- "Guardian of the church, bred in a cult laboratory beneath the cemetery, it was raised on sacrificial victims and craves human flesh."
- ―Model Viewer description.
The Sentinel is a boss encountered in The Evil Within.
Background[]
The Sentinel used to be a regular wolf that guarded the church from intruders, before being experimented on by the fanatical cult in the labs underneath the premises. There, as it mutated, it was fed the remains of sacrificed victims in order to conceal the gruesome results of the experiments. It soon grew a taste for the "offerings" it was given, and its appetite grew more and more until it would eat up to six bodies a day, and would still howl in dissatisfaction, frightening some of its keepers that they would be devoured next. It was thus kept chained in a special cage in the catacombs.
Appearance[]
The Sentinel appears as a greatly enlarged black wolf with an oversized eye and a second mouth located in its neck, as well as barbed wire and several steel fragments strewn on its back and along its legs and body.
The wolf's original head is non-functional.
The Evil Within[]
The Sentinel is encountered and must be fought at least once at the end of Chapter 6. Initially sleeping in a metal cage, the beast is roused from its nap by the sound of a metal door closing back down, and bursts from its bonds through a breakable wall and out into the nearby courtyard where it must be fought. After a brief game of cat and mouse, Sebastian deals an incapacitating shot to the creature, and hurriedly squeeze past the church gates with Joseph to move on.
However, despite having fought off the creature, Sebastian still has a problem on his hands, as Joseph, having dropped his glasses in the scuffle, cannot see anything at all. Left with no other choice, Sebastian decided to head back into the yard and retrieve the spectacles.
The Sentinel can be killed at this point, but it is optional. If Sebastian goes straight for Joseph's glasses and back out, the yard cannot be re-entered a second time. If the creature is instead slain, it will drop a pool of 
7,000 and prompts a quick one-liner from Sebastian himself.
Tips[]
- The Sentinel's headbutting charge deals high damage and can disorient Sebastian as he tries to get a lead on the creature, but this can be telegraphed by watching for movement coming from one of the nearby bushes.
- The Agony Crossbow can be used to great effect here if the player can anticipate the Sentinel's trajectory and introduce the beast to several Freeze or Explosive bolts. Shooting a bolt directly at the Sentinel won't sell, however, as the beast will simply shrug it off.
- Firing Explosive bolts into a bush will blow up and deal heavy damage to the Sentinel as it enters. Lobbing several Grenades into the bushes works as well, though the timing must be correct or else the beast will be able to evade the explosion.
- Shooting the Sentinel with a high-powered weapon like the Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, or Magnum (New Game+ only) while it is charging at you will knock it over, opening it up to follow-up attacks. This is only really viable using the Shotgun, however, due to the Sniper Rifle's unwieldiness and infinitsimally scarce ammo drops by that point, and even more so with the Magnum being available at this point only on a second playthrough (New Game+).
- Despite the Sentinel's fast charging speed, it is very clumsy when it comes to sudden turns, therefore keeping a light foot and sidestepping its charges can leave the creature open to damage.
- The Sentinel can be snuck past when going to retrieve Joseph's glasses as it will be facing away from the gate when Sebastian re-enters the yard. Joseph will occasionally toss bottles around to distract the creature, though he will stop doing so if Sebastian is detected.
Death Animations[]
- If Sebastian runs low on health and fails to dodge the Sentinel's jumping charge, the dog will pin him to the floor with its front paw. The detective struggles to no avail as the creature extends the maw in its throat and chomps down on his head.
Trivia[]
- If Sebastian manages to defeat the Sentinel, he will quip "Bad dog" as he goes to retrieve Joseph's glasses.
- Based on the Cemetery Lab Note #2, the wolf that would eventually become the Sentinel was already mutated prior to the events of the game due to the mutagens it was exposed to and the massive quantities of human flesh it consumed. It's unclear if Sebastian and Joseph encountered it as it was, or if it was further changed by Ruvik's influences before the boss fight. Based on the copious amounts of razor wire and metal stakes embedded in the creature's flesh, it's safe to assume it's the latter case.
- The Sentinel is the only boss of The Evil Within that does not award an achievement when killed, whether directly or via some special method.
Gallery[]
