Every horror game has one or more monsters or ‘bad’ guys attempting to kill the players, to hunt them down and make sure they’re as scared as possible before landing the final blow. But have you ever wondered why? Why do these creatures hunt us down with such fervor?
At great risk to myself, I have taken the first step to understand these beings and ask them why they do what they do, and why they feel the need to kill or haunt or persecute innocents like us.
Chris Walker – Outlast:
“You don’t know what it’s like in Mount Massive, all these little piggies running around – poking you, hurting you, stretching and making you sick. I took care of the worst of them and they I see this Miles you talk about, another piggy come to take advantage of me and my friends. I couldn’t just let that stand. I’m a soldier and I protect my own, it’s just a part of my being.
“They told me he was there to reveal the truth about the place. Really? Is that why he broke in in the middle of a storm and a blackout? No, real reporters come in through the front door. This Miles character was just another piggy come for my slaughter.”
Necromorphs – Dead Space:
One of these creatures led me to something they call The Marker, who acted as a mediator between us so we could understand their words.
“See, we have nothing personal against Mr Claarke, or anyone else for that matter. We’re not out to get them, not even after they just kill our brethren and parents and take away our Markers. No, what we really want is to bring them into the fold, to make them part of our family.
“They call us monsters but we don’t fight amongst each other, we don’t betray or lie to one another, we’re just one big happy family. Then this engineer guy comes and starts killing everything in its path so I ask you: who’s the monster?”
Slender Man – Slender: The Eight Pages:
“When was this, 2013? Yeah, I know… it’s really my bad. Mrs Slender kicked me out of the house. I’m ashamed to admit it but I took it out on a lot of people. I scared them and made them run, and at first it felt really good, and I mean really good. But then it just felt empty. I could’ve gone, you know, just left, but it’s not how I was raised and it’s not the man my wife married.
“So I tried to make things right but I was still so sad, so instead of haunting people, I kept pursuing them, but to apologise and ask for a hug. We all need a hug sometimes, you know? When we’re at our worst, a hug can make you fell all better. But most people just kept running away. You know what the worst part is? I have a thing with technology and I create static in video when I’m close, so when people did hug me and we parted on friendly terms, idiots on the friggin’ internet took the static filled video as ‘evidence’ of me killing them!”
Nemesis – Resident Evil:
“Sir, I had one job. They told me ‘Nemesis my boy, find and kill those STARS’ and I just wanted to make them proud you know? First week on the job, I was trying to impress. It was personal but not in the bad, hating kind of way. I didn’t hate any of them, least of all Jill Valentine, despite all the nastiness she keeps sending my way. I was just trying to do my best for the company. Umbrella was very good to me: they didn’t flush me down a toilet with most of the samples or chuck me in the incinerators. No, they kept going and kept me alive and made me strong.
“So when they asked me to do this one job, of course I leapt at the chance of making them proud. Wouldn’t you want to make your parents’ proud? Of course you would, anyone would. So, sorry STARS but you guys just messed with my family and I have to kill you.”
Xenomorph – various:
Translated from shrieks and grunts.
“You know, I almost hatched one of my eggs and threw one of my Incubators at you but I didn’t. As the Queen, I’m going to take a chance to explain this to you so people understand for the last time: it’s your own damn fault we kill you.
“Infect, kill and reproduce. That’s our thing, that’s our purpose in life. It’s even taking me a lot of effort not to enact the first part on you right now! I get it for the crew of the Nostromo: they didn’t know what they found, but why would you keep bringing our eggs into your ships when you know what we can and most certainly will do. And why are you so surprised when it happens? Why do you scurry? Accept your stupid fate, I say. Yeah, sure, we’re killers, but you knew that well before the first one of us hatches. It’s like sleeping with a coked-up tiger and then be shocked it killed you.
“At least the Predators know how things work. They know the moment they open our eggs it’s a death sentence or a fight for their lives. They don’t go around giving us bad names. They know what we are and what we can do. It’s why they don’t hide in corners crying, they know the game.”
Alma – F.E.A.R.:
“Really, I’m the evil one? Just because I rock the Wednesday-Adams-meets-Sadako-from-The-Ring vibe? It’s just fashion so get over it. Yeah, sure, I’ve killed a bunch of people and driven even more insane, but they truly had it coming.
“Why? That’s easy. They worked with my father, Harlan Wade. Along with all of them, he tested and prodded me and did what they wanted with me. In the end, the sickos even put me in stasis and impregnated me with clones from my own cells mixed with theirs, and even including my dad. Yeah, I’m the monster right?
“Look, the only thing I wanted was to be free and have the life that was robbed of me. I wanted a family, not the disgusting one I had, but a real one. I wanted my sons to be free as well and to be together, not fight as they usually did. Is that so wrong? Don’t we deserve a normal life?”
So, there you have it: they’re not at fault all the time. Sometimes we’re just meddling idiots and deserve a few scares, and other times we’re just in the worst possible place at the worst possible time. But who knows, maybe someday we can all coexist in harmony… maybe.
