Chris Walker

Chris Walker is one of the major antagonists of the survival horror video game Outlast. He is an ex-military mental patient of Mount Massive Asylum who was a part of Project Walrider, causing him to become mutated and extremely strong. He is part of a catergory called Variants, patients who have been altered by Doctor Wernicke's experiments. He pursues Miles Upshurt throughout the entire game in an attempt to kill him.

Background
Having served in Afghanistan as a military officier he suffers from trauma and was admitted to Mount Massive Asylum for treatment. Since Murkoff Psychiatric Systems had taken control of the Asylum, Walker was subjected to their inhumane experiments. As part of Project Walrider, he suffered dermal eruptions due to failed celluar activity and gained superhuman strength from unknown hormone schedules. Not being a compatible subject for the Morphogenic Engine, Walker was restrained through both physical and chemical means and legitmate therapy was neglected. It is likely that this exaggerated his condition, which according to interview notes, was a manic exaggeration of military security and protocol. This obsession would prove to be unfortunate for many patients, employees and most importantly, Miles Upshur, when a security breach occurred.

Appearance
Chris Walker is naturally a large man, but exposure to Project Walrider mutations has only made him more massive. He wears only pants with chains on them, creating an audible noise when he walks. His upper body is heavily muscular and hulking and he is slightly taller than Miles. He is bald, a trait all of the Variants share and has ripped skin off of his forehead, claiming that it gives him truer vision. Suffering from anxiety, he mutilated his face as soon as he was free of restraints, removing his nose and lips, giving him a monstrous appearance. His jaw is thick and his eyes project a feeling of mercilessness.

Personality

Walker has an extreme obsession with maintaning order and military protocol, heard mumbling to himself about it when he is not aware of Miles' presence. He is both ruthless and relentless, pursuing Miles from the moment he discovers him and never relenting. He kills any person; patient, security or otherwise if he believes that they are a possible host for the Walrider. In this sense, he is more of an anti-villain, commiting atrocious acts for a greater cause. It is possible that he is an enemy of Father Martin's cult that intends to set the Walrider free on the world due to their conflicting beliefs. He does not seem to hate Miles, even saying things like, "I just want to help you." "I'll make the pain stop." and "I'm coming. You won't have to kill yourself." implying that he knows what Miles fate is and may even be trying to help him by killing him before he dies a slow, painful death at the hands of Billy. Despite this, upon seeing Miles he will begin breathing very heavily and angrily and roar in frustration when Miles escapes him, being very determined to stop this threat. Miles seems to have a similar feeling towards him, feeling sympathetic for him after he is killed by the Walrider and seems to understand his intentions though he is very angry that Walker is attempting to kill him. He also seems to take pride in his beheadings, keeping a large collection of heads as trophies as well as the barely living Stephenson who later dies from his injuries.

Story
After the security breach, Walker roams the Asylum, killing any and all people he sees as potential hosts for the Walrider, security and patients alike. Many headless corpses are seen, mainly in the Administration Block, thanks to Walker's attempts at containment. He has a massive collection of heads and is likely the one responsible for impaling Stephenson on a large spear of wood.

Shortly after sneaking into the Asylum, Miles sees a Wallker enter a room, mumbling. After passing by and attempting to squeeze through a small gap, he is grabbed by Walker who calls him "little pig" and thrown through a glass pane, falling down about twenty feet.Later, when Walker realizes the fall did not kill Miles he breaks into the Security Control room to look for him but leaves as Miles hides in a locker. Not seen for a period of time, Walker is later seen ripping the head off of a security guard and talking about containment. Soon after, Miles opens a decontamination room which Walker enters and breaks the glass to the control room and Miles exits through an air vent. Blasted out a window by an explosion, Miles is pursued by Walker but escapes by squeezing through a barricade.

In the sewers, while attempting to drain the water to continue, Walker further hinders Miles' progress but Miles succeeds in the drainage and escapes down a ladder. Walker does not give up, however and stalks Miles in a large, dark room completely filled with waist deep water where Miles again escapes using a ladder.

He tries to kill Miles once more while he turns on the sprinklers to put out a fire and fails again. Out in the Courtyard, he comes very close to capturing Miles but is unable to fit through a small gap that Miles moves through. Miles sneaks past him on the way to meet Father Martin and he appears to chase Miles one last time after Miles gets the elevator key to exit. Miles barely manages to hide from him and rush out of the hall and attempts to use the elevator to leave the Asylum. When it is revealed that Father Martin tricked Miles into entering the Underground Lab where the Walrider's host, Billy Hope, resides, Miles is chased by the Walrider back the way he came.



Upon opening a door, Walker grabs Miles and throws him on the ground, telling him he won't escape this time and utters his nickname for Miles, little pig, one last time. Unknowingly having put himself in the path of the charging Walrider, he is grabbed and spiraled away from Miles, slamming into a wall. As the Walrider relentlessly beats him against the walls, he growls in rage and agony before being beaten so much that he can do nothing but make choking sounds. Miles films this as the Walrider lifts him up into the air and flies with him through a closed air grate, forcing Walker's huge body through such a tiny area, which shreds his body and spills a massive amount of blood and guts on the surrounding area. He is ironically killed by the very thing he was trying to contain.

Miles reflects upon his death in the note Death of the Soldier, saying, "This is the way you die. Ripped to pieces from the inside, watching your marrow scatter on a concrete wall. You've escaped one Hell, Chris Walker. God help me but I somehow hope you didn't find another."

Outlast: Whistleblower
Chris Walker makes an appearance in this DLC, set several hours before Miles Upshur arrives at the Asylum. While being choked by Jeremy Blaire, Waylon Park is saved by the timely arrival of Chris Walker which causes Blaire to flee and leave Waylon to die. Breaking down the door with a recently murdered patient, Walker enters the room and Waylon is able to make his way past him and escapes through a small gap.

A short time after that, Walker appears and pursues Waylon down a hallway, attempting to kill him for the sake of containment. Waylon is able to escape through a window onto the roof and jump down to the ground. Seemingly not perceiving Waylon as much of a potential host, Walker ceases his attempts to kill him and is not seen again in the game.

Abilities
Chris Walker's most notable attribute is his incredible strength which is sufficient enough to effortlessly lift a full grown man by his neck with one arm and then proceed to tear their torso from their head. He can easily kill the other Variants who all possess superhuman strength as well and throw one of them from at least fifteen feet away with enough force to break down a sturdy metal door. He can break down any and all doors including heavy metal ones, normal wooden ones and iron metal gates. His strength is also enough to possibly break through solid walls given enough time, considering that would be the only explanation for his ability to pursue Miles to areas he cannot reach normally. He is also considerably nimble for his size and can jump over obstacles just as easily as the very agile Miles and can run only slightly slower than him. He is rather intelligent as he is able to track Miles throughout his adventure, decide who is a potential Walrider host and is better at tracking than almost all the other enemies encountered with perhaps the exception of Richard Trager and Frank Manera. This is due to his keen sense of hearing and he is also smart enough to check multiple hiding spots.