Barbara Jagger

Why the hell did you kill Casey? What the hell were you thinking, man? This article or a section of this article will contain full, or partial plot spoilers of an Alan Wake game or any other piece of media related to the franchise. You have been warned...

Barbara Jagger
Biographical information
Profession:	Unknown
Physical description
Gender:	Female
Vital statistics
Faction:	Taken
Status:	Dead
Location:	Bright Falls
Behind the Scenes

Barbara Jagger was a long-time resident of Bright Falls. She died on July 10, 1970, at 25 years old. It was said she drowned in Cauldron Lake.

Background

Barbara had no immediate family in the area, but survived with her lover, Thomas Zane. Jagger was a renowned beauty, and the three-time winner of the Miss Deerfest pageant. "She was such a pretty girl," said Joy Miller, a friend and classmate since elementary school. "But she never used it to her advantage. She was humble and kind to everyone." Part of the mystery of her death is that she was a very capable swimmer. There was no evidence of foul play, however, and no investigation of the death is planned by local law enforcement.
Friends in Bright Falls remember Jagger as a warm, maternal presence, though she was a relatively young woman and never had children of her own. Her home-baked muffins at community events were famous. "She didn't have bake sales, she had bake give-aways," one friend noted. "Her generosity was amazing. She just warmed everyone around her. Wherever Barbara was, you felt at home."

Involvement

Death

Barbara Jagger in the "War" music video.

The song, "The Poet and the Muse", is a song based on the events on how Barbara died and how she was brought back. Following the song, it tells of how Thomas Zane and Barbara Jagger were a perfect couple and lived very happily. Tom told Barbara about a treasure at the bottom of the lake. She became curious and went to try and find it, but accidentally drowned. Tom went into the lake with a diver's suit (hence the way he looks) to try and find her, but could not. He returned to the surface before night fell. Emil Hartman must have known the power of the lake, as he tried to convince Tom to write her back through poems. He did so one night and as he slept during the same night, Barbara came back, but she was not herself as she was taken by the dark presence. Overjoyed at the return of his love, he took her in, however soon realized his mistake. Tom tried to kill her. He tied her to a chair and cut out her heart but she did not die. He decided he would return her to the bottom of the lake, killing himself in the process, so they could both be together. In the end, Thomas died and the dark presence was kept at bay until Alan Wake arrived at Bright Falls...

Alan Wake (Season 1)

Barbara Jagger is seen various times throughout the game, tormenting the townsfolk and rallying the Darkness to overtake Bright Falls. She has armies of Taken prowling the woods at night and flocks of Taken Birds fly around at night. Alan Wake, Cynthia Weaver, and Thomas Zane fight against her and the Dark Presence. As the events of the game progress, she "touches" Rose Marigold, sending the waitress into a catatonic state of madness. It is revealed around the ending she was the one who tricked a distraught Wake to write her a story in which she takes over the town. Jagger told Wake that if he wrote her this story, he would get his lost Alice back. Wake complied, but before he could write the ending, he realized she was lying and Thomas Zane saved Wake from her.

In the end, Wake enters the darkness underneath Cauldron Lake and confronts her in Bird Leg Cabin. Jagger, infuriated that the Light Presence has defeated her, tells Wake that the Darkness will just "find another face to wear." Wake, armed with the Clicker, charges at her and thrusts his arm into the hole in her heart, and activates the Clicker. Light shines out of Jagger's eyes and mouth and she evaporates.

Trivia

• Her age would have been 68 if she was still alive, but this is the age the dark presence portrays her.
• The name Barbara Jagger is a reference to the old Russian folk legend of a witch called Baba Yaga, who in the legends lived in a hut that stood upon chicken legs. This latter part is also referenced, as Barbara Jagger and Thomas Zane's cabin, where the Wakes were set to stay, is called Bird's Leg Cabin. The Anderson brothers also make reference to this in episode 4, when you talk to them in the Cauldron Lake lodge.
• In chapter 6, when you must locate the clicker in the dreamscape of your house, you can hear Barbara Jagger's voice as she calls out Thomas Zane.
• She is referred to as "The Scratching Hag" and "Granny Claws" due to the myths around her.
• In the Alan Wake novel, it is said that underneath the veil, her face is really just a skull.

Unanswered questions

• What really happened with her after the Dark Presence possessed her body?
• What happened to Thomas Zane after Alan uses the clicker to release Barbara from the darkness?