Mud in Gothic

The Nameless Hero meets Mud in the Old Camp of the prison colony. Mud was sent to the Colony for “liking animals.” He follows around the Nameless Hero, whether he is asked to or not, continuously talking to the character. You can see a video of this here. According to Arne Schröder, “Mud’s only function seems to be to annoy the player” (2008, p. 251). The player can only get rid of him by killing him, or getting him killed. If the player does not kill him before, Mud is killed in Chapter IV of the game.

According to Schröder, players have read this character as gay, particularly because of the following dialog lines (also shown in the video linked above):

Mud: “Are you looking for a quiet place where we can talk, for a bit…or something?”

Mud: “Where do you sleep anyway? You can come to my place, no problem!”

Mud: “Shouldn’t we look for a cozy place, and…get comfy somewhere?”

One forum commenter says this was, according to an unnamed developer, the intended reading of this character . Many forums and comment sections demonstrate that players often felt so annoyed they wanted to kill or assault this character (see here, here, here, and here).

LGBTQ references in this game:

Mud

Bengar’s Farm

Citations:

  1. Dude called Mud in Gothic I. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://forum.nordicgames.at/threads/105431-Dude-called-Mud-in-Gothic-I
  2. Mud. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gothicworld.wikia.com/wiki/Mud
  3. Mud- Can I stop him from following me around? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/913888-gothic/41437901
  4. Mud Died!!! (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gog.com/forum/gothic_series/mud_died
  5. Mud in Gothic- All Comments. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gog.com/forum/gothic_series/mud_died
  6. Schröder, A. (2008). “We don’t want it changed, do we?: Gender and Sexuality in Role-Playing Games. Eludamos 2(2): 241-256. http://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/viewArticle/vol2no2-7/87
  7. undeadwarrior69. (2007, September 22). Mud in Gothic. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jkx-t4D3UU