The Molded are enemies that appear in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
History
The Molded are mobile colonies of the Mold, a hyper-evolved bacterium generated by Eveline and presumably other E-Series bioweapons.
Biology
They are not reanimated corpses; rather, any corpses fed to the Mold provides enough fuel to construct the filaments of a Molded from its biomatter; enough Mold in an area can be reshaped into a Molded without a body, in this way, they are similar to the Leech Zombies. They are animalistic and relentless monsters who exist only to serve and protect their E-Series creator.
The Molded are tall, humanoid monsters, whose mutated bodies are incredibly flexible and are covered with (if not comprised of) the black, veined bacterium that mutated them - beneath the flesh, their rib cages and reddish organs can still be faintly seen. The head in particular melted into an incomprehensible, misshapen mass, save for two eye sockets and the massive, gaping mouth taking up most of the head. Said mouth can stretch to unnatural size, and is filled with enormous, spike-like teeth. Molded also have claws on the ends of their arms that are similar to their teeth, which can slice through humans and even infect them. Their neck structure is heavily disproportionate to its head and has limbs that can stretch out from their bodies, which provide them with significantly more flexibility than humans.
The Molded have a significant degree of intelligence. Though they cannot facilitate communication through speech or writing due to their radically altered anatomy, they can sense and track down non-Molded and can work in groups. Molded also have a degree of craftiness and resourcefulness, as they are known to navigate through vents and narrow openings to circumvent obstacles and can use heavily molded environments as camouflage to ambush their prey. They lack the intelligence to interact with tools and contraptions, including basic functions such as opening doors; when confronted with closed and locked doors, they will swing wildly at the door instead of opening it.
The black mold that holds the Molded together is also very durable, capable of taking large amounts of damage and remaining intact. Despite this, a Molded is also much more inferior in internal bodily composition than that of a general Mutamycete infected human, as vital fluids, skeletal composition, and musculature have been irreversibly contaminated and mutated beyond healthy composition, and in turn has become reliant on the mold exterior to remain intact; should their exteriors reach their limits of damage, their internal organs are unable to maintain their structural pressure and immediately burst into a gunky composition.
The transformation of a corpse into a molded can be interrupted by removing the affected body part. This is best demonstrated with David Anderson, the deputy who was murdered by Jack Baker: He had been in the process of turning into a Molded, but Lucas decapitated Anderson's corpse before the Molded could fully consume his body.
Types of Molded
Molded
They have sharp claws on each hand. Its face is lined with several sharp fangs that taper out of its gaping mouth.
Spiked-Arm Molded
Like its default variant, the Spiked-Arm variant are covered in black veined fungus, however, as opposed to the claws, their right arms are replaced with an organic spiked blades capable of stretching at a distance.
4-Legged Molded
The creature, like its normal variant, bears the same mutated body, with the exception of its ability to move on all four legs. This makes the creature exceptionally nimble and more dangerous. Unlike its normal variant, it lacks endurance as it, being the weakest of them all, and can be killed more easily, although they make up for it with incredible speed. The creature uses its sharp claw and its agility to leap at its victim, but is unable to use its gaping maw to bite them.
Fat Molded
The last variant of the Molded are bloated versions of their default brethren. Their primary form of attack is expelling acid, that they shoot from a distance. As opposed to the other variants, the Fat Molded moves the slowest. However, it is still capable of covering its target in its bile. This variant can withstand an exceptional amount of damage and is arguably, the strongest molded to encounter.
Gameplay
The Molded are encountered in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and one is encountered in Resident Evil 7 Teaser Demo: Beginning Hour's Midnight Update.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Regular Molded have two primary methods of attacking. One is a swing that deals minor damage to the player, while the other is a bite that will deal moderate to deadly damage to the player, should they not get themselves free fast enough. The Molded is capable of getting up quickly if knocked down on its back, as it will end up rolling backwards onto its feet if it is downed.
Spiked-Arm Molded retains the same attack moves as its default variant, with the addition of its spiked arm attack. However, it is unable to grab and bite Ethan's arm. It is especially dangerous when it is crawling as a result of getting one of its leg blown off, as it is capable of swiping its spiked arm continuously at Ethan. It also has noticeably higher health than its default variant, being able to take on few more headshots with a handgun. Also it takes a couple of shots with any type of usable shotgun
- 4-Legged Molded spawns in the house and other places outside and near the trailer.
- Some variations of Molded can spawn missing their arms, limiting their attack options.
- Molded will despawn if the player enters a save room although they may reappear upon exiting.
- Molded can be crippled by destroying their arms and legs with concentrated attacks although they will still attempt to lunge and bite the player.
- Spiked-Arm Molded are capable of cutting off Ethan's limbs.
It is first heard before the player can access the basement and subsequently heard as the player traverses the same basement up until the player finally comes to the bottom.
The Molded is encountered in the basement of the Dulvey Haunted House. It will spawn either by attempting to walk up to the Attic Window Key in which it comes out of a wall by simply smashing through it while elongating its arm, which can cause damage to the player, should they get hit, or taking the Valve Handle or pointing the grave with the Dummy Hand and then attempting to leave the room in which it will drop from the ceiling vent.
When enough damage is dealt to it, a scripted event will play where the lights turn out and it disappears and will not appear for the rest of the game.
The Molded will not follow the player past the door. If the player leaves before defeating it, it will physically despawn, and then respawn when the player enters the room again either by dropping through same vent or by walking out from the back end of the room where the key is.
If the player avoids being attacked by the Molded, using the Attic Key on the window will lead the player to the True Ending while being hit will lead to scripted events where the protagonist slowly becomes infected and using the key will lead to the Infected Ending.
Strategy
When first encountering the creature in the demo, the player should plan carefully when to kick the body bag to slow it down. Kick it too early, the creature will only stagger for a moment but not giving enough time to kick the door. The best outcome is to wait for the Molded to try and lunge at you, which can be noticed by the creature snarling at the player before doing its attack (It usually does this after dropping down from the vent). The player can kick the body bag to make the creature fall backwards, giving the player enough time to kick the door open. Do note that the body bag is only effective once, This can be solved by making the creature despawn by leaving the room and then going back into the room again.
After retrieving the M19 Handgun, the creature can be severely damaged with 5 well placed shots to the head. Do be careful however, after one shot to the head, the creature can reel back and then close the distance in response. After enough damage has been dealt, the Molded retreats (which is signified by the momentary blackout) but not without doing one last attack should the player get careless.
Gallery
Sources
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