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 Distortion will often leave the body of the host surprisingly intact, only with a larger than normal stature of bigger height and weight being the main differentiating factors from a normal Distorted host.

These variants are somewhat uncommon to find in derelicts or in a Distorted horde’s frontlines, as their requirement for a Bruiser to be created is very low.

The Bruiser mutation can be forced by a Lieutenant alien walker with quite successful results, should the host have an aforementioned developed musculature.

## Appearance

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.

## Abilities & Weaknesses

### Intelligence

Unlike most Variants, a Bruiser will remain intelligent to the point of using the environment to its advantage, such throwing rebar sticks as spears, using thick fog and large cover to conceal its large appearance and secure it a surprise attack. The first Bruiser managed to utilize this successfully against Heavy Guy – by hiding behind large rocks and using the thick fog to conceal its retreat, it scavenged a throwable weapon and inflicted a surprise attack to him – theoretically “killing” Heavy Guy if it weren’t for the Omen’s omnipotent abilities.

### Muscle Mass

The Bruiser’s vastly increased muscle mass is its main ability, and its namesake. Any kind of physical damage inflicted by a Bruiser to a person is nearly guaranteed to be lethal, even if the victim is equipped with trauma-proof armor on a medium scale. Heavy Guy himself also admitted that he wasn’t sure if he could ever recover one of its punches, face to face.

Anything thrown by a Bruiser will be extremely deadly and fast to the point where even an experienced stand user like Heavy Guy could not react fast enough to dodge it mid-flight. However, physical attacks can be dodged relatively easily as they are not known for being fast. Thrown objects can be dodged by a wary mercenary should they notice the Bruiser preparing itself for the throw.

The physical damage of a thrown projectile was showcased in Episode 06, where the thrown rebar stick went entirely inside thick concrete foundation.

### Endless Adrenaline Supply

The Bruiser is known for its destructive and uncontainable aggression. This is only possible by the adrenaline supplies provided to the creature’s body by the Distortion, as it develops it in its blood stream – sending the body into an overdrive and a constant urge to destroy its victims to pieces.

### Unaltered Brain

A Bruiser’s primary weakness is its unaltered brain in terms of size, unlike its entire body – including the bone and muscle layers of the head. Bruisers hit with enough blunt force to the head can and will suffer from concussions frequently, forcing the creature to stop in its tracks so it can recover its senses. Enough blunt force trauma to the brain will destroy it, effectively putting the beast down for good.

### Slight Healing Factor

Bruisers have a slight healing factor, meaning that eventually they will succumb to their wounds during battle, as the adrenaline will not be able to keep the Bruiser’s body functioning without large amounts of blood being lost.

## Trivia

* The behavior and sound design from the Bruiser is directly inspired from the Demolisher in the Dying Light series;