The forest can be a beautiful, calm and whimsical place, but in Sons of the Forest, you’ll find yourself often running for your life in that same forest after encountering it’s habitants. Here’s everything you need to know about the enemies on the island.
Pay attention to environmental clues to predict what type of enemy you might be up against, such as strange sounds and noises echoing through the woods or footsteps that suggests something is nearby.
The scenery might induce a calm feeling, but remember Sons of the Forest is a survival horror game and enemies can ambush players, so keep you on your toes.
The AI of the cannibals and mutants reacts differently depending on the type they are. Weaker enemies might get scared at gunpoint, while others will ‘recognize’ you as their own if you use a mask, for example.
All enemies in Sons of the Forest
You’ll encounter three different types of enemies in Sons of the Forest: cannibals, creepy mutants, and one hostile animal. It’s important to note the game is still in early access, which means more content can be added as the game progresses in development.
When facing the several types of cannibals and mutants you notice that, so far, there are six types of cannibals, eight types of creepy mutants, and one hostile animal. Each type has its own set of behaviors towards the players and other enemies.
You can spot the differences between the different types by looking at their appearance―body, color, size, weapons, and armor―and mostly their behavior. They can also interact with each other, which means you can find them fighting among themselves.
Here’s the list of all the cannibals and mutants in Sons of the Forest:
- Cannibals
- Creepy Mutants
- Hostile Animals
Cannibals of Sons of the Forest
Cannibals are the most common type of enemy you’ll find around the forest. They are human-like except for their lack of hair and genitals. They can usually be found in packs and their behavior varies depending on their type and season.
There are currently six types of cannibals in Sons of the Forest: regular cannibals, cave cannibals, dirty cannibals, brutes, golden-masked cannibals, and propeller carriers.
Regular Cannibals
These are the ones that have the most human-like features. They can be from different factions, marked by tribal paintings, they can wear armor and clothes, steal resources from the player, and can be seen helping fallen cannibals and even mourning their dead.
They might look like the simpler type of enemy, but they can have complex behaviors. They are certainly aggressive toward the player, but they are cautious and can hesitate if you point a gun at them and can take cover in structures.
When facing them, you can incapacitate them by shooting at their legs, players can cut off limbs, and decapitate them. If you severely hurt these cannibals, they will try to flee. You can also use traps to avoid having regular cannibals invading your base while you are away.
Dirty Cannibals
Dirty cannibals look as they are named―they are covered in dirt. They also walk and run on all fours and will try to ambush players by hiding in bushes and climbing trees. They can surprise the player from behind and throw rocks at them.
They are mostly passive and won’t attack unless provoked. But if you see one, it’s very likely there are others around, as they will watch the player and call for others.
Even though they can catch you off guard and have the ability to dodge your attacks, if you strike your axe at any of their limbs, they will get incapacitated and make it easier to kill them.
Brutes
Brutes are much larger cannibals that carry clubs or outboard engines in the bigger camps. They are slower because of their size and won’t attack you if you leave them alone. They charge into players and can knock them to the ground, making them a dangerous type. The best option is to stun brutes with a headshot and use the time to kill it.
Titan
These are large cannibals with their bodies fully painted in red. They can be found in the forest and can be caught stealing from your base. Titans are able to remove logs from your base’s walls much faster than other mutants, making them much more dangerous.
They scream and charge at players similar to the brutes but with more speed and bigger health stats. Players can dodge the first charge, the titan will fall on the ground and be stunned for a while, leaving them open for an attack.
If you don’t want to get close to such a massive creature, you can use ranged weapons or explosives to deal with titans.
Golden-Masked Cannibals
Golden-Masked Cannibals are the leaders of the faction they belong to. They usually have white and red tribal markings like the regular cannibals and wear a golden mask ― but some might wear a red one.
They are stronger than other cannibals and are much more aggressive towards not only the player, but other enemies. They can enter a fight with other regular cannibals from other factions.
The player can 3D print a red mask that, once worn, will change the golden-masked cannibal’s behavior. They will become friendly and will assume you are one of them. Regular cannibals will also accept the player wearing the mask as their leader and won’t attack.
Propeller Carrier
Golden-Masked cannibals can also carry motorized propellers sometimes. If the propeller hits you, you’ll receive massive damage, so the best way to face this one is actually to stay far away.
Creepy Mutants of Sons of the Forest
Most creepy mutants dwell in the caves early in the game as these enemies are more aggressive and harder to deal with. But as the day passes, they can spawn more often on the surface.
There are currently eight types of creepy mutants in Sons of the Forest: blind mutants, fingers, twins, mutant babies, John 2.0, sluggy, demon, and titan.
Blind Mutants
The blind mutants are the most common type that roam in the caves and underground area. They have pale skin and lack facial features such as eyes and a mouth and have wrinkled elongated limbs. Some can also be seen captured and tied up in cannibal camps.
They are one of the weakest enemies in Sons of the Forest as they can’t see or smell the player, relying on the sounds the player makes. Because of that, you can easily avoid combat by sneaking around this type of mutant.
They also depend on their hearing to locate the player, but once they do find you, they scream to alert other blind mutants and fingers can also respond to that scream. If that happens, it’s best to deal with one by one.
Fingers
This type of enemy has an iconic appearance that explains its name. Although it resembles a human, it consists of a creature with several fingers forming a mouth throughout the torso lacking arms. They can be found in mostly in caves, but some roam the surface.
Pay attention to your surroundings when encountering this mutant as it can be accompanied by blind mutants or they can appear after a blind mutant screams.
They cause damage by running and hitting the player with its body, so you should block and dodge when facing this mutant. You can also hit its legs to stun it and create an opening to kill it. Use the katana to totally disable their legs. Bombs and ranged weapons are also a good choice when fighting fingers.
Twins
The twins look like two deformed humans conjoined at the pelvis. One is male and the other is female. They have long arms to walk like a spider and attack the wandering player inside the caves. They prefer to attack the player while sneaking from behind or flanking. But you can hear their low and high pitched sounds from far away or even through walls.
Mutant Babies
Mutant babies resemble what the name implies―newborn babies, but with no face, wrinkled skin, and the umbilical cord still attached. They crawl and leap at players in the caves, usually in packs.
Their small size might make it difficult to aim and hit, making even a machete difficult to use because of its short range. Focus on using grenades or molotovs to cause a area damage and deal with them in group.
John 2.0 (Conjoined worm mutant)
You will only see this creepy mutant after spending 20 days on the island. You won’t have any difficulty identifying this one as it has a peculiar appearance. The John 2.0 is a tube-like creature with two torsos fused together at the legs with only the butt cheeks surviving the fusion.
They move by changing from one torso to another and can be seen in the forest camouflaging as trees. They are extremely aggressive towards all creatures, including the players, cannibals, and other mutants.
The name is a reference to the worm mutant of the first game, The Forest, named John.
Sluggy
The Sluggy is also known as The Blob for its misconfigured shape. It looks like a mass of flesh that drags behind as it walks, giving a slug-like appearance. It has a large size and can be found stuck in small places inside the caves.
They can easily be blown by explosives when stuck as they block the way or the exit. They don’t currently spawn in-game and are only hostile during cutscenes.
Demon
Only found in the endgame stage of Sons of the Forest, the demon mutants are located in the magma caves deep underground and the author of the Sons of the Forest wiki page couldn’t have described them better as “slender and lithe mutants that move with the erratic grace of a possessed ballerina.”
You’ll need a good armor to fight this beast because its attacks deal huge damage. Golden Armor is the best option when facing a demon mutant. Its Christian name isn’t for nothing as it can also be stunned, scared and even be set on fire by the holy cross item.
Hostile Animals of Sons of the Forest
The only hostile animal in the game right now are sharks which can be found in the ocean. They will attack upon seeing the player and can deal a lot of damage. You can use pistols and arrows to scare sharks that swim close to the surface.
