From Hamtaro to Plato: Exploring Love Through Hamsters and Philosophy
From Hamtaro to Plato: Exploring Love Through Hamsters and Philosophy
I know that the title of this is what got you here and let me tell you it does not get any more sane from here. Yes this is an essay talking about a silly little hamster franchise alongside the concepts of love popularized by a bunch of really dead guys. I do weird subjects like this all the time on this channel, feel free to subscribe. I digress, I’ve been a big fan of the Hamtaro games since I was a kid and I was a fan of the goofy show that aired in the 2000s over here in North America. If you’re wondering what that has to do with love, well guess what. Hamtaro Ham-Ham Heartbreak is a game all about love and how a little gremlin named Spat hates ALL love and wants to break it all up. The thing is about Ham ham Heartbreak they do not JUST mean romantic love they means all kinds of love.
Which is where the Greeks come in
Agape, Eros, Philia, Storge and Philautia. All of these are words for the concepts of love according to ancient Greeks and they’re all spoken across the ages. There are three others that could also fit this group which is Pragma, Xenia and Ludus, but cards on the table, the examples I can think of for them would either overlap with other examples or wouldn’t make any sense in my brain. The important thing is, that you can find all of the aforementioned 5 love concepts in Ham Ham Heartbreak. Only not always in the most straight forward way. I won’t be covering every single relationship in the 9 ½ hour game (10 hours if you’re a completionist), because I don’t need to, to make my point. If the hardcore ham ham enthusiasts have issue with that, feel free to comment and then ALSO make a Hamtaro video essay, see how that does for your sanity. It’s done wonders with mine.
Anywho let’s get this party started! It’s Hamtaro time!
Agape
Not only that but I think for a relationship to work and be function, if we’re going by the concepts of love presented in this alone, I think Agape, a selfless love, needs to be apart of that. In "From Eros to Agape: A multi-Displinary perspective of love" by Elena NEDELCU states:
“Robert Sternberg proposes a ‘triangular theory’ of love based on three components: passion, intimacy and commitment. Intimacy involves feelings of closeness and connection; passion involves feelings and desires that generate physical attraction, romance, sexuality; commitment involves traits that cause a person to stay with someone and to move toward common goals.”
So we’re sticking with unconditional love for this one. Now I don’t think that this is much of a contest on this one and I think that the love between Hamtaro and Bijjou is the best fit for this. Because this is a game for children they obviously don’t get into the horrors of how Hamsters are when they’re actually “in love” but since these little critters are anthropomorphized to Valhalla and back. They show their relationship as a cute interpretation of romantic love which you could argue could potentially go under eros but doesn’t quite fit if you consider their actions. Throughout the story both Hamtaro and Bijjou go out of their way to help the hamsters around them. At times they risk great personal harm to themselves to do so. Through all of that though, they’re entirely devoted to one another and every hill they have to climb the do together, devoted to one wholly and completely.
But they’re also devoted to the entirety of the cause in Hamtaro Ham-Ham heartbreak which they prioritize.
Other than the wholesomeness of Hamtaro and Bijou there are other Hamsters that hit similar notes in the game. In the last act of the game when Spat has captured the Sweetie of a grey Hamster named George at Spat tower. I’m going to call her Sweetie because the game doesn’t give her a name. We’re treated to his strife at working for a terrible hamster like Spat. But Spat is holding his girlfriend hostage and we assume she’s being tortured judging by the sounds behind the door she’s in. When we eventually rescue her, we find out that she’s been watching TV in her cell and has been completely well taken care of this whole time. That all the panic and fear that George had was somewhat unwarranted. After a brief exchange they renew their love for each other. Despite their time apart, they love one another still, a true Odysseus and Penelope entry, without all the murder, unless you count us defeating spat but he’s not dead from that.
The final entry of this particular type of love being the married hamster couple from Sandy Bay. They’ve been together for years and the sailor hamster forgot about their anniversary. This is the sort of blunder I’ve seen in relationships before and I’m sure you’ve heard about them as well. I do understand the hurt of this sort of situation. You’ve been married to someone for a good portion of your life and them forgetting the day of your union hurts. The Sea Captain is a hard-working guy and he feels guilty for the whole thing but avoiding her was not the right call. His wife still loves him, she’s only disappointed and frustrated that he won’t come back. When he eventually does and gives her the orange hibiscus which she’d mentioned fondly as one of her favorite memories. Showing that he does listen and care. He’s only a forgetful oaf. But he does love his wife without question.
Eros
The Greeks defined it as a passionate or sensual love. Like Eros and Psyche in Greek myth. Now before any of you start to tell me your horror stories about the two hamsters you had having a million babies that specific aspect of eros is not what I’m going over here. Hilariously enough Sigmund Freud was the one who desexualized Eros to a degree, which if you know anything about Freud, you know how STRANGE that sentence is. Eros is also believed as a drive or a will to live for him. Not only for reproductive reasons but also to combat death directly by sheer willpower. The Eros we’re covering is equated to love at first sight or a lovesickness. Think Paris with Helen of Troy. While I am mostly talking about Aristotle here, let’s go back to his master Plato for a moment, the more idealistic version of Aristotle. He viewed eros as being possible without physical attraction. That you could appreciate the beauty on the outside of the person or within.He viewed it in the metaphysical sense of beauty being forever and more eternal than only the physical bodies of man. Even platonic attraction if you will.
In the Funland park, Sandy and her brother stan are there alongside Maxwell. Sandy has been carrying a torch for Maxwell for quite some time and Stan is well aware of this which is why he invited him to come along, but Maxwell isn’t participating in any of the rides, he’s sitting there reading his book while Sandy and Stan ride the rides. After some gentle prodding from Hamtaro, Maxwell realizes that Sandy wants him to enjoy the park with her and goes over to apologize. While Sandy is crushing on Maxwell,
Maxwell sees her as a good companion and even ends their “love” route on what could be argued as a “Will they won’t they” platonic route. Since while they do enjoy the park together it’s unclear if Maxwell is doing it out of returned feelings or if he’s hanging out with his friend. Keep in mind that Plato spoke of Eros in way that it didn’t have to be based in the realm of physical intimacy or attraction for that matter. Maxwell isn’t overtly attracted to Sandy in the game but is happy to be with her. It also took the willpower that freud spoke of to set aside his own desires of staying isolated The Eros goes both ways in this specific main ham ham crew’s relationship. One on an entirely physical level and one on a more platonic one.
Also in Funland is a great example of a first love with the bright yellow herculean sized Hamster, Hank and cream colored hamster with pink ears, Heidi. At Hank hides in the bathroom unable to get over how much his affection for her burns deep inside his heart, then with the help from Hamtaro he gathers the courage to help ask her out. Forcing himself out of the bathroom to do so despite being a blushing mess. Then in a truly romantic comedy way, while going on a Ferris wheel date, Hamtaro advises Hank on what to say Heidi so he doesn’t accidentally say the wrong thing. Normally, I’d dislike this trope because it reads as dishonest, but in from a gameplay perspective I see it as Hank trying to ask her out, having the words but not sure in which order to say them. Which is a struggle I completely empathize with. Anyway, once the Ferris Wheel stops you find out that Hank didn’t need to ask Heidi on that sort of date or really say all those nice things to her. She assumed they were already a couple to which Hank cries tears of joy. I did genuinely laugh at the fact that Heidi was ALREADY attracted to Hank by the time they go on the Ferris wheel. This shows the start of love from two people already attracted to one another, only needing a push to actually act upon those feelings. It’s implied that the two already knew each other for a while when Hank was frozen on the bench next to her, but neither knew how to act upon their feelings. We witness the beginnings of a beautiful relationship through eros, platonically felt and mutually attracted to one another. Once they get outside of the ferris wheel and the que for the ride, Hank gets a reward of the smooch on the cheek.
At Sandy Bay we have an unexpected development with one of the pineapple playing Hamsters and a hamster that’s watching him from afar. At first we see a more cream colored hamster give us the love note to give to the hamster with the blue tail and when we tell him who its from. He rushes over there and once there he’s surprised to learn its from the grey hamster that’s barely able to get a word out that’s absolutely smitten with him. If there was any example of OBVIOUS physical attraction and eros like obsession with beauty it is from the Grey Hamster at Sandy Bay snuggling up to her unsuspecting new beau. Absolutely enamored with his beauty and him going with the flow. What’s funny about this one to me is that if there’s any one of these that I’d arguably compare to a pseudo Eros and Psyche story it’d be this one, just without all the trials and jealous goddess.
In a tutorial friendly example; Oxnard and Pepper aren’t the type of couple who fights from how the game presents them but with a simple misunderstanding they are, for the briefest of moments torn asunder by that dastard Spat, but thanks to Hamtaro and Bijou they’re reunited once again. While they don’t play a large role in the first segment of the game but serve as a good tutorial for one of the many types of love we’re looking at.
The other hamsters that come to mind are Seamore and Barrette. He’s hurt because of a love note he found from the surfer at Sandy Bay. The Surfer from Sandy Bay isn’t actually a surfer he’s only there to look cool.
In reality, it’s all a dramatic ruse by Spat to attempt to break up their love. He left the note to get Seamore jealous and claimed to Barrete that Seamore was actually kidnapped and held hostage by Spat, only for her to risk her own life to try to save him, getting kicked out onto the open water on only a plank of wood. Kidnapping Barrette Manipulating her to think that the hamster she loves won’t save her. Of course, that isn’t true, despite being heart broken by the aspect of Barrette finding another, Seamore does spring into action once he’s told she’s in danger. He swims out there to save her and the clear up all of their Misunderstandings and pick up where they left off.
Later on when Hamtaro is captured in the Boo Manor and there’s a couple that’s only known as the mighty couple with a green and a purple Hamster. To which I’m assuming is a reference to the incredible hulk but that’s besides the point. When Hamtaro falls for a trap, Bijou desperately tries to help him in any way she can. The mighty couple offer their assistance and at first the Green one has no hope that they can bend the steel bars but when the purple one bends them, they gain the confidence in themselves and the will to rip open the bars of the cage allowing Hamtaro and Howdy to escape. After Hamtaro and bijou are reunited we are treated to another kiss on the cheek from the purple Hamster to the Green one. Talking about how strong and incredible they were before they went off to solve another problem. Since while it was their strength that bent the bars, it was their strength of character to never give up and to do the heroic act that despite the fact green doubted themselves, purple never lost faith in what they could do, knowing that they could be the hero that was needed in this moment.
Phillia:
“After what we have said, a discussion of friendship would naturally follow, since it is a virtue or implies virtue, and is besides most necessary with a view to living. For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods; even rich men and those in possession of office and of dominating power are thought to need friends most of all; for what is the use of such prosperity without the opportunity of beneficence, which is exercised chiefly and in its most laudable form towards friends?” Page 127 Nicomachean Ethics
Now you must be wondering how this applies to these funny little hamsters, well lets start with Dexter and Howdy.
Dexter and Howdy have a friendship that it familial in nature. They act like brothers with some sort of rivalry and are seldom seen without one another. In almost every piece of media the two are in they’re always fighting in some capacity, usually over Pashmina if we go by the first two seasons of tv show that is. The two went into the Boo Manor meant for duos and promptly Howdy fell in trap, the same one that Hamtaro falls into. When playing as bijou we have Dexter beside himself with worry and during his search to free Howdy, he promptly falls into another trap, a coffin can’t get out. After Howdy is freed and learns of Dexter’s predicament, he flies into a frenzy desperately trying to figure out how to get him out of the coffin. When we rescue him, they check to see if the other is okay before berating one another for getting caught in such an easy trap in the first place. But it can’t be understated how much they were worried about each other to the point where while they might disagree, nobody can deny the fact they are close friends, practically brothers with the way they act. They were worried about one another and even in the closing credits when they think about arguing they resign themselves to getting along, even if it’s only for a little while.
The next brotherly relationship isn’t between two hamsters but is, in fact between a hamster and a monkey. Bog the hamster appears as an antagonist to our two lovebirds Hamtaro and Bijjou, trapping them in a cage. They then had to clarify why they were in the Deepwoods and Bog started showing them around and showing them new techniques, he clearly learned from living in the jungle his whole life. Being a sort of Tarzan or George of the Jungle expy.
Bog helps us catch Cappy later on after he mistaking steal’s Seedrics hat, so Cappy can start his own friendship with Seedric over their own special interest, which is hats. Truly, Cappy is the Fred Jones of Hamtaro world. There’s always somebody for someone out there.
Anyways, back to the real star of our Story, Bog. Upon seeing Bog in his home later, Hamtaro and Bijjou find out already met Bog the hamster’s brother, a Monkey named, well Monkey and we’d given him a bad banana by accident earlier in the story. One of our quests being getting him something for his tummy ache. We witness Bog treating Monkey like his own family, the two living together and later, raising a kid together with the tiny chick we are allowed to name. Showing that friendship this strong can even cross the line of species.
This next bit I need to put some context in, well more context than I have been doing for the majority of this. Penelope and Pashmina in the show act like sisters and in the English dub Pashmina says they are sisters but I haven’t found anything clarifying if they are or not. EITHER WAY they fit under Philia more than most of the people in this segment because for all intents and purposes you wouldn’t be able tell that they weren’t sisters. That’s how close the two of them are. Pashmina looks out for Penelope during all her game appearances and is shown in a pure caretaker role to her. They’re inseparable, which is why its so heart breaking to see them fight. A fight that is caused by the one and only, SPAT. He impersonates Pashmina and is downright cruel to poor Penelope. We go to find Pashmina only to see Penelope stamping all over her precious scarf. But we’d just seen Penelope, clearly evil is afoot and we warn Pashmina of her little sisters’ strife! Pashmina comes back only to find Penelope so distraught she tries to help, only to be ambushed by none other than HERSELF.
Now Pashmina vs Pashmina, Penelope has to decide, until our favorite hamster makes a very biblical suggestion. Then it gets very Judgement of Solomon in Hamtaro Ham Ham Heartbreak.
During the fight, when Penelope starts crying out and she’s let go by the real Pashmina, only for Penelope to realize who was her true sister the entire time. Spats disguise is dispelled and he curses that love wins the day. He sharpens his pitchfork intending to harm the hamster sisters. Only for a virtuous battle cry of Okoweee to pierce the silence and for Penelope to RAM SPAT OFF THE SIDE OF THE RAILING ONLY FOR HIM TO FALL TO HIS DEMI-Nah he lands in the water and rides off on the fish as he goes blasting off again. Still, Penelope is really brutal. But what can I say. She knows how to truly take care of family
Storge
The love between parents and children, a familial love. A bond that can also be shared between childhood friends as well. It’s a love that most people view as coming natural to someone, a base instinctual love for someone that you’re supposed to care for no matter what. It’s often tied to the memories shared between two or more people.
It:s is a kind of love that’d doesn’t have as wide of a spread of examples as other types of love I mention in this video. But the two that I do find are fitting for the Storge’s core meaning, which is about affection from family. A more parental sort of love. While seldom mentioned in the bible like the others in this video, which is in the book of romans and 2 timmothy. But we’re going to I’m going to use the discussion purposed on Learn Religions.com to further explain this. :
“In Romans 1:31, unrighteous people are described as "foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless" (ESV). The Greek word translated "heartless" is astorgos.
In 2 Timothy 3:3, the disobedient generation living in the last days is marked as "heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good" (ESV). Again, "heartless" is translated astorgos. So, a lack of storge, the natural love among family members, is a sign of end times.”
Which considering that the entirety of Ham-Ham heartbreak is about how the lack of love signals the potential collapse of hamster society makes this a surprisingly relevant interpretation. To add onto this, famed writer CS Lewis also weighed in on this type of love. According to him, it could bypass the barriers of even species, which in Ham-Ham Heartbreaks case, makes this a powerful sentiment.
What I find unique about our examples of Storge for Ham Ham heartbreak is that one isn’t even an actual an actual hamster? It’s a Robo Hamster. Allow me to explain this modern-day Prometheus inspired story if you will.
In Fun land park when we first enter, there’s a robot that’s there alongside their very proud inventor. Inventor (because they don’t have a name) and Ham-O-Matic. Ham-O-Matic knows how to clean up trash and we can order it to do it after the demonstration if we’d like. There’s a clear pride and parental concern when it comes to the inventor and Ham-O-Matic but unlike Frankenstein’s Monster, Ham-o-matic is cherished and loved. No resentment and fear. This is the Ham-O-Matic, the child of this inventor and when the chips were down and Fun land was in danger, the inventor and their creation SPRANG into action. Alas, the only thing Ham-O-Matic was taught, was to clean so at first Ham-O-Matic doesn’t know what to do with Sprat as he attempted to further sabotage the rides in Fun Land. But with quick thinking, Hamtaro tosses trash at Spat, ordering Ham-O-Matic to Scrub-E as fast as it can.
Which Ham-O-Matic obliges with great efficiency. Blasting off with Spat in hand to parts unknown much to the surprise of everyone. Once Ham-o-Matic returns the inventor preens like a proud papa, filled with the utter adoration and love for their creation. Calling it Tip-Top which in Hamster language means excellent. Exactly like a parent praising their child. A Storge type of love.
A slightly more traditional representation of this would be the Ghost Mother Hamster, found crying in the Boo Manor . After some investigating we are able to interact with her and we find out why she’s sad. For those of you in the audience knowledge we may have of what mother hamsters do to their children when they think there’s not enough resources or out of fear, I ask you to put that aside because that’s not why she’s filled with such sorrow. Her son has left the painting and run away, wanting to have fun somewhere else like he hadn’t been able to do in life. That place being none other than Funland.
When riding the roller coaster, you can see our little ghostly hamster child appear in the seats of the roller coaster, riding each time that we ride it. After solving the Spat incident in the park, the ghost child is desperate to see the show, a sentai inspired performance that’s common at Japanese theme parks. Also known as Power Rangers shows for those of us who grew up with power rangers first.
So in typical hamtaro fashion we reassemble the multi-colored Hamsters for the show but there’s’ a hitch, The Red Ham Ranger refuses to leave the bathroom. And if you know anything about sentai you’ll know that if there’s no red ranger, there is no show. We report this to Ghost Hamster Mom and when she hears about her boy's stubbornness and him wanting to finally see the Ham Rangers in person, she decides to step in as THE RED RANGER! Essentially, the mother hamster is erasing her previous identity so she can be who her son needs at this moment. A sacrifice many mothers make throughout their children's lives that isn't always touched upon in modern media. Yet here it is in this silly little hamster game.
Once assembled the Ghost Hamster Boy watches alongside the rest of the audience as the ham rangers assemble and perform their show. Only for him to realize that the Ham ranger on stage is in fact his mother after she reveals her secret identity to him. How much she missed him and understands why he fled to fun land, seeking joy in the afterlife. The Ghost Hamster Boy finds out everything his mother did for him to be happy and is content to return to the haunted house with her, THE RED RANGER who is his mother. The two are finally at peace. With the Mother giving the occasional performances of the Ham Ranger show to her son. Strengthening the bond between mother and son.
Philautia|
An elusive sort of love, Philautia isn’t the kind of love that typically relies on other people, it all has to do with the self. Philautia is self-love, a popular phrase that has both a positive and negative definition. If we go by the Merriam Webster defines it as one of 3 things:“love of self: such as
a
: an appreciation of one's own worth or virtue
b
: proper regard for and attention to one's own happiness or well-being
c
: inflated love of or pride in oneself : narcissism, conceited”
There are various opinions of the thought of self-love that register all across the morality spectrum. Sir Frances Bacon stated in Of Wisdom for a Man’s Self , XXIII
“And certainly it is the nature of extreme self-lovers, as they will set an house on fire, and it were but to roast their eggs; and yet these men many times hold credit with their masters, because their study is but to please them and profit themselves; and for either respect they will abandon the good of their affairs.”
On the opposite side of the spectrum in a paper discussing Jean Jacques Rousseau works it was stated.
"Rousseau attributes to all creatures an instinctual drive towards self-preservation. Human beings therefore have such a drive, which he terms amour de soi (self love). Amour de soi directs us first to attend to our most basic biological needs for things like food, shelter and warmth. Since, for Rousseau, humans, like other creatures, are part of the design of a benevolent creator, they are individually well-equipped with the means to satisfy their natural needs. Alongside this basic drive for self-preservation, Rousseau posits another passion which he terms pitié (compassion). Pitié directs us to attend to and relieve the suffering of others (including animals) where we can do so without danger to our own self-preservation."
That said, Rousseau was opposed to self-love in excess. The point still stands but I wanted to clarify for any Rousseau fans out there in my audience.
I will say that this particular concept of love was hard to assign to any of the ham-hams, or even the side characters. At least not in a balanced way. And yet. Two characters that act as active foils to one another, one of which who has a story throughout the game and is its main antagonist and the other, trying to actually stop the antagonist, by of course employing other hamsters to stop them. Embodiments of Philatia on opposite sides of Ham-Ham-Heartbreak’s conflict. Who are they you might ask? Spat and Harmony, two sides of the same coin.
Spat is a character we are introduced to through his actions in Ham-Ham Heartbreak. The first we see of him is in a dream that Hamtaro is having, where he witnesses spat destroying people’s love only for Spat to come charging at Hamtaro. The next time he appears is at Sunny Peak, where it’s confirmed that he’s not in fact a dream hamster in a devil costume but a real life hamster in a devil costume! One whose actively trying to force others to be unhappy. He says he despises nothing more than love and will do whatever it takes to destroy. He’s doing this not out of any need for revenge or complex childhood trauma like many modern villains. He’s effectively a flat, cartoonishly evil hamster whose attempting to destroying the love for others, only because he wants to and it gives him joy. The suffering of others brings him joy. He loves no one but himself, though I’m skipping ahead in the script, let’s talk about Sprat’s foil a little.
Harmony’s introduction happens upon the return to the Ham-Ham clubhouse after finding bijou. We regale Boss with what happened at Sunny Peak on for a Hamster in Angel wings to walk in after us. Since we picked up a love meter, Harmony implores us to take on the task of healing the destroyed loves all across the map to gain enough energy to defeat Spat. Otherwise, she can’t go home. To which she promptly invites herself to stay at the Ham-Hideout without so much as asking Boss if she was allowed to stay. At her core, Harmony is a “good” hamster, she’s kind, wants to help others and is distressed at Spat destroying other hamsters love. At the core of it, Harmony is doing what is best for Hamster kind. The funny thing is, she didn’t actually do anything except dump exposition on us.
Both she and Spat have similar introductions where they simply say their name, their motivations and then they leave. Even down to their little outfits, the two show similarities that’ll become clear as I explain further.
The return to Sunny Peak opens up the world and allows Hamtaro and Bijjou to go and try to solve Hamster related relationship problems with no Spat in sight at first. That is until we get to Peak of Sunny Peak. We find out that out Spat has actually kidnapped a hamster, a pinkish red one, and is holding him hostage to keep him away from his friend who is at the bottom of the peak speaking about how worried he is. Going so far as refusing food until his friend is safely returned to him.
Rather than defeat Spat with violence, he proudly proclaims he’s not nice, he can’t be friends with everyone as you insist that you and him are Pals. Only for him to scurry off the bridge and nearly fall if it wasn’t for his wings. As he slowly flies away, Hamtaro and Bijou are able to free the trapped hamster.
I’ve gone over some of spats other crimes involving other hamsters, but a highlight of his selfish attitude is at the end Boo Manor where contrast to his other appearances, he didn’t kidnap anyone or make an appearance till the very end. Why? Because he wanted to take the prize for himself. This had nothing to do with separating peoples loves he only wanted to Take something for himself because he felt like he deserved it. The spooktakular prize was the satisfaction that the couple had gotten this far, and the knowledge they worked together as well as they did. After Spat crashes out about this and starts stabbing the ghost with the most. Then after some helpful encouragement by the Hamsters, the host turns into a cat and scares Spat off. Yet I found this very telling of Spat’s overall narcissism within the narrative.
What’s funny about this if you compare his actions to Harmony’s they make her look immensely better by comparison. Though when you think about it, Harmony, whenever you revisit the Ham Clubhouse and it activates her even, she tells you where spat has moved and then talks about how we can handle it, goes back upstairs and lays on the bed kicking her little hamster feet. No help. No Magic power. Only a angelic hamster waiting for two completely normal hamsters to save the day. At BEST she’ll give you a new word. AT BEST!
It makes them seem, awfully similar does it not? If you don’t see it yet my dear viewer, trust me, you will soon.
At the end of the game after we put the three magical gems into the pedestal and remove the magical spoon that you assume we’re going to use to fight Spat in Legend of Zelda sort of way, but no it becomes put of a sacred catapult that LAUNCHES us into Spat’s castle and after some clever puzzle solving we face him in his lair. Inside of his giant robot head made shaped like himself.
We dig giant robots, but I can’t say I expected this when i initially played this as a child. Especially considering these are hamsters we’re talking about tbut that’s beside the point.
Our first fight is a bust. Then we return to Harmony who FINALLY decides to help us after we say we’re planning on giving up then talk to her about a Love Shot which is something only angel hamsters can do that we didn’t know about till Spat said it out loud.
The love shot made from the love meter that was filled throughout the game as we healed the loves of all the ham hams we could. We experienced all the loves that the hamster world had to offer us in this kids game and now we were ready to face Spat. After the tough battle, Spat appears from his robot only for us to see that he was in fact turned into an angel hamster. Spat and Harmony weren’t so different after all. You could even argue that Spat was Harmony if Harmony had taken a drastically different path. Think about it, Harmony was kind but it was a more superficial sense, like this was part of her job. Her concern was there sure, but not enough to actually come and help us until it was finally imperative for the success of the mission. Then and only then was she willing to help us. If she had taken a different path, maybe decided NOT to be an angel and join in with Spat. They’d be two peas in the pod. While Spat might’ve been horrified he looked like her after getting hit with the Love Shot he also revealed a very important thing. While dressed like that, he can only do good deeds. Does that make it the same for Harmony? Is she only sticking to the straight and narrow because she’s forced to? WHAT IS THE SOCIETAL STRUCTURE OF THE-
Oh look a happy ending! Yay!
Harmony is elated that she’ll finally get to rest! Harmony says that we’ve saved love for hamsters everywhere! The Credits roll as the hamsters dance and we are left to mull over all the relationships we saved, a montage plays of each individual hamster dealing in the aftermath of the events of the game and its nice to see all the concepts of love on display in full bloom without hindrance of misunderstandings or Spat since it looks like Harmony has sent him flying with her love beams.
Does Red Angel Really think that the developers intended to display all the concepts of love in this in this children’s game intentionally? I think the developers wanted to make a game with something that everyone can get behind which is love. You don’t necessarily have to be in love or have all these kinds of loves in your life to understand the importance of them. Let’s be honest with ourselves, for a game meant for children, this showed us a wide breadth of relationships that fall all across the spectrum. They also expressed each relationship in a cute, quirky way that anyone can understand. It’s hard to imagine someone who can’t get behind this sort of storytelling in a video game. While this might be a silly little games about hamsters, it truly does show the many meanings of love.
I’m Red Angel and I’ll see you next time.
Works Cited: Aristotle., et al. The Nicomachean Ethics. Oxford University Press, 2009. Bacon, Francis. “Of Wisdom for a Man’s Self ” The Essays, edited by F. A. Howe, D. C. Heath & Co, 1908, XXIII Bertram, C. (2017, May 26). Jean Jacques Rousseau. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/rousseau/ The ESV Bible. Crossway, 2001. Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Self-love definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-love Nedelcu, Elena. "From Eros to Agape: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Love." Romanian Review of Social Sciences 10.18 (2020). Zavada, J. (2021, May 4). Storge: A greek word for family love in the Bible. Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-storge-love-700698
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