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| “ | Tally-ho! | „ |
| ~ Myron Van Buren's catchphrase. |
Myron Van Buren, aka MVB, is the main antagonist of Survival Island in the online game Poptropica. He is a very mysterious individual, who’s true motives aren’t clear until near the end of the game.
Description[]
He saves the Player character from the wilderness, and invites them to stay at his mansion in the woods. After showing the Player around and introducing them to his butler Winston, he has his chef Isabella cook them a meal. The chef put a special drug in the Player’s meal, causing them to fall asleep and wake up in a locked room. The Player escapes the mansion, only to be caught by Van Buren and Winston. It is then revealed that Van Buren really wanted to hunt the Player down, to add them to his trophy collection. The rest of the island game involves hiding from him and trying to outsmart him.
Personality[]
Myron Van Buren is a bit of a puzzle. On one hand, he's really good at hunting and can be pretty intimating, but he's also highly intelligent and refined. Surprisingly, he stays polite and friendly, even when he's chasing you. But watch out – he easily gets mad if you don't follow his rules, like no jumping in the trophy room or rushing the tour.
His background is a mix of British and (supposedly) African heritage, likely influencing the skills he got from his parents. Myron takes a lot of pride in his family's history of hunting and his goal is to prove he's the best hunter ever. He's on a mission to hunt you down and add you to his collection of stuffed animals in the trophy room.
Even though he can be a bit full of himself, Myron treats his staff well, especially his butler Winston. It's interesting that he sleeps with a sword under his pillow and is sensitive to loud noises, suggesting he's always on guard and protective, probably because of his job as a hunter.
Physical Appearance[]
Myron Van Buren is quite old. He's got wrinkles and a scar on his left cheek. His skin is tan, and he has a sly grin. His eyes are calm, and he has grey hair and a mustache. He wears a brown pouch and belt, along with a beige hat decorated with teeth. Around his neck, there's a necklace made of animal teeth and stones. He carries a brown shoulder bag and wears a matching belt. His outfit includes a beige vest and green pants.
Storyline[]
Throughout the island, he's always watching your Poptropican, and it turns out he has hidden cameras in the woods. In the Distress Signal mission, he responds to your radio call for help, arriving in a chopper to rescue you. He takes you to his cabin, shares plans for a big hunt, and gives you a tour of his trophy room. You meet his butler Winston, have dinner, but the steak is drugged, making you wake up in a locked room.
Inside, you find a family crest with a hidden message leading you to meet someone named M.M. in the woods. As you escape, he's asleep in his room. Upon reaching the gates, Van Buren wakes up, revealing you're the hunted. Fleeing into the woods, you escape temporarily by falling into a hole. There, you meet someone pursued by Van Buren, who shares a plan to defeat him. You collect items for a trap, set it up in a mill, but Van Buren turns the tables. Another of his victims arrives on a bear, helping trap Van Buren on a waterwheel, where he's attacked by beavers. His fate afterward is unknown.
He appears in Reality TV: Wild Safari Island as a contestant. If you click on him he says "Run if you must, but I will catch you."
Trivia[]
- Myron Van Buren's family tree shows that he has a sister.
- Myron and his sister are mixed. As seen in his family tree, their mother is dark-skinned while their father is white.
- It is implied that his sister and parents are dead, as a newspaper in his trophy room says that he's "the last descendant of the legendary Van Buren hunting family."
- You are not his first victim, as evident by a manifest left by the pilot of a crashed plane.
- He claims he is the greatest big game hunter in the world.
- He resembles Harold Mews in numerous ways:
- Both are extremely rich.
- Both have butlers.
- Both have their own mansions.
- Both own helicopters, and use their helicopters to rescue you during the course of the island.
- Both are obsessed with animals and strange creatures, albeit for different reasons.
- Myron Van Buren is a homage to General Zaroff from "The Most Dangerous Game," a short story written by Richard Connell. In the short story, a boat crashes on General Zaroff's island, where he has a large hunting house in the middle of a forest. He shows the crash survivor to a large room with the heads of animals he has hunted on the walls, speaking of how he has grown bored with animals and now hunts "the most dangerous game," and tells him of a hunt the next day. The next morning, Zaroff reveals that he is hunting the survivor himself. In Van Buren's trophy room, a newspaper slip on the wall says that he hunts "ever more dangerous game."
- Van Buren is possibly also a homage to Van Pelt, the big game hunter from the movie Jumanji, as they are similar both in appearance and personality.
- Along with Fiona, Van Buren is one of the few Poptropica characters whose voice can be heard.
- He sleeps with a stuffed toy lion, and his pajamas are made from lion fur.
- He has a sword under his pillow when he sleeps.
- Although his father is of British descent, he has a Dutch surname.