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Rudolf Lane

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 Oh! Hello! I've painted you! 
― Rudolf to Alan Wake, Episode 4: The Truth

Rudolf Lane is a minor character who appears in Alan Wake and its tie-in comic, Psycho-Thriller. He would later reappear, via voice recordings, in the Lake House expansion of Alan Wake 2.

Lane was a painter and one of Doctor Emil Hartman's patients at the Cauldron Lake Lodge, who had the paranatural ability to see past, present and future events, which he would "record" in his paintings. Unbeknownst to Lane, Hartman was only using him for his experiments to study the power of Cauldron Lake.

More than a decade later, Rudolph again become a test subject for the Federal Bureau of Control's attempts to create a link with the Dark Place. Due to the inhumane treatment he received during this period, he would end up committing suicide. However, before his death, he painted a "self-portrait" that would later gain sentience and the capacity to manifest shards of itself to enact his revenge on the FBC.

Appearance[]

Rudolf Lane was a Caucasian middle aged man, with shaved, gray hair. He wears a white t-shirt under a dark green coat alongside blue jeans, with a brown belt, and black boots.

Personality[]

 Rudolf Lane 's case is interesting. He was completely blocked, and frankly, I was about to discard him as useless. However, once Wake arrived and started writing, something changed in Rudolf! He's producing extraordinary work, increasingly dark pieces. Unfortunately, he doesn't respond to direction at all, and it's my belief that he's not so much a creator as an… illustrator, perhaps, a recorder of sorts. I hadn't considered the existence of such a role before, let alone its implications, but the paintings he has produced are informative. At least he's easily controlled and useful. 
― Emil Hartman on Lane.

Rudolf Lane was a polite, albeit naive, man. He was described as being a "classic" (or "stereotypical") artist, with a "certain degree" of tunnel vision. This means that, while he was painting, he could only concentrate on his work and, when he was not, he could only talk about said work. For a long time he suffered from a "painter's block" that prevented him from painting anything that met his standards, which in turn led him to an state of depression.[1] However, after Alan Wake arrived to Bright Falls, Lane was able to paint once again. As stated by Emil Hartman, Rudolf was an easily controllable person. His naivety almost led him to his death, as he failed to see that Hartman's supposed gesture of kindness was in reality a ploy to have him take the doctor's place in his announced death.[2]

A decade later, after being held for a considerable amount of time in the Lake House and having been forced to make paintings for the FBC's experiments to the point of exhaustion, Lane lost his passion for painting, having become "empty". His increasing frustration would lead him to damage or even destroy his works before finishing them. As time passed and his situation did not improve, this feeling eventually grew into hatred, with him considering that painting was now only "taking from [him]". He also developed a hatred towards himself and his captors, namely Jules Marmont. Whether due to genuine interest or otherwise, his paintings also started to become much more abstract in style.[3] After being drugged by Marmont, Lane became much more complacent and less willing to resist.[4] All this eventually resulted in him to taking his own life. However, it would be in his final moments when Lane would regain his passion for painting, and he would express all the pain, misery, and hate that he had endured at the Lake House into a "self-portrait" made with his own blood, as a final message for the Marmonts to make them see what they had done to him.[5]

Biography[]

Early Life[]

At some point in his life, Rudolf Lane was admitted to Cauldron Lake Lodge, on Bright Falls, Washington, under the care of Doctor Emil Hartman in order to treat his "painter's block".[1] In reality, Hartman's intention were far from altruistic, as he had been gathering troubled artists, such as Lane, with the purpose of using them as test subjects for his study of the supernatural properties of Cauldron Lake. However, unlike his other patients, Rudolf did not respond to Hartman's treatment.

Bright Falls AWE[]

 I was just struck by inspiration a couple of days ago. Doctor Hartman wanted me to paint landscapes, and that's what I was doing, but now I've been doing these things. A lot of them! The images just keep coming. 
― Rudolf Lane.
Mott Taken

Lane is attacked by the Taken Ben Mott.

Lane's "painter's block" ended shortly after the arrival of writer Alan Wake to Bright Falls. This led him to start painting increasingly dark pictures of various monstrous and ghastly beings. Hartman, who, if not for the writer's arrival, was considering to discard Lane as a subject, deduced that the painter, unlike Wake, was not a "creator" but rather a "recorder".[6] Not long afterwards, Wake was taken against his will to the Cauldron Lake Lodge in an effort by Hartman to have him under his control. While wandering through the lodge, he met Lane while the latter was painting of a picture of him, before stopping due to an approaching storm.[7] When the Dark Presence began attacking the lodge, the Anderson Brothers led all the patients who were still inside to safety. However, Lane was unable to join them as he had started painting uncontrollably. More than a day later, he was found, still painting, by Hartman and nurse Sinclair, the two of whom were trying to escape from the Taken Ben Mott. Upon closely examining one of the paintings, Hartman realized that it depicted him being stabbed by Mott. To prevent this from coming true, the doctor tricked Lane into taking his place by giving him his cardigan. After naively putting on the sweater, he realized that he had been left behind. He was then attacked and seriously injured by Mott, who mistook him for his former employer.[2][8]

After the AWE ended, Lane was taken to Seattle for recovery, where he stayed for two months,[8] and was placed on a bi-annual surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Control alongside Hartman's other patients (save for the Anderson Brothers on account of their age).[9] He later moved to a town neighboring Bright Falls, Watery, where he continued his career as a painter.

The Lake House[]

 I can't paint anymore. I know you want me to paint, but I can't. I'm empty.
Rudolf, no! You love to paint. And you are such a talent! This is just a classuc artist slump.
No I... I hate it. It's just taking from me now. When can I leave? You said you'd let me leave.
Ah, Rudolf, but you volunteered yo come, remember? We are helping you, like Dr. Hartman did. Perhaps you need to see our doctor? I can arrange that.
No, no, that's... I am feeling better. Much better. I will paint.
Ah, this is wonderful to hear, Rudolf. I knew you would come back to your old self. 
― Rudolf Lane and Jules Marmont

Around 2020, Lane volunteered to go the FBC's research station in Cauldron Lake, the Lake House, where he had test conducted on him, and was tasked with making paintings as part of Project Rhamnus, with the goal of studying the properties of the lake threshold and creating a stable link with the Dark Place.[10] While these would not initially yield any results, the paintings served as a way for the Lake House research team to find manuscript pages written by Alan Wake.[11] While at first Lane was cooperative and produced a great number of pieces for study and analysis,[12] due to the pressure placed on him by the researchers, namely project lead and research co-head, Doctor Jules Marmont, he would become increasingly disinterested and frustrated with the task, frequently refusing to paint when requested and damaging and/or destroying his works before finishing them. In addition, whether due to genuine interest, as a form of rebellion or because of some other unknown reason, his art also started to become much more abstract, which made it more difficult for the researchers to study. Lane subsequently stated that he would no longer paint and expressed his wish to leave the Lake House, resulting in a halt in all research. In response to this, Marmont resorted to drugging the painter's food in order to have him comply.[3]

Under the influence of the drugs, Lane continued to paint, though he was unable to remember doing it, and became much more compliant. He had also become unable to sleep due to the stench of the paint in his room. All this led Lane to develop a hatred for painting and for the people that kept him prisoner.[4] While he tried to plead with Marmont to release him, he desisted after the doctor threatened to drug him again. In September 2023, Lane would ultimately commit suicide, cutting himself with a sharp object accidentally left on his room (though one manuscript page suggests that the object, most likely a letter opener, was deliberately left by Marmont). However, as Rudolph contemplated his own blood, he felt, after many years, a genuine desire to paint again. Using his blood as paint, he painted with his hands a "self-portrait" on one of the walls of his containment cell, imbuing it with the "pain, misery and hate" he had endured while captive in the Lake House, in order to make the researchers see what they have done to him. After finishing his final piece of art, Lane collapsed and died with a smile on his face.[5]

Legacy[]

 I know what the Marmonts did to you - to Rudolf Lane. I'll do whatever I can to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. 
― Kiran Estevez to The Painting.

After Lane's death, Marmont had the wall containing the painting cut from the cell and transported to sublevel 5 of the station to be used as the main component in an experiment to open an artificial threshold to the Dark Place. Due to the strong emotional charge the painting had, this time, the experiment was successful. However this also allowed the Dark Presence to invade the Lake House, resulting in all the staff, including the Marmonts, being either killed or becoming Taken. The powers of the Dark Place also transformed Lane's self-portrait into an entity known simply as "The Painting," a sentient being filled with the painter's residual emotions. The Painting would appear several times to FBC agent Kiran Estevez as she investigated the Lake House. After Estevez reached sublevel 5 to stop the experiment and dispel the threshold, the Painting begged her to not do it. While empathizing with the Painting and promising it to make sure that something like what happened to Lane would never occur again, Estevez had no other choice but to shut the experiment down, presumably stranding the Painting within the Dark Place.[13]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • In the game files, Rudolf Lane's textures are named "frankbreaker", meaning that his model was originally created for Frank Breaker at some point during development.
    • In Alan Wake Remastered, his textures are now properly named due to his model being redone by d3t.

Trivia[]

  • The Hartman Arrest report in the AWE expansion of Control suggested that Lane had survived the Bright Falls AWE.[14] This was ultimately confirmed in The Lake House expansion of Alan Wake 2.
  • Lane was classified as a "class 2 parautilitarian" by the Lake House researchers.
  • In The Lake House, Lane's first name is misspelled several times as Rudolph.
  • Lane's paintings in The Lake House were created by Irwin Suimuri.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Alan Wake Official Survival Guide
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Psycho Thriller
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Alan Wake 2: Return Addendum: The Lake House, file "Subject Condition Report"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Alan Wake 2: Return Addendum: The Lake House, file "Rudolf Paints"
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Alan Wake 2: Return Addendum: The Lake House, file "The Last Painting"
  6. ↑ Alan Wake: Episode 4: The Truth, recording "Hartman Reflects on Lane"
  7. ↑ Alan Wake: Episode 4: The Truth
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Alan Wake 2: Return Addendum: The Lake House, file "Background Report"
  9. ↑ Control: AWE, report "Hartman Arrest"
  10. ↑ Alan Wake 2: Return Addendum: The Lake House, file "Research Mandate"
  11. ↑ Alan Wake 2: Return Addendum: The Lake House, file "Threshold Linking Experiment Progress Report"
  12. ↑ Alan Wake 2: Return Addendum: The Lake House, file "Catalogue of Rudolf Lane Production"
  13. ↑ Alan Wake 2: Return Addendum: The Lake House
  14. ↑ Control: AWE, report "Hartman Arrest"
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