Dollmaker

The **Dollmaker** appeared in 2011 videogame called *Alice: Madness Returns*. The Dollmaker was the Wonderland incarnation of Dr. Angus Bumby. He was the mastermind behind the Infernal Train and Wonderland's corruption. Following his defeat and his real world counterpart's death, Alice Liddell was once again able to save herself and her memories. The Dollmaker is the main antagonist (sharing this role with his counterpart Bumby) and final boss of the second game.

The Dollmaker presumably appeared in Wonderland following Alice's first therapy session with Angus Bumby. Taking advantage of Wonderland's weakened state following the Queen of Hearts' defeat, he began spreading Ruin all over the realm in order to corrupt Wonderland and ultimately destroy it. As his grip over Wonderland tightened, he started to abduct Insane Children, transforming them into murderous, mindless dolls which would serve as his minions.

At some point prior to Alice's return in Wonderland, he took over the Dollhouse, remaking it into a nightmarish factory patrolled by Ruin monsters and killer dolls. He also either manipulated the March Hare and the Dormouse into constructing the Infernal Train, or took control of it shortly after it was unleashed. Either way, the train ended up in his control and he used it to tear Wonderland asunder by setting its schedule and itinerary.

The Dollmaker attempted to eliminate Alice countless times by sending his ruin monsters after her to no avail. When she reached the Dollhouse, he unleashed his army of killer dolls, but they were unable to stop Alice and she managed to reach his lair.

When Alice met the Dollmaker, she quickly realized that it was Dr. Bumby, who she had come to recognize as the murderer of her family. Bumby, as the Dollmaker, was destroying whatever was left of Alice's mind, thus in turn destroying Wonderland, as well as tormenting the other children who were as insane as she was and turning them into submissive "dolls." The Dollmaker claimed he was "performing a service," just as Bumby did at Moorgate Station, where he explained to Alice his belief that he was doing a favor for the public by selling children as sex slaves, and remarked that Alice could have forgotten and been 'cured'.

Alice declared that she will stop the train if it was the last thing she did, and the Dollmaker confidently claimed that it will be. He proceeded to grab her, turned her into a doll, and dropped her into the train with the other children that he turned into dolls. However, Alice got one last burst of inner strength, enabling her to break free from her doll form and return to her human form in the Classic dress, which allowed her to make her way to the locomotive's engine room, where the Dollmaker served as the engineer and conductor of the train.

During the final showdown at the head of the train, the Dollmaker taunted Alice and tried to stop her from succeeding in defeating him. His form had become even more twisted, with a snakelike body composed of Ruin, disembodied and mutilated hands held to his body with strings and a disgusting tongue composed of Ruin and doll heads. He used his hands to taunt Alice by performing gestures he pictured children doing. His giant hands would also grope Alice and shake her body, likely referencing his desire to turn her into a sex slave.

It was only when she defeated the Dollmaker that his evil influence toward Alice, Wonderland, and other innocent people had been diminished for good and Wonderland was "restored" once more. Simultaneously in the real world, Alice pushed the real Dr. Bumby in front of an oncoming train to kill him. By doing so, she had avenged her family and the victims of Bumby's memory erasure, ensuring that he would never hurt anyone ever again.

The Dollmaker was a twisted reflection of Dr. Bumby, being gigantic, corpse-like, hunchbacked, and somewhat disproportionate compared to his human counterpart. His outfit was similar to Bumby's, but with several drawers down the front of the vest. The Dollmaker does possess legs but they are hidden during the encounter under his giant "desk". His face has cuts with staples. His teeth are sharp and thin, resembling nails.

His face was hollow and eyeless with one eye socket dwarfing the other. Black Ruin oozes out of his orifices (mouth, nostrils, eye sockets) including his ears. The Ruin drips down the Dollmaker's chin, forming a 'beard' similar to Bumby's own facial hair. The Ruins is likely due to Alice's opinion that Bumby is an "oozing sore of depravity".

The Dollmaker's large, emaciated hands appeared sewn together, being covered in stitches, staples and nails. Each hand had a large doll head embedded in its back and different colored fingernails, the left hand having black and the right hand having red. The doll head in the left hand is more masculine while the doll head on the right is more feminine. He wears a black ring on his left thumb. He also has a coke nail, suggesting Bumby may have been a drug addict or user. It could also be indicative of Bumby using psychoactive drugs in order to facilitate his corruption and erasure of the children's minds, making them more compliant to his orders. He may have also been using them on Alice, as at the beginning of the game he sends her to pick up medication.

In his final battle with Alice, the Dollmaker became even more monstrous and distorted. His lower body was replaced by a massive, serpentine column of Ruin, and his hands had grown even larger.

His arms disappeared, but a pair of smaller arms with three fingers have sprouted from his shoulder blades, holding puppet strings that controlled his disembodied hands. The doll heads on his hands occasionally become corrupted by black Ruin; when defeated, the doll heads disappear leaving an indent. His right ring finger appears to be chopped off.

He also had a long, grotesque tongue made of Ruin and doll heads, which served as his main weak point.

The Dollmaker's personality mirrored that of his real-world counterpart, feeling no remorse whatsoever for his horrible actions. He did not see the pain he caused and on several occasions attempted to justify the matter with educated statements. His educated, fairly polite demeanor was only a cover for a horrifically sadistic mind that sees his victims as toys – much as how Dr. Bumby saw the children he turned into sex slaves as nothing more than "products" which he sold to interested buyers.

Similar to the Jabberwock, he attempted to make Alice feel remorse for the deaths of her family and also tried to put the pressure of guilt over her, stating "*they are dead, and you should be too.*" He also attempted to show more of his manipulative sides by putting guilt of the child prostitution onto her.

Unlike Bumby, the Dollmaker's motivations and psychological tactics were more openly malicious and focused around inflicting fear in his victims, as opposed to putting up a facade of trying to help them while secretly destroying their minds.

## Powers and Abilities

The Dollmaker himself was not particularly suited to combat as his primary function was to turn young children into "toys," and to direct the Infernal Train in its destruction of Wonderland. However, due to his size, ability to control Ruin, and the damaged state of Alice's mindscape, he proved to be a challenging enemy for Alice to encounter.

### Attacks

* **Grab** – The hand will attempt to grasp Alice and crush her between its fingers. It can be avoided by running and dodging.
* **Nail Scrape** – The hand will dig its claws into the glass beneath Alice and drag it across the surface, making a loud and high-pitched noise as it does so. The attack will last for around ten seconds and can be avoided by abusing the dodge button and navigating Alice around the two pillars on the battle ground. This attack will also leave the hand vulnerable to damage after it completes the attack.
* **Pinch** – The hand will attempt to pinch Alice provocatively in order to injure her. Similar to the grab, it is avoided through dodging and running.
* **Residue** – The hand will carve a fine line into the glass below and blow the chemical residue into Alice. It can be avoided by jumping, dodging away from it or using the umbrella. The hand will usually use this attack three times in a row, becoming vulnerable after the third attack.
* **Smash** – The Dollmaker will form his hand into the shape of a fist and hit the ground powerfully, attempting to crush Alice in the process. Dodging will evade this as time slows down for a second to alert the player. Once the hand has hit the floor, it will not remove itself for another few seconds, making it vulnerable to Alice's attacks (particularly if she uses the Vorpal Blade).
* **Splat** – The hand will raise itself up above Alice and quickly throw itself back down in a swatting motion to squish Alice. It will do this three times before running out of energy, allowing Alice to attack it once more. It can be avoided by dodging.
* **Swat** – The hand will raise itself up slightly and swat Alice across the ground. It will do this once and will not leave it open for attack, but can be avoided by dodging.
* **Sweep** – The hand will sweep itself across the surface of the battle area as if to sweep Alice away, slightly disabling her in the process. Similarly to the smash, it can be avoided by dodging, however, it will not leave the hand vulnerable to attack.
* **Flamethrower** – The hand will attach to one of the pillars and breathe fire at Alice. It can be avoided by staying away from it.
* **Summon** – The Dollmaker can summon Insidious Ruin, Menacing Ruin and Drifting Ruin.
* **Spit** - Both hands will attach to the pillars. The Dollmaker will lean forward and attempt to spit Ruin at Alice. His tongue is vulnerable so Alice should strafe left and right. The Pepper Grinder works well here.