environmental

Head Banger

Spawns between Shift 2-5 and walks up to the side check-in window, banging its head against the glass while heavy breathing plays and the music stops.

Head Banger is an anomaly that spawns between Shift 2 and Shift 5 in Animal Hospital (Anomaly), walking up to the side check-in window and banging its head on the glass while the music cuts out and heavy breathing plays. It blocks you from closing the shutters while it's present, and telling it to leave without offering coffee first triggers a jumpscare that costs 20 sanity — 40 for the Psychologist class specifically.

Behavior

Spawns between Shift 2-5 and walks up to the side check-in window, banging its head against the glass while heavy breathing plays and the music stops. Its hollow black eyes and open-frown face can combine with other anomaly features. While present, it blocks the player from closing the shutters. Telling it to leave without offering coffee triggers a jumpscare that costs 20 sanity (before class buffs/debuffs).

How to Respond

The most efficient response is giving it coffee (only -5 sanity instead of -20, and 2 sips can be taken from the mug first without losing the benefit); alternatively, simply leave it alone and it will break the window after about a minute and leave on its own with no gameplay penalty. Manually asking it to leave without coffee is not recommended due to the 20 sanity cost (40 as Psychologist).

Quick tips

  • Give it coffee for the cheapest resolution — that only costs 5 sanity instead of 20, and you can even take two sips from the mug first without losing the benefit.
  • If you'd rather not spend coffee, just leave it alone — it breaks the window on its own after about a minute and leaves with no gameplay penalty.
  • Avoid manually asking it to leave without coffee — that's the option that triggers the full 20 sanity jumpscare (40 for Psychologist).
  • Remember you can't close the shutters while it's banging on the window, so don't rely on shutting it out.

FAQ

What's the cheapest way to deal with Head Banger?
Give it coffee — that costs only 5 sanity, versus 20 (or 40 as Psychologist) if you tell it to leave without offering coffee first.
Can I just close the shutters on Head Banger?
No — it blocks the shutters from closing while it's present at the window.

Sources

Some reference data adapted from community wiki sources under CC BY-SA; text on this page is independently written.