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The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deals with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst. The book is no ordinary volume; it is a linking book, which serves as a portal to the world it describes. The player is transported to Myst Island and must unravel the world's puzzles in order to return home. ''Myst'' was a commercial and critical success upon release and spawned four sequels—''
Riven ''Riven'' is a Adventure game#Puzzle adventure, puzzle adventure video game. It is the sequel to ''Myst'' and second in the Myst (series), ''Myst'' series of games. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Red Orb Entertainment, a ...
'', ''
Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
'', ''
Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
'' and '' End of Ages''— as well as several spinoffs and adaptations. While the player, referred to as a
Stranger A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity and character can be ascertained. Different classes of strangers have been identified ...
, remains faceless and unnamed, ''Myst'' and its sequels introduce a variety of non-player characters. The inhabitants of Myst include the explorer
Atrus The Myst (series), ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deals with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst. The book is no ordinary volume; it is a linking book, which serves as ...
, a writer of many linking books, and his wife
Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...
and their children. Other characters introduced in the series include Gehn, Atrus' power-hungry father;
Saavedro The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deals with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst. The book is no ordinary volume; it is a linking book, which serves as a portal to th ...
, a traumatized victim of Atrus' sons; and
Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...
, a member of an old civilization whose motives for helping the player are ambiguous. The first ''Myst'' titles used pre-rendered graphics, and digitally inserted footage of live actors into the backgrounds. For ''Myst V: End of Ages'', a different approach was taken: a special camera recorded actors' faces and mapped the video onto digital models. The characters of ''Myst'' have been generally praised in each installment. Reviewers found that the live action characters increased immersion, while the digital body language and spoken conviction in ''End of Ages'' endeared the characters to the player. Dissenting reviewers considered ''Myst''s acting melodramatic and overwrought.


Development

When the first game in the franchise, ''
Myst ''Myst'' is a graphic adventure/puzzle video game designed by the Miller brothers, Robyn and Rand. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and initially released for the Macintosh in 1993. In the game, the player's character t ...
'', was created, all the characters were created from footage of live actors. The actors were filmed on a bluescreen, then added to the pre-rendered backgrounds via
chroma key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...
. Due to a limited amount of time and money, ''Myst''s creators,
Rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
and
Robyn Miller Robyn Charles Miller (born August 6, 1966) is the co-founder of Cyan Worlds (originally Cyan) with brother Rand Miller. He served as co-designer of the popular computer game ''Myst'', which held the title of best-selling computer game from it ...
, took on roles in the game themselves. The Ages of Myst were occasionally seen as lonely by players and reviewers. As a result, Cyan added more characters to the sequel, ''
Riven ''Riven'' is a Adventure game#Puzzle adventure, puzzle adventure video game. It is the sequel to ''Myst'' and second in the Myst (series), ''Myst'' series of games. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Red Orb Entertainment, a ...
''. Villagers scurry away as the player approaches, and major characters such as Gehn and a rebel band known as the Moiety address the player and give or take items away from him or her. For the first time, Cyan directed the live action actors for ''Riven''s scenes; the designers, including
Richard Vander Wende Richard Vander Wende is an American visual designer and video game designer best known for his work on the 1992 The Walt Disney Company, Disney film ''Aladdin (1992 Disney film), Aladdin'' and the Cyan Worlds computer game ''Riven''. Career Van ...
, were apprehensive about how the characters would fit in the finished product. Rand Miller reprised the role of Atrus due to fan expectation, even though he hated acting. Later ''Myst'' titles improved on the integration of live action sequences in the prerendered environments of the games. '' Myst III: Exile''s developers filmed all the scenes using standard definition cameras, which producer Dan Irish looked back on as a mistake; by not using
high definition video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher display resolution, resolution and quality than Standard-definition television, standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image wit ...
cameras, the video did not look crisp at high resolutions. For the next game, '' Myst IV: Revelation'',
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
allowed players to move the game camera and interact with the video while it was playing through the use of the ALIVE
game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
. '' Myst V: End of Ages'' was developed so that players could freely navigate Ages rendered in real time, which meant that the digital insertion of characters into the settings was not feasible. The models for ''End of Ages''s characters were instead computer-generated. A special device was created that captured video of the actors' faces while they spoke their lines, as Cyan did not want to lose the warmth and feeling provided by using a live actor. The video was then manipulated and used as a facial texture that was mapped onto the 3D characters.
Motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
was also used to ensure lifelike movement. Cyan staff worried that the audio syncing for animation would not be finished in time for the E3 unveiling of the game, but were happy with the end results.
The
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
in ''Myst'', ''Riven'', ''Exile'' and ''Revelation'' is never given a name and remains faceless at all times. Atrus addresses the player character as "my friend" in cutscenes. Cyan's intent was for players to feel as though they were themselves there, stranded on a mysterious island with no choice but to explore. Thus, the games' protagonist is an anonymous, gender-neutral entity with no given history, and players are free to imagine themselves as the protagonist.


Characters


Atrus and Catherine

Atrus is the main non-player character in the ''Myst'' series, appearing in all five games of the main series; he also narrates the opening of '' Uru: Ages Beyond Myst''. He is a member of the ancient D'ni civilization, though his only D'ni inheritance is through his paternal grandfather. The D'ni perfected a craft known as the Art, which allowed them to create portals to other worlds known as Ages by writing a descriptive "linking book". After the fall of the D'ni civilization, Atrus' father, Gehn, teaches him the Art and Atrus creates many linking books, surpassing his father's skill in writing. Atrus comes to understand his father's power-hungry nature; as punishment for defying him, Gehn traps Atrus on K'veer, an island off of the main D'ni city, with a book leading to Gehn's Age of Riven as the only escape. On Riven, Atrus meets Catherine, a local inhabitant and a brilliant student of Gehn's who shows promise in the Art of writing Ages, despite not being D'ni herself. Together they trap Gehn on Riven. Atrus' grandmother, Anna ("Ti'ana"), helps Catherine by writing the Age of Myst as an escape route while Atrus destroys every other linking book on Riven. The linking book to Myst is dropped into a starry expanse known as the Star Fissure, where it is presumed lost (but later found by the Stranger, beginning the events of ''Myst''). Catherine and Atrus start a family on Myst, raising their two sons,
Sirrus and Achenar The Myst (series), ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deals with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst. The book is no ordinary volume; it is a linking book, which serves as ...
; however, both boys grow greedy and seek to strand their parents, trapping Atrus on K'veer and luring Catherine to Riven, where she is captured by Gehn. The Stranger's discovery of the Myst linking book saves Atrus from being trapped in K'veer a second time, and Catherine from Gehn's clutches. Moving to Tomahna, Atrus and Catherine have a third child, their daughter
Yeesha The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deals with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst. The book is no ordinary volume; it is a linking book, which serves as a portal to th ...
, and attempt to resurrect the D'ni by writing a new Age for the people called Releeshahn. By the events of '' End of Ages'', Catherine has died (likely from old age), and an elderly Atrus confines himself in Releeshahn to live out the rest of his life. Atrus is played by
Rand Miller Rand Miller (born January 17, 1959) is a C.E.O. and co-founder of Cyan Worlds
in all the ''Myst'' installments. Catherine is portrayed by
Sheila Goold Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish language, Irish name ''Síle'', which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name ...
in ''Riven'', with her voice dubbed by Rengin Altay, and Maria Galante in ''Exile''.


Sirrus and Achenar

Sirrus and Achenar are the sons of Atrus and Catherine and are the eldest of their three children. They first appear in ''Myst'', trapped in two different books. Each swears that he is innocent of plundering their father's Ages, claims that Atrus is dead, and that the other brother is to blame. In actuality, both brothers grew greedy, destroyed Atrus' library, killed the inhabitants of the Ages, and attempted to strand their parents forever. They in turn are trapped in special prison books Atrus designed to imprison unwanted travelers. Once he is freed by the Stranger, Atrus burns Sirrus and Achenar's books. ''Revelation'' reveals that the brothers remained exiled on two different Ages for twenty years, where Atrus and Catherine hoped they would reform. During his imprisonment in the inhospitable Age of Spire, Sirrus learns to harness the Age's electromagnetism to create crude airships and crystalline explosives. He is thoroughly embittered by his exile, especially when he learns about his sister Yeesha and how Atrus is teaching her the D'ni language and the Art of Writing, which he never taught his sons. Sirrus uses his explosives to breach the linking chamber Atrus installed, and manages to escape. Achenar, trapped in the jungle Age of Haven, becomes a game hunter preying upon the local wildlife. However, he is overcome with remorse when he hunts one species to extinction, and is later befriended by a group of monkey-like creatures. After Sirrus helps Achenar escape, they travel to the Age of Serenia. According to a journal Achenar kept on Serenia twenty years before, Sirrus' original plan was to trap Catherine on Riven and use an aging "Memory Chamber" to steal Atrus' knowledge of the Art. After escaping from Spire, Sirrus kidnaps Yeesha and uses the old Memory Chamber to take over her body, intending to play-act as Yeesha long enough to learn the Art before killing his parents. Achenar, who has reformed during his imprisonment, helps the Stranger set Yeesha's memories right again. Sirrus is killed when the Stranger reverses the mind-switch; Achenar is fatally poisoned when he repairs the machinery to save his sister. In ''Myst'', Sirrus was played by
Robyn Miller Robyn Charles Miller (born August 6, 1966) is the co-founder of Cyan Worlds (originally Cyan) with brother Rand Miller. He served as co-designer of the popular computer game ''Myst'', which held the title of best-selling computer game from it ...
, and Achenar by his brother
Rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
; in ''Revelation'', the brothers are played by Brian Wrench and
Guy Sprung Guy Sprung is a film and theatre director born in Ottawa in 1947. He lives in the Mile End area of Montreal and was the artistic director of Infinitheatre for 22 years. He retired and was succeeded by Zach Fraser in March 2021. Career Guy Sprung ...
, respectively.


Yeesha

Yeesha is the only daughter of Atrus and Catherine. She is briefly mentioned in the novel ''Myst: The Book of D'ni'', and is first seen as an infant in ''Exile''. Yeesha is seen by her parents as a correction to the mistakes they made with their wayward sons. Her parents teach her D'ni and the Art. In ''Revelation'', her brother Sirrus attempts to use Yeesha in a plan to learn the Art and kill his parents, but Yeesha is freed by the Stranger and Achenar. An adult Yeesha appears in '' Uru: Ages Beyond Myst'' and is one of two main characters in ''End of Ages'', where she tries to persuade the player to help free an enslaved race known as the Bahro by unlocking a powerful Tablet. Over the course of her life, Yeesha takes on many roles, eventually assuming the aspect of a prophesied D'ni savior-figure known as "The Grower". Baby Yeesha is played by ''Exile'' game producer
Greg Uhler Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadi ...
's daughter.
Juliette Gosselin Juliette Gosselin (born June 15, 1991) is a Canadian actress. Career She made her film debut in the 2004 film ''Battle of the Brave''. In 2005, at the 25th Genie Awards, she was nominated for the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actre ...
plays a young Yeesha in ''Revelation'' and Rengin Altay voices the character as an adult in ''Uru'' and ''End of Ages''.


Gehn

Gehn is the father of
Atrus The Myst (series), ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deals with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst. The book is no ordinary volume; it is a linking book, which serves as ...
, and the antagonist of ''Riven''. Gehn is born to Master Aitrus of the Guild of Surveyors (for whom his son is named) and his human wife, Anna (or Ti'ana, as she is known in D'ni), shortly before the downfall of the D'ni civilization. Believing that he creates worlds by writing linking books, Gehn considers himself a god and dedicates his life to rebuilding the fallen D'ni empire. Realizing his madness, Atrus turns against his father; with the help of Catherine, he traps Gehn on the Age of Riven, "a prison of my own creation" as Gehn later relates it, for nearly thirty years. Gehn's inability to grasp the fine aspects of the Art of Writing, leading him to copy or alter sentences from existing books rather than writing original passages, results in his Ages being unstable. Gehn tends to be unimaginative: besides having no talent for the Art, he merely numbers his Ages rather than naming them (Riven is his "Fifth Age", for instance), and as long as it will give him what he seeks, prefers to smash his way through D'ni puzzle locks made with delicate materials rather than figure them out. When Catherine is stranded on Riven, Atrus must send the Stranger to rescue her, as he is busy making changes to the Age to delay its collapse. The Stranger tricks Gehn into a special prison book created by Atrus, and Gehn's oppressed subjects are evacuated from Riven before the Age of Riven closes forever. Gehn is portrayed by John Keston.


Saavedro

Saavedro is the antagonist of ''Exile''. Depicted as a vengeful and broken man, Saavedro is an inhabitant of the Age of Narayan, one of the Ages chosen by Atrus to try to teach his sons Sirrus and Achenar about the Art of writing books linking to other worlds. Saavedro agrees to help tutor Atrus' sons, but is shocked when the brothers instigate a destructive rebellion and abandon the Age to be destroyed from within. When Saavedro pursues Sirrus and Achenar to the Age of J'nanin, he is assaulted and left for dead. Trapped on J'nanin and believing Narayan destroyed and his family to be dead, Saavedro's mental health deteriorates during his years of captivity. When Saavedro is unexpectedly freed and travels to Tomahna in hope of finding the brothers, he steals the linking book for Releeshahn in a plan to lure Atrus to Narayan and exact revenge. Once on Narayan, Saavedro discovers that his people have not been destroyed. Cornered by the Stranger, Saavedro gives up the Releeshahn book. In the game's optimal ending, the player enables Saavedro to peacefully return to Narayan, before taking Releeshahn back to Atrus. Saavedro is portrayed by veteran actor
Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his film debut role as Billy Bibbit in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975). He is also kn ...
, who accepted the role of Saavedro because he was a ''Myst'' fan. Dourif said that his role for the game was much more difficult than working on movie sets, as he could not see the player he was addressing or interact with the game environment.


Esher

Esher is a D'ni who survived the downfall of his civilization, and the antagonist of ''End of Ages''. Throughout the game he appears to the player, offering advice and background on different Ages. Esher warns the player not to trust Yeesha, suggesting she has tasked the player with unlocking a powerful Tablet in order to steal its power for herself. If the player gives Esher the tablet instead in one of the bad endings of the game, Esher proclaims that he wishes to use the Tablet to control a powerful race of creatures called Bahro for his own purposes, and strands the player on the Age of Myst. The best ending the player can choose results in Esher being handed over to the liberated Bahro to pay for his crimes. Esher is voiced, and portrayed (in the form of video-recorded facial texture-mapping), by
David Ogden Stiers David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in ''The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for four ...
, who received acclaim for his performance.


Reception

The absence of character interaction in ''Myst'' and ''Riven'' was commented upon in reviews.
Adventure Gamers ''Adventure Gamers'' is a computer game website created by Marek Bronstring in March 1998 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game des ...
called the lack of characters a bad element of the games. Conversely,
Laura Miller Laura Miller (born November 18, 1958) is an American journalist and politician who served as the 58th mayor of Dallas, Texas from 2002 through 2007. She decided not to run for re-election in 2007. She was the third woman to serve as mayor of Da ...
of ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...
'' called the isolation a distinctive and welcome touch. In comparison to contemporary games, the deep solitude allowed the player to focus on puzzles. "Games with implausible and annoying characters popping up at regular intervals are just too stressful," said Miller. From ''Exile'' onward, the characters of ''Myst'' were generally praised in each release. The live-action characters in the pre-rendered ''Myst'' titles were favorably received;
Greg Kasavin Gregory A. Kasavin (; born August 21, 1977) is an American writer and designer for Supergiant Games, and the former site director and executive editor at the gaming website ''GameSpot'' for over 10 years. Early life and education Kasavin atten ...
of
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
said that the series' use of real actors and full-motion video endeared the characters to the player, giving the games a distinctively personal touch. Fellow GameSpot reviewer Scott Osborne stated the actors delivered convincing performances, and were smoothly incorporated into the game's scenes. The reviewers of
G4tv G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games. The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...
, on the other hand, called the acting of the earlier installments overwrought and melodramatic. The change from full motion video to computer generated characters in ''End of Ages'' was well received. ''
Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macint ...
'' stated that the change was initially jarring, but ultimately helped increase the realism of the game.
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's
Juan Castro Juan Gabriel Castro (born June 20, 1972), is a Mexican former professional baseball infielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and Philadelphia Phillies, ...
said that the characters felt more real than the full motion video actors of previous games; one reason, the reviewer stated, was because the actors spoke their lines with real conviction. Gamezone credited each character's individualized body language as contributing to their realism.
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
stated that Esher moved and acted like a real person, and that the voice of David Ogden Stiers brought "this interesting character to life"; the reviewer did feel that the revelation of Esher and Yeesha's motivations was a letdown, as the character's true motivations were revealed "with all the unpleasant abruptness of turning on bright, fluorescent lights in a dark room." Dissenting reviewers such as
1UP.com ''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conten ...
and
G4tv G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games. The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...
considered the character's monologues "hyper emotional", although reviewer
Karen Chu Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
admitted the characters still presented a compelling morality play.


References


External links


Cyan's ''D'ni timeline'' page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Characters Of Myst Myst (series) Fictional families
Myst ''Myst'' is a graphic adventure/puzzle video game designed by the Miller brothers, Robyn and Rand. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and initially released for the Macintosh in 1993. In the game, the player's character t ...