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Persona 4 RevivalThe Dark Ones
The Dark Ones are the mind-invading beings from Moscow's surface in the Metro novel and games, the threat of Metro 2033 and the hidden saviors of Metro: Last Light, who told Artyom they would return. They return in Metro 2039, where Hunter calls them an enemy to be destroyed.
The Dark Ones return in Metro 2039: 4A Games told GamesRadar+ the new game brings them back with ghosts, paranormal activity and anomalous zones, and in a training video seen in a preview build Hunter calls them an enemy to be destroyed. They are the series' oldest mystery: "mind-invading creatures from the surface" whom Artyom is sent to stop in Metro 2033, who turn out in Metro: Last Light to be something other than monsters, and who left at its end saying they would return. Metro 2039 is out Feb 4, 2027. The endings of Metro 2033 and Last Light are told below. The clip is ACG's Aug 2026 hands-on preview, from a preview build.
Quick facts
| First appearance | Glukhovsky's novel Metro 2033 |
| Games | Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, Metro 2039 |
| Effect on people | Convulsions, pain, hallucinations, madness |
| Immune | Artyom |
| End of Last Light | They save D6 and walk away, promising to return (Redemption ending) |
| In Metro Exodus | 4A would not say in 2019 whether they appear |
| In Metro 2039 | They return, as of the makers' Aug 27, 2026 interview |
Sources: glukhovsky.com: Games; Digital Trends, updated Apr 24, 2023; Game Informer, Jan 25, 2019; GamesRadar+, Aug 27, 2026.
The Dark Ones in the novel
In Metro 2033 (Novel) the threat that appears at VDNKh sends Artyom across the Metro to warn the others. For Dmitry Glukhovsky they carry the book's theme of xenophobia, which he said fails if the Dark Ones do not look human. MGM's planned film, which he described in 2018, would have turned them into "random beasts" in Washington, D.C. (see Metro Film Adaptation).
The Dark Ones in Metro 2033 (2010)
In the first game Artyom tries to save his home station, Exhibition, from the Dark Ones, searching for a weapon that can stop them. The game has a hidden alternative ending, "Enlightened: Find the truth", which only 7.8% of Steam players of Metro 2033 Redux had earned as of Nov 3, 2026; it depends on the hidden karma of the series' moral choices. The other ending is the one Last Light continues, in which Artyom is left "burdened by guilt". Details on Metro Endings. The clip is WiseFish's retelling of the story.
The Dark Ones in Metro: Last Light
A year later the Dark Ones are "a supernatural species capable of living on Moscow's radioactive surface", and Artyom's quest is to find a surviving one. Near a Dark One most people suffer convulsions, pain, hallucinations and madness, but Artyom is immune, and Last Light explains why. A Dark One helps him: one achievement is for making Moskvin "tell the truth with help from the Dark One". In the Redemption ending, as the Red Line's army takes D6, the Dark Ones repel it, then walk away and tell Artyom they will come back one day. The clip is WiseFish's retelling of the Redemption ending.
Are the Dark Ones in Metro Exodus?
Before launch 4A would not say whether the Dark Ones are involved in Metro Exodus, which leaves Moscow for the rest of Russia. The sources read for this page do not describe a Dark One appearance in it; Exodus's creatures are on Metro Mutants.
The Dark Ones in Metro 2039
Metro 2039 returns to Moscow's tunnels and to the supernatural. The makers told GamesRadar+ that the Dark Ones are back, along with ghosts and anomalous zones, and Shevchenko quoted Khan from Metro 2033 to explain why souls cannot leave the Metro. The Novoreich wages its war for the surface against a "dark and terrifying enemy", which the makers have not named; in Xbox Wire's preview build a training video shows Hunter calling the Dark Ones an enemy to be destroyed. Whether the regime's enemy is the Dark Ones, and how they act toward The Stranger, are not told as of Nov 3, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the Dark Ones in Metro? The Dark Ones are mind-invading beings from Moscow's surface, first feared as the threat of Metro 2033 and later revealed in Metro: Last Light as helpers who saved the Metro.
Are the Dark Ones in Metro 2039? Yes. Metro 2039's makers say the Dark Ones return, and in a preview build Hunter calls them an enemy to be destroyed.
Are the Dark Ones evil? Not as Metro: Last Light tells it: the Dark Ones save D6 from the Red Line in its Redemption ending, though Metro 2033 treats them as a threat.
Why is Artyom immune to the Dark Ones? Metro 2033 leaves it unexplained, and Metro: Last Light tells why Artyom alone withstands the madness the Dark Ones cause.
Do the Dark Ones come back after Last Light? The Dark Ones promised Artyom at the end of Metro: Last Light that they would return, and Metro 2039 brings them back.
Sources
- Metro 2039 is a "journey back into Hell", GamesRadar+, Aug 27, 2026
- METRO 2039 Isn't Kidding Around, Xbox Wire, Aug 26, 2026
- METRO 2039, Deep Silver, undated
- Games, glukhovsky.com, undated
- Metro 2033, Hachette UK (Gollancz), undated
- Author Says Cancelled Metro 2033 Film Adaptation Was To Be Set In Washington D.C., Game Informer, Dec 11, 2018
- Metro 2033 Review: A Dreary Subway Ride Well Worth Taking, Game Informer, Mar 16, 2010
- Metro: Last Light Review, Game Informer, May 13, 2013
- Metro Exodus Cover Story: Leaving The Rails, Game Informer, Jan 25, 2019
- Metro: Last Light review, Digital Trends, updated Apr 24, 2023
- Don't be an asshole in Metro Exodus, you'll regret it, PC Gamer, Feb 15, 2019
- Metro Last Light Redux, Steam, undated
- METRO 2033 Redux achievements and METRO Last Light Redux achievements, Steam Community
- I Spent 20 Hours in Metro 2039 - Hands on Preview, ACG, Aug 26, 2026 (video)
- Metro’s Terrifying Species - The Dark Ones | FULL Metro Lore & Origin Story, WiseFish, Feb 10, 2021 (video)
Moments
I Spent 20 Hours in Metro 2039 - Hands on Preview
ACG
Metro’s Terrifying Species - The Dark Ones | FULL Metro Lore & Origin Story
WiseFish
Related
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SevastopolskayaSevastopolskaya is the independent Moscow Metro station that serves as the Stranger's base in Metro 2039, one of the biggest surviving colonies and under threat of a Novoreich takeover. In Dmitry Glukhovsky's novel Metro 2034 it is Sevastopol station, cut off from the rest of the Metro, where Hunter appears.
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The AuroraThe Aurora is the armored steam locomotive of Metro Exodus, the moving base on which Artyom, Anna, Colonel Miller and the Spartans cross Russia for a year after leaving Moscow. It has not appeared in Metro 2039 as of Nov 3, 2026.
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The NovoreichThe Novoreich is the regime that rules almost the entire Moscow Metro in Metro 2039, led by its Fuhrer, the former Spartan Hunter, and held together by propaganda, misinformation and fear. It echoes the Fourth Reich, the Nazi faction of Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, but the makers have not said how the two are connected.
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The Spartan OrderThe Spartan Order is the Metro series' elite brotherhood of Rangers, who protect the Metro's people under Colonel Miller and leave Moscow with Artyom in Metro Exodus. In Metro 2039 its first Spartan, Hunter, rules the Metro as Fuhrer, and the hero, the Stranger, is a former Spartan.
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AnnaAnna is Colonel Miller's daughter, the Spartan Order's best sniper, met in Metro: Last Light and married to Artyom by Metro Exodus. She has not been shown or announced for Metro 2039 as of Nov 3, 2026.
See also
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HunterHunter is the Spartan Ranger of Metro 2033 whose creed is "If it's hostile, you kill it", missing from the games after it and back in Metro 2039 as the Fuhrer of the Novoreich, the regime that rules almost the entire Moscow Metro. In the novel Metro 2034 he turns up at Sevastopol station a year after Metro 2033.
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Metro 2033Metro 2033 is 4A Games' first Metro game, a story-driven shooter published by THQ on Mar 16, 2010 for Xbox 360 and PC, in which Artyom crosses the Moscow Metro to save his home station from the Dark Ones. Its remake, Metro 2033 Redux, is the version sold today.
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Metro: Last LightMetro: Last Light is 4A Games' 2013 sequel to Metro 2033, published by Deep Silver after THQ's bankruptcy, in which Artyom, now a Spartan, hunts the last Dark One while the Metro's factions fight over the D6 bunker. It had four DLC packs and two endings, and its remake is Metro: Last Light Redux.
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Metro 2033 (Novel)Metro 2033 is Dmitry Glukhovsky's first novel, published free online in 2002 and in print in Russia in 2005, in which Artyom of VDNKh station crosses the Moscow Metro to Polis to warn of a new threat. Gollancz published it in English on Mar 18, 2010, and it is the book the 2010 Metro 2033 game adapts.
- Metro Film AdaptationNo Metro 2033 film has been made: MGM's American version ended in 2018, a Russian film from Gazprom-Media's studios was paused in April 2022, and on May 15, 2026 Dmitry Glukhovsky said a new screen adaptation is in discussion. Metro 2039 has no film or series tie-in.
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Metro EndingsEvery mainline Metro game so far has two endings, picked by a hidden karma system rather than a final menu choice: Metro 2033's ordinary and "Enlightened" endings, Metro: Last Light's "Redemption" and "C'est la vie", and Metro Exodus's good and bad endings. Metro 2039 brings hidden karma back, but how many endings it has is not announced.