WEEPING ANGEL | ENEMY ARCHETYPE

Introduction

To date, the Weeping Angel is one of the most recognizable archetype in games and films. Players can quickly understand and recognize its behaviour through observation. This is very useful for designers and creators alike because we can directly leverage its familiarity among players.

The Weeping Angel was created by Steven Moffat, and first appeared in Doctor Who Season 3 (2007), episode 10 "Blink". Read here to learn what inspired him to come up with the Weeping Angel concept.

Steven Moffat's Weeping Angel Core Concept :

1. They will freeze, and become indestructible when observed by the victim.

2. They will pursue the victim when unobserved, and with just a touch, the Weeping Angel send their victim back in time to consume the potential energy from the lives the victims would otherwise have led.

3. The victims and audience never see how they "move". They can only notice the displacement and pose differences the next time they observe.

Similar concept was used in games as early as 1988. Boo in Super Mario Bros behave in a similar fashion :

1. It will freeze when Mario is facing at Boo's direction. Invulnerable to most of the power-ups.

2. It will pursue when Mario is facing away. Boo will damage Mario upon contact.

3. The player can clearly see Boo pursuing Mario.

Distilling the Concept

In game design, we can distill those concepts into key components, and variable components.

Key Components

1. Freeze when observed.

2. Pursue when unobserved.

Both components must be present to form the weeping angel archetype, but of course we can add more components. In Greener Grass Awaits, the killer possessed the two key components with an additional rule, you cannot stare at the killer for too long, or else it will charge at you.

Variable Components

1. Context.

2. Movement.

3. Killing.

Context

The Weeping Angel archetype is very flexible. It works well with almost any other concepts that you can think of. In Doctor Who, the Weeping Angel's mechanism revolve around the play of quantum mechanic. In Super Mario Bros 3, Boo is just a shy ghost.

Movement

The Weeping Angel from Doctor Who proves how terrifying it can be when we don't see how they "move", but Boo from Mario Bros 3, the killers from Greener Grass Awaits, and the mannequin from Resident Evil Village : Shadow of Rose shows that being able to see how they "move" can be equally efficient.

Killing

One hit kill is not a must, but it often makes the stake high, especially when players are going to lose their progress or resources. It's best if we can design around its core concept or narrative context. For example, if we're going to play around with Steven Moffat's concept, we could design a system where players don't die if they get caught, but they are sent back into certain place or time in the game.

Psychological Impact

To design a great experience, we try our best to make sure the game mechanic, and dynamic would evoke the desired emotions. Fortunately, the Weeping Angel archetype comes with a few psychological effects :

1. Tension.

2. Discomfort.

3. Paranoia.

Tension

The tension comes from a clear understanding of what is the inevitable threat. In a standard Weeping Angel archetype, the tension builds as the enemy gets closer and closer, but the player can take their time to breathe and regain composure when they look at the enemy. The tension is higher in Greener Grass Awaits because the killer will charge at the player if they stare too long, but looking away allows the killer to close distance. This makes it very difficult for players to regain composure because it constantly push player into a state of making decision, leaving almost no room to breathe.

Discomfort

Discomfort is created when the player repeatedly forced to act against what's instinctively more straightforward in normal circumstances. For example, if we need to pick up an item, we would instinctively turn and move towards the item. With the Weeping Angel, the player need to look back and forth to keep the Weeping Angel at bay, while making sure they are going the right way.

Paranoia

Think of a kid that is being chased by an adult. The adult would say "ooohhh I'm going to get you" while stomping their feet. The kid will most likely feel more terrified and run even faster, even though the adult is just stomping their feet in place. When player do not have anything objective for measurement, they will instinctively lean towards their feeling, which makes them more susceptible to paranoia, and other emotional states.

Conclusion

The Weeping Angel is a great design archetype because :

1. It is recognizable, and effective despite being used for so many years.

2. It is flexible enough to mix/match with other design pattern and theme.

3. It comes with proven psychological impact.