Theories and Lore about the DarkWalker

[DarKube]

I create this topic for everyone who want to share a theory or a interesting piece of lore he has found.

Here I already have two :

1) The DarkWalker would be the incarnation of the fear of darkness :

     - He is invisible, maybe because he is only in you, like your fear

     - He make creepy sounds like the ones you may have heard alone in the darkness when you were young

     - He is responsible of the blinding fog that put you into darkness

      - When he is near you, you have the "anxiety" or "fear" afflictions

     - At the end of the event trailer, a woman's voice (your mother ? ) says "chhhhhhh" and the DW sounds calm down.

 

2) The green fires are the remain of the souls of the other unlucky persons devoured by the DW :

     - It really seem like these fires have just been abandoned : there's some stuff laying around and even a cup of coffee sometimes

     - When you're near these fires you're protected : maybe those lost souls want to help you ?

     - And of course there are those diary pages

 

There are my speculations, can't wait to hear yours !

[TIMBERBEAR810]

Maybe the darkwalker could also be more of a demon creature that maybe was released and now searches the landscape looking for those it sees 'unfit'

I also think that the darkwalker like you said could make you gain the anxiety and fear affliction to maybe to try to stun its victims so it can get close enough to seep away maybe some sorta life -force of soul for sustenance.

Edited October 31, 2020 by TIMBERBEAR810

[piddy3825]

It's all due to diet induced Schizophrenia and Color blindness

Extreme Vitamin depletion has been linked to the development of schizophrenia in many individuals.  Considering our hero hasn't had an fresh fruits or vegetable for a considerable long time, they'd be lacking in a ton of essential Vitamins like, C, A, D and B12.  All sorts of physical ailments would be developing as a result.  Lack of Vitamin C effects on mental functioning is impacted as dopamine levels are affected in the brain in turn developing into elementary schizophrenia.  Symptoms would/could be delusions and hallucinations, both auditory and visual explaining the noises that our hero hears as things go "bump" in the night.  As to why the fires seem green, well that too is a result of diet insufficiency.  Seems our hero's diet doesn't have enough Vitamin A in it either so their eyesight has been affected as well.  In our hero's case, with a color shift from the red to green spectrum.  Hallucinations, feelings of paranoia and delusions have been linked to Vitamin D depletion and apparently Vitamin B12 depletion can exacerbate any mental illness symptom from anxiety to depression and panic.

Yeah, so the DarkWalker is a very real manifestation of hero becoming consumed by his own mental illness brought on by extreme vitamin deficiencies due to their diet.  As their physical and cognitive functions are impaired, they begin to hear and see things.  Delusions begin to emerge in their thinking further inflaming their descent into madness.

How else would you explain thinking that spray painting some squiggely symbols on a wall is going to ward away evil.  Now combine that with impaired vision, everything you see is green now and as our hero's physical health begins to be affected, eyesight failure ie, feelings of paranoia that something is out to get you.  All the while your spinning out of control you begin to pump your self full of stimulants.  You begin quaffing energy drinks and caffeine.  You only sleep in small increments, 2 hours max, not allowing enough time for REM sleep so you aren't really getting any rest.  As the disease continues to eat away the mind of our beloved survivor, their descent into madness continues as they seek to escape the darkness of the emptiness of their own soul.  Eventually of course you can't run anymore, your cold, tired, thirsty and hungry.  You've run as far as you can run.   With no where else to turn, no where else to run, your blood slowly creeping in your veins, your organs begin to shut down...  

Death is Inevitable   ...The DarkWalker approaches

 

[DarKube]

4 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

It's all due to diet induced Schizophrenia and Color blindness

Extreme Vitamin depletion has been linked to the development of schizophrenia in many individuals.  Considering our hero hasn't had an fresh fruits or vegetable for a considerable long time, they'd be lacking in a ton of essential Vitamins like, C, A, D and B12.  All sorts of physical ailments would be developing as a result.  Lack of Vitamin C effects on mental functioning is impacted as dopamine levels are affected in the brain in turn developing into elementary schizophrenia.  Symptoms would/could be delusions and hallucinations, both auditory and visual explaining the noises that our hero hears as things go "bump" in the night.  As to why the fires seem green, well that too is a result of diet insufficiency.  Seems our hero's diet doesn't have enough Vitamin A in it either so their eyesight has been affected as well.  In our hero's case, with a color shift from the red to green spectrum.  Hallucinations, feelings of paranoia and delusions have been linked to Vitamin D depletion and apparently Vitamin B12 depletion can exacerbate any mental illness symptom from anxiety to depression and panic.

Yeah, so the DarkWalker is a very real manifestation of hero becoming consumed by his own mental illness brought on by extreme vitamin deficiencies due to their diet.  As their physical and cognitive functions are impaired, they begin to hear and see things.  Delusions begin to emerge in their thinking further inflaming their descent into madness.

How else would you explain thinking that spray painting some squiggely symbols on a wall is going to ward away evil.  Now combine that with impaired vision, everything you see is green now and as our hero's physical health begins to be affected, eyesight failure ie, feelings of paranoia that something is out to get you.  All the while your spinning out of control you begin to pump your self full of stimulants.  You begin quaffing energy drinks and caffeine.  You only sleep in small increments, 2 hours max, not allowing enough time for REM sleep so you aren't really getting any rest.  As the disease continues to eat away the mind of our beloved survivor, their descent into madness continues as they seek to escape the darkness of the emptiness of their own soul.  Eventually of course you can't run anymore, your cold, tired, thirsty and hungry.  You've run as far as you can run.   With no where else to turn, no where else to run, your blood slowly creeping in your veins, your organs begin to shut down...  

Death is Inevitable   ...The DarkWalker approaches

 

Nice one ! You kinda broke the halloween surnatural theme but it's very interesting ! I didn't think of that at all ! And that's totally make sense, maybe Will see a wendigo because he is influenced by is canadian culture. And on top of that, to confirm your theory, there is a note wich says : "I crept upon the nameless city, stars in my eyes. But those eyes no longer see the world...just a choking mist[...]." and another where it's written : "my delirium has become its feeding ground"

Edited October 31, 2020 by DarKube

[carbonpencil]

4 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

...

Extreme Vitamin depletion has been linked to the development of schizophrenia in many individuals...

 

Nice. How about this?

The Dark Walker represents an alien creature like the Predator, visiting planets to hunt the strongest survivors of an extinction level event. It glows green from radiation and is set upon any species unwilling to live sustainably on their planet. It  uses poisonous fog to remind survivors of the pollution that has been inflicted upon the world. Maybe as a species we can only move on from this place to the next.

Happy Halloween.

[Luca Loquax]

   Interesting take...

   There actually is a very real phenomena known as 'woods panic' or 'forrest panic'.   Being alone in the woods at night can cause your mind to play some pretty horrific tricks on you.   There are accounts of people, not all of them n000bs, completely loosing their minds when in circumstances like these.   If you put anyone alone in the wilderness long enough there is no telling what it may do to their sanity.   Anyone have a survivor game over 365 days?  Darn right. Someone in the grip of that kind of panic would be able to imagine almost anything and would 100% legit be in a state to get themselves killed.

   If you could convince someone 'paint THIS symbol on that tree there and our campsite will be safe' might actually work.

   The Darkwalker in you head can still get you  killed.

   I like it.

[ManicManiac]

To me, the Darkwalker seems to be an entity more akin to a Wendigo.  The art shows a kind of skeletal deer head, Astrid/Will talk about it be huge.  In Stephen King's "Pet Sematary," the Wendigo was described in many of the same ways we experience in the game (which by the way, is wonderful).

I did let it get within 30 meters of me while I was playing today... I got a good "look" at what was chasing me.
All I could see was an eldritch green glow lightly casting on the ground and the visual impacts of footprints... but the horror itself was indeed invisible. 

[DarKube]

40 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

To me, the Darkwalker seems to be an entity more akin to a Wendigo.  The art shows a kind of skeletal deer head, Astrid/Will talk about it be huge.  In Stephen King's "Pet Sematary," the Wendigo was described in many of the same ways we experience in the game (which by the way, is wonderful).

I did let it get within 30 meters of me while I was playing today... I got a good "look" at what was chasing me.
All I could see was an eldritch green glow lightly casting on the ground and the visual impacts of footprints... but the horror itself was indeed invisible. 

Yeah sure for me it's also a wendigo. But it could be more... 👻

Edited October 31, 2020 by DarKube

[DarKube]

4 hours ago, carbonpencil said:

Nice. How about this?

The Dark Walker represents an alien creature like the Predator, visiting planets to hunt the strongest survivors of an extinction level event. It glows green from radiation and is set upon any species unwilling to live sustainably on their planet. It  uses poisonous fog to remind survivors of the pollution that has been inflicted upon the world. Maybe as a species we can only move on from this place to the next.

Happy Halloween.

Too SF for me ! 😁👽

[ManicManiac]

14 minutes ago, DarKube said:

But it could be more... 👻

Yes indeed.
 

[DarKube]

2 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

Yes indeed.
 

And that's the whole point of this thread.

[TiffTastic]

Gonna have to agree with the Wendigo theory myself. I’ve always found that myth to be creepier than most, guess I got a fear of being alone in a remote wilderness myself...where anything at all can happen, and anyone can disappear without a trace, the stories of their last minutes, terrified, fleeing, will never be told....it’s dark magic only works on one at a time, but once it locks on to you, the world disappears, there’s no salvation, only the delay of the inevitable, as you have vanished from our universe...vanished from existence...

[TIMBERBEAR810]

These are some nice theories! I think that this being has came before, and that there are probably already some folklore that has been passed on by different generations like the wendigo sorta. And with this, I think that every couple of decades in October it will summon and terrorize the island until dawn when it will vanish.  

[DarKube]

2 minutes ago, TIMBERBEAR810 said:

These are some nice theories! I think that this being has came before, and that there are probably already some folklore that has been passed on by different generations like the wendigo sorta. And with this, I think that every couple of decades in October it will summon and terrorize the island until dawn when it will vanish.  

Like this one a lot !

[piddy3825]

8 hours ago, DarKube said:

Nice one ! You kinda broke the halloween surnatural theme but it's very interesting ! I didn't think of that at all ! And that's totally make sense, maybe Will see a wendigo because he is influenced by is canadian culture. And on top of that, to confirm your theory, there is a note wich says : "I crept upon the nameless city, stars in my eyes. But those eyes no longer see the world...just a choking mist[...]." and another where it's written : "my delirium has become its feeding ground"

the fact that his madness chooses to begin to manifest itself during the Halloween season when the cosmic vibrations of the universe begin to open the doors between the realms of the living and the dead only make it more real and horrifying if you ask me

[piddy3825]

7 hours ago, carbonpencil said:

Nice. How about this?

The Dark Walker represents an alien creature like the Predator, visiting planets to hunt the strongest survivors of an extinction level event. It glows green from radiation and is set upon any species unwilling to live sustainably on their planet. It  uses poisonous fog to remind survivors of the pollution that has been inflicted upon the world. Maybe as a species we can only move on from this place to the next.

Happy Halloween.

Yeah, good one.  Aliens are real and they already walk among us...  But they can't scan my brain as long as I can keep this tinfoil hat maintained!

[TiffTastic]

Thing is, the scary part for me is that you’ve been removed from normal space. Parallel universe or alternate reality or whatnot, the laws of nature are different there. And any creature powerful to punch a hole in reality, able to bridge existences, is something to be feared, whether demon or alien or supernatural. 
 

It doesn’t matter if we get away, because we are in it’s home, and we are already dead. It was over when we crossed into the world of green flame, poison fog, and magic glyphs...

[TIMBERBEAR810]

12 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

It's all due to diet induced Schizophrenia and Color blindness

Extreme Vitamin depletion has been linked to the development of schizophrenia in many individuals.  Considering our hero hasn't had an fresh fruits or vegetable for a considerable long time, they'd be lacking in a ton of essential Vitamins like, C, A, D and B12.  All sorts of physical ailments would be developing as a result.  Lack of Vitamin C effects on mental functioning is impacted as dopamine levels are affected in the brain in turn developing into elementary schizophrenia.  Symptoms would/could be delusions and hallucinations, both auditory and visual explaining the noises that our hero hears as things go "bump" in the night.  As to why the fires seem green, well that too is a result of diet insufficiency.  Seems our hero's diet doesn't have enough Vitamin A in it either so their eyesight has been affected as well.  In our hero's case, with a color shift from the red to green spectrum.  Hallucinations, feelings of paranoia and delusions have been linked to Vitamin D depletion and apparently Vitamin B12 depletion can exacerbate any mental illness symptom from anxiety to depression and panic.

Yeah, so the DarkWalker is a very real manifestation of hero becoming consumed by his own mental illness brought on by extreme vitamin deficiencies due to their diet.  As their physical and cognitive functions are impaired, they begin to hear and see things.  Delusions begin to emerge in their thinking further inflaming their descent into madness.

How else would you explain thinking that spray painting some squiggely symbols on a wall is going to ward away evil.  Now combine that with impaired vision, everything you see is green now and as our hero's physical health begins to be affected, eyesight failure ie, feelings of paranoia that something is out to get you.  All the while your spinning out of control you begin to pump your self full of stimulants.  You begin quaffing energy drinks and caffeine.  You only sleep in small increments, 2 hours max, not allowing enough time for REM sleep so you aren't really getting any rest.  As the disease continues to eat away the mind of our beloved survivor, their descent into madness continues as they seek to escape the darkness of the emptiness of their own soul.  Eventually of course you can't run anymore, your cold, tired, thirsty and hungry.  You've run as far as you can run.   With no where else to turn, no where else to run, your blood slowly creeping in your veins, your organs begin to shut down...  

Death is Inevitable   ...The DarkWalker approaches

 

So is the fog real? Because it does effect the other wildlife too

[piddy3825]

6 minutes ago, TIMBERBEAR810 said:

So is the fog real? Because it does effect the other wildlife too

sure the fog is real and so are the animals.  but the perception of things by our hero is skewed.  During my game play, the deer ran away when spooked by my movement.  And those few times I managed to encounter a wolf they attacked just like they do in the "normal" game.  Wolf struggle ensued, damage was taken and given, first aide rendered, the standard drill of the game.  The DarkWalker isn't killing everything in it's path... it's all in your mind and it's coming for you!

[TIMBERBEAR810]

2 minutes ago, piddy3825 said:

sure the fog is real and so are the animals.  but the perception of things by our hero is skewed.  During my game play, the deer ran away when spooked by my movement.  And those few times I managed to encounter a wolf they attacked just like they do in the "normal" game.  Wolf struggle ensued, damage was taken and given, first aide rendered, the standard drill of the game.  The DarkWalker isn't killing everything in it's path... it's all in your mind and it's coming for you!

Thanks!

 

[carbonpencil]

12 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

To me, the Darkwalker seems to be an entity more akin to a Wendigo.  The art shows a kind of skeletal deer head, Astrid/Will talk about it be huge.  In Stephen King's "Pet Sematary," the Wendigo was described in many of the same ways we experience in the game (which by the way, is wonderful).

Actually the Wendigo sounds about right. I never knew about that lore. I recently saw an interesting documentary about Beau Dick - Maker of Monsters and that's about all the Northern Canadian lore I know. It's fascinating how such art can rationalize monsters to reflect morals.

Edited November 1, 2020 by carbonpencil

[piddy3825]

On 10/30/2020 at 6:52 AM, DarKube said:

There are my speculations, can't wait to hear yours !

Here's another one for you...

Amanita muscaria aka The Toadstool
With its bright red hue and distinctive white spots, this mushroom looks like the quintessential toadstool of children's fairy tales.
In this case our hero has unknowingly ingested the active ingredient, Ibotenic acid, the primary active ingredient that is the main cause of the unpleasant effects being
experienced by our hero.   Ibotenic acid, is known for causing confusion provoking profound visual and auditory hallucinations and distortions as it effects the body's central nervous system provoking euphoria and visual and auditory distortions.

How they came to be "poisoned" is more of a story in itself.  But the explanation is feasible and realistically possible as well.

Turns out that the forests in the Pacific Northwest are some of the best fertile grounds for growing toadstools and Great Bear Island is no exception.  The fungi is often found growing among stumps and downed trees and just so happen to be some of the favorite foods craved by many deer species.  Apparently the toadstools give off quite an unmistakable order that the deer are attracted to and therefore the deer are able to find them and forage for them even thru some layers of snow.  Given the scarcity of other food sources, the deer on Great Bear Island have been dining on toadstools for quite a while and their urine is saturated with the accumulations of Ibotenic acid.  

You've probably heard that old saying...  "don't you eat that yellow snow, cause that's where the huskies go!"  
Well you can imagine the rest... Our hero thirsty and almost suffering from dehydration unknowingly packs his two liter pot with tainted snow and slowly melts it.  Regardless of treating the water with purification pills, it does nothing to remove the psycho active toxins and by this time our hero has possibly ingested a liter of this tainted brew.   Probably even made some coffee and tea as well.  Their immediate water supply now entirely compromised with a hallucination inducing agent they are not aware of.

Combine accidental "poisoning" with the island lore of the Wenidgo and you have one powerful mind bending experience that could potentially last for days.

Btw,  just as an fyi, the reindeer herders have been known to intentionally drink their herds urine after feeding them toadstools as the substances that cause vomiting and nausea are filtered out by the deer's kidneys and only the hallucination causing substances are passed providing a "cleaner" high when intentionally consumed.   Some would tell you that the traditional garb worn by Santa Clause and the story of his flying reindeer is a tribute to the toadstool.  

[ManicManiac]

For another literary possibility...

The Darkwalker could also possibly be something akin to the Dunwich Horror (which was also ravenous & invisible), or perhaps some other sort of Lovecraftian type eldritch abomination.

A couple of the diary pages appear to reference Lovecraftian elements: "the nameless city" as well as "a thing from the stars" (these being words from the diary pages themselves)

Edited November 2, 2020 by ManicManiac

[TIMBERBEAR810]

9 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

Here's another one for you...

Amanita muscaria aka The Toadstool
With its bright red hue and distinctive white spots, this mushroom looks like the quintessential toadstool of children's fairy tales.
In this case our hero has unknowingly ingested the active ingredient, Ibotenic acid, the primary active ingredient that is the main cause of the unpleasant effects being
experienced by our hero.   Ibotenic acid, is known for causing confusion provoking profound visual and auditory hallucinations and distortions as it effects the body's central nervous system provoking euphoria and visual and auditory distortions.

How they came to be "poisoned" is more of a story in itself.  But the explanation is feasible and realistically possible as well.

Turns out that the forests in the Pacific Northwest are some of the best fertile grounds for growing toadstools and Great Bear Island is no exception.  The fungi is often found growing among stumps and downed trees and just so happen to be some of the favorite foods craved by many deer species.  Apparently the toadstools give off quite an unmistakable order that the deer are attracted to and therefore the deer are able to find them and forage for them even thru some layers of snow.  Given the scarcity of other food sources, the deer on Great Bear Island have been dining on toadstools for quite a while and their urine is saturated with the accumulations of Ibotenic acid.  

You've probably heard that old saying...  "don't you eat that yellow snow, cause that's where the huskies go!"  
Well you can imagine the rest... Our hero thirsty and almost suffering from dehydration unknowingly packs his two liter pot with tainted snow and slowly melts it.  Regardless of treating the water with purification pills, it does nothing to remove the psycho active toxins and by this time our hero has possibly ingested a liter of this tainted brew.   Probably even made some coffee and tea as well.  Their immediate water supply now entirely compromised with a hallucination inducing agent they are not aware of.

Combine accidental "poisoning" with the island lore of the Wenidgo and you have one powerful mind bending experience that could potentially last for days.

Btw,  just as an fyi, the reindeer herders have been known to intentionally drink their herds urine after feeding them toadstools as the substances that cause vomiting and nausea are filtered out by the deer's kidneys and only the hallucination causing substances are passed providing a "cleaner" high when intentionally consumed.   Some would tell you that the traditional garb worn by Santa Clause and the story of his flying reindeer is a tribute to the toadstool.  

Wow, this is a certainly interesting theory! 

Edited November 2, 2020 by TIMBERBEAR810

[Grignard_TN]

22 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

 

 

Btw,  just as an fyi, the reindeer herders have been known to intentionally drink their herds urine after feeding them toadstools as the substances that cause vomiting and nausea are filtered out by the deer's kidneys and only the hallucination causing substances are passed providing a "cleaner" high when intentionally consumed.   Some would tell you that the traditional garb worn by Santa Clause and the story of his flying reindeer is a tribute to the toadstool.  

 

     Maybe that is just what the herders say to get people to drink deer piss. Hey, drink this, I promise you'll get REALLY high.