Characters / Alone in the Dark

Edward Carnby

Edward Carnby

Voiced by: David Gasman (2001), James McCaffrey (2008), David Harbour (2023)

Appearances: Every game in the series.

• Adaptational Jerkass: Edward is noticeably angrier in the 2008 reboot, swearing and being rude all the time. Justified in that he's got amnesia and has no idea what's going on and would understandably be angry about it.
• Back from the Dead: In the 3rd game, he is shot and buried, then comes back to life after a spiritual journey.
• Badass and Child Duo: With Grace Saunders in the second game.
• Badass Bookworm: Strongly hinted at during "The New Nightmare" during a conversation with Aline.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: During the first three games and perhaps during "The New Nightmare".
• Badass Longcoat: In "The New Nightmare".
• Badass Normal: In a series chock full of undead baddies and practitioners of the occult, Edward gets along just fine with his wits, a gun, and the occasional melee weapon.
• Barbarian Long Hair: In "The New Nightmare".
• Breakout Character: In the original game, he's one of two playable characters, and they're both completely interchangeable, with Carnby not being special in any way. He has since become the character associated with the franchise, and has appeared in every single installment, typically as the sole main character.
• Combat Pragmatist: Fights with a variety of improvised weapons in the 2008 game and in the original 1992 game its possible to throw literally almost any item in the game at monsters to harm them.
• Fish out of Water: In the 2008 reboot.
• Identical Grandson: His grandson, Theodore Carnby (the protaganist of Alone In The Dark: Illumination) looks identical to him in every single way. In fact, you might think it's Edward living under a false identity to avoid answering questions...
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Doesn't even remember his name in the 2008 reboot.
• Only in It for the Money: What started his whole involvement with the paranormal. He was originally supposed to just retrieve Jeremy Hartwood's antique piano for an antique dealer.
  • He tries to be this in the third game, though his actions say otherwise.
  Client: Edward, I've got a western that's high and dry in the desert!
  Carnby: What, has Billy Silver got a cold?
  Client: The film crew's disappeared!
  Carnby: A thousand bucks, plus expenses.
  Client: Five hundred.
  Carnby: Eight hundred.
  Client: Carnby, Emily was out there. That's right, your girl. She was part of the crew.
  Carnby: Oh. Then it's twelve hundred!
• Occult Detective: Becomes one by accident because of the first game plot, which gave him this reputation.
• Perpetual Poverty: In the first and third game especially.
• Really 700 Years Old: In the 2008 reboot, set in the same year, its revealed that Edward disappeared in 1938, despite the fact he looks only around 40.
• Red-Headed Hero: During the first three games. What's odd is that he doesn't possess red hair in the 2008 reboot, despite supposedly being THE original Edward Carnby.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: During the first three games and perhaps during The New Nightmare.
• Shows Damage: In the 2008 reboot and 2024 remake.
• Took a Level in Badass: Not that he wasn't badass in the first game, but in the second game, he guns down scores of undead pirate gangsters with a tommy gun.

Alone in the Dark (1992)

Emily Hartwood

Voiced by: Jodie Comer (2023)

Appearances: Alone in the Dark (1992) and Alone in the Dark (2023).

• Action Girl: She's very capable with guns and swords, and is no stranger to fisticuffs either.
• Action Survivor: An upper-class lady with no apparent combat training or prior fighting experience, yet she manages to go up against zombies and other unspeakable horrors and live to tell about it, though since its canon that Carnby went through the mansion its unknown how true this is. (Yet AITD3 says the two already know each other.)
• Adapted Out: While both the 2001 and 2008 reboots star a version of Edward Carnby, Emily is nowhere to be seen in either of them.
• Combat Pragmatist: One has little other choice when going up against the servants of Cthulhu, after all...
• Demoted to Extra: Emily is a playable character in the first game, completely absent in the second, and returns in a supporting role in the third.
• Generation Xerox: Alone In The Dark: Illumination features her great-granddaughter as one of the playable characters.
• It's Personal: In contrast to Carnby, Emily's reasons for going into Derceto are entirely personal: to find out the real reason for her uncle's death.
• Nephewism: Although it's never actually said if he raised her, it's made clear that she and her uncle were close. A picture of the two of them together can be found in one of the rooms.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Playing Emily features exactly the same gameplay and levels as playing Edward. It only affect the opening text displaying the player character backstory, and a couple of comments when interacting with items in the manor.
  • Edward actually has longer legs and a different kicking style, which enables him to use a chair as a shield while kicking a zombie on the other side of the chair. Emily can't do this because she's wearing a skirt.
• Southern Belle: Dresses like a Proper Lady, and the CD version gives her a southern accent.

Ezechiel Pregzt

• Big Bad: Orchestrated the events of the game in order to acquire a new body.
• Body Snatcher: Became one after the Union soldiers he lured in snapped out of his trap and killed him.
• Ghost Pirate: Was a normal pirate, albeit notably murderous even among pirates, before turning to dark powers and gaining immortality. Managed to stay around even after he was killed. Ultimately becomes somewhat of an Eldritch Abomination before the start of the game.

Jeremy Hartwood

• Apocalyptic Log: His diary, followed by his suicide letter. It is literally written just after he has unwittingly released the evil of the mansion and hears the footsteps of the newly awakened abominations closing in.
• Driven to Suicide: He committed suicide to prevent Pregtz from using his body as a host.
• Plot-Triggering Death: The character goes to the mansion to investigate and find a piano after his death.

Alone in the Dark 2

Grace Saunders

• Badass Adorable: In a Guile Hero sense, as she's the one who gathers the stuff to stop voodoo priestess Elizabeth Jarrett after she momentarily possesses and freezes Carnby. For a noncombatant reliant on stealth, it's pretty badass.
• Badass and Child Duo: Is the child to Edward's badass.
• Creepy Child: Unintentional example, but the graphics can make her character model come across as creepy.
• Damsel out of Distress: Despite being just a little girl, she does manage to save Edward on a couple of situations.
• Human Sacrifice: Intended as one by Jack and Elizabeth, although it doesn't quite work out.
• Stealth-Based Mission: Her gameplay sequences are this (she is captured when spotted, triggering a Non-Standard Game Over). Justified, as a young child slaying pirate zombies would be very odd.

Ted Stryker

• Dead Partner: Killed during the game's opening cutscene.
• Take Up My Sword: Gives this via letter to Edward.
• Too Dumb to Live: Manages to sneak all the way to where Grace is being kept without being noticed. Once there however, he completely dismisses the creepy clown doll. At first there's no reason to assume there's anything dangerous about it, but when he looks away it crosses half the room to get to him. When he looks back, he apparently dismisses the fact that it's significantly closer and no longer leaning by the wall. He takes his eyes off of it again and is killed by it.

One-Eyed Jack

• Big Bad: Of the second game, being the leader of the pirate crew who kidnapped Grace.
• Eyepatch of Power: Like any self-respecting pirate, it's also the source of his nickname.
• The Gambler: There are a strong playing-card symbolism in his mansion (especially the maze garden). Stryker's diary explicitly states that Jack is "obsessed with gambling and death" (paraphrased).
• Living Forever Is Awesome: Spends his immortality partying and gambling.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A Dual Wielding, Voodoo Zombie pirate who's currently masquerading as a gangster.
• A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: A variation of this trope. He was a real pirate at one point but survived until the 1920s, well past the swashbuckling era.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: He kidnaps Grace but he and the rest of his crew seem to spend their whole time partying on the ship.

Elizabeth Jarret

• The Dragon: To One-Eyed Jack. Arguably, their relationship could come across as a Big Bad Duumvirate, due to the fact that Jack relies on Elizabeth's powers to stay alive and they are working together.
• Dragon-in-Chief: Jack wouldn't be able to survive without Elizabeth's spellcaster powers to keep him and his crew alive.
• Evil Sorcerer: She learnt Hollywood Voodoo and used it to help Jack in his plans. Also proves to be her undoing.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: She always had dark hair, and after gaining her dark powers, her skin became completely white.
• Freudian Excuse: Was abused by her guardian and tutor when she was a girl.

Alone in the Dark 3

Jedediah Stone

• Big Bad: Of the third game of the series, planning to use weird, nuclear-powered machines to cause mass destruction.
• Small-Town Tyrant: Used to be this for Slaughter Gulch, even before becoming an undead.
• Overlord Jr.: Revealed to be the son of previous Big Bads Pregzt and Elizabeth.

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

Aline Cedrac

Voiced by: Sharon Mann

• Action Survivor: Unlike Edward, she starts the game armed only with a flashlight to face the monstrous horrors of Shadow Island, and her side of the game has more focus on puzzle-solving than combat. She still gets the same weapons, only later than Edward.
• Badass Normal: Not as much as Edward, but still comes up from time to time.
• Disappeared Dad: She came to Shadow Island also to look for her missing father, which she thinks is Obed Morton. Seemingly right, by the end.

Charles Fiske

Edenshaw

• The Atoner: Decides to help Edward and Aline to make up for the Morton's evilness.
• Heroic Sacrifice: By the end of the game, he stays behind on the collapsing Shadow Island to make sure that the portal stays sealed.
• Magical Native American: Implied to be one of the last descendants of the Abkani people who knew about the gate to the World of Darkness.
• My Greatest Failure: He couldn't stop Alan's descent into madness.
• Mystical White Hair: Either that or he's just very old.

Alan Morton

Voiced by: Doug Rand

• Big Bad: He's the latest child of the Morton lineage who's enthralled by the creatures or Darkness and wants to release them in the world of Light, even experimenting with corpses to give them habitable shells. He's also trying to open the Gate.
• Creepy Child: His infatuation with the creatures of Darkness began when he was a child.
• Karmic Transformation: After turning both his father and his brother into half-human monsters and vehicles for the Darkness, he's attacked by a mutated Obed and forcefully turned into a ghastly, purple zombie monster for the final battle with Edward.
• Mad Scientist: One who studied the creatures of Darkness and even used corpses to give them a way to prowl in the world of light.
• Non-Action Big Bad: He's the main threat of the game, but is prone to running away and avoiding confrontations until the climax.
• One-Winged Angel: Something in the World of Darkness turned Alan into a seven foot tall, lanky ghoul with a skeletal face, purple skin, and incredible strength.
• Puzzle Boss: He cannot die by conventional means. Instead, Edward must evade him while gunning him down until he falls to the ground for a while; Edward must then run to a nearby alcove to recover a sacred Abkani spear, channel the Gods of Light, and use the spear to finish Alan off once and for all.
• Tempting Fate: In the climax, as soon as he claims in front of both Aline and Edward that his plans cannot be stopped, his own mutated brother appears and tackles them both into a dark abyss, from which he will reappear mutated.

Obed Morton

Voiced by: Joe Sheridan

• Advancing Boss of Doom: He's standing on a small platform, connected to a small bridge on which Aline is situated, and will slowly advance towards her. However, if you back off, he will slink back to his original position. Of course, you must proceed beyond him to finish the game.
• The Atoner: Not quite, but he still had a realization moment upon seeing the results of his brother's experiments.
• The Dog Bites Back: Lobs his own brother into a dark crevasse after having being mutated by him.
• Dying as Yourself: After being defeated by Aline, he will regain control and die taking on a large number of creatures, boasting that he's a creature of Light.
• Heroic Sacrifice: As mentioned above, he dies fighting a large number of creatures to protect Aline.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: When cornered in the Fort, he seems surprised by Aline's question, but states that she's not his daughter. His monstrous head though seems to imply that he was lying, and that yes, he's her father.
• Multiple Head Case: His mutation gives him a reptilian, horned head while his original, humanoid head is half-buried in muscle tissue, kinda like Birkin. Said bigger head is seemingly a literal embodiment of his evil side, as well as his personal weak point during the boss fight.
• One-Winged Angel: Forcibly transformed offscreen in a massive, jet-black reptilian biped with two heads.
• Taking You with Me: Uses the last of his forces to destroy the stone bridge he's on, saving Aline from the pursuing horde of creatures.

Judas De Certo

• Big Bad Wannabe: Implied to be this, though he's a ghost at the moment, and has little influence on the plot.
• Call-Back: His surname is one to the Mansion from the first game.
• Evil Sorcerer: What he was in life, with the bonus point of being The Corrupter for the Morton family.
• Faux Affably Evil: He acts nice towards Aline, but only because she can release him.
• The Man Behind the Man: He was one for the Mortons, before his demise.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: For one, he can only manifest through mirrors and live in pocket dimensions inside them.
• Schmuck Bait: Sure, give him the mirror he craves, and he will tell Aline everything. Go on. try.

Howard Morton

• Came Back Wrong: Alan got a hold of his corpse and turned him in a nigh-unstoppable, hulked-out zombie.
• Implacable Man: Even after being defeated in the Library by Aline, he will recover and chase after her on the Island, all the way to the Fort.
• Killed Off for Real: Eventually, he's done for real when Aline tricks him into being electrocuted by Alan's machine.
• Puzzle Boss: One with a time limit and a good dose of timing: After activating the lightning-harvesting machine, Howard will jump into the room, and Aline has to trick him into jumping over the massive conduit in the middle of the room immediately after a thunderflash: if done correctly, he will be fried by the electrical surge from above. Repeat this two more times to kill him. If the time limit falls to zero, you'll have to reactivate the machine.

Alone in the Dark (2008)

Sarah Flores

Voiced by: Alexandra Williamson

• Skirts and Ladders: Becomes an issue with Edward just after they first meet, leading to an awkward moment.

Theophile Paddington

Voiced by: John Cunningham

• Parental Substitute: Amazingly enough, Edward was this to him, having brought him in when he was 13 years old.

Crowley

Voiced by: Chris Phillips

Hermes Treismajice

Voiced by: Michael Cullen

• Hero of Another Story: Considering he holds the other half of the Philosopher's Stone, and is the direct reason for why it was split in two, its entirely possible he was having his own adventures.
• Meaningful Name: Hermes Trismegistus.

Lucifer

Voiced by: Adam Sietz

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