Bacteria

## Bacteria/Lifeform

An instance of bacteria that Kane Pints encountered during The Backrooms (Found Footage)

### Aliases

Lifeform
Lifeform Fellow
 Marvin's friend (by Async)
Squiggler

## Physical description

### Species

Hay bacillus (presumably)
Human (possibly)

## Appearances

### Appears in

The Backrooms (Found Footage)
Backrooms - Motion Detected
Backrooms - Pitfalls
Backrooms - Report (archive footage)
Backrooms - Found Footage 2

### Debut

The Backrooms (Found Footage)

**The Bacteria** (also known as a **Lifeform**, **Lifeform Fellow**, **Entity**, or simply **Creature**) is a humanoid creature (or possibly a group of creatures) that inhabit the Backrooms, preying on victims that have found themselves in their presence. They're extremely hostile toward humans and have been cause for concern among the Async Research Institute in their mission to study the Backrooms.

The creature seems to "come to life" from a black substance resembling mold around the Backrooms. The entities presumably killed who is theorized to be Nicolas Bolton, evidenced by the severe tissue damage and mutated bacteria inside his body. It most likely killed many other people who fell into the Backrooms too.

## History

The origins of the creatures are debated. It could have been in the Backrooms long before Async created the Threshold.

The Lifeform appears to wander the Backrooms randomly, often making noises which seem similar to human speech, however it is unclear if the creature understands the meaning of these sounds.

On March 5, 1990, Async set up several motion detection cameras inside the Backrooms. At 01:06:44, an undetermined noise was detected, probably coming from the creature. But at 03:53:42, motion was detected of the unknown creature crawling across the ceiling and peeking behind a corner. The creature was far away, so the footage was not clear, but it gave Async the first clue to the existence of a dangerous creature. During this time, it had a more fluid appearance and seemed to be pretty slow.

The Lifeform would first come in contact with Async after Async member Marvin E. Leigh fell into a new area of the Backrooms. The Lifeform lured Marvin deeper into the area and toward its hiding spot by precisely mimicking a human screaming for help. Since a human likely had lived in the area where the Lifeform was encountered, it can be implied that it was imitating the person's voice. Luckily, Marvin noticed it was not a person as soon as he saw it, and immediately fled. The Lifeform gave chase, but failed to match Marvin's speed, so Marvin managed to escape back the way he came, with help from his colleagues.

Importantly, Marvin got the creature on camera, and the team gave the footage to Async as soon as they came back. Now the organization had indisputable evidence of the dangerous creature living inside the Backrooms, and they promptly set up more safety precautions. They sealed off the way the research team found the monster in, but a construction worker heard a strange sound coming from above. It is unknown if this creature found a way out of this area or if any creatures seen after this are different entities.

Around a month after this incident, Async reopened the pathway leading to the room seen in Pitfalls. After confirming the pathway was safe with the use of a unmanned rover, Async teams traveled to the room to study it and install walkways. When a secondary team is sent to explore the nearby rooms, they are equipped with a shotgun - likely as a means of defence, should they encounter the entity.

Kane Pints fell into the Backrooms on July 4, 1991 (The camera and its footage were discovered in September 1996). The creature stalked Kane as he traversed the Backrooms, and hid behind corners when Kane caught any glimpses of it. After following arrows drawn on the walls, Kane found a strange drawing on a wall in a large open space. The drawing on the wall included a bit of text reading “don't move, stay still”, with a depiction of a window with fields behind it. Then the monster revealed itself, and Kane sprinted away from the scene. Kane narrowly escaped by jumping into a square pit that led to a new area (currently unknown as to why the Lifeform did not follow Kane down the pit,) then continued exploring further until Kane encountered the Lifeform again when a chair was hurled at a wall by it. Kane was reasonably startled, and began to flee and search for a place to hide himself. The Lifeform stopped outside the hiding place Kane had chosen, so he retreated further into the crevice in the wall, approaching a steep hole downward, where, upon stopping, the Lifeform makes itself known again, and attacks Kane from behind, taking hold of him and presumably ending his life shortly after. The camera falls downward into the pit and exits the Backrooms, falling from the sky and into a small park, where it is discovered later.

An instance of the creature would find another victim of the Backrooms on August 19, 1995 when it "wakes up" in a dark room and proceeded to chase after the Found Footage 2 Protagonist. The Lifeform gives chase once again, and the victim flees as far as they can into a hole in the floor, where they are eventually cornered in a small room, and unexplained glowing green cracks form in the walls, and the signal is cut off from the camera to whoever was watching the footage on their television. Perhaps an A-Sync employee had been connected to the feed from the camera the whole time, and had been spectating the victim's voyage.

## Appearance and biology

The Bacteria seemingly bears no concrete form, but is very tall, thin and vaguely humanoid in shape, standing on two legs. Its limbs are very thin and stiff, but it can still move fast and quietly. The arms reach the floor and it has long, thin fingers, while its legs are relatively short and lack feet. A cable-like string wraps around the body and legs. Despite its appearance, the monster is proven to unusual strength and can easily lift and do considerable damage to a human. During the second encounter in Found Footage 1, the Lifeform hurls a chair at immense speeds before engaging into a chase with Kane.

The creature's intelligence is currently unclear, as it is has mostly been seen giving chase to humans and roaring loudly. It also uses mimicry to lure victims, as shown in Pitfalls. Along with mimicry, it is an ambush hunter, stalking victims for a long time, peeking around corners, and hiding in the shadows while waiting for the perfect time to attack. Sometimes, it gives its victims a false sense of security before sneaking up behind them. It is unknown if it is capable of writing and drawing, as is it near a written message that Kane and the creature meet - perhaps the creature left the message there to lure victims, but it could very well be using a message left by another human as a trap, or perhaps a human left the message in a location they had observed the entity to return to. While chasing a victim, the monster produces a loud noise similar to distorted screaming or howling. Some people report hearing words like "Wait, don't go!" and "No, please!", but these are quite distorted, so it's unclear as to whether this is the entity itself speaking, or simply mimicking a human. It is not specified how it kills its victims, as the only body discovered to date died of malnutrition, and it has not explicitly killed anyone on screen, although the scene towards the end of Found Footage 1 where Kane is grabbed by the Lifeform heavily implies that it killed Kane shortly after the camera exited the Backrooms.

The monster is implied to be a colonial organism made of a mutated strain of hay bacillus, since that specific bacteria was found inside a corpse (commonly theorized to be Nicolas Bolton). It is described by the unnamed protagonist in Found Footage 2 as appearing "plant like". Its movements appear stiff and mechanical, leading to theories that it may be using objects discovered within the Backrooms to support its form, such as furniture, camera tripods, or building materials.

## Notes / Theories

1. ↑ The name "Bacteria" comes from Kane Pixels' Ko-fi gallery.
2. ↑ In an interview with Anthony Padilla, Kane insists the official title for the entity is Lifeform Fellow. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VIyWp3cNg3M
3. ↑ The creature may create a nest around dead bodies within the Backrooms, potentially using the corpses to grow new instances.
4. ↑ A strain of hay bacillus could have entered through the Threshold, or it could be a result from people falling into the Backrooms and dying there.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Further studying has confirmed that the sounds for the first chase within Found Footage #1 are slowed down and distorted monkey sounds. An in-depth analysis of the sound can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufl1IsuvnAg
6. ↑ It might be implied it took one of the cameras and used it as a makeshift skeleton. This is very much unconfirmed at this point in time.