| Doctor | Story | Trivia |
| “ | It's okay. We can still save them. | ” |
| —The Doctor |
The Doctor is the player character of Arknights and, along with Amiya, the protagonist of the Main Theme.
Description
- You can't remember anything.
At first, you can't feel anything. Things gradually start to feel familiar...
But in the end, you can't remember anything important.[3]
Background
The leader of Rhodes Island, a person filled with long-forgotten mysteries
The background of the Doctor is shrouded in mystery, However, at the start of the game, the Doctor awakens from the Sarcophagus and discovers that they have amnesia. The Doctor used to be a lead Oripathy researcher, as well as a doctor in neurology and a commander; despite their amnesia, they can still command very skillfully.[4] They also possess extensive knowledge, to the point where they were able to create an algorithm that could precisely predict the movements of a Catastrophe.[5] Despite the title, the Doctor appears to serve more as a field commander and a military strategist for Rhodes Island, leading battles during the conflict against Reunion throughout the Chernobog-Lugmen crisis. Outside of this, however, they often spend their time on research or paperwork.
A glimpse of the Doctor's eyes
Their race remains a mystery as they lack any visible animal traits unlike most Terran Ancients. However, because they are always shown to be covered in multiple layers of clothing, most existing animal traits (if any) would be hidden. The Doctor is often seen wearing a mask and concealing hoodie off of Rhodes Island, but on it they seem to show their face more often, which is evident from multiple voicelines referring to their face in one way or another; it's unclear how many Operators have seen them unmasked, but the player has yet to see their face. In Arknights: Prelude to Dawn, the Doctor is confirmed to have dark gray eyes and snow white hair, larger hands than Amiya (who is fourteen), and an androgynous voice. There are very few traits clear from the Doctor's physical shape due to their concealing clothing, but it is known that they are not a sporty person, have little muscle[6] and cannot fight.[7] There are also multiple other physical details that can sometimes be found in Operator's voicelines.
Despite the mystery surrounding them, there are some hints to the Doctor's past prior to their amnesia. Firstly, they were a member of Babel after Theresa asked Kal'tsit if she could meet them.[8] Babel is the predecessor of R.I. that was once a Kazdelian militant organization under the leadership of the nation's monarch Theresa, to which most founding members of Rhodes Island belonged. As one of its key figures, they also acted as Babel's commander. Ines once made the analogy that the Doctor is like a chess player, a living person, while everyone else, including herself, is just wooden chess pieces; if Ines is a person, then the Doctor is something else.[9] Scout recalled that when Babel had "forced" the Doctor into a commanding position, all he saw in the Doctor's eyes was nothing but their promise of victory. This made him wary that Babel could be turning the good doctor into a war machine.[10] Closure also briefly mentions, before being shut down by Kal'tsit, that the Doctor had been getting weirder and weirder near the end of the war.[11]
The Doctor, prior to their amnesia, was shown to be even more merciful than Kal'tsit and Theresa; they wanted a confused assailant exiled, while both Kal'tsit and Theresa wanted them to be put to death.[8] The Doctor also once let a soldier that had put their entire squad at risk off the hook, because it was a honest mistake made by someone truly loyal to Theresa.[12] The Doctor has a humorous side too, casually conversing with Ace, Scout, and Logos.[13] They also previously acted as a guardian for the young, orphaned Amiya and raised her. She has since remained close to them, treating them as a parental figure, and views them very differently from other operators.
Secondly, the Doctor is believed to be responsible for Theresa's death, at least according to Kal'tsit. The events which led to her death, however, still remain a mystery. Many former Babel members, such as W and Kal'tsit, continue to hold the Doctor responsible and resent them for it. Somehow, the Doctor also sustained fatal injuries, which led Kal'tsit to place them inside the Sarcophagus, an ancient device located inside the Ursine city of Chernobog, where they remained in stasis for the next three years to heal.[14] According to Kal'tsit, the Sarcophagus was not directly responsible for the Doctor's amnesia.[5]
The Doctor is also implied to be a unique race, and has been around for a long time. The Sarcophagus was capable of healing those of the Doctor's race, whatever it may be, but could potentially alter the genetics of those of a different race, as it did to Mephisto (not completely confirmed, something else could have caused these results). As the Doctor slowly regained their memories, they began to remember a mysterious woman named Priestess, who is currently the only known connection with their past besides Rhodes Island itself. The Rhodes Island landship, the current mobile base of R.I., is also an archaic structure that was excavated in Rim Billiton, and the system within suggests that both the Doctor and Priestess were around when it was built.[15] Finally, the Doctor's blood is unique. It is not known exactly how it is unique, but Kal'tsit used it as an ingredient for a solution used on Amiya after she passed out from removing one of her rings and overusing her powers.[16]
Since their return to R.I., the Doctor has become actively involved in the medical field and the organization's commercial business, building partnerships with other businessmen and important figures such as the Grand Knight of Kazimierz and the Kjeragian warlord Enciodas Silverash. On R.I.'s landship, they work on research on Oripathy, treating their patients, and arranging missions for combat operators. In their free time, the Doctor also provides other services for the organization, such as acting as a teacher for youngsters like Ifrit and Projekt Red.
In Lone Trail, it is revealed that the Doctor is one of the last known Ancestors; a largely unknown race dating back further than the Ancients.
The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS found in further episodes and side stories that requires prior understanding of the base lore. You have been warned.
It is heavily suggested that the Doctor, along with Priestess, played a role in introducing Originium to Terra as part of a plan to defend the planet from powerful beings known as Overseers, who threatened its destruction. Originium was initially a harmless element, but through unknown means, it was transformed into the dangerous yet potent resource that now permeates Terra, causing the life-altering disease known as Oripathy.
A unique trait of the Doctor is their complete immunity to Oripathy, a condition that has plagued much of Terra's population. This immunity was demonstrated when the Doctor’s blood was used to cure Amiya during a severe Oripathy episode, highlighting their unusual resistance and its potential significance. The Doctor can also subconsciously manipulate Originium directly and directly influence its powers, seen during the events of Absolved Be The Seekers.
The development of Originium is hinted to have been a lengthy, high-cost project. It was designed by the Doctor and Priestess, with years of research and thousands of lives sacrificed in its creation. The Doctor was one of the last among their group to awaken, while others—referred to as "The First Civilization"—remain in stasis in the Hall of Stasis, a facility beneath Columbia. This facility was drained of its energy, to fuel Kristen Wright’s ambitious project to breach the Star Pod and reach outer space. This lack of power resulted in the certain death of the Doctor’s comrades, as their sarcophagi could no longer sustain them.
During the Babel Incident, the Doctor believed that the rest of the First Civilization were safely in stasis and that they themselves had been awoken prematurely by Theresa and Kal'tsit to aid in the search for a cure for Oripathy. Faced with a significant ethical decision, the Doctor had to choose between two options: to continue the Originium project, reshaping Terra to protect it from the Overseers at the cost of its current ecosystem and inhabitants; or to halt the project, sparing the present-day world but possibly endangering all of Terra if the Overseers returned, and insulting the sacrifices and hard work of his own kind.
This moral quandary led the Doctor to strike a controversial agreement with Theresis, Theresa's brother, who sought to use Originium as initially intended by the Ancients. In exchange for sparing the rest of Babel, Theresis demanded that Theresa be sacrificed and that the Doctor would share more knowledge about Originium. However, the Doctor came to regret this choice. When Theresa glimpsed into their mind, she chose to erase the Doctor's memories, allowing them to make decisions without the heavy burden of ancient history and regrets, becoming her own 'revenge' and gift to the Doctor.
It is also suggested that the Doctor contributed to the creation of the AMa android series, a line of advanced humanoid constructs, with Kal'tsit being the latest iteration.
Notes
- ↑ The Doctor's name is assumed to be the player's nickname; the Arknights Fandom Wiki will use "{nickname}" when referring to the Doctor's name in operation stories and interludes.
- ↑ The original Chinese text uses the pronoun "他" which can also be gender-neutral aside from its masculine nature, while the Japanese localization refers to the Doctor reflexively and never uses gendered terms, and the English localization uses the singular they whenever it arises. The Arknights Fandom Wiki follows the English localization when referring to the Doctor. There are instances of the localization using "he" in some occasions, but this can be assumed to be a mistranslation based on the Chinese pronoun; the localization is otherwise consistent and deliberate in using singular they.
References
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