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The Tower

Runners

    Kyle Crane 

Kyle Crane

A freelance agent hired by the GRE to infiltrate Harran to recover a file on the virus stolen from the organization by Kadir Suleiman. Crane is infected within minutes of landing in the city, and is rescued by runners from the Tower, who he begins to work alongside while searching for Suleiman.


  • Audience Surrogate: His quotes become more and more in line with exactly what the player is thinking as the game goes on, from telling certain people to just shut up to being exasperated as things get harder and harder.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: For the first part of the game, Kyle seems to be a nice guy who doesn't want to fight and feel horrible for having to threaten people. Then Zere gets kidnapped by Rais' men and Crane goes to rescue him, killing a lot of Rais' men in the process (wich is also the time where there are guns to be found. A lot of guns). Then Crane himself gets captured and forced to fight in an arena before the Big Bad orders him killed. What does Crane do? This.
  • Combat Parkour: Crane is exceptionally skilled at this that dodging a teeming lot of projectiles, kicking a group of zombies to a brick wall and outscale enhanced reanimated corpses are simply child's play to him.
  • Cosmic Plaything: How the parkour scenarios are stacked up on him all throughout the main story, almost as if the universe actually wanted him to use his skills on purpose.
  • Deadpan Snarker: As the game goes on, he becomes increasingly exasperated at most of what he encounters and snarks at pretty much everything.
  • Epic Fail: Failed to stick his parachute landing and ends up getting it stuck (seemingly) in a street lamp. This forces him him to release from his parachute and fall two stories. He ends up getting beaten up by three of Rais' men while reorienting himself, gets bitten and infected by a zombie shortly after before causing the death of another runner. This all occurs within his first five minutes in Harran.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: Crane does not take it lightly to let Rais make a deal with the GRE as his own escape plan, let alone have the GRE plague the city of Harran with the virus, then send Crane in there.
  • Everyone Has Standards: He's rather disturbed when a self-proclaimed master zombie killer challenges him to kill and maim zombies in increasingly disturbing ways. He does it anyway, since the dude pays him for it.
  • Friendly Rivalry: With Rocket, one of Rais' runners, sort of. Unlike with Volcan and Bozak his interactions with Rocket aren't hostile and he takes the guy's blustering in stride. When he finds Rocket dead after their last race, he even says the poor guy didn't deserve to die.
  • Going Native: Crane ultimately ends up joining the locals for real after learning of the GRE's corruption and ruthlessness. He's still out to topple Suleiman, though.
  • Humanoid Abomination: In one of the endings to The Following, Kyle becomes a volatile, except he's one that's sentient when the sun is out..
  • Idiot Ball: When he's ordered by the GRE to destroy the last Antizin drop in order to force the tower to make a deal with Rais he's appropriately shocked by the request...but does it anyway. At no point does he ever admit or apologize for it to anyone in the tower and it's pretty much never brought up again. If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have put Jade and the tower at risk and probably could have still found a way to Rais.
  • I'm Going to Hell for This: Says this in a semi-comedic way after extorting money for Rais from a few villages. Karim tells him to join the club.
  • Last-Name Basis: Very few characters call him by his first name, usually calling him Crane.
  • Like a Duck Takes to Water: Rahim is extremely impressed with how quickly Kyle picks up parkour.
  • Messianic Archetype: An important part of the narrative of The Following is a prophecy of a man who, through a Heroic Sacrifice, will save the world from the outbreak. Of course, Kyle is that man. Combined with Dark Messiah because, to fulfill this destiny, he has to choose to nuke the entire quarantine zone.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: Openly averts this, though he does kill when it's necessary. Numerous times in the game other characters question why he would talk people down instead of killing them. He usually gets rather annoyed at their baffled reactions.
    Crane: Murdering people is still kind of a big deal.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He is operating under the assumption that the GRE is working for the greater good, but burning the Antizin he finds on their orders still causes nearly every bad thing that happens in the first part of the story. Especially considering he could've easily hidden the Antizin away in one of the other Safe Zones and simply lied to the GRE about destroying it, it definitely would've prevented or at least mitigated a lot of problems.
  • One-Man Army: Not so much at the beginning of the game, in which Crane needed several hits to kill a common zombie, but by the end of the game, he is able to end up whole hordes.
  • Pragmatic Hero: Points out that, yes, he wants to help the people in the Tower, but is motivated to find Antizin regardless since he's infected too.
  • Token Good Teammate: He's contracted by the GRE, the rather ruthless "benevolent organization" that actually caused the viral outbreak. He's significantly more moral than them.
  • Uncertain Doom: It's not really known if he was convinced by the Night Mother to nuke Harran or if he fought back and tried to steal the "cure" in The Following but either way it is unlikely we'll ever see him again.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: His reactions to the supposedly humanitarian GRE, ranging from them ordering him to work with Rais, to refusing to assist the Tower survivors and halting Antizen drops because it's not "politically advantageous", though it's clear by the context of their statement that it's purely because he isn't doing every single thing they say.
  • Wrestler in All of Us: One of his unlockable moves is a dropkick.

    Jade Aldemir 

Jade Aldemir

Voiced by: Nazneen Contractor

A world famous kickboxer known as "The Scorpion", Jade became one of the Tower's top runners after the outbreak began.


  • Action Girl: She is a highly capable combatant, combining her kickboxing skills with parkour very effectively.
  • Big Sister Instinct: She asks Crane to talk Rahim out of going on the mission to blow up the Volatile nest, since she feels it'd be too dangerous. She turns out to be right, which leads to her developing a hostile attitude towards Crane for most of the second part of the game, holding him partly responsible for her brother's death.
  • Celebrity Survivor: She is a famous kickboxer in-story. A survivor who initiates a conversation with Crane is excited to meet someone who knows Jade and fangirls over her.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: She forcefully injects Crane with a dose of Antizin at the expense of her own life near the end of the game.
    • Dying Moment of Awesome: Doubles as this, as she utterly decimates four of Rais' men before succumbing to the virus.
  • Neck Snap: Just like with her brother, Crane ends up doing this to her after she turns.
  • Zombie Infectee: Gets infected late in the game and hides it from Crane until Rais reveals it.

    Rahim Aldemir 

Rahim Aldemir

Voiced by: Suraj Partha

Jade's younger brother. Rahim serves as a runner and parkour instructor for the Tower's newest recruits.


  • Goggles Do Nothing: Never seems to be wearing them over his eyes. Though it's sort of justified, as he is never seen in a situation where he would need to.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted. Rahim refuses to tell Crane he's been infected in order to make him continue the mission to bomb the Volatile nest, but all he accomplishes is getting himself and another runner killed as well as causing a massive rift between Jade and Crane.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rather rude and abrasive towards Crane at the beginning, but it doesn't take long for him to develop a more positive attitude and they quickly become friends.
  • Neck Snap: His eventual fate at Crane's hands after turning.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Gets infected and hides it from everyone so Crane can continue his mission to bomb the nest and then goes off and tries to bomb the nest himself after he had already promised Crane he would not do such a thing.
  • Zombie Infectee: Gets infected on his way to blow up the Volatile nest, but hides it so Crane won't get distracted and finish the mission without worrying about him.

    Amir Ghoreyshi 

Amir Ghoreyshi

Voiced by: Roy Vongtama

A runner for the Tower who accompanies Jade at the beginning of the game and helps her rescue Crane. Unfortunately, he gets pinned while holding off a horde of zombies and is devoured after allowing Jade and Crane to escape.


  • Devoured by the Horde: He gets pinned by a large group of zombies that devour him as Jade and Crane flee.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: He dies to protect Jade and Crane from the zombies, which quickly pin and devour him as the duo make their escape.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: He only lasts about a minute before dying in the opening cutscene and is only mentioned a few times by Crane and Jade afterwards.

Other Residents

    Harris Brecken 

Harris Brecken

Voiced by: Matt Wolf

The leader of the Tower, Brecken is a parkour instructor who taught the other survivors the skills they needed to survive in Harran.


  • All There in the Manual: How he got his head concussion is shown in good night good luck teaser trailer. See hero of another story below for more info.
  • Awesome Aussie: Although he's not quite as proactive in the field once Crane enters the picture, the guy is tough as nails to have survived for so long in Harran.
  • Big Good: He's the leader of the Tower, he keeps everyone calm during the zombie apocalypse, and he's the source of the parkour skills that allow runners to help protect the Tower's residents.
  • The Chains of Commanding: He is the Tower's de facto leader, but the responsibilities of looking out for a large community of survivors clearly wear him down over the course of the game. As he says himself after the 18th floor outbreak:
    Brecken: I'm not a leader — I'm a goddamn parkour instructor!
  • Hero of Another Story: Is shown in the good night good luck trailer making a disastrous run in which his party dwindles till its just him and to top it all off the supplies they were trying to get was stolen and gets whacked in the head from behind.
  • Hard Head: Averted. At the beginning of the game he suffers a concussion that puts him out of action. He's stable enough to walk around and talk to people but it's made pretty clear that he's in pain and suffering some mental impairment.
  • Heroic BSoD: While Crane is out trying to scrounge Antizen, an outbreak occurs on the 18th floor of the Tower. Instead of quarantining the apartment, Brecken attempts to save as many people as he can, which goes bad and results in the loss of the entire floor. Brecken then questions whether he's really worthy to be a leader.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: As the story goes on he becomes more and more Out of Focus.

    Lena 

Doctor Lena

Voiced by: Leila Birch

The Tower's doctor.


  • Anger Born of Worry: She angrily admonishes Brecken for wanting to go on another run right after getting a head injury. An optional conversation with a survivor reveals that Lena and Brecken are together.
  • The Medic: She is the Tower's main doctor and treats the injuries of several main characters over the course of the story.

    Dawud Togan 

Dawud Togan

A former pawn shop owner who is staying at the Tower with his young son, though he is very desperate to leave as he believes it is no longer safe and will request that Kyle bring him a gun so that he can protect his son on the outside. After making the delivery Dawud will then send Crane on another errand and make his escape while he's busy, kidnapping his son and wounding a Tower guard in the process. Eventually, Crane catches up to him after hearing his distress signal and is forced to put him down as he has been infected and turned, though Kyle at least manages to arrive in time to rescue young Sammy from his zombiefied father.


  • And Then John Was a Zombie: By the time Kyle locates him and Sammy again he is already a zombie and must be put down to complete the mission.
  • Asshole Victim: While his fate is fairly tragic and his ultimate goal was pretty noble the fact that he was a massive jerk who went to extreme measures to get what he wanted and only made things worse for everyone involved its unlikely many tears will be shed over his demise.
  • Domestic Abuse: According to a note he was denied a gun before the outbreak due to his abusive tendencies and bad behavior.
  • Jerkass: He lies right to your face and notes can be found that show he was both an abuser and a corrupt money loaner before the apocalypse.
  • Loan Shark: An extremely nasty example. If a note is to be believed he promised a woman that was desperate for money that he would return her valuable silver family heirloom if she paid him back double the money he loaned her. When she finally got the cash and went to retrieve it he denied any knowledge of it, likely melting it down for a quick payday while knowing full well that she couldn't afford a lawyer to stop him even with the money he left her. She ends the note by cursing him and promising that God will punish him for his misdeeds.
  • Papa Wolf: For all of his douchebaggery, he does love his son and running away with him from the Tower to search for a safer place, although misguided, impulsive and foolish, was still admirable. After he gets infected, he takes measures to protect his son from himself, telling him to hide in the cupboard and stay quiet when he begins to feel the infection overwhelming him so that when he did finally succumb and go Ax-Crazy, he wouldn’t hurt him. He then sends a distress signal to anyone in range begging them to rescue his boy, despite likely knowing that doing so would ensure his own death.
  • Pet the Dog: For all of his faults he does genuinely love his son and was trying to protect him even at the cost of his own life. He just choose the worst possible way to do it and ends up paying the price.
  • Too Dumb to Live: He leaves the relative safety of the Tower to drag his son all over a city filled with zombies and bandits in the hopes of finding someplace better. Not only is the area they end up in even worse off than the tower, he ends up turning into a zombie and comes very close to getting his son killed. (And probably would have succeeded if not for Crane's last minute rescue.)

Allies and Associates

    Zere 

Doctor Zere

A scientist working on a cure for the virus.


    Camden 

Doctor Camden

A scientist who is stuck barricaded in his lab in Old Town. After staying behind during the evacuations he has been trying to research a cure for the Harran Virus alongside Zere in The Slums.


  • Sole Surviving Scientist: Along with Zere. Unfortunately, both men are in different parts of the city and a large chunk of the story follows Kyle's efforts to reach him. After Zere's death he becomes the sole hope for finding a cure.

Rais' Group

    Rais 

Rais / Colonel Kadir Suleiman

Voiced by: Jim Pirri

The leader of a brutal gang of survivors who hoard supplies and Antizen to exploit other survivors.


  • Ax-Crazy: A calm, collected example at first, but as time goes on he becomes more and more insane until he sacrifices all of his men to be turned into zombies and taunting Crane over the radio just to get under his skin.
  • Bad Boss: He is a very bad guy to moonlight for, as Crane finds out, and really bad guy to work for long-term. He shoots two of his own men with no warning in the zombie gladiator pit just so the scent of blood would draw the biters to Crane. In the endgame, it's revealed he's turned all his own men into zombies just so his tower is filled with obstacles Crane can't navigate. He's planning on taking a chopper out of Harran, so what's it to him?
  • Big Bad: The main human threat of the entire game.
  • Bling-Bling-BANG!: He carried a unique pistol before the outbreak that can be looted from his hotel room during a side mission near the end of the game. It features a high clip and fires three-round burst shots.
  • Cutscene Boss: A Press X to Not Die variant.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Very much so. He distracts Crame by threatening to drop Zere's research off the top of the tower, before tossing it to him as a distraction and tossing a throwing knife into his shoulder when he's catching it, then attacking him with a machete before he can fully recover. Very much Justified as he's missing his hand by that point, so anything like a fair fight with Crane is a losing battle.
  • Determinator: Credit where it's due, Rais is one stubborn Jerkass. Even after Crane gives him a mortal wound with his machete stabbed through his stomach, he recovers after Crane refuses to finish him off immediately, and tackles them both off the tower top onto a hanging container, crawling towards Crane and trying to loosen his grip with the last of his strength and his remaining hand, even with his injuries. Crane makes sure the next wound isn't one he'll be able to shrug off.
  • Disney Villain Death: Falls off a container with a multi-storey drop, right after Crane stabs him in the neck with a throwing knife.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Commits atrocities towards others and even his own men with jokey, sarcastic politeness.
  • Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: A survivor tells Crane about how Rais' brother died, but openly says it doesn't excuse his actions.
  • From Camouflage to Criminal: Photos found in the game suggest he was in the military. It would certainly explain his commanding attitude.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: His face is covered with some nasty looking scars, y'know just in case the tattoos, goatee and red and black suit weren't enough of a tip-off.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The throwing knife he stabs into Crane's shoulder is later used to kill him as he's trying to loosen Crane's grip on the container dangling over the tower's edge they've both struggling on top of.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: It's hard to disagree with him when he mocks Crane for following the corrupt GRE's orders blindly, since Crane did burn Antizin that a lot of innocent people needed on their orders. It also turns out he has a good reason to hate the GRE, as it's mostly their fault his beloved brother died.
  • Morality Chain: An optional conversation with a survivor reveals that he had a younger brother, who always advocated for peace when Rais would speak of war. He is described as the only person Rais ever loved, and whose death was one of the reasons why Rais went off the deep end.
  • Mask of Sanity: In the beginning he presents himself as a calm, composed, philosophical, if sadistic warlord, but even then had signs that he wasn’t all well in the head. By the end as Crane cuts off his hand and whittles down his patience, he gradually reveals himself as a violent, childish sociopath committed to killing as many people as he can, his twisted philosophies only hammering in how insane he is.
  • Moving the Goalposts: The whole section of the plot where Crane tries bargaining with Rais for Antizin is one extended sequence of goalpost shifting. First, Rais promises to give Crane two crates should he get collection money from all the various settlements under his territory. Just as Crane is returning from that errand, he then orders him to grab a blueprint from a recently slain soldier. When Crane does both those things, he reneges on his deal to give the Tower two crates of Antizin, giving Crane a measly five vials instead, and only promises to deliver more if Crane gives him Jade. Knowing his game and refusing to betray Jade like that, Crane pretty much cuts ties with Rais at that point.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: His veneer of Faux Affably Evil politeness eventually breaks down into this.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Towards Crane, many times throughout the story.
  • Sadist: Actually called this in-story, and it shows.
  • The Sociopath: Throws away all the men he has just to taunt the protagonist, and that's just the most obvious example. Crane even calls him a psychopath.
  • That Man Is Dead: Outright states that 'Kadir Sudeiman' died in the outbreak when Crane confronts him for the final time.
  • Villain Decay: Rais starts out as a philosophical villain that is cold and ruthless to everyone, even his own men. By the end of the game, he becomes a mocking troll constantly taunting Crane. Lampshaded by Crane who gets more annoyed with Rais talking than anything else as the story progresses. At the end, Crane becomes so annoyed by Rais, he is willing to forget about getting revenge and leave him alone so as to not have to deal with his attitude anymore. It's the actions by Rais that forces the final battle between them.
  • Villainous Breakdown: His Faux Affably Evil nature starts to really break down first after Crane cuts off his hand.

    Tahir 

Tahir

Voiced by: Michael Benyaer

Rais' brutal second-in-command.


  • Authority Equals Asskicking: Tahir is Rais' second in command and very tough; he's got 2000 hit points, as much as a Volatile or Giant Mook.
  • Brains and Brawn / Co-Dragons: The brawn to Karim's brains, serving as Rais' top and most brutal lieutenant.
  • Defiant to the End: Refuses to beg or submit to Crane's demands even while bleeding out from a gut wound and with a machete to his throat.
  • The Dragon: He is Rais' right-hand man.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Despite failing his last ditch effort to stab Crane, he accepts his death with an almost contempuous kind of boredom.
  • Fisticuffs Boss: Similar to the Demolisher boss fight from the end of Act I, you lose all your weapons and items shortly before you fight Tahir, and have to fight him with a relatively weak common-rarity machete.
  • Flunky Boss: Accompanied by several Mooks with mid-level weapons when Crane fights him.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: After being defeated, Crane uses his own machete to cut his throat.
  • Left for Dead: Nope. Crane considers leaving him to die slowly, but then says Tahir is the kind of loose end one shouldn't leave behind and kills him.
  • Machete Mayhem: He carries a unique machete as his weapon of choice and uses it during his boss battle. After being beaten Kyle slashes his throat with it and takes it for himself.He is Rais' right-hand man.
  • Slashed Throat: After a brief exchange Crane uses his own machete to slit his throat.

    Karim 

Karim

Voiced by: George Sedoux

A former bodyguard of Erol Asani and one of Rais' top subordinates.


  • Brains and Brawn / Co-Dragons: The brains to Tahir's brawn, serving as Rais' Mission Control and assigning jobs.
  • Friendly Enemy: He and Crane may be on opposite sides, but both respect the other. After Crane escapes from the Pit, Karim arranges to have the weapons and other supplies Rais took from him returned. When Rais leaves him to die near the end of the story, Karim uses his last few breaths to warn Crane about bombs in the upper floors.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His isn't a very nice guy, but is nowhere near as evil as Rais or Tahir and helps Kyle out several times even after he stops working for Rais.
  • Life-or-Limb Decision: Choosing to cut off Erol Asani's leg after the latter got bitten is the reason why his former boss hates him so much, since the government started to drop Antizin in Harran shortly after it.
  • Mission Control: For Rais' group, overseeing the runners and other soldiers working for Rais.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Rais implies in his speech during the final segment of the game that he shot Karim along with the other soldiers because he suspected that he would try to help Kyle out. Unfortunately for him Karim is still able to give Crane a final word of warning with his dying breath.
  • Pet the Dog: Crane can find a note where Karim more or less warns an associate that Rais will kill him once his products run out, not so subtly telling the guy to run away once he's out of products. He also doesn't steal the supplies Asani left for Crane even though he could have, remarking that Crane earned them. He also returns Kyle's weapons and supplies to him after he escapes from Rais and warns him about a deadly trap during the final level.
    Crane: You're almost okay, Karim.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: He isn't that bad of a guy, often showing sympathy for Crane and some other survivors while hinting that he hates working for Rais.

    SPOILER CHARACTER 

Kaan

Voiced by: Adam Gifford

A merchant Kyle meets at Jasir's farm early in the game who is eventually revealed to be the new leader of Rais men in the Harran countryside.


  • Big Bad Wannabe: He manages to cause a lot of harm but is ultimately killed off about a minute after his reveal.
  • Disney Villain Death: He dies falling off the lighthouse after it gets hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
  • Walking Spoiler: As the new leader of the remnants of Rais group.

The GRE

    GRE 
The Global Relief Effort is a humanitarian organization that was founded in 2002. They're the ones who are dropping supplies and Antizen into Harran. Very little is learned about the GRE over the course of the game, and it's unclear how large or how powerful the organization is. They airdrop Kyle Crane into Harran at the beginning of the game in order to secure a top-secret file that supposedly contains an incomplete cure for the Harran Virus.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Due to their outward-facing humanitarian image, they tend to attract agents with strong humanitarian impulses, such as Kyle and Amir. Because of this, it's extremely common for those agents to go rogue once the GRE starts to show their true colors. Kyle's handler actually expresses surprise and outrage once he starts defying her orders because of his moral standards, even though the entire reason Kyle agreed to do this mission was that he wanted to help people.
  • Evil Is Petty: It's strongly implied that the real reason they stopped dropping Antizen was that Kyle was no longer following their orders to the letter.
  • Mysterious Employer: Very little is learned about them over the course of the game. The only contact with the GRE that the player has is through Kyle's handler.
  • Precision F-Strike: After killing Rais and taking back Zere's data, Crane's handler calls demanding the file, but Crane points out that it's the only thing saving the city, so he's going to hold onto it. The handler snaps for the first time.
    GRE Handler: Crane why do you even give a fuck about these people?!
  • Villainous Breakdown: Crane's handler becomes increasingly aggravated as he continues to bend or even outright defy her orders. By the end, she's screaming at him to follow her orders.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: They order Kyle to do some pretty morally-dubious things in order to complete his mission, such as having him destroy life-saving medication or turn Jade over to Rias in order to possibly secure the file. They justify it by saying that the file is not only essential to finding a cure for the Harran virus and that potentially millions, if not billions, or lives are on the line.
    • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: It's later revealed that they have no interest in actually curing the Harran Virus, but actually want to weaponize it and sell it to the highest bidder.

The Embers

    Troy 

Troy

Voiced by: Parisa Fakhri

The leader of the Embers, a friendly group operating out of two towers in Old Town.


  • Chekhov's Gunman: She contacts Crane early in the story to thank him for reactivating a radio tower that enabled her group to contact other people. Several missions later, Troy and her group become Crane's allies in Old Town after not being mentioned since then.
  • Gender-Blender Name: Troy is more often used for a boy than a girl.
  • Mission Control: For the Embers and Crane after he reaches Old Town.
  • Two-Faced: The right side of her face is covered in burn scars.

    Savvy 

Savvy

Voiced by: Nick Shakoour

A hacker attempting to break through the radio jamming of Harran by the government to let the outside world know survivors are still within the city.


The Countryside

    Jasir 

Jasir

A local farmer who tells Kyle about The Following and gives him his first missions in the Harran countryside.


  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He isn't very fond of Kyle when they first meet but quickly grows to respect and tolerate him as he helps make the Harran countryside safer for the survivors. He also genuinely cares about his daughter and his own people, which led to his distrust of outsiders in the first place.
  • Mission Control: He gives Kyle missions and sidequests during the first half of The Following DLC but is later replaced by The Faceless after Kyle manages to increase his reputation and complete enough missions.

    Ezgi 
Jasir's daughter who disapproves of the farm's reliance on The Mother.
  • I Just Want to Be Free: She is tired of living on her father's farm (which she sees as a prison) and wants to be freed from her life of constant bandit attacks and blind worship of The Mother that she's willing to hike all the way to Harran even though its overrun and not much better off than where she is now. Ultimately, she manages to make it into Old Town and meet up with The Embers, but with the implied death of the Tower in both endings and no sign of a cure to the plague mentioned her odds of long-term survival don't look very good.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Leaving the relative safety of her father's farm to try and make it to an overrun city by herself. If not for Kyle stepping in and helping her she would have walking right into a Volatile nest... right alongside her infected friend, no less! Amazingly, she manages to reach The Embers safely after telling Kyle goodbye.
  • Uncertain Doom: Her questline ends with her successfully arriving in Old Town and being taken in by The Embers. In the Refusal ending its heavily implied that the Tower residents have died or tuned when they don't answer Kyle's radio, meaning she's alone in an overrun city with only a few other survivors and no viable cure to the virus in sight.

    The Mother 

The Mother

The leader of The Following cult in the countryside.
  • Big Good: As the leader of the Children of the Sun, she's the one responsible for staving off the infection and protecting the survivors in the countryside. Zigzagged at the end when she decides to set off the nukes and wipe the entire quarantined zone off the map, but that's only after it's become clear that everyone is doomed anyway.
  • Blessed with Suck: She can slow infection at the cost of becoming a Volatile, retaining her own mind only while in the light.
  • Character Death: Whichever decision Crane makes she dies.
  • Cool Mask: She wears a mask depicting a feminine face engulfed in a sunlit halo. It hides the monstrous face underneath.
  • Cult: She leads one called The Following.
  • Final Boss: If you don't go along with her wishes, then she'll be the last enemy you fight in the game.
  • Humanoid Abomination: She's the only person shown to display outright supernatural powers like telepathy. She's also a sentient Volatile.
  • One Bad Mother: Gives off vibes of this, particularly since she leads a nebulous cult. Played with in that she really did want to help the survivors and prevent the spread of the infection, but once she falls into despair and concludes it's no longer possible to do that, she decides it's time to go for the nuclear option.
  • Tragic Monster: She slaughtered her first followers when she turned.
  • Was Once a Man: She took what was thought to be a cure, only to be mutated into a Volatile.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: As far as she is concerned, a cure is not possible, it's not going to come fast enough if it were, and nuking the zone is the only surefire way the Harran virus can be contained.

    Bilal 

Bilal

A local mechanic who runs a safezone near an overrun town along the eastern coast of the map. He serves as a quatermaster for The Following DLC and gives Kyle sidequests and activities to do, such as races and challenges with his buggy.


  • Dark Is Not Evil: He has a shaved head, thick beard and a face covered in scars and tattoos, yet is one of the friendlier and more easygoing characters encountered in The Following. He also helps Kyle maintain his buggy and cares for his brother and the other survivors at his safezone.
  • Nice Guy: He is polite and friendly to Kyle even before he increases his reputation with the local cult. See Dark Is Not Evil above.

Other Survivors

    Erol Asani 

Erol Asani

Voiced by:

The mayor of Hassan at the time of the outbreak.


  • Amputation Stops Spread: After he was bitten on the leg, Karim cuts it off to stop him from turning. Judging by how he is today, it may have worked.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: While it's understandable that he would be angry at Karim for cutting off his leg even though it turned out to have not been necessary shortly after, Karim didn't know that and acted on the assumption that it would save Asani's life. In return Asani tries to get Crane to kill his former bodyguard for it in revenge.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Lies about Rais ordering his execution and sending out a squad to find him so Crane would kill Karim for him, assuming Crane wouldn't try to talk to Karim first. Needless to say Asani turns out to be wrong. As additional motivation he also tells Crane he would get him out of Harran if he did it for him, which turns out to have been actually genuine, but the GRE doesn't allow Asani to keep his promise.
  • Pet the Dog: Despite trying to manipulate Crane into carrying out his vendetta, Asani does attempt to make good on his promise to get Crane out of the city, but the GRE wouldn't have it. He also leaves Crane some supplies and apologizes for deceiving him.

    Bozak 

Bozak

A mysterious masked man who travelled to Harran to hunt Infected for sport. Is encountered after completing a series of challenge side-quests in the main game, and also serves as the Big Bad of The Bozak Horde DLC.
  • Collective Identity: Bozak seems to be a group as two individuals are encountered using that alias, with the second bequeathing the title to Crane.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: The first Bozak has a relatively normal voice, while the second one has a very deep, super-villain voice.
  • Informed Ability: The first Bozak boasts about having defeated every type of Infected in Harran, including Volatiles, to the point of becoming bored and moving on to The Most Dangerous Game. However, when you actually fight him, he's a weak low-level enemy and goes down in just a couple of hits (most likely because the extremely tiny platform you fight him in isn't exactly a good place to have a proper boss fight).
  • Third-Person Person: The second Bozak, though he may not have been referring to himself.
  • The Unfought: The second Bozak.
  • White Mask of Doom: Both of them.
  • Worthy Opponent: Both see Crane as this.

    Tolga and Fatin 
A pair of engineering students who are constantly coming up with plans to get out of the quarantine zone. They think Kyle is stupid because he's not in their field of expertise.
  • Insufferable Genius: They constantly treat Crane as a subhuman moron fit only to do the most menial of grunt work.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: You encounter them in The Following, and help them with their latest scheme to get out of the quarantine zone. Said plan is to use a rocket-powered boxcar as a battering ram to punch through the wall, WITH THEM INSIDE OF IT. It goes about as well as you'd expect, and further drives home the bleak, hopeless mood the DLC's going for. Then subverted, as after you climb the dam near the end of the game, they contact Kyle on his radio, and inform him that they somehow survived and are now outside, commenting on just how beautiful it is.
  • Too Dumb to Live: For all their genius, their egos prevent them from seeing that the machines they build are pretty much death traps.

Infected

    In General 
The citizens of Harran warped by the infection.
  • Body Horror: All of them are horrifically warped by the infection they carry.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: All of them have eyes that glow in the dark.
  • Hate Plague: Has the hallmarks of this, as the host will first turn into an Ax-Crazy Viral when the virus starts to set in fully.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Most of them seem like the standard zombies during the day, but once the sun sets they become faster, stronger, and more cunning. On top of that, some can mutate into even more unusual forms.

    Virals 
Freshly turned infected that are fast, and still retain some human behaviours.
  • Ax-Crazy: Unlike the Biters, who have been rendered mindless husks by the infection, Virals relentlessly chase down their prey while screaming like the rabid lunatics they are.
  • And I Must Scream: Virals are very aware of their state and so try to order you to stay back or beg for mercy in their lucid moments before they turn savage again.
  • Blood from Every Orifice: They're bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth when we see them.
  • Blood from the Mouth: Occasionally in Old Town they can be found holding their stomach and retching blood onto the pavement.
  • Body Horror: Despite being both fresh and still alive, they’ve been horrendously maimed by the disease: They’re bleeding from their eyes, nose and mouth, and the amount of blood you catch some of them retching up in Old Town points to some truly horrific internal bleeding. Some of them even act like they’re on death’s door, only becoming aggressive once they notice you or you draw near.
  • The Berserker: Barring the occasional lapse back into coherent semi-sanity, Virals chase down and attack their prey with extraordinary violence completely uncaring of any injury they sustain while doing so.
  • Fragile Speedster: One of the faster forms of infected, and one of the more fragile.
  • Glass Cannon: Their attacks are punishing, and they are good at dodging, but they fall the easiest out of the lot of them outside of Bombers.
  • It Can Think: Because they've only just turned, Virals retain enough marbles to be very tactically cunning in a fight, and will hang back, disguise themselves as Biters, dodge and time their attacks. They'll also wise up if you attempt to lure them into a trap and will actively avoid burning oil puddles and toxic waste.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Their specialty. The plan of attack for the Viral is to rush their target and brutally beat them to death in a psychotic frenzy, and if the player isn’t careful fighting them, they can easily suffer the same fate.
  • Screaming Warrior: They’re screaming and gibbering loudly all the time. Nine times out of ten you’ll hear them before you see them.
  • Technically-Living Zombie: Unlike the other infectees, where it's implied that they are actually dead, Virals are outright confirmed to be still alive despite their unpleasant state. Something which Jade shows us herself, as when she finally succumbs to her infection she turns into a Viral without dying first.
  • Tainted Veins: Their faces are pockmarked with blue veins.
  • Tragic Monster: Their pleas for mercy and begging for you to stay back in their lucid moments leave people to feel more than a pang of pity for them, despite the only thing that can be done to help them in their situation is putting them out of their misery, either via a good whack or putting a bullet in their skull.
  • Unstoppable Rage: They have been driven almost completely mad with primal, psychotic fury by the infection and brutalise their victims without pause or mercy.

    Night Walkers 
Biters who have undergone a sudden mutation that amplifies their speed, aggression and intelligence.
  • Body Horror: Biters undergoing a mutation into a Night Walker will begin spurting blood from their head and thrashing about until it’s complete.
  • The Berserker: Like the Viral, they’ll violently attack survivors with no care for their own well-being.
  • It Can Think: Although not as prone to doing so as Virals are, they’ll occasionally back off and look for an opening in your defences when you swing at them.
  • Lightning Bruiser: They combine the toughness of the Biter with the speed and ferocity of a Viral.
  • Weakened by the Light: If they appear at night, then come daylight they’ll either be stunned by the UV rays or revert back into normal Biters.

    Goon 
A physically large and strong infected that towers at roughly 8 feet tall. Goons are slow, but very tough and carry around large slabs of concrete rebar that they use as weapons.
  • Body Horror: This poor soul has significantly grown in height, and possesses an abnormal amount of muscle growth that almost appears cancerous, and has disfigured his necrotic features even further.
  • Giant Mook
  • Mighty Glacier: Their movement speed is about the same as that of a Biter, but can soak up a ton of damage before dying and you do not want to let him hit you.
  • Set a Mook to Kill a Mook: They will often smash other infected with their swings.
  • Shockwave Stomp: Capable of doing this, and at higher levels the range of their attack is much further than you'd think.

    Toad 
An infected that has grown a large sack on its chest, which it stores bile in to lob at humans. Unlike other zombies Toads keep their distance.
  • Acid Attack: How it attacks people, though it's not in a stream.
  • Body Horror: The Toad is not a healthy sight to behold at all. Even taking into account the usual zombie traits, the Toad is covered in multiple bioluminescent green tumours on its upper torso and head and has a severely distended chest cavity. To cap it off, it will also occasionally regurgitate it’s own guts in the process of spitting its acid and will need a couple moments to draw it all back in again afterwards.
  • Desperation Attack: If Kyle closes the distance between them the Toad will spew a ton of acid at once, destroying your health bar.
  • Zombie Puke Attack: Their main attack, which comes in two variants. The first being a giant glob of pulsating goo that explodes on impact with a survivor or after a short delay, and a rapid-fire spray of acidic projectiles against attackers who manage to close the distance.

    Bomber 
Infected that have exposed organs on the outside of their bodies and are rather bloated in appearance. They are highly susceptible to unleashing a volatile explosion that's capable of killing everything in its surrounding area. Caution must be taken when encountering them.
  • Action Bomb: Bombers will begin charging towards Kyle when they take notice of him and attempt a Taking You with Me. Not helping in the matters where there are usually encountered in enclosed areas.
  • Body Horror: Bombers have a more decayed appearance. One of the more eye catching traits are the exposed bloated organs filled with high concentrated gasses.
  • Enemy Summoner: Although more an unintentional side-effect of blowing up than anything, their explosion is loud enough to attract Viral packs should the Bomber be encountered outside.
  • Glass Cannon: They are the most fragile enemy in the game, with pretty much any attack causing them to pop like a balloon. Let them close in however and they can easily smear you across the walls with their party trick.
  • Suicide Attack: Their only primary form of attack. They will start making a run towards any unfortunate soul before seizing/heaving and making a gory detonation of themselves and the unlucky victim.

    Screamer 
A child infected with the Harran virus. Whereas most virals have their fight response hightened, Screamers have their flight response hightened. As a result, they're always in a state of constant fear. If they see Kyle, they'll start crying loud enough that it actually hurts him.
  • Enfant Terrible
  • Enemy Summoner: The cries of the Screamer are so loud, they can draw Virals to their position. As a result, caution must be followed when facing them.
  • Full-Frontal Assault: Are completely nude when they’re found. Thankfully, Barbie Doll Anatomy is in full effect.
  • It Can Think: On at least one occasion the player will run into a Screamer watching a children’s programme on a nearby T.V, laughing and genuinely seeming to enjoy themselves. This makes their current state all the more heartbreaking.
  • Make Me Wanna Shout: Their screams can drain the life off the player’s health bad quite quickly, along with incapacitating them until they move away from the Screamer.
  • Tragic Monster: They are the only Infected type besides Bolters that won’t actively attempt to hurt Kyle, the danger they present being more of an unintentional side effect of their excessive fear of seeing him if anything.
  • Undead Child: A young child that’s been infected by the Harran Virus, having succumbed to its effects by the time Crane finds them.

    Bolter 
An infected type typically encountered at night. Unlike most infected, who attack Kyle on sight, the Bolters will actually run away when they realize that they've been spotted.
  • Body Horror: Their backs are covered in bloated pustules.
  • Cowardly Mooks: If they realize Kyle is nearby, they will run away.
  • Meaningful Name: When they see you, they bolt in the other direction.
  • Metal Slime: They'll run away instead of fighting you, and killing and harvesting them is the only way to obtain the very rare bolter tissue item, a key ingredient in many of the most powerful weapon crafting recipes.

    Demolisher 
One of the largest infected types encountered in Harran. The Demolisher's strengths lies in its ability to break down walls and lift and toss vehicles and concrete blocks across far distances.
  • Body Horror: Their bodies are even worse off than that of the Goon, and it almost looks as if either their tumourous muscles have partially calcified, or their skeleton has decided to add some extra reinforcement itself.
  • Bullfight Boss: Will charge the player at medium range, though they might chuck concrete instead.
  • Degraded Boss: Inverted. The first one you encounter as a boss actually has half the health of later encounters. This is justified by the fact that you face it after losing all of your inventory and have to rely on whatever you can pick up off the ground around you.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Big, tough, strong, and when using their charge attack deceptively fast.
  • Punched Across the Room: Pretty much standard for a giant, over-muscled zombie.

    Volatiles 
Extremely dangerous infected capable of keeping up with even the most agile runner.
  • Body Horror: They’ve been almost completely flayed, and their jaw has split in half and transformed into large mandibles.
  • Full-Frontal Assault: Volatiles are usually nude when they appear.
  • Hell Is That Noise: Players will come to fear their shrieks.
  • Lightning Bruiser: They move fast, hit hard, and can take as much damage as a Giant Mook.
  • Super Spit: They can spit acid, which they primarily use to drive humans out of sheltered areas.
  • It Can Think: Another breed of Volatile introduced in The Following has telepathic abilities and can regain their sanity in the presence of daylight.
  • Weakened by the Light: UV light is fatal to them in strong enough doses. Unfortunately, only the sun can produce those doses, but even Crane's flashlight is enough to blind and disorient them.

    Night Hunters 
The most maneuverable and cunning of all infected.
  • Body Horror: They’re similar to the Volatiles, and get even worse as you level up as bony spikes start pushing their way out of their diseased, dead flesh.
  • Building Swing: They can use their forearm tendrils to pull themselves through the air.
  • Combat Tentacles: they have a pair of retractable tendrils in their forearms for grappling, snaring, and lashing.
  • Fragile Speedster: With a hint of Glass Cannon. Hunters can move fast and hit hard, but they aren't very durable.
  • Ground Pound: One that can send survivors flying and make them easy pickings.
  • Healing Factor: With the UV Heal ability.
  • It Can Think: Considering that they’re player-controlled, they possess human-level intelligence. Although depending on who’s controlling them, they can range from smarter than usual to fiendishly clever.
  • No-Sell: Hunters can gain an ability that grants short-term immunity to UV light.
  • Primal Stance: It moves on all fours and has a hunched posture even when standing upright.
  • Spikes of Villainy: The most powerful Night Hunters have spikes of bone pushing through their skin.
  • Super Spit: They can spit a variety of chemicals that can disable flashlights, lure more infected, shut down survivor sense, or just deal damage.
  • Weakened by the Light: UV light drains their ability to use their various powers. The offensive abilities are the first to go, followed by the mobility powers, leaving them vulnerable.

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