so i was curious how long it takes for the infection to take root and force the host to turn based on the times given to us by the game using its scene-by-scene clock, but the results of my investigation have not at all turned out like i was expecting them to, and i wanted to share them since it might be useful to some of my fellow detail-oriented writers.
NOTE: all times used are not adjusted and are taken directly from the beginning of each scene. they do not reflect the accurate time that the characters may have been bitten. this is all just to provide a rounded approximation of the rate of infection for each character. also, i am aware of the other times that many of these characters can become infected, however, i am only including the routes in which they are shown to fully become werewolves over the course of the game itself.
infected in the quarry lodge storm shelter at 00:26. turned in the north kill jail at 03:27.
time to become fully infected – 3 hours
infected in the woods at 21:10. turned in the pool house at 23:33.
time to become fully infected – 2 hours 20 minutes
infected in the radio hut at 22:24. turned in the scrapyard at 2:10.
time to become fully infected – 3 hours 40 minutes
infected on the island at 23:30. turned in the hackett house at 03:10.
time to become fully infected – 3 hours 40 minutes
infected on the wood bridge at 22:30. turned in the woods at 03:33.
time to become fully infected – 4 hours
infected in the woods at 23:52. turned in the storm shelter at 02:29.
time to become fully infected – 2 hours 40 minutes
and i’m hesitant to include this one due to the fact that the exact time of her turning is unknown but i’ll include this infection line just for the sake of it
emma, route 2 (treehouse):
infected on the island at 21:43. turned in the van between 23:52 and 01:35.
time to become fully infected – somewhere between 2 hours 10 minutes and 3 hours 50 minutes
kaitlyn and ryan are never shown to turn throughout the duration of the game, and abigail is cured of infection before she ever gets the chance to turn.
these approximations show that the rate of infection for each character is wildly different. in storytelling terms this makes sense, as the moments in which all of these characters turn help to progress the story/keep every moment suspenseful. naturally there would be no set amount of time for the infection to take over, because doing so would only put a limit on what the narrative was able to do with each character up to a certain point before they would become indisposed.
from a lore perspective though, there is much to consider here. for some characters it can be theorised that they were able to hold out against the infection for so long due to their prior knowledge of how it works and what signs to look out for (dylan and laura). in jacob’s case, this doesn’t hold as much weight due to the fact that apart from his initial return to the firepit after nick was infected, he never learned of his inevitable turning and the symptoms he displayed, yet jacob still did not change until after an approximate four hours of being infected.
it’s unlikely that the rate of infection speeds up in the face of injury or heightened adrenaline/emotion, namely due to the fact that many of these characters are injured or otherwise put into extremely demanding emotional states over the course of the game without changing. nick turning after being shot by abi doesn’t work to argue this, as even if you do not shoot him, he begins to turn anyway.
again, this is all up for personal speculation. for all we know, the rate of infection could depend on how much sand and dirt you ate as a kid to strengthen your immune system. (don’t even try to tell me that jacob, dylan, and laura weren’t chronic sand and/or dirt eaters when they were still little. i know the truth)
