Somewhere in the dark halls of [ 0-S: SOMETHING WICKED ] lurks a creature that has proved itself most insurmountable, even against the strongest souls that have braved the torment of Hell. Only the foolhardy dare enter its domain, and only the lucky may make it out alive...
Appearance/Details[]
Something Wicked, as stated by the terminal, is a humanoid creature comprised of withered and rotting veins, arteries and nerves, with a dead heart on its chest connecting all of them similar to that of a Prime Soul's insides. It towers over V1, being nearly twice as tall and has a noticeable red/crimson glow when in close proximity, alongside red and green pixels showing up at medium range, and white pixels at close range.
V1's arsenal in 0-S is limited to the Piercer and Feedbacker, meaning precise aim is needed to hit him, despite the dark conditions.
The hunt begins the moment V1 picks up the Blue Skull, indicated by Something Wicked's distant groan, and does not end until the Red Skull is placed on its pedestal. A low, droning hum can be heard while it is anywhere nearby, with proximity audio indicating the direction and distance it is from V1; in addition, it will hiss loudly upon spotting V1, running towards it at ~21 m/s. If Something Wicked has not seen V1 for a certain amount of time, it will return to its normal walking state.
Upon picking up the Red Skull, Something Wicked will become significantly more aggressive, leaning forward and rushing towards the player rather than slowly walking upright. During this "Enraged" state, he always knows the location of the player and will constantly pursue them until they either die or the Red Skull is placed on either red podium(will revert to normal state if placed on the original podium)
Something Wicked cannot crouch or crawl, preventing it from accessing several portions of the map, such as vents and areas with low ceilings, making these spots helpful for quick shelter.
The Piercer Revolver is an invaluable tool if cornered; although it cannot kill Something Wicked, it will force it to teleport to an area far away from V1's current location, providing a brief window of opportunity to escape or further navigate the mission.
Punching with either skull briefly illuminates a larger area, making the task of shooting it, and navigating, far easier.
Something Wicked's wicked whisper:
Terminal Data[]
TYPE: ???
DATA:
Very little is known about this creature.
Some speculate it to be a Husk, but due to its elusive and extremely hostile nature, no one has been able to confirm the hypothesis.
All that can be determined for sure is that it consists entirely of a withered cardiovascular system and a dead heart, which has led to the common assumption that its physical body's manifestation failed.
Only one has ever been observed and it has never been seen leaving the section of the Mouth of Hell in which it currently resides.
STRATEGY:
- Any attack will temporarily cause it to relocate, but there are no known ways to kill it.- Its way of attacking is unknown outside of the fact that it happens on physical contact, but no amount of protection has saved any of its victims.
Rending Apart[]
There is no way to kill Something Wicked. Shooting it with the Piercer Revolver (the only weapon available to V1 in 0-S) or punching it will temporarily hold it off, causing it to respawn in one of its four spawn points.
Tighter areas make it easier to land hits on Something Wicked, so if you are being chased it is recommended to avoid wider areas.
Sliding allows the player to move slightly faster than an angered Something Wicked, although the player must take care not to bump into corners.
However, attacking Something Wicked while using the Clash Mode cheat will cause it to disappear from the map entirely. This is a different effect than shooting it, as Something Wicked is flung out of the map (presumably despawning out of bounds like other victims of Clash-Mode V1). You can also use the delete tool to kill it (if that wasn't obvious too).
Trivia[]
- "Something wicked this way comes" is a phrase spoken by the witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth, heralding the arrival of the titular Macbeth to their presence. It has since been used in many other media in many other forms, typically as a similar portent of evil as its original use, or as a title in itself:
- Considering the other levels' naming scheme of being based on music, it's most likely Hakita was referring to an album of this name, of which there are many.[1]
- Other possible inspirations include the 1962 novel by Ray Bradbury, the 1983 movie adaptation of said (Hakita also uses movie titles), or it could literally just be a reference to Macbeth.
- Something Wicked is the only enemy to appear in [ 0-S: SOMETHING WICKED ].
- Placing the Red Skull on the last pedestal will make Something Wicked despawn; however, it will instantly respawn exactly where it was if the Skull is picked back up.
- Something Wicked also despawns when placing the Blue Skull back on its original pedestal.
- Because Something Wicked deals exactly 999 damage per hit, the Damage Taken Major Assist must be reduced to below 10% to survive even one hit
- Auto Aim does not target Something Wicked.
- Similarly, ricoshots will not target Something Wicked, but this situation can only occur with cheats or mods enabled.
- It's one of the few enemies that can't be summoned with the Spawner Arm.
- This might be due to the creature's unusual behavior, patrolling through the map on pre-defined paths and teleporting away to specific map nodes when damaged.
- The eerie hiss of Something Wicked has become something of a joke within the game and community, serving as a cheap scare tactic forcing those who played its level to experience strong PTSD:
- While attempting the [ 4-3: A SHOT IN THE DARK ] challenge (don't pick up the torch), the music will stop and Something Wicked's ghostly whisper can be heard accompanied with the text "Something wicked this way comes..." A few seconds later the music resumes along with a text box that says "Just kidding :)". This event will not be triggered if you pick up the blue skull or have not completed 0-S.
- In [ 7-3: NO SOUND, NO MEMORY ], upon fully watering the first tree with blood, Something Wicked's hiss after being shot will play in reverse quietly somewhere in the room to signify the first skull lighting up. Prior to the ULTRA_REVAMP update, this sound wasn't reversed.
- Some in-game files refer to Something Wicked as "Something Evil".
- If an enemy is spawned in through use of the cheat menu's Spawner Arm, its projectiles fired at V1 can hit Something Wicked and cause it to teleport elsewhere in the map. This also applies to explosions created by enemies.
- Something Wicked will not teleport when hit unless it is chasing V1.
- A Stalker created using the Spawner Arm can explode on Something Wicked and cover it in sand, even though it seemingly does not bleed.
- Something Wicked has the innate ability to phase through doors, which will only happen if you use Noclip to softlock yourself with the Red Skull in [ 0-S: SOMETHING WICKED ].
- Idols can bless Something Wicked if spawned via the Spawner Arm. However, Something Wicked does not gain the immortality buff, and the blessing is purely visual.
- Spawning Idols can make playing [ 0-S: SOMETHING WICKED ] a lot easier, as their beams will lock onto it, even through walls. The aura blessed enemies receive will also give away its position.
- Something Wicked teleports after performing an attack, this can be seen if the player uses the Invincibility Cheat or if the player reduces the Damage Taken Major Assist to less than 10%.[2]
- Something Wicked's image does not show up on the terminal, instead being covered in static.
- The static filter that appears when Something Wicked is close to the player is shared with Cancerous Rodent. This could imply that Something Wicked is irradiated in some form.
- The Terminal Entry doesn't show its form, only the static that accompanies it when it is nearby.
- The phrase "which has led to the common assumption that its physical body's manifestation failed." leads many to believe that Something Wicked might be a Failed Prime Soul. This raises some questions, such as who the soul was that became Something Wicked.
- Prior to the ULTRA_REVAMP update, the level allowed you to use the Knuckleblaster and the Whiplash, making the task of navigating the level and defending yourself against Something Wicked far more easier.
Gallery[]
