open/close all folders
Main Amnesia characters
Daniel
Daniel
- Voiced by: Richard Topping"Redeem us both, Daniel. Descend into the darkness where Alexander waits and murder him."
The Player Character. At the start of the game, he only remembers his name and where he is from (London, Mayfair).
- Abusive Parents: The loading screens indicate he was raised by a particularly abusive father who would often kick him in the stomach.
- Amnesiac Hero: The title of the game gives it away.
- And I Must Scream: His worst fear comes true in two of four possible endings: trapped in the darkness he fears most forever.
- The Atoner: See the quotation above.
- Audience Surrogate: As he has amnesia at the start of the game, and it's his purpose to both find out who he is and what is going on.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: As a result of Alexander's training into the art of torture and ongoing psychological manipulation, Daniel ends up easily washing his hands — and what's more, preemptively — as he and Alexander abduct the Zimmermans, a family of farmers near Alstadt, allegedly to complete the banishing ritual for the Shadow. Also qualifies as a Kick the Dog moment for Daniel: he has reached the point where he does not care anymore whether his victims are criminals or innocent. Highlighted in Daniel's last sentence during the hallucinatory flashback: "We should have more than enough prisoners to finish the ritual now."
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Playing with. He's quite a naive and reckless young man, as stated by Alexander via his Memory Capsules, but is capable enough to last against Alexander and his minions.
- Despair Event Horizon: He hit this around the same time he had his Heel Realization, and it was the reason why he drank the amnesia potion because he knew he didn't have the will to go through with his vengeance with the trauma and death wish of those memories weighing down on him.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: After Daniel accidentally breaks an orb in Algeria due to his inexperience, the Shadow gives him nightmares that enable him to repair it regardless.
- The Dog Bites Back: After being kicked around by Alexander he decides to atone for his crimes by "giving" the people he had murdered "that horrible man".
- Doom Magnet: Literally. While in London, the Shadow of the Orb chases him and gruesomely kills all those he comes into contact with.
- Dreaming the Truth: After taking the broken orb back to England in tow, Daniel gets endless nightmares of a terrible voice beckoning him from beyond the void. These dreams had enabled him to effortlessly repair the mystical relic, a feat — according to Agrippa — which no one else known has ever accomplished.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Daniel is quite gifted with repairing Alexander's machines and mechanisms, or when the situation calls for it, sabotaging them.
- Ghost Memory: After touching the mystical orb, Daniel keeps unlocking memories that are completely alien to him, even from those who have lived and died long before he was born.
- Heel Realization: He finally acknowledged he was a monster after butchering a young girl (in his words, killing an innocent to save a murderer — himself — when once he would have killed a murderer to save an innocent), and it tore him up from inside. Realizing that Alexander led him down this dark path filled him with murderous rage. Yet just knowing what he had done made him wish he had died or allowed the Shadow to take him, leaving him mentally incapable of carrying out his vengeance. Wanting to stop Alexander regardless, he drinks the amnesia mixture.
- Heroic Mime: Subverted. Daniel's diary entries are all narrated and the player can occasionally hear him mumble and ramble to himself during gameplay. The subversion comes when the player first encounters Agrippa, who seems to reply to speech from Daniel, but the player hears not a peep.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In Agrippa's ending, Daniel sends Agrippa's head through the gate back to his and Alexander's world, leaving both himself and Alexander at the Shadow's mercy — and the Shadow has none. Nonetheless, Agrippa is grateful and draws Daniel through to the other world after him, begging Weyer to help, and the last words of the game are his, reassuring Daniel that it will be all right.
- Hiding Behind Religion: In one of his diary entries, Daniel says he is "thankful for God sending these monsters our way as they will serve as the instruments of my salvation," referring to the prisoners whom Alexander assures Daniel are all criminals and therefore may be freely tortured in order to harvest vitae.
- Human Pet: It is implied by Alexander that Daniel belongs to the Shadow.
- Hypno Trinket: Daniel's orb keeps enchanting him to hold it.
- Identity Amnesia: Induced deliberately.
- The Jinx: In London, he's being constantly harassed the Shadow, and while it had initially left him unscathed, it's still killing everyone he comes into contact with.
- Large Ham: Can cross into this during his diary narrations.
- Madness Mantra: Several. One within a semi-playable cutscene — "Paint the man, cut the lines!" — and the rest whenever his sanity drops too low, which are usually denials, confusion, echoes from the past or very Lovecraftian ramblings about the progress of the Shadow.
- Morality Pet: Though she never makes any actual appearance, Daniel's chronically-ill younger sister Hazel is a hint he's actually a good man. He read books to her during her worst downturns in the hope of helping her maintain the will to live, took the brunt of his father's rage to keep her safe, wished her goodbye before he left for Algeria, and her off-screen fate changes depending on whether the player ticks some invisible markers during the game. If Daniel is compassionate, she lived; if he's selfish, she died. His Heel Realization also hinged upon her — the little girl he murdered just before the game made him break down in regret because she reminded him of Hazel.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Breaks down sobbing after he murders Elise Zimmerman in cold blood.
- Never My Fault: Very downplayed considering Alexander did manipulate his desperation and fear to turn him into someone who could assist him in torturing countless people, but just how much of a sadistic villain Daniel became during that process was in part because of his own developing dark side, and yet in his notes, he puts the entirety of the blame on Alexander over what he turned into. Even Alexander was horrified by just how far Daniel had begun to take the torture.
- Non-Action Guy: He used to be an archaeologist — and not the adventurer sort, but the sort that researches things in books and has to carry a parasol in the desert to ward off heatstroke. With no memory and no weapons against a collection of hideously powerful monsters and a formless abomination whose presence tears apart reality, he may as well be a bug against a windshield. All he can do is run, hide and sometimes trick threats away, but never directly attack them.
- Obliviously Evil: While under Alexander's tutelage, he did terrible things to people for his own benefit, unaware that some of his sacrifices were innocent. When he found himself murdering a young girl who couldn't have possibly deserved to die, he experienced a Heel Realization and chose to atone.
- Primal Fear: His fear of the dark; if you stand in darkness, his Sanity Meter will slowly drain. The Shadow engulfs him in absolute darkness in Alexander's ending.
- Pursued Protagonist: The Shadow ushers him forward all the time.
- Redemption Earns Life: In the Revenge ending, Daniel despite his former-self's transgressions is forgiven by the Shadow as it grants him safe passage out of the castle. There are no monsters or obstacles to contend with, and Brennenburg collapses only once he's reached minimum safe distance.
- Redemption Equals Death: In Agrippa's, Alexander's and Self-Sacrifice endings. However Agrippa implies that he and Weyer are going to save Daniel by bringing him into their world.
- Redemption Quest: Everything that happens to him in-game is considered this, and apparently the Shadow agrees with him in the Revenge ending.
- Resurrected for a Job: Implied Trope. It's been widely theorized that the Shadow keeps on bringing him back to life so he'd stop Alexander.
- Revenge: Toward Alexander after the latter abandons him to the Shadow.
- Sanity Slippage: It's an actual gameplay mechanic — Daniel's amnesiac mind is hanging by a thread that frays more and more with every horror he witnesses, and low enough levels see him begin hallucinating both visually and aurally, losing control over his movements, and even outright collapsing in hysteria for several moments. But it was also the reason he drank the amnesia potion. He was physically abused as a child, and touching the Orb gave him visions which left him with exhausting nightmares that plagued him every time he slept. Everyone he went to for help was murdered by the Shadow as he was guilt-stricken to learn, and knowledge of the Shadow itself focusing upon him didn't make his sleep easier. Under Alexander's tutelage, he was at first reluctant to harm a criminal even at Alexander's urging, but little by little gained more enjoyment out of the pain and death he inflicted. He devolved into a brutal sadist, but eventually hit a breaking point that brought some measure of clarity back to his mind and drank the amnesia potion to keep his crimes from tormenting him long enough to revenge himself on Alexander.
- Taking You with Me: After realizing that Alexander had him murdering innocents this entire time, Daniel swears to end the treacherous baron before the Shadow claims him. He achieves this in Agrippa's ending.
- Unwitting Pawn: For Alexander.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Was a pretty decent and curious man, until he met Alexander.
- Villain Protagonist: Temporarily and only in the flashbacks. He sacrificed many people, many probably innocent, to save his own skin — although he was never told they were. It's clear once you get to the end of the story that he regrets what he has done.
- The Watson: In flashbacks, he's the one asking questions to which Alexander provides answers, for benefit of both his current amnesiac self and the player.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: After an unexplained childhood incident, Daniel developed a crippling phobia of darkness that he retains even after his memory loss. A flashback has past Daniel being very agitated about a dark tunnel even after being allowed to light his lantern, and as player character he will breathe hard, tremble and eventually begin to whimper if made to stand in darkness for too long.
Baron Alexander
Baron Alexander/Ayandra the Apostate
- Voiced by: Sam A. Mowry"Daniel. You have gone too far. I have to stop you. I can't let you proceed any further. I'm sorry, my friend."
The main antagonist. Daniel gave himself the mission of murdering him, for good reason. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as he believes.
- Affably Evil: It is worth noting that Alexander isn't simply evil. He's not insane, he's not sadistic, and he takes no joy in his tasks. In his notes, he expresses remorse for Daniel's corruption and the things he's done; he even seems a little shocked by Daniel's brutality.
- All for Nothing: If Rebirth is anything to go by, then even if Alexander manages to return to his homeworld, he's going to find it already destroyed and his loved one long dead.
- And I Must Scream: In the Agrippa or Revenge endings.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: In the Alexander ending, he promises to celebrate Daniel's sacrifice, forever.
- Anti-Villain: He's done and continues to do some truly horrifying things, but his memory jars make it clear that he doesn't derive any enjoyment from it. All he wants is to return to his home and family. Not to mention, he's genuinely disturbed by how quick Daniel's fall into cruelty and brutality is and is genuinely remorseful over what he's turned him into.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Played mostly straight — while the Baron does evil deeds, the why of it might gain him sympathy points. As revealed in a handful of notes, he's simply trying to get back home to his family.
- The Bad Guy Wins: In the "Alexander" ending. Following the revelations of Amnesia: Rebirth, his victory may have been short-lived, however.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Among the methods he uses to gain Vitae is harvesting it from animals. To which he cuts them open while they're still alive.
- The Corrupter: The reason that Daniel became a monster was because Alexander manipulated his desperation and fear.
- Encyclopaedic Knowledge: The baron is well-versed in worldly matters, described by Daniel as a true Renaissance Man. He has knowledge in many fields, including anatomy studies, alchemy, and botany, but even with his apparent Super-Intelligence he couldn't figure how the mystical vitae works in relation to living organisms.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His motivation for all the things he's done is to get back to his family.
- Evil Old Folks: And he is old. Much older than he looks.
- Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is noticeably deeper than Daniel's, whose speech is more nervous and breathy.
- Have a Nice Death: To Daniel in the Alexander ending
- Humanoid Abomination: Possibly. He's been around for a few centuries and comes from a different world. Examining his portraits with low sanity reveals how he might really look.
- Hypocrite: He is disturbed the cruelty that Daniel demonstrates through the torturous processes, but Daniel learned everything he did from Alexander, who's been capturing, killing, and torturing innocent people without remorse for ages.
- I Have Many Names: Was known as Ayandra in his homeworld, as Amnesia: Rebirth reveals.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: If he manages to return to his world, since, as we learn in Amnesia: Rebirth, his civilization has already been destroyed by the Shadow.
- Kick the Dog: Or rather mercilessly perform vivisection on it with a dull saw and, in lieu of a eulogy, merely remark "What a mess." Ironically, the player audibly witnesses this gruesome scene in the Study long before learning about Alexander's habit of torturing humans.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He gets screwed over royally in the Agrippa/Revenge endings, by the man he thought to use and throw away.. Rebirth also screws him over in the "Alexander" ending. See Pyrrhic Victory below.
- Manipulative Bastard: He tricked Daniel into believing he could help the lad fend off the Shadow, but he ultimately had no plan to. He merely took Daniel's orb and used him to help extract more vitae with the intention to invoke his ritual and flee to his world, leaving Daniel at the mercy of the Shadow.
- Never My Fault: Yes, Alexander, only Daniel deserves to be consumed by the Shadow. You didn't do a thing except make him willing to torture and kill people, telling him it was to protect himself, to get your hands on a magic orb so you can return home and receive the alchemical fuel to perform the ritual. Daniel needs to be punished, but you're innocent as the sunrise.
- Non-Action Big Bad: He never takes a direct hand against Daniel, preferring to lock himself away in the inner sanctum and letting his minions deal with the man. Even when Alexander is confronted at the end, he still doesn't physically threaten Daniel and is indeed in no position to.
- Pragmatic Villainy:
- He researches every possible way to obtain vitae besides torturing and killing human beings, not because of any moral qualms, but because the tried-and-true method is such a time-consuming chore.
- He doesn't abandon Daniel out of malice and he wasn't planning it from the start. He was even willing to take him to the other side with him. It was only after Daniel's corruption and subsequent breakdown that he locked Daniel out, fearing that he would disrupt the ritual or do something else stupid. Not that that stopped Daniel. However, while he regrets this turn of events, he doesn't go out of his way to incapacitate Daniel to drag him through the portal. He just leaves him behind.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Amnesia: Rebirth turns the "Alexander" ending, where the Baron is the one who goes through the portal, into this. Turns out that, while he was stranded on Earth, his homeworld was devastated by a magical cataclysm, and the civilization he once belonged to was destroyed, which means his family is likely gone as well.
- Really 700 Years Old: He's existed in this world for centuries and says outright that it isn't time that ages him.
- Softspoken Sadist: He's not a sadist, but he inflicts pain with meticulous care and a soothing voice.
- Sufficiently Advanced Alien: One who complains at length about being forced to make do with clunky 19th Century technology using steam and water instead of the "harnessed lightning" and graceful mechanisms that exist in his own world.
- Sympathy for the Hero: Despite all the ethically and morally abhorrent things Alexander has done over the years, he still feels genuine sadness and remorse in corrupting Daniel, and abandoning him to the approaching Shadow. Even after Daniel drinks the amnesia potion he still calls him his friend.
- Torture Technician: His approach to torture is methodical and calculated, done with deliberate intent to cause maximum pain over time so he can extract more energy, and without a trace of sadistic pleasure.
- Tragic Villain: Despite all the truly horrible things he's done, the Baron's motivations are ultimately sympathetic - all he wants is to return home to his world and his family.
- The Unfettered: How come Daniel cannot go through the gate because of how "tainted" he has become, yet the no-less bloody-handed Alexander can? It would seem Alexander is right when he ponders this issue in his memory jars: it's about how you view your own actions. And Alexander makes a case at the end of the game that he stands on a whole other plane of morality than Daniel or, in fact, humanity at large...
- Villain Has a Point: Alexander points out that as in concept good and evil are comforting, but are hardly applicable.
- Villains Want Mercy: Begs Daniel to stop disrupting the ritual that will send him home.
- You Have Failed Me: Wilhelm and his men's incompetence in transporting the human prisoners had attracted the attention of the Sheriff of Königsberg who was killing Alexander's creations/gatherers and following the trail back. Furious, the baron poisons and locks them all in the wine cellar.
The Gatherers
The Gatherers
Brute on the left, Grunt on the right
- "This story reaches all the way back to the time of the Thirty Years' War. It is said that soldiers who abandoned their duty got lost in the cold, dark woods and were forever damned to roam the grounds. Their bodies wrought by their tainted souls have left them disfigured and empty of essence. Many have sighted them over the years and describe them as horrid revenants. They move silently through the woods, shying away from any beholder. They are called Gatherers as they seem to follow some ambition to steal living creatures. It is their prey which can be heard struggling inside damp burlap sacks dragged behind them which reveal their presence. What dark scheme do they follow?"
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Brutes have their left arms cut off bellow their elbow, and are replaced with giant blades.
- Body Horror: Their entire appearance invokes this. They are horribly mutilated all over, with their bodies and limbs seemingly held together with metal grafts, and there are strong implications that they used to be human.
- Creepy Asymmetry: The Grunt's jaw is stretched to an absurd length with a huge portion torn away, creating a disturbing and imbalanced appearance. Brutes meanwhile have a blade in place of one of their hands.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In a panic some players may attempt to throw something heavy into their faces to try and buy themselves a tiny bit more time, which actually works (at least once) as the monster will blankly stare at you for a moment after as if saying "Did you just....?" This isn't a very practical way of dealing with them however; as the time it takes to do so hinders your ability to escape drastically, and the whole event will probably annihilate your sanity.
- Dumb Muscle: They serve as Alexander's eyes and ears throughout the castle and are responsible for his grunt work, but they're not very bright and are relatively easy to hide from.
- Early-Bird Cameo: You won't see the Brute until relatively late in the game, but you will hear its bellows very early on.
- Elite Mook: The Brutes are rarer than the Grunts and show up much later. They also run a lot faster and can kill Daniel in one hit.
- Evil Sounds Deep: The Brutes' vocalizations are loud and booming, often sounding like the bellows of a whale. Fittingly, they're also far more dangerous than the more slobbery-sounding Grunts.
- Facial Horror: The Grunts have their jaws completely hanging while the Brutes have their eyes and teeth located in a large cavity on its head.
- Fan Disservice: If you look behind the Brute, you can notice that his ass is completely visible.
- Flash Step: Can cross large rooms in the time it takes to blink.
- Humanoid Abomination: They're horrific creatures that make you lose sanity just by looking at them. What's more, there's no solid explanation concerning what exactly they even are. There are some implications that the Gatherers used to be human, but the details on how they ever came to be are left up in the air.
- It is heavily implied, if not outright stated, that they're former soldiers who Alexander tricked into drinking poisoned wine that turned them into malformed monsters.
- Lightning Bruiser: You soon discover they can run faster than you.
- Meat Puppet: Through psychic powers, they're under Alexander's complete control.
- Monster Mouth: The Grunt's Mouths are split open down the length of one cheek and their jaws are allowed to hang freely. Meanwhile, the Brutes have a massive flower-like crater where their faces are expected to be which nevertheless serves the function of a mouth.
- Nightmare Face: See Facial Horror above.
- One-Hit Kill: Brutes are capable of this.
- "Open!" Says Me: They prefer to smash down doors, rather than simply open them.
- The Unintelligible: The Grunts can barely speak regularly due to their deformities. The Brute's only speak through moans and gurgles.
- Was Once a Man: All of them used to be humans in past before Alexander turned them into what they are today.
- Wolverine Claws: Grunts have these protruding out of their left hands.
Kaernk
Kaernk
- Animalistic Abomination: The concept art makes them look like some sort of twisted, demonic dolphin-like creature. However, for whatever reason, they cannot be seen by the human eye. Despite that, just looking in their general direction can still drive one to madness, implying there's something very otherworldly and wrong about them.
- Delicious Distraction: Tossing things into the water will distract the Kaernk, as it moves to anything that makes a splash. Throwing corpse parts will distract it from you longer, as the Kaernk will spend a few seconds eating them.
- Elite Mooks: There are two types of Kaernk: a smaller one that can be avoided by staying out of the water, and a larger variant that can grab you from the tables or crates you jump on.
- Goomba Stomp: It can be killed by simply jumping on it.
- Invincible Minor Minion: Inverted, as the smaller Kaernk can be killed by smashing a large crate or barrel on top of it, leaving only its yellowish blood in the water. The issue lies in actually being able to hit them.
- Invisibility: The splashes it makes are the only way to see where it is.
Professor Thurston Aloysius Herbert
Professor Thurston Aloysius Herbert
- Voiced by: Eric Newsome
"That thing is after me. It has been hunting me for days. But I keep out of its trail, so I will persevere."
Herbert was the leader of the ill-fated expedition in Algeria. Daniel was his research assistant.
- Fate Worse than Death: It's heavily implied he was devoured by the cosmic guardian for refusing to relinquish one of its orbs. It's later revealed in Rebirth that while he seemingly escaped its clutches (some of its flesh residue is seen near his remains), he lost the orb, and ended up stranded in a ruined desolate world. Alone and unable to return to Earth, he soon starved to death.
- I've Come Too Far: The Shadow chases him across the entire desert as Herbert refuses to surrender the orb he plundered. He even ignores Alexander's warnings not to play with the orb, but had little choice as the cosmic horror was by then upon him, and teleported into another world.
- Kick the Dog: He mistreats Daniel, his lackey, and subjected him to humiliation by forcing him to use a ridiculous pink parasol, arguing it would protect him from the desert's harsh sun.
- Make an Example of Them: The Arabs under his employ rightfully blamed the recovered orb for all of their troubles. Knowing they might try to dispose of the relic, the Professor shot one of the men to restore order.
- Never Found the Body: Until Rebirth.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Sends Daniel back to England, against the young man's wishes, as he feared he would jeopardize the expedition.
Wilhelm of Gerich
Wilhelm of Gerich
- Voiced by: Dan Zullo
A member of the Order of the Black Eagle. Became Alexander's servant in exchange for political power.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Agreed to kidnap countless men, women, and children for political advancement.
- Came Back Wrong: It's implied that after being poisoned by the baron, the remains of him and his men were the basis for new gatherers, to replace the ones their bumbling had cost Alexander. This seems to be supported by Rebirth, where a similar process is used to create Harvesters.
- Heel Realization: He realized as he died that he was a monster and deserved his fate.
- Karmic Transformation: It is heavily implied that Wilhelm and his men became the Gatherers.
- Noodle Incident: Wilhelm wrote that Alexander hired him because of the "follies of his past" instead of his competence as a soldier.
- Posthumous Character: His character is only heard through notes and flashbacks.
- Villainous BSoD: As he and his men are succumbing to the poisoned wine, he simply states (in an empty, emotionless voice) that they're doomed.Wilhelm: Accept it. We're not getting out of here alive.
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
- Voiced by: Bill Corkery"Daniel? Like the prophet thrown into the lion's den. Tell me – are you among the lions?"
The famed alchemist himself, friend of Daniel. Found in the castle as some sort of corpse-like body.
- Ambiguously Evil: Agrippa's moral stance is unclear at best, highly dubious at worst. While he readily helps Daniel, he also used to be a friend of Alexander for some time. Whether he was aware of all of Alexander's felonies is unclear, yet he once casually remarks that the shards of a broken orb make great tools for torture: "They practically leak madness! Which is quite useful, I understand."
- And I Must Scream: His body can't move at all, and he has been there for a long time.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Or rather, Agrippa was an alien alchemist.
- Big Good: The only one Daniel can really count on.
- Life-or-Limb Decision: Played with. Agrippa begs Daniel to create a tonic that would allow him to survive decapitation and then to effectively behead him (he even exclaims: "Quickly! Off with the head!"). That being said, trapped as he is and utterly forsaken by Alexander, who intends to cross the interdimensional portal and leave this world for another one, Agrippa has very little to lose. Still he entrusts Daniel with his own head, and the player may very well feed Agrippa the tonic, cut off his head and then either let Alexander cross the portal or topple the pillars and prevent the portal from ever opening. Either way, Agrippa presumably does not survive.
- Motor Mouth: Ironically. He seems very glad to have somebody to talk to at all, so he overdoes it a bit.
- Psychic Powers: It's implied that whatever the gas-emitting device is that the player can choose to activate upon first encountering him allows him to read the minds of others and psychically project his voice.
Johann Weyer
Johann Weyer
Agrippa's greatest pupil, who eventually went on to become an even greater alchemist. He was able to master the power of the Orb, and used it to travel to the other world.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Accomplished this long before the game even began. He seems to be very powerful now, making use of many Orbs without incurring the wrath of their guardians, and capable of freely transporting objects, messages, and creatures to (and possibly from) our world.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Or rather, Weyer was an alien alchemist.
- The Ghost: We never see or even hear him, but he plays a pretty big part in the Backstory. And he's present, though still unseen and unheard, in the ending where Daniel tosses Agrippa's head into the portal.
- Undying Loyalty: To his mentor, Agrippa. He refused to have any dealings with Alexander until the latter freed Agrippa, and the same seems to apply to Daniel — for helping Agrippa (and at his stern insistence), Weyer is willing to help Daniel.
Zimmerman Family
The Zimmerman Family
A farming family that consists of six people: Gustaf, the father; Agathe, the mother; Friedrich, the son who died of typhoid fever; Margarethe, the eldest daughter; Elise, the younger daughter; and an infant.
- Abusive Parents: Gustaf is an abusive father who struggles with grief over the death of his son whom he liked better than his daughters. He is very aggressive towards his family, inflicting both physical and mental abuse.
- Arranged Marriage: Margarethe was betrothed to a man named Immanuel, whom she was reluctant to marry, but did so anyway out of wanting to make her parents happy.
- Great Escape: When Elise and Agathe were put into a cell, they managed to create a hole in the ground. Unfortunately, Elise was the only one who escaped, while Agathe chose to stay.
- Mama Bear: Agathe, despite Parental Favoritism toward Margarethe, was this for her younger daughter Elise in their final hours. She allowed an insane Daniel to beat her to death rather than reveal the location of her escaped daughter.
- Offing the Offspring: Gustaf attempted to kill Elise when she tried to run away from home.
- Parental Favoritism: Gustaf liked his son far more than his daughters, while Agathe showed more affection to Elise's sister Margarethe.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Elise's death by the hands of Daniel led him to begin his revenge towards Alexander and set the main story in motion.
- Uncertain Doom: It is unknown what happened to the rest of the family after Elise's death.
The Shadow of the Orb
The Shadow of the Orb
- "One last thing, a shadow is following you. It's a living nightmare, breaking down reality. I have tried everything and there is no way to fight back. You need to escape it as long as you can."—Daniel
A mysterious, eldritch entity that chases Daniel throughout the game, seeking to punish him for defiling an ancient artifact.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Heavily implied. While the beast is never seen, its stomping is leveling entire forests and threatening to collapse Brennenburg. In Rebirth, it is revealed to be, or have made a creature that could devastate an entire world.
- Berserk Button: Its orbs. Anyone foolish enough to steal them, usually ends up being brutally torn apart. If you're the rare few such as Daniel or Johann Weyer who it initially has no qualms with possessing, handing over the relic to anyone else, will certainly enrage the cosmic beast.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality:
- There are hints that the Shadow is not actively malicious, only fulfilling its function. In the revenge ending, it decides that Alexander's death has "redeemed" Daniel and leaves him unharmed, its wrath appeased.
- It's unclear exactly what triggers its wrath, as it is possible for some people to utilize the orbs, often for incredibly nefarious purposes, without any issue. Mandus was able to use an orb to create a machine designed to cull the human race, and Tihana possessed multiple orbs (even wearing one in her crown) and used them for planet looting to obtain humans to harvest Vitae from, in neither case receiving any sort of objection from the Shadow.
- Bloody Bowels of Hell: If Daniel fails to stop Alexander and appease the guardian's wrath, it not only consigns him to eternal darkness, but he also gets to enjoy an eternity listening to the sickening squelching of its fleshy matter.
- The Cameo: In The Bunker, it shows up for a brief cameo appearance should Henri fall off the edge during the final confrontation with the Beast, where it kills him.
- Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Its orbs, or anyone imbued with its powers.
- Eldritch Abomination: Shapeless and alien, it bends reality around itself and cannot be stopped by any normal means whatsoever. It will tear apart whatever it has to in order to reach its target and those marked by it tend to go insane before they die.
- Finish Him!: It wants Daniel to confront the baron for meddling in its affairs, and then and only then will it forgive him.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: If Daniel remains too long in darkness, the Shadow will start to drain his sanity.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Though it is the catalyst for Daniel's involvement in the plot and unquestionably a thing of terror and destruction (even Alexander fears it and finds it repulsive), there are no means of communicating with it and it lacks any discernible character aside from indiscriminate wrath.
- Meat Moss: How it makes its presence known.
- A Million Is a Statistic: Doesn't really care what Daniel does during the 'blood wards', which drives him further into insanity in his desperation to banish it.
- No Escape but Down: Daniel cannot banish or hide from it; all he can do is flee into Brennenburg's depths for as long as he can.
- Reality Warper: Daniel aptly describes it as a nightmare breaking down reality.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Hoo boy. Fleeing to a Prussian baron for sanctuary was the worst thing Daniel could've done.
- Sentient Cosmic Force: The loading screens denounce it not as some evil spirit, but the will of the universe maintaining a bigger cosmic balance.
- Signature Roar: It always bellows or howls before its corruption and fleshy matter spread.
- Stern Chase: Past Daniel was willing to do anything to avert its wrath, but ultimately found no way to truly stop it. And ironically, brought it down upon himself.
- Stalker without a Crush: From the deserts of Algeria, across the Mediterranean and Atlantic ocean, through the streets of London, and over Europe, it follows Daniel everywhere.
- This Is My Human: It's implied by Alexander that Daniel is its property. DON'T touch or interact with him, or you won't live to regret it.
- Womb Level: It turns all of Brennenburg into this.
- You Cannot Grasp the True Form: Literally. The closest you get to seeing what it looks like is the red mist that represents it when it chases you.
- You Will Not Evade Me: It will not allow Daniel to escape it by entering the portal himself. Alexander explains it doesn't matter either way, since even if Daniel could somehow travel beyond the universe, it would still inevitably capture and consume him.
Justine characters
The Protagonist
The Protagonist
- Voiced by: Emily Corkery
The Player Character of Justine. A girl given an amnesia potion like Daniel and forced to escape Justine's trap-ridden dungeon for Justine's entertainment.
- All for Nothing: Whether you go out of your way to save all the hostages from Justine's Cabinet of Perturbation or not, does not change their fate, because you are Justine.
- Amnesiac Protagonist Catalyst: She's actually Justine herself. with self-inflicted amnesia so she could test herself and see if she was capable of good.
- Heroic Mime: Even more so than Daniel. The girl just grunts and screams.
- I Am Who?: Justine, that's who.
- No Name Given: Her name is not mentioned until the very end, unless you count all the times Justine talks about herself.
- Non-Action Guy: She is completely unarmed and has no way of defending herself.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Very annoying, given that you cannot save your game.
- Supporting Protagonist: The DLC is really more about Justine. The Player Character is there so the player can solve the puzzles and learn about Justine. Which means this trope is ultimately subverted.
- Tender Tears: The only time she displays any feeling other than being a sadistic monster is in the winding halls with the blood messages. She won't stop crying until you escape the hallways.
- She cries if you save the hostages. If you didn't save anyone, she snaps, realizing she's no better than Justine for sacrificing three innocents to save her own life and giggles softly all the way to the exit. Justine doesn't want to lose her humanity, thus going insane if she fails her own test.
Justine
Justine
- Voiced by: Emily Corkery"I bid you welcome to my Cabinet of Perturbation. It is my study of the human psyche — specifically yours."
The main antagonist of the DLC of the same name. Trying to escape from her dungeon slowly reveals the details of Justine's life and how she set up her torture dungeon. She is revealed to be the Player Character at the end of the game.
- Above Good and Evil: "Laws are made for cretins! The aristocracy doesn't need to know right from wrong. We are always right."
- Though given the fact that she's invoked the wrath of fellow aristo Lucien Racine for abducting his son, it could the case of her being an outright hypocrite or Justine has simply long gone into denial.
- Always Someone Better: Her feelings about her mother's "blinding beauty" and her growing desire to become more beautiful than her mother fuel her insanity.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Less "evil" and more "utterly despicable".
- Ax-Crazy: Just look at what she did to the Suitors.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Unless you run headlong into a suitor and let him kill you.
- The Baroness: She seems obsessed with controlling situations, even as a child. Maybe it's payback for not being able to play with other children.
- Beauty Is Bad: If we are to believe her claim that her "beauty is blinding", that is.
- Combat Sadomasochist: Definitely of the thrill seeker variety, as she exposes even herself to some very dangerous tests of character, getting immense gratification from the harm she's caused others and to herself.
- Control Freak: Very much so. Even at a young age, she sought to use her father's tests of her illness against him, performing all kinds of disturbing things to provoke or get a reaction out of him. The end result is a rare case of Gone Horribly Right for her when she succeeds, and Gone Horribly Wrong for Florbelle when her rage at being humiliated makes her a Self-Made Orphan.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She seems to care about her maid and very brief childhood friend Clarice. This is, considering how dangerously close her servant is to uncovering the truth, and how easy is it for Justine to spirit her away to the cabinet/torture dungeon below.
- Expy: Being a ruthlessly sadistic and elitist French aristocrat who gets away with her serial killings scot-free, it's very possible that Justine is based on Marquis de Sade's character Juliette. Justine even shares the name of Juliette's sister and another de Sade character named Florbelle.
- For the Evulz: A good portion of the shit she has pulled was motivated by nothing more than sick amusement. Her persistent dedication to destroying Malo De Vigny inside as well as out was pretty much done out of a sense of psychotic schadenfreude.
- Freudian Excuse: She was isolated and experimented upon by her father as a child.
- One of her diaries implies that Justine was molested by her father. The note leaves it ambiguous as to whether she or her father initiated this, making it even more unsettling.
- Heel Realization: The events behind this game is the result of one, in a very dark way. She put herself through all of those traps and torment to try and at least preserve what little humanity she had left.
- Hidden Depths: Despite the fact that she's a sociopathic scumbag, the fact that Justine actually goes out of her way to prove to herself that she isn't entirely evil shows that she isn't at peace with being a monster as she seems.
- Ignored Enamored Underling: Alois. Romantically, she wasn't interested at all with him, but given her interests, Alois probably should have quit right there and ran for the hills.
- Jerkass: Oh, that is perhaps the kindest way to describe her. She's an elitist, sociopathic narcissist that treats people like her playthings to break and maim for little more than fun.
- Karma Houdini: Unless you decide to throw yourself to the suitors anyway.
- Lonely Rich Kid:
Was one long before becoming what she is now.- The memory of being one is still with her. One of the blood messages in her cabinet is "Lonely".
- Mission Control Is Off Its Meds: Justine explains upcoming traps, puzzles, and monsters to the protagonist through left-behind phonographs, but she's clearly not trying to help the girl as much as she is rubbing her evil in the girl's face. Considering that she is the player, this takes on a very interesting light after you find this out.
- Sadist: A particular trait of hers that the Suitors bore the brunt of.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: She has the chief of police in Calais turn a blind eye to her activities, forcing nobleman Lucien Racine to take matters into his own hands and go privately to incarcerate the madwoman.
- Self-Made Orphan: That's just the tip of the iceberg and her Start of Darkness.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: "Cabinet of perturbation" is an odd way to describe a torture dungeon/lab maze.
- Slipping a Mickey: She has Aloïs drug Basile's beverage.
- Smug Snake: "Are you enjoying my quips? I think they are quite clever."
- The Sociopath: It is worth noting that unlike many other examples, it is heavily implied that Justine is, in fact, a bona fide sociopath, or at least someone suffering from a severe case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She displays virtually every single symptom of the condition at one point or another, and her father, a psychiatrist, has been quite aware that she is suffering from some sort of mental illness (although the exact term for hers hasn't been coined yet back in the day) and experimented upon her for it.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: She killed her father when she was still a child, because he was trying to help her and sort out her mental illness.
- The Voice: Until it's revealed that she's the player character.
- What You Are in the Dark: The purpose of her sick (and latest) test was to see if there was any trace of humanity left in her.
The Suitors (in general)
The Suitors
The main enemies of the Justine DLC. They were former lovers of Justine before being tortured and mutilated to the point of insanity.
- And I Must Scream: They have been abacinated, tortured, had metal devices such as cart-wheels or chains surgically attached to their bodies, and all done just for the giggles.
- Ax-Crazy: All three of them are deranged and dangerous. Basile is the only one of the three to retain enough of his former self to actively try and kill Justine for what she did to him, while the other two have completely lost touch with reality altogether, with Alois retreating into his romantic delusions and having turned into a violent Yandere who intends to kill Justine so she will never leave him, and Malo being a cannibalistic shell of a man who simply wants to kill and eat anyone he comes across.
- Badass Normal: Unlike the creatures used by Alexander or The Machine, the Suitors aren't supernatural in any way, simply regular humans mutilated with 19th century implements and tortured into insanity. Yet they're just as deadly as the genuinely monstrous Gatherers or Pig Men; in fact they're even more dangerous because their attacks are a One-Hit Kill.
- Eye Scream: Each of the monsters has been blinded by Justine, you can see their empty eye-sockets surrounded by blood.
- Face–Monster Turn: Each of the Suitors were once normal people before being manipulated and tortured into what they are now.
- Male Frontal Nudity: The Suitors are all fully nude, and their genitalia are clearly visible. Given the context, Fan Disservice is the clear intent.
- One-Hit Kill: One hit from a suitor and you're dead.
- Slave Collar: Each of the suitors is sporting an extremely tight cart wheel around their necks causing them to wheeze and gasp for air while trying to find you.
Aloïs Racine
Aloïs Racine
- Voiced by: Scotty Campbell"Is that you, my love?"
The first of the three suitors encountered in Justine. He was one of three men Justine was romantically involved with. Over time, she tortured them all and blinded one of them, and warped them into insane shells of their former selves. He was (if the sounds in his cell are to be believed) a racquet-ball player. Once a very soft-spoken person, he now attacks in the same way. He is the first man you must escape from/avoid in the trial, found in the first area of the cells.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Is totally and completely in love with Justine, who obviously does not, and never will, care about him in the slightest.
- Anti-Villain: His only goal is to have Justine, one way or another.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Oh dear lord, yes. He speaks in a very mild mannered, almost gentle tone, but don't be fooled. He's just as capable of killing you as Basile or Malo.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Was extremely jealous of Justine's relationships with Basile and Malo, to the point that he wanted to murder them both, and happily helped Justine drug and torture Basile. To be fair, though, he probably at least had very good reasons for disliking Basile.
- Dissonant Serenity: The way he speaks is hauntingly calm, for the most part, even though he's blind and mutilated. Attacking: "No, stay!" Searching: "Is that you, my love...?" Standing still: "Why did this happen...?"
- The Dragon: To Justine, before she tortured him and the other suitors.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: He still has some sanity, but judging by the fact Justine left him down in the cells, he's at his breaking point.
- Have a Nice Death: "Hush now… it's alright…"
- Hopeless Suitor: He is, and always will be, hopelessly in love with Justine.
- If I Can't Have You…: Because killing Justine is the only way she will ever stay with him.
- Love Makes You Crazy: After all the torture he endured, he reasons that if he can't have Justine, he will kill her and probably cherish her body, supported by his line when he kills you.Aloïs: (after he kills you) Hush now, it's alright.
- Love Makes You Evil: Out of sheer devotion, he happily helped Justine capture Malo and torture Basile.
- Love Martyr: He'll do anything for Justine.
- Mad Love: Has taken up self-harming in an attempt to make Justine return that warped affection.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: It's the only way Justine will stay with him. He is also extremely jealous of Basile and wishes to murder him so he can keep Justine for himself.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: He never actually got the chance to do so, but he wanted to kill Basile and Malo out of jealousy, so he could have Justine for himself.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Well, obviously, he is an enemy in game; however, it's implied in the note found within his cell that he's the one who knocked out Basile with bromide.
- Papa Wolf: His father Lucien Racine, has understandably become very concerned about his son's affair with Justine and is working behind the scenes to have her incarcerated.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: One of the things he says to you as you run away from him is a painfully desperate cry of "Please, come back!"
- Tragic Villain: All he ever wanted was Justine's love.
- Undying Loyalty: To Justine, even after the horrible things she has done to him.
- Yandere: No points for guessing who for.
Basile Giroux
Basile Giroux
- Voiced by: Jon St. John"I will find you, you cunt."
The second of the three suitors. Basile is very different from Alois and Malo. He is angry, violent, and swears like a sailor. He is, bizarrely, the Only Sane Man of the three men, having kept one thing in mind after this ordeal — revenge — and thereby kept his mind. Possibly was a carpenter before being mutilated by Justine. He is found in the underground storage area beneath the library.
- Asshole Victim: If the letters from Alois are to be believed, he wasn't a very nice guy to begin with.
- The Big Guy: Said to be very strong. Possibly a carpenter.
- Country Matters: So far, he remains the only character in the Amnesia series, and the only character from Frictional Games, to have ever said the word "cunt".
- The Determinator: He won't give up until he has killed Justine for what she has done to him.
- Domestic Abuse: The main reason Alois drugged him for Justine.
- The Dragon: Assisted Justine in capturing Malo, before she betrayed him.
- I'll Kill You!: "I'll kill you, you whore!"
- Have a Nice Death: "You thought you'd get away, didn't you?!"
- Jerkass: He's an abusive prick...
- Jerkass Has a Point: ...but you really can't blame him for wanting to murder Justine after everything she's done.
- Only Sane Man: He is the only suitor to completely hold on to his mind. Alois is Lovesick, and Malo… has nothing left at all.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Directed at Justine, but he will take it out on you because you are Justine.
- Unstoppable Rage: The only reason why he’s managed to hold on to himself for this long is because he’s nigh-singlemindedly fixated on finding Justine and tearing her to pieces.
Malo De Vigny
Malo De Vigny
- Voiced by: Jeff Buchanan"I grow tired of my own flesh."
The third and final of the suitors. Malo is unique among the suitors; he is totally insane. He was a violinist before the cabinet was created. He is also much stronger than he looks; capable of tearing down doors with ease and One Hit Killing you in a flash. He is located in the flooded basement, which makes evading him difficult. He can find you even if he can't see you… though he claims he can.
- The Alcoholic: Implied in the note in his cell.
- Anti-Villain: Unlike the other suitors, there is so little left of his sanity that it is possible to truly pity him, or rather what he once might have been.
- Autocannibalism: He was forced to eat his own flesh to survive.
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil: He's a laughing mad cannibal who delights in killing and eating the protagonist because of what Justine did to him.
- Blatant Lies: "Come out. You'll like what I've got planned."
- The Brute: He is the most savage and vicious of the suitors, even more so than Basile.
- Creepy Monotone: He usually speaks in this manner.
- Driven to Madness: After the torture and starvation.
- Freudian Excuse: A non-evil variety. He developed his taste for flesh after being left to starve in his cell and forced to eat his own flesh to survive. There's also the fact that, if you find all the hints for his backstory, it would appear that the horrors Justine inflicted upon him simply for her own sick amusements were far from limited to simply maiming and disfiguring him. She started her work on thoroughly breaking his mind long before she even captured him: it's heavily implied that she drugged him (or at least encouraged him to drink extremely heavily) before his greatest concert yet, knowing full well that this would cause him to fumble. The great virtuoso was humiliated, mocked, booed by the audience, and eventually taken off the stage by his own orchestra mates to be replaced with some other violinist. And all the while, Justine laughed.
- Have a Nice Death: He doesn't actually say anything. He just eats your flesh...and makes loud gnawing/chewing/giggling sounds.
- I Am a Humanitarian: "Justine, let me taste you!". As mentioned above, you can hear him chewing your flesh after he kills you.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: He wants to eat someone else's flesh, after all.
- Power Born of Madness: He probably does not have his bearings together when he smashes through iron doors.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: He explains everything he wants to do to Justine in a creepily soft and gleeful tone, all the while Laughing Mad.
- Tragic Villain: At least Basile and Alois have their heads together (mostly Basile, but Alois is still in there, too). Malo? We will never know what he was like before.
Monsieur Florbelle
Monsieur Florbelle
The late-father of the main antagonist of the DLC of the same name.
- Can't Catch Up: Florbelle kept reminding young Justine of her late mother's "blinding" beauty, giving her a Inferiority Superiority Complex.
- Desecrating the Dead: Before the events of the game, Justine dug up his body and hung it upside down from the ceiling in the family Crypt, then thoughtfully attached a phonograph to his remains.
- Didn't Think This Through: Secluding a child with worsening mental health disorders, refusing to allow her a normal healthy childhood, subjecting her to tests that cause further distress… wasn't really in either party's best interest.
- For Science!: One of the driving motives behind his "curious" experiments.
- Last-Name Basis: We never learn his given name, only his surname.
- Mad Scientist: Well, a psychologist who devotes himself to the study of the psyche and developing human mind. Monsieur Florbelle's methods however, are questionable at best.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He realized his tests had achieved nothing but creating a huge rift between his increasingly-unstable daughter and himself. Florbelle could no longer justify his research and now needed to mend his relationship with his daughter. But Florbelle never had the chance and Justine murdered him.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Of French aristocracy, Monsieur Florbelle was the one who pulled strings to allow his old acquaintance Herbert passage into Algeria, for the expedition predating the events of the Dark Descent.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He genuinely wants to find out why some people are born with mental illnesses or sociopathic tendencies and find ways to treat them.
