Villains Wiki

Hi. This is Thesecret1070. I am an admin of this site. Edit as much as you wish, but one little thing... If you are going to edit a lot, then make yourself a user and login. Other than that, enjoy Villains Wiki!!!

READ MORE

Villains Wiki
Advertisement
Warning
Scarfaceinthefall
This article's content is marked as Mature
The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older.

If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page.

Is someone there?
~ Tuurngait Infected upon hearing the player.

Tuurngait Infected, also known as "The Infected", are the secondary antagonists of the 2008 survival horror video game Penumbra: Black Plague. Once ordinary researchers working in the Arctic, they are re-animated human corpses connected by the Tuurngait. Although the Tuurngait is able to infect and transform multiple types of beings, mutated humans are the most prominent enemies seen in Black Plague.

The main protagonist of the game, Philip Buchanon, must escape the Infected that are dotted around The Shelter. With no weapons of any kind, Philip's only method of surviving the Infected is to run and hide.

History[]

Once standard human beings, their bodies were taken over by a process known as the "Tuurngait Virus". However, this was technically not a virus at all, but a method of the Tuurngait Hivemind controlling those who threaten it. The Tuurngait existed on Earth before mankind was fully developed, and were worshiped by the Inuit.

At an unknown point in time prior to the events of Penumbra: Overture, the Archaic invaded the Tuurngait's place of slumber, and with no way for the Tuurngait to defend itself, attacks by converting the invaders to mindless, undead husks of their former selves known as "The Infected". These Infected are now using these newly-claimed bodies to serve the Hivemind.

In-game notes explain that when far away from the Hivemind, a single Tuurngait Infected is less intelligent than a standard human, but when many Tuurngait-controlled beings are close together, they are far more intelligent than a standard human, due to the many combined thoughts of the Hivemind. By the time Philip receives a letter from his father in 2000 to travel to the North-Western Mine in Greenland, then eventually the Shelter Research Station, there are very few unaffected humans left, with most of them already becoming Infected.

During Philip's attempt at escaping The Shelter, he has already become infected with the Tuurngait Virus. However, instead of transforming into a mindless husk like the others, Philip undergoes a very unusual and unique effect: his consciousness is shared with a being that previously belonged to the Tuurngait, but somehow got separated from them and ended up inside the mind of Philip. This being gives himself the name of "Clarence", based on the guardian angel from It's a Wonderful Life. He facetiously speaks to Philip during the course of the game, as well as altering his senses, wishing that Philip would die, so Clarence can return to the Tuurngait.

Philip comes into contact with a Shelter employee, Dr. Amabel Swanson, who has come up with a cure for the Tuurngait Virus. To achieve this, Philip must access the labs to combine the needed chemicals to create this cure. Philip also comes across Dr. Richard Eminiss, who is about to offer his own hand by cutting it off, so Philip can use it to access a scanner, but at that very moment, Eminiss becomes an Infected and pursues Philip. However, Eminiss is tricked by Philip into being trapped in a room. When Philip finally reaches Dr. Swanson, Clarence alters Philip's mind so that Swanson appears as yet another Infected. Philip kills the Infected by dropping a crate on its head, but it's revealed that this Infected was really Dr. Swanson. Realizing Philip just killed the one person who was trying to help him, he is overcome with unspeakable grief and regret, swearing revenge on Clarence.

Philip finally creates the cure thanks to Dr. Swanson's notes, and seemingly rids himself of Clarence. However, Clarence somehow transfers himself into a nearby Infected body, attacking Philip, although Philip escapes. At the end of the game, the Tuurngait Infected stop their hostility toward Philip, and aims it toward Clarence, killing him for being separated from the Tuurngait.

The final part of the game has the Tuurngait placing Philip inside his own mind, giving him three tests he must complete to prove his morality to the Hivemind. The second test contains an Infected, which is able to attack Philip, but not kill him. Philip can kill this Infected, which will fail the test, so he must work with this Infected to complete it. After the end of the game, it is unknown what happens to the remaining Infected and the Tuurngait itself.

Behavior[]

The Infected prowl the game's hallways, and will give chase to Philip on sight. It isn't hard to be aware of their presence, an example being in darker areas, where they're carrying flashlights. If you do end up being noticed by an Infected, the most important thing to do is to run away. Running is the best and only way to handle an Infected, except two moments in Black Plague. The first moment being where you need to lure an Infected into a room and then trap it.

While they commonly vocalize through guttural growls and whines, they are actually capable of speaking. Whenever in the same vicinity as Philip, they can be heard saying things such as "Is someone there?", "Who there?", "Something isn't right." and "Nothing." along with other words that are harder to make out. Despite the Infected looking and sounding masculine, some of the Infected were also female. The transformation of the Infected seems to remove the genitals of the human, replacing it with a fleshy tube that connects to the stomach by going under the legs and attaching to the anus. It is possible that the Infected recycle nutrients or energy this way, but this is unconfirmed.

The Infected do not run purely on instinct and are fairly intelligent. They are all connected to each other through a central mind. To them there is no such thing as an "individual", Clarence, who was killed as punishment after becoming an individual. Infected are controlled and maintained by one mind known as "The Hive Mind". This is a spirit just like in an Inuit Mythology, this Hivemind connects every Infected in The Shelter, and they worship the spirit as seen in the Tuurngait Tomb door picture.

Infected can carry up to two items at maximum in their hands. These are items they can carry: flashlights, crowbars, and axes. Flashlights allow the Infected to see Philip in the dark much easier, breaking his stealth in unlit areas. Crowbars allow Infected to break doors down much easier and do more damage, just as axes do, albeit axes do more damage than the crowbar.

It is highly implied that those who fall victim to the Tuurngait do not get rest after death, but instead have their consciousness eternally trapped in the Hivemind, as they are stuck in a swirling vortex of madness and memories of others who have also fell victim. This is explained in Penumbra: Requiem when Shelter researcher Eloff Carpenter (who was extremely close to exposing the Tuurngait's weakness) explains his experiences after being killed by a Tuurngait Infected. When an Infected dies, they fall to their knees, choking, then falling dead.

Trivia[]

  • Their voice actor is unknown.
  • In the SOMA mod, Penumbra: Prisoner of Fate, the player takes the role of Tom Redwood, the secondary protagonist of Penumbra: Overture that acted as the mentally unstable guide for Philip. In the mod, the Infected return as enemies once more.
  • The Infected can be killed, but this method is not easy to pull off. The player must throw an object to stun it, but damage is only done when an object makes contact during the stun, not creating it. This means the player must find a way to constantly throw and re-grab an object at a very fast pace.

Gallery[]

Images[]

Videos[]

External Links[]

Navigation[]

Frictional Games Logo  Villains

Penumbra
The Archaic | Tuurngait | Clarence | Tuurngait Infected | Richard Eminiss | Wilbur Frisk
Amnesia
The Dark Descent: Alexander of Brennenburg | The Shadow | The Gatherers | Kaernk | Daniel
Justine: Justine Florbelle | Suitors
A Machine for Pigs: The Machine | Manpigs (Wretch | Engineer | Tesla | Failed Experiments) | Oswald Mandus
Rebirth: Empress Tihana | The Shadow | Harvesters | Wraiths | Yasmin | Hank| Leon De Vries | Doctor Metzier
The Bunker: The Beast | German Army | Toussaint Beaufoy | The Shadow | Rats
SOMA
The Warden Unit | Johan Ross | Construct | Scavengers | Fleshers | Terry Akers | Proxies | Robot Head | Viperfish | Anglerfish | Jin Yoshida | Leviathan

Advertisement