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Pilgrims
Aiden Caldwell
Aiden Caldwell
Voiced by: Jonah Scott
A young pilgrim who spent most of his life in the post-apocalyptic world, having been part of an experiment at the age of 5 with his sister, who he's been searching for ever since they were separated. His search has now brought him to Villedor, one of the last (barely) standing cities in the world, and a place that will be forever changed by his actions.
- All for Nothing: Choosing to save Lawan in the Last-Second Ending Choice ends like this. Aiden's mutation acts up while saving her, causing enough chaos for the missiles to launch. The city is severely damaged and at the end Aiden has to leave because his state is still getting worse. Worse yet, if Aiden chooses to save his sister instead, Lawan successfully destroys the missiles and if Hakon is still alive she survives anyway.
- But Now I Must Go: Regardless of the ending, Aiden leaves the city due to his infection and returns to the open road. If Lawan survives she can go with him. In some circumstances Hakon can take her place instead.
- Determinator: Present from the first scene onwards, but particularly noticeable at the endgame. He fights Waltz a total of four times without rest after already having fought through a facility full of zombies and Renegades. He does this even as his infection peaks and he's slowly turning into a Volatile hybrid.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Depending on certain choices the player makes, the budding feelings between Aiden and Lawan can go nowhere with him leaving alone in one ending because of his degenerating condition. This can be averted by making various choices such as sparing Hakon and choosing certain dialogue during the "Shoes" quest. In this case Lawan leaves with him.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Aiden was experimented on by the GRE and as a result he is stronger, faster and more durable than the average person. He can also use Inhibitors to increase his health and stamina with other characters noting that said drugs have a decent fatality rate, making the pilgrim's casual usage all the more noteworthy.
- First-Name Basis: Aiden never introduces himself to anyone he meets by his full name. The reason for this is uncovered once the player investigates the Observatory: Aiden never even knew his surname until he checked through the GRE's records.
- Humble Hero: Despite being a One-Man Army who near-singlehandedly starts reclaiming territories of the city in order to restore water and power, Aiden never brags or even seems to care if people know he's the one who did it. Even when passing by NPC's wondering aloud who's responsible he never says anything.
- Ineffectual Loner: At the beginning due to being a Pilgrim. When Spike separates from him early on he barely reacts and just asks if they'll see each other again in a couple of years. Interacting with Lawan has him open up more and care for both his friends and the city at large.
- Nerves of Steel: While Aiden panics at times, in general he’s rarely ever fazed by anything. Even when surrounded by multiple people who threaten to kill him, his first response is to snark or threaten them right back.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: As Aiden makes clear early on, he has absolutely no stake in the conflict between the Survivors and the Peacekeepers and only cares in as much as they can help him find his sister. When Sophie tries to ask for his help in the war he bluntly tells her he doesn't care what happens to either side.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Aiden's initial thoughts on the Peacekeepers bring up how they seem little different from the petty warlords in the wastelands beyond Villedor.Aiden: On the trail, I met a lotta tough guys who talked about...the "new order". It always seemed like the same old shit to me.Hakon: Yep, it's like that here too. And the PKs are getting worse.
- One-Man Army: Just like Crane before him, Aiden becomes this at higher levels. In the middle and later stages of the game the player will fight entire squads of heavily armed enemies and come out on top. This is commented on by at least a few people who express disbelief, shock or admiration when they see Aiden's capabilities. Even moreso when he's transformed where he's basically unstoppable.
- Self-Serving Memory: Aiden's earliest memories paint Waltz as an amoral and ruthless scientist who tortured the children under his watch with his brutal experiments, while he and Mia made a childhood promise to stick together no matter what. The truth is that while Waltz did perform the experiments on the children, he was as compassionate about it as he could be, and the childhood promise Aiden made was actually to Waltz to help him save his daughter Mia.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Arguable to have one regardless of the picked ending. Despite all the time of searching, having been infected, and possibly changing Villedor as it was forever, Aiden's interference with Waltz' plans only lead to his supposed sister's death, and now that he has the virus, he could pose a risk to any human contact, forcing him to leave Villedor. And in case those problems weren't too much already, if the Save Lawan ending is picked, he becomes responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, many of which are innocent.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Whenever his infection acts up, Aiden essentially becomes a Volatile, sometimes leaving around bodies brutalized in ways usually done by said infected type, with him only being able to control this a few times, especially at the last few missions.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- Aiden can give control of the VNC Tower's spire to Frank Marwey, even if that costs him his newfound chance at finding his sister, something the latter tried and failed to achieve in his last days as a Nightrunner, turning him into an alcoholic.
- At the ending, dependent on choices, either Hakon or Lawan can choose to join him as he leaves despite his warnings of being a danger to them. When they insist on coming with anyway he smiles, clearly happy to not be alone.
- Turncoat: While not truly affiliated to any faction up to that point, Aiden can turn to the Survivors' side after receiving a deal by Peacekeeper Lieutenant Aitor, who offered passage to Villedor's center if the protagonist could find Commander Lucas' killer, in exchange for the same reward.
- Unstoppable Rage: When his infection gets the better of him, Aiden becomes a feral, berserk and implacable force of nature capable of easily ripping through anything and anybody in his way. Unfortunately, he’s almost completely uncontrollable and ends up accidentally killing at least one of his allies before finally beginning to gain a measure of control over the state near the end of the game.
- World's Strongest Man: A transformed Aiden is basically unstoppable. He can One-Hit Kill anything from humans to Volatiles, can jump extremely high, is immune to the THV chemicals and basically can't be beaten until he inevitably collapses from the strain. When he transforms at the final stage of Waltz's boss fight nothing Waltz does can harm him and he easily takes him down despite Waltz injecting himself with multiple Inhibitors beforehand.
Spike
Survivors
In-General
The citizens of Villedor, many who desire a new order over the city chosen by themselves, instead of the ones provided by the Peacekeepers and Renegades.
- We Help the Helpless: The Nightrunners used to aid those in need without ever requesting anything in return, just so they could bring hope to Villedor, and they can do so again if Frank Marwey gets control over the VNC Tower's spire, as the organization will be rebuilt by him.
The Bazaar
Alberto
Voiced by: Sidney Kean
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Is continually mocked for his speech impediment and memory loss by other citizens of the Bazaar, in spite of him being one of their only Craftmasters. It takes him giving his life for them to finally show him some respect.
- Heroic Sacrifice: If the player chooses to aid the Bazaar, Alberto goes with Aiden to destroy the Peacekeeper's windmill. He manages to put together a makeshift bomb to finish the job, but while Aiden takes care of that, Alberto is cornered by Peacekeepers and fatally beaten.
Barney
Sophie's brother, who Aiden helps at Sophie's request.
- Asshole Victim: Hakon frames him for Lucas' murder but chances are no one will grieve overly much considering what he's like.
- Axe-Crazy: He spends the entire first part of the game barely controlling himself and mumbling about how he plans to kill the Peacekeepers.
- Cassandra Truth: Due to his usual behavior, it becomes very easy for the Peacekeepers to assume he killed Commander Lucas, once a piece of his skin is found at a place belonging to his sister while he was nearby.
- Entitled Bastard: Despite being nothing but an insulting jerk to Aiden from their first meeting on he has the gall to blame him for the deal the Survivors were doing with a couple of extortionists going bad and argues that Aiden could've done more if he just hurried.
- Establishing Character Moment: His first scene shows what an abrasive, distrustful jackass he is, with him loudly noting how "awfully fucking convenient" it is that a random Pilgrim like Aiden is offering to help the Bazaar during a time where the Peacekeepers are itching for an excuse to attack and wipe them out.
- Frame-Up: Ends up as a victim of this by Hakon on behalf of Waltz, having the piece of skin containing Peacekeeper Commander Lucas' tattoo hidden in a location belonging to him. Whether this works or not depends on Aiden's choices, though the pilgrim will always discover that Hakon did this by the end of Old Villedor's arc.
- Informed Attribute: Sophie continously assures Aiden that he's far kinder than he first appears and that he does care about the Bazaar. This doesn't mesh well with him leading two of his friends to die, even using one of them as a distraction against Aiden, and his response on being told of another death snarking that Aiden's ruining the mood.
- Jerkass: He's an all-around unpleasant person to be around.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He becomes nicer if the player sides with the Survivors, even having an amiable conversation with Aiden in a later quest.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Aiden rescues him at his sister's request and yet he continous to insult the Pilgrim, arguing that he didn't ask for his help and that he doesn't trust him.
Carl
The People of the Bazaar's leader, and the one who orders Aiden's hanging when he arrives at Villedor.
- The Dog Bites Back: If his position of power over the Bazaar is taken from him, he will warn the Peacekeepers about their plans, leading to many deaths on both sides.
Herman
Sophie's bodyguard, who tries to kill Aiden before the former decides to speak with the pilgrim.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Sophie's tall and muscular bodyguard, who dwarfs her when they're seen together.
Sophie
Voiced by: Suanne Braun
- The Usurper: She can take the leadership of the Bazaar from Carl during the Old Villedor arc, as he would never risk a violent conflict between them and the Peacekeepers.
Vincenzo
Voiced by: Ben Cura
Former Nightrunners
Frank Marwey
Voiced by: Stewart Scudamore
The former leader of the Nightrunners, now a shadow of his former self after a failed mission involving many members of his faction attempting to reach the VNC Tower's spire.- The Alcoholic: After the failed VNC Tower mission, having led many Nightrunners to their deaths, Frank would only ever manage to find tranquility through the bottle.
- Cassandra Truth: Averted. Jack Matt tries to invoke this trope on him when the Nightrunner tells the other nearby Peacekeepers that the former attempted to kill him, saying his words are of a drunk, but they don't believe the Major and decide to arrest their own leader instead.
Hakon
Voiced by: Jonathan Forbes. Appearence: David Belle
A mysterious stranger who saves Aiden from being hanged by the Survivors early in the story, and teaches the protagonist on how to survive and navigate around the city.- Big Damn Heroes: He saves Aiden right as he was about to be hanged by the Bazaarian Survivors, and provides aid to him when he was about to turn. Later, if spared, he can save Lawan as well from being hit with an arrow and killed after detonating X13's missiles.
- Broken Pedestal: To both Frank Marwey and Lawan, until he divided the Nightrunners, with the former having even believed that he was "leader material" for the faction.
- Evil Former Friend: Used to be a Nightrunner and a friend of Lawan, but since he caused a divide in his faction he lost his ties to her and Frank, causing the latter to even desire his death.
- Fake Defector: He only aids Waltz, and by extension the Renegades, so Lawan can be safe, but in doing so, he alienated himself from the Nightrunners, who can never know why he does what he does, and in the process divided and destroyed the whole group, putting him on Lawan's "kill list" in the process.
- Heel–Face Turn: While he never truly betrayed the Nightrunners, he still had to obey Waltz orders, with one of them being to kill Aiden, regardless if the latter spared him or not, but in the former case, Lawan will get in front of the pilgrim and convince Hakon to put this trope on full effect, leading him to kill the Renegades nearby and gain back Lawan's trust.
- Mistaken for Betrayal: He never wanted to cause harm to the Nightrunners, only desiring to protect them from the VNC Tower mission, but once he noticed that Waltz sought to kill Lawan, he made a failed attempt to spy on him, resulting in him being forced to work for the former GRE scientist in exchange for her safety, making her believe he genuinely betrayed them.
- Redemption Equals Life: If Aiden spares Hakon, during the only time the latter tries to kill the former, either at the story's middle Aiden will tell Lawan to spare him, or later in it, Lawan will intervene and convince him to defend both her and the pilgrim from nearby Renegades, allowing him to atone for his old mistakes.
- Walking Spoiler: By the end of the Old Villedor arc and onwards, every action he takes or is on the end of make him this.
- Welcome Back, Traitor: If both Aiden and Lawan spare him, and Frank receives control over the VNC Tower's spire, Hakon will return to the Fish Eye during Lawan's Nightrunner initiation ceremony, being forgiven by Marwey and allowed to stay, but only because she of all people has managed to do it as well.
Peacekeepers
In-General
A militaristic faction that desires to act as a successor to the old local army, and thus bring order to Villedor.
- I Call It "Vera": They named their main base of operations, a ship, Missy.
- Police State: Their idea of peace is incredibly oppressive, to the point that they are willing to kill entire families if at least one of their members is deemed to be a threat.
Commander Meyer
Major Jack Matt's second-in-command.
- The Dragon: She is Jack Matt's right hand woman and the one who succeeds him if the Peacekeepers or the Survivors obtain dominance over Villedor.
- I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: In the Renegade Path, Meyer and a few other Peacekeepers will go after Aiden, but he can convince them to turn a blind eye if he mentions how Meyer's father wouldn't want her to do that.
Lieutenant Aitor
Voiced by: Alec Newman
The leader of Old Villedor's Peacekeepers, who makes Aiden a proposition in exchange of getting him to the city's Central Loop.- Inspector Lestrade: If Aiden captures Barney, believing that he killed Commander Lucas, Aitor will move to arrest him with Hakon, immediately assuming that the prisioner's claims of being framed by the latter are false, never even ordering further investigations, despite the fact that Lucas's piece of skin was conveniently placed and found in a area belonging to his sister while he was nearby, saying that he'll just "deny the truth" to the very end.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Arguable, since he was ordered to cause the initial problem. If he is hospitalized, he becomes dependant on the herbalist Margaret to survive, the same one who he had been ordered to have her eyes burned as punishment for a previous accident that she was wrongfully blamed for.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: His first appearance shows him saving Aiden from an interrogation session, then proposing a mutually beneficial deal with the Pilgrim that he would honor if not betrayed by the protagonist, that is until two major inconveniences suddenly occurred at Old Villedor, in the form of an explosion at the windmill and Waltz being sighted at the local old car factory.
Lieutenant Grady
A Peacekeeper lieutenant who Aiden initially confuses for Lieutenant Rowe.
- Everyone Has Standards: When Jack Matt orders him to kill Frank Marwey/Cillian, a known Nightrunner and an innocent, Grady and other Peacekeepers nearby deny his order and prepare to arrest their own major, saying that the reason why the old army collapsed was because they killed civilians, and that the entire point of why the Peacekeepers were created was to prevent that happening again.
- Would Not Shoot a Civilian: Elects to arrest Jack Matt and relieve him of command rather than shoot Cillian or Frank, noting that not only was the collapse of the army due to killing civilians, but that the point of the Peacekeepers was to prevent a repeat occurrence.
Lieutenant Rowe
Voiced by: Glenn Wrage
A Peacekeeper veteran who Aiden meets when delivering a message.- A Father to His Men: While known to be harsh, he is also equally as loved by his subordinates due to how he'd stick his neck out for them. This proves to be his undoing, as he refuses to let his soldiers go alone to the VNC Tower's spire.
- Due to the Dead: After his team is ambushed and killed by Bombers at the VNC Tower, Rowe tells Aiden to collect their tags so they won't be forgotten.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When encountering a group of Bombers at the VNC Tower, he throws Aiden back into an elevator for his safety, saving the pilgrim, but getting him mortally wounded in the process.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: According to a few of his subordinates, after a mission that Rowe correctly deduced to be suicidal, where only a few soldiers managed to survive because they ran away, and thus were marked for execution, the Lieutenant directly told Major Jack Matt that the mission shouldn't have even happened in the first place, an action that could have gotten himself killed. A similar event happens during the VNC Tower mission, where Rowe tells Matt he is going alongside his soldiers, even if this goes against his original plan.
Major Jack Matt
Voiced by: Elroy Powell
The leader of the Peacekeepers, who takes an interest to Aiden's survival experience and wishes to use him in furthering his faction's goals.- Back Stab Backfire: If Aiden gives control of the VNC Tower's spire to Frank Marwey, Jack will try to get him killed through Peacekeepers disguised as Renegades. But if the Pilgrim decides to find an antidote for his poison and ask the leader of the Renegades himself about this, the Major will try to kill the protagonist, but Frank or Cillian will go to his rescue and tell other nearby Peacekeepers about what he did, who will then arrest their own leader when he asks them to kill the leading Nightrunner, who is a civilian.
- Destroy the Evidence: If Frank Marwey receives control over the VNC Tower's spire, he attempts to kill him later in the story by using Peacekeepers disguised as Renegades, and tries to get Chris Williams and later Aiden killed, who are the only ones that could prove his guilt, whether this works or not depends on Aiden's choices.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Zig Zagged. Once, a herbalist was blamed for a Peacekeeper's mistake, where he confused one of her herbs, which would be used to save other soldiers, for another, leading to several deaths. Matt declared it a tragic accident, and instead of killing her, he had her eyes burned.
- False Friend: He claims to consider Aiden as a friend, even allowing him to call him Jack instead of sir or major, but in reality he is only using him to further his own goals, and even leaves the pilgrim empty handed for a while after he does his part of their deal, asking him to complete more tasks instead.
- Frontline General: He is often busy personally aiding his soldiers at missions, something that has started to become less frequent just before the game's events, possibly because of his cancer's progression.
- Incurable Cough of Death: He can be often seen coughing, sometimes to a worrying degree, but he never allows Aiden to talk about it with him. Whatever form of cancer it was, it, if not an implied execution or Aiden's own hand, will always claim his life if he wasn't already killed before the end, as his death can be noticed by Nikolas and Spike during the epilogue, depending on the picked ending.
- Framing the Guilty Party: Will try to frame the Renegades of attempting to kill/killing Frank Marwey by sending disguised Peacekeepers to take him out. This will only happen if the latter has control over the VNC Tower's spire, whether this works or not depends on Aiden's choices.
- Obviously Not Fine: His frequent coughing can be easily noticed after doing some of his missions, and whatever illness it is, it, if not an implied execution or Aiden's own hand, will always end up having him killed if the Peacekeepers or the Survivors become the dominant faction of Villedor.
- Villainous Breakdown: If Frank survives his assassination attempt and Aiden sides with the Colonel, Matt is left fuming and futilely demanding that his men attack the Nightrunners, leading to him being relieved of command.
- Your Days Are Numbered: By the game's start, he's already been suffering from an unknown type of cancer, and will not survive in any of the endings.
Sergeant Anderson
Voiced by: Jade Anouka
A Peacekeeper Sergeant tasked with interrogating Aiden.- Big Damn Heroes: If allied with the Peacekeepers, Aiden will receive her help to escape the Old Villedor tunnels right as he is about to be suffocated.
- Laser-Guided Karma: If allied with the Survivors, will be killed during the Bazaar raid by the very same Pilgrim she threatened to maim.
- Sociopathic Soldier: Entirely willing to maim Aiden for being caught in the tunnels, and is blatantly straining at the leash for the chance to burn the Bazaar to the ground.
Renegades
In-General
Remnants of the old local army, now mostly an organization of thieves led by someone who many consider to be a tyrant.
Colonel Chris "The Butcher" Williams
- Driven to Suicide: If Aiden tries to kill him, or says he is too weak to kill him after his wife died, Williams will use a pistol he kept for the occasion to kill himself, with the former situation being a possible case of Better to Die than Be Killed, as the Peacekeepers might try to kill him themselves now that his defenses have been weakened by the pilgrim.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: He was the one responsible for preventing the X13 missile strikes 11 years prior to the events of the game.
- Red Baron: People call him The Colonel and The Butcher.
Waltz
Dr Vincent Waltz
Voiced by: Demetri Goritsas
The Big Bad of Dying Light 2, responsible for conducing an experiment involving children for the GRE, which involved both Aiden and Mia.
- All for Nothing / Dramatic Irony: After 15 years of trying to discover a cure for his Mia's condition, he is killed by the very child he made promise him to protect his daughter, leaving her without the means to even research for a cure.
- Big Bad: The overall antagonist of Dying Light 2.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: An interesting case that's only revealed in hindsight. The first couple of times Waltz meets Aiden he speaks to him condescendingly and notes that he should be grateful that Waltz's experiments made him stronger and faster than his peers, despite the horrific treatments he suffered in his childhood. However when he confronts Waltz at the car factory as he's using the GRE to active X13's systems, Waltz has Aiden in a Neck Lift and is chocking the life out of him before Aiden demands to know the whereabout of Mia from him, causing Waltz to drop Aiden in shock and refer to him by name for the first time. It's made clear that whilst Waltz realised Aiden was one of the children he experimented on before, he has experimented on so many that he had no idea of who Aiden was specifically until that moment.
- Determinator: Believes that X13 is Mia's last chance to be cured, and will do anything to guarantee it works as he intends, regardless of who or how many have to die, though he at least offers Aiden a chance to leave the zone before the missiles are launched. His Final Boss fight has four stages because he keeps getting back up and injecting himself with more inhibitors every time Aiden beats him down, mutating further and further to gain strength at the cost of his health. Ultimately what stops the fight isn't beating Waltz into a bloody mess, but the GRE key getting knocked into some acidic chemicals and destroyed, stopping both men from either deactivating the missile launch or being able to use x13's facilities to adequately cure Mia. Waltz slumps over and dies shortly after Aiden gives Lawan the order to blow up the base to stop the launch, implicitly suffering a Death by Despair the minute his motivation to save Mia was thwarted for good.
- Dragon-in-Chief: The Butcher might be the Renegades' leader, but Waltz is the real main antagonist of the story.
- Dragon with an Agenda: The Butcher's right-hand man, but according to Williams, he has been turning some of his men against him, and eventually it can be noted that his allegiance with the Renegades is only a way to make his search for the tools he needs to save Mia simpler.
- Freudian Excuse: Waltz's reasoning for destroying Villedor is partially based on the funding for his experiments to save Mia being cut off by the GRE administrators of X13. Even though the people responsible for that decision are most likely long dead, Waltz still puts the blame on Villedor and its inhabitants.
- Good All Along: Played with. Aiden and the rest of the cast believe Waltz is an unhinged maniac who tortured children For Science!. As it turns out, he was aiming to create a cure for the virus to save his daughter, Mia, and his interactions with the young Aiden had been much more genial. Played with because as bad as he may have been or not, he is still willing to sacrifice the last known city in the world to achieve his aims.
- It's Personal with the Dragon: Waltz may only be the Butcher's right-hand man, but he's the one who Aiden has the most personal conflict with.
- Last-Name Basis: Only ever referred to by his surname. His first name is only present in the corner of the children's records kept in X-13, and is never stated aloud.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: While he may be the right hand of Williams, he is only using the Renegades to find whatever he needs for Mia, with the faction having lost most of its usefulness once X13's missiles begin to be launched.
- Super-Strength: Has an advanced form of the physical augmentations given to Aiden, having implanted them on himself to make survival easier and thus eventually be able to achieve his goal of saving Mia.
- Papa Wolf: Would do anything to find a cure for Mia's condition, even if it took destroying an entire city and killing hundreds or even thousands in the process.
- Would Hurt a Child: Was part of an experiment demanded by the GRE, which involved injecting specific substances on children, giving them enhanced traits but causing them a great deal of physical and psychological pain.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He is actually trying to save Mia's life, and went down a dark path as a result.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When Waltz begins to launch the missiles, he doesn't even bother about what could happen to the Renegades, as he already has all the tools he needed.
Others
Juan Rainer
Voiced by: Peter Brooke
A supply purveyor who's been working with the Peacekeepers, and possesses items Aiden has been tasked with bringing to said faction.- Food as Bribe: To make him tell how to get the ultraviolet lamps asked by Major Matt, Aiden successfully bribes Rainer with a particularly rare whiskey.
- The Mole: He has already been working with the Colonel for a while before Aiden met him, believing that Jack Matt will cause a flood in Villedor by attacking the local dam. Working with him will cause a civil war amongst the Peacekeepers, and if Aiden also decides to spare Williams later in the story, the player will unlock the Renegade ending.
Lawan
Voiced by and Appearence: Rosario Dawson
A former victim of Waltz' experiments like Aiden, who saves the latter's life when attacked by the former.- Greater-Scope Paragon: As a child, she inspired Frank to invent the Nightrunner Creed, helping the organization to be motivated on their job, something that can be of use once again if Marwey rebuilds the faction.
- Hot-Blooded
- Vengeance Feels Empty: If she kills Hakon, Lawan will say that despite those on her list deserving to die, "cutting them off of it" never made her feel different.
Mia (SPOILER WARNING)
Mia Waltz
Aiden's sister, who he has been searching for years.
- Baldness Means Sickness: In the modern day, her condition has worsened to the point that she has lost her hair.
- Face Death with Dignity: After spending 15 years under treatment for her disease, once she notices that her father is now willing to sacrifice an entire city for the sake of finding her a cure, Mia tells him to stop and decides to hand Aiden the GRE key.
- Family Relationship Switcheroo: She is Waltz's daughter. It is unclear if she is even related to Aiden at all, but is implied not to be.
- Your Days Are Numbered: After Waltz dies, her life is only able to last as long as her ventilator can still work. It only lasts a few hours.
Veronika Ryan
Voiced by: Kosha Engler
A former research scientist who worked for the GRE, now living among the Bazaarian Survivors.- The Atoner: The reason why Veronika helps Aiden is so she can attempt to redeem herself for contributing to the GRE's experiments on children.
- Blatant Lies: She claims to have been a low-level researcher, but she was actually in charge of the facility she helps Aiden to infiltrate.
- Claustrophobia: While inside an elevator in the Observatory, a fuse connected to it is blown, leaving her stuck in it, causing Veronika to have a panic attack due to what Aiden discerns to be claustrophobia. It is implied that her fear was born from the moments escaping the same place for first time, back when the virus had first started to infect its workers.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: She's torn to pieces by a transformed Aiden, who has absolutely no control over himself as he brutally mauls her to death to such a degree that people who find the body assume a Volatile did it. He's understandably horrified at his actions once he regains control.
- Former Regime Personnel: A variant in that GRE was not actually a "regime," but she is a former GRE scientist. When asked by Aiden how she is still alive while being one of them, she says it is because she didn't let anyone else in the Bazaar know she had been one in the first place.
- Missing Child: During her escape from the Observatory when the virus started to take over the place, Veronika's son was with her, but disappeared after she left him alone for 15 minutes. She spent the next week looking for him, to no avail.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Aiden (involuntarily) kills her not long after he and the player formally make her acquaintance, with her screentime being roughly her self-titled mission.
The Turned
Biter
The most common infected seen, they usually concentrate into large groups. As per usual with zombies, one Biter isn't too much of a problem. But they are practically never seen alone.
- Body Horror: You can visibly see some Biters have whole sections of flesh gouged out, among other injuries best left unsaid.
- Deadly Lunge: If a Biter is far enough and notices an unturned human, it may start charging at a jogging pace and unleash a swipe attack that cannot be blocked.
- Devoured by the Horde: Thankfully, not done to any living humans, but Biters can be occasionally seen in groups of 2-4 tearing into and eating a corpse.
- Zerg Rush: You'll rarely encounter a single Biter. About 98% of the time, if there's one Biter, there's probably at least 5 more nearby. Take care not to get surrounded when fighting Biter hordes.
- Zombie Gait: Biters are the slowest of infected, usually shuffling at a walking pace. Sometimes however, they can charge at a jogging pace once they spot an uninfected person ambling about.
Viral
Recently turned infected, Virals are MUCH faster and threatening than the dime a dozen Biters.
- Artificial Brilliance: Virals in packs are smart enough to work together to take you down, taking turns to attack and retreat, or pouncing on you when your attention is elsewhere. They'll even sometimes feint swipes at you, baiting you into dodging or attacking early, allowing other Virals to follow up when you're exposed.
- Ax-Crazy: Despite now being unable to roam during the daylight hours, they are still just as homicidally violent as the ones found in Harran.
- Body Horror: In comparison to the Virals previously encountered in the series, these ones are even worse looking despite their recent zombification, their features marred by decaying skin pockmarked with bleeding sores and already missing tufts of hair.
- Deadly Lunge: Higher level Virals can perform a full on pounce attack that will knock you to the ground should it connect. They usually do this when you are looking elsewhere so you have no time to react and dodge.
- Kryptonite Factor: In comparison to their Dying Light 1 counterparts, Virals in Dying Light 2 are weak to UV light, and will visibly recoil in pain when exposed to it, be it from UV bars or the sun itself. Virals are still attracted to explosions during the daytime, but will retreat shortly after reaching the source of the explosion.
- Le Parkour: Outside of UV lights or safe zones, Virals are perfectly capable of keeping pace with you across rooftops or climbing around various locations. They can even make jumps that players without sufficient levels into the parkour tree cannot
Howler
An infected with a severely deformed mouth that only appears at night. If they see Aiden, they'll start howling, drawing in nearby infected and kicking off a chase sequence.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Are completely nude when they’re found.
Spitter
An infected that has grown multiple large sacs on its body, which it stores bile in to vomit at humans.
- Acid Attack: How it attacks people, though it's not in a stream.
- Body Horror: Even by zombie standards, the Spitter is an ugly bastard. It is covered in multiple bioluminescent green tumours on its upper torso and legs and its chest cavity splits open when it attacks with acid.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the Toad of Dying Light 1.
- Zombie Puke Attack: Their main attack, though it actually comes from their chest cavity.
Banshee
An infected with elongated arms and sharp claws. Banshees are capable of leaping incredible distances and pouncing on their victims.
- Bling of War: Banshees wear a lot of jewellery on their arms. Or more accurately, the jewellery has fused to their skin.
- It Can Think: Much more cunning than Biters and even Virals. Banshees will retreat to higher ground and pounce on their victims from above. They'll often wait until the player is engaged with other zombies before doing so.
- In a Single Bound: Can leap from tall buildings and even other infected with a pounce attack.
- One-Gender Race: All Banshees are female.
Bolter
An infected type only encountered at night. Unlike most infected, who attack Aiden on sight, the Bolters will run away when they realize that they've been spotted.
- Body Horror: Their backs are covered in bloated pustules.
- Cowardly Mooks: If they realize Aiden 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 them will net you rare infected trophies as well as a special meat bait that allows you to attract Virals to an area.
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: These guys are in even worse shape than they were in the first game. Their skin is grey and suffering from necrosis, their muscle growth has gotten so bad that they are constantly bleeding, their lower jaw has almost completely molded into a tumor on their chest and the concrete rebar they use as a weapon has fused into their arm.
- Mighty Glacier: Their movement speed is about the same as that of a Biter, but they soak up a ton of damage before dying.
- Set a Mook to Kill a Mook: They will often smash other infected with their swings.
- Shockwave Stomp: They can smash the ground with their rebar, sending anything in front of them flying.
Charger
An infected covered in a hardened shell. It attacks by charging at foes and crushing them underfoot.
- Attack Its Weak Point: The bulbous pores on the Charger's back are the weakest point on its body.
- Bullfight Boss: While not a boss, a Charger will attack by running straight at you. Unlike most examples of this trope though, they can and will course correct if you dodge out of their way. You'll need to trick them into crashing into a wall or large object in order to stun them.
- Cycle of Hurting: If a Charger knocks you down, it will always run over you while you're trying to get back up.
- Heavily Armored Mook: Its hardened shell makes it difficult to take down from the front.
- Lightning Bruiser: They possesses more manoeuvrability than the Demolisher and can take quite a bit of damage before expiring.
Demolisher
One of the largest infected types encountered in Villedor. The Demolisher's strengths lies in its ability to break down walls and lift and toss 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.
- Ground Pound: Demolishers can now send shockwaves across the ground when they smash it with their fists.
- 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.
Revenant
Referred to as "GRE Anomalies", Revenants are a unique type of infected capable of resurrecting dead humans as infected.
- Back from the Dead: Capable of reanimating dead bodies.
- Boss Battle: You can only fight Revenants at night, and only then in specific locations.
- Enemy Summoner
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: Revenants can leap incredible distances and will jump around the area to evade attacks.
- Necromancer: Albeit their powers are more of a biological than supernatural bent, they are capable of reanimating the dead as infected.
Volatile
The apex predator of the night, Volatiles are THE Elite Zombie of Dying Light 2. It is near suicide to try and take one on in a head on head battle, and whenever you encounter one, it is best to just sneak away if it doesn't notice you, or run like hell if it does.
- Deadly Lunge: They have a leap similar to Virals. The difference is that it can potentially one-shot you. If it doesn't, then it pins you down.
- Demoted to Extra: In a way. Compared to the first Dying Light, the Volatiles have a much less active role in the second game. Their presence at night is reduced, with their role as a roaming enemy replaced by the stationary howlers, and they won't appear during a chase unless it reaches level 3. They only have a few scripted appearances during the main story, though they can be found lurking around in dark zones during the day.
- Elite Zombie: Probably the most threatening infected out there. Even one of these guys can give anyone a rough fight if unprepared. With high health, attacks that can take out whole chunks of your own health, a ranged attack for those too far away, the Volatile is best avoided.
- Immune to Flinching: Volatiles are VERY resistant to being stunned outside of UV lights. When a dropkick would cause nearly any other enemy to get heavily staggered or outright flying away, it barely even shoves a Volatile. A heavy melee attack if it connects with an enemy will make them stagger around in pain. A connected heavy melee attack against a volatile just makes it madder. Even fire which normally causes enemies to flail about in a panic until it's snuffed out only momentarily stops a Volatile before it pounces on you.
- Kryptonite Factor: Just like in Dying Light 1, UV light will cause them to recoil and retreat from its source.
- Primal Stance: Volatiles may occasionally crouch down onto all fours and slowly get close to you. When they feel the time is right, they spring forward in a Deadly Lunge.
- Sound-Coded for Your Convenience: Volatiles have a distinct primal howl, which can help distinguish them from the more gibbering and screaming Virals. They also have a noticeable "barefoot running on cement" sound that all other zombies lack whenever they move.
- Zombie Puke Attack: While not a full on waterfall, Volatiles can spit up some sort of damaging phlegm at anyone that's out of their reach
