Musician

This article contains major spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

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 out of the forest depending on the choices made early on.

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.

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. If the Protagonist retrieves him the Violin from his parents' home, without leaving the Drawing by his mother, and kills his parents (after they have turned into red chompers), the Musician 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. The next day, upon arrival, 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.

If the protagonist retrieves the Violin, and leaves the drawing by his mother, they will not attack the protagonist (as red chompers). The Musician's dialogue will be the same as above (he will believe his parents are okay, and happily returns to the Creepy House); however, 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. On his corpse will be the Violin.

Chapter 2

If the player chooses to kill The Sow in Chapter 1, and assuming the Musician survives the events of this chapter (it is not known any longer whether or not the Musician is guaranteed to die as a result of pursuing his questline), the Musician makes a final appearance in the Swamp. At night, after the player retrieves the Child from the Mushroom Granny^{[unconfirmed]}, they will find the metal door in the room adjacent to the workbench area unlocked, and a small light inside the room turned on. 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 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. Currently, he can be shown no items at this point in the game, nor does he offer any particularly useful information, other than a bit of post-chapter 1 lore.

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.

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. If the player kills the Chicken Lady and manages to achieve the "False Ending", the Musician will be eaten by the Pretty Lady.

See Transcript

Showing Items

In the conversation screen the Protagonist can show various story items to the Musician.

• Key Covered in Chicken Feces: The Musician thanks the Protagonist sincerely and tells him that he wants to visit the Pretty Lady to play her songs, but doesn't want to do so without a proper, well-tuned Violin, and requests the Protagonist to go fetch it for him from the Creepy House. He also asks to give to his mother the Drawing that he made for her.
• Photo of the Doctor: The Musician recognizes the person in the picture, stating that it was the Doctor who gave him his mask to be cured of all his afflictions.
• Plastic Chick: The Musician finds it pretty, and begins to muse how he wants to buy his mother something pretty as well.
• Violin: The Musician will tell the Protagonist where to find the Doctor, and move to the Creepy House in the Old Woods.
• Photo of a Road
• Electronic Game
• Bloodstained Shawl

Trivia

• 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.

Gallery

The Musician hiding beneath the tractor outside of the Chicken Lady's house.

The Musician and his mother's Violin

The Musician in chapter 2.