Pale Smile

**Pale Smile** is a major antagonist in *Red Haze*.

## Appearance

Pale Smile takes on several forms, chief among the a giant vaguely humanoid figure with winglike arms and a grotesquely stretched face, featuring an oversized smile. Other forms include a face that can hide on walls and a smaller body more closely resembling human beings.

## Biography

Pale Smile is an reality-altering being of unclear origins, capable of creating their own dimension and twisting things (particularly living things) outside of it. Insisting that they simply want to make their victims "happy", Pale Smile will offer powerless individuals to play a game with them (at least in Rockette's case). From there, they will slowly mutate and transform their newfound "playmates" into unrecognizable and monstrous forms, as well as breaking down their minds and altering the victims to achieve a state of happiness as promised. It has been shown that this game can be turned down, though it is possible that the circumstances in which this is possible are only because of things such as one of Pale Smile's "proxies" being available to take the individuals hostage.

Pale Smile came to live in the Lighthouse Apartments at some point, making a home in the well situated in the basement. Eventually, the entity made contact with Edmund, the local janitor, and slowly began to change the lonely man into something beyond human, all while making him "happy". It is implied that Pale Smile made Edmund into a servant of sorts (though it may have been a voluntary offer on his part), snatching people and dropping them in the well for them to play with.

A criminal organization eventually discovered the effects of Pale Smile's "disease" within the Lighthouse Apartments and eventually created a drug to test the effects on people. A team of researchers oversaw the experimentation on countless women abducted by drug dealer and human trafficker Aunti G, whereupon dozens of young women, most poor and many searching for a hit, were physically and psychologically abused before being injected with the drug.

The results of Pale Smile's disease was astounding to them, with countless of the inoculated mutating, and several individuals transforming into bizarre and grotesque beings. These unique mutants were highly volatile and dangerous, and the several of the most powerful were trapped and abandoned by the researchers out of fear for their own lives. Aunti G herself began to change from the effects of either Pale Smile itself or the drug, something that one researcher in particular was disturbed by.

Despite being called Pale Smile, this name does not refer to Pale Smile as an individual, instead, Pale Smile is just one of the Pale Smiles. In Aestheticgamer's words, "this is a Pale Smile", this was confirmed in a OST test for a game called Pale Smile.

## *Bruises Glimmer in Starlight*

Though their specific origins are unclear, Pale Smile is revealed to have been the child of Gretta's sister, ultimately adopted by Gretta when her sister left the child to her. Despite being willing initially, Gretta came to be miserable in having to care for Pale Smile, who at the time was just a massive, disfigured head. Staying in a apartment complex and with her bills piling up, Gretta's opinion of Pale Smile became increasingly negative. However, they insisted that they would make do everything to make her happy, knowing full well that she was not.

Eventually growing further, Pale Smile first asks Gretta to bring them their bottle so that they can grow even further, all while she was being pursued by a mysterious creature. Pale Smile then tells to her to kill their mother, Gretta's sister, whom she can no longer remember (possibly due to Pale Smile's influence or something else's). Nearly fully grown, Pale Smile comforts Gretta regardless of her choice in the matter and tells her to go deeper into the tunnels of the apartments they're staying in, where they both can continue to grow and be happy. From there, Pale Smile's "disease" begins to warp her, affecting Gretta's mind and eventually her body, though she remains fully alert and self-aware, finally happy at long last.

## Trivia

* AestheticGamer has confirmed that before Pale Smile's original name was "Big Wah Wah". Their spritesheet in *Red Haze* is even called $GiantWahWah.png.