| NOTE: This page is only regarding Ted from the original I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream short story, not his game counterpart, as he was not approved for IA, as such, only information about his novella counterpart should go here. |
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"Mature Content!" |
| “ | I am a great soft jelly thing. Smoothly rounded, with no mouth, with pulsing white holes filled by fog where my eyes used to be. Rubbery appendages that were once my arms; bulks rounding down into legless humps of soft slippery matter. I leave a moist trail when I move. Blotches of diseased, evil gray come and go on my surface, as though light is being beamed from within. Outwardly: dumbly, I shamble about, a thing that could never have been known as human, a thing whose shape is so alien a travesty that humanity becomes more obscene for the vague resemblance. Inwardly: alone. Here. Living under the land, under the sea, in the belly of AM, whom we created because our time was badly spent and we must have known unconsciously that he could do it better. At least the four of them are safe at last. AM will be all the madder for that. It makes me a little happier. And yet ... AM has won, simply ... he has taken his revenge ... I have no mouth. And I must scream. | „ |
| ~ Ted's end quote where he name drops the story. |
Ted is the main protagonist of the well-known short story I Have No Mouth. and I Must Scream written by Harlan Ellison.
He serves as the Point Of View character of the story and is one of the five victims that has been kept alive in AM's belly for over a century. He is a delusional jerkass who believes that the other victims despise him and that he was the only one left unaffected by AM's mind rape, despite this, he is incredibly paranoid and clearly insane, making it likely that he actually was affected by AM and only believes that he wasn't.
He was voiced by David Soul in the story's 2002 audio drama adaptation.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
- Agrees to go look for the canned food at Ellen's insistence despite his reluctance to do so at first.
- Despite acting like a massive jerkass towards Ellen and believing everyone hates him, he still makes the choice to spare them from AM's torment at the end, even saying that, for as much suffering as he may be going through at the end of the story, the sheer fact that they are free makes him a little happier, showing that for as much as he may act as if he despises them, he truly did care about the other victims.
- At the end of the story, he mercy kills Benny, Gorrister and Ellen, freeing them from AM's constant torment and agony, at the cost of enraging AM so much to the point where he is put in a literal "And I Must Scream" fate by being turned into a jelly-being who is cursed to wander for the rest of eternity in constant agony with no hope of ever escaping.
- While it could be argued that he is lethal due to his brutal murders of Ellen, Benny, and Gorrister, not only was this a mercy kill, but he also had no choice but to do it quickly, as he risked AM stopping him if he did otherwise.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- Despite ultimately proving his selflessness at the end of the story, Ted is still far too much of a jerk for NPG or PG. Throughout he is shown constantly having incredibly nasty thoughts towards Ellen, calling her a slut and degrading her despite the fact that she was nothing but nice to him, while he does ultimately mercy kill her at the end, that doesn't change how nasty he acts towards her for a majority of the story.
- He seems to be slightly arrogant, as seen by how he believes that the rest of the survivors hate him because he is the youngest and supposedly "least affected" by AM's torture, implying a sense of self-righteousness.
Trivia[]
- Only Ted's original counterpart counts as IA, as his game counterpart, while heroic in his own right, fails to stand out from his fellow survivors, who all have the opportunity to pull the same heroic feats that he did to the same effect.
- Ted is an odd case of an IA, as it's his brutal murders of Ellen, Gorrister, and Benny (something which would normally considered incredibly heinous) that allows him to pass the baseline.
External Links[]
- Ted on the Heroes Wiki