History of F.E.A.R. - As The Story Goes

F.E.A.R. is a horror game series that was a little confusing for some, off-putting for others, and absolutely beloved by those who loved the creepy little girl trope. By the time we were introduced to Alma, we had met Samara of The Ring three years earlier, as well as the creepy mother/son duo of Yuko and Toshio from The Grudge. The world of the disturbing little girl had made its way from Asia to western audiences, not just with movies but also games such as the Fatal Frame and Silent Hill series’. So what about F.E.A.R. makes it different from all of the other games with creepy little girls? Alma is special. Settle in, kiddies, let me tell you her story… and since this is a history, spoilers are ahead. This history will be told through the Monolith Timeline which is largely considered the main canon, rather than the Vivendi Timeline which only includes games published by Vivendi Universal.

Alma

To tell the history properly, we should start at the beginning. Alma Wade was a young girl with pale skin, dark eyes, and dark brown hair. She was different than the other kids, often kept to herself, and amazing at hide and seek. She was born on the 26th of August, 1979, and while she survived the birth, her mother did not. Alma had strange and unusual psychic abilities which caused her to have nightmares almost every night. She could feel the mainly negative emotions of those around her, something she didn’t know how to control or turn off. These abilities drew the attention of Armacham Technology Corporation, or ATC.

Alma was put to the test for her psychic abilities, and she passed each one with flying colors. She was also experimented on as ATC worked to discover the origin of her powers and just what they could do. She was a smart girl, though, and when she was five, she started to use tactics. She would purposefully fail tests, trying to get the corporation to lose interest in her, to stop studying her. When this failed, she started a fire in one of the labs. Then the scientists who studied Alma began to suffer from nightmares and mood changes. Alma was attacking them. Armacham had to figure out how to control her powers, and soon.

When she reached seven, she was brought into Project Origin, which was designed to create psychics from a single original source. Alma was placed in a coma just days before her eight birthday and she was locked away in the Vault, a circular structure hidden within the Origin Facility, a location that was kept secret. The Vault was specifically designed to block Alma’s abilities. There is a possibility that this occurred due to the little girl finally taking her first life, giving Armacham a reason to contain her to keep themselves safe. While contained, Alma was still experimented on, even impregnated with clone embryos made from her own DNA combined with that of Origin members, including her father, Harlan Wade.

The Point Man

The main character of the game series is a man with no voice and no name, and he is also Alma's first born son. Known only as The Point Man, he is more or less a blank slate of a character, never really given personality or even a face, at least not until F.E.A.R. 3. He was a bit of a failure when born, though Armacham Technology Corporation sought to correct that. The organization forced him to go under the knife, though at what age this was done is unknown. Surgical enhancement increased his speed, strength and reflexes, making him the soldier ATC had wanted.

Once the enhancements were complete, The Point Man's memory was erased, clearing away the last remaining vestiges of his childhood, and the military training began. He was created to be the perfect warrior, and was placed into the F.E.A.R. program when considered good enough. His enhanced reflexes and abilities made him more than human, giving him astonishing reaction time. This is shown in the game with The Point Man's ability to apparently slow down time, giving him a window of opportunity to react before a normal human being might. This ability to move at an amazing rate may be the ability he was born with, an unexpected side-effect with amazing results.

Paxton Fettel

Alma's second born son was Paxton Fettel, the main antagonist of the series for the most part. He was quite the opposite of his older brother, both men born approximately a year apart when Alma was fifteen and then sixteen. His powers came forth almost instantly, showing much more success than The Point Man had in his first years. Paxton was their ideal, and he was quickly put on the path to being a psychic commander among ATC's ranks.

While not as strong as his mother, the results he presented gave ATC hope that their army of psychics could be created using Alma simply as a breeder. They now had Paxton, someone they felt they could control. Alma was no longer important for them to use, so she was only kept alive in case they would need to replace Paxton down the road.

Due to his innate psychic abilities, Alma was able to reach out and speak with her youngest son. At age ten, Paxton was synchronized with her, merging his consciousness with hers. As a result, the controllable commander was no longer, causing him to lash out and become violent. When he went rogue, seven members of Project Origin were left dead in his wake. This, like his mother before him, is what caused him to have to be contained just as she had been. ATC chose this time to also pull the plug, as it were, on Alma, effectively leaving her to a slow death trapped in the secret facility with no life support.

F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon

In the first game, The Point Man (the player), witnesses Paxton Fettel take control of a battalion of super soldiers, clones which he can telepathically control. At this point, The Point Man doesn't know who he's dealing with, though Paxton knows who The Point Man is. The Point Man is debriefed by Commissioner Rodney Betters along with his F.E.A.R. team, Spencer Jankowski and Jin Sun-Kwon. Their mission is to eliminate Paxton Fettel who has gone rogue once again after a second synchronization between himself and his mother. In other words, Alma may not be dead, and she wants revenge.

As The Point Man and his team grow closer to Paxton, The Point Man begins to suffer from unusual and possibly even life-threatening paranormal experiences. Frequently, when on his own, he hallucinates a little girl in a red dress with pale skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. Alma Wade. The Point Man learns that Paxton Fettel is Alma's son, and that he was raised to be a psychic commander for Armacham's top secret Project Origin. The Point Man also learns of the existence of another child of Alma's, though he has no idea he is that child.

The Point Man races against Paxton who is determined to find Alma and release her. Alma is released, not by her son but by her father, Harlan, who seemed to finally grow a conscience. Though by this point, she has been locked away and alone for over a decade, her sons both now in their early thirties. Alma is a force of pure rage, and she will get the retribution she feels she deserves.

Paxton and The Point Man finally meet face to face. The Point Man is pulled into a massive hallucination, seemingly caused by their proximity, and while hallucinating, manages to kill his own brother. Despite Paxton now being out of the picture as far as we know, The Point Man is given the task of destroying the entire facility before Alma can leave. He does so by sabotaging the facility's reactor. Alma unfortunately manages to get hold of the helicopter rescuing The Point Man, and survives. In the wreckage of the Blackhawk caused by Alma’s interference, The Point Man as well as Douglas Holiday, a demolitions expert who had joined The Point Man’s  F.E.A.R. team, are not found. They are presumed to be captured by ATC.

After the credits roll, there is a mysterious phone call that can be heard between an unnamed Senator and president of ATC, Genevieve Aristide. According to her, the project is back under control. In addition, she deems The Point Man successful, though whether she means him as a person or a project remains unclear.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

Picking up where the first game left off, Alma is free and determined to get revenge for all the wrongs committed upon her. At the end of F.E.A.R., the sky glowed a strange orange upon Alma's release, and it seems that her time locked away only made her more powerful. When she was removed from life support all those years ago, it took her body six days to die, though her psychic signature never disappeared. Now Alma threatens the entire world as she begins to work toward rebuilding reality in her image.

The Point Man is still missing in action, so the player is now a man named Michael Becket. Michael is a member of a Delta Force unit known as Dark Signal. He was not a remarkable child, it seems, but as an adult he took to the military like he was born for it, becoming very dangerous for an average human being. Like The Point Man, Michael is surgically enhanced, almost as if he’s being reformed in the Man's image. While he's always had an extreme focus and quick reflexes, these enhancements provided by ATC successfully make him superhuman.

Michael comes face to face with Alma in her preferred image as a small girl wearing a red dress, when he happens upon her in a swing beside a tree. Before he could get close enough to reach her though, he suffers from a hallucination showing a city destroyed and Alma entering our reality. This is all approximately thirty minutes before the end of the first game.

Once Michael recovers from this ordeal, his squad reaches a penthouse complex where Genevieve Aristide resides. They aren't the first to arrive, though, as the building is under siege by a Black Ops team made up of mercenaries who were sent by Armacham's Board of Directors. Michael and his team manage to rescue her, and in her rescue he also finds information on a mysterious project known only as "Harbinger". This project appears to involve him and his teammates, but what it is remains unclear. Mrs. Aristide tells him that he and his team are the only ones who can stop Alma. Bear in mind, this is before The Point Man destroyed the Origin Facility's reactor and Aristide's discussion with the Senator. Caught in the crossfire of the explosion at the facility, Michael is knocked unconscious, dimly hearing Aristide order that him and his squadmates be loaded into a chopper.

Michael comes in and out of consciousness, finding at moments that he's being operated on under Aristide's orders. He begins to see more and more visions of Alma through this time before he fully recovers, finding himself in a hospital deep underground along with the rest of his squad. It seems he regains consciousness at just the right time, as ATC attacks the hospital shortly after with a clean-up crew under the command of Colonel Richard Vanek. Michael manages to escape, but his squadmates are not quite as lucky.

One member of his team, Redd Jankowski, is found trapped and dying after being mangled by a surgical machine. Before he dies, he tells Michael that they have to help "her", Alma, showing that she has been working to pass on a message, perhaps specifically to Michael. He escapes the hospital with the help of a man over his radio, a man who only calls himself "Snake Fist".

This mysterious man seems to know a lot about Alma, and that is because he is a researcher for ATC. He knows what she can do and he wants to stop her. His real name is Terry Halford, and he knows quite a lot of interesting information. Most interesting is the claim that Alma is trying to absorb Michael in some way, trying to become one with him due to his recent operation. Just what exactly did they do to Michael while he was under… whatever it was, Alma wants him, and she will break him down until he is hers, repeatedly attacking him physically as he and “Snake Fist” struggle to reach the surface and escape the hospital.

By this point, Alma has been reanimating the soldiers killed in the earlier game or in F.E.A.R., the first game. On top of this, there are now mechs, huge ones, though fortunately they can be used by anyone, Michael included. The paranormal attacks are growing worse, though Michael manages to rescue another of his teammates, Keira Stokes. Together they are forced to watch as their Master Sergeant, Cedric Griffin, is murdered by Alma.

After regrouping, Michael and his teammates, head to Wade Elementary School. The team splits up again, and Michael is reunited with the know-it-all, “Snake Fist”. Unfortunately, Terry Halford does not get to see how the whole situation plays out, despite how useful he has been thus far. A mysterious figure in black with red goggles over his eyes appears just as Terry provides Michael with a Type-12 Energy Weapon Prototype along with how to defeat Alma and decapitates Terry. This is a new soldier created by Armacham as part of a project known as Icarus that was eventually shut down. These soldiers are deadly and bio-engineered. They are known as Replica Assassins.

Before dying, “Snake Fist” is able to give Michael vital information regarding how to destroy Alma. They will have to travel to Still Island where is a device that is capable of amplifying psychic abilities. It’s up to Michael to use this tool and the changes made to him to his advantage. He must use his own new abilities to destroy Alma.

On the way to the island, the team is ambushed by Alma’s undead army of Replica troops. Swarmed by reanimated soldiers while under attack from Alma herself, they somehow fight their way through to survive. Heading for the Armacham facility, they discover the device they need: the Telesthetic Amplifier. As the machine is being powered up, Michael and his teammate, Keira Stokes, are confronted by Genevieve Arstide.

The big reveal - answers as to what happened to Michael and who was responsible, is finally here. Genevieve had been behind it all. She operated on Michael, changing him into what he is now. He is part of her plan to contain Alma, not destroy her. She still has uses for Alma. Her plan? To seal away Michael and Alma, containing both of them and giving Alma what she’s after. Keira tries to stop her and gets shot for her efforts, whether she survives or not remains unknown.

As if watching from the shadows, Alma appears, attacking Genevieve but accidentally gives her the opportunity to close the chamber and seal them in instead. Alma pays her no mind, her main target right in front of her. She begins to haunt him, causing him to hallucinate that one of his teammates is trying to activate the machine, making it appear as if his fellow soldier has gone mad. Now here is where we put a trigger warning, as the situation gets quite dire. Through the battle between Michael and his teammate, we see images of something else entirely going on, Alma raping Michael, getting just what she was after. When the smoke clears, Michael is captured inside the device, and Alma is outside. Free.

There’s something new about Alma, something she wishes to share with Michael. She releases him and takes his hand, placing it over her now swollen belly. Alma is pregnant. As the events come to an end, Michael hears the child, his child, in Alma’s womb whisper “Mommy”.

F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn

There is an expansion to F.E.A.R. 2, one that revealed that Alma’s other son, Paxton, is still alive in some way. In the game, the player takes on a Replica soldier named Foxtrot 813. As it turns out, Alma and Paxton are perhaps too similar. While one uses more traditional methods for a form of rebirth, Paxton has taken a different route. Foxtrot 813 is his tool to return to the land of the living. He will find his own rebirth, he’s not done yet.

F.E.A.R. 3

Nine months after the events of 1, 2, and Reborn, the Point Man has been captured by Armacham Security and is being interrogated in a prison somewhere in South America. Perhaps in his first act as a decent sibling, Paxton interrupts and breaks his older brother free. Together they escape, forming an odd alliance. They need each other right now in order to survive.

They find their way back to other F.E.A.R. operatives and are informed of what they have missed. Those who survived the explosion in the first game, civilians specifically, have either been executed by ATC or have been driven mad by the insane levels of paranormal activity in the area. The Point Man still has a job to do: defeat his mother, and it seems this time Paxton will be at his side.

Here they also discover the fate of Michael Becket, who is still alive. He is on an Armacham transport headed for an undisclosed location. Alma’s sons attack the transport and dispatch all personnel they can find. Once they reach Michael, Paxton, never one for patience, possesses him to get answers. Unfortunately, Michael does not survive this possession, as when Paxton releases him… he explodes.

The brothers move to their next target location, an old training facility formerly used by Alma’s father. It was a place used to hone and study the pair, only prototypes in their grandfather’s eyes. They are taunted by their grandfather’s ghosts, Harlan haunting them like an echo until this form is finally taken care of.

There are two different paths that can be taken specifically regarding the final conclusion. It all depends on if the player is The Point Man or Paxton, as both are playable. Interesting fact: in co-op mode the player with the highest score is the decider of the ending, as the stronger player gets their character’s end. The good ending, as it’s known, is the Point Man’s. In the end, the Point Man and Paxton are still enemies, and like Highlander, there can be only one. They try to overtake one another, and in the Point Man’s ending, he manages to overcome his younger brother, shooting him three times in the head. The body of his brother burns as the Point Man watches on before he heads to complete the job, destroying Alma.

The baby has been born, though, and Alma is fading away. Has she been reborn? With the newborn in his arms, the Point Man leaves the room, hearing in a transmission that everything is finally over. Almost a year of paranormal destruction has seemed to end… but what of Alma and the new child?

In the “evil” or bad ending, Paxton’s, the younger brother manages to overpower and overtake the Point Man, possessing him. Somehow, he removes the child from his mother’s womb, promising to raise this new sibling as his own child, before placing the child safely aside. Why? Well… like mother like son, perhaps, as Paxton suddenly turns on her, violently attacking and… eating her.

And that is the end of the F.E.A.R. franchise to this point. The final game, F.E.A.R. 3, was released in June of 2011 and, partially due to conflicts between studios, this still remains as the end of the series as there hasn’t been a game since. There were rumors in 2015 of a hopeful 4th chapter, though at the same time it could be quite complicated to do. After all, there are two endings to 3, and both are quite different. Either the Point Man or Paxton survives with the child, meaning the studios would either have to create two paths in the fourth installment, or pick one ending of 3 to make the official ending. The world may never know, unfortunately, but at least we have these great games.

For more on the F.E.A.R. series, check out "Whatever Happened To... F.E.A.R.?", an article written by fellow contributor, Ethan. It’s a great read and catches you up on just what happened in the background of this game wonderfully. I’m going to end this with a question, though. Would you like to see a fourth game or do you prefer the open ending that we currently have, wondering just what that child would grow up to be under the Point Man or Paxton? After the reboot/reworking of games like Resident Evil 7, I think it’s best we leave this one where it ended. The games were amazing and the mystery is now part of their lore. It’s like Pandora’s Box. If we open this one up again, we may end up regretting it. Not everything needs a wrapped up ending, and I think that’s the situation with F.E.A.R.

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