Complete NPC Squad Guide (w/ Secret Characters)

This guide describes the characteristics of each possible NPC squad member in THE THING Remastered and provides a walkthrough of how to recruit the character into the player's squad without using any mods.

Introduction

***Spoilers Within***

This guide will help you locate and recruit every available NPC in THE THING Remastered. It profiles each potential NPC who is obtainable in Blake's squad without the need for any mods. It will display a screenshot of each NPC for easy identification purposes and list their unique characteristics along with a walkthrough, if needed, describing the means to recruit an NPC to Blake's squad. There are thirty-one unique individuals of varying significance, ranging from essential to expendable, whom the player can interact with in the squad menu.

This guide does not cover the NPC called "NPCEntity_I" as I am unaware of a method for recruiting this NPC without mods or cheats.

I hope you enjoy this guide and please leave a comment if you are able to get these strategies to work!

Some general info and tips:

- The player character is a U.S. Arctic Marine named Captain Blake.
- Soldiers have more courage and use less ammunition than other classes. Their squad menu status icon is green. Engineers have average courage and can fix all fuse boxes. Their squad menu status icon is blue. Medics have the least courage and can fully heal Blake and other NPCs, but not themselves. Their status icon is red.
- The remastered version of the game has revamped the NPC infection mechanic, adding some spontaneity not present in the game's original release.
- The best way I have found to gain an untrustworthy NPC's loyalty is to administer a self blood test before equipping them with a weapon. Their trust will be at its maximum level if Blake arms them after demonstrating the negative test result.
- All NPCs are more effective in combat equipped with a handgun or machinegun. They are liable to damage Blake if equipped with a shotgun, and if using a flamethrower or blowtorch, are often too far away from enemies to be effective in a timely manner. They are able to use the sniper rifle, but will burn through its ammunition very quickly.

Research that informed my strategies was influenced by information found here: https://thething.fandom.com/wiki/The_Thing_Wiki

MAJOR UPDATES:
1/25/25 - Added Blake following information posted by a developer on Discord.

*~~for Brendan~~*

Burrows

Burrows
Engineer
First Level Available: Outpost 31
Final Level Available: Outpost 31
Total Levels: 1
Infected? No
Initial Trust Level: High
How to Recruit: He is in Blake's squad at the start of the level.
Other Notes: Designed to train the player on the engineer NPC class. Must survive mission. First NPC to speak to player.

Weldon

Weldon
Medic
First Level Available: Outpost 31
Final Level Available: Outpost 31
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? No
How to Recruit: He is in Blake's squad at the start of the level.
Other Notes: Designed to train the player on the medic NPC class. Must survive mission. Second NPC to speak to player. He has some difficulty coping with the corpse of Nauls in the Outpost 31 infirmary and it's better to keep him away from it.

North

North
Soldier
First Level Available: Outpost 31
Final Level Available: Outpost 31
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? No
How to Recruit: He is in Blake's squad at the start of the level.
Other Notes: Designed to train the player on the soldier NPC class. Must survive mission. Third NPC to speak to player.

Carter

Carter
Engineer
First Level Available: Norwegian Outpost North
Final Level Available: Norwegian Outpost South
Total Levels: 2
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Scripted
How to Recruit: Must be healed and then coerced with a weapon.
Other Notes: Bursts out when conducting first blood test in front of Pierce. First character in the game named Carter.

Cruz

Cruz
Soldier
First Level Available: Norwegian Outpost North
Final Level Available: Norwegian Outpost South
Total Levels: 2
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Scripted
How to Recruit: He is located in the Norwegian Outpost North ice block chamber and will follow Blake after a cutscene.
Other Notes: Bursts out when conducting first blood test in front of Pierce.

Pierce

Pierce
Soldier
First Level Available: Norwegian Outpost South
Final Level Available: Norwegian Outpost South
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? No
How to Recruit: Must conduct blood tests in front of him.
Other Notes: Pierce is the commander of Alpha Team. He will obey Blake's commands after he witnesses the latter perform blood tests on himself, Cruz, and Carter. Pierce will be in Blake's squad until the player exits the shack. He is only available as a squad member during this short period. Consider taking his flamethrower before beginning the next level as he will become unavailable at that point.

Pace

Pace
Engineer
First Level Available: Norwegian Research Center
Final Level Available: Weather Station
Total Levels: 3
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Possibly after repeated attacks.
How to Recruit: He will follow the player after a cutscene at the beginning of the Norwegian Research Center level.
Other Notes: He seems to be easily distressed by nearby carnage. He will follow Blake as far as the end of the Weather Station level but will not enter Pyron Hangar even if he is still a human.

Williams

Williams
Medic
First Level Available: Norwegian Research Center
Final Level Available: Weather Station
Total Levels: 3
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Possibly after repeated attacks.
How to Recruit: Blake must kill three walkers in the Norwegian Research Center before he will follow.
Other Notes: He seems to be easily distressed by nearby carnage. He will follow Blake as far as the end of the Weather Station level but will not enter Pyron Hangar even if he is still a human.

Iversen (Secret Character)

Iversen
Soldier
First Level Available: Norwegian Medical Center
Final Level Available: Norwegian Medical Center
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? No
How to Recruit: Save after all enemies in Norwegian Medical Center have been killed before going outside to trigger the cutscene with Iversen. Then throw flame grenades in front of the area where he spawns (this spot is visible from inside of the ammo room) and immediately run outside to trigger the cutscene. You are successful if Iversen is blocked by flames in the cutscene.
Other Notes: Iversen is one of the Norwegians in the game's opening cutscene. He eventually becomes the first rupture boss in Pyron Hangar. He can only move around on his own in a small outdoor area but the player can push him indoors. He will not follow to Weather Station as an available squad member.

Iversen blocked by flame grenades in the cutscene.
Iversen unable to follow Blake inside.
Iversen in the game's opening cutscene.
Iversen after bursting out into the Hangar Rupture.

Blake (Secret Character)

Blake
Medic
First Level Available: Norwegian Weather Station
Final Level Available: Norwegian Weather Station
Total Levels: 1
Infected? No
Initial Trust Level: High
How to Recruit: Before exiting to the roof in order to trigger the cutscene with Pierce in the weather station level, light the floor in front of the door on fire and then proceed through. The fire will block the cutscene from completing properly and the player will spawn inside of the room where the cutscene with Pierce happens. However, Pierce is absent from the room. The player can walk back outside to find a Blake NPC standing wherever he was blocked by fire during the cutscene. Re-entering the upper room of the weather station will eventually trigger the cutscene with Pierce, which will cause NPC Blake to disappear.
Other Notes: Like Pierce, the Alpha Team commander, Blake is a medic. He can follow the player through the other areas of the level and will fight enemies. He will become frightened by the dead bodies in the same areas where Williams and Pace become frightened.

Light the floor on fire in front of this door and then proceed through.
Blake becomes blocked by the fire and does not proceed.
The cutscene continues without Blake.
Blake does not enter the room.
NPC Blake waiting where he was blocked.
Blake following the squad throughout the level.

Collins

Collins
Engineer
First Level Available: Pyron Hangar
Final Level Available: Pyron Hangar
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit : Open the unlocked office in Pyron Hangar and he will join Blake.
Other Notes: He will burst out if attacked too much in the main hangar. He tests negative before the first boss fight. There is a body in the hallway leading to the boss fight that will release scuttles. Collins will burst out if attacked by them. Blake can push him into the boss fight door to open it early and let him do some damage but he needs adrenaline to not lose his mind as it will scare him significantly. He should be periodically given adrenaline or pulled away from the boss room door. It is possible to kill the boss from outside the boss fight by pushing him into the door and retreating and doing damage until finally throwing a flame grenade into the room with the boss. This prevents the player from advancing, however. The boss must be killed from inside of the room for the fuse box to be fixable. To use the shortcut properly, push Collins into the door so it opens and you do non-flame damage to the boss before saving one final time. Then enter the room and burn the boss down. The boss freaks him out a lot and being in the boss room will drive him insane until he dies. He will burst out in the boss room if he is attacked too many times. He's not able to fix the fuse box or progress to the next level. He'll probably go insane while you fix the fuse box.

Collins helping Blake fight the first boss battle from outside the room. Blake will trigger the opening cutscene if he gets too close to the door.
Glitched boss fight cutscene which has begun after the player has completely killed the boss from outside the room. The fuse box will not be fixable if killing the boss before entering the room.
Collins losing it in the boss room.

Price

Price
Engineer
First Level Available: Pyron Sub Beta
Final Level Available: Pyron Sub Beta
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: Gain his trust.
Other Notes: His initial trust can be gained by self-administering a blood test. He disappears after the single level he appears in.

Parnevik

Parnevik
Medic
First Level Available: Pyron Sub Beta
Final Level Available: Pyron Sub Beta
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Yes
How to Recruit: He will join Blake right away.
Other Notes: It is possible for him to enter the test chambers and not burst out. I recommend adding him to the squad before opening any of the test chamber doors. He will burst out if attacked too much. He will burst out it tested.

Faraday

Faraday
Medic
First Level Available: Pyron Sub Beta
Final Level Available: Pyron Sub Beta
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? No
How to Recruit: He will join Blake right away.
Other Notes: He is an essential character. His likeness is based on John Carpenter, but he is voiced by another actor.

Falchek

Falchek
Medic
First Level Available: Strata Medical Lab
Final Level Available: Strata Furnace
Total Levels: 3
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: Gain his trust.
Other Notes: He can accompany the player until the end of Strata Furnace.

Dixon

Dixon
Engineer
First Level Available: Strata Medical Lab
Final Level Available: Strata Furnace
Total Levels: 3
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: He is injured and must be healed.
Other Notes: He can accompany the player until the end of Strata Furnace.

Hawk

Carter
Soldier
First Level Available: Strata Medical Lab
Final Level Available: Strata Medical Lab
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Yes
How to Recruit: Gain his trust.
Other Notes: As of patch 1.1, this character has been renamed from Carter to Hawk and utilizes a different voice actor's previously unused recording. Before, as Carter, he appeared to be the same actor as Dixon, but performing in a much lower register. Hawk is vaguely randomized in terms of when he bursts out. It is possible to add him to the party very early in the level and prevent him from bursting out, but he seems to be agitated by the sight of other enemies if this is done incorrectly, which will cause him to burst out. His trust level seems to factor in. If Blake performs a self test in front of him before giving him a weapon, this feels like a reliable way to keep him human until the end of the level. He is 100% infected and will test positively. He is triggered by learning the elevator code from the final computer console in the level.

Fisk

Fisk
Soldier
First Level Available: Strata Medical Lab
Final Level Available: Strata Furnace
Total Levels: 3
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: Rescue him from Cell #6.
Other Notes: Fisk solves the laser barrier combination for Blake if another squad member is sent to open his cell. He is the only soldier class NPC to accompany Blake for more than two levels. He can accompany the player until the end of Strata Furnace.

Stanmore

Stanmore
Engineer
First Level Available: Strata Medical Lab
Final Level Available: Strata Medical Lab
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Yes
How to Recruit: Rescue him from Cell #8.
Other Notes: Stanmore bursts out nearly instantly and there does not seem to be a way to prevent this.

Temple

Temple
Medic
First Level Available: Strata Furnace
Final Level Available: Strata Furnace
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: He is injured and must be healed.
Other Notes: He can accompany the player until the end of Strata Furnace.

Lavelle

Lavelle
Engineer
First Level Available: Strata Furnace
Final Level Available: Strata Furnace
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: Gain his trust.
Other Notes: He can accompany the player until the end of Strata Furnace.

Guy

Guy
Soldier
First Level Available: Strata Furnace
Final Level Available: Strata Furnace
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Yes
How to Recruit: It is just barely possible to issue him orders and equip him weapons.
Other Notes: There does not seem to be any way to get close enough to him to perform any method of preventing him to burst out.

Powell

Powell
Engineer
First Level Available: Transit Hangar
Final Level Available: Flight Control
Total Levels: 2
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: Gain his trust.
Other Notes: He must be administered adrenaline before attempting to repair the fuse box early in the Transit Hangar level, which is located in a room filled with gore and takes longer than usual to fix. If not administered adrenaline before attempting to fix this box, he will lose his mind during the process. He will not follow Blake past Flight Control.

Reed

Reed
Medic
First Level Available: Flight Control
Final Level Available: Flight Control
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: He must be rescued from a walker attacking him and healed.
Other Notes: He might take multiple attempts to rescue due to the nature of his status when discovered. It is easy for the walker to kill him, and he is likely to burst out if he is attacked too much during this process.

Cohen

Cohen
Medic
First Level Available: Weapons Security
Final Level Available: Weapons Security
Total Levels: 3
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: Must be rescued as he is running away from commandos and monsters.
Other Notes: He can follow the player all the way back up the Weapons Security catwalk, but will die in an explosion as Blake is climbing into the air duct.

Ryan

Ryan
Engineer
First Level Available: Weapons Lab
Final Level Available: Weapons Lab
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Yes
How to Recruit: He joins Blake if Stolls is killed.
Other Notes: Ryan will burst out soon after joining Blake. During the standoff, he will test positive if tested first. He will test positive immediately after Stolls is killed.

Stolls

Stolls
Engineer
First Level Available: Weapons Lab
Final Level Available: Weapons Lab
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: Low
Infected? Scripted
How to Recruit: He joins Blake if Ryan is killed.
Other Notes: He tests negative at the start of the standoff and burst out after Blake unlocks the door to the armory. It may be possible to keep him alive if using the camera gun to kill all of the enemies in this hallway. However, he will most likely burst out on his return trip after unlocking the door.

Peltola

Peltola
Engineer
First Level Available: Weapons Lab
Final Level Available: Weapons Security
Total Levels: 2
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Possibly if attacked.
How to Recruit: Must be rescued from commandos.
Other Notes: He can follow the player all the way back up the Weapons Security catwalk, but will die in an explosion as Blake is climbing into the air duct.

Austin (Secret Character)

Austin
Soldier
First Level Available: Weapons Lab
Final Level Available: Weapons Lab
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? Yes
How to Recruit: After Austin tries to kill Blake with poison gas, save the game (you can also save after destroying the auto turret and the scuttler spawn point in the next room). Equip the shotgun and run into the armory; kill the two commandos who run down the stairs. Run left and repair the observation room fuse box. Run upstairs, recruit Peltola, use the camera gun to destroy the barrels in the room Austin is bleeding out in. Run down to Austin. Enter the squad menu from as far away as possible and order your squad to follow. Austin will stand up from his kneeling position. Immediately run into the room and heal Austin as he is kneeling back down. If done correctly, he will stand back up and turn around to follow Blake. If timed incorrectly, Austin will enter his scripted burst-out in which he stands up from his kneeling position after you enter the room and before you can heal him. The timing of this maneuver is difficult to master. I have successfully accomplished it twice and have struggled to achieve success since.
Other Notes: Austin is part of a team that includes Cohen, Ryan, Stolls, Peltola, and an unnamed writer of logs on computers in the lab. Austin is mentioned by name in one of these logs. His name is "Austin3" in the squad menu. He does not speak, but will join the squad and kill enemies. He is infected and will test positive if tested with a blood test.

Austin with the squad near the terminal that mentions him.
It might be necessary to have Peltola in the squad to issue the squad follow order when approaching Austin.

Whitley (Secret Character)

First Encounter

Second Encounter

Whitley
Soldier
First Level Available: Field Testing
Final Level Available: Final Boss Fight
Total Levels: 2 (separately)
Initial Trust Level: Low / High
Infected? No
How to Recruit First Time: At the start of Field Testing, throw a stun grenade toward the entryway before moving. Then approach the entryway to find Whitley walking slowly away. His trust level is low and he can be convinced to follow by being given a weapon.
How to Recruit Second Time: The player must pause the game at exactly the right moment as the second cutsene prior to the final boss fight fades out. This is tricky to time, but you will hear a clicking noise when you have accessed the menu. Then perform a blood test on Blake, which will stop the boss fight from starting. Whitley and MacReady will be standing behind Blake and they will obey his commands until the cold meter runs out. There is a lack of boundary on one side of the map here and Blake can fall through and trigger the helicopter crash cutscene to restart the level.
Other Notes: Misspelled as "Whitely" in the squad menu. He will help fight enemies the first time, but will disappear before reappearing in the dome entrance. The second time he becomes available he will follow Blake by default without needing to be armed. Blake can command Whitley and MacReady until his cold meter runs out.

Whitley helping Blake fight commandos.
Whitley appearing in a cutscene in Field Testing.
The same cutscene, but glitched after Whitley has been killed in the dome entrance.
Blake in the inventory menu after the second cutscene prior to the final boss battle.

MacReady (Secret Character)

MacReady
Soldier
First Level Available: Final Boss Fight
Final Level Available: Final Boss Fight
Total Levels: 1
Initial Trust Level: High
Infected? No
How to Recruit: The player must pause the game at exactly the right moment as the second cutsene prior to the final boss fight fades out. This is tricky to time, but you will hear a clicking noise when you have accessed the menu. Then perform a blood test on Blake, which will stop the boss fight from starting. Whitley and MacReady will be standing behind Blake and they will obey his commands until the cold meter runs out. There is a lack of boundary on one side of the map here and Blake can fall through and trigger the helicopter crash cutscene to restart the level.
Other Notes: Misspelled as "McReady" in the squad menu. MacReady is the main character of John Carpenter's THE THING (1982) and is played by Kurt Russell in the film.

MacReady in the game's end cutscene.
Blake performing the blood test with Whitley and MacReady (combined together) standing behind.

[SquidFromAsia]

You can recruit Pierce in the Weather Station level by using a grenade launcher and shooting at him via cheats. I did this in the original version of the game.

[Bonkinishwa]

Stolls is scripted to be infected when he reaches the locked door, without going inside first, If you don't open it for him and he returns, he will test positive and fail the mission. Seems to be no way to save him. Nice guide btw, I was working on one too but now I don't need to finish it.

[Shawyboy]

Something worth noting about Carter if you time it right, you can ask Dixon to go to Fisk's cell and come back with both of them, but if Blake runs out only far enough to reach Fisk and not ask, to prevent a cutscene trigger. Carter may or may not turn into a thing monster, during the cutscene, but if he does, you will hear him change and when it ends he will appear as a human thing.

[Shawyboy]

Gosh this is an incredible guide thank you so much for posting this very well done :)