Serial killer

"If you loved me, you'd all kill yourselves today."

- Spider Jerusalem

Serial Killers and Mass Murderers
Serial killing is a problem throughout Midian. There are some psychotic individuals who are filled with an unstoppable desire to slay others. Often, there is one particular segment of society that the killer targets. For example, one may only slay prostitutes with blue eyes, while for another any woman will do. It is worth noting that a serial killer is somewhat different than a mass murderer. The former generally leads a secret dual-life and kills almost recreationally, while the latter simply explodes one day and goes on a murderous rampage, slaying indiscriminately. There is a difference in pathology between these two types of murderers.

For a mass murderer, the killing rampage is often a form of a final, violently explosive, statement. Such a psychopathic outburst is often ended quickly by apprehension by law enforcement, suicide, or by being slain themselves by a would-be victim. These outbursts may take place in crowds of people, or the killer may go from house-to-house one night, murdering everyone inside before moving to the next. Another type of mass murderer is the so-called 'quiet killers'. These are individuals whose deadly acts lack the more direct torture and killing of victims, and include those who take the lives of hospital patients, and those whose preferred method is poison—either of a chosen victim or indiscriminately poisoning a town's water supply.

Serial killers typically stalk their chosen prey. Some will slay any readily available victim, but mostly they seem to deliberately seek out and observe before striking. Serial killers also take great pains to hide their actions, but as their insanity deepens and their connection to reality worsens, they may not notice obvious clues as to their activities. For example, a serial killer may only select victims from another town—or strangers passing through—and may ensure that all the blood is cleaned and the bodies cut up into unrecognizability, then buried underneath the killer's house. However, as the numbers of corpses mounts, the killer buries them in successively shallower layers, and the stench becomes overpowering. While it is noticeable to anyone walking by, the murderer himself never seems to notice. Another aspect of serial killing is that there is generally a preferred method of slaying. That is, the murderer may have a favoured knife with which to disembowel, or he may strangle all of his victims. There is often (but not always) a sexual component to the serial killer's pathology. In addition, serial killers don't really see their victims as being sentient; there is a strong dehumanising element. Oddly, there isn't much evidence of specific other forms of mental illness in serial killers—apart from those elements that cause their actions. Some are sexual sadists, and others suffer from paranoid delusions. There aren't specific forms of mental illness that may act as indicators or early warning signs, and some don't show any symptoms of insanity—other than the whole 'eats children's faces' activity, that is. It can also be argued that the majority of serial killers are a form of obsessive-compulsives, but apart from these outstanding pathologies, the serial killer is completely, indistinguishably, and boringly, normal.

By far the greatest distinguishing characteristic of both mass murderers and serial killers of Midian is that the vast majority are player-characters…

"The trouble with quotes about death is that 99.999 percent of them are made by people who are still alive."

- Joshua Bruns