Zardy's Maze has many faces, which are all out to make your life a living hell.
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The Player
A simple farmer who wants to get rid of the weeds in his corn field.
- The Determinator: The farmer refuses to leave the field in spite of the obvious dangers until at least one of the weeds in his field is gone. One of the antagonists says that the reason he doesn't leave is because he's searching for someone.
Zardy
"Bravery has a funny way of betraying people..."
The main antagonist of the game, and the only one who will be chasing you from beginning to end.- Big Bad: Incase you couldn't tell by his name being on the title, he's also the only fatal character with a max character count of one (Pumpkin Jack, Cable Crow, Rattler and Brute all have a max count of 4). I.e. he will always be unique and he's also one of the most prevalent threats in the game.
- Border Patrol: If you linger in the corn too long without getting back onto the path, Zardy will teleport to your location and kill you immediately.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: He's attacking the player so that no one will catch onto the "future" that he and his kind are growing beneath the corn maze. The endings further imply that Zardy's true goals — or, perhaps, whatever put him here's goals — have something to do with cosmic war and something Zardy's race are searching for.
- Plant Aliens: Heavily implied to be the case by the endings, which hint that Zardy and his brethren are not of this world.
- Scary Scarecrows: One of many in this game.
- Super-Persistent Predator: Zardy isn't the fastest of the bunch, but he always knows where you are and will take the most direct path he can towards you when he spawns.
- Trapped in Another World: Or, rather, trapped in ours. He's mentioned to be from "another world" than Earth, and one of the endings reveals he is "bound to this world only through the blessing of another."
- Weakened by the Light: He stops moving when you shine your flashlight at him, and disappears if you keep the light trained on him long enough.
Pumpkin Jack
Insant Pumpkin Jack: Just add rags!
Multiple scarecrows that wander aimlessly around the maze. Go hand-in-hand with Pumpkin Crawlers.- No Peripheral Vision: Pumpkin Jack will only chase you if he has direct line of sight or has heard you kill a Pumpkin Crawler. If you hide in the corn, he'll just waltz past.
- Scary Scarecrows: With pumpkin heads to match!
- Weakened by the Light: Much like Zardy, shining your light on them will briefly immobilize them. Unlike Zardy, that's all it does, and they won't vanish from prolonged exposure.
Pumpkin Crawler
Annoying little pests that also have the privilege of alerting Pumpkin Jacks to your location.
- Enemy Summoner: Not only do they call a Pumpkin Jack to your location, they also spawn another Pumpkin Jack when they are killed.
- Hell Is That Noise: Once they are killed, they let out a wail. You probably don't want to stick around once you hear it.
- Plant Mooks: Living, smiling, screaming pumpkins.
- Support Party Member: One of the three enemies that do not kill you alongside Cornstalkers and Droughts. They instead rely on you killing them and will slow you down until you do.
- Thanatos Gambit: Pumpkin Crawlers will cling to your heel and slow you down and will not let go until you kill them. Killing them, however, lets them release an unearthly wail that brings another Pumpkin Jack into existence and alerts all of the currently active ones to the location it was killed in.
Cable Crow
Scarecrows that use their grappling hook arms to maneuver around the field. Don't get in their way.
- Failed a Spot Check: While every enemy is great at picking off players who aren't aware of them, Cable Crows are especially great at picking off players who are distracted with other matters.
- Ghostly Gape: There's a tab cut open in its face, making it look as if Cable Crow has a broken jaw.
- Grapple Move: If you're in the path of a Cable Crow's arm, it'll reel itself in to you, scream in your face, and then launch you into the pole it was going to swing towards. If you're in the path of a Cable Crow while it's reeling itself in, it'll scoop you up, scream at you, and then smash you against the pole it's flying towards.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: Lacking legs and levitation abilities, Cable Crows will cling to poles, line up a shot, and then launch their arm as a zipline to another pole off in the distance. If a player is on their current path, they will be killed in short order.
- Scary Scarecrows: Third time's a charm, right?
Brute
Burly, hammer-wielding figures that guard the weeds within the maze.
- The Faceless: Unlike most other enemies, Brute's face is obscured by its hood and a mouthplate.
- Patrolling Mook: Brutes patrol around the perimeter of a weed. While they'll chase you dutifully within this range, the moment it'd take them out of range, they go back to patrolling.
- Weakened by the Light: Like Pumpkin Jacks, Brutes are immobilized once you shine your light on them.
Rattler
Wandering scarecrows with extending claws, and a fondness for using them on anything fleshy in sight.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Its hands are essentially triple-barreled mini harpoon guns.
- You Will Not Evade Me: Unlike Cable Crow, which typically launched itself towards you, The Rattler will drag you towards itself.
Cornstalker
Creatures within the field that resemble corn stalks. They prefer to follow behind the player and, unlike the normal corn, act as an impassable wall until they're cut down.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: This is the primary way to tell if they're following you aside from trying to walk through them; If your flashlight is off, you'll be able to see their glowing blue eyes.
- Plant Mooks: They're living stalks of corn that mess with people trying to navigate the maze.
- Support Party Member: One of the three enemies that do not kill you alongside Pumpkin Crawlers and Droughts. They prevent you from passing through them, but will allow Zardy and his friends past.
Drought
Living dust clouds that blow through the maze. Touching one will teleport you several steps backwards, potentially into the waiting arms of the other enemies wandering about.
- Evil Laugh: You'll know it's coming by the low, raspy chuckling it emits at all times.
- Support Party Member: One of the three enemies that do not kill you alongside Pumpkin Crawlers and Cornstalkers. They send you back to where you were a few seconds ago, which is likely to get you killed if you're running away from something.
