Liz Brundy

Character Name: Liz Brundy (Joanna)
Canon: Brimstone
Canon Point: Her death (End of film)
Appearance: Here
Age: 20s (It's never exactly stated)

Character snapshot: A midwife and mother from the West. She's described by her daughter as a warrior. She's without a past that she cares to share or speak of. She's determined to survive. Pain, hurt and loss don't stop her. She keeps moving forward, far and away from the demons that haunt her.

World description: Liz comes from the Old West. It's not exactly stated where in the West she is from, but it's near the mountains and a large river used for logging. It's a fairly lawless world where violence is common place, especially against women. Men, women and children have to work to survive. Being weak is discouraged and often ridiculed, whether it's slaughtering animals or first aid. Christianity is a large factor of life in her world, where people attend church every Sunday and Reverends hold great sway. For a time, she lived in a town called Bismuth where prostitution was accepted and a thriving business. The town was viewed as both lawless and a place of retribution, where if a prostitute killed a customer in self defense, she was hanged without question. Women were viewed as substandard and whores were commodities. Later Liz lived in a village where she carried a certain respect as the midwife, but even then, she was blamed for any tragedies that occurred. Boys were expected to learn how to shoot, children needed to learn to slaughter farm animals, and basic care was something you had to pick up for survival. It's telling that Liz fell in love with an outlaw at a young age and thought nothing of him killing a man. Being hard is an aspect of life.

History: Liz was born Joanna, the daughter of a Reverend. As a teenager, her father developed an unnatural attraction to her, believing that she was meant to be a replacement for his wife, who had long ago stopped sleeping with him. Joanna cared for a wounded bandit named Samuel, a man that she fell in love with and found strength. After her mother committed suicide in front of the congregation, Joanna's father attempted to marry his daughter. Samuel interrupted the marriage ceremony, trying to save her, but was killed by her father. Joanna was raped by her father, but escaped during the night. She collapsed in the desert, was found by Chinese immigrants and sold to a brothel in Bismuth.

She worked there with her friend Elizabeth Brundy, a prostitute who lost her tongue, planning to eventually leave and start a new life. One night her father tracked her down, buying the brothel and telling Joanna he was going to take her home. Elizabeth attacked the Reverend when he started beating Joanna before he killed her with her own knife. Joanna cut his throat, and believing him to be dead, set fire to her room. Deciding to take Elizabeth's place as a send away bride, Joanna cut out her tongue and traveled to a farm where she married Eli. Eli had a son Matthew from a previous marriage, but they had a daughter soon after named Sam.

The Reverend tracked Liz down again and killed Eli to hurt her. Matthew, Liz and Sam escaped to the mountains, but the Reverend followed. Matthew was shot during the trek, dying in Liz's arms. He finally cornered Liz and Sam, planning to rape his granddaughter, but Liz set him on fire, killing him. Years later, she's arrested for Elizabeth's crime of killing their boss, but commits suicide in the river to avoid the noose.

What are your character’s mental/emotional strengths?

*Determined - Liz is unflenching in what she needs to do. Knowing the Reverend won't stop and will hurt her family, Liz slips out of her home during the night with a gun, planning to kill the Reverend. It's only because he was a step ahead of her and already left for her home that she failed. When she was younger and still going by Joanna, she didn't hesitate to cut his throat in an effort to save herself. She cut out her own tongue so she could take Liz's place, doing it without hesitation when the doctor was to frightened to do it for her. Despite being tied to a post, Liz exerts herself, nearly wrenching her arms from their sockets to pull herself free and save her daughter. In the end, she commits suicide to keep from being hanged for someone else's murder. We see her contemplate it for a moment before she jumps over the side of the ferry.

*Strong - Despite the numerous horrors and violence that Liz has witnessed, she is able to continue on. We see it repeatedly in the film. She sees her husband gored and disembowled, her stepson shot, but she still pushes forward to protect her daughter. She doesn't let the trauma that she's experienced from her father stop her. She holds to Samuel's advice, refusing to simply turn the other cheek and endure. She fights her father with everything she has, she faces the scorn and scrutiny of the town and endures. She is forced at one point to choose between saving a mother's life or a child's. She kills the child to save the mother, as the baby's head was too big to be born. Because of this, she is treated with disdain by the town as a murderer, but she continues with her business and tries to check on her patients, despite the cruel treatment.

*Protective - She is a fierce momma bear. Most of the film centers around Liz's efforts to protect her daughter from her father. She often takes up a gun, willing to shoot him rather than let him near Sam. In the end, she kills him by setting him on fire and shooting him through the heart. She tries to protect her friends as well. When her first friend at the brothel, Sally, is being abused by a customer, Liz attempts to shoot the man, but finds the gun unloaded. She does her best to try and keep Elizabeth out of trouble, but ultimately fails. The same is said for her efforts to protect her husband and stepson as well, but still she tries.

*Nurturing - Liz is caring to her patients, putting the lives of the mothers first. She does her best to look after and care for Matthew, her stepson, but he continually brushes her off. She cradles him after he is shot by the Reverend, holding him as he dies so he isn't alone. She tends to the two outlaws she met during her childhood, despite not knowing them and them clearly being involved in a shootout.

What are your character’s mental/emotional weaknesses?

*Suspicious - Given the life she's had, she doesn't trust easily. She is standoffish when she arrives at the brothel and keeps her guard up around men. A part of her is forever vigilant for the Reverend, even after she believes she killed him for the first time, as he tends to reappear in her life. It doesn't matter if he does a kindness to someone else, she views him with suspicion and disdain. The same can be said for her encounters with other men. Save for Eli and Samuel, she is always looking over her shoulder. She's witnessed the violence men inflict on women, especially in the brothel, and braces herself for that sort of treatment. She's wary of outsiders and strangers and never shares her past.

*PTSD/Trauma - The mere mention or voice of the Reverend sends Liz into a panic attack. She carries the scars of his abuse, both literally and figuratively. Because of the treatment she received in the brothel as well, she has a warped view of men and the world in general. The loss of those closest to her keeps her distant from others and she is haunted by the perpetual deaths of those she loved. She tries to run whenever the Reverend appears, trying to keep out of his sight. In the film, she hyperventilates and almost freezes where she stands, terrified by him. This trauma stays with her from childhood to adulthood, never fully leaving.

*Stubborn - When Liz puts her foot down, it stays down. She's strict on how she raises the children and protects them. When she catches Eli teaching Matthew to shoot a gun, she tells him she won't stand for it and stands firm on it. She keeps Sam close to her, refusing to let her out of her sight after a recent attack by the Reverend. She refuses to meet or speak with the Reverend, despite her husband's attempts to be polite. She finally pushes for them to leave and doesn't back down until Eli agrees to take the family to the mountains. Even in childhood, she refuses to back down in the face of her father's abuse. She says as much to her mother after the Scold's Bridle is put on her, not wanting to endure his humiliations. She doesn't simply turn the other cheek.

*Pessimistic - After so many deaths and tragedies, Liz has a pessimistic outlook on life. She expects the worst, whether it's an unexpected visitor like in the finale or imagining the Reverend appearing. She knows death isn't far and fears letting her loved ones out of her sight for this reason. We see her at the end, dreading the arrival of Nathan, the new sheriff of Bismuth. She has no way to know that he found a wanted poster for Elizabeth Brundy, but shows a great deal of dread at his arrival.

What events or circumstances in your character’s past have impacted them the most? What hasn't? She was raped as a teenager by her father after a mock wedding ceremony. Her mother committed suicide after being forced to wear a Scold's Bridle for objecting to the Reverend's lust for their daughter. Her friend Sally was hanged after murdering a customer for abuse and another friend, Elizabeth, was killed by the Reverend trying to protect her. Samuel, the man Liz loved, was shot in the head when trying to rescue her during the wedding ceremony. Her later husband Eli was disembowled, just to hurt her, and her stepson Matthew was shot through the neck when trying to help her escape to the mountains. Her life was a string of tragedies and an attempt to push forward and away from the man who inflicted that pain on her.

What impressions do others tend to have of your character and how do those impressions differ from who your character truly is? She comes across as reserved, strict and strong. For some, they look down on her for being without a tongue and deride her for it. For the most part, many view her as harmless.

What motivates your character? Survival. She doesn't let weakness or fear hold her back. She pushes forward, no matter what she's lost or what she has to endure.

How does your character handle crisis or adversity? She keeps going. She doesn't flinch. If it requires pain, she puts up with the pain. If it requires sacrifice, she sacrifices. She has moments of trauma and fear, but she doesn't let that hold her back.

Skills, abilities, and physical weaknesses: She was a midwife, has basic knowledge of first aid. She lived on a farm, so she has survival skills. Cooking, cleaning, wood cutting, etc. She understands English and Dutch, but can only communicate by sign language as she has no tongue.

Inventory: Shackles on her hands and feet. Nothing else but the clothes on her back.

What aspects of your character are you most interested in exploring in a horror setting? Psychological horror and how my character endures it. Survival is something I enjoy.

What is your character’s mental state upon entering the game? Thoroughness is appreciated here. She's in a dark place after having committed suicide. The setting is similar to the Mountains when she was fleeing the Reverend, so it will take her back to that time. No one will know her, which will appeal to her and let her feel she can start a new life, but when things start going wrong and horror pops up, it will almost seem inevitable to her. She'll be standoffish, paranoid and suspicious of everything.

What unsettles and frightens your character? What sort of encounters would chip away at your character’s psychological stability? Anything involving her past. Any mention of the Reverend, any hint of him will leave her petrified. Facing losing those she cares about will also shake her deeply.

What horrifying events or genre elements would you like to see utilized in the game? Definitely psychological.

Test Drive: Here
Log Sample: Here
Log Sample: Here