{It’s my first time writing and I wouldn’t call this a legit theory, but I do plan to update this in case I think of points to add (and if others don’t convince me otherwise :P). Please let me know what you think! c:} {Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from any of the images}
So going through multiple contemporary kuro theories recently, I’ve noticed there’s great mention of Undertaker trying to bring a particular set of people back from the dead – primarily, Ciel’s immediate family and the locket squad. While I totally see how this could come to mind, I personally feel like that isn’t the case. Here are some major points (I find valid) that go against it:
- The Undertaker himself implied he does not believe in “brining the dead back to life”.[1]
To be honest, it baffles me how so many people seemingly choose to ignore the very obvious part where Undertaker basically calls his accomplice naive for thinking they would actually be reviving people. (I say theory makers choose to ignore it because I’m already convinced there’s some very observant people at work here and there’s no way this would go completely unnoticed.) The scene was, in my opinion, very memorable as UT even did something as specific as to pat the doctor on the head – calling him a “good boy” for his gullibleness. He even goes to say that “he thought it was funny”, suggesting not only that he finds believing in this objective silly, but also that his take on the whole matter is rather nonchalant and laid-back. You could say “it’s part of the character”, “UT’s just being UT”, but he obviously does not take certain individuals’ deaths lightly at all (how he spoke of Vincent was very touching, clearly pittying the loss of him, personally – unlike some theories that suggest he merely needed Vincent to bring back Claudia). If anyone, UT would be the first to break character if this experiment truly were linked to his beloved ones in such a direct manner.
- He keeps mentioning other motives.
Everytime he’s further been poked with this question, UT keeps handing out similar answers:
Supposing this isn’t just a fake facade of course; UT is obviously of an experimental nature and wishes to test the limits of the living. In his tampering though, he shows no regard for his test subjects. He admires their beauty and finds these modified corpses a more ideal version of their former selves...but he treats them with no dignity. He deliberately created a massacre, possibly to test the resilience of his dolls against humans and vice versa (referring to the theory that he plans to somehow involve himself in the upcoming war). Sure, the whole thing was well isolated and therefore under control, but the very execution of his testing was extremely brutal and frankly quite messy. The notion that he most likely wouldn’t have this in plan for his deceased stems from his very view of the creatures – he calls them “animal weapons”. In his eyes, these are tools. That’s all they amount to. This is in stark contrast with the way he seems to value the people he cared about.
- He knows there’s things one can’t simply undo.
This one’s sort of linked to the first....UT is basically famous for his quotes on cruel reality:
“Life isn't that sweet. That's why everyone wants sweet things.”,
“Even though I told him to hold each and every soul dear. Because you hold great power you gradually fail to understand the importance of things that cannot be recovered. When it is realized and you lose your support…how many times have I given you and the others the same warning?”
Judging by this, UT clearly understands the irreversibleness of certain actions/events (he must have commited suicide after all) and has a firm grasp on the harshness of reality. Not only that, he goes to say that he’d given out warnings in the past. UT may appear careless and crazy most of the time, but he is most likely very much aware of limits and is definitely in support of settling matters with a grain of salt. I don’t believe this has suddenly changed now that we know he’s playing around with laws of corpse physics if you will. No matter how emotional he might get over a few individual deaths, I don’t think he’d ever completely alter this core outlook. Apparently everyone has limits, even the Shinigami. Otherwise he wouldn’t have adopted the approach in the first place.
SO WHY WOULD HE DO THIS??? Here’s my thoughts: The Undertaker is accepting of the fact that some people simply are gone, despite missing them dearly. Still, he doesn’t seem like the kind to be crying over spilled milk, so I personally think he’s going at this with a forward kind of mentality: he’s not trying to bring anyone back, he’s trying to keep someone as they are – alive (call me crazy but my bet’s on Ciel!lol). He said it himself, he wants to see a continuation – to preserve what’s still there to preserve – not a new beginning. He also said that, no matter what, a Bizarre doll lacks a soul. This is a crucial component he obviously is unable to just make up for. So instead of pointlessly treating someone who’s already broken beyond repair, he aims to prevent actual death from occuring (or at least affecting a human) altogether (kind of ironic for a former Shiningami, but he’s on bad terms with the rest already so it’s ok). He is, after all, quite the rebel – not once did he seem to let things go as they're supposed to: he commited suicide instead of just dying a natural death, he left the Dispatch instead of serving until redeemed, and he’s not letting things go their natural way for humans, either. But this is how Sebastian becomes pesky, UT can’t let him have Ciel’s soul. The Shinigami are an issue as well for the same reason if it’s not only Ciel he’s trying to preserve. Why would he want to salvage him? Perhaps because of his peculiar lineage. (There’s theories linking Phantomhives to Shinigami anyways, maybe the only trait they haven’t inherited is immortality. Maybe that’s his contribution to the family of guard dogs, to benefit the following generations threatened by this line of work. He can’t bring back the predecessors, but what better thing to do for them than to keep safer their children?) That or maybe he’s just insanely bored out of his mind already, and is just doing this for the shits and giggles. (he might as well just be mad so I can’t refute this just yet)