"A terrifying presence has entered the room..." - The Crow Mauler's introduction.
The Crow Mauler is a boss encounter in Fear & Hunger. He is capable of stalking the player throughout multiple locations in the game. He is also briefly mentioned in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina.
Lore
"He was set on purifying the dungeons from filth and deprivement. Little did he know that he would become of the black himself." - The New Gods when asked about the Crow Mauler.
Before he became known exclusively as the Crow Mauler, he was a man associated with the Kingdom of Rondon called Rudimer. He became the captain of the wretched prison known as the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger around 1590. Rudimer soon realized that maintaining order among the unruly troops in the dungeon was next to impossible, and he eventually regretted taking up his position there. He recognized that there were powerful forces at play that were beyond his abilities to fight as a mere mortal, and so he would become jaded to the unholy practices of the dungeon. His initial revulsion was especially directed towards Trortur, the dungeon's sadistic torturer, and the bizarre directives permitting Dark Priests to conduct sinister rituals at the place.
When war prisoner Le'garde of the Midnight Sun was brought to the dungeon, Rudimer felt sorry for the man, as it was obvious to him that Rondon had betrayed Le'garde because he was gaining influence at a rapid pace. At the request of High priestess Selene, Rudimer had Le'garde transferred to the lower levels below the mines.
The madness from the ancient catacombs, which the prison was built on top of, would eventually spread throughout the dungeons. The darkness allowed monsters from the depths to spread insanity among both guards and prisoners. Captain Rudimer set out to purify the dungeons of the filth and depravity infesting the halls. Little did he know how much of an impossible task this would be...
The supplies and logistics needed for this endeavor were dwindling faster than Rudimer had imagined. At one point, he was forced to travel to trade a bizarre artifact (this being the Cube of the Depths) to a village of Cavedwellers deep in the dungeons. As order among the troops crumbled, he sent an emergency message to his brother Ser Seril, which led Rondon to dispatch a rescue party. As more and more troops fell, Rudimer eventually joined them - losing his mind to the darkness, he ran deep into the dungeons, wearing nothing but a sheet of cloth and having feverish dreams of crows. Now he wanders the hallways, purging them of anything still breathing. Captain Rudimer is no more.
Based on the events portrayed in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina, it becomes evident that the Crow Mauler remained steadfast in his pursuit of cleansing the dungeons for centuries. During an expedition with Hadil Azif into the dungeons in 1942, O'saa had a chance encounter with the former captain, who was inexplicably imprisoned within a cell. If O'saa successfully evades the Crow Mauler and proceeds across the bridge, the structure succumbs to the Crow Mauler's weight, leading to a collapse. While this ordeal implies the Crow Mauler's demise, his ultimate fate remains unconfirmed.
Location
The Crow Mauler will first begin to appear after the player enters either the Mines, the Thicket or the stairwell from the Prisons to the Catacombs. He will suddenly appear from one of the current area's exits and begin stalking the party. The player is always alerted to his appearance with the message "A terrifying presence has entered the room", accompanied by an eerie sound effect. If Le'garde is found alive and joins the player, the Crow Mauler will become much more aggressive in his pursuit, and will begin to show up up on any level of the dungeon. If the player reaches Ma'habre, journeying to the central square of the city will permanently despawn the Crow Mauler, effectively stopping it from chasing the party in that specific playthrough.
The Crow Mauler also guards the crow bed on Level 3. Sleeping in the bed for the first time is safe (being one of the only guaranteed saves in the game), but attempting to sleep there again will trigger a coin flip. Failing this coin-flip makes the Crow Mauler appear at the player's bedside and engage them in an inescapable battle. From this point, the bed is only safe to rest on after the Crow Mauler is dead. Notably, the Crow Mauler's body can be found in this room after it is killed, allowing for easier collection of its soul if the player failed to do so when they killed it.
In one of the map layouts, The Crow Mauler can be seen beforehand in the Level 1 Dungeons within the area where Trortur resides, standing behind large bars down the hallways leading to the Blood Pit. Interacting with The Crow Mauler in this area will only show the message: "There is something waiting for you on the other side of the bars...".
The Crow Mauler is immune to out-of-battle damage. Arrows will not harm him, and Bear traps will only restrain him, allowing players to escape. Unlike most enemies in the overworld, the Crow Mauler's legs will not be removed by the Bear traps.
There is also a stronger, double-headed version of the Crow Mauler that can be encountered in Level 9 - The gauntlet. It appears to have the same attacks and behavior than the original Crow Mauler, but it has the ability to attack with both its heads, making it extremely dangerous.
Battle
Stats
Body Part
HP
Blunt
Slashing
Piercing
Fire
Otherwordly
Ev. Rate
Magic Ev.
Resistances
Head
500
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
85%
50%
Confusion
Torso
1250 (5000)
5%
None
Left arm
700
5%
None
Right arm
700
5%
None
Left leg
200
5%
None
Right leg
200
5%
None
Skills
Body Part
Skill
Effect
Condition
Chance
Success Rate
Head
Crow Mauler is staring you with it's empty eyes...
Does nothing
Always
33%
N/A
Peck
Decapitates
Always
33%
100%
Flock of crows
Deals 16-24 Piercing damage, can cause Blindness status
Always
33%
100%
Left Arm
Maul
Deals 36-44 Blunt damage, can cause Fracture and Infected arm/leg statuses
Always
100%
95%
Note: HP in parenthesis is only used for Damage-over-Time calculations.
Strategy
The Crow Mauler can be the deadliest optional boss to encounter if you're not well prepared. The head could either use the insta-killing move Peck to decapitate any available party members then the main character or perform Flock of Crows to inflict Blindness. If the main character is inflicted with this status effect, the game screen will turn pitch-black, softlocking you. The left arm can use Maul to inflict Fractured Bones to a party member, as well as infect their arms and/or legs. Although the right hand, torso, and legs don't do anything, the Crow Mauler will attack once more on enemy phase before ultimately dying from mortal damage. Additionally, the Crow Mauler is immune to out-of-battle attacks such as iron arrows and bear traps. Bear traps are capable of temporarily stopping him, allowing you brief time to run away, but note that his legs will not be slashed if you initiate a fight with him.
Preparation
The best strategy to defeat the Crow Mauler is to avoid him at all times until you acquire one Red Vial (or, alternatively, learned Flock of Crows) and the Iron Mask (or the Penance Armor as an alternate). On your first turn, immediately use the Red Vial towards the head so that the Crow Mauler is blinded, reducing Peck's accuracy all the way down to zero. Afterwards, take out the left arm as soon as you can so that the Crow Mauler cannot perform Maul. Once the limb is taken out, target the torso until death. Having the Iron Mask equipped will prevent the wearer from getting blinded by Flock of Crows. Interestingly, if other party members are blinded, you can have them temporarily equip the Iron Mask to cure the status effect, like how you would use the Salmonsnake soul to cure multiple party members from infections.
Tips
You can take out the Crow Mauler faster if any party members have the White Angel soul equipped and initiate the fight with En Garde. Please note that you must use the Red Vial towards the head on your very first turn, the Crow Mauler will attack immediately afterwards, even during your first extra turn from En Garde. You can also use any items that inflict Poison, Burning, or Bleeding towards the torso to dwindle his HP; he will take 500 damage per turn, making this rather effective. Equipping high-damaging or high-critical-rate weapons such as the Purified Eastern Sword or Blue Sin with the Charm of Yggaegetsu to take out the torso is best, but you must remember that the Crow Mauler will attack once more before he ultimately dies. Targeting the head is not advised since it has moderately-high magic evasion and high physical evasion. Slashing the legs will not make the head vulnerable and cutting off the right hand does not do anything, so don't waste your turn attacking them.
Misc.
Keep in mind that the Crow Mauler will never respawn again if you enter the central square of Ma'habre, but using the Passages of Ma'habre is completely safe.
It's not a good idea to attack the Crow Mauler in Cahara's S-Ending since the only way to get the Iron Mask is to kill Isayah, and you must keep Isayah alive long enough to encounter him nearby the Grand Library to collect Map #3. If you do end up battling against the Crow Mauler, you will be susceptible to getting blinded. You could alternatively wear the Penance Armor to prevent this by either stealing the Vault Keys from Trotur or using Phase Step to clip into the room where the armor is.
Item drops
The crow mauler has no random loot, and only carries the Crow Emblem Key, which allows the player to access the Crow Mauler room and obtain Miasma. Using a Soul stone on its corpse will give you the Crow Mauler Soul, which provides a x1.3 Attack multiplier.
Dialogue
Talk
You try talking some sense to this monstrosity...
Player: “What is your origin?”
The Crow Mauler doesn't react to your words.
Player: “There is no need for killing.”
The Crow Mauler doesn't react to your words.
Player: “Please don't!”
The Crow Mauler doesn't react to your words.
Player: “Prepare to die.”
The Crow Mauler doesn't react to your words.
Interactions
Trivia
Crow Mauler's potential early appearance standing ominously behind bars just north of Trortur's lair is, according to game creator Miro Haverinen, a visual recreation of character Pyramid Head's iconic first-ever appearance in the game Silent Hill 2, doing the same in the hallway just outside room 208 in the Woodside Apartments.
It should be noted that since the Crow Mauler despawns when the player enters Ma'habre, failing to defeat him before this could lock the player out of getting Ragnvaldr's S Ending. You can alternatively acquire the Crow Mauler's soul by use of an Empty Scroll It could also prevent them from acquiring the Miasma Sword, which requires the Crow Key, an item possessed only by the Crow Mauler. The door to the Miasma can be forced open, but doing so requires a very strong party. It is possible to prevent Crow Mauler's despawning. For that player should activate time-travel in the Tombs of The Gods before entering to Mahabre. In the archway leading from Passageway to Central Square player need to enter on the rightest side of the way (despawning tile is in the middle one). After that it's recommended to use Blood Portal or the broken wall in the Old Passage to avoid despawning tile.
