Cultist
Game Apperances: Blood, Blood II
Affiliation: Cabal, CabalCo
Difficulty Stats:
| Difficulty Level | Hit Points |
|---|---|
| Still Kicking | 40 |
| Pink on the Inside | ~53 |
| Lightly Broiled | 80 |
| Well Done | ~98 |
| Extra Crispy | 125 |
Not Available
"All in all, the cultists in “Blood” are well-designed villains because they are powerful enough to pose a genuine threat to the player (in a way that is closer to the horror genre than the action genre), whilst also being a brilliantly melodramatic satire of fanaticism and intriguingly mysterious too." — "Why the Cultists From “Blood” (1997) Are Such Well-Designed Villains", PekoeBlaze
Cultists are the lowest ranking members of the Cabal - the "grunts" of Tchernobog's army. They have the least strength, but are plentiful. Cultists are the most common enemy in Blood after Axe Zombies, and they also appear in Blood II: The Chosen.
Blood[edit]
"These bad boys are the chief minions of the Cabal and it won't take you long to develop a deep, abiding hatred toward them. If you interrupt their dark rituals, they'll want to teach you a lesson in respect. They're equally fond of shotguns, Tommy guns, and dynamite, so be sure you're ready for a fight before you tangle with them. Their long service to the Cabal has eroded their fear as well as their sanity, and they'll stop at nothing to feed your soul to their dark master." — Blood Beastiary
Cultists (who are sometimes called "Monks" by fans) are everywhere, hunting for Caleb. They dress in brown/beige robes with a yellow belt and have hideous disfigured faces somewhat reminiscent of Freddy Krueger that they hide under their hoods. They typically wield sawed-off shotguns (but only discharge one barrel at a time, unlike Caleb who can discharge both barrels), or lob TNT bundles like grenades at higher difficulty levels.
They are not terribly smart, but hide behind doors or walls. They frequently give themselves away by shouting cultist curses like "pallex mala" ("weakling unbeliever" in their language) and "crudux cruo" ("fresh blood"). They are surprisingly accurate and deadly, and can serve as a great threat while larger enemies like gargoyles attack. Fortunately, even though they never infight like Zombies do, their TNT attacks are less accurate and they often screw them up, to gruesome if hilarious results.
The robed cultists reappear in The Nightmare Levels, when Caleb flashes back to his battle in the frozen north and again in a map set in the old west. Again they wield sawed-off shotguns and spout cultist curses. They were originally intended to make a return in Blood II proper, but were not developed in time. The only Blood enemy to appear as they were previously in the sequel is the Hell Hand.
"Tchernobog's human soldiers are accurate and deadly. Wielding shotguns these robed menaces give you a good fight. They may also lob dynamite at you from time to time, so listen for the telltale hiss and be ready to dive for cover." — Blood Manual
Their iconic voicing is usually attributed to Stephan Weyte, the voice of Caleb, though even he does not remember for sure:
"Now I did the recordings almost, what, 15 years ago . . over 10 I know, so trying to remember who was who and what was what in my dotage is very hazy. However, when I've listened to snatches of Blood, I do recognize my voice in some other characters but for the life of me, I can't really remember doing them though, again, I'm pretty sure it's me. I probably tossed them off very quickly in some recording session..." — Stephan Weyte
The player character was originally going to simply be a Cultist/Fanatic, which is part the reason it has animations for crouching, jumping, and swimming. Also, if a Cultist is lit on fire, he'll often yell "It burns! It burns! AHHHH!" and Caleb will yell the same thing if he is lit on fire. In the Blood Alpha, the cultists also do not yet melt away upon death as they do in the final version, where they lie for a while on the ground (with their foot twitching occasionally) before sinking into the ground. However, gibs from a Cultist who's blown to bits, for example by TNT, do not disappear, and look the same as gibs from an Axe Zombie, with the same random things like an eyeball, an intestine, or brains (but, naturally, without the Zombie's head to kick around).
Blood II[edit]
"The lowest designation of Cabal soldiers, Cultists are followers of the Cabal. These early initiates are recruited, or brainwashed, into service from inside the Cabalco Corporation. They dress in official corporate attire so that their presence will not be obtrusive, allowing them to integrate into any aspect of normal society. They are only trained in a limited arsenal of weapons, mostly handguns, and in combat situations their lack of training prevents them from working effectively together." — Blood II: The Chosen Manual
In Blood II: The Chosen, cultists are still the lowest-ranking minions of the Cabal, serving as cannon fodder, but are much less deadly and accurate. With the conversion of the Cabal to a corporate empire, so has its staff. These are early CabalCo initiates that are recruited and brainwashed into service. Their training consists only of a psyche profile and brain wipe.
Within the company, they are used for missions of little importance - security and intimidation - and have low intelligence. Otherwise, they would have risen to a higher rank in the Cabal. Often they are used as human shields or distractions for more important Cabal members.
They wield pistols and flare guns only, and their lack of combat training prevents them from knowing how to coordinate an effective attack. They are more of a minor annoyance than their previous incarnations, lacking both firepower and accuracy.
They are not as common as they were in the original Blood. Fanatics instead take on much the same role as the Cultists did in the first game.
The male cultists were modified in The Nightmare Levels expansion for Blood II: The Chosen to become "Clown Guards" or just "Clowns". They are dressed in bright multi-coloured suits, have painted faces, and still wield pistols. They are employees of the circus featuring JoJo, and appear in C5L3: JoJo's Big Adventure, where Ishmael is attempting to escape from his employment as a circus freak.
Gallery[edit]
Blood II Female Cultist Concept Art
Blood II Male Cultist Concept Art
Robed Cultist from the Nightmare Levels
