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Alexander, I will kill you for what you have done. If only the shadow had caught me in London or Algeria, I wouldn’t have to suffer this humiliation. You made me a murderer, a monster!
~ A written note from Daniel, explaining how Alexander changed him.
She deserved it! That little b--ch!
~ Daniel trying to justify killing Elise Zimmermann, an innocent little girl.

Daniel is the anti-villainous main protagonist of the 2010 horror survival game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. He is an English adventurer, roaming the halls of Castle Brennenburg in 1839, in search of Alexander of Brennenburg, the man who manipulated and ruined him. He is also on the run from a supernatural horror known as The Shadow.

Although Daniel is the protagonist, he has done unspeakable acts of cruelty before the events of the game, such as kidnapping, torture and even murder. However, most of this nature was brought on through the manipulation of Alexander. Throughout the game, the immeasurable guilt Daniel feels is explored throughout the game, which he tries to suppress with an amnesia potion.

He was voiced by Richard Topping.

Biography[]

History[]

Although Daniel's exact birthday is unknown, it is speculated to be between 1814 and 1821 in Canterbury, Kent. Daniel's childhood was a tough one, having an abusive father, dealing with bullying in school, and his sister Hazel becoming sick with a terminal illness. Daniel's father was so cruel, that he would take his anger out on his children physically, and even sometimes locking Daniel in a dark basement. This caused Daniel to develop nyctophobia, an intense fear of the dark, but Daniel's fear wasn't due to the absence of light, but being trapped in the dark forever without escape.

During his school years, a bully named Henry Bedloe would torment him (ironically enough, like Daniel, he carried the pain of one of his parents, being his mother). Tired of the abuse, Daniel would exact revenge on Henry by striking him with a rock, which was fueled by peer pressure. Despite the justification, Daniel still felt horrible for his act of vengeance. This caused Daniel to get in trouble with his father, suffering even more abuse from him. He also feared that Henry would show up at Daniel's house for revenge, but this never happened.

When Daniel reached his adult years, he moved to Mayfair, and began working at the British Museum as an archeology research assistant to a friendly man, Professor Thurston Herbert. In early 1839, Daniel and Herbert went on an expedition to Algeria to uncover any secrets or artifacts in the Tomb of Tin Hinan. It is during this time that Daniel began writing an unfinished letter to his ill sister. Daniel, with the help of a small team, went inside the tomb, causing Daniel to become trapped in one of the rooms. Unable to return the way he came, Daniel pressed on and discovered a mysterious orb, being drawn to its mystic light. Upon touching this orb, he receives a vision of "spiraling towers, endless deserts and impossible geometry." An hour later, Daniel was freed.

Overcome with curiosity over this enigmatic orb, Daniel begins to study the orbs as much as he can, and he noticed that the orb had this strange ability to constantly change color and texture without rest. Some days later, disaster struck, as there was no sign of Herbert nor his men. There was only one other man that was found, with injuries so bad that Daniel explains them as "though he were maimed by a lion". He acquires pieces of an orb and manages to assemble it. Daniel discovers that most people he comes into contact with end up being brutally murdered or missing, which is later confirmed to be The Shadow itself.

Some time before, Daniel had stolen Herbert's diary, and wrote to every person he could find. There was only one response that seemed to offer any sort of help, which was from a baron, being none other than Alexander of Brennenburg. Being marked for death by The Shadow caused Daniel to have constant nightmares and insomnia, as in these dreams, he would hear The Shadow's haunting, disturbing voice. Even more people Daniel has interacted with end up dead, due to The Shadow's delayed and sluggish pace of following Daniel, and killing everyone in its way.

Daniel accepts the baron's invitation, and travels to Castle Brennenburg, the main location of the game. Alexander knew all about The Shadow, and knew how to repel him to buy Daniel time. However, there didn't seem to be any method of permanently warding off The Shadow. As time went on, Daniel submitted to Alexander's will more and more, even assisting him with gruesome acts, such as torturing prisoners, as Alexander's job also included the duty of being a prison warden. Alexander brought Daniel to the inner sanctum of the castle, showing him how to perform a banishing ritual to ward off The Shadow temporarily.

To wield the power of the orb, a substance was needed, something known as "vitae". This chemical is produced in living things under moments of extreme stress and pain, and can be found in a creature's blood. Animals were easier to capture, but produced less of the substance, while humans were harder to obtains, but produced more of the chemical. Alexander had to torture prisoners constantly to collect as much of the chemical as needed, and also trained Daniel to do the same, twisting the man's sense of morality. Daniel began to enjoy torturing the prisoners more than normal, leaving even Alexander disturbed. Needing more people to perform another banishing ritual, Alexander and Daniel had to kidnap members of a family, known as the Zimmermann family. The manner of the torture involved an amnesia potion, where the men would torture the prisoners, making them forget with the potion, then repeat the torture again. This was done to maximize the amount of vitae the prisoners excreted.

A little girl that was one of the kidnapped victims, an Elise Zimmerman, came close to escaping to alert the king's men, but Daniel caught up to her and stabbed her to death. The sight of the girl's lifeless body had damaged Daniel's psyche, overwhelming him with guilt. No longer wanting to take part in Alexander's schemes, combined with the memories of the people he tortured, Daniel drinks a dose of the amnesia potion in hopes to forget the atrocities he committed.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent[]

Don't forget... some things mustn't be forgotten. The shadow hunting me... I must hurry. My name is Daniel, I live in London at... at... Mayfair... What have I done? This is crazy. Don't forget, don't forget. I must stop him. Focus! My name is... is... I am Daniel.
~ Daniel at the start of the game, after drinking the amnesia potion.

Waking up after drinking the amnesia mixture, Daniel wakes up in the entrance hall of the castle. He tries to remember as much as he can, including his own name, where he lives and the fact that The Shadow is hunting him. After finding one of his own notes to himself, Daniel also discovers that he is also on a quest for revenge, hoping to kill Alexander. As Daniel makes progress, he discovers more notes about his past. While he descends further and further into the increasingly dangerous castle, he finds that The Shadow is closing in on him, as the Shadow's fleshy red residue can be seen in areas of the dilapidated castle.

Daniel also comes across Alexander's servants, known as The Gatherers, which act as the main enemies of the game. They are malformed, zombified thralls that do Alexander's bidding, and will strike down Daniel as soon as look at him. As Daniel is not a fighter, and has no means of defending himself, his only means of survival is running and hiding. Another factor in Daniel's adventure is managing his own sanity, which goes down when witnessing disturbing events, or events that pertain to his horrendous past actions. However, Daniel's sanity goes up when making progress, as he'll regain confidence in his efforts. The lower Daniel's sanity goes, the more hallucinations he'll see, and it will be easier for enemies to see him. If his sanity reaches the lowest point, he'll collapse. If playing the game in "Hard Mode", losing all sanity results in death.

By discovering more notes, it is revealed that Alexander is not from our world. He is from a completely different dimension known only as the "Other World". He originally left his world because he was banished for his crimes there, so Alexander must keep his identity hidden and use the orbs with the combined power of the vitae to create a portal back to his own world. It is also discovered that Alexander has lived much longer than a human life would permit, rising through the ranks and abusing his power in any way he can to get back home.

When Daniel makes it to the nave of the castle, he comes across a German doctor, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, a polite man that had his soul trapped in the husk of his own decomposing body. Agrippa asks Daniel if he can go with him, which can be done by feeding Agrippa a special tonic that keeps him alive for a while, even if his head of removed from his body. It is up to the player to create this tonic and free Agrippa. If Daniel doesn't help Agrippa, the game paints Daniel as spiteful and irredeemable, but if Daniel helps Agrippa, he will instead be seen as compassionate and forgivable. Doing this also changes the end result of how long Daniel's sister lives.

Daniel gathers six pieces of an orb, and with the use of tar, manages to put the orb back together, which he then uses to breach Alexander's barrier to the inner sanctum - The Shadow close behind him. After a long journey, Daniel finally reaches Alexander, but cannot physically get near him as there is some sort of barrier protecting him. Depending on the player's actions, one of four endings can occur:

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. Daniel is free to exit the castle, free of his past guilts with The Shadow no longer chasing him.

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 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.

After The Dark Descent[]

Daniel's canon fate is left ambiguous. In the The Dark Descent's DLC Justine, a letter from Daniel can be found. His name is also seen on a note in Amnesia: Rebirth, which takes place roughly a century later.

Personality[]

19th of August 1839

It’s not fair! I’m not to blame. I’ve been manipulated by that demon. He played my guilty conscience and duped me into facing the shadow alone. That vile, conspiring man. He expects me to meet my death as he steals power beyond imagination?

Alexander, I will kill you for what you have done. If only the shadow had caught me in London or Algeria, I wouldn’t have to suffer this humiliation. You made me a murderer, a monster!

And now, I merely await my death. I'm too weak to press on. I can hardly stand as my knees fail me, I cannot see, as my eyes are dressed in tears. I'm as broken as the men I've tortured. If only I could wipe my fear away as we did with them.

~ Daniel's final diary page found in the game, summarizing what he's become and how Alexander manipulated him.

Adventurous and determined, Daniel is shown to be a very intelligent and witty man, yet sometimes cowardly. The course of the game shows that Daniel is a very resourceful person, as he was able to navigate his way through Castle Brennenburg singlehandedly while both The Shadow chased him down and having Alexander's servants patrol the area, which Daniel was able to evade. Mending the orbs was a near impossible task, yet Daniel pulled it off twice: once before the game and once again during the game. Many parts of the castle were inaccessible and broken, but Daniel still came up with ways to bypass these issues.

There is also a part of Daniel that fails to accept responsibility, as many notes written by him, including in-game dialogue, will reveal that he finds ways to escape guilt with the terrible acts he committed. An example of this is the little girl he killed, where he first states that "she deserved it", but later gives into his guilt. Another example of this is during one of the game's endings. If Daniel interrupts Alexander's ritual and gets him killed by The Shadow, Daniel will walk out of the castle guilt-free, claiming he did the right thing.

Before the events of the game, Daniel's much darker side is shown, as he started to enjoy torturing others. A vision shows Daniel simultaneously cutting into someone and mocking him. Throughout the events of the game, Daniel attempts to put his darker side behind him, and becomes fueled with pure vengence, giving him the determination and strength to make it all the way to Alexander, despite the nightmarish trials and obstacles Daniel had to survive.

Trivia[]

  • Daniel is not seen in-game, with his appearance only being seen through official artwork. The only part of Daniel that is seen is his arm holding the lantern, this is the only part of Daniel that has a 3D model.
  • Before the game's release, Daniel's name was Folke.
  • Daniel is compared to the biblical prophet of the same name. This is heard from Agrippa, as he says, "Daniel? Like the prophet thrown into the lion's den?" and then "So babylon shall fall you say?" In real-life, Alexander the Great possibly spared Jerusalem after reading the Book of Daniel. This may have been the inspiration for the connection between the in-game characters Daniel and Alexander.

Gallery[]

External Links[]

Frictional Games Logo  Villains

Penumbra
The Archaic | Tuurngait | Clarence | Tuurngait Infected | Richard Eminiss | Wilbur Frisk
Amnesia
The Dark Descent: Alexander of Brennenburg | The Shadow | The Gatherers | Kaernk | Daniel
Justine: Justine Florbelle | Suitors
A Machine for Pigs: The Machine | Manpigs (Wretch | Engineer | Tesla | Failed Experiments) | Oswald Mandus
Rebirth: Empress Tihana | The Shadow | Harvesters | Wraiths | Yasmin | Hank| Leon De Vries | Doctor Metzier
The Bunker: The Beast | German Army | Toussaint Beaufoy | The Shadow | Rats
SOMA
The Warden Unit | Johan Ross | Construct | Scavengers | Fleshers | Terry Akers | Proxies | Robot Head | Viperfish | Anglerfish | Jin Yoshida | Leviathan

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