Torque

Appearance
Torque is a tall, muscular man (possibly of a mixed race background) whom lives in Baltimore, Maryland. His distinguishing features are his mutton chops and heavy build, which mark him out as a somewhat imposing figure. His typical clothing is unknown, as he is only seen in a vest and pants as a result of incarceration in a prison. When in Eastern State Penitentiary, he wears a vest and blue jeans during the opening scenes of Ties That Bind, implying that this is his usual attire. In Abbott, he wears a prison vest and pants, where the pants are orange with a black stripe on the left leg. The vest bears his Inmate number, 16229A, and he wears this outfit throughout the two games.

When playing through the games with a Good morality, Torque's body and clothes remain clean, and his skin looks healthy.Interestingly, Torque's physical appearance changes depending on the player's morality throughout the two games.

When Neutral (a default look at the very beginning of both games), his skin and clothes will look torn and dirty, and numerous veins will stand out on his chest and arms.

When Evil, Torque will look almost corpse-like in appearance, with grey-green skin, huge open wounds on his arms and body, discolored and ragged clothes and dark, sinister eyes.

As morality changes, his appearance changes also. Another reflection of morality is the picture he keeps of Carmen, Cory and Malcolm, which will be clean with Good morality and dirty, crumpled and stained with blood as Torque does evil deeds.

In the Bonus Material on The Suffering, Surreal Software claim that they designed Torque so that he did not look like he was from any race and was "almost Neanderthal in appearance." Nevertheless, there are numerous hints that Torque is of mixed race in the game. His children and wife are black and Copperfield suggests during the fight that he may have been hired to find Torque's great grandparents in the past.

Childhood
Torque's story starts in The Garvey Children's Home, where he was placed a few years after his birth on March 12, 1974. He receives significant bullying from other children at the home and makes an imaginary friend named Blackmore and soon starts reviving "visits" from  Blackmore, an alternate personality. During early adolescence Torque begins to suffer from periodic blackouts.

Adulthood
When Torque leaves the orphanage as an adult, Blackmore starts to take over through blackouts that took place at least once a week. In his life, another personality surfaces ( The Creature), he meets  Miles, his best friend and one of the few people he talks to. He also meets his wife  Carmen in a gazebo. They marry and make a family, much to the dismay of Blackmore. Torque being strict, occassionally beats  Cory. Blackmore, with this knowledge, hires a thug to sell him Rock and later gives him instructions on how to put Torque and Miles in jail (neutral). Blackmore hired the thug to provoke Torque (good). The plan involved provoking Torque into using  The Creature<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);"> and killing the thug(it was likely this part of the plan was kept secret from the thug so the plan would succeed). While in jail, Torque fights more thugs sent by Blackmore during a riot, and learns that Carmen divorced him in fear of Cory's upbringing. Sometime after his release, Blackmore causes the death of his family with the use of hitmen (good), thanks to Cory who was under the influence of Rock (neutral) or kills them himself during a Blackout (evil). If there was a good ending then Torque will have clean hands. If the was a neutral ending Torque would only have blood on one hand. If there was an evil ending Torque had both hands coated in blood.

<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Carnate
<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The deaths send him to <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Carnate Island<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">, where his real adventure begins. Upon arriving, a small fight happens and Torque is succesful in defending himself (via transforming into The Creature, maiming his attackers). He is escorted to his cell by <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Ernesto<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">and another guard and a few seconds after arriving in his cell, an earthquake happens and the monsters are unleashed. He is freed from his cell and finding his own weapons along the way, he meets other survivors and depending on the player, Torque will kill or help them. He also meets Carnate's most famous residents: the depraved psychologist <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Dr. Killjoy<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">, the former executioner <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Hermes T. Haight<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">, and the murderer <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Horace<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">. Torque is continually confronted by visions of his deceased family and depending on the player's actions, they'll either forgive him (because it wasn't him who murdered them) or blame him for their troubles (because it was him). After facing his inner demon, himself, and a monster born of his hatred, Torque will be found by a rescue boat that was called by <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Luther<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">(unless he dies earlier), though his fate past this point is dependent on what his family thinks of him. Depending on his actions, Torque will:

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">-Good morality: Escape and the driver tells him he will get a new trial.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">-Neutral morality: Knock out the driver and escape

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">-Evil morality: Become overwhelmed by his inner demon, kill the driver and run back into the island.

<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Return to Baltimore
<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Torque escapes Carnate Island and attempts to return to his home city of Baltimore but instead gets captured by a mysterious paramilitary organization known as the Foundation. The apparent leader of the Foundation is a woman named <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Jordan<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">, who wants to study Torque and his connection to the <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  malefactors<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">, the creatures that appeared when he was sent to Carnate. Torque manages to escape from his captors and is prompted by the ghost of his dead wife Carmen<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">to return to his apartment and investigate the death of his family. Also much to his shock, it seems that the horrible <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Malefactors<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">that had brought Carnate to ruin followed him to the mainland to continue their spree of murder and chaos, feeding upon the dark and ancient history of the city to grow strong. Torque makes his way through the city and again depending on the player, will either save or kill other survivors and under the questionable guidance of Dr. Killjoy, who wants to help Torque understand his mental state and his past will learn how to use <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  The Creature<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">to his better advantage. There are three possible endings depending on the morality of the player:

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">
 * 1) Evil: Torque is completely overcome by Blackmore, who takes total control of Torque's personality. After this, it is revealed that Jordan and Blackmore have agreed upon a pact to destroy Torque's personality completely.
 * 2) Neutral: Torque and Blackmore are unable to overpower each other and remain in their current state of opposition. In the end, Blackmore reveals that Cory killed Malcolm then himself in revenge for Torque beating him all the time.
 * 3) Good: Torque eliminates Blackmore's presence from his mind. Carmen's ghost thanks Torque for walking the right path and will kiss Torque.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Torque's backstory changes depending on your endgame morality and the way you started the game (good, neutral, evil)

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Good-Good:Blackmore told his thugs to scare Torque's family but they ended up killing them due to a misinterpretation.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Good-Neutral:Blackmore told his thugs to scare Torque's family but they ended up killing them due to a misinterpretation.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Good-Evil:Torque himself hired Blackmore's men to kill his family because he thought that they were holding him back but was caught at the scene of the crime.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Neutral-Good:Blackmore hired one of his thugs to sell Cory "rock" under the promise that it would make him a big man. After seeing Torque accidentally kill Carmen Cory goes into a drug induced fury and kills Malcolm and himself.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Neutral-Neutral:Blackmore hired one of his thugs to sell Cory "rock" under the promise that it would make him a big man. After seeing Torque accidentally kill Carmen Cory goes into a drug induced fury and kills Malcolm and himself.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Neutral-Evil:After seeing Torque accidentally kill Carmen Cory goes insane and kills Malcolm and himself in revenge for Torque always beating him.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Evil-Good:Blackmore forged divorce papers to convince Torque that Carmen was cheating on him and was getting a divorce, Torque went into a fury and killed them.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Evil-Neutral:Blackmore forged divorce papers to convince Torque that Carmen was cheating on him and was getting a divorce, Torque went into a fury and killed them.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Evil-Evil:Torque decides that his family is holding him back and decides to murder them to gain freedom. When asked by Blackmore why he wants to kill them he said "Do I need a reason, they're holding me back".

Abilities
<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Due to Torque being able to turn in The Creature he is able to withstand huge amounts of damage that would grind and decimate normal people. Examples are being able to survive an ambush of <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Marksmen<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">, lethal injections of Mainliners<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">, several shots from <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Copperfield the Slave Hunter<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">'s rifle, the poison gas of <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  Hermes T. Haight<span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">  <span style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">and electricity from Horace's chair.

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Torque also has inhuman strength since he is able to use weapons no one else would use against the monsters,such as a pipe or a wooden bat with monstrous force that sometimes leaves some creatures with lost limbs. Perhaps because of his affiliation with the Malefactors, he is calm in the face of danger, as noted by Clem.

Abbott Report
State of Maryland Department of Corrections Confidential Document: Not for Public Release Abbot State Penitentiary Report

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Completed by: Supervising Corrections Officer Ethan Edwards

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Inmate Identification Number: 16229A

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Birth Date: March 12, 1974

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Height: 5'10

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Weight: 180 lbs

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Hair: Dark brown/Black

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">Dr. Killjoy's Entry: (file: 61106-c) Distinctly traumatized, impossibly conflicted, horribly scarred, and certainly deeply disturbed. Understanding Torque's dementia remains a constant challenge. Torque may have realized what happened to his family after the episode on Carnate, but his issues run far deeper that can be resolved in a few sessions in which I have worked with him. Now he faces a truly defining moment as he returns to Baltimore. This is the city where he was raised in the harshest environments in the Garvey Children's Home, where he met his enchanting wife Carmen, and where she subsequently met her most tragic end. His fanatical quest for resolution against the grand manipulator, Blackmore will truly test his ability to put the demons of his past to rest. My extensive training tells me I will need to orchestrate some challenges to truly test his inner strength. I've always found the best therapy sessions are those where there is something at stake for my patients and what better to put on the line then life itself? And why not? With Torque's profoundly deep troubles, it is doubtful he would even want to continue to live if his problems could not be solved.