Gaming Mysteries: Hell Valley Sky Trees

   I was taking a gander at the statistics for my blogs, and noticed that my blog with the most views was the one about my top ten gaming urban legends. You folks seemed to like that one. Like...a lot. It stands out as the most popular by leaps and bounds over my other posts. So, given that I'm now on vacation from work, I decided to do what I said I would long ago, and do some investigation into some of these urban legends. I had typed out an entire post about Bezerk, but it was lost when my computer crashed. So, I'm doing something different with this one.

  Before I start let me first state that I do not know if this will become a part of my regular blogs. This is only something I'm testing. Keep in mind that I also have a job outside of this. So, my schedule is pretty hectic outside of my blogging life. Also, I will not investigate any creepypastas such as BEN DROWNED, Sonic.EXE, or anything else that is out-rightly fictional. I may talk about them at later dates, but I'd rather look into urban myths, and the like that are grounded in some actuality. With that out of the way, let us begin.

  Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a game of some significance. To date it stands as the first, and only actual sequel to any of the canon Super Mario games. The game follows pretty much the same formula as nearly every other Super Mario game. Bowser Kidnaps Princess Peach, blah, blah, space, blah, blah. Honestly, if anyone played Super Mario games for the story, they'd have given up the ghost a long time ago. No, we all play Mario pretty much for the fun gameplay, and what's more fun than stomping shit in outer-goddamned-space? Nothing. The answer is, emphatically, NO-FUCKING-THING! However, maybe we should all pay a little more attention to Super Mario Galaxy 2. Never know what you'll find.

  Space herpes? I'm going with space herpes.

  The above picture is something found in the level Shiverburn Galaxy. When you get to the level switch to first person view, and look to your right. On the cliff you'll see these three mysterious creatures staring down at you. One user on the GoNintendo forums actually hacked the game, and found out that the sky model for the level was labeled "BeyondHellValley", and the creepy things on the cliff were labeled "HellValleySkyTrees". Since they are part of the sky model for the level they never move; giving the illusion that they're always following, and watching you. So, what are they? No one really knows. The folks over at Nintendo are being pretty hush-hush about the whole thing. 

  Nintendo's been known for hiding creepy easter eggs in their games. For example, the same creature seems to appear in Super Mario 3D Land, as well. Looking for answers to the Hell Valley Sky Trees, given how credible anonymous sources of the internet can be, is enough to give one migraines. However, some of the sources on the interwebs have went out of their way to actually find some useful information on the subject. 

  The above video is of the YouTube web series Creepy Gaming hosted by xMulletMikex. I suggest you watch part 1 to the video, but something Mike mentioned in this video is what I want to focus on. That would be the kodama. 

  For those that didn't click the hyper-link, kodama are spirits from Japanese folklore that are said to inhabit trees. It is believed that cutting down a tree with a shimenawa rope, the marking of a tree housing one or more kodama, will bring bad luck. The Hell Valley Sky Trees do possess an uncanny resemblance to kodama; especially their depictions in anime, such as Princess Mononoke. It also isn't uncommon for Japanese folklore to pop up in Mario games. The addition of kodama in a Mario game wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. 

  The one thing I love about the little hidden mysteries in video games is...well...the mystery. Getting to slap on my detective hat, and scour the internet for clues. In the end, more often than naught, I've found I learn much more than I had planned on. In one blog I have not only shown a creepy little easter egg in a video game, but have learned about, and shed some light on a little know aspect of a culture far far away from me, and probably most of my reader base. That, my friends, is called tangential learning, or the act of learning without the intent of learning. 

  Video games have always been, and will always be capable of doing this. Take Final Fantasy VII, for example. I wonder how many people researched any possible inspiration for the character Sephiroth, and learned of the Sephirot of the Jewish Kabbalah. Video games are capable of not only this, but many other amazing things. It all depends on us, as the players, to discover them. As always, thank you all for listening.