- "Who's that knocking on my door?"
- ―One of the Big Grunts
The Big Grunts are some of the antagonists in The Outlast Trials. They are taller and stronger than a normal Grunt, albeit much slower in a chase.
There are currently 4 different Big Grunts, 2 being male and 2 being female.
Background[]
Their document does not reveal much about their backgrounds, and their original facility name was redacted. However, they share the same archetype, being the "violent children" in the Trials. They are conditioned to be obedient and willing to do everything for Dr. Easterman whom they see as a father figure. It is possible that Big Grunts were involved with Wernicke's experiment projects in Los Alamos.
Characteristics[]
Described to be like children with cruel personalities, Big Grunts see themself as giants that hunt down the mice scattered around the facility (a nod to the giant stereotype in fairytales). They have altered face shape due to the experiments, as well as super-human strength.
As their title would imply, their unnaturally large size and strength make them a very strong and formidable foe. Any Reagent that takes damage from them will lose more health than an attack from standard Ex-Pop. Their strength is capable of completely knocking a Reagent down, making them unable to immediately run away. However, if dodged, the delay for them to attack again is slightly longer than that of standard Ex-Pop. They can also lift a Reagent with one hand before attacking and temporarily knock them to the ground. At higher difficulties and later Trials, some of the Big Grunts may also be encountered wielding makeshift axes. This enables them to deal significantly more damage to the Reagents, taking away a large chunk of their health bar before downing them completely, as well as hitting multiple Reagents at a time with their greater attacking range. They can also use their axes to break down locked doors and barricades (which includes the one installed from Reagent's rig) much quicker than those without it. Big Grunts' size makes them run slower than standard Ex-Pop, making them easier to escape from. However, their speed can increase with certain variators.
Story[]
The Outlast Trials[]
Following the horror of the trials created by Dr. Easterman, Reagents will meet deadly obstacles and challenges to gain freedom. In every program, Big Grunts will be deployed to hunt down every single person until none of them survive, thus failing the trial. They are tasked with a simple job, taking pride in every step of defending their home from the "commies".
Before Project LATHE phase one, it was unknown which facility they originated from. However, their facility is still connected with Los Alamos, possibly involved with Wernicke as well. They were subjected to growth hormone therapy and military-purpose limb-extension surgeries when they were in their early 20s. The experiments heavily injured and deformed their face, but at the same time, they were given extraordinary strength compared to other Ex-Pops. Unlike General Ex-Pop, they are more important for the project and taken care of with caution. Due to their abilities, they are conditioned through psychology more than physically, being compared to the "staked elephant". That being said, there are still limits to controlling their behavior, especially when it comes to violence and perversion of their actions. Heavy chemical and physical restraints are being used whenever Murkoff personnel need to maintain or transport them into another facility.
They have an extremely childish cognitive framework, believing in some fairy tales like Santa and Tooth Fairy, which is useful in their obedience conditioning. They often call their "Daddy" in their dialogues, possibly referring to Easterman, whenever they get hurt by the Reagents or are angry that they can't reach them. It was noted that Murkoff personnel need to be very careful maintaining their body, especially when it comes to the groin area - Big Grunts are easily aroused and difficult to disengage.
Personality[]
Big Grunts are naive, brutal, simple-minded, and sometimes flirtatious with the Reagents. They are also the most lustful compared to other Ex-Pop (except Coyle) and easily turned on. As they are the most dangerous and strongest Ex-Pop, Murkoff personnel are warned to avoid making them accidentally aroused.
They are conditioned to be obedient psychologically, as well as obsessed with making Dr. Easterman happy and satisfied. Some of the Big Grunts also take pride in their job hunting down the Reagents, confident that they are doing the job greatly and not wanting to let the scientist watch them struggle.
The male Big Grunts differ from the female Big Grunts. The brown-haired and the naked Big Grunt share the same personality, shown to be tough, proud that they are good at their job as well thinking that Murkoff is treating them right despite all the injuries they got. One of the personalities speaks with a snarl while the other voice type speaks slowly in a deep tone with a notable southern drawl. There is also a 3rd personality for the male big grunts. The 3rd voice speaks much slower than the others and speaks in shorter sentences. The black woman Big Grunt is shown to be playful and kinder towards the Reagents (this does not make her less of a killer), and sometimes she says to herself that she does not deserve Murkoff's cruel treatment. The Big Grunt with the prosthetic face is shown to be more timid, telling the Reagents that she is not afraid of them in a frightful tone, making her sound and act like General Ex-Pop.
Physical description[]
Aside from their larger size, they share the same torture-induced rashes and bloodied wounds, just as any other Ex-Pop, due to being subjected to the same twisted experiments from the Murkoff Corporation's experiments and abuse.
There are four Big Grunts known in the Sinyala Facility. One of them has shoulder-length brown hair, green eyes with one being scarred and cloudy, thick reddish lips, hairy arms and chest, as well as a beard. He has a chest brace wrapping around his body, with the pieces drilled into his ribs and backbones. He wears metal braces on his left arm and leg (similar to Nick Tremblay) with a medical tube filled with blood tied around. He has an abnormally large torso, with a bandage wrapped around his burnt left arm and right leg. He wears a pair of mismatched-length blue pants with two belts holding it.
The second Big Grunt has no hair, is completely naked and has blue eyes. He has several metallic poles emerging from his skull. He shares a similar body model and left arm surgery device with the brown-haired Big Grunt, although he is thinner, has a longer face shape, and a paler skin tone.
The third Big Grunt has a black skin tone, 4C afro hair type, bandages wrapping around her face to cover her face scars and deformity, one eye is covered, with teeth showing as she has no lips. She is half naked wearing a ragged dress with her right breast showing, although sometimes she appears fully naked in the trial. She wears a right arm brace, with a heavily torn but still functioning left leg prosthetic. Her amputated leg also appears to be rotting with the flesh starting to fall apart beneath the prosthetic. She wears a brace on her chest wrapping her body around her back, similar to the brown-haired Big Grunt. Her left arm also appears to be bleeding and starting to rot, thus being wrapped with bandages.
The fourth Big Grunt wears prosthetic face pieces, just like Gooseberry, however they are porcelain and only cover her lips and upper brow bone. She also has a noticeably large portion of her skull missing, causing her head to be indented. She is bald, with only a few strands of her hair left on her scalp. Wires, braces, and stitches decorate her pale white body in irregular places. She has a long stitch across her lower stomach and lacks one of her breasts, with her nipples being cut off completely. She has long sharp nails, and her hands are particularly bloody. Unlike other Big Grunts, she has a straight back thanks to the brace drilled from her backbones to her lower skull part. She is completely naked, with her lower hair covering her genitalia. Her eyes are reddening, with one nearly completely closed making her rely on her left eye.
Player death animations[]
- A Big Grunt without a weapon can crouch over a Reagent and push their head against the floor with both hands, crushing their skull.
- A Big Grunt without a weapon can bludgeon the Reagent's face with their fists before pressing their head against the floor, crushing their skull.
- A Big Grunt with an axe can stab a Reagent in the abdominal region with the head of their axe before dropping the blade of the aforementioned weapon onto their head.
- A Big Grunt with an axe can hack the Reagent repeatedly with their axe before stabbing them in the head with the hilt of their weapon.
Balance Changes[]
May 19, 2023 (Early Access Launch)
October 26, 2023 (Early Access Update # 3 / Program Geister)
December 13, 2023 (Early Access Update # 4 / Winter Kills)
July 16, 2024 (Season 1 / Project Lupara)
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Trivia[]
- Based on the dialogues, the male Big Grunt's favorite snack is a Baby Ruth candy bar.
- According to William Paré-Jobin (Senior Character Artist at Red Barrels), Big Grunts' height is estimated to be 8 feet tall, making them the tallest Outlast characters.
- So far, the Big Grunts and General Ex-Pop are the most diverse Outlast enemy classes.
- Even though the female black Big Grunt has a prosthetic leg, when using the X-ray rig her model will still display a full skeleton.
- Big Grunts along with Leland Coyle and the Night Hunter are one of the few enemies to have a regional accent. One of the male Big Grunt voice types has a notable southern drawl type accent.
- While the male Big Grunt is chasing the Reagent, he can sometimes shout "Greased little fuck-pig" which is a callback to Chris Walker's dialogue "Little Pig!" from the first Outlast. Both of them are also voiced by the same voice actor.
- It is presumed that Franco Barbi managed to kill the black female Big Grunt in the "Poison The Medicine" Trial.
- Despite her corpse being shown there, she can still appear during the gameplay in the same trial.
- Later, both of the female Big Grunts are shown to be Trials objectives in "Poison the Cattle" MK-Challenge. This make Big Grunts as the first Ex-Pops class (that is not The Victims) that are shown to be dead in the game, specifically killed by the Reagents.
- Unlike most other ex-pop the male big grunt voices are randomized and not "assigned' to a specific model. Essentially meaning the male big grunts can either speak with the Snarl type voice or the southern drawl type voice. However it does not appear that both male grunts can use the same voice simultaneously.
- During Closed Beta, one of the male Big Grunts used to refer to himself as Danny.
- Coincidentally, this name was also used by Coyle to refer to the Snitch.
- A fan asked about the name confirmation to Hugo Richard (Red Barrel's Assistant Character Art Director) on Twitter, in which he expressed his approval. While this is not a direct canon confirmation and both Big Grunt can be "Danny", some people in the community considered the brown haired one as the "Danny".
- There are two caged larger women in "Poison the Cattle" Mk-Challenge, one still alive and trembling while the other has been rottening. While it's still unclear, it is possible they are another possible female Big Grunts variation considering their size and prepared to be the next "Cattle" for Franco.
- Additionally, the two models were modified from the prosthetic faced big grunt.
References[]
Heavy Ex-Pop - Ex-Pop Classification
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