The Overlooked Bubsy powerscaling!



Welcome to my very first blog on powerscaling! Hopefully the first of many, where I’ll be covering different characters, and maybe even entire franchises/IPs, that I find interesting enough to dig into. I like to "scrape the bottom of the barrel" because I think it´s fair to give the best possible for each character as long as it can be viable for the discussion.

For this first post, I’ll be focusing on Bubsy the Bobcat  arguably the platforming mascot with the most questionable reputation of them all. While he’s not exactly a regular in powerscaling debates, with the release of his new game Bubsy 4D and the relative popularity of his MU against Gex the Gecko, I think there’s a lot about the character that isn’t being talked about, and at the very least deserves to be put under discussion.

That’s why in this blog I’ll be breaking down the key aspects that matter in a powerscaling discussion: his physical feats, powers and abilities, weapons, items, intelligence, weaknesses, and also highlighting situations that could lead to major feats  or ones that deserve to be questioned. For this current blog, I will take all the games, the manuals and the pilot as the main sources.














BUBSY HAS 9 LIFES.

 If you ever played a Bubsy game and it seemed like you ‘died’ many times, well, that was partly the philosophy of the game. While Mario and Sonic (or other platformer mascots) rely on power-ups, rings, or shields to handle taking damage, Bubsy has his extra lives, 9 to be precise to keep up with the levels. It was like the "twist" of that time. 

 These were referenced on multiple occasions, throughout the manuals and even as the starting number of lives in some games. And although this philosophy could change from one game to another, Bubsy himself sees his lives as a simple resource. He even admits it in his own words in one of his latest installments, along with the special game mode in Bubsy 4D that refers to this.

*In Bubsy 4D there is an upgrade that can raise his lives to 10, but by default Bubsy has 9.*

 However, looking more closely, we can infer the types of deaths or incapacitations from which these 9 or 10 lives allow him to return: 

  • Can come back after his body has been turned into slime. 
  • Can come back after his body has been reduced to dust/smoke (or even nothing, depending on interpretation).


4th Wall Awareness


A recurring gag of the character is breaking the fourth wall and trying to talk to the player. He has seen interacting with the screen and even damaging it. No major uses has been show, but  Bubsy is aware of being a videogame character.

Glide

Bubsy can glide (somehow), which is his main way to attack enemies and allows him to negate the fall damage.

Furball Mode


A mode where Bubsy inflates and takes the shape of a ball that grants him different abilities: it allows him to increase his speed, tackle enemies while in this form, and bounce both on the ground and on walls to gain greater mobility.

Pounce Attack


Easy to understand: Bubsy lunges forward with his claws to attack enemies or destroy obstacles. In Bubsy 4D he can lock onto enemies and strike with greater precision.

Cat nap



 Bubsy sits for a little and tooks a nap to regenerate all his health. 

Claws


 Bubsy´s claws allows him to climb the walls.

Odd physiology

 Despite being subjected to processes that mechanically change the shape of his body, he remains alive, conscious, and functional (by Woolie standards, I believe).



  

 Here we are going to cover his weapons, the one with at least showings of having access. 

Nerf Ballzooka


A Nerf rifle that fires projectiles which, upon hitting enemies, turn them into cards. It is usually used against Ooinker’s henchmen, who can harm Bubsy and withstand his attacks.


Smart Bombs

Bombs that explode instantly and transform enemies into marbles. They can even reach opponents hiding behind walls or cover.

Atoms

Although they originate from the planet Rayon, Bubsy can carry up to 10 of them thanks to a special item. He can charge them and fire them in a straight line at a target, and upon impact they create explosions capable of destroying portions of terrain and solid structures, as well as defeating enemies in a single hit. If they are overloaded, they can explode on Bubsy himself, and if they travel a certain distance without hitting a target, they take on a boomerang effect and may strike Bubsy on their way back.

Virgil Reality Helmet 

A helmet capable of altering reality through the imagination of the user. Examples of its abilities include placing anyone in any situation (such as the entire cast at a wedding, falling from the sky, or inside a stew cauldron), summoning trucks, a pony, changing the user’s size, generating roller coasters so massive they nearly reach the moon, and incapacitating opponents. Long time use might cause malfunctions.

Virgil claims that the helmet could destroy the world and even doom the universe(See later in Unexpectedly Important).




Portable Holes



  Bubsy can pull a portal out of his pockets (somehow) and place it in space, using it to escape from different points across space and time. Used widely to return to the gates of the Amazatorium at any wing, being able to control where is going to appear. The amazatorium removes historical events from the reality (see later in Unexpectedly Important).

Patch Up


Can regen Bubsy´s health. 

Power ups/Shirts



Despite the change in presentation, the logic remains the same: Bubsy can access forms of invincibility and invisibility for a limited period of time.

Shield


A bubble-shaped shield obtained in The Woolies Strikes Back, which allows him to withstand one hit.

Extra Lives


Usually appearing in the form of shirts, Bubsy can get additional lives.

Rocket/Biplane


A biplane and a rocket, both armed with a Nerf Ballzooka during Bubsy 2

Woolie Ship

The Woolie ship, piloted by an allied Woolie soldier in Bubsy: Paws on Fire, which Bubsy uses in two boss battles. It can fire projectiles against enemies and structures.

Diving Suit



 A diving suit that allows Bubsy to walk in the depths of the water. It lets him remain there indefinitely, though with his mobility severely reduced.

Space suit


A space suit that grants full swimming mobility. It also allows him to breathe in space, although it operates with oxygen reserves that must be recharged

Bubble


A bubble that gives Bubsy full mobility underwater and stay underwater for an indefinitely time.

Adventure items 


 All what you see in the image including previous items. Rope, picaxe, a backpack between other things. Not much more to add. 

Chalk


 A piece of chalk with unique properties that can materialize whatever Bubsy draws at the moment. However, it does not seem to be very reliable.



 Surprisingly intelligent, he was able to outsmart Woolie security and, using the rocket parts he had taken, managed to build a functional model in seconds. He then used atoms to power the rocket’s engines with nuclear energy and escape from planet Rayon.




  • Stopped the Woolie invasion and protected the planet Earth’s yarnballs.
  • Prevented Oinker from continuing to use the Amazatorium to steal historical events and alter human history.
  • Rescued Mother Goose after crossing the fairy tale world and defeating the evil fairy tale characters.
  • Defeated nearly the entire Woolie army on Rayon and managed to escape from the planet.
  • Recovered the golden fleece after the Woolies stole it during their second invasión.
  • Thwarted Oinker’s plans to open a zoo with all the animals in the universe.
  • Defeated the Baabots, including their leaders (Baarbee, Baartholomeo and Baaptiste) and recovered the golden fleece that had been stolen by them. 





Electricity



Although not his ‘kryptonite,’ he has been shown to be susceptible to it. Consistently ranging from being stunned to being completely charred by it. While not lethal in all of his appearances, it is still something that affects him.

Overconfidence

On some occasions, such as with the chalk or when his nephews stole the helmet, Bubsy can be somewhat careless or a bit overconfident.



Fire Resistance


 He has been seen jumping over flames and, despite bouncing on them, he takes no damage.

 Low temperatures


In Bubsy 2, he is seen in space without any additional protection, making it possible to say that he was enduring the low temperatures of outer space.

Transmutation


During Bubsy 2, when a smart bomb is detonated with one of Bubsy’s nephews on screen, it is said that they will be left stunned. At first glance this may not seem relevant, but when nearly all enemies succumb to these bombs, the nephews remain intact, only being stunned by a weapon capable of transmuting enemies. Since they share the same species, it is possible to say that Bubsy should also possess that resistance (This resistance is debatable).





Woolie UFO


Woolie Soldier

  • Sent by Esther and Poly in a manually operated ship, she presumably travels from the planet Rayon (2 light years away) to Earth in just 90 seconds (≈ 700,000 c). (See later in "Relativistic - SoL Bubsy is... Ehhh...)

Oinker P. Ham

  • From Bubsy’s words in The Woolies Strikes Back, he refers to the events of the first game and places them in the year of its release. Also, it reminds the woolies that they are still later 24 years later to catch him(making reference to the present, or age 2017 when The Woolies Strikes Back happens). Using this logic, in the following game (Paws on Fire), when it is revealed that Oinker (imprisoned in space since Bubsy 2) has escaped and gone after every animal in the universe for a new zoo within a span of 25 years (Bubsy 2 released in 1994 and Paws on Fire in 2019), it turns out that Oinker has been moving traveling through the universe at least 3.7 billion C (See later in "Relativistic - SoL Bubsy is... Ehhh...)



Well, in this section I will mostly comment on my findings regarding speed scaling and discuss some of the scalings I presented for this post.

Bubsy laser dodging


First of all, addressing the elephant in the room: does Bubsy really react to lasers? Everything seems to indicate yes, since there is a mechanical source and a very bright linear trajectory. It looks, behaves, and appears to be light—everything should be straightforward, shouldn’t it?

Unfortunately… that is not the case. For the simple fact that these attacks explode when they hit a surface, classifying them as projectiles rather than lasers.


 Therefore, any kind of light-based scaling from this angle is practically unfeasible when put under scrutiny. And that happens with every instance where a Woolie ship is shooting at you. 

Woolie Ship speed estimative

Well, although the Woolie ships feats may seem impressive… the downside is that missing information has to be filled in, and even when trying to use logic consistent with what is being shown, the lack of that missing data makes them difficult to sustain. Especially in this type of feat, where the gaps cannot be patched as loosely as I did with the Woolie ship to try to make sense of what was seen.

Perhaps the Woolie soldier could be somewhat more defensible. Assuming it was sent from the very start of the cutscene might seem like a good starting point. But a more precise timeframe is still needed to properly stamp the feat with a clear measure of time. So, even though the second case is a bit better, it remains at best a somewhat favorable interpretation.

Oinker speedy return

Curiously… we arrive at the most sustainable feat among them all, and it is precisely the highest one. While multiple elements need to be taken into account to make it cohesive, they are all elements provided to us throughout the games and Bubsy’s revivals. Therefore, it is indeed possible to build the rest of the scenario without resorting to filling gaps with arbitrary information.

Even if we might ask ourselves, ‘And how on earth did Oinker manage to achieve it?’ we have at least a partial answer: during the final battle against him, he deploys a ship very similar to the Woolie ship, and although it is not the same type, it is capable of matching it. Besides he is not walking at all during the last game, he still have access to this ship. A manually operated ship what Oinker can control at any momment and not auto-piloted so, technically Oinker has to be reacting to his space traveling all this time. 


Even though it is said that Oinker is ‘still going after the animals of the universe,’ we see in the final stage of Paws on Fire that the zoo is already built and functioning. This strongly indicates that he has completed his mission of traversing the universe in search of animals. However, since all of this is supported by implications and connecting the dots (even if based on information presented directly in the game, including words from the proper Bubsy), the fact that it is not completely explicit may exclude this feat of the pig depending on the debate framework. But in every other respect, it is sustainable enough , at least when compared to all the other feats presented.

Then... what´s left? 


After all, I think the easiest scale to assign to Bubsy among all these possibilities is the one he can achieve on his own: his reaction to the Woolie ship’s targeting sight.

It could be an extra-diegetic marker or an indicator projected by the Woolie ship itself (after all, it is preceded by a spatial/mechanical sound) right before an attack. And among all the sources of light in the game, this is the only one we can actually see traveling, whose behavior matches that of light because it is… literally light in motion.

Even with the argument of it being an extra-diegetic marker, Bubsy is fully aware of being a video game character and is aware as well, of things like game markers. So he should be capable of perceiving it if it is a game marker, which consistently behaves like a source of light.

With all this laid out, considering that we can see that streak of light traveling through space, it raises the question: ‘To what scale can Bubsy move in comparison to light in transit?’ Well, taking into account his maximum possible and controllable speed, the calculations show that Bubsy would be around 18% of the speed of light. Being the maximum he could reach on his own without relying on speed amplifiers.





He is Virgil, one of Bubsy’s ‘friends.’ A very intelligent vole and the inventor of the most impressive devices in Bubsy’s (not very extensive) history, whose exploration is necessary to understand the scope of his inventions. The most important of all: the virtual reality helmet.

In the pilot, the helmet is shown to be capable of altering reality according to the imagination of the user. Most of what is seen looks rather earthly, but Virgil’s words stand out: ‘It can destroy the world, and even threaten the universe.’

At first this sounds highly hyperbolic, especially given what is demonstrated… but upon closer analysis we can perceive that perhaps he was not exaggerating.

For this we must talk about the Amazatorium.



It is both a time machine and an amusement park built by Virgil, later taken over by Oinker to steal the reality. The machine is capable of removing events and eras from history in a physical way, thereby erasing them from human history. But preserving them in a place outside of the reality

Among the things stolen we find feudal eras, entire pyramids, and even concepts such as music, as well as portions of outer space (stated to times in the guide of the game) with planets, satellites, asteroids, and even a starry mantle from the background.

Taking Alpha Centauri as a reference (the closest star to Earth that is not the Sun), we could say it took a portion of space on the order of 4.25 light years, but with the background cover with plenty of stars it should be far higher, reaching even Multiple solar systems ranges.

Therefore, if Virgil was able to build a machine capable of erasing eras of history and even portions of the universe, he is fully aware of the capabilities of the virtual reality helmet, which gives sense to his statements after all.

On the other hand, the Amazatorium also sets the precedent for the versatility of the Portable Holes, allowing them to interact with reality itself by engaging with events and places suspended by Virgil’s invention. Making the portals looks more impressive at all. 




Send to another planet ends  



These are fairly straightforward to interpret. Bubsy hits Baarbee and sends her toward her brother’s planet. We can say she was sent by that strike since we never hear of Baarbee again, other than being launched linearly into the sky. There are no indications that she escaped or even landed somewhere else, and since the next known position is her brother’s planet… everything points to the blow being the cause.

Now, to place a number, orbital paths were used as reference, considering the points where the planets are farthest and closest, while leaving reasonable timeframes. Even though in the cutscene everything happens within one minute, it’s difficult to assume Bubsy collected the treasure, found the ship, returned, and spoke to his friend all in that span. So broader margins of time were given to frame the feat. In any case, due to the nature of the estimation, every result remains applicable to the feat depending on which interpretation is considered most prudent to use.

Also, there are other characters what can withstand events of that magnitude, like Baartholomeo being sent to Baaptiste´s planet. So, it´s not out of place even under the logic of the Baabots and their showings. 


Black Hole ends

Well, here’s where things start to get interesting:

In the new Bubsy 4D DLC, after finishing the main campaign we unlock a new mode, the Black Hole mode. Out of nowhere, a black hole shows up, bigger than the Sun, and starts pulling in the other planets of the system. Oblivia even says the black hole is tearing reality apart just from the pure gravitational forces.

Doing the math, based on its size and how fast it drags planets in, we can estimate the black hole’s power to be similar to a supernova (around 0.5 foe). Sounds simple enough, right? If we go by that calculation, Bubsy should scale to it… right?

Not really. We’re still at planetary distances and Bubsy never takes the full black hole to give the full scaling. But looking closer at the levels, the planets are clearly being affected—pulled out of orbit, chunks of terrain, vehicles, even satellites getting dragged in.

Meanwhile, Bubsy is still running, jumping, and gliding without being sucked in. We even see Woolies and Baabots around (easy enough to beat, though they can still hurt us). Given the situation, with the planet shifting and breaking apart along with its satellites, it’s possible to say Bubsy is resisting gravitational pulls enough powerful to overcome planetary GBE levels. Looking back at the table, that puts him in those durability ranges, and maybe even in terms of raw strength, since he’s also beating Woolies and Baabots who are under the same gravitational pull.




Maybe what I was most looking forward to covering: figuring out exactly what happens in the good ending of Bubsy 3D.

For context: after beating the final boss, we’re told that we actually lost (even though we won the fight in gameplay) and that Bubsy was taken to prison on the planet Rayon after causing countless casualties to the Woolie army there. However, Bubsy manages to outsmart security, build the X-1 rocket with the pieces he collected, and escape from Rayon using the atoms scattered across the planet as fuel. Depending on whether we collected all the pieces or not, we get two different endings.

In the first one, the “bad” ending, we didn’t collect all the pieces and the rocket fails, leaving Bubsy stranded in space. Not much more to add there.

But when we do collect all the pieces, our trip is successful… except the engine gets overloaded by using more atoms than it can handle. This triggers a hyperbolic (or uncontrolled) nuclear reaction that tears apart the fabric of space and time, sending us to Earth’s past.

Here’s where the doubt comes in: while there’s clearly a time-travel element, there’s also a nuclear reaction that produced an energy output Bubsy had to be exposed to, since it originates in the engines and not outside the rocket, if we stick to Professor Woolie’s explanation. And following his words, we can infer that the time travel happens secondarily to the “tearing” of space-time, a term usually tied more to brute force than to environmental alteration. So, word by word the idea is there: the whole space time suffered an alteration by the sheer energy output and as secondary effect: Bubsy time traveled after withstand a massive energy output, which presumably reached a universal magnitude, or one that messed with the very fabric of space and time.

At the end of the day, though, this is highly interpretive and part of its ambiguity… but it could make some sense if we consider that in Bubsy 4D, once again, the gravitational forces of the black hole were able to alter reality to some extent. So within Bubsy’s universe, massive energy outputs can tear space-time when pushed to those scales, simply ripping it apart by how powerful they are. At best, I can say it depends what are you having in consideration in your debate.



Well, we’ve reached the end. And before asking myself what I’m doing with my life powerscaling Bubsy… I have to admit I had a lot of fun. I won’t lie, this character never really mattered to me until Bubsy 4D, and ever since I tried the demo I set out, with some friends, to play through the rest of the games ironically, only to end up accidentally gaining some appreciation for him.

Up until then I was aware of the general consensus about his power and abilities, but the more I played and the more content I consumed, the more I realized that some things weren’t properly covered or were just plain wrong. So I took it upon myself to dig into it to at least put most of the underlooked things at the table upon to discuss for anyone who wants to debunk or explore more about them, with the help of a few users who supported me with some calculations, and to whom I’m deeply grateful.

I don´t know how much more of these ones I´m gonna do at the future, but for sure the next gone is going to be Gex the Gecko! I find him a really cool character and has some stuff not properly explored as well. See you in other momment!



Sources:
Bang´s Blog: Bubsy vs Gex (2024)
Bubsy 1 Game manual
Bubsy Bobcat's Totally Authorized Answer Book
Bubsy 2 Game manual
Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales Game manual
Bubsy 3D Game manual

Calcs of many users (Some collaborators prefer to stay anonymous)

Aaand... the videogames themselves, lol.


Comments

Post a Comment