All movies by Quentin Tarantino are part of the same universe but on different levels, and though there are only two movies directly connected (Kill Bill and Kill Bill: Volume 2), a fan theory suggests Pulp Fiction is actually a prequel to Reservoir Dogs – here’s how. Tarantino’s career as a filmmaker began in 1992 with the crime film Reservoir Dogs, which made him a widely-known name, but his big break came two years later with another crime film: Pulp Fiction.

Reservoir Dogs follows a group of criminals – all with different codenames – whose planned heist of a jewelry store goes terribly wrong. To make it even more complicated, there’s an undercover cop among them, triggering a lot of tension between all those involved. Pulp Fiction is also a crime film but different from what he did with Reservoir Dogs. Pulp Fiction follows various interconnected stories in a non-linear style, with hitmen Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), their boss Marsellus Wallace (Wing Rhames), his wife Mia (Uma Thurman), and boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) as the leads. Both movies were believed to be part of the same universe thanks to some similarities between them, and this was later confirmed with the “Tarantino movie universe”, which says all Tarantino movies are part of the same universe but in two categories: the realer-than-real world and the movie-in-a-movie one.

Related: Why Jackie Brown Isn't Part Of Tarantino's Movie Universe

Although both have their own theories, as there are many things left unexplained, there are also a couple of theories on how Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are connected, with some even suggesting they take place on the same day. However, there’s one that takes the characters played by the same actors and other coincidences to explain how Pulp Fiction is actually a prequel to Reservoir Dogs – and here’s how the theory goes.

Pulp Fiction & Reservoir Dogs ARE Connected

Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs

First off, it’s important to remember that Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are connected, without them being set on the same day nor one being the secret sequel to the other. The main link between them are the Vega brothers, Vincent and Vic a.k.a. Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), who were actually going to have their own movie, titled Double V Vega, but it ended up being one of Tarantino’s many unmade projects. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are also connected by two other characters, though this one is not as obvious or widely-known as the Vega brothers: Mr. White/Larry Dimmick (Harvey Keitel) and Jimmie Dimmick (Tarantino). Though it’s unknown what their exact relation is, it’s generally assumed that they’re brothers, with one choosing the criminal life and the other one trying to live a normal life, though he didn’t seem to be able to stay too far from trouble.

Related: Reservoir Dogs: Did Steve Buscemi's Mr Pink Survive The Movie?

Furthermore, both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are part of the “realer-than-real world” within Tarantino’s universe, which makes it possible for them to have characters related to each other and for some events to coincide. With all this in mind, it’s not surprising that fans have analyzed both movies over and over trying to find more ways in which they can be connected, and all these details are the basis for the theory about Pulp Fiction being a prequel to Reservoir Dogs.

Mr. Pink’s Tipping Rant Suggests He Could’ve Been In Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction Mr Pink Reservoir Dogs

Perhaps the most talked-about coincidence between them is the one about Mr. Pink, played by Steve Buscemi. In the famous opening scene of Reservoir Dogs, Mr. Pink rants about how he doesn’t believe in tipping and to him there’s no point in doing it unless the waiter made some extra effort (though he ended up contributing after their boss, Joe Cabot, reminded him he paid for their breakfast). Buscemi had a minor role in Pulp Fiction as the waiter serving Mia and Vincent at Jack Rabbit Slim’s, and given that Mr. Pink’s fate in Reservoir Dogs is left open to interpretation, Mr. Pink and the waiter could be the same person.

Related: Pulp Fiction In Chronological Order

This is actually a theory on its own which can go two ways: either Mr. Pink survived and, ironically, ended up working as a waiter, or Pulp Fiction happened first and thus Mr. Pink was a waiter before he was a thief. If Pulp Fiction is a prequel, then waiter/Buddy Holly impersonator at Jack Rabbit Slim’s was one of the minimum wage jobs Mr. Pink mentions in Reservoir Dogs. The problem there is that Pink specifically says that society never deemed any of his jobs tip-worthy. But that's not necessarily the end of the theory, because Pulp Fiction establishes that Buddy Holly was a bad waiter (Vincent Vega even comments on the fact). So it could be that while he worked in the right industry for tips, he himself was not deemed tip-worthy by society, which would explain his issue with obligatory tipping. On top of that, Pink's reaction to finding out Mr White told Orange his real name suggests Pink would not reveal any real details about his life. Assuming he'd drop in any details about his past doesn't fit with who he is - it's possible he was instead defending his stance on tipping by attempting to appeal to empathy, basically. And failing in the process.

Is Pumpkin Actually Reservoir Dogs’ Mr. Orange?

Mr. Orange shoots Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs

Another character who could hint at Pulp Fiction taking place before Reservoir Dogs is Tim Roth’s Pumpkin. In Pulp Fiction, Pumpkin (whose real name was Ringo) is a burglar who along with his girlfriend and partner-in-crime Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) plan to rob the dinner they’re at. Their plan doesn’t go as expected, as they come across with Jules, who ends up changing Pumpkin and Honey Bunny’s minds about the robbery and their lives of crime. After this, Pumpkin decided to take his life on a different path (some suggest Honey Bunny died in their following robbery, which also pushed Pumpkin to make a change and become a better man, or she simply didn’t want to have a “normal life”), and ended up working as an undercover cop, which suits him as he has some experience in the criminal underworld.

The Wolf Knows Joe Cabot

When Vincent shoots Marvin, he and Jules realize they have to get rid of the body and clean the mess in the car as soon as possible or they could get easily caught. Jules asks his friend Jimmie Dimmick for help to hide the car, and Marsellus then sends his cleaner, Winston Wolfe, to help them with the body and the car. As Vincent and Jules clean the car, Mr. Wolfe makes a call to a man named Joe, which many assume is none other than Joe Cabot, the boss in Reservoir Dogs. Although some believe Mr. Wolfe and Mr. White are the same person, this doesn’t really add up, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility that, with both having connections with the mafia and such, Mr. Wolfe and Joe Cabot knew each other and even worked together a couple of times.

The Problems With Pulp Fiction Being A Reservoir Dogs Prequel

Tarantino characters connect Reservoir Dogs Pulp Fiction

While Pulp Fiction being a Reservoir Dogs prequel would give some characters a proper backstory, there are some details that don’t fit quite well. For starters, Pumpkin’s real name is Ringo, while Mr. Orange’s is Freddy, and unless Ringo had another name and started to speak in an English accent, them being the same person doesn’t work that well – not to mention, it’s highly unlikely that Pumpkin, with that criminal record, could become an undercover cop just like that, even if he could be of great use. It’s also unlikely that Mr. Pink survived at the end of Reservoir Dogs, or, at least, he would have been arrested, making it not possible for him to be the waiter at Jack Rabbit’s Slim, on top of the issue of him saying he hadn't had a "tip-worthy" job. As for the Wolf, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the Joe he talks to is, in fact, Joe Cabot, which would automatically make Pulp Fiction a prequel as Joe Cabot dies in Reservoir Dogs, but there’s no way the Wolf and Mr. White could be the same person.

Both films can stand on their own and don’t need the other to explain plot points, give a backstory to the characters, and more, so the “Pulp Fiction is a Reservoir Dogs prequel” theory is just that: a theory. Of course, like with any other fan theories, it can change depending on the author and their own observations, and they can give a different viewing experience of both movies. It’s unlikely Quentin Tarantino will ever give a definitive answer to this, so it’s up to viewers to decide if Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs are separate movies or if the former is a “secret” prequel to the latter.

Next: Quentin Tarantino Universe Timeline: When Each Movie Takes Place