Monolith

Monolith
Establishment
Founder	C-Consciousness
Leader	C-Consciousness Charon (SoC)
Headquarters	Pripyat Sarcophagus Monolith Control Center
Locations	Pripyat Red Forest Limansk Limansk Hospital Yanov (Strider's squad) Chernobyl NPP Sarcophagus Monolith Control Center
Notable members	Charon Strider (Former member) Preachers Monolith Fighters
Relations
Enemies	Loners Bandits Duty Freedom Ecologists Clear Sky Mercenaries Military
Neutral	Ecologists (CoP)
Allies	Zombified Stalkers

We thank you, oh Monolith, for revealing the cunning plans of your enemies to us.
May your light shine down on the souls of the brave soldiers who gave their lives in service to your will.
Onward warriors of the Monolith, avenge your fallen brothers, blessed as they are in their eternal union with the Monolith.
Bring death to those who spurned the holy power of the Monolith
Oh Monolith, we do not hear you, why have you left us, oh Monolith? We await your orders, oh Monolith.
― Monolith Preacher

The Monolith is a religious cult, hostile to all but their own, which serves as a major antagonistic group, appearing in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat and appears in a quasi-supporting role in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky.

Overview

This group displays many features of a religious sect. Its members believe in the existence of a complex alien crystal, the Monolith, located somewhere in the center of the Zone. Most stalkers treat Monolith adepts with contempt and consider them as lunatics. From its inception the group strives to block all progress towards the center of the Zone, protecting the Monolith from other stalkers. Rumor has it that the group has a large base deep in the Zone, but its exact location is known only by the members.
― Shadow of Chernobyl PDA description

A religious cult that is hostile to all but their own, the Monolithians believe in the power of the Wish Granter, rumored to be an alien artifact hidden in the center of the Zone. Members of this faction devote their lives to protecting the secret of the Great Crystal, ensuring that no one ever reaches the center of the Zone.

A typical Monolithian is a former stalker brainwashed by one of the psychic emitters throughout the Zone (namely the Brain Scorcher) into serving the will of the C-Consciousness, unflinchingly loyal and ready to sacrifice himself at a moment's notice. This extreme loyalty is achieved by creating intense religious fanaticism in the mind of the stalker, directed towards the Monolith.

While physically, they are on par with other stalkers, their religious fervor sets them apart and allows them to ignore wounds and continue to fight, even after they run out of ammo. Stories abound of fanatical Monolith Stalkers, after running out of ammo, ditch their weapons and attempt to kill the enemy with their bare hands, no matter how grievous their wounds . This same fervor also prevents others from capturing a Monolith member – if taken into custody, he will commit suicide in any way possible (even by smashing his head against the wall).

Major Degtyarev examining one of the Monolith antenna in the Pripyat Bookstore.

The Monolith can also uplink themselves to the C-Consciousness through something known as a Monolith statue, a radar antenna covered with garbage to form a statue. Monolithians kneel in front of it and enter a trance involving head nodding and swaying, and will ignore almost anything around them, even gunshots. The Monolith Fighter and, rarely, idle Monolith Stalkers can be found in the same trance, but without the use of the Statue, possibly attempting to call upon the Monolith for guidance.

Effects of mind control

Unfortunately, the same mind control that makes them fierce warriors also erodes their humanity. Strider and the Preacher both exhibit a completely flat personality and suffer from a monotone speech impediment, and Strider himself has a poor grasp of language. Other rogue Monolithians under Strider's command have difficulty communicating and tend to speak in halting, jerky sentences (although this is no longer the case once recruited). However the case of Strelok, who fully retained his personality and speech abilities even after being brainwashed by the Monolith might imply that Monolith soldiers do not instantly lose their humanity on the spot, but slowly as the Monolith continues to control them, or that Strelok wasn't brainwashed as completely to better blend into the rest of the stalker population and to be able to use his wits (which the Monolith soldiers seem to lose partially) to better fulfill his assassin role.

It is interesting to note that all Monolith stalkers are immune to the zombifying effects of Psi-Emitters, like the Brain Scorcher, and still retain their combat skills. In addition, in Call of Pripyat, they are immune to emissions, even though they will still get to cover when one occurs.

In Call of Pripyat, Monolith Stalkers gain a new, unknown voice actor. Monolithian speech is revealed to be highly ritualised, referring to each other as "Brother", and relating most situations to the Monolith. Upon sighting an enemy, they remark to their Brothers about the presence of an "enemy of the Monolith", and do much the same upon killing them. Any idle talk revolves around the Monolith, and is as disjointed and monotone as English-speaking Monolithians.

History

The Monolith clan was originally a group of stalkers, united by their fascination with the Zone. Fascination turned to obsession and obsession turned to fanaticism; eventually, the stalkers became convinced that there is a massive artifact in the center of the Zone, a Monolith, and declared themselves its protectors, growing increasingly hostile to other stalkers.

They disappeared in 2011, just before beginning of Clear Sky, simply picking up all of their belongings and marching through the Barrier towards the Brain Scorcher, shortly before an emission. No one has heard from them since... or so they thought, as later in 2011, very aggressive stalkers began storming the Barrier.

Fact is, they had been "recruited" as the guardians of the C-Consciousness to repel stalkers, since they (namely Strelok's Group) have and will find ways to reach the center of the zone. They are vastly superior guards than the Mutants or Zombified Stalkers since they retain most of their humanity, although they are completely under the control of the C-Consciousness and will gratefully give their lives without question.

Organization

The Monolith's patch in Clear Sky.

Their rank system and organization are almost completely unknown. What is known is that the Monolith is led by a single leader (Charon in 2012), while combat operations are overseen in the field by Preachers, who snipe from atop buildings while chanting phrases out to inspire their men and demoralize the enemy. Both the leader and Preachers take their orders directly from the C-Consciousness.

The only squad identified by name is Crystal, a unit whose sole task is protecting the Monolith and the Sarcophagus.

Cut game data points to two units known as the Left and Right hands of the Monolith, armed with FT-200M rifles and Black Kite pistols. These may have been ranks, honorifics or titles among the Monolithians.

Further cut data shows an individual called the "Komandir", another Monolithian leader, separate from Charon, with his own model and equipped with a Gauss rifle and a Black Kite. Cut Monolith units also include fighters called "Regulars" and "Specnaz", of which there were several equipment variants.

Equipment

A Monolith sniper carrying an earlier model of the SVDm-2.

It is suggested in dialogue with Clear Sky members in Limansk that the Monolith faction is extremely well equipped and have huge numbers compared to the other factions, putting them on level-footing with the Clear Sky faction. They use equipment developed by C-Consciousness or those acquired from the obliterated Clear Sky faction.

They use self-made armors such as the Monolith suit, the Scientific Monolith suit, along with a variant of the Radiation suit and the Exoskeleton. As evidenced in Shadow of Chernobyl, these armors are superior to the gear used by other stalkers from the Duty, Freedom and Loners factions.

The Monolith throughout the series make use of nearly every weapon available. This goes from common weaponry issued to rookies, to uncommon and high-end weaponry including the rare FT-200M that only Mercenaries, Clear Sky, and some Loners have access to. Finally, they produced the deadly Gauss gun and are the only known user (besides the player) of this unique weapon.

It is unknown where Monolithians get their equipment, although Kirillov suggests they have agents who deal in smuggling with corrupt Military members.. As seen with the Gauss gun, it can be assumed the faction either has an unknown supplier or utilizes experienced engineers with access to old labs and/or workshops.

Weapons

Fora-12 Walker P9m Kora-919 UDP Compact Viper 5 AKM-74/2U AKM-74/2

AC-96/2 SA Avalance Tunder S14 TRs-301 SGI 5k GP 37 FT-200m

RP 74 SVDm-2 SVUmk-2 Gauss gun RPG-7u

• ^{^a} Only in Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat.
• ^{^b} Shadow of Chernobyl.
• ^{^c} Only in Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat.
• ^{^d} Only in Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky
• ^{^e} Only in Clear Sky

Armor

• Monolith suit – Heavily modified stalker suit, more resembling a Wind of Freedom suit, usually worn with a Gas mask. Features more armor, more anomaly protection, and more radiation protection than the Sunrise suit. Only available to the player in Shadow of Chernobyl.
• Scientific Monolith suit – A Monolith suit with a Curtain helmet. Offers higher bullet/splinter protection than the SEVA Suit and the PSZ-9Md Universal Protection suit. Never available to the player without mods.
• Monolith Exoskeleton – An Exoskeleton painted white with grey and dull green, with urban camouflaged fatigues. The Monolith Exoskeleton is commonly issued to Veteran and Expert members. Not available to the player.
• Radiation suit – The armor portion of the Exoskeleton, worn without the external mechanical components. Only used in Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat, and not available to the player.

Appearances

Clear Sky

Live Monolith can be first encountered in the Army Warehouses, near a crashed Mi-24 Hind helicopter west of The Barrier. They are well equiped (all use Radsuits and SA Avalanches) and surrounded by a Psi Field which does heavy Psi damage when entered. The Monolith are uneffected by the Psi disruption and can be difficult to take care of due to the lack of cover. Other Monolithians can be found at the Barrier and will regularly launch attacks on the Loners, Dutyers or Freedomers that guard the barrier. It is not possible to engage them at close range, as they are protected by the Brain Scorcher's psychic emissions that will kill the player instantly if they stay too deep in the Barrier for too long.

In the final stages of Clear Sky, the primary opposition is the Monolith faction itself, having repelled all of the other factions attempting to break into the Zone center. They can be found in Limansk, the Limansk Hospital and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and serve as the main opposition for the rest of the game. It is here that it's first suggested (chronologically) that Monolith bolsters its numbers through the use of emissions, and later, via the Brain Scorcher. The ending shows the survivors of Clear Sky's raid being brainwashed via television screens, including Strelok and likely Scar as well.

Interestingly, what appears to be the corpses of dead Monolith soldiers can be found in various areas such as the Swamps and the Cordon.

Locations

In Clear Sky, the Monolith faction has only three territories under its control; the Chernobyl NPP itself, the northern portion of Limansk, and most of the abandoned hospital where you progress to after Limansk. They become the main opposition to the player during the final portion of the game, but are relatively rare outside of these areas, appearing only in small groups in such areas as the Army Warehouses.

Shadow of Chernobyl

By 2012, the Monolith faction is considered to be the most powerful faction in the Zone by far, easily as numerous as the armies of Duty and Freedom, with advanced technology that not even the Military possesses. Their army is large enough to be military theater sized as they regularly launch raids from the center of the Zone, attacking the Freedom Barrier with forces consisting of occasionally 20 men, a relatively expensive strategy in the sparsely populated Zone. Their grip has extended from beyond the NPP, and they have established a headquarters in Pripyat, led by a figurehead known as Charon.

A pair of Monolith Masters at prayer.

In all likelihood, the vast majority of the Monolith faction's troops are in fact former Clear Sky members, as well as Duty, Freedom, Military, and Loners who supposedly lost their lives in the Second and Third emissions.

Locations

Monolith appears first in the Army Warehouses area, where a platoon sized force of Monolithians launch an attack upon the Freedom barricade. Afterwards, they take the role as the primary opposition once again, often deploying en masse to block Strelok from making any further progress. By this time they've established numerous checkpoints within the Red Forest and garrison the Brain Scorcher, having established a strong, well-fortified position within Pripyat. Elite units regularly patrol the city, and at the same time still more Monolithians protect Chernobyl NPP itself, along with the Sarcophagus.

Call of Pripyat

By 3 months after the Brain Scorcher was disabled, the Monolith is slowly losing power – most of Monolith's outlying forces have either been destroyed, or gained freedom from the influence of C-Consciousness. One such squad, led by Strider, can be encountered by the player, and recruited into one of the other factions – supposedly a first in the history of the Zone. However, the remaining fanatics are still enough of a threat to decimate the survivors of Operation Fairway.

Live Monolithians can be encountered in Yanov as part of Strider's group. These are neutral to the player and Strider offers a quest that requires them to speak to either Shulga or Loki to have the survivors recruited into either Duty and Freedom, respectively.

They first make their appearance as enemies inside the Pripyat Underground, where they launch an ambush on the player and his companions before they can make a break for the surface. This is the first appearance of snipers in the entirety of the game, taking advantage of numerous vantage points to snipe the player as they attempt to activate back-up power to the underground. They ambush the player twice: once when turning back the power on, and snipers appear when the player unlocks the door.

Once the player arrives in Pripyat, it's revealed that Monolith itself is slowly losing power, but is still a potent enough threat to have decimated the survivors of Operation Fairway. Of particular interest is a special weapon sighted in their possession, which Colonel Kovalsky sends a special ops team to confiscate. This mission is the first sighting of the Monolith Preachers, who make use of the rare and devastating Gauss Rifle. With the Preacher dead, the player then takes part in another mission, destroying one of the Monolith outposts in a bookstore – gunning them down while they pray. Later, the player must wipe out their forces in the Yubileiny Service Center in order to gain access to Lab X-8. It becomes apparent that, while some of them maintain a connection to the Monolith (namely the Preacher and Monolith Fighter), the majority of them have lost this link and are left at the Preachers' command.

Afterwards, the player is relatively free to explore Pripyat, though Monolith maintains at least two strongholds - the Prometheus Cinema and the River Port.

They serve as the main opposition during the finale, where at least two more Preachers make their appearance, trying to prevent the survivors of Operation Fairway from evacuating.

Locations

Unlike Shadow of Chernobyl, Monolith no longers patrols the city, which is now controlled by Loners, mutants and Mercenaries. They initially control the Hospital, the Book Store and the Yubileiny Service Center, though all three locations are later wiped out by the player. Afterwards, they only respawn in small numbers (between 5 and 15) at the River Port and the Prometheus Theater.

Notable members

• Charon
• Preacher
• Strider
• Monolith Master

Ranks

Call of Pripyat

Rookie

The less common type of Monolithians, they rely on a classic Monolith Suit and use low-grade weaponry such as AKM-74/2Us. They are very weak (but stronger than Loner rookies), and are much easier to defeat than higher ranked Monolithians.

Experienced

A very common type of Monolithian. They wear either Monolith Suits or Scientific Monolith suits, and have access to more assault rifles and other weapons, including the TRs 301, the Chaser 13 and the AKM-74/2.

Veteran

Semi-common, they equip almost the same gear as Veteran Loners. There are three types of Veterans: the first wears the Scientific Monolith suit and uses the SVDm-2 sniper rifle, the second wears classic Monolith Suits or Radiation suits and uses the SGI-5k or the SA Avalanche. They are just as tough as other Veterans as they are able to withstand many shots (including a headshot in rare cases).

Expert

The most rare and dangerous of the Monolithians. Most of them use the faction variant of the Exoskeleton and use uncommon high-grade weaponry - namely the GP37, the Tunder S14 and the Eliminator, and a rarer version uses the classic Monolith suit and the Vintar BC sniper rifle. Due to their heavy armor and powerful weapons, they are dangerous enemies to deal with.

Trivia

• In Call of Pripyat, the Monolith is actually neutral to the Ecologists in the game code. The reason for this is unknown since the Monolithians have no contact with the Scientists' Bunker.
• In early builds of Shadow of Chernobyl, the Monolith was going to be allied with the Bandits. The reasons why and what effect on the plot that would have had are unknown.

Gallery

Monolithians as they appear in Shadow of Chernobyl.

Ditto.

Ditto.

The corpse of a Monolith stalker at the Cordon.

A Monolithian in Clear Sky.

A Monolithian wearing the Scientific Monolith suit in Clear Sky.

A Monolithian wearing a Radiation suit in Clear Sky.

An expert Monolithian wearing an Exoskeleton in Clear Sky.

A pair of Monolith soldiers at prayer in Call of Pripyat.

A Monolith sniper watching over Pripyat in Call of Pripyat.

Monolith fighter armed with exoskeleton and GP37 in Call of Pripyat.

Strider, a former Monolith soldier in his Monolith SEVA in Call of Pripyat.

Strider and his squad in their ending slide in Call of Pripyat.