Armitage, and likely would be the hero in a traditional Lovecraftian take on the story. He resembles the typical Lovecraft protagonist, especially Prof. Marconi, a rich and respected former priest, archaeologist, and ass-kicker of the demonic and undead. Impressively, revelations in the novel make throwaway gags in the preview updates much, much creepier. All There in the Manual: The website and several forum comments by the author (and John Cheese, who, as the name suggests, is who John is based off of) detail the back story and side stories of the novel.Much more threateningly, the Shadow Men threaten to suddenly change the timeline to kill Amy if David does not back off. Arnie mentions to Dave near the end of the book that he vaguely remembers false memories of John Paul II dying during the assassination attempt and being replaced by a black pope who adopts the name Leo he also suspects that the timeline was recently altered to add the complete history of video games, which he personally doesn't remember noticing until about five years ago. The Shadow Men exist out of time and can make changes in history that echo in the present.For example, Korrok comes from a world where Organic Technology was fully mastered. Other universes are often alternate histories where one or more important details have changed, resulting in often-cataclysmic differences from our own world.Aliens in Cardiff: Korrok invades our dimension in Undisclosed, an unnamed town in the American midwest.The whole effect just makes the experience stranger and more alien, especially when John sees what's under them. The inhabitants of Korrok's world are concerned their manner of dress will upset John and Dave, and so go naked except for hoods. A Form You Are Comfortable With: Subverted.John is flat-out crazy and rolls better with the insane crap pitched at them, but he also lacks some common sense. Adventure Duo: Dave is more serious and literal-minded (to the point of missing blatant clues), a trait he credits to an array of negative character traits.Finally, the heroes blow up Korrok's universe with dog shit.
Later, John uses the Soy Sauce's properties to convert a Super Soaker into a proper flamethrower. One of them is a package of explosive bullets for David's pistol. Abnormal Ammo: When John and Dave get somewhat famous due to the Sauce, people begin sending them bizarre things.John Dies at the End provides examples of: