7-1: Garden of Forking Paths

VIOLENCE /// FIRST
GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS

7-1: GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS
General
Layer & Part		VIOLENCE /// FIRST
Challenge		Beat the secret encounter.
Music		The World Looks White The World Looks Red Bull of Hell
Tip of the Day
Homing projectiles may be more difficult to dodge, but their tracking and slower speed makes them much easier to parry.
Collectables
4 Soul Orbs  1 Blood Orb
Enemies
3+ Strays  2 Schisms  4 Soldiers  4 Drones  2 Streetcleaners  1 Mindflayer  1 Malicious Face  4 Cerberi  28 Mannequins  3 Virtues Minotaur Big Johninator
Rank Requirements
Rank	Time	Kills	Style
S	06:40	51	17,000
A	07:30	48	15,000
B	10:00	40	10,000
C	15:00	20	5,000
Levels
Previous		Next
6-2		7-2
7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 7-S

7-1: GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS is the first level of Violence, which introduces the Mannequin and reintroduces the Tram Cart from 2-4: COURT OF THE CORPSE KING. 7-1 also stars the Minotaur as a boss encounter, and houses a secret encounter with Big Johninator.

The music used within the level is The World Looks White in the intro section, The World Looks Red throughout the main portion of the level, and Bull Of Hell for the Minotaur fights in the ending section.

Level

Start

The stark, cross-lined path at the entrance to the labyrinth.

Upon exiting the elevator doors, the screen will briefly flash white as the player enters a bright white courtyard engulfed by a thick blinding fog. White trees and large stone crosses surround the marble walkway underneath the player, which leads to the entrance of a Labyrinth made of marble.

Venturing inside the building, the player enters a room with three sets of doors. The set on the right is locked and the doors on the left will shut when approached, leaving only the doors right ahead open. Leading into a long gallery of six posing Mannequins each stationed on a small stage, a large door stands at the room's far end. Reaching it causes an empty Red Skull Pedestal to rise out from the floor, prompting the player to find a Red Skull Key to unlock the door behind it.

Returning to the first room will reveal the previously locked door to be open, passing it leads to a narrow corridor with a high ceiling, requiring the player to walljump up a wall to reach the higher floor. A large door opens to reveal a high room acting as an intersection, housing a button with the Greek Letter Alpha (α) and a Blue Skull Pedestal. The faint bellow of a bull can be heard when getting near the button. Pressing it shows a prompt notifying the player a door has been unlocked elsewhere in the level.

A door opens.

Nearby the entrance of the intersection, a book can be found:

MOST TEXT: INCOMPREHENSIBLE.

DISPLAYING FINAL PAGE:

The unending halls of the Garden! Ah, so dutifully decorated by the cross, the symbol that angels use for the Tree of Life. They praise their beloved Father who had planted it and filled us with the dew of its leaves and the nectar of its fruit, that which gives us life, courses through our veins...

For you however, our truth: Our bodies are not a vessel for the blood of the fruit, but its prison. The beautiful guts and gorgeous bone YEARN to be shown and seen! SPLAYED! Under the divine cross of the Tree of Life, we pay it tribute through the art of violence.

THE WORLD IS YOUR CANVAS

SO TAKE UP YOUR BRUSH

AND PAINT

THE WORLD

R E D.

Mannequin Encounter

The Mannequins who moved behind the player.

After interacting with the button, the player heads down back to the start of the labyrinth where the previously closed door is opened, revealing a large crowd of stationary Mannequins flooding the room. A centered path leads the player to a kneeling Mannequin behind gates, its head replaced with a Red Skull Key. Nearing the gate opens it and allows for the skull to be collected, but doing so will trigger the Mannequins to surround and face the player, with none of them actually attacking.

Returning to the Mannequin gallery room and Red Pedestal, the player will be ambushed by 6 Mannequins breaking out of their poses to skitter towards the player at rapid speeds, starting their first enemy encounter. The doors are blocked off by a black wall, on it is the depiction of a realistic skull.

After all Mannequins are killed, the wall retracts to allow for the player to continue through the level.

Labyrinth

Mannequins waiting to ambush the player from below.

Descending from a split staircase, the player makes it to a small room with a walkway and two split staircases at each side, in each corner stands a stationary Mannequin with 4 active Mannequins hidden underneath the walkway. Another skull-faced wall blocks off the door during the encounter, only lifting when all enemies are killed.

The next room is a tall chamber lined with a grand spiraling staircase (similar to the one found in 5-3: SHIP OF FOOLS) with a Blue Skull Key in front of the entrance and a Blue Hookpoints high above. Entering the room spawns in 3 Mannequins on the walls and a Virtue at the top of the stairs. Killing the enemies is not required to pass through the door atop of the stairs, which loops back to the intersection with the α Button and Blue Pedestal.

Unlocking the door the player enters a tall curved corridor, a walkway with two shallow waterlogged canals leads the player into a large open room. 4 Mannequins in various poses stand alongside each other before a Blue Pedestal and a large door. Walking towards the Mannequins will cause a massive bull-like demon, the Minotaur, to barge in through a door to the right and trample all of the Mannequins in its wake, charging through the left door.

The Minotaur charging through a group of Mannequins.

Following the Minotaur to the next room will start an encounter with a Malicious Face at the far end of the room and 2 Mannequins on the ceiling, along with 2 inactive Cerberi stationed nearby. Killing either the Malicious Face or the Mannequin will awaken both Cerberi and 2 Mannequins hidden on a lower floor.

After the encounter, the player enters a small room with a door to the left, right ahead lies a pile of collapsed rubble left behind by the Minotaur. Heading through the door will loop back around to the grand spiral staircase, which connects to the Blue Skull placed in the α Button Room. The player needs to take the Blue Skull along the new route and place it on the recently discovered Blue Pedestal.

Heading through the opened door at the room with the Minotaur sequence leads to an enclosed spiral staircase, where the player fights a Mannequin and 2 Streetcleaners at the bottom of the stairs. The next room over houses a tall chamber with a staircase leading up a set of three floors, with a Blue Hookpoint in the middle of the chamber and another Blue Pedestal at the bottom.

Entering inside will spawn a Virtue and 2 Mannequins at the bottom floor, along with a Mannequin at the top. Killing the Virtue will spawn 2 Drones at the bottom and another Virtue at the top floor. Killing the bottom floor Mannequin to the right or the one at the top floor will spawn in 2 Drones at the top floor, and killing the left Mannequin will spawn in a Mindflayer on the middle floor, with it also spawning in the bottom floor Drones if the Virtue hadn't been killed. Killing the remaining enemies will spawn in 3 more Mannequins at the top and bottom floors.

After killing all the enemies, the player can then head through to a door at the top floor, which loops to an outdoor walkway leading into the Minotaur sequence room with the Blue Skull. The player then needs to collect the skull again and head through the pathway to place it on the pedestal in the previous arena.

Underground Tunnels

Enemies on a tram cart.

Placing the Blue Skull onto its pedestal opens the path to a dark shaft leading down through the labyrinth. Jumping through the shaft leads to a dimly lit chamber, with a set of winding corridors leading to another shaft. Jumping through leads to the start of a railway tunnel, with a tram cart situated at the start of the tracks along with a Terminal nearby.

An activation button is situated on the front of the cart, which when pressed will activate it and cause it to start moving along the tracks. During the starting segment of the tram ride, the player is locked within the bounds of the tram cart by an invisible wall, to prevent the player from falling off of the tracks.

The railway converges with two other rail tracks from either side of the main track, turning the tunnel into a three-lane railway. After this point, the tunnel then turns into an infinite loop of the same track segment as the cart continually moves forward. During this segment, the player is free to jump off the cart, and projectiles and objects will stay relative to the cart, acting as if on a normal unmoving object.

Falling off will damage the player on contact with the tracks or the sides of the tunnel, with enemies that fall off being instantly killed and yielding the + ROADKILL style bonus.

During this segment, enemies will start to appear on separate carts to fight the player. Firstly, 3 Strays appear on a cart on the left track, heading from in front of the player's cart. Then 3 Soldiers appear from the bottom right, and a group of 2 Schisms and a Soldier appears from a cart behind the player. However, before it can reach the player, the Minotaur appears from behind it and destroys the cart as an introduction to its boss fight.

Railway Boss Encounter

The Minotaur, preparing to swing at the player.

The Minotaur will continually chase the player's cart as it rides through the tunnel, along with attacking with large swings and disrupting the player's stable ground by destroying the tram carts or putting damaging hazards onto them. During this encounter, the Minotaur has three main attacks:

• A three-hit combo, with a horizontal swing from its hammer, and two slower overhead swings.
• A faster two-hit combo with a horizontal swing and one vertical swing, with the last hit targeting the nearest tram cart to the player to break it.
• An acid throw, where the Minotaur will reach into its gut and toss a pool of acid onto one of the tram carts.
• Upon attempting to ride the Minotaur, it will use its fleshy hand to sweep its back.

During the fight, carts carrying Strays will occasionally appear to fill in any broken carts the Minotaur has left, along with giving the player some healing. The Strays do not count towards the level's kill quota for the ranking.

The Minotaur is mainly covered in impervious stone-like armor, similar to other demons such as the Hideous Mass and Leviathan, with its main weakpoint located on the fleshy guts hanging underneath it, incentivizing using close-range weapons such as Shotguns, Nailguns, explosives such as Projectile Boosts, Rockets, and the S.R.S. Cannon's Cannonball. Sawblade traps are also useful for dealing with the Minotaur if the magnet is placed on the edge of the carts to make it likelier to hit it. The player can also damage the Minotaur on its back by riding it, though this is risky to perform due to its dedicated attack of sweeping its back and constant movement.

End

The Minotaur's last stand.

After the Minotaur is seemingly defeated, the carts will reach the end of the line and slow down. Any broken carts will house a Stray for the player to heal up on.

The tram exit leads to a corridor, which leads upstairs to a waiting station with an exit door. Upon arrival, the exit will open. However, moving deeper inside causes it to immediately close, and the Minotaur will burst out of the left wall swinging, destroying parts of the room and commencing the second phase of the fight. In this encounter, it has 4 main attacks:

• A four-hit combo, one wide horizontal swing at the beginning and end, one diagonal swing, and one overhead swing. It will always start with this attack.
• An acid burst, where the Minotaur digs into its chest and drops acid onto the arena in a medium radius around it, either in the form of a puddle or a large, spherical cloud. The tiles affected by the radius will have the acid persist for a short duration, and multiple acid zones can simultaneously persist on the arena.
• A hammer plunge, where the Minotaur will thrust its hammer into the ground, creating an explosive attack in a large radius. It is immobilized during this attack.
• After all attacks are exhausted, it will charge headfirst toward the player, briefly indicated by a yellow flash and a unique sound cue.

The Minotaur, now with partially exposed flesh, only has half of its health left, making targeting easier. As it still retains high agility and attack lethality, it is advisable to restrict constant movement and utilize high-damaging weapons such as Railcannons, Shotguns, and Rocket Launchers, to deal with it. Some of its attacks can be used as offensive opportunities - the lunge can be countered with a ground slam or a direct parry, and the hammer plunge helps the player to safely reposition themselves and dish out great damage. The Screwdriver Railcannon and Sawblade traps are helpful for healing as well as for dishing out massive damage, and can be highly potent set-up tools by placing them directly before the encounter.

Defeating the Minotaur will reopen the exit door, where it will lead to the three circles of Violence down below.

Challenge

This section covers the secret boss fight for Big Johninator, as well as the boss fight's rewarded secret hint. For more information on the enemy, see Big Johninator. For the attached secret, see 7-3: No Sound, No Memory.

For the level's challenge, the player needs to defeat Big Johninator, which acts as the joke/reference boss for Act III (in the same category as the Very Cancerous Rodent and Mysterious Druid Knight (& Owl).) To access the arena to fight Big Johninator, a hint can be found by the open region revealed after the Minotaur charges through the doors. At the far wall lies a walkway with an open door to the western end.

Heading inside will reveal a small room with a mural, depicting a Mannequin with its head replaced with a Blue Skull, in reference to the headless Mannequin where the player acquires the Red Skull from. Taking the Blue Skull given later on in the level and placing it on the headless Mannequin back at the start will cause a portion of the nearby wall to slide out, leading down to a staircase into a large open courtyard.

Approaching the center of the courtyard will cause a large missile to crash into the ground, with it revealing Big Johninator after it explodes.

Secret Boss Encounter

Big Johninator is a fast and incredibly dangerous enemy, as well as being hard to hit with its mobility. Big Johninator has two main attacks, with him occasionally spawning Landmines around the arena which activate when the player is nearby:

• A barrage of 3 rockets, similar to those fired by the Guttertank.
• A Malicious Face beam, dealing 50 damage on hit.
• Occasionally, Big Johninator places 1-3 Landmines on the ground, which jump into the air when the player is nearby and explode, dealing 35 damage per hit.

Keeping mobile by dash-jumping and slide-hopping around the arena is good for dodging his rockets and beams. Staying too close to Big Johninator along with slow aerial movement though should be avoided at all costs, as his rockets can easily kill the player if they all connect.

Utilizing the Marksman Revolver and other hitscans, such as Railcannons, are a good choice to combat Big Johninator's aggressive, quick movement. Sawblade traps are also a good choice for passive damage when Big Johninator is on the ground. Utilizing Magnets on Big Johninator can make the fight significantly easier, as its rockets will home in on the magnet instead of at the player. Freezing its rockets with the Freezeframe Rocket Launcher is also extremely useful since it will keep the rockets away from hitting the player, and Big Johninator will often run into the rockets itself when it fires them, dealing significant damage on hit. Frozen rocket explosions can also launch Big Johninator into the air, keeping it stuck airborne for easy damage. The player can also parry its landmines when activated, giving the player a health and stamina refill while also creating a large explosion on impact.

Killing Big Johninator will reveal a secret stone tablet, which slides out of the floor on the platform in the center of the arena. The stone tablet can be picked up and read, which gives a hint to access the Violence layer's secret level, 7-S: HELL BATH NO FURY:

Dead end after dead end. Is there really no way out?

Get lost in the labyrinth, die in the battlefield, or get lost in the forest...

I thought I saw a way out there, a gate covered by foliage... But even with all
our strength we couldn't get through.

I doubt there's any blade sharp enough to cut the vines, and no fire we've tried
has been hot enough... It's possible that those flamethrower wielding machines
might be able to burn through it, but their weapons become unusable when they die.

Secrets

Secret Orb Locations

#1	Soul Orb - In the room that opens after revealing the Red Skull pedestal, a small nook is located directly above the door. Jump onto the higher ledge and then into the nook to get the Soul Orb.
#2	Soul Orb - In the room with the Alpha button, the platform you enter on can be slid underneath through the sides, revealing a small hole with the Soul Orb.
#3	Soul Orb - In the arena found after the brief Minotaur encounter lies a pool of water underneath the floor, with a hidden room found at one of the ends of the pool housing the Soul Orb.
#4	Blood Orb - Found on the roof of the building guarded with the large Cerberi, within the open region accessed after the Minotaur charges through the doors. Collecting it will cause the two large Cerberi to awaken.
#5	Soul Orb - Found in the open region accessed after the Minotaur charges through the doors. At the far end from the entrance lies a walkway with an open door to the left. Heading inside will reveal the Soul Orb, along with the hint to the level's challenge.

Easter Eggs

Hakita's Live Reaction

• An entrance blocked by rubble located near the outdoor region of the first Minotaur encounter can be noclipped through, revealing a large outstretched plushie of Lead Developer Hakita captioned with "LIVE HAKITA REACTION" and a wall of fire behind it. Touching Hakita kills the player instantly.
  • The easter egg was added to reference the Live Dillon Reaction easter egg in Gloomwood.

Trivia

• 7-1 has no upper limit on kills, as the player can stall in the tram chase with the Minotaur indefinitely, farming Strays that appear on new trams.
• The α symbol was chosen as more buttons were planned, such as one with the β symbol.

• The level is named after "The Garden of Forking Paths", a short story by Jorge Luis Borges following a spy during the first World War as he learns about his famous ancestor's plan to construct a labyrinthine novel which covers the full range of possible branching timelines its story can go through.
• The crossing out of the Minotaur's name, and the crossing out in red text of its Terminal data is a reference to the novel House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, where every mention of the Minotaur in Danielewski's book is crossed out due to, as some interpret it, an expression of artists desiring to destroy their own work.
• The names of the level's soundtracks, "The World Looks White" and "The World Looks Red", are a reference to the Swans song "The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black".