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The Hiss is capable of possessing objects, living things and the environment of the Oldest House
| “ | The winding way down is the twisting stair of reality. We see through your pretenses. We bore through you, slipping through your skin into the rotten marrow at your core. Your dark and blood-soaked dreams are cosmic dust, motes in our spiraling consciousness... | ” |
— Malcolm Rooney (possessed by the Hiss), Control alpha demo | ||
The Hiss is a hostile supernatural force that originates from beyond ordinary reality, capable of possessing and corrupting objects and living things. During the Hiss invasion, it overruns the Federal Bureau of Control's headquarters, the Oldest House, and kills Director Zachariah Trench, hurtling the Bureau's infrastructure into chaos. As the new Director, Jesse Faden is tasked with defeating this Hiss and restoring order to the Oldest House.
Description
The Hiss is a mysterious, chaotic, anomalous force that defies the natural laws of reality. Like other supernatural elements, the Hiss is extradimensional, originating from realms beyond our own, which obey different laws of physics and logic. The Hiss itself is a bodiless, contagious force that moves between dimensions via "resonance," invading everything in its path. It corrupts matter and twists it in unpredictable ways, and can possess living things and use them for its own purposes, including the elimination of any resistance it faces. Elements of the Oldest House possessed by the Hiss exhibit distinctly reddish, fluid auras and blurs, contrasting with the gray, solid, Brutalist architecture of the Bureau's domain
The Hiss is utterly hostile to the Federal Bureau of Control, constantly subverting the Bureau's control over the stability of the Oldest House. In this, it has been described as the antithesis of the Bureau's philosophy of objective order and control, instead representing subjective chaos. The Hiss can possess agents of the FBC and turn them into its slaves. The Hiss takes advantage of the special training and equipment of FBC agents, especially Rangers, to fight the survivors of its attack and ultimately overtake the Oldest House. These possessed agents exhibit multiple stages of Hiss "infection," and different variations display different mutations and supernatural abilities. Many of the Hiss have abilities uncannily similar to those of Jesse Faden.
It is unknown of the Hiss has any relation to the Astral Plane or the Black Pyramid.
Known Variations
Human slaves of the Hiss possess exhibit various different abilities and mutations, which have been likened to the progressive stages of an infectious disease. The more the Hiss infection progresses in an individual, the more deformed and powerful they become. There are also variations of the Hiss which appear to not be possessed humans but rather entities of their own.
| Image | Variation | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Standard | Basic slaves of the Hiss possess no supernatural abilities, merely being human individuals under the Hiss's control; thus, they fight with the conventional weaponry and armaments of FBC agents. Jesse Faden is capable of Seizing these types of enemies. |
| Drifter | Drifters are a unique variation of Hiss that possess telekinetic abilities similar to Jesse's. They float sporadically in the air and can hurdle objects at rapid speeds. It is unknown if they can be Seized. | |
| Cluster | Hiss Clusters, unlike other Hiss variants, appear to be non-human; they are described as large, glowing spheres that continually heal enemies. If Seized by Jesse, Clusters will instead heal her. | |
| Tempest | Tempests are advanced, highly dangerous forms of Hiss. Their abilities seem to be an enhancement of those of Drifters, generating storms of levitated objects around them. In spite of their strength, Tempests are not considered "bosses" in Control. Malcolm Rooney became a Tempest after he was possessed by the Hiss. |
Notable individuals possessed by the Hiss
Trivia
- The Hiss has numerous similarities to the Dark Presence, the antagonist of Control developer Remedy Entertainment's previous title Alan Wake. Both are unseen, bodiless, otherworldly supernatural forces capable of possessing objects and living things, turning them into their slaves.
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