Richard Baker

"Power is the most subtle form of submission."

Richard Baker is a fictional character featured in the videogame Dry Drowning. He appears in Chapter 1 and is the leader of the Black Bands.

## Psychological profile:

Richard Baker is a proud and narcissistic individual that loves aggressively abusing of his power whenever he has the chance to. Due to his bigoted mentality, his hatred towards immigrants is almost innate.

## Biography:

Richard Baker was born in one of the most powerful families of Nova Polemos and made his debut in politics only at a relatively old age, a transition made very easy by the many strategical allies he had gathered while cementing his career at his father's enterprise. He was considered the most favored candidate in the upcoming elections but his brilliant political career was abruptly jeopardized when he was suddendly charged with the murder of Alicia Hart, his secret lover.

## Character overview (spoilers):

Richard Baker's political skills combined with his ruthless ambition and strong credentials made him one of the most widely respected political leaders both within and outside the Black Bands. His personal charisma is arguably one of the factors that contributed the most to his party's success since Baker's exoneration or conviction will swing the results by a pretty substantial margin (with the Black Bands ultimately losing more than a third of their total votes in case of defeat).According to his own words his moderate stance stems mostly from his focus on using exclusively the level of education rather than things like gender, religion or race as a mean of discrimination (though he doesn't fail to remark his radical stance against uncontrolled immigration).

   He is ultimately driven by the idealistic view that Nova Polemos is a small paradise built on ambition that must be protected at all costs from parasites due to its relatively limited resources. This could possibly have a connection with Baker being among the first people to emigrate to Nova Polemos (or possibly even found it) since he was 20 years old at the time of its foundation.
The party's own support towards its leader is conversely shown to be quite volatile and mainly driven by opportunism: depending on player choice the Black Bands will either demand his resignations (in case of defeat) or set up an inside job to get him killed and replace him with a more radical leader (in case of victory), suggesting he was ultimately seen as nothing but a tool to win the elections. Despite the radical ideals he and his party represent, Baker constantly keeps a calm, polite and collected (yet assertive) facade. During the first meeting with Mordred he allows the detective to ask questions without even flinching despite having already undergone four whole hours of interrogation with the police. He is also a keen rational analyst and a skilled talker, who knows more than well when it is fit to engage in rethoric and when it is best to be blunt:

   as soon as Mordred makes it clear he doesn't agree one bit with the Black Bands' ideals he immediatly shifts the focus of the conversation on a more pragmatic level, pointing out the ultimate fate of them both is inevitably connected. He also doesn't use half measures when describing how he took advantage of Alicia Hart's psychological weakness. He does however seem to care at least partly about his family, enough so that he will threaten to kill Mordred should something bad happen to Abigail.

## Ultimate fate:

Baker won't make a return in any of the chapters following the first one as he will be either imprisoned with a life sentence or killed (both being indirect consequences of a single choice made formerly by the player). More information is available in the Jailed Baker/Dead Baker section of Chapter 1.

## Trivia:

* Richard Baker's mask consists of a fusion between a dinosaur, a carnivorous plant and a wolf. They are supposed to reflect the aggressive nature of a predator that sits on top of the food chain.