The Stain in front of The Shape.
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The first time that I spotted this reddish fire burning on the ground, I thought I had finally reached the doorstep of insanity. But I was wrong. After several encounters with this burning fire, I managed to tie it to the killers. Somehow it gives me hope as one can manage to avoid them if you see this burning warning. Maybe giving me hope is its purpose? | 
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| ~ Benedict Baker |
The Red Stain is a Game Mechanic integral to Template:IconLink.
Overview
The Red Stain, as it was dubbed by Benedict Baker, is an ominous red glow all Killers emit from their head and illuminates their surroundings right in front of them.
The Stain
The Red Stain an integral Game Mechanic that intends to betray a Killer's location and movement direction to the Survivors when in close proximity to them, as they can see it edging out from around corners even if they cannot see the Killer yet, allowing them to adapt their jukes accordingly. However, an adept Killer can also use this behaviour to their advantage and momentarily hide their Red Stain by walking backwards or sideways around corners or walls in order to try and trick the Survivor, potentially catching them off-guard.
Visibility
The Killer cannot see their own Stain, with the exceptions of it sometimes being reflected off of their Weapon under specific circumstances.
Survivors are constantly able to see The Red Stain on the floor in front of the Killer, unless it is hidden by the use of cloaking-Perks or Powers.
Unlockables can be used to change the behaviour of The Red Stain:
Hiding the Stain
- The Template:IconLink Status Effect used by some Unlockables will hide The Red Stain.
Audio Cue
As soon as a stealthy Killer starts to move again, thus cancelling the Undetectable Status Effect, a loud sound cue titled "Stinger" plays to warn Survivors:
Trivia
- Up until Patch 2.4.0, Killers would see their own Stain during the initial camera panning when loading into a Trial. That is no longer the case.
- It is suspected that the intensity of The Red Stain is directly linked to the range of the Terror Radius the Killer has, meaning that Killers with a shorter Terror Radius have a fainter Stain and Killers with a larger Terror Radius have a stronger Stain.
- It is also suspected that The Red Stain works as means for The Template:IconLink to watch over the Trials directly through the Killer's eyes. An indication of this being the case is the description of Template:IconLink, as The Red Stain is hidden because the Killer momentarily loses their connection to The Entity and is "free to roam".