Top 5: Twisted Metal's Most Twisted Endings (4 of 5)

Well, here we are at the #2 spot on the list of Twisted Metal's Most Twisted Endings.

In our last spot, we were talking about Roadkill driver Marcus Kane's wish to wake up from the nightmare he believes to be TWISTED METAL. He knew that it was all just a dream, and he just needed to wake up. Calypso indeed helped him; with a wave of his hands, Marcus woke up in a hospital bed.

The doctor had told him that he was in a major car accident and that everyone else involved were still in their comas. Everyone else...people from TWISTED METAL, those he now only vaguely recognized, but for the life of him couldn't remember why. Then his family joined him by his side, and it was all a happy ending.

It was TOO good an ending...which makes one wonder: did he wake up FROM a dream, or did he wake up INTO a dream?

The next spot in our countdown is very morbid tale that proves that no one, not even Calypso, is safe from the grasp that TWISTED METAL takes on its participants.

#2
GRASSHOPPER - TWISTED METAL: HEAD-ON

For this one, it's required to know the story behind Calypso himself, for he is the father of this particular driver.

Calypso was once a normal family man; he had a wife and daughter, and his name wasn't Calypso (it is believed that his name was William Sparks). One night, his car crashed directly into a brick wall, killing him and his family. He was able to escape death by stealing a power from a demon down below (likely Minion). After 2 years, he came back and established Twisted Metal.

Krista Sparks (pictured above) was Calypso's daughter; she was killed in the car accident all those years ago. Unfortunately, when he made his escape from the afterlife, he wasn't able to take her back with him. He did, however, discover another way for her, but it's much more difficult.

Contrary to popular belief, Calypso does not have total control over his wish-granting powers. Even if someone makes a wish he disagrees with, he must grant it regardless. In the case of his daughter, he can't just simply use them to bring her back.

In this particular case, what Calypso CAN do is summon Krista's spirit, but only temporarily (it's not clear how long). The only way that she can truly be back with her father is for her to win TWISTED METAL and then wish for her life back on her own. He cannot do any of it for her.

Given this circumstance, Krista agrees to enter, rides her suped up dune buggy Grasshopper and "body slams" her way to the top, winning the competition.

But along the way, she forms an opinion of her own about the whole situation and how she fits into it all.

Here is her ending:

Now after seeing that, some gather that Calypso did this on purpose to his own daughter, and then think of him as a ruthless monster. But remember, Calypso doesn't have complete control over his powers. Sometimes even he doesn't know what will happen.

This, in turn, makes Calypso a prisoner of TWISTED METAL just as much as anyone else who partakes in it. The very fact that he had to have her come back and wish for her life herself proves he's not in charge. If he could simply bring her back, he would have.

Back to the ending, some people can go "wait a second, she wished to not be in a car accident." But if looked at closer, she technically wished for the accident that KILLED her and her mother to never have happened. This leaves room for other car accidents that don't result in death. As we see when the wish is granted, Krista has been in a coma instead of being dead, which some consider just as bad. 

So instead of a timeline where Calypso was in a car crash that killed Krista and his wife (Krista's mother) instantly and they've been dead this whole time, a NEW timeline is created: Calypso was in a car crash that has put Krista in a coma, where she has stayed in a persistent vegetative state this whole time (nothing is mentioned of her mother).

Yes, Doc, the timeline skewed.

Another part of the ending is when the doctors are talking amongst each other. They mention that right then, Calypso has just found out about her coma. On the surface, this doesn't make much sense, but a closer look can show that maybe he's only pretending for the sake of those around him. Between the car crash and now, they have not been together. To continue that into the new timeline, it makes sense to show that he just now became aware.

...and then Krista sheds a tear in the end. It's all she can do, but it says so much: she knows everything about what happened before, and she's aware of what's become of her wish.

"Careful what you wish, you may regret it.
 Careful what you wish, you just might get it."
- Metallica, "King Nothing"

See you for the final chapter in this series...

The coveted #1 spot.

TWISTED METAL logo, story, characters, and videos are all property of Sony Computer Entertainment and of Eat, Sleep, Play, BACK TO THE FUTURE II property of NBC Universal, "King Nothing" lyrics are property of Metallica and Elektra Records