The Blair Witch Project video game trilogy is a three-volume series of games based off of the movie of the same name. The trilogy serves as an exploration of the Blair Witch lore, although is considered non-canon to the source material. Each volume is told in reverse order, dating further back into the history of the Burkittsville area. The volumes were developed by Terminal Reality, Human Head Studios, and Ritual Entertainment respectively, published by Gathering of Developers, and released in 2000.
The volumes go as such...
Volume I: Rustin Parr: Notable in that this volume serves as a crossover and sequel to Terminal Reality's previous game, Nocturne (1999), featuring several characters from said game and a plot revolving around one of Spookhouse's investigations.
Set in 1941, Spookhouse agent Doc Elspeth Holliday (a supporting character in Nocturne) is assigned as a field agent to investigate the town of Burkittsville after the arrest of child murderer Rustin Parr, who claims that he was driven to kill by an evil spirit. In Holliday's investigation, she learns of the history of Burkittsville's paranormal happenings, and secrets behind the local legend.
Volume II: The Legend of Coffin Rock: Set during the civil war, the player takes the role of a soldier who almost falls victim to the evil in the Black Hills, along with several other soldiers. Rescued by a girl named Robin Weaver, the soldier is amnesiac and is given the temporary nickname, Lazarus. When Robin goes missing, Lazarus joins the search party, and while battling the evil spirits within the woods, slowly pieces together his memory.
Volume III: The Elly Kedward Tale: Set in 1756, the player assumes the role of Jonathan Prye, a former minister and witch hunter going through a crisis of faith. Prye is sent to the Blair township after learning of the disappearances of children, blamed on what is thought to be the spirit of Elly Kedward. When Prye arrives, the only people left in town include a minister, a skeptic, an imprisoned drunk, a shaman who knows the true spiritual history of the region, and another accused witch.
Not connected to, nor to be mistaken for the 2019 game, Blair Witch.
The Blair Witch trilogy contains examples of the following tropes:
- Actionized Sequel: Actually prequels, but these games are certainly more action-oriented than the source material. This has more to do with tying into Nocturne (1999).
- Agent Scully: The Stranger, of all people, despite his career of going up against monsters, has a hard time believing in the Blair Witch. Holliday is more of a downplayed example, as she initially believes she can solve the Rustin Parr case with her own weapons and skills.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: The Stranger, the protagonist of Nocturne (1999), who has battled and killed all manner of monsters such as werewolves, zombies, demons and vampires, has a hard time believing in ghosts, especially the Blair Witch, although it has more to do with lack of evidence.
- Back to Front: Each game takes place further back in time than the film, and further back than each one that came before.
- Badass Normal: Each protagonist is this, of course they require gaining magical artifacts and weapons to give them some help, so it may be a case of Empowered Badass Normal.
- Holliday is an agent for Spookhouse and one of its best human field agents next to the Stranger, some weapons of her own invention at her disposal.
- McNichol being a soldier in the Civil War, so this comes naturally to him.
- Prye is a Badass Preacher and The Witch Hunter sent to investigate the town of Blair. He ends up traveling both to the sprit realm and the demonic realm in his quest.
- Big Damn Heroes: Near the end of act one, the Stranger arrives in town to help Holliday, just as it seems that she's gonna be blamed for assaulting a preacher. He helps get the town off her back by convincing them they're with the FBI and helps her defeat Hecaitomix.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Holliday is this to the Stranger. Both are field agents for Spookhouse, and while Holliday is certainly an Action Girl herself, she mostly does study and research in her investigation, and uses a professional cover story, as opposed to the Stranger's tendencies to go about fighting monsters head-on and often lets others know his business. Another thing is how Holliday has a more laid back and friendly personality when interacting with people, while the Stranger is described as having the social skills of Attila the Hun. Also noteworthy is how her investigation lasts for days, while the Stranger's cases seemingly take about a day or night to complete.
- Deal with the Devil: In Coffin Rock a blind hermit makes a deal to help Hecaitomix, in return he would be given sight. Hecaitomix ends up turning said hermit into a demon.
- Demonic Possession: It is revealed that the Blair Witch, Rustin Parr, and Kyle Brody were influenced by a malevolent Native American entity called "Hec-aitomix".
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: All three protagonists do this when going up against Hecaitomix.
- Holliday, with the help of the Stranger, manage to lure Hecaitomix into a trap, rescue the bleeding child and preform a ritual that traps Hecaitomix within his own realm. In the Stranger's case, this is another day on the job.
- McNichol not only allows Hecaitomix to briefly possess him, but manages to overcome the sprit while fighting another demon in single combat.
- Prye not only faces Hecaitomix himself within the demon realm, but also his mortal vessel on Earth in single combat.
- Fantastic Racism: Hecaitomix has this towards humans. Amusingly this may even extend into actual race issues, as he especially resents the white man for turning the First Nations away from worshiping him.
- Foregone Conclusion: Elspeth Holliday and the Stranger are able to trap Hecaitomix back to its realm, but only temporarily and leading to the events of the film five decades later.
- Friend to All Children: Holliday is pretty friendly towards the children she interacts with and even saves them over the course of her investigation. One in particular is a child who has been trapped in Hecaitomix's realm for centuries.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: Blair Witch Volume I: Rustin Parr features the main characters from Nocturne (1999).
- Magic Versus Science: At first Holliday uses mundane weapons and some of her inventions to combat the supernatural happenings in Burkittsville. Of course later on she uses more mystical means to facing Hecaitomix and culminates in a magic ritual to banish him.
- Missing Child: In Coffin Rock, the large bulk of the plot involves finding a lost little girl named Robin Weaver.
- Motive Decay: The entity "Hec-aitomix" got less and less threatening with subsequent installments, and its motivations were soon reduced to Fantastic Racism... in game order.
- Satanic Archetype: Hecaitomix is the demonic source of the Blair Witch curse, seeks to conquer the world for the sake of his own power, motivated by his hatred for humans and primarily acts through influencing and corrupting those around him, and attempts a conquest of a spiritual realm, turning the spirits there into demons while, already ruling a demonic realm of his own. The local preacher in act one wasn't too far off when he says that Satan may overtake the town of Burkittsville.
- Shared Universe: Nocturne (1999) shares the same universe with Blair Witch. The first volume functions as a standalone sequel to the game.
- Took a Level in Kindness: The Stranger from Nocturne (1999) remains a Deadpan Snarker with some Brutal Honesty as he was in said game, however he is shown to be much more sociable and less gruff. Notable having a civil conversation with Svetlana, a dhampir he had issues with in the previous game.
- Wicked Witch: Double Subverted with Elizabeth Stryker in the third volume, who seems benevolent and helpful to Prye but has in fact made a bargain with Hecaitomix to become his vessel.
- Would Hurt a Child:
- Rustin Parr follows the investigation of the murders commited by Rustin Parr, whose victims were children. A plot point involves Kyle Brody, a survivor who escaped Parr and was rendered catatonic, to the grief of his mother, and later turns out be possessed by the demon Hecaitomix who plans to abduct another child.
- Hec-aitomix in general, as he operates by abducting, torturing and killing children, even possessing some and imprisoning their souls.
