Repatriation is the ability which some humans have to return to life after death.
Overview[]
When a human and a BT come into contact, an annihilation event known as a voidout occurs. These events occur when matter meets antimatter, and mass is converted, violently and abruptly, into energy, resulting in destruction on a devastating scale which leaves behind a large crater. The Egyptians believed that after death, the soul vacates the body and passes into the Seam, from there it transitions to the Beach, and only then on to the world of the dead.
A repatriate is a human with the power to guide his soul back to their body after being "eaten" by a BT—typically achieved through using the Seam after being “stranded” to bring themselves back to life once they find their body. How the repatriate's body survives the contact with a BT and the following voidout is a far bigger mystery. Voidouts triggered by contact with repatriates, however, consistently result in smaller craters. It is suspected that this is because energy is “lost" to the Beach, and that in the case of repatriates, the amount of energy lost is particularly high.
Sam Porter Bridges[]
The only known documented repatriate is Sam Porter Bridges, a result of Amelie bringing a neonatal Sam back to life after he was shot to death. This violation of the normal order of life and death made his Ha reject The Beach, resulting in his bodily fluids, thus his Ka, reject beings from The Beach. Sam often regurgitates cryptobiotes and tar upon repatriation, and experiences hallucinations and discomfort.
Repatriates' bodily fluids can be used as anti-BT weapons with feces, urine and sweat stunning BTs, while blood has the ability to sever BTs connection to the physical world. Sam's Blood is also used to create the cord cutter, a chiralium blade that can sever the umbilical of BTs and sending them to the other side.
List of Known Repatriates[]
- Sam
- Higgs Monaghan (possible): during his fight with Sam, Higgs heavily implies this when he says that if either of them die on the beach, they won't be able to go back. It is unknown if Higgs is a normal repatriate, or if he has been given the ability by Amelie.
- BB-28 (possible): Since BB-28 was also restored by Amelie like Sam, she may also have the ability of repatriates.
- Fragile (possible): while fleeing a group of assailants, Fragile is wounded and falls to the ground. At one point she is shot and appears to come back to life soon after.
Notes[]
- During an interview, Heartman reveal that he come across a number of old reports which make mention of humans who have certain powers, which have led to them becoming known as “repatriates". This may indicate the existence of many more repatriates than Sam alone, or that repatriates already existed before the Death Stranding.
- After the postpone of the Last Stranding, and the consequent closure of the Beach by Amelie, somehow re-establishing the normal life-death cycle, it is not known whether the ability of the repatriation is still active or not.
- When Sam return to his body in the Seam, his soul seems to slide down his throat until a BB-like figure raises his thumb in approval, and Sam awakens in the world of the living. Whether this is the natural path of a repatriate in reviving or just Sam is unknown.
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