Battletech: The Dark One (Black Marauder)

....The Legend of Evil, the Master of WarCrimes, the heartless beast from beyond the black...it's Battletech's creepiest villain, The Dark One.
If you don't want SPOILERS but plan to read the stories, skip this video.
My 100th video, by the way!
By the way, i cooked up stats for the bastard, but i have yet to post them. Ask and i will see that you receive....
NOTES:
--- One fun thing is that if you read the stories, the perspective treats The Dark One as if it's real...but in the game, he's called a Myth and a Rumor...
.....Nice.

[@cody1570]

This mech is badass. The fact it moves at weird angles, targets the pilots instead of mechs, uses living humans as armor and slowly absorbs those victems into the metal hull of the mech and its real face consists of a giant maw with rows of teeth and many eyes covering the top half of the face. Peering at you from the shadows of your nightmares in the midst of a battle field. Its a great twist up of the human on human battle tech world. Adds something more and what we need. Like necromos and the broken, zombie virus that infects even pilots in mechs making them zombies and the like.

[@DeadGamesSociety]

I don't think we need more of horror-supernatural, i think keeping battletech 99.99% realist Sci-fi is literally what makes the game good. However.... ....where are the aliens? 😎

[@zraal3759]

The story "Wolf Pelts and Raven Feathers" implies that black marauder was produced from a Star League-era direct neural interface technology research project. They where researching to increase battlefield performance of the pilot through better connection to the mech. With out exception ever single pilot went insane from the connection. Though, there is nothing explicit, but it does go along with my theory. My theory is that the black marauder has an powerful AI and an experimental neural interface that allows for better connection to pilot, but also metal manipulation of other human minds as another form electronic warfare. This would explain the malevolent feeling every person has seeing the mech or being near it. Additionally particularly susceptible individuals, either through inebriation, low innate resistance, or continual exposure to the black marauder's neural field, have full blown hallucinations that the mech is alive and has claws, mouth, eyes, etc. All that said I hope they never confirm the origins and/or source of the black marauder. I am of the opinion the setting is more interesting by not knowing.

[@PaganPilot]

There are deep periphery rumors of entities beyond human perception living within mysterious KF-jumpspace...

[@tacky4237]

I liked the idea that the Black marauder was a failed Star league era Experimental Neural interface mech with an ai built into it, and that this ai somehow went rampant/gained semi sentience. The idea of you interfacing with the mech granting this rogue AI access to your brain and causing extreme mental degradation is very disturbing yet grounded in the setting.

[@kieranadamson3224]

Yeah that's something that makes a lot of sense. Though the ambiguity is what love most. On one hand, your rational mind tells you that it must be something akin to what you just described. A version of the interface system that went wrong and causes mental degradation. But then there's the stories. The stories of this thing apparently moving in ways a mech SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO. Stories of it having eyes and a rictus grin. Sure, these could all be passed aside as fearful here say and the traumatised ramblings of those maddened souls who survived an encounter with the Black Marauder. But personally, I think there's a much more subtle yet much more disturbing detail. Who left it on that moon any why? If it was a failed experiment why wouldn't it just have been scrapped? Plus, if it is an ai what has to occur to cause a relatively basic ai to develop into something akin to a demon? It's almost as if someone or.... something left it there on purpose. It's as if the Black Marauder was hiding itself away in that moon until it's time came.

[@tonyblitz1]

The very first time I heard about the Dark One, I wanted someone to paint a model in light absorbing black paint.

[@DeadGamesSociety]

me too 😆

[@fix0the0spade]

Everyone seems to forget that the Terran Hegemony had fully functioning AI at it's disposal, perhaps somebody tried bolting one into a SLDF prototype Marauder one day and... oops...PS I really like this take on the Black Marauder being fairly subtle vs the versions people have done with tentacles, gaping maws etc. Really cool.

[@DeadGamesSociety]

Thanks! Yeah, that's possible, but doesn't explain half the shenanigans The Dark One can pull...mine does have a maw, it's just the proper size...

[@shawnarmitage7955]

God, guns, and Battletech. I'm sharing this with my kids gaining group. Hope they will read the book now. Thanks

[@durnaxe8708]

huh. I was actually just talking to my friend a couple of days ago of modifying my Officer Pod from the defunct (and failed) robotech game into the black Marauder. I guess even youtube listening in sides with the black marauder.

[@DeadGamesSociety]

That would be one big Marauder...you could use it with Dark Age Plastics....

[@durnaxe8708]

​@@DeadGamesSociety Yea it will be but I think I remember people saying it being a rather large and odd looking marauder and this model is more tall and skinny then just being "bigger" then the other marauders I have.

[@WadeWeigle]

Nice video. I’d hit it with Testors dull cote and if that changes the look of the black paint, you can just paint another thin layer on top of the dull cote. At least one layer of black will be protected in case any damage happens to the top coat. I was unaware Battle tech had stuff like this. Pretty neat.