Why didn't Calypso mess with Axel's wish in the latter's ending in Twisted Metal 2? Axel's wish ended up with him ripping apart his arms to disown his father and walk off into the field. Ripping ones arms off like that without immediately medical attention of any kind, especially from what looks to be an isolated area, is a death sentence. However, Calypso usually let the winner kill themselves with their wish one way or another, whether by his influence or their own stupidity. Axel, on the other hand, dealt with his, while gruesome, as peaceful as possible. He made his point and possibly went to die as a free man, by his own admission. Calypso really did nothing out of the ordinary, Axel simply chose how it would play out.
Another factor is Calypso sympathizes with Axel too. The Twisted Metal 2 comic is considered canon and, after he accidentally killed his sister, Calypso's parents saw him as nothing but a burden and basically treated as such. Calypso knows what it's like to have abusive parents, and Axel actually has it worse, so he more than likely eased off for this very reason.
Also, as shown in Black, Revenge seems to be the one thing that Calypso grants without any ifs, ands, or buts, and this definitely is a revenge plot.
Considering that Calypso's goal (at least in the 2 timeline) is to send as many souls to Hell as possible as part of his Deal with the Devil, it makes sense for him to allow the winner to enact their revenge with little-to-no interference. Whether the contestant succeeds in their revenge or not, he gets at least one soul to claim in the end either way.
In Twisted Metal 3, the intro of the level London had Calypso talking about London and told the player to say hello to his "old friend." At first, I thought that Calypso knew about The British Royal Family because he said that right after he referred to the Buckingham Palace. Now I just realized, after almost 10 years, that Calypso was talking about Minion. As he is the boss that the player will face in London after defeating all the other oppositions.
One of the things that that people had problems with in the game was with the endings, with not only none of the characters getting what they want, but with certain contestant's wishes in their endings not matching with their backstories. This was the case with Buster Cobb, Granny Dread, and to some extent, Amber Rose; the wishes in their endings didn't yield the fact that in their character info, they all wanted revenge against the Twisted Metal competitors for their own reasons. When you think about it, they all already got what they wanted when they partook in the contest and won by killing all the other contestants. They all might have realized this, and decided to change their wishes. As for Granny Dread in particular, it's possible her wish to watch daytime television was due to the fact that she was tired out after the competition due to her age.
A similar example comes with Damian Coles. In his bio, he wants to burn Calypso's blimp to the ground, but he changes his wish to a barbecue with his friends. Considering the final stage is Calypso's blimp, Damian likely realized he wouldn't get away with burning it without him dying as well.
It took this troper years to realize this jerkass wish in Twisted Metal 3. Mr. Grimm wish was Calypso's soul, and all Calypso did was stomp on him, killing him dead. At first it might be a cop out, but in reality, Calypso was honoring the wish with his shenanigans, he gave Grimm the Sole… of his shoes.
In Twisted Metal Black if you read Minion's coded messages you'd find that the entire game takes place in Sweet Tooth's head. With this in mind I suddenly realized that Darkside's ending makes a lot more sense. She was locked inside a mask and is fighting for the key, when she wins she must kill Mr. Creel, the man who locked her in the mask, if she wants the key. She does this then decides she doesn't want the key saying how great her mask is and then goes off to hunt for (and presumably kill) people like Mr. Creel. It seems stupid but consider Sweet tooth's fondness for his mask and his ending. He wants to remove a curse that causes his head to be on fire 24/7. Calypso gives him a cure but then says if he continues killing people it would wear off. He then rejects the offer within 10 seconds and kills Calypso. Put it this way they both decided to stay in their mask and hunt and kill people. What Darkside did is what Sweet tooth would've done.
Indeed, the theory that Black is simply all in Sweet Tooth's mind kind of explains most of the new portrayals of returning characters:
Darkside: Dollface's Mysterious Past would be how Sweet Tooth would've regarded Mr. Ash, Darkside's driver from Twisted Metal 1.
Spectre: Bloody Mary being an Ax-CrazyYandere? Considering how Spectre's drivers are often consumed by Greed and think "It's All About Me", Mary fits their characters like a glove.
Shadow: Raven, wanting to Revenge for her murdered friend Kelly, is like Mortimer, whose ending in Twisted Metal 2 has him claim vengeance for the souls killed in the Twisted Metal tournaments.
This may even extend to Calypso himself. Ever notice just how different he looks from his past and future incarnations? Take away the scarring on his chest, then imagine him in Sweet Tooth's outfit.
In fact, Calypso's left eye is disfigured in this game. Sweet Tooth's mask completely covers his left eye.
Possibly Jossed since David Jaffe wrote Minion code while he was sick and not in a good mood.
The music that plays over the credits is "Paint it Black" by The Rolling Stones, which reflects on the outlook of a man who sees darkness and vile emissions in his world, and anything that challenges this needs to be changed to reflect this. Add into the fact that Black takes place entirely inside the mind of Needles Kane, better known as Sweet Tooth, and suddenly it all makes sense.
Of all the characters, Cage seems to be the only one not seeking revenge who gets his wish without Calypso screwing him over in any way...until you realize that the "new pair of hands" that Calypso gives him is essentially just a series of sharp blades made into hand shapes. This may make killing a whole lot easier, but every other task involving his hands is going to be an exercise in futility.
To make matters worse, he won't be able to wield a gun anymore. (And even if he manages to hold one, he won't be able to pull the trigger due to not having any fingers left.)
Upon studying the vehicles in Black, a few of the special weapons can be linked the personality and background of the drivers they belong to.
Darkside's special is an instant-activation turbo ram that gives the truck a sudden, dramatic speed boost before slowing down again. Dollface's main disorder is Bipolar I, and is characterized by sudden, violent changes in mood. (i.e. manic episodes)
Crazy 8's special is TM 2!Outlaw's taser weapon taken up to eleven, and demands that the player maintain a close proximity to the opponent and anticipate their moves in order to wear them down without leaving themselves open to a counterattack. Fundamentally, this is exactly how "in-fighting" in boxing works.note "In-fighting" is a close-range boxing style that relies on overwhelming the opponent by applying constant pressure and staying in a position that doesn't allow for an easy counterattack.
Sweet Tooth's special transforms the truck into a weaponized mech and fires a barrage of 20 missiles at the opponent, triggering a hefty damage boost if all 20 missiles make contact. It's one of the most threatening specials in the game, and the most common (and logical) response is to run like hell...Now take a moment to think about who the driver is.
In Twisted Metal: Black, Dollface's ending has her kill her former abusive boss for the key to freeing her from her mask. However, she ended up tossing the key away due to loving her "new face" more. However, the prize of winning in Twisted Metal Black was, as Billy Ray Stillwell puts it, "The one thing your heart desired", Dollface said she just wanted to be free from the mask, but in reality, she wanted her boss to pay for his abuse, she didn't even hesitate when given the choice to take the key or let him live.
This is even evident on how Calypso treated the whole matter. Calypso always loved it when the contestant wants plain old revenge, even throwing in bonuses for the contestant (and himself) to relish every moment of it. If it something that wasn't as dark, Calypso usually finds a way to screw them. In Dollface's ending, Calypso does nothing to stop it, nor does he attach any strings to it, he just let Dollface do as she pleased, because he knew for a fact what she really wanted, Revenge.
Calypso's name makes a lot more sense when you realize one of the meanings of "Calypso" is "to deceive". Remember how almost 99% of the time the contestants' wishes are deliberately screwed up by him?
Not only that in Greek mythology, Calypso was the daughter of Atlas, and the island Ogygia prevented aging which meant that she could literally make anyone immortal if they wished for it.
In Twisted Metal Black, John Doe, driver of Roadkill, mentioned in his ending that Calypso was the second most wanted man by the FBI. If Calypso is considered number 2, who could possibly be number one?
