[KILLER CONCEPT] The Mad — Madison Hart | Full Power, Lore, Perks & Add-ons
THE MAD — Madison Hart
“Sometimes the thing keeping you alive is the same thing destroying you.”
Hi! I've been working on this Killer concept for quite a while, slowly developing his lore and trying to make his gameplay feel different from existing Killers.
My main goal with Madison was to create a Killer whose increasing power is also a danger to himself.
Instead of Survivors simply weakening him, fighting back gradually destabilizes his body. The closer he gets to completely falling apart, the stronger he becomes — but at maximum instability, Survivors gain a difficult alternative way of ending the Trial.
This is The Mad.
THE MAD
Name: Madison Hart
Age when taken by the Entity: 15
Weapon: Biological Blade
Power: Fractured Bond
Difficulty: Very Hard
Madison shares his body with Dem, an extraterrestrial organism permanently integrated into his nervous system.
They are not friends.
They cannot speak to each other.
And neither can survive without the other.
📖 LORE
Madison Hart grew up in an orphanage.
He was quiet, withdrawn, and frequently found himself targeted by older children. Most adults around him regarded him as troublesome or simply preferred not to become involved.
There was one exception.
His name was Carl Daffly.
Carl first found ten-year-old Madison outside the orphanage after another confrontation with older children. What began as an awkward conversation slowly became something Madison had never really experienced before.
Someone kept coming back.
Carl spoke with him. Helped him with schoolwork. Watched films with him. Defended him when others wouldn't.
Eventually, Madison stopped seeing him as another employee.
He began seeing him as a father.
One day, Carl showed Madison a cartoon about a sword-wielding hero. Madison became fascinated with fencing, asking Carl to show him tournaments and films. Carl eventually gave him a fencing sword and began practicing with him.
For Madison, swords became inseparable from his happiest memories.
Then came the happiest day of his childhood.
Madison accidentally overheard Carl speaking with the orphanage director.
Carl and his wife couldn't have children.
They wanted to adopt him.
Carl left shortly afterward for a vacation with his wife, intending to complete the adoption when they returned.
Madison couldn't contain himself.
He wandered alone onto a nearby wasteland, imagining what his new life might be like. A home. A family. Practicing fencing with his new father.
He never noticed the organism waiting there.
DEM
Dem's species has one biological purpose:
reproduction.
Its kind takes living hosts, normally beginning integration when the host's brain activity is extremely low.
Dem was inexperienced.
It chose Madison while he was completely conscious.
That mistake changed both of them permanently.
Madison's active nervous system interfered with the integration. Dem couldn't suppress him, while Madison couldn't reject Dem.
Their nervous systems became irreversibly intertwined.
During those first moments, Madison's mind was filled with thoughts of Carl, fencing, adoption and the family he believed he was about to have.
Dem's restructuring process used those active neural patterns as a template.
The result was something neither of them intended:
a blade.
Not a weapon Madison could drop.
Not an object Dem carried.
A temporary biological structure belonging to their shared body.
The following days were terrifying.
Madison couldn't understand the alien signals inside his mind. Dem couldn't understand human language or morality.
Its reasoning was far simpler:
Threat → Eliminate.
At first, even Madison himself was perceived as a threat.
But Dem eventually discovered the consequence of its failed integration.
If Madison died, Dem would die with him.
It was trapped.
And so the creature that had invaded Madison's body became biologically compelled to protect him.
Carl was still away.
Madison desperately wanted him back.
Before Carl returned, Madison was confronted once again by some of the older children who had tormented him.
Overwhelmed, frightened and increasingly affected by the organism inside him, Madison thought of the thing that had always represented safety to him.
A sword.
For the first time, Dem responded.
The blade emerged.
Several children died in what followed.
And then Carl returned.
Madison saw him and, for a moment, everything else disappeared.
He approached him crying, expecting the person he trusted most to finally make everything right.
Carl recoiled.
Madison stopped smiling.
Authorities took Madison away shortly afterward.
He never learned what Carl did next.
For the next four years, Madison was confined inside a closed specialized institution.
Doctors could identify impossible abnormalities throughout his body, but they couldn't isolate Dem as a separate organism.
There was no longer a clean boundary between them.
Madison had no meaningful contact with the outside world.
He didn't know whether Carl had tried to visit.
He didn't know whether Carl had written.
He didn't know whether Carl had abandoned him.
Eventually, at fifteen, Madison decided he would not remain there.
For once, Dem wanted exactly the same thing.
Confinement threatened its host.
Their goals aligned.
Madison escaped.
For nearly a month, he searched for Carl.
Eventually, he found the house.
Through a window, Madison saw Carl and his wife.
And their adopted child.
Someone was living the life Madison had spent four years imagining.
The thought consumed him:
“That should have been me.”
What happened next could no longer be blamed entirely on Dem.
The child was not a threat.
Madison knew that.
And he made his choice anyway.
When Carl discovered what Madison had done, whatever remained of their old relationship shattered.
Carl tried to stop him.
Now Dem sensed a threat.
And this time, Madison didn't resist it.
When it was over, Madison had destroyed the only person who could ever have answered the question that had haunted him for four years:
Did Carl actually abandon him?
Madison left the house without knowing where to go.
There was nothing left to search for.
The road ahead slowly disappeared beneath a thick fog.
Dem sensed something within it.
Something enormous.
Something alive.
For the first time since entering Madison's body, Dem encountered a threat it could neither understand nor eliminate.
Madison kept walking.
The Fog swallowed them both.
🧬 POWER — FRACTURED BOND
Madison and Dem achieved an unstable biological equilibrium in the real world.
Inside the Entity's Realm, that equilibrium is being destroyed.
The Entity continually attempts to reconstruct Madison according to the rules of the Trial.
Dem simultaneously attempts to restructure the same body according to its own biology.
Neither understands the other.
Their competing attempts to maintain the same body cause Decay.
The Mad's Power consists of three interconnected systems:
Rage. Infection. Decay.
⚔️ CHARGED STRIKE
Hold the Power button to prepare a Charged Strike.
Release it to launch The Mad rapidly forward in the direction he is facing.
The Mad has limited steering once the attack begins.
A Charged Strike can break a dropped Pallet and continue through it, allowing The Mad to potentially strike a Survivor behind the Pallet.
A successful strike damages one Health State.
If the attack misses — including after destroying a Pallet without hitting a Survivor — Dem's signals violently overwhelm Madison's senses.
The Mad is unable to act for:
3 seconds.
During Rage, this penalty is reduced to:
2 seconds.
RAGE
Dem becomes increasingly aggressive while it perceives an immediate threat.
The Mad possesses a Rage Meter, ranging from 0% to 100%.
Rage gradually accumulates during a Chase.
Current concept value: ~0.5% per second.
Additional confrontations accelerate Rage.
A successful Pallet Stun grants approximately:
+10% Rage.
Successfully injuring a Survivor grants approximately:
+7.5% Rage.
Dropping a Pallet without actually stunning The Mad provides no additional Rage.
When no immediate threat remains, Rage gradually decreases.
If another Chase begins, the decrease stops and Rage resumes building from its current value.
FULL RAGE
At 100% Rage, The Mad has 15 seconds to manually activate it.
If it isn't activated, Rage begins decreasing.
Activating Rage lasts up to:
20 seconds.
During Rage:
• The Mad moves faster.
• Charged Strike's miss penalty becomes 2 seconds.
• The Mad receives 2 Infection Strikes.
If The Mad downs a Survivor while Rage is active:
Rage immediately ends and resets to 0%.
Dem considers the immediate threat eliminated.
Any unused Infection Strikes are lost.
If The Mad downs someone before activating Rage, however, the current Rage value is frozen until that Survivor is Hooked.
This prevents keeping a Survivor on the ground simply to maintain or farm Rage.
🦠 INFECTION STRIKE
Each activation of Rage provides 2 charges.
An Infection Strike deals normal damage and leaves a small fragment of Madison and Dem's shared biological tissue inside the Survivor.
This fragment is not another Dem and cannot reproduce independently.
While an Infected Survivor simply moves or hides, The Mad receives no constant tracking.
However, prolonged actions activate the connection.
Actions such as:
Repairing Generators
Healing other Survivors
Opening Exit Gates
cause Dem to gradually sense its fragment.
Initially, The Mad receives only a rough directional indication.
If the Survivor continues the action, the connection strengthens and briefly triggers Killer Instinct.
Continued uninterrupted activity can cause additional pulses.
REMOVING INFECTION
A Survivor has two primary ways of removing it.
Full Healing
Completely healing the Infected Survivor destroys the biological fragment.
The Infection disappears.
However, destroying part of the shared organism increases The Mad's:
Decay by +10%.
Hook Rescue
If an Infected Survivor is Hooked and subsequently rescued, the Entity normalizes their body.
The Infection disappears.
This method causes:
0% additional Decay.
DECAY
Decay represents the increasing conflict between Madison, Dem and the Entity.
It ranges from:
0% → 100%.
Decay does not naturally decrease.
A successful Pallet Stun:
+5% Decay
Destroying an Infection through Full Healing:
+10% Decay
A Survivor's final death or sacrifice:
−15% Decay
Hooks and downs alone do not decrease Decay.
STAGE I — STABILITY
0–24%
The Mad has access to his standard:
Charged Strike
Rage
Infection
STAGE II — DISRUPTION
25–49%
All previous abilities remain.
Successful attacks additionally inflict Haemorrhage.
After successfully injuring a Survivor, The Mad temporarily gains additional movement speed.
Current concept value: +5% for 3 seconds.
STAGE III — RESTRUCTURING
50–99%
All previous effects remain.
The Mad can now vault over dropped Pallets.
During Rage, this action is performed faster.
This creates a choice:
Vault the Pallet and continue the Chase while leaving it intact,
or
Charged Strike through it, destroying the Pallet while attempting to hit the Survivor.
☠️ STAGE IV — CRITICAL DECAY
100%
Madison and Dem's shared form is beginning to collapse.
The Mad is now at his most dangerous.
Charged Strike gains substantially increased range and speed.
After successfully injuring one Survivor, The Mad temporarily gains the ability to use a Charged Strike to immediately place a different Healthy Survivor into the Dying State.
Current concept window:
10 seconds.
But Critical Decay also exposes The Mad's greatest weakness.
At 100%:
BANISHMENT BECOMES POSSIBLE.
MEMORY OBJECTS
Three objects generated from Madison's memories appear throughout the Trial.
They are deliberately ordinary pieces of his childhood:
An Old Television
A memory of watching films and cartoons with Carl.
Madison's Cabinet
A recreation of where some of his few belongings were kept.
An Old Bench
A memory of simply sitting and talking with Carl.
Each Memory Object contains one fragment of a torn photograph.
Survivors approaching a Memory Object can hear subtle sounds associated with the memory, becoming clearer as they approach.
The Mad cannot see their Auras.
Once a fragment has been removed, the Memory Object remains in the environment but becomes silent and inactive.
This means The Mad can discover that Survivors have already visited it — but not who currently possesses the fragment.
🧩 PHOTOGRAPH FRAGMENTS
A Survivor can carry:
all 3 fragments simultaneously.
Fragments do not occupy the normal Item slot.
If their carrier is downed, the carried fragments fall to the ground and can be recovered.
The Mad cannot collect or destroy them.
Once all three fragments have been discovered:
THE PEDESTAL APPEARS.
Survivors can bring the fragments to it.
However, the photograph cannot be fully restored until The Mad reaches Critical Decay.
BANISHMENT
At 100% Decay, the Pedestal activates.
Survivors can begin restoring the photograph.
Total required interaction:
15 seconds.
A single remaining Survivor can complete the entire process.
Multiple Survivors can assist.
Progress persists when interrupted.
If The Mad kills a Survivor while at 100% Decay:
100% → 85%.
The Mad returns to Stage III and the Pedestal becomes temporarily inactive.
Any restoration progress already completed remains.
If Decay later returns to 100%, Survivors can continue where they stopped.
When restoration reaches 100%, the three fragments finally reveal the complete image:
Young Madison. Carl. Carl's wife.
The family Madison believed he was going to have.
The Pedestal ignites.
The photograph burns.
The memory destabilizes the already collapsing connection between Madison, Dem and the Entity.
THE MAD IS BANISHED FROM THE CURRENT TRIAL.
Remaining Survivors achieve an alternative victory.
The Mad isn't permanently killed.
The Entity can reconstruct him for another Trial.
UNIQUE PERKS
🩸 UNHEALTHY ATTACHMENT
You find it increasingly difficult to lose someone once your attention has settled on them.
After putting the same Survivor into the Dying State twice, that Survivor becomes your Attachment.
While injured, your Attachment's Grunts of Pain are 10% / 15% / 20% louder, and can be heard from farther away.
If your Attachment dies or leaves the Trial, the effect resets.
Another Survivor can become your new Attachment after being downed twice.
🌑 WASTELAND
The longer a threat refuses to disappear, the harder you pursue it.
Remaining in a continuous Chase gradually increases your Movement Speed.
After approximately:
15 seconds → +3%
25 seconds → +4%
35 seconds → +5%
The bonus remains briefly after the Chase ends before disappearing.
Beginning another Chase starts the progression again.
Exact values are intended to be balance-adjustable.
🕯️ DON'T LEAVE ME
Escaping your attention doesn't mean you've escaped you.
After a Survivor you recently injured escapes your Chase, Don't Leave Me activates on that Survivor for 20 seconds.
If they begin Healing or another Survivor begins Healing them during this period, you receive a Loud Noise Notification.
The perk then enters a cooldown of:
60 / 50 / 40 seconds.
No Aura is revealed.
ADD-ONS
The Mad's Add-ons are objects reconstructed from his memories.
The stronger their emotional significance, the more dramatically they affect his connection with Dem.
COMMON
Worn Notebook
Increases Rage generation during Chase by 10%.
Broken Pencil
Reduces the failed Charged Strike penalty by 0.25 seconds.
Photograph of the Wasteland
Slightly accelerates the initial directional signal from Infected Survivors.
Old Cinema Ticket
Increases maximum Rage duration by 2 seconds.
UNCOMMON
Cartoon Tape
A recording of the sword-wielding hero Carl once showed Madison.
Increases Rage generation during Chase by 15%.
Toy Sword
A harmless imitation of the weapon Madison once associated with heroes.
Slightly decreases Charged Strike preparation time.
Homework Note
A reminder of evenings when Carl helped Madison with schoolwork.
Killer Instinct from Infection activates slightly sooner.
Empty Popcorn Box
Increases the Full Rage activation window from 15 to 18 seconds.
RARE
Fencing Glove
Increases Charged Strike range.
Tournament Recording
Increases Charged Strike speed but slightly increases preparation time.
Cabinet Key
Infected Survivors performing prolonged actions trigger subsequent Killer Instinct pulses more frequently.
Unsent Letter
Destroying an Infection through Full Healing causes +12% Decay instead of +10%.
Broken Watch Strap
Increases the Full Rage activation window by 5 seconds.
VERY RARE
Fencing Mask
Improves Charged Strike's interaction with Pallets and slightly increases directional correction during the attack.
Denied Visitation Form
If an Infected Survivor stops a prolonged action shortly after triggering Dem's connection, they produce one delayed Killer Instinct pulse.
Burned Cartoon Tape
Rage provides 3 Infection Strikes instead of 2, but its maximum duration is reduced.
Family Drawing
Whenever The Mad enters a new Decay Stage, he briefly becomes Undetectable.
Patient Identification Tag
Increases dropped-Pallet vault speed during Stage III. Rage increases it further.
ULTRA RARE
DEM FRAGMENT
A piece of tissue that no longer clearly belongs to either organism.
Pallet Stuns no longer increase Decay.
Instead, successful Pallet Stuns generate substantially more Rage.
FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH
For a little while, he believed there would be a place for him in it.
The first Infection destroyed through Full Healing on each Survivor causes +15% Decay.
Upon entering Critical Decay, the Pedestal's Aura is briefly revealed to The Mad.
Final Survivor deaths reduce Decay by 20% instead of 15%.
DESIGN INTENT
The Mad isn't intended to become stronger simply because time passes.
Survivors participate in his transformation.
Stunning him accelerates Decay.
Removing Infection accelerates Decay.
Increasing Decay makes him progressively more dangerous.
But refusing to interact with those mechanics allows Infection and Rage to remain useful.
At Critical Decay, both sides receive an enormous opportunity.
The Mad becomes terrifyingly powerful.
Survivors gain the ability to remove the Killer himself from the Trial.
The final phase therefore becomes a race:
Can Survivors restore Madison's memory before he stabilizes himself by killing one of them?
Balance note
All numerical values in this concept are intended as starting points rather than final balance claims.
The main focus of the concept is the interaction between Rage → Infection → Decay → Banishment.
I'd genuinely be interested in hearing where people think the system could be exploited, where values should be changed, and whether the alternative Banishment objective would be fun to play both as and against.
Thanks for reading. 🖤
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