрын

You'll be pleased to find out the feeling is mutual, the shopkeeper's song is called "My Favourite Customer" on the OST!

@eye_balling

Жыл бұрын

he's so cute. love this man so much

@thespeedyyoshi

8 ай бұрын

I always felt like we were on a dark cave date ^w^

My thoughts... The foxes in the games have different sizes, the ruin seekers being the smallest of them. It could be they are children, but it wouldn't make sense for they to be the only children. What characterizes them is that they drink from the chalices and forget everything (holy oblivion). And the foxes more involved with knowledge of the far shore, such as the Heir and the fossil ones in the sarcophagi, are far more elongated (and the fossil ones are skeletal as well, though still living). The world seems to be stuck in a loop, but the "shops" are outside of time (according to the shop text). So I think the shopkeeper is a fox who, being stuck outside of time for many loops, grew ever larger, more skeletal and more knowledgeable, and so they made the manual to try and help ruin seekers to break the loop. As ruin seekers died the pages got scattered, though.

@Nikola_M

Жыл бұрын

That makes sense because the Librarian has learned a lot about the world and is very tall.

@danlastname407

4 ай бұрын

The manual talks about the annealed future, so I think that's reference to the future being sold to the cycle. I suspect the shop keeper is the heir's reincarnation out of the corruption from the heir being lost to despair. When the Hero is killed, the Heir doesn't celebrate but look bewildered. Freeing the heir from the prison doesn't change their form. The only thing that changes their form is sharing the wisdom of the golden path triggering ending B. With no kingdom to rule, the heir pursues the pieces to resurrect the Hero but instead the Heir resurrects. I think the loneliness causes the heir to die to the cycle and awaken as the shopkeep. This is the only "corrupted" being in the game who uses a market instead of attacking the Hero. That's just my interpretation. The heir has been imprisoned for untold time. The first thing heir does is drop the Hero so my emotional reaction to the shopkeeper was that of regret and remorse.

First time I met the shopkeeper, I ran to the door, then saw the items and thought “Oh, you’re just a shopkeeper.” But the real question is why, as a spectral skeleton, does the shopkeeper have ears?

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

THAT is a really good question.

@thatoneantoid51

Жыл бұрын

It could be that the shopkeeper isn't the skeleton but something that's inside the skull controlling the skeleton. This adds up since theres enemies that appear to be skulls but reveal a body that comes out of it.

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Oh I really like that idea

@quinn_brock

Жыл бұрын

For drip ofc, maybe a whitewashed helmet to make himself look more approachable.

@vladyvhv9579

Жыл бұрын

Maybe the shopkeeper isn't a skeleton, but rather more akin to a ghost, simply using a mostly skeleton appearance?

My little head cannon is that it is a previous player that has NG+'ed so many times, and in doing so collected so many items and lived so long that he grew and grew and grew while simultaniously withering away to bones, or perhaps became irradiated with miasma exposure. And then he got tired of fighting and hid away to build a network to help the next hero in his journey.

@blackdragoncyrus

Ай бұрын

canon*

You missed one of the shopkeeper's locations - he actually appears twice on the page to the eastern vault! The second location is behind the save statue inside the fortress. I suppose the devs put him there so you can access the shop before and after navigating the underground entrance.

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Good catch! I scrubbed and scrubbed and honestly I think I missed that one entirely during my playthrough, but I was waiting for this comment cause my gut told me there’s more locations. Really curious why some locations are mapped and some aren’t. I know a lot was done with speedrunners in mind.

@octochan

Жыл бұрын

@@JessZakilly This one is marked on the map! You can see it at the top middle of the screen at 2:09. I do wonder how many unmarked locations I missed, I'm sure there are hidden corners I haven't mashed my little fox snout into yet.

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

You’re so right! Sneaky little one!

@TheKeyblader133

11 ай бұрын

It also seems primarily useful as an alternative shop during the night, as the fort entrance shop is completely blocked off by tthe void/corruption at night. admittedly that is how I ended up finding it.

When my friend played tunic at my house he saw the shopkeeper and ran away and didn't buy anything, he didn't suffer for it and I think the devs made it that way so players that felt terrified wouldn't be crippled

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

That makes sense. I love how the game is designed in such a way that half the stuff can be done in more than one way or not at all

If the shopkeeper really is the one granting wishes for tossing coins in the wells, then he's a crafty businessman, as he is selling a coin for a hefty fee. Sell coin, get coin for a meager wish, sell same coin again. Neat.

@zygoloid

2 күн бұрын

If you reach the third phase without dropping any coins in the well, is there only one coin in the shop or two? If they are selling you the same coin twice, you shouldn't be able to buy two until you've dropped one...

The "Hole in Time" might be a third plane paralel to "Canonical Plane" and "Far Shore". I recall that somewhere there was mention that there are three planes (either manual or some sign). Considering existence of cavities and other themes of planes getting closer (Quarry shopkeeper is not marked wich suggests that passage to his plane opened recently {or previous hero haven't found him}) it's possible that one more plane also got closer and Shopkeepers might just be dwellers of that plane.

I personally think the shopkeeper is death itself. With his power dwindling it would make sense that he would want the protagonist to break this cycle.

Hi ! loved this video. Just wanted to add that the fox ghost to the left of the one sleeping next to the square of water in the middle of the overworld says "I ran a store, once. People usually steal stuff, though."

My theory is also that he might have something to do with the Tomb. Interestingly, the Tomb(along with the most of the Well) is one of the few places that the miasma makes completely inaccessible during the night. Other's include the Atoll(likely due to the leaking leylines) and the lower part of the Quarry(likely due to it's proximity to the Ziggurat). Admittedly it could just be flooded from the hub under the western belltower, but I find myself wondering if there could be something else significant in there associated with the Far Shore.

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

I like this line of thinking…there’s definitely more to the well than what we know…why else would there be disquiet tentacles there?

I think the Shopkeeper looks a bit like the fox spectres in the rooted ziggurat, only bigger and with the bones showing through. And maybe the one location where it doesn't sell anything (the statue on the right of the world map where you get a page for free) has some significance. I always thought that one location stood out.

@TravellingFox

Жыл бұрын

Also, thought of this overnight. The Shopkeeper is the only creature in the entire world that takes the currency, the little golden cubes, which stand in contrast to the trinity colors of red-blue-green. Those are hexagons, but a cube can also appear as a hexagon when seen from a certain angle. Also, is it just my imagination, or is the "shop" in the fox statue the only place where the shopkeeper is on the top right instead of the top left?

Or maybe they personify Death and want to help the Hero out via being a shopkeeper, because 1) the "payment to cross Styx" reference, and 2) to test the Hero to see if they can bring the cycle of Life and Death back. Or they just lost their job and needed a new one.

I love visiting the shopkeeper. It has the best soundtrack in the game and one of the best I've ever heard in gaming.

Thank you so much for these videos. I've been trying to put Tunic's lore together in my head and I keep getting blown away by small details that pop up every now and then

I was so scared of the shopkeeper, and any repercussions of touching the items that I didn’t try to buy anything or even know you could buy stuff until after I fought the heir once 😅

I didn't even think about this deeply before, but this is a very interesting puzzle indeed! The Dark Tomb now makes me wonder what could be buried there, as I just assumed it was a place with a bunch of treasures haha. But yes, somebody (or bodies) are indeed buried there, so who are they? And actually, I'm also curious about the different races in this game at this point. Which enemies are foxes? And those that aren't, who are they? The rudelings for example, and the skeleton creatures in the tomb, who are they? Also, what about those auto turrets that are in the tomb, who put those there? Very suspicious indeed.

Love your lore videos and willingness to share your opinion! part of me thinks the shopkeep embodies the spirit of the ruin seekers that must exist out side of the canonical plane to explain how ruin seekers can keep "respawning" in the canonical plane and die, for the shopkeep is the in between that aids the "hero" and is the only being in the game that offers help without an anterior motive. Prehaps the gems we earn from killing living beings, like the magic, is exchanged to keep the spirit of the ruin seeker alive and grants it power to sell us items from the canonical plane from the in between of the not so far shore, just a theory lol

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Glad you like them! Love that you're here!

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Geeze I totally missed the “read more” so let me add that I like this theory a lot! I’ve heard another similar theory where the shopkeeper is a former ruin seeker, selling the things they collected. I like yours better since it never sat right with me how they could bring their former items to this space outside of time.

Watching this, I noticed that there are runes on the skull on page 39 at 4:46. They translate to: "are i pe" (RIP).

the issue with the well theory is that the manual states that you are feeding your wishes to a wish eater, not that they are actually being granted. my understanding is that whatever in the well is eating the will or hope of your wishes and in return gives you power, or the illusion of power. much like the offerings to the heir only provide you with an illusion of your previous strength before receiving your true memories in the heroes graves.

I really enjoy your narration , it’s very captivating 🔥

I found The Shopkeeper on the way to the Quarry just under one of the pillars after the save point. It’s a set of stairs and then you walk around the pillar and then you enter the Shopkeeper’s place.

Has anyone put forth that the shopkeeper might be a bat, not a fox? The long digits look more like wings to me, along with the fact that it resides in the dark. If it's not taking this too far, what if bats are to foxes what "angels" are to humans? Winged (but otherwise similar) versions of themselves who occupy the realm beyond the living. Also, although they're not visually distinct, it could be there is not just one shopkeeper. I don't necessarily think that's the case, just something to consider. Lastly, thanks for the vids! They've enhanced my experience of the game for sure!

I love your videos with theories. this game is amazing, it's great to see someone talking about those hidden stories

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! So glad you enjoy my crazy ramblings about this awesome game!

Cool video, sis. This game blew me away

On a meta note, the shopkeeper appears to be a reference Malayna, the "great fairy" from Breath of the Wild who resurrects your fallen horse. The motif of the skull & hands, the grand size of the creature, the relationship to death/reanimation, Tunic's overall reference and similarities to the Zelda franchise, and the fact they provide you some service, all speak of some kind of homage. If it's not intentional, it's quite the coincidence.

have you wondered what is the currency of tunic? we got them from slain enemies and we drop them when we died, it looks quite similar to the "fossil of self" we find in page 3 of the book. and we know that the fossil of self contains soul. so these currency is probably fragments of soul. There are only 2 people in the game that trades this currency from us: The heir and the shopkeeper. We offer these fossil to the heir to get more power, while the shopkeeper trades the fossil for items. However, we see beings from the far shore attacks us, probably because they also want fragments of our soul. so i think the shopkeeper is just another being from the far shore (it has pink eyes!), but instead of attacking it chooses the friendly way of trading our soul for items

I keep thinking that he is one of the Old Ones... but from the future.

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Oooooh…I like this a lot. If the dark tomb is indeed for the shopkeeper, could this be why it’s so giant? Because he could be an Old One?

I just called him Fox Sans whenever I found the shops lol

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

😂 Like Sans in Undertale?

@cooldoggo58

Жыл бұрын

@@JessZakilly Ye, he's bony and blue

You know how all the zigurate are technically connect by strait lines between each one of then? I wonder if you can draw a one piece map with all the map pieces we have in each page and that layout of the zigurate give a holy cross code to follow 🤔

Theres an aspect of comedy to a massive skeletal diety that is just a humble shopkeeper and nothing else. The music sells this as well.

I totally thought I was headed for a boss fight once I first found him haha. As for his identity, I think the shopkeeper is… you! Another you that is. Tunic has this ongoing theme of cycles where the Heir is a past you and you can take their place and restart the cycle… or you can share the knowledge and break it. But why is the sharing of knowledge meaningful? Because that manual once belonged (and was scribbled on) by the very Heir, your past self. I believe the shopkeeper is the hero for whom the hero graves were built - they’re another previous you who was either defeated by the heir (so, the heir’s heir) OR died trying to defeat the heir before the player did so

When I first saw the shopkeeper enter without a single word, I firmly believed it was a boss showing up and booked it. I only went back because I decided it was close enough to the save that I could Leroy Jankins it. Which led to a quite hilarious anti-punchline. We're friends now.

I loved it! Curious to find out more about the shopkeeper!

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

I’ve got some tinfoil hat theories about the shopkeep but I’m gunna have to gather more evidence before I present those 😉

I also immediately turned back when first entering the shop. It was quite a scare to me to be honest. lol.

I have a friend who likes using monstrous avatars in various online worlds, but gives them very innocent, harmless natures. Something about the shopkeeper's appearance kept me from thinking "boss fight!" and more along the lines of what my friend does. So, unlike some players, I wasn't really afraid of him (her? it?). We do know that whoever and whatever the Shopkeeper is, he's not an enemy. So at very least, he's neutral. But I suspect that perhaps he's more of an ally. Perhaps a more benevolent precursor to the Librarian? Perhaps a friend of a previous ruin seeker, who failed to free them and wound up stuck in this form?

I have a question: what is the "money" that you are paying him with? I'm not super deep into Tunic lore, but I do find it rather strange that you find this stuff everywhere and there is actual coins, so what are those small golden cubes that act as shopkeeper money?

@zeeb2190

Жыл бұрын

manual calls them relics iirc

Your channel is great!

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Glad you enjoy!

I have heard, though not decisively, that the currency is called "souls" . So if that is correct, that shopkeeper is collecting souls in exchange for the items he sells you. From this, two theories: - Either the shopkeeper is using the souls for a particular purpose (Like, guiding them towards the Far Shores, or maybe preparing a ritual for himself) - Or, and that is the theory that I find the most interesting, the shopkeeper himself uses the soul to pay a debt. He is stuck into this hole in time, perhaps cursed by the Eyes of the Far Shores, and is attempting to buy his way out of it.

When I first saw the shopkeeper, I ran, but when the items popped up I stopped and thought "Oh. Ohhhh. You're not an enemy. You're a merchant! That, or you're going to kill me the second I come to pick it up." I love that they bow when you buy something.

The first time I walked into the windmill and saw the shop keep pop up I thought it was a fight that I was not quite ready for and left. Came back after going through the West Garden thinking I was ready to fight whatever it was and about died laughing when I saw shop items.

Love the videos ;)

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed them!

I love how these days a developer can create a character with 0 background and peopke will go crazy trying to find it and will even create it for you. I genuinly imagine the creator was like "a sketelon is cool. Fuck it let it be the shopkeeper"

If this theory is true, it implies that the shopkeeper sought the power to defy death and became immortal just to keep his shop and sell us bombs and fruits. Yeah, he's definitely the best shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper freaked the shit out of me when I first saw him and I literally went AAAA out loud Then I saw items pop up and im like oh... your the shop guy? Alr sweet.

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

I did the same exact thing! I thought it was a boss battle at first lol

this game is amazing... i really enjoyed playing it

The music for the shopkeeper is called “My Favorite Customer.” Do with that info as you will.

Shopkeeper seems like a really cool dude I like him

Suprised you didnt cover the bone ears. It was one the first things i noticed from it.

10/10 spookiest shopkeeper

when i first saw the shopkeeper i nope'd out of there. thought he was a hidden boss i ran into. i ran into him again and saw the items. then 2 and 2 clicked and realized he was a very scary shopkeep.

Why does the shopkeeper help us? I think they might be an entity related to Death, like the grim reaper. When playing a ruin seeker, they may help us because we can replace the Heir and finally lay them to rest after so long in the shadow oubliette. As a hero, the shopkeeper may help because we destroy the power to defy Death by breaking the cycle. Other questions i have: How did they get a page of the manual (supposedly a relic from another plane)? Is there any significance to the page they give us? What exactly are we giving them as payment?

The shopkeeper is the friends we made along the way.

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

😂

There is also a Ghost who says he used to be a Shopkeeper but people kept stealing things... I'm not sure you can steal in Tunic so I don't know what it is a reference to? This ghost is a fox but has a body

I don't think the shopkeeper is the "wish eater" from the wells, because the shopkeeper sells the coins himself.

If I were to speculate I would say that the shopkeeper was a powerful creature that was highly respected and after dying was placed in the large tomb. But because he was buried so deep the miasma came in contact with him and instead of zapping his will to live fused with him making him immortal and turning him into the "old god".

The shopkeeper sells a coin so I doubt (s)he is also whatever you’re tossing them to

Does the shopkeeper theme have some kind of secret Tuneic code? Maybe that will help solve the mystery.

My theory is that the shop keeper and the current heir use to be very close in some way and it’s helping the ruinseeker to free there friend you may say it’s charging us money some time old habits die hard or maybe it to but on a ruses

Just started the game my mind didn t even click to "shopkeeper" lol i was like "hey you must be a god like that lady earlier" "hmm the lady bring me back she must be life and you re death" "hmmm does it bother you when i m back"

Didn't notice the eyes on the maps.

This thing terrified me when i 1st saw it 😨😨 thought it was a boss 😂

New theory. Shop keeper is

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Don’t do this to me. I neeeeed to know

Has anyone tried speeding up the Shopkeeper’s speech to see if it means anything in Tuneic?

the "shopkeeper" to me looks like the "disquiet" as you call them (I call them "aliens" for obvious reasons - it's secretely/actually a sci-fi game/story/world, not a fantasy one, at least that's what I think... it's very much like Hob, or Hyper Light Drifter like), except huge (and "incomplete" if that makes any sense - just a skull, couple vertebrae, and hands)

@ArinJager1

Жыл бұрын

also: am I blind, or is there no area map for the eastern forest?

@markcouture4726

Жыл бұрын

This game totally rips off Hob in many ways.

It is unrelated. What is the Last ost in final section?

To be honest I didnt know it was a shop and had a heart attack

Is the music language of any help for the shopkeeper?

I was just hoping they were a boss, maybe as a shop after you "defeat" them

How did you translate the language in Tunic?

Where is the shopkeep in the Quarry?

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

There is a ladder behind the prayer statue near the warp pad. If you go down that ladder and then go across the “bridge” to the next pillar (you’ll be under the pillar with cracked sarcophagus), you will enter the shop.

I call him Bonx, for Bone Fox, that's all I can provide and it's nothing helpful but i believe It's valuable.

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Love it, the most valuable information I’ve heard

Where is the one in the quarry?

One thing that doesn't quite sit right with me is... what does the shopkeep even do with the currency? *Why* is it even running a shop? The only other place we can spend coins is at an Heir's Shrine (or the similar but more eerie shrines in the Ziggurat). So that belies some connection between the two, at least to the extent that in both cases currency is exchanged for some benefit. Given that the shrines allow us to amplify our abilities (ostensibly by "borrowing" the Heir's power, at least until we retrieve the Hero's Laurels) by spending (1) offerings and (2) currency, it would seem to me that currency is in some way capable of making dents in reality. Since the "real" world in Tunic is referred to exclusively as the Canonical Plane, my guess is that currency combined with the miasma/energy flowing through the ley lines which carry some connection to Will, I feel like currency is in some way connected to Will. Currency represents a lot of things, but in Tunic you obtain currency by either exploring or defeating enemies. You could perhaps think of this as exerting your will throughout the Canonical Plane, in some fashion "altering" the state of the "truth" in those places. Perhaps it is a crystallised physical representation of your exerted will in the Canonical Plane, bits and pieces of altered Truth. Perhaps the shopkeep collects the currency, the manifestation of Will or altered Truth as a means to sustain itself, to gain Will and Truth that it lacks? It bears a resemblance to the fox-like creatures entombed still-living in the sarcophagi, and it has the purple eyes that speak of the will-sapping miasma. It is a creature that has attained an existence outside Time (the shops being its Holes in Time that it maintains) and yet it can allow passing to and from its Holes into the Canonical Plane. Crucially, though, it has no presence in the Far Shores, that place is too far for it to reach. Perhaps we can infer it has no "spirit" or was somehow separated from its "spirit" in order to become a thing outside Time, outside Truth and the Canonical Plane, outside the Far Shores. In Tunic we maintain a corporeal form ostensibly by maintaining a level of Will, Vitality, and Soul -- but we **also** crucially exist without these things, as we see when the Heir robs us and casts us into the night-world as a spirit which lacks seemingly all of these. Perhaps the shopkeep lacks whatever it is that we as the Ruin Seeker have in order to exist without these things. Perhaps the shopkeep *is* us, watching from outside Time. Perhaps it is a manifestation of the Heir, a tendril through which she supports our journey to free her -- but if so, it is a fragment of her, and not the Heir itself. Some portion of the Heir that splintered off and could not be fully sealed, perhaps?

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

I LOVE this theory that the shopkeeper was somehow separated from whatever it is that allows the ruin seeker to exist. If these holes in time are completely separate from the Canonical plane, then is the Shopkeeper even canon (i.e. truth)? It is interesting how though we are robbed of false power (by the heir or by the far shore itself-the shadow oubliette exists as a prison to rob of both falsehoods and memories), anything we’ve purchased from the shopkeeper or wished for in the well is not stolen…so those must not be falsehoods. The contradiction is so interesting to puzzle through!

What does he do with the money anyway ?

ok so I'm ngl, I legit made a joke about buying fire bombs and just made up dialog where he'd just ask "Seriously more bomb" and I'd be like "ARSON!" or something. Like in my head I always implied he knew more and had a history with Tunic/Ruin Seeker, but just played it off like a joke. IDK I just did some shitty jokes about my habit on buying physical arson

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

Hahaha! Explode all the things! The shopkeeper just rolls their eyes…

@lml55

Жыл бұрын

@@JessZakilly lol, yeah I just headcanon Tunic/Ruin Seeker was a chaotic good kid who had no idea what they were doing, which considering he fucked the world by doing the only instructions he/they/IDFK were give. I'd say I got that personality down right

@JessZakilly

Жыл бұрын

All I can picture is Beavis from beavis&butthead going “fire! fire! fire!”

@lml55

Жыл бұрын

@@JessZakilly now all I hear is Scount from TF2 yelling "fire!fire!fire!" on repeat

I mean, the Shopkeeper is there because there are shopkeepers in Zelda games. The skeleton is just a schtick.