RICHIE’S D**TH is More Horrifying Than You Think | An NPMD ANALYSIS

[@milowashere9461]

"Think about the implications" "...okay" "Now....are you frightened!?"

[@Vil.N.Melling]

you BET I am

[@nikkospelledlikethat8140]

I don’t wanna think about the implications anymore……

[@xZexionIenzox]

i didn't think about the implications!! oh my god I didn't think about it!!

[@jarofross1326]

Thinking about it rn

[@keithhagen7571]

I thought about some of the implications

[@DelfyDaun]

Max knew highschool was his peak which is why he wasn't mad that he died. He died before he had the chance to become a loser.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

This is PRECISELY one of the points I dove into in the video I'm about to publish haha

[@DelfyDaun]

@@Vil.N.Melling two people, one brain haha

[@anamelchior7194]

He said it himself near the end, smt like "I thought life after highschool would be hell"

[@LoverOfStuff]

The way Max says “who will pray for me, when I’m gone, or until another Richie comes along?” Is obviously projection. No one cared when he died. He was replaced near instantly by someone he deemed unworthy of his title. No one prayed for him when he was gone, and another Max came along. And now he wants to make a Richie fear the same thing. Poor guy.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Another analysis idea I have is a whole video dedicated solely to the recurring "who will pray for you" lines, and you bet I'm excited for that one

[@basil19262]

I love that phrasing because it ties him ideologically to Grace

[@The-Busy-Beeeee]

@@basil19262which makes sense because she ends up becoming the next max or the next “god” of hatchet field

[@pepplemint3735]

That and the mention of knowing he will peak in high school, it kinda shocks you when it happens in the show because it shows an unexpected depth of a character which otherwise is a pretty one dimensional parody character. It's interesting writing.

[@Justthatguy1998]

I mean, Richie did help kill max, then cut up, bleached, and duct taped the parts to his under the floor boards. So it’s not like Richie was just a poor innocent cinnamon roll

[@swordsmanthegamernine7973]

I think there’s actually another layer. Max reacts to Richie’s line with pure anger. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” I think there’s a bigger reason for that. Max is trying to make Richie feel like he’ll be forgotten, just like Max was, but when Richie says that it reads as though he’s saying he WONT be forgotten. Like he’s saying “I didn’t live the kind of life where people would happily forget me.” Which inversely implies that Max IS a looser because people DID happily forget him and move on with their lives. That’s how Max sees that line, until Richie begs for his life with it. That’s why he calms down so much after Richie begs, he sees he’s still in control. But he reacted with anger because he thought Richie was calling him a looser.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh that's a GOOD analysis! I think you're definitely onto something

[@FosukeLordOfError]

His angry response was definitely personal

[@manskronqvist2537]

I think using the expression “finished the job” implies Ritchie was still sentient to some extent while he was being torn up (and I mean TORN UP since there are references to guts being displayed, like internal organs). Why would you have to drown a corpse?

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh yeah, and that is *horrifying*. I don't even want to imagine the pain

[@The-Busy-Beeeee]

@@Vil.N.Mellingpoor Richie deserved better

[@mickys8065]

Given you'd stop bleeding so much when you die, Richie's heart was 100% still beating by the time max was drawing his message. So yeah, his actual cause of death was the drowning

[@KingOfGaymes]

Yeah he drowned in the toilet, so he was probably bleeding out heavily and was in tons of pain while also drowning.. it’s horrible.. Poor Richie

[@charlottechapin5953]

I think that likely in a normal scenario the person would have died by the point where Max drowned Richie (i.e. torn up, actively bleeding, cuts to the head and chest) so maybe some kind of Black-and-White magic is at work here, likely due to Max. This is also backed up by Ruth’s death as no pair of undies should be able to rip someone in two. (But then again this is a musical and I’m likely reading too much into this).

[@runedoom]

You missed another piece of evidence: the opening of highschool is killing. "The blood is all but draining from my head. The nightmare started there but now has spread. My pulse is certainly droppin' and my life is hangin' on by a thread."

[@Vil.N.Melling]

This was actually in the first draft of my script! I ended up cutting it 'cause I felt like I was repeating myself, but then I ended up thinking about it more after finishing the video, and now I lowkey regret cutting it haha

[@PayPal.org_]

Omg we noticed the same thing!

[@Temmieking]

I'd also like to add, that maybe the reason Max struck at the football game specifically is because after he loses his kingdom he starts attacking as soon as his prey reaches a moment of clarity/hope Ruth is attacked after just for once when she finds her desire for the spotlight Mayor Lauter is offed after giving the black book Steph and Pete are interrupted when they finally admit that they love each other And of course, Richie is killed after he finally feels accepted and cared for in the school

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh, that is so cruel of him... Sounds like it might be true

[@bovineking8927]

And it happens to Max too, TWICE. He dies after experiencing "the nicest thing anyone's ever done for him" and showing some kindness for the first time in his life, and then gets Wigglied after fulfilling his long-standing goal of having sex with Grace. He probably was targeting people at their highest point because it happened to him.

[@gamz33]

Like, Max's death was brutal, agonizing and horrifying: He fell several stories and got impale through the chest by a bunch of wooden planks and splinters, his internal organs bruised beyond repair and his arms and legs probably broken and cut by debri. But it was an accident. The nerds didn't *mean* to kill him, they only meant to scare him and make fun of him, not *kill him*. Ruth's death was intentional, and agonizing, and humiliating; But it was quick. Richie's death was neither of those things. It was just intentional humiliation and agony, probably for at least an hour.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

And that adds so much to the *"Richie didn't deserve that"* The poor boy just wanted to be accepted, then he was given THAT instead

[@stellanewman2560]

I kinda saw the "I'm not a loser" as a kind of security blanket. Kinda like an attempt to reassure himself.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Same! I've had a lot of 'loser' characters in previous stories of mine, and that immediately came off to me as something characters like them would say in a desperate attempt to reassure themselves in a moment like that. I've seen a lot of people say that Richie was sure he wasn't a loser anymore, but I don't know if I agree. Two weeks really isn't a long time compared to YEARS of bullying.

[@StarM-jq1gv]

@@Vil.N.Melling I think during npmd live stream Jon talked about why Richie shouted that line and I think he said something like, "Because he watched way too many anime, he thought he is the hero at that moment"

[@Vil.N.Melling]

@@StarM-jq1gv Indeed he did, he said that Richie was trying to use anime logic to defeat Max. This is mostly my little side note/side question, since certain lines can have so much more than just one meaning and intention, and "I'm not a loser!" feels like a real one of those

[@KingOfGaymes]

@@Vil.N.Melling it sounds funny but is actually kinda sad when you think about it, like it was his last idea 😭

[@ovanzero9027]

@TheDuckGenie Yeah, i think the same, that's what i saw on that moment and the response from Max “No, of course you're not, but you're lost at all...”

[@caffeineandmemes]

I find it so interesting that Richie has arguably the highest social climb after Max’s death and also the biggest fall. Ruth may have gotten a couple of compliments and isn’t getting visibly bullied, but she’s still a stagehand for the theater club and not on stage. Pete may be hanging out with Steph without being terrorized for it, but he still is pretty much Pete. Grace is still out there being Grace. Richie infiltrates Max’s kingdom, his football team, even just as a mascot. He gets to join in on their team rituals. They say they *need* him. He’s become an accepted/ needed part of what Max thinks is the top high school social group. He didn’t stay in his lane, he swerved across the highway. I think that goes in well with your point about how Max had to gain back control and remind him who he was and always will be in Max’s eyes

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oooh, that is such a good point! Richie's life took such a drastic turn for the better, it makes his death even more devastating

[@fraga7325]

this + when the group is interrogated, the police officers say that they lost the most important member of the team. The group ofc thought they were talking abt Max but later you find out they were talking abt Richie. Its so interesting to see that his life got so different, he is now valued as more important than Max in the team. Surely this was another reason why Richie was the first victim

[@Venus_Elmo]

i forgot richie had asthma, that's so sad

[@Vil.N.Melling]

it manages to make an already absolutely horrifying situation *even worse*

[@icarus4302]

​@@Vil.N.Melling As someone who was bullied for having asthma, it was probably the worst thing Max could've done to him before he attempted murder Your lungs just biologically don't work, it strains your entire body for air, all the while making it worse, and it ranges on severity of asthma The idea that Richie was possibly being made to run, in a full flight response, for 2 HOURS almost made me tear up, it's possibly the worst nightmare for someone with asthma, if Max hadn't killed Richie, his lungs would've

[@raymondfisheriii791]

@@icarus4302it also doesn’t help when you remember that he finished Richie off by drowning him, which, even without asthma, is said to be one of the most painful ways to die possible, so I could only imagine how it affected Richie after all that

[@slicedtomaato]

@@icarus4302holy shit 😭

[@Acorn905]

No man! I felt bad for him already beacause of the tripping, floating and other startling things but now it's worse T-T

[@Fizzwo]

It's worse to imagine Richie running through the halls, yelling for help and bleeding from the attack at the end of the song. He thinks freedom is right there, thinking that if he can reach the others at the game, they'll see his wounds and know something happened, even if they think he's crazy for claiming Max Jägerman is back. The most tragic part is that all his hope is lost after everything he's endured after all he has lost everything.

[@Fizzwo]

Also he might still be alive when Max writes the message on the wall or at least still bleeding out depending on how much there is since when you're dead you're not bleeding anymore so there would not be more blood for Max to use and the fact that he was "finished off" by being drowned tells you that he could have still been alive for it (or at least almost dead, bleeding out you know) sorry these are so long 😅

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh shiiit, how did I not think of the bleeding stopping after death, that makes it *even worse*

[@SmokeyCheshire]

It hurts how Max was kinda right in the whole “Who will pray for you” part. Even though he was projecting a little even Ritchie’s friends didn’t notice he was missing from the game. It’s not until days later when the cops are questioning them that they even think about him.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

It is implied in Go Go Nighthawks! that Richie's often late to class, which could explain why Pete, Steph and Ruth didn't think anything of it, but suddenly going missing from the game should cause some worry...

[@ariaphoenix2760]

To be fair, like they say countless times in the musical, people go missing all the time in Hatchetfield and are never found. They’re probably all just desensitized to it and only got concerned when he was confirmed dead for a reason they were all involved in. That meant it wasn’t chance, it was purposeful.

[@bio9leader60]

Btw, lacerations are notably worse than cuts. It implies the wounds are jagged or torn. Max didn't just cut or stab, he more accurately carved.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

And that would even further explain "Sweetly ralphed when he saw it" and "They got 'em [blood and guts] here too..." God, Richie's death was horrible.

[@mickys8065]

Yeah, lacerations are normally torn flesh, because its so much harder to try and heal lacerations. It can be stab wounds, like a triangular blade though.

[@sophiebeatrix7348]

it makes so much sense they would be carved as that's exactly what they did to max's body - he essentially replicates what was done during his death to his first kill

[@Vil.N.Melling]

@@sophiebeatrix7348 not to spoil anything, but this comment may have just inspired a potential future video

[@sophiebeatrix7348]

@@Vil.N.Melling omg, woo! I’ve so badly just wanted to write an essay on it all

[@corinneeaglebridge]

I think there’s another reason Richie could have ended up in the bathrooms - I’m a bit of a nerd myself so I mainly attached it to my own experience at first but we actually see it earlier in the show with Pete too! The bathroom is presumably a space where you can be safe from bullies (by locking yourself in a stall). Pete uses it to avoid Max earlier on. I think that, as soon as Richie noticed he couldn’t leave the school itself, he went to the closest place he could LOCK MAX OUT OF - a bathroom stall. But obviously, since Max is a ghost, it didn’t work.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh shit, that's such a good point! You've convinced me now, and now Richie's death is even sadder, oh goodness

[@458pinki]

Another interesting point is that Ruth didnt try standing up to Max during her death. When Pete stood up to him before he died, Max made a point to beat him worse than he originally planned. This is evidenced by Richies hallway incident at the beginning, having still gotten hurt but much less for a similar infraction. Richie trying to say he's not a loser and going against Max's decision, especially when he was already enraged, caused his death to be drawn out significantly longer and become the most torturous thing Max could think of. Pete and Steph were continuing to defy Max, and he decided to toy with them for as long as he could to make their death far more painful. If any of them had chosen to "accept their place", Max would've likely given them a "merciful" death like he did to Ruth.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

This is such a good point, and a terrifying one as well. Thank goodness for Grace showing up and saving Steph and Pete

[@izzybells6813]

Also, the first time we hear about the characters death in Highschool is Killing Me, though it’s been mentioned that Ruth’s death is clearly less gruesome as she just talks about being scared, Richie’s verse confirms the worse. He says that the blood is draining from his head, the nightmare STARTED there, his pulse is DROPPING (implying present tense), and his life is HANGING ON. Everything about his verse tells that he was still alive as the laceration wounds from his head were made and continued to bleed out as he was still alive, unlike Ruth who was mentioned to have died quickly

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oooooh shiiiiit, now it's even worse (thank you)

[@asveses5730]

@@Vil.N.Melling The implications... they're worse.

[@joshuatartar2731]

he says the blood is « all but » draining from his head, a head wound can be instantly fatal. Whereas he could last with other injuries

[@_SpiffyStardusttt_]

I love the way they show how Max views the nerds. He doesn’t call them by their names unless he feels the need to. He dehumanizes them every way he can, like how he does with Richie. He says his name but does it mockingly, as if that’s not his name at all. He doesn’t see them as human, just nerds

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Exactly! It's so frickin' cool and well done!

[@Harleymotor]

It furthers this by how Max only really says Grace’s name because he likes her and shown at the end she’s basically his parallel.

[@undercoverfangirl5491]

@@HarleymotorI think there was a change in how he said Steph’s name too. Because in the beginning she’s cool so she gets the respect of having her name said right but by the end and about to kill her and Pete, I think the way he says it is more mocking or childish.

[@XFallenFreakX]

Also, not to throw even more salt on the wound. Think about right before Max died. How his Dad shows him love is by scaring him. So when the nerds try to scare him back he is like 'That was really special'. And he is literally about to view them as his buds, because only people who care about him would bully him - right? So when he dies and Richie is one of the last people he sees, maybe it is more than just him getting revenge over his death or revenge over the school 'crumbling' in his eyes. It's over the fact that he is either A - upset over an almost friend doing such a thing to him [even though it was an accident but whatever] OR B - he feels EMBARASSED that right before his death he almost befriending a bunch of nerds and then those nerds were clever enough to kill HIM, the Jaggerman of all people. Like how humiliating. So therefor, he had to make Richie's death as humiliating as possible to 'set an example'. I know its

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Ooooh, that's an interesting theory! I might have to look more into that in my Max analysis!

[@mynameisdan8178]

Also max first sings "who would pray for me, when I'm gone" alone, he just saw no one was gonna pray for him once he was gone

[@Vil.N.Melling]

I'm gonna dive so deeply into that in my Max analysis

[@Cbell14-]

What’s worse is after all this torture- the only good thing is that he wasn’t killed at the Waylon Place, because then he would’ve gotten to see that no one even noticed or cared about his death- they didn’t even realize he was gone, and if he had seen that after all the torture, I think that would’ve almost hurt worse😭

[@Vil.N.Melling]

For my own sanity's sake, I've chosen to believe they didn't notice or care because there wasn't narrative time for it (what with the show already being 2.5 hours). But yeah, that would've H U R T

[@Quackervoltz]

I mean, wasn't the school where they summoned the LIB? It was supposedly just as supernaturally infected as the Waylon Place

[@foundawayout5622]

In jon's npmd watch party, iirc he said that richie gets sick often (poor boy). So for my own sake, i like to believe everyone didn't notice because richie missing school due to his poor physical health happens pretty frequently. Plus, "Go Go Nighthawks" implies he goes into class late frequently as well (due to bullying??

[@rueadumz1131]

I think another important part in this is how Max dies himself. A big theme in the Hatchetfield universe is that the Lords in Black are always in control. In the end, they always win somehow. TGWDLM, the infection reaches mainland; Black Friday, the world gets nuked; Time Bastard, Ted ends up in the Bastard's Box; Honey Queen, Linda is fed to Nibbly; Yellow Jacket, Hannah and Lex are Hatchetfield's saviors and leave forever; etc. etc. There is never a happy ending. The Lords in Black don't allow it. Hatchetfield High is a microcosm for the town as a whole. Who keeps people like Lauter in power? Who keeps the Monroes rich? Who says nobody can remember Miss Holloway? It's the Lords in Black. The power structures in the town are there because they willed them into being. But unlike Max, they actually are gods. That makes them bigger bullies, in a way. As Max dies, Wiggly does everything Max did to Richie (during the song). He takes hold of him telekinetically, mocks him with his name ("Hello, Maxie"), and even parallels his patterns of speech ("You're in my world now, bitch" / "That ain't good news for you, ya bitch"). And Max acts just like Richie does. He's terrified of the eldritch horrors. His mind is probably melting just seeing them in his mind. But he refuses to go down on anyone's terms but his own ("Whatever! It was fucking worth it!" / "I'm not a loser!") Also, amazing video. Liked and subbed.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh, I love this, this is an AMAZING addition! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! Thank you!

[@anobservatory4227]

As someone who has hyper fixated on Hatchetfield since watching NPMD after it was on KZbin I've always thought there's been a lack of quality videos breaking down and analyzing Starkid shows, cause they deserve it. And this is exactly what NPMD deserves, this was such a good video. To thinking about the implications.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Thank you so so much! 100% agreed, Hatchetfield deserves more in depth analyses (which I will be more than happy to provide), because there's SO MUCH to dissect about both the lore, the town and the characters! Here's to the implications!

[@Bokmoh]

...because of the implication

[@person5374]

@@Vil.N.Melling please do implicate!

[@twist_ending7545]

​@@Vil.N.Melling you should do an analysis on Hannah and Lex!

[@daddysboy5205]

SAMEEEEE

[@Ronnie-i5j]

Based on personal experience (assuming the locker rooms are not in fact connected to the school, but their own building near the football field), I imagine that Max let Richie out of the locker room, chased him around the stadium parking lot, then ultimately cornered him BACK in the locker room for the swirlie drowning and whatnot. Either way, it's freaking terrifying, and this is the analysis to prove it.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Classic case of "European should maybe have double checked instead of assumed" haha (locker rooms in Sweden are far more often connected to the school)

[@Lady_Ginnie]

@@Vil.N.Melling American here. At my high school, the locker rooms were connected directly to the gym, which was connected to the school. So it depends heavily on whatever school you're going to. Each school is different.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

@@Lady_Ginnie Alrighty! Thank you so much!

[@redscorner4324]

I'd like to point out that it's also possibly Richie in the trailer for NPMD being chased by Max and in that case, he DEFINITELY was let into the halls to try and run away from Max

[@Vil.N.Melling]

@@redscorner4324 oh shoot, yeah! 'Cause Curt's nerd there also has asthma!

[@MeredithET]

Whereas in High School Is Killing Me, where Ruth talks about being scared and unprepared, Ritchie says 'Im dead, the blood is all but draining from my head. The nightmares started there but now have spread,' etc, which is so much more gruesome than Ruth's.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Ooooh yeah, those lyrics tell us even more. It's funny how the first three scenes (the intro, the cops and Richie's HSIKM verse) are all telling us Richie's gonna die, yet when he actually DOES die later, we're all like "NO NO NO NO WHY?"

[@bovineking8927]

@@Vil.N.Melling Such a great way to build the sense of dread around Richie, since the audience knows he will die, but not when. "I love being alive!" *anguished groans*

[@heebiejeebiesofthehighestorder]

I remember I kept seeing people finding "I'm dead" funny, and I'm pretty sure people in the audience kinda laughed at it But honestly, it sent chills through me - you could *hear* the emotion in it and I cried ughhh

[@Ronnie-i5j]

Oh no... I didn't think about the implications.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh god... the most grievous mistake you could make in Hatchetfield

[@Ronnie-i5j]

@@Vil.N.Melling At least I wear a watch.

[@Lightheart125]

Now… ARE YOU FRIGHTENED?!?

[@Korra33]

@@Lightheart125Very frightened

[@seleneflores7135]

Apart from everything we know about Max, i realized he references being remembered a lot. He is angry about not only losing his power, but also being forgotten. Hatchetfield High forgot about him, nobody would "pray for him" or remember all the damage he caused. His "slaves" stopped fearing him and forgot the social status he created. And i mean, we could also take in account the line about his father's toxic masculinity but tbh steph has an awful dad too and doesn't torture classmates lol

[@Vil.N.Melling]

All this, I'm gonna dive into in my Max analysis, 'cause AH it's all so interesting!

[@ondiiina]

Honestly Steph's dad doesn't seem as bad as Max's. Max was actively terrorized from a young age to the point he believes it's a form of love but he also recognizes it as a form of control (as he actively scares a lot of his peers to get them to follow his hierarchy). Solomon is negligent and focused more on his career but he never actively tries to hurt Steph, physically or emotionally. He does (or gets someone to do) the bare minimum for her for appearances. She's well adjusted so she grew up well enough to not feel any repercussions apart from knowing her father doesn't love her, or anyone frankly, very much. She's even stated to be very popular and she's outgoing and easily talks with people (a manipulative tendency that likely comes from Solomon so it's the biggest impact his behavior had on her) unlike Max whose damage means he's "liked" because of his strength/skills. Steph genuinely has friends and easily makes them, Max has underlings who fear being bullied by him even more. Being the mayor's daughter certainly helps, and there's no doubt she played that card to get out of trouble like a Lauter would, but it's better than Max whose only worth is being great at playing football. Richie instantly had a higher status than him and the poor kid was bullied and is as awkward/disconnected from "regular" teens as it gets. Maybe the way their fathers sucked played a big hand in how they grew up. They both picked up the worst traits from their fathers. Max is obsessed with control and weaponizes fear (he also doesn't seem to know how to approach people who aren't scared of him, he's awkward around Grace for a lot of reasons; we don't know if he leaves most popular people alone but we know he doesn't do anything around Steph which might be attributed to her inherently having a higher status than him and having the strings to ruin him). Steph is lazy and cunning/manipulative (gets others to do her bidding) along with being detached from others (she doesn't seem too attached to anyone as far as we know until Pete in both Virginity Camp and NPMD). Maybe if Solomon was more outwardly worse, Steph would mirror that. But in general, she had a good enough childhood to not be as affected as Max and for it not to cripple her

[@acanwithnobrand]

max was really just like 'if you arent a loser, then i'll make you one'

[@Vil.N.Melling]

He really was, poor Richie-

[@spillymcspillmore3426]

It's heartbreaking that the statement Richie thought would be his saving grace was the final nail in the coffin. Doubling down on the very reason Max wants to kill him, abandoning the old social hierarchy. This also makes sense why Max went after Ruth as she was taking her first concrete steps towards her theatre dreams.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Literally, it's so sad. Makes me wonder how much easier Max might've gone had Richie not tried to defy him.

[@rebekahjohnson5940]

It’s interesting to see the implications of what Max says. On a more surface level, he actually foreshadows his end during the scene in “literal monster”, where he says “I will not rest until I taste grace chastity’s little peach” and uhhhh yep. Great video! :D

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oooh yes, I've seen that, and it's SO COOL! Thank you so much!! :D

[@shadow_m8121]

He also semi foreshadows his "death" in Dirty Girl as well, saying, "I'm expecting you to betray me," which she does by sleeping with him and therefore sealing him away. AND she is a major part of why he gets lured to the house, where she "betrays" him there as well.

[@dorathefake]

Plus it kinda mirrors before he died. We never see him bully ruth. We saw it with Richie and Pete but not ruth. I think Richie and Pete were his main targets. Ruth was just for the lolz Tho this is just me yapping

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oooh, that's a good point! Richie and Pete ARE the only ones who directly threaten Max's status quo (Pete by hanging out with Steph, Richie with the football team). This really might be something

[@Cosmiccor]

another thing that I noticed was that Richie was completely forgotten and his death was unnoticed by his friends they didn't notice Richie wasn't there when their names were called to the office they didn't think to look for him..

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Unless I'm just in sadness denial, I think that's mostly due to there not really being time in the show for us to get to really see their reactions. Since it's already a 2.5 hour musical, dedicating more time to something that wouldn't add much to the plot wouldn't really work. I'd guess they had their reactions off screen, 'cause I can't imagine they just WOULDN'T react at all (especially Ruth; she and Richie were pretty much joined at the hip (her reaction in the digital ticket is a fair bit stronger and more noticeable!)). Them not reacting when he wasn't there at the start of act 2 can at least be explained by how it's implied that Richie's late a lot! ("Got a resolution to social climb and go to class on time") Haha you got me rambling. Thanks for the comment!

[@blane-li]

Something I wanna note as an asthmatic myself; Drowning being his death is SO sad honestly, because of one simple fact. Asthma attacks are most often described as "drowning on air." When someone chokes on food, the general rule of thumb is "if they're coughing, they're still getting in air". But with an asthma attack, it's moreso that as you cough, you use up more oxygen, and can't really get any in because your throat is continuing to tighten. I bring this up along with drowning because it means running to the point his asthma flared in any way; followed by drowning, which is so closely related to an asthma attack; after what very likely was a LIFETIME of struggling to breathe and having to routinely be tested and possibly face asthma attacks in the past, KNOWING he wouldn't survive this time? It's SO saddening.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

My goodness, how does Richie's death manage to become ten times sadder and more horrifying with every aspect? That is so sad, thank you for this information

[@andiemarigold3787]

As a fellow asthmatic, horrifying.

[@Mr.Monacle]

Another thing to note: The police have to go to the school to interview Grace, Ruth, Peter and Steph, meaning they were not already there. Richie was chased all the way to a *different* building, on foot, screaming for help.

[@hayamihinata4135]

That was awesome, and sad but mostly awesome. As the signature scene of NPMD (alongside the Summoning) Richie's death was always something that was interesting to look at. Plus, while this does not relate to his death itself, the fact that no one found Richie's body for the entire weekend is sad in it of itself. Imagine the feelings of everyone Richie knew when he disappeared that night. The team and fellow students possibly thinking he ditched them for no reason, his family being terrified and lost when Richie never came home, the rest of the nerdy prudes being so focused on the big game and the situation with Max to even notice Richie was gone from their lives until it was too late, the reaction of the unfortunate janitor who found Richie's body. I guess Max's, 'who will pray for you line' during Nerdy Prudes Must Die was true. Because aside from a brief moment of horror from Pete after they find out about his death, and a slight mention from Steph as she, Grace and Pete prepare to summon the LIB. We do not see any other real reaction to Richie's death. People go missing every day in Hatchetfield after all, what is one more dead kid. Imagining how things would have been on their end is impossible but just being able to think about it at all truly shows the magic of the Hatchetfield musicals and their powers to make my heart ache in a million ways.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Thank you so so much! Thinking about the family's reactions, man... That's a special kind of pain. And oh yeah, that poor janitor. Stripping characters of the time and ability to grieve properly hurts so bad. With Max and the cops and everything going on, they really didn't get ANY time to process past finding out that Richie died (Ruth's reaction in the digital ticket when Bailey tells them that "Zeke the Fightin' Nighthawk was murdered the night of the big game" absolutely breaks my heart - she completely freezes up). My personal belief is that they most likely had their bigger reactions off-screen (especially Ruth, there's SO MUCH that shows how tight she and Richie were, especially in the digital ticket), but it wouldn't add enough to the story to warrant being featured in the show. Like you said, all the room for theories makes Hatchetfield even more amazing than it already is!

[@Quackervoltz]

They probably didn’t have time to even process what happened

[@epicshauntedlibrary1414]

Ive thought about this before which is why I want to see a movie adaptation of Nerdy Prudes Must Die, it could show all the gory details that can't happen on stage. Richie's death because we can finally get definitive answers for what happened. Ruth's death so its more clear what happened (ive seen people I know irl confused on why she died, not realizing she was literally split in half with the wedgie). This was a great video, I cant wait for more Hatchetfield stuff, theres not really many video essay style videos about the universe.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

An NPMD movie would be epic, and SO bloody! There's not nearly enough Hatchetfield analyses, but you know what they say; if no one else does it, do it yourself!

[@c0rpsepuppy]

i really really hope nerdy prudes gets a movie solely for the fact that the whole cast can come back and act, we’d just be getting really high quality scenes and a lot more exploration into the horror that starkid has been leaning into for years! i would kill for high budget zombie max, or the half god/half high schooler lords in black 🖤

[@beepboopstrawberry]

I like how the only clip you used during the timeline was Richie screaming "I'm not a loser." It helps to show how important the line is in the musical!

[@Vil.N.Melling]

That line is like THEE moment of NPMD

[@jayjuuce]

What an amazing analysis, I can't believe I never thought about the implications! Something else I noticed: idk if it's been confirmed if Max can slow time but that's what him catching the bullet in act 2 seemed to imply. If he does have that ability then he potentially could've dragged out Richie's death for much longer which is honestly horrifying to think about.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Ooooh hoooly moly, that possibility makes it endlessly worse, holy shit Thank you so much!!!

[@honeydragon3909]

oh my god i can't stop thinking about this now

[@timisthebestboi0]

I'm pretty sure that's super speed not slowing time down

[@willekieker]

i had deliberately been ignoring the implications of all these lines so i wouldn't have to think about my favorite character in the show enduring hours of violent torture so thanks for bringing it all to the surface 😭😭 i yelled "richie no!!" out loud at 3am when you were emphasizing that the swirly was the LAST thing jägerman did to him

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Meanwhile I did the total opposite, specifically highlighting all the implications of my favorite character enduring hours of violent torture lmao I internally yelled "Richie no!" so many times while writing this video

[@plantlover3741]

Another layer to this: In Literal Monster Max says that he "don't need no one to tell me highschool will be my peak, so i'm willing to take advantage" this shows that he knows highschool is going to be the most power he ever has over people. In death he not only lost that, but Richie is actively undoing all of his work. he's losing the only influence his life ever had or would have had.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Yes yes yes! In so many ways, MAX is the one who "lost everything", not Richie

[@lemonfrog21]

I kinda thought the "I'm not a loser" for Richie was kinda him saying his last words. Like right then he thought he was probably going to die (before Max gave him a false hope). Instead of only crying out for mercy, he chooses to stand up for himself. To finally scream out that he's not a loser, he's not weak, he's not "a nerd" even though Max deems him so. After so much pain and suffering in his life, when he felt like he was going to die there was no reason for him to hold back. Idk though I'm only on my first watch. Amazing video btw

[@Vil.N.Melling]

I like that theory, it's hopeful in a way Jon Matteson's explanation isn't. The "last attempt at saving himself" means "I'm not a loser" was yet another tool of escape that didn't work, but "last, defiant words" feels accepting in a hopeful way. I like it!

[@goobersnoobert1]

I love how the show literally continuously prepares us for his death, but we all cry when it happens (also the implications are so terrifying, i loved this video, can't wait for the max analysis!)

[@Vil.N.Melling]

YES! First we see Richie run away and scream, then the cops talk for a minute and a half about his death, then his first sung lines are a verse about how dead he is, then his first spoken lines ("It's Lipschitz! Richard Lipsch-" in response to "Hey! Shit-lips!") may as well be "It's Lipschitz! Yes, Richard Lipschitz, as in the one who died in the flashforward at the start!", yet when he does die, we're all there like "what, no, he can't die!"

[@goobersnoobert1]

@@Vil.N.Melling Exactly! They explicitly "foreshadow" his death (foreshadow in quotes because I mean... It's literally right there), telling us "hey audience this character is gonna die" and we go "oh, okay!" And then it happens and we're like "wtf starkid :("

[@nokaydippp2762]

this analysis was amazing! richie's death had always been the most devestating for me and this has made things so much worse (in a good way). the way you dive into the subtleties of characters that on the surface look very stereotypical (jock bully, nerdy anime fanboy) speaks to both how well you break down their complexities and how much work starkid took to craft them. despite being a richie-centric video, i also love the breaking down of max's motives at the time of richie's death. 10/10! i'd love to see more of these if you make them!

[@Vil.N.Melling]

That second sentence was me over and over again while I was analyzing and scripting this video. Every single detail I noticed just made everything ten times worse, and I love-hated it so much! Thank you so so much! I LOVE diving way too deep into character motivations and fears, so it means a lot to hear I do it well! I'm excited to dive EVEN DEEPER into Max's motives in my Max analysis

[@StarM-jq1gv]

I thought people knew his death was very gruesome..I'm actually quite surprised not many people take seriously about his death multiple stab wounds in his head and chest, and it didn't even end there DEFINETELY WAY MORE horrible way to go than Ruth. Though I can't tell which one is more painful Ruth had to endure all those slow pain as her body gets split in half, while the ending might be quick, the process must've been PAINFUL On the other hand, Richie's death feels like it hurts A LOT at start, and the pain just builds up from there, you have to keep holding onto your fleeting last consciousness while running away from your bully as your blood drains out, which I also heard bleeding itself is very painful than most people think. But I don't think he would've felt all the pain at the same time because he was running away for his LIFE and when you're running away from something, usually adrenaline might kick in and MIGHT subside the pain a little bit, but still very painful. But now that I think about it Richie's death is way more painful because while Ruth was fairly quick, Richie, considering how long he ran away with all those wounds, I bet it took way longer than Ruth to actually die so yeah, very horrifying.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Both their respective pains must've been EXCRUTIATING; Ruth the entire time, Richie after the adrenaline subsided. Goodness, I feel bad for them both

[@andiemarigold3787]

And he didn’t actually die until the swirlie. Just to make it worse for you. Meaning Max probably wrote on the wall BEFORE the swirlie

[@Gaby-gg6pj]

I was literally thinking last night about the context of Max saying he hadn’t come back because they killed him, but I couldn’t figure out why or if it was because he was being sarcastic. This tied it together so I can finally sleep peacefully omg

[@Vil.N.Melling]

I'm glad to relieve you of the burden haha (And I have EVEN MORE to say about it in my Max analysis)

[@calihoyer1415]

Another little tidbit that just adds to the tragedy and supports the idea of Max being angry about Richie taking his place: right before inviting him into the huddle, Jason & Kyle call Richie the most valuable member of the team. Not Max, Richie. To the star quarterback, for whom the whole town roots, whom the whole school fears and obeys, hearing his former lackeys not only accept a nerd into their circle but *tell the nerdy weeb mascot, who doesn't even play* (and whom I'm sure Max thinks is a bad mascot, based on his character and the line where Jason mentions Richie "falling all over himself" as he dances in support of the team), *that he's the most valuable member of the team* has got to be a huge slap in the face to everything Max values. And I think it's part of why Max decides that Richie is the nerdy prude who must die first and worst. (Fantastic video! It literally is the reason I finally got around to watching NPMD; I fell off the Starkid wagon before the whole Hatchetfield trilogy, so thank you for bringing me back on!)

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh my god, I hadn't even thought about that! That's definitely got to have something to do with it. Thank you so much! I'm proud to be the reason you're back on the wagon

[@castle9165]

The bit I love about the "Who will pray for me, when I'm gone?" part is that when Richie dies people are upset. We don't really see it, because our main cast are scared for most the time; but Richie's friends are obviously upset. What's really big is at homecoming the woman acknowledges the losses that the community suffered *"in the past couple weeks"* - which we know includes Richie and Ruth as it also includes the big game and they died after. However, there's *at least* 2/3 days between the game and Homecoming and as is established earlier in the show in the section, "Two weeks later", Max Jagerman's death was 2 weeks ago by then game (so more than two weeks ago). So, if you read it right, it doesn't seem like they're even including Max's death as part of the losses. So it seems like the whole part really is just Max projecting.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Finally someone else who acknowledges that Richie's friends are upset! I feel like because there's no big scenes and not many lines of the other nerds being upset and grieving Richie (which is mostly due to there not being enough time in the show, and that they had more urgent things to worry about), people jump straight to the assumption that "Pete and Ruth didn't care at all!" I may or may not have a whole future video idea about Richie's entire death scene being Max projecting...

[@The_ominous_cheese]

A part that makes his death far sadder is that in the song, Max is obviously talking about how no one cared about his death while he threatens Richie, and the worst part is that no one cares when Richie dies. Sure, Pete says “Richie died!?” But that’s the only time they mention him after his death. Sad.

[@The_ominous_cheese]

Also, another idea is that the “everything” that Richie lost could be Max. Since Max has a god complex, he thinks that Richie betraying him is live a devoted follower that betrayed their god.

[@luvthecronch3542]

If he never had overactive sweat glands he'd still be alive.. RIP King

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Goddammit bodies, why do you have to work against us

[@chloemorris4757]

@@Vil.N.Melling also if he didn't have asthma he might not be so into anime because he might have wanted to do sports but can't because of his asthma and he might find anime comforting because he wants the hero that he sees in most anime but can't be

[@emmiesage1173]

This is the kind of analysis we've been sorely needing for Hatchetfield

[@Vil.N.Melling]

100% agreed, and I am SO GLAD to provide!

[@priinxecharming]

Stg when this musical came out, while i was in criminalistics, i was SHAKING abt the implications of the entire opening segment after finding out Richie was a character we actually knew, and not just the guy who died at the opening of the show. The sheer amount of effort Max put into his murder and mutilation is absolutely monstrous, I'm both glad and horrified someone pointed it out. Keeping Richie alive to absolutely torment him, most likely writing the "Nerdy Prudes Must Die" note while he was still living, just to prolong it, just to drown him???? Incredible characterization of Max. It makes me nauseated thinking about it all.

[@priinxecharming]

NOT TO MENTION THE WORST PART- We never see Richie's body. Max and Ruth, we see their corpses, but Richie? His abhorrent mutilation is purely up to the audience's imagination. If you know how bad it looks, its gross. If you don't, gods know what you think of. It's one of the smartest opening scenes I've ever seen, its art how disgusting it is. I love this show [even if i have to skip the opening scene I'm not even joking its so gross thinking of]

[@Vil.N.Melling]

It's one thing to see a horrible death, like Max or Ruth's, on screen, but when they can't even SHOW the death OR THE BODY because of how long and absolutely awful the death was... then you know it's *bad*

[@sjorsweeda3717]

I didn't think about the implications! I am indeed frightened! Thanks Jon Matteson, for providing the very accurate quote to describe the death of another of his characters...

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh goodness, you didn't think about them! I would be frightened too

[@Itsmidnight_youneedtosleep]

In addition to what you said, I think Max decided to kill Richie right then was because Richie finally saw hope of getting the thing he wanted but couldn’t get while Max was still in control. All three members of the main need group have similar a similar “want”, with small differences: to not be a loser. For Richie, he specifically wanted to have friends and to be popular. We can see this through his deep para-social relationship with fictional characters, his jealousy of Pete becoming friends with Steph, and his “resolution to social climb” that he mentions in Go Go Nighthawks. Max waited until Richie felt hope that he could achieve this goal, after the pep talk Cory and Kurt’s characters gave him, just so he could strip that hope away from him. This is what I interpreted the “you have lost everything” line to mean. He has lost all hope. I think this also explains why Max let him out to call for help, just to hammer in the point that he didn’t have any friends; they weren’t there, and they weren’t going to save him. It was a similar thing for Ruth, where her want was to be noticed, to be “the center of attention”. We can see this through her telemarketer calls, the entirety of “Just For Once”, as well as just her general horniness. She wanted someone to be thinking about her for once. That’s why Max decided to attack her after “Just For Once”, after Ruth felt she might be able to achieve her dream of becoming an actor. Max wasn’t there to bully her anymore, so she didn’t have to be nervous about being in the spotlight. I think thats why Max’s teasing in that scene was difficult to watch; she started to put herself out there for the first time, just for Max to belittle her and reinforce her anxiety that she can’t do anything and she is stupid for wanting to. Even her death via wedgie reinforces this. Ruth wanted her dreams to be noticed and taken seriously, so Max killed her in a funny way, so she would never get taken seriously again. The situation with Peter is a bit different, but its the same general set up: Peter wanted Stephanie to love him and vice versa. Max attempted to kill them not when they hoped they could have each other, because they didn’t think that was possible, but when they hoped they would have had each other if the situation was different. Max probably could have tried to kill them at the same time, but he tried to kill Stephanie first to show Peter that he could not love her and she could not love him. His choice to kill them as the bullet was literally flying was for sure a power play to give them hope of escape before killing them. Also, I absolutely love the repetition of “As Cool As I Think I Am” in all three of the moments that I just mentioned. It’s a very hopeful “I Want” song, so its use in all of these moments soon-to-be-broken hope and desperation breaks me. I also love how when its repeated again, when Grace is singing “Dirty Dudes Must Die”, it focuses more on the “and if I break the rules, I will know of my world, I’m the ruler” line more than the “and if I can finally be cool, I will know that I’m not a loser” line. It really shows how the power she has is going to her head, and how she doesn’t really care about helping the losers anymore, she just cares about control

[@Itsmidnight_youneedtosleep]

Jesus fuck thats long, sorry

[@Vil.N.Melling]

This is SO GOOD! I absolutely love reading other people's analyses, and this has given me a lot to think about for my future analysis of the nerds' internal conflicts!

[@Itsmidnight_youneedtosleep]

Omg thank you! I don’t know if you can tell, but I’ve been thinking about this a lot, so it was nice to write it all down.

[@tamsondove]

It's interesting that with the implications of how his dad treated him, that Max never went after his Dad with his new found powers, it's not even hinted at. Despite now being stronger than ever, Max still chooses to exert his power at his old stomping grounds, the School. So even though Max is no longer in that home dynamic, it's losing the power the had at the school that is more important to him. Where he felt like a 'God', he had power over the nerds, he chose who the nerds were, he was stronger, faster and could intimidate peple into doing what he wanted. Max was able to fend off the ghost after being scared, but when the skeleton comes in he says 'Should I run away? What so Dad can call you a little cuck? Can't even fight off one lousy ghost'. Cuck is the informal word of cuckhold. The definition of 'Cuck' is a weak or servile man. Being weak to Max is a requisite to being a loser. So, Max overcomes this fear and goes for the skeleton. The idea of his Dad calling him weak, almost forces him to act in strength. However, his perceptions of people are capable of change, he mentioned that the ghost prank they pulled on him was 'The nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.' He even says 'I thought you guys were just a bunch of nerds but...' His viewpoint on the group changed in that moment. He was treated with what he viewed as kindness. In the moment that the nerds provided for him, Max overcame his fears. Going against something he actually was afraid of, instead of picking on nerds that in comparison were 'easy' to go up against. It was a true test to his own strength, one that he overcame, which made him feel GREAT. Which is why I think Max viewed the prank as a nice thing. It gave him a chance to solidify the idea that he is a God outside of the School, not only that but in a siutation he actually finds terrifying. It's not just within the things that he can control that he can be brave and strong. He can be out of control and still fight for his life and win. He even says 'The skeleton, that was really special' and then bows to Ruth! A sign of respect, and not even mockingly, he means this. Which is why his death scene hits the audience as hard as it does. We see there's actually more to Max than what we see, and he's capable of growth. Then, in a situation he had no control over, he falls gets impaled and dies, and all of that work comes undone. They're back to being Nerdy Prudes. Max allowed himself to not be in control in that situation, he let himself think that they weren't actually nerds, and the second he did, he died. In that moment, he became weak, because a weak person doesn't die that way, through an accident. This solidifies Max's ideologies. If Max doesn't take back the control that he's lost, according to the ideology that seems to have been ingrained in him from his dad, he's a cuck. He's weak. You could say, he's a loser, and it's all because his Dad said so. 'I willed it into existence'.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Max is so freaking interesting, and I agree with so many points you made here! I can't wait to dive deeper in my next analysis video

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Max is so freaking interesting, and I agree with so many points you made here! I can't wait to dive deeper in my next analysis video

[@_hedgehogs]

it’s so crazy how hatchetfeild is always funny goofy songs and then the most grotesque horror happening at the same time 😭 and I’ve never even thought abt Richie’s death before but it’s so horrifying

[@Vil.N.Melling]

EXACTLY! Yet neither the humor nor the horror feels out of place (this is something I've been wanting to analyze about Hatchetfield)

[@feyefall4855]

I feel like the music stopping right after "I'm not a loser" isn't just because it simply throws off Max's power. It almost feels like Max switching gears the second his victim threatens his god complex (by threatening to take the spotlight of the song). The swelling music goes from giving Max power to giving Richie power *right* before the cutoff, so it could also be Max ripping that power back by fully interrupting the song with his "What did you say?!" God though, the acting of that line backed by the music is so heartbreaking when you know from an understanding of narrative and foreshadowing what comes next.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

EVERYTHING with Max is about power, and that is so so interesting! Jon and Will did TOO good a job here

[@Ronnie-i5j]

I can't wait for the deep dive into Max (you've started it off a bit here but I'm *ahem* "hungry for more"). In the initial breakdown, I was thinking "why Richie?" and then you EXPLAINED IT SO WELL. (Bravo!) Also, thank you for bringing up Max's status quo logic because it's all I've been thinking about since rewatching NPMD. Poor Richie thought believing in himself would actually work...

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Myx and I have already started writing our notes (because "we are, we are, we are good [analytical] girls") Finding the answer to "why Richie?" felt really cool, so huzzah! I'm glad I explained it well! Thank you! The recurring theme of "standing up to a bully doesn't automatically mean defeating them" in NPMD is SO GOOD

[@cenasparks3402]

I want to bring up the blood on the wall and guts bit further as upon implication, the lacerations were probably so deep and big that Richie's Actual Intestines Were Hanging Out Of His Body. Which would supply a lot of blood for wall writing to be that big and why that one cop tossed cookies upon seeing Richie. It's clear that Richie was mauled by Max. It's probably even a surprise they were able to identify him based on how bad the implications can get.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Those implications are so horrifying. Last time I rewatched the video with my sister, I started laughing in disbelief in how I completely just glossed over the "They got 'em [blood and guts] here too" line

[@seven-cats-3]

i always thought the guts line wasn't literal because it wasn't mentioned at all in the report, like shapiro just used "blood and guts" as a turn of phrase to mean extreme violence

[@SummerCoggs]

Unfortunately, dead bodies don't tend to bleed, so if it was all written in Richie's blood, his heart would at least still have to be bleeding

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Yup, that's a point that I somehow missed, and AAAAH it makes it so much worse

[@jsnwbnsbdb4104]

in the song Hatchet Town, it's even worse to think about the lyric where they say, "I heard that the brains were soup, their intestines were cut in two." plural. and that's before Ruth's death, so they could only be talking about Max/Richie. that has wayyy worse implications about what Max might have done to him.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

On the one hand, yeah, that is horrifying. But on the other hand, I don't know how much we can trust anything sung in Hatchet Town, considering they also blame guns and cannibalism when there was no trace of either of those on either Max or Richie's body

[@jsnwbnsbdb4104]

@@Vil.N.Melling yeah I was thinking about that! but I'm thinking there might be some truth to that particular line because of the mention of the actual guts of Richie's murder by the cops. maybe that's too far into the implications too tho lol

[@Vil.N.Melling]

@@jsnwbnsbdb4104 the question every Hatchetfield fan analyzing the shows must ask themselves eventually: "Am I thinking TOO MUCH about the implications?"

[@thaliarussell9864]

This is a fantastic analysis! It's amazing how much they imply/state about Richie's death, down to opening with him running away from Max in the beginning, yet by the time we get to the end of act one I think many of us had completely forgotten he was going to die until the "I'm so glad to be alive" line and I think it was all down to pacing and Jon's performance. NPMD is just sooo well written and so was this video!

[@Vil.N.Melling]

The Langs knew EXACTLY what they were doing with the pacing, and Jon's performance INSTANTLY replaces "Richie Lipschitz is going to die" with "I love Richie Lipschitz!" and GOSH it makes it freaking heartbreaking. I'm so glad you enjoyed! Thank youuu!

[@FangirlSuelo]

If you potentially include what’s in the trailer announcing the Kickstarter for nerdy prudes, that means he not only ran around the whole school, but ran back into the locker rooms… max could’ve just locked all the doors to the school for torture sake 😭😭😭

[@Vil.N.Melling]

I'm like 90% convinced Max definitely did lock all the doors, no matter if there's no solid proof

[@zavier3767]

I can't belive how fucking GOOD???? this VIDEO IS???? deserves more views fr fr, this is some top-tier analysis

[@Vil.N.Melling]

AAAAAH! You got me laughing for joy and shoving this comment in my sister's face, thank you so much!!

[@crushinganimek9470]

Can we talk about the "Someone goes missing every day in Hatchetfield" line? It is spoken as if it's a normal thing in the town. It also reinforces "Who will pray for you when you're gone?" None of Richie's friends knew he was missing until the cops mentioned it to them and no one knew Ruth was missing until Grace was told. The Mayor didn't even care Max was dead. He focused more on the football game. The Mayor didn't even care about his daughter even when she was endangered. He was more scared about the ghost and his own life. Even when the Mayor died, nobody in the town made a huge deal about it. Although Max was a horrible person and atrocious as a ghost, he was still a teenager, however the police dropped his murder case. There was no court trial or anything. Even if his death was an accidental, it still should be investigated further. Max even brought up his father would be disappointed if he ran away from a "Ghost" like a pussy which could indicate his father doesn't even love him. At the end of the play everybody is dancing and smiling as if nothing ever happened. Many people go missing in that town thus nobody will pray for any of them when they pass

[@Vil.N.Melling]

This is such a good comment! It's like Hatchetfield is desensitized to disappearances and murder, and that's both interesting, sad and terrifying when you think of the implications

[@MLEbug]

I love this breakdown! I also wonder if Max is deflecting when he says, "you have lost everything" because that's how he feels, and he can't stand that, so he flips the coin, so to speak.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oooooooh, that's a really interesting thought

[@dantorio367]

speaking about characters in npmd, I'm not sure if this is intentional but whenever Max is in ghoul form he noticeably takes a lot longer time to make his quips and responses. e.g. during his talk to the mayor he has several long pauses between his quips against him as if he's trying to find the right insult. another one is with Ruth because he's basically been sitting there through the entire song thinking "what are some good murder/theatre puns I can make" and then absolutely bombards her with them as if he didn't have enough time to figure out which works best. noones talked about this so it might just be me

[@imtooqueerforthis]

Ooh that's so neat!!

[@Vil.N.Melling]

That's really interesting, though!

[@RoarkRainer5309]

I also noticed that Richie is the only one of Max's deaths that gets their own musical number. Considering Pete is the protagonist, it would've made sense for him to get this moment during the finale except that he's just an accessory for the important events.

[@interneptcorner]

this analysis is so excellent - i never thought about how max waited two weeks before attacking anyone! i want a short film of max’s two week period of just watching him crumble and gain his powers 👀

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Thank you so much! That was a question that bounced around my brain a lot, and it was very fun to explore! Seeing what exactly Max did during those two weeks would be so interesting, either in a short film or a fanfic

[@TheFirstRose]

Since watching the show I keep wondering... what would've happened if Max didn't fall and die? He seemed "cool" before his death, after understanding the "joke", saying they know how to throw a party. He seemed so, albeit temporarily, *human.* How would it all have gone if he didn't die? What's under Max's god complex, the shell of narcissism?

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh, you have no idea how much I've thought about exactly this! I'm low-key tempted to make a whole video discussing and theorizing about it

[@lmao...its_me]

man, out of all the creatures in npmd, the scariest one was the skele'on.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

I know, like, I didn't think there'd be a *skele'on* here

[@foundawayout5622]

this was REALLY REALLY good! i’ve been a starkid fan for a long time now but embarrassingly, i literally only just started to actually watch NPMD 5 hours ago. however i rewatched the beginning and realised that richie’s death was much more horrible than what we saw on screen but i didn’t see comments talking about it, i was delighted to find this video and was shocked to see it was posted just a day ago! just a little coincidence i found cool, again i really loved this analysis, it’s so well done and my heart hurts for richie

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Sometimes timing really just works out! I'm glad you liked it, thank you!

[@cb034]

As if I haven't cried enough over Richie😭

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Same here, his death is just too heart-breaking (even before you break it down this much)

[@redrasegarden]

…this is what happens when a single moment lives in your head rent free.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

That was actually how this started haha. After watching NPMD, "I'm not a loser!" was literally the first thing I'd think about when I woke up in the morning like five days in a row. Finally I was just like "Fine, I'll analyze it"

[@redrasegarden]

@@Vil.N.Melling 😂

[@addiedoherty4371]

I want to learn to draw so I can animate the “not a loser” scene and address how gruesome Richie’s death was. Not only was he beaten and drowned to death, people forget that they didn’t find Richie until Monday

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Animating it would be so much fun, but god would it take a long time

[@Wren_BurnsHam]

I watched NPMD today and I find it surprising people who have been in this fandom way longer than me didn’t figure out how absolutely HORRIFYING Richie’s death was. After watching Ruth’s death, I was like ‘holy shit they didn’t show Richie’s death, but showed THIS what the hell happened to Richie.’

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Richie's death being too long and too horrifying to show is really something...

[@ash-xc2fj]

Head wounds also tend to bleed A LOT more than wounds in other spots on the body

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Another horrifying fact to add to the list!

[@luna732]

Amazing analysis, you brought up so many points I haven't seen anyone else point out (or even haven't considered myself). Ritchie's death really has a lot of gruesome implications, no wonder his death was the set-up for the slasher-style musical. Particularly, never seen anyone think about Sam being mentioned, him hurling at the sight really says something. The Hatchetfield-universe really invites so much analyze, so seeing such a well-made and thoughtful one is great, especially the analysis on Max, especially since his actions as ghost!max is so easy to dismiss as him being warped from returning from dead, since it has been mentioned to be an expected effect, mayor lautner saying hate is all he is now. But it's still Max, and how that curse is channeled through him, that's why almost everything about him and his mindset is kinda already introduced before he dies. I always thought Ritchie's attempt to stand up to him for the first time, is something that really set Max off (more than he already was), and it mirroring the way Max in the past treated someone standing up to him, through a violence his victim can't hope to match or return. "Does it feel like I lost my power" indeed. It's also interesting that mayor Lautner, despite saying Max can't be reasoned with, still attempted to convince him that he wasn't a loser, but even before his death, Max didn't care for any reasoning you could give for not being a loser. That's why the only character who actually fit "nerdy prude" and who was arguably the most guilty in his demise, is the only one who he not only doesn't view as a loser but doesn't want to kill, Grace Chasity. Because Max said she wasn't a loser, because Max wasn't trying to avenge his death or the latter defiling of his body I wonder if he felt less need to draw things out against Ruth since she didn't stand up to him or try to deny the status he had given her, contra Ritchie's "I'm not a loser". He was still motivated to kill her but not make a point and reclaim that power in the same way. You could view the way she was killed as a "standard" bullying session albeit a fatale version, while Ritchie experienced things in addition to "standard" bullying practices, such as those cuts and the bloody message - Max quite literally sending a message.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

One look at Hatchetfield tells you that "yup, there are things to *freakin' dissect* here." Every comment I see mentioning Max makes me even more excited to start working on my Max analysis video! That's a really interesting theory about Ruth's death. I'll have to look into that; it could definitely be something. Thank you so so much!!

[@djslifeasweknowit]

“I’m not a loser” hits hard. But apparently not as hard as Max hits.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

You didn't have to go there, but you did and I am both amused and horrified by it

[@djslifeasweknowit]

@@Vil.N.Melling 😇

[@cantthinkofaname4133]

I think the main reason the "im not a loser" line is when you hear it as an anwser to max's question "who will pray for you when your gone?" The response people will pray for me because im not a loser is devastating when you realize no one prayed for max he was forgot and no one cared richie didnt mean this but was right when the team lost their game the next day they didnt even think it was due to missing their star player they remeber that they were missing a mascot people remebered richie and 3very forgot and was glad max was gone because he unlike richie he was a loser who no one cared about.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

I agree with the second part, especially with Shapiro referring to Richie as "the most important part of the team" when she's interrogating the other nerds!

[@Bl4ck_m0ld]

I personally thought that it took him so long to kill someone because he got all of his limbs cut off and was buried under the floorboards, so I think he just took a bit to pull himself together

[@Vil.N.Melling]

That could also be it, but we do also know that ghost Max isn't actual Max's body (since they find him in the Waylon Place, dismembered, AFTER Richie's death), so I'm leaning more towards the theory that ghost Max is more of an apparition, who would've come to be with all his limbs intact

[@Bl4ck_m0ld]

@@Vil.N.Melling oh yeahh i didnt really realize that! good to know

[@SioxGreyWolf]

You know, there is a full chance Max might have even let Richie live. Might even had spared the nerds, but the defiance, the defiance was absolute what set him out of control.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Yes! And that is so saaaaad

[@friedchicken7576]

13:30 and some of the bits from the im not a loser section i just wanted to expand on because i REALLY loved the points you made. (13:30) I think that during that part, when the students join in and Max is standing triumphantly to the side, fists clenched in front of him (almost like a ruler with an iron fist) while richie cowers on the ground, that part feels like the crescendo of Max's fury and also his sense of gaining back control. I mean, the music literally gets louder and Max is the dominating voice. For a moment, he feels like everything is back to how it was when he was king of the school. But its not the same. The students are in the back, whispering the lyrics "if i can finally be cool i will know that" and then along with richie they all sing "IM NOT A LOSER!" This lyric is loud, its disruptive, it overturns everything Max has been building towards during this part. Max has been heading towards a decleration of his control over the losers, while the students + Richie have been building towards a decleration that goes against that. The lyric itself and Richie screaming it break Max out of his momentary trance of feeling like everything is back to the way he's used to. For a second, he loses his power. It's why he sounds so pissed when he says "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" He is enraged that Richie would ever utter those words in front of him, especially after he'd spent an entire song proving that the opposite was true. It's like "I came back from the dead, i trapped you, i control you, im mocking you,and you STILL have the nerve to defy me? Get the fucking hint!" Max's yell is his anger at the way the hierarchy has changed, the hierarchy he created. But soon, he'll make it all the way it used to be again, which is why he regains his composure. After all, Richie has no chance of escaping.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Oh my gosh, this is such a good analysis of that part! EVERYTHING is so much deeper than it looks at first glance

[@elisabethvictoria5324]

not only is richie's death the most horrifying, its also the most tragic (insert crying emoji since im on laptop) i still havent gotten over it :( he didnt deserve to die like that

[@Vil.N.Melling]

100% agreed, it checks like all the boxes

[@_nochi_]

Random fun fact: you can use emojis by pressing the command/windows button and the ";" button whilst typing to open an emoji selection menu

[@elisabethvictoria5324]

@@_nochi_ yooooooo awesome (im probably gonna forget this in two hours)

[@penguinresearcher5236]

One other thing that I would like to add is that when Richie says "I'm not a loser" during the height of Max's song, that small act of defiance alone is enough to incur extra wrath from Max. We see the shock on Max's face when Richie has just enough gall to not go along with everything Max is telling him. Max's immediate reaction is "What did you say???" which is both expressing shock and rage. I think Max would absolutely make Richie pay dearly for exercising his free will and reminding Max through his outburst that Max isn't God, no matter how much he tries to be.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

I completely agree, and oh god does it make Max more cruel and Richie more unfortunate

[@PolarNitaIsTired]

Smth i find interesting is that, by killing Richie before the big game, we end up being left unsure if the reason the team lost really was because of Max being absent. We dont know if the team's loss was because of the lack of the star player or the lack of the mascot being there to keep their spirits up. (We even have the police and the players saying that RICHIE is the main important part of yhe team). Honestly, i read this as another potential motivation for Max killing him first. The only thing left for someone to take away from Max was the title as the most important player. The one who leads knighthawks tp the victory. If they had won with Richie there, there would be nothing left about Max.

[@greedavaricious7760]

Something I saw someone write also adds a layer of tragedy to Max. Oh yeah he was 100% a rotten guy, but he is now condemned for eternity to Wiggly and his brothers, the who will pray for me bit him seems like he knows there’s no release for him given what Richie and the others did to him. He was a bully and was definitely not a good guy but didn’t deserve that fate. Not justifying what he did though

[@Vil.N.Melling]

An eternity of torment by the Lords in Black is such a horrible fate for anyone

[@roackyroad585crunch8]

No one batted an eye when Max went missing. No search parties, no tears, no prayers. Just joy. And when he was found dead, no one prayed for him, but they praised the nerds who mutilated his body once he was gone. Even the people he considered his friends admitted to better lives without Max. He hated himself and was broken beyond repair once he realized that everyone else hated him too. Then he made it their problem.

[@MK-moth]

just finished Nerdy Prudes and it was such an awesome show! Richie's defiant "I'm not a loser!" met with the abrupt jump out of the song by Max's "WHAT DID YOU SAY" gives me chills every time! Really liked your analysis of it and the comparison of Richie's death being done more out of anger than the others because of the implications for Max's post-death power loss.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Nerdy Prudes is so unbelievably good, I love it. I'm glad you liked the analysis, thank you!

[@hmmmmmmmmmm..]

You sort of touched on it, but I feel there’s definitely some crucial connection to be made between everything you talked about. Richie reaches a high point in his life by being accepted, so to kill him quickly after would mean nothing, as it’s the sort of thing you’d see and say “at least he got what he wanted”, like he completed his arc and still succeeded. By having Max go to the extent he does with Richie’s death, he takes this all away to restore his “order” at the school. -He starts by making him think his friends are teasing him. -He then reveals himself and threatens Richie, which scares him and makes him question things. -He then makes him obey him once again, returning to the old power dynamic. -When Richie challenges this and tries to suggest he is “not a loser”, Max draws out the torture to let him fully accept the fact that he is in fact a loser, and he is in fact going to die. By drawing out the pain and fear as long as possible, he takes Richie down from his highest point to a new low. He takes back control.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Ooooh yeah, this is such a good point. Richie's happiness is such a good 'supposed victory' character arc beat, disguising itself as a positive conclusion before launching STRAIGHT into the disaster beat by undoing the supposed victory AND killing him.

[@lettermanjack8291]

And then, ON TOP of all this, the "I'm not a loser" liet motif shows up everywhere throughout the entire musical. If you listen close enough, you can hear a slightly altered version of the melody within the first 20 seconds of "High School is Killing Me", musically echoing Richie's defiance that got him killed before we even know what it means. The exact same liet motif shows up in the background of "Just For Once" at around the 4 minute mark because, (or at least I believe) once she hits that final high note she finally convinces herself she doesn't have to be a loser and can perform like everyone else in the play instead of just man the lights. The same liet motif also shows up in the background when Steph and Pete are arguing over Steph having to shoot him, not only referencing "Cool as I Think I Am" but the sentiment that Pete isn't a loser and it is possible for Steph to love him enough to have to kill him. I really like musical liet motifs NSNDNDNNDNDND

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Y E S, the "I'm not a loser" leitmotif is one of my favorite recurring things in NPMD tbh

[@ihavenoclueidk]

theres also a line somewhere of i think the towns people saying; 'guts were cut in two' paraphraised. which i think was refering to richies death however as ruth WAS tecnically split in two.. donno. it depends on the timing if it was after or not because i cant place where it was said

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Hatchet Town's BEFORE Ruth's death, so it couldn't have been her. And either way, I don't think Hatchet Town's the most reliable source of information, considering there's also lines about guns and cannibalisms, which weren't involved in either Max or Richie's deaths

[@todorokis_trauma_kettle]

Richies opening song broke me. He mentioned that his pulse is dropping which implies that he did not die quickly, he bled to death and drowned slowly in the toilet bowl. He had to wait to die, when comparing that to Ruth who died relatively quickly (albeit still painfully) I don’t understand why people say Ruth was in more pain when she died.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

I feel so bad for him, his death was truly *horrible*.

[@talonsandtails501]

Late to this but I should mention; a laceration isn’t *just* a cut. It’s a split caused by blunt force or tearing. So either Max was striking Richie with enough force to cause these lacerations, or tore them open with his bare hands.

[@melnolastnamegiven7932]

Additional fucked up thing: So Max sounds like he’s choking on his own blood as he’s dying so he: chokes/suffocates, has his nipples cut off, has organs probably spill out through a puncture wound, and is torn apart after dying. After yknow he finally faces one of his fears and feels like he’s overcome something before dying. Richie drowns to death, has severe wounds over his head and torso, has his nipples twisted off, and it’s implied some of his organs fell out. All this happens after Richie feels happy and accomplished over being in a situation he never could have imagined happening a few weeks prior. Max was loosely replicating elements of his own death for Richie :)))

[@chappellsgirl12]

THE IMPLICATIONS!!! Absolutely loved this

[@Vil.N.Melling]

THINK ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS! Thank you so much, I'm glad!!

[@Nightmaredragonproject]

The fact that they are lacerations and it takes a lot of blood to write this message as clearly he would have been alive because wounds stop bleeding once you are dead not instantly of course but it wouldn’t have been enough to write it that well, you could even assume that they kept him alive and once a laceration began to bleed less just tore a new one to make more ink”

[@Vil.N.Melling]

Someone else commented the same thing, and ever since then, Richie's death has been even more dread-inducing

[@roc1687]

i always took richie’s ‘death’ scene a little differently. i think Max mostly wanted things to go back to the way they were. as such, i would like to submit my theory that he planned to bully richie back into the role max had given him, but not necessarily kill him. i think that we watch him get angrier and closer to that switch as the song goes on, but i don’t think he genuinely intended on killing richie until “im not a loser.” his reaction to that line is overwhelming and insecure; he’s lashing out. up until that point, i think he’s been using “die/dead” in a more metaphorical sense (see: dead in a social sense or ‘you’re dead meat’ before beating them without killing them) he plans on scaring richie and reinstating his power. even “until another richie comes along” could be in an attempt to get under his skin and tell him that he’s incredibly replaceable. even his position at the bottom of the hierarchy isn’t truly his, and max can do anything he wants to prove that. until richie says “i’m not a loser,” max genuinely believes himself to be in charge. he believes he’s regaining his power and that this moment will help reinstate the system he had set up. richie not only upsets the system with that line, he also says it at a time that makes it incredibly feasible for max to feel like richie is calling HIM a loser. max went to reinstate his system and instead had it flipped on its head without his approval.

[@kpopgamingstudios]

I think the line 'Or until another Richie comes along' is genius and dark. It's basically what happened to Max. His last thoughts as he dies are 'Who will pray for me when I'm gone?', only to come back and see that Richie has basically replaced him, becoming friends with his team, becoming an important member to the team, becoming another 'Max'... or in this case, a 'nerdy Max that they like more because he's not a bully', as we see people celebrating that fact that Max had died. Max is taunting Richie, saying that there will always be another Richie who will take his place after he dies, just like how Max was replaced. They aren't important enough to be remembered, at least not to most, and especially not to Hatchetfield. Remember, their deaths were only an afterthought in the news, the most important news being the loss to Clivesdale.

[@ruzachan]

I was thought the catalyst was Steph calling Pete a nerd. Pete says it's the first time someone has called him a nerd since Max's death(and even though it's not said, I took it as no one has used that word)....so in my head it implied the Max heard the word 'nerd' and it "awoke" him .

[@JaceAce22]

So in comparison to the acts of murder depicted across the stage company's productions, Richie's death is implied to be an actual physical assault, with a slashing weapon, torture from the purple nurples, and a drowning execution. Where the cop who killed people was more of an assassin killing cleanly and discreetly with drugs, poison or other non-confrontational ways.

[@Vil.N.Melling]

It's definitely a big step up in terms of horror