The Stalker

## Overview

The Stalker is the first boss fight of the game, taking place in The Hotel.

## Boss Encounter (The Hotel)

### Behavior

The Stalker seems to only attack when it has the element of surprise, and almost always attacks in a stealthy manner. It is easily startled and will (typically) retreat once it has been noticed. In standard mode, it has four different attacks, first appearing in sequential order and afterwards in a completely random sequence. These attacks become quicker as time passes.

### Initiation

To initiate the boss fight, interact with the television in the middle of the room. A brief cutscene will play alerting the player to hide in bed and the boss fight will begin.

### Phase 1 - The Bed

During the first phase, The Stalker will crawl out from underneath the bed, emitting a sound cue while doing so. If the player is not sitting in the bed by the time The Stalker is standing, they will be killed. Another sound cue will play as The Stalker is retreating, and once it has fully disappeared and the sound cue is over, the player may leave the bed.

### Phase 2 - The Window

In the second phase, The Stalker will attack from the window on the left side of the room. This attack is indicated by a knocking sound on the window and The Stalker standing outside on the balcony. The player must hold the curtains closed until The Stalker has retreated, which is indicated when the player no longer hears The Stalker's breathing coming from the other side of the glass. The Stalker may hold its breath for short periods of time to trick the player, however.

### Phase 3 - The Closet

For the third phase, The Stalker will hide in the closet and slowly begin to open the door. If the player does not close the door by the time it's fully opened, The Stalker will kill the player.

### Phase 4 - The Television

In the final phase, The Stalker will possess the television. There is a brief grace period before the attack begins, where a high-pitched static sound can be heard from the television along with generic white noise on the screen. After this period ends, the sound will switch to a low-pitched static instead. If the player looks at the television before it automatically shuts back off, they will immediately be killed by The Stalker.

### Nightmare Mode

* The Television attack can occur simultaneously with other attacks
* Occasionally, the shower will start running at random. If left untreated, the bathtub will fill up and flood into the electrical socket, causing the power to go out in the room and all lights to shut off.
* The Stalker will no longer open the closet door during its attack; instead, it will simply sit inside the closet and attack the player if they pass by it. This can be avoided by opening the closet door while it's hiding in there, scaring it off as it retreats into the dark back of the closet.
* The Stalker will occasionally knock on the bedroom door. The player should check the door's peephole and react according to The Stalker's position; if it's seen darting away, the player will hear a rustling sound behind them and The Stalker will immediately be hiding in the closet when the player leaves, and will quickly be killed if they don't open the closet door. If it's nowhere to be seen, The Stalker is most likely hiding around the corner, in which case opening the door will result in immediate death. If The Stalker is staring back at the player through the peephole, the door should be opened to scare it off.
* As with the original boss fight, the attacks begin in sequential order, but the order is randomized after the first set of attacks.

## Trivia

* The Stalker was the first character and first encounter designed for Raven's Point.
* The Stalker was originally meant to be encountered in The Basement, until later replaced by The Rabbit.
* A playable version of the fight against The Stalker was the first playable gameplay for Raven's Point. Despite being created before The Rabbit's boss fight, The Stalker's fight was far less polished and, as a result, was not previewed until The Silence Demo almost a year later.
* Previous versions of The Stalker's fight (including the encounter in The Silence Demo) took place in The Bedroom rather than The Hotel. This was later changed as the entire house was intended to be a sort of "safe zone", where no boss fights would occur.
* The Stalker has gone through three radical changes in design, though all three maintain the lanky, naked humanoid appearance.
* The model for The Stalker used in The Silence Demo was created in Adobe Fuse and then sculpted on top of in Blender. The model for The Stalker seen in the final game was created by fellow horror game developer, Matt Reeves.