Doctor
| “ | It's okay. We can still save them. | ” |
| —The Doctor |
The Doctor is the player character of Arknights and, along with Amiya, the protagonist of the Main Theme.
At first, you can't feel anything. Things gradually start to feel familiar...
But in the end, you can't remember anything important.[3]
Background
The background of the Doctor is shrouded in mystery, However, at the start of the game, the Doctor awakens from the Sarcophagus and discovers that they have amnesia. The Doctor used to be a lead Oripathy researcher, as well as a doctor in neurology and a commander; despite their amnesia, they can still command very skillfully.[4] They also possess extensive knowledge, to the point where they were able to create an algorithm that could precisely predict the movements of a Catastrophe.[5] Despite the title, the Doctor appears to serve more as a field commander and a military strategist for Rhodes Island, leading battles during the conflict against Reunion throughout the Chernobog-Lugmen crisis. Outside of this, however, they often spend their time on research or paperwork.
Their race remains a mystery as they lack any visible animal traits unlike most Terran Ancients. However, because they are always shown to be covered in multiple layers of clothing, most existing animal traits (if any) would be hidden. The Doctor is often seen wearing a mask and concealing hoodie off of Rhodes Island, but on it they seem to show their face more often, which is evident from multiple voicelines referring to their face in one way or another; it's unclear how many Operators have seen them unmasked, but the player has yet to see their face. In Arknights: Prelude to Dawn, the Doctor is confirmed to have dark gray eyes and snow white hair, larger hands than Amiya (who is fourteen), and an androgynous voice. There are very few traits clear from the Doctor's physical shape due to their concealing clothing, but it is known that they are not a sporty person, have little muscle[6] and cannot fight.[7] There are also multiple other physical details that can sometimes be found in Operator's voicelines.
Despite the mystery surrounding them, there are some hints to the Doctor's past prior to their amnesia. Firstly, they were a member of Babel after Theresa asked Kal'tsit if she could meet them.[8] Babel is the predecessor of R.I. that was once a Kazdelian militant organization under the leadership of the nation's monarch Theresa, to which most founding members of Rhodes Island belonged. As one of its key figures, they also acted as Babel's commander. Ines once made the analogy that the Doctor is like a chess player, a living person, while everyone else, including herself, is just wooden chess pieces; if Ines is a person, then the Doctor is something else.[9] Scout recalled that when Babel had "forced" the Doctor into a commanding position, all he saw in the Doctor's eyes was nothing but their promise of victory. This made him wary that Babel could be turning the good doctor into a war machine.[10] Closure also briefly mentions, before being shut down by Kal'tsit, that the Doctor had been getting weirder and weirder near the end of the war.[11]
The Doctor, prior to their amnesia, was shown to be even more merciful than Kal'tsit and Theresa; they wanted a confused assailant exiled, while both Kal'tsit and Theresa wanted them to be put to death.[8] The Doctor also once let a soldier that had put their entire squad at risk off the hook, because it was a honest mistake made by someone truly loyal to Theresa.[12] The Doctor has a humorous side too, casually conversing with Ace, Scout, and Logos.[13] They also previously acted as a guardian for the young, orphaned Amiya and raised her. She has since remained close to them, treating them as a parental figure, and views them very differently from other operators.
Secondly, the Doctor is believed to be responsible for Theresa's death, at least according to Kal'tsit. The events which led to her death, however, still remain a mystery. Many former Babel members, such as W and Kal'tsit, continue to hold the Doctor responsible and resent them for it. Somehow, the Doctor also sustained fatal injuries, which led Kal'tsit to place them inside the Sarcophagus, an ancient device located inside the Ursine city of Chernobog, where they remained in stasis for the next three years to heal.[14] According to Kal'tsit, the Sarcophagus was not directly responsible for the Doctor's amnesia.[5]
The Doctor is also implied to be a unique race, and has been around for a long time. The Sarcophagus was capable of healing those of the Doctor's race, whatever it may be, but could potentially alter the genetics of those of a different race, as it did to Mephisto (not completely confirmed, something else could have caused these results). As the Doctor slowly regained their memories, they began to remember a mysterious woman named Priestess, who is currently the only known connection with their past besides Rhodes Island itself. The Rhodes Island landship, the current mobile base of R.I., is also an archaic structure that was excavated in Rim Billiton, and the system within suggests that both the Doctor and Priestess were around when it was built.[15] Finally, the Doctor's blood is unique. It is not known exactly how it is unique, but Warfarin, a Vampire remarks that its smell is uniquely attracting to her, and Kal'tsit used it as an ingredient for a solution used on Amiya after she passed out from removing one of her rings and overusing her powers.[16]
Since their return to R.I., the Doctor has become actively involved in the medical field and the organization's commercial business, building partnerships with other businessmen and important figures such as the Grand Knight of Kazimierz and the Kjeragian warlord Enciodas Silverash. On R.I.'s landship, they work on research on Oripathy, treating their patients, and arranging missions for combat operators. In their free time, the Doctor also provides other services for the organization, such as acting as a teacher for youngsters like Ifrit and Projekt Red.
In Lone Trail, it is revealed that the Doctor is among the last survivors of the "First Civilization"; a largely unknown race dating back further than the Ancients. And ultimately, it was revealed that the person responsible for the Doctor's "amnesia" is Theresa herself who wished for the Doctor to begin anew before her demise.
Story
Main Theme
For an unspecified period of time, the Doctor is "sleeping" within the Chernobog Sarcophagus due to unknown reasons. They were awakened from their slumber by a Rhodes Island team led by Amiya, but somehow the Doctor cannot remember anything prior to their awakening. Not long after, the Sarcophagus was attacked by Reunion, and the Doctor instantly recalls some strategies and tactics they had as a field commander and were able to led R.I. into victory over the Reunion in this small skirmish. After rendezvousing with Ace, a close friend of the Doctor and an Elite Operator, the Doctor continues leading R.I. through the chaos that ensues all over Chernobog, including a Catastrophe that struck the crippled nomadic city. Just before they made it out of Chernobog, the R.I. forces encountered W who recognizes the Doctor, but she let R.I. retreat, due to a secret agreement she made with Scout.
The Doctor has since accompanied Amiya and the bulk of R.I.'s paramilitary force throughout their cooperation with Lungmen Guard Department. At an operation to relieve a trapped R.I. reconnaissance squad, the Doctor and R.I. face off against FrostNova and her Yeti Squadron, culminating in a battle which ended with them and FrostNova being trapped in the rubble of a collapsing street. The Doctor saves FrostNova from the rubble, and while waiting for their rescue, listens to the Cautus' tale of her past, which made the Doctor sympathize her. After they were rescued, the Doctor and FrostNova parted ways peacefully, but she warned them that she won't hesitate fighting them again if they were ever meet face-to-face once more.
The Doctor continues accompanying Amiya and the R.I. forces, Blaze and GreyThroat being part of the forces, through the counter-attack against Reunion who had attacked Lungmen and the subsequent "clean-up" operation. They also notably saw through Wei Yenwu's cunning strategy, which they can either rebuke for or simply ignore it. At the climax, the Doctor and FrostNova meet each other once more, which ended in a desperate fight. With FrostNova defeated and dying, the Doctor stays on her side throughout her last moments, and comforts her by saying her father really loves her. Then Doctor accepts her into R.I. before the Cautus dies in their arms. The Doctor then took FrostNova's body back to the R.I. landship where she is then cremated in an incineration chamber overseen by Rosmontis at first.
The Doctor led the R.I. in the operation to stop Chernobog from colliding with Lungmen, during which they were outraged that someone as young as Rosmontis was being made to use such a disturbing method of combat, and demands to know who deployed Rosmontis to fight, to which Rosmontis tells Doctor that she herself chose to be on this mission. After she says this, the Doctor calms down, and the mission proceeds. The Doctor commanded R.I. as they fought the Guerrillas and later, Patriot, witnessing the ordeal between the last Wendigo and Amiya. The group now has to split up, and Kal'tsit says the Doctor needs to go with her to the Chernobog Sarcophagus. Along the way, they run into W, during which the Sarkaz merc and Kal'tsit are revealed to know each other, and they vaguely talk about Kal'tsit working with the Doctor, and W reveals how the Doctor is 3rd (first being Talulah, and second being Theresis) on her "hit-list", since she wants to torture them for answers before she kills them. After Kal'tsit's decides the conversation is leading nowhere, she has Mon3tr grab W like a rag-doll, and take W through the walls to where she needed to go.
As the Doctor and Kal'tsit travels through the tunnels leading to the Sarcophagus, they witnessed a horde of Possessed including some Sarkaz mercenaries, before encountering the source of the Possessed: Mephisto, now transformed into an avian monster. The Doctor and Kal'tsit recognized Mephisto but nonetheless Doctor followed Kal'tsit's suggestion to put him out of his misery once and for all. In a hidden level, Kal'tsit leaves the fate of Mephisto, who turned out to have survived the encounter, to the Doctor's verdict; put Mephisto out of his misery, or try to give him a comfortable life until his soon inevitable end to Oripathy, however the player does not get to make the decision for the Doctor, nor get to see what the Doctor decides. After Mephisto is dealt with, Kal'tsit revealed facts about the Sarcophagus to the Doctor and that she truly hates the Doctor for supposedly murdering Theresa, but after Theresa, for unclear reasons to the player, made Kal'tsit promise to protect Doctor and Amiya. This promise is the only reason Kal'tsit has not killed the Doctor on the spot. Around this point the Doctor suddenly starts to vaguely remember things that happened at the sarcophagus, but their memory becomes far more clear when they hear a voice, and then see a woman holding the Doctor's hand, while promising that Doctor and her will meet again. At the end of the memory, the Doctor is able to recall the woman's name; Priestess. This shocks Kal'tsit.
Kal'tsit and the Doctor meets up with Amiya at Chernobog's control tower just as the collision is stopped after she and Ch'en had talked down Talulah and result in Kashchey's defeat, however Amiya suddenly went unconscious. Kal'tsit then uses the Doctor's blood to make a solution that healed Amiya, and told them that R.I. will take Talulah to their custody; the Doctor agreed after hearing Kal'tsit's explanation. Upon returning to R.I., the Doctor asked Kal'tsit to include FrostNova as a member of R.I.; she accepts after initially refusing to do so. The Doctor then talks with Amiya as they observe the view from the R.I. landship's bridge, to which the Doctor can agree to Amiya vowing to have R.I. press forward no matter what lies ahead; alternatively, the Doctor can ask Amiya what she would do if they were a bad person, to which she vows to stop them herself.
Darknights Memoir
The Doctor is revealed to have been around since Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical's previous incarnation Babel. Together with Kal'tsit and Theresa they had a shared goal of saving the Sarkaz and granting them equality in Terra instead of just being used as mercenaries and being looked down upon as warfreak savages.
Theresis orders some Sarkaz to do a decapitation strike on Babel by taking down Theresa. However, Kal'tsit and W both believe that the it was the Doctor who killed Theresa, earning Kal'tsit's and W's enmity due to this unfortunate event. A bit later after the operation and the presumed death of Theresa, the Doctor had been severely wounded and had been placed in the sarcophagus by Kal'tsit.[17] This healed injuries and saved the Doctor's life.
Lone Trail
| This section pertains to a subject that is not yet released in the Global server of Arknights. |
Heart of Surging Flame
The Doctor and Amiya go to Siesta after the events of the Reunion arc to take a break and relax. After a brief encounter with Schwarz , The Doctor is called by Skyfire and Provence due to an injured civilian found near the volcano. The civilian turned out to be the mayor's daughter Ceylon Doykos who believed the volcano was going to erupt and went to check in herself before getting surrounded by originium slugs. Her suspicions turned out to be correct as the volcano was getting ready to erupt and that Siesta's catastrophe messenger Cronin had lied about it to stage a coup. The coup is later foiled by efforts of the Doctor and Ceylon and the volcano catastrophe is prevented, thanks to Skyfire and Provence. After the events, Ceylon enters Rhodes Island with Schwarz as Operators.
The Great Chief Returns
The introduction of this event has the The Doctor unconscious with them being lead through a dream (that varies on dialogue choices) by a mysterious voice that claims it itself could be an "unknown existence" and The Doctor should be respectful and "offer up [their] purest blood" or The Doctor is having a meaningless conversation with their "imaginary self" (the mysterious voice). After The Doctor comes to consciousness, it is revealed to the player how The Doctor is dragged along by Gavial on vacation as a form of R&R and mission, along with Blaze, Ceobe, Utage, Croissant, Lancet-2, and Dylan the pilot. Unfortunately, their aircraft gets shot down, with the engine stolen by a tribe for its technological advancement adding to they're list of troubles Ceobe eats a bunch of random mushrooms and begins hallucinating. Gavial later on meets up with Tomimi, who heavily admires Gavial, and everyone goes to the ceremony to to see who is the next great chief. Gavial joins the competition and ends up fighting with Zumama. Gavial was winning until Zumama brought out The Big Ugly Thing powered by their stolen engine proclaiming that fists alone aren't enough to have a future and for the better of the tribes she will bring out the age of machines.[18]
The Big Ugly Thing then thrashes Gavial briefly knocking her out. After everyone comes back together they all head to Zumama's tribe to retrieve the stolen engine. After winning the fight against The Big Ugly Thing, Zumama returns the engine, after which The Doctor exposes Tomimi to be the one that shot down Rhodes' aircraft because she wishes Gavial to stay in Sargon. Unable to prevent Gavial from leaving, Tomimi decides to join her at Rhodes. Zumama joins Rhodes after she sees Lancet-2, a talking robot. Flint also decides to go to Rhodes Island, because that's where Blaze, who bested Flint in combat, lives and Flint wishes to learn from her to get stronger.
Near Light
The Doctor's role during this event can be summed up as vital and critical for Rhodes Island and the overall stability of Kazimierz. Thanks to their intervention, decisions and actions, it allowed Rhodes Island to peacefully and mutually benefit from the various factions of Kazimierz, through business deals, favors, voluntary aid, wisdom and mediation in conflicts. It also ensured the company and their operative's safety, despite various attempts on their life.
Break the Ice
What began as a simple sightseeing excursion evolved into a complex and prolonged engagement, orchestrated by none other than Enciodes SilverAsh. His intention was to shatter the entropy of isolationism and stagnation that had gripped Kjerag. Having been forewarned by a mysterious voice, the group was swiftly taken into Paleroches custody, a situation that appeared to make them hostages. However, it wasn't long before they grasped the intricacies of the three clans and their conflicts.
It was during this time that the true purpose behind SilverAsh's actions became clear, as well as the pivotal role of the Karlan Saintess in ensuring the nation's overall stability. Ultimately, the group aligned themselves with the Paleroches. While also issuing commands to Kjarr and other operators, they guided the conflict towards a resolution that was not only peaceful but also amicable, thereby preventing any bloodshed.
In the process, they found themselves momentarily at odds with SilverAsh and his loyal operators. Their objective was to ensure harmony and reconciliation among all involved clans, leading to the emergence of a united and modernized Kjerag.
Enciodes SilverAsh was filled with nothing but awe and admiration for their remarkable achievement. They had managed to fulfill his goals without dismantling the other two clans. In fact, they succeeded in bringing these opposing forces on board with his vision, even though they had previously been obstacles.
Operational Intelligence
Stories of Afternoon
Children of Ursus
Rewinding Breeze
Vigilo
Babel
Notes
- ↑ The Doctor's name is assumed to be the player's nickname; the Arknights Terra Wiki will use "{nickname}" when referring to the Doctor's name in operation stories and interludes.
- ↑ The Doctor's height sometimes appears to change depending on the in-game CG (from roughly 170cm to 195cm), however it is never acknowledged by the game itself. It can be believed to be a simply inconsistency from the result of different artist for different CGs.
- ↑ The original Chinese text uses the pronoun "他" which can also be gender-neutral aside from its masculine nature, while the Japanese localization refers to the Doctor reflexively and never uses gendered terms, and the English localization uses the singular they whenever it arises; the Arknights Terra Wiki follows the English localization when referring to the Doctor. There are instances of the localization using "he" in some occasions, but this can be assumed to be a mistranslation based on the Chinese pronoun; the localization is otherwise consistent and deliberate in using singular they.
Trivia
- The design of the Doctor could be traced back to Hai Mao's artwork for Girls' Frontline, a possible prototype for the current Commander (or better known as shikikan). After Hai Mao left MICA Team, he recycled the design and turned it into the current Doctor.
- On the other hand, the game does not list their illustrator. It is possible that they were drawn by 唯@W (Amiya's, Ch'en's and Blaze's illustrator) which can be inferred from a similar coloring style and body composition.
- Since the Doctor is indeed designed by Hai Mao himself, the Arknights Terra Wiki will credit him as their designer.
- According to one of Goldenglow's dialogues, the Doctor's hair is apparently quite long, enough to fall outside their hoodie like in Hai Mao's Girls' Frontline concept art and his COMICUP21 sketch (see above).
- There are several theories about the Doctor's origin. One of the most popular is that they may be the last "true" human (i.e. Homo sapiens) that survived a disaster that wiped out a previous civilization on Earth. But given that the world of Terra has different topology and astrology, such as having two moons and a different geological and chemical makeups as well as physics,[19] and the presence of Feranmuts, Collapsals, and Seaborn, this theory is very unlikely.
- The Doctor is confirmed to be connected in some way with an ancient Terran civilization, as attested in Vigilo. This would be further explored later in Lone Trail.
- Along with W, Ines, and Kal'tsit, the Doctor is one of only four characters whose file number starts with "B" (B101 in the Doctor's case), indicating their connection to Babel.
- The Doctor is given various nicknames by the following Operators:
- Boss (by Beehunter and Jaye)
- Baws (by Croissant; American Southern dialect for "boss")
- Leader/Savior (by Exusiai; the latter is used in her Elite 2 promotion dialogue)
- Professor (by Arene and Eyjafjalla; spoken as Sensei by the former and Senpai by the latter in the Japanese dialogues)
- Chief (by Shaw)
- Master (by Lappland on her introduction dialogue)
- My Dude (by Aak)
- Doc (by Hung and Ash)
- Sir (by Frost)
- Wisehead (by Grain Buds)
- The Doctor is present in the main menu on the left side and close to the level indicator with their back turned to the Assistant Operator (can be easily seen by having the Assistant use their base artwork).
- With the introduction of Home Screen backgrounds, the Doctor is shown using a heavier jacket in all themes including the default "Vision".
- The Doctor looks slightly downwards to the left in all backgrounds, with an exception to "Mystic Sea" (released alongside Stultifera Navis) where the Doctor looks toward the sea and the wreckage of the Stultifera Navis in the distance.
- Along with Logos[20] and Scout,[21] the Doctor is one of the three characters in Arknights whose dialogues in operation stories and interludes are of the player's choice, with the Doctor being the only one whose dialogues are always player-determinant. There are two exceptions to this:
- In DM-3 Before, Valorem, Cogitatio, and Anterior, since the aforementioned stories/interludes feature the pre-amnesiac Doctor, they always speaks on their own.
- In the outro of 10-17, the Doctor speaks certain dialogues on their own although the speech is rendered as a subtitle.
- While it can be interpreted that a few characters have an interest in the Doctor, the Doctor does not knowingly acknowledge any hints or advances. In Near Light, the Doctor consistently dodges Gravel's advances and purposely acts dense to avoid having to acknowledge Gravel's interest.[22]
- While the Doctor's gender and most physical details are player-determined, many fan artworks depict the Doctor as being male, taller than their canon height, often far more muscular, physically fit and can fight, and sometimes without the head protector. Likewise, fan artworks of Doctors portrayed as a female with the abovementioned characteristics are also prevalent as well and seem to be more increasingly common in the community.
- It can be inferred that the reason for the Doctor's gender neutrality is to allow for any and every player to partially self-insert as them. Despite this, the Doctor is both a partial player self-insert and a distinct character with their own personality and a few physical details.
- The Doctor's voice actor in Prelude to Dawn, Yuki Kaida, is best known for voicing Kurapika in the original Hunter x Hunter anime, a character known for his androgynous appearance and voice.
- Based on the calculations of in-game artworks depicting the Doctor beside Amiya and Kal'tsit, it is theorized that the Doctor's height was around 170 cm. Pre-release materials of Prelude to Dawn state that the Doctor's height was about 165 cm, which brought some discontent among the community.[23]
- Interestingly, Greyy's Trust tap dialogue states that the Doctor is much taller than him, who stands at 163 cm tall.
- In Break the Ice, the Doctor is poked fun at by Gulo who even calls the Doctor a midget. Gulo's height is unknown, however.
- The Doctor wears full-body protective clothing[24] and a hoodie, which may make the Doctor appear taller than they actually are.
- A Mizuki & Caerula Arbor artwork indicates that the Doctor stands about 195 cm tall, using the same calculation as above. However, it is also possible that Mizuki made himself shorter through his Seaborn biology.
- As the players' avatar, the Doctor is subject of various memes and jokes in the Arknights community:
- The most popular one is the "Zero Sanity" meme in which the Doctor, or specifically the player, used up their Sanity, thus becomes an idiotic, raving person acting in an outlandish and silly manner.
- Another such meme is "Boiling Noodle in the Mouth," which is actually a canonical joke. In Episode 07, Kal'tsit mentioned that she remembered them sneaking out at around 4:00 a.m., putting instant food into their mouth, and pouring boiling water directly in it to cook them.[25] This is also testified by Shirayuki in which she had been observing such strange behavior for several days.[26] NOTE: For obvious reasons, pouring boiling hot water in your throat is VERY DANGEROUS, so NEVER TRY THIS whatsoever!
- In the CN community, there is a meme called "Kal'tsit's Hand Grippers" (CN: 凯尔希握力计). The joke depicts Kal'tsit angrily grabbing the Doctor's neck after she catches them committing foolish actions.
- Although the 123 Rhodes Island comic strips are non-canon, the Doctor has been depicted to have strange taste in food such as adding Mayonnaise in a potato soup or having a Chocolate Sauce Pasta (Wrath of Siracusans).
- The Doctor can't hold their liquor well, based on their answer to Ace.
- According to Arknights Global's first anniversary livestream, as of the end of Contingency Contract Pyrite, "Surt(r)" is the most popular name given by players to the Doctor.
References
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