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Characters / Layers of Fear

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    The Painter 

  • Abusive Parents: Again, psychologically and verbally rather than physical; he has yelled a his daughter previously for, in his eyes, "failing," to draw a horse in the manner in how he believes to be, "properly," and even criticized her decision to color the horse pink. He also yells at her again when she apparently once asked him about a bottle of Bourbon he was drinking from and reached for it out of curiosity, although to be fair, he did show regret that time, but it doesn't change the fact that he lashed out and acted very immaturely and irresponsibly.
  • The Alcoholic: Bottles of beer and wine are scattered throughout the house, and a receipt that turns up early on shows, among its items, "30 booze". Flashbacks reveal that the artist drinks heavily because he thinks it helps him work.
  • Asshole Victim: A non-fatal example. As it's revealed that he was the one exploring the entire house for the whole story, and, despite his posthumous attempt at an apology, the damage has been done, his wife is gone, his daughter has been taken away from him, and The Artist is now all alone with nothing but his own madness and his countless paintings he's made, completely blind to his own selfish ambitions.
  • Axe-Crazy: No doubt a by-product of his degrading sanity, he occasionally is presented this way in some dialogue upon discovering important memories.
  • Characterization Marches On: The Early Access port makes the Painter out to be aggressive and often deliberately abusive towards his wife and child. In the full-release version however, the character is more passive aggressive and perhaps more psychologically abusive, although he may or may not be intending for it to that way, given how he is a work-obsessed, emotionally distant man who does want to be a good husband and father, though his alcoholism, artistic ambitions and burgeoning mental illness make this intensely difficult.
  • Mad Artist: He is making a painting out of flesh, blood, and other bodily components. Maybe. For good measure, it's never established where he's getting these particular items: either he's mutilating himself for the sake of his art, his wife's body has been cannibalized to make way for his masterpiece, or he's just hallucinating the whole thing.
  • Parental Neglect: At one point, when exploring The Daughter's bedroom, a drawing made by her can be found that depicts herself and her mother out in the middle of a sunny field, and they're both holding hands and smiling. Meanwhile, she portrays her father surrounded by darkness (possibly meaning the walls of his workshop in the house) with a red face and apparently angrily trying to work on a canvas. This on it's own, if nothing else shows that, regardless of whatever good intentions The Artist may have had, it's obvious that he was far more interested in finishing his work than actually being a proper father.
  • The Perfectionist
  • Reclusive Artist: In-universe case. Once the darling of the newspapers, the Artist has retreated to his home following personal tragedy and has no intention of emerging until he's done producing his Magnum Opus. Depending on the ending, he may continue his efforts as a hermit, commit suicide, or go public once again with a successful work at long last.
  • Swarm of Rats: He believes that his house is infested with rats. No one else can see them. Except maybe the wife, if the rat picture that talks about "poisoning the paint" is by her.

    The Wife 


     The Daughter 


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