Miyazaki: Are Castle in the Sky and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Connected?

Hello everyone! I am a rather dedicated and loyal Hayao Miyazaki fan, and love his movies. Because of this, I am often rewatching the films, and sometimes I pick up little nuances here or there that I didn't notice before, and those make me think. Who, after all, doesn't enjoy a good fan theory? So without further ado, here is my first one!

Do the Laputa universe and Nausizaä universe exist in the same timeline?

The Theory:

First things first, we must take into consideration that Laputa takes place in our own universe. This is an easy hurdle to jump. Muska (the bad guy) remarks in the movie that the Power of Laputa is what destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and was known to the Romans. Since we have no knowledge of Laputa, it stands to reason that the island is still floating above us, untouched, and that Laputa takes place in the future. Why the future? Well, they clearly have technology (steam engines, automobiles, and planes) but the common folk don't seem to use electricity as much. The fact that their planes are more advanced than ours, and the fact that there seem to be less people around, makes me think it occurs in the future, possibly after a partial collapse of society.

The end of Castle in the Sky makes it clear that Laputa still exists and has power, floating away somewhere with the Guardians still intact. Since the only way for an island to float in the sky (short of the Knock-Up Stream!) is to be supported by an substantial energy source, we can also assume that the Power of Laputa still exists. Fast forward an indefinite amount of time, and we have sky explorers on their more advanced planes who stumble across Laputa. Pazu says in the movie that people would find it as technology grew, so it's safe to assume that would still happen--especially since Laputa no longer seems protected by the hurricane.

The Power of Laputa is then harnessed. Since it was nearly destroyed in the movie, this could possibly mean that it doesn't need the heir of Laputa to harness the Power. Or maybe, a descendant of Sheeta finds their way back up there and takes control. Regardless of the how, because of the knowledge found in Laputa, a great age of technology and exploration begins. If you think about it from a human standpoint, what power nation on earth wouldn't want to figure out that Power once they found it? We would all be vying for control of it, and in the same way, I believe the Power of Laputa would corrupt as much as it helped. Humans would still advance though; we would build cities, explore parts of the world that were lost to us during the previous disaster, and we would thrive. However, the Power of Laputa is a dying power, and one that loves nature and quiet things over technology and force.

At the height of humanity's rebirth, something happens. Maybe an heir of Laputa finally comes to their senses and tries to stop all of the corruption being caused by the Power. Maybe someone, a scientist perhaps, tweaks the Guardians and how they run to such a degree that they become corrupted as well--a sick, twisted form of their once semi-gentle selves. They are shown to be semi-sentient in Castle in the Sky, so maybe this person made them completely sentient. At this point the Guardians, well aware of what humanity has done to them and their Power, come down from the sky in their new bodies and destroy the world: the Seven Days of Fire mentioned in Nausicaä.

The Guardians were never meant for such large-scale destruction, though, and once they are finished wreaking havoc, spent of their energy, they collapse. Their bodies, a strange combination of almost human-like flesh and electrical wires, begin to decompose, tainting the world. Fast forward a thousand years, and we now have Nausicaä.

The Connective Threads:

Exhibit A: Both worlds have fox squirrels. 

I know, I know, this doesn't seem like much. But seriously, if Miyazaki "just likes to draw fox squirrels," then why didn't he draw any in his other major film about the pitfalls of technology versus nature, i.e. Princess Mononoke? He could have stuck them in that world easily enough, but he didn't. Why? Because they're specific to these two movies. Fox squirrels are clearly rare in both films--we don't see any of them outside of these two glimpses. Neither party acts surprised when they do see them, though. Know why? Because fox squirrels are animals we have currently here on earth (just in case you don't believe me for some reason, click here). They don't look like the fox squirrels in the movies, but after a thousand years or so of them adapting and changing? They might look like that.

Exhibit B: The Guardians are the creatures who destroy the world.

If we go back to what I was saying earlier, about how someone could have taken the Guardians and then tweaked them in order to have more sentience and power, we would have something that looks very similar to the creatures in the Seven Days of Fire.

1) Look at their torsos and heads. They have the same basic shape--even their legs look like same. The only differences are that the Laputa Guardians have longer arms, and the SDoF creatures have what look like swords of some sort. Both of these can be explained by the scientist, who tweaked the Guardians to look more like humans with flesh, a mind, and shorter arms. He then would have stuck them with the swords as a form of the Power, and they, once on a rampage, used that Power to destroy the world.

2) Both examples have that one large eye. This is unmistakable and unique to them only.

3) The Guardians and the SDoF creatures have similar fighting styles, via the laser they can produce. There aren't any monsters in the other Miyazaki films who can create such a blast of destruction--just these two. The destruction in Castle in the Sky is much smaller than in Nausicaä, but that was back when the Guardians had become more peaceful and less hostile. The Guardians, once they reached the point of the SDoF, were violent and attacked far more powerfully.

4) The Guardians and the creatures both come from the sky, and are both practically unheard of when they do. They're not used to leaving Laputa, and both times when they do, they are killed. Only the SDoF Guardians have become more human-like. In Castle in the Sky, the hurt Guardian is shown to be made up of wires and circuits that look eerily like veins and tendons. There's only a short jump from that to what they look like in the SDoF. Also, add to that the fact that the SDoF creatures are made out to be living beings, but what animal in the history of our world has been able to regenerate itself after being reduced to its heart? It's impossible. But what if that heart is actually a computer of sorts, and like an AI that has been programmed to repair itself when needed, that heart, once hooked up again, can start repairing its own body? A normal living beast couldn't do that, but in the world of sci-fi, I think it would be possible.

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That's my theory! I hope you enjoyed reading it and that it sparked some questions. Sorry there aren't more pictures! I'll try to do better on my next blog. May your feet always be eager!