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The Shrike
October 8, 2026 at 01:01 PM
Added Jennifer English and the current story description
The Shrike is the leader of the human resistance in Valor Mortis, revealed in the August 25, 2026 Story Trailer. Jennifer English voices her. She is presented as an opponent of Napoleon's Empire rather than a product of the plague, fighting in occupied Eastern Europe with her own plans for William.
The Story Trailer was the first appearance. Announcing it, the studio described The Shrike as "the rebel leader fighting Napoleon's Empire in occupied Eastern Europe" and framed the movement as "a resistance of the commonfolk" rather than a rival army. That phrasing matters: it is ordinary people in the occupied east, not a second state or a foreign expedition.
Until August 2026 the published story ran one way. Napoleon's conquest had stalled, a plague had followed, and William had come back from the dead with the power to fight the things it made. The Shrike adds a second axis. The studio said the voice of Napoleon in William's head is "guiding him to usurp The Shrike's resistance of the commonfolk", which puts the player character on the Empire's side of a conflict between people.
Before the reveal | After the reveal |
|---|---|
The enemy is the plague and the corrupted Eternal Guard | The plague is still there, and so is a human movement William is being told to break |
Napoleon's voice is guidance | Napoleon's voice has a stated objective |
William fights abominations | William is pointed at the commonfolk's own leadership |
Point | Status |
|---|---|
Name | The Shrike, used with the definite article in every first-party mention |
Role | Rebel leader against Napoleon's Empire |
Where | Occupied Eastern Europe |
Movement | A resistance of the commonfolk |
Relationship to William | William is being guided to usurp the resistance The Shrike leads |
As of September 13, 2026, across the official store listing, the official site, the studio's Steam development posts and the published trailers, the studio has not given The Shrike a personal name, a gender, a face description, or a voice credit. It has not said whether The Shrike is a boss fight, an ally, or both at different points, and it has not said whether William can refuse the instruction. The Shrike appeared in no earlier trailer and in neither the October 2025 playtest nor the 2026 demo, so there is no gameplay footage to read against the description.
The same trailer introduced two named non-hostile characters, a fellow soldier called James Stewart and a lamplighter called Lucjan Skawinski. The studio presents all four, William, The Shrike, Stewart and Skawinski, as the cast of what it calls a supernatural retelling of the Napoleonic Wars. In September 2026 it added that there are not many other survivors remaining and that each of them will play a pivotal role in determining William's fate. The Setting and Story page collects what has been said about them.
The September cast announcement confirms Jennifer English in the role. The accompanying launch overview describes The Shrike as fighting for people under the Empire's occupation and says her voice joins Napoleon's inside William's head partway through the story. It does not disclose how that bond works or whether she can be fought.
The September 13 paragraph above records the earlier announcement stage. A voice credit and visual portrayal have since been published in the Voice Cast reveal.
