What if there's something more to Wigfrid?

[ConeyKrab]

So, I've been looking at Wigfrid, updating the wiki with her quotes, and I can't quite figure her out. She's a performance artist, and she's certainly putting on her character well. I can't quite pinpoint what's wrong with her. I have a theory, but there's zero support for it.

 

Wigfrid likely has the Norse/Viking, but as we all know she's just acting. So my thought is that she uses the viking personality to hide some darker reason for eating only meat. What reason? I don't know. What do you guys think about her and her devotion to her character?

 

I think it's interesting that she's modeled after another character that was planned to be a vegetarian, but was scrapped. I think we can use that. I have a complicated but interesting idea/suggestion for Wigfrid: What if her real name is Wigfrid, but she uses the characters Wathgrithr and Winnie to hide something? Perhaps she's bipolar, has split personalities, or something else disturbed along those lines?

 

As Wathgrithr, she gets her current bonuses. Increased battle capabilities, health/sanity gaining, battle equipment, general love of combat, etc.

 

As Winnie, she goes in the opposite direction: from violent carnivorous viking to pacifistic, cowardly vegetarian. The specifics, would be of course, up to the developers, but I have some general ideas: does less and maybe takes more damage, loses sanity when killing mobs (perhaps just innocent creatures?), and only eats fruits/vegetables/honey/etc. She likely shouldn't be able to use the battle helm/spear, but perhaps she could get her own set of items that relate to pacifism/running? The bonnet that her character is shown wearing could be it. Unfortunately, she'd likely need her own set of quotes, too.

 

So, what promotes her change? I don't know, it should be semi-uncontrollable. Perhaps you could know what causes it, but the "range" of it would be unknown. (For example, killing a certain amount of creatures could trigger the change, but you could only get a general feel of "between X and Y creatures). The change should revolve around her personality: what's more important? Her diet, or whatever mental affliction causes the need for a drastic devotion to her character(s)? Would it be eating so much meat, killing so many creatures- innocent or otherwise, going insane, over a set number/range of days? It could be anything, really.

 

I'm sorry if this is majorly a suggestion, but I really want to get some discussion going. This whole idea has got me hyped and thinking like mad, and I want to spread that. What do you guys think of not only my idea, but of Wigfrid, as well? What do you pick up from her character and her quotes?

 

[Percival]

[Doomfan64]

but as we all know she's just acting.

[ConeyKrab]

Right right, so more ideas. Quick research suggests that split personalities can develop through trauma- especially childhood. Could that be it? How old is Wigfrid, anyway? 20's-30's maybe?

 

What would Winnie sound like quote-wise? Afraid? Childlike? Using some baby talk? Southern Belle-like?

[Percival]

but as we all know she's just acting.

 

Proof?

[Subscriber01236]

Proof?

Quoted from the Don't Starve wiki

Nickname The Performance Artist Motto "A test of my incredible acting!"

[ConeyKrab]

Proof?

 

First off, she's nicknamed "The Performance Artist", and her quote is "A test of my incredible acting."

 

Here are a few choice quotes I've found so far while working to get her quotes on the wiki:  http://dont-starve-game.wikia.com/wiki/Wigfrid_quotes

 

 

Top Hat: "It doesn't match my costume."

Entering darkness: "And the curtain falls."

Entering light: "I step into the light!"

 

I'm sure I'll uncover a bit more about her as I continue, but those are the ones that really make my case for now.

 

EDIT: It's hard for me to convey what's on my mind, I've been talking about this in some Twitch streams, here's what I've been saying, if this makes it clearer.

 

"Anyway, I did think of a more logical progression. It would make more sense for Wigfrid to start in the Winnie character"

" To me, it makes more sense for a childlike persona to have developed due to trauma; Wigfrid would then claim this to be a character rather than an uncontrollable reaction"

Unfortunately, the concealing of anger/emotions/etc proved not to be good, because eventually they spill out of control. To cover that up, the character Wathgrithr is born"

"Something like that"

"Well, that's my terminology. Wathgrithr is what Wigfrid is called in the files. Wigfrid is the woman in general, whereas I refer to Wathgrithr as her viking persona, and Winnie as the innocent one"

"There's definitely something there with her covering something up with the viking character; I'm hopefully just tacking Winnie on"

"I don't know, it touches on things I don't fully understand"

"Yup, my whole concept for her character is that the personalities are out of her control, but she calls them acting/characters in an attempt to hide that fact"

 

So my conflict is: Does she only eat meat because she's really into her character, or is she really into her character because she can only eat meat? The answer to that question can change my entire theory/idea for her. Maybe I am taking things to the extreme or overlooking something simple, but I can't figure out anything about her like I can with the others, so my mind is racing.

[scize]

wow

[MrMushroomy]

Please don't take a cool, fun character and turn them into a big ball of drama.

[ConeyKrab]

Please don't take a cool, fun character and turn them into a big ball of drama.

 

I'm sorry, but there's something there. Maybe, and probably, it's not as big as I've made it out to be. It could be some magical element, as Wolfgang may have to him. But she isn't a viking, I'm sorry. She's a theater character, would you not at least consider a darker reason for her devotion to a role?

 

It's not like a morbid element is new to this game, either. The whole world is dreary and distorted, and have you even seen Wendy? Her backstory's gonna be less than sunshine-y, I promise you.

 

I've said it before, maybe I've missed the mark and she uses the character to hide the reason she eats meat. Maybe she just has some strange digestive problem she's insecure about. Whatever. It's just a thought I was having; I'd like to hear your suggestion for her backstory, then. This is the most logical thing I can come up with, but I'm not good at conveying myself, so it may appear more complex than I want it to be.

[julz1981]

I love the idea of split-personality, but at the same time, i'm not sure i would love playing her as much as i do now!

[Shoggoth]

I just see her as the type of actor that gets way too much into their role, and don't see anything that really suggests anything else.

[ConeyKrab]

I just see her as the type of actor that gets way too much into their role, and don't see anything that really suggests anything else.

 

That's definitely a fair response; the whole thing is purely speculation. Perhaps more things will become clear later, if and when her ties to the story become more exposed.

 

EDIT: Yeah, maybe I did go a little over the top with all this, looking back, I just sorta wanted a way for Winnie to still exist. I'm still sure that there's something more to her character, even if it isn't at the scale I've suggested. There is likely a simpler "why" that explains her dedication to the role.

 

Hopefully I have gotten the ball rolling, and people will begin looking more into her character like we do with the others. It seems she hasn't received much discussion in that regard, but it does make sense for a more gameplay-centric view during the beta. 

 

Still, I pose the question: What do you think ties Wigfrid to the others? Both in story interaction, and how she's messed up in some regard like the others (pyromania, depression, pure hatred, etc). 

[MrMushroomy]

I'm sorry, but there's something there. Maybe, and probably, it's not as big as I've made it out to be. It could be some magical element, as Wolfgang may have to him. But she isn't a viking, I'm sorry. She's a theater character, would you not at least consider a darker reason for her devotion to a role?

 

It's not like a morbid element is new to this game, either. The whole world is dreary and distorted, and have you even seen Wendy? Her backstory's gonna be less than sunshine-y, I promise you.

 

I've said it before, maybe I've missed the mark and she uses the character to hide the reason she eats meat. Maybe she just has some strange digestive problem she's insecure about. Whatever. It's just a thought I was having; I'd like to hear your suggestion for her backstory, then. This is the most logical thing I can come up with, but I'm not good at conveying myself, so it may appear more complex than I want it to be.

Wendy may have a sad back story, but since it's to be expected from her melancholic personality, she remains a favorite of mine. I just don't want the reason a cool, happier character is the way they are to be from a dramatic backstory pulled from thin air causing them to act that way(pun incredibly intended).

[An Artifact]

So, about the general idea: I've had similar thoughts myself, about some connection to Winnie. However, I wasn't able to think of any gameplay-possibility that would allow for a smooth "transformation" of sorts between the Wigfrid and the Winnie character. So gameplay-wise, sadly I don't think anything cool could be implemented. So I'll remain with the main idea I had concerning the involvement between Winnie and Wigfrid:

 

I don't imagine it to be a split personality. I like to think that the actor behind Wigfrid is actually Winnie, trying to pretend somebody much stronger than she herself (little, vegetarian girl) actually is, and ironically, actually becoming much stronger that way. Instead of not eating meat, she brings herself to ONLY eat meat. Basically trying to go from one extreme to the other, successfully. Another, less appealing idea would be that they are actually sisters, or twin sisters even, that are so wildly different that they just decided to go completely opposite ways of each other, and now Wigfrid resorted to only eat meat just to spite Winnie.

[Doomfan64]

Please don't take a cool, fun character and turn them into a big ball of drama.

Agreed. This whole "performance artist" thing seems like a cheap way to make the character more interesting. 

 

You don't need to make a freaking VIKING more interesting. They're awesome on their own!

[joulesFect]

While I really like your ideas, I love her playstile and don't really want it to change. 

 

If anything, I'd give her even more combat abilities (spear throw for exemple) and even greater debuffs to balance it out like the inability to sleep and maybe having a smaller hunger bar or make her randomly loose all of her stat buffs for a day.

[ConeyKrab]

Agreed. This whole "performance artist" thing seems like a cheap way to make the character more interesting. 

 

You don't need to make a freaking VIKING more interesting. They're awesome on their own!

 

 

Now see, this one confuses me. You're saying that you're rejecting the fact that she isn't actually a viking, even though that's the only part of my whole idea that essentially isn't speculation? It's literally the first things you read about her- her title, and her quote.

[Doomfan64]

Now see, this one confuses me. You're saying that you're rejecting the fact that she isn't actually a viking, even though that's the only part of my whole idea that essentially isn't speculation? It's literally the first things you read about her- her title, and her quote.

I'm just saying it was silly of Klei to make the character be an actor instead of just, y'know, a viking. I personally think that having a character from that far back in time would have been some more interesting fan theory fuel for Them, the DS world, etc. 

[Skorp]

I'm just saying it was silly of Klei to make the character be an actor instead of just, y'know, a viking. I personally think that having a character from that far back in time would have been some more interesting fan theory fuel for Them, the DS world, etc. 

 

But it wouldnt make any sense unless Maxwell can time travel and that enters in silly territory.

 

Besides, the character is clearly established as an actor, there is not much room for speculation.

 

[ConeyKrab]

But it wouldnt make any sense unless Maxwell can time travel and that enters in silly territory.

 

Besides, the character is clearly established as an actor, there is not much room for speculation.

 

 

Pretty much this. Who's Maxwell more likely to have run into, an actress who plays a viking character, or an ancient viking? She plays the part pretty well, so at least you're immersed in her character; few of her lines hint at her acting.

 

Adding time travel to a story usually creates inconsistencies and what if's. Sure, it would more than certainly fuel fan theories, but are those more important than the actual story that Klei wants to tell?

[Mr_E_Fox]

I miss occasionally treating myself to waffles when I play Wigfrid, but mostly I just wish I had a use for butter as her.

[Doomfan64]

Pretty much this. Who's Maxwell more likely to have run into, an actress who plays a viking character, or an ancient viking? She plays the part pretty well, so at least you're immersed in her character; few of her lines hint at her acting.

 

Adding time travel to a story usually creates inconsistencies and what if's. Sure, it would more than certainly fuel fan theories, but are those more important than the actual story that Klei wants to tell?

Okay, "fan theory fuel" probably wasn't the right word - I had forgotten that DS was actually trying to tell a story unlike every other survival game. But my point was that "Them, or Maxwell, or whatever entity is bringing people to the DS world is able to grab people from other periods in time" is much more interesting than "Maxwell happened to work with an actor when he got kidnapped". And I know it's far, FAR too late for them to do anything about it, but eh, it would have been nice.

 

I guess that this doesn't neccesarily mean they won't include characters from a different period in time, though.

 

And I'm done derailing this thread.

[DwerBomb]

I love this character.

She has potential.

[Doomfan64]

I miss occasionally treating myself to waffles when I play Wigfrid, but mostly I just wish I had a use for butter as her.

You think that's bad? The day I found out that Wigfrid can't eat ice was the day I gave up on that character until they fix it.