The protagonist of the main Room trilogy is an unnamed friend of A.S., who answers a letter calling them to his manor. They are a highly curious person, and considered incredibly valuable by The Craftsman, who seeks to use their soul to power his gateway to the Null planet.
Personality[]
As a surrogate for the player, the protagonist is not given very much charactization in the first two games. They are a great problem solver, as demonstrated by their ability to solve many different kinds of puzzles and continue the research begun by others. Evidently, they are very driven to find the truth behind the disappearance of their friend, AS, while also being motivated by curiosity. This curiosity only becomes more extreme as the games progress.
In the third game, we gain the most insight into the protagonist's mind, as we are able to read their journal at the beginning of the game and letters they leave at the end. After the events of The Room Two, they continue seeking answers about AS's death and about the Null element, but are continually refused help by the Royal Institute. They are savvy enough to note that the Royal Institute knows more than they are letting on. Their behavior after their escape from the Null is obsessive; they go to great lengths to obtain new information from many parts of the world, similarly to AS before them. The writings in their journal are manic and sometimes incoherent as they find themseles continually plagued by thoughts of the Null. Though they exhibit some fear about their situation, they also exhibit exhiliration that their mind has been opened and that so many new possibilities have been revealed to them. They chastize and even mock the Institute as "fools every one" and "like children", while expressing gratitude towards AS for "all he did to protect me, to teach me, to drive me insane. For what is insanity but a different perspective, a different point of view."
For the most part, this seems to be the prevailing attitude held by the protagonist for the remainder of The Room Three. The one exception is if the player achieves the Escape ending, freeing themselves from the thrall of the Null. After escaping from Grey Holm, they write an entry explaining how their previous insatiable desire for knowledge has vanished, and that they can finally be at peace.
History[]
The Room begins with the protagonist arriving at A.S.’s manor and discovering the first safe. The Protagonist’s journal in The Room Three may give some hint as to the nature of their relationship, with the Protagonist writing “I should never have ignored you. If only I had come sooner.” This may suggest that prior to the events of The Room, the Protagonist had been resistant to A.S.’s requests for their aid, but that eventually, as A.S. puts it in his first letter, their curiosity got the better of them. The Room follows the Protagonist as they solve a number of puzzles left by A.S. and learn of the journey that led him to go missing. This culminates in them discovering a Null sample, which transports them to another time and place, as shown in The Room’s Epilogue chapter.
The Room Two resumes where the first game left off, with the Protagonist beginning a journey across several timescapes, following a trail left by A.S. They begin to learn what happened to their friend. Eventually, in chapter four: The Seance, they discover A.S.’s corpse, learning he has sacrificed himself so that the Protagonist can move forward and return to the Room where it all began. The final chapter ends with the Protagonist making it back to the manor house, pursued by Null tendrils. They barely escape the house before it is destroyed by the tendrils, which then retreat back into their portal.
Days later, the Protagonist records in their journal that they are continuously haunted by visions of the Null, and an insatiable curiosity for answers. They petition the Royal Institute, who deny having any knowledge of the Null, until a mysterious stranger passes along information tipping them to the location of an island. Beginning The Room Three, The Protagonist starts their journey to the island by train, but is kidnapped by The Craftsman and transported to Grey Holm using a Null pyramid. Through a series of notes, The Craftsman encourages the player to help him open a portal to the Null planet, giving them a series of puzzles to solve. However, by searching around the hub area of Grey Holm, the player can find personal journals of The Craftsman confessing that he needs a new, powerful source of energy to power the gateway. He describes the Protagonist as having a “brilliant soul”, and intends to use them as his new source of energy.
The Protagonist’s story can end a number of ways, depending on which ending the player takes in The Room Three.
Trivia[]
- Based on an envelope found in the Protagonist’s suitcase in the opening of The Room Three, it could be theorized that their name is "Mr. H___ Smith" or “Mr. William Smith". The name on the envelope is difficult to make out, however, and it is unclear whether it was addressed to the protagonist or is simply found among their belongings.
- The protagonist is apparently a person of some wealth, as the train car they are traveling in at the beginning of The Room Three is a first-class car.