Henry Spencer

Henry Spencer, by Espi

Henry Spencer (art by Kotorikun)

Name: Henry Spencer
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 11th
School: Cochise High School
Hobbies and Interests: Cryptozoology, conspiracies, horror movies, games and novels, trivia, fishing

Appearance: Henry is of average height, roughly 5’8”, and is only 132 lbs. Henry is slender and lithe; he has a fast metabolism, keeping him thin, but is only of average fitness. Henry is naturally fair-skinned, and tends to burn easily in long periods of sunlight; his face is marked by a number of freckles across his nose. His hair is naturally brown, but for several years now he’s been dyeing it black. It is very straight and fine, and worn with emo bangs, being short in the back and with long bangs swept over his right eye. Henry’s eyes are large, round, and dark blue. His features are mostly unremarkable; a somewhat upturned but small nose, thick eyebrows, thin lips and a round face. He is by no means ugly, but isn’t especially handsome either. Aside from his unique style, he would not stand out much. Henry’s hygiene is usually good, though occasionally he neglects it; his teeth are fairly white, his hair is usually washed, and he is clean-shaven.

Aside from his hairstyle, Henry has a few other specific stylistic choices that are somewhat eye-catching. He often wears a small amount of black eyeshadow, more because he likes the aesthetic than to make a statement. He also has a gold stud in his left earlobe. Henry usually wears black; he simply appreciates it from an aesthetic standpoint. He also occasionally dresses more eclectically, wearing a blend of different colors and styles. Overall, Henry favors t-shirts, jeans and once in a while will wear polo shirts. Henry favors a particular black leather jacket, and wears it regardless of the weather. When abducted, Henry was wearing this jacket over a white undershirt, black jeans, and red converse.

Biography: Henry’s father Derek and his mom Carol, an artist and a dental assistant respectively, grew up together in Kingman, and were even high school sweethearts. The two had only been married a year when Carol learned she was pregnant. Initially, the young couple was ecstatic. However, their excitement was extinguished when Carol learned she had developed preeclampsia midway through the pregnancy. Not wanting to lose the baby, Carol opted to continue the pregnancy until her son was ready to be born.

Tragically, shortly after Henry’s otherwise healthy birth, Carol passed away as a result of complications from her condition. Derek took it hard; a somewhat demure and shy man, he became even more withdrawn. He cared deeply for his son, and worked hard to raise him well despite financial struggles, but it took him years to really recover. Derek was estranged from his family, and while Carol’s parents helped care for Henry when he was an infant, they eventually moved to Florida to retire. Thus, Henry was mostly raised alone, as most friends of the couple gradually spent less time with Derek due to his shy nature; most of them were more Carol's friends, and didn't like Derek as much.

When Henry started school, it was immediately apparent he was somewhat odd. His conversations with other children were largely long strings of babbled information, and while never intentionally mean he tended to be blunt, which often upset the other children. While his father was contacted as his behavior became disruptive to classes, often blurting out answers to the detriment of other students, nothing really changed, as Derek was still struggling with the loss of his wife. His teachers responded to his behavior with various methods, but Henry had trouble adapting to their requests.

As such, Henry as a child was often labeled problematic, as while unfailingly cheerful and friendly, had little grasp of tact or social etiquette, going on long tangents and spouting large amounts of trivia. At the request of the school and with Derek's agreement, he eventually received several psychological evaluations at age 9 to determine if perhaps he was on the autism spectrum, which did indeed identified him as having Asperger Syndrome. Henry took this revelation well, as did his father. He was placed on an IEP program, allowing him some extra attention and care towards his needs and helping him restrain himself in classes.

Henry’s favorite pastime has always been learning trivia. When he was little he’d tell people about some interesting tidbit he’d read about with great enthusiasm. As he grew older, his pursuits expanded, but his love remained, as did his fondness for sharing facts. He likes to learn; even when he was little, Henry was fascinated with the strange things about the world; unsolved mysteries, unknowns. Henry’s personal favorite subjects of trivia are usually unusual historical events, dinosaurs and other natural phenomenon.

Around the age of 10, this love of the strange and mysterious led him to cryptozoology. The idea of cryptids, strange unknown animals people could not determine the validity of, appealed immediately to Henry. He became enthralled with cryptid-based TV shows like “Lost Tapes” and spent much of his time reading about them on the internet. Henry doesn’t necessarily believe in cryptids; he just likes to imagine that they might exist, and finds study and theories about them compelling. He is most interested in aquatic cryptids like Champ and the Ogopogo, believing them to be most plausible. He follows magazines such as the "Journal of Cryptozoology" and owns numerous books on the subject.

While researching cryptids one day when Henry was 12, he became interested in the idea of conspiracies and delved into some online theories. He found the ideas people thought of as explanations to be fascinating, from entertainingly bad to uncannily plausible. Again, he doesn’t necessarily believe in such theories, but he is interested in looking them up and reading about them online or in books. He favors ideas about less famous events, preferring to read a theory about something obscure to a more famous event like the moon landing, for instance. Henry personally has some distaste for SOTF theories, and generally follows forums and message boards about theories regarding aliens or secret conspiracies.

Studying conspiracies, in turn, led to Henry’s interest in horror at age 14. While not easily frightened, he does enjoy the thrill he gets watching movies about supernatural terrors. He especially enjoys “found footage” because it comes across as the most realistic to him. His real favorite horror media, though, is novels. He finds reading them more appealing than watching them because they allow his imagination to control how scary it is. He likes the stories that novels tell better than more gore-focused movies as well. His favorite horror tends to be more psychological and supernatural-based rather than slasher films. Thus, Henry has particular fondness for Guillermo Del Toro, Stephen King and HP Lovecraft.

Recently, Henry has had a growing interest in horror games after being introduced by an online friend. He favors atmospheric PC games like "Amnesia" and "Slender" as well as the MMO "The Secret World". He loves the immersive, atmospheric nature of the games, since it raises the feeling of thrill in him, since of late he'd been feeling a bit less easily frightened by stories and movies.

Henry is quite odd. While he never means to cause harm, his lack of social awareness has limited his ability to really make friends, as many are turned away by his behaviors. Henry’s few friends are primarily those who can handle his idiosyncrasies and enjoy talking about his various fascinations with him. Henry has a small social group, but he cares deeply for his friends and is very trusting in them. In his younger years, Henry was periodically picked on for being weird, but he is resilient and doesn’t take insults to heart; attempts at bullying would be met with little response, which meant he was rarely targeted. Henry’s grades are good, as he is naturally intelligent and a good student, but he occasionally neglects homework and projects in favor of other pursuits, leading to slips. His favorite is science, especially when they delve into unusual trivia. Henry also enjoys history, as it is full of stories and events that interest him, but he dislikes English, finding it tedious, and math, finding it excessively rigid and uninteresting. His grades overall average around a B, occasionally slipping below.

Exhibiting many of the classical Asperger traits, Henry is an intelligent and empathetic boy with a distinct lack of social skills. Despite his compassionate nature, he has trouble recognizing how others will react to things and tends to assume people are interested in the same hobbies he has. His long-winded narratives and descriptions usually turn people off from interacting with him, which he has gradually become aware of and tried to manage more, with mixed success. Henry is cheerful, however, and holds a very optimistic worldview, believing strongly in inherent goodness of people. His romantic status has been effectively nonexistent, as few people express interest in him. Henry has self-identified as asexual since he was 14, preferring the loving and romantic aspects of relationships to more sexual exploits, though he has no real experience with either.

Henry and his father share a close relationship. Both are very concerned with the other’s happiness, being that they live relatively closed-off lives due to Derek’s introversion and lack of family connections, and take time to talk whenever possible. While Henry was often quite lonely in childhood, his outgoing nature means he rarely wants for companions nowadays. Henry’s paternal grandparents are deceased, and while Derek’s brother Anthony lives in Kingman, he took little part in Henry’s upbringing and interactions between Anthony and Henry are usually incidental and awkward. Henry’s maternal grandparents send letters periodically, but Henry feels some resentment towards them for abandoning his father and contact is minimal.

One of their primary bonding times is when they go fishing; Henry and Derek have gone out on numerous fishing trips on weekends, with the frequency of these trips increasing of late. These expeditions are one of the few times when Henry will engage in conversations where he is more quiet than the other participant, as his father recollects many old stories from his life and about Henry’s mother. Henry enjoys the peace and quiet as a sharp contrast to the relative bustle of normal life.

Henry’s post-graduate plans are somewhat indistinct; his grades are good, but he isn’t really sure what he wants to study. He plans to attend a local community college and get a part-time job, but for now is more or less content to live his life as he always has.

Advantages: Henry has picked up the occasional bit and piece of information which could prove helpful, such as trying to fish if he had a body of water available. He is very loyal, most will recognize him as nonthreatening.
Disadvantages: His unusual hobbies and eccentric behavior often lends Henry a not-undeserved status as something of an oddball, and not one especially likeable, which makes him an unappealing ally to those who don’t know him well. His talkative personality may annoy people already on edge. Henry’s endless optimism may make him oblivious to dangers, and he is not much of a threat himself due to his compassionate nature.

Designated Number: Male student No. 014

---

Designated Weapon: 8-foot Bullwhip

Conclusion: Keep that optimism you have, but don't let it control you. If you stay strong and use your knowledge you'll make it out okay. - Boris Petrikov

The above biography is as written by Espi. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.

Evaluations

Henry Spencer (art by Ryuki)

Sketch of Henry by his handler Espi

B014 - Henry Spencer (Sprite by Fenris)

Handled by: Espi

Kills: None

Killed By: Alessio Rigano

Collected Weapons: 8-foot Bullwhip (assigned weapon, to Nate Turner), 6-foot bo staff (from Nate Turner, to Min-jae Parker)

Allies: Jasper Bustamante, Arthur Bernstein

Enemies: Alessio Rigano

Mid-game Evaluation: Henry woke near the docks in very good spirits, and believed his own weapon made him like Indiana Jones. He found Jasper Bustamante and set about on the irrelevant task of finding supplies for fishing. When Jasper cut himself Henry gave him the disinfectant from his bag. They were found by Arthur Bernstein and Henry was only briefly intimidated by the paintball gun Arthur held. Arthur proved to be friendly, and led them off to find more allies.

Further down the nearby shoreline they found Coleen Reagan. While talking to her the denial mechanism Henry had been using in his mind to protect himself failed, he took off at a run pursued by Jasper. He slipped shortly thereafter, and was promptly paralyzed in place by his fear. He was too spooked to listen to Jasper's attempts to calm him and continued to run as soon as he was able. He found his way to the storehouse further up the shore and spent an uneasy night alone with his own thoughts. He had lost his supplies in his earlier panic, and he realized he needed to somehow get his hands on more, even possibly resort to theft.

He explored, and while distracted by a spider in the asylum he found himself near the supply closet on the second floor, where he was discovered by Nate Turner, and his allies Matthew Moradi and Ben Fields. They were quickly friendly after a bit of talk, and then Henry decided to try his luck and ask for any food that the others could spare. Matt was unwilling but the other two were, and Henry was genuinely surprised to where he decided to belay his plans of theft for the moment. He spent the night with the three of them, but was thrown into a panic again upon hearing the announcement the following morning, particularly that his friend Min-jae Parker had killed someone. Henry abruptly departed from the group, taking Nate's bag and staff in the process and leaving his whip behind.

He decided to seek out Jae and their other friends, but had no idea where they might have been, and was left wandering aimlessly until he ended up back at the docks. He was approached in short order by Taranis "Tara" Behzad, Bridgette Sommerfeld, and Bryony Adams. He was glad to see them all, awkwardly greeted all of them, and asked if they had any fishing supplies. He cheerfully intended to return to his fishing ambitions, blatantly failing to realize that he had a pole suitable for fishing due to his theft from Nate. Bryony had no suitable supplies, claiming she'd been stolen from and needed something to eat. Henry and Tara both opted to give her a ration bar. Tara also gave him a length of yarn to serve as fishing line before leaving the group. Henry lingered a moment longer before bidding goodbye to Bridgette and Bryony, telling them he needed to find his friends.

Henry with Min-Jae Parker, applying makeup. (art by Yonagoda)

Henry returned to the asylum, intending to explore. He entered the one-on-one therapy rooms, where he found the bodies of Abigail Floyd and Tina Luz, and he mused on mortality and the possibility of an afterlife for a moment. Alessio Rigano, armed with a gun, was trying to sneak up on Henry. Henry noticed Al before a shot could be fired, but Henry failed to recognize the danger he was in, forcing himself to not take the apparent gun as a threat. He asked if Al had seen Jae, and tried to make small talk. Instead of responding, Alessio tried to shoot Henry, only for both of them to discover the gun was fake. Henry attempted to flee, but stumbled into the wall when he turned to see if Alessio was pursuing him and fell. Al grabbed a shard of glass from one of the broken therapy room windows and proceeded to stab Henry several times before fleeing, leaving him to bleed out. Henry tried to find some light at the end of the tunnel, but couldn't, and died miserable and alone.

Post-Game Evaluation: Fishing? You're fucking kidding me, right? This kid was definitely one of those hook line and sinker types. - Josie Knight

Memorable Quotes: "Misidentification of objects due to distance is perfectly normal, especially when one mistakes an object for a similar-looking one, in this case a fake gun versus a real gun. There's a condition called delusional misidentification syndrome, however, which is very different. It entails believing that something is actually a different object despite evidence to the contrary..." - Henry discussing Coleen having seen Arthur's gun as real. One of the last things he said prior to coming out of his self-inflicted denial.

"Haven't eaten all day which is, you know, yeah kinda sucky. Mind if I borrow some protein bars or something? (...) Not borrow, really, but uh, yeah, eat. And then, later, you know. I assume you don't want them back! But no seriously. (...) That sound okay? I'm a little desperate." -- Henry asking for help from Nate, Ben, and Matt in the most awkward manner humanly possible.

Henry Spencer by Rorick Skyve

Other/Trivia

• Henry's first memory thread 'Different' is stricken from canon by his handler for his excessive and ironic use of formatting in the oneshot.

• Henry shares a name with the lead of the 1977 surreal horror film 'Eraserhead'. This was an unintentional reference on the part of his handler.

Threads

Below is a list of threads that contain Henry, in chronological order.

Memories:

• You're nothing if you're just another

V6 Pregame:

• Cruising and Perusing
• Having Fun Isn't Hard
• There's No Time Here in Space
• Hecate on Roman Halloween
• A Trout Tussle
• Screamer, Screamer, He's a Dreamer
• The Sun Sets

Sadie Hawkins Dance:

• The Spinster and the Bachelor
• He's So Fine And Different

V6:

• Plutonian Wharf
• Self Doubts and Hurricanes
• To Dine With the Devil
• Forget About What I Said
• In This Starless Night
• I Will Find You, When All the Stars Align

Related Threads in Meanwhile:

• The Socrates Cup

Your Thoughts

Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Henry Spencer. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!

• Henry was my second concept for V6 that stuck around for almost two years, Alice Baker being the other. Henry originally started as an interpretation of an outdated trend of 'quirky' characters with no tact who were expected to be likeable. I think I made Henry reasonably sympathetic out-of-character while also being somewhat annoying in-character, which was the goal. He died earlier than the other two kids I made because I thought his story was one that I could afford to end soon, and Min-jae Parker was a character I definitely wanted to see more of. My only big regret with Henry is that Jae couldn't be present for his death, which I think made the scene sadder and more hopeless than suited him. Alas, Henry was a fun kid to play, and I hope his short time on the island was well-received. -Espional