The Brute

The Brute
General Information
Gender	Male
Eye Color	Orange
Strength	High
Speed	High (Monstrum, default) Low-moderate (Monstrum 2 and Dark Deception, default) Very High (Monstrum 2 and Dark Deception, when charging)
Intelligence	Low
Motives	Territorial
Special Abilities	Pyrokinesis (Monstrum and Dark Deception) Echolocation (Monstrum 2) Shockwave Generation (Monstrum 2)

The Brute is one of the three antagonists that may pursue players while they attempt to escape the Hisa Maru in Monstrum and Sparrow Lock in it's sequel Monstrum 2. The Brute, along with The Fiend, also crossed over as DLC bonus characters in Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, with The Brute serving as one of the five "Power class" monsters currently present, being the third one introduced to the game. Monsters & Mortals also features an enhanced, unplayable version of the character, "Boss Brutes", four fire-spitting Brutes that glow red.

As the first monster implemented in Monstrum, the only monster to appear in both Monstrum and Monstrum 2, and the symbol of the Monstrum DLC in Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, The Brute can be considered the figurehead of the series as a whole.

History

According to a lab report made prior to the events of Monstrum, two injured humans (who may or may not be ABS G. Checkov and C. Wilson, both of them having been left with second-degree burns to the face and upper body due to pressurized steam according to other notes) were subjected to a compound based on the genetic material of "Turritopsis dohrnii", commonly known as the immortal jellyfish. The first test subject gained advanced cellular regeneration (capable of healing even scar tissue) as well as an increase in muscle mass and, therefore, strength. This came at the cost of diminishing the test subject's intelligence while raising his aggression level, making it a clear danger to personnel. It was determined that both test subjects must be euthanized, while the experiment they were tested with was deemed as needing more refinement. This ultimately did not go as planned, as both test subjects appeared to have survived and escaped. The first test subject is implied to have eventually become the monster known as "The Brute", a massive powerhouse that is motivated by intense territorial rage to seek and destroy other living beings around it.

Despite its apparent survival and escape, The Brute is ultimately recovered from the wreckage of the Hisa Maru (if the skins of Monstrum 2 are considered canon). And it would go on to be mass-produced as a murderous bioweapon by the Hongsha-Miller pharmaceutical company, being sold as the simplest of their three monsters (the others being The Bhagra and The Malacosm), a "fire-and-forget solution", and "the most popular, low-cost option that’s easy to deliver, use, and maintain for the end-user". According to the notes of a certain Su Min Choi, a Brute is created by first bombarding a human with intense amounts of radiation, followed by conditioning the irradiated subject to deep sea pressure. The end result is a massive organism, weighing more than 300 kilograms (661.39 pounds), with an average core temperature of over 4,000 Kelvin (3,726.85 degrees Celsius, or 6,740.33 degrees Fahrenheit). No longer running on biological functions, The Brute is considered to be more of an extremely durable humanoid-shaped exoskeleton fueled by an ongoing internal nuclear fusion reaction. Fittingly, The Brute's thick, charred flesh resembles hardened lava with a glowing orange core of magma projecting from its various orifices, with its hands and feet serving as reminders that the monster was once a human.

The Brute, along with The Fiend, also appears as a part of the first DLC pack for Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals. While no lore is provided to explain their presence, it is possible that The Brute and The Fiend are spawned by supernatural means. Most (but not all) monsters in Dark Deception were also former humans like The Brute and The Fiend, mortals that gained monstrous forms reflecting their most prominent sins in life. As Monstrum 2 documents imply that Hongsha-Miller mutates prisoners into the various monsters seen in that game, it is possible that The Brute in Dark Deception mirrors this origin, being an evildoer that became a monster reflecting the sins of wrath and murder. Every monster in Dark Deception also represents a phobia, and The Brute fittingly represents Megalophobia (Fear of Large Objects), Pyrophobia (Fear of Fire), and Radiophobia (Fear of Radiation). The Brute and The Fiend are likely part of a "nightmare" (the term for Dark Deception dimensions that serve as levels) known as "Monstrum Madness", which manifests in the form of the Hisa Maru. Occasionally, whenever a certain item called "Boss Time" is activated, a helicopter arrives and drops an exploding crate on the ship's helipad, releasing four entities known as Boss Brutes, which are the same as the standard Brute except for their even more charred skin, red glow, and their ability to spit fireballs. Upon release, the Boss Brutes would chase and attempt to kill any nearby target (except for monster players in "Maze Escape" mode, though they can surprisingly still damage monsters with their fireballs regardless of game mode). After a minute, these four Boss Brutes vanish, not appearing again until Boss Time is reactivated.

Capabilities

As its name suggests, The Brute is a being of utter carnage with no other thoughts besides that of primal desire to hunt down prey and destroy everything in its path. Hence, its skills revolving around raw strength and aggression, with its various capabilities and tactics documented by Su Min Choi of the Hongsha-Miller company.

Strength

Due to its size, The Brute is immensely strong and unhindered by most physical obstacles. Despite The Brute's weight, it is strong enough to clamber up through the holes in the cargo hold very quickly. While its left hand appears to have retained normal, human-esque proportions for basic motor functions, The Brute's right arm has become a malformed, overgrown tumor with abnormally-high bone density. With this massive arm, The Brute is able to break open or rip off even sturdy, power-locked metal doors (much less locker doors and wooden doors) from their hinges, as well as bludgeon, smash, snap, or crush its prey once it catches up to them. In Monstrum 2, The Brute can jump in place and smash its fists on the ground, with the shockwaves of the resulting tremor destroying nearby fragile objects as well as flushing out and damaging other living beings around it.

In Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, The Brute is a monster of the "Power class". It can deal 40 damage by delivering a backhand with its left arm, and 80 damage with a punch from its right fist. When using its ultimate ability, "Magma Charge", The Brute goes ablaze and rushes at increased speed, dealing 75 damage to the enemy every time it makes contact, which burns the victim in the process and causes them to suffer 20 damage three times after every hit from The Brute in this berserk state, bringing the total amount of damage dealt by this attack up to 135 per collision, allowing The Brute to kill monsters as tough as it in up to four or five hits with just the impact alone. Boss Brutes, enhanced, unplayable versions of The Brute, can deal 35 damage per punch.

Durability

Because of its high body heat, The Brute cannot be stopped by fire, much less stunned by flares. On the other hand, the nuclear fusion reactions powering it makes The Brute vulnerable to cooling attacks like the spray of a fire extinguisher, though this can only stun it for short periods of time. As with all monsters, The Brute becomes immune to the effects of the fire extinguisher for 11 seconds after being sprayed, making subsequent attacks useless. As with all other monsters, The Brute can still be affected by steam. Even if it were to receive damage, however, Note 17 indicates that The Brute possesses a potent healing factor, allowing it to recover from any possible injuries, though this cannot be observed as there is no actual way to actually injure The Brute in Monstrum and Monstrum 2 except for exposure to steam, which is only a minor inconvenience for it and does no lasting damage.

As with all other Power class monsters in Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, The Brute has 360 hit points, allowing it to withstand a lot of damage, and, when doing its ultimate ability, "Magma Charge", the monster becomes immune to all attempts to stun it or slow it down. As boss characters, however, Boss Brutes are immune to stunning, slowing, and all other forms of attack at all times.

Speed

With legs not as robust as the rest of the body, The Brute at first appears to be a lumbering beast, and it is also slow when it comes to climbing. However, because of its great body mass, The Brute is able to build up enough inertia to accelerate frighteningly quickly. The Brute is, in fact, the fastest of all other monsters featured in both Monstrum and Monstrum 2 by a significant margin, with a running speed equal to that of humans, making the Brute very dangerous in tightly knit areas, as the player is given very little time to hide once the Brute sees them. Fortunately, The Brute is usually not faster than the player, and cannot catch humans if both are in a straight sprint. In Monstrum 2, The Brute is capable of rushing forward with a powerful charge attack, allowing it to not only close the distance between it and its targets even more quickly (to the point that it can actually outrun humans), but also stun and knock its victims down, if not kill them outright.

In Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, The Brute moves slowly by default, balancing out its immense strength. However, as with all characters, The Brute's speed can be increased for four seconds with a "Speed Boost" item. Furthermore, The Brute's ultimate ability, "Magma Charge", not only makes it fast enough to catch up to most Speed class characters, but also renders it immune to all slowing effects in the game as it goes ablaze for ten seconds, holding its right arm in front of it. Just like the charge attack in Monstrum 2, Magma Charge allows The Brute to catch up to its victims and greatly injure them. Boss Brutes relentlessly chase nearby players (except for monsters in "Maze Escape" mode) just as slowly as the standard playable Brute's default speed.

Intelligence

Considered to be the least intelligent of the monsters, The Brute can be easily lured by distractions and noises. However, The Brute can and will use shortcuts in a chase, being seemingly better at doing so than any other monster primarily due to its raw speed and disregard for doors. Fortunately, because it moves slowly when not actively chasing the player, The Brute is perhaps the least dangerous monster to deal with in a more open area, primarily because it can easily be seen from far away, and because the player should have ample time to start moving in the event that they are spotted. Even so, Brutes still possess predatory cunning, as the Hongsha-Miller company has documented more experienced Brutes using ambush, patience, higher ground, and even trickery to better increase their chances of catching their prey.

The Boss Brutes in Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals work together as a pack to corner and kill prey, but they can still be outsmarted by a player that knows how their pathfinding A.I. works.

Senses

As far as the Hongsha-Miller company knows, The Brute lacks a sense of smell, and its eyesight is limited, though, in actuality, it appears to be able to see just as well as humans, just affected with the red light of its body, as The Brute is able to spot potential victims even from the other end of the ship. However, The Brute does have the ability to echolocate using its roar, sending out ultrasonic shockwaves to detect distant targets even through several walls and floors. Based on the returning echoes of its roar, the Brute can also distinguish organic beings from inanimate objects. However, although its roar works through several barriers, the presence of such obstructions do prevent The Brute from tracking the exact location of its prey.

Aggression

The Brute is an overall very territorial monster that is quick to anger. All three monsters produced by Hongsha-Miller (The Brute, The Bhagra, and The Malacosm) gradually become angrier the longer a hunt goes on. However, because of its higher level of aggression, The Brute is easier to enrage, with its berserk state leading to far more vicious results.

Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals depicts four Boss Brutes tolerating each other, hunting as a pack to kill other living beings that they encounter.

Thermal Generation and Pyrokinesis

The Brute relies more on its raw strength rather than the heat generated by the nuclear fusion reactions within its body to damage and kill its victims. Even so, The Brute does appear to use its intense temperature for some attacks, at times even outright producing fire. The melted hole in the ship engine brought up in Note 9 may have possibly been caused by The Brute, and, while The Brute prefers to punch, stomp on, or snap the neck of the player, at least one death animation involves The Brute simply holding up its victim to roar in their face, accompanied by the faint sound of crackling fire, implying that The Brute would sometimes incinerate the player to death.

In Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, The Brute's ultimate ability, known as "Magma Charge", allows it to burn its victims after every strike, dealing 20 damage three times following the 75 damage caused by contact with The Brute itself, bringing the total damage of one attack up to 135. Boss Brutes are also shown to be capable of spitting a fireball at players within a certain range, dealing 20 burn damage four times on impact, hence, each fireball strike from a Boss Brute causes a total of 80 damage.

Monstrum Tips

Detecting The Brute

• The Brute's footsteps are loud and unmistakable. A skilled player who listens carefully enough will be able to judge where The Brute is based on the loudness of the footsteps and which direction they are coming from. However, this tactic is not entirely reliable, as footsteps that may sound like they're coming from the floor above may actually be the footsteps of the monster on the same floor, really close by.
• The Brute's face emits a bright orange light that is especially noticeable in darker areas like the cargo hold. Spotting this bright orange light moving in the distance may just be enough of a warning for the player to hide or escape to another location.
• The Brute is also quite vocal, frequently roaring whenever it spots the player, or when attacked by a fire extinguisher, or upon coming into contact with steam. The Brute being struck by steam anywhere on the ship may notify the player about The Brute's approximate whereabouts.

Evading The Brute

• Players should not be afraid to run from The Brute if they know they'll be able to get into an open area such as the Main Deck or a preset path they have marked or memorized, especially one with a pit trap on it. Although The Brute is fast, it cannot overtake the player in a straight chase (provided that both are running at maximum speed), so even if its roars and footsteps sound really close, The Brute may actually be further back than it may seem.
• Out of the three monsters, The Brute has the lowest killing range. The Hunter can leap at the player from a fair distance away, The Fiend can fatally subject the player to a telekinetic attack even from the other end of a corridor, but the Brute has to actually make contact with the player to kill them. Hence, despite The Brute's great speed, as long as the player stays ahead of The Brute, they can avoid getting killed by the monster (though players should also take note of obstacles up ahead, like steam).
• Stairs are highly effective ways of escaping The Brute, as they slow it down slightly (with the stairs near the helipad and in the submarine room slowing it down to near walking speed), giving the player a little extra time to get away or hide.
• The player should not waste time closing or locking doors, as The Brute can destroy even power-locked doors. The only time the player should close a door is in a scenario where The Brute is running at them down a very long corridor that leads directly into the room the player is in, in which case closing the door may obscure its vision long enough for the player to hide or find some other means to escape.
• While immune to fire and flare guns, The Brute is vulnerable to pit traps, fire extinguishers, and steam, though such measures can only temporarily pause its advance.
• The Brute will always wander around the player's general vicinity, due to a sort of "homing beacon" built into its A.I., so the players can buy themselves some extra time by provoking The Brute purposefully (as the monster is easy to lure and distract), then hiding, as The Brute is scripted to leave the player's vicinity for a short while after this.

Monstrum 2 Tips

Against The Brute

• Given the monster's slow climbing speed, it is recommended for prisoners to remain at a higher elevation than The Brute.
• Taking further advantage of The Brute's poor agility, players can evade The Brute by leaping through windows as soon as possible, for, while The Brute can climb through windows, they cannot do so quickly.
• If on the same floor as The Brute, it is best for players to never be in a position where The Brute can charge forward towards them in a straight line. The more indestructible obstacles between The Brute and the player, the better.
• As with all other monsters, The Brute can be temporarily blinded by fire extinguishers.

As The Brute

The Hongsha-Miller company has noted several tactics used by more experienced Brutes, which can be used by those playing as the monster in Monstrum 2.

• Due to the normally-lumbering speed of The Brute, it is best that those playing as The Brute avoid climbing through windows when chasing after prey. Instead, it is better to prevent prey from escaping through a window in the first place by stunning players near the window with the Tremor attack.
• When pinpointing prey using echolocation, rather than going for their current location, it is better for The Brute to predict where its targets will go and intercept them instead.
• While charging at great speed can be used as a devastating or fatal attack, The Brute's rapid acceleration can also be used to quickly close distance with a target.
• Hongsha-Miller has noted that some Brutes exhibit patience, standing in place and listening for the sounds of prey rather than constantly moving around and making noise.
• Since The Brute is a slow climber, it is better for it to search for prey from high places, then drop down and chase targets at lower elevations upon spotting them.
• The most experienced and most cunning Brutes can trick and confuse prey by varying the frequency and length of their roars, preventing them from predicting its movements.

Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals Tips

Against The Brute

• Unlike in the original Monstrum, The Brute usually moves slowly when chasing enemies (unless it uses a Speed Boost item or activates its ultimate ability, Magma Charge), so it can be easily evaded unless the player is also another Power class character, which would mean that they are as slow as The Brute. The same tactics apply when facing Boss Brutes, though the player should stay even further away from them, as Boss Brutes can spit fireballs at players within a certain range.
• Whenever The Brute activates its ultimate ability, "Magma Charge", it goes ablaze rushes with increased speed for ten seconds, unaffected by all attempts to stun it or slow it down, which makes attempts to use stunning items against it as pointless as locking doors on The Brute in Monstrum. As is the case in Monstrum 2, the best way for players to evade The Brute in this state is to avoid being in a position where The Brute can charge towards them unimpeded in a straight line. It is also extremely risky engage The Brute with melee attacks while it is using its ultimate ability, as it will deal heavy damage to anything touching it.
  • The only boosts that outclass Magma Charge in terms of speed are three ultimate abilities, namely PenPen's "Shooting Star", the "Vaccination Time" of the Reaper Nurses, and Penny the Chicken's "Power of Love".
  • It is only ideal to face The Brute while it is doing Magma Charge if one has the Invincibility item equipped or is playing as Glowstick Vince, since his ultimate ability, "You'll See", allows him to receive half damage and deflect it in full back to his attackers.
• Several items in the game (such as those that stun or reverse controls) can affect The Brute just like any other monster, so players should use these to their full advantage. As brought up above, however, all slowing and stunning items and abilities do not work on The Brute at all when it is using its Magma Charge ability, which lasts for ten seconds.

Against Boss Brutes

• When playing as a monster in "Maze Escape" mode (where monster players aim to repeatedly hunt and kill players to prevent them from unlocking a portal to escape the nightmare they are in), the player can consider the summoned bosses of the game their allies. However, unlike most bosses, Boss Brutes can still accidentally damage monster players in Maze Escape with the fireballs they spit, so the player should still keep their distance from them, or at least ensure that they are not in front of the Boss Brutes.
• Like their playable counterpart, the Boss Brutes are not very fast, with their long-range attack serving as their only compensation. Even so, Boss Brutes only spit fireballs within a specific range in front of them, meaning that players that are significantly further away from them are safe from their fireballs.
• By quickly alternating between floors (as long as they do not get themselves cornered by the bosses or other enemies), players can evade the Boss Brutes quite well. The player should still be cautious with their ranged attacks however, as, while their fireballs are usually shot in a straight, horizontal line, Boss Brutes are still capable of firing at an angle.
• Avoiding encounters with the Boss Brutes can also be done by ensuring there are as many walls between the player's character and the Boss Brutes as possible.
• Boss Brutes would target those closest to their location. Hence, multiple players being pursued by them only need to outrun their enemies so that the Boss Brutes would focus on them instead, though the player should take caution, as they can still be struck by fireballs within a certain range of the Boss Brutes even if they are not the target, so it is best to stay away from the front of the Boss Brutes altogether.
• The player can confuse Boss Brutes by running to one end of the control room (the highest part of the map of Monstrum Madness) opposite of them, causing them to descend the set of stairs they are currently on to use the set of stairs on the player's end to try and reach them, which would allow the player to run to the other end of the control room. Provided that the Boss Brutes never actually enter the control room and the player stands on the very end of the control room (just right on top of the staircase), they can repeat this process and waste the time of the four Boss Brutes until they are despawned by the end of Boss Time.
  • Of course, this tactic can only work in ideal conditions, is easy to mess up, and easy to disrupt, given how the player doing this may be attacked by other players, preventing them from carrying out this plan effectively.

As The Brute

• As with all Power class monsters, The Brute has 360 hit points. Those playing as The Brute can use their great amount of health to their advantage in order to more confidently engage in direct combat with other players, as The Brute can withstand several attacks from weaker characters and outlive them in a straight fight.
• The Brute's great strength is balanced out by its slow default movement, hence, it is recommended for those playing as The Brute to rely on ambush tactics in order to get the drop on prey before they could properly distance themselves from The Brute.
• The Brute's low speed can also be remedied with a "Speed Boost" item, which makes the user faster for four seconds and renders them immune to banana peels, items that stun players that slip on them for two seconds.
• The Brute can also greatly benefit from stunning and slowing items like "Speed Drain", banana peels, and "Primal Fear" to compensate for their low average speed, both for the purposes of escaping a losing or battle or restraining a retreating enemy. As Primal Fear covers a considerable range around the user, The Brute can use this item to completely paralyze all players close to it for four seconds, which may provide The Brute just enough time to kill its chosen targets.
• As with The Brute's charge attack in Monstrum 2, the player can use its ultimate ability, "Magma Charge", to close the gap between them and their target as well as kill them quickly in the process. This berserk state lasts for ten seconds and has the added bonus of rendering The Brute invulnerable to all means to slow or stun it.
• Magma Charge can also be used to collect soul shards at an even quicker pace when playing Shard Mayhem (where monsters aim to collect as many soul shards as possible, as well as kill other monsters to decrease their soul shard count), or, as a last resort, escape from a situation that The Brute cannot survive (e.g. if The Brute is being attacked while it is low on health, or is being harassed by a boss or a character with temporary invincibility or some other means to deflect damage back to The Brute).
• In Maze Escape, monsters would not be attacked during Boss Time (though, as outlined above, Boss Brutes are one of the few exceptions since their fireballs can still hurt monsters in Maze Escape mode), so it is best to summon the bosses of the specific nightmare The Brute is on as much as possible to help assist in hunting down mortal players.

Trivia

• Team Junkfish stated that The Brute's behavior and looks were inspired by the "Cave-troll" from The Lord of the Rings, "The Tank" from Left 4 Dead, and "Killer Croc" from the Batman: Arkham series. They also consider The Brute as male, though the monster is frequently referred to as "it" due to its bestial nature.
• The Brute also bears a resemblance to "Tar Pit", an enemy of The Flash from DC, a "Lava Spitting EVO" from the Generator Rex franchise, and "The Charger" from Left 4 Dead 2, which shares The Brute's large right arm, small left arm, and charging attacks.
• The Brute is capable of opening unlocked wooden doors without outright destroying them by swinging them open, albeit somewhat harshly. If the player keeps closing it (from under a table or from behind the door), the door will eventually explode as if it had been smashed. However, metal doors never explode, meaning the player can continue closing the door every time the Brute opens it indefinitely, as long as the Brute never catches sight of the player while this is happening (which would provoke it into charging into the room, potentially busting the door off its hinges).
• The Brute is the only monster from the first Monstrum that makes a reappearance in Monstrum 2, albeit with a new design. This may imply that, unlike The Hunter and The Fiend, which appeared to be mere prototypes of their more refined successors like The Bhagra and The Malacosm, The Brute is considered by the Hongsha-Miller company to be successful enough, worth replicating and improving (which may explain its updated design).
• Because of its presence in Monstrum 2 and Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, The Brute is the only monster in the series that is playable in more than one game. The Fiend is a playable character in Monsters & Mortals, while The Bhagra and The Malacosm were playable characters in Monstrum 2, leaving The Hunter as the only monster in the series that never became playable.
  • Additionally, because of this, The Brute and The Fiend are the only monsters in the series that can face another monster from the Monstrum series, namely, each other and copies of themselves. On a more general note (outside of Monstrum mods), both are also the only monsters in the series that can battle, team up with, or interact with other characters outside of Monstrum, like Pyramid Head of the Silent Hill series, Balathu of House of Ashes, and even the real-life YouTuber 8-bitryan, who encountered both monsters in his Monstrum playthrough, and ultimately escaped from The Brute.
• The Brute's "Magma Charge" ability in Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals used to inflict 25 burn damage, allowing The Brute to deal 75 raw damage and 75 burn damage, essentially allowing it to inflict a total of 150 damage with every hit. The burn damage was reduced to 20 in the 1.6.6 update of the game.
  • In that same update, Boss Brute fireballs, which used to deal 25 burn damage four times for a total of 100 damage per fireball, had their damage slightly lowered, inflicting just 20 damage four times for a total of 80 damage.

Gallery

Monstrum

Death Animations

The Brute finds a twig that it wants to snap. That twig was the player.

The Brute takes tag a little too seriously.

Images

The Brute about to squash an ugly bug.

The Brute trips on another pit trap.

The interior of the Brute's head. Pretty empty.

The Brute's innards.

The Brute's left arm. (Note its uncanny resemblance to a human's)

The Brute's back.

Audio

Monstrum OST 03 The Brute

Monstrum OST 04 Hiding From The Brute

Monstrum OST 05 The Brute Stalks The Halls

Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals

The Brute's face, serving as the icon on the portal of "Monstrum Madness"

The Brute's "Magma Charge" icon

Boss Brutes pursue the playable Brute

The Brute attempts to reach and punch The Fiend

The Fiend faces The Brute on the Hisa Maru helipad

The Brute faces The Fiend by the base of the Hisa Maru helipad

The Fiend witnesses a helicopter drop four Boss Brutes Hisa Maru helipad