4. The Mysterious Briefcase Contains Marcellus Wallace's Soul - Pulp Fiction
I have friends who, when explaining the plot of Tarantinos 1994 super-epic Pulp Fiction to me, put this theory at the forefront of their explanation, which shows that this idea has been around for a very long time. One of the many converging stories of the film is that of Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), a crime boss and a haunting figure of the story, connected to just about everything that happens in some way. A major plot point relating to this is the mystical briefcase of the film, the contents of which are never actually seen on screen. While certainly one of the early explanations is that it contains drugs, a standard for crime movies, the more entertaining theory is that this extremely precious briefcase holds Wallaces soul. This theory is widely believed by Tarantino fans (including, if my memory is correct, Abed from NBCs Community) because not only of the mystical glow the briefcase gives off, but that the code to the case is 666, which as the rock song says, is in fact the number of the beast. Add this to the fact that in one of the most famous shots of the film, the supposed genius of the shot is how it presents the harrowing qualities of Wallace and the fear he puts in Bruce Willis character, actually shows that there is a bandage on the back of Wallaces head. Mythology states that souls are removed from the back of the head, leading to a full explanation for the magical glowing briefcase, and another remarkable fantasy element to Tarantinos Tarantinoverse, where supposedly all of his films take place.