Edward Carnby
Encyclopedia
Edward Carnby is a fictional paranormal
detective
featured in the Alone in the Dark
series of survival horror computer games created by Infogrames
. He has been the main protagonist in every game to date, with the exception of the mini game, Jack in the Dark, which instead features Grace Saunders, a character who appears in Alone in the Dark 2
. He is also the main character in the two movies loosely based on the games.
The Alone in the Dark series is widely credited as being one of the first "survival horror" games; a sub-genre that was later further populated by Capcom
's Resident Evil and Konami
's Silent Hill
franchises.
game, as one of the two selectable characters, the other being Emily Hartwood. In the game, the player has to guide either Edward or Emily separately through a creepy mansion called Derceto, which was owned by Emily's uncle, Jeremy Hartwood, who committed suicide there. Battling against zombies, giant rats and ghosts, Carnby and Emily eventually encounter the ghost of the pirate Ezechiel Pregzt, and defeat it, before exiting the house. After this, Carnby would be referred to by journalists as the "Supernatural Private Eye".
Carnby next returned in Alone in the Dark 2
. He goes to a mansion called Hell's Kitchen to investigate the kidnapping of a little girl named Grace Saunders, who had been taken hostage by the witch queen Elizabeth Jarret and her lover, One Eyed Jack, who lead a gang of pirates and built his mansion over where his ship was trapped. A detective called Ted Stryker had already taken up the investigation, only to be killed by a possessed clown, as seen in the game's intro scene when he tried to rescue Grace. During the investigation, Carnby happens across the body of his dead friend Stryker, and this motivates him to carry on with the investigation. Although Carnby is eventually captured, Grace is temporarily free to explore her surroundings and together, they unite to put an end to Elizabeth and One Eyed Jack, and flee in a rowing boat.
In Alone in the Dark 3
, Carnby visits the ghost town Slaughter's Gulch in the Mojave Desert to search for Emily Hartwood, who was part of a film crew that were shooting a movie there. Carnby finds out that the town is haunted, and in an attempt to save Emily, he has to contend with Jed Stone, a feared outlaw thought to be dead. During the game, Carnby is turned into a mountain lion for a while, as the result of voodoo, and players must play as Carnby while he is the lion. While caught in a trap near the end of the game, the player briefly takes control of Emily to free Carnby from the predicament.
. In this game there is a new and unrelated Edward Carnby, who is a Fox Mulder
-type agent. He is looking to avenge the death of his friend, Charles Fiske, who had gone to Shadow Island to learn about the Abkani tribe. Carnby and an archaeologist, Aline Cedrac, both end up on Shadow Island, where they encounter the crazed Morton brothers, and manage to save the world by collecting the Abkani tablets that had been scattered across the island.
as Alone in the Dark: Inferno. In this game, the original Edward Carnby awakens many years since his adventures in the previous century after mysterious circumstances, and battles against the paranormal opposition in New York City. The character's appearance and overall art style was, however, changed from the original trilogy.
. Carnby was played by Christian Slater
and Tara Reid
co-starred as Aline Cedrac. A sequel followed in 2009, in which Carnby was re-cast as actor Rick Yune
.
entitled "Life is a Hideous Thing" was published by Semic Comics
in 2001 in France, and translated by Image Comics
in the U.S. in September 2002. It was also translated and published in Italy
and Spain
.
This comic book was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier
and drawn by Matt Haley
and Aleksi Briclot. Its story took place just before the Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare game. It starred Edward Carnby and introduced Aline Cedrac, both on the trail of a mysterious conspiracy in Tibet
.
A song titled Tiësto pres. Alone in the Dark - "Edward Carnby" was released by Dutch DJ Tiësto
in 2008 along with a video featuring in game cinematics.
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
featured in the Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark (series)
Alone in the Dark is a series of survival horror computer games from Infogrames. In most of the series, the gamer plays as private investigator Edward Carnby, who usually goes to investigate a haunted mansion or town that is full of undead creatures. The story is based on the writings of H. P...
series of survival horror computer games created by Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
. He has been the main protagonist in every game to date, with the exception of the mini game, Jack in the Dark, which instead features Grace Saunders, a character who appears in Alone in the Dark 2
Alone in the Dark 2
Alone in the Dark 2 is the 1993 sequel to 1992's survival horror video game Alone in the Dark created by Infogrames. The game is the second installment in the series...
. He is also the main character in the two movies loosely based on the games.
The Alone in the Dark series is widely credited as being one of the first "survival horror" games; a sub-genre that was later further populated by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's Resident Evil and Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
's Silent Hill
Silent Hill
is a survival horror video game series consisting of seven installments published by Konami and its subsidiary Konami Digital Entertainment. The first four games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4, have been developed by an internal factor, Team Silent...
franchises.
Original trilogy
Edward Carnby first appeared in the original Alone in the DarkAlone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark is the title of several works of fiction:*Alone in the Dark, a series of video games*Alone in the Dark , a 1992 video game and the first in the series...
game, as one of the two selectable characters, the other being Emily Hartwood. In the game, the player has to guide either Edward or Emily separately through a creepy mansion called Derceto, which was owned by Emily's uncle, Jeremy Hartwood, who committed suicide there. Battling against zombies, giant rats and ghosts, Carnby and Emily eventually encounter the ghost of the pirate Ezechiel Pregzt, and defeat it, before exiting the house. After this, Carnby would be referred to by journalists as the "Supernatural Private Eye".
Carnby next returned in Alone in the Dark 2
Alone in the Dark 2
Alone in the Dark 2 is the 1993 sequel to 1992's survival horror video game Alone in the Dark created by Infogrames. The game is the second installment in the series...
. He goes to a mansion called Hell's Kitchen to investigate the kidnapping of a little girl named Grace Saunders, who had been taken hostage by the witch queen Elizabeth Jarret and her lover, One Eyed Jack, who lead a gang of pirates and built his mansion over where his ship was trapped. A detective called Ted Stryker had already taken up the investigation, only to be killed by a possessed clown, as seen in the game's intro scene when he tried to rescue Grace. During the investigation, Carnby happens across the body of his dead friend Stryker, and this motivates him to carry on with the investigation. Although Carnby is eventually captured, Grace is temporarily free to explore her surroundings and together, they unite to put an end to Elizabeth and One Eyed Jack, and flee in a rowing boat.
In Alone in the Dark 3
Alone in the Dark 3
Alone in the Dark 3 is the third installment of the Alone in the Dark survival horror video game series created by Infogrames. The video game was released in 1994. A Windows 95 version of the game was also released in 1996, under the name of Alone in the Dark: Ghosts in Town...
, Carnby visits the ghost town Slaughter's Gulch in the Mojave Desert to search for Emily Hartwood, who was part of a film crew that were shooting a movie there. Carnby finds out that the town is haunted, and in an attempt to save Emily, he has to contend with Jed Stone, a feared outlaw thought to be dead. During the game, Carnby is turned into a mountain lion for a while, as the result of voodoo, and players must play as Carnby while he is the lion. While caught in a trap near the end of the game, the player briefly takes control of Emily to free Carnby from the predicament.
The New Nightmare
In 2001, Infogrames rebooted the series with Alone in the Dark: The New NightmareAlone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, alternatively known as Alone in the Dark 4, is the fourth installment of the survival horror video game series Alone in the Dark, developed by Darkworks and published by Infogrames. The game was released in 2001 in North America and Europe on several platforms...
. In this game there is a new and unrelated Edward Carnby, who is a Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
-type agent. He is looking to avenge the death of his friend, Charles Fiske, who had gone to Shadow Island to learn about the Abkani tribe. Carnby and an archaeologist, Aline Cedrac, both end up on Shadow Island, where they encounter the crazed Morton brothers, and manage to save the world by collecting the Abkani tablets that had been scattered across the island.
Alone in the Dark
A game that is described as a direct sequel to the original trilogy was released in 2008. This game ignores the 2001 game completely, putting its continuity in doubt. The 2008 game went under various working titles, before eventually being released as simply Alone in the Dark, although it was ported to the PlayStation 3PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
as Alone in the Dark: Inferno. In this game, the original Edward Carnby awakens many years since his adventures in the previous century after mysterious circumstances, and battles against the paranormal opposition in New York City. The character's appearance and overall art style was, however, changed from the original trilogy.
Film
The Carnby character was adapted in 2005 for a motion picture which was loosely based on the fourth game in the series (The New Nightmare), and was directed by Uwe BollUwe Boll
Uwe Boll is a German director, producer and screenwriter, whose work includes several films adapted from video games. He finances his own films through his Boll KG production company. He is often cited as the worst director of all time.-Early life:...
. Carnby was played by Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
and Tara Reid
Tara Reid
Tara Donna Reid is an American actress. Reid has acted on television shows such as Saved By The Bell: The New Class, Days of our Lives, California Dreams, and Scrubs....
co-starred as Aline Cedrac. A sequel followed in 2009, in which Carnby was re-cast as actor Rick Yune
Rick Yune
Richard "Rick" Yune is a Korean American actor, screenwriter, producer, and martial artist.Yune, a Korean American, was born in Washington D.C. He is the older brother of actor Karl Yune...
.
Other media
An Alone in the Dark comic bookComic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
entitled "Life is a Hideous Thing" was published by Semic Comics
Semic Comics
Semic Comics is one of the leading comic book publishers in France, also known as Semic S.A. Along with French comics, formerly the company published the official translations of products produced by DC Comics and Marvel Comics but now, Marvel and DC are published by Panini.Today, Semic Publishes...
in 2001 in France, and translated by Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
in the U.S. in September 2002. It was also translated and published in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
This comic book was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comic books and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier .-Biography:Jean-Marc Lofficier was born in Toulon, France in 1954...
and drawn by Matt Haley
Matt Haley
Matt Haley is an American film director, art director and book illustrator artist. Currently he is the art-director of Morgan Spurlock's "Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope" feature documentary, which recently debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival...
and Aleksi Briclot. Its story took place just before the Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare game. It starred Edward Carnby and introduced Aline Cedrac, both on the trail of a mysterious conspiracy in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
.
A song titled Tiësto pres. Alone in the Dark - "Edward Carnby" was released by Dutch DJ Tiësto
Tiësto
Tijs Michiel Verwest, , known as Tiësto , is a Dutch musician, DJ and record producer of electronic dance music. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tiësto...
in 2008 along with a video featuring in game cinematics.