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Major spoilersThis article contains major spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.
Doctor new art

The Doctor, as seen in Chapter 1.

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[]

Chapter 2 - doctor 1

The Doctor, as seen on Chapter 2.

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[]

See the Swamp Hideout and Chapter 1, the camp in Radio Tower and the Camp (Banshees).

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
Icon weapon parts Weapon Parts 100 1
Icon bolt handle Bolt Handle 100 1
Icon embryo Embryo 100 1

Dialogue[]

Chapter 1[]

"The boy accidentally set you up."

The doctor doesn't try to hide his amusement.

"He mentioned you'd like to make an appointment. As you can see, I've found you just in time. Unfortunately, you won't be able to thank him for it."

His face suddenly stiffens.

"I've waited for you, you rotten dog. You're a rare breed here.
Your kind visits us whenever you please, you hide behind the trees, watch us from a distance and then disappear."

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.

"Luckily for me, something went wrong. Your companions have left you, and you couldn't handle the woods. I'm not wrong, am I?

You had your taste of the local life, eh? Did you enjoy it? Do you want more?"

He takes a full syringe out of his pocket.

"I'll show you more."

I feel as if my head is about to explode under the pressure of the train car's walls.

"Hello! Can you hear me? I know you can hear me, motherfucker..."

I barely recognize the doctor's blurry image in the dark.

"You wish this would end, right? You'd like to get out of here?
Maybe now you'll understand how it feels to be locked away, surrounded by deformed, rotting bodies, among the cries of those pathetic villagers.

How was I supposed to help them?! How!?
First they begged for help, now I have to fucking hide from them."

The doctor falls silent. It feels like whole hours are passing by.

"Can you hear it?

It's the walls. They're talking to me.
My girl is talking to me, she's calling me. I know she's waiting for me. I must go back to her. She's so close..."

His voice breaks down.

"I want to go back home."

The pain becomes unbearable.

"Show me where to find the exit from this accursed place."

His silhouette slowly blurs away.

"Show me where.

Where is it?
Where?!"

I barely have the strength to open my eyes. I see a blurred silhouette standing above me.

"You can be proud of yourself, little rat! You've just done your first good deed... completely unintentionally."

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.

"Do not come close, you rotten dog! I won't give you the key! Can't you understand I saved your life? You'd rot away in that clearing if it wasn't for me! You owe me, for fuck's sake!"

He covers his face with his hands.

"I beg you, this key is my only chance!"

I can see panic in his eyes.

"Help me escape this place, or kill me."

  • 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.

"Thank you."

He removes his dirty glasses with a trembling hand and freezes.

"I will wait for you there... And... Better take the essential things with you. Looks like returning here will be impossible."

  • End the conversation

"Please, no!"

The Doctor grabs my leg.

  • Push him away with your leg

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.

"Do not come close, you rotten dog! I won't give you the key! Can't you understand I saved your life? You'd rot away in that clearing if it wasn't for me! You owe me, for fuck's sake!"

The doctor moves closer to the wall, grotesquely kicking his legs against the floor.

"You think I don't know who you are, rat? I've managed to get a good look at you...

Your kind visits us whenever you please, you hide behind the trees, watch us from a distance and then disappear.

You have no idea how it is to live here!
This place, these woods... everything is fucked up here!
I won't take it anymore, do you understand?!

I won't bear the look of those deformed, reeking bodies anymore, nor the cries of those wretched villagers.
First they begged for help, now I need to hide from them!
I'm just an ordinary doctor! How the fuck was I supposed to help them?! How?!"

The doctor goes silent. His face, now hugging the wall of the train car, looks truly pathetic.

"Can you hear it?
It's the walls. They speak to me. My little girl is calling me.
I know she's waiting for me. I must come back to her. She's so close..."

His voice breaks down.

"I want to go back home."

I can see panic in his eyes.

"Please! This key is my only chance! Help me escape this place. Help me or kill me.

Please, help me escape this place... Or kill me."

  • Show the underground entrance on the map
  • End the conversation
  • Push him away with your leg

"Are we going?"

Chapter 2 (The Wolfman's path or the Doctor's Instructions #3)[]

First Encounter[]

  • Greeting

"You again...
What do you want from me? Want to put me in front of a firing squad for desertion?"

The Doctor snorts ironically, hiding his irritation.

"I'm not going anywhere with you.
I'm too close. I can hear her... Just as if she was standing beside me... My little..."

With shaking hands, he reaches for the cigarrete butt between his yellow teeth.

"I'm sure someone is waiting for you too."

He spits out the rest of the tobacco.

  • Showing Item

"Why are you showing this to me? You better tell me how to get there."

  • Gossip

"I used to come here to treat people. I pulled out kids' milk teeth, delivered babies...
And then came the diseases I've never even heard of.
I was the only doctor in the area. You cut us off from the outside world.

First you, then the woods. No help from anyone.
Last time I came here was three or four years ago. Then the trees blocked the path."

The Doctor looks around the area.

"It's different now. The fields are flooded. Everyone in the village is dead.
So much work... for nothing."

"The peasants broke through the wall of trees. I could not believe my eyes!

I tried to do it many times. I couldn't manage to cut the trees fast enough. It was as if the woods were healing the scars.
The motherfuckers were growing back right in front of my eyes. I was afraid I would get stuck between trunks.

Losing that sow made their blood run cold. They escaped, fearing starvation."

The Doctor smiles as he puffs a cigarette.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

They have a camp in the old quarry, in the (...) edge of the Swamp.
They won't be coming back home, that's for sure. The path had overgrown, then collapsed under the ground.
They would have to construct a bridge or something, but with their intelligence... let's say I'm not expecting miracles."

  • The Forest

"I've realized something. It came to me when we were walking through the tunnels.
You're like a disease. You and your kind."

The Doctor takes a step back, as if he was afraid of me. At the same time, a sinister smile appears on his face.

"You don't belong to this land. You weren't here when the forest was born. You're a splinter, a foreign body, a vagabond.

And them? The forest and everything else here? These are the antibodies. Even the morons from the village. Raging white blood cells in an infected bloodstream.
That's the reason you hide from us."

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.

"Logical, isn't it?"

"Some of the flooded areas hide underwater passages. Recently I fell into this underwater den in the (...) edge of the Swamp.
I have no idea where it leads. I'm a shitty diver. I've seen a similar one in the (...) edge of the Swamp."


Second Encounter[]

  • Greeting

"This land hides more secrets than your little fucking rat brain is capable of understanding!"

The Doctor digs through the mud. I think he's looking for something.

"Deep underground, there's a current of electricity. Fucking electricity!"

He starts flailing his arms wildly, throwing pieces of mud everywhere around him.

"... And it flows, underground! From tree to tree!"

The Doctor suddenly freezes, staring at me with his arms mid-air.

"And it powers everyhing, it connects it all!
If I had a lightbulb... If I just screwed it into one these branches, it would light up! I bet it fucking would!"

He bends over a small hole in the mud and continues digging.

"Maybe this is where you're hiding! Maybe this is the way!"

  • Gossip
  • The voice

"I haven't slept a wink in... In many days. I don't think this is good for me.
I hear this voice all the time.
Can you hear it? Her heavenly voice?"

The Doctor stares right into my eyes. Mud drips from his face. He hasn't blinked in over a minute.

"No, you don't. Why would you? You don't know her."

He steps towards me and lowers his voice.

"I'm a bit fed up with her. A bit. A little, tiny bit.
She must know I'm heading her way. I'm doing everything I can.

I don't eat. I don't sleep. I search under every rock, under every fucking bush.
She must understand it. She must give me some time, some little time off.
Tell her this. Will you?"

  • 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.

""I'm waiting...

..for..."

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.

"...you."
Fuck... drawing was never my forte."

  • The trees' song

"Can you hear the trees sing?
They're calling us. They're showing us the way.
They're showing us the way, at the same blocking it. I can't understand it."

He kicks a stone.

"Are they trying to tell us something? Are they putting us to a test?
I don't know.

Maybe they're lost too, and don't know what to do."

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.

"I see you haven't regained your speech. You need to find another doctor."


Third Encounter[]

  • Greeting

The Doctor turns his mud-covered head towards the sun and freezes. Then he spreads his arms along his sides.

"Waaaaarrrrrmmm."

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.

"Soon, very soon, not long from now..."

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.
  • 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[]

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