| “ | Elias can be quite… ‘protective’ of his people. Never really understood why. I mean, in the end, the only person that you really have is yourself. | „ |
| ~ Peter Lukas to Brian Finlinson. |
| “ | Peter Lukas: We’re the same, you and I. We don’t need anyone else. Watching from a distance, that’s always who you’ve been. Haven’t you enjoyed it these last few months, drifting through the Archives unseen, unjudged? You’ll like it in there. I promise. Martin Blackwood: Yeah. Yeah, I think I would. Peter Lukas: Then do it. Kill him and help me save the world. |
„ |
| ~ Peter Lukas' final manipulations towards Martin Blackwood. |
| “ | It’s odd, really. You each think you’re so focused on the other, but how much do you really know each other? How much time have you spent together when not working, or bickering, or fleeing from that latest thing that wants to kill you? So. What are you seeking? The image you’ve each created of the other? The people you think you love don’t exist. Not really. And that’s a very lonely place to be. | „ |
| ~ Peter Lukas to Jonathan Sims. |
Peter Lukas is a supporting antagonist of season 3 and the main antagonist of season 4 of the Rusty Quill horror podcast The Magnus Archives.
He was a member of the Lukas Family, who worshipped the godlike entity known as the Lonely. Valuing isolation more than anything else, he became the captain of the cargo-ship known as the Tundra. Using it, he sailed around remote areas and sacrificed his more social crew members to his god, sentencing them to eternal solitude.
As Peter became involved in the activities of other members of the paranormal community and began to deal with other worshippers of the Dread Powers, he began to worry about the rise of the cataclysmic entity known as the Extinction, which he thought would destroy the world. He began to work towards completing the Silence, a ritual that would twist the world, so it only contained loneliness. After his failure, he set about taking over the Magnus Institute after taking a bet with Elias Bouchard.
He is voiced by Alasdair Stuart.
Appearance[]
Peter Lukas looked generally normal, but something about him appeared somewhat off-putting. He was described as abnormally pale, and did not tan, despite living his life at sea.
Personality[]
| “ | Yes, well, you have to understand how it is with Peter. He finds talking to people directly very difficult. Especially explaining the more, um – esoteric side of things? Charming chap, I’m sure you agree – absolutely lovely – but even if you can convince him to actually give you a straight answer, he’s just not that good at actually putting these things into words. Something to do with his upbringing, I think. I’m pretty sure he was home-schooled, you know! | „ |
| ~ Simon Fairchild on Peter Lukas. |
Peter's core seemed to be made up of a mix of social anxiety and misanthropy. Human interaction and connection seemed to be the only things that made him truly uncomfortable, and as long as he was in private, he could feel genuinely happy and at peace. He felt a sort of smugness about his emotional self-dependance and looked down on those who needed others to feel fulfilled. His one wish was to die alone, and many of the courses his life took were to ensure this eventually happened.
Peter's lack of interaction led to a sort of hatred of humanity, and a desire to keep them away from him. He took deep satisfaction in sentencing random people to an eternity of solitude, partially because if they were to always be alone, they could never be with him, and partially because he simply disliked people, and wanted to watch them suffer. He seemed somewhat sadistic, and enjoyed watching to discomfort or agony of others, particularly when that discomfort of agony involved the isolation to which he claimed to be immune.
Despite his hatred of interaction, Peter was actually quite friendly and charming whenever spoken to face to face. He seemed to see no reason to be rude or openly cruel, mainly because he wanted to prevent confrontation, which he always avoided. He could actually be quite talkative if it fit his needs, but much of the personality he put on in conversations was projected, and none of it was based on genuine feelings. He was extremely manipulative as well, and skilled at spreading his philosophy regarding isolation to others, selecting words carefully to make them feel unwanted and unloved, and that being alone and forgotten would be better.
Oddly, Peter had a weakness for gambling. This implied that he did have some human need for interaction but felt the need to have it in such a way that ensured no connection was made. On a simpler level, it made his life more entertaining and helped him spread his power, which he felt he needed in order to ensure the victory of another entity got in the way of his isolation. He was known to make long, spidery plans in the name of ensuring he won his bets, and the only time he showed genuine emotion was when he showed anger at losing a bet he believed he would win.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
| “ | You know, she’s still alive? But I still can’t picture my mother’s face with any clarity. And I consider that a blessing. I’m not even burdened by hatred for her: she is simply someone who exists, far away from me. It was the sort of childhood that would not be allowed if we didn’t have money, but we’re an old family with, shall we say, a remarkably direct line of inheritance. The sort of family where no social worker would even be allowed on the property. | „ |
| ~ Peter Lukas on his childhood. |
Peter was born in the Lukas house to a mother who, although was married into the family, deeply valued the family tradition of worshipping isolation. Peter grew up in solitude, in a room far away from his siblings, and raised by tutors and nannies who constantly were constantly fired and replaced to avoid his growing attached to them. He had no emotional connection and was alone almost all the time.
At some point, his brother Aaron and sister Judith grew social, and began trying to instigate games and form connections with Peter and his two sisters. They disappeared quickly, and Peter was told that they were sent to live with relatives far away. Around this time, Peter's father disappeared as well, either leaving the family, being killed by Peter's mother, or being sent into the Lonely.
Peter enjoyed his isolation and spent his days looking for secret areas far away from anyone else. When he got older, he began stealing money from his mother's purse and would hitchhike to the nearest cities. There, he would walk down the streets at night, and look in the windows of people socializing, relishing that he was alone. He would be angry at other pedestrians he saw on the street, and one day, he made a man disappear after he smiled at him. It is unclear if Peter went to the Lonely himself, or if he banished the man there.
Around this time, a group of Peter's older relatives took him below the Lukas Estate, where they revealed to him the Lonely, and his family's worship of it. Peter took to embracing isolation with open-arms and immediately gave himself to the god who he saw as truly representing his heart.
Captaining the Tundra[]
| “ | God, I wish I was there now. Locked in my cabin, staring over the quiet emptiness of the open ocean. | „ |
| ~ Peter Lukas on the Tundra. |
Shortly after falling to the Lonely, Peter left his family and only saw them again at funerals. He purchased a ship called the Tundra from Solus Shipping PLC, a company owned by his family. He hired a crew that only worked for him for his money, and had them enter using fake names, to avoid any sort of emotional connection. He had the ship carry cargo crates, but the crates were empty, and he never actually transported anything.
Peter used the ship to isolate himself, bringing it to the most remote areas he could find. He began sacrificing the most social members of his crew to the Lonely. Roughly once per voyage, he would someone up his god and then have himself and the rest of his crew, excluding his victim, leave the ship on rowboats. The ship would then be taken over by the Lonely, which would bring the ship's one remaining passenger into itself, sentencing that person to an eternity of isolation. Peter and the rest of his crew would then return to their ship and continue their voyage.
At some point, Peter came across the Magnus Institute, a paranormal investigative agency under the control of the Eye. The Institute's head, James Wright, who later went by Elias Bouchard, helped introduce Peter further into the paranormal community. He showed him the concept of rituals, which were done by servants of the Dread Powers to twist reality in such a way that their patron could enter and change the world into a nightmarish hellscape that fit its interest. Peter feared what would happen if another Dread Power completed their ritual, and agreed to help Elias stop the Spiral, which was planning its "Great Twisting" in the nonexistent country of Sannikov Land. Peter took Elias' archivist Gertrude Robinson on his ship to the nonexistent nation, and she was successful in stopping the ritual.
Around the time, Peter met Mikaele Salesa, a dealer of paranormal antiques who Peter gambled with regularly. On one occasion, Salesa accidentally trapped a man named Vincent Yang in a small, paranormal crate. Yang was trapped there for four days, and Peter bet Salesa he would not be alive when he got out. Peter lost the bet and gave Salesa £20.
Attempting the Silence[]
| “ | The plan was to wait until those inside reached a critical mass of loneliness and despair, then all at once, lock them in remotely. Cut off their internet and phone lines, and leave them to die, alone, in their Single-Occupancy Professional Dooms as the Forsaken emerged from their terror. I called it the Silence – though to be honest, it was mainly because I thought they had to have names. Can’t say if the title was desperately inspired. | „ |
| ~ Peter Lukas describing the Silence. |
At some point, Peter Lukas met Adelard Adelard Dekker, a monster hunter associated with the Magnus Institute. He told Peter of the Extinction, a new entity he thought was forming, embodying the fear of humanity being wiped from the Earth. Dekker believed that if the Extinction succeeded in emerging, it would kill all humans. Knowing this would ruin his chances of bringing about a ritual for the Lonely, Peter began trying to bring the Lonely into the world more quickly, before the Extinction had a chance to do anything.
It was around this time that Peter was contacted by Simon Fairchild, an avatar of the Vast and an old associate of Peter's. Simon asked for his family's help in funding the Daedelus, a space station being sent up by Maxwell Rayner. In exchange for his help, Peter would be able to have one astronaut tortured with isolation. Peter agreed and had his family fund the project, assigning his relative Conrad with torturing an astronaut named Carter Chilcott. Although Chilcott was driven nearly insane, Peter eventually decided that the project took too much time and money to be used to torture one astronaut, and it did not help him complete his ritual.
Peter eventually named the ritual to bring the Lonely into the world the "Silence". In order to collect enough loneliness, he created an apartment building that emphasized isolation. The first floor would be empty, so the only people a resident could see were pedestrians on the distant street below. There were lots of fake doors so that if a resident knocked on a door, there would most likely be no answer, cutting them off from their neighbors. The rooms were so small that only one person could fit, and there was no door to the office, so a person could never get away from their work. He then rented out these rooms cheaply to people pre-disposed to feel lonely; mainly recent graduates who had just come to London, and recent divorcees. The plan was to spend years making them feel as lonely as possible, and then lock the doors, driving them insane with isolation and waiting for them to die.
Gertrude found out about this attempt and tipped off the local newspaper to the existence of this building. It was dubbed "The Loneliest Building in Britain", and reporter began to flock to it, trying to comfort the residents and generally giving them lots of attention to make them feel less alone. Peter himself received lots of think-pieces about how his building embodied modern capitalism and isolation. Gertrude never confronted him, but his ritual was ruined.
Taking Over the Magnus Institute[]
| “ | You know, this is one of the first bets I ever made with him I’ve actually lost. But I guess that’s how hustlers work, isn’t it? They lose and lose until you’re willing to put it all on the line, and then – the trap shuts. | „ |
| ~ Peter on his history with Elias Bouchard. |
Shortly after the failure of the Silence, Elias reached out to Peter with a bet: if he could make one Magnus Institute employee fall to the Lonely, he would be given the entire institute, plus the panopticon underneath that gave the use omniscience. Elias did not specify what he got out of this deal, so Peter agreed.
Peter began visiting the institute regularly, looking for an employee to target. He found one in Martin Blackwood, a deeply lonely and easily manipulated young man. Around this time, Elias gave Peter temporary control over the institute when he got sent to prison, and Peter stepped up as Institute head. Hoping to continue to manipulate Martin, he took the man as his assistant.
Over the next several months, Peter set about manipulating Martin. Martin's mother had recently died, and Jonathan Sims, Martin's boss and the closest thing he had to a friend, had recently gone into a coma, and chances weren't good he would wake up. These factors made it easy to isolate Martin from the rest of his coworkers, and although he was initially resistant to Peter, Martin eventually began to prefer isolation and fade into the background. Around this time, Peter banished several institute employees to the Lonely for trying to speak with him but stopped in order to please Martin.
Eventually Jonathan Sims awoke and reached out to Martin, sabotaging Peter's effort to isolate the man. In order to prevent Martin from socializing, Peter told him of the Extinction and said that in order to save the world from it, he would need someone touched by both the Eye and the Lonely. Essentially, he made it so Martin believed he needed to isolate himself or the world would end. With the help of Simon Fairchild, Peter eventually succeeded in bringing Martin down to the Lonely.
Satisfied that Martin had fallen to the Lonely enough for him to win his bet, Peter turned on the still imprisoned Elias and tried to take over the Panopticon himself. Since Martin was still connected to the Eye, Peter convinced him to let them in to the massive underground structure, freeing the long imprisoned NotThem in the process. In the Panopticon, they found the body of Jonah Magnus, the original body of Elias, who having escaped from prison confronted them there. Telling him it would somehow help save the world from the Extinction, Peter encouraged Martin to kill Jonah, which would kill Elias. However, Martin, having finally seen through Peter's manipulations, refused, realizing that taking over the Institute had never been a way for Peter to fight the Extinction, but was instead just a petty power play. Peter flew into rage, and escaped to the Lonely, taking Martin with him.
Jonathan Sims followed Peter to the Lonely, hoping to save Martin, where he was taunted by Peter, who told him he was alone in the world. After several minutes he confronted Peter, and, using his powers as an archivist of the Eye, forced him to tell his life story. When Peter was finished with his story, Jon pressed him for more information, which he refused to give. After a fierce battle of wills, Jon killed Peter painfully using his archival powers.
Powers and Abilities[]
| “ | I can’t describe the feeling that passed through me. I can only say that I told him to go away. And he did. Or perhaps… I did. In retrospect, it’s hard to be sure which of us fell out of the populated world, but either way, the sense of blissful relief, edged with a strange, creeping fear – it was something I’d never experienced before. It was intoxicating. | „ |
| ~ Peter Lukas describing his first time using his power. |
As a member of the Lukas Family, Peter had access to his patron, the Lonely. The Lonely existed as an infinite, eternally empty dimension, and people placed there were usually isolated from all others until they left. Peter could enter the dimension at will to be alone, or he could banish people there. A person banished by Peter Lukas would never die and would spend the rest of their endless existence in the Lonely, never again to see another human being.
At some point, it seems Peter made his default state of existence non-existence, which functionally worked as complete incorporeality and invisibility. He was able to cease to exist whenever he wanted to go unnoticed, and it seemed to double as a form of teleportation.
As a servant of a Dread Power, Peter seemed to have some form of immortality, and expected to live for hundreds of years, although he seemed to die before he got the chance to utilize his longevity. He could also counteract other powers and was able to sail his ship into the realm of the Spiral, something a normal ship captain would not be able to do. Notably, he could counteract the powers of the Eye, escaping from its view and showing the ability to prevent himself from having his statement taken by the Archivist, although it killed him.
Peter was a skilled manipulator and knew how to target a person's insecurities until they did what he wanted. Although he almost never lied about who he was or what he did, he told the truth in such a way that made people trust him despite themselves, leading to them falling into his traps when he simply blatantly lied. Despite this, he was known to overdo flattery and underestimate his opponents and was not as skilled at controlling others as some other members of his social circle.
Quotes[]
Season 1 - Season 3[]
| “ | We have one space. Report tomorrow. At dawn. | „ |
| ~ Peter Lukas hiring Carlita Sloane. |
| “ | Peter Lukas: Well. Plenty of time to make your mind up, I’m sure. Now… If you’ll excuse me, like I said, I have an appointment to get to. You are sure you don’t know where Elias Bouchard’s office is? Brian Finlinson: No. I’m sorry. Peter Lukas: Not to worry. I’m sure I can find it. And I’m sure you need some time to get used to your new situation. Good luck Brian. |
„ |
| ~ Peter Lukas trapping Brian Finlinson in the Lonely. |
| “ | Peter Lukas: Do I scare you, Martin? Martin Blackwood: Yes! Peter Lukas: Hmm. Probably for the best. |
„ |
| ~ Peter Lukas to Martin Blackwood during their first encounter. |
| “ | Marvellous. And don’t look so down! I know, change can be scary, but eventually it happens just the same. I think we’re going to great things, Martin. Great things. | „ |
| ~ Peter Lukas to Martin Blackwood while taking over the Magnus Institute. |
Season 4[]
| “ | Because behind all his bluster, Elias is just like all the rest. He’s so preoccupied playing the game, he doesn’t pay attention to the big picture. He managed to convince himself that he could get his ritual off first, which would have made all of this a bit – moot, but that’s not really an option anymore. So it’s down to us. You and me, the dynamic duo! | „ |
| ~ Peter to Martin. |
| “ | Peter Lukas: There are two powers that, to my knowledge, have never attempted to fully manifest. Never had followers set them up for a ritual. Mother of Puppets, and Terminus. The Web and the End. The Web, I’ve never really been sure about. If I were to guess, I would say it actually prefers the world as is: playing everyone against each other. And so on. The End, on the other hand… The End doesn’t really need one. It knows that it gets everything eventually, so why bother? The End manifesting would not be a new world of terror; it would be a lifeless world. Devoid of everything. Martin Blackwood: Including fear. Peter Lukas: Exactly. It has no reason to truly attempt to enter our world; it’s – passive. But the Extinction… The Extinction is… different. It’s – active; it will seek to create a lifeless world, in a way that none of the other powers ever would. Some interpretations suggest it might replace us with something new – that can then fear annihilation in turn. But I, and those like me, would rather that did not happen. |
„ |
| ~ Peter explaining the Extinction to Martin. |
| “ | Oh, come now. What would life be without the occasional twist? Oh, speaking of, I’ve had report of a workplace dispute in the library, and I would value your input. I’m trying to get out of the habit of, what did you call it – sending them away? | „ |
| ~ Peter to Martin. |
| “ | Peter Lukas: Excellent. I’m so proud of you, Martin. Martin Blackwood: I really don’t care. Peter Lukas: Perfect. |
„ |
| ~ Peter believing he has finally converted Martin. |
| “ | They’ll be fine… probably. You could still go help them. If you insist... Very good. Come on. | „ |
| ~ Peter after unleashing the NotThem. |
| “ | Peter Lukas: Jonah Magnus! His body at least. Sitting here, watching. Binding it all together, growing ever older. If you want to take his place, well… Martin Blackwood:I’ll need to kill him. Peter Lukas: Yes. Don’t worry, though, I brought a knife. |
„ |
| ~ Peter trying to get Martin to kill Jonah. |
| “ | Oh, no. No. I’m not gonna make it easy on him. You haven’t won yet. | „ |
| ~ Peter refusing to accept defeat. |
| “ | You’re alone, Archivist. The last one standing. I did warn you. I did want you to leave, but… perhaps it would be better if you stayed a while. After all – you can’t hurt anyone in here. | „ |
| ~ Peter taunting Jon. |
| “ | By the time I arrived at whatever destination I had arbitrarily picked, it would usually be night. I would walk around the darkened streets, drinking in the sodium orange, looking at the lit windows of the tower blocks that surrounded me, each one a small, cozy den of warmth and humanity, and reveling in my distance from them. Sometimes, I would pass another late-night traveler on the street, and I would hate them. They shattered the distance, my cocoon of quiet stillness, and I wished with all my heart that they would simply disappear. | „ |
| ~ Peter recalling his isolated childhood. |
| “ | No! Leave… me… ALONE! | „ |
| ~ Peter's last words. |
Trivia[]
- Alasdair Stuart, Peter's voice actor, included Peter, John, and Martin in his Halloween Parade special, a segment on his podcast PseudoPod.
- Alasdair Stuart and Ben Meredith, voice actor of Elias Bouchard, are both amused by the fandom shipping their characters together and have occasionally created non-canonical sound bites for the ship.
- Alasdair Stuart has also joked that Peter enjoys train documentaries.
- Alasdair Stuart has a TikTok Account where he does non-canonical bits as Peter.
External Links[]
- Peter Lukas on the Magnus Archives Wiki
