Most of the information in this page comes from the game's Rundown 5 and beyond, and thus it is warned that all spoilers from it and prior have been unmarked, you may proceed at your own risk.
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The Warden
The mysterious head of the Complex who's always sending people down into the catacombs. Little is really known about it, part of this being that it keeps ordering people to do things down there. Tropes related to the Warden
- Ambiguously Evil: Like the question of what or who they are, its intentions for keeping and sending the prisoners are unknown. In Rundown 6.0, John Schaeffer even speculates if it is a prisoner like the players. And then comes ALT://Rundown 6.0, which implies it is trying to preserve the little left of Humanity in Another Dimension that is clean of NAM-V.
- Benevolent Conspiracy: One of it's Conduits implies that they and the Warden are part of an extradimensional faction seeking a "membrane" lacking the NAM-V contamination, and that the only way for Humanity to avoid complete extinction is by having it's uninfected survivors evacuate into a "pure" dimension.
- Good All Along: It was created by an alien faction known as "The Collectors", which seeks to find a dimension free of the NAM-V pathogen, regardless of the costs to achieve that, and have used the Warden for this exact purpose.
- Mission Control: The one sending and giving orders to the prisoners.
- Mission Control Is Off Its Meds: The original Schaeffer sabotages it with the help of his universe's main prisoners, making all of its orders appear as Schaeffer's own or as error messages.
- Not of This Earth: It is part or was made by an alien faction known as "The Collectors", who use it as a way to find a universe lacking the NAM-V contamination.
- The Unseen: The Warden never makes a physical appearance in the game, it only communicates through orders given to the prisoners. ALT://Rundown 6.0 reveals that it possesses "conduits", which speak on its behalf, but never had a chance to communicate with the prisoners until then.
- We Have Reserves: According to
Word of God, the Warden has already sent around 600.000 prisoners to their deaths, apparently considering them expendable.
The Prisoners
Unfortunate souls who are repeatedly awoken from Hydrostasis to be sent down into the complex to perform whatever task the Warden gives them. Prisoners as a whole
- Alternate Self: Due to a Matter Wave Collapse occurring, there are two versions of the main team, one guided by a version of John Schaffer that has rebelled against the Warden, and another by an alternate counterpart of the same which is collaborating with the former's enemy.
- Boxed Crook: They're regularly kept in Hydrostasis until The Warden has a task for them. At which point, they're woken up and lowered into The Complex.
- Dark and Troubled Past: All of them had this, which is the reason they've became prisoners in the first place.
- Bishop attempted to blackmail his own boss and became unpersoned for that.
- Dauda was a shady scientist being investigated by Interpol.
- Hackett had a troubled youth and became an apathetic soldier who killed several innocents.
- Woods was a violent religious fundamentalist who killed eighteen fellow soldiers for doing something he believed was "offending God".
- Doomed Protagonist: If their bio-readouts are anything to go by, they already have the Sleeper infection in them. It is unknown if this will affect the player characters beyond the Release Ending, but considering it can be argued that they are either asymptomatic or lacking a vital piece of the contamination, such as its parasite, their fate is still left up to interpretation.
- Fate Worse than Death: They have been reduced to memoryless drones whose lives are only composed of accomplishing missions tasked by the Warden and going back to Hydrostasis, facing terrible horrors at every waking moment.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Being put in Hydrostasis caused them to forget everything they knew about themselves.
- Nominal Hero: None of them are in the Complex out of free will (besides Hackett, though it is possible he wasn't aware of what he'd face), only doing their missions because of the Warden's orders and due to the fact that they have no other life besides them, as their original memories were erased.
- We Have Reserves: They are considered expendable to the Warden compared to any important item the latter desires.
Playable Prisoners
Abeo Dauda
A determined and secretive prisoner, cunning enough to always have a plan, but plagued by nightmares of a mysterious old life.
- Dark and Troubled Past: A common trope for the prisoners. Dauda used to be a shady scientist involved with equally questionable companies, who was investigated by Interpol but spared from them for Santonian and Dreyfus Industries' "Insight" program. It is also implied he has some relation to the creation or unleashing of the Sleepers.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In the Release Ending, he and the other prisoners teleport into a dimension without the NAM-V contamination, though with Dr. Durant's sudden warnings, it is unknown if this will last.
- Face Death with Dignity: In the Valiant Ending, Dauda accepts that the prisoners are about to die and tells them to prepare themselves one last time.
- Guilt-Induced Nightmare: He claims to repeatedly suffer a specific nightmare, apparently related to an experiment in his old life, which an audio log shows that he used to suffer from it even then.
- I Hate Past Me: Once having heard a log where his old self says he will die a coward, Dauda denies the saying, describing it as madness and that the one who spoke is not him anymore.
- Killing Your Alternate Self: The original rundowns' version of him leads the entire other version of the team to their deaths when he feigns to be their Schaeffer in the Hearsay system, who alongside the rest of his team, has them send tools needed for the former prisoners' teleportation, which ends sending the latter to a dead end from which they cannot escape from.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Due to the nature of his experiments, those he was involved with, and the fact that the Interpol started to question his deeds, his old self was far from being the average law-abiding scientist.
- Mysterious Past: The prisoner with the past most shrouded in mystery until the present. The reasons for the Interpol's investigation on him, and the nature of his research, are unknown, but if the little information given about the latter is taken into account, it can be presumed that it involved the creation or unleashing of the Sleepers.
- Nervous Tics: In the expedition menu, he and Bishop constantly twitch and hit their own heads due to their uneasiness.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once he and the rest of the team hear of a way out of the facility and have enough of the increasingly questionable actions of their universe's Schaeffer, they don't take long to betray him and change their plans accordingly.
- Tricked to Death: The alternate versions of him and his team are fooled by the original protagonists into giving up the necessary tools for a Matter Wave Projetor, making them believe that they are other survivors (and later their version of Schaeffer), which ends up leaving them unable to reach the teleporter in time as the facility's meltdown destroys their means to escape.
Aiden Hackett
A cynical and humorous prisoner, often joking around even in the direst of situations, although he is still a loyal man when his fellow teammates need him.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In the Release Ending, he and the other prisoners teleport into a dimension without the NAM-V contamination, though with Dr. Durant's sudden warnings, it is unknown if this will last.
- Fighting Irish: An Irish prisoner who's frequently laughing on the face of death.
- Got Volunteered: Averted. In contrast to the other three prisoners, Hackett asked to join the Legion Program.
- Lack of Empathy: Downplayed. He killed twenty innocents and felt nothing afterward, a fact he hated so much that a memory wipe seemed reasonable.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When discovering that he volunteered to be in his current situation, he can only express regret and confusion at the decision.
- Redemption Equals Affliction: After noticing that he did not feel anything after killing twenty innocents, he believed that to redeem himself from his apathy he needed to voluntarily join the Legion Program.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once he and the rest of the team hear of a way out of the facility and have enough of the increasingly questionable actions of their universe's Schaeffer, they don't take long to betray him and change their plans accordingly.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: The most foul-mouthed of the prisoners, especially when the situation worsens.
- Tricked to Death: The alternate versions of him and his team are fooled by the original protagonists into giving up the necessary tools for a Matter Wave Projetor, making them believe that they are other survivors (and later their version of Schaeffer), which ends up leaving them unable to reach the teleporter in time as the facility's meltdown destroys their means to escape.
Frank Bishop
A pragmatic man with impossible standards, who always prioritizes getting the job done, and doing the best he can. As a result, he often finds it difficult to do things like work in a team and trust others.
- Blackmail Backfire: He tried to blackmail his boss, but only managed to gain a target on his own head, and also led him to be unpersoned.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: In one of his logs, when speaking to his interviewer about what he did to be imprisoned, Bishop only says that he had information he believed his boss would want and discovered that he didn't like he had it, leading the interviewer to immediately note this trope's effect.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In the Release Ending, he and the other prisoners teleport into a dimension without the NAM-V contamination, though with Dr. Durant's sudden warnings, it is unknown if this will last.
- Nervous Tics: In the expedition menu, he and Dauda constantly twitch and hit their own heads due to their uneasiness.
- Nervous Wreck: He seems to once have been this in his old life as some audio logs indicate, and shades of this can still be seen at times, especially after hearing said logs.
- Oh, Crap!: First when told he would be taken to the Legion Program, second when he remembered what Hydrostasis was while doing a check-up.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once he and the rest of the team hear of a way out of the facility and have enough of the increasingly questionable actions of their universe's Schaeffer, they don't take long to betray him and change their plans accordingly.
- Tricked to Death: The alternate versions of him and his team are fooled by the original protagonists into giving up the necessary tools for a Matter Wave Projetor, making them believe that they are other survivors (and later their version of Schaeffer), which ends up leaving them unable to reach the teleporter in time as the facility's meltdown destroys their means to escape.
- Unperson: For trying to blackmail his boss, all records of his life, including his time with Santonian, were erased.
Isaiah Woods
A deeply religious man who believes himself to be in Purgatory, convinced that everything happening around him has meaning in some way.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In the Release Ending, he and the other prisoners teleport into a dimension without the NAM-V contamination, though with Dr. Durant's sudden warnings, it is unknown if this will last.
- Evil Me Scares Me: Once having heard his old self in a recorded interview, he swears to his team that it was not him, but rather, a disturbed man.
- The Fundamentalist: He was this in his old life, so much so that an audio log shows he killed eighteen soldiers who were alongside him because something they did, according to Woods, was "offending God".
- I Hate Past Me: After listening to an audio log involving him in an interview for the Legion Program, he acts in disbelief at his own words and the events described, claiming to his partners that this is not him.
- Made of Iron: Even before being sent to the Legion Program, he managed to survive several near-death situations, including being shot eight times.
- Oh, Crap!: In the Valiant Ending, once he realizes the protagonists are doomed, Woods immediately curses "Schaeffer" to rot in hell for leaving them in that predicament.
- Religious Bruiser: While his original personality was greatly altered, his religious ways managed to survive the memory loss.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once he and the rest of the team hear of a way out of the facility and have enough of the increasingly questionable actions of their universe's Schaeffer, they don't take long to betray him and change their plans accordingly.
- Token Religious Teammate: The only visibly religious member of his team.
- Tricked to Death: The alternate versions of him and his team are fooled by the original protagonists into giving up the necessary tools for a Matter Wave Projetor, making them believe that they are other survivors (and later their version of Schaeffer), which ends up leaving them unable to reach the teleporter in time as the facility's meltdown destroys their means to escape.
Other Prisoners
John Schaeffer
An escaped prisoner who has been sending messages to the player characters.
- Big Bad: Of Rundown 8.0.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Shortly after killing his alternate version, he is drowned in coolant liquid by his own universe's version of the protagonists while he's still inside the Drainage Chamber.
- Cry Laughing: Does this right after killing his alternate universe counterpart.
- Evil Counterpart: To the ALT://Rundowns' version of him, having undergone a severe sanity slippage during his story, and greatly worsening in Rundown 8.0, to the point he even kills his counterpart, and attempts to do the same to the protagonists.
- Killing Your Alternate Self: Kills his saner, Alternate Universe counterpart when the latter refuses to let a facility meltdown occur.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Delivers this to his Good Counterpart until the point of death.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: After repeatedly trying to convince the main characters to keep helping him, and then ranting about their disobedience, he desperately pleads them to not leave him to die.
- Sanity Slippage: His paranoia towards the Warden gradually worsens throughout time, to the point he defies it even when unnecessary, despite this later in story meaning certain death to every person inside the Complex.
- Spanner in the Works: The only prisoner known to have escaped the Warden's control, now trying to aid others in doing the same.
- The Unseen: He only appears through audio messages at certain parts of some missions.
- Unseen No More: His and his alternate counterpart's bodies can be found in the Drainage Chamber during Rundown 8.0.
- Villainous Breakdown: Goes through a hard one once be notices the protagonists won't follow his plans anymore, bringing him to rant about them, saying that they are nothing but criminals, only to shortly after beg them not to leave him alone.
- Walking Spoiler: Used to have a mostly spoiler-free section, but ever since Rundown 8.0, he has become the center of many main plot points in the story.
Unmarked Spoilers
Alternate John Schaeffer
The ALT://Rundowns' version of Schaeffer, which is more collaborative with the Warden.- All for Nothing: Subverted. While he and his team never get to see the dimension they sought, at least his efforts allow his alternate counterpart's team to reach it, who use his information to escape to the desired world as they become wiser to their own Schaeffer's mental decay.
- Alternate Self: An Alternate Universe version of John Schaeffer, who instead of trying to escape by fighting against the Warden, seeks to understand its reasons for keeping himself and others as prisoners.
- Good Counterpart: In Rundown 8.0, he turns out to be this, having understood the state of his universe's Earth and why the Warden does what it does, as well as due to him avoiding his counterpart's sanity slippage.
- Killing Your Alternate Self: On the receiving end of it by his original counterpart, once reaffirming he won't let the latter cause a facility meltdown.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Gets beaten to death by his Evil Counterpart.
- Spanner in the Works: Downplayed. Like his counterpart, he is the only prisoner known to have escaped the Warden's control but decided to understand its motives instead of outright fighting it, and went on to complete its goal himself along with the protagonists.
- The Unseen: He only appears through audio messages at certain parts of some missions.
- Unseen No More: His and his alternate counterpart's bodies can be found in the Drainage Chamber during Rundown 8.0.
- Walking Spoiler: The very fact that he isn't the John Schaeffer from the original rundowns makes him this, as well as due to how much he and his counterpart are opposites, taking actions that repeatedly contradict the other's.
Others
The Conduits (Unmarked Spoilers)
Artificial humans sent by the Warden to serve as its voice.
- Benevolent Conspiracy: One of them implies that they and the Warden are part of an extradimensional faction seeking a "membrane" lacking the NAM-V contamination and that the only way for Humanity to avoid complete extinction is by having its uninfected survivors evacuate into a "pure" dimension.
- Mouth of Sauron: Inverted. They serve as the Warden's mouthpiece, though as their last revelation shows, the latter is not as malevolent as players believed.
- Rapid Aging: Imperfect artificial humans who possess an extremely short lifespan once "activated", with the one spoken to by Schaeffer only lasting a few minutes.
- Walking Spoiler: Whenever they get involved, expect the story to enter unexplored territories.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Due to their short lifespans, the last one to speak with Schaeffer in ALT://Rundown 6.0 only lasted a few minutes before expiring.
Dr. James Durant (Unmarked Spoilers)
A scientist from Garganta, who was part of the facility's extradimensional expeditions.
- The Unseen: He never physically appears in gameplay, and besides in Rundown 8.0, is only heard through an audio log.
- Walking Spoiler: The very fact he appears outside of audio logs and plays a major role in the story is a spoiler in itself.
- Wham Line: His last dialogue is the last voice canonically heard in the game's story, suddenly appearing shortly after the prisoners arrive at a dimension lacking NAM-V, possibly confirming the existence of human life in the place, either local or from others escaping their dimension.
The Sleepers
Former humans infected by an unknown illness that has mutated them into horrifying monstrosities. They're extremely hostile and will attack whatever gets their attention, and are easily provoked by light and sound. They're called Sleepers because they're usually seen in a dormant state. Try your hardest not to wake them. Tropes applying to the Sleepers
- Body Horror: They've grown massive Vagina Dentata mouths on their heads and torsos.
- Humanoid Abomination: Those that are humanoid at least, with a variety of different traits such as: having grown mouths with sharp teeth, large organic spikes at their heads, piles of spores all across their bodies, bioluminescence, the ability to grow tendrils out of their heads, and being able to exist as living shadows.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The virus that originated them is implied to have come from a different dimension or planet, whose portals have been found or created at what is now the Complex, which is also believed to be at the Chicxulub Crater, the same area where the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs collided.
- Vagina Dentata: They've grown these on their heads and torsos.
Unmarked Spoilers
The Kraken
Colossal beasts filled with tentacles found in the alternate dimension/planet.- Achilles' Heel: Most of their bodies are invulnerable, but bear several tumors that can be harmed by the players, and after enough of them have been destroyed the boss will die.
- Attack Its Weak Point: The only way to kill them is by destroying bioluminescent spore-like organs across their body.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: In Rundown 6.0, the one appearing is so massive that it isn't seen in its entirety, even at the facility where it fought, which is clearly at a high position, with it having risen from a thick fog around the location. In Rundown 8.0 however, multiple ones appear with their entire bodies visible, showing that they are able to float, bearing a gigantic "face" right below the body parts seen in 6.0, and even larger tentacles beneath it.
- Background Boss: They emerge in front of facilities on cliffs where the players are, and never actually move out of their position, only being able to send projectiles and minions towards the players from it.
- Eldritch Abomination: They are gigantic, bioluminescent monsters that bear many characteristics possessed by the Sleepers found in the Complex, whose "mouth" contains countless tentacles and spikes, the latter of which can be used as homing projectiles, and can spawn Flyers. It also helps that it is found in the alternate dimension/planet.
- Flunky Boss: They frequently spawn Flyers to attack the players, while the bosses themselves only have a few attacks of their own and don't even move.
- Recurring Boss: They appear on both Rundown 6.0 and 8.0, though in the latter most of them do not attack the players.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: Most of their bodies are impenetrable, but a bioluminescent tumor that can be destroyed will appear shortly after they first appear, and once one is destroyed another will spawn until the Kraken is killed.
