- "When I find Big Whoop I'll become a legend among pirates for generations to come".
- - Guybrush Threepwood
Big Whoop was an infamous treasure which had been sought by many would be glory seekers.
It was reputed to be "The biggest treasure of them all. A treasure so valuable and so well hidden, that it haunts the dreams of every pirate on the seas".[1] Most pirates would know what someone who said this was referring to.
Its true nature was that it opened a portal to the afterlife, where a person could transform themselves into a ghost and return to existence as a powerful immortal.
History[]
Prior to the events of The Secret of Monkey Island, Governor Horatio Marley and his crew embarked on a journey to find Big Whoop. Threepwood learned from cartographer Wally B. Feed that years before, Captain Marley had set out on the same journey with his crew and that the treasure they found was either so wonderful or so horrible that they buried the treasure and split the map into four pieces. Its location was under Dinky Island.
A year after Guybrush Threepwood had destroyed the Ghost Pirate LeChuck people were growing weary of him telling and embellishing the same story over and over again. In response, he decided to set out on a new legendary adventure by embarking on a search for the fabled treasure of Big Whoop. The Voodoo Lady advised Guybrush to complete his quest because she said "Big Whoop isn't just a treasure. It contains the secret to another world. Find that world and you'll be able to escape LeChuck forever."
When finally Guybrush found a chest supposed to be Big Whoop, it contained only an E Ticket.
Trivia[]
- 'Big Whoop' is a sarcastic phrase used to express disappointment. In CoMI Guybrush describes Big Whoop by saying that he "was expecting so much more, and felt so let down".
- Ron Gilbert has stated that Big Whoop had little to do with his ideas for Monkey Island 3 but was later adopted by other writers.
- Ron Gilbert also said that the way the ending of MI2 was interpreted in the sequels (an illusory trap by LeChuck) was "not even close" to his ideas, although he never revealed them. As the Voodoo Lady said that Big Whoop would send Guybrush to a safe place, it's possible that the fun park ending was intended to be an alternate reality to protect Guybrush.
- Apparently Gilbert adopted the existing ideas in Return to Monkey Island as he decided to accept as canon all previous games.[1]
- Concerning the ending of MI2, Ron Gilbert claimed "we wanted to tackle it head on"[2] in the Return to Monkey Island which would begin "right at the end" of MI2.[3] However the claim proved inaccurate, as the game's intro turns out to be a reenactment by Boybrush and his friend Chuckie. Despite fans' expectations, the matter of Big Whoop (along with the nature of the tunnels, of the fun park, the presence of the Parents and Chuckie) was left unanswered in RtMI. It is not known how much of it was Gilbert's intention while writing the ending of MI2.
- According to a map in the MI2 Hint Book, there is a hidden room full "Vast amounts of unobtainable wealth" right behind the room where Guybrush lands, although there is no entry to it, and so it never appears in the game. The Hint Book seems to suggest that this treasure is the real Big Whoop.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Spoken by Guybrush Threepwood to Bart and Fink on Scabb Island.