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Maxwell (NPC)
Origin |
–Wurt
–Maxwell, offering advice.
Maxwell (AKA William Carter) is the main antagonist of Don't Starve. He scattered all the Characters across his dimension, forcing them to survive a harsh wilderness for his own amusement. He appears at the beginning of the game to tell the player to start gathering food and to build a Campfire before disappearing into a cloud of smoke. He looks very tall and sinister, wearing a dapper vertical lined tuxedo and pants with a rose lapel on his chest. He also holds a cigar in his right hand. During exploration, players can find Maxwell Statues or Chess Biomes themed after him.
Origin
Main article: William Carter Puzzles
Maxwell is unique in having a lot of his backstory revealed in puzzles found outside the game. The following is a summary of the information gleaned from these puzzles.
In 1901, a British man named William Carter boarded a ship from Liverpool to the United States with the hopes of pursuing his career as a magician in New York City.[1] Three years later, William's career had flopped and he was in debt trying to make his magic shows work.[2] It was sometime around this point that William discovered a mysterious book known as the Codex Umbra which contained information on powerful forms of dark magic. William received a letter from his brother Jack Carter, inviting William to come visit Jack and his family out West.[3] William decided to take up Jack on his offer, and boarded a train traveling west to San Francisco, California.[4] On the way, William's train crashed into a circus wagon and William was trapped under one of the damaged train cars. William was saved by a circus strongman, who attempted to lift the train car off of William and was eventually successful with the help of two Shadowy tendrils that shot out of William's Codex Umbra.[5] William was distressed to have someone witness the dark magic of the Codex Umbra he was carrying, and he fled away from the train crash, going missing and presumed dead. Out on his own, William deciphered the various symbols inside the Codex Umbra and his mind was opened to new possibilities for magic acts.[6] He gathered this new information and began incorporating it into his magic shows. Soon, William returned to a life of show business under his new stage name: "The Amazing Maxwell".[7]
After settling down with his newly-found alter ego and knowledge, Maxwell hired Charlie as an assistant. Their magic shows appeared to be successful, creating very convincing acts using the knowledge Maxwell acquired from the book he discovered. In 1906, Charlie went to Maxwell's apartment after not hearing from him for a few days, but instead of finding Maxwell she discovered his hidden "study room", with various symbols and incantations crudely scratched on the walls. Among these were the phrases "Enough", "It's them", and "Charlie". She ran away terrified, but came back later to slide a letter under Maxwell's door acknowledging the room and suggesting that they take a break after their last act.[8]
Later that night, Maxwell and Charlie were to perform their big final act, wherein Maxwell would pull a shadow from his mysterious book. When Maxwell reached inside the book to pull a shadow out, something else pulled him in. He managed to break free, but the book, moving of its own volition, turned to a page before grabbing Maxwell and Charlie with huge shadow hands. Soon, they were both pulled into a parallel dimension. Some time after this, Maxwell was put on the Nightmare Throne and given full reign over the Constant, while Charlie became the Night Monster. Maxwell used his powers to trick people from the real world into his dimension so that he could trap them there.[9]
Adventure Mode
This section contains plot central information and thus contains spoilers. |
Maxwell will only appear again in Adventure Mode. Maxwell will greet players at the beginning of each world, like in Sandbox Mode, but now he is wearing a dapper cloak instead of a tuxedo. He will say different things in each World and will get angrier and more deformed as the player progresses.
In the last Chapter of Adventure Mode, "Epilogue", players will finally confront Maxwell. They will be teleported to a dark and dead wasteland, with a hallway in the center. At the end of the road, players will reach Maxwell's Hall. A decrepit Maxwell is awaiting atop the Nightmare Throne with a Gramophone nearby playing music. He tells the player that when he got here there was nothing but dust and "Them" and that he doesn't know what They want, that They are just watching. If the player attacks Maxwell, the throne protects him (a lightning bolt will strike the player and destroy their weapon), and Maxwell tells the player that the throne will not allow it. He then tells the player that he has been around here for a long time, and that the player can either put the key in the box or stay around and keep him company.
When the player puts the Divining Rod into the Nightmare Lock, Maxwell is freed. However, he will fall to his knees screaming as his body disintegrates and seemingly dies. The player's character will take his place on the throne. Despite all this, Maxwell continues to exist and becomes a playable character.
Quotes
Adventure Mode
- Note: Italicized lines are unimplemented.
A Cold Reception
King of Winter
The Game is Afoot
|
Archipelago
Two Worlds
Darkness
Checkmate
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Nightmare Throne
When players approach Maxwell in the throne, he will say a line. Players have to click on him to read all the lines. Once he says all the lines listed below, excluding the special ones, all he will say is "...".
Main Speech
- "Is this what you were expecting?" / "Is this how it ends?"
- "Forgive me if I don't get up."
- "You've been an interesting plaything, but I've grown tired of this game."
- "Or maybe They've grown tired of me."
- "Heh. Took them long enough."
- "They'll show you terrible, beautiful things."
- "It's best not to fight it."
- "There wasn't much here when I showed up."
- "Just dust. And the Void. And Them."
- "I've learned so much since then. I've built so much."
- "But even a King is bound to the board."
- "You can't change the rules of the game."
- "I don't know what they want. They... they just watch."
- "Unless you get too close... Then..."
- "Well, there's a reason I stay so dapper."
- "What year is it out there? Time moves differently here."
- "Go on, stay a while. Keep us company."
- "Or put the key in the box. It's your decision."
- "Either way, you're just delaying the inevitable."
- "Reality is like that, sometimes."
- "I think I've said enough."
Special
If the Gramophone is turned off, then Maxwell will say... "Thank you, I've been listening to that song for an eternity." If the Gramophone is then turned back on, Maxwell then states... "I suppose I deserve that."
If the player activates the hidden Teleportato, Maxwell will say... "Don't you think I've tried that?" followed by "This is the end of the line. We have no escape."
If the player attacks Maxwell he will say... "The throne won't allow that. I've tried."
Unimplemented
There are several series of commented-out lines for "QUEST_SURVIVE" found in the game files. These appear to be early concepts for Maxwell's introduction lines, given how radically different they are from his current ones. Several of these lines have grammatical errors. One set is identical to Maxwell's normal introduction. The rest are listed here, labeled with numbers representing the order in which they come.
2
3
4
5
6
|
7
8
9
|
There is also a line for "NOUNLOCK" (presumably for trying to activate the Nightmare Lock with something other than the Divining Rod)- "Ah, I am a fool. I had dared to hope." and two for "COMBATFAIL"- "Where would be the sport in that?" and "Who do you think allowed you to make that?"
Trivia
- Maxwell is named after a scientific paradox known as "Maxwell's demon".
- Maxwell's in-game design is possibly an allusion to Professor Woland from The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
- As of the All's Well That Maxwell update, upon exiting the game, a popup says "Maxwell will miss you!", instead of "Wilson will miss you!".
- In the game's Alpha, Maxwell shared the same voice as Wilson, except with a lower pitch.
- In the early access beta of Don't Starve, Maxwell's design used more realistic proportions than his current design.[10]
- In the official description for Don't Starve, Maxwell is not named forthright, but is referred to as a "demon".[11]
References
- ↑ William Carter Puzzles#First_puzzle
- ↑ William Carter Puzzles#Second_puzzle
- ↑ William Carter Puzzles#Third_puzzle
- ↑ William Carter Puzzle #4
- ↑ The Incredible Strongman
- ↑ William Carter Puzzle #4
- ↑ William Carter Puzzle #4
- ↑ William Carter Puzzle #8
- ↑ The Amazing Maxwell - The Final Act
- ↑ Don't Starve Let's Play by falpatrick. Posted on September 11, 2012.
- ↑ Don't Starve on Steam: You play as Wilson, an intrepid Gentleman Scientist who has been trapped by a demon and transported to a mysterious wilderness world. Wilson must learn to exploit his environment and its inhabitants if he ever hopes to escape and find his way back home.
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