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The American Hunters Association
The American Hunters Association
In General
The American Hunters Association is a secretive organization devoted to studying and killing the monsters that stalk the bayou.
- Ambition Is Evil: The AHA’s two directors Philip Huff Jones and Mr. Chary to a T. Both individuals aren’t interested in actually fighting the Sculptor’s Corruption but instead seek to exploit it towards their own ends. Huff sought immortality, while Chary seeks to use profane rituals and dark rituals to transcend his humanity.
- Ancient Conspiracy: Though the exact age of the AHA is unknown,
according to the Devs organizations like the AHA have existed for thousands of years while the AHA dates back specifically to 17th century. - Bedlam House: The AHA runs one of these in Jackson. The conditions of the Hospital is not known exactly, what is known is that the AHA keeps witnesses and survivors there. Historically though, the East Louisiana State Hospital was better than most.
- Creature-Hunter Organization: The AHA is one of these organizations. How old it is and if others like it exists isn't known for sure.
- Civil War: Following Huff’s assassination in the Summer of 1895 the AHA descends into a brutal civil war, with Hunter against Hunter for control of the organization.
- During the Moon Trilogy a New Director of the AHA rises to power: the Enigmatic Mr. Chary… whose profane rituals and experiments plunge the AHA into a second civil war between Mr. Chary’s Infernal Pact and the Kevin Linus pact of the Moon. By the end of the Devil’s Moon event the infighting of the AHA has gotten so bad that Elwood Finch has officially disbanded the Louisiana Branch.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Huff and Finch allowing the Louisiana Outbreak to fester allowed the Outbreak to spiral out of their control and plunged the AHA into a civil war that would eventually lead to the organization disbanding.
- Immortality Seeker: Both Philip Huff Jones and Elwood Finch used the Louisiana Outbreak to conduct experiments related to immortality.
- Mad Scientist Laboratory: The Asylum doubles as one for the AHA. Both Philip Huff Jones, and Elwood Finch performed horrific experiments on both the patients and the doctors alike in their quest to contain the outbreak.
- Masquerade: The AHA is dedicated to not just combating monsters and demons but to keeping the existence of these creatures secret to the outside world. Going as far as to institutionalize or kill anyone who could expose the secret.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Pretty much all of the researchers employed by the AHA to some degree but especially Finch and Huff.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The Real Philip Huff Jones was a member of the White League who participated in an insurrection against the Reconstruction Era Government. Based on Dr Harold Black’s comments about black hunters facing discrimination in the awarding of contracts in the Armored Entries the fictional Philip Huff Jones inherited his historical counterparts prejudices.
Standard Hunters
In General
A duo of Tier Three Hunters, experienced manhunters and demon killers.
Humans who have been hired by the American Hunter's Association to go into the affected areas of the bayou, track down the dangerous monsters therein, kill them, then banish them back to Hell.Each Hunter is unique, in that Standard Hunters one acquires by hiring them have randomly selected names, appearances, and abilities. While there are Legendary Hunters that have their own unique backstories and appearances, all Hunters share many characteristics.
Hunters generally come in three Tiers, which govern their appearances, skills, and starting loadouts. There are both male and female Hunters, and their in-game abilities do not change depending on their gender.
- Action Survivor: Potentially, for the Tier 1 hunters. Aside from the leather holsters and kit that seems to be standard for them, most of them seem to be in normal civilian attire. It's entirely possible that they are working for the American Hunter's Association out of desperate need for money, not knowing what they are getting themselves into, or being caught in the area at the time of the incident.
- Definitely seems to be the case for unfortunate persons caught in a Quickplay match. They wake up one day in the swamp and must fight monsters and other humans to save their souls, and only one person can get out alive.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: One of the most common ways Hunters go out into the bayou is to do so in pairs. This is seen in a lot of the promotional material, with two Hunters often seen together.
- Badass Normal: Subverted. All Hunters definitely use conventional means such as guns, knives, and other weapons to combat the horrors of the bayou, and they do not seem to be more or less durable than normal humans, it goes without saying they are badass. However, each Hunter seems to be able to use several supernatural abilities. Namely, they can use Darksight to find clues and track down the boss monsters, and they can then banish those monsters to Hell once they've killed them. In addition to this, they seem to be able to ignite explosives by snapping their fingers next to the wick, perhaps suggesting a small form of pyrokinesis. Since every Hunter is capable of this, it is possible that the American Hunter Association teaches these abilities to their Hunters.
- The Devil's Moon event reveals that some hunters are capable of incredible feats of regeneration, getting back up from bullet and explosion wounds over and over again without assistance until they get too damaged or burned to a crisp. The description of the Necrosis skin for the hive bomb also explicitly states that Hunters are capable of "cellular rejuvenation".
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Both a characteristic of the Hunters themselves, and a rule to Hunt by. In game, Hunters never talk on their own, only verbalizing pain when injured, exertion, and relief when healed. In addition, with the importance sound carries in the game, the most dangerous Hunters are often the quietest, as they are able to move through areas undetected and get the drop on their enemies.
- That being said, it is possible for players to use a proximity-based voice chat, allowing communication between Hunters, which can often range from uneasy truces to taunts and battlecries, and even attempted deception.note
- Bounty Hunter: The Hunters are often called bounty hunters. However, they are rewarded not for bringing in fugitives, but for bringing in proof of the banishment of the more powerful monsters.
- Crazy-Prepared: A necessity. Guns, knives, medical supplies, explosives, telescopes, flares, all kinds of equipment goes into a Hunter’s kit. Going in with no preparation is a guaranteed horrifying death, either at the hands of hostile Hunters or the clutches of demonic monsters.
- Combat Pragmatist: There are no fair fights for Hunters, against man or monster. They use every advantage they can, starting with their senses: just being able to hear allows good Hunters to figure out when and where enemies are, what their enemies are using for weapons, and how best to overcome that enemy. After that, anything goes: sneaking up behind unsuspecting rivals to shoot them in the back; grabbing an axe from the ground and burying it into their opponents; fire, poison, flashbombs, sound distractions; you name it, a Hunter can kill you with it. Even non-weapon items like medkits allow for melee attacks, so Hunters can fight back to some degree even if caught off guard.
- Curse Escape Clause: In Quickplay matches, this is the goal for Hunters, which seems to be how at least this subgroup of Hunters gets their start in the career. They awake in the swamp and find that their souls are damned, and to lift this curse, must find four rifts to activate a Wellspring which will save their soul. The catch? Only one person can harness the Wellspring. A Hunter can kill someone who is harnessing the energy of the Wellspring and take it for themselves, but when it is depleted, all the other damned souls will burst into flames, and their souls will be dragged down to Hell, leaving only the Hunter who has saved his soul.
- Death Is Cheap: Zig-Zagged during the Devil's Moon event. On one hand, permadeath is still in full effect and any Hunter you lose will stay dead for good, taking all of their gears and perks with them. On the other, as long as a Hunter has friends or the Necromancer perk, they can get back up again even if they've just been shot in the head with an elephant gun. The only way to kill a Hunter with the means to resurrect themselves is to either burn them to a crisp or wait for them to come back and kill them again until they run out of lives (which they can have as many as 5).
- Earn Your Happy Ending: A Hunter's career has a high possibility of ending violently and terrifyingly. If a Hunter reaches level 25, however, they get the option to "Retire" from their campaign in Louisiana. What this exactly means is up for some interpretation, however: it could mean they genuinely, peacefully retire quietly off in a civilized, unaffected area; that they depart from the American Hunter's Association's campaign in Louisiana, and move on to a different area for more work; or that the AHA takes care of them as a loose end, not wanting to let any possible secrets of the Louisiana incident break out.
- Given that other demon hunters from other parts of the world have shown up in Louisiana, this implies several things: that paranormal excursions occur all over the world; that Hunters can and do travel long distances to hunt down monsters; and that Hunters have reputations among each other, if the descriptions of Zhong Kui and Dead Blessing are an indication. Of the Hunters in the game, the Tier 2 and 3 Hunters are more likely to be career-Hunters who will travel in a manner similar to Zhong Kui and Dead Blessing, so their retirement likely is temporary.
- Fire Keeps It Dead: All Hunters have powerful regenerative capabilities that let them heal from pretty much anything. Anything, except fires. It's for this reason that a smart Hunter burns the corpse of any rival Hunter they see, as it's the only way to either make sure their foe stays dead or force them to resurrect themselves early and forfeit the element of surprise to prevent further damage.
- Glass Cannon: Enemy hunters are no more durable than a basic Grunt, but can cut you down in less than half a second with most weapons.
- The Gunslinger: Pretty much every Hunter to some degree, at least in image. Granted, having good aim is almost a necessity to survive a firefight or to hit unpredictable monsters. Tier 2 and 3 Hunters definitely give off the visual image of grizzled gunfighters, but the skill level of a player is the most important thing. A crack shot Tier 1 Hunter is just as dangerous as a Tier 3 Hunter, as one bullet to the head can spell death instantly.
- Especially applies to Hunters who have the Fanning or Levering perks, allowing them to rapid-fire single action revolvers and lever action rifles, calling on iconic western gunslinger techniques.
- Healing Factor: Lore-wise, Hunters are indeed capable of regenerating from wounds as they do in gameplay, as the description of the Necrosis hive bomb skin directly mentions how getting poisoned temporarily disables regeneration.
- Hired Guns: Most Hunters are recruited by paying them in cold, hard cash, and they're willing to face man or demon to get their next big payday.
- Killed Off for Real: Per the game mechanics. Unlike many video games where death is cheap, death is permanent in Hunt: Showdown, meaning any Hunter can die, and death can come very, very quickly if you are not cautious. If you like a Hunter you recruit, be careful not to get them killed.
- The Men in Black: Part of the AHA's goal is to hide knowledge of the paranormal demon excursion in the Bayou from the public. They do seem to keep their own records and document such activity, almost like a Gilded-Age version of the SCP Foundation, and the psyche ward set up in Louisiana serves as both a place to hold people who have witnessed the event, and a place to interview and learn of the goings-on from the witnesses themselves.
- No Honor Among Thieves: In full swing. When after a target, the only persons Hunters trust are their partners and themselves, and even then, smart Hunters only trust their partners slightly more than enemy Hunters. If they see another human in the area, that person is just as high of a threat as the monsters, because the payment for even one bounty is large, even for the time period: fully tracking down (all three clues), finding, killing, and bringing back proof of banishment could yield $375, which equals more than $10,000 in modern US Dollars. Often times, a successful Hunt will bring in way more cash as well, if a Hunter pilfers the pockets of enemy Hunters, steals their bounty tokens, or checks for unlooted cash registers. It pays in spades to be as cutthroat as possible on a mission, so they'll do whatever it takes to not only make the most of their time, but make it out alive as well.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Can be averted by Hunters, as well as their extraction teams. It's entirely possible to ditch a partner you go into a mission with to take an early extraction. By that same token, those guys in the armored carriages and steam boats are not going to stick around longer than their contract states when there is a demon infestation in progress. If a Hunter runs out of time to get to their getaway, they're stuck in the bayou and assumed dead.
- Occult Detective: Using their Darksight, Hunters can track down the most dangerous monsters in an area through “clues”, strange anomalies in the environment.
- Only in It for the Money: Likely to be the case, for most Hunters. However, some Legendary Hunters have backstory that indicate their own reasons for going into the swamp to hunt monsters; for instance, Jonathan Redshirt goes in with a literal giant target strapped to himself on a drunken bet. Of course, should he come back alive, he would be given the deeds to some land in the West, so even he has something to gain out of it.
- Old Soldier: Some tier 2 and 3 Hunters are graying veterans of the Civil War, still proudly wearing their uniforms.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The average Hunter recruit can range from perfectly rational people looking to make a quick buck, to former prostitutes with a penchant for guns and crazy cultists.
- Silver Bullet: Seemingly averted. While definitely supernatural, the monsters they hunt are susceptible to damage by conventional means, so Hunters don’t pack abnormal types of ammunition. Well, abnormal types of ammunition against monsters, that is. Coin shells (a shotgun shell filled with pennies) and poison bullets to kill fellow Hunters are fair game.
- Took a Level in Badass: The different Tiers of Hunter indicate this for the player, to show their Bloodline’s progression.
- Tier One Hunters, also called Apprentices, dress in relatively normal, civilian clothing for the time period of the late 1800’s. Some wear more dapper vests and bowler hats, while others wear simple long-sleeve shirts, plantation hats, and slacks, though each of them seem to wear some form of bandoleer or leather harness, to carry their weapons and some ammunition on. Often called Whiteshirts by the fanbase, because their normal clothing (typically wearing a white shirt) does not lend well to blending in with the swamps. In the menu, they’ll often stand like they’re posing for a picture, holding their weapons somewhat awkwardly at times, and in many cases keep their trigger-fingers on the trigger, showing their general lack of experience.
- Tier Two Hunters, also called Cowboys, visually look much more capable and prepared than Apprentices. They carry more pouches and equipment, may cover their faces with bandanas, and wear more practical attire such as jackets, dusters, or ponchos. Many of them evoke classic cowboy or outlaw looks, and some of them even seem to be veterans, wearing military uniforms. In the menu, they stand with more confidence, hold their weapons naturally, and keep their fingers off the trigger, showing they have trigger discipline and are therefore more familiar with firearms than Apprentices.
- Tier Three Hunters, also called Manhunters, are the most prepared and intimidating looking of all. Former military members that are brimming with equipment and scars; Hunters who drape ominous hooded shawls to disguise their silhouettes; stoic looking Badasses who wear Morpheus-style spectacle shades over their eyes; grizzled figures who strap human skulls to their clothing, covered in tattoos. Some even seem to have makeshift armor strapped to themselves. In the menus, they vary in their stances, sometimes looking ready to kill someone at the drop of a hat, sometimes standing aloof with their backs to the player, but like Tier Two Hunters, never make the mistake of putting their fingers in the trigger guard of their weapon.
The Night Acolyte
- The Brute: Due to being part of an apocalypse cult and all, she has few qualms with violence.
- Blood Magic: Draws symbols in her clothes with the blood of her victims.
- Token Evil Teammate: Not her per se, but the cult she's part of is a band of violent occultists with an unhealthy obsession with the apocalypse and, thus, a little crazier than your average hunter.
Redneck
He ain't Chicken, he just sells them
William Moses, proud owned of the Moses Poultry farm, is one of the locals of the affected bayou areas, having been inducted into the AHA after a group of hunters stumbled upon him holed up in his farm, armed to the teeth and somehow unaffected by The Sculptor's influence.- Action Survivor: He's just an average backwater farmer that somehow survived an apocalypse that killed pretty much everyone around him.
- Idiot Hero: His bio implies his resistance to the corruption is either due to this or stubborness.
The Researcher
Because knowing is half the battle.
Harold Black is more or less the main reason the AHA has such a detailed knowledge of just what they're fighting, having produced a series of detailed anatomical descriptions and sketches that detail strengths and weaknesses of the monstrosities they kill for a living. Because of this, Harold is one of the most well respected monster hunters alive.- Badass Bookworm: Both a successful autodidact scientist and an accomplished demon killer.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: From a failed author and an ailing clerk to a respected member of the AHA, all of whom possess paranormal abilities and hunt demonic creatures (and each other) for a living.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Before he started hunting monsters, he became friends with The Assassin in human form.
- The Smart Guy: Of the AHA.
The Corruption
The Sculptor
The Sculptor
The Sculptor is an enigmatic figure in the Hunt-verse known by many names: the Devil, The Lord of Flies, etc. Its exact nature is unknown. What it wants is unknown. Where it comes from is unknown. All that is known is that it is responsible for the monsters that stalk the Bayou and seems to have a thing for bugs.
- Always Chaotic Evil: As near as anyone can tell the Sculptor is driven by nothing other than a mindless hunger and desire to consume the world. If it is capable of compassion, empathy, or mercy it has not once demonstrated those traits.
- Beelzebub: The Lord of the Flies is only one of many names that is used to refer to the Sculptor, see Satan below.
- The Corruption: The Sculptor fills this role in the Lore, the corrupting influence of the Sculptor is what transforms ordinary humans into the various monsters that haunt the Bayou. Even the Hunters themselves are not entirely immune to the corrupting Influence of the Sculptor.
- Creative Sterility: The Sculptor is not capable of entierly new or original creation. It instead has to twist already existing creatures and people into whatever tools suit it best.
- The Faceless: The Sculptor is never seen in game and is only rarely mentioned in the lore. All we ever see of it is the creations it unleashes on the world.
- Flies Equals Evil: Played with, while the Sculptor is strongly connected to flies and maggots the Sculptor is also connected to beetles, centipedes, moths, and cicadas.
- Satan: Though it is not actually certain if the Sculptor is Lucifer himself, the Sculptor is commonly identified as the Lord of Flies himself by many of the more religious hunters.
Dr. Reed
Dr. Reed
Dr Reed was a Doctor who traveled down to the Louisiana Bayou to treat the sick. Ignorant of the true nature of the outbreak Dr. Reed became corrupted by the Sculptor's influence and ultimately turned on his companions: killing, mutilating, and cannibalizing their corpses before vanishing out into the bayou. After his victims were discovered and buried by the Hunter John Voelkel they were transformed into the Spider by the Sculptor.
- Apocalyptic Log: Dr Reed left one such log that documented his gradual transformation that can be read here on the official website.
- Determined Doctor: Before his transformation Dr. Reed was this.
- Frontier Doctor: Though Dr. Reed practiced in Louisiana the Bayous where he lived were as wild and dangerous even before the zombie outbreak.
- I'm a Humanitarian: By the time John Voelkel finds Dr. Reed's group the only thing that's left of them are the parts he didn't find appetizing.
- Mad Doctor: After his transformation he becomes this as he slowly begins to lose his mind and forget whom he even is.
- Misanthrope Supreme: As Dr Reed's transformation progresses he becomes more and more disgusted by his fellow survivors. In his journal he writes that their presence is offensive to him.
- Sanity Slippage: As his transformation progresses Dr Reed slowly begins to forget who he is and grows more and more unhinged until he finally kills and cannibalizes his fellow survivors.
- Self-Surgery: Performs this to himself after his transformation into a grunt causes his leg to rot off.
- Zombie Infectee: Unbeknownst to the other survivors Dr. Reed is slowly transforming into a grunt.
William Salter
William Salter
Possibly the first recorded victim of the Sculptor's infection William Salter was the youngest brother of the Hunter Charlie Salter. While his older brother was away William Slater was committed to the Asylum at Jackson in November of 1894, and again in May of 1895 before escaping that same month. William Salter had been studied closely by Huff personally after his readmittance as he had managed to resist the inevitable transformation into a grunt for almost half a year. After his escape he was latter tracked down and killed by the Twins Joss and Fin.
- Alternate Identity Amnesia: As the transformation progresses Salter begins experiencing blackouts. He awakens in the forest with blood and fur around his lips on one occasion, and stabbing a man to a bloody pulp on another occasion.
- Apocalyptic Log: Just like Doctor Reed William Salter kept a journal that documents his growing insanity as he transforms slowly into a grunt.
- Ax-Crazy: So much so that after becoming infected he was institutionalized twice for attacking people. After he escapes he begins attacking random people. Including a woman who wandered into his cabin that he mistook for his wife whom he tortured to death.
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Played with. Whatever Huff did to Salter while he was in his care didn't do any wonders for his mental health.
- Delusions of Grandeur: In his Journal Salter declares that he's become a surgeon and that his father would be so proud after amputating the leg of "Mary."
- I'm a Humanitarian: After removing "Mary's" leg he cannibalizes it.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Like Dr. Reed before him, as William Salter's infection progresses normal human beings become more and more disgusting to him.
- Moment of Lucidity: Salter experiences moments of relative lucidity over the course of his transformation.
- The Runt at the End: William was the Runt of the litter and based on the Salter's Pork Trial, the only member of his family that possessed a natural resistance to the Sculptor's corrupting influence,
- Sanity Slippage: Like Dr Reed before him as the transformation progresses William Salter becomes more and more violently insane. The only difference is Salter's transformation takes longer.
- Troubled Fetal Position: How the twins find him before they kill him.
- Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness: As the Transformation progresses Salter becomes more and more disgusting and disheveled in appearance. By the time he's killed by the twins his body is covered in oozing festering sores.
Standard Enemies
Grunts
Grunts
The game's standard zombies; Grunts are easy to kill, but are everywhere, being especially prevalent at the points of interest where the clues and bosses are found. Still, the bayou would be a relatively safe place for a well-armed Hunter if it were only infested with Grunts - but unfortunately, there are far more dangerous things about listening to your every move, and angering a crowd of flesh-hungry zombies is a great way to get their attention.
- Chest Burster: While we don't actually see this in game Dr. Winkler describes the corpse of the Grunt he has been dissected is spasming as if its chest were going to explode.
- Death of Personality: As the Trials of Doctor Reed and William Salter's journal document as the transformation into a grunt takes hold you slowly begin to forget who you are before turning into a mindless monster driven only by hunger and aggression at those around you.
- Demonic Possession: The Grunts are speculated as being the "puppets" of one otherworldly and powerful force.
- Fate Worse than Death: They are implied to be fully aware of what is happening to them and trying to resist it.
- Flesh-Eating Zombie: Grunts can be seen hunched over dead bodies of humans, animals, and other Grunts strewn across the map, presumably consuming their flesh until interrupted.
- Glass Cannon: Grunts are extremely weak, but the ones armed with blades or torches can seriously mess you up if they do manage to land a hit on you.
- The Goomba: They're pretty much cannon fodder in comparison to everything else in the swamps, but can seriously mess you up if they catch you unawares. Fighting them is also a good way to alert nearby players of your presence.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The Grunts appear to be living bug nests. Their hearts are described by Dr. Winkler as being spherical and pulsing even after death, and those hearts are filled with larvae along with their veins. Which he also described as being vented like a horse-fly.
- Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness: The description of infected humans turning into Grunts is not pleasant they are described as being covered in oozing, festering, pussy sores before they finally loose their minds completely.
- The Worm That Walks: While not made of bugs, it appears that like the Hive, Grunts are a living nest of flies. Dr. Winkler found that the veins of Grunts contain larvae instead of blood.
Hellhounds
Hellhounds
Hellhounds are remarkably fast and can be deadly if they catch you unawares or in a pack.
- Fragile Speedster: Hellhounds can't take much damage, but are the fastest enemies in the game other than the Spider. Also, they can really mess you up if you fail to get a headshot on them - cycling your gun or winding up another melee swing is plenty of time for just one dog to jump at you and sink its teeth in for a chunk of damage and persistent bleed. And, at least at map generation, there's never just one dog.
- Hellhound: Shockingly enough. They fall firmly into the Hunter variant. They're always found in packs that roam between forts/compounds, and never actually guarding clues or the like.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While in-game the Hellhounds appear to be monstrous undead dogs, the lore speculates that the hounds may just be wild dogs that have gone rabid.
Hives
Hives
Zombie women who have become a nest for poisonous flies. If they detect you, they'll unleash a cloud of poisonous wasps which will attack you and drain your health for as long as you're within range of the Hive.
- Chest Burster: While we don't actually see the chest burst occur, it's implied that that's exactly what happened to the Hives. All of them exhibit truly massive hives, which appear to have ripped through the host’s chest so severely as to rip their entire torso open and all but snap the poor host in half.
- Deal with the Devil: Implied. According to Ada Shell her mother had lost both her infant child and her husband the year she transformed into a Hive.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: The host is bent over backwards with their ribs horrifically exposed, with the hive practically bisecting the host.
- No Ontological Inertia: Blowing out the host's brains instantly gets rid of all the flies as well.
- Required Secondary Powers: Being a nest for poisonous wasps, the Hives are immune to poison damage, though poison bullets will still do physical damage to them and can still kill them with a headshot.
- Roar Before Beating: When the Hives see you, they let out a bloodcurdling screech as their swarms make a beeline for whatever Hunter got too close.
- Synchronized Swarming: The Hives are massive walking hives of demonic insects and if they see you they'll send them swarming at you.
- Traumatic C-Section: The only way to save someone from becoming a Hive is to remove the hive from the uterus before it explodes out of their chest. The process is also implied to render the host sterile.
- Wicked Wasps: The description of the Hive Bomb confirms that swarming insects are specifically wasps.
- Womb Horror: It appears that the Hives that bisected these poor women originate in the uterus. Which would also explain why all of the hives are female.
Immolators
Immolators
Fast-moving zombies that glow from an unstable incendiary substance burning within them. If their hide is pierced by a bullet or knife, they'll erupt in a fiery explosion, but blunt melee damage can safely defuse them.
- Area of Effect: Breaking its skin triggers a burst of flames that can be a deadly problem in the middle of a swarm of Grunts.
- Burning with Anger:
- Implied to be the reason for the transformation into an Immolator instead of a regular Grunt - a deep connection with fury and the thirst for vengeance.
- Another possibility is that they are literally a conduit for the local Fire and Brimstone Hell. The Immolator transformation outlined in the Monstorom is of an unpopular preacher who was dragged out to the Bayou and murdered.
- Badass Preacher: the first Immolator, Reverend Jeremiah, was a Fire and Brimstone Preacher who preached against the activities of the Mafia from the pulpit even after being beaten, and tortured in retaliation. It was his final beating that led to his transformation into the Immolator.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Subverted - the explosion occurs after the first bit of damage it takes, but it's still going to have plenty of fight in it unless you got a headshot or were using a powerful enough weapon at a decently close range. And the explosion won't occur if you bludgeon it into submission.
- Elite Zombie: Immolators have much better senses than other enemy types, and roam over a much larger area rather than stationary guarding a single spot. They're the most likely enemy to flush you out of cover at the worst possible time.
- It Can Think: The first lore entry alludes to its ability to open doors. However, in-game, it's more than likely to just smash down doors alongside other enemies.
- Leaking Can of Evil: The Bayou where Reverend Jeremiah’s final beating occurred. The area was so saturated with the Sculptor’s energies that it caused his rage and righteous fury at the Mafia to transform him into the first Immolator.
- Logical Weakness: Being animated by fire, Immolators die instantly to choke bombs (which extinguish flames) or to poison clouds (which have a similar effect).
- Percussive Shutdown: A relatively safer way to deal with them; use the stock of your gun, or strap on some Dusters and bludgeon them to keep them from exploding.
- Pre-Explosion Glow: After taking piercing damage, the internal fire will well up briefly before exploding outward.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Has a tendency to set off chain-explosions if not carefully dealt with.
- Weaksauce Weakness: As can be expected with a creature so deeply connected with fire and reliant on burning victims, it doesn't fare well in water. In the Bayou, there is plenty of water to be had.
Armoreds
Armoreds
Tough zombies who have developed bony plate-like growths all over their body. They can take a lot of hits and are surprisingly fast.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Not so much a point as a strategy; the armor is weak to both stabbing damage and fire, so those will serve you better than bullets or bludgeoning.
- Heavily Armored Mook: As their name suggests, Armoreds are covered in armored plates and can withstand several shots from most weapons. They're also tough enough that the amount of melee hits needed to kill one is more than your max stamina will allow, unless you use the most powerful melee weapons like the axe or sledgehammer (though they were Nerfed such that it's much easier to kill them with basic melee weapons as long as you only fight one at a time).
- Knee-capping: Since Armoreds can outlast your stamina and can even power through lower caliber bullets to smash you in the face, one of the best ways to deal with them is to strike them in the legs, which cripples them and slows their movement to a crawl, making them significantly easier to deal with.
- Weak to Fire: One of the more effective (and least loud) ways of dispatching them is to set them on fire, such as with a thrown lantern, molotov cocktails, or the flare gun.
Meatheads
Meatheads
Large, burly, headless corpses controlled by a colony of maggots, Meatheads are the largest and toughest non-boss enemies in the game. They are blind and deaf due to not having a head, and have a symbiotic relationship with the large leeches that swarm around them, serving as their eyes and ears.
- Blindfolded Vision: Given the Meathead's lack of eyes, it doesn't need to see a Hunter to know where one is, as its leeches to do that for them.
- Boss in Mook's Clothing: The toughest non-Boss (well, as far as AI threats are concerned) in the game as it stands and definitely not a foe to be intentionally challenged lightly. Dealing with them will involve picking at most two of the following: quick, quiet, and painless, as the resulting takedown simply can't have all three.
- Enfant Terrible: The first Meathead was born from a pregnant female Hunter whose fetus was twisted from the ritual that grants the Hunters the Sight along with immunity from demonic possession.
- Giant Mook: Meatheads tower over regular humans and can take a lot of hits; they're much tougher than an Armored and take a good 13-16+ rounds of compact ammo to put down.
- Metal Slime: Meatheads take a lot of effort to put down, but have a 50% chance of dropping a bone totem which can be looted for a random trait.
- Patrolling Mook: They have a distinct pattern of travel (moreso than other enemies anyway) until their leeches catch a glimpse of a foe, or somebody foolishly gets within striking distance of the main body itself.
- Smash Mook: Not exactly a master strategist, as it relies entirely on strength and its leeches to destroy enemies.
- Stompy Mooks: With the game's sound design being as finely tuned as it is, it's unlikely you'll ever run around a corner into a Meathead without first having heard it traipsing around.
Water Devils
Water Devils
A swirling mass of swarming leeches and hatred that patrols the waters of the Bayou, ready to shred to pieces any unfortunate Hunters or Ducks foolish enough to wade through its watery territory.
- Eaten Alive: While not seen in-game, Water Devils grow within the guts of their hosts and eventually consume their internal organs and then eat their way out of the body.
- Hazardous Water: Type 3. It can be difficult to see them in the water before they realize you're there. But when they do...
- Instant Leech: Just Fall in Water!: The Water Devil may look like some squid or octopus out of hell. But this thing is a leech, and originally was going to be just one massive leech instead of hundreds of smaller ones.
- Jumping Fish: Well sort of. It's more like Jumping Leeches. Once a player enters into the Water Devil's territory, they will swarm out of the water. Leaping in and out of the water towards the player, giving the appearance of a large angry squid rushing at the player tentacles first.
- Lightning Bruiser: Water Devils do massive damage, can survive almost as much punishment as Armoreds, and are incredibly fast. The best way to deal with them is to just not go into the water if they're around.
- Night Swim Equals Death: If you're doing a nighttime mission these enemies can become this.
- Piranha Problem: Well leech problem really, but functionally the same as piranhas. The Water Devil functions exactly like a school of starved piranhas, i.e. swarming at the player, or the occasionally unlucky duck, once within range.
- Set a Mook to Kill a Mook: Water Devils don't attack other monsters, but if a monster gets in their path while they're swarming towards a Hunter, said monster will get devoured as well.
- Synchronized Swarming: So much so that the Water Devil is often confused for a single tentacled monster and not a swarm of around 150 serpent-like leeches.
Bosses
The Butcher
The Butcher
A taxidermy Meathead that somehow came back to life. The Butcher was a dead Meathead found by Ariel D'aunoy, a skilled taxidermist living in the Slaughterhouse. Ariel D'aunoy created the Butcher with the intention of selling it as a demonstration of his skill. Sometime after completing the Butcher, it came to life and killed its unwitting creator.
- Axe-Crazy: The Butcher will frenzy if hit enough times, attacking anything near it in a blind rage.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Averted. The Butcher has no weak point at all; its "head" is purely a decorative ornament. You'll just have to defeat it with raw firepower.
- Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: In a way that's usually not beneficial for the Butcher, actually. Instead of lobbing his fireballs straight at you, the Butcher throws them in a wide horizontal curve. This can occasionally catch you by surprise in wider open areas, but in the tight corridors you usually fight the Butcher in, it just means he always ends up hitting the wall next to him instead of you.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: The Butcher can take 30+ rounds from pistols or the Winfield rifle variants before going down. Even the Nitro requires 8 shots to put him down; double that for the Mosin-Nagant or Sparks long rifles.
- Frankenstein's Monster: Downplayed; The Butcher is essentially this except instead of being constructed by multiple bodies and brought to life on purpose it was constructed from one singular gigantic body and brought to life by accident.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Some time after D'aunoy completed the Butcher, it came alive and killed him.
- King Mook: The Butcher is basically a really large and tough Meathead that's not blind/deaf and has the ability to throw trails of flames.
- Mighty Glacier: The Butcher is faster than he looks (at full charge he can keep pace with you even when you're sprinting), but is still relatively slow compared to other enemies, especially the Spider. However, he's the most durable opponent in the game, with roughly double the health of the Spider and no weak spot to target for massive damage.
- Playing with Fire: The Butcher has supernatural control of flames and will attack you with fire attacks. The creature is also immune to fire damage, purely as a result of D'aunoy's skill as a taxidermist.
- Red Herring: Initial lore heavily suggested the Butcher was Peter "Young" Roche, the last owner of the Stillwater Bayou Slaughterhouse. Newer codex entries reveal the Butcher is actually a taxidermized Meathead that came back to life, indicating Young Roche was just a very disturbed ordinary human.
- Too Dumb to Live: Mr. D'aunoy, who decided to take the demonic, giant, headless leach-filled corpse into his laboratory, taxidermy it, and then sell it. Even if the creature didn't come back to life, he probably would have been arrested for trying to sell demonic remains.
The Spider
The Spider
A multi-legged monstrosity that resembles a giant spider, although closer inspection reveals its "legs" to be twisted human limbs and its "face" to be a skinless human head. The Spider was created from the remains of a group of survivors who suffered, died, and were buried together. The first Spider was implied to be created using the bodies of Dr. Reed's companions and possibly Dr. Reed himself.
- Attack Its Weak Point: The human head at the center of its body serves as a weak point, taking significantly increased damage. A single Nitro express shot to the head will take off 1/2th its health.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Oh boy, all those with arachnophobia best steer clear of this boss. As the name implies it is a giant spider-like monster.
- Body of Bodies: The Spider is the result of multiple people fused together around one central consciousness. That consciousness being the head in the center of its mandibles.
- Fragile Speedster: The Spider is incredibly fast and moves in a very chaotic manner, but its offensive abilities are limited. It can spit poison, which blurs your vision but doesn't actually deal much damage, or it can pounce on you, which deals decent damage but is heavily telegraphed and easily interrupted. For the most part, it primarily wastes your time as you chase it around its arena, giving rival Hunters an opportunity to find and kill you.
- Painful Transformation: According to the in-universe lore, a Spider can only be crafted from the corpses of people who shared great and horrific suffering.
- Roar Before Beating: The Spider will stand still, rear up on its legs, and hiss at you before using its pounce attack. Damaging it when it does this will interrupt its attack and cause it to run away.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: It's speculated in the lore that occasionally the Sculptor loses control of its creations and the Spider exists to contain, kill, and consume the creations that go rogue.
- Was Once a Man: The Spider is formed from many different corpses being grafted together to create the spider by an unknown entity, speculated to be the Sculptor.
The Assassin
The Assassin
A swarm of insects that take the form of a cloaked human.
- Affably Evil: By Harold Black's accounts, Vincent is actually a pretty cool dude to hang around with... as long as you're not his target.
- Attack Its Weak Point: The Assassin's exposed heart, which is revealed when it's about to attack, serves as its weak spot.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Its main form of attack. On closer inspection, it's actually a stinger shaped from the insects.
- The Blank: A gaping hole exists where the Assassin's face used to be.
- Doppel Ganger Attack: Forms decoys while fighting Hunters.
- It Can Think: While it is unknown how intelligent and aware the other monsters are, the Assassin is clearly sapient. In-game it uses cunning and deception to fight Hunters, and according to the lore, can transform into a human form and behave like a normal human being. His journal entries reveal that he even lived among humans for a while and shared a deep friendship with a future Hunter.
- Pet the Dog: It's implied that the Assassin spared Harold Black, his former friend, as he casually killed Harold's entire team but only hit the man himself with a non-lethal clone attack (which deals a minuscule amount of damage in-game). He also showed great concern for Harold's health back when they were still friends, frequently taking him on trips to the woods to improve his fitness.
- Shapeshifter: The Assassin frequently shifts between a humanoid figure and a swarm of insects during combat. In the lore, he's also capable of shapeshifting into a human, albeit an abnormally tall one.
- Was Once a Man: According to the lore, the Assassin was once a normal human being before being transformed into the Assassin. And while this is not seen in game, in universe it has the ability to take a human form.
- The Worm That Walks: At first glance, the Assassin appears to be a swarm of insects that have taken a humanoid form. This is backed up by the fact that the Assassin can transform into a swarm of bugs at will. However, upon closer inspection, the Assassin appears to actually be a tall skinless human corpse with thousands of bugs crawling over it.
Scrapbeak
Scrapbeak
A former Union soldier who was seriously injured during a battle at Fort Carmack during the Civil War, losing his arm and both legs. He was painfully rebuilt with crude mechanical parts by an unknown faction, and now 32 years later roams the Bayou as part of the Sculptor's forces.
- Abusive Parents: Though he never states it outright, Avis Jr implies his father was abusive towards him and his mother. Implied to be neglectful towards the former and violent towards the other.
- Animal Lover: Before his transformation, Avis Wyndham Sr was a lover of birds and took them everywhere he went.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Avis seemed to think so, it is strongly implied that his son killing his beloved pet birds that led him to become the Scrapbeak.
- Body Horror: That beak on the front of the Scrapbeak’s face? That’s not a mask, that’s part of The Scrapbeak’s skull. It was grafted on by an unknown third party.
- Foil: He behaves similar to The Butcher, except he attacks with concertina wire rather than fire. He's also a former human rebuilt into a beast, while the Butcher was a taxidermized Meathead that unexpectedly came back to life.
- Mr. Fixit: In the years after the War and between his transformation, the Scrapbeak worked as a Rag-and-Boneman collecting and repairing scrap for resale.
- No Name Given: Averted — unlike the other bosses that originated from humans, it's explicitly stated that his human name was Avis Wyndham Sr.
- Piñata Enemy: He drops lootable item boxes as he takes damage. However, his boss lair compound is devoid of the normal item pickups (i.e. health kits, ammo boxes, etc), so you're reliant on his drops to resupply from the fight.
- Pocket Protector: The backpack full of loot he wears reduces all non-piercing damage by 50% from attacks from the rear.
- Razor Floss: His primary means of attack, other than melee, is throwing strands of concertina wire that stack up around his boss lair. He'll also drop concertina bombs if damaged during his frenzy phase.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Avis was a veteran of the Civil War and, according to his son, never fully recovered from the trauma of war.
- Turns Red: His speed increases as he takes damage, as he drops the loot carried in his backpack. At low life he's crazy fast.
- Was Once a Man: As show in his reveal trailer, he was a former Union soldier who was seriously injured during the war and rebuilt into a murderous mechanical juggernaut.
Rotjaw
Rotjaw
A monstrous predator from another world, Rotjaw has taken refuge in the Bayou. Though not specifically a target of the Hunters, the chance to bring her down, and the rewards such a deed offer, has enticed many to try and claim its hide.
Originally from the land of the dead Rotjaw was created when a swarm of spectral alligators posses Rotjaw while she was a yet unhatched alligator in the land of the dead. Rotjaw was brought to the land of the dead by a little girl named Enola who sailed into the land of the dead by accident in 1812 while trying to escape British soldiers in a hurricane.
80 years later Rotjaw was stolen away from her “mother and brought back to the land of living by the crew of the Delphine at the behest of Mr. Chary after the Delphine accidentally sailed into the Land of the Dead during a Hurricane in 1893.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- Unlike the previous four bosses, which are implied or confirmed to have once been a person, Rotjaw was created when phantom gators possessed Rotjaw when she was still in her egg.
- Rotjaw is the first Optional Boss of the game, and is fought in the open as opposed to some kind of arena.
- Enfant Terrible: Even as a baby Enola describe’s Rotjaw/Princess as being constantly angry at everything but Enola.
- Extremely Protective Child: Rotjaw to a T. Enola wasn’t the only one who became stranded in the Land of the Dead in 1812 a ship filled with Redcoats also became stranded there. Some of those Red Coats attacked Enola, all of them died at Enola and Rotjaw’s hands.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Rotjaw's a giant undead alligator. Doesn't get much worse than that.
- Optional Boss: The first confirmed wild boss - her won't have a mission-completion bounty on it, but killing her will still net a fine payout.
- Pet Baby Wild Animal: Was brought to the Land of the Dead by a young girl named Enola who named her Princess who found her way into the land of the dead while fleeing from the 1812 British Invasion of Louisiana during a hurricane.
- Shock and Awe: Rotjaw’s bites are amplified with what Harold Black dubbed “necrophagic” energy which looks and functions similarly to electricity except if your killed by it your soul gets turned into living electricity.
- Tragic Monster: It’s hard to read about Rotjaw’s lore without coming to see her as a victim in all of this. She was stollen away from her home and Mother by the Crew of the Delphine and then subjected to horrific experiments by the AHA to harness her “necrophagic” power.
- Undead Fossils: Subverted, though Rotjaw superficially resembles a Deinosuchus and Harold Black’s description of her alludes to the possibility that Rotjaw is some prehistoric crocodilian returned from extinction she was in fact hatched from a regular alligator egg that was possessed by spectral Alligators from the land of the dead
- Weakened by the Light: Implied In Tide of Shadows Mr. Chary states that Rotjaw bites at the sun, and Enola’s journal recalls her biting at the sky prior to the arival of the Delphine. This would perhaps explain why Rotjaw is only availablr during night maps and rain maps.
