The Being is a major character in Darkwood. It only makes an appearance in the True Ending, and appears to be located inside a giant canyon overgrown with tree-roots.
The Being radiates a bright light, and resembles a huge organ. What looks like a distorted face can be seen inside it. A deep heartbeat can be heard upon nearing it. The canyon that the Being is found in is filled with hundreds of sleeping people and corpses. Thus, The Being is likely the reason people turn into Savages and the source of the 'Call' that some experience while in Darkwood (like Maciek). Anyone who answers this call will try to make their way to the Being, falling asleep and eventually starving to death. Touching it fills the Protagonist with a feeling of warmth and happiness. Continued exposure will turn people into Sleepers, slumbering in bliss as their body feeds the roots entangling them. The Being appears to also be responsible for the Plague, and its roots (the trees) are used to keep people from escaping Darkwood (the region's name).
The Being tries to trick the Protagonist in the False Ending, to make them go to sleep. In reality, The Protagonist's unconscious body is entangled in roots, and will waste away, fertilizing The Being. If the Protagonist explores their home and the surrounding area, they will discover that something is wrong, and that they are in fact dreaming.
The Being is implied that it is, quite literally, the very heart of the woods, and is the driving force behind the wood's rapid expanse. It is also responsible for the whispers and murmurs of the woods throughout the game.
The player is able to kill The Being by taking the Flamethrower from Maciek and burning it down. Killing The Being will result in the total destruction of most of the woods, and is implied to end most of the weird things happening in them.
Upon destroying it, however, it blocks your path as a final act, sealing the Protagonist's fate. There is a little branch that the Protagonist can try to escape on, but in the end, escape is impossible. After that, the fates of all the other inhabitants of the forest are revealed, and the military (or the Outsiders) comes in to restore order to the region.
Speculation
- As the Doctor slowly descends into madness, he shares his beliefs with the Protagonist that the trees of Darkwood send electrical signals across a massive network from one tree to the next. If this is the case, it would explain how The Being seems to be able to transmit signals to people, creatures, and even electronics, such as radios.
- He also suggests that The Being created the Plague in order to combat the Outsiders and drive them out of the forest, specifically stating that the Protagonist and his ilk are like foreign bodies and the creatures of the region (Villagers included) are like the white blood cells.
- The Outsiders appeared to be experimenting on The Being, which could support the Doctor's theory.
- If the dream that The Being appears in is to be believed, then it is, or rather was, a child. It combated the Outsiders because they were most likely hurting or bothering it and perhaps it viewed Darkwood's inhabitants as potential playmates or food.
- It has probably grown up by the events of the game.
- It seems that The Being is using the Radio Tower to broadcast a strange signal. This is confirmed in the Notebook.
Gallery
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Major characters | Bike Man • Chicken Lady • Child • Cripple • Doctor • Elephants • Mirror • Mushroom Granny • Musician • Piotrek • Protagonist • Snail • Talking Tree • The Three • Trader • Wolfman • The Being |
| Minor characters | Dial-eyed Man • Half-Dead Man • Half-Dead Woman • Hanuska • Infected Villager • Janek • Maciek • Madman • Man • Notable Villagers (Swamp) • Pig Farmer • Pretty Lady • Sleeper • Stasiek • Tunneler |