Tom Redwood

“Please... the pain has gone on for so long... all I wanted was a friend, but now the time for chit chats and marshmallows by the fire has ended, and I hope that soon, so shall my life. I have knocked on death's door for so long, please, let him invite me in for tea.”

―Tom Redwood ~ Penumbra: Overture

Tom Redwood
Aliases:	Red
Born:	c. 1956 Denmark
Died:	Late 2000–Early 2001 Aged 44–45 N. W. Mine, Greenland
Sex:	Male
Nationality:	Danish
Mother:	Unnamed
Occupation:	Miner at the North-Western Mine
Status:	Deceased
Actor:	Mike Hillard
Appears:	Penumbra: Overture Penumbra: Black Plague (Mentioned) Penumbra: Requiem (Spiritually)

Tom Redwood, known to the player as Red, is a Danish miner and the unseen deuteragonist of Penumbra: Overture. He's also referenced in Penumbra: Black Plague, and appears as a minor character in Penumbra: Requiem.

He was trapped below the Greenlandic ice and driven insane by cabin fever. In the first episode, he guides Philip Buchanon throughout the mines to his whereabouts, promising to have valuable answers if he is rescued. For the most part, Red is only ever contacted via radio, with the exception of the endings where he speaks to Philip directly.

Background

Before his arrival to Greenland, little is known about Red's life, other than he was born around 1956 and could have possibly been of Danish nationality, though his surname and writing style are English — one answer to this would be that he's of English descent and/or raised by an English family, but was born and raised in Denmark, thus making his nationality Danish.

In his note found by Philip, it's hinted that Red's family had financial problems and his parents presumably sent him away to work in the North-Western Mine in sparsely populated Northern Greenland. In the same letter, Redwood states that he "feels proud to send money home”, which supports this presumption. His employment as a miner began in November 1970, being only 14 years old at that time. Unfortunately, after three weeks of working, Red was trapped in an off-limits part of the mines due to a cave-in, making it impossible for the boy to escape in any way. It was at this moment that Tom Redwood realized that he will never be found and saved by his colleagues. 

According to the News Clipping: Copenhagen Post, Tom “disappeared” on December 15th, 1970 (ten days before the article's release) and after an unsuccessful search of the whole mining operation, his mine foreman eventually declared him dead. Actually alive, Redwood spends the next thirty years entirely isolated with only a few options to keep himself occupied, such as reading various books, searching for food as well as ensuring his own survival by getting familiar with his "new home".

Events of Penumbra: Overture

First Contact

After escaping the old Mines, the player first hears from Red after being contacted by him through a radio he picked up in the Communications Central Room, shortly after activating a nearby generator in the Iron Mines. He instructs Philip Buchanon on how to reach him, promising answers should the protagonist make contact. The man also revealed that he sent a Morse code message to Philip, revealing the password to unlocking the gateway to the Mine's northern area. The main hurdle to get to Red's location after that, is to use a rock drilling machine to restore a collapsed tunnel that leads deeper into the mines. Though this first requires fuel including the ignition keys, which Red tells Philip where to find.

However, Red's intentions seem ambiguous at times; he is known to ramble on in odd tangents, accusing Philip of believing he has lost his mind, soon after apologizing for his outbursts. At one point, as Philip attempts to find the needed items, Red even tricks him into going through a spider-infested tunnel, which he claims was a "well deserved punishment", further indicating that the miner is well aware of the area's whole structure and design. Occasionally, Red also talks about what he experienced under the Greenlandic ice, mentioning an incident when the "diseased ones" were chasing him. Yet Redwood managed to lure the hunters to Philip's current whereabouts, eventually blowing up the exact same tunnel that his new friend must now eliminate—or as he would call it, he "buried them beneath the solid rock sky". At last, the protagonist managed to enable the path to the next territory, heading deeper into the facility.

The Mine's Section B

Philip is one step closer to Red's location, within Sector B of the facility. He currently must again decipher a code that will open the door to Section C for him. Again, Red shows the player the way, expressing his joy to see the protagonist soon, but also warns of dangerous individuals roaming the halls. During the journey, it turns out, that Red used to work here and that his former workmates died near this workplace due to an tragic event—from Red's words, their corpses are supposedly located near Shaft 13. Fortunately for Philip, a blank sheet of paper is found in one of the shaft's lockers, albeit unreadable. Now, he must find a way to uncover what was written on it.

A period of time has passed and Philip Buchanon discovers a place, previously barricaded; seemingly a conference or research room. Thousands of newspaper articles are on display, among them one that discusses the disappearance of a specific miner, who lastly was thought to be deceased. As he turns the nearby room's UV lamp on, sinister scrambling on the walls are seen—moreover, he could finally make out the writing on the sheet, thereby revealing the code for Section C.

As Buchanon makes his way out of the room, Red contacts him again via radio, advising his friend not to discover the previously seen area and indirectly admits that it was him who made the writings on the room's walls, due to an unknown traumatic-like event he experienced. Based on this dialogue, Red doesn't seem to realize though, that his friend has just been there.

The Mine's Section C

As a final act, Philip is now forced to blow up yet another collapsed walkway, leading to Section C's incinerator. Red is supposedly to be found behind this collapse, encouraging Buchanon one last time to get rid of the final blockage between the two. Meanwhile, Red mentions that some time ago, two people "invaded" his residence; more specifically, Lake Utuqaq, also known as "the place of his last meal". Shortly after, he philosophizes how his hunger made him cannibalize one of the men named Joe Freeman, who he found dead near the lake—although, as a sign of respect, he waited until "the stench of life was gone".  Smaller conversations would continue until Philip ultimately reaches his friend's whereabouts.

Fate

After much progression, Philip finally arrives at Red's location, only to find that he has locked himself inside the large incinerator. Unfavorably for Philip though, he claims to have swindled and to be unable to give him the answers he is looking for. He states that he has wished to die for a long time, but that suicide was "against the rules" and asks Philip to activate the incinerator, in order to kill him. Having no other choices at this point, Philip then turns on the incinerator, granting Red his final wish. The key, allowing Philip to progress, is found in the ash tray under the incinerator, among Red's remains. Hereby, using the key, Philip gets access to what used to be Red's from for the previous centuries.

When inspecting Red's living area, a noose is found hanging from the ceiling above a chair, a failed attempt to end his own life. There are several crosses and religious symbols, although this is contrasted by the vaguely lewd imagery of females on the walls. The note inside his desk can be found too, telling about Red's thoughts after the cave-in occurred, trapping him for the last 30 years—it also states that he utilized this time to read his books which he brought from his home, but that he will have to read them twice and that he believed his current situation to be "an adventure."

Events of Penumbra: Black Plague

In Penumbra: Black Plague, Philip undergoes a journey filled with memories during the dream sequence in the canals—this also includes the memory of how Redwood died in the incinerator. It is also discovered that Red came into contact with the Tuurngait—much like Philip, he was not completely infected, retaining a large portion of his conscience. However, the infection was still enough to prevent wilful suicide, due to Tuurngait's nature of keeping its host bodies alive. Along with that, Clarence discusses Red with Philip throughout the game and a report regarding the water-cave, tells about the theory that the disappeared miner is still alive and may be the perpetrator behind a sabotage.

Events of Penumbra: Requiem

While not technically alive, Red appears as a sort of ghost, or rather a memory in Requiem (via cassettes or the intercom) haunting Philip throughout the course of the game. He is basically represented by the quotes he made in the previous games, which indicates that Philip is simply reliving them during the journey within his own mind.

Personality

Years of loneliness, developing skills for survival, as well as reading numerous books (including Shakespeare, Kant, Bronte and Nietzsche) have strongly influenced Red's personality. At first he comes across like an ordinary man, driven mad by cabin fever who seems pretty Kafkaesque. His fixation with literature is more or less the reason why the man mostly talks about himself in the 3rd person and uses countless vocabularies and metaphors to each of his interpretations (so Philip is not surprised that “he spoke so strangely".)

Appearance

Red never makes a physical appearance throughout the course of the Penumbra series. Despite that, his appearance is shown in a piece of artwork, The Cave by Danny Antivalidis, which is used in the intro of Penumbra: Black Plague, where he is depicted in his miner fatigues with a hard hat, sharp teeth, glazed eyes, and unkempt, wild hair which meet an equally wild and unkempt beard.

Behind the Scenes

• Red is voiced by Mike Hillard, who voiced the Protagonist in the original Penumbra prior to his role as Red.

Trivia

• If you listen carefully to Red during his incineration, he will actually shout at Philip to turn it off.
• According to Philip words (readable on the back of Overture's retail box) it took Red 3 minutes to die.

Gallery

Penumbra: Overture

One of Red's attempts at suicide.

Red's scribbling on the wall inside his room.

The Incinerator in which Red entrenched himself, shortly before his death.

Red's "room".

Penumbra: Black Plague

The Cave by Danny Antivalidis, depicting Red in an unknown part of the mine, eating alongside a dog as he stares at the viewer.

Tom Redwood—Intro image03.png

Ditto, the cropped version used in the intro.

Tom Redwood—Burning Man.png

Burning Man by Danny Antivalidis, depicting Red being burned alive in the incinerator.

Tom Redwood—Intro image04.png

Ditto, the cropped version used in the intro.

The incinerator in Philip's dream sequence.

Penumbra: Prisoner of Fate (non-canon)

Red, how he appears in the fanmade prequel of the franchise.