The Stranger

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Perhaps a visual depiction of what may be the Stranger's arrival on Myst.
Perhaps a visual depiction of what may be the Stranger's arrival on Myst.

The Stranger was a friend of Atrus and his family, and is known to have aided Atrus on several occasions. Despite that, very little is known about this person; not his/her name, origin, appearance, birth or sex[1].

Contents

[edit] History

Spoiler warning: the following contains details about puzzles, plot, or similar. If you're not familiar with them already, continuing to read may affect your experience.

It is believed that the Stranger was a human from Earth, who in 1806 AD (9462 DE), probably lived or passed near the place nowadays called Eddy County, New Mexico. Thus, he came across Atrus's linking book to Myst that had fallen through the Star Fissure (and presumably ended up close to the Cleft) when Atrus escaped Riven 33 years earlier[2].

The Stranger linked to Myst and discovered Sirrus, Achenar, and Atrus still trapped in their individual prisons. The Stranger was soon faced with a choice[3], and ultimately freed Atrus from his prison in D'ni, and then aided in the rescue of Atrus's wife Catherine from Riven before falling through the Star Fissure during Riven's demise.

Some ten years later, the Stranger found his way in Tomahna to visit the family that Atrus reestablished, and learn about his progress on Releeshahn. Shortly after the Stranger's arrival, the Releeshahn descriptive book was stolen by Saavedro, who had been trapped by Atrus's sons and sought revenge. The Stranger followed the man and linked through Atrus' lesson Ages until finding him in Narayan. He ultimately was freed[4] and the Stranger single-handedly returned the book to Atrus.

Another decade later, Atrus considered releasing his sons from their prisons. By that time, the Stranger had grown to be his most trusted friend, and Atrus needed the Stranger's opinion to help him with his decision. However while in Tomahna, Yeesha was mysteriously kidnapped and the Stranger was injured during that event. The next night however, he managed to find a linking book to Serenia where he visited Dream and obtained a Spirit guide[5]; eventually he solved the mystery, which led to the death of Atrus' sons.

[edit] Background

The following section is written from an OOC point of view. Events and elements surrounding the Myst Universe are regarded as fictional.

The Stranger is an IC ("In Character") reference to "you, the player", who actually sat at the computer and played through the original game Myst and its sequels. The authors intended the character to be invisible, nameless, silent, and blank, so as to have a more realistic gameplay experience. However after the expansion of the D'ni universe backstory and mythology, the Stranger came to be a certain historical person of Atrus' life. The name "Stranger" has been adopted in the fandom to refer to that character, based on a reference in Gehn's personal Journal.[6]

Some fans believe that the logo of the original Myst and remakes, a figure seen falling over Myst island, is supposed to be the only depiction of the Stranger, linking to Myst. However others believe this figure to be Atrus falling in the Fissure, as seen in the game introduction.

In Myst V the player is addressed by Atrus as "old friend", leading some to believe that this was in fact the Stranger despite the time gap. In an Uru conversation with Dr. Watson, he revealed (or at least claimed) that he was actually the Stranger in Myst V.[7]

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Featured

[edit] References

References

  1. ↑ Due to the English verbal custom, the Stranger is often referred as "he", however the Stranger's gender hasn't been revealed. As this poll indicates, most fans do visualize the Stranger as male and refer to "him" in the various forums and mailing lists.
  2. ↑ According to a Myst Guidebook, the Stranger found the Myst book in a San Francisco library. He read the book, which described perfectly an island, and saw the linking panel in the final page. This information can't be canon, since the linking panel was not in the final page (it was on the first ones), and also the Stranger (if the theory he is human is correct) could not read the book, since it would be written in D'ni.
  3. ↑ Since the main storyline of Myst is non-canon, the exact actions of the Stranger concerning the prison Ages and reaching Atrus have not been canonically resolved. Since (unlike in the game) there is no communication through linking panels, it is not known how the Stranger knew to bring the combination to the fireplace without trapping himself in the process.
  4. ↑ This is a point where the player has a choice. One can get the book, leave Saavedro stranded, and link back to Tomahna. This is considered a 'sad ending' and it's more probable that the happy ending is canon
  5. ↑ In Serenia, the Stranger can be decided to be either a Child of Fire, Child of Water or Child of Wind, which depends on the player's actions in the game. Of course the 'canonical' choice (like everything concerning the Stranger) has not been determined.
  6. ↑ "A stranger has arrived on Riven - with a Linking Book to D'ni..."
  7. ↑ Quoted chatlog with Dr. Watson
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