Playing through the Quarry and was just thinking about how they play with the character tropes a bit.
Jacob is the handsome jock who in classic media would have girls fighting over him. Here, absolutely no one is interested.
Another subversion is his relationship and roles with Emma. Unlike the classic trope, it's the girl who wants some fun without any commitment and the boy who longs for something deeper. We see it too at the Camp Store. Jacob picks locks. It's finicky and slower, but it's a delicate skill he's taught himself and he's proud of being able to enter places without doing damage. Emma kicks down the door, violent and gives her instant gratification with no thought to long term consequences. In media, traits seen more in male characters, especially 'tough guys'.
While Jacob may be hung out to dry, there is one person in camp who's caught multiple people's eye: Ryan. And yeah the silent brooding guy who is considered way more attractive nowadays, but in classic 80's horror his character would be the weirdo no one likes but has important information about the killer/monster.
And let's go back to his would-be paramours. Not only is Ryan explicitly made bi ("I suppose both is off the table") but love triangles are usually recipes for cattiness. But Dylan and Kaitlyn are ride or die with each other. They have each others back and when Dylan is considering just letting Ryan go, Kaitlyn is the one who encourages him.
Until Dawn was a good game that had the fatal flaw for me that I didn't like the characters and couldn't feel invested in them. The Quarry? I love all these little guys! None of them are perfect, but they're interesting and likable. I just kind of wish we got to see a little more of Nick and get a better feel for his character, since his sadly most notable moments were when he wasn't really himself.
This is the whole deal with the game, no one is quite who they seem, and I think that’s so much more interesting than having them be just shallow horror stereotypes!
In fact, Dylan has an entire additional dialogue about this when he’s talking to Ryan on the way to the Radio Hut that every Quarry fan is baffled by them cutting, because it says so much about him as a character and also the game’s entire approach to choices and character building. 😩
“It’s not just one thing that determines what a person is.”
The Quarry Early Character Bios and Chapter One Storyboard.
Ryan Ezraler:
With his mom being deceased and his father an alcoholic, it makes so much more sense why Ryan is so attached to Chris. I wish this part was more or less kept in because it builds so heavily on why his motivation is wanting Chris alive and being so persistent about there being an alternative. His motivation being to get with Laura is so interesting to me. This also makes sense with the original planned relationship tutorial I found.
Emma Mountebank:
Emma looks entirely different. I assume they had a mock-up of an potential actress they wanted early on, or completely original. I really find it interesting they originally planned for her to be much more of a “popular nice girl”; she doesn’t seem at all mean. Emma also was supposed to unleash Max from the island. Her being compared to Daphne makes sense now, given her 50’s outfit is similar to Daphne's outfits in Scooby Doo. Things to note: large supportive family and wealthy upbringing.
Jacob Custos:
Jacob was still originally planned to sabotage the van. His parents are divorced, and he lives with his dad, and his mother is “long gone” I also think the fragile relationship with Ryan is interesting. I wonder if it’s due to how Ryan steps up to try and be the leader. The skinny dipping part is interesting since I’ve heard before about the fact there was originally gonna be a nude scene.
Abigail Blyg:
Parents both doctors are interesting. I wonder if she would have known anything medical-related originally. The comparison to her to Ashley from Until Dawn. I wish they incorporated her sketching clues. I think it would have been so much fun and neat. I assume maybe this is why, in the files, you can find a few characters sketched up by her.
Nicholas Furcillo:
The biggest standout is that even with it blurred it instantly looks like Dylan’s actor Miles Robbins. I wonder if he originally auditioned for Nick and then they swapped him with Dylan. Key things is that Nick was always intended to be infected first and was meant to have the least amount of playtime. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mom and sees his dad on weekends.
Kaitlyn Mizu (Ka) :
Kaitlyn actually seems like the total opposite of who we get in game. Her motivations being to hook up with Dylan or Ryan showing more lust than the others so far who have “to get with X” as motivations. Her being tall is a bit funny considering how short she is in game. Her parents being 1st-generation migrants for Japan is so interesting. I wish they’d kept this in so badly. She seems kinda more of a flirtatious mean girl originally.
Dylan Lenivy:
The biggest thing to note is “a bit of a ‘stoner’ but not actively drug-using.” I find that part interesting, considering Abigail in the actual game does assume she finds his poppers when she finds the vile of blood. He’s compared to Shaggy and Betty Rizzo. His sexuality isn’t binary. His family is wealthy, and he has absent parents always vacationing. Dylan seems to have been much more self-absorbed and a stoner.
Chris Hackett:
Chris Hackett: Chris was always intended to be a werewolf from the start and be infected. His cut concept tattoo can be seen. He was originally supposed to be seen as the oldest son. They changed his story around. Instead of Kaylee wanting to free Silas and, in turn, Caleb getting bitten, then biting Kaylee and Chris, it is instead Chris who gets bitten. I personally wish they’d kept it. I’ve always had a huge issue with the inconsistencies of the Hackett kids' ages being wrong. It also never made sense to me because kids whose father runs a summer camp and is always outdoors/help out at his summer camp somehow don’t know proper fire safety and that hay burns. It makes sense to me that, in turn, Chris, being someone who is described as kind and loves providing for the kids who spend their summer with him, would free Silas. If he saw Silas (a child) being avidly abused and in a cage, Chris freeing Silas and then getting bitten makes more sense. I mourn the fact we didn’t get Chris with that beautiful hairstyle, but that’s just me.
Bobby Hackett:
Bobby was always gonna be the youngest. He seems much more well-rounded in this version. His parents are Jed and Jemima Hackett. Constance was originally named Jemima, it seems. With the mention of Chris being the oldest and Travis being mentioned but not shown, I assume that Travis was intended to be the middle child. I actually like that. As a middle child myself, Chris being the canon middle child doesn’t usually fit the very real struggle middle children go through. Chris in canon is seen as a golden child, whereas Travis kinda has to piece and hold everything together. Just my opinion though.
Jedidiah Hacket:
Jed was originally gonna be massive/tall just like Bobby. He seems to be rather quiet and only left the Hackett house to search for Silas and keep Chris/Kaylee/Caleb under wraps. This is all the actual characters shown.
Story Boards/Early Concepts
Close-up of the non-blurred faces (still extremely blurry)
This is all found storyboarding from Yann Doray, who posted all this on his ArtStation portfolio. I just thankfully saw it was only posted 5 months ago. I can't believe all this has been hidden under our noses! I am very excited to share it all with you guys! Yann Doray was an art director on The Quarry. Big, massive shout-out to Doray and the entire Quarry team. I am so shocked by how different our favorite campers were planned to be, and this gives insight into their motivations.
If you've read this far and maybe have been curious about where I have been, I have been dealing with a lot of family emergencies and have been busy with college. I have found actual game files; I will be posting soon:) I am trying to get back into the groove. Thanks, everyone. Uh, enjoy!!!
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