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“ | Stephen King once wrote that "Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there's little fun to be had in explanations; they're antithetical to the poetry of fear." In a horror story, the victim keeps asking "Why?" But there can be no explanation, and there shouldn't be one. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest, and it's what we'll remember in the end. My name is Alan Wake. I'm a writer. | „ |
~ Alan Wake's opening narration. |
“ | We all come to a story with hopes and expectations, looking for an answer. Sometimes it would be better to live with that hope — without ever knowing the full story. In a horror story, there are only victims and monsters, and the trick is not to end up as either. But trapped by the genre, we are all ripped to pieces along the way. This is not the story I hoped it would be. This is not the ending I wanted. This story will eat us alive. This story is a monster. And monsters wear many faces... | „ |
~ Alan in Alan Wake II. |
Alan Wake is the titular main protagonist of the franchise of the same name, and the overarching protagonist of the 2020 DLC Control: AWE.
He is a bestselling author who had been struggling to write anything for two years due to a case of writer's block. His wife, Alice Wake, brought him to Bright Falls to try and recover his creative/writing flow, which leads to him being manipulated by the Dark Presence so it can become free from Cauldron Lake.
He is voiced by Matthew Porretta, and modeled by Ilkka Villi.
Personality[]
Alan Wake is a tired writer in search of a vacation, a place where he could forget everything. Whilst he was once much happier in his life and marriage, his rise to fame coupled with a developing writer's block has made him rather short tempered. At times he can still be caring and sympathetic, but this is rare as he is becomes more frustrated with his life and work. Sadly, the continuous pursuit by fans and paparazzi have made him somewhat cynical to people, which is why he usually spends most of his time with his wife, Alice. Emil Hartman says that Alan's history of substance abuse combined with his insomnia makes him especially prone to anger.
He is also very strong-willed and brave, although at times blurs the lines between courage and stubbornness. This is in part fueled by his intense love for Alice, making him willing to take on the seemingly invincible Dark Presence in the hope of saving her. Though it is unknown how he met Alice, it is quickly established that he cares for her deeply, and often refers to her as his 'muse'. During the first Alan Wake DLC, The Signal, Alan has memories of Alice which seem to make him happy, most of which are sexual and intimate. Their marriage has recently become turbulent in some ways, due to Alan's insomnia and alcohol fueled behavioral issues, but overall the two love each other very deeply.
Alan also practices at a shooting range, and has a good knowledge of hunting rifles, shotguns, and pistols. In the novel, it is explained that he spent time at the shooting range to get research done for his Alex Casey crime series. Sarah Breaker comments that even though he is a good shot, he needs to get his knowledge of how guns function down. It should also be noted that he is a quick-thinker, using his knowledge to get past environmental puzzles and to evade numerous Taken at once. He can adapt to a wide array of weaponry quickly and with good result.
Remedy Games has called Alan "kind of a dick". They note that, as before stated, he hates most people, and has many problems with his marriage. But they say that this is good because it separates him from most golden-hearted characters and "space marine" G.I. Joes. This adds a layer of realism and depth to him, making him a more relate-able character.
By Alan Wake II, Alan has become weary and depressed due to his failed attempts to escape the Dark Place, culminating in the Dark Presence feeding on his negative emotions and doubt to possess him. He's also remorseful for causing harm to others, evident in why he stopped writing initially and apologizing to Saga on writing her daughter into the story. Despite his despair, he remains friendly towards those he encounters, such as Ahti and Tim Breaker while in the nightmarish version of New York City.
Biography[]
Background[]
Alan Wake was born in 1977 to Linda Wake, but his father is unknown. As a child, Alan had a fear of darkness. Alan was afraid of monsters in the dark, and would fight sleep to the bitter end out of fear. His mother gave him an old, used broken-off light-switch dubbed The Clicker. Every time he would flip the switch on it, a supposed magical light would turn on and the supposed monsters would vanish. Over time, he conquered his fear of darkness.
He never really knew his father and he would sit alone at playgrounds as a child, and pretend he didn't miss him. His mother had to raise him almost all of his life. At some point he met Barry Wheeler and they became close and true friends.
Soon after, Alan became interested in writing. He became an avid reader of Stephen King and other horror writers, and then started writing his own stories using vivid imagination. Alan's first story, The Errand Boy, was published at a young age and he became famous after writing his next series of novels; a set of crime and suspense novels focused on a cynical Max Payne-like cop named "Alex Casey". With his lifelong friend Barry as his agent, Alan rose to becoming famous. But as he wrote more and more books, he gained a constant following of annoying fans and interfering paparazzi. He grew a temper and then came under significant heat after he punched a journalist who wouldn't leave him alone.
Later, Alan married a photographer named Alice after meeting from his night watchmen job. They lived together in a New York City apartment together at least as far back as three years prior to the Bright Falls incident. But as he finished his Alex Casey series, he began to suffer once more from writer's block and insomnia. There was trouble in their marriage, and Alan kept on coming home drunk from parties. The two got into many fights, with Alan constantly frustrated at his inability to write anything at all.
In The Writer, Emil Hartman mentions that Alan has had a history of substance abuse, although this fact is open to speculation, as some dialogue in The Writer may be distorted lies created by the insane Alan Wake.
Alan Wake[]
While traveling to Bright Falls, Alan has a nightmare where he is pursued by shadowy figures attempting to kill him, but is able to fight them off after being taught how to use light by an unseen figure. Alan awakes from his nightmare by Alice, and the two head to the Oh Deer Diner to meet Carl Stucky to obtain the keys to their cabin. Entering the diner, Wake is unable to find Stucky, but is instead greeted by a mysterious woman, whom hands him keys to the cabin near Cauldron Lake. That night, Alan learns that Alice has brought a typewriter to help with his writer's block, and intends to have him see Dr. Emil Hartman for therapy. Angered by her intentions, Alan storms off until Alice is kidnapped by an unseen entity into the lake. Wake attempts to save his wife by jumping into the lake, but is unable to find her and returns to shore.
The Dark Presence emerged due to Alan entering the lake, and enticed him to write a story titled Depature tricking Wake by telling him by writing the manscript he could save his wife. By writing the manuscript, the Dark Presence gained more control over reality in Bright Falls, but Wake managed to realize the presence's deception and wrote Thomas Zane to help him escape. Alan drove away from the cabin but due to a lack of sleep, he drove off the side and suffered from amnesia, making him forget about the recent events. Awaking in the wreck, Alan walks through the woods and encounters the Taken, citizens of Bright Falls who have been possessed by the Dark Presence to kill Wake. Additionally, Wake discovers pages of Depature and foreshadow events that will happen, and defeats a possessed Stucky.
He manages to reach Stucky's gas station where he calls Sheriff Sarah Breaker, telling her of his wife's disappearance and of the cabin at Cauldron Lake. The sheriff informed him that the cabin sunk back in the seventies due to a volcano, and Wake has her drive him to the lake to find no cabin there. Taken to the police station, Wake receives a call from a unnamed man who claims to have kidnapped Alice, and tells him to meet him at Lover's Peak that night. Alan is then reunited with Barry, whom arrived to Bright Falls after Wake didn't answer his phone for days. Going to Lover's Peak, Alan fights against the Taken and is saved by the alleged kidnapper (who's name is revealed to be Mott), who tells Wake to give him all pages of the manuscript at Mirror Peak if he wanted to see Alice again. Wake proceeded to attack Mott, causing the two to separate from the pear, allowing him to escape. Afterward, Wake returns to Barry and saves him from the Taken and their new minions, possessed birds.
The following morning, Barry is contacted by Rose Marigold, a waitress at the Oh Deer Diner and fan of Alan's, who tells Wheeler that she has pages of the manuscript. Unbenownst to Barry or Alan, Rose has been touched by the Dark Presence, who influences Marigold to bring them to her trailer and drug them. Alan recovered hours later and was confronted by the FBI, specifially agent Robert Nightingale, forcing Wake to run through the woods while being indirectly assisted by the Dark Presence to evade the law. Going to Mirror Peak to meet Mott, Alan audibly heard him admit that his boss wanted the manuscript and feigned kidnapping Alice. Seeing a broken Mott, the man is killed by the Dark Presence while Wake barely survives by using a flare and landing into the water below. He was saved by Dr. Hartman, who took him to the Cauldron Lake Lodge and attempted to manipulate Wake that he was suffering from a breakdown.
Though Alan didn't believe what Hartman was saying, he decided to play along to prevent an accident from happening. Wake encountered the Andersons brothers again, who instructed him to travel to their farm to find a hidden clue to stop the Dark Presence. The lodge was soon attacked by the Taken, giving Alan and Barry a chance to escape while the Anderson brothers helped the other patients escape. Before leaving the lodge, Alan confronted Hartman after learning that he was Mott's boss, and the doctor was attacked by the Dark Presence. Reaching the farm while battling the Taken, Alan discovered the Anderson's song "The Poet and the Muse", which hinted that Bright Falls recluse Cynthia Weaver was connected in stopping the Dark Presence. Alan also consumed the Anderson's moonshine, which allowed him to relieve the events that led to Alice's kidnapping and the Dark Presence enticing him to write the manuscript.
The next day, Alan and Barry are arrested by Nightingale and taken to the police station, but the Dark Presence attacks, forcing Alan, Barry and Sheriff Breaker to escape. The trio travel through Bright Falls and meet Weaver, who gives Alan the clicker, which was written into reality by Zane so he could defeat the darkness. Leaving his friends behind, Alan traveled to Cauldron Lake and entered the Dark Place, a dimension that could manipulate art and put it into reality. During his travel, Wake encountered a doppleganger named "Mr. Scratch", but Zane told him not to worry about him. Alan then defeated the Dark Presence (in the guise of Barbara Jagger) by using the clicker, which freed the town and Alice at the cost of him being trapped in the Dark Place. While the town celebrates, Alan is last seen writing at the typewriter, stating that "it's not a lake... it's an ocean".
The Signal[]
Alan remained trapped in the Dark Place, attempting to write a manuscript so he could escape but his sanity would break, causing him to suffer a breakdown in the cabin. Alan's sane side would be placed into a dreamlike version of Bright Falls, where he was attacked by Taken controlled by his insane self. Zane guisdes Alan to not go deeper, and to follow the singal so Wake could attempt to restore his sanity. During his travel, Wake battles Taken across the town and encounters manuscripts, with him being able to change reality by shining his flash light. Alan is assisted by imaginary version of Barry, who guides him to the sawmill that goes to his old home to meet with Zane. Alan learns from Zane that he is causing of all of this, and after refusing to believe so, is attacked by his insane side.
The Writer[]
Alan is assisted once again by Imaginary Barry, who tells him to get a grip since reality can be easily manipulated within the Dark Place. Meeting with Zane, Alan is informed that he is not the real Alan, but the side of him that refuses to give up while the real him is in the cabin suffering a breakdown. Reaching to Diver's Isle, Alan is confronted by Imaginary Barry, who feels that he is being replaced by Zane as his best friend. Wake is then forced to defeat Imaginary Barry and several other forms of people he has encountered, such as Dr. Hartman and the Anderson brothers. Afterward, Alan restores his sanity and starts to write another manuscript, entitled Return, a story that would allow him to escape the Dark Place for good.
American Nightmare[]
Alan continues to write Return so he could escape the Dark Place, but he stops his writing in an attempt to stop Mr. Scratch, his doppleganger who has personified rumors of Wake being an insane murderer. Alan then writes a reality from Night Springs episodes so he could stop Mr. Scratch, and find a way to escape the Dark Place with his manuscripts. Though Wake does make it to the end of his story, he is stopped by his doppleganger, who has put this reality into a time loop to prevent Alan from stopping him. Forced to go through three loops, Alan makes allies with the citizens in Arizona and manages to finally defeat Mr. Scratch at the movie theater. The ending shows Alan reuniting with Alice, but this is only in story, as Wake is still trapped within the Dark Place.
Quantum Break[]
“ | Alan Wake. Love this guy's stuff. | „ |
~ Jack Joyce. |
Alan is mentioned in Quantum Break, as his novels of his protagonist Alex Casey can be found, and there is a video called "Alan Wake's Return" appears in Act 1.
Control[]
Alan appears as a supporting character in the DLC "Bright Falls AWE", as it's revealed that both the Alan Wake and Control share a universe together. In the DLC, Alan appears through hotline messages that Jesse Faden can acquire, which reveals that Alan wrote the Hiss incantation since a "hero" needs a "crisis" in their story. Though Wake attempted to write his escape from the Dark Place, he was unable to due to feeling lost since he was relying on his manuscripts. At the start of the story expansion, Wake summons Jesse to enter the Investigations sector to stop Hartman, whom has been twisted into the "The Third Thing" after being possessed by the Dark Presence and the Hiss.
Time in the Dark Place[]
Trapped in the Dark Place for thirteen years, Alan continued to write stories in hopes of escaping of the dream-like dimension. His futile attempts caused him to fall into despair, doubt and depression for hurting others with his work; feeding the Dark Presence his negative emotions and allowing the entity to write Return with the desperate filmmaker Thomas Zane. With the Dark Presence feeding on his emotions, Wake at some point was possessed by the Dark Presence and continued to scare Alice as "Scratch". However, Alan's attempts to escape caused him to experience a spiral - a time-like loop where he ascended with each experience but suffered from memory loss before the spiral reset. In addition, he was killed during each attempt, further perpetuating the spirals and the gaps in his memory.
At some point, Wake realized that he needed to experience the "heroes journey" before it could escape, and started to write Initiation as a sequel to Departure. In the sequel novel, Wake writes his fictional character Alex Casey into a story of him hunting down a ritualistic murder cult, but also writes himself into it searching for a manuscript that he doesn't remember writing. By the events of Initiation, Alan discovered a mysterious man known as Warlin Door traversing the Dark Place, and the entity decided to join in on Wake's fantasy by acting as a talk show host.
Initiation[]
Experiencing the beginning of the spiral, Alan learns that he's written a sequel novel named Initiation from Mr. Door and is killed by the Dark Presence. Awakening in the writer's room, he starts his journey by going to murder sites for inspiration across a nightmarish version of New York City. During the events of Initiation, Alan encounters individuals during his travel - the fictionalized Alex Casey (whom believes Wake is "Mr. Scratch"), the mysterious yet helpful janitor Ahti, Bright Falls Sheriff Tim Breaker, the enigmatic Thomas Zane and FBI Special Agent Saga Anderson. At the end of each spiral, Alan reaches Parliament Tower and watches videos of Alice speaking her experience following the 2010 incident. Inside the writer's room, Wake discovers that Return has been written into a horror story and attempts to stop its completion.
In the final spiral that leads to the events of Alan Wake II, the writer learns that Alice committed suicide due to being tormented by Scratch. Angered at losing his wife, Alan enters the writers room and kills "Scratch", but realizes that it's his past self editing Return from the previous spiral. Grief-stricken upon the revelation that he's Scratch and was one tormenting Alice, Alan allows the Dark Presence possess him moments before being summoned from Tor and Odin's song "Dark Ocean Summoning" to Cauldron Lake. Despite this, Alan edits remained from each spiral, making Saga the hero of Return as her seer abilities allows her to not be affected by the story's manipulations.
Alan Wake II[]
Brought to the shores of Cauldron Lake following the taken Nightingale's death, Alan is awoken by Saga and questioned by her and the real-life Alex Casey in Bright Falls. He tells the FBI agents about the power of the Dark Place, Scratch writing Return, and tells them to find any manuscript pages they can find. Wake also tells them that the only way to stop Scratch is with the Clicker, which is currently in the possession of the Cult of the Tree. Saga leaves Casey to continue questioning Wake while she travels to Watery to obtain the clicker, and the retrieves the light switch from the taken Mulligan and Thornton. However, the cult were informed of Alan's presence and attack the lodge where he and Casey were stationed.
During the attack, the Dark Presence escapes from Alan's body, causing the writer to lose consciousness and be arrested by the Federal Bureau of Control. At the Bright Falls Sheriff Station, Alan becomes possessed by the Dark Presence when Saga reveals that she has the Clicker. After killing Alan's would-be killer Ilmo Koskela, Scratch attempts to take the Clicker from Saga but is forced to flee. Scratch later returns when summoned to Cauldron Lake from "Dark Ocean Summoning", but is forced from Wake's body from the FBC's cage and lights. However, Casey is possessed by the Dark Presence, takes the Clicker from Saga before throwing her into the Dark Place. Needing to re-write the ending, Alan travels to Bright Falls and found himself in Scratch's reality - Deerfest attended by citizens happily celebrating Wake's newest novel.
Evading the hostile citizens and Scratch, Alan is able to reach the writer's room thanks to Rose Marigold and Ahti and speaks with Saga on how to end Return. Finishing the new ending, Alan sacrifices himself to allow Saga to kill him and the Dark Presence via the bullet of light. In the post-credits scene, its revealed that Alice is alive and in the Dark Place, helping Alan and Saga reach the "ascension" from each spiral. After the live-action video ends, Alan awakes in the writer's room and states - "It's not a loop... it's a spiral".
The Final Draft[]
In "The Final Draft", Alan is aware of his the previous end of the spiral from the story as the events of Alan Wake II take place. At the end after being shot with the bullet of light, Wake realizes that the Dark Presence was born from the remains from the bullet's skull. The connection between the two was severed when Alan finished Return, but the Dark Presence remained due to the writer missing the final piece part of him - Alice. With the revelation, the spiral loop is broken and upon his revival, Alan declares himself the "Master of Many Worlds".
Quotes[]
“ | I’ve always had a vivid imagination, but this dream unsettled me. It was wild and dark and weird, even by my standards. So yes - it began with a dream. Following a typical nightmare pattern, I was late, desperately trying to reach my destination – a lighthouse – for some urgent reason I couldn’t remember. I’d been driving too fast down a coastal road to get there. ... I’d seen the hitchhiker too late. ... He was dead. I was convinced they’d put me in jail, and I would never see Alice again. ... Suddenly, his body was gone. | „ |
~ Alan Wake in the opening, telling of his nightmare. |
“ | And I thought New Yorkers were rude. | „ |
~ Alan after being ambushed by the Taken. |
“ | Tell me one more lie and I'll shoot you in the face. | „ |
~ Alan to Hartman. |
“ | It's not a lake... It's an ocean. | „ |
~ Alan's last words in the main game. |
“ | I could feel Alice's presence close by... I understood what I had to do now. I knew how to write the ending to Departure. There's light, and there's darkness. Cause and effect. There's guilt and there's atonement. But the scales always need to balance. Everything has a price. That's where Zane had gone wrong. There's a long journey through the night back into the light. | „ |
~ Alan Wake. |
“ | You're fired! | „ |
~ Alan to Imaginary Barry in "The Signal". |
“ | I'm lost! I'm lost in the dark, drowning. I'm drowning... I'm drowning, no way out. There's no way out. Sinking deeper and deeper and deeper, this is hell. I'm in hell, I died. I wish I was dead, let me die, I just wanna sleep! Please, let me sleep! I'm so tired-- I just wanna go home, I've written so much. I write and I write, there's nothing left! It's all gone! I don't know how to write. All the words are gone, there's no more words, where'd they go? Did I eat the words? I don't recognize these words anymore. Are the words moving? Oh, God, this is familiar. Why is this familiar? I-- I've been here before. Have I said this before? I've read this somewhere. Where am I? Who am I? "Alan Wake". "Wake"? That's a strange name, "A. Wake," that sounds like a character's name! Did I-- What, did I-- I write that name up, I make that what-- name up? I don't wanna be a character, I-- I don't wanna be in this story, just write me out of the story! You will drown here! You're stuck in a loop. You don't have a clue. You're lost. You lost the plot. I'll show you... | „ |
~ Alan's rant from the Writer's Journey "Drowning". |
“ | Alan Wake: You're me? Me? I don't understand... There's a lot I don't understand. Future Alan: The Dark Place operates in loops. Time is a story. I'm calling you from a different point in that story. Alan Wake: From the future? I'm never getting out of here, am I...? Future Alan: Yes, you will. And no, you won't. And that is by your own choice. |
„ |
~ Alan and Future Alan. |
“ | In 2010, I had dived in -- a leap of faith. For Alice. With no idea that the cost would be a nightmare worse than death. It had taken me thirteen years to get out. Now Alice was dead because of me. And I was gonna make that leap again, this time knowing the cost all too well. Another way to look at it: I had brought the Dark Place here with me. I never had gotten out. Maybe after this, I finally could. It was a fool's hope. I had no choice, I had to do it. It didn't make me any less terrified. | „ |
~ Alan's narration before entering Scratch's reality. |
“ | This is... not what I expected. | „ |
~ Alan upon arriving to Scratch's reality. |
“ | ...Back to the beginning, with the memory of this past loop already fading fast. But while it lingers, I know there is hope. We are not doomed to repeat our failures in an eternal loop. This is a spiral. A fictional poet once said: beyond the shadow you settle for, there is a miracle, illuminated. I will not settle for a shadow. I will find the miracle. Through the night. It’s not just victims and monsters. I see now there are heroes as well. We can find our way through the darkness. We will break through the surface. We will emerge into the light. | „ |
~ Alan in the opening of "The Final Draft". |
“ | I see it clearly now. This part at least. We have met here before. Time loops in the Dark Place. Every choice you make affects everything- that comes both before and after you make it... ...like it does when you change a detail in a story you are writing. When the bullet of light blew the darkness out of the crater of my skull, the Dark Presence was born from the remains, feeding on the horror around it to grow. It found me writing. Tapped into me, influenced me. I was lost in my work. The link was severed when I finished “Return”. But the Dark Presence was hungry for more. And I was missing the small part of myself that it had been born from. Alice. Love is strange. Even apart, we are still together in our memories. We put each other through hell to set us free. Again and again. Different versions of us. Alice helped me get there. Where I needed to be. It has taken so long. The process to change reality is so delicate, to be true in just the right way, and still find a way past our flaws. So many drafts. So many photographs. So many lives lived outside time, an eternity apart on this journey to finally arrive here. | „ |
~ Alan narration in the "Final Draft" upon being shot with the bullet of light. |
“ | And so I return. With me I bear the torch of knowledge, the light, the miracle illuminated. The master of two worlds. No... the master of many worlds. | „ |
~ Alan upon his revival in "The Final Draft". |
The Poet and the Muse[]
“ | The poet came down to the lake to call out to his dear When there was no answer he was overcome with fear He searched in vain for his treasure lost and too soon the night would fall Only his own echo would wail back at his call And when he swore to bring back his love by stories he'd create Nightmares shifted in their sleep in the darkness of the lake And now to see your love set free You will need the witch's cabin key Find the lady of the light, still raving in the night That's how you reshape destiny |
„ |
~ Lyrics of "The Poet And The Muse". |
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- His signature weapon is the revolver.
- Like Max Payne and Jack Joyce, Alan's name is a clue, as his first initial coupled with his last name spells "A. Wake". This symbolizes his battle with the night, and him not knowing of the truth until later in the story.
- Alan is possibly the overarching protagonist of Control, as its implied that he created the Federal Bureau, including Jesse Faden, which could predict he was trying to use her in a attempt to escape the Dark Place. This would lead to the events of Alan Wake II, although Jesse’s presence is a brief appearance on a television.
- There is multiple moments foreshadowing Alan and Scratch being the same person:
- The song "Herald of Darkness" foreshadows the revelation of Alan and Scratch being the same person.
- During the party scene with Zane, Alan (whom is implied to be Scratch) states "It's called Return because... we return". With the word "we", Scratch is speaking of Alan and the Dark Presence returning to the real world.
- When Alan kills Dark Place Casey, he shows a slasher-like smile similar to Scratch (whom is shown in flashes), meaning he was briefly possessed by the Dark Presence.