Overseer



Overseers are thin, hologram-like beings that pop out of the ground rapidly and appear to be watching the Slugcat. One in particular has taken an interest in guiding the Slugcat to serve some goal...

Appearance
Overseers are generally defined by being small, brightly colored, worm-like creatures characterized by a large eye surrounded by "arms" at one end, and the tail tapering off at the other. Like all creatures, their appearance varies widely within this general form. They appear holographic and can project images onto the landscape. They appear to be color-coded to identify which Iterator they belong to.

Overseers have varying amounts of "limbs", typically between three and five, though two-armed Overseers exist among the blue type. Linked to this, Overseers occasionally display a holographic shape consisting of a 3D prism surrounded by several regular polygons (triangles in the case of the yellow Overseer) forming a circle around the prism, which will rotate randomly, as shown in the image to the right. The prism invariably has a number of sides equal to the number of arms the Overseer has; the polygons do not necessarily follow this rule. The polygons have a random amount of taper. With the exception of two-limbed Overseers, the arms seem to be placed equidistantly; though the two-limbed Overseers breaking this rule may be due to limits in the game's pseudo-3D rendering. Overseer arms rotate with remarkable freedom of movement, seemingly able to turn indefinitely.

When an Overseer retracts from a place it was popping out of, a very faint light can be seen rapidly moving on a complex trajectory through the level geometry to a new location.

Abilities & Behavior
Mysterious beings with mysterious purposes, Overseers are often seen observing various creatures and landscapes, but most often looking toward the Slugcat. Scavengers often attack them out of defiance towards the Iterators, prompting the Overseer to act skittishly and flee, or fly higher. They do not move in any method other than teleportation. Once at a comfortable spot, they will simply wiggle around and observe their targets. If the Yellow Overseer is near the Slugcat, it may project signs onto the landscape. If approached, they will blink away in another direction, and will dodge all projectiles other than spears. They have been known to cluster in great amounts on the Wall.

Overseers in general, when in extremely close physical proximity, will (given the opportunity to exist undisturbed, and not a yellow Overseer, which seems to use different movement scripts) nearly touch their arms together, with a small gap remaining, at which point blue electrical discharge can be seen. The meaning of this behaviour is unknown; two potential possibilities are communication and energy transfer. This behaviour is shown at the top of the article, with the discharge captured at the middle tentacles.

Overseers do not generate pipe behaviour when entering a room - rather, it will simply travel off the borders of the screen. The path that Overseers take, unlike other creatures, is independent of level geometry save that Overseers prioritize sprouting from valid terrain that Slugcat can (theoretically) interact with over background elements. They avoid shelters to the greatest extent possible.

Yellow Overseer
The yellow Overseer you meet at the beginning of the game (known by some as "Iggy") acts as a basic tutorial and as a guide.

Signs
As well as teaching the player the controls, the yellow guide will point to things and generate a yellow symbol with an arrow pointing at the subject. The symbols are:
 * Fourth & First Karma Symbol: This symbol, pointed at another creature, means "this wants to eat you". This symbol will flash between yellow and red, indicating that it's dangerous.


 * Batfly Outline: points towards colonies of tasty Batflies.
 * Shelter Symbol: points towards the direction of the nearest shelter.
 * Level 4 Karma Symbol: points towards the location of edible plants. Sometimes alternates between the karma symbol and a spear symbol, indicating a Popcorn Plant that must be opened with a spear. This symbol will be green, indicating something positive (eating).


 * Hologram: Occasionally you will be shown images inside yellow octagons, clumsy attempts to communicate important messages about what you are expected to do.
 * Slugcat Head: points towards a route out of the current region, attempting to lead you in some new direction.
 * Alternate Head: points towards a route to its destination. This appears as a circle with three smaller circles within, along with two lines on either side of the big circle. It represents something the player has yet to come across on their journey.
 * Neuron Symbol: Points a path upwards, towards a new destination.

Blue Overseers
Blue Overseers appear randomly and will observe the player. These creatures can be found alone, or in groups - usually of two to three, but rarely up to five. Blue Overseers can be seen interacting with each other, connecting their tendrils together to generate little sparks. These can be killed and will drop an Overseer Eye, which can be brought to Looks to the Moon for some information about the overseers. These overseers apparently belong to Five Pebbles, instead of Moon, like one might expect from the color.

Green Overseer
On very rare occasions, a green overseer will spawn instead of a blue one. The change is purely cosmetic, but it is implied that the overseer belongs to a more faraway being that sent the Hunter on their quest. The green overseer can only be found in Subterranean with a 1% spawn chance. As they are strictly a cosmetic variant, they can be found in all the same variations as Five Pebbles' Overseers.

Arena
"Main article: Arena"There are four overseers in Arena mode with unique colors that are used to place item and creature spawns. They are white, red, yellow, and dark blue/black, each corresponding to one of the four players. The Arena overseers are restricted to Arena mode and are not generally considered canon.

Trivia

 * When presented with an Overseer eye, Moon states that scavengers attempt to spear Overseers as an act of defiance.
 * The symbols the Yellow Overseer flashes are related to the karma symbols seen upon hibernation. It flashes the fourth karma symbol in reference to edible objects, and this has been deciphered (using other in-game evidence) to be a symbol representing gluttony. The first karma symbol, likely wrath, is used in conjunction with the fourth gluttony symbol when the Overseer points at a threat, meaning "This thing will kill/eat you".
 * Large numbers of Blue Overseers will gather at the top of The Wall, which is a subregion of The Exterior.
 * If the Slugcat eats Moon's neurons, the Yellow Overseer will flash an image of the Slugcat with a spear in its head, and will shine a red X over said image. Afterwards, it will no longer guide the player. However, the player can still follow the storyline path by interacting with strange yellow objects that appear after eating the neurons. The Yellow Overseer will return to guide the player if enough neurons are brought to Moon, if she is still alive.
 * It is worth noting that there are more neurons later in the game, so eating Moon's is not necessary to see the strange objects.
 * The Yellow Overseer can light up dark areas (particularly in Shaded Citadel) for the player when playing as Monk to aid their traversal.
 * Overseers appear to have a form of communication among themselves. They usually communicate with their own type of overseer, however they do occasionally appear to communicate with others of different origins. They will frequently look at each other and stare for a while, shining holograms towards each other. They also occasionally touch tendrils.
 * If a Scavenger kills the Yellow Overseer, it will always return. This makes it possible to "farm" Yellow Overseer eyes.
 * The Yellow Overseer will usually follow Slugcat around from room to room, but occasionally will disappear from time to time. When this occurs, it is patrolling the rest of the Region, rapidly moving through rooms. The purpose of this behaviour is not specifically known. OverseerIllumination1.png