Maxwell NPC

Maxwell (AKA William Carter) is the main antagonist of Don't Starve. He scattered all the Characters across his dimension, forcing them to survive a harsh wilderness for his own amusement. He appears at the beginning of the game to tell the player to start gathering food and to build a Campfire before disappearing into a cloud of smoke. He looks very tall and sinister, wearing a dapper vertical lined tuxedo and pants with a rose lapel on his chest. He also holds a cigar in his right hand. During exploration, players can find Maxwell Statues or Chess Biomes themed after him.
== Origin==
Maxwell is unique in having a lot of his backstory revealed in puzzles found outside the game. The following is a summary of the information gleaned from these puzzles.
In 1901, a British man named William Carter boarded a ship from Liverpool to the United States, with the hopes of pursuing his career as a magician in New York City.William Carter Puzzles#First_puzzle Three years later, William's career had flopped and he was in debt trying to make his magic shows work.William Carter Puzzles#Second_puzzle It was sometime around this point William discovered a mysterious book known as the Codex Umbra, which contained information on powerful forms of dark magic. William received a letter from his brother Jack Carter, inviting William to come visit him and his family out West.William Carter Puzzles#Third_puzzle William decided to take up Jack on his offer, and boarded a train traveling west to San Francisco, California.William Carter Puzzle #4 On the way, William's train crashed into a circus wagon and he was trapped under one of the damaged train cars. William was saved by a circus strongman, who attempted to lift the train car off of him and was eventually successful with the help of two shadowy tendrils that shot out of William's book.Animated Shorts and Trailers#The_Incredible_Strongman William was distressed to have someone witness the dark magic of the Codex Umbra, which he was carrying, and fled away from the train crash, going missing and presumed dead. Out on his own, William deciphered the various symbols inside the Codex Umbra and his mind was opened to new possibilities for magic acts.William Carter Puzzle #4 He gathered this new information and began incorporating it into his magic shows. Soon, William returned to a life of show business under his new stage name: "The Amazing Maxwell".William Carter Puzzle #4
After settling down with his newly-found alter ego and knowledge, Maxwell hired Charlie as an assistant. Their magic shows appeared to be successful, creating very convincing acts using the knowledge Maxwell acquired from the book he discovered. In 1906, Charlie went to Maxwell's apartment after not hearing from him for a few days. However, instead of finding Maxwell, she discovered his hidden "study room" with various symbols and incantations crudely scratched on the walls. Among these were the phrases "Enough", "It's them", and "Charlie". She ran away terrified, but came back later to slide a letter under Maxwell's door acknowledging the room and suggesting that they take a break after their last act.
Later that night, Maxwell and Charlie were to perform their big final act, wherein Maxwell would pull a shadow from his mysterious book. When Maxwell reached inside the book to pull a shadow out, something else pulled him in. He managed to break free, but the book, moving of its own volition, turned to a page before grabbing Maxwell and Charlie with huge shadow hands. Soon, they were both pulled into a parallel dimension. Some time after this, Maxwell was put on the Nightmare Throne and given full reign over the Constant, while Charlie became the Night Monster. Maxwell used his powers to trick people from the real world into his dimension so that he could trap them there.
== Adventure Mode==
Maxwell will only appear again in Adventure Mode. Maxwell will greet players at the beginning of each world, like in Sandbox Mode, but now he is wearing a dapper cloak instead of a tuxedo. He will say different things in each World and will get angrier and more deformed as the player progresses.
In the last Chapter of Adventure Mode, "Epilogue", players will finally confront Maxwell. They will be teleported to a dark and dead wasteland, with a hallway in the center. At the end of the road, players will reach Maxwell's Hall. A decrepit Maxwell is awaiting atop the Nightmare Throne with a Gramophone nearby playing music. He tells the player that when he got here there was nothing but dust and "Them" and that he doesn't know what They want, that They are just watching. If the player attacks Maxwell, the throne protects him (a lightning bolt will strike the player and destroy their weapon), and Maxwell tells the player that the throne will not allow it. He then tells the player that he has been around here for a long time, and that the player can either put the key in the box or stay around and keep him company.
When the player puts the Divining Rod into the Nightmare Lock, Maxwell is freed. However, he will fall to his knees screaming as his body disintegrates and seemingly dies. The player's character will take his place on the throne. Despite all this, Maxwell continues to exist and becomes a playable character.
== Quotes==
===Adventure Mode===
- Note: Italicized lines are unimplemented.
A Cold Reception
# Oh, you found my portal did you?
# You'd think you would have learned your lesson by now.
# Strange machinery hasn't exactly been kind to you in the past.
# Hmm. Let's try something a little more challenging, shall we?
# Let's see if you're as enthusiastic when it's fourty below. [sic]
King of Winter
# Well would you look at that, you survived.
# One down, four to go!
# Now don't get a big head, you aren't the first.
# Let's see what you're really made of.
# And by that I mean to say,
# I will enjoy inspecting your entrails once the Deerclops is done with you.
The Game is Afoot
# What? You're still here?
# Impressive. But you should probably stop while you're ahead.
# Must I do everything myself?
# HOUNDS! DISPOSE OF THIS PEST!
Archipelago
# Say, pal.
# You're really pushing your luck.
# Turn back now, or I may have to resort to drastic measures.
Two Worlds
# Say, pal.
# Let's make a deal. You can stay here. Settle down, even.
# I'll give you food, gold, pigs, whatever you need.
# All I want in return is a truce.
Darkness
# You insolent, pitiful, insignificant ant!
# Do not arouse the wrath of the Great Maxwell!
# You will regret coming any further...
Checkmate
# Well, this is it.
# You found me. Now, what are you going to do?
===Nightmare Throne===
When players approach Maxwell in the throne, he will say a line. Players have to click on him to read all the lines. Once he says all the lines listed below, excluding the special ones, all he will say is "...".
====Main Speech====
#"Is this what you were expecting?" / "Is this how it ends?"
#"Forgive me if I don't get up."
#"You've been an interesting plaything, but I've grown tired of this game."
#"Or maybe They've grown tired of me."
#"Heh. Took them long enough."
#"They'll show you terrible, beautiful things."
#"It's best not to fight it."
#"There wasn't much here when I showed up."
#"Just dust. And the Void. And Them."
#"I've learned so much since then. I've built so much."
#"But even a King is bound to the board."
#"You can't change the rules of the game."
#"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."
#"What year is it out there? Time moves differently here."
#"Go on, stay a while. Keep us company."
#"Or put the key in the box. It's your decision."
#"Either way, you're just delaying the inevitable."
#"Reality is like that, sometimes."
#"I think I've said enough."
====Special====
If the Gramophone is turned off, then Maxwell will say... "Thank you, I've been listening to that song for an eternity."
If the Gramophone is then turned back on, Maxwell then states... "I suppose I deserve that."
If the player activates the hidden Teleportato, Maxwell will say... "Don't you think I've tried that?" followed by "This is the end of the line. We have no escape."
If the player attacks Maxwell he will say... "The throne won't allow that. I've tried."
===Unimplemented===
There are several series of commented-out lines for "QUEST_SURVIVE" found in the game files. These appear to be early concepts for Maxwell's introduction lines, given how radically different they are from his current ones. Several of these lines have grammatical errors. One set is identical to Maxwell's normal introduction. The rest are listed here, labeled with numbers representing the order in which they come.
2
* "Say pal, you don't look so good."
* "You have some space to explore methinks."
3
* "This may take some time..."
* "Don't get lost now!"
4
* "The dew has fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning..."
* "I'm off to find Zem..."
5
* "Lucky nothing uses water eh?"
* "Its going to be a long day" [sic]
6
* "Don't forget your booties cause its cold out there!" [sic]
* "Its cold out there every day." [sic]
7
* "Safe and secure area?"
* "Its just a skip, hop and a jump away from here." [sic]
8
* "Say pal, keep your chin up."
* "You will probably find it hard to stay dapper."
9
* "I left you a little something..."
* "I don't think it will help you though."
* "You know what I like about nighttime?"
* "All the spiders."
There is also a line for "NOUNLOCK" (presumably for trying to activate the Nightmare Lock with something other than the Divining Rod)- "Ah, I am a fool. I had dared to hope." and two for "COMBATFAIL"- "Where would be the sport in that?" and "Who do you think allowed you to make that?"
== Don't Starve Together ==
Don't Starve Together is the sequel to Don't Starve. Chronologically, it takes place after the events of Adventure Mode. Now, Maxwell is a playable character and no longer the main antagonist, having been replaced by Charlie. He, as well as all other playable characters, spawn from the Florid Postern.
== Trivia ==
*Maxwell is named after a scientific paradox known as "Maxwell's demon".
*Maxwell's in-game design is possibly an allusion to Professor Woland from The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
*As of the All's Well That Maxwell update, upon exiting the game, a popup says "Maxwell will miss you!", instead of "Wilson will miss you!".
*In the game's Alpha, Maxwell shared the same voice as Wilson, except with a lower pitch.
*In the early access beta of Don't Starve, Maxwell's design used more realistic proportions than his current design.Don't Starve Let's Play by falpatrick. Posted on September 11, 2012.
*In the official description for Don't Starve, Maxwell is not named forthright, but is referred to as a "demon".Don't Starve on Steam: You play as Wilson, an intrepid Gentleman Scientist who has been trapped by a demon and transported to a mysterious wilderness world. Wilson must learn to exploit his environment and its inhabitants if he ever hopes to escape and find his way back home.
== Gallery ==
== Sounds ==
Maxwell's voice. 	
Maxwell's voice in World 2. 	
Maxwell's voice in World 3. 	
Maxwell's voice in World 4. 	
Maxwell's voice in World 5. 	
Maxwell's sorrowful voice as he sits on the Nightmare Throne. 	
Maxwell screaming as he dies after being freed from the Nightmare Throne.	
==References==
es:Maxwell (NPC)
Category:Gameplay
Category:Articles using improper tone
Category:Talkers
Category:Lore