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BOTW - So you are telling me there is a SOS distress signal hidden in music for each Divine Beast?

Jadow

Jadow

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,969
Like many of you, I finally decided to finish (not yet but close) BoTW thanks to Age of Calamity's announcement, and while I could talk all day about how fucking good this game is or how much I love the Champions (maybe in the future) I decided to go back and listen the OST specifically the dungeon themes for each Divine Beast since I really did not pay too much attention during my play time, and while looking through the YT comments this one stood out to me:

"Anyone else come here after learning that you can hear SOS in Morse Code in all the beast's themes? Yeah, I'm sad now"

Wait hold on a second...morse code?...SOS?? So I decided to investigate and it seems this theory goes back to 2017 just a few weeks after the game's release but since people are still playing it to this day you can see this topic come up for each consecutive year even to this day. Basically if you listen closely to each dungeon's theme you can hear morse code for SOS, now I don't know shit about morse code but a lot of people who do have confirmed how similar it sounds to it.




Now if this was intentional...well holy shit Nintendo talk about making the already pretty haunting Divine Beast themes even more disturbing, the more I listen to the songs to more desperate and unsettling they sound after this theory crawled into my brain, even the way the SOS comes across seems to match each Champion's personality, with Mipha's being more frantic, Daruk is more composed since he is the oldest, and Revali's signal is late compared to the others because of his inflated ego.

Or this could all be just one BIG coincidence and we are giving way too much credit to the developers/composers...but what if its true...
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
92,976
here
i hide lyrics to nuthin but a g thang into every single one of my posts


damn near got caught cuz my beeper kept beepin'
 
Porygon

Porygon

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,036
Mexicali
There is also morse code in the Master Core battle music of Smash Bros.

So it's totally intentional
 

Deleted member 63122

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 16, 2020
9,071
I wonder if they knew about Link´s demise or were they hoping for Link to arrive to help them. That´s something that AoC should touch on.
 
Nepenthe

Nepenthe

When the music hits, you feel no pain.
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
20,711
The SOS codes are confirmed, and honestly they make the themes legitimately disturbing and sad, subtly hinting at the visceral fear of knowing you are about to die, completely trapped, and with no one able to help you.

You know, a kid's game.
 
Ionitron

Ionitron

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
641
This was a level of terrifying that I was not anticipating this morning. Holy shit.

Thanks for sharing.

BOTW has an incredibly simple story but something about it just really conveys the sadness and suffering over the course of 100 years.
 
MP!

MP!

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,198
Las Vegas
I always thought this was a dubious reference at best

kind of like totaka's song in Wii Sports being the tennis volley...

More of a placebo that people convince themselves they hear than an actual reference.
 
dodo

dodo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,997
I really don't hear it. I think they're just staccato notes there to increase the tension; the arpeggiated beeping is slightly different in each track and SOS is a really recognizable morse code pattern
 
OP
OP
Jadow

Jadow

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,969
Nepenthe said:
The SOS codes are confirmed, and honestly they make the themes legitimately disturbing and sad, subtly hinting at the visceral fear of knowing you are about to die, completely trapped, and with no one able to help you.

You know, a kid's game.
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No kidding, I feel like I've had this face since reading about it this morning.

giphy.gif
 
mjw

mjw

Member
Oct 27, 2017
540
I put on headphones and it sounds really clear now.

Always something to discover with this game
 
grand

grand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,001
Isn't this more likely than not, Wabun code? Hence why the beeps aren't lining up perfectly with S.O.S. (as Wabun tends to be longer & kana based).

Same meaning though: a distress signal
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,824
b3llydrum said:
It's the beep you hear in almost every second of the video. It's crystal clear from 0:00 - 0:03
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Still not really seeing the direct correlation. Even with the piano arrangement posted earlier, it's not so obviously a match to me, although what the above poster said about it being a wabun code does make more sense to me if that was the intent. Anyway, interesting either way, and I enjoy stuff like this. :)
 
OP
OP
Jadow

Jadow

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,969
grandjedi said:
Isn't this more likely than not, Wabun code? Hence why the beeps aren't lining up perfectly with S.O.S. (as Wabun tends to be longer & kana based).

Same meaning though: a distress signal
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Interesting you mention Wabun because I found this post on Reddit from 3 yrs ago:


Another person posted a list of possibilities in Wabun, a Japanese form of Morse code.

And from there, Redditor u/Dragonaichu wrote this:

I actually somewhat know Japanese, and, unless I'm worse at the language than I thought, I found that your long list of possible Wabun translations led to a surprisingly narrow pool of words that made sense in the context of the game: only three. Three. Of course, other words were real Japanese words, but these three I think are the most likely:
  • Utsumu: I think this one probably holds the most reasonable ground. It means "inward," and is sometimes used as a command rather than just a preposition. To me, it makes sense for a Divine Beast to make a call for help with the SOS, and then guide Link into the Divine Beast. "Inward" also makes sense considering that the music plays at the beginning of your dungeon experience.
  • Hetei: Much like utsumu, hetei is technically a prepositional word, meaning "through." While it doesn't make as much sense as "inward," it does suggest to Link that he must go through the Divine Beast to answer the latter's SOS.
  • Herowa: Herowa means "heroes," which really only makes sense if you consider that Link is a hero and he is saving other heroes (or, rather, their spirits) from Calamity Ganon. Herowa could possibly be a loose translation of "champions," as well, making the Divine Beasts basically telling Link to "save the champions." Or something like that.
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,259
Nepenthe said:
The SOS codes are confirmed, and honestly they make the themes legitimately disturbing and sad, subtly hinting at the visceral fear of knowing you are about to die, completely trapped, and with no one able to help you.

You know, a kid's game.
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I agree. I also like this kid's game:

1200px-760Bewear.png

"This Pokémon has the habit of hugging its companions. Many Trainers have left this world after their spines were squashed by its hug."
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phantump.png

"According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest."
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425Drifloon.png

"Stories go that it grabs the hands of small children and drags them away to the afterlife. It dislikes heavy children."
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Jbone115

Jbone115

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,743
Wow, this is really neat, I can definitely here the ... - - - ... pattern on some of them
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,387
Everything about BOTW's music is brilliant, and I cannot believe to this day that some people find it lacking.
 
Stencil

Stencil

Member
Oct 30, 2017
10,381
USA
Jadow said:
Interesting you mention Wabun because I found this post on Reddit from 3 yrs ago:


Another person posted a list of possibilities in Wabun, a Japanese form of Morse code.

And from there, Redditor u/Dragonaichu wrote this:

I actually somewhat know Japanese, and, unless I'm worse at the language than I thought, I found that your long list of possible Wabun translations led to a surprisingly narrow pool of words that made sense in the context of the game: only three. Three. Of course, other words were real Japanese words, but these three I think are the most likely:
  • Utsumu: I think this one probably holds the most reasonable ground. It means "inward," and is sometimes used as a command rather than just a preposition. To me, it makes sense for a Divine Beast to make a call for help with the SOS, and then guide Link into the Divine Beast. "Inward" also makes sense considering that the music plays at the beginning of your dungeon experience.
  • Hetei: Much like utsumu, hetei is technically a prepositional word, meaning "through." While it doesn't make as much sense as "inward," it does suggest to Link that he must go through the Divine Beast to answer the latter's SOS.
  • Herowa: Herowa means "heroes," which really only makes sense if you consider that Link is a hero and he is saving other heroes (or, rather, their spirits) from Calamity Ganon. Herowa could possibly be a loose translation of "champions," as well, making the Divine Beasts basically telling Link to "save the champions." Or something like that.
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Whoa that Wabun thing sounds a lot more on the nose. I'm going with this. It's Wabun.
 
hannybunny24

hannybunny24

Member
Jun 25, 2018
537
Germany
Yeah you can hear the beeps, 3 short, 3 long, 3 short. An you can see them in the piano pattern the talented user posted. It's a neat idea (it has been done quite a bit in music but still). Together with the story of the fallen Champions and the beasts it makes it pretty dark.
 
Murlin

Murlin

Member
Feb 12, 2019
1,049
I hope you guys aren't ever in a dangerous situation where you need to actually do SOS in morse code, if you think the beeps in that are SOS. The very first one in that video is clearly wrong, and the rest are a little too obscured by the music to say for sure but I don't think it's there in any of them. The beeps are just meant to evoke the technology of the Beasts.
 
McNum

McNum

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,195
Denmark
Breath of the Wild's soundtrack may be sparse, but for the songs it does have, someone had fun with it.

So, have another one. When you brave Hyrule Castle, you likely notice that the music playing is the Hyrule Castle theme combined with Ganon's Castle theme. You may also have noticed Link's hero theme being the counter melody outside, and inside it's Zelda's Lullaby.

But... listen to Zelda's Lullaby again, and listen closely:




Hear that? Not the main melody, the fast organ notes in the background. Now compare them to this:




Zelda is fighting Calamity Ganon. And she's losing.
 
Birdie

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
This got me to finally purchase BOTW for the Switch.


(Too bad it's full price still everywhere lol)
 
effingvic

effingvic

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,224
McNum said:
Breath of the Wild's soundtrack may be sparse, but for the songs it does have, someone had fun with it.

So, have another one. When you brave Hyrule Castle, you likely notice that the music playing is the Hyrule Castle theme combined with Ganon's Castle theme. You may also have noticed Link's hero theme being the counter melody outside, and inside it's Zelda's Lullaby.

But... listen to Zelda's Lullaby again, and listen closely:




Hear that? Not the main melody, the fast organ notes in the background. Now compare them to this:




Zelda is fighting Calamity Ganon. And she's losing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Holy crap. The subtle details in this game omg
 
BasilZero

BasilZero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
36,354
Omni
This is amazing

I kinda had the feeling there was something like that when hearing the music

Can't wait to double dip on BotW and play it on the Switch this time

I love Nintendo lore


Birdie said:
This got me to finally purchase BOTW for the Switch.


(Too bad it's full price still everywhere lol)
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Not sure where you are but in the US I have seen it go down to $40 , I believe not too long ago actually

Edit: PSPrices showcases it was $40 at Best Buy on October 12 - literally a week ago
 
Birdie

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
Well there was a sale so I got Kirby Star Allies (which I've also been putting off) at half price too so that's neat.

BOTW will be a nice chill experience alongside Crash 4 lol.
 
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