Carol is a threat because he's a He-Man Woman Hater.
What we know about him so far is that he appears to be a neckbeard-type person (likely a Basement-Dweller), he's nicknamed "The Dungeon Master", and that he has an "Anxious" mindset. It's entirely possible that he's the kind of person who, as you ride with him, makes it clear that he despises pretty young women like our protagonist. He may even see his offering Elora a ride as a way to get her to repay him for his "kindness" with attention. If she messes up, though... it doesn't end well. Game Over. The Breather will become a stranger.
To make him seem normal, he will have removed his mask during the ride. His dialogue will mostly consist of allusions towards his latest (unsuccessful) murder and his views on the deep web. He will stab you if you trigger a game over. The Breather might be another reason why Elora doesn't walk.
Other than the fact that it's probably a long way from her broken car to home, Adam states in the tutorial that the Breather targets anyone using the Deep Web and random hitchhikers. The Executioner will be a reason why Elora doesn't walk.
In the Secret ending of Welcome To The Game it is implied that the Executioner's lair is near the road where Elora is at, which would mean that the Executioner could potentially claim Elora as one of his victims if Elora chooses to walk instead of hitchhike. Lydia and Charles will be an Unholy Matrimony duo, who will work with each other to capture Elora.
Welcome to the Game spoilers beyond this point.The two alternate endings reveal some information that teases Rides With Strangers. In "Who am I?", it's confirmed the game's player character is Lydia, and if you look closely at her phone when she answers it, the man on the other end is Charles. The dialogue implies the two are dating, and have something planned for the evening. If you get "Where am I?", however, it's revealed the Red Room is located on the same road that RWS takes place on. We can even see Elora getting into Father Donald's car. This implies that RWS and WTTG take place at roughly the same time.
With all this information, we could possibly infer that the "thing" Charles and Lydia have planned involves finding someone they could easily victimize. Which, unfortunately, turns out to be Elora.
The Connoisseur will turn out to be a cannibal.
Although being one of the friendliest appearing strangers, as the ride continues, he will begin showing his.... unsavoury hidden depths. Altermatively, The Connoisseur will turn out to be a drug addict.
His trailer animation shows him rubbing his arm, a common trait of drug addicts, and he has raised scars on his arms. This suggests that he uses needles. The Connoisseur will double over the Paranoia Fuel.
Not so much in that he'll make you especially paranoid, so much as you'll have to worry about him being paranoid of you. If the drug addict theory is correct, then there's every chance he could be dealing with those kinds of side effects... and you are a complete stranger hitchhiking on the side of the road in the middle of the night. If you ever get to the point where he might think you're going to hurt him, he'll kill you in what he thinks is self-defense. If Elora tries to call 911, it will summon The Detective.
On the Headscratchers page, people were wondering why Elora doesn't call 911. Perhaps the Detective is one of the only people in the precinct that night, and calling 911 will alert him to a new possible victim. After all, the strangers are, in most cases, portrayed to appear as quite normal people with normal lives and normal jobs. Fleeing from certain strangers may trigger them to pursue Elora.
In the event that Elora tucks and rolls from a vehicle, there will be a chance that said stranger will return later in the game, either by driving back towards Elora on the other side of the road, or by somehow looping around to approach her again from behind.- Another possibility would be a minigame: Elora tucks and rolls before running into the woods to get away, and the stranger stops their car. They run into the woods after Elora in an attempt to search for her. The player would have to navigate through and hide in the woods until the stranger gives up the search.
It will be possible for previously encountered strangers to run Elora down.
This will provide an added incentive for Elora not to remain on the road for too long after tucking and rolling. At least one stranger will attempt to kill Elora by intentionally crashing their car.
Whether they are suicidal or merely spiteful, failing your interactions with a stranger may result in them driving into the forest or an oncoming vehicle. Alternatively, Elora could crash the car by wrestling the wheel away from the Stranger or attacking them
The Executioner and The Breather will be implemented as Developer's Foresight.
When this game comes out, people will try to walk instead of getting into a car. If Elora gets too close to the edge of the map, the Executioner or the Breather will come out and knock her out or kill her. The Detective isn't a murderer.
It's been mentioned there are a lot of "mysterious disappearances" on the road this game takes place in, and with all the outright psychos roaming the streets (and Mark Hamill impersonators lurking in the woods) who'd be shocked? The Detective is actually investigating said disappearances, and initially picks up Elora to keep her safe/grill her for info. If you trigger a Game Over, he brings you into the station for detainment/questioning. You don't die, but considering Elora's mother is hanging onto life by a thread, things still don't end too happily by the time the cops let her go. Carol isn't that kind of dungeon master.
He's the other kind. The Granny won't actually be a threat.
She'll just be really, really slow, which gives Elora an optional Breather Level but prevents her from being a viable candidate for getting all the way to the end of the game. Some strangers will be threats no matter what, and some will be randomized in each playthrough.
A couple strangers (for example, Father Donald and Lydia) will be dangerous across all playthroughs, while other strangers will have random danger levels to add to the Paranoia Fuel.At least one of the strangers will be able to be fought off and killed by Elora.
The Detective will not meaningfully malicious to Elora
Due to either being mentally ill or suffering from PSTD, certain dialogue routes with trigger a psychotic break and prompt him to murder her.At least one of the Strangers will (or can) become an ally to Elora
Most likely the Detective or the Grandmother.The Shidu will appear in game.
At least one of the Strangers will (or can) kill another Stranger
Tuck and rolling in game will become fatal if done multiple times
Jumping out a moving car and onto the road is hardly the safest of activities.The game will end on a Downer Ending no matter what.
Stranger Concepts
They've already showed off the Strangers in the ad, but there's nothing really stopping them from adding more:- The Shidu, as stated above. A bereaved mother (or father, but we'll go with mother), most likely Chinese, who Elora reminds them of her child. Either she will be revealed to have been an abusive parent who may or may not have killed her child or driven them to suicide or she was a genuinely good mother driven mad with grief after her loss.
- The Gang Member. A clear-cut member of The Mafia, The Mafiya, The Triads and the Tongs, etc.
- The Shell-Shocked Veteran.
- The Jock. A Bryce Walker expy.
- The Valley Girl. A typical annoying high school girl who becomes less typical as the ride goes on.....
- The Politician. A local politician (possibly based off Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump) with plenty of skeletons in his/her closet.
- A duo, possibly the Nympho and the Gentleman returning in one car at the last stop, or another couple, a parent-child duo or pair of siblings. One half of the duo drives and the other sits at the backseat, alternating between shifting to the seat behind the driver's to chat or to the seat behind Elora's seat to try and murder her, leaving her to have to pay attention to both.
- A silent killer that doesn't talk at all, and may or may not be a reference to Michael Myers.
At least one of the Strangers would stop the car and force Elora to help them with something
Be it something banal like checking damage on the car or a flat tire, or something gruesome like conducting vehicular homicide and hiding the body. When you go out with them, they will still attempt to kill you, but you'll have the chance to run or fight back.Near the end, Elora would get the chance to carjack or kill a Stranger and steal their car.
Elora might be able to bring some of the Strangers to justice.
Perhaps the player might have to memorize the numbers on their license plates, and doing so will allow Elora to report them to the police later on. For example, Elora could potentially save the man in Father Donald's trunk if she can memorize his license plate and notify the cops at some point, possibly even informing the Detective if she's able to hitch a ride with him and he isn't malevolent. Very rarely there will be a friendly Stranger
Elora will probably have the best luck in the world and end up with a stranger willing to give a hitchhiker a ride that just so happens to be either just a normal person or a rather friendly and helpful one.Possible Concepts:
- A man riding a pick-up truck slightly referencing the end of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).
- Clint Edwards.
- A Lovable Jock who's only coming around these parts because he's moving to his new job, and new home too. He has absolutely no sketch meter at all, meaning you're completely safe to stare at him. He may ask about the crime rates in these parts and such; You could tell him about the bizarre strangers you've met, which may make him think twice about coming around here, but he won't immediately suspect you. However, if you ask about the baseball bat in his car, he'll remark that it's for self defense. And he's definitely not wrong about that; If you answer him incorrectly too many times, or make him think that you're a criminal, then he'll attack you in self defense.
