Painted Mutant

Painted Cannibals, also known as Cross Cannibals, are cannibals that were added in update v0.54 to The Forest.

Gameplay
Painted cannibals are their own distinct group. Painted cannibals come in male and female forms. Regardless of gender, they will have small black crosses all over their body. They are noticeably stronger and faster than their counterparts, the regular cannibals. Painted cannibals have been observed traveling with fire cannibals. Like the regular cannibals, painted cannibals usually follow a leader. They can also be backed up via intimidation, like regular cannibals.

They are stronger and have more health than regular cannibals though less than the masked cannibals. There is no skinny variation of the painted cannibals as they are tribal like the regular cannibals. They are frequently encountered in packs rather than solo.

Painted Cannibal Leaders
Painted cannibal leaders are one of the rarest cannibal spawns. Instead of being painted white-gray and covered in tiny black crosses, these cannibals are a dirty gray with a large red cross on their chest. Painted cannibal leaders have one large red cross painted on their chest instead of several black crosses all over their body (possibly a homage to Dr. Cross). They also carry a skull on a stick on their back. These are presumably stronger than the normal painted cannibals.

Story
It is not clear what the cross paintings on the painted cannibals represent. They may be references to Dr. Cross (although the Cannibals never demonstrate the ability to spell) or to the Christian iconography dispersed throughout the island.