Alan Wake/Characters: Difference between revisions

{{spoiler|The subsequent events of the game were written out by him in a novel titled "Departure,", which is being brought to life by the magic of Cauldron Lake. The Dark Presence touched him and affected his mind, convincing him to write a horror story that would allow him to bring his wife back, but would also give the Presence enough power to spread over the entire world. Realizing this and breaking free of its control, he rewrote the story so that he was the protagonist and could fight the Presence and save his wife.}}.

* [[The Alcoholic]]: Mainly due to the many parties thrown in the wake of his most recent novel. {{spoiler|The Anderson brothers' moonshine had that extra special kick to it.}}.

* [[Badass Bookworm]]: He's a novelist that's a surprisingly good shot.

* [[Determinator]]: He is ''going'' to find his wife. ''Get out of his way.''.

* [[Help Your Self in the Future]]: Just about every useful item in the game was {{spoiler|written into the plot by Alan himself}}. Lampshaded in his internal monologues when noting that flash grenades aren't exactly standard electrician equipment.

* {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}: ''Maybe''. {{spoiler|As of the end of "The Writer", he's on his way back to the real world.}}.

** See also [[Took a Level In Kindness]] below.

* [[Nerves of Steel]]: Earned them after the events at Bright Falls. In ''American Nightmare'', he notes multiple times that he has a hard time getting stressed out anymore.

* {{spoiler|[[Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere]]: As of the end, Alan is trapped in the cabin under Cauldron Lake.}}.

* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: Twofold in ''American Nightmare''. He's much better at working with the plans he's written into being as well as his own [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|instincts]]. However, he's also altered the genre of the story from [[Surreal Horror]] to a surreal form of Action, allowing himself access to bigger guns.

{{spoiler|Taken hostage by the Dark Presence, which is forcing Alan to write "Departure" and free it.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Dead All Along]]}}: As revealed to Alan by Dr. Hartman. '''{{color|white|DON'T BELIEVE HIS LIES}}'''.

Alan's agent and best friend, who rushes to Bright Falls when things go down. Initially skeptical of what's happening, he rapidly [[Genre Savvy|catches on]] and begins to help Alan. By the end of the game, {{spoiler|he's loaded with flares, Christmas light body armor, and a headlamp to fight the Taken.}}.

* [[Shout-Out]]: Delivers many references including ''[[Zork]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', to name a few.

* [[Tender Tears]]: When saying goodbye to {{spoiler|Alan as he leaves the Well-Lit Room.}}.

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: It is never revealed what happened to him and the others {{spoiler|in the Well-Lit Room.}}.

** ''The Alan Wake filesFiles'' reveals that {{spoiler|he's out and about, and was suing the writer of said file for awhile until he was persuaded to stop.}}.

The "Kidnapper" who contacts Alan in Episode 2 and is the antagonist throughout Episode 3, claiming to have his wife and offering her in exchange for the manuscript pages of "Departure". Is quite dimwitted and have aggression issues. {{spoiler|Actually working for Dr. Hartman.}}.

* [[Badass Normal]]: Does remarkably well fending off the Taken. Indeed, he's well-versed with their weaknesses, and is entirely unintimidated with fighting them (so much so that he has absolutely no problems setting up his meetings with Alan to take place in the middle of the night deep in the Taken-infested woods.).

* {{spoiler|[[You Have Failed Me...]]}}: One manuscript page reveals that {{spoiler|Hartman}} was incredibly frustrated that Mott {{spoiler|gave Alan only 2 days to finish his manuscript instead of the full week Alan wanted. He doesn't get killed until the Dark Presence comes along.}}.

A park ranger who rents out cabins outside Bright Falls. {{spoiler|Gets snatched by the Dark Presence and turned into a Taken in Episode 2.}}.

The waitress at the diner in Bright Falls, and one of Alan's biggest fans. {{spoiler|Is touched by the Dark Presence and used to drug Alan and Barry in Episode 3}}, and doesn't quite recover. At the end of the game, {{spoiler|is implied to be the next Lady of Light.}}.

* [[And I Must Scream]]: When she is {{spoiler|possessed by Thethe Dark Presence and unable to control her actions.}}.

* [[Creepy Monotone]]: While {{spoiler|under the influence of Thethe Dark Presence.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Passing the Torch]]: Implied to be the new Lady of the Light.}}.

An FBI agent investigating and pursuing Alan Wake. {{spoiler|Taken by the Dark Presence in Episode 5, and implied to be the Presence's next avatar after Jaggar's form is destroyed.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[And I Must Scream]]: The ending suggests that he has become the new avatar for Thethe Dark Presence.}}.

*** And carried on with the Novel which goes into even more detail; Hehe and his partner were two [[By The Book]] cops, until the latter's death at the hands of the Dark Presence.

Head of the local Bright Falls sheriff's office, who is investigating Alice's disappearance and eventually joins Alan in fighting the Dark Presence. {{spoiler|Is at least partially aware of the weirdness around Cauldron Lake, which is why she readily works with Alan.}}.

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: It is never revealed what happened to her and the others {{spoiler|in the Well-Lit Room.}}.

** In the''The Alan Wake Files'', set after the game, {{spoiler|she's talked to the author on a few things, but doesn't talk about what happened during the game or why there's a lot of damage and missing people in Bright Falls.}}.

One of Bright falls' residents, who is obsessed with making sure all the lights in the town are working properly. {{spoiler|wasWas a friend of Thomas Zane before he vanished, and became the Lady of Light, devoted to safeguarding the town, Zane's memory and maniscript, and the Clicker.}}.

* [[The Atoner]]: {{spoiler|She protects Bright Falls in remembrance of Tom.}}.

* [[Crazy Prepared]]: {{spoiler|Guess who left all of those safe havens and supply caches for Alan to conveniently find.}}.

* [[Mysterious Protector]]: {{spoiler|She is the Lady of the Light.}}.

Two brothers who formed a heavy metal band in the '70's on their farm near Cauldron Lake, and renamed themselves as Norse gods to further their image of reborn deities. Now mentally-unstable old men who live in Dr. Hartman's clinic, but occasionally sneak off to raise hell in town or get some moonshine. {{spoiler|Have encountered and fought against the Dark Presence in the past, and were aware of both the Lady of Light and Thomas Zane, and their significance in fighting the Dark Presence.}}.

* [[Crazy Prepared]]: {{spoiler|Left the primer to defeating the Dark Presence in the lyrics of their songs, and their farm has enough weaponry to arm a mid-sized militia}}.

* [[Eyepatch of Power]]: Odin.

* [[Heavy Mithril]]: They model themselves off of Norse mythology.

* [[The Power of Rock]]: {{spoiler|Literally. "The Poet and The Muse" explains how to defeat the Dark Presence, while "Children of the Elder God" details how to fight the Presence and the Taken. And considering the nature of Cauldron Lake, those songs may be the entire reason why the Taken are vulnerable to light in the first place.}}.

** Invoked again in ''American Nightmare'' with their new single, Balance Slays The Demon. {{spoiler|As you can probably guess, its lyrics detail how to defeat Mr. Scratch. And a reversed message saying "It will happen again, in another town. A town, called Ordinary."}}

The central antagonist of the game, a hostile, aggressive supernatural entity that exists within Cauldron Lake, which creates the Taken. Its power is limited by {{spoiler|what is written or created by the artists around Cauldron Lake}}. The Presence {{spoiler|was originally encountered by Thomas Zane, and convinced him to bring back his deceased love Barbara Jagger - but [[Plot Hole|since Zane didn't specify how she came back]], the Presence took over her body and used her as an avatar.}}.

* [[Big Bad]]: Of the first game, and the series in general.

* [[Humanoid Abomination]]: The Taken forms as well as the avatar of {{spoiler|Barbara Jagger.}}.

A poet and apparently bestselling author who lived in and around Cauldron Lake in the 1960's, and was in love with a woman named Barbara Jagger. {{spoiler|When Barbara drowned, the Dark Presence convinced him to bring her back using his poetry, but he didn't explain how she returned, [[Came Back Wrong|allowing the Dark Presence to put in its own explanation and take over her body.]]}}. In response, Thomas Zane {{spoiler|chose to write himself and his actions entirely out of existence, thereby containing the Dark Presence.}}. He also wrote in a loophole that allowed {{spoiler|Cynthia Weaver to remember him and what had happened, allowing her to become the Lady of Light.}}.

Later on, when Alan Wake arrived at Cauldron Lake, {{spoiler|Alan wrote Thomas Zane into his novel as a guide, taking on the form of a man in a diving/space suit, who would help Alan fight the Dark Presence.}}.

* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: Writing this {{spoiler|allowed the Presence to take over Barabara Jagger's body.}}.

* [[The Obi-Wan]]: He acts as Alan's guide and aids him, though indirectly. {{spoiler|Becomes much more direct in [[Journey to the Center of the Mind|"The Signal"]] and [[Enemy Within|"The Writer"]] DLC, which are almost completely Zane trying to guide Alan through the Dark Place and teach him to fight it's influence.}}.

* [[Ret-Gone]]: {{spoiler|Did this to himself}}.

A retired cop who is now the host of a late night radio program. Alan first meets him on the boat into town where he asks him to [[Foreshadowing|stop by later for an interview.]] {{spoiler|In chapterEpisode 3, Alan does stop by the station, but he's not there for an interview}}...}}

Works at a local garage and {{spoiler|ends up becoming the first elite taken.Taken}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Ax Crazy]]}}: {{spoiler|He even has an actual ax!}}!

A doctor who owns a clinic reserved for artists near Caldren lake. He's also the one who convinced Alice to bring Alan to Bright Falls. As it turns out, {{spoiler|he intended to use Alan to his own ends, but meets a gruesome fate before any of his plans can come to fruition.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Big Bad Ensemble]]}}: {{spoiler|With the Dark Presence and Agent Nightingale, but never meets the latter.}}.

* [[Blatant Lies]]: {{spoiler|Alice isn't dead, dammit!}}!

* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: {{spoiler|Aims to control the darkDark presencePresence. By the end of chapterEpisode 4, he becomes yet another of the dark presence's many victims.}}.

* [[Faux Affably Evil]]: He feigns pleasantness when he wants his victims to be off guard.

* [[The Hedonist]]: Everything he does in his existence is for his own enjoyment.

* [[Hidden Depths]]: One video has him oddly subdued, but clearly agitated. He opens up to Alan, since they're so much alike being dopplegangers, and mentions that the fact of his existence is extremely disturbing to himself. He tries several times to ask Alan for help and to work together, but he literally can't get the words out. For whatever reason, Mr. Scratch was trying to reach out to Alan.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Good lord, he's basically a dog-kicking machine. Just when you think he's finally topped himself, Alan turns on another tv, and Mr. Scratch finds some new way to get under Alan's (as well as the player's) skin.

* {{spoiler|[[Non-Action Big Bad]]}}: {{spoiler|For all his boasts and taunts, all he ever bothers to do is send random taken after Alan rather than try to deal with him directly. Even his victims are all either tied up and helpless or taken by surprise.}}.

* [[Slasher Smile]]: One of his most noted features whenever he's in a good mood.

* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: {{spoiler|As it turns out, he can't withstand the light much better than the mooks he sends after you. Small motel lights and things like that are apparently fine, but anything close to a floodlight and he's toast.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Back from the Dead]]: At least twice. She's killed by the Darkness at the end of Act 1 and 2, although she starts remembering her deaths in Act 2, and in 3, she and Alan figure out how to finally prevent it by stopping the Taken from knocking out her garage's fuse box.}}.

* [[Wrench Wench]]: A female mechanic, and one used to getting shit for it too.

A female scientist you meet in ''American Nightmare'' who works for Redtooth Observatory. {{spoiler|She eventually helps you to decode a mysterious signal that holds the key to defeating Mr. Scratch.}}.

* [[And I Must Scream]]: She has no control over her actions, but is left fully aware of her behavior. On the second time Alan passes through the drive in, [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|he doesn't have to help and can leave her like this.]]

* [[Brainwashed]]: Touched by the Darkness via Mr. Scratch, and becomes a total slut. {{spoiler|You can snap her out of it by turning on the lights to her building, which cures her instantly. As she retains full memory of her actions, she feels disgusted afterwards and thanks Alan for not taking advantage of her.}}.

** {{spoiler|Although helping her is optional in Acts 2 and 3 for some reason.}}.