Philip Buchanon

“There are things I need of you. Things you may not understand, and may not wish to do, but please, do not make the same mistake I did. My father, Howard, deserted me before I was born. I could claim the loss of my mother, and the letter I received after her funeral, blinded me for what I had to do. It would be a lie: Human nature sealed my downfall. My name is Philip. If we are lucky, then by the time you receive this, I will be dead. If fate frowns, we all perish.”

―Philip Buchanon ~ Penumbra: Overture

Philip Buchanon
Born:	1973 England, United Kingdom
Died:	May 2001 Aged 27–28 The Shelter, Greenland
Sex:	Male
Nationality:	English
Mother:	Ms. Buchanon †
Father:	Howard LaFresque †
Occupation:	Professor of Physics
Status:	Unknown
Actor:	Bram Floria Tom Jubert (Temporary)
Appears:	Penumbra: Overture Penumbra: Black Plague Penumbra: Requiem

Philip Buchanon is an English physicist and the protagonist and playable character of Penumbra: Overture, Penumbra: Black Plague, and Penumbra: Requiem.

Background

Philip Buchanon was born around 1973 in England and is of French and Scottish descent. He is a 27-28 year old Professor of Physics who worked at a prestigious university in London, possibly near Mayfair. According to him, the university he works at is world renowned for two things, physics and linguistics, with him representing the first.

He appears to be a major film buff, or at the very least movies were a major part of his life outside of his profession, as he's seen 3,103½ films. The one that he had only seen half of is the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life, much to the annoyance of Clarence who likened himself to, and named himself after, the guardian angel in the film Clarence Odbody.

He is first met as he attends his mother's funeral where he receives a letter from his father, Howard LaFresque, who abandoned Phillips and his mother before he was born and has been presumed dead for thirty years. The letter asks him to destroy several cryptic documents that are being held in a bank safe in Mayfair. Drawn by his curiosity, Philip does not heed his fathers wishes and instead decides to investigate these documents by presenting them to the Professor of Linguistics at the university he works at. The expert is baffled by the content, but does manage to identify coordinates of the North-Western Mine in Greenland. Philip decides to investigate the mine on his own, a choice which leads to the disastrous events of the Penumbra series.

Biography

Penumbra: Overture

Set in October–December 2000, Philip's journey begins when he arrives at his destination in uninhabited Northern Greenland. After leaving the boat he came with, the extreme coldness forces him to find shelter. Fortunately he discovers a hatch leading to an abandoned mine, which in fact, is an entrance to the Shelter Research Station Greenland. Unaware of this fact yet, Philip has no other option than going deeper into the mines - within it, he finds various reports as well as notes, regarding to strange events which took place at this location. Spider Hater, an Archaic scientist by the name of Dr. Roberts, describes in one of his notes a psychoactive toxin in the spiders and deduces that, after eight months of consuming them in the mine, it was beginning to have an effect on him. Philip also begins receiving radio messages from a source, naming itself Red, a man driven insane by cabin fever. He promises that if he is found, he will give Philip answers. The game follows Philip as he descends deeper into the mines in search of Red while unraveling the secrets of the mine's previous and current inhabitants.

During the game, Philip quickly discovers that the mine is inhabited by an ecosystem of abnormally large and hostile animals: dogs, giant spiders, such as gargantuan earthworms. Abandoned outposts and various scattered papers found throughout the mine indicate that a secret society is studying some unusual phenomena inside the mines.

Following clues and solving various puzzles, Philip eventually comes to an area deep within the mine where Red is waiting for him. Red waits inside an incinerator where he begs Philip to kill him. Given no other option, Philip activates the incinerator and amongst Red's remains, he finds the items he needs to progress. He uncovers Red's real name to be Tom Redwood, and that he was only 14 when he became trapped deep within the bowels of the North-Western Mine.

Armed with this knowledge, he goes through the now accessible electrically sealed door and finds himself inside a corridor that looks newer than anything he had seen before that leads to Shelter Research Station Greenland—The Shelter. Once inside, Philip notices what appears to be a man at the end of the hall. Philip approaches the figure, but the lights in the hall go out one by one until the whole corridor is in a blackout. A nearby door is heard opening before suddenly Philip is knocked out by an unknown assailant and dragged away.

Infection

It is clear that Philip was infected with the virus when he explored the mine shafts. He hears whispering throughout the entire series and experiences déjà vu a few times even before encountering Dr. Amabel Swanson.

Theories explaining how Philip got infected include: the blow to his head or the numerous dog bites he sustained Penumbra: Overture. Some theories suggest the infection is airborne, but this cannot be since Amabel explains over the speaker in Penumbra: Black Plague that it is spread through bodily fluids and, if it was airborne, Amabel would have also been infected, which she was not.

Possible Death

At the end of the game, Philip is experiencing multiple symptoms of infection. While Clarence was in his body, he was more or less immune to the disease; Clarence may have been fighting it off, or it might simply have been unable to affect Philip while he was already infected. Therefore, once Clarence was removed from his system, Philip became instantly and totally vulnerable to the Tuurngait. It is possible, then, that the Tuurngait's "last chance" was one long delaying tactic to prevent Philip from doing anything to destroy it.

Further Fate

At the beginning of Penumbra: Requiem, Philip is knocked unconscious, leading to the game's events. Going through some kind of strange dream-world, Philip is presented a choice by Red, either die with the secret of The Shelter and the Tuurngait, or continue his survival (The latter of which would likely lead to some kind of catastrophe, as implied by Red). If the former is chosen, Philip dies in the computer room where Penumbra: Black Plague had ended. However, if Philip chooses otherwise, he presumably leaves the Shelter and boards the boat, which turns out to be a version of the boat Clarence had created. At this point, it is unclear what Philip's fate is, though there is general agreement that he lives, albeit trapped in his own mind.

Description

Philip is strong willed for the most part, as shown by his ventures into the hostile caves and corridors of the North-Western Mine and The Shelter. However, this is offset by his pessimistic attitude in dialogue. He perceives many things in both scenarios from a philosophical point of view, which is mainly shown during loading screens and especially in the e-mail at the end of Penumbra: Requiem, provided the player collected all collectibles and chose to die with Red.

Philip appears that of a middle-aged white male with blonde hair and blue eyes, generally wearing a red-brown arctic jacket with boots and similar garb—the only time he is seen wearing a different set of clothing being an image of him at his mum's funeral where he's dressed in a suit. While Philip doesn't physically appear in-game throughout Penumbra: Overture and Penumbra: Black Plague, usually only appearing in images, he comes across his own corpse in Penumbra: Requiem which matches his appearance in all other depictions of him.

Dialogue

Penumbra: Overture Startup There are things I need of you. Things you may not understand, and may not wish to do, but please, do not make the same mistakes I did. My father, Howard, deserted me before I was born. I could claim the loss of my mother, and the letter I received after her funeral, blinded me to what I had to do. It would be a lie: Human nature sealed my downfall. My name is Philip. If we are lucky, then by the time you receive this, I will be dead. If fate frowns, we all perish. Intro My story began in February, year 2000 For my part in this allegory, I'm not going to make the same mistake my father made. Howard vanished from my mother's life before I was even in it, so when he sent me a letter, a few days after mum's funeral, it was the first I'd ever heard from him. A pity he was dead. Writing from beyond the grave must be a genetic habit in my bloodline. His letter contained a key, instructions, pleas for forgiveness. I figured the dead don't have much use for absolution, so I turned to his prophetic passing, which he inexplicably expected to come any day. Clearly averse to explanations, my father preferred to leave directions to a bank on Mayfair I'd never even heard of. In that bank was a safety deposit box in his name, and myself as executor. Of course, I went, as he knew I would. I discovered that despite the evidence, he'd been legally declared dead almost thirty years ago, and so the old book, and collection of notes I found had, in the eyes of the law been mine all this time. My father's instructions were to burn the documents, raise no further questions. But that was his error. No man is immune to the shameful trappings of curiosity and... my humanity got the better of me. The university I taught at was world renowned for two things: physics, and linguistics. I represented the first, and the man who stood for the second was stumped by my recent acquisition. The book was indecipherable. The notes, however, showed a location somewhere in uninhabited Northern Greenland. It took me almost a year to book the last flight I would ever take. As I watched civilisation disappear, along with Heathrow, I realised my father had disappeared three decades ago, almost to the day, and I considered in turn, what it was that I was leaving behind. We landed on a strip of ice a few feet wide, and within minutes I was pulling away on a chartered boat, beginning the 12 hour journey that would lead me into my past. Penumbra: Black Plague Intro Without this knowledge, without this foundation, you could not have the will to do what I must now ask of you. I followed my father to the Greenland wastes to uncover his secrets. You had to know how far I was willing to go. I found a disused mining shaft, and took shelter from the storm. You had to know how desperate I was. I was plagued by doubts, fears, and mysteries, and aided by a madman, Red. You had to know how lonely I was. I incinerated my best friend - Red told me he wanted to die. You had to know guilty I felt. I ventured boldly onwards, and was struck down by my own heroics. You had to know how stupid I was. All of these things - so human, so perfect. And yet still I failed to do what I must now ask of you. Email execute: email.exe - compose There are things I need of you. Things you may not understand, and may not wish to do, but please, do not make the same mistakes I did. 'Will you do this for me?' it asked, and I said that I would. I promised the hive that I would contact someone I could trust, that I would have them destroy all evidence of this place, just as my father had promised himself. I, however, will not make the same mistakes my father made - you now understand the truth of the events that lead me here, and the immeasurable importance of my words. Armed with this knowledge, you must have the strength to do that which I could not. The Tuurngait was quite correct - we humans are a dangerous, headless heard, but intelligent individuals. The members of this facility sought to reveal and control the Tuurngait, and the Tuurngait turned to me for salvation. The hive ran its tests on me - and I jumped through its hoops like the monkey it took me for. But I am no monkey. The Tuurngait was right - I am entirely unlike it: I had more in common with Clarence. I promised I would send this email to you. I promised I would ask that you keep all humans from this place - for the sake of the Tuurngait, and for the human race. I lied. If we are lucky, then by the time you read this, I will be dead. If fate frowns, we all perish. The North-Western Mine is located at reference N81.6914, W58.3154. Kill them. Kill them all. Message Sent Penumbra: Requiem Secret Ending Incoming Transmission Incoming Transmission I choose to lead you here. You and others, with their weapons and their instruments and their orders. There will be fighting, pain, suffering and, eventually triumph just for once. Why would I do this, you might wonder. Am I insane? Did Clarence change me, is Swanson calling me, is it revenge for what the Tuurngait did to Red? It is none of these things, though there is some truth in each. 'But the Tuurngait offered peace' you might say. I could have kept the secret, died with it as my father did. But that would make me like all the others. It would make me like the miners who built this place - working because they are told to, because they see no other option. It would make me like the Archaic - blindly pursuing a single goal, a great organism working together, but each element without direction. Perhaps they were so unlike the Tuurngait. It would make me the person I was when I came to this place - blindly following a path laid out for me without my consent. Though I suffered immeasurably in this place, I feel as if my life only began when I arrived here. For the first time I disconnected from the instruction of Society. For the first time I thought - I had to. And in that way, Red, Clarence and I are more human than you'll ever be. Because you will do as you are told. You will inform authorities, because you are one of the herd. But this is my Identity. Better to make your own mistakes than to feed off someone else's triumphs. Better to choose hell than to be assigned to heaven. No matter what you may think, it is always better to think.

Behind the Scenes

• Philip is voiced by Penumbra series writer Tom Jubert, who goes uncredited, in the opening narration of Penumbra: Overture as a placeholder, and is replaced by Bram Floria for the rest of the series, making him Philip's canonical voice. According to Frictional Games, Jubert's role as Philip originally was due to a tight budget, with the sales of Penumbra: Overture allowing for Frictional Games to hire a professional voice actor.
  • This is the reason why Philip sounds American in the intro of Penumbra: Black Plague despite being English, since Tom Jubert's role as Philip gave him a suitable voice, as Jubert himself is English, meanwhile Bram Floria is American.
• Philip's name, along with Howard's, comes from H.P. Lovecraft's full name; Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
• The model for Philip's corpse seen in Penumbra: Requiem is a reskinned slightly modified scientist model from Penumbra: Black Plague.

Gallery

Penumbra: Black Plague

The Arrival by Danny Antivalidis, depicting Philip wandering into the Greenland wastes.

Ditto, the cropped version used in the intro.

The Hatch by Danny Antivalidis, depicting Philip opening the hatch to the North-Western Mine.

Ditto, the cropped version used in the intro.

Dragged Away by Danny Antivalidis, depicting Philip being dragged by the Tuurngait Infected who knocked him out.

Ditto, the cropped version used in the intro.

Phillip sees another and deceased version of himself, in a vision/mental test developed by the Tuurngait.

Penumbra: Requiem

Philip's corpse as seen in the ending where he dies with Red.