[granville1]

I think there’s an insurmountable problem with a possessed Karras. Possession makes the victim so sick that there is not much physically-effective action that a possessed person can undertake. The possessed Regan was only capable of short bursts of effective physical action – e.g., when she kills Dennings or knocks people around. The rest of the time she’s in a trance state (even without being sedated) and she doesn’t even talk much.

Translate this sickness and its concommitant bodily inactivity to a possessed Karras and you have a very, very difficult dramatic scenario to be hammered out. I really don’t see how it could be done. If Karras is wandering loose, his odd behavior will shortly be noticed and action taken to curtail it. If, on the other hand, Karras is strapped to a bed in a mental institution (as in the Legion film), then you’ll just have a re-hash of Regan’s possession. I don’t see how this can be worked out…

On the old Howdy site, I had begun a story where Karras survives his fall down the steps. But in the story, he was victorious over the demon and was not possessed. This allowed for further character development and further “theological adventures” for Karras – i.e., more creative leeway than the scenario of having him remain living-and-possesed.

So, in answer to your question: if, in an alternate ending, Karras survives but is possessed – it will take someone far more creative than me to work it out dramatically. I hope others will offer their suggestions.