Daily Easter Egg #3: Bella Goth Sims 2 Mystery/Easter Eggs

Keeping up with appearances: How Bella Goth has looked in every Sims game so far.

The Sims is a series that is very near and dear to my heart (yes, I love games besides those published  by Nintendo, believe it or not). I've played every version since the very first one, and I have become very familiar with a certain Sim named Bella Goth. She has appeared in every Sims game so far, and will make an appearance in the newest game in the franchise, The Sims 4, set to release soon. However, in the second installment of the game, The Sims 2, she is shrouded in mystery.
In the base version of the game, there are 3 towns to choose from: Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Veronaville. In Pleasantview, Bella is considered to be a missing person, and can be seen on the backs of milk cartons. According to the story told in Pleasantview, Bella was abducted by aliens, and many members of her family have memories of this event. In fact, if a Sim uses a fingerprint scanner on some items in the Goth household, it will show that she touched much of the furniture. In the game, her icon isn't grayed out when displayed in memories, which means she's not dead, but the only way to have this version of Bella present and playable in Pleasantview is by a cheating device.  Switch over to Strangetown, and a slightly different Bella can be found there with no memories of her family in Pleasantview. This whole Bella fiasco is one big easter egg because it revolves around a classic and iconic character from the series, and seeing her face on the milk carton as a kid really intrigued me and made me want to solve the mystery. However, the Bella Goth easter eggs don't end there.
She can supposedly be found floating around in a hot air balloon with her brother Michael in The Sims 2, and many speculated that was where she disappeared to.

Bella and Michael in the hot air ballon. These figures look more like their  Sims 1 counterparts.

Also in The Sims 2, there is a portrait of Bella Goth you can buy and hang in your Sims' home called "Bella Squared". If you place this painting in a Sims' home in Strangetown, this will cause Bella Goth to appear, much like how the Tragic Clown would appear in Sims' houses in The Sims 1 when his painting was hung on the wall, except less creepy.

The "Bella Squared" portrait.

There are also Bella easter eggs to be found in The Sims 3 (strap yourselves in kids because there's a ton). There is a children's book called "Where's Bella?" that young Sims can read. This is both a reference to Bella's plight in The Sims 2 and "Where's Waldo?".
Moving on from books to bookcases, a picture of Bella Goth from the Sims 2 era can be seen displayed on one of the bookcases you can place in your Sims' home.
If your Sim is a private investigator, when they are searching for evidence they'll occasionally say, "This reminds me of when Bella went missing... I need to keep looking.": yet another reference to Bella going missing in The Sims 2.
Your Sims will occasionally sketch and paint Bella and her daughter, Cassandra on either an easel or drafting table if their skill is high enough.
Yet another Bella painting was available for download from The Sims 3 store in a pack called "The Dawn of The Sims" along with one of the Tragic Clown from the original Sims game.
When The Sims 3: Generations is installed, a new wallpaper called "Bella Gothic Wallpaper" can be bought in game.
Space rocks called "Unusual Bellacite" can be found by Sims.
Your Sims can donate to the "Bella Beneficiary" charity.
And finally, a stage backdrop in The Sims 3: Showtime is said to be based on Bella's nightmares.

Can you tell that EA/Maxis is a little obsessed with this character? Creepy obsessions aside, I'm glad they put all these little goodies in the game for fans to find and speculate about (I didn't even cover all of them, just the ones I thought were the most interesting). The Sims is probably one of the most easter egg laden franchises out there, and they have a lot more to offer than just Bella Goth easter eggs. I can't wait to share the other little surprises these games have to offer, as well as discover what the upcoming game has in store in terms of easter egg goodness.

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