The Thwarts are the main antagonists of the 2007 puzzle game Wonderland Adventures by the indie game developer Midnight Synergy. They are a race of seven creatures who live deep inside The Void, which is a very dull and drab place; as a result, they are jealous of all the color and diversity in Wonderland, and are thus planning to take it away by casting a spell to spread The Void through Wonderland, not knowing that color is at the heart of Wonderland and taking it away would result in all of Wonderland being destroyed. At the end of the game, the Thwarts reform and each one of them receives a color of the rainbow of their own.
History[]
The first appearance of a Thwart in the game is when the player character is on their way to Wondertown to ask Morklin, the curator of the Wonderland Temple Museum, about the Orange Shard they previously found, when they see one run past them, and wonder aloud to themself what it was.
When the player character reaches Wondertown, they ask Morklin about it, but he doesn't know what it was either. When the player character shows Morklin the Orange Shard, he reveals that it is a shard of the Rainbow Crystal, and that he has found another one of its shards, the Indigo Shard, in his museum. However, when he shows it to the player character, it is stolen by one of the Thwarts, and the player character follows it to the Wondertown Sewers, eventually recovering the Indigo Shard from it.
When the player character returns to the Wonderland Temple Museum, they find out that Morklin has made a new acquaintance; Wysp, a baby Rainbow Star who has come to Wonderland to help with the situation. Wysp then explains that the Thwarts are planning to steal all color away from Wonderland, that them doing so would cause Wonderland to be destroyed (although the Thwarts aren't aware of that), and that every Shard of the Rainbow Crystal must be gathered to stop them and push back The Void. The player character then begins a quest to find all of the Shards.
After the player character acquires the Blue Shard at the Foggy Mountains, it is stolen by a Thwart, but the player character successfully gets it back from it and two other Thwarts.
When the player character arrives at the forest town of Forest's End in search of the Green Shard, its mayor, Hootoo, tells them that Wysp has told him all about them and their quest, and that he has seen the Green Shard and the Thwarts at the Lonely Top mountains north of Forest's End, where they were "digging tunnels, building walls, and doing all sorts of strange things". The player character ventures there through the Forbidden Forest and manages to retrieve the Green Shard.
Later, after the player character receives the Yellow Shard from the pyramid in the Wasteland, they find that the color around them has disappeared. Wysp comes to tell them that the Thwarts have finished casting their spell, and that Wonderland is about to break apart. In a last ditch effort to save Wonderland, Wysp uses his energy to send the player character to The Void itself, where the last Rainbow Shard, the Purple Shard, is being guarded by all seven of the Thwarts. The player character manages to evade the Thwarts and retrieve the Purple Shard, and the power of the Shards restores all color to Wonderland and pushes back The Void. The Thwarts then realize that diversity is to be treasured rather than feared, and appear to become friends with the Stinkers, as they are seen hanging around with them peacefully in the ending cutscene. To symbolize their change of heart, each one of them are given their own color of the rainbow by the Shards.
Appearances[]
The Thwarts are brown, troll-like creatures. They have round, dark red noses, round eyes with black pupils and no irises, and two fangs in their mouths. They have large, black eyebrows. On their heads are two brown tufts of hair. Their arms are attached to the sides of their heads, and their hands, as well as their feet, are a lighter shade of brown than the rest of their body. Their legs are thin, and their feet are large and have three toes with peach-colored nails. After their redemption, each one of them becomes a different color of the rainbow.
Personalities[]
Despite the grave consequences their plan has for Wonderland, the Thwarts aren't actually evil, but are simply too foolish to realize the ramifications of their actions. They were initially jealous of all the color and diversity in Wonderland, but after their plan is foiled, they learn that diversity is a thing to be treasured and not feared, and seem to actually be on friendly terms with the Stinkers.
Trivia[]
- Interestingly, even though the Thwarts reformed in the first Wonderland Adventures game, they don't appear at all in the next two installments, Wonderland Adventures: Mysteries of Fire Island and Wonderland Adventures: Planet of the Z-Bots.
- However, the Indigo-colored Thwart did appear in a sample level for version 080 of the games' official level editor.
- Also, despite the player character going to the Thwarts' cave at the end of Planet of the Z-Bots, the Thwarts are strangely absent, leaving only a note telling the player character that they had business to attend to, and giving them a Star as thanks for saving the universe from the Z-Bots.