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{{work}}
=== This is a list of Wild Mass Guesses which are still possibly true. [[Just for Fun]] and silly guesses go on the [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni
''Please add new entries to the bottom of the page.''
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Well, what do you think, everyone...?
* Pretty good overall, and generally I agree, but if I may raise a few points and questions.
1) The definition of "servant" here bugs me; it seems like an escapist twist. They call themselves servants, they act as servants, and they unconditionally obey Krauss and Natsuhi's orders, acknowledging Krauss as the heir. 2) Shannon's corpse was never seen by Battler, so it need not be there at all. Hideyoshi may have been cooerced into cooperating, then killed. 3) Jessica was with Kanon's body for a good period, almost until the point he "died." Unless she's stupid, she should have noticed something. 4) Maria and Battler lived to the end too. Are they for Beatrice?
** 1) {{color|red|Addendum to the hints presented:}} {{color|blue|Only Gohda and Kumasawa are servants who have not called themselves "furniture", and they have not been directly employed by Kinzo.}} It's possible that the parents have some degree of control over them, but it seems that their general loyalty is towards Kinzo. Also, no heir has been announced yet, since Kinzo is still "alive". There's still leeway for the theory to be true. 2) It's also possible that the corpses were misidentified, which still counts as "{{color|red|their identities being guaranteed,}} because the method of identification may not have been conclusive. 3) Hm. I have to re-check that. But if Battler didn't witness it (since he's the detective), then "Jessica being with Kanon" may not have happened. Or that Kanon's just that really good at playing dead. 4) They weren't really interfering, so there was no need to kill them. If they did, then they would've died anyway.
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== The solution to the first sound novel is that there is not just one culprit, but a conspiracy ==
This troper hasn't seen this anywhere else on this page, so I'll post here. This a Pro-Mystery solution to ''Legend of the Golden Witch'' that assumes that magic does not exist. There are spoilers from the first sound novel as well as spoilers from later sound novels, read at your own risk. This troper has edited the WMG for spelling, grammar, and coherence.
''Part 1: The ones who plan the Twilights.'' In this solution an assumption is made that there is a conspiracy involving Eva, Rudolph, Hideyoshi, Kyrie, Genji, & Dr. Nanjo. The possible motives for these six are as follows: 1)Eva wants George (or herself) to be family head. 2)Rudolph desperately needs a large amount of money to get himself out of trouble. 3)Hideyoshi supports his wife. 4)Kyrie supports her husband. 5)Genji and Nanjo are shown to be Kinzo's best friends and may believe that Kinzo would've wanted Eva to be head or that Krauss is not honoring their best friend's memory. It is established early on that Eva and Rudolf are by far the closest of the four siblings and in my opinion are two most likely to conspire together while leaving Rosa out of their scheme. It's not hard to see one of the two (probably Dr. Nanjo) revealing to either Eva or Hideyoshi about being forced to cover up Kinzo's death.
''Part 2: The Witch's Letter.'' Included in this theory is that Shannon, Kanon, and Beatrice are multiple personalities in one body. Genji and Kumasawa are aware of this and actively cover it up. Possibly because they are protective of Shannon, who's been working as a maid since she was six and is bullied by Natsuhi. Notice that only scenes involving either Genji and/or Kumasawa do we also see Shannon and Kanon at the same time. The Beatrice persona is the one responsible for all of the murders and is the one who gives Maria the Witch's Letter. Beatrice also writes and seals all Witch's Letters for this game. I could go into further detail about the how and why of Shkanonatrice but that would be for another WMG. After Maria reads the letter at dinner but before the meeting later that night between the parents is when the plan is hatched. If the murder of Krauss is believed by all to be the fault of the Witch Beatrice, then Eva can be head of the family without suspicion. This is why everyone needs to believe that witch is real.
''Part 3: The First Twilight.'' The first twilight victims were Krauss, Rosa, Gohda, and a body faked to be Shannon's. Both Rudolf's and Kyrie's deaths are faked. Krauss is the primary target. Rosa is killed because she's seen as threat to the plan. Gohda is killed because he is seen as an agent of Krauss. A reason why Natsuhi is not in the first twilight is because of the unstable Beatrice. Shannon was patrolling the halls of the mansion when she saw golden butterflies which probably signified that Beatrice was surfacing. But why? Because she sees Kruass, Rosa, and Gohda being murdered! This Beatrice joins the group of conspirators and wants Kanon and Shannon dead so she can be 'real'. The fake Shannon body is prepared to appease Beatrice. Note that the fake Shannon body was probably not all that convincing, which is why Hideyoshi did not want anyone else to see it when the first twilight is discovered the next day, though Kanon does see it and is convinced she's dead. This symbolic killing of the Shannon personality also gives a reason why Shannon never resurfaces.
''Part 4: The Rest of the Twilights.'' All dead bodies with stakes in them are staged except for one. Dr. Nanjo is around to say that the staged deaths are genuine. Kinzo's body was cremated by one of the conspirators that faked their death. The only 'stake murder' that was not staged was Kanon's. As Kanon is pursuing whoever burned Kinzo's body, Beatrice surfaces and tries to kill Kanon. Dr. Nanjo tries desperately to save Kanon because this wasn't a part of the plan. It is also possible that Dr. Nanjo succeeds and fakes Kanon's death. After that is when everyone holes up in Kinzo's study. Either Dr. Nanjo, Genji, or Maria provide the Witch's Letter III which causes Natsuhi to kick them out of the study. Note that only Kumasawa actually protests leaving while Genji and Dr. Nanjo know this part of the plan and Maria is, well, compromised.
The final set of murders, with Maria singing facing the wall are also staged. It's not hard to imagine either Eva, Kyrie, or Beatrice (if Kanon's body survived) dressing up as The Golden Witch to convince Maria to play along. Kumasawa is forced to become part of the conspiracy or die. Nobody actually inspects the three dead bodies all that closely. The final letter was a challenge to draw Natsuhi away from the children. Natsuhi either kills herself or is murdered. At the end Battler and the others see the costumed Beatrice, who Maria hugs. And that's where the Sound Novel ends.
* Good work, except for two minor points. 1) The Beatrice personality would have come first, and 2) {{color|red| Dine's 13th: No secret societies or conspiracies. The murderer, too, needs a sporting chance to outwit the detective.}}
* Original poster here. Originally I conceded that the Beatrice personality came first, I no longer believe that to be the case. I will argue Dine's 13th. The only way Dine's rule 13 as well as {{color|red|Dine's 12th: There can only be one murderer. The villain could have an accomplice or "co-plotter," but only one is going to get the ax in the matter.}} could apply is if there's only one 'killer'. Because of the possiblity of Kanon's stabbing being fatal I put forth that Beatrice killed Krauss, Rosa, and Gohda without joining the conspiracy. The Beatrice personality is triggered by stress, which I believe is true of real DID. The stress and conflicting emotions cause Beatrice to surface on the first night; she shows up at the parents' meeting and demands that Shannon be eliminated to assert her existence. This is preferable for the conspiracy because then their hands are technically clean. They appease Beatrice by arranging Shannon's 'corpse'. The conspirators transported the real corpses and the fake ones into the tool shed. Beatrice is the only 'killer' since after the first twilight only Kanon's murder is actually real. The alter manifests because of the stress Kanon feels that causes him to make his epic speech. In summation, the alter only plays along because it only cares about being 'real' and killing Shannon and Kanon. It enjoys people saying that Beatrice 'exists'. At the end Natsuhi kills herself or is killed by Beatrice, masquerading as The Golden Witch from the portrait.
*** Respondent here. Beatrice's motives don't work here, because {{color|red| Beatrice did not kill because of money or revenge}}, and these are pretty Vengeance-y motives. But then, I would argue that Beatrice herself is actually 100% innocent of all crimes, and is just martyring herself.
*** Original poster here. I'm glad that you don't seem to disagree about there being a conspiracy as long as the killer is separate from that conspiracy. The 'being a martyr' motive I believe applies more to Meta-Beatrice than this Beatrice. I don't want to offend, but would you please elaborate why you think that motive fits more? I'm also curious where that red text came from. I'll admit that Beatrice's motive is the biggest guess in this theory. The motive I described is not exactly 'revenge' as it is wanting be in sole control of the body. To take revenge Beatrice needs to feel wronged or want to punish Shannon or Kanon. If she wants to kill them anyway it's not exactly revenge. Assuming that the Beatrice in that red text refers to the symbolic "true culprit" there isn't really anyone else in the first sound novel who wouldn't want to kill for money and/or revenge. A possible reason for wanting to be in sole control is that Beatrice wants to be with Battler the same way Shannon and Kanon want to be with George and Jessica respectively. That is, her primary motivation for killing is love. Another thing that I believe supports this motive is that Shannon and Kanon are both acknowledged by everyone while Beatrice is hardly acknowledged at all. Besides Shannon and Kanon, only Genji, Kumasawa - who in this theory are the only ones who know of the DID - and Maria actually believe Beatrice exists. Anyone would be angry if the person they have a crush on doesn't even believe they exist.
* From Episode 4, regarding Eva and Hideyoshi in Episode 1: {{color|red| "Both were killed by another person! It is not the case that, after the construction of the closed room, one of them committed suicide after committing murder! Furthermore, the murder was carried out with both the victim and the perpetrator in the same room! No method exists for the perpetrator to commit murder from outside the room!"}} Eva and Hideyoshi were confirmed in red to have been killed, so their deaths were not faked. From Episode 4, referring to the parlour murders in Episode 1: {{color|red| "Maria, who was in the same room, did not kill them! And of course, the three were killed by other people!"}} Nanjo, Genji and Kumasawa are confirmed in red to have been killed, so their deaths were not faked.
** Original poster here: If Eva, Hideyoshi, Nanjo, Genji, and Kumasawa did not fake their deaths then they were killed by Beatrice. Genji could have advised Beatrice as Ronove as to which people were killed, how they were killed, and during which twilight. The deaths were originally supposed to be faked but then Beatrice decided to kill them for reals.
== Gaap is Jessica ==
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* I doubt it, since Jessica being Gaap means {{spoiler|that Jessica has to be in the know about Shkanon and Beatrice's identity and know that she's solved the Epitaph and is the true head.}} None of that fits Jessica's profile.
** Why would that be implausible? All Jessica/Kanon interactions are away from Battler's eyes. It's not concrete that Jessica doesn't know what goes on.
*** That's...quite incorrect. Before the murders begin, Battler often has plenty of opportunity to see how Jessica and Kanon feel about each other. That aside, it's against the rules of the gameboard for pieces like Jessica and Kanon to act in ways they wouldn't or couldn't. If they don't have feelings for each other, they cannot behave as if they do even in fantasy scenes. To say nothing of Ryukishi has said otherwise on his blog, calling the falsification of the romances a "cruel trap" he wouldn't indulge in. Unless you can account for Jessica loving Kanon while being 100% aware of his true nature, this theory doesn't work. Besides, we have no real evidence to think Gaap has a human vessel like other meta-characters do. EP7 implied that she represents not a person, but a phenomenon that was made into an imaginary friend.
**** {{color|blue|Gaap is the}} [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] {{color|blue|of people losing small objects such as car keys, portable video game cartridges and the remote.}} That is a better theory by the logic that she represents a phenomenon rather than a human.
== Every murder involving the Stakes of Purgatory can be explained by the stake(s) involved in the death. ==
This one isn't actually isn't such a stretch considering what's been stated in the third arc, but if it's not right, it's bound to be [[Jossed]] pretty quickly. Anyway, if none of the murders are supernatural in origin, which we have to assume they aren't, as Battler has to do, then wouldn't the most straightforward way be to figure out which characters we know were involved and, where a stake was involved, what [[Seven Deadly Sins|sin]] that stake represents? In that way, a story may start to form. For instance, Kyrie defeated the sin of jealousy by out-jealousing it in the third arc. We know Rudolf has a tendency to cheat on his wives, so maybe she found out about an affair he was having and was tempted to kill him and almost did, but managed to keep herself out of it through devotion to him (which would be motivated by jealousy toward Asumu). Of course, this raises the question of what the Siestas would mean.
* Guns.
== The game Beatrice plays with Battler is the same game that is played in [[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]] ==
{{color|blue| Rika is Bernkastel's piece and Miyo is Lambdadelta's. The reason why Miyo was obssessed with {{spoiler|confirming Hinamizawa Syndrome and the parasites and disproving gods}} was because in this game Lambda and Miyo were playing the role that Battler is playing now.}}
== Beatrice is love ==
[[Anthropomorphic Personification|In the most literal sense.]] Love is the cause of Kinzo's madness. Love is why Maria trusts Rosa unconditionally. Love is the impetus for the grisly murders. Love is the magic that can change your perception of the world. Love kills. Love can lift them up and transform them, but not until it's put them through hell.
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== Happy Halloween for Maria! ==
Because she had every reason to be happy. The murder scene in the chapel wasn't a blasphemous parody of a celebration. It wasn't a parody at all! It was meant to be a real celebration! A big damn Halloween party with drinks and candies and decorations, presided over by the smiling Witch of Rokkenjima. All to cheer up a heartbroken nine year old girl. How great would that have been, seriously?
* This goes a long way to explaining Rosa's witch encounter in the rose garden. 'Beatrice' gives the two of them envelopes - Rosa's (containing an invitation the party) 'to open at the family conference' and Maria's (containing the chapel key) 'to open at the right time'. Too bad Rosa just plain forgot about hers until past Maria's bedtime. It also explains why Beatrice affected a jacket-and-tie look for that episode: lavish Western-style dresses are hard to come by at short notice in the Izu Archipelago.
* Turn the chessboard around. Think of the the poor killer who lugged six heavy corpses across the island in darkness and the pouring rain, soaked to the skin, shivering and exhausted, and then turned on the lights and said... "The '''fuck?'''"
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* '''Time/space nexus.''' Like the island from a popular television program, Rokkenjima sits at the crossing point for multiple parallel universes. Hence why characters can be alive, dead and absent simultaneously, why Kanon gets more screen time dead than alive, how the killer can walk out of a locked room and murders can happen when every enamed character has an alibi. The murder from arc X might have been perpetrated by the murderer from arc X+ 1. The mutually-contradictory message bottles are remnants of worlds that were 'collapsed' when the typhoon passed. Kinzo knew about the island's 'magical' properties, of course: he's depending on them for his one-in-a-quadrillion miracle to occur.
* '''Demon possession'''<ref>(Keiichi had to be right eventually)</ref>'''.''' Rokkenjima's alluded-to previous reputation as Akujishima, ''island of soul-eating spectres''. 'Beatrice's' confusion as to her identity. The constantly-shifting roles of killer and victim. Ange deciding to avenge the tragic murders on Rokkenjima by...murdering seven people with stakes. Don't breathe the air at Rokkenjima: Beatrice might be catching.
* '''Prophecy:'''Witches are created by the forces of Destiny to carry out the Epitaph. Stating anything that has not been determined in red text [[Retcon|retcons]] it to [[
== Kyrie killed Asumu ==
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== In the [[Adaptation Decay|anime]], Lambdadelta is pretending to be Maria. ==
At least for the first arc. She's secretly replaced her and is slaughtering everyone else, setting up the chessboard for her 'endless game'. That way, Battler can never prove that "[[Doing
* Interesting. Would explain why she's a fucking psycho in EP1.
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== Maria is the only witch in Umineko. ==
It's been suggested that Maria is a Creator witch, so why couldn't she "Create" other witches?
* Possible evidence: In the manga, Maria's notebook has drawings of Beatrice (not too surprising), but also of Bernkastel and Lambdadelta, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090704211752/http://www.onemanga.com/Umineko_no_Naku_Koro_ni/4/16/ well before they appeared in the story].
== Seven Parents, Seven Stakes ==
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The only scene of a not-proven-fake Kinzo was the one flashback in 'Banquet' when he went off at Eva for not being womanly enough. Which makes him kind of an asshole, but not a foaming-at-the-mouth mad warlock. It's not even a representative sample of his personality; just the one act that made the biggest impression on Eva.
* {{color|red|In that flashback, it was stated that that was not a representative sample of Kinzo's personality and attitudes. In said flashback, he also went off at Krauss for laziness.}} {{color|blue|Kinzo meant to say something like "You are quite an impressive person, but unless you learn how to cook without burning water, you're not going to land a man worthy of such an impressive person, and dammit Eva, [[I Want Grandkids|you're the only one in this family likely to produce a grandchild worthy of the Ushiromiya name]]!", but due to both his senility and the Racist Grandpa principle, it came out sounding like [[Stay in the Kitchen]].}}
** Possibly supported in [http://img-a.onemanga.com/mangas/00004542/000260202/21.jpg this line from EP3's manga.]{{Dead link}}
{{quote|'''Krauss (to Eva, after Kinzo's outburst):''' ''Eva, take your leave. It's not his true feelings. I'll calm him down.''}}
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== The stakes were originally less sinister objects (oversize chess pieces?) ==
They were introduced to an angle grinder and became murder weapons. Fits the series theme of innocent things being repurposed to sinister ends.
== The reason why the murders are so brutal, and the reason why Beatrice acts the way she does, is because the game is being played during Beatrice's time of the month. ==
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We never actually get to see what the original Rika in that arc was like, but we did hear from Mion that she was rather selfish and manipulative, forcing all the boys in her class to fight over her. Also, in this arc, Rika manages to leave that world without dying. It's possible that after returning to own world, the 'Rika' in the world she left behind regained its old, selfish personality. She also had to kill her mother in order to return to the world she desired, so it's certainly possible that she had to hide from the authorities, and maybe even change her name to stay hidden. Even her experiences with the boys in her class could explain the origin of Erika's cynical view on love. This could also be plausible from a non-fantasy standpoint as Erika's interactions with her 'master' and other fantasy characters only happen within the "Rokkenjima catbox" and it's hinted in Episode 6, when it's stated that she's a human in red, that she existed as a real person.
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