The Distorted

> This article is about the Distorted - the hosts of the Distortion. To see an in-depth study of the virus itself, see **The Distortion**.
>
>

## Characteristics

### Eye color

Normal (when not hostile)Silver (when hostile)

## Appearances

### Debut

Episode 03 - The Distortion

Mercenaries that have been successfully infected by the **Distortion** are referred to as the **Distorted**. They serve the Alien faction as cannon fodder with the purpose to invade and kill all sentient life in the entire server network. A server that has been successfully taken over by the Distorted is referred to as a ***Derelict***.

The mercenaries are the most common kind of infected beings seen throughout the series. They are visually almost indistinguishable from their normal non-infected counterparts, excluding their main differentiating factor - their face. The infected faces are mangled, horrific and twisted, hence their namesake.

Distorted go through several stages of change in their lifespan should they remain alive for extended and undetermined periods of time. These changes are documented as *Stages Zero* (0) to *Two* (2). Their body will slowly change over the course of their lifespan with said stages, with the most noticeable change being their intelligence recovering to its initial state prior to infection - allowing the Distorted to use weapons and tactics during combat; along with being able to blend-in and pretend to be normal in uninfected servers with near-perfect execution.

However, instead of going through the usual three stages during their lifespan, some Distorted are prone to mutate into more grotesque creatures with much more specific roles, either during combat or in their derelicts. These Distorted are known as Variants - horrible mutations made by a primitive mechanism of the Distortion, which have drastically changed their purpose to be suited only for combat related roles, as their malformed bodies make them impossible to be infiltrated in unsuspecting servers.

## Distorted Mercenaries

The mercenaries have different behaviors and traits depending on the class, such as Soldiers being more of authoritative leaders, or Scouts being more animalistic with abilities such as latching on walls or pouncing on their victims.

### Scouts

They are fast, nimble and have animalistic abilities such latching on walls or pouncing on their victims. Distorted Scouts are not very strong so they can be killed rather easily even with a standard shotgun.

Like most of the Distorted, fire will very quickly get rid of them.

Full body view of a Distorted Scout
### Soldiers

Soldiers are rather slow, but are very strong in terms of health and physical power. Some of them have the role of a leader and issue commands to the lesser Distorted. Due to their class' intelligence, these evolve into the later stages at an accelerated rate, thus making Distorted Soldiers a dangerous threat if left unattended for too long.

### Pyros

These abominations are the most intelligent and the highest threat of the regular Distorted mercenaries. From a distance, they are not recognizable as a Distorted due to their completely normal appearance, giving them the opportunity to slip by or approach their unaware victims. A Distorted Pyro, when infected, retains all of its intelligence, allowing it to do things such as flanking and use weapons.

Its resilience is increased to disturbingly high levels, showcasing occurrences where it survives attacks such as a Magnum Opus headshot or a Scorch Shot projectile thrown at incredibly fast speeds by Crush, remaining relatively capable of attacking even while completely headless.

They are aware that their faces are what give them away, and some of them have been shown to hide it under hats while blending in with the mercenaries. The disturbing visage is used as an intimidation tool towards more fragile minded mercenaries, such as Fixer, who was frozen in fear for a short while during his first encounter with one.

Full body view of a RED Distorted Pyro
### Demomen

Distorted Demomen are quite unpredictable and reckless due the common Demoman's drunken nature, often rushing into battle with no sense of self-preservation. Most Drone-staged Demomen are not threatening on their own, but hosts that keep or restore their intelligence through the later stages can be extremely dangerous due to their weapons and frequent kamikaze tendencies.

### Heavies

Distorted Heavies are arguably the most physically strong of all the Distorted mercenaries, being capable of dealing and withstanding large amounts of damage before dying for good. They have the highest chance to be resurrected due to their strong bodies.

Heavies do not seem to regain most of their intelligence when a new infected is made, often relying on their fists and behaving similarly to of an angry gorilla. They can be outsmarted relatively easily by clever mercenaries and have no sense of self-preservation like most Drone staged Distorted. However, it is ill-advised to allow a Distorted Heavy to close the distance as their strength is often underestimated.

Full body view of a Distorted HeavyA stage one Distorted Heavy
### Engineers

Engineers, when recently infected, are considered as standard cannon fodder for the Distorted. Some of their intelligence is retained, but are often not enough to be considered as a threat on their own, as they rely on their physical strength and bite to inflict damage to victims. Their bite should not be underestimated as it can deal massive damage to any mercenary.

In later stages of infection, Engineers are extremely dangerous due to their intelligence; ability to build corrupted contraptions; and make use of clever weapon mixing such as a Gunslinger with a Frontier Justice to quickly build "revenge-crits", a Short Circuit to maximize on defense from incoming fire, or a Rescue Ranger to keep the pressure on the victims' attempts to destroy its buildings and recover them from nearly successful attempts.

### Medics

Medics are an extremely dangerous asset to have within a Distorted group due to their high intelligence. When infected, a Distorted Medic has the intelligence to utilize its weapons without issue. They have a great sense of self-preservation and can guide other Distorted should it be deemed as necessary.

What makes Distorted Medics extremely dangerous is their ability to resurrect any Distorted that have been killed - but not started decomposition, with their medi-gun. Dead Distorted resurrect in seconds, fully capable of returning to the onslaught with no repercussions. This resurrection ability bypasses any restrictions related to the server's game mode, or even the type of medi-gun being used by the Medic.

A normal Medic's natural health regeneration is enhanced to great extent when it is a Distorted, even if said Medic has been recently infected - allowing themselves to regenerate lost limbs in great speed.

### Snipers

Recently infected Snipers are trivial targets because of their fragile bodies and inability to use weapons, acting more as cannon fodder similar to other Drone-staged Distorted. When a Sniper has reached a higher stage of infection, they can use their weapons with deadly efficiency and are now considered as one of the most dangerous kinds of Distorted. They often hide, flank, use cover from several sources such as walls, barriers, even other fellow Distorted.

### Spies

They are very cunning and often utilize tactics to get the jump on unaware victims. Most Distorted Spies regain their ability to use their currently equipped cloaking device and knife when recently infected. The same can not be said for their ranged weapons, as the latter as to regain higher stages of intelligence to be able to use them.

Some of them, although rare, have been seen with more offense capabilities by having several knives merged with their fingers, functioning like claws.

Full body view of a Distorted Spy
## The Variants

Variants are the mutated versions of the Distorted. Through some unknown mechanism of the alien disease, a small percentage of the Distorted will undergo a dramatic mutation, eventually turning into one of these special infected, each with their own unique inhuman abilities. Most variants possess higher intelligence than most common Distorted.

### The Bruiser

The Bruiser is a hulking, raging monster with an accelerated development of muscle mass in a contained level, using ever-lasting amounts of adrenaline as fuel for its destructive wrath. These Variants are very often created from mercenaries with developed musculature, such as V.A.C members. In theory, this variant can be created from any mercenary class, but it prefers to utilize large statured bodies for this purpose: Heavies, Soldiers, Demomen, and Pyros are prime targets for this kind of mutation.

The Bruiser is a relatively tame looking mercenary with exaggerated proportions, with quite a large stature. The shoulders are wider and stronger, along with the arms and hands. A Bruiser can protect its vulnerable head very easily with its two arms as a meat-shield. The torso is also altered to withstand all of its increased body mass, while the legs are only slightly larger, but still with additional muscle mass – unlike its comparable fellow Variant, the Slam. ( copied and pasted from its own wiki )

Full body view of a Bruiser
### The Bulwark

The Bulwark is an amalgamation of organic bodies and twisted flesh. These Variants are created from the total biomass of a corpse pile through a primitive interaction from the virus itself. They are considered as strong living tanks, built for defense – hence their namesake. Bulwarks are extremely resistant to damage because of their collected biomass, reinforced bone structure, and interlinked Distortion hosts - increasing their tissue regeneration to astonishingly high rates. This type of variant is considered rare as corpse piles are not often seen within compromised servers; or derelicts, as the Distortion will eventually successfully turn each individual into a suitable host. Whether the host is dead or alive before the virus takes over is irrelevant, as all Distorted will eventually resurrect if the bodies are not damaged beyond repair, and not disposed by fire. A Bulwark cannot be created from a single body nor by forcing a mutation from a Lieutenant alien walker.

Bulwarks are often used by fellow Distorted as living cover; or a big distraction for unsuspecting victims. ( copied and pasted for its own wiki )

Full body view of a Bulwark
### The Slam

Slams are large-statured Variants with an oversized, club-like arm. They are easily identifiable in a group due to their unique height. As their name suggests, they use their giant mutated arm to crush their victims. Due to their vastly increase muscle mass density, their skin has peeled off, showing the muscle tissue on their arms and mangled faces.

This particular type of variant is considered rare, and thus will not be seen often amongst the Distorted by natural means, unless the mutation is forced upon by a Lieutenant alien walker.

Full body view of a Slam
### The Vile

The Vile is a common Variant focused on ambushing or flanking its victims before expiring itself in a violent and devastating acidic explosion. A Vile is the result of a somewhat common organic reaction of the Distortion towards Medic hosts when regenerating lost tissue in the cerebral cortex.

This type of variant can be a common encounter in compromised servers or derelicts. A Vile can also be created by forcing a mutation from a Lieutenant’s flash.

Viles are disposable, easy to create, can deal massive damage to anyone within its explosion radius, and have enough intelligence to utilize ambush and flanking tactics to reach their target.

Full body view of a Vile
### The Whimmer

The Whimmer is an environmental hazard, deployed within derelict servers to isolate and secure any inbound and outbound signals, and seize function of any electronic devices within its vicinity. Whimmers are often deployed in groups to intensify and be more efficient in their sole purpose. They are a very common Variant as their big groups and frequent appearances prove their highly successful mutation rates.

A Whimmer will move on its own accord to find the most efficient spot to utilize its jamming ability. They will then become idle and a constant electronic “singing” will be heard.  During their singing, random gibberish can be heard, including distorted and undecipherable Morse code.

As it was explained by KIA himself, Whimmers by themselves are completely harmless. They only exist to perform their purpose of being a living jamming device. They don’t react to any kind of outside source, like noise; damage inflicted upon it; or speech. They also have no sense of self-preservation.

It is not clear if Whimmers themselves are sentient or self-aware, like their fellow Distorted and Variants counterparts. ( copied and pasted from its wiki )

Full body view of a Whimmer