Former

Former
Biographical information
Date of death	Bloom, 17 A.E.
Physical description and appearance
Species	Lambent Human
Body color	Yellow bioluminescent boils with black charred skin
Eye color	Gold
Chronological and personal information
Era(s)	Lambent Pandemic
Notable Facts	Humans turned Lambent Very agile and fast Able to jump high
Weapons	Claws Teeth Volatile Poisonous Vapor
Affiliation	Lambent Human (Formerly)

"She's Lambent! It's spread to humans!"

—Samantha Byrne, upon first seeing a Former

Formers were Lambent Humans encountered late into the Lambent Pandemic. Delta-One recorded the first sightings of these mutated humans in the seemingly uninhabited town of Mercy while looking for fuel to reach Azura. They later began to appear in many cities where large concentrations of Imulsion could be found.

History

Lambent Pandemic

"It's, it's, it's-it's some-some kinda fever. People started burnin' up, screamin' and fightin', turnin' crazy. And I'm damned if I'm gonna turn up like that, like some rabid dog, not even human no more!"

—Crazy old man

Formers were the first true example of active Lambency in humans witnessed since the Sires almost a century earlier. Cities such as Mercy, Char and Halvo Bay began seeing the first signs of an epidemic when those previously afflicted with rustlung began exhibiting incredibly high Fevers, dizziness, aching joints, and severe lethargy. Soon, these afflicted humans began turning into Lambent creatures, attacking anyone and everyone around them without a trace of remorse or restraint. While the infection was an advanced form of Rustlung, the Stranded believed it was something else, since Imulsion was not known to be a parasitic life form at the time.

Unlike other Lambent lifeforms, Formers seem to have some minor control over themselves, as they can occasionally be heard screaming at non-infected lifeforms to run or kill them, suggesting that their minds remain relatively untouched while the rest of the body is saturated with pure, parasitic Imulsion.

Mission to Mercy

Delta-One first encountered Formers in the town of Mercy while looking for Imulsion to use as fuel to get to Azura, where Adam Jonathon Fenix was being held. The existence of Lambent humans was first implied when Delta-One arrived at Mercy, only to find the town deserted and explosives rigged on the pipeline. As they continued further, they found an elderly Stranded man who yelled at the Gears to stop disarming his explosives. Claiming that there was an illness and he did not want to turn into one of "them", the man fled into the sewers with the squad pursuing him.

Delta-One would later come across the crazy old man's corpse in the sewers, with few clues as to how he died other than a large splatter of Imulsion on and around the body. In the same sewers, they would first encounter the creatures. Marcus heard cries and found a Former crying, mistaking it for a female Stranded. The Former turned around as Marcus attempted to put his hand on her, horrifying the squad as they killed her, only for more screams to fill the sewers as they realized that she wasn't alone. Marcus informed Dizzy of the Lambent humans, which the ex-Stranded responded aghast as Marcus told him that they had to stop them from spreading.

Delta-One later met with another Stranded survivor. After dealing with another Former horde outside Mercy's Town Hall, Delta-One, the Stranded survivor, and his near-infected friend were attacked inside by two Formers, who killed the Stranded. The group later fought more Formers while getting to the pump and more attacked while the squad was pinned down by Savage Locust. The Formers were then assisted by three stalks, which began dropping Lambent Drones to support them. They were killed when Dominic Santiago sacrificed himself to save his friends.

Mission to Char

When Delta-One activated the elevators in Griffin's Imulsion Tower, they believed that Formers were non-existent in the tower and were just in Mercy. After fighting through several groups of Lambent that were in the way, they eventually arrived at the tower. Delta-One activated the elevators. Marcus was suspicious of the sounds coming from the elevators and the squad was surprised when Formers burst out and ambushed them, from both the elevators and vents, but the squad was able to fend them off. Jace wondered if everyone would turn into Formers due to Imulsion exposure, but Marcus reassured him that they would not, as they had only been lightly exposed to it, while the Formers had greater exposure to it. As they arrived at the top and began searching for the Imulsion cargo, more Formers attacked them, but were all killed.

Return to Halvo Bay

While Marcus took one group to Mercy, he sent Damon, Cole and Carmine to search for a ship to take them to Azura, arriving at the ruins of Halvo Bay and reunited with Garron Paduk. After fighting through groups of Savage Locust that had taken shelter in the ruins, they arrived a beached Imulsion rig, where his people were living, Paduk was surprised to find no one around and realized something was wrong. As they went further into the camp, they were ambushed by Paduk's people, who had mutated into Formers. The group fended them off and fought their way to the top, where they had discovered that some of his people had managed to escape and left a flare behind for any survivors that were missed. The flare was fired, but this attracted numerous Formers around the area while the Locust followed up. Paduk's people arrived on a King Raven to get them out of the firefight while the Formers were left fighting the Locust.

When Adam Fenix activated his weapon, all Formers died, along with the rest of the Lambent, Imulsion, and the Locust Horde.

Tactics

Formers are almost always guaranteed to attack in swarms. They can be considered similar to Wretches as they attack with melee and can quickly swarm the player, easily incapacitating them in a few hits on Insane difficulty.

As they are a recent mutation, Formers do not share the same explosive properties as other Lambent lifeforms (including Polyps) and players that are direct proximity to a dying Former will not be affected as they simply vaporize into fine mist.

To handle Formers, players should find an enclosed spot, such as small rooms or failing that, having their backs behind a wall to prevent them from surrounding and overwhelming the player, especially in situations where they spawn in all directions. High-powered, high capacity weapons such as the Retro Lancer are recommended as they can kill a lot of Formers in a single clip. Additionally, the bayonet charge provided by Retro Lancers at high speed will instantly kill Formers without any animation, meaning that a player can charge through numerous Formers, only stopping when they run out of charge or run into an obstacle. Slower firing weapons should be avoided as their slow rate of fire is likely to get the playere killed.

Behind the scenes

• Dizzy Wallin remarked that Mercy had been "busier than a fiddler's elbow" just a few months before Delta-One arrived, suggesting Lambency affected humans fairly quickly.
• The human population of Mercy marking their doors in red to save themselves from "the plague" references the tenth plague of Egypt, where all first-borns of those who did not mark their doorposts with lamb's blood were killed.

Appearances

• Gears of War 3 (First appearance)
• Aftermath