Firebug

ALT Something I’ve always loved about the killers is the way they're all ultimately weak and, in some way, driven by a need to be seen. They’re granted power in the realm, yes, but they grasp this power with a desperation only someone who has been powerless for so long could have. It creates a really interesting throughline between all their struggles, the way they process them, and what that means for their identity. We can see this best in the milestones and how there's often a drastic contrast between past milestones and future ones (the only exception is Sixer, and I suspect that’s just because you can’t portray original Sixer with that model). Think about how many killers are rotting bodies in milestone 1 and how greatly that contrasts m4, where they’re extravagant and nigh unrecognizable. Notably, survivors don't follow this formula as strictly as killers do, often progressing with a less obvious- or nonexistent- shift from past to future. I think this is because "rebirth" is such a

ALT big thing for killers in a way it isn’t for survivors. Killers start off powerless. They are the power role in Forsaken, but they start their stories powerless, with a purpose unfulfilled and no way to fulfill it. Therefore, they must reinvent themselves, but to do that they must first destroy themselves; they rip apart the weak and vulnerable version of them, and with it, their humanity. They destroy themselves this thoroughly because they start off so helpless that they don’t see a way to authentically build their identity. They think that if they are to have purpose and autonomy, they need to build from the ground up. That they need to rely on external sources like scripts or glory, or need to prove something to someone because they’re so devoid of self-love that their own recognition could never be enough. They’ll delude themselves into believing that replacing who they were is a glorious rebirth, that they’ve finally fulfilled their true purpose, but it’s not. They can never

ALT be fulfilled with self-hate and denial. “A purpose unfulfilled” is such a perfect description because it applies at every stage of a killer’s life no matter how powerful they become. If what I’m saying is too abstract, Sixer’s an easy example: she feels so worthless compared to Noob that when he resolves to be worthy of them, to be someone, they do so through external sources (scripts) because to define herself on her own terms seems impossible. And eventually, he becomes something else entirely by fulfilling the myth other people built. Sure, she has meaning now, sure, she won’t go unnoticed or abandoned, but it’s not fulfilling. Did she get what she truly wanted? Love, connection, humanization, self-determination? No- in fact, they have it even less than before. He merely settled for what they thought was the closest he’d ever get to what he truly wanted. A purpose unfulfilled. These themes can be broadly applied to all the killers and I’ll break it down if you wish.

ALT This is what makes the Forsaken killers killers. Being threatening yet vulnerable, powerless yet autonomous, the contrast between their victimhood and the violent response. This is why none of them are pure evil and conniving, with no traumas and no reason for their actions. This is why so many are weaker than their survivor counterparts. They all must share the theme of never moving on from being weak and directionless. Even killers who are fully aware of and enjoy their actions, namely Noli, don’t stray from this formula: Noli, too, is deeply disturbed by a time where they had no power nor meaning. And it makes such good characters! One of my favorite things about killers is their agency. Another is that they’re victims of circumstance. These aren’t in contradiction because of the formula above! Because of their struggles with purpose! Because killers are weapons of destruction, and that includes themselves. oh my god it's so GOOD.

ALT I think that’s what really gets me about killers, that no matter how cruel or monstrous they become or have been, whether they kill willingly or not, whether they enjoy this or not, all of them will always be scared and vulnerable at their core. This is what I mean when I say things like “the realm isn’t good for them.” This is what descriptions like “victims of circumstance” and “poor souls” mean. The killers are victims. They don’t have to be remorseful or unhappy to be victims, and they don’t have to be aware that they’re victims to be victims. For at their core, they are weak and unhealed, and whatever joy they find comes from the illusions of control they rely on to feel like they mean anything at all. Conclusion: Killers are angstgem. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. . . . …and yes this is also fuel for “spectre and its residents” theory