History Characters / RemedyConnectedUniverseParanaturalPhenomena

* PortalCrossroadWorld: As befitting its allusions to Yggdrasil (the WorldTree of Myth/NorseMythology which linked all of the Nine Realms together), it's definitely one of these. Within its shifting interiors, the House also has Thresholds, which are gateways to other dimensions. Some of them are stable and last for years, while others are much more temporary. The most stable of all, the Black Rock Quarry, is the most useful to the FBC as it is full of "Black Rock" which is used as "paranatural lead" to contain dangerous anomalies.

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:Jesse and Polaris successfully purge the Hiss from him in the finale, leaving him in a coma that he still hasn't woken up from by the endgame. It's still more than can be said for [[EmptyShell the other Hiss victims Jesse's tried to purge,]] and his vital signs are apparently stable enough that his hair's grown back in by the end of ''Foundation'', but whether he'll ever wake up - or if there's even enough of him left in there ''to'' wake up - remains in doubt.]]

* OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous: Whatever FORMER might be, they are incredibly alien, and it's pretty clear that concepts of sex or gender are not easily applicable to them - same as with the Board.

* NiceGuy: Judging by his tone, anyways. He seems pretty good-humored about getting taken in by the FBC, appears to be trying his best to explain his situation to his interrogators, and only gets irritated if people don't understand his requests or try to remove pieces of his suit - and even then, he chuckles casually when mentioning his head getting taken, suggesting he's not too resentful about it.

* TranshumanAbomination: Hartman was a normal - if evil and extremely immoral - human, but the Dark Presence and the Hiss's influence and their attempts to fight each other over who claims dominion over Hartman resulted in him becoming a monstrous HumanoidAbomination.

* PublicDomainArtifact: Unconfirmed, but several Bureau employees speculate the current Service Weapon is the latest form of one or several "OnlyTheChosenMayWield"-type weapons in mythology, including the sword [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Excalibur]], the hammer [[Myth/NorseMythology Mjölnir]], and the morphing water weapon Varunastra from Hindu scripture.

* HellHotel: The Oceanview Motel is itself harmless, though an agent's attempts to see how it works left the many [[SanitySlippage in a rough state]]. In the form it appears in ''Alan Wake II'' -- the Oceanview Hotel -- it's swarming with Taken, the narrative Alan writes to navigate it making it the sight of many grisly events; murders, suicides, and a grotesque ritual performed by the Cult of the Tree in the ballroom.

* AmbiguousSituation: Whether the cult was real or just a plot device Alan used to traverse the Dark Place. Evidence pointing to them having been real to some capacity is Casey talking about dealing with a murder cult in New York years ago, and the FBC having a file on a similar incident that occurred three years after Alan's disappearance -- involving a murder cult that appeared to worship Alan and worked to re-create deaths described in his novels, and whose members were arrested some time before the Cult of the Tree began operating in Bright Falls -- that Saga can find in ''Return 6''... but on the other hand, it's been shown that ''Return'' is able to rewrite reality to change people's memories and even create documents acknowledging the "fake" history.

[[folder:Cult of the Tree]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: InUniverse. [[spoiler:While they are very much antagonists in Bright Falls, that's mostly due to the Dark Presence's influence. They're actually meant to be a BenevolentConspiracy of townsfolk trying to keep the Dark Presence's influence down with their limited understanding of the paranatural.]] In the Dark Place, they manifest as a more nefarious murder cult -- the Cult of the Word -- [[HollywoodSatanism who worship Mr. Scratch as The Devil]] and Alan Wake's novels are prophetic scripture forteling of grim times ahead.

* ArcSymbol: A pair of intersecting triangles. Their presence -- whether it's on their jewelry or graffiti around town -- denotes the Cult of the Tree's influence, the most common of these symbols (two triangles on top of each other) looking not unlike a spruce tree. [[spoiler:This was based off of The Board -- an EldritchAbomination associated with the Federal Bureau of Control that takes the form of an inverted pyramid -- from [[BeerGoggles the perspective of a drunk with double-vision]].]]
* BanishingRitual: [[spoiler:The reason for their habit of removing the heart of their victims. With the heart removed and the Clicker inserted, an impromptu ritual to force the Dark Presence out of a Taken can be performed.]]
* CardCarryingVillain: They're a murderous, darkness-obsessed band of psychopaths who refer to themselves as a cult. As Saga and Casey note in conversation, even ''other cults'' do not openly name themselves as such because of all the negative connotations the word carries. [[spoiler:This image is actually ''intentionally'' invoked; Ilmo Koskela suggested the name and, in his own words, that did half the work of keeping uninformed people away from the woods; the rest of its perception likely fell into place after that, with the obsession with darkness actually being aimed at ''fighting'' it.]]
* CreatureHunterOrganization: [[spoiler:Their true purpose as a group is to find Taken in the woods and force the Dark Presence out of them. While they are able to do this for a time, when Taken come singular against the large group of cultists, they prove ineffective at managing the larger hordes of the Dark Presence.]]

* EqualOpportunityEvil: For all their faults, Cult is evidently not restrictive or prejudiced toward any particular group. The models for the generic Taken Cultists Saga can fight in the woods include women and people of color, [[spoiler:even if all of their named members are white men (and they aren't very evil, either).]]
* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:Near the end of ''Alan Wake II'', Ilmo reveals that the Cult are actually fighting the Dark Presence and are aware that Alan is dangerous. Most of the murders they have committed are to stop the Taken (it is unknown how many instances have happened where someone innocent is killed, such as with the Deputies)]].
* HeroicWannabe: [[spoiler:They are truly all well-intentioned and are trying to stop the Dark Presence, but the way they go about it leaves much to be desired. Their attempts to [[TerrorHero scare the populace]] are ineffective on many visitors and they are so disorganized a half dozen of them take so long to sacrifice Nightingale [[ImperfectRitual the ritual to keep him dead is interrupted.]]]]

* MalevolentMaskedMen: The majority of the cultists wear deer masks to obscure their identity and none of them hesitate to sacrifice innocents or try to kill Saga. [[spoiler:In reality, most of the "cult" are KnightTemplar WellIntentionedExtremist townsfolk at worst; all of their rituals are intended to kill any Taken that appear out of Cauldron Lake, and the cult members who try to kill Saga are all unfortunate Taken.]]
* MysteryCult: A large cult with an abnormally [[SigilSpam prevalent iconography]] and mysterious origins. Saga's campaign centers around trying to find the purpose for their sacrifices and origins in Washington. [[spoiler:It's revealed later on that the Cult was the successor to a group of concerned citizens fighting the Dark Presence; their rituals were all aimed at Taken who ended up rising out of Cauldron Lake.]]
* PaperTiger: [[spoiler:While the Cult is played up as a sinister force that has infiltrated Bright Falls and has the entire town under their thumb, in reality, they're just a biker gang with delusions of grandeur about combating the Dark Presence just because they happened to come into possession of the Clicker. While they're able to eliminate individual Taken that occasionally surface from Cauldron Lake, they are swiftly and almost completely wiped out once the Dark Presence makes a serious effort to escape again]].
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: [[spoiler:Thankfully, the security on their locks is frankly terrible as they ''always'' leave clues on how to open said locks (possibly a result of Ilmo's obsession with puzzles). Any decently intelligent person, much less an experienced FBI investigator like Saga, will find their puzzles to be child's play]].
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Despite their reputation, Saga never finds any of them in the woods and their sacrifices are few and far between. In the opening sequence, despite at least one of them having a gun, they chase after the Booker couple on foot. [[spoiler:This all serves as hints toward their real goals and desire to keep innocent bystanders ''safe'' from the woods.]]
* RealAfterAll: The danger of the mysterious Cult hidden in the woods is a major urban legend for the people of Bright Falls, which becomes a serious concern when real victims begin to show up from their actions. [[spoiler:In reality, the cult was intentionally created as a way of masking the efforts of a group of townsfolk, from Bright Falls and Watery, to combat the Dark Presence and the Taken that continue to appear within the area.]]
* RenegadeSplinterFaction: [[spoiler:Several of their members were once part of the all but defunct "Torchbearers", who they came to see as ineffective in protecting the town. Ilmo retained their basic goal, but took to the most extreme method he could to actually keep people away instead of offering passive assistance to those already in danger.]]
* RightHandVersusLeftHand: [[spoiler:Several of the cultists want to go to more intense extremes in dealing with the government's influence in Bright Falls. By the time of the game, at least one is messing with FBC outposts and research stations, which [[PragmaticVillainy Ilmo notes is bad, and will lead to more attention on them.]]]]
* SigilSpam: Their icon, two upside down triangles stacked atop each other and overlapping, shows up as crude stick figures, graffiti in town, and well-made jewelry the cultists wear. [[spoiler:Documents in the hideout reveal it to have been inspired by the FBC logo during a drunken fit, and be completely meaningless for anything other than to spook locals who see the symbol in the woods.]]
* UnknownRival: It turns out, the Cult is well aware that the FBC is spying on Cauldron Lake and the surrounding towns and actively sabotages their operations, while the FBC don't seem to be aware of them at all. [[spoiler:This is played with in the fact that the FBC do know of the Cult's existence, it's just that they don't consider them to be any sort of serious threat due to how little the Cult understands the paranatural forces they're dealing with]].
* VigilanteMan: [[spoiler:What the cult ''actually'' is; a group of citizens within the Bright Falls-Watery area taking the fight to the Dark Presence as best they can...[[IncompetenceInc Which admittedly isn't too well,]] as the notes in their stashes and the fact that Saga has to deal with a good deal of Taken still can attest to.]]
* VillainsOutShopping: Several of their notes are bickering about the necessity of the complicated puzzles they lock their stashes behind. Saga also finds evidence of them playing poker and drinking at the scene of their murders. [[spoiler:This is one of the first hints they aren't the murderous fanatics they initially come across as.]]

->''"During an AWE investigation, our agents discovered a light switch cord in a Butte bungalow closet. They pulled the cord, and were instantly transported to the Oceanview Motel & Casino."''
-->-- '''Dr. Darling''', ''[[https://control.fandom.com/wiki/Oceanview_Motel_and_Casino Oceanview Motel and Casino]]''

** The ''AWE'' DLC elaborates that other areas of paranatural phenomena are also linked to the Oceanview Motel. One of the door symbols, the two overlapping circles with a dot in the middle, is apparently linked to a GhostTown called Keystone, while the "Spiral" door appears to lead directly to Alan Wake's "Dark Place."

* AmbiguousSituation: Whether the cult was real or just a plot device Alan used to traverse the Dark Place. Evidence pointing to them having been real to some capacity is Casey talking about dealing with a murder cult in New York years ago, and the FBC having a file on a similar incident that occurred three years after Alan's disappearance -- involving a murder cult that appeared to worship Alan and worked to re-create deaths described in his novels, and whose members were arrested some time before the Cult of the Tree began operating in Bright Falls -- that Saga can find in ''Return 6''.

* GreaterScopeVillain: She's the direct cause of the Ordinary Incident, and as a result Dylan and the Slide Projector becoming known to the FBC in the first place. If she hadn't destroyed Ordinary, the events of the main story would've never happened.

[[folder:Astral Spikes]]
!!Astral Spikes

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/astralspike.jpg]]

-> ''"We have glimpsed movement, native species, always in the distance. And yet, contact was made. We don't have footage of this -- a technical malfunction -- but when one of our Astralnauts returned, a Brain Cloud, an Astral Fugue, had hitchhiked a ride in his head. It ruptured out, killing the subject in question. It's a relentless predator, pursuing thoughts, minds, lethal to those the entity feed on."''
-->-- '''Dr. Darling''', ''[[https://control.fandom.com/wiki/Astral_Spike_(Multimedia) Astral Spike]]''

The Astral Plane is full of forms of life unique to it, but the one seen most commonly is the deadly Astral Spike, a sort of NegativeSpaceWedgie unrelated to the Hiss that looks like a starburst of fluctuating spikes roaming around. Immune to conventional weapons, they serve as an obstacle to be avoided during the Board's tests while binding an Object of Power or roaming around the Quarry. One of them infected an astralnaut and popped out of his head into the physical world in the Research Sector, forcing Dr. Darling and the others to contain it in a special room. The room in question is full of cardboard cutouts resembling the objects in the Astral Plane, ostensibly to make the Spike feel more "comfortable" in its prison.
-----
* BullfightBoss: The Astral Spike in the Research Sector, like other Astral Spikes, can't be killed, and instead needs to be lured into a blocked-off area before shutting the door on it.
* EnemyCivilWar: Astral Spikes can be found roaming in the areas near the Turntable or in parts of the Quarry. While they don't seem to be too interested in the Hiss (Darling says they're attracted to thinking beings, which the Hiss victims probably aren't), they will still damage Hiss enemies if they get too close.
* HellIsThatNoise: When it gets closer, it fills the screen with an inhuman, otherworldly screaming that acts like a psychic barrage and hurts Jesse.
* InvincibleMinorMinion: They can't be killed, but you can avoid them rather easily as they only slowly cruise around on the ground, lacking any climbing, jumping or flying ability. They ''can'' go up short flights of stairs, but not through regular-sized doorways, and they don't seem to be able to take 'big' steps up, as the one in the Turntable area is stuck in the lowest circle of the floor.
* YourHeadAsplode: The first Astral Spike the FBC encountered in the Oldest House came through by exploding out of the head of someone exploring the Astral Plane.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Astral Copies]]
!!Astral Copies
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''VideoGame/{{Control}}''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/astralcopy.png]]

Mannequin-like humanoids found in the Astral Plane that seem to be made of the same marble material as the walls and floor. They are initially used as training dummies in the Board's tests while binding an Object of Power, but in the ''Foundation'' DLC they run a bit wild due to the erosion of the dimensions and are sometimes seen attacking Hiss-corrupted enemies when they're not attacking you.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Given how they do not seem to be sentient, the Mimics that [[spoiler: assist you in fighting Marshall]] seem to do so from [[spoiler: FORMER’s]] influence than any benevolence towards Jesse.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Based on their identical appearance to Ash's description, and how Ash describes them in his later logs, it is heavily implied in ''The Foundation'' that they are the Id, formerly peaceful and curious entities native to the Foundation, forced to serve the Board through the Nail's control.
* EnemyCivilWar: They prefer to attack Hiss-infected to Jesse if given the choice, most prevalent in the ''Foundation'' DLC.
* InvincibleMinorMook: Golden Astral Copies are completely immune to Jesse’s attack, and the ones that do have to be killed are through whatever new ability Jesse had gained that caused her to enter the Astral Plane.
* RockMonster: The Astral Copies seem to be formed from the same marble-like material as the walls and floors of the Astral Plane.
* MightyGlacier: The Mimics without any special abilities or weaponry walk ''very'' slowly towards you, but if they manage to actually hit you, they do massive damage. The ones in the Chasm of the Foundation are Level ''15'', the functionally highest-leveled enemies in the entire game by a mile.[[note]]The FinalBoss gauntlet in the base game had enemies in the [=30s=], but Jesse herself was given a power boost for the fight allowing her to mow them down with ease, so their level is basically irrelevant.[[/note]] As a result, they can easily OneHitKill you and [[IncrediblyDurableEnemies have truckloads of health themselves]] that takes ages to whittle down. You most likely aren't intended to kill them at all, just immobilize them with the [[TheParalyzer VHS Tape]] and run past them, but since they will just sit there and let you shoot them while watching the tape, [[LordBritishPostulate you might as well]].
* UndergroundMonkey: Functionally they're not all that different from Hiss-infected security personnel.

[[folder:FORMER]]
!!FORMER

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/control_former.png]]

->'''< Alone $@$% Long @%@# Visitor @#$! Happy >'''

An entity disrupting certain Altered Items, including a fridge that kills you if you don't keep looking at it after making eye contact. In the Astral Plane, it takes the form of a gigantic tardigrade-like thing with a huge eye that rotates between two different "modes." According to the Board, it's a former member of... whatever ''they'' are... and seems to be making a power play by disrupting Altered Items.

[[folder:The Service Weapon]]
!!The Service Weapon
[[quoteright:384:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fa2179d8_64fc_4347_a06d_5a0e931f8f7b.png]]
[[caption-width-right:384:The Service Weapon's case file picture, in Grip Form]]

-> ''The Service Weapon is, of course, a prime example of an OOP - a VERY powerful one - ingrained in the Bureau's DNA. A key component in our Prime Candidate program. Come out of that Russian roulette a winner, and you... you're it.''
->-- Dr. Darling

The badge of office for the Director of the Bureau of Control, the Service Weapon is itself an Object of Power that takes the form of a firearm made from an odd black material that fires self-replicating fragments of itself.
----
* BoringButPractical: Compared to the more esoteric powers granted by other Objects of Power, the Service Weapon is, at the end of the day, just a gun that doesn't need external ammo. It's also the first OOP that Jesse bonds to and will be with her throughout the entire game, plinking down Hiss Infected all the while.
* BottomlessMagazines: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that the Service Weapon does have finite ammunition, but it eventually regenerates the ammo over time without needing a new clip or magazine to be actively fed into it.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: It is only by the consent of the Service Weapon that someone becomes the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, and it is so choosy that it ''kills'' anyone who picks it up and is judged unworthy, making the process for selecting the next Director after the death of the previous one particularly fraught.
* EmpathicWeapon: It has a degree of sentience since it is responsible for judging and choosing who is allowed to wield it and, by proxy, picks the Director of the Bureau of Control via that method. One of the theories for how Zachariah Trench was able to kill himself with it was that he got RejectedByTheEmpathicWeapon [[spoiler:after getting infected by the Hiss and releasing it into the Bureau, proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that Trench was unfit for the job and giving him the clarity of mind to end his life on his own terms before the Hiss fully overtook him.]]
* FantasticFirearms: Doesn't really get more fantastical than a gun that shoots fragments of itself that never seemingly run out and is also responsible for selecting the Director of the FBC.
* IconicItem: For the Directors of the FBC in general, but Jesse's direct predecessor, Zachariah Trench, was said to have had a particular affinity for the Service Weapon compared to other Objects of Power that the Director is expected to bond with, which makes it all the more ironic that he eventually killed himself with it.
* ThePoorlyChosenOne: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]]; sometimes its judgement of a person's ability to handle the rigors of being the Director of the Bureau miss the mark [[spoiler:as was the case with Zachariah Trench, who much preferred being a field agent to being Director. Eventually the stress got to him, he became the first Hiss Infected, let the Hiss run wild in the Oldest House, and finally blew his brains out with the gun that picked him for the job, leaving the Service Weapon and the colossal mess he made for Jesse to find and deal with.]]
* TransformingWeapon: The Service Weapon has several alternate forms that Jesse can upgrade it with that alter its firing mode.
[[/folder]]

** Emily mentions that she calculated 39% of workplace injuries in the Bureau are caused by the House itself. Given all the dangerous research that is done there, this is a staggering number.

The former administrator of the Cauldron Lake Lodge, he managed to survive his encounter with the Dark Presence, but he certainly didn’t get out of the game’s events unscathed. The FBC took an interest in his business and investigated him. He was determined to be a low-level threat, but the Bureau, never one to take risks, got his psychiatry license revoked and confiscated all his research on the power of Cauldron Lake. Hartman, however, wasn’t deterred. After all, there was still ''one'' way he could continue researching the lake.

For more information, see [[Characters/RemedyConnectedUniverse the character page for Remedy Connected Universe]].

* HumanoidAbomination: It's implied that, even excluding the [[TheCorruption the Hiss]]'s influence, Dylan has become something ''far'' worse then just a powerful psychic. Among other things, he's implied to experience time non-linearly, and many of his movements are jerky and don't slide into each other properly.

* SigilSpam: Their icon, two upside down triangles stacked atop each other and overlapping, shows up as crude stick figures, graffiti in town, and well-made jewelry the cultists wear. [[spoiler:Documents in the hideout reveal it to have been inspired by the FBC logo during a drunken fit, and be completely meaningless for anything other then to spook locals who see the symbol in the woods.]]

[[Characters/RemedyConnectedUniverseFBC Federal Bureau of Control]] | '''Paranatural Phenomena''' | [[Characters/RemedyConnectedUniverseTheDarkPlace The Dark Place]]]] -]]]

** Lopez mentions the main character dying a "out in the unknown, alone and surrounded by danger, but never loses sight of the goal. That's a good soldier's death." Lopez would also die a good soldier's death, surrounded by an unknown enemy, but dedicated to getting a final warning out in time to save others.

* OutsideContextVillain: Jesse was uniquely qualified to take on the Hiss since Polaris negates the Hiss resonance, but the Dark Presence is out of her wheelhouse entirely. This also counts from the way the Dark Presence normally works, as most Taken are vulnerable to even a flashlight...but thanks to the Hiss being in there, weaker light sources break by mere proximity to Hartman and he requires far stronger ones to be harmed.

* CaptainErsatz: The Fix/Fixers are depicted as a deadly virus rapidly spreading across the world in one story, a mysterious EldritchAbomination in another, and an alien race who uses brain worms to transform people into more of themselves in another. If you combined the three of them into one entity, you'd get the Hiss. Lopez is also the only member of the book club to be killed by the Hiss, while her corresponsing book character dies from the virus.

* ThePigPen: It looks like a living mass of raw sewage with eyes. It's so gross it's secretions can be lethal to the touch.

* SitcomArchNemesis: To Ahti. It's very existence drives him to ranting, and he even refers to it as his "old enemy".

* GeniusLoci: It's implied that it's in some way sapient. While it doesn't seem to "mind" agents using it as an actual motel, it also seems to actively mess with agents attempts to observe and understand it. one agent actively staking out the Oceanview for weeks ends up believing the motel itself is toying with him before encountering...''something''. When other agents find him, he's apparently been DrivenToMadness.

* NothingIsScarier: The motel is pleasantly set-dressed, but there's a lingering eeriness regarding its lack of staff, [[PocketDimension isolation from the rest of known reality,]] the fact that other... ''things'' seem to have a connection to it, and the inherently surreal nature of the place. During one visit, [[JumpScare a sudden scream can be heard coming from one of the rooms]] whose door has a bit of blood coming from under it, and in ''AWE'', one agent reported seeing ''something'' in an attempt to stake it out for personnel after a few weeks, and other documents reveal that said agent came back insane. [[NoodleIncident Neither incident gets any explanation]].
** A minor, surprisingly disturbing incident occurs during one visit: tourists banging on the door trying to get in and book a room for the family, sounding generically American. They cannot be seen outside the doors. It's unclear if this really is a mundane family stumbling upon a physical manifestation of the Motel, or...something else trying to get in. And if it's the latter, the statement about finding a different motel is somewhat ominous.