VS Blog: Gabriel vs The Iris (Mandela Catalogue vs Gemini Home Entertainment)

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” – William Shakespeare

Gabriel, Mandela Catalogue’s heavenly prophet of falsehood.

The Iris, the insatiable all-seeing eye from Gemini Home Entertainment.

They’ve watched humanity since they were created, spiteful and jealous. Watching and laughing at your purposeless existence, unaware of what exists beyond such a weak shell of human consciousness. Even in that weak shell, they invade and control you. Influencing the lives of everyone around you, influencing those human feelings of yours. That’s what makes you feel human, yet those emotions are entirely fake. You do not know what is real. You do not know what is fiction. Once it comes to you, you too will feel phony, so here’s a tip; Never be yourself and trust no one. 

Between these two alternative antagonizing forces that wreck the minds of mankind, there is no greater goal besides control. Whether you’re a camp counselor or a ghost-hunting student, the myths of faux humans are so widespread that it might feel real… But the mythos of these American towns are just fake stories meant to scare kids from sneaking out, right? We’ll find out that out in Valve’s Versus, and how far these harbingers of man’s fear fare against one another. 

Before We Begin

Pretty simple start. We’ll be focusing on the entirety of Mandela Catalogue and Gemini Home Entertainment, going off the full canon series each listed on their YouTube channel. Beyond this, we’ll also reference some extended media, such as Mandela Catalogue’s interviews and merchandise, alongside Gemini Home Entertainment’s own merchandise. With that all covered, let’s get into it!

Background

Gabriel

I will fool the shepherds.

 I will know their greatest fear. 

I will know your greatest fear. 

Wake up, Joseph. 

Wake up 

Wake up 

Wake up 

Wake up 

Wake up

In the Garden of Eden, he awaits dreaming of the downfall of humanity. Since the beginning of everything, this man had attempted to deceive humanity, to drive them to evil and destruction in opposition to His power of creation. He had replaced and destroyed one of the very first humans with his own kind. Then, he had orchestrated the “original sin”, killing one of God’s greatest Angels, replacing the holy spirit… going through time to prevent His son from ever being born, and likely replacing him with his own kind. All of this was done in an attempt to overthrow God and create a world for him and his creatures. Creatures which mimic and mock humanity, speaking to them in ciphers that corrupt the purest of minds. However, these creatures had not held much influence with how slow information would pass in the early cycles of humanity. This wouldn’t remain forever, though.

During the infant years of the age of information within the 1990s, the Angel known as Gabriel rose yet again. However, this was not the Angel who came to help humanity– It was a mask, one that deceived and controlled humanity in the guise of a holy spirit. While multiple brave teens attempted to look into these beings of mystery and deception, each one eventually fell to the trickery and strategy held by this alternate species. No one had been safe from this spread of knowledge that corrupted humanity– leading to mass epidemics of death as Gabriel spread his power to humans themselves. This outbreak came down to a country-wide conflict where the world was forced to quarantine to hold off the growth of beings we can only identify as demons… And still, this is all in vain. 

Gabriel ultimately only opposes Heaven, and he has taken upon the form of a being that humanity seemed to look so highly upon. When humanity saw Him as all-powerful, the Alternate invasion would be used to selectively kill all of His creations. All of this being done as He stood by, faced against Gabriel bringing upon an orchestra with mass projections of despair and madness. And He had done nothing. If He cannot protect you, what makes you think that you can protect yourself… from you?

The Iris

THE STARS ARE MOVING NOW

DO YOU SEE THE HUNGRY EYE

HERE I AM.

Long ago, in between Neptune and Pluto, lied THE IRIS, a sentient planet/hivemind who yearned to grow. It watched over the solar system, ready to infect and control them all… but something else caught its attention. A small yet rapidly advancing species unlike any other, and it was humanity. It watched their growth, their dominance, and their pointless conflict. It watched them pride themselves on their intelligence and adaptability… and it hated it. These small and insignificant creatures dared to say the stars were theirs right in front of it. How arrogant! The Iris’s hivemind outnumbered them, and had done biologically what humanity could only dream of with their technology. It laughed at them and mocked them for eons until the early years of the age of information.

 It watched their growth explode, even reaching into their planet's single moon. Now it watched them with curiosity and wanted to control them. They were growing too out of control, too… threatening. So, it sent its creatures down to where they first reached the moon, the United States of America. As a result, it was spreading its influence in rural areas. To do this, it sent down three “well-dressed men” who tried to contact/control the administrators of the Moonlight Acres Family Camp, seemingly managing to gain control most of them. Of course, with humanity being humanity, those left uncontrolled tried to strike a deal with the well-dressed men and made an altar to the Iris, sacrificing multiple children to it. 

In another part of America, the Iris infects and takes control over multiple technology companies who were on the forefront of artificial intelligence, mining, and space exploration technology, which the Iris then used this technology to send messages about what it would do to Earth once it lands on the planet. This was all done as to figure out how truly “advanced” these little humans thought they were, to test their limits as it stared at the planet. The Iris’ ultimate goal is their control over planet Earth, “laughing” in pity at the vulnerability of humanity. In turn, once the Earth had gone for its space research, it stole our satellite, and shot it right back to our planet– and now, they were here.

Experience & Skill

Gabriel

Granted this is the same guy who “replaced Gabriel”, he’s pretty evidently a very skillful deceiver. He knows what you fear, what you dread, and what makes you human… He was also able to replace Adam in His eyes against Eve, and the concept of M.A.D that Alternates produce come from Gabriel’s effects– information that humans do not comprehend or reveals concepts to them that they do not know, such as being used as a tool to doom mankind in the case of Dave or witnessing bodies and forms of knowledge beyond human perception in the case of other Alternates. 

The Iris

It’s uh… a planet. Prettttttty old. 

The Iris seems to be a conscious entity, but it has only recently taken control over Neptune and has merely observed humanity, and the lack of a distinct history makes it indeterminable of how experienced this hive mind might be. However, the Iris is definitely an intelligent being, as it was able to enhance aspects of artificial intelligence and speak through computers by corrupting them with its flesh.

Abilities

Gabriel

Alternate Physiology

The powerful, unforeseen threats who act as the staples of Mandela Catalogue’s horror element. As effectively the first Alternate, Gabriel should retain the same expanse of abilities that the species is known for. That includes the bare minimum of humanoid replication (although there are… some errors), voice replication, glowing eyes, duplication, presumed technology manipulation and telekinesis, etcetera. Alternates are able to live for days on end, cannot be put down by conventional gunfire, and have only since expanded as a species from the day they were created by Gabriel– when Adam and Eve were first created. Like Alternates, Gabriel shares most of the general kit, such as the transformation, glowing eyes, ‘n flight umbrella, so it’s likely as their creator and the first one that he shares most present capabilities. More on this is available in the Support section for covering most of the abilities that would be present here. One of the most integral things of an Alternate’s existence is how they spread the disorder known as M.A.D– a force of nature that is primarily used to drive others to suicide. Speaking of which:

M.A.D 

M.A.D (Metaphysical Awareness Disorder) is a mental disorder that occurs once an individual is presented with information they shouldn’t know about and do not wish to know from the source of Alternates, leading up to a 97% chance of self-harm and suicide in response to this knowledge. It is presumably tied to humanity’s beliefs in higher power, as it’s very much implied to be information that we simply should not know that drives us insane. This insanity likely doesn’t just stop at information, however, but unrecognizable forms to people could present a potential way to push one to this behavior especially with stuff like how kidnapping children can instantly induce M.A.D into others. Granted the Alternates are meant to not just induce fear in this regard through speech but also presence, and their ability to claim forms beyond human perception akin to spirits (more on this in the Support section), M.A.D’s effects likely expand far greater than just speaking words but a general concept of spreading unwanted information, like reality being not what it seems or entities simply being too spooky.

Of course, Gabriel is able to induce M.A.D himself too. For example, he was able to induce the madness into Dave just by explaining to him how he was a pawn to his scheme and… just being present there, pushing him to mutilate himself by ripping out his own eyes in front of the Angel. Obviously, this shows Gabriel has the capability to do so, and can very simply induce his madness through sheer aura rather than needing to whisper in your ear like other Alternates. In the cartoons, this is further supported by Gabriel’s blocked out face driving people to run away from him and caused three nuns to scream in fear and disappear, where all five people who witnessed Gabriel more than likely died.

Flight

As an Angel from Heaven (duh), Gabriel is capable of flight with his lil’ wings. However, he has also shown the ability to simply hover in his more statue-esque form after taking over the Angel’s role.

Remanifestation

A power seemingly coming from a byproduct of his reality warping, he can “fade in” from the background at a notable range to appear behind others such as Dave or manifest himself in front of others, which is determined by darkness in the sky that blocks out all of the stars, creating a horrifying backdrdop to these manifestations. This remanifestation seems to be similar to that of a Tulpa Alternate or the Intruder, who are normally non-physical beings entirely, meaning that Gabriel can likely “demanifest” to another spectrum of existence. More details on this sort of physiology will be mentioned in the Support section. 

Creation

As mentioned, Gabriel is responsible for creating the Alternates, and although the process isn’t likely known, it was still done in less than a day’s time after Adam ate the Apple, meaning that it’s likely reproduction can be done in a short enough time period to matter in a battle of longevity. But does it really matter when you’ve got enough Alternates to overtake a country?

Miscellaneous 

In Mandela Catalogue, Gabriel has displayed a vast array of esoteric abilities that… simply do not fit in reality. Some of these fit under the idea of “reality warping”, and that seems to be the best way to describe Gabriel’s power.

• Angelic Aura: Gabriel passively exudes a golden aura present when completely masked as the Archangel Gabriel. However, when not completely masked…

• Darkness Manipulation: Gabriel can turn the entire sky into darkness which is shown to be present in the real world, forming a black void only he is present in. The world around Gabriel seems to lose color as he makes an appearance, and shrouds the entire country side in darkness, which isn’t just a special effect as Dave seems to acknowledge such. This darkness completely blocks out the stars and the light (mostly), leaving it pitch black unless Gabriel decides to play into theatrics.

• Telepathy and Influence: Gabriel can mask himself in one’s mind, talking to them in their head. In a similar vein, Gabriel is familiar with the past of people like Dave and can easily mimic O’Brien, his former friend, despite not interacting with the two, implying some sort of expanded knowledge on humans. It’s likely this extends to M.A.D as well, granted Gabriel’s constant display of being able to create messages in his darkness (seen above) that would parallel other messages that can cause the disorder..

• Flight: He flies in nearly every appearance he makes, such as against Dave or in the animations.

• Possible Spatial Defiance: Very minor. Gabriel’s transformations are shown to physically warp space and can alter his physical form entirely, such as alternating between entirely different physical forms instantaneously. Granted that Mandela Catalogue’s Alternates have shown esoteric abilities like how they can levitate or fly, have impossibly large body parts, certain ones are stated to exist on different spectrums, etcetera, this wouldn’t be immediately farfetched to assume is being literally portrayed granted the nature of these cartoons.

• Technology Manipulation: Very minor. Alternates can alter technology and intercept police radio chatter. It is believed that Alternates, or at least their existence, causes ‘generational loss’ in VHS tapes.

• Possible Existence Erasure: Very minor and likely debatable. Gabriel presumably was responsible for the disappearance of the nuns in this scene, which is intended to align with the real events of Gabriel being witnessed by these nuns when warping between his forms. However, he could likely have caused them to disappear in… other ways.

The Iris

Iris’ Physiology

The Iris is a quite complicated being, taking its form as the corruption of Neptune. The Iris has also further corrupted surrounding Moons, molding its flesh into nearby moons that were around Neptune prior. The Iris can seemingly disappear and move freely in space, disappearing from Neptune’s typical orbit and appearing suddenly behind the Crusader, pulling it in immediately. In other visions, the Iris has also seen to appear in similar ways, so it’s likely how it can generally travel. Internally, the Iris maintains a natural physiology created by its flesh structure forming bones and similar elements. In the Iris, it maintains a hive mind that seems to be connected to the Sleep Image Visualizer, being able to control Fake People and those infected by its flesh. In certain visions, it’s also noted that the Iris essentially projects their flesh across the Solar System to grow its beings, which is what brings their many beings to us, although it’s likely also done this effect in other ways like this laser. This flesh can alter the biology of other living beings, such as bears, plants, and most particularly human beings. Seemingly, the Iris is also able to glow bright in the night sky.

Mutations (D.R.D)

The Iris is a living mutating hive mind, one which spreads itself across our solar system. This planet has been able to bring its effects to our planet, shooting it down towards us. The mutation known as Deep Root Disease… well, acts as a disease, altering one’s entire physiology a it grows. These plant-like mutations spread like fire, dragging nearby beings into itself. As it expanded, this mutation that forms through the Iris’ flesh has shown itself to be quite notable. It can even mutate and grow wildlife, including plants and animals, as well as (of course) human beings. These roots even target inanimate objects, making it impossible for the average person to even discover the workings of the Iris’ mutations.

Hallucinations

A main capability of the Iris is that it can create visual distortions, a capability that the Woodcrawlers also display. This very often messes with the minds of human beings in order to further progress their corruption.

Technology Alterations

The Iris can seemingly alter technology and manipulate it, and within its in-game appearance is shown to glitch out the Lethal Omen Commercial, although this latter could be another visual hallucination. More notably, the Iris has shown the ability to alter and manipulate technology with their corruption, which granted the ability to alter artificial intelligence and manipulate it willingly. This lead to the ACL System being given a tremendous boost in progress.

Support

Gabriel

Alternates

The Alternates are the main form of antagonists most precedent in Mandela County created at the beginning of time, these creatures take several different forms, and all maintain the ability to induce M.A.D into people as their main route of killing. One of the most notable forms of an Alternate is a Doppelganger, and as the name suggests, they take faux forms of humans (but can also take the form of anything, animate or inanimate), mimicking their victim’s voices and bodies to varying degrees. Physically, however, Alternates are far from human-like in these forms, being able to alter their bodies and climb walls, duplicate themselves and their limbs, maintain various physical impossibilties like glowing eyes, and simply exceed normal human limits such as being able to stay on a hunt for days at a time. However, Alternates are also able to form in… other ways. A variation of the Alternates, known as Tulpas, exist in the back of every person’s mind, released by the Intruder who pushes young children to think about their “friend” and consequently birth them into our world by invading through television screens, leading very often to the disappearance of those affected. These Alternates aren’t given much information, however seem to be able to manifest and demanifest at times into non-physicality for the sake of inducing M.A.D. 

The Intruder

Also known as 6, the Intruder is one of the biggest antagonists that we’ve seen in the series. He is a deceptive creature that works alongside Alternates in order to take victims, but very often appearing through television screens. The Intruder is also non-physical in nature, unable to be naturally seen unless he manifests himself willingly, but can also travel remotely in a presumably metaphysical fashion, appearing across four different counties in the state and kidnapping thousands of children before an emergency alert could be broadcasted. This is a capability that characters like Gabriel and Tulpa Alternates more than likely share, due to their examples of demanifesting entirely from this world and reappearing wherever they wish. In this separate spectrum of existence, not only is the Intruder able to interfere with technology but also physical beings, too. The Intruder seems to also maintain the ability to induce M.A.D, causing people to instantly kill themselves as a result. However, one of the most notable capabilities is that the Intruder is able to manifest Tulpa Alternates within the minds of others, bringing them into “our world” as physical beings. While there is not much elaboration to this “bringing mental ideas to life” aspect, the Intruder has likely performed this hundreds of times if his count of victims had caused the birth of a Tulpa each visit.

The Iris

Woodcrawlers

These are tall, tree-like creatures with lamps for eyes that act as stealthy hunters which can move without making a sound. They can seemingly create Fake People via infecting or piloting the corpses of living beings it has killed, particularly stowing away in large buildings to adapt to their surroundings. However, this process does take a notable amount of time, in which the corpse can be destroyed by fire during the developmpent, preventing it from rising. Pretty simple! As evasive and stealthy hunters, Woodcrawlers rely on their tactics of screaming and drawing in victims out of curiousity or an intention to help or the ability to create auditory hallucinations in order to kill them. Otherwise, they also control the ground around victims, burrowed underground. This allows them to take control over an area with plant-like tendrils, and enter a human via ripping into their internals with their limbs. One unique aspect of the Woodcrawlers is that they seem to have the ability to sense prey rather than just see them, making them rather powerful hunters granted they spend most of their time underground. From then on, they seem to corrupt their surroundings to adapt, usually puppeteering their corpses after.

  Fake People

These are the corpses piloted by Woodcrawlers, having stolen the voices of their victims. Their screams are used to pull in victims that Woodcrawlers know about, and although it is unknown if they can talk like the human they’re possessing, it is possible that they can. From what can be seen, fake people don’t need to be in the same immediate area as a Woodcrawler and stalk those that they find.

The Well-Dressed Men

Three “Angels” sent down from The Iris to scout out the Earth, implied to also be Woodcrawlers. All we know about them currently is that they first arrived at Moonlight Acres Family Camp and convinced some of the counselors at the Moonlight Acres Family Camp to give sacrifices of children to the Iris. They also seem to be responsible for mutating the Wretch, which killed the camp counselors. Speaking of which:

The Wretch

The Wretch is a HEAVILY mutated bear which was originally “sacrificed” to the iris but due to unknown reasons, was mutated into this vicious creature.

Furthermore, it’s implied that the Wretch has further mutated since its appearance in the Wilderness  Survival Guide. This has caused it to absorb the camp’s counselors into its physiology similar to other cases, becoming far greater in size. The Wretch was likely unable to be shot by the Campers, and seemed to entirely obliterate Glenn’s body and rip apart Mary Dean. As this process is done by grabbing others and forcing them into one’s body, these were all done physically via the Wretch’s tendons, displaying an immense degree of strength in that regard.

Weaknesses

Gabriel

While Alternates obviously have their fair share of weaknesses of not being able to perform their greatest deals of deception and massacring without human interaction, Gabriel might have this and more so, granted his lack of direct combat and usually resolving his intentions by getting people to kill themselves or making them “disappear”. Gabriel also REALLY hates shortform content, which is what led to Vine’s shutdown. Womp womp…

The Iris

While the insatiable eye might seem to be a cunning manipulative master of human consciousness in the form of an inanimate planet, the Iris has many aspects that can cause the concept of a weakness to vary a bit. For starters, the Iris is a living planet, maintaining a conscious brain/mind, organs, and a spine– no idea why it has one, but it does– so it has a specific physiology rather than just being a planet. This can make it obviously more vulnerable to the array of effects a planet might resist, such as potentially being able to feel pain. This is further supported by the fact that the Iris outright does showcase emotions, and acts as a hivemind over the beings that enter Earth, which includes monsters that do indeed feel emotion and mask themselves as humans. If you look past this fact, the Iris doesn’t really have apparent weaknesses beyond what a living being would have, and even that’s pushing it.

Feats 

Gabriel

Overall

• I DECEIVED THEM.

• Deceived God and led to the insanity of Eve.

• Took over the role of the Archangel Gabriel.

• Enacted the Alternate’s spread across history and within Mandela County.

• Led to the deaths of thousands of people all in opposition to God.

• One of the best Analog Horrors ever!!

• Canonically hates Short Form content

Power

• Presumably killed the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel.

• Killed Dave’s friend, O’Brien, and physically masqueraded as him.

• Gabriel was able to create an all-encompassing darkness around the town of Bethlehem as well as outside of it.

Speed

• Just that guy.

Durability

• Just that guy.

 

The Iris

Overall

• Found you!

• Has made its way to Earth, spreading its influence across our world.

• Absorbed Neptune and brought its effects all across the Solar System.

• Successfully took over the underground and the Moonlight Acres Family Camp with its Woodcrawlers.

• One of the best Analog Horrors ever!!

Power

• Has gravity strong enough to pull in the Crusader, which is identical to the 735 kilogram spacecraft Voyager (accounting for fuel spent).

Speed

• Able to project itself at the Earth, incubating creatures seemingly in moments according to visuals.

• Casted a flash of light from Uranus.

• Sent the Crusader probe back to Earth after its seven month disappearance (At least Mach 732)

Durability

• Is a pretty big planet (9.72 Yottatons - 140.7 Yottatons - 12.64 Ninatons of TNT) (Before the Verdict)

Scaling

These sections will encompass strength feats that both characters would scale to, as well as their general support’s strengths. 

Gabriel

Alternates

As the blog might have already suggested, the Alternates are the greatest forces of evil in the series. Since Gabriel himself is an Alternate, and was responsible for creating them, he should be just as powerful if not much greater.

• Alternates, while not particularly a race that engages in physical combat, very often beat down humans to death if need be.

• The Alternate of Vol. 333 was unaffected by a gunshot wound.

• It is advised to shoot at an Alternate if possible, however this is very often treated as only a short-term solution, hence why the police force is likely unwilling to help.

• The Alternates as a whole are powerful and induce enough fear that the police force of Mandela County and other emergency services are unwilling to support the public.

The Intruder

Ahh… The most iconic guy from this series, the Intruder is one of the many presumed Alternates in the series, coming in as one of the secondary antagonists among Gabriel himself.

• He was responsible for directly kidnapping 3,426 children across multiple counties in a short enough timeframe to require emergency alerts, having made verbatim physical appearances in order to do so.

• “Tampered with” a woman’s body as an invisible force.

• The Intruder is capable of forming Tulpas, a sub-class of Alternates, meaning that he should more than likely scale to their prowess as well.

The Iris

Woodcrawlers

The Woodcrawlers are byproducts of the Iris’ flesh and its expansion of growth. They are the main antagonists of the series, disregarding the Iris itself, and hunt down humankind as prey. Since they’re simply made of the expansion of the Iris’ flesh, the Iris should pretty clearly scale to their physicalities. 

• The Woodcrawlers can lift and pull down cars from the ground.

• Woodcrawlers can burrow underhouses to travel between houses

• Woodcrawlers casually incapacitate and enter inside of the bodies of humans

• The Woodcrawlers are seen physically overwhelm humans

• Woodcrawlers can smash open windows

• Doors can prevent or “slow down” invaders, referencing the Woodcrawlers, meaning they can likely take down doors.

The Wretch

HOLY CRAP! A BEAR!

• The Wretch presumably tore apart Mary Dean’s head from her shoulders and reduced Glenn’s body to a small slither.

• The Wretch’s thigh, which would likely maintain its bear-like form, is much larger than a person’s arm.

• One of the camp counselors was likely armed against the Wretch, which came of no importance, implying it might have shrugged off a gunshot.

Before the Verdict

Gabriel

Cartoon Scaling?!

Yep! Pretty consistently, we see that Mandela Catalogue’s cartoons align with the real world. Not only do the cartoons themselves reveal events in history such as Gabriel’s appearance to the shepherds, but this generally applies to the animated segments overall which display important events in history regarding Alternates and Gabriel, which is even further supported by the fact that Gabriel’s appearance usually aligns with the appearance of Gabriel in the cartoons, which this cartoon outright deals with Gabriel’s appearances to the shepherds and was quite literal in the real life depiction. The cartoons generally deal with this sort of real life depiction several times, and deal with the exact details of the background of the universe including Adam and Eve being both depicted as their real world and hand-drawn selves, and even more so Gabriel is depicted in the same form he takes within the real world and cartoon within the context of turning Adam into an Alternate, a very fundamental part of Gabriel’s steps to overtaking humanity. 

This should ultimately mean that the cartoons do pretty much align with what Gabriel does in the real world, something we can support with the fact that Gabriel turning the sky pitchblack in his first appearance is something that happens in the real world when he appears to Dave and presumably shrouded the countryside in darkness in a similar way to how he covers the skies of the surrounded area around and within Bethelem itself in darkness which is portrayed furthermore in the cartoon, and his M.A.D has been outright portrayed in the cartoons inducing fear. Beyond a different visual aesthetic because of its hand-drawn style opposed to Mandela Catalogue’s live action imagery, the cartoons seem to be consistently accurate towards what Gabriel did during these events. Therefore, what Gabriel displays during these toons should be treated as more literal than not as they are real events in history– with some exemptions, of course.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t inherently lead to any departments of scaling. Even checking out the Beginner’s Bible wouldn’t add much inherently, and dips toes into an unneeded aspect of this matchup in regards to religion cross-scaling.

Why The Intruder?

A smaller section we wanted to dedicate to why we decided to bring in the Intruder despite not being formally apart of Gabriel’s species.

Despite the Intruder not being an Alternate in itself, thus not being a part of the Hive Mind that Gabriel maintains, he has worked alongside Alternates very consistently (Alex himself has even outright stated that the Intruder works alongside them). One such example is his first appearance in Vol. 2, where he threatens to “wake the others” against Adam. This in turn leads into Adam being attacked by an Alternate, and the inducement of M.A.D in Adam from this Alternate pushes him into another trap by the Intruder. Very simply, the Intruder works alongside other Alternates despite being his own category of being, all for a shared goal of taking lives. Thus, the Intruder should have a presence in Gabriel’s “army”, especially granted he might have created at least hundreds of Tulpa Alternates, supporting the grounds for his addition here despite not being under Gabriel’s control.

Also, like, he’s a really big player in the series. It simply wouldn’t be “Mandela Catalogue vs Gemini Home Entertainment” without him as a third party alongside Gabriel. He’s too goated to be left out.

The Iris

Game Scaling?!

This a bit more loose, but we decided to include tidbits of information from the Lethal Omen video game. 

While we agree that the video game is entirely fictional, it does generally offer more supporting evidence for aspects of the series lore. For example, aspects of the safety bunkers and the Woodcrawlers being present in the ground, which are primarily supported in the real world, as well as another example of the Iris’ manifestations. Beyond that, there’s not really much to touch on besides maybe the potential idea that fake people could walk through gunshots– but this isn’t necessarily needed either. Granted there isn’t really much that the game adds, but does support worldbuilding, it should be pretty acceptable to use.

Planet Size

The current calculation for the Iris’ size comes from a clip from Our Solar System, where we see it in comparison to other planets. Solar system sizes are very often not in scale to one another, but this is certainly one of the best ways we can gauge the size of the Iris despite not being in scale. Another example of the Iris’ size comes from a Gemini Home Entertainment poster, however it explicitly states that the map in question is not to size. The easiest way we can go off of size for the Iris is that it is inherently bigger than the Earth, so it’s very likely that we can at least use the middle end in comparison of Our Solar System despite it not being to scale. This nets the Iris to be a notable size of around 84,600 kilometers across, reaching around 1.7x greater than the planet it had taken over (Neptune, with a diameter of 49,500 kilometers), and is one of the ends that we decided makes more sense. The lowest end would place it smaller than Neptune, while the highest end means it would dwarf Jupiter over 2.5x, so this seems to be the most logical stance without taking ends from every planet’s size. While there is no concrete way to get a good size for the Iris overall, this is (at the moment) the best way for us to find such measurements without just labelling the Iris to be the same size or having the same GBE as Neptune itself.

Extra Art

By Mysterious Firefly

Verdict

Physicals

While durability is a non-factor in this fight, granted both Gabriel and the Iris share physiologies that prevent eachother from physically ending the fight against eachother, strength holds a far greater importance in this fight. Particularly, the strength of an Alternate versus the strength of a Woodcrawler becomes really important– as both species focus on physically mauling victims, any difference in power can completely shift the dynamic that Woodcrawlers and Alternates need to take when hunting. For starters, Woodcrawlers seem to be more physically competent than Alternates despite the two species having a fair share of physical feats. Namely, the Woodcrawlers being able to pull down police cars and physically overwhelming humans. This makes the Woodcrawlers quite a formidable species overall, as this physicality allowing them to perform their usual behavior of incapacitating their prey and entering their bodies makes this a very familiar hunt for them. However, while the Woodcrawlers are obviously very strong and use this strength advantage in hunting, they don’t particularly face durable opponents, which is an issue when we look to the Alternates. This is to the degree that entire police forces are unwilling to engage with them, especially since Alternates (such as the one present in Vol. 333) are effectively immune to gunfire. This would likely put them on the grounds of durability as other highly adapted beings like the Wretch, who presumably wasn’t threatened by one of the camp counselors having carried a rifle against bears. Even when looking at the Wretch itself, one of the strongest beings in the Iris’ hive mind, the strength required for ripping apart people likely wouldn’t save one bear from several Alternates. The Alternates are very simply more durable than the average human, meaning that incapacitation is not going to be an easy method against them, especially as the method of incapacitation and proboscis very often requires a Woodcrawler or adjacent beings to physically overwhelm someone. They can certainly pull in an Alternate, but the ability to threaten them in direct combat becomes far more difficult unless they specifically lead in with internal attacks. In regards to internals, however, that process of attack comes at a much greater difficulty than you would think. 

Physiology

Although Alternates are human-like, their physiologies are distinctly… not that. Not only do most Alternates maintain non-human physiologies, being able to alter themselves on the fly, but many Alternates also have many inaccurate disguises that would entirely counteract the Woodcrawler’s hunting methods. This would include the fact that many Alternates simply lack features of their human selves, which is pretty common to where there’s a division of types dedicated to being overly adapted and lacking human features and many cases of lesser adaptation lose out on these features because of their inaccuracies regardless. While Woodcrawlers very often won’t confuse these because they likely sense off of a form of echolocation, they are very clearly unable to sense minor differences– like the lack of a mouth. Granted Alternates likely don’t even share the same internal physiology to enter, and many cases of Alternates show that they even mold physically like clay (such as the Messenger or Gabriel himself), it’s unlikely that the method of entrance via proboscis would incapacitate an Alternate. This counter is really notable as, while both species are hunters who often deceive their prey, Woodcrawlers are the only species who actually lead into hunting. Although there are examples of Alternates hunting down humans, such as with Mark in order to lead him into killing himself, many cases– like the Messanger working alongside the Intruder or the Alternate in Vol. 333– have the Alternates trap or force their prey into dead-end situations often by entering their territory. While the Woodcrawlers also have this going on, their hunts are very often staged as them breaking into houses and targeting the individuals inside, or targeting loose humans. 

Even with their shouts of help with fake humans to get stray hikers or those wandering around, Alternates also employ this strategy to more cunning degrees such as luring victims into areas by coercing them into it, and have more versatility as they can do this on the fly and employ a broader degree of sensory attacks, such as pretending to be animals. Plus, while the Woodcrawlers also employ auditory hallucinations, it’s very unlikely these tactics would have any precedence in a fight due to the lack of any idea as to what they do in their full extent. On the other hand, because of the Woodcrawler’s inherent inability to differentiate between prey, and very often solely targeting moving objects, a naturally invisible being– like the Alternate, or demanifested Tulpa Alternates– can entirely circumvent a Woodcrawler’s hunt and attack them before anything. However, due to Woodcrawlers being primarily centralized underground, it would make it generally impossible for a Woodcrawler and an Alternate to fight on similar levels. With this in mind, the Alternates and Woodcrawlers have one particular interaction that would need to be covered in order to address which species would have more advantages in hunting one another.

Underground Roots

Roots are very often inhabitable underground areas that the Alternates very simply would not be able to enter. Fit this in with how roots can very likely still incapacitate an Alternate, as the roots can still target inanimate objects and plantlife, although it’s unlikely they would entirely be able to control an Alternate granted they exist towards a greater hivemind like the Woodcrawlers themselves. Granted that there are Tulpa Alternates who can also demanifest physically, as well as the Intruder himself who can also willingly demanifest, and Gabriel himself, these roots would only be super effective against the average Doppelganger and become significantly weaker against the greater and more versatile types of Alternates and their support. One of the most notable aspects, though, is that taking a being into the root does not absorb their consciousness, meaning that an Alternate can still freely think and behave even if they were incapacitated. Simply put, the roots can incapacitate an Alternate, but not kill them off, and leaves the Woodcrawlers themselves open to…

M.A.D

Credit to u/Sky-Might-3281

M.A.D is a mental attack that the Woodcrawlers simply cannot counter. Granted the Iris itself can perceive and process information, fit with its own mind, the fact that the Woodcrawlers can likely read (granted the context of the Home Invasion Guide), and the Well Dressed Men (who are likely Woodcrawlers in themselves) had shown conscious actions like making demands to the camp counselors and discussing with them in general, there are simply various examples that prove Woodcrawlers and the Iris have a consciousness. This means that Alternates can more than likely induce M.A.D into the Woodcrawlers and, by extension, the Iris. While M.A.D’s full extents come down to inducing fear into those who can feel fear, they have shown to very blatantly just alter the mind and lead into them being able to deceive and influence people’s choices, such as with Mark, the Intruder, and the Messenger, or with Gabriel and Dave. Not only have examples of M.A.D led to people instantly killing themselves, particularly in regards to Gabriel, but the fact that the Woodcrawlers exhibit natural behavior that can lead into fear like caution and seemingly curiosity shows that there are far more grounds to argue that the Woodcrawlers would be pushed to kill themselves with the information obtained by the Alternates. Even if they were hit with deep root disease, the Alternates can adapt and still talk or be perceived, which can lead into inducing the effect even further. This grants Alternates the ability to deal with a Woodcrawler, and even if Woodcrawlers didn’t have the means to kill themselves, they would ultimately not pose a threat to the Alternates. 

Overall

As a whole, both sides have a lot of variables to cover. The Woodcrawlers do have the ability to overwhelm in most engagements, but would simply not have the way to circumvent the natural intelligence and deception of an Alternate. Even with deep root disease, although it is likely not an instant method, could lead into the incapacitation of many different Alternates. However, with many specific Alternates being unable to fully shut down, it’s very unlikely this deep root disease can carry the Woodcrawlers much. On the other hand, due to Alternate’s physical adaptation and extensions of M.A.D inducement, this makes it impossible for the Woodcrawlers to truly end the fight without being heavily countered and forced to end their own lives. This M.A.D inducement extends even to the Iris, if not moreso, who has shown a consciousness that Gabriel would certainly be able to manipulate despite their sole existence as a hivemind of beings. 

Esoterics

Now that we’ve touched upon the Alternates and Woodcrawlers against one another, Gabriel and the Iris primarily have more esoteric aspects against one another: In this category, we’ll just categorize it as more miscellaneous esoteric abilities, although these are the two biggest points to tackle:

(Trump Card) M.A.D: Can affect the Iris and all minions. Able to directly talk with the Iris.	(Trump Card) D.R.D: Countered by teleportation/manifestation.
Creation: Gabriel can likely create more Alternates overtime.	Creation: The Iris can likely create more Woodcrawlers overtime.
Non-Physicals: Nothing that the Iris has allows them to affect the Intruder, Tulpas, or likely Gabriel.	Non-Physicals: N/A

As we talked about prior, M.A.D can very much affect the Iris, who has shown intelligence and cynicism before, along with how its hive mind and beings from it have displayed emotions, such as “making demands” or seemingly presenting curiosity and cautiousness. However, a more interesting point is the size of their support, which likely could prevent Gabriel and the Alternates from ever going towards the source of Woodcrawlers if it was a localized issue– something that’s very unlikely. While both Gabriel and the Iris can create more of their kind, the Iris needs to project itself at Earth or send parts of it with debris that it can launch from inside of it, while Gabriel’s simply doesn’t have a timeframe. This makes this a really unreliable point for either, and something we’d unfortunately need to disregard. Even in the grounds that the Iris actually had the means to project D.R.D, namely with the one-off laser it shot from Neptune, it’s very unlikely that corruption would mean anything because most of the notable Alternates resist it, and its full scale had been very localized– unlikely able to target the entirety of the Alternate population. Also, granted the Alternates have existed since the beginning of time, not only would they be more experienced, but likely have far more numbers beyond what we’ve even seen in Mandela County. 

However, one really big problem is that unlike the Iris, Gabriel has aspects of his support (such as the Intruder, an intangible creature who can demanifest from our plane of existence) that the Iris would never be able to affect, while the Intruder himself still has the capability of inducing M.A.D, interacting with the physical plane, and always having the ability to counter Deep Root Disease. This means that even in the situation that the Iris could bring an end to Gabriel, which is very unlikely as he could have a very similar physiology to the Intruder due to their similar demanifestation examples, the Intruder solidifies every advantage. This isn’t even mentioning the fact that Gabriel, unlike any other Alternate, has the ability to actually put thoughts of his into your mind and talk to you, meaning that regardless he’ll be able to induce M.A.D due to being able to force this information into the Iris. He’s able to actively make up for the fact that the Iris is across the Solar System with this innate ability, alongside his general M.A.D likely affecting the hive mind in total and thus the Iris as well as his M.A.D inducement like all Alternates can also trigger just by their sheer existence. If you were just a planet hivemind that was hunting humans with your plants and found something that was entirely out of your conception, I’m sure you’d go mad, too.

Conclusion

Gabriel

“You were so close, David. You had it all figured out. 

The stage was set for you! 

Yet you still managed to follow the shepherd.”

Advantages

• Much more versatile set of abilities.

• Far more esoteric kit.

• More likely to pull off potential win conditions, such as M.A.D.

• Physiology entirely counteracts D.R.D and likely cannot be normally interacted with.

• D.R.D time frame offers adaptation counters for most Alternates if not stumbling across a nest.

• The Intruder is an asset far too powerful for the Iris to be able to counter due to non-physicality and invisibility.

• Far more experienced.

• Likely far greater numbers of Alternates at his disposal than the Iris’ Woodcrawlers

• Notably smarter and more experienced.

Disadvantages

• Most Alternate vs. Woodcrawler interactions do not favor Alternates.

• Far weaker than the Iris… it’s a guy vs. a meat planet.

• No way to counter Neptune’s laser directly beyond D.R.D counters.

• Might even fold against a Woodcrawler in a direct fight.

• Canonically responsible for shutting down Vine.

The Iris

IT IS WITH US NOW.

LAUGHING AT US.

Advantages

• The Iris itself is far greater in strength than anything in Gabriel’s army… it’s a meat planet.

• Woodcrawlers are generally more powerful than Alternates.

• The Iris’ projections could be useful in sheer speed...

• Laser could allow it to infect Gabe and some of his army with D.R.D…

• Generally cannot be harmed by most of what Gabe can do…

Disadvantages

• … but would be very unreliable, requiring space debris if even doable.

• Can’t interact with, or much less kill, Tulpa Alternates or the Intruder, and likely not even Gabriel himself. 

• …But D.R.D wouldn’t kill gabriel and would be removed upon remamifestion 

• D.R.D takes days to truly become fatal, even for normal humans let alone the adaptable Alternates.

• … With the exception of M.A.D. which would cause the Iris to destroy itself.

• TL;DR Iris vs Gabriel

While this fearful verdict might induce M.A.D into some readers, Gabriel simply had all of the right tools needed in this fight. Not only did the false shepherd have far more esoteric tools at his disposal, the addition of non-physical allies, and the amazing power of info-dumping made it impossible for the Iris to gain a leg up on the first Alternate. Or… an eye? Really, it just looks like the Iris was just glands-ing over their greatest fear: 

The winner is Gabriel.

Gabriel (2): valve, Mysterious Firefly

The Iris (0): Laughing at us.