How intelligent are the various types of Possessed?

[Rifle Infantry]

We already know a few things about all Possessed:

• Their brain is not suffering decay (as in physical rotting and necrotizing).
• They are capable of basic movement (shuffling about), indicating that they have some degree of motor skills preserved.
• They are capable of responding to environmental stimuli- namely, Doomguy.
• They are capable of using all important senses they still have (sight, sound, touch, etc.), unless they have lost sensory organs (i.e. Possessed Scientists and their eyes).

The basic Possessed are already known to be unwilling slaves: that is, they are forced (even when the UAC administers pain to them via implants during tests) to perform such activities as initially creating Gore Nests by their demonic controllers. However, I find it hard to believe that each and every one of the Possessed is being directly controlled: after all, if I was some psionic demon influencing the movement of a corpse, I'd probably do a bit better than "shamble toward Doomguy and slap him".

Possessed, as such, seem to be nothing more than zombies- their base instinct is territorial protection, as they are said to stand still for extended periods of time until a human appears to be attacked. If they do anything more, like creating Gore Nests, then it's because they have been directed by their demonic masters, likely directly controlled for the purposes of the ritual. It's already clear that basic Possessed are totally incapable of doing more advanced actions like operating equipment and weaponry. However, this certainly is not true for other varieties of Possessed. In-game actions taken by Possessed Soldiers show us:

• They have full motor skills (capable of running in a natural fashion, and move limbs quickly compared to Possessed)
• They are capable of operating weaponry in a thoughtful manner (using their Plasma Rifle, bracing it against their left arm when they fire off charged shots, aiming and firing at specific targets - non-demons - instead of all moving things)
• They are capable of reacting quickly- Possessed Soldiers will gun-bash and kick Doomguy at point blank to push him away, and will usually immediately react to his presence as opposed to Possessed taking several seconds to register his existence.
• They are capable of intelligent thought- aside from the obvious of Possessed Security putting up their shield to defend themselves, and carrying in the intended fashion instead of just limply holding it up, Possessed Soldiers tend to use their charged shot more often on bigger targets, and will slowly strafe about to make Doomguy's targeting harder, both obvious signs of some degree of tactical thinking.
• They are seen to communicate to some extent- Possessed Soldiers will occasionally say a phrase in some sort of demonic language (that is clearly not simple growling or roaring, as with normal Possessed) during combat.

As a result, it's clear to see that Soldiers and Security are sentient and intelligent as opposed to the mindless Scientist, Engineer, and Worker counterparts. That brings me to ask a few questions:

• Could the UAC theoretically restrain a Possessed Soldier and attempt some sort of interrogation?
• Could a Possessed Soldier refuse to kill someone (e.g. a former loved one)?
• Where do Possessed Soldiers fit into the hierarchy of Hell, given their apparent intelligence?

Discuss.

[RightField]

Well as they are called "possessed" I'd figure the bodies are just vegetive-vessels with sensory organs and motor functions controlled by the hive-mind of Satan or something like that.

[Man of Doom]

So a little while ago, someone actually ripped the sound effects from D2016, namely the monster and weapon soundS. I took the time to check out the ripped sounds, and I found something interesting.
The Possessed Soldiers/Security actually speak English (I believe), albeit in an extremely distorted voice that's hard to make out not only because of the filters on their voices, but they're speaking with a very heavy dialect that doesn't sound like it can come from any known human language. I didn't get all of them, but this is what I was able to figure out:

 

"Up ahead!"
"Go, go!"
"What is this/loss!?"
"They're all good/gone."
"It is nothing."
"I sense it, it was."
"Make way!"
"It is over!"
"Enemy is!"
"Up ahead!"
"Come here!"
"There he is!"
"It's your funeral!"
"There it/eat is!"
"Eat! Eat!"
"Move, move!"
"That he(?) was here."
"Up there!"

 

Most of it sounds like very broken English, and some of it might be in another language entirely, given how most of their speech doesn't sound like English at all, but I thought it was pretty interesting.

[shotfan]

Quote

Could the UAC theoretically restrain a Possessed Soldier and attempt some sort of interrogation?

Restrain, sure. Interrogate? I do not think that would be successful. Whereas they still possess some motor skills, higher cognition is probably wasted away. There is also not trace of them having any wider knowledge or memories left. Their signs of tactical behaviour may be just due to leftover training they have still ingrained in them, mostly done via procedual memory.

Quote

Could a Possessed Soldier refuse to kill someone (e.g. a former loved one)?

As stated above, I do not think they retain any vivid memories like these. It seems that the demons kept their bodies as useful combat puppets, and nothing more.

Quote

Where do Possessed Soldiers fit into the hierarchy of Hell, given their apparent intelligence?

Might rival that of Pinkies, but Pinkies are free creatures and Possessed are not, thus the Possessed are only a notch above Unwilling (which are shambling corpses that were perhaps left alone by demons as useless, too frail to be utilized).

[Rifle Infantry]

On 5/6/2017 at 1:09 PM, Man of Doom said:

So a little while ago, someone actually ripped the sound effects from D2016, namely the monster and weapon soundS. I took the time to check out the ripped sounds, and I found something interesting.
The Possessed Soldiers/Security actually speak English (I believe), albeit in an extremely distorted voice that's hard to make out not only because of the filters on their voices, but they're speaking with a very heavy dialect that doesn't sound like it can come from any known human language. I didn't get all of them, but this is what I was able to figure out:

 

"Up ahead!"
"Go, go!"
"What is this/loss!?"
"They're all good/gone."
"It is nothing."
"I sense it, it was."
"Make way!"
"It is over!"
"Enemy is!"
"Up ahead!"
"Come here!"
"There he is!"
"It's your funeral!"
"There it/eat is!"
"Eat! Eat!"
"Move, move!"
"That he(?) was here."
"Up there!"

 

Most of it sounds like very broken English, and some of it might be in another language entirely, given how most of their speech doesn't sound like English at all, but I thought it was pretty interesting.

That's extremely interesting. If you're right and the Possessed Soldiers are actually speaking (heavily-distorted) English, they are definitely sentient. No demon (aside from the Slayer's Testament narrator- but Doomguy presumably already knows the demonic language and it could be just translated for our convention) has been shown to speak English, so it could not simply be a demon possessing a body (supported by the unique, tactical fighting style of the Possessed Soldier and their general body language).

 

Though that still leaves the question: how much personal initiative does one of these Possessed Soldiers have? Restating a previous question, could one refuse to make a potential kill? Could they be coaxed into revealing information with (varyingly brutal) interrogation tactics?

 

And one more question: Where did you get the ripped files? I'm interested and I want to listen to some of these myself.

 

EDIT: Here's a video showing a surveillance battle between a Possessed Soldier and a bunch of regular Possessed. At around 0:33 you can hear the Possessed Soldier say something that is very clearly not his regular deep growling and roaring. It does sound very heavy and thick, but you can tell that it's saying something. Whether that's demon-speak or distorted English, I can't tell. Sounds a little like "They're all good/gone".

 

You also get a good view of his combat AI; the soldier backs out of melee with the mob of Possessed, uses his charged shot (bracing his rifle arm for extra support on occasion) to deal with mobs, and generally demonstrates a competent defense against oncoming regular Possessed. Another instance of speech occurs at 1:45. Can't make out that one, though. Another one happens around 2:01- that's definitely "There we go" or something like that.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Rifle Infantry

[Man of Doom]

On 5/9/2017 at 8:09 PM, Rifle Infantry said:

And one more question: Where did you get the ripped files? I'm interested and I want to listen to some of these myself.

 

I'll send you a PM on those files.