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Is that you, my love?

Aloïs

Monsieur Aloïs Racine (French: /alɔ.is ʁa.sin/) was the idle son of a distinguished family, who was driven insane and violent by his own obsession with (and the manipulations of) his beloved, Justine Florbelle. He served as both captive and guard in the Cabinet of Perturbation. Aloïs is one of the monstrous Suitors from Amnesia: Justine, and as such, he is one of the game's three major antagonists.

He is voiced by Scotty Campbell.[2]

History[]

Aloïs Racine was born to a distinguished noble family in France, son of Lucien Racine, and one of three suitors for the romantic attentions of the sociopathic French aristocrat Justine Florbelle. How Aloïs and Justine met is unclear, although as members of French high society, the most likely possibility is that they met at a social function. It is implied that Aloïs was a sportsman, as Justine can find a racquet in the same room where Aloïs left his blood-written "forgive me" message and racquet-hitting sounds play as a flashback upon entering the room coupled with grunting noises that sound like Aloïs.

Aloïs made several sacrifices in his life to be with Justine, much to the disdain of his father, who conspired to separate them.[3] The Racine patriarch first tried to reach out to the police chief in Calais, but he was refused, likely due to Justine's social and political influence as an aristocrat in the region.[3] After this failure, he formulated a new plan to separate them, one that wasn’t strictly within the confines of the law.[3] He recruited Inspector Felix Marot of the Sûreté Nationale and respected psychiatrist Dr. Victor Fournier.[3] The plan was to have Dr. Fournier diagnose Justine as a "hysteric," after which Inspector Marot would arrest and incarcerate her, removing Aloïs from her influence.[3]

Information[]

Encounters and Possible Strategies[]

Aloïs is the first obstacle encountered in the Cabinet of Perturbation. He appears in prison cells when Justine enters the first cell to the far left of the entrance to the common room of six cells. Aloïs spawns close to the cave-in on the opposite end of the common room and wanders towards the center, then out the door through which Justine entered. He wanders down the hallway, aimlessly searching for Justine. He may return to the common area during his search pattern, after a lengthy interval of wandering down the hall, but otherwise does not present much of a risk to an aware and industrious player.

He is not encountered again as an enemy after successfully escaping the cells, but may be heard in some endings of the game, shouting at Justine along with the other two Suitors.

Behavior[]

Aloïs is the only monster to leave the area completely after a short period, but will eventually appear again if the player chooses to murder Dr. Fournier to get the ladder down from the ceiling. And making noise before he has put sufficient distance between himself and Justine can summon his return. Even just returning to the beginning area where Aloïs went can be enough to bring him back.

Description[]

Physical appearance[]

Aloïs appears in-game exactly the same as the other two Suitors (Basile and Malo), blinded, malnourished, and nearly-skeletal, hobbling around the dungeons of the Florbelle Estate. His skin is pale and numerous lacerations can be seen on his body. His hands and legs are wrapped in chains and there is a metal wheel around his neck to keep him from resting.

His exact age is unknown and further concealed by his disfigurement, but his youthful voice and athletic pursuits—in addition to his father lamenting his son's abdication of both filial duty and career ambition—would suggest that Aloïs recently finished his education.[4] If that education included attending university, as befitting a nobleman’s son, that would put Aloïs' age in the range of his early to mid-20s.

Personality[]

In spite of the seemingly friendly and outwardly gentle personality of Aloïs, he poses the same threat as the other Suitors. Aloïs may have initially helped play a role in the downfall of the other two Suitors.[1]

In his note to Justine, Aloïs confessed that he was madly, and jealously, in love with her and would help sedate Basile Giroux with bromide, which may have provided Justine with the opportunity to capture and blind the man.[1] He then proclaimed that he would even murder Basile should Justine say the word.[1] Aloïs' note implies that Justine Florbelle was also courting the affections of both Basile and Malo de Vigny, as well as that Basile had abused her in some way.[1] Within the cell where Aloïs had apparently been kept, the words "Forgive me" are written in blood on a table, and "I am so sorry" is likewise written on the wall to the right of the cell door, both presumably addressed to Justine. Aloïs has a self-destructive fixation with Justine and was voluntarily cutting and self-mutilating in order to prove his true love for her.[1]

The way Aloïs speaks is somewhat haunting; from the way he talks, it is obvious he is still in love with Justine, as he will speak in a mild-mannered tone even when attacking her.

Quotes[]

  • "You came for me!"
  • "Where did you go? Come back!"

Trivia[]

  • As a nobleman, Aloïs is the only one of the three suitors who was on an equal social footing with Justine. Although the likely age difference and Justine's unsightly behavior were likely what made Aloïs' father want to end their scandalous relationship.
  • Aloïs's surname, "Racine," is derived from the Old French word racine (meaning "root"), derived ultimately from the Latin word for root, rādīx, and has not changed since its introduction to French.[5][6]
    • The Latin word for root, rādīx, is also the origin of the English word "radish."[7]
    • Aloïs's surname is spelled differently in the newspaper report of Malo de Vigny's embarrassing debacle at the conservatory, where it is inexplicably written as "Racien."[8] The simplest and most likely explanation is an accidental typo on the part of the game's writers, or somewhat less likely, a purposeful typo by the writers through the character of the French reporter; no explanation or clue has ever been given as to whether this is a mere typo or holds some significance.
  • Aloïs's given name is pronounced, roughly, "ah-LO-ees."[9] It is the French or Dutch equivalent of the German name Alois, sometimes spelled "Aloys," which is derived from Old Occitan, and is commonly Latinized as Aloysius.[9][10] Ultimately, all versions of Alois share the same root name as Louis or Lewis, as Clovis, as Ludwig or Ludovic, and many other lingual variations, which is the Old Frankish name "Chlodowig."[9][11][12]
    • The purpose of the two dots above the "i" in Aloïs, known as a diaeresis, is to distinguish the two vowel sounds in a pair of vowels (known as a dipthong or digraph, depending on whether it makes two related sounds or one distinct sound, respectively). In many languages, two vowels paired together make a different sound than each individual vowel would when by themselves. For example, in standard French, "oi" makes a "wah" sound (e.g. as in "Quoi?") whereas "o" and "i" separately make standard sounds like "oh" and "ee." The diacretic shows that the "oi" in Aloïs does not, in fact, make a "wah" sound, but makes both normal vowel sounds in that order, as the "oh-ee" sound in "ah-LO-ees."
    • The feminine version of the French name Aloïs is "Aloïse," pronounced "ah-LO-eez."

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Billet Doux (Justine)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Amnesia: Justine – English credits: "Scotty Campbell as Alois"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 A New Plan (Justine) –
  4. A New Plan (Justine) – "Ever since their affair started, Aloïs, my son, has forsaken his duties to his family and failed to pursue his career."
  5. "Radix [Latin]". Accessed 8 August 2022. Last revised 3 July 2022. Wiktionary, Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/radix#Latin.
  6. "Racine [French]". Accessed 8 August 2022. Last revised 15 May 2022. Wiktionary, Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/racine#French.
  7. "Radish". Accessed 8 August 2022. Last revised 4 August 2022. Wiktionary, Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/radish.
  8. Newspaper Article – 19 March, 1858 (Justine) – "Mademoiselle Justine Florbelle... had two of her friends, Basile Giroux and Alois Racien [sic] carry him off the stage."
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Alois". Accessed 8 August 2022. Last revised 9 June 2022. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois.
  10. "Aloysius". Accessed 8 August 2022. Last revised 3 May 2021. Wiktionary, Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Aloysius.
  11. "Clovis (given name)". Accessed 8 August 2022. Last revised 28 June 2022. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_(given_name).
  12. "Louis (given name)". Accessed 8 August 2022. Last revised 31 July 2022. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_(given_name).

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