- "Scared of a blind man. Oughta be ashamed."
- ―The Berserker
The Berserker or Berzerker is one of the antagonists in The Outlast Trials. He is an Ex-Pop with a tall, gangly appearance covered in chains and wearing a metallic plate covering his eye sockets. Similarly to Big Grunts, the Berserker is much stronger than regular Ex-Pops, but his blindness prevents him from detecting Reagents by sight unless a Reagent gets too close. Instead, the Berserker is alerted by noises made by a Reagent.
Background[]
From his document, it was revealed that the Berserkers were one of the patients in the prison experiment who were targeted by the syphilis infection that caused them to become blind. They were relocated to Los Alamos for more development in weaponizing their blindness with an exchange of strength and extreme aggression. They were developed for urban/jungle warfare in Communist areas and have undergone the same hormone and limb-lengthening therapy that the Big Grunts have.
Characteristics[]
The Berserker at first remains in a particular area while randomly swinging at the air in a rage, which can damage nearby Reagents. The Berserker is physically stronger than the average Ex-Pop as with regular Big Grunts, meaning he can deal a high amount of damage to Reagents and cause them to stagger when he attacks them. Unlike Big Grunts though, the Berserker is blind and never reacts to Reagents in his line of sight. Instead, the Berserker is incredibly sound sensitive: he will remain fairly idle if Reagents are quiet around him, but should a Reagent make too much noise in his proximity, the Berserker will aggressively seek out the nearest source of the noise. This includes footsteps, thrown objects, breaking down doors or windows, knocking over tin cans, broken glass shards, triggered Screamers, and other noise-making hazards. Due to his blindness, the Blind Rig's activation can still affect the Berserker but is completely immune to smoke which means he can continue to seek out the next noise and attack Reagents while the smoke is still active unlike every other Ex-Pops. However, the Stun Rig can still force him to temporarily stop since the device intends to cause brain disruption on the Ex-Pops.
The Berserker moves fast when heading to a source of noise, especially when giving chase. While wandering through the Trial, the Berserker's presence is made clear by his loud footsteps, rattling chain, and growling, providing the Reagents with a warning to hide or flee. If the Berserker is nearby, Reagents will have to sneak around him cautiously whenever possible or they will be attacked and possibly killed. The most likely cause of attracting the Berserker's attention is running away from another Ex-Pop, such as a Prime Asset, which risks getting caught between the Berserker and the pursuer. The Berserker can also grab Reagents and toss them around.
Story[]
The Outlast Trials[]
Personality[]
Constantly combative, barbaric, and overcome with constant rage, he is shown to be one of the most aggressive Ex-Pops in the game. Regardless of whether the Berserker is closing in on a target, the Berserker's rage never subsides, as he is always swinging his arms and attacking in all directions.
According to his dialogues, the Berserker is also suicidal, as he will sometimes ask for death. His dialogue also suggests that he constantly hears voices and other sounds, as he makes comments about someone "screaming" at him, and that he hears a perpetual ringing sound. The extent of their suicidal tendencies is revealed in their documents with reports of some subjects mutilating their eye sockets so severely that some managed to lobotomize themselves.
The Berserker frequently expresses a strong desire for silence and becomes easily aggregated when he hears a noise created by Reagents. He also appears to have a constant obsession with beauty, likely stemming from the insecurities and self-deprecation of his image, and tells the Reagents that he could fix them or make them pretty.
Physical description[]
The Berserker is an abnormally large and blind man, covered in metal and chains. He wears a metal apparatus over his head that keeps him from picking at the skin around his eye sockets. Whenever he moves, the rattling of the chains is heard.
Player death animations[]
- After punching a Reagent in the groin three times, the Berserker pushes his gauntlet deep into their lower torso before ripping his gauntlet back out, and then placing the bloodied gauntlet hand into his mouth.
- The Berserker can use his gauntlet to smash a Reagent's head in.
Trivia[]
- While Berserkers can be affected by the blind rig's activation, they can still attack and hear players while the smoke is active due to their blind state.
- Sinyala staff are encouraged to not interact with them, as exposure to them has caused staff members to engage in self-harm.
- They are referred to as having reached enlightenment through their blindness, due to the extreme pain, and that they worship violence against others.
- They are incredibly insecure and self-deprecating about themselves, further highlighted in a voice line where they yell, "Don't look at me!".
- Berserkers in their concept art shows that they were not originally blind. This was also reflected in one of their unused dialogues.
References[]
Berzerkers - Ex-Pop Classification
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