Needles is a boss encountered in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. A dangerous enemy to face, he is the only one in the game that will actively chase the player through multiple locations.
Needles is an exceedingly cruel individual whose permanent clownish grin belies his heavily scarred and burned muscular physique concealed beneath his clothing. As his moniker suggests, he uses needles in combat and demonstrates a keen understanding of various substances and their effects when injected. Needles apparently takes great pleasure in hunting down the Termina contestants in Prehevil, relishing the process with bouts of laughter. He actively seeks out his targets, displaying an eagerness to eliminate them.
Warning! Speculation ahead!
Information below is hinted on, but wasn't directly confirmed in-game.
When playing as Daan, he will remark that Needles resembles his father-in-law, Baron Eihner Von Dutch. As a doctor with unconventional methods for healing and mending wounds, he held a fascination for Sylvian and her restorative powers. He took Daan under his wing as an apprentice, exchanging his knowledge of modern medical practices for Daan's understanding of the Old God Sylvian. Eihner Von Dutch met his end just before the end of the second great war, in a bizarre ritual to the Sulfur God, seemingly self-inflicting wounds and cuts before ultimately sacrificing his own daughter Elise, Daan's fiancée, in the maddening ceremony. The circumstances of the Baron's transformation into Needles and how he ended up in Prehevil remain a mystery. It is uncertain whether Needles still retains any semblance of his former self as the Baron, if he is merely a vessel being controlled by some other force, or if the resemblance is just a disturbing coincidence.
Location
Needles can be found in multiple locations:
In Tunnel 7, a bunker located to the west of the Woodsman's shack. If found here, the player will see him behead Tanaka before turning his attention to the player. This event will only happen if the player triggers it, which means Tanaka will be safe as long as the player does not delve too deep into the bunker.
All around Prehevil (Inner City) in outdoor areas, where the player will hear his distant laugh before being stalked by him.
If the player doesn't kill Abella, doesn't play as her or enters the city before reaching Tunnel 7, then he will not appear in the Bunker, preventing Tanaka's death. On Day 1 Morning, the player can also enter the Mayor's Manor and then go to the Tunnel to avoid triggering Needles.
If Marina is left unrecruited at the Book store until Day 2 Evening, Needles will also dispose of her, cruelly removing the skin from her face and proceed to wear it during the combat encounter. Recruiting Marina or killing Needles before Day 2 Evening will avoid this outcome.
When shooting Needles while outside battle, the game will display a message saying "Needles doesn't seem to care about your shots". The player will still be able to take him down with said shots though. 15 pistol shots is enough to kill him. Bear Traps will stop Needles from ambushing the player into battle, but will not remove his limbs. It is also important to note that if the player leaves the screen, the Bear Trap will cease to work and Needles will resume his chasing.
Battle
Stats
Body Part
HP
Blunt
Slashing
Piercing
Fire
Otherwordly
Ev. Rate
Magic Ev.
Resistances
Head
300
100%
100%
100%
110%
100%
75%
None
None
Torso
2400 (6000)
None
None
Torso (Rot)
1400 (3500)
None
None
Right Arm
1000
None
None
Left Arm
1000
None
None
Right Arm (Gun)
1000
None
None
Left Arm (Gun)
1000
None
None
Right Leg
800
None
None
Left Leg
800
None
None
Note: HP in parenthesis is only used for Damage-over-Time calculations.
Strategy
Despite his clownish appearance, Needles is one of the toughest enemies one can encounter early in the game, because his attacks can leave the player after the fight with life-threatening status effects, such as bleeding and arm infection. His body parts are surprisingly sturdy (both of his arms have 1000 HP), and his arms need to both be chopped off at once or he will pull out a gun with his free hand and deal a large amount of damage.
Needles' attack with his right hand is Needle Whip, dealing moderate damage and causing infection and bleeding. His other hand uses Mystery Injection, which deals a minuscule amount of damage but poisons the target. This hand can also trigger a coin flip attack which will paralyze the target if failed.
Players can get a headstart by blinding him/lowering his accuracy by throwing Glass Shards at his head. One can get out of the battle with little to no damage by landing a shot directly on Needles' head, but they need to be extremely lucky.
Dialogues
Talk
Needles: “...” Needles is just grinning at you with its sadistic smile.
Player: [PERSUADE] “Live and let live, we are on the same page, right?”
Needles is just laughing at you with exaggerated gestures. He is holding his stomach while pointing a mocking finger at you... Your persuasion didn't seem to work...
Player: [INTIMIDATE] “You're going to regret the day you quit the circus.”
The expression on the face of Needles becomes deadly serious.
Player: “What's the matter? Did I hit a nerve?”
The wrinkles around Needles' face get deeper as his expression intensifies... Seems like you managed to infuriate Needles. (+Furious)
Player: “Why so serious?”
The wrinkles around Needles' face get deeper as his expression intensifies... Seems like you managed to infuriate Needles. (+Furious)
Player: “No one needs to die here!”
Needles is just laughing at you with exaggerated gestures. He is holding his stomach while pointing a mocking finger at you...
Player: “Who are you?”
Needles shrugs with its arms stretched wide.
Player: “I'll wipe that grin off your face!”
The expression on the face of Needles becomes deadly serious.
Player: Nevermind
Needles is waving its finger around its ear in a mocking manner.
Interactions
“The monstrosity is down...”
Action
Result
Flavour text
Use Brain flower
Success
“You've laid down the seed for the flower.”
Use Heart flower
Success
“You've laid down the seed for the flower.”
Beat him
Nothing
“The body of Needles feels muscular and tense even after his apparent death. It feels especially gratifying kicking his lifeless body.”
“Needles is in top human form clearly. Under his garbs is a muscular body full of scars. Some of the scars look like old burns and some look like old rash of some kind. Because of his strong condition, he doesn't appear to have many weaknesses. Fire always works on his garbs though.”
“His face... It's smeared with makeup and blood... His expression is still frozen in that shit-eating grin despite having gone through a painful death... This guy is in top human form clearly. Under his garbs is a muscular body full of scars. Scary. His muscles are still very tense even after his death. Wouldn't want to run into him alone in a dark alley, that's for sure. Because of his strong condition, he doesn't appear to have many weaknesses. Fire always works on his garbs though.”
If Daan is in the party (Stitches was diagnosed before):
Daan:“His face... It's smeared with makeup and blood... His expression is still frozen in that shit-eating grin despite having gone through a painful death... ... It can't be...”
Player: “What is it?”
Daan: “... My mind is just doing tricks on me. Nasty tricks...”
Player: “You recognise him?”
Daan: “... My mind is just doing tricks on me. Nasty tricks...”
Player: “...”
If playing as Daan:
“His face... There's something that bothers you in his looks... Something familiar. It's smeared with makeup and blood... His expression is still frozen in that shit-eating grin despite having gone through a painful death... Needles is in top human form clearly. Under his garbs is a muscular body full of scars. Some of the scars look like old burns and some look like old rash of some kind. Because of his strong condition, he doesn't appear to have many weaknesses. Fire always works on his garbs though.”
If playing as Daan (Stitches was diagnosed before):
“It's smeared with makeup and blood... His expression is still frozen in that shit-eating grin despite having gone through a painful death... Beneath it all, there's something very familiar about him... You don't want to even consider the possibility, but he reminds you of your father-in-law, Eihner von Dutch... But that's impossible. Isn't it? Then again, you felt like you just saw the ghost of Elise as well... Your mind must be playing dirty tricks on you...”
“The soul is too corrupted and frail to be summoned back to the body. The necromancy failed.”
If defeated by Needles, the player character will not die. Instead, after the screen fades to black, they will feel something stabbing them in the neck, and awaken chained in a Tunnel with all their party members gone. After some time, a transparent figure will appear from the right side of the screen and approach the player, after which it will enter the player's genital area, causing a "massive orgasm" and making them pass out. Afterwards, they will awaken unchained, and be able to continue the game as normal.
Unfortunately, any party members the player currently has will vanish from the party. If any of the other contestants of the Festival was in said party, the player will eventually come across their remains around Prehevil, each of them having suffered a brutal death at the hands of Needles.
Trivia
Needles' appearance and behaviour is an obvious reference to Art the Clown from the 2016 slasher movie "Terrifier".
If Needles is fought right after decapitating Tanaka in Tunnel 7, he will be shown wearing Tanaka's hat.
If the player is Daan (or Daan is in the party) and Needles is fought, the game will mention Needles' face becoming more serious as he "looks [Daan] straight in the eyes". This further reinforces the theory that Needles is the Baron Eihner Von Dutch, and suggests that Needles (Baron) somehow still remembers Daan's face despite the transformation he went through.
Despite their resemblance to Glocks, the guns wielded by Needles are, in fact, 9mm Browning Hi-Power single action pistols produced since 1935.[1]
