My theory in this Penumbra story; why Red did what he did

[Linux.Blue]

I have been sort of baffled as to why Red did what he did, and why he said what he said.
I haven't been that active on this forum, so maybe others came to this theory as well.

Remember, this is a theory; so it may not all be true. I will indicate what is true though.

Spoiler below!

Fact: Red has been trapped in the cave for about three decades. There is apparently a Black Plague (a no brainier, considering it's the second episodes title - End of fact).
Red may have entered the cave about 30 years ago when some experiment went on. Weather it was a side effect or not, this got on Red and caused him to be vampire/immortal like. Forgot who mentioned this part about 7 crosses, 7 sins. This does make sense, and according to this dictionary, one definition describes immortal as "any supernatural being worshiped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life who is the personification of a force." This can make sense as to how Red knew where Philip was.
Keeping all in mind, we now see Philip enter the scene. We have to admit, weather my theory is right at all or dead wrong in all aspects, being in a cave or anywhere isolated for 30 some years without proper food/drinks, or any other company (assuming we can live that long with those conditions) must be pure hell.
Now, Philip enters and Red soon discovers that someone new as arrived and found that COM radio. At first, Red is being kind and in a sense, helpful.
He then begins to test Philip, curious as to how gullible or easy of a target Philip is. Will Philip crack up? Curse Red out? Leave Red? or go help him? Obviously, in game, we help him, even after being tested (getting himself in traps).
Red begins to feel differently about Philip, and instead of trying to kill him; he wants Philip to end his life. Maybe, just maybe, since Philip did all this, that maybe Philip would kill him off.
his original intention however; during his madness/tests, Red wants to lure Philip to him, and have that dark figure knock him out (will get to that soon in more detail), but because of Philips undying help, Red instead just wants Philip to die. This may be why Red then says "no, the key stays with me." It's Reds way of saying, thanks, and I'm willing to help you out. But, again, obviously, we kill him, and grab the key.
Back to the dark figure. My guess as to why you get knocked out, and not killed, is that they want to test Philip out with the Black Plague.

I could be WAY off, or close. What do you guys think?

[WindexGlow]

The penumbra overture wiki actually states red was driven mad by cabin fever, so I doubt it has to directly do with the black plague.

Black plague is a nickname for the death-plague from the 13 hundreds; could they be re-creating this virus in the underground base and testing it out?

The 7 crosses still have me stumped; they are definitely crosses, and are meant to be there.


Now, MARK MY WORDS: Red is not dead, there's no way. $50 says near the beginning of the game, your radio starts crackling and "Dear red has been very bad, and asks for forgiveness!" or something in his tone. But, I don't think red's on your side.

When red is talking to you from 'the furnace' his voice is very echoes; but when he's screaming it isn't echoing at all. I wouldn't be surprised if they took out any 'workers' who were too sick to be useful anymore with the furnace.

Of course, it would be pretty awesome for red to rescue you, with the PETA by his heels.

[Linux.Blue]

this wiki is accurate/official? I heard some wiki sites giving the people the chance to fill in whatever.

I keep thinking that myself when I think of the intro to Black Plague.
my idea was "Good day, good day, can you hear me?" then a pause, followed by a burst of laughter.
I haven't read the whole penumbra stuff like a lot of other people did. I read some, but after the doom 3 and reading all those PDA's, I was like, ah, I don't know if I want to read it all.
where does it really say he had cabin fever? am I not looking in the right places?

[WindexGlow]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penumbra:_Overture


Within the mine, Philip begins receiving radio messages from Tom "Red" Redwood, a man driven insane by cabin fever.

[Kedjane]

Wikis can be edited by anyone. I have myself made several additions.
Anyhow I really like that seven crosses, seven sins.
By the way, WindexGlow, what makes you say Red is not dead? The pile of ash is likely because making a pile is easier to make, and alot easier to see than some random dusts of ash laying around the little box-thing. The screams length is probably to give a strong effect, and I don't expect any game creator to have a realistic burning time in such an event.

[WindexGlow]

Just a hunch.. I can't say much more ;-)

Also, ever wonder why the devs have never joined a discussion, or provided any clarity about red?

[Kedjane]

Also, ever wonder why the devs have never joined a discussion, or provided any clarity about red?

Are you for real?
No game developers do such things: why whould they ruin the mysticism and spoil their entire games? Even if it turns out Red is dead, they let people come up with theories saying he's not.
It's not like the developers whould go into every wrong theory thread and tell them they're wrong, that way they whould both cause anti-hype and eventually one thread would come up with the correct answer - and then everyone would know it.

[Gearsguy]

The penumbra overture wiki actually states red was driven mad by cabin fever, so I doubt it has to directly do with the black plague.

Black plague is a nickname for the death-plague from the 13 hundreds; could they be re-creating this virus in the underground base and testing it out?

The 7 crosses still have me stumped; they are definitely crosses, and are meant to be there.


Now, MARK MY WORDS: Red is not dead, there's no way. $50 says near the beginning of the game, your radio starts crackling and "Dear red has been very bad, and asks for forgiveness!" or something in his tone. But, I don't think red's on your side.

When red is talking to you from 'the furnace' his voice is very echoes; but when he's screaming it isn't echoing at all. I wouldn't be surprised if they took out any 'workers' who were too sick to be useful anymore with the furnace.

Of course, it would be pretty awesome for red to rescue you, with the PETA by his heels.

actully I played penumbra black plague and im like half way through or so and i have herd nothing from Red though i only played the beginning of overture (like right after you kill the first wolf) but I only hear from a survivor and the infection in your head but he doesn't: sound like red :

[Kedjane]

Hey, is there still a Penumbra wiki? I don't remember it and google couldn't find it.
I could probably add a lot about the characters as I wrote a bunch of character timelines a while ago. It also seems Windex owes Jeremy some $50

EDIT: Oh, it's the Penumbra wikipedia page and not a separate wiki?

[Yuhaney]

I have never heard of any Penumbra wiki... Wikipedia page however, yes.