| “ | I know not what I do. | ” |
Thralls are low-ranking members of the Eternal Order of the Second Death. They are minor antagonists from Chapter II Prologue onward.
Appearance[]
Thralls are naked cult members that always yield a pair of scissors with them. They're bald and bear a white, shaky grin. Their eyes are white and shaky as well.
There is a variant of the thrall that appears in a few places in Chapter III, that have corrupted, almost glitchy-looking heads that twitch wildly. It is unknown what happened to these people that put them in this strange state; perhaps it is some sort of demonic possession. They are known as altar thralls according to the game's files.
Personality[]
Although most are devoted to the cult's cause, causing destruction and preparing for the Second Death, some of them seem like they don't truly know what they're doing and regret some of their actions, meaning that they aren't possessed or demonic creatures. They're normal people who got caught up with Gary's enticing words to join his cult. Some of their quotes seem like they're in a constant alerted state of mind.
Many of them are new tenants to the New Haven Apartment Complex ever since Gary took it over. They seem to be expendable because dead bodies of them are littered in the building and Gary doesn't seem phased by it.
Although all of the thralls look the same, the game designates special characteristics to thralls that are more important story-wise, which is Sandra Attwood, Troy Ingles, and Angel Nogales.
Biography[]
March 18th to 23rd, 1934[]
The Order of the Second Death has been active for decades, with the earliest recorded action is on this date when Miriam instructed cult members on how to perform the Second Death ritual on her. With how the hierarchy works, cultists were likely the ones more involved with the ritual than thralls since they're more devoted. Either way, the ritual was a success on the 23rd, and Gary was "born".
September 22nd to 27th, 1987[]
Remember that thralls are just people who recently decided to join the cult. They've been around for a while, either helping Gary with rituals or being used as sacrifices, but they don't appear until around this time period.
Between these two dates, John has a nightmare where Chapter II Prologue takes place. In it, it seems like it carries on immediately after Chapter I's "When Faith Endures" Ending where he shot Michael and drove away. John wakes up next to his crashed silver sedan. Walking to the right, he finds what seems to be a dead thrall in a green pickup truck. Walking away and then returning, the thrall is gone and there's a blood trail leading to a cornfield nearby. The same thrall can also be seen running away into the fields.
Once inside Snake Meadow Hill Church, after exorcising a Virgin Mary portrait, a thrall hiding in rubble tries to rush down John. They don't get banished and run away when faced with the crucifix. Fending off another thrall hiding in a confessional booth, John walks up to a gallery of stained-glass window depicting various things, including the Second Death. Thralls are satted in benches, glaring at the windows. Their heads start to twitch, and they mutter "MASTER OF SPIRITS..." when John exorcises the Second Death window and will collectively stab him if he doesn't leave.
After banishing the Basement Demon, John can walk back to where the windows were and see the thralls are sitting calmly and looking at Nate and Jason Martin. Getting close, Miriam appears and says, "HERE I AM" and "My little one...". John wakes up from his nightmare. (The other way of him waking up from his nightmare is looking at Miriam in the Unseen World but that doesn't relate to thralls.)
Before or after this nightmare, demonic activity around Sterling is starting to increase. Nearby Gallup Cemetery, young people named Sandra, Angel, and Troy were killed in a ritualistic murder and their bodies was discovered by the Sterling Police Department. Authorities published this discovery to the public, thinking that these deaths could be related to ritualistic-like murders that have been occurring since 86'. They warn locals to not go anywhere near the cemetery while the case is pending.
Meanwhile, locals have been pressuring the police department for months to investigate a sewer tunnel called the Candy Tunnels due to dead bodies being found around the area, thinking a serial killer named Joe Baumann is the one who's doing it. Although they haven't bothered to investigate, a recent discovery of the bodies of a traveling couple forced them to raid the tunnels. Locals around the area could hear what sounds like a shootout. Next day, authorities reported to the public that there's been injuries and one fatality from the raid and are trying to gather any other deaths in there.
In reality, what really happened, is that the Peekaboo Demon retaliated against the officers during the raid. The demon was there as a way to gather sacrifices to summon the UNSPEAKABLE in a secluded area since the drug addicts, gang members, and others always return to the tunnels, it's been killing for months. Although the demon warded off the officers, Gary knows that they will be overpowered if they continued doing their operations there. So, Tiffany, Gary's henchwomen, suggested to summon the demon to an apartment building she lives. There's an influx of tenants that can be used as sacrifices and if thralls and other cult members lived there then it wouldn't raise suspicion. Gary plans to relocate.
September 28th, 1987[]
A week after failing his second exorcism with Amy, John experiences his worst nightmare yet, where Chapter II picks up. Waking up in the middle of five rocks, John unlocks a gate to Gallup Cemetery and walks inside Save Family Tomb since there's a locked gate above. Inside, there's three thralls sitting on a bench, blankly staring at nothing. Looking and grinning to himself at a mirror, ghosts leave the thrall's bodies, revealing that they're dead corpses. John has a new goal; find and banish all three demons. Each time he does so, one of the bodies in the tomb disappears. So:
- Banishing the Graveyard Maze Demon makes a thrall with unkept hair disappear.
- Banishing the Mist Demon makes an older-looking thrall disappear.
- Banishing the Umbilical Cord Demon makes the female thrall disappear.
Stabbing himself in the eye while looking at a mirror, a key drop behind John. He picks it up and unlocks a gate.
After exploring Snake Meadow Hill Church and the Unseen World, John goes inside the entrance to the Candy Tunnels. Walking around, he spots a thrall sprinting in the background. Going inside the pipes in the background and reading a note, a thrall tries to ambush him. They get repelled and run away deeper into the tunnels.
After banishing the Basement Demon (again), the thrall from earlier is seen standing behind a pillar. They run away towards an entrance with graffiti around it. Following the thrall with a flashlight, John seems to be teleported into Malphas' House.
Inside, there's a locked door preventing him from going upward. Warding off Blind Ones, he grabs a key and unlocks the door. When inside, Miriam appears out of nowhere and slowly walks towards him with her hands raised. She suddenly grabs her head in pain and disappears, revealing a gray figure pointing their crucifix in the air. The figure (who we, the player, knows it's Father Garcia, but John doesn't know that yet) tells him to not be afraid and that they can banish her together. He instructs John to protect him while he recites the 91st Psalm.
Finding Miriam, the figure begins the recitement. Thralls can be seen entering the room and trying to target the figure, but John wards them off. With enough exorcising, Miriam stumbles and screams in pain as her body evaporates. The UNSPEAKABLE appears, revealing that it was disguised as Miriam, and the screen starts to flash red. John awakens, startled from witnessing the entity in its entirety. Near his front door, John reads a letter from Father Garcia that tells him they need to find Nate and Jason Martin before they're used to summon Malphas on the Profane Sabbath. He tells him to wait for any future updates as to where the twins or Malphas are. John drives away to an unknown destination, asking for God's mercy since his next journey will be his greatest test of faith yet.
Alternatively, if the gray figure was killed, John reads a letter from Father Garcia that he needs to be careful since he's being watched. Driving to an unknown destination, John monologues if he's done the right thing in his dream while getting pursued by a thrall in their SUV.
October of 1987[]
Gary successfully relocates his thralls to the New Haven Apartment Building, killing almost all of the tenants living there. Since he manages the building, his thralls have to pay rent and utilities. Gary and the thralls summon the Peekaboo Demon to one of the apartment rooms, who makes its lair by digging a massive hole like from the Candy Tunnels. Gary warns them to be careful around it and stay perfectly still when they accidentally encounter it. They intend to use Lisa, one of the tenants living there, as a vessel for the UNSPEAKABLE to inhabit, so they keep her alive.
Tiffany, at some point, finds out that Gary still plans to use Amy for the Second Death rather than her. Enraged and jealous, Tiffany decides to one-up Amy and perform her own makeshift Second Death ritual, taking the sacrifices that was intended for the Peekaboo Demon and uses it herself. She, however, takes way more sacrifices than necessary, and turns into a monstrosity; her demon taking control of her body. She hides in the Unseen World version of the 7th Floor to entice Gary to follow her, either to kill him or convince him that she's the better choice. With a lack of sacrifices, the Peekaboo Demon is out of control and starts to kill anyone in their sight, regardless of if the victim is standing still or not. With the Profane Sabbath drawing near, Gary does not have time to deal with Tiffany or the out-of-control demon and summons Malphas somewhere unknown. He prepares himself underneath the Crucible in a Daycare Center to see if Amy would ever reawaken from her unconsciousness.
October 28th, 1987[]
John finally gets a letter from Father Garcia on the location where the cult might summon Malphas, which is an abortion clinic Amy used to work. Parking nearby, he spots a lone police officer stationed outside the building, after nearly getting ran over by a thrall speeding in their SUV. In an alleyway nearby, there's a dead bird that wiggles it's head when John looks away. Sometimes, when John's about to leave, there's a thrall seen staring directly at him. When he gets closer, the thrall runs away, shouting "I KNOW NOT WHAT I DID!".
Escaping and killing a creature inside the clinic, John and the officer from earlier walks outside. The officer spots a group of thralls throwing their hands in excitement after lighting his police car on fire. The officer pursuits them, calling them hippies. If John decides to follow the officer, his corpse is left in the same alleyway where the dead bird used to be.
Although John doesn't find where Malphas would be summoned, he at least banishes a demon lurking in the basement of the clinic. He drives home.
October 29th, 1987[]
John gets another letter from Father Garcia on where Malphas might be summoned, New Haven Apartment Complex. He's pressured to go investigate since he also gets a letter from Lisa, a childhood friend, that her neighbors (the thralls) are preventing her from leaving. John drives there and goes inside.
When inside, John spots a seal preventing access from going deeper inside Lisa's apartment room. Navigating through the building and exorcising a dagger, he has no choice but to send his crucifix down a dumbwaiter to the basement. Attempting to go downward, there's Wretches blocking his path. With no other option but to go down the elevator, it stops at Floor 4 and a thrall is seen chuckling and running away. Going to the right, there's a note on the floor, saying, "Gary lied to us. When you see it, RUN". In the next room there's a camera and the thrall from prior is dead, with blood next to the body saying, "I SAW IT". Picking up the camera, the lights for the entire building turn off.
While using the camera to illuminate his surroundings, John can see a thrall rushing towards him. But, since he can see a blood trail emitting from him, the Martin House's attic from 86', and Malphas, these are all hallucinations. Taking the staircase to Floor 3, the rest of the way is blocked by more Wretches. He has to go inside Room 3B to bypass them. A door leading to Tiffany's bedroom is now open. Although her room looks relatively normal, there's a secret entrance that connects to Room 3A. However, a group of altar thralls is seen standing around an altar, twitching their heads. Sneaking past them, John comes across a large hole on the ground surrounded by dead thralls and a green person. He walks out of the room and goes down to Floor 2.
Once again Wretches block the way, so John goes inside Room 2A. The staircase underneath a table is now available to walk through. It's another secret entrance, but, halfway through walking, the Peekaboo Demon appears and gives chase. Navigating through the dark with the camera, John escapes its grasp and comes out of Room 2B. Leaving 2B, the demon stops chasing him and is able to retrieve his crucifix from the basement.
For the rest of the time, John banishes the Peekaboo Demon, saves Lisa from Alu, and defeats Tiffany. Gary left a note behind, congratulating that he wasted another day but got rid of Tiffany for him. John exits and leaves the building.
October 30th, 1987[]
John gets another letter from Father Garcia to check out a Daycare Center, since there's apparently reports of children exhibiting strange behavior there and the Martin twins might be there. Parking nearby, John sneaks past police officers stationed outside and unlocks a seal in the daycare, leading to Garyland.
After solving a puzzle, Gary ambushes John with a syringe. John stumbles and starts to freak out. Although we, the player, are shown vivid imagery of various locations and events, in reality, John is massacring a group of thralls. The thralls likely saw him stumbling around in Garyland and tried to kill him, but John is too strong under a drugged, demonic state. He ripped off a bar from a gate nearby and started gutting them. They tried to flee but John was too swift, nearly killing everyone. Awakening from a nightmare about being in the Martin House, he comes across the same room where he killed thralls. There's one torn-apart that's trying to crawl away, saying, "Please...no...". Before dying, they say "The holy man...". It's unknown if John was aware of what he was doing or not, but he presses onward, banishing an unholy spirit while doing so.
In the Nowhere Forest, John unlocks a door with an eye. Inside, there's a group of thralls staring down at him. Later, they start to twitch, and become an unrecognizable mass of red flesh. Then, he meets Gary face-to-face.
October 31st, 1987[]
After some questioning and a brawl, Gary stumbles a bit and tries to grab John's face. Then, Father Garcia comes in to save the day and shoots Gary in the face with his shotgun. Gary grabs his head in pain and flees. Meeting for the first time, they join forces and follows Gary. There's a gigantic slab floating on top of the Crucible, so Garcia instructs John to go inside and stop Gary while he blasts away the thralls and cultists that are trying to stop them. Once inside, Gary reveals his true form, Astaroth, and tries to stop John. Malphas joins as well but they can't beat him, so they inhabit Miriam's body to become Super Miriam. John prevails and burns Miriam's body, which makes Malphas disintegrate, and Gary left kneeling. Amy finally awakens from her unconsciousness and drifts down. Gary praises her, thinking he'll be able to perform the Second Death on her still, but her demonic hand grabs him. It says "FAILURE" and sucks him into Hell, killing him. Amy's face reverts back to normal, and John finally finishes his exorcism.
Walking out, Father Garcia and John walk over a pile of police officers and thralls. Apparently, while John was drugged, thralls were trying to combat against the officers. However, there was fatalities on both sides, and everyone was killed. With a new purpose in life, John either buddies with Garcia to battle demons or starts a new life with Lisa, driving away.
Alternate October 31st, 1987[]
If John returns home and never explores the Daycare Center, the thralls overpower the police stationed outside and Gary is left unstoppable. Waking up from another nightmare, John sees a silhouette of Amy from a window. Walking past a door covered in crucifixes, he decides that he needs to look inside one more time. Passing by his front door, he looks at the peephole and sees thralls staring directly at him. They then break his windows and enter inside the house. Running away, he goes inside his basement and grabs a key. There's a gigantic centipede demon that tries to chomp on John, but he escapes. Avoiding it, he tries to figure out whether he could escape. In his backyard, several corrupted thralls standing around a hole, seemingly implying how the demon was summoned in the first place. Walking outside, he finds that his silver sedan is caught on fire and thralls surround it. Back inside his house, he unlocks a door and sees Amy staring down at him, her design from 86'. He kneels in front of her and asks why he's getting targeted and wants everything to stop, but she cuts him off and a hand from her face grabs him, saying "UNFORGIVEABLE".
The screen fades to John in The Forest. Michael is seen scurrying into the Martin House. John goes inside and explores the house, wallowing in grief and blaming himself for failing Amy and her parents. He walks inside what's supposed to be the Martin Twins' room and kneels in front of two mannequins. He raises his arms in defeat. Michael and Amy (with a bloody, gaping hole) hold him steady as a demonic hand grabs him. He, Amy, Michael, and the whole house disappears, and the game ends.
Quotes[]
Rushing John in Prologue and Ch II[]
- "I know not what I do!"
- "We are many!"
Attacking John[]
- "CHAOS REIGNS!"
Repelled by Crucifix[]
- ”Bless you, child!”
- "I had no choice!"
Spotted[]
- "He is here!"
Severed Thrall[]
- "Please... no..."
- "The holy man..."
Trivia[]
- For a long time, the Faith community thought the red-robed enemies are called Thralls and the red people are called Cultists. However, it's the opposite. Looking at the filenames for each of them, the red-robed enemies are called Cultist and the red people are called Thralls. (There may be errors in a lot of pages because of this)
- The line, "CHAOS REIGNS" from the Sacrificed Fox in Chapter I is reused whenever a thrall kills John (different sound clip, however).
- During the thrall's stabbing animation, what they're doing is holding John steady with their left hand and stabbing him around his neck or shoulder blade with their right hand.
- Although most thralls we see are male (indicated by their voices and animation), besides Sandra, there's one thrall with a feminine voice, saying "He is here!".
- In Chapter II Prologue, a Shadow Crawler is seen hiding away before a thrall appears.
- Although this might've implied that Shadow Crawlers are thralls, the Crawler has its own unique sprite and filename. To reuse assets, Airdorf probably would've kept it's sprite and naming the same if they were supposed to be the same.
- The line, "The holy man..." was used in Chapter III's Final Preview Trailer[1].
Gallery[]
In-Game[]
