Isabel Salazar

**Isabel Salazar** is the main antagonist in *The Enigma of Salazar House*.

## Description

### Appearance

In life, Isabel Salazar was an adult Hispanic woman with long, dark-colored hair and wore a long-sleeved dress.

Following the ritual, Isabel is almost entirely unaltered, but now carries a dagger in her right hand and a candle holder in the other. When attacking, her facial features sometimes distort into an inhuman visage.

### History

Isabel was the wife of famed author Jaime Salazar. They were married at their home in Chiloé after she was brought over by her then-fiancé. The couple shared the house with Jaime's extended family: his brother Gabriel, the family dog Cazán and his grandmother Gloria. Isabel gave birth to a baby boy named Javier, who later died in his infancy.

The grief from losing her beloved son drove Isabel mad, and one night, she had a vivid dream where she talked to a mysterious figure who offered to bring Javier back to life through a ritual using an ancient tome in their library, the Black Book. Her husband tried to convince her that what she had dreamt wasn't real and that she had to let go, but Isabel, blinded by desperation, did as instructed, becoming cursed upon opening the Black Book. In May, 1986, Isabel finished the preparations and killed Jaime, Gabriel, Gloria and even Cazán with a knife to sacrifice the required four souls in exchange for the revival of Javier, before committing suicide to ensure the requirements were met. Unfortunately for her, the ritual was not completed and all members of the Salazar family, unable to move on, became trapped as spirits within the confines of their house, killing those who enter their domain.

Although their disappearance did not go unnoticed by the residents of Chiloé, the local police did not treat their disappearance as a criminal case, as there were no immediate signs for foul play warranting an investigation. Public consensus instead presumed that the Salazars were secretly taken away and likely executed in one of the many political purges during the Pinochet regime.

## *The Enigma of Salazar House*

After the ritual, Isabel, still attempting to complete the ritual, patrols the entire mansion; holding a candle and a knife in search for a potential sacrifice, appearing sporadically as Elisa explores. Whenever an encounter is imminent, Elisa comments that she feels a chill down her spine and believes that something bad is about to happen. She may hide in a closet or chest and wait for Isabel to pass by. If caught, Isabel will kill Elisa with a single stab to the chest while smiling. Elisa may also enter Javier's room after freeing some of her family's souls, Isabel distracted by a picture of her son. Interaction with her candle will Isabel make take notice of Elisa, whereupon she stabs her to death. Similarly, the skeletonized body of Javier will appear around the same time in the middle of the sacrificial circle, with examination of the baby leading to Isabel appearing and stabbing Isabel to death in fury.

To free her soul, Elisa needs to lift the curse over the Salazars by freeing the souls of Isabel's family, then confronting her in Javier's room. If her candle is snuffed out without the cup of blood in the inventory, Isabel will fall over and disintegrate, thus completing the ritual and leading to either the end "A New Life" or, in the updated Steam version, "Don't Forget, Your Family Loves You", depending on whether Elisa finds her diary.

If Elisa is carrying the cup of blood while putting out the candle, she will throw it at Isabel, inadvertently triggering a different ritual, in which Isabel takes over Elisa's body. Isabel regains her sanity and thanks Elisa for helping her, as she has become the final sacrifice needed to finish the pact she made. As she walks to the ritual site, she sees her family still bound to their tortured spirit forms and repeatedly apologizes for putting them through this agony, promising to revive them and Elisa when she gets Javier back. She meets the Devil at the center of the pentagram, holding Isabel's baby in his hands, but reveals that their deal was limited to Javier's resurrection, not his return to Isabel and swiftly disappears along with Javier as his "payment", making the deaths of Elisa and the Salazars in vain.

## Endings

### Bad Endings

* "You Got What You Wanted": Elisa is able to lay all members of the Salazar family to rest except Isabel by putting out their candles and relights them. If Elisa enters the last room with the cup of blood in her inventory, Isabel will be docile, but putting out her candle and relighting it will inadvertantly allow Isabel to take over her body, in essence killing Elisa, who becomes the last sacrifice needed to complete the first ritual. Isabel thanks Elisa for what she's done and vows to bring her back to life, along with the rest of her family. As Isabel traverses the house, she is horrified to see all the damage she has caused, repeatedly apologizing to the spirits of Cazán, Gabriel, Gloria and Jaime, promising that she will resurrect them and fix everything as soon as she has Javier back. Once at the initial ritual site, Isabel sees Javier in the arms of the Devil, who has kept his side of the pact by reviving her son, but since Isabel only wished for his revival, he takes his share of the deal by taking Javier away, thus making the deaths of the Salazars and Elisa for nothing.
* Five of the other endings besides the ones listed here leave either Isabel's or the whole Salazar family's spirits without passing over and thus remain trapped.

### Good Endings

* "A New Life": Elisa is able to lay all members of the Salazar family to rest except Isabel by putting out their candles and relights them. If Elisa enters the last room without the cup of blood in her invetory, Isabel will be docile and putting out her candle and relighting it will set Isabel free as well, who becomes the last sacrifice needed to complete the first ritual. Elisa then hears crying from the ritual site and finds Javier with a note attached to him, simply reading "Take care of him". Elisa escapes the house with the baby in tow and adopts Javier.
* "Don't Forget, Your Family Loves You": Same as "A New Life", except that Elisa discovers a letter by Isabel in which she expresses her loathing for God, as she blames Him for the death of Javier. The note attached to Javier changes to a confession from his mother, who wishes him the best in his new life. Elisa intends to honor the Salazars' legacy and raise the baby as her own, but tells Javier that his family "will remain in his heart forever".

## Trivia

* According to Maldo19, after inserting Isabel's AI in the game, she started to appear at unexpected parts of the game, almost as if possessed.

## Gallery

Isabel as seen in the game's video coverIsabel chasing after ElisaIsabel with her family (far right)