Alternates

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Hostile Species
Full Name	Unknown
Alias	Alternates Doppelgangers/Complete Assimilators Detectables Unspeakables Flawed Impersonators/Flawed Assimilators "Imposters" Overdriven Assimilators Tulpas "An Unforeseen Threat" Temporal Phenomena Urban legends "Not the real you" "Creature" "??????" "The Ghost"
Origin	The Mandela Catalogue
Homeworld	Hell (assumingly)
Abilities	Shapeshifting Voice/Audio mimicry M.A.D inducement Fear inducement Psychological manipulation Inhuman durability Inhuman invulnerability Levitation/Flight Suicide inducement Teleportation/Spectrum traveling Inhuman intelligence Strategies and tactics
Members	Classes: Doppelgangers/Complete Assimilations Detectables/Unspeakables Flawed Impersonators/Overdriven Assimilations Tulpas Notable Members: Satan (leader and presumably creator) N Cesar's Alternate "Woman" The Preacher Unnamed Alternate The Original Alternate Adam Murray
Hobby	Tormenting humans to the point where they commit suicide. Mocking their victims.
Goals	Invade or take over Mandela County. Destroy mankind (both ongoing).
Crimes	Manslaughter Enforced suicide Mass kidnapping Murder Psychological abuse Unlawful imprisonment Incrimination Stalking Sabotage Desecration of corpses Identity theft Attempted genocide
Type of Hostile Species	Demonic Mind-Breakers

“	Do not help a caller reporting an alternate encounter. No matter how frantic their screams are. Calmly reassure the caller that help is on the way. The call can be ended when they stop responding to your questions. Do not speak too much. You might accidentally reveal your fear. Nothing is worth the risk. Nothing is worth the risk. Nothing is worth the risk.	„
	~ The Mandela County Police Department giving up on Alternate victims in "The Mandela Catalogue Volume 1".

“	If you see another person that looks identical to you, run away and hide.	„
	~ The T.H.I.N.K Principle on Doppelgangers, also the most famous quote about the Alternates.

The Alternates are the main antagonists of the 2021 analog horror web series The Mandela Catalogue by Alex Kister.

They are demonic shapeshifters who drive their victims insane, to the point where the victim commits suicide. This is realized by the alternates through the transmission of a psychological condition, Metaphysical Awareness Disorder, caused by exposure to "Verbal information that is not desired to be known". While their motivations for driving humanity insane, or even if they have one, are unknown, it is blatant that they are malevolent in nature.

History

Note: This section tells the story of Alternates as a whole. For information on specific Alternates, please go to their respective page.

The Original Alternate

After Adam was created by God on the 6th day of the Creation, Satan awakens the newly-created man and lets him wander the garden he was put in during the night, leading him to a tree where an apple appears from the thick fog. After, an Alternate replaces Adam and goes to Eve when she wakes up and scares her while creepily looking at her.

Noah's Ark

Their first chronological appearance is in "Exhibition", where The Archangel appears to Noah infuriated that he would ignore his demands, assumed to be related to the construction of the ark. He tells him that he would send a creature on the ark, one that he would not immediately notice at first, but before he could perceive what was to come, it would be too late: This description is highly reminiscent of the Alternates and their ability to drive their victims to suicide, heavily implying that this is the first appearance of an Alternate. The video cuts to the investigation of Mark Heathcliff's death but not before a quote from 2 Corinthians 11:14 visible in the closed captions appears reading "And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.", confirming that the Alternate Gabriel is Satan in disguise.

As such, Satan is believed to be the progenitor of the Alternate species with the creature he intended on sending being an Alternate with the mission to kill Noah.

Sabotaging the Annunciation

The first video of the series, "Overthrone", depicts the story of the birth of Jesus, starting out normally with the annunciation to the shepherds, but as the choir of angels leaves, the video glitches and cuts to black. It is clear that something is wrong when the narrator is replaced by an unsettling text-to-speech voice and when Gabriel comes to bring Mary the news of Jesus' birth. The video glitches again when Gabriel introduces himself as an "Angel" and his face is shown to be heavily distorted before being censored by a black bar. Instead of telling Mary the news of Jesus' birth, he speaks in an unintelligible voice, represented as binary in the closed captions, translating to "I am the true savior. I must reverse the delusion. Joseph is next."

The video cuts to Joseph sleeping with "Gabriel" speaking to him through a window, "Gabriel" is infuriated that Joseph is deep asleep and attempts to get him to wake up. After another cut, the video returns to the beginning with "Gabriel" bringing news to the shepherds only this time, "Gabriel's" face is blacked out and proclaims himself as the "True Savior" telling the shepherds to not be afraid, that he knows what they love, dread and makes them human. The black bar censoring "Gabriel's" face disappears, revealing "Gabriel's" face but with slight differences in proportion to his face at the start of the video before it becomes distorted and a version of "Jesus Loves Me" is heard playing in the background. It is implied that Satan has disrupted the birth of Jesus and replaced him with an Alternate.

1980s

One could gather through subtle details scattered across multiple episodes that the Alternates did an invasion back in the early 80s, this is due to the fact that the United States Department of Temporal Phenomena, the department charged with deter them, was established in 1981.

According to the "Metaphysical Awareness Disorder" tape, in the third quarter of 1982, cases of the titular illness hit a noteworthy spike, that likely wouldn't be surpassed until 1992.

1992

In 1992, the main setting for Season 1, the Alternates made a return alongside cases of M.A.D. Because of this the USDTP issued multiple PSA tapes showing preventive measures against them, however as it turns out these tapes were victim to some sort of "malfunction" leading to them spreading false information.

As Volume 333 reveals, 1992 is likely the year in which the Tulpa Alternates, Alternates which were created and manifested by the imagination of several children throughout multiple counties, were created and discovered. These Alternates were likely created by mirrors, as a now-deleted and retconned post previously implied.

After the Department finds out what the culprit of these malfunctions was the hard way, they issued an order to destroy all televisions and mirrors.

2000s

In the 2000s, the Alternates are widely disregarded as merely Urban Legends, and those who believe in them as paranoid conspiracists in spite of numerous physical evidence of their existence, such as the PSAs. Even those with paranormal beliefs such as Jonah Marshall are reluctant of the existence of the Alternates, stating that "half of [him] doesn't even think that there's Alternates."

However, mayors of several counties affected by Alternates like Bythorne County are implied to have issued several infographics regarding them. While the general public's opinion on said infographics are unknown, one can assume that they aren't well received, as Jonah mentions.

In an unknown date, the USDTP even released (or attempted to release) a PSA falsely stating that the Alternates had been fully exterminated.

Powers and Abilities

• Shapeshifting/"Assimilation": All types of Alternates seem to have some degree of shapeshifting, it is implied that this is a process that takes an unspecified amount of time and interrupting it would result in the Alternate becoming a Flawed Assimilator. Alternates seem to need previous knowledge and understanding of a face before being able to fully copy it, as implied by their usage of Face Studio 2. Alex stated in an interview that, before shapeshifting, the Alternates are pitch black upon first entry to Earth, similar to the N Alternate.
  • Audio/Voice Mimicry: As an extension, Alternates are capable of copying and using the voice of those they've heard. Just like the shapeshifting process, it's implied that Alternates need a somewhat sizable "sample" pool of a voice to fully mimic it without flaw. Alternates' voice mimicry ability isn't limited to just human voices; they are also able to mimic robotic Text-to-Speech voices, animals, and even add "filters" to their voice.
• Limited Flight/Levitation: It's been shown that some of them are able to somehow levitate and fly. The Murray Household Alternate was able to descend from the ceiling during its confrontation with Thatcher Davis, and some USDTP PSAs show an Alternate somehow floating while standing upside down.
• Inhuman Invulnerability: Both Cesar's Alternate and the Murray Household Alternate were shown to be impervious to bullets of high calliber, with them doing absolutely nothing but making them barely flinch at the pain.
• Hivemind: Alternates were described to be part of a hivemind with Satan being it’s leader. Several instances of Alternates and other creations of Satan knowing of events they shouldn't realistically know were shown and implied to be due to the hivemind, such as the Intruder knowing of the events of the Garden of Eden and the Unnamed Alternate knowing and mimicking victims of the Intruder other than Adam.
  • Psychological Manipulation: All of them have the ability to inflict Metaphysical Awareness Disorder to their victims, a psychological mental illness characterized by paranoid behavior, sleepless nights, panic attacks, and a suicide rate of 97% as of 1982.
  • Inhuman Intellect: Alternates are shown to be terrifyingly intelligent, they were shown planning before they attack, ambushing their victims, and with Type 3 Alternates using their deformities as advantages to further scare their victims.
  • Teamwork: Most of their appearances have them working collaborating with other Alternates in order to get to their victims. Cesar's Alternate was implied to have worked with The Intruder to get to Mark in Volume 333, as well as a sequence in Exhibition suggesting that various Alternates were going against Mark.
• Teleportation: They seem to have the ability to teleport in different areas to stalk and follow their next victims.

How to Avoid Them

Due to the police department opting to ignore calls about Alternate-related attacks, it is not recommended to converse with them or making contact with them, as it's implied any interaction with an Alternate will result in M.A.D.

Currently, there is no known way to kill an Alternate, despite the United States Department of Temporal Phenomena suggesting it and recommending to always keep a loaded firearm near in case of an Alternate sighting.

It is recommended to immediately run away if one sees someone that looks identical to oneself or presents biologically impossible features and all entrances to one's house should be kept locked.

As early as 2007, anti-Alternate technology was created in the form of "audio lures", audio player devices that, as its name suggests, lure Alternates by playing the noises of Human suffering. The practical use of these lures is unknown, given that we've only seen it once, but it's implied that it's used as an advantage to distract the Alternates as the person they’re after escapes.

"The Shepherd"

“	The LORD is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.	„
	~ Psalm 23

Alternates and other Satan-related beings such as The Intruder, as well as Satan himself, are often seen telling victims of great interest about how they "followed the shepherd". The exact meaning of these words has been a subject of heavy speculation, but Volume 4 has given us what might be a proper answer.

In the Bible, Sheeps are commonly used as a metaphor for the followers of Christ whereas Goats are those who chose not to follow Him. Jesus, being called the "Good Shepherd," who therefore guides the sheep and protects them from the "wolves," whereas a hired shepherd would leave them behind.

In Volume 4, Satan tells Dave Lee that despite following his "advice" under the identity of O'Brian, including the creation of the Face Studio franchise, which serves as a means for the Alternates to obtain faces faster, and overall implied off-screen work, that he still somehow managed to "follow the shepherd."

With this information at hand, it's likely that "following the shepherd" means to disobey Satan's orders, display anti-Alternate behavior, and to be Christian in general.

Quotes

“	Alternates are very spooky and mysterious creature things that we don’t really know a lot about. they seem to be just urban legends (locals account of seeing an emergency PSA 15 years ago regarding Alternates, but some outright deny their entire existence!!) Mandela County in particular has a horrible reputation for housing these conspiracy theorists that swear on their life about Alternates, but thats where the mystery ends. the best we can do is try to get evidence ourselves!!!	„
	~ The BPS's description of the Alternates.

Types of Alternates

• Flawed Assimilators: Also called Flawed Impersonators. They are Doppelgangers that have not completed the process of shapeshifting or were interrupted in the midst of it. As a result, they will be easily recognizable as Alternates, as they'll very often present features that are akin to those of an Alternate before disguising itself, or missing key qualities that give away their disguise, such as featureless faces. Interlude reveals that this is the first stage of an Alternate assimilation process.
• Complete Assimilators: Also called Doppelgangers. They resemble their human counterparts and use that to psychologically assault their victims, drive them to suicide and then replace them. At most, they will have very minor, barely detectable differences in height or facial features compared to their imitated victim. Interlude reveals that this is the middle stage of an Alternate assimilation process.
• Overdriven Assimilators: Alternates whose disguise's features have become overly exaggerated and disfigured in proportions, hence the title "Overdriven." In contrast to the Flawed Assimilators, they have indeed completed the process of shapeshifting, but have overdone it to the point that their disguise barely resembles a Human anymore. Interlude reveals that this is the final stage of an Alternate assimilation process.
• Unspeakable: Previously Classified as "Detectable". The name that shall not be named.
• Tulpas: Alternates willed into existence by the imagination of someone, especially children who have watched a mysterious broadcast known as The Might of the Subconscious. They can move and attack through reflective surfaces like mirrors.

Gallery

N, the infamous Alternate.

The Observer, The Facade, The Thief and The Preacher

Logo of Alternates in BPS SITE

Logo of Alternates in the old/original version of The Mandela Catalogue Vol. 1

"Alternate"

Trivia

• The Alternates are meant to be a representative of mental illness and the mental toll that these pay onto their patients. Likewise, it's assumed that M.A.D is an allegory for suicidal thoughts and intrusive thoughts.
• The term "Tulpa" refers to imagined, willed beings that are considered sentient by the imaginator.
• Due to the existence of Complete Assimilator-Type Alternates, it's unknown how siblings who happen to be identical twins are dealt with in the universe of the Mandela Catalogue.
• A fifth type of Alternate before the "Overdriven Assimilators", known as the Mimic, were revealed in a now deleted and retconned community post. These "Mimics" were presumed to be Alternates who were capable of turning into objects with the downside (or deliberate fear-inducing tactic) of breathing heavily while doing so, giving away their position. Alex Kister has stated that these Alternates no longer take part of his vision for the series.
  • Funnily enough, before Alex Kister confirmed the existence of Mimics in the Mandela Catalogue universe, the concept of an object-shifting Alternate had already been presented in Alex Kister's self-parody series The Scrimblo Catalogue, where Mark Heathcliff is killed by an Alternate which shapeshifted into a car.
• Alternates might be the in-universe reason for the Uncanny Valley. As a common theory regarding the subject says, there must have been a reason for the human brain to detect whether someone is a Human or something approaching it but not quite reaching it. This is a description that is reminiscent of the Alternates and how some of them can't seem to disguise well enough.
• It's possible that Tulpas are a subcategory of Flawed Impersonators, seeing as how the Murray Alternate had biologically impossible characteristics, and barely looked human at all.