Ratman

Revision as of 13:22, 26 June 2011 by IdesofMarch (talk | contribs) (Adding a photographic comparison showing different Ratman hoaxes.)

Ratman is an urban myth that claims that a rat-like creature exists in Grand Theft Auto IV. Like the popular Bigfoot myth from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Ratman does not exist in the game. The myth likely originated from storytellers trying to add mystery to the subway tunnels and its inhabitants, the homeless people.

Description

Ratman is said to live underground in the subway, usually said to live near the station in Chinatown. He apparently has powers unlike normal pedestrians like being able to run very quickly and attack the players in unexpected ways. A bile or fungus-like substance can be found along the floors of the subway and supposedly dead bodies can be found down there from time to time; however players have most likely killed someone down there and then took a photo or started recording, implying that the person was dead before they got there. People online called "mythbusters" attempt to find information on this creature.

Nonexistence of Ratman

No files within the game has any reference to the mythical creature of "Ratman." The substance found on the subway floors is a reference to the video game Condemned: Criminal Origins. A chapter in that game requires the player to follow a liquid trail into the subway almost identical looking to the one found in GTA IV's subways. Thus meaning that the substance is not there because of a "Ratman".

If you go to the house across the street from your house in Bohan, and if you keep going upstairs you will see a blood stain in the shape of a rat head and a glock 17 next to the stain. That same stain is in many other enterable buildings. Also someone said that they were in the Subway, fired their pistol and heard rapid footsteps, it was revealed that it was three people running away from the gunfire.

Trivia

  • Rat-Man is an Italian comic about an inept superhero of the same name, created by Leo Ortolani in 1989. Although it was initially meant to be a satire of other superheroes, most prominently Batman, it has since evolved into an independent comic sporting a complex, evolving continuity.
  • With modding tools it would be very easy for someone to add a "Ratman" to the game if someone so wished, making it simple to falsely create.
  • Interestingly, in Southern England there is a local legend about a 'Rat-Man'. In Southend-on-Sea, Essex, some locals believe that the spirit of a dead tramp haunts an underpass. Making squealing and scratching noises and trying to chase out people at night.
    Hoax photographs of the Ratman from both Grand Theft Auto IV and the local legend of Southend-on-Sea.