A Few Questions About the Manpigs

[ThatCrazyShaman]

Regarding 'immortality' - there is one point in which Mandus is able to electrocute a Pig, although I'm not actually sure if it was killed or simply immobilized. Either way, it is possible that immortality does not necessarily lead to superhuman strength - we know that Agrippa was trapped inside a rotting husk for centuries. And come to think of it, one of Mandus' notes indicates that a dog he'd poisoned and then revived with the Chemical continued to be suffering from the poison and had to be put out of its misery. I suppose that could mean Mandus is still very ill following his immersion in the Chemical, justifying why he can't fight back and why he keeps having black outs.

Personally, I like to imagine that Frictional's games all take place in the same 'universe'. Amnesia is historical horror (concluded by heralding the 20th century), Penumbra is in the present day, and SOMA is a futuristic exploration of artificial intelligence and alien life.

I don’t know; the Wretch looks pretty dead to me, although it’s bobbing motion in the water almost gives it an appearance of still breathing [that is, assuming that Manpigs have a breathing animation – I’ve never noticed whether they do or not]… Then again, if we consider that they individuals they were made from were probably drowned and the water in their lungs replaced with Compound X, what are the odds that they have a need to breathe, anyway? xD

Agreed. Though, it would be interesting to see FG do something during the period of time between 1900-1970 [aside from the bit of background it provided in Penumbra: Overture]. But I think the Cthulhu Mythos has that pretty well-covered… And Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, of course.

At any rate, thank you for sticking around to discuss all this, Alardem. I actually have a couple of other questions on my mind you might be able to shed some light on for me, as I haven’t really seen them come up anywhere.

For one, do Manpigs have pig or human brains?

I can see where this could go either way, although I’d have to think they have human brains. Namely because, while pigs are quite intelligent, I highly doubt you could ever teach a pig how to write or operate machinery [or drive a truck, for that matter]. Their ability to learn is less driven by complex reasoning and more by cues.

Mandus’ comment about humans being ‘rotten with sentimentality’, and allusions to forcing the hand of evolution, would seem to support the idea of them potentially retaining the pig brain, but, again, pigs aren’t quite that smart. And changing something’s body structure isn’t going to cause its brain capacity to evolve over night, either.

Not to mention, would you really lobotomize a pig for any reason, let alone so they don’t completely freak out when they see themselves in the mirror?

Yes, all mammals share the same set of emotions, but in non-ape species they seem to be less complex in that department. I grew up spending a lot of time around farm animals, and I can say that their emotions are a bit more straightforward, more black-and-white, than human emotions. I don’t really see why you would need to lobotomize them if they had pig brains – it’s not like it made them any less emotional, regardless.
If they did have human brains, this could, in theory, explain a little bit of their general behavior. Lobotomies were notorious for changing the personality of whomever they were performed on, and one of the known effects was that it could greatly diminish mental capacity. Another potential side effect [which they may or may not have been aware of in 1899] was that the patient would sometimes become fairly aggressive – and in a couple of cases, they actually sought-out and attacked the practitioner who lobotomized them.

My other question is, do the Manpigs have some method of communicating with Mandus, aside from writing? As in – and I use this term loosely here – some form of speaking?

This has bugged me every time I go back through the game. I know it sounds completely ridiculous, but the vague nature of the story’s timeline makes me question it, due to the loading screen mentioning the foreman. Also, the whole thing about them singing, although I suppose that really comes down to what one considers to be singing.

I figure that Mandus probably would have kept around at least a few members of his human workforce until close to when the game takes place [since I find the idea of orphans working alongside of Manpigs to be a little… bizarre]. The dates on the notes place the creation of the Manpigs before he mentions the orphan portion of the workforce at all, though, so they did in fact exist in that timeframe, at least.

It just gets me to questioning how Mandus would communicate with them, if at all [as working with individuals who have the ability to clearly communicate ideas is far easier, especially in an establishment in which any number of things could go horribly wrong].

If we assume that Manpigs have human brains, we could also assume that perhaps some of them were subject to having their pig vocal cords replaced with those of a human [although their squealing would clearly suggest otherwise]. That, or Mandus can interpret pig-speak.
It makes more sense to think that the Machine tells him anything important, and his interactions with the Manpigs are limited to him giving them orders and whatnot. Just thought I’d throw the question out there, though.