Outlast 2 Characters & Factions

Outlast 2 features many characters of different faiths and factions. The overview below will give you a better understanding of the role everyone plays, their backstories and goals.

The faction overview is at the end of the page.

Characters (in order of appearance):

This list includes all the main characters in order of their first appearance. There are major spoilers ahead! Only continue reading if you’ve beaten the game.

• Blake Langermann: He is the main protagonist that you are playing. He’s husband, assistant and cameraman to his wife Lynn Langermann. Blake is haunted by the memory of Jessica, a girl he was friends with in 4th grade, at a catholic school. Jessica committed suicide after being brutally beaten by Father Loutermilch, one of the teachers. Blake was with Jessica that day but left her alone with Loutermilch. Had he stayed, he might have been able to prevent the attack. Furthermore, it is known that Jessica wanted a relationship with Blake. She was very playful and flirty with him, but Blake rejected her because he liked Lynn (now his wife).
• Lynn Langermann: Wife of Blake Langermann and investigate journalist. After a helicopter crash at the start of the game she is captured by Knoth and his Christian followers. She escapes but is then captured by the heretics. She dies at the end of the game. Sullivan Knoth examined her womb and proclaims that she’s pregnant. The circumstances surrounding this pregnancy are very mysterious. Everyone thinks her child is the antichrist (devil). The “Christians” want to murder her because they are afraid the child will end the world after its birth. The heretics, on the other hand, want her to have the child so they keep her hidden in the mines away from the Christians. It is not conclusively solved if she was ever pregnant or not. There is strong evidence to suggest she never had a child and Blake was just imagining the birth due to long exposure to the mind control signal. For more on the theories surrounding the pregnancy refer to Outlast 2 Story & Ending Explained.
• Anna Lee: The woman that was murdered under mysterious circumstances in rural Arizona. The police report says that she had a lot of mercury in her blood and strangled herself to death. Blake and Lynn are investigating her murder. It’s later revealed that Anna was the daughter of Ethan, a friendly villager who gives Blake shelter from the crazy people. The prophet Knoth forced himself on Anna when she was just 15 years old and got her pregnant. Knoth then wanted Ethan to cut Anna’s belly open and murder the child. Ethan made up some stories to give Anna time to escape, but as we know she ended up being murdered anyway. Her murder remains a mystery. We never actually get to see her, she is just being mentioned by name in early stages of the game.
• Jessica Gray: She was a classmate of Blake in 4th grade at a catholic school. She committed suicide. According to an email found in the school office she was a flight risk and troublesome kid. She was rejected by everyone – they excluded her from field trips, there are hints that she had family troubles (scared when the teacher threatens to call her father), and Loutermilch (the school teacher) had beaten her unconscious after finding out that she was fooling around with Blake. Jessica wanted Blake to be her boyfriend, but Blake rejected her because he was already seeing Lynn. Jessica appears multiple times throughout the game in school visions and flashbacks. She is often portrayed hanging from a rope.
• Marta: A crazy old hag that follows Knoth and the Christians. She will hunt Blake numerous times throughout the game and murders many people, including Ethan. Her weapon of choice is an axe. At the end of the game she gets impaled on a holy cross that falls off a church tower.
• Sullivan Knoth: Self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the “Christian” cult. His teachings are deluded. He has written Gospels consisting of 15 chapters and advocates blood sacrifice, especially the murder of children. People often call him “papa”. He takes what he wants, forces himself on young women (sometimes getting them pregnant) and the Christians follow him without question. He also examined Lynn Langermann’s womb and proclaimed that she is with child. He likes to call himself “The New Ezekiel”. Knoth states that he murdered all his children and thinks this is the most perfect faith. He projects this attitude onto other villagers (e.g. tried to force Ethan to cut open Anna Lee’s belly to murder her child). He promised Laird to send some aid (wine & food) to the plague-infested Scalled but doesn’t provide the promised amount. At the end of the game he cuts his own throat.
• Val: Val is one of the most mysterious and interesting characters. She is the leader of the heretics. One document mentions that she used to have a foster home where she cared for 40 children. She never had children of her own, so she loved those kids like they were hers. After the mind control experiments began, the Christians murdered some of the children as blood sacrifice to please their god. Val was still somewhat sane at the time and realized that this is very wrong. She got some followers of her own and then dug a tunnel where they met in secret to discuss their visions from the mind control signal. Eventually their group evolved into the heretics who oppose the Christians. One letter mentions that Val is a man. To Blake, however, she appears undeniably female (she doesn’t wear any clothes, just like the other heretics, so her female bodyparts can be seen multiple times throughout the game). Val and the heretics take Lynn from the Christians because they want her to have the child. They keep Lynn in the mines. Val will try to kill Blake when he comes to rescue Lynn. Another document mentions that Val used to be the chief of Knoth’s deacons and his most trusted disciple, so she had a respected rank within the church before she defected.
• Ethan: He’s a villager who gives Blake shelter and protects him from the crazy Christians. His daughter was Anna Lee, the dead woman whose murder you’re investigating. He spun the other villages some stories to give Anna time to escape. Ethan’s wife was cast out to the Scalled – not much is known about her. For unknown reasons he is the only person unaffected by the mind-controlling microwave signals. He mentions that he has been “unborn” but it’s not explained what that means. When Marta interrogates him he does not give up Blake’s location and gets killed by Marta.
• Josiah: He has a close connection to the heretics and knows where they are holding Lynn. In order to extract that information from him, the Christians strapped Josiah to a torture wheel in the chapel and cut out his eyes. When the Christians torture his wife (Mary) he finally gives up Lynn’s location.
• Mary: The wife of Josiah. She gets tortured to death in the chapel by the Christians.
• Laird Byron: Midget and leader of the Scalled, trusted deacon of Knoth. Has a deformed body and is always sitting on Nick’s shoulders who is carrying him around. Laird uses a bow and fire arrows to kill people (e.g. he murdered someone for simply spilling wine). He also tries to kill Blake numerous times, has him nailed to a holy cross and buried alive. Laird believes that Blake is the long awaited “Messiah” (liberator who will heal the Scalled of their plague and save the world). Laird thinks that Blake must first be “reborn” (die and rise again) to become the Messiah, that’s why he’s trying to kill him with odd methods described in the “Gospel of the Scalled Christ”. Not all of the Scalled like him because of how brutal he is. Later in the game they push Laird and Nick over a ledge and they both die on impact.
• Nick Tremblay: He is a big guy and Laird’s mount. His favorite food is salted crickets (Knoth sends him a pack). Laird is always sitting on Nick’s shoulder. Dies together with Laird when the Scalled push them over a ledge.
• School Demon: The demon that haunts you in school visions represents Father Loutermilch. This is evident by the scar above his right eye (the demon has the exact same scar as Loutermilch).
• Father Loutermilch (Teacher): Father Loutermilch was a teacher at the catholic school Blake and Jessica went to in 4th grade. He saw Blake and Jessica holding hands on their way out the school long after lessons had ended. He suspected they were fooling around and questioned them (at their catholic school it’s a big no-no for kids to have romantic relationships). He reassured Blake that he was not in trouble and sent him home, but wanted Jessica to stay in the classroom. His attitude towards Jessica was very threatening. After Blake leaves the classroom, Jessica runs away and Loutermilch chases her to the stairwell where he violently beats her unconscious.

Minor Characters:

The following are characters mentioned in document collectibles, but they do not appear in the game directly. Not much is known about them, but they could be of importance for DLC or future story lines.

• Tom: writes a suicide note to his wife Ellie. He offered his children as blood sacrifice and couldn’t live with it afterwards, so he killed himself.
• Ellie: the letter from Tom is addressed to her.
• Lisa: wrote a letter to Knoth.
• Daniel: lives in Lisa’s house (her spouse or son).
• Philip: writes a letter to his wife.
• Paul: writes a letter to Ruth concerning Val. Also the cousin of Ethan. Paul and Ethan have some letter correspondence.
• Ruth: Paul’s letter is addressed to her. It is mentioned that she has Knoth’s ear, so she must be close to him (possibly Knoth’s wife).
• Marcus: writes a letter to his wife Judith, apologizing for murdering their child (he justifies it by saying Knoth asked him to do it). A letter from Val mentions that Marcus was sacrificed on the pyre and they cut his throat before burning him.
• Judith: wife of Marcus, doesn’t speak to him because he killed their child to offer it as blood sacrifice to god.
• John: was tasked with getting prophet Knoth some medication or drugs. Writes a letter to Simeon to ask about the substance. In another document he went on a hunting trip and came across the metal towers that emit the mind control signal. He writes to Knoth to report on the towers. He seems to be some henchman of Knoth.
• Simeon: Gets letter from John and Athaliah, doesn’t write back.
• Macon: writes letter to Christine to inform her that he borrowed grape aid.
• Christine: gets letter from Macon.
• Juliana: a little girl that wrote a letter to her mommy. Miss Carson told her that she will be sacrificed to god. Juliana is afraid and doesn’t want to get killed. It’s unknown what happened to her.
• Miss Carson: teacher at the village school. Follows orders from Knoth.
• Athaliah: she has the plague and knows she will be outcast to live with the Scalled. Writes a letter to Simeon to ask for medical help before anyone finds out that she’s sick.
• Dr. Ewen Cameron: mentioned in the letter of a scientist. Cameron is in charge of a radio telemetry lab and has knowledge about a mysterious “feedback loop” theory that can make brainwashed people do crazy things. He is probably working for Murkoff Corporation, the ones behind the mind control program.
• Jenny Roland: her full name is Jennifer Roland. She was the pathologist of Murkoff Corporation in Outlast 1. She is being mentioned in the letter of a scientist who works at the mind control towers.
• Mark: A letter is addressed to Mark & Aaron, tells them to visit prophet Knoth at Temple Gate.
• Aaron: A letter is addressed to Mark & Aaron, tells them to visit prophet Knoth at Temple Gate.

Factions:

There are 3 factions in Outlast 2 – Christians, Heretics and Scalled. This overview explains their belief systems and standing to one another.

• Christians (Testament of the New Ezekiel Followers): Their leader is Sullivan Knoth. They believe in the Testament of New Ezekiel and see themselves as good Christians, but their teachings are deluded as they promote murder and blood sacrifice. They want Lynn and her child to die and are known to regularly kill newborns because they are afraid the next child could be the antichrist (devil) that will destroy the world. Another notable follower of the Christians is Marta, she fully believes in everything Knoth says and carries out many killings for him. The Christians are in war with the Heretics. Sick Christians who have the plague are cast out to live among the Scalled. Knoth has promised the sick Scalled some aid (food & wine) but delivers less than promised. They have a neutral relationship with the Scalled. Knoth often communicates with Laird Byron, the leader of the Scalled, to make sure everything is in order.
• Heretics: Their leader is Val. They oppose the Christians. Val and her followers dug a tunnel where they secretly met and discussed the visions they were experiencing. This was still in the early days of the mind control experiment when the visions were just beginning. Val was taking care of 40 children in her foster home, but the Christians murdered these young children as blood sacrifice to please god. God never answered, never showed a sign. So Val questioned if the murder of children could be justified any longer and got followers of her own which evolved into the heretic cult. The heretics pray in underground temples and walk around naked. They only have a crown on their head, made of some wooden branches. During the game they spend most of the time in the mines where they are hiding Lynn from the Christians.  They will kill anyone who wants to take Lynn away. Their relationship with the Scalled is unknown, but presumably neutral.
• Scalled: Their leader is Laird Byron. The Scalled are people who got cast out from the Christians because they have the plague. They live in the woods. The Scalled have big sores on their skin and look very sick. A document suggests that many of them have gone blind or suffer from other disabilities. They are basically the ones not wanted in the village of the Christians. Knoth has promised the Scalled some aid (wine & food) but delivered less than promised. A document collectible called “Gospel of the Scalled Christ” explains their religion. They believe that a Messiah will one day arrive who will heal them of their sickness and save the world. The healing is supposed to happen by eating flesh of the Messiah’s body. They think Blake is the long awaited Messiah (and two of the Scalled want to start eating right away), but first he must be “reborn”. Their Gospel teaches that in order to be reborn the Messiah must be buried alive, die and rise again. Then everyone who consumes the Messiah’s flesh will be healed for eternity.

If you want to learn more about the story, check out Outlast 2 Synopsis, Mysteries, Story & Ending Explained.

Have you found another clue or hidden character? Why do you think does a document describe Val is man but she is a woman in the game? Share your ideas in the comments below.