The Outlast Trials lore, explained

In The Outlast Trials, you’re thrown into chaos as you’re asked to navigate through a series of challenging trials with little information. Intertwined throughout, the survival game also has some pretty complex lore, but you might not pick up on it if you aren’t specifically seeking it.

If you’re wondering what the backstory of this game is, here’s everything we know about the lore in The Outlast Trials.

The Outlast Trials story, explained

Set in the Cold War era, The Outlast Trials follows a sickening series of experiments that take place before the other installments in the Outlast franchise. You play as a Reagent, which is a character you get to fully design yourself.

What are Reagents in The Outlast Trials?

Reagents are the protagonists of The Outlast Trials, and all of them are characters who were tricked into working with Murkoff Corporation after falling into tough times. The exact details of how this occurred are unknown, but all Reagents previously engaged in something shady that they tried to hide. Murkoff Corporation was still able to find out what it was, though.

Later in their lives, the Reagent came across a flyer for the Murkoff charity program and decided to give it a try since they were homeless and struggling to get by. Murkoff Corporation then kidnapped them and took them to the Sinyala Facility where they officially became part of Project LATHE.

What is Project LATHE in The Outlast Trials?

Project LATHE is an experiment conducted by the Murkoff Corporation and headed by Doctor Easterman in the 1950s where they find individuals on the streets and abduct them to be reborn as Reagents. The corporation only seeks individuals they deem to be meaningless and able to vanish without being missed.

The experiment itself puts Reagents into dangerous trials as therapy and expects them to work through them so they can earn their freedom and be reborn anew. Throughout the trials, Reagents come face to face with various Ex-Pop villains determined to stop them.

Who is Doctor Easterman in The Outlast Trials?

Doctor Easterman is the overarching antagonist in The Outlast Trials. He runs Project LATHE and is a shadowy figure you never directly see but you know is behind everything. Doctor Easterman oversees both the Reagents and the Ex-Pop and acts as a fatherly figure to both.

Who are the Ex-Pop in The Outlast Trials?

Ex-Pop, otherwise known as The Experimental Population, are the main antagonists you interact with and failed experiments from past versions of Project LATHE. They’re dangerous and deadly enemies determined to stop all Reagents by any means necessary.

There are two Prime Asset Ex-Pop, which are Mother Gooseberry and Leland Coyle. The rest are unnamed individuals, although you’ll regularly recognize them as characters based on their behaviors and appearances like the Psychosis-inducing gas mask man or the massive naked giant.

Who is Mother Gooseberry in The Outlast Trials?

Mother Gooseberry’s real name is Phyllis Futterman, and she’s a disgraced children’s show host and dental assistant who now stalks the halls of most of the maps you visit in The Outlast Trials. She’s always accompanied by her sick hand puppet Doctor Futterman, which is a duck with a drill in its mouth she carries around constantly.

Who is Leland Coyle in The Outlast Trials?

Sergeant Leland Coyle is a corrupt police officer. He wields an electric shock baton and enjoys using it on anyone he can find. Like Mother Gooseberry, he’s a Prime Asset, which means you’ll see him pretty frequently as you traverse through trials.

What happens to Reagents who are reborn in The Outlast Trials?

Once you earn enough Release tokens, you can have your Reagent join the reborn. You have to navigate through one last trial in this mission, and after you do, your Reagent is gone and you start playing as a new one. You get to keep all of the clothing, Rigs, and other unlockables you’ve obtained, but you’re technically playing as a new character once your Reagent is reborn.

The exact fate of Reagents who are reborn is left slightly vague and unclear, but based on what we see and know, it seems like they become sleeper agents who are still stuck working for Murkoff Corporation. Your Reagent ends up in Cuba and gets a call from Doctor Easterman who is able to gain control over them with three code words. So even though you’re promised freedom upon completing the trials, it doesn’t seem like any Reagent actually achieves it, which means the ending of this game features a pretty grave fate.