The musician, as seen on the conversation Screen.
The Musician is a major character in Darkwood. He is a resident of the forest who is changing due to the Plague. He can ultimately help the Protagonist eventually get to Chapter 2 depending on the choices they make.
Prior to the game, the Musician was living with his two parents in the Old Woods. His exact age is unknown, but he was likely born around the same time the Being first arrived in 1975, which means he has spent the majority of his life, if not all of it, in the woods while the Plague was active. His mother worked in the fields and was talented violinist, less is known about his father. It appears that the Musician was closer to his mother, who he speaks about more frequently than his father, and who would have been the one to teach him to play the violin. Some time before the start of the game, his parents both began to become overwhelmed by the Plague, and became immobilised as a result of it, losing much of their ability to talk. The Musician did not understand what was happening to his parents and why they were no longer interacting with him, he thought they were angry with him so he eventually ran away from home, making the abandoned Silo his new hideout.
Around three months before the start of the game, the Musician attended a Kupala night held in the village, and witnessed the Chicken Lady accompanying her deformed sister, the Pretty Lady When it came time for the Pretty Lady to throw her wreathe (most likely it was thrown for her, due to the need to keep her restrained) it landed in the river. Perhaps seeing his own mutations reflected in those of the Pretty Lady, the Musician fished her wreathe out of the water, and declared himself to be her future husband. The Chicken Lady was quick to drive him away, and with good reason as the Plague had left her sister with an insatiable appetite for human flesh.
The Musician has been attempting to court the Pretty Lady ever since, by playing music outside her window. He is implied to otherwise be very much alone, the other villagers fearing him because of his mutated appearance and not allowing him near them. Despite this, it seems he was friends with both the Chicken Lady's brother Janek before his disappearance and is on good terms with the Doctor who he is very grateful to for providing him with a wooden mask.
Chapter 1[]
After speaking to the Chicken Lady in the Forest Village for the first time, the Musician appears outside her house, fiddling away in disturbing fashion on his instrument, much to the annoyance of the Chicken Lady. As soon as the Protagonist approaches him, he hides under the tractor close by the house. However, if the player kills the Chicken Lady without talking to her, the Musician will never appear.
While talking to him below the tractor, the Musician reveals that he fancies the Pretty Lady and wants to "save" her from the Chicken Lady. To do this, he requires the key to her locked room, which he believes could be found in Janek's House. If the player nods the second time while talking to him under the tractor, the Musician can be found in the Silo.
After retrieving said key, the Protagonist has to choose whether to hand over the key to the Musician or to Wolfman. If the key is given to the Musician, he requests the Protagonist to fetch him a Violin from his parents' house before revealing the Doctor's location, and hands over a Drawing for his mother, after that the Musician can be found in the Church Ruins.
The next part of the Musician's path is largely dependent on player choices on retrieving the Violin from his parents' home. Note that not leaving the Drawing by his mother will cause both of the parents to turn into Red Chompers and attack the Protagonist. Regardless, upon showing the Violin to the Musician, he will deduce that if his mother consented in lending the protagonist the violin, then his parents are no longer angry with him. He decides to move back to his parents' house in Old Woods and invites the Protagonist to meet him there.
- If the Protagonist leaves the Drawing by his mother, his parents will not attack the protagonist, and the next day upon the Protagonist's arrival to the Creepy house, the Musician will be found dead in the house with a Red Chomper standing over him. The exact identity of the Chomper (father or mother) cannot be known. On his corpse will be the Violin.
- If the Protagonist doesn't leave the drawing by his mother and doesn't kill his parents (as Red Chompers), the next day the Musician will be found dead inside the house.
- If the Protagonist doesn't leave the Drawing by his mother, and kills his parents (as Red Chompers, or as humans beforehand), the next day the Musician will stand outside the house, weeping, aware of the Protagonist's doing, and unwilling to talk to him again. Two graves can be found in front of him, containing his parents' bodies.
Chapter 2[]
If the player chooses to follows Wolfman's path, and kill The Sow in Chapter 1, the Musician makes a final appearance in the Swamp. At night, they will find the metal door in the room adjacent to the workbench area unlocked, and a small light inside the room turned on. Investigating the very corner of the room will reveal the Musician, who was hiding there after being expelled from the camp with the other Villagers due to his appearance. His mutations have accelerated, his body growing disproportionately making it very difficult for him to move. The following day, upon entry, the player's health will begin to drop rather quickly (presumably to prevent players from camping at night behind the otherwise indestructible metal door), and after a few more days, the player can feed him some food. But for some unknown reason, the player cannot feed him Potato, Chicken Egg, Red Egg, Embryo, Jar with Meat, Insect, ? (Item).
If you let the Musician stay in your Hideout, he will capture a Rat after a couple of nights. Later on, you find him playing with a Ping Pong ball, which the protagonist can keep or return to him.
If the player chooses to feed the Musician a Hallucinogen such as odd meat or a mushroom, rather than bread or meat, they will find that the next morning the door to the room with the musician is gone and a large creature, presumably the Musician after growing more, can be found there, protruding from the door partially. The player can no longer interact with the Musician after this point. After one more day passes, the player will find that the Musician disappears and that the room is empty. The room, however, is still coated in damaging slime and is still rendered useless.
Epilogue[]
If the player has not interacted with the Musician after his encounter at The Chicken Lady's House, and manages to achieve the "True Ending", then it is stated that the Musician managed to escape the inferno and is speculated to have been rescued. This happens as well if you follow his quest-line but kill his parents and don't kill the Sow. If the player kills the Chicken Lady and manages to achieve the "False Ending", the Musician will be eaten by the Pretty Lady. If the player does not kill the Chicken Lady and manages to achieve the "False Ending", the Musician will be adopted by the Chicken Lady.
- See Transcript
Dialogue[]
Chapter 1[]
Greeting[]
- First Encounter
- Leave
A skinny little hand emerges from beneath the tractor and grabs me by the ankle.
- Leave Bored
Dull thuds can be heard from under the tractor, as if someone was bashing their head against the ground.
- Nod
Nervous grunting can be heard from underneath the tractor.
- Leave Bored
- Nod
- If the player kills the Pretty Lady
The boy silently stares at the ground beneath his feet. He clutches the violin in his hands.
- After killing his parents
The boy silently stares at the ground beneath his feet. He clutches the violin in his hands.
- Random
Showing Items[]
The boy clumsily turns the small item in his overgrown hand.
The boy shuffles his legs. He's visibly excited, but also seems uncomfortable.
One of the strings securing his mask falls off, together with his ear. The boy reattaches it as if nothing happened.
The kid stares at the violin with bated breath.
The Musician puts the game to his ear and shakes it. He must have pressed the power button by accident, as the game turns on. He flinches and looks at the screen.
The boy turns the game in his hand for a while, but he can't find a way to reach the buttons with his overgrown fingers. The game slips out of his hand and drops to the ground. The wannabe musician freezes.
The sight of the blood-soaked shawl has clearly made the boy anxious. He takes a step back and lowers his head even more than usual..
Chapter 2[]
Greeting[]
- First Encounter
Something is lurking in the shadows...
From beneath the mask you can hear a horribly distorted, resounding voice... of a child?
The figure tries to turn its head, but its enormous neck makes this task impossible to complete.
- The gift
The boy picks an enormous rat corpse from the ground and dangles it by its tail.
The corners of the boy's mouth turn up in a grotesque smile, exposing rows of overgrown teeth, which even his mask couldn't hide.
- Move away
The boy quickly glances at the rat's blood-soaked corpse and freezes.
The boy drops the rat to the floor, then hugs his knees and falls silent.
- Take it
- The gift 2
- Ping-pong ball
The Musician hums and bounces a small ping-pong ball against the wall. He probably found it amongst the junk. Suddenly, he notices me.
The ball bounces off his deformed hand and lands between my feet.
- Give back the ball
The boy clumsily grabs the ball in his hand. He carefully hides it under his legs, so that it doesn't roll away.
- Take the ball
The boy fixes his gaze on his knees, without saying a word.
- The infection
- The hunger
The boy leans over the violin lying next to his overgrown left hand. He plucks one of the strings with his right hand, clumsily trying to keep the rhythm.
The boy stops strumming. He carefully sets the violin down between his knees and holds the neck in his hand.
- Random 1
- Random 2
- Random 3
Showing Items[]
Maybe I should give it to the boy? He must be hungry...
- Keep it
- Give it to him
The boy leans over his left side and reaches for something with his right hand. I hear a sound of a torn fabric.
He passes me a piece of rope, which was part of his tattered clothing.
Gossip[]
- The Villagers
The boy adjusts the cracked mask with his overgrown hand.
- The mutation
The boy tries to hug his frail knees with the disproportionately massive torso.
Trivia[]
- You can often times hear the Musician playing on his violin off in the distance.
- After the full release version of the game on 17 August 2017, there was a bug that prevented the Musician from appearing in chapter 2. It was not until 2 years later, on 7 August 2019, the bug was fixed.
- If the Musician gets killed and the Chicken Lady is notified, she appears to be sorrowful.
- If the Key Covered in Chicken Feces is given to the Musician and the Protagonist has a full inventory, he will drop the Drawing received on the ground.
- The Musician is playing the nursery rhyme "Frère Jacques", with some mistakes.
- After Chapter 2, the Musician's appearance becomes significantly less child-like, and he remarks to the Protagonist that he has "grown a lot" recently, implying that his condition is advancing. The rift on the top of his head is similar to that of dormant Red Chompers, the final stage of the Plague.
- The doll which used to have the face the Musician wears as a mask can be found outside the Doctor's house in the prologue, with its face carved off.
- During the night in which the musician appears in the Swamp Hideout, there will be no enemies spawning.
- He is the last villager to believe in, and think fondly of, the Doctor, and is still on good terms with him.
- He was friends with the Chicken Lady's brother Janek, so he may have potentially known about the Pretty Lady for some years before the game.
- It is implied that, while he loved both of his parents, he was closer to his mother than father. His mother would have been the one to teach him to play the violin, and he mentions wishing he could accompany her to work in the fields. He does not mention much of his father, but in dialogue for the ending where he is killed by his parents as chompers, it's heavily implied his father used to beat him with a belt.
- In any ending where the Protagonist followed the Bliss ending, and the Pretty Lady is still alive and the Chicken Lady is not, the Musician will either free the Pretty Lady himself or be found by her, and is then killed and eaten by her.
Gallery[]
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Major characters | Bike Man • Chicken Lady • Child • Cripple • Doctor • Elephants • Mirror • Mushroom Granny • Musician • Piotrek • Protagonist • Snail • Talking Tree • The Three • Trader • Wolfman • The Being |
| Minor characters | Dial-eyed Man • Half-Dead Man • Half-Dead Woman • Hanuska • Infected Villager • Janek • Maciek • Madman • Man • Notable Villagers (Swamp) • Pig Farmer • Pretty Lady • Sleeper • Stasiek • Tunneler |