Chronicler

From Oddworld Library
(Redirected from Chroniclers)

Chroniclers are an industrial Oddworld race, individuals of whom typically occupy financial and legal professions, such as accountants and lawyers.[1][2] They have not appeared in any published Oddworld fictional material, having been cut from Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, though they have been named and described by official promotional and reference sources.

Role

Chroniclers are ‘left brainers’, being naturally inclined towards numbers, logic and efficiency. Conversely, they are not good writers. They hold jobs such as accountants, lawyers, stock brokers and middle managers. They are highly intelligent and capable of finding loopholes that work to their employers' advantage. They are also described as ‘massive suckups’ who industrial families would be foolish not to employ.[3][4][5]

Appearance

The most complete appearance of a Chronicler comes from Silvio Aebischer's colour paintings, which depict a tall and thin, yellow-skinned character with four arms, one leg, and a long face with a bored expression. It has two small tentacles dangling either side of its mouth, which don't appear to be prehensile. Its two eyes are deep red in colour, and it has brown freckles between and above them.[6]

Two outfits have been seen for the Chronicler. One is attire for the accountant: A black stovepipe hat with a red band and open crown (through which the Chronicler's head protrudes); a red, forked cape which wraps between the Chronicler's two sets of arms to form a red necktie with a forked tip; black boots with red laces and sock suspenders; and a tight, black skirt ending above the knee. This Chronicler carries a two-handled stark metal briefcase and a tall staff that is thought by fans to function as an abacus.[6][7]

The other outfit is for a lawyer, and comprises a longer, purple, flat-hemmed cape with red edges; a fine lace ruff and fine lace cuffs; a crimson necktie with a forked tip; black shoes with brown sock suspenders; a tight, grey pinstipe skirt ending above the knee, with crimson stripe down the front, held up by a black belt; and a ceremonial headpiece. This headpiece is in a kind of rainbow shape, primarily glittery purple, but with silver bands, golden braces and an inset crimson jewel.[8]

Both Chroniclers are depicted smoking a filtered, manufactured cigarette. The pattern on their neckties is made up of numerals.

Because Chroniclers have never appeared in any in-universe material, their eventual appearance may differ. For instance, despite Aebischer's paintings showing a one-legged creature, Oddworld Inhabitants has stated to fans that they have two legs.[9]

  • A Chronicler accountant

    A Chronicler accountant

  • A Chronicler lawyer

    A Chronicler lawyer

Production

An early Chronicler design was sketched by Steven Olds in , before the release of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. This design features a more angular face than Aebischer's later portrayal, and a tall crest atop its head. Olds' sketch describes the creature as a ‘more evolved relative to the Oldger’ (‘Oldger’ being an early name for the creature that became a Glukkon).[10] A subsequent design was made with a more squid-like head.[11]

There is no indication they were intended to appear prior to Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, in which one was planned to appear in a major role as a lawyer.[2] For this appearance, colour paintings based on Olds' design were created by Silvio Aebsicher. However, Chroniclers were later removed from the design of Munch's Oddysee before the game's release. Chroniclers have not subsequently appeared in the Oddworld universe.

  • Thumbnail of page 27 from The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants, featuring Steven Olds' early Chronicler design on the right

    Thumbnail of page 27 from The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants, featuring Steven Olds' early Chronicler design on the right

Promotion

Steven Olds' sketch was included in an early Munch's Oddysee press kit released in , which was acquired from Oddworld Inhabitants by souljah_73 of the Exoddus Club, who uploaded it to the private group's image gallery.[3] This image was lost in when Yahoo! Clubs, in the process of merging with eGroups.com, became Yahoo! Groups, and the images in the Exoddus Club's image gallery were all deleted.[12] This sketch was later published in The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants.[13]

Silvio Aebischer's accountant painting was published by IGN in a preview of Munch’s Oddysee in .[6]. By this time, fans were fully expecting Chroniclers to appear in Munch's Oddysee, and were disappointed when the final game did not include the character. The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants confirmed that a Chronicler was intended to have a major role as a lawyer,[2] possibly as part of the storyline following the capture and trial of Molluck by Lady Margaret.

Alf has given two answers about Chroniclers in Dear Alf. The first, in , was to simply describe the accountant as a left brainer who is not involved in writing.[4] The second was in January 2014, which came with a previously unseen painting by Silvio Aebischer, of the Chronicler dressed as a lawyer. A small version of this image was used as the article banner on Oddworld.com, while the full image was posted on Facebook.[5][8]

In , Oddworld Forums user Zerox was able to ask several questions of Matt Lee, who at the time was responding to emails sent to . Lee confirmed to Zerox that Chroniclers have two legs, which Zerox shared in the thread Oddworld Questions & Answers VI.[9]

A pencil sketch of Steven Olds' Chronicler with its head replaced by the familiar squid head was used in a title card for Oddworld: The Lost Archives.[11]

  • Title card for Oddworld: The Lost Archives, featuring the early Chronicler sketch by Steven Olds with an updated head design

    Title card for Oddworld: The Lost Archives, featuring the early Chronicler sketch by Steven Olds with an updated head design

References

  1. ↑ souljah_73 (). ‘Re: That big tall thing’. The Exoddus Club. Yahoo! Groups. Yahoo!
  2. ↑ a b c Johnson, Cathy & Wade, Daniel (). p. 230. ‘Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee’. The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994–2004, First Hardcover Edition. Mylor: Ballistic Publishing. ISBN 1-921002-02-6.
  3. ↑ a b souljah_73 (). ‘Re: That Munch Pic…’. The Exoddus Club. Yahoo! Groups. Yahoo!
  4. ↑ a b Alf (). q. 19. ‘Dear Alf August 2003’. Alf's Rehab & Tea. First Ten Years website. Oddworld.com. Oddworld Inhabitants. Archived by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x (). Odd Wide Web. Oddworld Archives. Oddworld Library.
  5. ↑ a b Alf (). q. 7. ‘Dear Alf 63 – Kitchens, conversations & Chroniclers’. Community News. Oddworld.com. Oddworld Inhabitants. Archived by Alexa Crawls (). Alexa Crawls. Wayback Machine. Internet Archive.
  6. ↑ a b c Lopez, Vincent (). ‘Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee’ preview. IGN.
  7. ↑ Danny; Oddsville; De Coster, Xavier [Xavier]; Bunce-Edwards, Wil [Wil]; Eibu (–). Posts 4–11 in ‘To Max’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  8. ↑ a b Oddworld Inhabitants (). Post. Oddworld Inhabitants. Facebook. Meta.
  9. ↑ a b Lee, Matt (). Email to Zerox. Post 503 in ‘Oddworld Questions & Answers VI’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Cathy & Wade, Daniel (). p. 62. ‘Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee’. The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994–2004, First Hardcover Edition. Mylor: Ballistic Publishing. ISBN 1-921002-02-6.
  11. ↑ a b Oddworld Inhabitants (c. 2017) . Archived on TOGG. Oddworld Archives. Oddworld Library.
  12. ↑ Bunce-Edwards, Wil [billy_squeek] (). ‘Re: Looks keen.’ The Exoddus Club. Yahoo! Groups.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Cathy & Wade, Daniel (). p. 27. ‘Inspiration’. The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994–2004, First Hardcover Edition. Mylor: Ballistic Publishing. ISBN 1-921002-02-6.
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