Cerberus

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

So how does Cerberus work?
Does each head have its own separate memories? Do they have a united consciousness?
They kind of each have their own personality, but that could be a conscious choice.
Could they separate if they wanted to and each of her have her own body? Or could they merge?

Discuss.

[HiraokaNettoMichio]

...Was it something I written fanwork wise that spawned this discussion? I thought that the three heads would speak to others as well as themselves, only with the heads alternating as I write dialogue for Cerb. But that's just how I written her and all.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

She talks to herself in the comic too, but they don't really explain a lot. Like do they share body control? Is that middle Cerbie's job? They never seem to disagree on anything and seem to know what each ither are thinking, but that might just be because they've been tigether for billions of years.

[D-Rock]

Singular consciousness, expressed through different heads that keep three personalities. She’s one being,

[Amazee Dayzee]

That can't be really easy for them and I sort of can't fathom one being that has three heads with eyes for each set. So does that mean she has six eyes and can make things out through ALL of them or is it just one head that sees everything and the other eyes transmit her vision through that one set? It is all so very confusing to me. X_X

[Morlit]

I believe its multiple minds sharing the same body expressed through different heads. As for how that works i have no idea and i dont think we humans can either since we lack a frame of reference.

Granted in my head cannon what we see as Celestials in the comic is just a fragment of their true selves which neither humans or pets can comprehend. Explains how they could be timeless yet also not cause a paradox by appearing. Their actual forms cant interact with reality.

(Or its just poorly thought out Worldbuilding from Rick's part. Quite a lot of that in the comic when you start analyzing it)

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

I think it might be like the Ood from Doctor Who. Each one is fully conscious and capable of making memories and problem solving, but they also separately share an extra brain between them all that allows them to share memories and information between the entire race.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I just am really interested in knowing how having six eyes and three heads work to be honest. Especially if there is only one consciousness between all three of the heads.

[Morlit]

I just am really interested in knowing how having six eyes and three heads work to be honest. Especially if there is only one consciousness between all three of the heads.

Well if you want to have your head explode trying to imagine how non-human vision works you can always try Box Jellyfish xd. They are belevad to have 360° vision thanks to having an eye on each "corner".

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Cerbie vision is probably similar to this scene from Steven Universe where Steven gets split.
The scene starts about halfway through the video and lasts about 10-15 seconds, but it gives an idea of what I'm thinking.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Yeah seeing that video makes me wonder how Cerberus doesn't get dizzy with all of the perspectives the three have. I guess that she must be used to it and it is normal to her.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Well, she probably has a way to filter out what each head is seeing. I'm guessing it's the "full consciousness/shared memories" thing. Each head is fully conscious but they each remember everything.

[Amazee Dayzee]

If there is just one consciousness they might be able to choose which eyes they see out of. Rather than just moving one head from side-to-side she can switch angles by looking through the other 2 pairs of eyes.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

It's implied during "The Four Animals You Meet in Heaven" that she sees out of all three sets simultaneously after she looks away and loses track of Keene. She looks down, realizes he's run off, and says "one of me has got to keep track of my charge."

[Amazee Dayzee]

If that is the case I wonder if she ever accidentally gave herself vertigo by looking in opposite directions from each other. No matter how used to seeing out of three different sets of eyes you are I am sure that would end up happening a few times.

[D-Rock]

With the possibility that she’s always been like this, maybe it’s something she’s never had to worry about.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

I know Rick did a sketch, and I can't remember if it was on Twitter, in one of the books, or on his FA, where Cerbie switched places with King. King became tall and had three heads and Cerbie became small with only one, and she was running for it with this big grin on her face. It was just GOOFY and I loved it.

Edit: I found it, I had it saved on my phone.

tumblr_okoja1mdi71sjj0nto2_1280.jpg (130.3 KiB) Viewed 15490 times

[HiraokaNettoMichio]

I know Rick did a sketch, and I can't remember if it was on Twitter, in one of the books, or on his FA, where Cerbie switched places with King. King became tall and had three heads and Cerbie became small with only one, and she was running for it with this big grin on her face. It was just GOOFY and I loved it.

Edit: I found it, I had it saved on my phone.
tumblr_okoja1mdi71sjj0nto2_1280.jpg

...Huh. So the Triple Header Cerberus Mod wasn't something goofy that I made on the fly regarding the in-universe fandom of the King Of Games Server's (Bomberman) Cerberus. Nice to see King rocking it much earlier beforehand.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

I think we can all agree that Right King embodies his anxieties and Left King embodies his concerns, leaving Center King looking just confused as to what just happened to him.

[HiraokaNettoMichio]

That and glorious shenanigans that could be dreamed up with the Triple Header Cerberus Mod. Of course the likes of balance and tweaks are on a case by case basis in addition to other details as well but nevertheless, I am looking forward to the metagames my mind can play!

[Amazee Dayzee]

At some point I am expecting all three of King's heads to have a really bad freak out when he figures out he is NOW Cerberus. You know that it is something that will happen due to his neurosis. XD

[NHWestoN]

At some point I am expecting all three of King's heads to have a really bad freak out when he figures out he is NOW Cerberus. You know that it is something that will happen due to his neurosis. XD

... while a second head agonizes about lurking crises like all three heads getting the sniffles or should each collar have a different license or what if there's only one hat to take outside. Meanwhile, the third will pick spats withe the other two. He'll be able to do an extended arc while never leaving his dog bed.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Is it just me ir does one-headed Cerbie kinda look a little like Olive?

[D-Rock]

Yup! Had to do a double-take when I saw that way back when.

[NHWestoN]

Recessive genes, mebbee?

[Amazee Dayzee]

Pretty sure that wasn't intentional on Rick's part and he just drew Olive in a way to make her adorable and precocious. I don't think there is a resemblance in-verse or at least nobody picked up on it and said anything.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Well if it was colored there wouldn't be a resemblance at all, they only look similar because it's only a lineart.

[NHWestoN]

When Cerberus dines, does only one mouth eat the meal or do all three eat at once? If all three eat at once, do they just chow down or negotiate portion rationing ("Hey, don't hog the mashed potatoes this time, you guys!")?

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

I would assume they share a stomach, so they would only need to eat enough for one even if they needed to eat. As it stands, however, it's heaven, so they can have as much of their favorites as they want without feeling overly full.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Because they also come from Heaven I imagine they don't need to eat actually or feel hungry. I imagine that Celestials don't need to rat or drink anything but they do because they like the taste of food and can get anything because it will poof up instantly in Heaven.

[NHWestoN]

All true, chums, but I was thinking in terms of savoring food and beverages rather than digestion. Since she gets to work with children, Cerberus has access to an inexhaustable supply of chocolate chip cookies.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

I mean she's of heaven so she has that either way, but I know what you mean. I imagine the heads take turns eating their favorites.
We also know a little about their tastes; in Heaven's Not Enough, when she enters the malt shop at the end, she orders 4 milkshakes: 2 strawberry, one vanilla, and one chocolate. Given that Kitsune ends up stealing Sabrina's strawberry shake, we can assume one of the strawberry ones was for Kitsune, meaning each Cerbie head has a different preference, running along the lines of neopolitan: one prefers chocolate, one vanilla, and one strawberry.

[NHWestoN]

Ah, the burden of being multi-palated.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

The blessing of having multiple mouths so you don't have to settle.

[NHWestoN]

Under the heading of narratives unexplored, I've always thought an interesting thread with both dramatic and humorous potential could be developed from the idea that Cerberus also acts as an intermediary between the Celestial realm and the Infernal. Contextually, the narrative is set from the ancient theme that the two polar realms, like America and the Soviet Union, fight it out for control of the cosmos - but they also have a kind of diplomatic engagement to insure that neither side unleashes total chaos and universal destruction. Eudoant, then, becomes Cerberus's counterpart. They sign treaties (which the Infernals are always trying to break), swap souls, trade favors, occasionally pop a couple of orange sodas together on their mutual off-days, grouse about their jobs and colleagues, and might even cooperate against some systemic breakdown that threatens both spheres (Cerberus; "Um, Eudoant, you guys remember TheForgotten is not allowed inside the Terrestrial realm, right?" - Eudoant: "Of course we do, Cerb, we would so hate for That to destroy...hold it, Moloch's calling from the fiery pit - WHA`DA`YAH MEAN HE GOT OUT??!!)

Hey, it's not Paradise Lost, but might be fun to try even though Heckraiser sorta would force some prequelling ... is "prequellin" a wird?

[D-Rock]

The fact that Cerberus was promoted from being the guardian of the gates of Hades, would be interesting how the two sides possibly work. Clearly the demons are willing to cause much more trouble than what the celestial game caused, with their involvement being much more restricted. Maybe it was noticed that Cerberus was “too good” for her position. If we’re adapting existing myth, that could imply that Cerberus kept people from trying to escape Hell, but we see that she has an almost motherly side to her for mortals.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

The way Rick's heavenly system works, Pandemonium isn't really the OPPOSITE of heaven, it's more like its garbage pit. Every soul goes to both heaven AND pandemonium- all the good stuff goes to heaven, and the bad stuff is ripped out and sent to Pandemonium. Usually the bad stuff isn't even conscious on its own, meaning that if it coalesces into a PERSON then that individual was particularly evil in life.
That is, after all, where Negabreel came from.

That said, it doesn't necessarily preclude the idea of diplomacy, just that there wouldn't be any trading of souls.

[NHWestoN]

There are several sermons from various modern and early modern pastors that refer to the Inferno as "God's Garbage Dump." My reflections arise from a more orthodox background that sees the soul as a singular entity which can't be sudivided let alone occupy places of bliss and misery simultaneously. Sitll, that dualistic perpective - a la Mani and the Manichee - would allow for exchange bargaining and negotions.

What a great name for a heavy metal band - "Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for your music manglers, "Mani ... and the Manichees!" (Riotous applause erupts.)