- "I want everybody. The willing, the unwilling, the poor, the broken, the huddled masses yearning to be part of history. Everybody. It doesn't matter who they are. They're grist. Raw materials to be shaped. Forged. Made into the agents of a prosperous, patriotic future. I want everybody. Bring them to me. Just see what we make them into."
- ―H.J. Easterman[1]
The Reagents are the main protagonists of The Outlast Trials. They are people who, after falling on hard times, are tricked into volunteering themselves as test subjects under the Murkoff Corporation's sick and twisted experiments during the Cold War. Unlike the series' previous three protagonists, the player characters are fully customizable.
Background[]
The details of the Reagents' lives are unclear, although at some point, they were up to something so shady that they were able to successfully hide in their private life but was still accessible to the Murkoff Corporation. At another point in their lives, they ended up homeless and slept on the streets. They discover a flyer for Murkoff's charity program and apply for it, having no other options. They are then kidnapped by Murkoff security and taken to the Sinyala Facility.
Characteristics[]
Being that the Reagents are customizable, they do not have a set personality. However, it can be noted through dialogues of both genders that the Reagents do express disdain towards the Prime Assets as well as various other Ex-Pop. They occasionally refer to the Prime Assets by either their names or crude and impudent nicknames (such as referring Coyle as 'The Cop' or 'Crazy Psycho Hillbilly' and Mother Gooseberry as 'Crazy Bitch'). They also occasionally have dialogues that are more on the humorous side, such as when offering an item to another Reagent, one of the dialogues says, 'Happy birthday.' Other lines also show that they are considerate towards the other Reagents, such as saying 'Don't die yet' or 'C'mon we're not done yet' when assisting someone out of an incapacitated state.
Sometimes, the Reagents express a subtle brink of insanity during their time at the Sleep Room, such as jolting up awake and giving out a brief chuckle. Although, the non-playable Reagents can also be seen pointing towards the TVs near the Release Protocol Entrance, expressing their warped viewpoints, or attempting to cause discomfort towards the scientists by watching them.
In the Evaluation Report, the comments from the scientists reveal that the stronger and more experienced Reagents are desensitized from traumatic events in the trials, enabling them to commit atrocities and assassinations without hesitation while weaker and lesser experienced Reagents are considered scared and incompetent to complete the trial efficiently, requiring interrogation and increased trauma. In the documents, Clyde Perry stated that the Reagents had become highly masochistic, asserting that they had no fourth member despite enduring effective torture during interrogation.[2]
Story[]
The Outlast Trials[]
The Reagents first awaken inside a hospital, being tested on by malevolent scientists. Following their wake, they see doctors torturing other people and ripping equipment off of corpses. The female surgeon arrives and pulls down a television playing Hendrick Joliet Easterman's introduction tape, then proceeds to inject the Reagent with a drug. The male surgeon arrives and forces the Reagents to "consent" to everything that's about to happen to them. The scientists then proceed to drill the night-vision goggles to the Reagent's head.
Following this, the Reagents wake up in the Mansion and are properly introduced to Doctor Easterman, as they reflect on their life and get pre-conditioned for the trials. This leads into brief encounters with Mother Gooseberry, The Skinner Man, and other Ex-Pop. They then proceed to destroy everything from both their private and public lives before they are allowed to enter the Sleep Room.
Rebirth[]
Once the Reagent has obtained 20 Release tokens, they can hand those to the guard located within the Sleep Room to begin the Release Protocol. After finishing all tasks in the Mansion, they are instructed to: "Walk through the door, and earn their freedom".
Outlast: The Murkoff Collections[]
In Issue 4, Reagents have been characterized as communists, addicts, and bums. However, some subjects, like Damon Greene, were also regular citizens who were utilized as Reagents. Additional details from some documents, evaluation reports, and the rebirth endings reveal that the Murkoff Corporation has been kidnapping those individuals and training them to become sleeper agents before releasing them back into society. However, Reagents who are not efficient in completing Trials are either killed or left behind in the Sinyala Facility.
Notable Reagents[]
Reagents of particular interest, who took part in the trials:
- Reagent 0486 - Dorris Ritter - Alive, Contraband Dealer in the Sleep Room
- Reagent 0741 - Theo Nordaker - Alive, Co-conspirator of Amelia Collier
- Reagent 0985 - Henrietta Grubbs - Alive, Reclassified to Heavy Ex-Pop, enhanced to Specialist Ex-Pop
- Reagent 0877 - Reborn, integrated into testing at Los Alamos, and later part of Sinyala Staff
- Reagent 0946 - Reborn, subsequently neutralised by Clyde Perry during observation
- Reagent 1616 - Sullivan Knoth - Reborn
- Reagent 1733 - Deceased, Friend of Amelia Collier
- Reagent 2427 - Amelia Collier - Escapee, Status unknown
- Damon Greene - Deceased, fatally tortured for information on his significant other Amelia Collier by Clyde Perry
Corpses[]
The Reagent corpses can be found scattered throughout the trials, with some containing consumable items such as small medicine, antidotes, adrenalines, bricks, bottles and small batteries that players can pick up. Some corpses appear to have been alive recently, as they were attempting to snatch an item back or gets electrocuted violently by their ESOPs after the player looted an item from them.
The corpses are also used as 'set-dressing' as stated by the evaluation scientists to fit the twisted theme of the trials. Some corpses appear to have been mutilated by one of the Ex-Pop or the Prime Assets. Most corpses seen are usually male but females are less common and used in a preservative manner. In the Docks, more female corpses have been used for milking display in one of train depot offices.
Reagent corpses were also used as an organ extraction for trial participants.[3] Some of the bodies still appear to be equipped with night vision goggles.
Most, if not all, corpses also had their equipment removed, either by Murkoff or possibly the Ex-Pop.
Victims[]
Some of the previous Reagents appear to have been used as disposable targets for the recent batch of Reagents to execute. While the specifications of being used as a trial victim is unclear, their demise is crucial for the operations of PROJECT LATHE. These traumas desensitize the recent Reagents, making them less sympathetic from murdering others if it means they could escape, regardless of whether those victims are innocent or not.
In Cancel the Autopsy, the objectives state that the bodies used for grinding are agents, but one of them reveal they were still alive. In Fumigate the Factory, three Reagents were still equipped with E.S.O.P. and night vision goggles, and are found trapped inside the incinerator. They were eventually killed by the toxic gas once the current Reagents complete their objective.
Some dialogues from the victims reveal that they were previously Reagents and tried convincing the newer Reagents that the Murkoff and Doctor Easterman does not hold their promise on freedom. Some victims have subtle dialogues that reveals they were previously one of the Reagents, such as the Scapegoat. Their statements also strongly implies that they barely made out of the trial alive, like the Judge expressing both confusion and betrayal after waking up, and the Scapegoat pointing out freedom was a lie and his current situation. The Snitch and The Mules have also made comments about the Sleep Room and hoping they would return there.
The Snitch: Please take me back to the Sleep Room now. Doctor?
I did everything Murkoff wanted me to. Just like you're doing now. I'd get better. I'd be free and powerful. Fucking look at me now.
I was you. I burned people to death. Men. Women. With electricity. Watches the eyes melt out of their head. I've done what you're doing. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
The Judge: Huh? Oh god. I'm in the judge's seat. No. Oh, fuck, no. I was supposed to get out...
... ...Where am I? What... Oh. You sons of bitches. You evil sons of bitches. Where am I? What... Oh. Dear god. No. No...
Scapegoat: Why would they want to hurt me? I'm just like them. I was them. Can't they fuckin' see that?
There's no freedom. It's a lie. I'm the ghost of fucking Christmas future you ignorant fucking dummies.
The Mule: All that arm wrestling and I can't fucking manage to get a hand free.
Maybe if they fail we get to go back to the Sleep Room. Maybe there's still a chance.
In Poison the Medicine, two former Reagents are seen dangling on top of the building and are used as targets to demonstrate Franco Barbi's gun in front of current Reagents. Their subtle dialogues implied that Murkoff Corporation specifically used them as a cruel punishment for consuming their heroin, thereby serving as a grim reminder for Reagents to not fall into the same fate as them. This could also apply to the Mules, as one of them mentioned that they also got carried away by the same drugs.
Dangling Reagent 1: I only wanted a taste.
Dangling Reagent 2: Tastes...
The Mule: I could have overdosed. I could have just... So fucking stupid.
When I had the chance. It was just lying there.
Notably, the victims had their ESOPs, rigs, and night-vision goggles removed. Cornelius Noakes stated the ESOPs can be removed and hosed off from corpses and the Reagents had all their equipment removed after completing Rebirth. It is possible this also applies to Reagents that are better off used to fill the role as victim as Murkoff Corporation would rather recycle their equipment to save costs for future candidates.
The Reagents appear to feel subconscious guilt over causing the deaths of victims simply to complete their therapy. This guilt likely stems from the awareness that these victims were once Reagents themselves, as implied by the tram hallucinations in the Suburbs, which depicts them being restrained and drowned in a similar manner to The Union Boss. One of the Reagents in the Sleep Room also insisted on their innocence after burning the Snitch, fearing they might become the next trial victim.
Physical description[]
Although all Reagents are customizable, they share similar body types but are different between genders. Male characters are shown to have more muscular mass while female characters are thinner. Despite their difference in physical appearance, they all appear to be average height and weight and have an athletic and muscular build.
Patch notes[]
June 13, 2023 (Early Access Update #2)
October 26, 2023 (Early Access Update # 3 / Program Geister)
October 26, 2023 (Early Access Update # 3 / Hotfix 3)
December 13, 2023 (Early Access Update #4 / Winter Kills)
March 5, 2024 (Full Release)
June 10, 2024 (Prime Time / Hotfix)
July 16, 2024 (Season 1 / Project Lupara)
September 10, 2024 (Countdown)
October 29, 2024 (Program Geister)
December 10, 2024 (Project Breach)
March 25, 2025 (Under Surveillance)
March 27, 2025 (Hotfix)
April 22, 2025 (Project Relapse)
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Trivia[]
- Unlike the previous protagonists in the series, the Reagents are the first to have their faces seen.
- The Reagents are the first protagonists in the series who can bust their way through locked and blocked doors; something that in previous entries, only enemies could do.
- They are also one of the first protagonists who can actually utilize throwables against enemies, which previous ones like Blake Langermann specifically did not.
- Unlike the previous protagonists in the Outlast franchise, Reagents do not have notes due to a lack of recording equipment that would tell what personality they have or feels at certain events.
- Despite the fact that all protagonists in the series are intended to mirror the player, the Reagents are the first ones that can be customized at will from the player.
- They are the first protagonists in the series to have varying climaxes upon finishing the game.
- Based on the documents, Sullivan Knoth was a Reagent. His nickname was Reagent 1616, or 1616 for short.[4]
- Unlike Miles, Waylon and Blake, whose movements were mostly hand animated and all reused across the board using Unreal Engine 3 (aside from the ones that came with the new movement mechanics in Outlast 2), The Reagents' animations are freshly motion captured in Unreal Engine 4. The only animation that was recycled for Trials was when you enter hiding inside of a lidless barrel as Blake in Outlast 2.
- In the Closed Beta for The Outlast Trials, the voice of the male Reagents was that of Shawn Baichoo, who did the voice acting of the previous three protagonists. This is because sound files of the work Shawn did for the aforementioned characters were used as placeholders in the beta until they finished recording new voice lines for the full release/early access.
- Some of the dialogues from the first Outlast protagonist also included unused spoken words during actions such as pinging.
- The Reagents are the first optionally female protagonists of the franchise.
References[]
- ↑ "The Outlast Trials Toxic Shock Limited-Time Event and Update". Red Barrels. YouTube (April 16, 2024).
- ↑ Interrogations
- ↑ CAYGO
- ↑ Built for Comfort
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