Bobby

*"Bobbies; protecting the haves from the have nots since 1829. I better skulk past them quietly or else there's going to be a bit of a ruckus."*
— Ollie Starkey on the Bobbies
**Bobbies** are the quaternary antagonists in *We Happy Few*.

"Bobby" is British slang for a policeman and thus, they are the law enforcement of Wellington Wells. Officially, they all work for the Executive Committee, acting as the government's primary armed force.

Bobbies use a special version of Joy known as Blackberry Joy, which allows them to take Joy while keeping a (mostly) clear head and without suffering any ill effects.

## Appearance

Bobbies wear an Edwardian British policeman's uniform; consisting of a black Custodian Helmet, a dark blue (almost black) overcoat and trousers along with black dress shoes and white gloves. The front of the overcoat is adorned with three rows of gilded buttons, a gold-rimmed collar, a gold police badge, and a black leather belt with a silver Brunswick Star on the buckle. The custodian helmet is adorned with a floodlight mounted in the center of a silver Brunswick Star badge.

Bobbies have Happy Face Masks like other Wellies, only theirs are twisted into a grin/sneer. They can also be seen wearing gas masks during night time. They typically wield Bobby Truncheons as their sole weapon but sometimes, though they may also utilize Electric Truncheons in combat. They are much stronger compared to the Wellies, and also quite larger.

#### **Variants**

Red Bobbies are uncommon variants of the normal Blue Bobby that can be seen at a stationary post in stores inside Hamlyn Village and can be found patrolling in the Parade District. They are the same as regular Bobbies, with the exception being that they have a red uniform, are stronger, have higher health, cannot be bribed with scotch, and wield Electric Truncheons exclusively.

Another version of the Bobby is the rare White Bobby who is Anton Verloc's personal guard. He is far stronger than any Bobby and serves as an area boss. The White Bobby wields a weapon called the "Pipe Down", which is a glowing-hot Lead Pipe that inflicts fire damage.

## **Special Bobbies**

* Chief Inspector Peters
* Constable Bevan
* Constable Burne-Jones (DLC)
* Sgt. Gainsborough
* Constable Hickinbotham
* Constable Hunt
* Constable Leighton
* Constable Naysmyth
* Constable Rowlandson
* Constable Whistler
* Constable Wright
* Constable Yeats (DLC)
* John Constable (The Night Watch)
* Sergeant Sargent

## Behaviour

Bobbies generally can be found patrolling the streets of Hamlyn Village and Parade District, or guarding the bridges, police stations, and government buildings. They can also be found watching over crime scenes.

Bobbies can be bribed with Scotch, which will instantly make them become peaceful and no longer pay attention to crimes committed nearby. This doesn't work if players are experiencing Withdrawal, Memory Loss or if the Bobby is already hostile to the player. Bribery does not work on Red Bobbies.

Bobbies will also be summoned if an alarm is triggered, or there is havoc in town. They will indefinitely emerge from Bobby Poppers, which transport them all throughout Wellington Wells.

## Aggression

Bobbies are initially neutral towards the player and will not attack them, however, they will become aggressive if they catch the player doing suspicious or illegal actions.

#### **Suspicious Actions**

The following actions will cause a Bobby to initially become suspicious of the player and if they do not quickly correct their behaviour, the Bobby will become hostile towards the player if they:

1. Run, jump, crouch or climb up ledges
2. Openly wields a weapon
3. Dresses inappropriately
4. Carries a body
5. Punches or hits surfaces with weapons
6. Experiences Joy withdrawal
7. Uses the Extractor

The *Oh, You* skill allows the player to void the first criteria. The Rubber Duck and all of its variants are not affected by the second criteria.

#### **Illegal Actions**

The following things will cause a Bobby to instantly become hostile towards the player:

1. Attacking any Wellies
2. Attacking any Bobbies
3. Searching a body
4. Attacking Peepers, Jubilators and other machines
5. Trespassing into restricted areas
6. Stealing items marked with red text on the HUD
7. Tripping off Downer Detectors
8. Using a Shortspike or Polarity Device on a control box, or using an Electro-Lock Shocker on an electronic lock
9. Breaking open windows and/or containers with a Jimmy Bar
10. Picking locks with a Lockpick
11. Being outdoors in Hamlyn Village and the Parade District between 9:00 PM and 7:00 AM

Wearing a Boiler Suit allows the player to void the eighth criteria while the *Nothing To See Here* skill allows the player to void the eleventh criteria.

## Strategy

The best way to deal with a Bobby is to not deal with him at all; Bobbies are highly dangerous enemies and unless there is no other way to progress, one should avoid angering them.

When in combat, Bobbies will either attempt to attack the player with their melee weapons if within reach of the player, otherwise, they will start throwing Shock Grenades at the player. Unlike Wellies, Bobbies will always keep their weapons in a defensive blocking stance when not attacking and will only lower their defence when attacking the player.

Always make sure to have a decent reserve of healing items available, as fighting a Bobby are likely to deal much more damage compared to any other enemy.

Before attacking a Bobby, always make sure to have an escape route ready in case things get out of hand, this is because Bobbies are capable of summoning in reinforcements when attacked, which can become overwhelming.

The best strategy of dealing with a single Bobby is to stay close to him (so as to avoid Shock Grenades) while blocking and avoiding his strikes. Once the Bobby has attacked, shove him back to momentarily break his defence and retaliate with your own weapon but be prepared to quickly switch back to defending once he recovers. When dealing with multiple Bobbies, try to lure them into clustering up into a group, then once they momentarily stop attacking, retaliate while circle-strafing around them.

If worst comes to worst and the situation becomes unsustainable (critically low health, overwhelming amounts of enemies, etc.), use your escape route to flee. Running away and living to see another day is far better than dying for nothing.

## Events of *We Happy Few*

#### **Act I**

Arthur Hastings is chased by two Bobbies out of City Hall from the Parade District and all the way to the Garden District, where they eventually catch up and proceed to knock him out, but before they can finish their work, they smell a gas leak caused by Arthur pulling off one of the pipes to defend himself, forcing them to flee the area. Throughout the rest of the act, Arthur is constantly on guard around the Bobbies, as he is off his Joy. Arthur uses deception, bribery, and even violence to take them on. On certain occasions he can also receive help from them.

When in Maidenholm, Arthur needs Bobby Hickingbotham's papers in order to get to Lud's Holm to convince Dr. Faraday to fix their bridge to St. George's Holm, Arthur's next destination out of Wellington Wells. At the Wellington Wells Constabulary HQ, Arthur briefly stumbles across a suspiciously familiar Constable, though because of his previous Joy intake, does not recognize him at first. The Constable calls Arthur by his lost brother's name and, after a short flashback, remembers seeing that same Constable at the old train station 20 years ago.

After making his way to Megiddo Bridge, Arthur successfully tricks the Bobby guarding it into letting him pass and makes his way to Lud's Holm.

Much later, Arthur is tasked by Sally Boyle with retrieving Cod Liver Oil from Haworth Labs. After making his way through the facility, Arthur encounters a White Bobby guarding Verloc's office and tries to trick the Bobby into letting him get to Verloc. Verloc initially tries to dismiss Arthur, but eventually realizes that Arthur is an impostor and intruder. He then orders the Bobby to kill Arthur. Arthur manages to defeat the Bobby and continues on with his journey.

Arthur eventually makes his way into the Parade District, where he learns from the Bobby guarding the bridge that they will be closing down all access to the district in the near future. Here, Arthur is forced to deal with an extreme amount of Bobbies guarding and patrolling the areas. Eventually, Arthur manages to lift the quarantine on the broadcasting tower. Once he gets there, Arthur tells the Bobby outside of the tower that the quarantine has been lifted, to which the Bobby has to grant him entry.

While escaping from Wellington Wells across the Britannia Bridge, during the last stretch of the way, Arthur hears two Bobbies from behind two train cars on the bridge. They are talking about vacationing in Spain when Christmas comes along. However, one of the two asks the other if they'll ever get out of Wellington Wells, to which the other one responds with how his friend ruined the mood. The first Bobby answers by stating that he can only suspend his disbelief for so long, to which the other replies, "*A word to the wise, Constable. Sincerity is the most important thing. The better you can fake that, the better you'll do in life.*" These two Bobbies unknowingly define Arthur's situation (more or less).

Arthur continues on and meets the Constable from before again, who greets him and checks his credentials before leading him out of Wellington Wells. On the way there, the Constable (who is referred as Chief Inspector Peters) removes his mask and begins talking about taking care of brothers, causing Arthur to recognize him. Arthur then gets his final flashback, which shows what really happened at the old train station 20 years ago.

Upon finally remembering what had exactly happened all those years ago, Arthur breaks down and reveals the horrible truth to the Inspector, who consoles him and states that since Arthur can't afford to forget anymore, he should consider it a gift to know who he really is. The Constable goes on to state that the mercy in life is that it goes on. From there, he continues to escort Arthur across the Britannia Bridge.

#### **Act II**

The role of the Bobbies changes from aggressors to clients during the second act, as Sally Boyle is responsible for providing them with Blackberry Joy, which is a more refined version of Joy made from natural chemicals and herbs that the Bobbies need in order to be able to work.

However, Sally is late on her latest batch, this is causing the Bobbies to grow distressed each passing minute, but because Sally is under the protection of General Byng, one of the two bigwigs in Wellington Wells, most of their aggressive remarks are empty threats. They also protect Sally from Anton Verloc, the other major figure of Wellington Wells, who is Sally's former lover (and the father of her child) and has ended up deeply despising her for leaving him.

As the game progresses, it is discovered that Sally was found by Chief Inspector Peters after she had run away from home. He takes her back to discuss with Mrs. Boyle, only to discover that she had poisoned herself and everyone else in the family to keep her two youngest daughters (Elizabeth and Anne) from going on the train to Germany.

The Bobbies continue to grow more restless, and threaten to bring Sally to Verloc, who would undoubtedly hurt her, but lays off because of Byng. Eventually, her daughter Gwen contracts measles, and Sally attempts to get Cod Liver Oil from Haworth Labs in order to cure it, communicating with him from a safe distance at the entrance, but he angrily rejects her and orders the Bobbies to arrest her. Though because they do not like him either, they Bobbies refuse to comply and apologizes to Sally for Verloc's behaviour, letting her make her way out of the facility. She ends up using Arthur to retrieve the Cod Liver Oil for her.

Once Sally is able to gather all of the ingredients for Blackberry Joy and create a new batch, the Bobbies are overjoyed and decide to host a small musical stage act for her to show their gratitude.

Much later, Sally escapes Wellington Wells with Gwen, leaving them all behind.

#### **Act III**

The Bobbies serve as a near-constant threat to Ollie Starkey, as he is a known dissident and non-conformer, but initially, they are mostly annoying obstacles, as Ollie is more than capable of taking them on. When Ollie and Margaret go to the bridge that will lead them into Hamlyn Village, a Bobby guarding the checkpoint stops him. He makes Ollie figure out the cause of death for a patrol of Bobbies who were found in the Garden District, with no clear cause as to what killed them. Ollie investigates this, and discovers that they were killed by Foggy Jack with mustard gas. The Bobby lets him through, in exchange for his silence on the situation, so as to avoid alarming the population.

Later, when Ollie broadcasts Uncle Jack's final recording, the Executive Committee sends a large force of heavily-armed Red Bobbies to stop him, but Ollie is able to fight them off with a decent weapon in hand. He, too, manages to escape Wellington Wells.

#### **Epilogue**

The Chief Inspector escorts Arthur across the Britannia Bridge, but Arthur continues to hear Percy's voice, prompting the Chief to ask him what's wrong. Arthur then notes how truly heinous he is, and the Chief explains that not everyone is built to handle the truth.

He then offers Arthur an Oblivion pill. Should Arthur accept, he will forget everything he has gone through in his act, as well as his past, and return to Wellington Wells as perhaps one of the last people still on Joy before the inevitable Fall of Wellington Wells.

If Arthur refuses the offer, he continues forward for a more hopeful future.

#### **The Night Watch**

Taking the role of John Constable, the player is tasked to defeat rogue Wastrels, Hooligans, Plague Victims and Witches off the streets of Hamlyn Village. They need to regularly spend money on Blackberry to stay alive as well as on weapons, clothes or healing items. It presumably takes place after or during the events of Act ll.

## Loot

When the player successfully beats a Bobby or gives him alcohol, the constable can drop any of the following items:

* Apple
* Bobby Hat
* Bobby pin
* Bobby Truncheon
* Bobby Whistle
* Constable's Keycard
* Electric Truncheon
* Gas Mask
* Loose Screw

## Quests

Several Bobbies appear in some quests that the player has to resolve in order to continue the main story or to get useful items.

* Blood in the Streets
* Cerberus was the First Bobby
* Forbidden Fruit
* Moon Juice Leech
* Plassey Bridge
* Popped Popper
* Tits Up Downer

## Audio

 Sing HallelujaIt's a Long Way to Tipperary

## Trivia

* It is possible to silently defeat a Bobby as Arthur if the skill Big Game Hunter is unlocked.
* Bobbies' surnames are taken from several famous English painters between the 17th and the 20th centuries.
	+ The only exception to this is the surname *Whistler* (*in reference to **James McNeill Whistler***), who the Compulsion team mistakenly thought was English.
	+ However, there was a British painter and soldier named ***Reginald John "Rex" Whistler*** (1905-1944), who died by a mortar bomb during World War II.
* Though "Bobby" is the colloquial term for them in Wellington Wells, they are referred to in letters and missions as Constables.
	+ The term "Bobby" comes from the real life inspiration of Scotland Yard police officers in London, founded by Sir Robert Peel.
* When the player gives a Bobby Scotch, it's possible to grab the bottle once the Bobby has thrown it, this is tricky to pull off as timing is essential.
	+ However, the player won't actually get the bottle back in their inventory.
* During the night, the bobbies will whistle tunes such as *Its a Long Way to Tipperary*, *God Save the King,* and *Silent Night*.
* As seen in concept art and unused text/data, there once was a plan to have Arthur Hastings dress and act as if he was a Constable for an unused side quest. This idea was, however, scrapped.
* If the player gives scotch to a Bobby and then gets into a fight with an enemy of any kind (including other Bobbies), the bribed Bobby will start cheering on the combatants. If he is hit, he will still not become hostile and will retreat back to their regular drunken state.
* Though the voice actors for the Bobbies are uncredited, Compulsion Games' PR Manager Naila Hadjas confirmed that some included Jay Simon, Joe Sims, Simon Peacock, Michael Schaefer, Jamie Laird, Graham Fletcher, Stephen Boxer and Tony Robinow. A studio reply in the since-defunct comment section of Compulsion Games' official website also credited Julian Casey for providing the voices of a few of the Bobbies in later builds, including Constable Rowlandson and Chief Inspector Peters.
* The single time a clear view of Bobby without a mask is seen is during the flashback in Sally's old house in the Garden District, where a maskless bobby kneels to the left of Mrs. Boyle's body. He seems to be a retexture of Chief Inspector Peters without the moustache and the white band on the helmet. Two maskless Bobbies can also be seen in the background of Arthur's ending flashback, while another is seen in the ending of the *We All Fall Down* DLC, though due to appearing only in cutscenes, there are no close-ups of their faces.

## Gallery

#### **Concept Art**

Early concept art, by Whitney Clayton.Another early concept.The finalized concept.Concept by Sarah Hamilton. (Art Book)A Bobby walking with a Crier.Bobbies in the Bobby Popper.Bobbies coming out of the Bobby Poppers.Arthur in a Bobby Uniform.Bobbies by Lud's Holm bridge.
#### **3D Model**

The Bobby model, by Tito Belgrave.The Bobby model, untexturedA render of the Bobby.

#### **Final Game**

The Bobby on the front cover of We Happy Few.The three Bobbies seen in the announce trailer.A Bobby tipping his hat.Two Bobbies wearing the Gas MaskA Bobby peeking through a window in Survival/Sandbox mode.Jack Constable during Oh, Behave!
## Old Content

###  Appearance

During the 11219 build of *We Happy Few*, Bobbies looked pretty much the same as they do now.

###  Behaviour

* 11219 build
* 17956 build
* 21735 build

Bobbies tend to be found both on the streets and nearby important areas such as bridges and hatches. If they were to guard the bridges leading to Hamlyn Village, they can attack approaching Wastrels, even the player.

Bobbies spawned and de-spawned as the player walked down the street, in which they'd walk around within that random spot.

Bobbies will get suspicious if the player is carrying a weapon, a corpse, or if they're not on Joy, and initiate combat soon afterwards.

Bobbies are much more aggressive and will enter combat if the player hits them, searches a corpse, runs, jumps, crouches, or is standing nearby a corpse. They main weapon of choice is the Bobby Baton. Not only that, but multiple Bobbies and Wellies can attack the player at a time, so getting into combat at all seems to be a death sentence.

Bobbies that spawn into the area is much less noticeable and natural as they can sit on benches and do other activities than simply walking aimlessly.

Bobbies will now only become suspicious if the player runs, jumps, climbs or crouches instead of immediately initiating combat.

Combat has changed slightly, as only one person will focus on attacking the player as others cheer on and wait their turn to strike, instead of everyone trying to kill the player all at once.

More Bobbies spawn in an area compared to the 17956 build.

Just like in the previous version, only one person will focus on attacking the player as others wait their turn to strike.
###  Loot

* Alcohol
* Apple
* Bobby Baton
* Bobby Hat
* Bobby Whistle
* Cloth
* Coffee
* Joy Pill
* Light Bulb
* Security/Officer Keycard
* Screw
* Truncheon
* Tea

###  Trivia

* Bobbies used to sometimes walk like the Wellies do after taking Joy.
* Although Bobbies had unique voices, they'd make the same hurt and combat noises as regular Wellies.

## References

1. ↑ We Happy Few Discussions on Steam - Constable's Surnames
2. ↑ Ask History - Why are British Police Officers called Bobbies?
3. ↑ https://steamcommunity.com/app/320240/discussions/0/2381701715731965906/
4. ↑ https://compulsiongames.com/#Comment\_731