What makes Wurt and Wortox different?

[ExtollerOfTrolls]

Wurt and Wortox are both monsters that originate from the Constant, but there are obvious differences between them and their brethren.

Most importantly, Charlie will kill them. It makes sense with characters like Webber, WX, and Wormwood, who don't belong in the Constant (I mean, Wormwood is from the Moon, but it seems like the Moon is at odds with Charlie). Even pigs and Merms are aware of Charlie, but they don't get attacked by her. What changed for Wortox and Wurt when they became survivors?

I have a theory that Wurt is the first merm who was born a merm, as opposed to being transformed by the Gnaw. She seems a bit more self-aware than the others and has this idea of greatness, whereas the others have lost their minds when they were afflicted.

Wortox... I guess he rejected the idea of the Constant? Not entirely sure.

Any theories? Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad that the Charlie thing stays in, because it's almost as integral to the game as starving itself, but I'm just curious how they are different from the merms and krampuses.

 

[ArubaroBeefalo]

Becausw they are now into the game. They are helping the survivors so they must die

[wigfrids hat]

unlike adult merms that stay together and fight viciously, wurt is a small baby and is alone. i could see 4-8 merms being a match for charlie if she has to clear them out regularly every night all over the constant and as such being left be... as for wortox? did we ever get any official canon that implies or expresses he used to be able to go about in the dark unaccosted?

[ArubaroBeefalo]

2 minutes ago, gaymime said:

as for wortox? did we ever get any official canon that implies or expresses he used to be able to go about in the dark unaccosted?

Nope but you can see how peaceful sleep krampii at night

[wigfrids hat]

charlie doesn't attack sleeping beings, even if it is the player character. she only attacks things that stay awake during the night. krampus sleeping is not really proof

[ArubaroBeefalo]

30 minutes ago, gaymime said:

charlie doesn't attack sleeping beings, even if it is the player character. she only attacks things that stay awake during the night. krampus sleeping is not really proof

But if you fall sleep because of gestals in moon island you get hit

[CameoAppearance]

Wortox isn't from the Constant; he's from another plane of existence entirely. He's not a Krampus specifically, though they're obviously related. One piece of evidence for this is his quotes for ice and icebergs, which wouldn't make any sense if he was a local given the Constant's frigid winters:

ICE = "It's such a novelty, hyuyu.",

ROCK_ICE =
        {
            GENERIC = "Who knew water could do that!",

So it's entirely possible that Wortox's home plane just isn't part of Charlie's domain. DS-Earth isn't either, after all.

Wurt definitely is the same species as NPC merms, though, whether she was born in the Constant or mermified when she was too young to remember it. I'm pretty sure the reason Charlie attacks Wurt is because Wurt can't see in the dark, whereas normal merms probably have night vision given that they can navigate and fight as well in total darkness as during daytime. Woodie and Wilba can see in the dark in their were-forms, and that prevents Charlie from attacking them even if they're away from a light source, so it probably works the same way for NPCs like merms. I don't have an explanation for why Wurt doesn't have night vision, but the fact that she doesn't have it explains why she's the only merm who needs to worry about Charlie. (Webber also lost his spider side's night vision as part of becoming a half-human survivor. During the Reign of Giants beta, in fact!)

Pigs appear to follow the same rules, since they seek out light at dusk with quotes pointing to a lack of night vision and they fall asleep at night... except if they're either aggroed onto something or following a befriended player who's illuminated only by a small light radius like a thermal stone, in which case they can be active in total darkness with no threat of Charlie attacking them. I don't know whether they're an intentional exception or if this is just an oversight.

[ShadowDuelist]

Wortox became Krampus looking after absorving the powers of one (see his release trailer "Posessions"). His original imp form can be seen in one of his skins (the uncorrupted) and the minotaur, goblin and dragon skins may relate to other powerful creatures he got the soul of, that makes him look like such creature for a while, Kirby style.

Wortox being from another dimension different than the constant (or 1940's earth) is no different than the earthling survivors, in regards of Charlie, I guess.

About Wurt, I am not sure. There is a fact that she lacks nightvision like her brethren, maybe that's what makes her special? Like a sort of disability, for a merm. Although she seems to compensate that by being smart, and friendlier than her mermfolk counterparts.

[GenomeSquirrel]

Same with Webber, the devs don't want to give night vision to characters that should naturally have it

[Sub-Maxwell]

What I don’t understand is how these characters come through the portal, or where they go when they travel back through the celestial portal. If they’re native to the Constant, where are they coming from? Alternate versions/realities of the Constant? If there’s some part of the lore that explains this, I’d love to hear it. 

[wigfrids hat]

gestalts only put you asleep for a few seconds though? either you are getting damage from them(which makes sense since they are attacking you when putting you asleep or you are awake before the night ends. either way that does not take away from my comment about sleeping

hm, well i must say wilba and woodie put a bit of a spanner in the works be cause while they fall into my theory that a very strong/agressive char is safe that kind of doesn't explain moggles

 

do you think it is a fear thing, perhaps? it is only unsafe if you are afraid in the dark?

[ExtollerOfTrolls]

40 minutes ago, gaymime said:

gestalts only put you asleep for a few seconds though? either you are getting damage from them(which makes sense since they are attacking you when putting you asleep or you are awake before the night ends. either way that does not take away from my comment about sleeping

hm, well i must say wilba and woodie put a bit of a spanner in the works be cause while they fall into my theory that a very strong/agressive char is safe that kind of doesn't explain moggles

 

do you think it is a fear thing, perhaps? it is only unsafe if you are afraid in the dark?

I always figured it was a combination of the mind and the actual lack of light. Not only does the character have to be immersed in darkness, they have to be blind. I think it fits with DS's theme of the perceived becoming reality and mental and physical worlds becoming intertwined, the same way the shadow monsters can't spawn unless you are insane, but then do physical injury to you.

BTW, the pigs will still run around in darkness if they're befriended to the player and not get hit. I've been surprised by pigs that show up out of nowhere at night because I forgot I befriend them and then left them behind when sunset came, only for them to find my campfire.

I don't think Charlie is afraid of Wilba or Woodie or merms, anyway. She's essentially a god.

[Wumpus the 19th]

45 minutes ago, gaymime said:

do you think it is a fear thing, perhaps? it is only unsafe if you are afraid in the dark?

(turns slowly to glance backwards)

God damn it walter.

[Cheggf]

6 hours ago, CameoAppearance said:

Wortox isn't from the Constant; he's from another plane of existence entirely. He's not a Krampus specifically, though they're obviously related. One piece of evidence for this is his quotes for ice and icebergs, which wouldn't make any sense if he was a local given the Constant's frigid winters:

ICE = "It's such a novelty, hyuyu.",

ROCK_ICE =
        {
            GENERIC = "Who knew water could do that!",

So it's entirely possible that Wortox's home plane just isn't part of Charlie's domain. DS-Earth isn't either, after all.

I would like to add in two of his inspection quotes for the Ancient Gateway which provide additional evidence that he isn't from the play area, but rather some other non-Earthly location.

• Ancient Gateway (inactive)- "The thing I hopped through!"
• Ancient Gateway (activated)- "That's how you get imps. Hyuyu!"

[ExtollerOfTrolls]

2 minutes ago, Cheggf said:

I would like to add in two of his inspection quotes for the Ancient Gateway which provide additional evidence that he isn't from the play area, but rather some other non-Earthly location.

• Ancient Gateway (inactive)- "The thing I hopped through!"
• Ancient Gateway (activated)- "That's how you get imps. Hyuyu!"

Next Don't Starve Together event:

HELL

[wigfrids hat]

33 minutes ago, ExtollerOfTrolls said:

I always figured it was a combination of the mind and the actual lack of light. Not only does the character have to be immersed in darkness, they have to be blind. I think it fits with DS's theme of the perceived becoming reality and mental and physical worlds becoming intertwined, the same way the shadow monsters can't spawn unless you are insane, but then do physical injury to you.

BTW, the pigs will still run around in darkness if they're befriended to the player and not get hit. I've been surprised by pigs that show up out of nowhere at night because I forgot I befriend them and then left them behind when sunset came, only for them to find my campfire.

I don't think Charlie is afraid of Wilba or Woodie or merms, anyway. She's essentially a god.

even gods are limited to the power given to them by their believers, if fear is the key then it makes sense that she only has power over those who would give her power over them(which would also work given how many children there are in the constant, you have webber, willow, wendy, wilba, walter, wormwood, wurt and possibly wortox)

 

it also would explain the sleep thing better(as you do not generally fear the real world while you are asleep) without contradicting the merms and spiders

[ExtollerOfTrolls]

2 hours ago, gaymime said:

even gods are limited to the power given to them by their believers, if fear is the key then it makes sense that she only has power over those who would give her power over them(which would also work given how many children there are in the constant, you have webber, willow, wendy, wilba, walter, wormwood, wurt and possibly wortox)

 

it also would explain the sleep thing better(as you do not generally fear the real world while you are asleep) without contradicting the merms and spiders

But Walter isn't afraid, even in complete darkness. Charlie will still come after him.

Maybe it's awareness rather than fear? Awareness of her presence, at least, as opposed to sight. She'll make a noise before she attacks (surprised the crap out of me the first time I died to her.)

[Mike23Ua]

Mostly because it’s a video game and things can’t always make sense in a Video Game, you have to use Video Game Logic when thinking about things like this.

Otherwise- You search for lore in something that never needed it.

[Owlrust]

I think it's because they choose to associate with the survivors and are thus, un-allowed to reap the benefits of a normal Constant creature.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

also i dont get why chalie wants to kill them but later she wants that the gatekeepers beat fw and reach the forge

there is some plot holes...

[thegreatJash]

At first reading this post name I was dumbfounded with the post name, but then I read it and then realized you were talking about the lore between them and Charlie.

I always just assumed that you either sleep or have night vision, and that all mobs fall in that category. But apparently Wurt has night-vision, and that kinda ruins the whole thing.

Wurt and Wortox in my head are not technically survivors, as the fellow humans are. I guess anyone that helps the survivors angers Charlie, and thus even night-vision cannot protect you.

It's just the game, honestly, and any playable character has the same Charlie mechanics, to make it simple. 

[Cheggf]

1 hour ago, thegreatJash said:

Wurt and Wortox in my head are not technically survivors, as the fellow humans are. I guess anyone that helps the survivors angers Charlie, and thus even night-vision cannot protect you.

Wurt and Wortox aren't attacked by Charlie while wearing Moggles.

[wigfrids hat]

woby is afraid though and for all intents and purposes they are a bundled deal. she is afraid so fear manifests into charlie and walter gets the KO

[ExtollerOfTrolls]

9 hours ago, Cheggf said:

Wurt and Wortox aren't attacked by Charlie while wearing Moggles.

Nobody is attacked by Charlie while wearing moggles, because they aren't blind. I think one of her limitations is that she cannot lay a finger on you if you are not visibly impaired.

Also, not related to this particular post, but I just remembered she doesn't attack you by striking; she does damage from the inside out, so she has no reason to fear being attacked.

8 hours ago, gaymime said:

woby is afraid though and for all intents and purposes they are a bundled deal. she is afraid so fear manifests into charlie and walter gets the KO

Interesting theory! I like it.

[Mysterious box]

22 hours ago, gaymime said:

even gods are limited to the power given to them by their believers, if fear is the key then it makes sense that she only has power over those who would give her power over them(which would also work given how many children there are in the constant, you have webber, willow, wendy, wilba, walter, wormwood, wurt and possibly wortox)

 

it also would explain the sleep thing better(as you do not generally fear the real world while you are asleep) without contradicting the merms and spiders

Willow isn't a child tho