Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context NightmareFuel / Warframe

Go To

1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lephantis_corpus_head.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:[[BodyHorror This used to be a normal Corpus Mook.]]]]
3
4-->''"From brooding gulfs are we beheld by that which bears no name.\
5Its heralds are the stars it fells, the sky and earth aflame.\
6Corporeal laws are unwrit, as suns and love retreat.\
7To cosmic madness, laws submit, though stalwart minds entreat.\
8In luminous space, blackened stars, they gaze, accuse, deny.\
9Roiling, moaning this realm of ours in madness, lost shall die.\
10Carrion hordes trill their profane accord with eldritch plans.\
11To cosmic forms from tangent planes, we end as we began."''
12--->-- '''Requiem of Lohk (the Void)'''
13
14For a game about space ninjas, there sure are a large amount of scares to be had in here. And when we say scares, ''boy do we mean scares...''
15
16'''Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies to all moments pages, so beware of unmarked spoilers.'''
17[[foldercontrol]]
18
19[[folder: The Infestation]]
20->"The Infestation is more than a disease - it is a horror of twisted flesh, monsters made into reality. The blight consumes its victims, transforming them into unrecognizable atrocities controlled by rabid impulse. The Infested are a single-minded scourge that belongs in the realm of nightmares, but instead chooses to invade ships and colonies, leaving only death and destruction in its wake."
21-->--'''Warframe Official Website'''
22
23* The Infested are made up of Grineer and Corpus alike who were unlucky enough to get infected. The [[http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131207105127/warframe/images/9/90/RunnerDE.png Infested Runners]] have a their right arm fused to their face and helmets like it was grasping at their skulls, the former Corpus now mutated into eyeless things with no purpose but to get close to an enemy, either to leap on them or explode. Others have been reduced to just a legless torso, called Crawlers, pulling itself along with its flailing arms. The [[http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131207105127/warframe/images/thumb/5/5a/ChargerDE.png/250px-ChargerDE.png Infested Chargers]], once Grineer marines, have been twisted into quadrupeds in the grossest way possible, their chests pointing up in the air with their limbs bent backward and joints inverted, a new "head" forming over their heart while their old skull hangs below their body. As for the [[http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131207111710/warframe/images/thumb/6/69/ToxicAncient2DE.png/250px-ToxicAncient2DE.png Ancients]], whatever they were before, they have no resemblance to it at all now. ''Pray'' that nothing of the original mind remains.
24** The lore shows that the Ancients predate the Corpus by centuries. The only thing in the lore that predate the Corpus are the ''Orokin.'' A close inspection of the proportions and the strange 'crown' on its upper back heavily imply that this is a heavily infested member of the Orokin, now reduced to this shambling, faceless, nearly formless thing.
25* Then there is Lephantis, a bio-engineered Infested monstrosity that was created for the Old War and survived by hiding in a derelict [[{{Precursors}} Orokin]] ship. It consumed and absorbed everything and everyone that discovered it, and so when you reach its chamber, it attacks you with giant, twisted versions of all three enemy factions. The Corpus head is especially horrifying, as the infested Crewman's helmet has fused with his skull and become a mouth that opens to attack you (compare [[http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140330082122/warframe/images/9/9a/CrewmanDE2.png a normal Crewman]] to the [[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130920113215/warframe/images/8/80/2013-09-20_00021.jpg mutated version]]), and the Grineer head has not only has a three pronged mouth, but also a deformed Grineer face on its upper chest. When you defeat the heads, the floor beneath you breaks, and you fall down to see Lephantis's main body, a building-sized monster with all three of the heads growing out of it. [[OhCrap Only then does the boss subtitle appear.]] Doesn't help that all the while, Lephantis is [[ItCanThink sending you messages]] like ''"We are countless. Consume us. Be reborn."'' and ''"We embrace you. Why do you defile us?"''.
26* A lot of the horror around the Infestation gets worse when you're familiar with the lore and realize that Warframes are likely based on the same technology as Infested. This is supported by the Excalibur Proto-Armor Skin for Excalibur which has the description, ''"Discovering the precise nature of this recently uncovered armored prototype has proved elusive. Initial attempts at dating point to ancient origins, perhaps even predating Orokin Empire."''. This is a direct reference to DE's previous game VideoGame/DarkSector, which had a very familiar threat called the "Technocyte Virus" that would take over hosts and warp their bodies, almost exactly as Infested do. In the darkSector universe it is nicknamed "The Great Plague" and an infested weapon in Warframe called the Mire also references a "Great Plague", hinting that these are one and the same, and Warframe technology was based off of the technocyte virus, and further supported by both dialogue in The War Within calling the Warframe your Operator's "Infested Puppet" and the assertions of Cephalon Jordas in the J-3 Golem mission:
27-->'''Jordas:''' Tenno, it senses you are of like flesh, it is confused. '''WHY DO YOU DEFILE US?'''\
28-->'''Jordas:''' I see it now, you are the same. '''THEY FEAR THEMSELVES.'''
29* One only has to look at their behavior during an Infested rescue mission to see [[ItCanThink how smart they are.]]
30* At the first day of Warframe, planet Eris was described as the location of a far-flung Corpus outpost. Now, every single mission node there are controlled by Infested. The [[AllThereInTheManual Cephalon Fragments]] for the planet describe it as being devoid of all life except the Infestation, which is slowly digesting the mutated ruins of Grineer and Corpus ships.
31* Occasionally you will find a lone Corpus Crewman stuck in the Infested MeatMoss, struggling feebly to try to get out. You can either kill them yourself or leave them to there to be turned or torn apart by the Infested...
32* Infested ships are claustrophic, full of deadly hazards that get worse as you kill more hive nodes, near-insta-kill poison enemies can trap you at close range, and there are so many infested in your face that you ''will'' start drowning in them if you don't have a decent piercing or crowd-control ability. All that's missing is the [[Film/{{Aliens}} M41A Pulse Rifle]]. To top it all off [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMUkXQ31q9g this music]] plays throughout. Sometimes an Infested Charger can burst out of a vent next to you, Franchise/DeadSpace style, [[ParanoiaFuel even if you're on an Exterminate and have killed all the enemies.]] What's even worse are the Parasitic Eximi that constantly drain your energy and the [[GoddamnedBats Mutalist Ospreys]] which spew toxin fumes that directly damage your health. If you aren't prepared, hive missions can suddenly become Survival Horror.
33* Infested Juggernauts. When they spawn, the lights flicker, similar to assassins, but [[HellIsThatNoise they also let out a terrifying roar]] which buffs all Infested around you.
34* On some maps, in missions on planets where there is no Infested invasion, you can find in some innocuous corner somewhere a small patch of technocyte MeatMoss hidden and growing. No planet is truly clean; the Infested have footholds everywhere and will always, always return. [[ForeverWar The Origin System will never be free of them.]]
35* As of March 2016, players can find [[ParanoiaFuel Infested tumors inside their orbiter.]] What's actually behind the door where the tumors are growing is a little unsettling, too: only Nidus can open it, where a chair with a device full of needles awaits. If you choose to sit in it, Nidus becomes infected with an Infested cyst. ''[[ThePlague Which can then spread to any other Warframe, causing them to visibly shrivel for a bit before growing the cyst as well.]]'' The cyst then begins to grow for one week, [[{{Squick}} getting nastier and larger before sprouting hairs as some real human cysts do.]] Thankfully, it's harmless, and can be drained once the week is over to create the Helminth Charger, the strongest companion in the game. The cysts initially shifted player alignment towards the Moon for infected individuals. Given the choices related to it, players started running from the cysts as if they were an actual disease.
36* There's more to the Infested room on the Orbiter than just the chair and cysts. ''Something'' named Helminth resides down there, and it apparently serves Nidus. It wants Nidus to consume with it (fitting, given his territorial abilities.) As disturbing as it is, there's no getting rid of it since Ordis says [[MundaneUtility it controls the biological functions of the Orbiter]], but even he's disgusted by its existence.
37* The Infested Salvage mission (and one stage of The Jordas Verdict) involves activating vaporizers to clear out Infested biomass and neutralizing the otherwise corrosive atmosphere. If your Warframe isn't inside a vaporizer bubble, your armor starts to corrode, and if it reaches 0%, you start to lose health, the edges of your screen turn red, and the Infestation starts ''speaking to you''. Even worse, the voices aren't coming from a proxy such as Jordas; the Infested [[HiveMind Hive Mind]] is speaking to you directly.
38* As of the Pacifism Defect event, we get to see in real time what it looks like when someone succumbs to the Infestation, courtesy of the Grineer defectors in the Infested ship. First, they collapse like anyone does when they're out of health. Then, if no Tenno revives them in time, they're consumed by an Infested spawn pod, which creates a Charger. This is treated unambiguously as being a form of death for the Grineer.
39* Operation: Plague Star saw the Ostrons' home of Cetus, as well as the Unum, come under threat from the Infestation thanks to a gigantic Infested Boil crash-landing on the Plains of Eidolon, something Councilor Hek sees as an opportunity to finally be rid of the Ostrons. Asking Konzu about what might happen should the Infested overrun Cetus causes him to give a chilling anecdote about how his uncle, a civilian merchant who sold rare materials in a market near Eris, was consumed by the Infested when they showed up and overran said market. Now, that market is a festering mess and Konzu's uncle's voice broadcasts on a beacon to any ships that happen to come upon the market, that the place they've found is a place of death and that anyone who could hear them should turn back before it was too late. Had the Tenno not intervened and fought off the Infestation, this would have been Cetus' fate. A full Tenno party mixing in Infested Catalysts to kill the boil can result in up to 4 Hemocytes (basically a bunch of ''Lephantis'') and spawn pods appearing which results in an ungodly amount of Infested trying to murder everything as the boil's immune system reacts to the threat...
40* Nightwave Series 2 shows that, in addition to bloodthirsty and overwhelming, the Infestation has a capacity for being very insidious. What seemingly starts as a following surrounding a mysterious boy with miraculous healing abilities quickly turns into a fanatical cult of mutants bent on spreading the Infestation through violence and mass murder. Everything about them is disturbing one way or another - from their BodyHorror incarnate transformations turning them into living humanoid weapons; to their fanatism with religious overtones as they ''willingly'' subject themselves to aforementioned transformations; and to their methods which include weaponising Infested Derelicts by redirecting them to a collision course with population centers across the system, turning them into biological weapons of mass destruction. The picture of Infestation hitting and spreading across major civilian hubs is terrifying enough on its own, but perhaps the most horrifying thing about Arlo's cult is the reason it came to be, with two parts combining and joining forces to bring the aforementioned result.
41** One part is Kenga, the first man "saved" by Arlo who did the most work in forming Arlo's cult, cooperating with the Infestation's plan just so he could get his revenge on the rest of humanity after he was exiled when he'd gotten infected. It takes a monstrous man to willingly work toward unleashing horrific plague and a horde of monsters on countless innocents that had nothing to do with his predicament - out of nothing but spite.
42** The other part is the Infestation itself, once it is implied that the reason for this whole plan was not destruction but ''study''. It is an ItCanThink moment and FridgeHorror of tremendous magnitude - not only does it show that the Infestation is cunning enough to start and successfully implement a subtle scheme that was Arlo's cult, successfully luring in and decieving countless people with a cunning bait of miraculous healing to turn them into an obedient body of infiltrators and terrorists capable of inflicting damage on a massive scale. The fact that rather than that being a purpose in itself it was essentially an experiment, an aimed effort to discover new ways to evolve and spread the infestation shows that the Infestation as a whole possesses an intelligence of much higher order than it seemed before. It shows that it can study, it can plan several steps ahead, it can observe and it can make conclusions. And the one thing that is worse than TheVirus creating a HordeOfAlienLocusts led by a HiveMind is when it makes a HordeOfAlienLocusts led by a ''brilliant'' HiveMind.
43* What's worse than Infested ships? [[FromBadToWorse How about an entire]] ''[[PlanetaryParasite Infested moon?]]'' That is precisely what Deimos is now, a giant nodule of alien flesh patrolled by bizarre and usually hostile lifeforms, only kept in check by a group of partly infested Orokin who spends most of their time sleeping and [[DysfunctionalFamily sniping at each other]], and the fact the two Wyrms who rule it [[EnemyCivilWar despise each other]] and constantly waste effort on reconquering Deimos from each other. Small comfort to Mars, though, given how the Deimos Infested are apparently their own ecosystem.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder: The Grineer]]
47->"They say there is power in numbers - the Grineer are living proof. Wretched from centuries of cloning that has left their genetics in decay, this horde expands their vile empire through brute force, conquering anyone who tries to stop them."
48-->--'''Warframe Official Website'''
49
50* The Grineer are a near-limitless horde of [[CloneDegeneration decaying clones]] that - aside from a few individuals mentioned below - possess two major psychological traits: Fanatical loyalty and love for their evil queens, and [[AbsoluteXenophobe an equally intense hatred of]] ''[[AbsoluteXenophobe everything]]'' [[AbsoluteXenophobe that is not Grineer]]. These traits are inherent to the Grineer as a whole; sympathetic Grineer such as Clem, the Steel Meridian, and the Kavor defectors are all considered by their empire to be mistakes that need purging — their functional consciences are explicitly described as a ''defect'' in the cloning process because Grineer are designed at the ''genetic level'' to be remorseless, psychopathic killing machines.
51* They have no [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar rules and restrictions on warfare]], targeting ''anyone'' who gets in their way - civilian or combatant - same ruthlessness, and anyone they don't murder is rounded up and forced into slavery.
52* Several missions (along with Nox troops) have made clear their willingness to use ''any'' weapon available to them regardless of the horrific effects it has on the victims. DeadlyGas, PoisonedWeapons, [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrowers]], [[ChainsawGood sawblade launchers]], [[BladeBelowTheShoulder fist-mounted]] [[ChainsawGood chainsaws]], lacerating saw-whips, and a microwave RayGun that makes targets [[BodyHorror inflate]] and explode (like a DisintegratorRay instead of causing LudicrousGibs, but that may just be game mechanics); all of these were designed by the Grineer to aid in their genocidal conquest, and their scientists are constantly researching newer and ever more effective methods of killing people in various horrible ways.
53* Unlike the vast majority of mass-produced armies in fiction, they aren't [[MadeOfPlasticine weak and fragile]] incompetents that [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy can't hit the broad side of a barn]]. Each soldier is an extensively-trained professional killer with their bodies genetically engineered for stength, endurance, and durability. Cybernetic implants are used to increase their already formidable capabilities, offset any physical flaws, and link them to their weapons in such a way that it becomes an extension of their own body. ''Every'' Grineer soldier is both a crack shot and highly adept with whatever melee weapon they pick up, and most of them wear [[HeavilyArmoredMook heavy armor]] that is most definitely [[AvertedTrope ''not'']] [[ArmorIsUseless useless]]. The cherry on top of all this is the sheer magnitude of [[WeHaveReserves their armies]].
54* Vor's ominous threats and taunts as his Ascaris slowly takes more and more of you over in Update 14, culminating in this line that replaces the Lotus' standard "Mission complete" dialogue at the end of the Corpus Hijack mission. Running high-level Void missions reveals that after you killed him, [[CameBackStrong he didn't stay dead]] and is now loyal to ''something'' that dwells within the Void.
55* Grineer Manics. You're just going about a mission, happily killing your way through the usual assortment of Grineer {{Mooks}} until you start hearing this insane laughter and then ''these things'' show up. They're basically mini-Stalkers seeing as they can turn invisible and invulnerable, [[HealingFactor can regenerate their health,]] can [[NoSell Dispel]] your abilities, and can easily kill you if you're not cautious. The Grineer Blackout tactical alert. [[NothingIsScarier There are no enemies]] until you reprogram the navigation computer. Then 75 Grineer Manics appear out of nowhere...
56* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOygJJ7Zudk Vay Hek addresses the Tenno directly.]] The fact that the video appeared exactly at the end of a developer livestream, interrupting it mid-sentence without warning, only increased the effect.
57* Before the Grustrag Three show up, the Lotus contacts you about 'impossible readings' she is picking up nearby, and her transmission is abruptly cut off. She gets out a few more garbled transmissions about how you are 'being hunted' and then suddenly begs the Tenno to abort the mission ''now'' before she is cut off totally. [[NothingIsScarier There's a few seconds of nothing]], then the Three spawn into the level. If you aren't equipped properly, they ''will'' beat the snot out of you, trap your Warframe under an orange cage-thing, and fix it with a RestrainingBolt that makes it almost impossible for you to effectively fight other Grineer. The ''genuine concern'' you can hear in her voice is what really hammers home what a threat the Grustrag Three present to the Tenno. While the Lotus obviously cares about you, she is nothing but utterly calm or mildly surprised at most, even on the most dangerous missions. Suddenly, she is [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness clearly frightened and confused]], frantically warning at the player to abort and ''run'' before getting cut off.
58* The War Within, while grim, hides its horror more subtly. For example, the Queens know exactly who you are, and about Ordis. The Elder Queen also states the reason why her possession didn't work. She spends the quest slowly but surely corrupting you, culminating in you moving as she does.
59--> '''Elder Queen:''' I see how you cast me out. Simple really. There's no room for me in that head of yours.
60* In the Pacifism Defect event, the Tenno are tasked with escorting Grineer defectors from Sargas Ruk's army (who aren't trying to join the Steel Meridian, but just want to live peacefully) out of ships that have been hit with the Infestation. When most Grineer speak their voices are rough and almost monstrous, distorted by their cybernetics. Not so for these defectors; despite not having their dialogue appear as text on the screen (which makes them feel more like regular Grineer [=NPCs=]), they sound like completely normal human beings. Which makes it all the more nightmarish when they start dying to the toxic air in the ship. Their desperate screams are haunting. In the higher-level missions of the Pacifism Defect event, Sargas Ruk begins sending in [[BossInMookClothing Grineer Manics]] just in case the Infested don't kill enough of the defectors. It doesn't matter that the escaping Grineer simply want to live peacefully and will pose no threat to anyone once they're out: [[ResignationsNotAccepted their superiors still want them dead.]] Life as a Grineer subject seems bleaker by the minute.
61* The Nox unit is one of the nastiest things in the Grineer army. Its codex entry describes it as being filled with toxins, and their suits have a noticeable cloud inside them, which vents out if their helmets are broken. Their face however, is simply unpleasant to look at. [[BodyHorror Its almost entirely swollen, and looks as if it's covered in boils and scars.]] It was even worse when their main weapons had higher status chance - a standard run against Grineer could turn into a nightmare as your shields [[ArmorIsUseless abruptly became useless as the toxin damage ate away at health.]]
62** If you happen to catch a Nox unaware (likely if you're running a stealth frame such as Ash, Ivara or Loki), tail it for a bit. When it stops, it occasionally makes this horrendous, retching kind of cough, as if ''choking'' on its own toxins. There's also the fact that when killed, they don't leave a body behind; they detonate into a cloud of poison that lingers for a long while.
63** Noxes that have had their helmets broken can use a [[FoeTossingCharge rushing charge attack]] that has very little windup time. It can be [[JumpScare very startling]] if you aren't expecting it.
64* Ghouls.
65** These are special Grineer units deployed as shock troops. What makes them special is that instead of being a fully grown Grineer clone, these guys are quickly gestated in diapause bags, creating near-mindless [[BodyHorror malformed beasts]] with an [[TheBerserker incredible bloodlust]].
66** The Auger has practically no lips, carries [[ThisIsADrill two large drills]], and loves to dig underground, leaving you with almost no idea of where it is and when it'll pop up.
67** The [[ActionBomb Expired]] is a Ghoul who suffered from malnutrition or poisoning while in their bag, leaving it with more deformities than other Ghouls. How much? Its head is more resembling of a skull, even lacking a nose. Its "umbilical cord" is also still attached to it, flailing about as it try to [[TakingYouWithMe blow you up along with them]]. It's entirely possible that they are even more pitiful than this--their description uses the phrase 'succumbed to malnutrition or poisoning,' and states that only the 'backup nervous systems continue to drive them forward,' suggesting that they're ''technically stillbirths.''
68** The Rictus has an oversized neck and carries a [[ChainsawGood large saw]], which it will happily use to carve up any non-Grineer it finds.
69** The Devourer is arguably the worst out of the lot. It's an enormous Ghoul with a very large maw, allowing it to consume enemies who are unfortunate enough to get too close. It won't matter if you're not to close either, as the Ghoul will either grab you with its hooks, or charge you down with incredible speed. The Devourer is also implied to only have one eye in its head.
70** You wanna know the scariest part about the Ghouls? The Grineer can bury them in the ground ''from orbit'', allowing them to develop while any nearby people remain unwary. They'll have no idea that their nightmares are lying right beneath their feet before it's too late. A miner, fisherman, or scout on the plains could be going about their daily business, oblivious to the monsters lying dormant in the ground. They take one step in the wrong direction, and BOOM, a savage beast leaps out of the ground and barrels toward the one who disturbed it. One can only imagine the terror going through the head of person caught in the sight of a Ghoul.
71-->'''Konzu''': Lok-heb, just before dawn Ghouls took out a hunting party. Not a Grineer in sight, then BAM! Out the ground they came.
72** And the one who created these monsters? Doctor Tengus, the same guy responsible for creating the Grustrag Three, unleashing the Infestation upon the Origin system, and making Vay Hek the way he is now. This goes to show just how twisted Tengus is, and to what extents the Grineer will go to conquer the Origin system.
73** Related to the above are the ''Ghoul Purge'' events, where [[ZergRush vast numbers of Ghouls break ground]] and threaten to overrun Cetus. Aside from having to use Grokdrul on the Plains to destroy a Ghoul Burial Ground, there are now Ghoul Alphas, [[ItCanThink that, as Konzu will point out, can lead and coordinate the Ghouls.]]
74-->'''Konzu''': Ghouls are hideous things, ready to kill the moment they take their first breath. Thing is, they're as dumb as the dirt that birthed them.... but now.... now we got a smart one. Leading the pack, coordinating. There's nothing more dangerous than a Ghoul with a brain.
75** Wanna know something even more horrifying? One of the bounty requests during the purge is to rescue a ''Ghoul Defector''. Yes, you read that correctly -- much like the Kavor listed further up, these Ghouls want nothing to do with the Grineer. Unfortunately, the Grineer want to tear the Ghoul apart to figure out ''why'' he's rejecting his purpose. Even [[ActionBomb Expired]] Ghouls can defect. Even Konzu is surprised by this.
76-->'''Konzu''': A Ghoul Defector? Think that's possible, Tenno? Cressa Tal of Steel Meridian seems to. She tells me they were contacted by a Ghoul trying to defect. Grineer intercepted the message and now the Ghoul is being held for dissection.
77[[/folder]]
78
79[[folder: The Corpus]]
80!!Corpus in General
81->'' "The Corpus embody the cold vacuum of space - heartless and bent on taking anything left unprotected. Driven by profits, the Corpus Board’s small numbers are supplemented by their legion of robot proxies, optimized for quick and efficient destruction."''
82-->--'''Warframe Official Website'''
83
84* The Corpus is a cult that worships money and profit above literally everything else. For this, they have become the religious version of a MegaCorp that controls the entire economy of the system, what it isn’t destroyed by the Grineer, they will take it and sell it to anyone, including the Grineer. They have been engaging in the countless wars happening in the Origin System by selling weapons and sometimes engaging in those wars in order to obtain the profit they so crave, being responsible of the majority of deaths that happened in the Origin System. Virtually, '''nothing''' is below the Corpus, if it’s done in the name of Profit.
85->''"May our ledgers become ocean, our margins see Centauri. In the name of Profit, I commit thee to the Void."''
86* Simply just the fact of how the Corpus is the most stable form of civilization in the System is a small demonstration of how bad it’s to live in the Origin System if you aren’t a Tenno or the elite. For what we have seen with Fortuna, if you fail to the meet the quota expected by the Corpus, you will be taken by them and turned into their slaves. If you haven’t failed to meet the quota, you will have to live with the soul-crushing job the Taxmen will impose on you, in a loop where you have to work endlessly to not be turned into their slaves. The Corpus is truly one of the most shining examples in fiction of why CapitalismIsBad and how soul-crushing it is to live with it.
87* The voices the Corpus Workers make are deeply distrubing, since they sound less human and more machine. Fitting, for a faction that dehumanizies everything for profit, their employees are also subjects to this. Sometimes, they say things like ‘We serve the Corpus. We are the Corpus’, which shows us that the workers are brainwashed to love the Corpus from the very start. After all, they have Indoctrination Temples in Neptune.
88* Ever wonder why there are so few female Corpus mooks? Corpus crewmen are described as 'purpose-bred', meaning that the majority of the women of the Corpus are locked up somewhere, being forced to give birth to children that will be turned into unflinching, greedy men that will die if they ever meet the Tenno. AndIMustScream doesn’t even begin to describe the fate of these womans. It’s truly a miracle that a few of them manage to get to the position of captain of a Corpus ship or becoming a Comba or a Scrambus.
89* '''The Amalgams.''' They are a group Corpus crewman that Alad V has been experimenting on, fusing them with Sentient technology or parts to enhance them. Some of this modifications aren’t too bad, like the Hequet Amalgam, whose head is now changed for a head made out of Sentient technology. [[BodyHorror And then there is the Alkonost Amalgams who are Crewmans that are completely turned into a Sentient.]] Hell, we can see their normal heads sticking around on their new horrific bodies.
90* [[ConMan Nef Anyo]] is one of the most influencial figures inside the Corpus and a member of the Board of Directors of the Corpus. A televangelist that makes people join his cult and subsidiary, [[Main/{{Egopolis}} AnyoCorp]], Nef presents himself as a [[FauxAffablyEvil kind man]] that promises that the Void will answer to your prayers by [[Main/{{Ponzi Scheme}} giving money to all the enterprises of Nef]]. His initial appearances did not do much to make people respect him — first he runs a Ponzi scheme with his bursas which ends with him being tricked in return by the Tenno, then he vainly boasts about his invincible Razorbacks that got scrapped in record time. The Glast Gambit makes him slightly more serious by turning him into a callous child kidnapper, but the way he is dealt with thrashes all of that newly-found cred. [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Then, he turned out to be far worser than we thought when we see what he did with Fortuna.]] Nef, in truth, is a sociopathic, cruel and above all else, greedy overlord of Fortuna that has led countless people into slavery and making sure their debts are never fully fulfilled and making sure they are all passed to their children, forcing his slaves to do in daily basis [[SadisticChoice choices that severily cripples them]]. He also makes his less useful or rebellious slaves be subjected to brain-shelving which consists in taking the brain of the poor soul and keeping it in isolation, driving the brain-shelved person into madness. His most cruel moment is definitely when he [[spoiler:let’s his ship be destroyed by the specters of his supposed “father”, Parvos in a tantrum when he would rather help the Tenno than him for being everything the Founder is against when creating the original Corpus]], [[HateSink showing how rotten to the core Nef truly is.]]
91* [[MadScientist Alad V]] is one of the most recurring Corpus villains of the story and for a good reason. He was the one responsible of the Zanuka Project and make his proxie made out of Tenno and warframe parts, creating Valkyr in the process. After losing his funds when he lost to the Tenno, Alad decided to perform some experiments with the Infested, [[EvenEvilHasStandards even though the Corpus is smart enough to not meddle with the disease]], it ended with him becoming a half-infested shell of his former self that plans to [[AssimilationPlot use a new strain of the Infested to unify the entire Origin System with it.]] He gets better after we help him return back to normal after [=TubeMen of Rygor=], but he is still left with a glowing scar on his left cheek, marking him as a former Infested.
92* [[KingMook The Segeant]] is the head of the solar rails that connects the entire Origin System and all of its planets together. He has been using his business to capture warframes and either slice them up or hang them as his trophies. What could have happened for all those Operators connected to the warframes is very up to the imagination of the player.
93* Frodh Bek, current chairman of the Corpus, is basically the reason why the Corpus is such a hellhole to live. He nearly starts a RobotWar after his new venture, the Ambulas [[AIIsACrapshoot started to gain sentience and nearly went rogue]]. Ergo Glast, leader of the Perrin Sequence and former student of Frodh explains that [[spoiler:he was the one who made the Animo A.I. system and that Frodh simply stole it from him]], he explains that Animo was an incredibly advanced system with the capacity to learn everything and that if it was left alone, [[spoiler:it would have repeated a mistake the Orokin did in the past when they created the Sentients.]]
94** Him threatening Alad V is as menacing it sounds like.
95->''"You can't hide, ride, or bribe your way out of this, Alad. You've been downsized and your fat head is about to suffer cutbacks. Literal cutbacks."''
96* Vala Glarios, the captain of one of the ships of the Corpus, is on of the few people who survived a Void Storm caused by the Tempestarii when it came to the Origin System. Livid and furious of what happened to her sisters, she is absolutely determined to hunt down Sevagoth and his ghost railjack and take her revenge after the latter’s ship destroyed the ship she and her crew were operating, leaving her to die in the cold of space. [[spoiler:Her DyingCurse is spine-chillingly sent:]]
97-->'''Vala''': [[spoiler:SISTERS! HEAR ME!! Hound them to Hell and back! By the Hand of Parvos himself!]]
98* Parvos Granum, the founder of the Corpus, while a BenevolentBoss compared to the current Board of Directors, has his more scary moments. When compared to the likes of Nef, at least, he was predictable, Parvos on the other hand is [[WildCard absolutely impossible to tell what he is planning to do]], having a plan for everything. Both Eudico and Biz, who showed courage against Nef, were scared shitless of Parvos due to how unpredictable he was. At least, he shows benevolence by giving Solaris United a chair in his new Board of Directors. He is as beloved within the Corpus as feared as the Boogeyman.
99* The Zanuka Project: various sliced-up Tenno and their warframes formed into a mechanical quadruped controlled by Corpus technology. What the hell this does to the unfortunate Operators on the other side of the Warframes in question is unclear.
100* Valkyr, the Warframe produced as a byproduct of the Zanuka Project. All subsequent Valkyr frames are based off of the template of the original. It's impossible to tell what frame Valkyr used to be, or if we've even seen it yet, but that's not even the scariest part. Given that Warframes draw their power from the [[EldritchLocation Void]] in a manner that is suggested to be intrinsic to their psychology and outlook on life, it suggests that whatever Alad V [[ColdBloodedTorture did to Valkyr]] caused her psychology to [[MindRape change so drastically]] it ''altered her Void imprint''; and knowing what we do now, the implication seems to be that Valkyr's original Operator was ''linked to it'' during the entire procedure, which seriously starts to approach [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Soryu]] levels of [[BodyHorror character]] [[MindRape horror]].
101* Valkyr's original (non-Prime) form is demonstrated by her Gersemi skin. With it on, she looks like a fairly normal Warframe. There's just one little detail: The Gersemi skin bears an uncanny resemblance to that of Zanuka. Now we know where Zanuka's outer layer came from.
102* "The Profit" Trailer [[DownerBeginning begins]] with Alad V cutting up an Excalibur, then preparing to do the same to a Mag. It's unsettling enough that Alad maintains a friendly, affable veneer throughout the whole thing and it's unsettling enough that he treats it like an auction (with prospective buyers!), but knowing that the Excalibur he cut up is still connected to his Operator - and knowing that that is true for ''every'' Warframe he cuts up for the Zanuka Project - adds a horror to the scene that puts it up there with what happened to Valkyr.
103* The Philantropist is an ex-Corpus MadScientist that planned to create a new weapon that was stronger than the Warframes. For that, he created a cult where he would bring orphans across the System to fuse them into the Leviathan, a battle armor made by Infested biomatter and the orphans the Philanthropist would bring them to. [[AndIMustScream And the people fused into the Leviathan are clearly in pain of what they have becomed.]]
104!!Fortuna
105* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynMXZHV2Mo Fortuna]] introduces us to what is literally called a "Debt-Internment Colony". These are regular people who have been cybernetically augmented to basically be slave labor for the Corpus... Oh, and if you couldn't somehow tell, that "augmentation" involves ''mandatory outright head replacement for every adult worker'', and these "replacements" are crude and robotic-looking. These poor souls have had all sorts of replacements over the years either forcefully or due to harsh working conditions necessitating them.
106* Further speculation indicates that [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/comments/8x37m7/whether_de_realizes_it_or_not_fortuna_is_one_of/ this is not only a deliberate attempt to dehumanize these people,]] but also that body parts, including ''heads'', are used as debt collateral, taken away as incentive for the debt slaves to keep working. As it turns out, the heads aren't taken away; those massive barrel torsos the Solaris have? They're that large because their real heads are inside them. The Solaris will only show their true heads to the Tenno if they reach a high enough rank with them.
107* An ARG leading up to Fortuna reveals what exactly can happen to those who miss a debt payment: the Corpus send a repossession squad to literally rip the cybernetics out of your body. As if that wasn't bad enough, if you don't ''have'' augments, they'll rip out your body parts. there's a more severe punishment called "brain-shelving." The Corpus will take your brain and [[AndIMustScream keep it in a storage facility deprived from sensory input]] until your family can pay off your debt. But only until they can also pay for a new Rig to house your brain will you "return to a functional, conscious life." If this happens to a worker who has no family or relatives to pay off the debt than they will never get their brain back. Somehow, Ticker makes brain-shelving even more disturbing. She gave everything to spare a former lover from brain-shelving, and they suffered an apparent DeathOfPersonality when they came back.
108* Several of the intel files unlocked in the ARG reference a night on Deck 12. So far very little is known about the event, aside from the fact that several Solaris characters each lost multiple family members, and [=NPCs=] in Fortuna speak of it with the utmost horror.
109** We finally learn what exactly happened to Deck 12 during Operation Buried Debts: Nef sicced the [[SpiderTank Exploiter Orb]] on the deck in order to wipe out Solaris United. ''It was a massacre''.
110** As if this wasn't bad enough, you eventually find a near-duplicate of the current Fortuna laid out beneath Deck 12... and in the spot where The Business would usually stand, you instead find the corpses of ''Zuud's sisters,'' charred and twisted in agony, clearly having been pinned down and burned to death by the Exploiter Orb. The whole experience is narrated by a heartbroken and sobbing Rude Zuud, only making it worse.
111-->'''Zuud''': "Some debts can never be paid. Some debts... we are too small to collect."
112* The DespairEventHorizon that so many Solaris characters have hit. Why, you ask? Because Nef has proven himself time and time again as [[BewareTheSillyOnes a frighteningly capricious, sociopathic]] overlord to Fortuna. During the introductory quest, a friendly Solaris looking to make extra cash has his limbs ripped out on Nef's orders, and - after foolishly ignoring Solaris warnings that the Orokin terraforming tower isn't ready - Nef orders Eudico to [[SadisticChoice line 50 Solaris up, so Nef can remove the cybernetics from inefficient Solaris]] and then [[AndIMustScream brain-shelve]] them. He will then give the cybernetics to the "better" workers. There's also the implication that, if not for Eudico taking up the mantle of Vox Solaris once more, things would get ''even worse''. The Business says as much himself:
113-->'''Biz''': "[[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe Do you not understand]]? Nothing you do will make Nef ''[[SarcasmMode kind]]''. The more you give, the more he'll take."
114* Hell, even the ''song'' used in the trailer for the Fortuna update, [[https://youtu.be/mPTCq3LiZSE We All Lift Together]], is existentially horrifying when you pay attention to the lyrics. These people are so broken down by the weight of their crushing debt to the Corpus that it is immortalized in their anthem; they "push to keep the dark from coming" (avoid brain shelving by hard work), and "hide the heart of who we are" (since whatever culture the Solaris had has been completely subsumed by their enslavement to the Corpus). Even the little children in the video have cybernetic parts, even ''they'' have to work for the rest of their sorry lives. The Corpus have taken ''everything'' from the Solaris, and even their music shows how far they've fallen.
115* Talking of the children of Fortuna, it's hard to notice, but their heads actually aren't attached to their bodies.[[note]]It's easiest to see on dioramas featuring Arlo from Nightwave Season 2, as Arlo uses a model based off of a Solaris child.[[/note]] The implication is that the Corpus have already prepared them for their eventual life of perpetual debt and having to buy and sell their own body parts before they've reached the age of ten.
116* There are events called “Thermia Fractures” in which consists of sealing fractures of thermia in order to get Dilluted Thermia, an item that is required to start the boss fight against the Exploiter Orb. Eudico says that if said fractures aren’t sealed off, it will cause the complete destruction of the Orb Vallis due to the explosion that would occur if left unchecked and would kill everyone in Fortuna. And Nef is too focused on making a quick profit by harvesting the thermia that he would let the Vallis, his main territory where he has his slaves, be destroyed for his own short-sighted business plans.
117* The Orb Mothers and their children, the Raknoids. These are immense, techno-organic [[SpiderTank Spider Tanks]] that, if their arachnid-like appearance didn't already make you squeamish, have ''Sentient'' technology built into them. If it wasn’t for the fact they have full control over the Orb Mothers, Ergo Glast's concern that [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters the Corpus will meet the same fate as the Orokin wouldn’t have been far off...]]
118** To make matters worse, one of them, the Profit-Taker Orb, not only has Sentient Adaptation, but also armor plating from Corpus warships and reinforcement from an orbital satellite, requiring a lengthy Heist to take them down. Part way through the heist to kill the Profit-Taker Orb Mother, you learn these things [[ItCanThink are actually sentient with their own personalities, in the case of the Profit-taker, we learn this when she starts taunting you in rhyme]], with something of a strange whisper to her voice.
119-->'''Profit Taker''':"Squishy pretties come out to play. My two friends, it's you they'll slay."
120-->'''Profit-Taker''':"I am patient, I am still. When I descend, it's you I'll kill."
121** The third part of the heist has you attacking the Profit-Taker to learn about its shielding adaptation. It decides to taunt you further.
122-->'''Profit-Taker''': "THIEFLINGS! THIEFLINGS! GIVE IT BACK! FIND YOU! CATCH YOU! CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!"
123-->'''Profit-Taker''':"Stones on bones hurt not me. Stingers fly nastily. Damn you, damn you dollies, cry. Catch you, crush you, die, die, die."
124-->'''Profit-Taker''': "A hundred soldiers hi, a hundred soldiers ho. I'm having fun, your days are done, run little dollies, run."
125** You need to have '''Archwing''' weapons to damage these things, and partway through that fight, she undergoes a rather chilling VillainousBreakdown upon realizing that the Tenno could kill her before she could get her reinforced shielding back.
126-->'''Profit-Taker''': "Dollies should not move. Dollies should not bound. Bounce. Dollies should...shouldn't. Dollies should... Dollies should '''DIE, AND BE SMASHED BAGS OF SALT AND FLUID! YOU CANNOT BRING MY RUIN!''' "
127** Upon finally defeating her, [[TakingYouWithMe she decides to go out in a massive explosion ranging over 300+ meters wide via deliberating overcharging her shielding, in a last attempt to kill her defeater.]] Before she dies, Profit-Taker wishes us good night, as she is planning to [[DeadlyEuphemism make the Tenno sleep forever with the explosion.]] The Business puts it best: "Outworlders?! '''RUUUUUUUUUN!!!'''"
128-->'''Profit-Taker''': "Good...night....sweet....heart.....good....night...."
129* There's also the Exploiter Orb. She is a giant Orb Mother with the mind of a SadisticTeacher, and the one responsible for the destruction of Deck 12. Deck 12 is filled with Solaris corpses, the burned remains of the original Solaris United, incinerated when she burned the entire deck to the ground with Thermia. She is also the one who scares Fortuna into submission and makes sure they keep the production of coolant and thermia isn’t unhindered, making sermons and saying propaganda to make sure they all stay in line. She is called the “exploiter” for a reason.
130-->'''Exploiter''': "Solaris. United. You shall NOT be spared the rod... as those who came before you... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis WERE. NOT. SPARED.]]"
131-->'''Exploiter''': "Solaris. United. You must be taught what to think, not how to think. '''[[DeadlyEuphemism LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM SPEAKING TO YOU!]]'''
132** She seems calm and collected at first early in her boss fight, but once you destroy her coolant vents and kill the Raknoids she summons, she goes so insane with grief and fury that she returns to the surface to burn Fortuna to the ground, forcing the Tenno to fight her on the surface.
133-->'''Exploiter''': '''MY CHILDREN!!''' They did '''NOTHING TO YOU!!'''
134-->'''Exploiter''': "Come, Children. It is a fine day to visit the city. '''Burn. Them. ALL!'''"
135** During the phase two of her boss fight, she starts call for her Coolant Raknoids to cool her down due to losing her coolant vents. Among the things she also does in phase two, she starts to shout death threats at you and shout [[BattleCry Battle Cries]] as she tries to fry us up by cracking thermia fractures of the floor.
136-->'''Exploiter''': "[[MakeAnExampleOfThem If you will not be a model, you shall be an example!]]"
137-->'''Exploiter''': "[[IllKillYou DIE!]]"
138-->'''Exploiter''': "'''DIVISION!'''"
139** Also, while sided with the Tenno, Zuud will say this simple, but spine-freezing line when Exploiter Orb calls for her children to help her. She '''really''' hates the Exploiter Orb for kill her sisters and now, she can take the revenge that she has been waiting for so long.
140-->'''Rude Zuud''': '''Call them. Call them and know what it’s like to feel them die.'''
141** When she dies she also causes a massive explosion after she dies but while Profit-taker was a bigger explosion, Exploiter dies much faster. Before she dies, she musters that she is now returning to home, beneath the circuit of the sun. Looks like the Sentient part managed to make a final act of freedom and says goodbye from the world and from its anguished existence.
142-->'''Exploiter''': “And… so I turn from the tumult of the world… towards home… that sweetest spot… ‘neath the circuit… of the sun…”
143* Finally, there is a third Orb Mother in a coolant lake near the Orokin Dig Site, this one has a Narmer Drone floating around of it after finishing the New War quest, implying that somehow the Narmer Empire has taken control of one of the Orb Mothers and plan to use it for their goals. For now, the Orb Mother of the lake is unflinchingly swimming in the lake, who knows when DE will release a fight against the last of the Orb Mothers.
144[[/folder]]
145
146[[folder: The Sentients]]
147* Story-wise, what little information we have of the Sentients leans them towards this. These are something so threatening that the Orokin unleashed the Technocyte Plague and the Tenno in order to try and stop it. They pilot "worm-ships" which use heat-bursts to boil their enemies from the inside, are described as having "multi-faceted eyes", and are nearly endless in number.
148* The Tenno were chosen to be used in the war because their powers were spawned from the Void -- a "hellspace where science and reason failed" -- and thus couldn't be subverted by the Sentients, who were getting stronger with every advance the Orokin fielded. Lotus reinforces this in Vor's Prize, pointing out that the presence of the melee weapon was an adaptation to the Sentients' ability to subvert technology.
149* Ember Prime's codex entry implies that the Orokin were so desperate that they even threw ''kids'' into the Void. It was more an accident, really, but the effect was the same.
150* You have read all of the entries here, yes? The Sentients are '''returning'''. Unless you've seen the trailer for Tombs of the Sentient, you won't know when Teshin, the Conclave master, references them. All you'll know is he's trying to prepare you for the evils returning from beyond the outer terminus. Need we remind you again that the relic you interact with in ''The Second Dream'' quest is the corpse of Lotus' father, Hunhow? Yes, that one gigantic pillar stuck underwater allllll the way up to the surface of Uranus is only a part of it!
151* After competing The Second Dream and going back to Lua, you can run into Sentient Oculysts that can then summon either Sentient Battalysts or Conculysts that can adapt to your attacks just like they did in the Old War. The screen flickers blue like as if an Assassin is spawned and a loud metallic screech sounds that signals the appearance of both the Oculysts and their Sentient fighter backup, and while you fight them the Background Music is replaced with a hollow-sounding wind.
152* The Shadow Stalker first appears as The Second Dream's main antagonist and takes the Stalker and turns him into a pawn of the Sentient Hunhow, replete with frightening armor attachments and Hunhow's sword, War. His appearance at the Climax of The Second Dream when he confronts the Operator within their Orbiter's Somatic Link, stabs their Warframe with War, and attempts to strangle the Operator is one of the most frightening sequences in the entire quest, and Hunhow's dialogue only ups the tension. After completing The Second Dream he will also replace the regular Stalker and while he's not as much of a threat since he doesn't have his bow, throwing knives, or SinisterScythe, he still has War and he also has the Sentients' ability to adapt to your attacks.
153* The Sentients are capable of subverting all forms of Orokin technology, at least if it's not touched by the Void. This even includes Cephalons from the Orokin Era, namely Cephalon Suda. And then, because these Cephalons are interconnected, they can spread their mind control to other Cephalons. And even better, by controlling only one Cephalon, they could have gained the power and resources of a enitre Syndicate, with only you, Ordis, and Simaris the wiser. And they nearly kill Ordis and the Operator as well.
154* In the ''Plains of Eidolon'' trailer: a gigantic structure of Sentient origin lies dormant near a civilian colony. Then ''[[ThatsNoMoon it moved]]''.
155* Sentient [[ChestMonster Mimics,]] introduced in ''The Sacrifice'', are Sentient soldiers [[ParanoiaFuel that can disguise themselves as mundane objects from throughout the Origin System.]] They don't have nearly as much health as their Conculyst or Battalyst brethren, [[ZergRush but they come in much larger numbers.]] Oh, and the last time anyone saw them prior to ''The Sacrifice'' was during the Old War, which hints at just how much worse the Sentients' invasion of Sol is going to be.
156* The trailer for the first post-''Sacrifice'' Cinematic Quest is loaded with horror. First is the shot of ''[[OhCrap a massive Sentient army]]'', with thousands of "Conculyst" and "Battalyst"-type Sentients being corralled by Sentients at least the size of the Eidolon Teralyst in a floating MillionMookMarch. Then, we get a full look of Natah, conversing with her mysterious "Mother". Oh, and the name of this Cinematic Quest? The ''New'' War. And the game's iconic "Lotus" logo is ''inverted'' and ''broken'' for the quest.
157* In ''Chimera'', it's revealed that Ballas [[NotQuiteDead isn't quite dead]]. But he's been resurrected [[CameBackWrong with Sentient technology]], and it's quite clear he wishes he'd died.
158* The Jovian Concord expands on the above. It introduces Amalgams, Corpus forces integrating Sentient technology. While the Amalgam proxies have their own share of disturbing looks and behaviors, the true BodyHorror can be witnessed with the crewmen.
159** The Amalgam Heqet wears what at first look seems to be a helmet... except the neck is far too thin and flexible for that. Instead the Sentient form attached to it has absorbed the crewman from the shoulders up.
160** The Machinists seem tamer, with a helmet large enough too fit human anatomy, but their arms have clearly been replaced.
161** Then there's the Alkonost. A large flying larva-like monstrosity, it is capable of grabbing and mind controlling its organic allies. At first it appears to be a pure Sentient; but a second look will reveal the gloves and helmet stuck to its limbs and head. This is the end stage of Amalgam technology, and almost nothing of the human element remains.
162* The trailer for the upcoming cinematic quest, [[https://youtu.be/BnuV9keS5k4 The New War]], shows just what we're in for; the Sentients are returning to the system in full force, making landfall on the Plains of Eidolon and proceeding to wipe out the Grineer stationed there. If you thought The Second Dream, The Sacrifice, the Eidolons, and the Ropalolyst were bad, just imagine facing an ''army'' of creatures more powerful and prepared than any of the Sentients that came before. Prepare yourself, Tenno, for the New War is here.
163** Even worse; its not just contained to the Plains. The Sentients are hitting the ''whole'' system at the same time, prompting mass evacuations from Mars and Mercury going dark.
164** A flying Condrix is so fast and sturdy it can ram through a Grineer galleon and destroy it with minimal damage.
165** And then, as Erra stands over a slain Grineer, a very familiar voice rings out;
166-->'''Natah''': In winter, we fell upon the stars, and sang as one voice. A constellation. [[RobotWar An army]]. [[BrotherSisterTeam A family.]]
167* The Erra quest is yet more forewarning of the horror to come; Natah has made contact with her ''brother'', the titular Erra, and they're sending out a signal calling all the other Sentients back to the solar system, while also discussing strategy for the invasion. They ''know'' you're listening in as they talk about these plans. They see you as so little of a threat that they genuinely don't care enough to conceal their work. Oh, and according to Ballas, most of the Orokin Empire's anti-Sentient weaponry is long gone which — combined with humanity's divided state — means that the Tenno are literally the only thing standing between the Sentients and the Origin System.
168** All in all, ''Erra'' shows how sobering the last days of the Old War were for the Orokin. Hunhow was apparently attacking Lua ''personally'' in an attempt to destroy the Tenno, hordes of Conculysts and Aerolysts were overwhelming the moon's defenses and the Reservoir was piling up with the bodies of dead and wounded Dax, Warframes and Sentients.
169** Erra quickly shows his hatred towards humanity in his EstablishingCharacterMoment, in which he grabs Varzia's head and tries to crush it, damaging her helmet in the process. Only the Lotus telling him to let her go stops him from killing her right then and there.
170* The Sentients in appearance are just kind of creepy. They have a thin, insect-like appearance to them, with movements that seem [[UncannyValley a bit too human]]. Erra, for example, has a mantid-like body with spindly limbs that's taller than a Necramech, but he's still able to casually pick up a Dax soldier (Varzia) one-handed. This isn't even mentioning their "faces", which ride the line between Lovecraftian monstrosity and animal skeleton. Their voices are also quite odd, with an unchanging vocal tone and occasional clicks and distortion that never seems consistent. Even the Lotus' voice is unnerving in this regard, especially when you hear her spouting anti-Tenno propaganda in the Ropalolyst fight.
171* The way the Sentients begin their invasion of Earth in "The New War", by landing a Murex on top of the Unum and devastating Cetus in the process.
172* In general, everything the Sentients hijack or subvert ends up all but mutilated; apart from the previously mentioned examples with Ballas and the Amalgams, the New War also gives us Archons, which are recognizable as the remains of ''Warframes'', with horrendously powerful {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s replacing their heads.
173** Erra becomes one of the victims of these things following his death in the New War, in the shape of a ram named Pazuul. While the Lotus' dialogue during Archon Hunts makes this just as much of a {{Tearjerker}} as she feels conflicted on whether there's at least a small portion of Erra in there, some of Pazuul's lines are disturbing enough to make you forget that and instead wonder just what the actual '''hell''' this ram Archon is doing to him...
174--->'''Pazuul''': (after retrieving a Rescue operative) "Bite my head clean off, Mother! That's where the good meat is! Suck the guts until the little legs ''kick, kick, kick!''"
175[[/folder]]
176
177[[folder: The Tenno]]
178* What happened to the original Limbo. Specifically, the way it's described to us.
179-->'''Ordis:''' Oh, wait, Limbo, no that's a mistake, you don't want to go there. It's too big a jump. You can't rift walk... ohh. Oh no. Operator, I think I know [[TeleporterAccident why we're finding Limbo parts scattered throughout the system]].
180* Let's talk about Hydroid. His (former) 3rd ability, Undertow, allows him to become a puddle of water and move around in it. While it sounds useless, this puddle is somehow as deep as the ocean itself despite being able to see the bottom of it, and anyone unfortunate enough to step into it will be plunged underneath. And unless someone/something is able to disrupt Hydroid channeling the spell, [[AndIMustScream Nothing can ever get you out before you drown]]. Hydroid's water form can look like ANY other gathering of water, and is completely silent, with little in the way of visual/audio cues, meaning you can step straight into your slow, painful death before you even begin to figure out what happened. Even if you see the puddle, Hydroid is [[NighInvulnerability completely invulnerable]] while in this form, and can summon tentacles to pull you into the puddle from a distance.
181* You know how the Warframes have no face? Evidently, at least ''Rhino'' does, and [[ImAHumanitarian he's pretty fond of snacking on his victims]]. Grendel, on the other hand, doesn't ''need'' a face to eat people - his BellyMouth is more than enough for the task. And Dagath [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/s/3e4pydkad9 actually had a face]]. Emphasis on ''had'', since it was [[LosingYourHead blasted off with a dissolution beam]], leaving a giant gaping hole where most of her head is.
182* The War Within gives us details that definitely fall into this category:
183** The ''Zariman Ten-Zero'' incident.
184---> '''Elder Queen:''' Paranoia gripped your father's mind. What was it he said - as he stared out into the [[EldritchLocation starless black]]?\
185'''Operator:''' Something's out there kiddo... watching us.\
186(Later in the quest)\
187'''Elder Queen:''' You remember then, how the howling stopped - [[GoMadFromTheRevelation they]] had broken through.\
188'''Operator:''' (Moon) They were nothing but animals... so I hunted them.
189** The trials your Operator has to go through to unlock all of their Void powers. You have to use your powers to navigate underground fields of ''bones'' patrolled by ravenous Orokin Maws, which are mechanical {{Sand Worm}}s. [[NonStandardGameOver Get caught by one of the Maws]], and you get treated to the sight of one grabbing your Operator in its prongs, [[EatenAlive then dragging them under the bones so that the Maw can eat.]]
190** After defeating the Grineer Queens and unlocking all of your Operator's Void powers, you meet Master Teshin on the same snowy peak where you fought your BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind against the Elder Queen, still in possession of the Kuva Scepter you stole from her. After conversing with Teshin about what to do with the Kuva within the scepter, you get a choice: Destroy the Kuva (Sun Alignment), let Teshin Control it (Neutral Alignment), or Consume it (Moon Alignment). Whichever choice you go with, your Operator is suddenly ''controlled'' by an entity called "The Man in the Wall", who is implied to be connected to the Void and the Tenno's powers. Their eyes turn deathly black and the background darkens while they deliver an utterly ''chilling'' line:
191--->'''Man in the Wall!Operator:''' (Sun) [[VoiceOfTheLegion You mad at me,]] [[WhamLine kiddo?]] [[VoiceOfTheLegion Did you forget?]] '''[[VoiceOfTheLegion You owe me.]]'''\
192'''Man in the Wall!Operator:''' (Neutral) [[VoiceOfTheLegion Don't forget,]] [[WhamLine kiddo]]: '''[[VoiceOfTheLegion You're nothing without me.]]'''\
193'''Man in the Wall!Operator:''' (Moon) [[VoiceOfTheLegion Hey,]] [[WhamLine kiddo]]. '''[[VoiceOfTheLegion What took you so long?]]'''
194* The revelation as to what the Operators actually are can be both this and TearJerker. You thought they were just remarkably capable psychic kids who only use the Warframes as a conduit so their own powers don't kill them? ''If only'' it were that simple. No, their time in the Void changed them into...''[[HumanoidAbomination something else.]]'' Neither human no EnergyBeing, they exist [[LiminalBeing between]] the planes of Void and matter, forever twisted and forced to survive on the ''Zariman Ten-Zero'' for '''years''' before it was finally recovered--despite only ten days passing in Sol's reality, and judging by the somatic scarring you can apply to the Operator, the transformation was anything ''but'' a painless process. When they came out of the Void, their powers were so volatile that even attempting to ''touch'' them could completely disfigure you if not kill you outright. Imagine the viewpoint of the ''Tenno'' as they're forced to experience all this, finding themselves changed into something no longer completely human and possessing powers they just don't understand, let alone control. And just when you thought you were finally saved, your rescuers instead treat you as '''monsters''' and want you destroyed as quickly as possible and almost succeed if not for the intervention of one woman and a convenient threat that makes you the perfect candidate to combat it.
195* ''[[MadnessMantra Rap. Tap. Tap.]]'' Chains of Harrow is, to put it scientifically, creepy as fuck.
196** It starts with a playback of a Steel Meridian transmission, during which the screen subtly turns blood red, then fades to black, and an electronic groan is heard before the screen returns to normal.
197** After the end of the quest your Operator will be happily sitting in the cockpit to greet you after freeing Rell. But then you realize that you can still control your Warframe...meaning that isn't you. If you walk up to it, you hear something you never would have wanted to hear a second time:
198--->'''The Man in the Wall:''' [[VoiceOfTheLegion Hey, kiddo.]]
199** After that happens, the being disappears as soon as you turn away from it. And after the first encounter, there's a chance that the Man in the Wall will randomly appear in your Orbiter after completing a mission, delivering its line and summarily vanishing. [[ParanoiaFuel There's no way to tell where or when it's going to appear.]]
200** If Palladino and Rell are to be believed, The Man in the Wall is an avatar of the Void itself. [[GeniusLoci The implications of this are chilling.]]
201** Everything you've been doing, gaining your strength to fight the Queens, releasing Rell... It's only making The Man in the Wall stronger. As the Tenno grow stronger, '''so does he'''.
202** Despite the Lotus's insistence that it's just a delusion, The Man in the Wall seems to be becoming more active.
203** Once you complete The Sacrifice, ''it talks with you about what happened.''
204--->'''The Man in the Wall:''' [[VoiceOfTheLegion Feelin' better,]] [[TermsOfEndangerment Kiddo?]]\
205'''Operator:''' [[ItsAllMyFault I killed him...]] ''[[ItsAllMyFault Isaah.]]''\
206'''The Man in the Wall:''' ''[[IShallTauntYou Did you now?]]'' Is that how you remember it?\
207'''Operator:''' Yes.\
208'''The Man in the Wall: Good.'''
209* Nekros: The Death Themed Warframe and NightmareFuel Personified, with all the textbook {{Necromancer}} abilities, such as resurrecting fallen enemies from the dead, ''[[RobbingTheDead disintegrating their bodies just for a chance of additional loot]]'', or '''[[YourSoulIsMine ripping still-living enemies' souls out of their bodies]]'''.
210* If Nekros doesn't count as NightmareFuel, then Nidus certainly does - this frame isn't merely created from Infestation, it ''[[HumanoidAbomination is]]'' Infestation in a barely humanoid shape, and all its attacks command the Infestation itself. As it kills with abilities it becomes stronger and more powerful, shown by parts of its body ''opening up'' and extending tendrils into the air. Its powers start off with merely sending out a wave of damaging tendrils, then the next one unlocked forms a mass of tentacles that pull enemies into one location, and eventually ends with its ultimate ability creating a wide arena full of independent grubs that will attack anything hostile that wanders into it, healing Nidus with every attack. The Phryke skin manages to, somehow, top the base skin. Despite looking considerably more streamlined and its "evolved" form merely materializing golden armor plates instead of revealing its innards, the fact that it has two extra translucent arms folded uselessly across the torso, ''and'' [[EyesDoNotBelongThere six eyes in each shoulder]] that will independently look around makes it so much worse. [[GallowsHumor At least we know where all the eyes for the other frames went]].
211* [[BloodMagic Garuda]] definitely earns some points given that all of her powers are [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank blood themed]], including "ripping the life force from an enemy", impaling them on spikes to use their blood as health, using her [[CastFromHitpoints own health as a mana source]], and launching seeking talons [[IWillFindYou that can go through walls]] and cause anyone hit with them to receive wounds that can open even further if they take more damage.
212* Railjacks seemed like a pretty harmless addition to the setting! ''Oh, how wrong we were''. The back of the ship has a "Reliquary Drive" that required a key for the ship to be powered... and looked suspiciously like a Void-themed coffin thanks to the bluish haze inside it. Players report hearing faint thumps, like something is beating on it from the inside... and ''then'' when the key is inserted and it powers up? The mist clears. [[GoodNewsBadNews It's not a coffin and there's not a person inside it]]. Instead, there's a giant, mummified ''finger''. That ''moves as the drive first powers up'', and thankfully ''only'' then. [[FromBadToWorse And then the Man in the Wall shows up, sitting atop the drive, waving at the player mockingly, one finger folded down...]] Any time after that, should a player walk past it (not recommended) audio clips from [[FanNickname Wally]] will occasionally play. Even worse, sometimes it's Wally's lines, ''in the Lotus' voice''.
213-->'''The Man in the Wall, as the Lotus:''' ''You mad at me, kiddo? Did you forget? You owe me.''
214** ''Call of the Tempestarii'' introduces the eponymous Railjack ''ghost ship''. After being lost in the Void for centuries and returning to real space, it's been possessed by Sevagoth's ghost, who's been unable to rest due to his body being lost in the Void. Near the end of the quest, you get to ride on it. The ship overflows with Void energy, to the point it's corroding its hull. The interior isn't much better, with clouds of unlight flowing throughout its corridors. The Tempestarii is also an utter ''monster'' in the battlefield. Its turrets fire unique tracking projectiles that one-shot every Corpus they strike. Its Ordnance missiles, however, take the absolute cake, as firing a single one ends the fight by punching a hole into ''the Void itself'', which tears Vala's ship apart, a Corpus Pillar, a ''capital ship'', in one shot. If Vala was already traumatized by her first encounter with the ship, which destroyed a space station and left her as its SoleSurvivor, she now ends up stranded in the Void.
215[[/folder]]
216
217[[folder: The Orokin]]
218* The [[AbusivePrecursors Orokin]]. Each new bit of lore focusing on them reveals a new, ''incredibly disturbing'' level of dehumanization, scientists with {{Morally Ambiguous Doctorate}}s, and incredibly unethical experimentation; which gets even worse when it's revealed that the Tenno are {{Child Soldiers}} who haven't aged a day since they entered cryostasis centuries ago. The Orokin considered it acceptable to take casualties from a horrific [[TeleporterAccident hyperdrive accident]] and indoctrinate them into soldiers just to make use of the destructive powers the Void gave them; to the point where they killed their ParentalSubstitute to make them even more efficient. These silent masters of warfare, [[MookHorrorShow capable of slaughtering absolutely anything in their path]], are ''less than seventeen years old'' when they finally wake from stasis. And they've experienced all those battles as if they were there in person, thanks to their Warframe proxy units. In ''The Sacrifice'' it's revealed that the Tenno can use Warframes because they have something the Orokin lack and don't understand, which is stated in a record created ''by'' an Orokin. What is it, you ask? '''Basic empathy'''.
219* The [[EldritchLocation Void]]. Pristine. Beautiful. [[LostTechnology Transcendent]]. Utterly empty except for "corrupted," versions of enemies you face in normal levels turned into mindless drones by dying in the Orokin Towers they invaded and being turned by these Towers' Neural Sentries. The music that plays here is simultaneously serene and unsettling. Look out a window and all you'll see is black dots in an endless white expanse. It begs two questions when you first set foot in them - who were the Orokin, and where did they go?
220* In Specters of the Rail, we finally learn of Ordis' origins. He was originally a soldier/mercenary named Ordan Karris, who fought for the Orokin for so long and so viciously that he became known as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Beast of Bones]]. When he was brought before them to honour his service, he used the opportunity to [[KillTheGod kill as many of them as he could]]. Unfortunately, they had planned for this, and his assassination attempt failed. As punishment for his treason, they subjected him to a process that converted his mind into a Cephalon. All parts of his mind that weren't needed were locked away, and any thought of rebellion was suppressed by what is implied to be a neural sentry. After the fall of the Orokin, the sentry broke down, leaving Ordis free to remember. He ended up locked in a loop of trying to recall his past, then wiping his memory in horror when he did. Of note is the weapon he uses to carry out his plan. Known as "Bone plugs", they are hooked fragments of bone that are embedded in the wielder's neck, wrapped around the superior vein. When used, the wielder pulls them out to use as daggers, so they only have a few seconds before they [[TakingYouWithMe succumb to blood loss]].
221* The nature of [[GrandTheftMe Orokin immortality]]. Orokin reaching a point where their bodies are on the verge of death go to Yuvan theaters where the young and exotic - often no more than ''children'' - are paraded and sold like slaves, to be used as those Orokin's new bodies in the "Continuity" ritual. How do they do this? By {{Mind Rap|e}}ing these kids until they're little more than an EmptyShell that the Orokin can freely insert their minds and souls into. And you learn this during The War Within, ''while you're fighting a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind to stop one of the Grineer Queens from doing exactly that!''
222* Mild one in ''Plains of Eidolon'' trailer, where the villagers going about their daily lives, dismantling what seems to be... flesh... from an abandoned Orokin structure... Just what did they use to build it is anybody's guess. Which also raises the question: Is it possible that ''other'' Orokin structures and machines are like this? Are the Orokin Towers made of this? Your sculptures? Your ships? Your weaponry?
223* Ballas, the creator of the Warframes and by far one of the most influential of the Orokin, ''is still alive''. We get to see a true Orokin in all of their glory and it is nothing short of terrifying. His skin is a pale blue, his eyes have pale golden irises, and his right arm is extremely [[BodyHorror elongated]]. If the Orokin considered this to be beauty, just imagine what an ugly orokin looks like.
224** Ballas' in-game appearance is horrifying enough, but the concept art is on a whole new level of dread. His eyes are much brighter, but his irises can still be made out and they are staring right at the viewer. His expression is uncanny at best and a [[SlasherSmile serial killer's portrait]] at worst. His clenched teeth are hard to notice at first, but somehow add a new layer to the picture. The skin on his right arm is cracked, almost scaly, and his fingers are even thinner than in his definitive appearance. Add to all this that he is standing in the brightly lit halls of an Orokin Tower, giving an implication of otherworldliness, perhaps even sacredness.
225* How warframes were ''originally'' made. While now the Tenno have Helminth to harvest for the creation of their frames, the first frames were made by ''pumping people full of Infestation until they transformed into an armored, berserk combatant''.
226* ''The Sacrifice'' finally reveal why [[EldritchAbomination the Sentients]], BigBad of the game and your character's greatest enemy, declared War on the Orokin: The Sentients realised that, if they terraformed the Tau systems, the Orokin could then spread beyond the Origin system and bring ruin to other worlds. Not only is the idea of the galaxy being destroyed through sheer ''apathy'' concerning in its own right, but the Sentients, the ones responsible for a lot of the game's NightmareFuel, directly or in-directly, being [[HorrifyingTheHorror horrified by their creators' way of life]] is yet another take on the "AI attacking Humanity" genre done to a terrifying degree: a fine example of CreateYourOwnVillain.
227* If the Orokin disliked you enough, they wouldn't bother with the instantaneous death inflicted by the Jade Light. Instead they had a punishment known as "The Glass" where the victim would have their body transmuted into the material and their souls trapped within. Forever. Worse, the judge who did this to them, Nihil the Glassmaker, was still alive and went on a rampage throughout the system in Nightwave Series 3. Turning countless people into mindless glass golems, that attack friend and foe and explode on death.
228** Special mention should go to the Jade Light, as it can only be described as a [[ShapedLikeItself blinding flash of, well, jade light]] that reduces its victim to nothing but [[LudicrousGibs chunks of gore]] [[NotEnoughToBury and red mist.]] Remember, this was the Orokin being '''merciful'''.
229* In fact, Nightwave Series 3 further explores the horror of Nihil the Glassmaker. The Tenno would have to solve 5 cases in which they investigate 5 empty locals that serve as crime scenes caused by Nihil. All of these crime scenes give haunting feelings of ParanoiaFuel and NothingIsScarier thanks to the lack of light, the unsettling background music, and the fact that there is no one else in the crime scenes except for the Tenno, Nora Night, the characters who were glassed, and Nihil himself. When reaching to the 5th and final case, the Tenno must fight a gigantic Nihil, who's glass shard projectiles can hinder the movement of the Tenno's Warframe and his sword swings are extremely powerful, being able to break the platforms that the Tenno must stand on. He also gets Nora temporarily glassed until the Tenno finally free her by defeating Nihil. As for Nihil, well, let's just say that he'll never see the light of day now that he's sealed in a oubliette for eternity. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential And Nora lets the player do what ever they please with him.]]
230* The Orokin considered Halloween, or "Naberus" as they called it, the most important of all celebrations as it reminded them of their now-lost mortality. They also mutilated people and used Transference to take their bodies and use them as the equivalent of Halloween costumes.
231* [[https://youtu.be/4pThAFX4tm0 Hidden aboard the Zariman Ten-Zero are multiple logs from Executor Tuvul, a member of the Seven]], the same group that [[HangingJudge Nihil]] and [[ManipulativeBastard Ballas]] belonged to. Of course, he’s just as [[AbusivePrecursors abusive and dismissive of the passengers]] as you would expect, even [[DisproportionateRetribution threatening to let them all suffer the fate of asphyxiation for daring to question the dangers of the Void Jump]].
232[[/folder]]
233
234
235[[folder: The New War]]
236'''''The New War'''''. From the pre-release previews to what was shown at Tennocon 2021 made it clear the quest was going to be horrific. And even that couldn't show how insane the full release ''was''.
237* When you try to start the quest for the first time, the game shows a warning and asks you to confirm it. Normally, the game only does this when you're about to do something you might regret, like commiting a pet to the Lotus or feeding a Warframe to Helminth. A warning of what's coming.
238-->'''Commit to THE NEW WAR?'''\
239THE NEW WAR requires several hours to \
240complete. You will be able to pause the game,\
241and your progress will be saved between \
242missions.\
243\
244Prepare wisely. Loadout access will be limited \
245and regular Warframe activities will not be \
246available until this quest is completed!\
247\
248THE NEW WAR contains sequences of violence,\
249frightening situations involving teens, and \
250depictions of emotional abuse. It is intended for\
251mature audiences.\
252\
253Type NEWWAR to confirm.
254
255* The Sentients have finally arrived in force, and they are attacking everywhere, [[NotHyperbole and we do mean]] '''''[[NotHyperbole EVERYWHERE]]!''''' We see Condrixes speeding past Neptune, tearing through a Grineer fleet in orbit of Saturn, before finally landing on Earth, and a transmission reveals that Mercury has gone dark.
256* The flashbacks of the ''Zariman Ten-Zero'' incident; you can hear the adults screaming and killing eachother in the room over, and while you don't see any of it unfolding, the sounds would do ''Film/EventHorizon'' proud.
257* The Sentient forces that arrive on Earth manage to ''fell the Unum'' (well, the top of her, but still).
258* The Sentients manage to inflict a ''massive'' CurbStompBattle upon both the Grineer and Corpus. Notably, Alad V attempts to surrender to them, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness something that extremely slimy Alad has NEVER attempted, EVEN IN THE FACE OF THE TENNO]]. That is how badly they're losing.
259* We get a scene of Erra interacting with an Ostron child, and apparently managing to ''mind control'' said child.
260* Getting to play as the Grineer and Corpus? Awesome. Watching them get slaughtered by the Sentients? Terrifying.
261** Just seeing the Grineer and Corpus getting cut down by the Sentients really hammers home how much of a MookHorrorShow the Tenno are - it isn't fun ''at all'' when the shoe is on the other foot.
262** One moment that stands out is towards the end of Kahl's segment, where an exploding Thumper sends him flying into a field where a Conculyst is [[MakeSureHesDead double tapping]] a group of downed Grineer by ''impaling them on its blade arms''. If Kahl hadn't found that Corinth, that would have been his fate.
263* There's something aboard one of the Sentient starships that can bring up memories from the past. Teshin briefly encounters this device, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness and is visibly uncomfortable when it brings up dialogue from The War Within]].
264* Even if it's only temporary? '''[[TheBadGuyWins The villains win]]''', and they win harder than any villain from any quest ever has, taking over the system, apparently beating back all the Tenno. Even the game mechanics themselves reflect this - there's no TakeYourTime ''at all'', no Lotus guiding you, no delaying or deviating from the main quest, no access to Frames or your favorite weapons, no sidequests, no ability to go to map nodes that ''aren't'' your next quest objective - they're all visible but covered with the Narmer insignia as proof of the new empire's ''total control of the system''. And it's implied [[TimeSkip that by the time you take control of the Drifter, they've had control for quite some time.]] Even the menu is bare of all the fixtures you'd expect, reinforcing just how alone you feel. In one fell swoop, by casting both the Operator and Natah into the Void, nothing else is able to stop Ballas and Erra from taking over the system. The New War is over before the questline is even a quarter of the way finished.
265* The Narmer is basically an empire of brainwashed servants, wearing veils that alters their world perception to brainwash them. And the Drifter has to wear one of these for a time to infiltrate a Narmer base, which, well, tries to brainwash them into believing that Ballas actually loves them. Oh, and they basically double as explosive collars, Narmer Deacons can cause them to ''explode''. In stealth sections, the Deacons will force one onto the player if they catch them.
266** Oh yeah, [[SinisterMinister the Deacons]]. Dear Void, ''the Deacons'': Raspy voiced, faceless floating... ''things'' that serve as the enforcers of Narmer's will. If they notice you, they will hunt you down like a rabid dog until they lose interest or force a veil onto your face. Or if you already have a veil on your face, ''[[ExplosiveLeash they'll just make it explode instead]]''. Even the Drifter loathes these things!
267* When visiting Fortuna, the Solaris are all brainwashed, and they sing a DarkReprise of their theme song as an anthem of praise to their new masters. Sure, the song is still great, but it's creepy as hell.
268* The Archons are basically Prime Warframes with Sentient parts grafted onto them by Erra. [[BodyHorror Their heads have been replaced by sentient shards]]. In the case of Amar, the shard has actually been violently driven through their original faceplate. And the sentient parts grafted on to them make them move in very unsettling ways; the humanoid body being pulled along with the animalistic motions.
269** You first encounter Nira at the end of the Drifter's first mission, and you have no choice but to [[RunOrDie flee from her or die horribly]]. Even when you gain the means to take them out, until you finally get your powers back, the first two Archons you fight take a ton of punishment and are challenging fights. Even without the Tenno powering them, it speaks volumes of how powerful they are. And it is kinda scary that, once you fight the final Archon in your Warframe, if you've built it and your weapons up, ''it turns into an absolute CurbStompBattle in your favour.'' The last Archon will last seconds against you once the Orphix Field is down.
270* Natah before she is finally fixed does some freaky shit and ends up being hostile for most of the time you're trying to fix her. You get a close-up look at how she puppeteers the face of Margulis - she uses it as a segmented mask with a texture not unlike broken china, ''and there's nothing behind it. There's a big, gaping hollow where you know the rest of her head should be.
271** Natah's wrath upon regaining enough of her strength is truly the stuff of nightmares. The first thing she does is attack the Drifter as she quickly realizes they're not the Tenno. She then proceeds to pursue them while firing energy blasts from her mouth, while being completely immune to all of the Drifter's weapons. Not even Sirocco, a Void energy pistol is able to harm her in the slightest. And when she corners them and Ordis blocks the shot, Natah tries to finish the Drifter off by strangling them with her arm.
272--->'''Natah:''' Who. Are. You?
273--->'''Drifter:''' I'm... well.. I'm not... I'm Tenno! ''Zariman'', all that!
274--->'''Natah:''' Ten-no? '''LIES!!'''
275** Once the Operator returns and Natah regains her senses, Natah immediately goes after Ballas despite her injured state, desperate to stop his plan to destroy the entire system. She's also extremely furious over everything that's happened and unable to think straight. The carnage she unleashes upon the Narmer fleet with her stolen Murex is unmatched by anything ever seen before in the game, leaving countless mutilated Murexes in Mercury's orbit and near the Sun.
276*** To put in perspective the sheer devastation Natah brought upon the Narmer fleet, Mercury Proxima is filled with nearly a dozen Murex wrecks. There's nothing in the Tenno arsenal that can physically damage, much less ''kill'' a Murex with its shields active, and the region is full of the shattered corpses of the mountain-sized Sentients as far as the eye can see.
277* You finally visit the ''Zariman Ten Zero'', or at least what's left of the once-proud ship. Not only is the sheer emptiness of the place creepy, but the ship has been invaded by a sort of swirling void growths that create a palpable sense of OutsideContextProblem. At this point, you have, without exaggeration, fought ''everything'' in the Origin System. And here you are, coming into this ship... ''with absolutely no idea what any of this is.'' You're surrounded by these strange, almost Junji-Ito-esque spiraling shapes, with absolutely no context as to what any of it is or why it's in the Zariman. And when you look at it, it shifts like liquid mercury, like nothing you've ever seen. Worse, some of these growths are rather humanoid in shape.
278** At one point, you enter a hallway with a partially-closed door off to the side...only the door is being held open by a ''claw'' made from the void growths, and the glowing part of the growth behind the door looks like an ''eye.''
279*** In Angels of the Zariman, you end up going back - and discover the reason so much of the Void growths looked like organic claws, eyes, and figures is because ''[[LivingStatue they]] [[MeatMoss were.]]'' All along, you were unknowingly intruding on the territory of the [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Void]] [[OurSirensAreDifferent Angels]], and [[ParanoiaFuel they could have struck at any time]]. If you look closely at a number of the Void growths in the setting, a ''lot'' of them [[https://twitter.com/BROWNCOAT_IKE/status/1523092630451941376/photo/1 look like dormant void angels.]]
280** Kudos to the art direction for this section; the ''Zariman'' is actually completely safe on your first visit in ''The New War'', but even someone who has never read into the background of the ship can take one look at the scenery and know that something ''terrible'' happened here, and the atmosphere is best descripted as absolutely ''Lovecraftian.'' It's so unwelcoming that the first thing a player will want to do upon getting on board is ''get out''.
281** As if it wasn't creepy enough, ''Angels of the Zariman'' opens the ship up as a new tileset and a HubLevel - [[FromBadToWorse after the Void Angels fully awake]]. When the ''opening'' is of the Angels' song becoming their [[HellIsThatNoise warcry screech]], you ''know'' why the Lotus was so reluctant to send you back there.
282** A very disturbing detail is revealed by the Holdfasts. The Zariman is plugging a ''massive'' Void portal, and if it was ever fully dislodged back into real space, the entire system all the way to Mercury would be ravaged by the Void, like the ship was.
283* The Man In The Wall is back, and ''creepier than ever'', on top of being an even bigger troll. And then it shows up right at the end as a ''giant multiarmed statue'', with an Operator-doppelganger the Lotus' helmet on top, laughing. Oh, and the statue's face ''smiles''.
284* It's heavily implied that the Tenno making a deal with the Man in the Wall ''killed every single other version of themselves in other timelines aside from the Drifter''.
285[[/folder]]
286
287
288[[folder: Duviri]]
289* You may wonder why the Drifter was so eager to help the Tenno, despite them not knowing their younger-seeming paradox clone existed until ''The New War'', let alone the Lotus. ''The Duviri Paradox,'' as shown by the Tennocon trailer, explains why the Drifter felt honorbound to help - it clear that whatever the VillainWorld Narmer made, it was ''paradise'' compared to Duviri. Say what you will about Ballas' egomania, he wasn't a literal RealityWarper with the personality of a PsychopathicManchild who apparently thinks ''executing'' people for "crimes" he came up with to play with a fairy tale setup. The unfortunate subjects of Dominus Thrax know no such peace, because he did that. [[AndIMustScream Over and over again, eternally repeating the same day just to continue it]]. It was only the Lotus' hand breaking the causality Thrax made that finally let the Drifter leave their role, and even after that, the Drifter is so broken ''they don't think it's real.''
290* Even if you are unaware of the nature of the Zariman Ten-Zero incident and how Duviri was created from it, the caves all but state that something isn’t right in there, with the presence of wreckage and furniture clearly not of Duviri origin and the presence of an unknown (though it becomes NightmareRetardant when it turns out to be the voice of friendly teacher Cephalon Melica) voice you can sometimes hear out of nowhere.
291** Something you can also find not only in caves, but throughout Duviri are little tablets with a quiz question on them. While it seems like a harmless bit of {{Worldbuilding}} (and some {{Foreshadowing}} of elements that end up playing big roles in the plot, like Continuity and the Sentients), regardless of if you get the right answer or not, a creepy noise plays. Then it gets weirder, as the question concerning the Galleria having a strangely noncommittal answer (especially since the fragments reveal that Dominus erased the island out of fear of the invader), with one question concerning the fate of Albrecht Entrati has the correct answer end [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay with a familiar phrase…]]
292--->'''The Man In The Wall''': That’s the question, isn’t it, kiddo?
293[[/folder]]
294
295[[folder: Everything else]]
296* [[AndIMustScream Let's just say that you don't want to fail a Rescue mission by tripping an alarm and failing to get the hostage out]]. The fact that it was audio only doesn't help. In a similar vein, the way capture targets howl as you capture them. Were it not for the ''Stolen Dreams'' quest, you could be forgiven for thinking you were subjecting them to torture or a FateWorseThanDeath.
297* The Stalker, if you aren't expecting him. You're out, minding your own business, celebrating a boss' defeat, when suddenly, the lights flicker. Then:
298--> '''Stalker:''' [Player], you cannot run from your past.
299* During the ''Second Dream'' quest when the Stalker put his War greatsword through your Warframe, he was [[DeathGlare looking at the Operator the entire time]]. Then there's the fact that the Warframe that was just described as a mindless machine, takes War, the current source of the Stalker's power, ''[[ItCanThink and breaks it]]''.
300* The premise of The Second Dream. You spend quality time with your nice and cozy Warframe then you get decked back out into your unfamiliar body, dazed and confused, while a dozen Sentients are out for your blood...
301* Reaching the lowest reputation possible with New Loka makes them suddenly dial the creepy-factor up to eleven if you then visit their syndicate menu. Given their flavor text and some of the rather unnerving statements New Loka's leader says even when she likes you might point to a [[ANaziByAnyOtherName much darker intention]]. Some players even wonder if New Loka [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness might target]] the 'impure' ''Zariman'' children once the war is over if they ever found out what the Tenno really are.
302-->'''Amaryn:''' You're just like the rest. Tainted and ruined beyond salvation.
303* On the relays, some of the Red Veil are preparing to vivisect a captured Grineer. Also, they have several infested in a cage, for unknown purpose. Said infested, which is used by the Red Veil as a hit squad, is a Charger, a horribly mangled Grineer corpse. Now, [[FridgeHorror what could they want with a Grineer captive?]]
304* Desert Skates, at least once you see their underside, are pure BodyHorror. Seriously, [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130812223114/warframe/images/5/5d/CBskate.png that is not the face of mercy.]] It's easy to think that the average Desert Skate WasOnceAMan, even though skates are real animals related to rays and sharks and their undersides are [[http://etc.usf.edu/clippix/pix/thorny-skate-underside_medium.jpg quite normal looking...]] compared to other rays and skates.
305* The cryptic message you find in the Orokin Derelict at the end of the Stolen Dreams questline. It comes from the Popol Vuh, a '''real-life''' Mayan text that details their creation myth.
306-->All-All is silent- Hushed-hushed and empty is-is-is the womb of the sky.
307-->'''All is silent and calm. Hushed and empty is the womb of the sky.'''[[note]]Those lines were used to describe the 'primordial world', what existed before the world itself was created.[[/note]]
308* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_geXnGjLSeg This video]] on Warframe's Official Youtube channel for Chains Of Harrow has a [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/190272661618688002/519049990904086538/unknown.png mysterious figure]] in an orokin room. [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/190272661618688002/519064468471283712/CloserComparison.png It looks absolutely nothing like Harrow]], and from what we know, it hasn't appeared in the quest at all. Everything else in the video was accounted for [[LeftHanging except for this figure]]. If it's not Harrow, nor is it one of Rell's emotional manifestations....[[NothingIsScarier Who or what in the hell is it?]]
309* The Apostasy Prologue. Ballas has returned. Margulis has abandoned us. The Lotus is gone.
310** The hidden quest leads the player through the Moon, following a trail of light and sound recounting the final moments between Ballas and Margulis prior to the latter's execution. You finally get to meet the Lotus expecting a heartfelt moment between mother and child, only for Ballas himself to appear and she ''willingly'' followed him to a mysterious portal. All the Tenno now has is her discarded helmet, and the player is left with an extremely unsettling mix of confusion and abandonment.
311** After the Apostasy Prologue is completed, a holographic copy of the Lotus (or more accurately, Ordis posing himself as the Lotus) takes over the role as the Tenno's MissionControl until Ordis can discern the original's location. The replacement Lotus looks, talks, and acts ''exactly'' like the original... except she glows an ominous purple and her dialogue is often interrupted by static. Any player who has played the game long enough will almost definitely find this incredibly jarring after being used to the original's voice for so long. A constant reminder that NothingIsTheSameAnymore.
312* The Sacrifice. You get to ''be'' Excalibur Umbra, immobilized and unable to speak, only wheeze in rising panic and anger, ''as it's transformed into a warframe from an invalid Orokin'', watching four IV bags slowly draining into your body, all while having two conversations with Ballas - one audible one where he's having a pleasant chat about how you're going to be "healed" soon and would you like to play a game of ''TabletopGame/{{Go}}?'' It's your favorite. The other, psychic one has him casually threaten you for interfering with him, announces that the IV bags are full of ''Infestation'', and tells you that for every piece he wins, he's going to kill one of your children. All while one of your Dax sons is sitting next to the two of you. ''Then'', once the transformation is completed, Ballas has ''Umbra'' kill your Dax child ''for'' him! On top of that is the very end - you finally see your surrogate mother again. She's transformed back into her Sentient form. The Lotus is gone; there is only Natah.
313* ''The Chimera'', aka Ballas. He has survived the end of the Sacrifice, but he really wishes he wouldn't have, as he's been turned into a half-Orokin half-Sentient hybrid - a twisted, warped and disfigured creature, mixing parts of both species erratically blending with each other, the eponymous Chimera. He's broken both in body and mind, seemingly tortured by the unseen presence of someone, who is implied to be Lotus' mother. And while it's not enough to redeem the things he had done nor is it enough to make him truly sympathetic (as we can see he hasn't drawn the right conclusions from his misfortune), but this fate is horrific enough to make even him pitiable.
314* "Whispers in the Wall," the short quest introducing the Sanctum Anatomica, has the Man in the Wall appear once more, and he is '''not happy.''' Throughout the quest he is actively attempting to stop you from assembling Albrecht's notes on the Void, and once you finally stop his incursion into the Sanctum, he speaks to himself about how the previous deal he had made with the Drifter is now null and void, and his capriciousness is played completely seriously.
315-->'''Operator![=MitW=]:''' We had a deal. The deal was shook. A little handshake, all it took. Yet from the deal, the wee child ran!
316-->'''Albrecht![=MitW=]:''' Yet still...
317-->'''Man in the Wall:''' ''WE END AS WE BEGAN.''

Top