Clyde Perry is the protagonist of Outlast: The Murkoff Collections. Throughout the series, Clyde has been mentioned in various documents of The Outlast Trials and his portrait can be seen at Mount Massive Asylum in Outlast and Outlast: Whistleblower.
Background[]
Clyde Perry was a member of Murkoff's Collections Department until November 1959,[1] and subsequently the Director of Historical Refinement from 1959-1961.
During the early days of the first iteration of Project LATHE in 1955, and as a member of Murkoff's Collections Department, Perry was primarily assigned to run background checks[2] on Prime Assets such as Phyllis Futterman, and Sergeant Leland Coyle, during which he would both gather information about their background, as well as conduct an interview with them, assessing whether or not they would be suitable candidates for the first iteration of Project LATHE. His in person interview with Leland Coyle however escalated to the point where Perry sustained two broken fingers, significant bruising, as well as undefined internal injuries that stained his urine with blood.[3]
After the failed first iteration and shutdown of LATHE in 1958[4], Perry goes on to surveil reborn Reagents, most notably Reagent 0946,[5] who he is forced to neutralize after he poses an active risk to a young girl, Reagent 0877,[6] who goes on to be studied in Los Alamos for his outstanding conditioning, and Reagent 1616, who behaves in a notably strange fashion during his surveillance, acting as a human compass that points just a few miles shy off the Sinyala Facility.[7]
After the Mafioso Franco Barbi commits seven murders[8] in Havana, Cuba - right after a Reagent kills one person - seemingly having been influenced by the Reagent's actions in some way, Perry is sent there by Avellanos to investigate this incident.
On the 6th of November, 1959, Perry officially offers up his resignation[1] from the Collections Department, following a particularly violent encounter with Franco Barbi, which left him with a fractured skull and leg which had to be reconstructed[9]. Fearing a significant loss in his mobility as a result of these injuries, which would under normal circumstances be elementary for his continuation for in the field work, he resigns from his post, but is eager to still continue his work for Murkoff in another one of their Departments, as he is a firm believer in his employer's vision and the "good work" that is being done.
His request for reassignment is followed up upon in an in person meeting with A. Bradley Avellanos, who discloses to Perry that there is a leak[10] in sinyala which needs to be found out. Said leak seems to be the reason why Reagents are able to find confidential documents within the trial environments. The Department for Historical Refinement is established, with three main directives: Finding the source of the leaks, extracting leaked material and avoiding their spreading in Sinyala's Trial environments, and the long-term suppression of "Anti Murkoff Narratives" - Not to dissimilar to the Mitigation Department established in the 21st century, to which Paul Marion and Pauline Glick belong. In order for the considerably immobile Perry to work effectively, Avellanos promises him a team of people to aid him with his directives.
Following his reassignment to the Historical Refinement Department, Perry reviews leaked documents, including those from H.J. Easterman, which apparently contain such a grand amount of unacceptable errors in spelling and dating, that he is compelled to immediately bring this to Easterman's attention in a rather patronizing manner.[11] This does not sit too well with Easterman, who feels harassed and inconvenienced by Perry's perceived pedantic expectations for accuracy.[12]
Characteristics[]
Determined to be a competent worker, Clyde is seen in all three issues of the comics diving head first into various situations despite the danger that they hold. He is incredibly committed to his work, returning to his duties even after being injured[3] by Coyle, and his subsequent retirement from the Collections Department when Franco cripples him[9]. He is able to obtain information from various different people with no show of difficulty, and is not opposed to lengthy work like observing the various released Reagents.
He has confidence in his use of firearms, strangulation, and survivability, seen in his encounter with Franco Barbi, as well as the termination of Reagent 0946[13].
Personality[]
Clyde is a very serious worker, willing to do the work that is necessary for the Murkoff Corporation. He believes in the work they do and the success of Project LATHE, to the point of being a nitpicker[11] with the quality of other people's work. He also worries about Project LATHE being compromised when Avellanos informs him that there is someone leaking documents in the trials, hence why she gives Clyde his new position of the Director of Historical Refinement.
He can be quite blunt in his opinions of people (most notably in his work observing the Prime Assets), and is a frequent user of swears when he is exasperated.
His sense of humor can be seen in his letters, such as saying: Mother Gooseberry's face looks like yesterday's guacamole, calling her a lizard-brained murderous rage-monster, and calling Reagent 1616 an over-boiled sausage. He also remarks with a "thank god" when Easterman informs him that while he wants as many charismatic people he can find for Prime Assets, that they are exceedingly rare (after Clyde asked "How many Hitlers you looking for total?")[14]
Physical Description[]
Clyde appears to be a Caucasian man with dark hair, large ears, and wears a standard suit. He has blue eyes (as seen in the comics) and his portrait indicates that he's blind in his left eye and has exophthalmos.
Trivia[]
- Clyde has survived being attacked by all three current Prime Assets.
- Clyde's name is sporadically mentioned by the Pouncer Ex-Pop. It is unclear why she mentions him, or if he is even the Clyde that she addresses.
- Due to Perry using the expression "goat rope" - in reference to Easterman -, it can be assumed that he served in the US Marine Corps at some point, because it is a rather commonly used turn of phrase in those circles.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Request for Transfer
- ↑ Prime Asset Context
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Coyle Interview
- ↑ Personnel Report
- ↑ Reagent 0946 Surveillance Part 1
- ↑ REAGENT 0877 SURVEILLANCE
- ↑ Human Compass
- ↑ The Opportunist
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Get Barbi
- ↑ A Leak, Part 1 , A Leak, Part 2 , A Leak, Part 3
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Typos
- ↑ Re: Typos
- ↑ Reagent 0946 Surveillance Part 2
- ↑ Hitler Versus Mussolini
[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minor Characters |