Revenant

## Summary

**Revenants** are immortal, vampiric creatures who were once human but were revived after death. To be more specific, revenants are humans who have been implanted with a scientifically engineered parasite that allows their revival into immortal-like enhanced beings that won't die unless their heart is destroyed. The parasite that allowed the creation of the revenant was originally being developed for medical purposes.

However, the appearance of the horrors after the Great Calamity pressured its objective change to military application. Revenants were a sliver of hope that could actually fight off the horrors.
Now all known revenants are imprisoned inside the Gaol of the Mists together with the Lost, horrors and a small population of surviving humans. It is a society of revenants. This Gaol of the Mists is in crisis, however. Food becoming scarcer and the numbers of the Lost are increasing.

## History of Revenant Kind

Before the Great Collapse researchers Karen Amamiya and Aurora were developing the Biological Organ Regenerative Parasite - BOR Parasite - for medical use. But that medical use switched to military uses when the horrors appeared after the Great Calamity. Juzo Mido became part BOR Parasite research team at this time. The corpses from humans killed in the Great Collapse were used to create near-perfect immortal beings and soldiers that could fight off the horrors.

There was a disturbing problem, however: bloodthirst. (Also termed as thirst and bloodlust)

A project began at this time to create a more powerful BOR Parasite by feeding it every kind of blood known to man. This project was dubbed the QUEEN Project. Cruz Silva became the host of the QUEEN Project's BOR Parasite. We can infer from dialogue with revenant Jack Rutherford in the Protagonist’s memory that Cruz made contributions using her powers to better the lives of **revenants** and humans alike in the struggle against the horrors. These included the creation of mistles that help clear the air of bloodthirst-accelerating miasma, a kind of medicine made from her blood that activated these mistles, technology into the development of the revenants’s blood masks, and more.

Cruz had high compatibility with this QUEEN BOR Parasite, but could not control its power in the end. The parasite took over Cruz’s nervous system. She was dubbed the Queen in her ensuing frenzy.

It is assumed from dialogue content with Louis Amamiya that the Operation Queenslayer conflict dragged on long enough for the corpses of children to be dragged into growing revenant forces to kill the Queen.

It sounds like since the defeat of the Queen even more years have passed. It has been enough time that even third generation revenants like Louis and Yakumo have noticed that revenants do not age.

## Biology

### **Revenant Transformation**

Revenants are created by implanting an engineered BOR Parasite into the heart of a human corpse. Though, there appear to be cases where a BOR Parasite is implanted into a living human to turn them into a revenant (Cruz Silva and Eva Roux). The parasite injects its own blood into the host from the heart to revitalize and revive the rest of the body. However, early results of implanting the BOR Parasite had trouble keeping the host from frenzying, particularly with the parasite’s need for blood.

By holding the parasite's invasion at a certain level, the hosts are able to maintain their own volition, but the revival could take years, depending on the individual. Revenants like Gregorio Silva, Emily Su, and Karen Amamiya are examples of those who woke up not long after their parasite implantation. Louis Amamiya, Yakumo Shinonome, and Mia Karnstein are examples of revenants who took much longer to wake up.

### **Bloodthirst**

Perhaps one of the first things a revenant will experience upon waking is the bloodthirst. Revenants need blood to sustain themselves and quell that bloodthirst. Human blood was all that was available in the early days of revenant existence. It was only after Operation Queenslayer that Bloodsprings appeared and provided Blood Beads, a substitute for human blood that can sustain revenants. The smell of fresh human blood its still a powerful sensation for revenants, however. Revenants can still eat food (as seen done by Yakumo). But regular food is not useful for staving off thirst. Some revenants may eat particular foods as an important way for them to retain their humanity.

Once a revenant frenzies and becomes part of the Lost they are gone for good. They will be unable to return to normal. What happens when a revenant frenzies is that the BOR Parasite inside excites and takes over the central nervous system. Even Cruz Silva’s case of frenzy was caused by her uniquely powerful BOR Parasite and its thirst for blood (assumingely).

Revenants can be pushed to frenzy in four known ways. First, if they push their thirst due to lack of access to blood or Blood Beads. Second, bloodlust can be accelerated from exposure to the Miasma released by the Lost. This is why revenants use purifier masks when out in miasma-thick areas. The purifier masks utilze a revenant user’s own blood to mask the smell of the miasma. Third, revenants who are enticed by the voices from Vestiges and pick them are overwhelmed and become part of the Lost. Fourth, if a revenant tries to absorb another revenant’s blood code their bodies will reject it and they will become one of the Lost. Blood veils purify the blood absorbed from enemies before use by the revenant. So, the blood veils may be preventing frenzy from absorbing another’s blood code. (Except, the Queen’s blood still passes on to a user even if they use a blood veil).

### **Dispersal and Death**

A revenant is a seemingly immortal being. When the host—a revenant—is injured, the BOR Parasite will cause the area to disperse and regenerate the damaged parts, even critical injuries. A revenant can die and revive over and over again.

However, if the heart of a revenant is destroyed their body will dissolve into ash, unable to revive again. The Queen is the only exception to this rule. The Queen’s BOR Parasite is able to regenerate itself even if the heart is destroyed. Successors—those who hold the pieces of the Queen’s body, called Relics—have a similar trait. Successors are able to revive as long as their Relic is still active. (See the article on Successors for more information)

### **Memory Loss**

Losing oneself to thirst is not the only thing a revenant can loose. Every revenant has had memory loss of some level. Memory loss occurs when a Revenant is first revived by the BOR Parasite or upon receiving fatal injuries. However, most Revenants are unaware of their lost memories. Those that are aware appear to be those who have lost significant portions of their memory. Lost memories of the revenant are contained in Vestiges, the crystallized residue that remains when a revenant or one of the Lost disperses or turns into ash.

Miscellaneous items can hold important value to revenants by helping them to retain their humanity in this struggling post-apocalyptic world. As for which items are valuable depends upon the revenant. In the game you notice this by what dialogue characters give you when you give them certain items you find or buy in the world. Those items can be fragrant tea, old comics, pungent cheese, and bugarally dolls and more. (The items most valuable to a character can tell you more about them as well). You may also notice that a number of revenants wear necklaces. Examples are Jack Rutherford, Eva Roux, Louis Amamiya, Oliver Collins, even Io and the other Attendants. Perhaps they are part of revenants holding on to valuables that are dear to them.

## Blood Codes

Revenants have physical capabilities that surpass the average human. There is one trait that is particularly unique to the revenants: blood code. Blood codes are different powers each revenant has that course within their veins. A Revenant usually has one blood code that is unique to them. They cannot take on and use another revenant’s blood code without their bodies rejecting it and becoming one of the Lost. This was the case for all the revenants who consumed some of the Queen’s blood. (The Protagonist, however, is a unique case.)

A Revenant's blood code has gifts that are determined by their blood code.

Louis Amamiya explains to the Protagonist:

> *“Revenants have blood types that differ from those of humans. These types greatly affect a revenant’s abilities. However, your blood has no specific type—or more accurately, your type is broken. Your abilities—and the fact that you have no specific type—might be due to your being what we call a “Void-type.” You were able to gain another revenant’s power through a Vestige, right? That phenomenon is unique to Void-types.”*
>
>

This could propose two things. First, that amongst the blood codes there are types that affect the abilities of a blood code and its gifts for a revenant. Second, that the Protagonist’s “broken” blood type—or at least the lack of a specific type—could be a phenomenon Louis has seen before in his research into the blood beads. This could also simply be Louis using different terminology for the phenomena described by Cruz to the Protagonist before they woke up in the current time. This possibility would eliminate the previous hypothesis just listed.

## Known Revenants

* Protagonist
* Io
* Louis Amamiya
* Mia Karnstein
* Yakumo Shinonome
* Jack Rutherford
* Eva Roux
* Rin Murasame
* Coco
* Karen
* Davis
* Nicolas Karnstein
* Emily Su
* Gregorio Silva
* Cruz Silva
* Juzo Mido
* Oliver Collins

## Revenant Generations

### 1st Generation Revenants

These revenants were created in the wake of the Great Calamity as an effort to fight against the horrors. It is in this generation that the concern about bloodlust arose. Also, blood bead did not exist at this time. Bloodlust had to be satiated with human blood.

There are no confirmed 1st generation revenants amongst the characters we know.

### 2nd Generation Revenants

These revenants were specifically revived in the wake of the failure of the QUEEN project. Second generation revenants were revived from the corpses of those who died in the Great Calamity like the first generation, but also included humans who were killed when the Queen frenzied and became part of the Lost. The creation of these revenants was explosive because of the manpower needed for Operation Queenslayer, the initiative to kill the Queen. As the length of Operation Queenslayer dragged on, even the corpses of children were revived into revenant in efforts towards the operation. These children were weak revenants who are often taken advantage of in the land of the Gaol of the Mists.

Confirmed 2nd Generation Revenants are:

* Gregorio Silva
* Karen Amamiya

* Hunter (inferred due to his young age and the rush to put him into the battlefield at the time of Operation Queenslayer as a new recruit)
* Nicola Karnstein
* Rin Murasame
* Miguel
* Emily Su
* Riki
* Juzo Mido

### 3rd Generation Revenants

Although they were implanted with the BOR Parasite to help fight off the Queen, these revenants did not revive until after Operation Queenslayer and the appearance of the Red Mist. Many of them are unaware of the events following The Great Collapse, or why they were revived at all. A large number of them inevitably called for the liberation of revenants and acted against the Provisional Government due to the lack of information in circulation and restrictive treatment.

Confirmed 3rd Generation Revenants are:

* Louis Amamiya
* Yakumo Shinonome
* Mia Karnstein

\*\*\*It is unknown what generation the Protagonist falls under. In the game you wake up like a 3rd generation revenant, after the Queenslayer operation. Then you learn that you were actually a part of operation Queenslayer. It is still unknown if the Protagonist was part of the first generation or second generation revenant. Both cases are technically possible because of the Protagonist’s time of birth as a revenant is unsaid.

### 4th Generation revenants- (Black Market)

These revenants were revived by BOR Parasites implanted after Operation Queenslayer. Nearly all BOR Parasites were destroyed after Project QUEEN was frozen, but a tiny number found their way to the black market and started spreading across the mostly depopulated Veil. Many revenants of this generation are small children due to the fact that the parasites cost small fortunes. Alongside the aforementioned information BOR parasites became scarce after project queenslayer came to its conclusion, leaving many of the slain to rot in their graves.