#don't starve lore

[deadly-brightshade]

Maxwell gets so much slack for it but I think he actually held a great deal of restraint when he was on the Nightmare Throne. If the intent of "The Mirror" (most likely the Shadow Eye, or "Metheus", as represented by the gateway) was anything to go off of, the presented deal was that in exchange for his aid in "freeing Them", Maxwell would get all the power he could ever want.

Giving what the shadows do to people, and what they had been torturing him with already for years via the Codex, and them dragging him and Charlie into the constant it's only natural for him to not want to uphold his end of the bargain, seeing the damage they can do. They resented him for it, so they kept him restrained to the throne to be tormented for an unspecified but long amount of time, in hopes of breaking down his will enough to obey or be replaced by someone more willing.

Maxwell did a lot of bad things but I don't take "bad things a guy imprisoned on the psychological coercion and torture chair" with as much weight as some people do. I don't think he's an evil person, he clearly shows a lot of remorse and is apologetic to the people he manipulated. I don't think any of the survivors outright hate him for what he did, maybe at first, but given the circumstances in Together, it's clear that he's a valued member of their ranks, and that they look out for him as much as they look out for each other.

Maxwell had the experience of a few years of the shadows manipulation to also know their tricks, how to hold them back. Someone that didn't have that was Charlie. When placed under similar circumstances that he was, she fell into the position that Maxwell refused to take, for various reasons. She is working for "The Mirror" where Maxwell didn't because much like he was, she's being manipulated by them every step of the way.

Charlie's stageplay is clear evidence of narrative bias and a unfortunate misunderstanding of the situation she's in, Maxwell kept her in the dark about the shadows, so they brought themselves into the light. While she does maintain more autonomy when it comes to being bound to the throne, she's still being manipulated, her feelings are entertwining with a reality made of half truths to keep her in service of the shadows.

Both the king and queen, while powerful and valuable pieces on the board, are still on the board.

Claiming either of them are outright evil or do the things they do for fun because they enjoy seeing others in pain is just not true.

[who-the-fuck-is-sennalye]

I haven't kept up with Don't Starve lore in like two years what on earth is happening

[thefoxlady]

(Anon behind asks 1, 2, and 4 again. I'll specify that it's me every time. though at this rate maybe I should give myself an anon name lol.)

For reading about the dst storyline, this page (https://dontstarve.wiki.gg/wiki/Story_Line) (I hope the links work) gives a decent description of events inside and outside of the constant in order. Though it's not perfect imo, I personally don't like the wording on some things.

It should also be noted that because some developers have said a few contradictory things in the past, the lore can be a bit weird in some parts? So not necessarily everything on there is entirely true I believe and it has to be read carefully.

For more detailed lore, this page talks about Maxwell's backstory (https://dontstarve.wiki.gg/wiki/William_Carter_Puzzles)

This page talks about Maxwell and Wilson meeting after Maxwell's former assistant Charlie freed Wilson from the nightmare throne (after Wilson freed Maxwell) They then form a truce (after getting into a fight once lol) and they build a portal together that allows the other survivors to join the same dimension/world/timeline(?) as them. (https://dontstarve.wiki.gg/wiki/Cyclum_Puzzles)

and this page has images showing the lore of the ancients (a species that came long before the survivors and are native to the constant, but they all died out because (in some way) They (the shadow gods of the constant, possibly also the lunar gods? it's... complicated.) killed them all by turning them into the shadow creatures. (https://dontstarve.wiki.gg/wiki/Metheus_Puzzles) (Ps, for this one, the images given show the original colors, but they're likely NOT accurate. The accurate ones can be found by looking them up, and they're mostly shades of yellow in color.)

For additional lore, you can also read about the gorge event, the forge event, items in the ancient archives (various character quotes talk more about ancient lore) and the ancient murals/items in the ruins (additional ancient lore) And if you have a lot of time available/you're really bored, you can read character's quotes on the wiki too. These are usually good for learning more about character's personalities, but they can also contain (sometimes pretty important) lore.

If you want to watch something, there's a two part series by a youtuber called OrangE that explains the dst lore in a humorous way BUT. I wouldn't recommend watching the parts until reading the rest of the lore, because some things are opinion/speculation on the lore I believe and some of those things are wrong (ex: at one point in the second part I believe a character is called Metheus and another character is called Cyclum when I believe canonically it is the other way around.) (Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klrHnnb3AIw) (Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy8vPqOdAqk&t=837s)

There is also this video which shows the in game play "The Doll" which is Queen Charlie retelling her story (through a biased, unreliable view. It gives more information about Them, and shows how being queen (And manipulated by Them) has changed her view of events. (The king/Maxwell's actions, of course, aren't accurate to cannon because Charlie (And possibly They) have a grudge against him and so she portrays him as much eviler in her play.) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGTfmJ4L294)

There is also the character shorts of course, but also the official game play trailers by the developers on their YouTube channel (Klei Entertainment) They have a playlist on their channel with all of the videos, but they are in reverse order so you have to start with the last one on the playlist and work your way up. (Also, there is a short animation called "Inevitable", but it's likely not cannon and even if it was it's not really story or lore relevant.)

Also, to elaborate more on Maxwell and the throne.

Before the throne, Maxwell just wanted to be a famous magician. When he got the Codex Umbra in a train crash (that he almost died in) he just wants to use it for magic at first. And it works, as he does become wealthy (I believe) and well known. He also got his assistant, Charlie, and at first they had a good relationship, but over time Maxwell became more and more obsessed with deciphering the codex, even though he was aware that it could be dangerous In encore, Maxwell's rework short, we see that the shadows/codex harm Maxwell physically and mentally. And also that he's probably going insane, considering the writing all over his walls (which is seen in the William Carter puzzles as well.) (Also something notable: In his in game lore summary, it states that the dark knowledge found deep within the codex "addled his mind and clouded his heart" meaning that the codex made him more insane and a worse and/or more distant person, basically.)

Charlie, scared by this, suggests they take a break after one last act. There's a video of this final performance at the end of the William Carter puzzles (It's on the wiki I believe) and clips of it play during encore. In it, during the act, shadows reach out of the codex, grab, and kidnap both Maxwell and Charlie (very much against both of their wills).

We don't see how exactly Maxwell ends up on the throne and Charlie as the night monster, but we do know that Charlie was attacked and became the night monster/grue after and Maxwell feels guilty and responsible for that.

We don't know how long Maxwell was on the throne for, because time in the constant does not move in a normal, linear way like it does on Earth. He refers to it as "eternity" though, he asks "What year is it out there?", and when being freed from the throne he dies nearly instantly, with even his bones turning to dust. So he was probably on there for a long, long time.

During that time, he was completely tied down on the nightmare, the only human contact he got was when he spoke with a survivor at the start of each world or when making a deal to bring them into the constant (and he used projections or shadows to do those, because he was still trapped on the throne), and he had to listen to the same song on loop for that entire eternity. (Chances are he didn't get to eat or drink anything at all during that time too, but it's unknown if he could feel hunger, thirst, etc while on the throne since it kept him alive.) (When examining it, he also describes the throne as "painful".)

At the end of adventure mode, when speaking to Maxwell, he says

"I don't know what they want. They... they just watch. Unless you get too close... Then... Well, there's a reason I stay so dapper."

I believe that his "dapper-ness" is implied to be how he recovers his mind/sanity on his own, which could imply that the reason he stays dapper is to prevent himself from completely losing his sanity because of Them. It could mean other things, though.

There isn't much known about the shadow god(s?) that imprisoned Maxwell, known only as Them (or They/Their) (Usually with a capital T? But it was inconsistent in the past.)

What we do know, though, is that

They caused the death of an entire species, transforming them into the violent nightmare creatures that attack the player at low sanity. A former ruler of the ancients, the ancient fuelweaver, says that "They will not show mercy as I have." Considering that fuelweaver tries to kill you, calling it saving you, he seems to be implying that what They will do to the survivors/characters is far worse than death.

There is also another character, who is encountered in the forge event, known as battlemaster Pugna, who speaks more about Them. He sends enemies to kill you because he believes that the survivors/players are working for Them, and the throne. He speaks a little bit about Them during the event.

"... Do you understand the forces you serve? They destroy all They touch... We were severed from the Throne! Trapped in a realm of stone and fire! That is why we cannot let you win."

He also says that his goal is to destroy the throne.

They are described and shown to be incredibly destructive and murderous, and their magic, shadow magic, drives people to insanity and makes them behave differently.

Being very obviously evil, it'd make sense if They had Maxwell tortured further while on the throne (especially psychologically, since they are well. insanity god(s) basically.)

Maxwell doesn't really talk about his experience on the throne (either because he doesn't like to talk about his past in general or because the throne was particularly traumatic) so there sadly really isn't much to go off of, though.

Some of his quotes do show how the experience has changed him in small ways though. His quote for a wooden chair is "I'm appalled by the idea of sitting for some reason." and when it is burnt he says "Better that way." When looking at a phonograph, he says "That accursed thing!" and for the in game ragtime record he shouts "Destroy it!". for the other records, he says "Forgive me if I've lost my taste for music." and "Silence would be preferable." For some of Wigfrid's battlesongs, he'll say "No. I do NOT sing."

And, while Maxwell might partly enjoy the power as ruler of the constant, he hates the throne and he didn't want to be on it at all. In the checkmate epilogue room, where the throne is located, there is a hidden portal. When it's activated, all it does is bring the player back to the start(?) of the room, and Maxwell will tell them "Don't you think I've tried that? This is the end of the line. We have no escape." If the player tries to attack and kill Maxwell, they are struck by lightning and if they used something to attack him, it is destroyed. Maxwell responds to this with "The throne won't allow that. I've tried." Which... Has pretty dark implications. and shows that he tried everything to free himself.

"Why didn't he make it easier for the survivors to reach the throne if he wanted off then?" The most common answer to this is usually that he makes it harder to get the survivors to hate him and thus be more willing to beat the challenges (due to spite) just so they can face him in person. I personally think that They forced him to make it difficult to "prolong the game" and make it more entertaining for Them. That, and I think he partly feels like he deserves to remain on the throne, as when the phonograph playing ragtime in the throne room is turned off, but then on again, he says "I suppose I deserve that." (he also shows guilt over things in some dst quotes) That's just my theory/speculation, though.

As for why he brought people to the constant in the first place, we don't know for sure either, but the two most common theories for it that I see are that Maxwell is kidnapping people in the hopes that one of them will free him, or that he's kidnapping people to entertain himself. I personally disagree with both of these and instead think that They probably had him bring in certain numbers of people to entertain Them, because Maxwell brought children to the constant.

While he probably was desperate to be freed, I'd think he'd just bring more adults in if he could, since on average they'd be better at surviving. And I highly doubt he'd find the suffering of children entertaining, considering that he seems quite fond of children (at least human and. larvae ones.) When examining a pipspook, the sad, passive soul of a child that was brought to the constant that then died in the constant, Maxwell says "I'm so sorry." (which is, as of his rework update, the only time he genuinely says the word "sorry" in his quotes. And when examining a flower they leave behind after finding a toy that they lost, he says "I hope they found peace." He also has decent relationships with the other children survivors, except for maybe Wurt (I believe that Wurt's quotes about records have her say that Ragtime is the only one she wants to listen to? which might be why Maxwell is less friendly with her.)

There's also an animal in game, a small, friendly baby lavae that is obtainable by killing the dragonfly, and Maxwell has really sweet quotes about it ("I can say with pride that it is comfy and cozy." when it's egg is warm, "You're not a hellbeast, are you? Nooo. Just misunderstood!" and "It's happy with me, and I with it." when it's fed, and "Just like old times." when examining it's older, pet form. Maxwell is also distressed and sad when it does poorly: "I knew I would make a terrible pa-pa." when the egg is too cold, "It's hungry. Why is it hungry?" when it's hungry, and "I think it's going to die!" when it is starving.)

It is possible though that he only got to know the bare minimum about his victims before bringing them in, and he didn't know which ones were children, but then I'd think he'd stop quickly after realizing that they could be kids, if he was bringing people for fun. Which is why I think that instead he had to bring in enough people to please Them and prevent consequences and additional torture for himself, which would force him to keep bringing people. (That's just my guess, however, and cannon doesn't really say much on the matter? It just says in his lore summary that he was "compelled to ensnare more victims in the Constant's trap." without saying what compelled him. I think that wanting someone who could free him probably played some role at least.

(HOWEVER. There is at least one person who Maxwell tried to bring to the constant intentionally, that being the man he owed money to when he was still William Carter and starting out as a magician. This failed because Wes got in the way, so he responded by trapping Wes in a box and having it guarded with clockworks. This showed that Maxwell was pretty petty and held grudges and I personally think that it was really wrong of him to try and bring someone to the constant on purpose and that this was a bad thing he did. Maxwell isn't not a complete monster but he also definitely did do bad things in cannon and I wouldn't really blame for disliking him for that, even if I don't. That and he's prideful and arrogant, though that's possibly just what he wants other people to think he's like.. Also, in Wes' in game lore entry, it's stated that "being the kind soul that he is, Wes holds no grudge against Maxwell..."...so at least Wes isn't mad at him for what he did.)

Once Maxwell's off the throne, he grows as a person and becomes more humble. A good example I can think of is comparing his old, Don't Starve quote for his statue ("Now that's a fine statue.") to his remark on it in Don't Starve Together, which would take place later in the timeline. ("It seems silly now...") Other characters also speak positively about him, like Ms. Wickerbottom who says "He's actually quite a sweet boy when you peel away the ego." when examining his statue in dst. Wolfgang refers to him as a friend, Wigfrid calls him ally multiple times and she wants to toughen him up, and in the encore short it's even shown that Woby, the dog, cares about him. (Which means a lot, considering Walter has a quote about Woby growling at Maxwell showing that she disliked him at first.)

...speaking of encore. Maxwell's decision to work with Charlie. (I'm assuming this is what you mean when you say that Maxwell will betray the survivors, feel free to correct me if you mean something else, though.)

Queen Charlie is trying to manipulate Maxwell to her side by showing him specific memories of them together, and how their relationship was damaged by him getting too invested in the codex, and telling him that he should have just told her what was going on.

And when Maxwell agrees to the deal, I don't think it's because he particularly wants to harm the survivors and while i think a small part of it might be that he wants to have some of the power he had on the throne, I think the main reason he does it is out of guilt.

Before his rework, he used to apologize to Charlie when examining his codex umbra. Considering quotes like his "I suppose I deserve that." mentioned earlier, and other quotes like his "Ah. I thought I'd run out of people to disappoint." when examining a cracked pearl (the cracked pearl is obtained after giving it to the person you were told to give it to- they fight you, and defeating them breaks the pearl, and so it's not even the player's fault for it breaking) plus Maxwell's quotes for pipspooks, he seems to feel bad, guilty, and regret things, even if they were things done on the throne or things out of his control, so it'd make sense for him to feel incredibly guilty about what happened to Charlie, as his actions resulted in her not only entering the constant, but becoming the night monster and later the queen.

I think he views helping Charlie as "repaying" what he owes her, or helping someone he hurt, even if it does mean working with the shadows. So far, we haven't seen him harm another survivor in the pursuit of helping Charlie, though he seems to be aware that Charlie's end goal is to bring back Them/Fully allow Them into the constant. (Which. would obviously not be good for the survivors. Or him. Or Charlie.) It's possible he's hoping to stop Charlie last second or try and change her mind, and it's possible that he is going to try and bring Them back even if it means betraying the others, but there really isn't enough showing what he's actually doing for Charlie in the cannon (and exactly why he's doing it) to say anything for certain, imo. (Also its possible that he doesn't see an issue with what he's doing at all and he might think he can help Charlie while still assisting the survivors in survival.) (Not really related, but Charlie is also being manipulated by Them, and her play suggests that They are a part of her, which is why she's doing bad things- They're lying and misguiding her intentionally.)

So um. incredibly long explanation short, in my opinion, Maxwell did genuinely do some bad things and he has character flaws, as all characters should, but I'd say the real villain/person/thing to blame for a lot of it would be the shadows/Them, who kidnapped Maxwell and Charlie to begin with. And also I wish Klei gave us more lore about what was going on.

(I hope you don't mind the... blocks of text, I'm surprised that I even wrote this much considering that Maxwell isn't even one of my 4 favorite dst characters (I consider him a second favorite character? And that's mainly because I like his dynamics/interactions with other characters) not doing all this to force you to change your mind of course, I just like talking about the lore of my favorite game. and this was fun to write, I even learnt a few things. Also I could've missed something and there might be spelling mistakes because I'm up at 1:50ish at night and a bit sleepy lol.)

(Also I'm sorry if I over explained a lot of this, I'm not sure exactly how much you do know about the lore and story and I don't want to accidentally not mention something important in case you don't know something)

That's okay, lot of text to read though, I'm just going to pin this just in case. In the encore short, I thought he was going to betray the survivors but I guess I was wrong :/

But hey, at least I have an up to date timeline of the lore right?

(This got me thinking about Constant Hell, my DST creepypasta, and rewriting why and how the survivors became tormentors and hate Maxwell so much... Maybe I could make it to where the creator of the mod puts all their anger and hate towards the world in the mod with the tormentors being all their anger and hate bottled up in all of them which resulted in the tormentors hating Maxwell so much. Yeah... Maybe that's a better reason.)

[kesia-stupid-arts]

Differences between some dialogues of Maxwell, in Don't Starve VS DST (character development, maybe?)

There's also a difference about Abigail, but I couldn't spawn her in my singleplayer DS!

[waokevale]

STARVETOBER CAN WAIT, THIS IS IMPORTANT

WX AND WAGSTAFF LORE BABYYY AT LAST!!!!

The daddy issues kicked in again.

[ancientbygone]

the lazarus of westlake

[sunsetcorvid]

what if warrior cats took place in the Constant. i think this would be really interesting and also really fucking funny

[serpentface]

doodled my old werewolf character Gwen

[localhypnoarts]

Thinking about the mushroom guy... So full of 'shroom!!

I have many thoughts so they will go under a Read More :]c

Wilmot uses It/He, and prefers the former.

A chunk of Wilmot's brain was taken out via lobotomy! Mushroom spores from The Constant got into that empty spot, so it's got a bit of a mushroom-brain!

It naturally grows mushrooms. These can be harvested and can be a mixture of any two mushroom types (between red, green, and blue), and regrow naturally. This does not include Moon Shrooms.

It does not receive negative effects from consuming mushrooms in any form, but finds most other foods less filling. It's favorite food is the Stuffed Night Cap.

Wilmot's hunger drains slightly slower than average, but it's sanity drains much faster!

It isn't very expressive, and (typically) doesn't experience emotions very intensely.

When on low sanity, Wilmot has (worsened) processing issues and can't examine objects. It will typically remark something unrelated or say it can't "think/focus well" at the moment.

It's instrument is a Trombone.

It was originally dragged into the Constant to "fill that empty head of his" since without the mushrooms it essentially felt empty. It did not help that the medical institution it was kept in had barely any staff.

The dark substance dripping from its sleeves, chest patch, and coating its bandaged arm are coagulations of deceased mushroom spores.

The circles over it's heart and elbow are medical patches, though they can also be interpreted as wax seals.

[zombiedcattle-art]

starvetober day 8: ancient

I LOOOVE THE ANCIENTS I LOVE THIS PROMPT I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT EVERYONE DOES :D

[moe-broey]

Some. Sort of spectrum. From most likely to least likely.

And by kitten-pile I mean This

I'll put a transcript under cut for easier reading! 🫡

How Likely Are They to Kitten Pile?

__

Mirabilis: "are you tired..? do you need a break...? ohh we could take one together..."

If she likes/trusts you even a little, she wants to cuddle about it!!!

-

Sharena and Peony: "Okay! 💖 Yay! 💖"

Shari: The only thing stopping her is social conventions -- making her MORE likely to jump at the opportunity!

Peony: Learning social awareness as she goes, and is surprisingly good at it?

-

Triandra: "Aren't we a bit old for that...? But... even so..."

Embarrassed, conflicted, but feels strangely nostalgic at the notion...

-

Plumeria: "I'm not so petal-soft that I'd resort to such INDECENCY, I mean even if your intentions are Pure USE YOUR HEADS YOU FOOLS!! Girl, the IMPLICATIONS!!!"

Desperately wants to join the kitten-pile, but her Issues and Pride gets in the way.

-

Moe: "aw, so cutes!"

Generally touch adverse, extremely picky even with the people it likes/loves -- everything is entirely on its terms.

[the-indie-owl]

My Very First Try doing a Meme List off of DeviantArt to post it here on Tumblr.

I tend to have a lot of Male Characters when it comes to certain media that I have some Personal Bias Standards to, but when it's a Few Male Characters (either the Ones that I do have a Crush on (ex; Bolok or Poseidon) or just the ones that I think are Handsome and don't have a crush on (ex; Pedri and Ballister)).

Here is a List of some Personal Male Characters from Media that I have seen that I think are Either Attractive or just maybe Born-Handsome.

(And yes, this might be filled with Young Men and also DILFs, so please be very warned about this).

Also, Please Be Respectful and Don't Judge Me just because I happened to have a Weird Type.

Pedri Nanezgani (Ava's Demon)

King Poseidon (SpongeBob SquarePants)

King Neptune (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Lucien Bolok (Space Goofs)

Fujimoto (Ponyo)

Prince Lir (The Last Unicorn)

Viktor (Arcane)

Arktos (Tabaluga)

Hamegg (Osamu Tezuka)

A Tie between Raoul and Erik (The Phantom of The Opera)

Francoeur (A Monster In Paris)

Crowley (Good Omens)

Ballister Boldheart (Nimona)

Howl Jenkins Pendragon (Howl's Moving Castle)

Zmey Gorynych (The Last Bride of Zmey Gorynych)

Lord Licorice (Candyland)

Silas (The Graveyard Book)

Jareth (Labryinth)

Hades (Lore Olympus)

Wilson (Don't Starve)

Honorable Mentions:

Captain James Hook (Peter Pan (2003))

Von Rothbart (Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake") (No matter the version)

Tuls Tenebrose (Ava's Demon)

No Heart (Care Bears)

The Baron (Whisper of The Heart)

Not Pictured:

Dr. Habit (Smile For Me)

Sir Carrot (Cucumber Quest)

Cyrano De Bergerac (Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano")

HIM (The Powerpuff Girls) (Both 90s and Anime, PPGZ)

(I might have more than just a few on the list, but if I do think of Another Fictional Male Character, I'll probably continue on editing this list).

Original Meme By Duckyworth

[kesia-stupid-arts]

Appearently, there's a new campfire story for Walter about Woodie

WEREBEAVER_STORY = { lines = { {duration = 3.0, line = "Did I ever tell you the tale of the Werebeaver?"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "I went looking for him myself, you know."}, {duration = 3.0, line = "They say he was once the owner of a big lumber company,"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "who gave the order to clear-cut an entire forest"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "against the wishes of the people who lived there."}, {duration = 2.5, line = "For this, they say he was cursed…"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "If he or his company cut one tree too many,"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "he would turn into a hulking, hairy beast,"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "with axe-sharp front teeth."}, {duration = 3.0, line = "He lost everything, and hid himself away in a small cabin,"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "deep in the heart of the woods."}, {duration = 2.5, line = "But it was not enough to satisfy the curse."}, {duration = 2.5, line = "People say he's still there, roaming the wilderness,"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "gnashing his long, fearsome teeth!"}, {duration = 1.5, line = "…"}, {duration = 2.5, line = "Well, that was the story I heard anyway."}, {duration = 3.0, line = "Mr. Woodie's never told me if it's actually true…"}, }, }, }, }, }

(Me: This is the only piece of Woodie's lore we have at the moment, and we don't even know it's true damn. Found this in the game's files, if you wanna check for yourself, go to the DST files, scripts and strings. In my opinion, I think this story is just a legend Walter heard, bro got Woodie mixed up with the Onceler)

[gear-muncher]

Is it just me or is this grainy transmission not so grainy?

[harveythewendigo]

Friendly reminder to all of the people that play Don't starve. Every crow in the game is canonically french.

[ancient-sentrypede]

Oh shit! It’s Wortox Wednesday!

Wortox is great at keeping secrets, it’s an essential part of playing any prank! Of course, this also extends to how cryptic he can be about the constant’s history or his own personal feelings.

His secretiveness might not be unique to him, but instead a general trait for imps,

I do believe he has more similar quotes, which implies he finds humans habits of sharing information strange, or even something to look down upon.

This concludes this week's Wortox Wednesday