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| “ | Is this guilt I'm witnessing, Daniel? If so, blame yourself. You started this. You sent me that letter asking for help and this is how you repay me? How dare you! | „ |
| ~ Alexander |
| “ | It saddens me to see you filled with such hate. Is vengeance really what you seek? I hoped you of all people could appreciate the grave nature of this situation. After all, it has always been your life we were fighting for. Isn't it worth a little... sacrifice? Come, help me finish the ritual. There's still time before the shadow catches up with you. | „ |
| ~ Alexander tries to reason with Daniel. |
Alexander of Brennenburg (known as Ayandra the Apostate in his home dimension) is the main antagonist of the 2010 survival horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent and a minor character in its sequels Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Amnesia: Rebirth.
He has manipulated the main protagonist of the game - Daniel - to take part in his schemes of kidnapping, mutilation and torture, essentially using Daniel to assist himself in getting back to his homeworld, known only as the "Other World". Although remorseful, he is highly maniuplative and charismatic. It was these traits that got him exiled from his homeworld to start with.
He was voiced by Sam Mowry, who also voiced Arpeggio in Sly 2, Kessler in inFamous and Dr. Richard Eminiss in the Penumbra series.
Biography[]
Alexander's portrait, albeit nightmarishly distorted. Only seen when sanity is low.
Alexander was a being who has been masquerading as a succession of Prussian barons during his centuries-long life. Alexander was a being from another world who was exiled to Earth for unknown crimes. He was forced to take the form of a human and built Castle Brennenburg in Prussia. He built the Inner Sanctum beneath the castle to create a portal which he could return to his world. Alexander gathered as many of the Orbs as he could find in hopes of opening the portal to return to his original homeworld. He tortured captured victims to extract a mystical "vitae" from them, with which to perform mystical rituals in order to achieve this goal.
Years later, he came into contact with Agrippa where they studied the Orbs together, but Alexander betrayed Agrippa and imprisoned him in a motionless body. Years later, Alexander contacted Daniel (the protagonist of the game), who had recovered an Orb from Algeria and returned to England with it. He manipulated Daniel into helping him with his horrific experiments, promising him protection from The Shadow in return. Alexander manipulated Daniel into kidnapping people and imprisoning them in the Inner Sanctum for his rituals. However, as soon as Daniel's work was complete, Alexander sealed himself in his Inner Sanctum and abandoned Daniel, who drank an amnesia drink and vowed to kill Alexander for his sins.
Alexander began to finish his work on the portal and sent his monstrous minions, the Gatherers, to kill Daniel to prevent him from interfering with his plans, and they roamed the castle searching for him. The Gatherers finally captured Daniel heading for the Inner Sanctum and imprisoned him, here Alexander taunted him in his mind that Daniel is blaming him for the crimes Daniel did himself for Alexander and that he would never pay off his sins. Daniel escaped the prison and gained access to the Inner Sanctum just as Alexander prepared to activate the portal.
It is revealed in Amnesia: Rebirth that Alexander's identity in his homeworld was "Ayandra the Apostate", and sought refuge in Empress Tihana's city to hide from the punishment of his undisclosed crimes. His creation of the amnesia potion was a helpful tool in assisting the Empress' methods of extending her life through the use of vitae, and because of this, became an apprentice of the Empress' chief alchemist, Temaku. Ayandra's crimes were eventually revealed, and was "banished beyond return". In other words, Alexander was banished to our world.
Personality[]
For the entirety of the game, Alexander presents himself as a calm, intelligent, soft-spoken and articulate individual. However, as the game goes on, coupled with the fact that many facts can be discovered through artifacts and notes, Alexander's selfish and evil side becomes more and more apparent.
The most striking facts are his manipulation of his former friend Daniel, and the horrific tortures he put his prisoners through. Before the events of the game, Alexander rose through the ranks and maintained them very well, but feared he would soon be found out as an outsider.
Alexander justifies his torture of other people by stating that it's worse being unharmed yet trapped in another world, than to be tortured in your own world. Alexander is a master manipulator, which is not only seen in how he manipulates Daniel, but others as well. Though his manipulation of Daniel is the most apparent factor in the game, playing a very large part in the game's plot. He also somehow manipulated another former of his, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, into being transformed into a husk of his former self. In other words, Agrippa's soul was placed into a metal apparatus while his actual body was left to wither.
Alexander also seems to have a warped view on what's right and wrong, as he always seems to find a way to justify his own actions, no matter how unspeakably horrifying they are. When he discovers that Daniel is marked by The Shadow, he begins to cast Daniel aside, but still wants Daniel to sacrifice himself, so that Alexander can use the power of the Orbs, and create a portal to his homeworld dimension.
When Daniel finally confronts Alexander in person at the end of the game, the latter states, "Good and evil. Such comforting concepts, but hardly applicable." A statement further proving his moral ambiguity.
Fate[]
The fate of Alexander depends on the actions of the player, there are four possible endings for the game:
Revenge Ending: Once Daniel reaches the Inner Sanctum, he knocks over the pylons needed for Alexander to finish his ritual, thus abruptly ending the ritual. The Shadow emerges in the room and kills Alexander and spares Daniel, as The Shadow is appeased since Alexander didn't get to abuse the Orb's power.
Compassion Ending: Daniel must prepare a life-saving tonic for Agrippa. If Daniel feeds Agrippa the tonic and removes his head, Daniel must put the head in the portal that Alexander is trying to open. This disrupts Alexander's ritual, with The Shadow enters the room and kills both Alexander and Daniel, as The Shadow is still angry with Daniel for letting Alexander abuse the Orb's power. However, Daniel hears Agrippa's voice in the darkness, saying that "everything will be alright."
Bad Ending: Daniel enters the Inner Sanctum, but does absolutely nothing to halt Alexander's ritual. Once Alexander uses the Orb's power to escape to his home dimension, The Shadow angrily enters the Sanctum to punish Daniel for letting Alexander abuse the Orb's power. Before The Shadow consumes Daniel, it taunts him with the voices of those he tortured. Soon after, Daniel hears the disembodied voice of Alexander thanking him for his "sacrifice", and that Daniel "will be celebrated forever."
Prison Ending: This ending only occurs once Daniel is captured and thrown into the aforementioned prison. Similar to the previously mentioned bad ending, Daniel must remain in the prison cell until The Shadow consumes him. Once Daniel is consumed, Alexander thanks Daniel in the same way as the previous ending.
Trivia[]
- Many parallels can be drawn between Empress Tihana, the main antagonist of Amnesia: Rebirth, Alexander. Both characters are the main antagonists in their respective games; both are from the same exact dimension, the "Other World". Both are forced into interacting with Earth's dimension in order to gain what they want, and therefore have manipulated the people of Earth - especially the main protagonists - to get closer to their goals. They both heavily needed vitae (and by extension, the torture of others) for their own survival, and both can die from The Shadow in determinant, optional endings.
External Links[]
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 Villains
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