Dr. Faraday

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr. Faraday is a fictional character appearing in the 2002 video game The Thing. His likeness was based upon John Carpenter, director of the 1982 film upon which the game was based.

Faraday was a research scientist for a company known as Gen Inc. He was dispatched to Antarctica following the discovery of the alien organism chronicled in the film and became the project's scientific leader, naming the organism the "Cloud Virus." It is not known exactly how long Faraday had been in the Antarctic, but considering the sophisticated labs and vast research complexes at his disposal it must be assumed that the U.S. government had known about the orgamism's existence long before the incidents at the Norwegian and American outposts. Faraday experimented with the virus and developed several different strains. Eventually, however, he began to grow suspicious of the motives of the man the military had sent to oversee the project, Col. Whitley. Memos found in the labs indicate that Whitley's behavior became erratic and overbearing. At one point he asked Faraday to inject him with a new strain of the virus, but the doctor refused. Not long after that people began to disappear and station personnel reported hearing terrifying moans and shrieks outside their doors at night.

Faraday was working in an underground lab when a large number of infected organisms broke out of their cells and ran amok throughout the station. Faraday hid and was rescued by Capt. Blake. Just as they were exiting the underground labs they were confronted by Whitley, who shot Blake with a tranquilizer dart and had him removed to the primary research base. Faraday was greatly interested in Blake, who had managed to remain uninfected despite massive exposure to the alien virus, but all tests on the unconscious soldier proved inconclusive. It was ultimately revealed that Faraday was not an evil man, just an irresponsible one. Faraday had become obsessed with the possibilities the virus could yield, and did not consider the consequences of his actions. In a last ditch effort to save the world from the virus he attempted to sabotage the remaining specimens, but was stopped by Col. Whitley. It was at this point that Whitley revealed he had injected himself with a sample of the virus, and that he was able to control the infection within himself. Faraday was horrified. The two argued, and Whitley murdered the doctor in cold blood after deciding that he had outlived his usefulness.