- For the main character of Alone in the Dark (2024), see Emily Hartwood (THQ).
Emily Hartwood is a character in the Alone in the Dark series. She appears as one of the two playable protagonists in the first Alone in the Dark and as a supporting character in Alone in the Dark 3.
Biography[]
Emily Hartwood was suddenly informed by a letter from her attorney that her uncle, Jeremy Hartwood, had committed suicide by hanging himself in the attic of his manor. After getting past the distress from such stunnning news, Emily started to consider that Derceto itself could have exercised an influence over her uncle's mind, remembering his excentric need for knowledge about the occult and all the unusual tales about the Manor.
At first, Mr. MacCarfey, the family lawyer, suggested selling the old house, which Emily opposed immediately, and decided to go to the old mansion herself and search for clues about her uncle's suicide, which reminded her of secret drawers in the piano that could be a lead to the answers she's looking for.
Alone in the Dark[]
The next day, Emily hires a driver to take her to Derceto. When she arrives, she walks towards the entrance, unbeknownst to her that she's being watched. She opens the main door and, as she walks in, the main doors slam shut behind her. Emily walks up to the loft, where the piano is located, and when he finds it, she opens the secret drawer and finds Jeremy's last letter, which proved something really was happening in the Manor, as if it was almost alive, tormenting him. She hears thumping in the trapdoor and a window breaking out of nowhere, and realizes there are strange creatures lurking about. She investigates further, a journal in the guest room and various creatures walking around the house are enough proof that Derceto is indeed haunted.
Reaching the library, she finds out about the existence of Ezechiel Pregzt, an ancient pirate, who was buried in the region, in an underground tomb. Inside a secret room, locked by a hidden locket, Emily finds a Talisman that holds the power to cease Pregzt's evil powers. When she opens a secret passageway, underneath Jeremy's study, she crosses a wooden bridge, which falls behind her. Now there's no turning back, she proceeds through the Chthonian's lair, falling in an abandoned tomb that resembles some kind of cistern, with even more ferocious monsters than before.
Emily eventually finds a treasure chest, which she opens with a key that she recovered in the dance hall, and finds a strange gem. She pushes away a rock, leading to a dark labyrinth. When she reaches its end, she finds a stone door with a diamond shaped carving, where she puts the gem.
When the door opens, Emily finally faces Ezechiel Pregzt himself, now incarnated in the form of an evil tree, controlling every single being inside Derceto, including Jeremy. She goes down to the water level, where Ezechiel's tomb is located. Evading his guardians fatal grasp, she places the Talisman on top of the grave and throws a lit lamp on Pregzt, lighting him on fire and killing him at last. Emily grabs a hook just before leaving. As Pregzt's tomb crumbles to the ground, Emily climbs to a rock with an oddly shaped locket, which resembles a hook, she inserts the one she owns, and goes back in the maze. A door to her right is opened in the exact same fashion. Emily runs and climbs back to the Chthonian's lair, where she finds a small hole that leads straight into the mansion's cellar.
Emily climbs the stairs. Everything is quiet and peaceful, and Ezechiel Pregzt is no more. She opens the entrance hall's door, and as she watches the beam of sunlight, she walks away in the crack of dawn, her driver stops by the gate, just in time, and leaves Derceto behind.
Alone in the Dark 3[]
Emily visits the ghost town of Slaughter Gulch with Hill Century to produce a movie called The Last Ranger. She was part of the crew that was shooting it, until all the actors and producers were killed by the local ghosts, leaving her all trapped, only her and the gunsmith.
She is used by Jed Stone as a means of reaching Carnby, being kept as a hostage. Jed later uses her as a bargaining chip to obtain Hill Century's money, but it is revealed that he just wanted to kill Carnby, and so he does. Emily is then used for a ritual to move the San Andreas fault and begin the apocalypse.
Emily is later rescued by Carnby, after one being resurrected, and escapes with him on an old train out of Slaughter Gulch.
Alone in the Dark: Illumination[]
Emily Hartwood is the great-grandmother of the Witch. After her various other-worldly encounters with Edward Carnby, Emily began to dabble in the supernatural world. But unlike other occult practitioners she met, she learned only what she needed to protect herself. Her great-granddaughter, Celeste, followed in her footsteps and also studied the supernatural arts, and she swore to use her abilities to help others, and help protect the world from evil forces, such as those that terrorized her family.
Emily does not physically appear in the game.
Appearance & Gameplay[]
Emily Hartwood is a tall woman who appears to be in her late twenties to early thirties. She is a relatively classy lady and dresses the part in accordance with the 1920s period in which Alone in the Dark is set. She wears her blonde hair fairly short, either in a bun (as in her opening portrait) or a pixie bob (as during gameplay). Her primary outfit is a smart grey-green suit consisting of a long-sleeved jacket over a white blouse and knee-length pencil skirt, with low-to-mid high-heeled pumps. Emily's hourglass silhouette and accent suggest that she is a conservative Southern Belle of sorts; wearing a 1920s rayon corset rather than adopting the boyish look generally associated with the decade. Her costume could even be considered slightly avant garde, as its like was worn more commonly in the '30s or '40s.
There are few differences in gameplay between her and her deuterotagonist. While she runs about 1/12 faster, Edward Carnby has a longer reach and different kicking style which allows him to use chairs and stools as shields while kicking such enemies as ghouls. Emily is unable to do this because her pencil skirt keeps her legs together.
Her portrait in the opening of the game shows three articles of clothing which she is not shown wearing during gameplay. Her overcoat was probably taken off due to the Spring warmth of the American South, while her golden earrings and necklace may have been hidden by her hairstyle and blouse, respectively.
See also[]
Gallery[]
Alone in the Dark (1992)[]
Alone in the Dark 3[]
Videos[]
