The Doctor is a major character in Darkwood.
The Doctor is a desperate inhabitant of the Darkwood who is not originally an inhabitant of the area, being a community doctor who moved to the area with his daughter and his wife some time prior to 1975. When the plague began to get out of control and road blocks were put in place, his wife and daughter were evacuated, but he chose to remain behind to continue tend to the two villages. Eventually he was left without a choice to leave as the woods consumed all the roads leading out of the forest sometime around late 1977 (as this is the date on the newspaper in his now useless car). He was still able to get between villages as late as 1982, as he mentions having still been visiting the Swamp Village five years prior to the current time.
The Doctor has been trying for many years to cure victims of the plague but without any success. His medications becoming increasingly outlandish as seen in the numerous doctor notes which can be found throughout the game. At one point he attempted to isolate villagers below the Church, this was either to protect the healthy or cure the sick, it is unclear, but either way this attempt was a failure and all those who remained succumbed to the plague and the Doctor abandoned the project. With his failures mounting, the villagers began to turn on him in their frustration. This ultimately culminated with them attempting to lynch him in the Prologue while he is holding the Protagonist captive. The villagers appear as Black Chompers to the Protagonist who is still under the influence of essence, but the destroyed ransacked house can be re-encountered later in the game (and the Doctor's medical bag can be now be found in a fire in the Village), and the Doctor has fled to take refuge in the Train Wreck.
Having been desperate to leave now for some time, the Doctor has grown to truly despise the Outsiders, he knows they can come to and leave the woods as they like thanks to their network of tunnels, yet leave him and the villagers all to their fate for fear of spreading contagion.
The Doctor has the key that is necessary to finish the first chapter of the game.
During the first half of the Prologue the player assumes the role of the Doctor. After the Prologue, the Doctor is located at the Train Wreck, and the player continues as the Protagonist.
When killed, he drops the Big, Metal Key.
Plot
Prologue
During the Prologue, the Doctor finds the unconscious Protagonist in the woods noting the only items he has on him are a key and a journal. The Doctor takes the Big, Metal Key from the Protagonist, suspecting that he knows a way to escape the dreadful woods. This circumstance prompts the Doctor to lock up the Protagonist in his house, drugging him, beating him, and taking a large part of his journal to try to extract information. After this the Doctor leaves, and flees the house when the villagers show up to lynch him.
Chapter 1
A: Wolfman's Path or the Doctor's Instructions #3
During the course of Chapter 1, the Protagonist is trying to find the Doctor to reclaim the Big, Metal Key. Eventually the Doctor is confronted in a little camp inside the Train Wreck, after searching his abandoned house for clues to his current location. The player can choose to either kill the Doctor and take the Big, Metal Key, or show him the location of the Underground Entrance. If spared, he can be found in Chapter 2.
B: Musician's Path
- see Train Wreck (dream) and Underground Entrance.
The Musician talks with the Doctor, and arranges an "appointment" for the Protagonist with him. The Doctor proceeds to gas and ambush the protagonist, before tying him up and attempting to interrogate him under the influence of essence once again. If the Protagonist dies during the dream sequence then the Doctor will succeed in extracting the information he wants and leaves the Protagonist to awaken alone. If the Protagonist survives the dream sequence, then the Protagonist overcomes the effects of the drugs and is given the option to spare or kill the Doctor.
If the Doctor is spared, he will wait for the Protagonist by the Big Metal Door, and walk with him down the tunnel leading to the Swamp. While the Protagonist is distracted, he flees and runs ahead to the Swamp alone, effectively abandoning them.
If the Train Wreck dream sequence was failed, then the Doctor will head to the Underground tunnel on his own, first making sure to leave signs on the floor to let the villagers know this is a way out, and then fleeing to the Swamp on his own.
Chapter 2
A: If the Doctor was spared
The player can meet The Doctor three times randomly at several locations in Chapter 2: the Swamp Village, the Holes, the Junkyard, a pool close to the Cottage near the Junkyard, Swamp Cottage, Mushroom Glade, Sawmill, Burned Cottage and the Radio Tower. The Doctor's state further deteriorates with each encounter as he succumbs to the plague, becoming noticeably more feral, ignoring injuries and caking himself with mud to attach sticks to his head. The Doctor is slowly becoming a Savage. Every time the player encounters the Doctor, they can trade with him. The Doctor offers a choice between three random items. The player may take one of these three items for free; the other ones are unobtainable as the Doctor does not buy any of the Protagonist's items.
B: If the Train Sequence Dream was failed
The Doctor explores the Swamp hideout, burning some pages of the protagonist's journal to light a fire and noting how the Outsiders appear to use a substance upon a stove (he is unsure of its purpose). He has already left the hideout by the time the Protagonist arrives. Offscreen his mind quickly deteriorates, and he is next found in a hidden campsite with a doll he has made with a shiny stone emplaced in its head (representive of his daughter). He will become verbally and physically aggressive if approached by the Protagonist.
Quests
The Key
The player can travel to the Doctor's House again by either following and completing the quest line for Wolfman or killing Chicken Lady and taking the Doctor's Instructions #3. Once arrived at the Train Wreck, if the player chooses to follow the Musician questline, an event is triggered in which the Chicken Lady House can be explored all over again, but with an entirely new twist.
The Doctor holds onto the Big, Metal Key that must be used in the Bunker Entrance (part of the Underground Entrance) to complete the first chapter of the game. The key can be obtained either by killing the Doctor or by agreeing to take him to the exit out of the woods in the Underground Entrance.
Epilogue
The Doctor will be found curled up sleeping next to the Being, even if killed by The Protagonist in Chapter 1. He remains in this state as he burns to death, unaware of the fire around him.
If the Bliss ending is taken and the Doctor hasn't been killed, the Doctor is said to roam the Woods as a Savage, gone mad and haunted by the memories of his daughter.
- See Transcript
Stock
The Doctor is unlike any other vendors, he only sells items in Chapter 2, and can only be found capable of trading three times. In Chapter 2, every time he is met, he has 100 reputations, allowing the Protagonist to take one item for free. The unspent reputation will not persist next time he is met (pointless to save up the reputation) and he will restock completely. Nothing can be sold to him.
| Icon | Item | Buy | Stock |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Weapon Parts | 100 | 1 |
|
Bolt Handle | 100 | 1 |
|
Embryo | 100 | 1 |
Dialogue
Chapter 1
- The Musician's path
The doctor doesn't try to hide his amusement.
His face suddenly stiffens.
I can feel the doctor's cold hand grab me by the jaw, twisting my inert head so he can look me straight into my eyes.
He takes a full syringe out of his pocket.
I feel as if my head is about to explode under the pressure of the train car's walls.
I barely recognize the doctor's blurry image in the dark.
The doctor falls silent. It feels like whole hours are passing by.
His voice breaks down.
The pain becomes unbearable.
His silhouette slowly blurs away.
- Get killed by the Black Chompers
I barely have the strength to open my eyes. I see a blurred silhouette standing above me.
I am completely paralyzed. I can only follow the the doctor exiting the train car with my weary gaze.
Only after he disappears behind the trees I realize I revealed the location to the underground entrance to him.
This time the poison is too strong... I'm losing consciousness.
I wake up after a few hours.
- Escape from the dream
The doctor is lying under the train car's wall. His face is covered in sweat. The stench of alcohol fills the air.
He covers his face with his hands.
I can see panic in his eyes.
- Show the underground entrance on the map
I take out the map and show the doctor the location of the abandoned house with the hidden underground entrance.
The Doctor stares at the map for a long while, without lifting his gaze to meet mine.
He removes his dirty glasses with a trembling hand and freezes.
- End the conversation
The Doctor grabs my leg.
- Push him away with your leg
- Wolfman's path or the Doctor's Instructions #3
The doctor is lying against the train car's wall. His face is covered in sweat. An intense odor of alcohol hangs in the air.
The doctor moves closer to the wall, grotesquely kicking his legs against the floor.
The doctor goes silent. His face, now hugging the wall of the train car, looks truly pathetic.
His voice breaks down.
I can see panic in his eyes.
- Show the underground entrance on the map
- End the conversation
- Push him away with your leg
- At the Bunker Entrance
Chapter 2 (The Wolfman's path or the Doctor's Instructions #3)
First Encounter
- Greeting
The Doctor snorts ironically, hiding his irritation.
With shaking hands, he reaches for the cigarrete butt between his yellow teeth.
He spits out the rest of the tobacco.
- Showing Item
- Gossip
- The Swamp Village
The Doctor looks around the area.
- If the player kills The Sow
The Doctor smiles as he puffs a cigarette.
- The Forest
The Doctor takes a step back, as if he was afraid of me. At the same time, a sinister smile appears on his face.
The Doctor is visibly pleased with himself and his theory. His hands are no longer trembling. He produces a hand-rolled cigarette and lights it.
- Underwater passages (Burned Cottage and Wreckage.)
Second Encounter
- Greeting
The Doctor digs through the mud. I think he's looking for something.
He starts flailing his arms wildly, throwing pieces of mud everywhere around him.
The Doctor suddenly freezes, staring at me with his arms mid-air.
He bends over a small hole in the mud and continues digging.
- Gossip
- The voice
The Doctor stares right into my eyes. Mud drips from his face. He hasn't blinked in over a minute.
He steps towards me and lowers his voice.
- The scribbles
The Doctor is lost in his thoughts. A cigarette sticks out of his mud-covered mouth.
Using what remains of his shoe, he draws lines on the ground. They seem to intersect in completely random places.
He doesn't stop drawing. He moves away a bit and makes a wide arc with his heel.
The Doctor flicks his cigarette into the dirt, stomps on it and drags it along the ground, creating the last straight line.
- The trees' song
He kicks a stone.
He shakes his head, dispirited, and goes silent.
After a long pause, he turns towards me.
His glasses are so dirty, I barely see the eyes hiding underneath.
Third Encounter
- Greeting
The Doctor turns his mud-covered head towards the sun and freezes. Then he spreads his arms along his sides.
A chunk of mud falls down on his exposed tongue. He chews it slowly and swallows with satisfaction.
- Gossip
- The absent minded
The Doctor puts the muddy hand into his mouth, grimaces and pulls out a yellow tooth.
He puts it into the pocket of his torn trousers. The tooth falls through a hole. He does not notice this...
The Doctor begins staring at a nearby tree trunk, paying no attention to the blood flowing between his lips.
- The appetite
The Doctor glances at me. He tilts his head sideways, lost in thought.
After a moment, he extends his hand towards me, as if wanting to grab me by the throat, but stops halfway.
He freezes.
Slowly he bends down and grabs a thick branch from the ground. He starts biting the bark off of it.
He swallows the bark with an effort, but also great satisfaction. He places the stick among other ones sticking out of his mud-covered head.
- The whisper
The Doctor approaches me. I can feel him embracing me. I hear his hoarse breath and smell his odor. I hear his whisper.
Trivia
- Alpha 1.2 introduced the concept that a key must be acquired from the Doctor in order to finish the first act of Darkwood.
- Doctor may be the person telling to wait in line at the Church Ruins. However, the game files which designate this person simply as man cannot confirm this assumption but it is implied from the children's drawings found in the Strange Box.
- It is possible at one point someone from the outside tasked the Outsiders in with the aim of retrieving the Doctor, as part of his photo can be found in the Wreckage of a helicopter. This mission obviously failed.
- The Doctor is a rather weak man, he is incapable of dodging or using the secondary attack of the axe. He also seems to avoid any direct confrontation with the Protagonist, quickly trying to run away (and then tripping and crawling) when confronted. Wolfman also mentions him as reeking of fear.
- Even at his most advanced stage as a Savage, the Doctor will still talk normally on the trading screen. This is likely an oversight.
- Many often suggest that the Doctor tortured his patients, but the only evidence for this is his treatment of the Protagonist. Those succumbing to the plague are often inherently violent and dangerous, such as the Pretty Lady, and therefore having restraints in his house make sense for both his safety and that of his patients.
- His comments on the local populus being "The Antibodies" may be related to The Savages and the woods' general hostility towards the protagonist. It's a theory, after all.
- Even after the villagers attempted to lynch him and ransacked his house, the Doctor will attempt to help the villagers (following a failed Train Wreck dream sequence) by leaving signs behind so that they too can find the underground tunnel, which he is convinced leads to freedom.
Gallery
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Major characters | Bike Man • Chicken Lady • Child • Cripple • Doctor • Elephants • Mirror • Mushroom Granny • Musician • Piotrek • Protagonist • Snail • Talking Tree • The Three • Trader • Wolfman • The Being |
| Minor characters | Dial-eyed Man • Half-Dead Man • Half-Dead Woman • Hanuska • Infected Villager • Janek • Maciek • Madman • Man • Notable Villagers (Swamp) • Pig Farmer • Pretty Lady • Sleeper • Stasiek • Tunneler |