- "(Snoring)"
- ―The Screamer
The Screamer is one of the antagonists in The Outlast Trials. He is a severely narcoleptic Ex-Pop who plays a more supporting role than the rest, stunning Reagents who make too much noise in his radius by letting out a loud, deafening scream.
Background[]
Characteristics[]
Unlike common Ex-Pop, the Screamer does not actively patrol the Trial Environments to kill Reagents. Instead, he involuntarily sleeps at random points during each Trial, either lying on the floor or standing still in a limp, semi-vegetative state while snoring. If Reagents wake him up by making too much noise while he is nearby or makes physical contact, the Screamer, true to his name, shrieks hysterically into his voice amplifier. Any Reagent that gets caught in the Screamer's sound radius experiences a disorientating fuzz in their vision and will cause them to clutch the side of their head, interrupting any action they were doing, along with hearing impairment and greatly reduced movement speed for several seconds. Additionally, his scream can also attract nearby Ex-Pop to their location, including Prime Assets and the Berserker. His screams can also break any TV and windows nearby, occasionally serving as an advantage for strategic Reagents.
The Screamer then runs away from his spot in pain and fear to find a new location to sleep in, restarting his behavior. While fleeing, the Screamer can attack Reagents that happen to be in his way and always bash through any doors or barricades, although they aren't as typically dangerous as the other Ex-Pop. Reagents can prevent him from screaming by:
- Throwing any throwable item such as brick, bottle, or a heart directly at the Screamer, causing him to run away and resume his normal behavior elsewhere.
- Using Stun or Blind rig stuns the Screamer for a short time, allowing Reagents to cover much ground before he flees to his next position.
- Activating Heal rig with the Poison upgrade next to a Screamer causes him to flee to the next spot, with the additional benefit of temporarily slowing his movement speed.
- Using Jammer rig with the Corrupt Enemies upgrade forces the Screamer to reposition without screaming. However, unlike most Ex-Pop, the Screamers does not stop and puke.
- Triggering certain traps, such as explosive duck traps in their close proximity to stun the sleeping Screamer and force him to reposition.
- Positioning themselves behind the Screamer and get Pitcher to indirectly hit him with a thrown molotov bottle, forcing Screamer to retreat.
Hitting one with throwables can also stop a Screamer in the process of screaming as well. When the Screamer shrieks three times or a Reagent completes a certain main objective, he will leave the Trial by retreating via Ex-Pop Insertion Gate. In some Trials, such as Cook the Informant, Screamers leave after a single shriek, making it advantageous to trigger them early so they leave the Trial permanently.
The Don't Make Noise variator causes the Screamer to react to even the slightest noises made by Reagents. He can also scream even if the Reagent is crouch-walking nearby or completely silent. Reagents are advised to either find an alternate route or intentionally trigger the Screamer by jumping outside his scream location, as the variator increases the impact of jumping to three bars of sound. When Reagent is under psychosis effect, it can serve as an advantage since the Screamer's shriek will not slow them down.
The Screamer can execute an incapacitated Reagent if they are nearby.
Story[]
The Outlast Trials[]
According to the Screamers document, Screamers are the result of research done by Nazi scientists during the Second World War. Screamers are produced by exposure to the Morphogenic Engine while screaming causing mutations to their vocal cords. Unlike most other Ex-Pop, the Screamers are not of Murkoff's creation at all but instead are the product of Operation Paperclip scientists who describe the Screamers as "always sleeping and never sleeping." Essentially, the Screamers are in a constant near vegetative state that resembles sleep when in actuality they are awake and aware of their surroundings.
Personality[]
The Screamer is reclusive, skittish, and fearful. Unlike most of the other Ex-Pop, the Screamer shows no interest in harming the Reagents. Instead, he prefers to keep his distance from them, making him one of the only Ex-Pop (Other than The Scapegoat) to be fearful of the Reagents, rather than wanting to kill them.
Physical description[]
Like many of the other Ex-Pop in the Trials who have been heavily tortured and experimented on, the Screamer's body is covered in rashes, cuts, and gashes. Some parts of his body are covered in tape or bandages.
He is naked except for his high-waisted underpants. Additionally, there is a speaker device implanted in his chest, which is connected to the electronics in his mouth which resembles an oxygen mask. The Screamer's face is obscured by bandages over his right eye leaving him dependent on only his left eye to see. To protect the Screamer from his power, Murkoff has drilled protective headphones into his ears.
When not woken up, he can be found standing or sitting in random places with his body twitching now and then.
Player death animation[]
While near an incapacitated Reagent, the Screamer pulls the Reagent's face into his speakers and scream loudly enough to cause the Reagent to die from noise pollution.
Patch notes[]
October 26, 2023 (Early Access Update # 3 / Program Geister)
July 16, 2024 (Season 1 / Project Lupara)
December 10, 2024 (Season 2 / Project Breach)
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Trivia[]
- It is likely that the Screamer sufferers from an extreme case of narcolepsy. This is due to his sudden bouts of falling asleep instantly, which is a common symptom of the disorder.
- In the game files from the Closed Beta, the subtitles for the Screamers can be found, suggesting they were originally planned to have dialogues.
- When Screamer breaks the Prime Time televisions with his scream, it can still count for the secondary objective.
References[]
Screamers - Ex-Pop Classification
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| Minor Characters |