The Shadowis the mysterious guardian of theOrbs, hunting down and killing anyone unable to fully take control of the Orb. It chases afterDanielrelentlessly. It appears inAmnesia: The Dark Descent.

Daniel cannot fight back against this living nightmare nor hope to hide from it. All attempts to banish it have failed; all Daniel can do now is flee from it for as long as possible.

Information

The Shadow is a massive, invisible being that pursues those who have abused the power of the Orbs.

Wherever the Shadow passes, it leaves behind a fleshy organic "residue" that is harmful to touch. This residue can take the form of pulsating lumps of flesh or membraneous webbing, and is bloody red in color. If Daniel is too close to this residue,his sanity will slowly decrease. Sometimes, Daniel has to jump on this residue in order to advance.

Though the Shadow safeguards the power of the Orbs from thieves in order to protect the Universe, and has killed many people to achieve that end, it may spare some robbers' lives. WhenAgrippadiscovered his first orb in the Prussian forests, near Altstadt, he was caught by the Shadow but not harmed. It reclaimed the Orb and carried the man miles away across the Alps to a grassy field outside Genoa. It's ultimately up to this otherworldly force's discretion if the victim is mutilated, spared or completely devoured.

Johann Weyerwas the only one since the fall of the Mithraic faith who managed to assemble an entire collection oforbs and separate the Shadow from them. He could use their power without incurring the cosmic beast's wrath, but he had very little control over the Guardian itself. In 1558 he was able to summon the Shadow within an Orb Chamber in Calais to consume some murderous French soldiers so he could claim the mystic relic they had found, but he could not then stop it from swallowing up everything and everyone around it and had to flee.

At the beginning of the game, the Shadow was pursuingDanielbecause he had taken an Orb that resided in an African tomb in Algeria. Though the young man was not directly harmed, everyone else he came into contact with were brutally killed afterwards. In order to seek refuge from this ancient horror, Daniel travels toBrennenburg Castle, where the baronAlexanderpromises a means of warding off the Shadow.

Alexander repeatedly mentions that Daniel is "tainted" and "branded" by this supernatural force. The meaning of these labels concerning the young man is not understood, as Baron was intentionally being cryptic. To 'taint' something is to contaminate it, whereas 'branding' someone is to mark them indelibly, indicating ownership. Whatever, it proves itself to be unstoppable in its hunt for Daniel. From the towers of the castle, to the toxicSewertunnels and the bottomless pits of theChancel, no environment deters or hinders its expanding organic matter. It works very similar to the gameplay mechanic of an "advancing wall of doom". Its organic matter even extends outside the castle itself; the forest can also be seen covered by its fleshy matter.

While this fleshy residue is easily seen even in the darkest reaches of the castle, there is no mention of it before Daniel arrives in Brennenburg. In the journal entries the Shadow is described as a completely invisible force. A bright red aura is often radiated when large masses of flesh join together. Also, though this residue is known to be left by the Shadow, the being itself is never seen. It is unknown if it has physical form at all. All that can be assumed is that the ancient horror is gigantic. The stomping noises made as it chases Daniel gives a feeling of its immenseness. The movements it makes when following Daniel cause all ofBrennenburg Castleto tremble. It makes the ground quake, and fells tall trees. It also makes the castle start to cave in.

Appearance

The Shadow appears to be a mysterious, invisible creature. It passes and leaves behind with red, fleshy, web-like "residue" which can be dangerous to touch.

Encounters

The Shadow starts to chase Daniel

The Shadow constantly hunts Daniel throughout the game and, while not directly confronted since it is not visible to the human eye, its effects on the environment can be found all overBrennenburg Castle. It is responsible for the fleshy residue that appears whenever it touches a surface, as well as the unnatural darkness that shrouds the rooms in theStorage, and the flooding of the Cellar Archives and Archive Tunnels.If Daniel lights some candles it will sometimes roar causing the entire environment to go darker still. Any lit candles and his own lantern will also glow with an eerie dark red.

The Shadow blocks Daniel's escape from the Entrance Hall and initially his progress until acid iscreated and utilised to erase a thin webbing of theShadow's residue that isblockingthe path to the Refinery.

Curiously, this supernatural entity interacts with the monsters it comes across differently. When it consumes theCellar ArchivesandCistern, it allows theKaernkto appear and attack Daniel. Without its influence and flooding the cellars, the water monster wouldn't have been able to even pursue Daniel in this area. Whereas with the Gatherers, a Servant Grunt was seen lying in a bloody mess in a room in theSewers, although itis possible that this was the work of the Grunt's fellow Gatherer, theBrute, which was in the same area and may have used the blade on its arm to hack the Grunt into pieces. While Grunts are shown to work together when commanded to do so, it is unknown if a Brute would tolerate them, much less cooperate with them. If the Brute was not behind this attack, however, it is to be speculated that the Shadow itself tore Alexander's servant apart.

When Daniel repairs the machine that powers the elevator in theBack Hallhe enters the lift just as the Shadow swallows up the entire area. The guardian advances through many floors, and overtakes the shaft as it tries to stop him. However, the cables snap in the process and the elevator plummets down to thePrisonbefore it can consume Daniel.

Interestingly, if Daniel waits long enough in the Cistern, the Shadow unintentionally allows him to escape this area. While it does block the normal route of escape and summons another Kaernk to contend with, its flesh actually forms a "bridge" leading out into the next room that Daniel may walk over safely.

If Daniel falls back down the well he climbed out of to reach theNave, he will respawn in a room that's locked off at first from the outside. Upon trying to leave this room, the Shadow consumes it, thereby briefly blocking the only exit door with its organic residue, then removes the residue off the door to allow Daniel to leave.

Although described as "sluggish", the Shadow can occasionally move much faster than normal. When Daniel escapes theCells, a tense pursuit between Daniel and The Shadow is initiated and the red residue appears at a much quicker pace. Should Daniel cover a lot of distance the guardian will advance even quicker, only slowing down a little when it comes across shallow water. Being caught during the chase is fatal.

The Shadow bellows angrily when Daniel completes Weyer's Tonic forAgrippa. It does not want the young man helping the dying alchemist, knowing full well it would mean Daniel has to abuse its orb's power to help another.

When Daniel enters theInner Sanctumto confront Alexander, another tense pursuit between the young man and this cosmic persecutor commences. Fortunately, Daniel is able to slow it down by closing a huge door buying him precious time to break the final seal to theOrb Chamberwhere the Baron waits. The Shadow overtakes the area with its organic matter and roars again when Daniel leaves the area.

The Orb Chamber marks the final encounter with the Shadow in theDark Descent, one that will result in three different endings depending on what Daniel decides to do next. Allowing the ritual to take place, either by doing nothing and watchAlexanderescape, or throwing Agrippa's head through the portal will result in him being consumed by the Guardian.

Furious with him for either allowing another to abuse his orb's power, or misusing it himself, the cosmic force devours him. Daniel's consciousness is sucked inside the Shadow, a dark void, where the only sound is the sickening squelching of the beast's fleshy matter. If Daniel decided to saveAgrippa, he asksJohann Weyerto work on a way to save him, as heavenly lights appear beneath the Shadow. If not, Daniel faces the cosmic guardian alone without any hope of escape and his worst fear is finally realized as he's trapped forever inside its absolute darkness.

IfDanielchooses to stop the ritual, the Shadow will overtake the chamber. Alexander's escape-bid is foiled and he screams that they're both going to die. However, the Guardian is appeased by the length and effort that Daniel went to stop the Baron from misusing theOrb. It will not roar or frighten the young man, by preventing its organic tissue from hurting the young man. The Shadow spares Daniel, and for his earlier transgressions, only devours Alexander as atonement. No longer hunted, Daniel is free to leave Brennenburg with a guilt-free conscience.

Speculation

One of theLoading Screensstates that the Shadow is not some "vengeful spirit," but the very universe catching up and trying to contain the Orbs. If this is true, the manifestations of its fleshy matter imply that the cosmos that Daniel and everyone exists inside of is actuallyaliveand sentient. It maintains itself, guarding the Orbs and hunts down whoever seeks to use them because if they try to leave it, that isthe universe, these "escapists" may threaten its stability.

The religionMithraismseems to be connected to the Orbs in some way, so it is possible the Mithraists believed the Shadow was either their godMithrahimself, or the giant bull being slaughtered in the iconic scenes monuments of which Zoroastrianism interpretations depict him or another deity slaying the primordial bovineGavaevodatawhose fleshy matter becomes the progenitor of all life.

It is not explained how the Orbs contain their unnatural power, or why the Mithraists could invoke them without getting hunted and killed by the Shadow. Weyer and Daniel (temporarily) were able to use the Orbs without incurring the Guardian's wrath. Its possible the Orbs choose their holder. Or maybe the Shadow deemed them worthy of handling such power, but not Alexander, Agrippa or Herbert, who would likely use it for their own advantage.

Daniel may be "branded" or "owned" by the cosmic guardian simply because he touched theorband by doing so, became "tainted", inadvertently invoking the relic's powers and channelling them into himself. This might be why his intuition is so high and how he can recall foreign memories not belonging to him. The Shadow may now regard Daniel as much of its possession as the mysterious artifacts it usually guards, hence why its so obsessed with him that it would kill anyone who dared make contact with him, and even ignore the two orbs currently residing in Brennenburg, making no attempt to recover them.

While the Shadow is huntingDanielrelentlessly throughout the game, it is plausible that the nightmarish force originally had no intentions of harming Daniel, even though he took one of its orbs from the archaeological expedition to Africa. It did not actively hound him down to start with, merely content with following behind its orb carrier.

Why the Shadow didn't simply take back the orb or dispatch Daniel as soon as he left the burial grounds is unknown. It's possible it chose the young man to wield the orb as it saved his life in the tomb. It could have also spared Daniel in the beginning since he did not take the relic to wield its otherworldly powers for personal gain (indeed, he was oblivious to them) but simply to preserve it in a museum. He also did not remove the orb from the burial grounds, he was unconscious and forcibly carried away by Herbert's men with the broken orb shards in his hands.

In theChoirDaniel is taunted byAlexandervia telepathy who tells him he's responsible for all the deaths because if he had only "submitted to theOrb" when he first discovered it none of the bloodshed in Brennenburg would have happened. If true, if Daniel had not tried to flee from it but merely accepted the Orb's Shadow and yielded to it's superior will, the events ofThe Dark Descentwould not have occurred.

Daniel, spellbound by dreams, fell overboard from the SS Hortensia headed for London. Beneath him in the dark Atlantic waters something very large tried to take him away. The current caused by it moving pulls him underwater and Daniel nearly drowns, but then he is raised up and put back onto ship, by what he doesn't know. The crew of the ship did not respond to his distress. It happens so calmly that he wonders if it was all another dream. This unseen beast may have been the Shadow making an attempt to abduct him, and then abandoning the course of action.

There is no explanation given for why the Shadow did not consume Daniel in Africa or during his stay in London. It could have easily done so at any point. Herbert recovering the second orb may have served as a distraction initially, but it wouldn't have taken it long to catch up to Daniel who eventually arrived back in London on the 22nd of June 1839. The Shadow only mercilessly murdered those who Daniel contacted enquiring information about the ancient relic, it made no attempt to take Daniel's life. When he learns about Professor Taylor and Sir William Smith's fate, Daniel immediately jumps to the conclusion he's next. Fearing for his own safety he flees on 17th July 1839, but does not once rationally consider that he's been staying in the same area for 25 days and yet no harm befell him during that entire length of time.

Given that Daniel was not himself attempting to study the orb, merely asking others to do so, it could be that any attempt whatsoever to harness the orb's powers, including simply studying it, is enough to provoke the Shadow. Seeking Alexander's help and performing the "warding rituals" could perhaps be seen as attempts to use the orb, thus ironically bringing the Shadow's wrath upon Daniel.

After taking the orb Daniel's sleep was strangely plagued with nightmares, as if a voice were calling across the void. The vivid dreams enabled Daniel to rebuild his orb. This may have been the Shadow's early attempts to communicate with him.

If the Shadow was trying to use nightmares to converse with Daniel, it would explain why it murdered Dr. Tate despite Daniel not taking the orb along with him, or discussing it. His physician simply gave him medication to stop these frightening dreams. His interference no doubt antagonized the monstrous force. Evidently as it killed him within 48 hours, whereas it gave the marked Prof Taylor and Sir William Smith each over a week to live. On the other hand if The Shadow regards the "branded Daniel" as its property, the doctor simply examining him for a check-up would anger it in much the same fashion as inspecting its Orbs.

It is possibleAlexanderprovoked or angered the Shadow thereby deliberately turning it against Daniel, since it was merely content to slaughter only those Daniel had been in contact with. When Daniel fled to Brennenburg, he believed that Alexander would protect him from this force and convinced him they can banish the guardian of the orb. However, on 8th of August 1839 Alexander tampers with the artifact, Daniel has no idea what he is doing with the strange tools. Suddenly the invisible force around Daniel now materializes, and the walls burst with pulsating tissue. After this point the Shadow is notably enraged, it roars and cries constantly, and now threatens to consume the entire castle and Daniel along with it.

Why Alexander would risk the guardian's wrath is unclear, he may have attempted to simply tame its power or intentionally doom Daniel in order to usurp the orb's power from him and add its energy to the one he took from Agrippa. Either way, it now threatens Daniel giving him the incentive to cooperate fully with the baron since the Shadow is brought out in full-force and is actively hunting him. The blood wards Alexander has Daniel perform cannot banish it. These only serve to distract the guardian's blood-lust and anger it further. It could even be holding Daniel personally responsible for allowing Alexander to invoke its orb's power and why it'll devour him in three of the four possible endings.

When Daniel gets imprisoned in theCells, the Shadow realistically gives himplenty of timeto escape. It does not appear for some ten minutes. It eventually loses patience if Daniel stands idle, and doesn't leave. If Daniel leaves the cell, its spread stops immediately. Only when Daniel escapes the chamber does it give chase. This can be interpreted that the Shadow if anything,wants Daniel to stop Alexander, and is "hurrying him along", willing even to give him a head-start should he stupidly get caught first-time round, because being ambushed by the Gatherers has wasted a lot of precious time needed to stop the baron. Its fleshy matter manifesting behind Daniel can only signify the entity is not "hunting" butforcinghim to go forward, its advancements remind him there is no turning back from thisdark descent. Any reluctance on the young man's part to defy Alexander's expectations enrages the "relatively-patient" guardian.

Only when the Shadow absorbs theChanceldoes one of Daniel's diary entries appear. Its the one marking hisdownfallas he realises what he has become after murdering Zimmerman's innocent daughter. By bringing it back The Shadow may be forcing Daniel to relive the crippling guilt of his former-self's actions, specifically the awful memory that old Daniel couldn't bear to live with before taking theAmnesia Drink. Also, in the 'Bad Ending', it may be haunting him with the awful memories of all those he tortured to death in Brennenburg.

The Shadow's claim on Daniel also provides a plausible explanation for why Danielresurrectswhenever he ends up dead in the castle (unlikeJustine, who only gets one chance). The Shadow has no intention of letting Daniel die, wishing only to "hold his feet to the fire" via terror, and make him "experience purgatory". This is showcased when it taunts Daniel should he fall down the well in theNavewhen it intentionally traps him in a sealed room, then releases him. The entity wants to see whether Daniel's intentions with preventing Alexander misusing the orbs, are met with its approval. Alexandermayalso know this, hence his determination to quash Daniel's resolve - he can't permanently kill Daniel if the entity keeps reviving him, so he wants Daniel to give up so he can escape unscathed. This would also explain why, in the death screen, it "gives" Daniel a piece of advice to not die or say "you must carry on" as in saying Daniel must keep going to stop alexander.

In order to use the orb long enough to perform the ritual without being killed the Baron may have turned Daniel into a sacrifice for the Shadow. Alexander hints at this several times, saying that "things can be done, but at a price" and urging Daniel to offer himself up. It might offer another explanation for the entity's strange behaviour, since it is hounding Daniel, but ignoring its orbs.

If Alexander did infuriate the Shadow this would explain why it only killed him in the 'Revenge Ending', and left the 'redeemed Daniel' completely unharmed.

In the 'revenge ending' Daniel flees Brennenburg, but it cannot be certain if the shadow has departed forever, or turned back into its original "invisible-state" prior to Alexander's meddling. What is interesting is that castle Brennenburg collapses once Daniel leaves and not before. Whether this was the Shadow's doing, i.e. waiting for him to get to a safe distance, or purely coincidental is uncertain.

A strange red aura is visible around Daniel as he walks back out through the castle. The guardian may be following him again since Daniel is still "branded" or because it cannot reclaim its stolen orbs back, as they've already evaporated away.

Trivia

Alexanderwas the one that named the enigmatic Guardian of the Orbs as "The Shadow".

The cosmic nightmare moves much faster outside Castle Brennenburg than inside the thick walls. The structure is the only thing that is slowing down the surrounding Shadow and preventing it from instantly swallowing up the helpless Daniel.

It would appear that therefineryis the first place in Brennenburg where the shadow manages to break into. This is first area where the fleshy matter appears and several large holes appear above, looking as if it bored or burrowed its way deep into the castle.

Shadow can assume an "invisible form" if it wants to. There is no mention of the supernatural entity's fleshy residue according toAgrippaandHerbertin the journal entries. It can only be heard roaring or baying and can only be 'seen' as it interacts with the environment.

Throwing objects into the flesh-covered walls such as crates or bottles can result in them either being lodged in the organic matter or hurled back out with great force. If pushed into the pulsating matter, The Shadow can easily destroy these large crates and unbreakable big bottles that Daniel may find lying around.

It takes almostthree minutesfor Alexander to complete his ritual and then the Shadow slowly arrives to killDaniel, but if Daniel disrupts or stops the ritual the Shadow invades theOrb Chamberalmostinstantly. In the bad ending the guardian kills Daniel much slower than Alexander in the other endings. Although should he abuse the orb himself and save Agrippa in the 'special ending' the entity will engulf him very quickly.

In the 'revenge ending' all traces of the Shadow's fleshy residue vanish.

This is probably explained by The Shadow's withdrawal from the castle.

Since Brennenburg collapses after the disappearance of the fleshy residue of the Guardian, it may be theorised that it was sustaining the castle's structure until Daniel could leave.

anielis the unseen protagonist ofAmnesia: The Dark Descent. The player controls him as he progresses throughoutBrennenburg Castle. Hence the name, Daniel suffers from amnesia and cannot remember who he is or how he got into Brennenburg Castle, but through his Journal Entries he slowly learns of his past. Daniel is voiced byRichard Topping.

Contents

[show] PastEdit

Much of Daniel's past is unknown, but various journal entries do offer some ideas about it. He lived in Mayfair, London, and had a sister namedHazelwhom he cared for deeply, but she was stricken with sickness at a young age. Daniel would supposedly read her stories all day when he was not helping out his father. Another possible piece of information is a loading screen in the beginning of the game that involves Daniel being kicked in the stomach as a young boy by his father, while Hazel watches silently in the corner. It is known that his father and a classmate abused him.

The young boy's childhood was also made miserable by Henry Bedloe, a school bully who carried the bitterness of his own abusive mother. Weary of being constantly tormented everywhere he went it seemed Daniel finally gave into peer pressure and confronted Henry, striking him with a rock. It's assumed Daniel's father severely punished him for what he did.

Young Daniel developednyctophobia, an intense fear of the darkness. This was not because Daniel was literally afraid of the absence of light itself, but because he feared the possibility that he may be trapped forever in the dark with no hope of escape.

Later in life, the young man eventually became an archaeologist, under the employ of the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London. Daniel joined around the time the Museum became involved in its first overseas excavations to expand its growing collection in human history and culture.

Prior to the events of Amnesia, Daniel was one of the members of an archaeological expedition to Algeria. There, the expedition uncovered an ancient tomb. Upon entering it, Daniel was trapped inside by the collapse of the doorway. Having nowhere else to go, he proceeded forward and came upon a mysteriousOrb.

After being freed from the tomb an hour later, Daniel was sent back to England against his will to recover by the expedition's leader,Herbert. There, Daniel began to look into the origins of the Orb and he noticed that its pieces changed color and shape. Terrified, Daniel went to Sir William Smith, a geologist, to seek an explanation. He was told about the nature of amorphous solids like glass which eventually collapses in on itself.

A few days later Daniel discovers that his expedition ended in disaster. There were no traces of Herbert and his men except for the man who gave the alarm, who was badly injured and rambled that the camp had been attacked by something terrible. Two nights later, after an intense dream, Daniel manages to assemble the Orb. Daniel visited Professor Herbert's university in order to obtain more information of the Orb. Professor Taylor told him that the Orb was the inspiration for much Roman symbology.

The Orbs had been originally wielded by priests. While leaving, Daniel hears that the geologist, Sir William Smith, was found dead. As Daniel becomes more and more relentless in his pursuit of information, he steals one ofHerbert's address books, firing off letters to everyone on the list. Although most letters appear to be dead ends, a reply letter fromAlexander of Brennenburginvites Daniel to a castle in Prussia to offer him protection. The letter puts Daniel in even greater distress and he is forced to see a physician, Doctor Tate, because of horrid dreams tormenting his nights.

After three days Daniel finds out that Professor Taylor and Doctor Tate shared the horrific fate of Sir William Smith, the geologist. It became apparent that he was being followed byan unknown force, which had haunted him since the expedition and was the cause of so many restless nights. Scared for his own life and feeling responsible for the deaths of the people who he met, Daniel realized that accepting the baron's mysterious invitation was the only thing he could do. He then travels to Prussia and arrives atCastle Brennenburg.

When Daniel arrives at Castle Brennenburg, he is greeted warmly by Alexander and his servants and is given a room and information. The nave young man is hopelessly convinced by the baron's impressive front, foolishly believing everything he says without question or doubt. When he and Alexander began to talk of the Orb he had in his possession, Daniel told Alexander that he wanted to dispose of it, only to be told by Alexander that if he did so, the unknown force (now known as The Shadow) would kill him anyway. Interested in Alexander's information on the Orb, Daniel began to submit more and more to the baron, who had ulterior motivations of his own for protecting Daniel. Eventually, Daniel was shown around the castle more and more, and Alexander showed him the Inner Sanctum. Alexander told Daniel that the prisoners in the dungeons would be used for various rituals, and to extractVitaefrom.

In the Inner Sanctum, Alexander introduced Daniel to the power of the Orb. Daniel was unaware that Alexander was forcing the relic to yield its power unto him rather than perform a "banishing ritual". However, The Shadow manifested in the Sanctum with the two and almost killed both of them, but Alexander quickly covered the Orb with cloth and the ancient horror vanished. The baron claimed that the Shadow would arrive in Brennenburg sooner than he thought, and fearing for his life, Daniel told Alexander that he would do whatever it took to survive. Unwittingly, Daniel played right into the baron's hands.

Alexander began tutoring Daniel in various methods of extracting vitae from prisoners (who are said to be vile and sick men and women, but it is implied some of them are not), claiming that the process would keep the Shadow away from him. Desperate and slowly losing his mind, Daniel took part in gruesome rituals involving torture and murder (some of which involved extreme methods like theIron MaidenandBrass Bull.) After each round of torture, they would feed the prisoners anAmnesia Drinkto make them forget the earlier torture, so that they could be tortured for a greater number of times than if no Drink had been given. This way, the amount of vitae extracted from each prisoner was maximized. But as Brennenburg became devoid of prisoners due to all the rituals, Alexander and his men began kidnapping villagers and children in order to extract more vitae and hold The Shadow off. It soon became apparent the blood wards were not appeasing the Guardian of the Orb. They were failing, and Daniel became more deranged and more desperate as it closed in.

Daniel justified his actions as keeping the world clean, becoming more and more desensitized to killing these "criminals". But the event that made him turn away from the rituals and Alexander was when the baron and his men trapped and kidnapped a family that lived on a dairy farm. The father had been slain by Alexander, and the mother and daughter were being held in the dungeons. But after obtaining a hammer and chisel, the mother managed to chip out a hole in the cell. The daughter escaped through it, but Daniel found out. The mother was killed, and Daniel tracked down the little girl.

Fearful the girl would escape and alert the king's men before the banishing ritual could be completed, he killed the girl remorselessly in theStoragerooms. Almost immediately the sight of her lifeless body crippled his psyche. Even manipulated by Alexander he knew the girl didn't deserve to die and begged for forgiveness, filled with guilt and disgust at his own actions.

Concept Art of Daniel lost in an underground cavern

Daniel was on the verge of insanity, realizing what he was doing, and what had become of him. Alarmed that the recent event had taken a toll on Daniel's mind, Alexander locked himself in the Inner Sanctum, ready to go through with a ritual that would transport him to another world, a place that was supposedly his "true home." Daniel, now aware that Alexander had him murdering innocents all along, the 'banishing ritual' was a lie, and being abandoned to the approaching Shadow, flew into a rage.

Overcome with anger and hatred, Daniel wrote his final diary entry in which he wished the Shadow had claimed him before ever coming to Brennenburg Castle, at least that way he'd retain the dignity to die as an innocent, an innocence that he had lost. He swore revenge on Alexander, but was still unable to cope with the guilt of the blood rituals. Deciding he couldn't bear to remember, Daniel took an Amnesia Drink. Doing so would destroy his memories and give him a second chance. Leaving a final note to his future self, he instructed the new Daniel to find and kill the Baron before the Shadow captured him, and then wiped away his memories by drinking the potion.

The events ofAmnesia: The Dark Descent, happen almost immediately afterward. About a day or so.

Amnesia: The Dark DescentEdit

"Don't forget... some things mustn't be forgotten. The shadow hunting me... I must hurry. My name is Daniel, I live in London at... at... Mayfair... What have I done? This is crazy. Don't forget, don't forget. I must stop him. Focus! My name is... is... I am Daniel." Daniel, at the very beginning of the game.

When the game starts, Daniel is fumbling with his memories, and wandering blindly through the castle. While the tonic achieves the desired effect and destroys the guilt that crippled him, it doesn't stop there, he struggles to recall where he even lives. As it strips him of his life's memories he starts to regret ever taking the potion. He eventually collapses onto a rug, and is only able to remember one thing - his name. Shivering and confused, Daniel searches through the rooms and picks up a lantern, which he begins to carry with him. As it becomes more apparent that he is not alone in Brennenburg, Daniel finds a note written by himself on a desk that was prepared for him to find;

19th of August, 1839. I wish I could ask you how much you remember. I don't know if there will be anything left after I consume this drink. Don't be afraid Daniel. I can't tell you why, but know this, I choose to forget. Try to find comfort and strength in that fact. There is a purpose. You are my final effort to put things right. God willing, the name Alexander of Brennenburg still invokes bitter anger in you. If not, this will sound horrible. Go to the Inner Sanctum, find Alexander and kill him. His body is old and weak, and yours, young and strong. He will be no match for you. One last thing. AShadowis following you. It's a living nightmare - breaking down reality. I have tried everything and there is no way to fight back. You need to escape it as long as you can. Redeem us both Daniel. Descend into the darkness where Alexander waits and murder him. Your former self, Daniel. Deciding to follow his former self's advice, Daniel begins to travel through Brennenburg. He realises that his former self's warning about a nightmarish force following him was true. This beast, TheShadowmanifests and dogs his every footstep. Along the way, he begins to uncover more and more of his past by uncovering parts of his diary and notes left by the denizens of Brennenburg. But as he goes deeper and deeper into Brennenburg, and draws closer to the Inner Sanctum, he finds out that he is truly not alone. Deformed, violent monstrosities known as The Gatherers search for him restlessly, and Daniel must use all of his wit to survive. Various times, Daniel gets past environmental barriers and works with machinery in order to move throughout the castle. But over time, Daniel begins to lose his grip on his sanity, as he starts hallucinating and hearing voices, some of which are from a little girl. At a few points, he hears Alexander communicating with him telepathically, and Alexander asks him if "he has changed his mind."

Eventually, Daniel manages to make it to theNave, the area around the Inner Sanctum. There, he meetsHeinrich Cornelius Agrippa, a famous German occult writer and supposed magician, who Alexander has trapped inside of the husk of a dead body. Agrippa tells Daniel that Alexander is trying to use Daniel's Orb in order to get back to his other world, and if Daniel can get him out of the dead body, he can stopAlexander. When Daniel attempts to access the Inner Sanctum, it is blocked by a supernatural barrier that can only be surpassed with the use of anotherOrb. In an attempt to get past theInner Sanctum, Daniel begins to search theTranseptandChoirto obtain pieces of another Orb, and to also mix the potion needed.

As Daniel begins to make the items he needs, why he has amnesia finally is revealed to him when he comes upon a dangerous memory; one of the murders he committed. Daniel comes into a room in theChoir Entrancewith strange symbols painted on the walls and candles surrounding an altar. Slowly, the memories of the room come into him, and Daniel remembers having a prisoner gagged and tied down to the altar. Lines were painted onto the man's chest and arms, and a jagged knife was produced. In order to ward The Shadow off and extract the vitae, Daniel slowly cut open the man, using the lines painted onto him as a guide for where to cut. As the hallucination ends, Alexander communicates with him telepathically, and starts to taunt him, saying that Daniel is blaming him for all of the murders and tortures that Daniel himself committed. Pushing on now, with all of the guilt having returned to him, Daniel finds the pieces needed to assemble the Orb and may or may not have concocted the potion.

Daniel returns to theChancel, hoping to get past the portal, but he is attacked by three Gatherers and is knocked out. He wakes up in a jail cell, and Alexander begins to taunt him, saying that Daniel drank an amnesia tonic in order to forget about his own sins. The Baron tells Daniel to stay in the cell; The Shadow will kill him and will be held off, Alexander will travel through the portal, and their work will be complete. The player can actually have Daniel do this. The troubled archaeologist will stay in his cell, and theShadowwill kill him. But if the player fights on, Daniel will escape from the cell and carry on through.

If the player had Daniel escape from the dungeon, a tense pursuit between them and the Shadow commences. When Daniel makes it back to theNavefinds most of the area around the Chancel has completely collapsed. Agrippa will still be alive though, and he tells Daniel that he must finish concocting the potion. After doing so, Daniel feeds Agrippa the tonic, and then uses a bone-saw to cut the head off of Agrippa, so that he will be able to move around with him. Making his way past the ruined Chancel, Daniel arrives in the Inner Sanctum.

In the Inner Sanctum, Daniel finds Alexander floating naked in midair, shining blue. Surrounding the Baron are three pillars with streams of supernatural energy flowing into what will be the portal. Alexander rants to Daniel about how now he will finally be able to return "home". From here, the story can end in four different ways.

TriviaEdit

The place of his residenceMayfair, London was mentioned in the gamePenumbra: Overturewhich was also developed by Frictional Games.

Daniel's sister Hazel was stricken with an illness at a young age.

In some ways, Daniel's name is referenced with a man of the same name in theBook of Daniel, a book in the Hebrew bible. This becomes more obvious when Daniel first meetsAgrippa, as Agrippa will say, "Dan

Daniel's in-game model, a disembodied arm.

iel? Like the prophet thrown into the lions den?" and "So Babylon shall fall you say." Another possible reference is the mere fact that Daniel andAlexander of Brennenburgwere once friends, hinting to a point in history whereAlexander the Great, a king in Greek history, took interest in the Book of Daniel.

The in-game model of Danielconsists of just an arm.

It is possible that Daniel's nyctophobia is the reason that he loses sanity while hiding in the dark.

Although his intuition was strong beforehand, Daniel was somehow changed by theOrbhe found and, by touching it, he invoked the powers within. His intuition soared after doing so. While not psychic, he will nevertheless often sense an approaching enemy or threat before he encounters it and his vision will distort. Likewise, Daniel is often able to recall "alien memories" in flashbacks that don't belong to him, such asWilhelmand his men who died long before Daniel was even born. The orb's power also enables Daniel to "see" items of importance necessary to making progress. The items he needs, such as machine parts, tinderboxes and oil containers glow with the same "bluish hue" that the mystical orb itself does.

Due to the orb's power, whenever Daniel experiences a flashback whilst entering a new location in the area leading to the next, and ultimately to theOrb Chamber, it always glows with a mysterious red aura. As he approaches theInner Sanctum, it transfigures into the form and blue shimmer of the ancient relic.

Daniel's in-game model (his arm) reveals that Daniel's clothing consists of only a common shirt, although in his concept art, he is wearing a complete attire. It might be a misunderstanding commited by Frictional Games, or it might be Daniel's appearance before the game's events.

StoryEdit

The game, set in 1839, casts the player in the role of Daniel, a young man from London, who awakens in the dark halls of PrussianBrennenburg Castlewith little to no memory about himself or his past.[1]All he can remember is his name, that he lives in Mayfair, and that something is hunting him. Shortly after waking, Daniel finds anotewritten by himself that explains how he purposely made himself forget his past, because he couldn't handle losing his innocence, so he wanted to forget it all. The note urges Daniel to descend into the castle'sInner Sanctumand murder a man named "Alexander", the baron of the castle. The note gives a final warning that a "living nightmare" is chasing him, and Daniel must escape it for as long as he can because there is no way to fight back.

Daniel explores the castle. As he does, he occasionally finds a fleshy substance growing on the walls and doors, a sign of the "nightmare" getting closer and closer. Through thediary entriesfrom Daniel'sjournal, scattered around the rooms, the backstory of the castle and the events that transpired there begin to become clear. Before his arrival at the castle, Daniel had gone on an archaeological expedition to Africa with his friend and colleague, ProfessorHerbert, in order to research an ancient burial chamber. Whilst there, Daniel had encountered a large underground chamber during a dig, much older than the one they had expected to find based on their research.[3]A sudden collapse of stone had trapped Daniel inside the chamber where he began to suffocate, but also experienced a strange vision of a glowing blue sphere of light. Attempting to grab it, he suddenly blacked out and soon woke up being rescued by Arab diggers with the pieces to an ancientOrbin his hands.[3]Daniel returned to England at the request of Herbert and attempted to fit the pieces together but was puzzled to find out that they did not fit together. Stranger still, the pieces appeared to be changing shape and texture.[3]To find out more, Daniel visited famed geologist Sir William Smith. The geologist was unsure of what was causing the changes, but explained to Daniel that over long periods of time, glass changes shape. Later, Daniel received a letter about the fate of the expedition he left behind and it was revealed that only the empty campsite was found. Herbert and his men had vanished and the lone survivor, who was grievously injured, kept rambling about something hunting down the expedition.[3]Some of Herbert's journals were sent back to England and Daniel picked them up. The majority of the notes were only quick scribblings at most, but Daniel was confused to see that Herbert wrote he was trapped for over an hour, despite beginning to choke almost immediately. Stranger still, Herbert claimed to have descended into the ancient chamber and retrieved the Orb himself, making it impossible for Daniel to have the fragments.[3]Daniel continues to explore Brennenburg Castle and is soon hunted bydisturbing, nightmarishly mutilated creaturesas well as the "Shadow". He also begins to experience visions of the events in the castle's past, including what Alexander, his target, had done in many of the chambers. Daniel is shocked to realize Alexander had been performing inhumane experiments on animals in order to extractvitae, a substance he saw as essential for some sort of mystical ritual. He is also shown to be ruthless, even going as far as to poison and kill his own men to prevent them from telling the outside world what he had been doing inside the castle. Daniel also experiences flashback visions of him and Alexander talking to one another, presumably on their way to the Inner Sanctum. Daniel continues his journey down into the depths of the castle through the use of Alexander'selevator, which takes him down into the undergroundprisonarea of the castle.

Further diary entries show that despite being haunted by nightmares every night, Daniel was able to reassemble the Orb after waking from a nightmare. The object fitted together without any adhesive and sat in Daniel's drawing room in a complete form. Daniel went to Herbert's university to get some answers about the relic, and saw Professor Taylor to find out more. He learned that the Orbs appeared to have left a mark on English culture, even inspiring royal symbology. The Orbs had, supposedly, originally been wielded by priests. On his way out, he overheard a conversation from which he learned that William Smith had been killed only a fortnight after Daniel spoke to him. Through more flashbacks, Daniel learns he went to see Dr. Tate about his nightmares, but was not able to get a diagnosis. Days later, both Professor Taylor and Dr. Tate were killed in horrific ways, and this convinced Daniel that he was somehow to blame for their deaths. Thinking he would be next, Daniel tried contacting many names in Herbert's address book and received a cryptic response from a baron in Prussia who claimed he could protect him from some unknown force. The letter was signed 'Alexander' and urged Daniel to come to Brennenburg Castle immediately.[3]Once at the castle, Daniel began to assist Alexander in various tasks designed to keep the living nightmare away from him. Revealed to be a Guardian of the Orb, the "Shadow" would not take long to arrive, despite being described as sluggish. During this time, Daniel also allowed Alexander to use his Orb in their attempted rituals to banish the Shadow later on. On a tour of the castle, Alexander revealed not only Brennenburg's function as a prison, but also that the inmates would be used in arcane rituals needed to save Daniel. The Shadow began to draw even closer, until finally the partial failure of a ritual allowed it into the castle. Panicking, Daniel told Alexander he would do whatever it took to survive and unwittingly played right into the baron's hands.[3]Back in the current timeline, close to the Inner Sanctum, Daniel meets an old frail man chained to the wall near the castle's laboratory. The man isAgrippa, a friend of Alexander's, who helped him gain knowledge of the Orb's powers many years ago. His consciousness is now trapped in a dead husk so that Alexander may use him as a source of information. Agrippa asks Daniel to create a concoction to set him free from his body and stop Alexander from using the Orbs. Through finding the ingredients and the things needed to carry on, Daniel finds himself in a part of the castle littered with torture rooms and bodily remains. Through flashbacks and more diary entries, it becomes clear why Daniel chose to lose his memories at the beginning of the game.

Alexander began telling Daniel about different methods of extracting vitae from the prisoners down in the castle depths, claiming the process would keep the Shadow away from him. Daniel followed him without question through his increasing desperation and helped to perform gruesome rituals of killing the prisoners through various methods of torture, thinking that he would save himself through the process. Using such items as an Iron Maiden and a brass bull, Daniel ended up becoming the very thing he was killing and even went as far as to kidnap local villagers and children from outside the castle to use for the rituals. Consumed by grief, regret and disgust at his actions, Daniel drank a memory-destroying Amnesia tonic to have a fresh start and fix what he had done. He realised that Alexander had manipulated him in order to obtain the Orb to achieve his goal and swore that the baron would die for his actions, leading to the events at the start of the game.

As he progresses, Daniel is attacked by a horde of creatures and locked up in one of the castle prison cells. He hears Alexander speaking to him telepathically, thanking him for his role in everything and for keeping the Shadow away from the baron. At this point, it is possible to end the game Alexander asks Daniel to wait in the cell and let the shadow consume him, and it is possible to do just that. The cell will fill with the fleshy substance, Daniel will hear the voices of the people he's tortured, and then the shadow will kill him. If Daniel manages to escape, he will be able to return to the laboratory and find that the Shadow's influence has grown over absolutely everything. Agrippa asks Daniel for the potion. If the player has found the ingredients, then the potion can be made in the lab and fed to Agrippa. The old man then asks that his head be cut off and taken with Daniel to stop Alexander and get into a "portal" before he does. If the player did not find the ingredients, then Daniel enters the Inner Sanctum alone. He uses the power of his own Orb to open the way and goes to complete his objective.

Inside the massive chamber, Alexander awaits on a raised platform in front of one of the Orbs, engulfed in a blue glow. Surrounding the Orb are three fragile pillars that are feeding blue-hued energy to it in order to complete the ritual. Alexander thanks Daniel once again and rants about how he can finally return "home" once again. Three possible endings to the game can happen at this point.

EndingsEdit

If the player chooses to knock over the pillars, then the ritual fails. Alexander screams as his body disintegrates, and Daniel leaves the chamber. The Shadow's influence is assumed to be gone through his redeeming actions, and he leaves Brennenburg Castle behind with a guilt-free conscience.

If the player does nothing at first, the portal Alexander wants to open appears and he begins to float towards it, leaving Daniel to face the Shadow alone. If the player uses Agrippa's head on the portal, then the ritual will be completed before Alexander can get through, resulting in his death. Daniel is seemingly killed by the Shadow but wakes up in darkness with small blue lights visible in the distance. The voice of Agrippa assures him everything is going to be all right and the game ends.

If the player does nothing at all, then the portal opens and Alexander enters into it in a blue flash. With nothing holding the Shadow back, the fleshy substance consumes the Inner Sanctum and kills Daniel slowly, and voices of his victims can be heard begging for mercy. The screen fades to black. The game ends with Alexander thanking Daniel and saying that his sacrifice will not be forgotten.

The player can achieve a lesser known fourth ending, if he remains in the cell after being captured by the servants. Eventually the shadow reaches his cell and he is killed in the same style, and receives the same thanks from Alexander.