Janek is a minor character in Darkwood.
He is the Chicken Lady's brother. He attacks the Protagonist in the Prologue after the locked door to the upper left most room in the Doctor's House is opened. The player can explore Janek's House in The Village.
He drops the Plastic Chick, which the Chicken Lady recognizes as belonging to him. According to the Musician, 'Mr. Janek' had an obsession with the Village Well. This might have be true as an entrance to the tunnel system underneath the well can be found in his house.
When the player revisits the Doctor's House, they can find Janek's corpse again in the same room he where he was initially found. When the player examines his corpse, the Protagonist will remark about him, possibly recalling his actions in the Prologue. The player can encounter Janek again in the Train Wreck dream, where he angrily scolds the Doctor for being unable to cure his other sister, the Pretty Lady. Janek makes one last minor appearance during the Final Dreamscene, in the same room as the Prologue. Janek will almost certainly be killed by the Black Chompers before the protagonist has any chance to reach him.
Janek apparently used to be friends with the Musician, as the latter will remark that they used to play together, throw stones into the Village Well, and look at their reflections in the water there.
It is unknown what his relationship to the Doctor was, or why exactly he was at the latter's house when the Doctor chose to lock him up. The dialogue from the Chicken Lady implies he either had some sort of plan to share with the Doctor or that he was angry with the Doctor, and that she had tried to stop him from going. Either way, the Doctor ended up either tricking him into entering the room or physically subduing him before locking him up.
Trivia
- Before Alpha 7.0, the Dog Tag fulfilled the story item role that is now occupied by the Plastic Chick.
- Janek is possibly a veteran of the Second World War, as a Dog Tag is found in his house.
- If the player loots Janek's corpse during the Final Dreamscene, they can take a duplicate copy of the Plastic Chick from his corpse. This is likely an oversight.
- Janek is referenced by the Musician as "Mr. Jan". As the dog tags found in his house have "Mikulski" written on them, it's possible that Janek's full name is Jan Mikulski.
| 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 |