Fisherman

Description

The Fisherman is the player character and the first character to be shown on screen. The Fisherman’s dialogue throughout the game is chosen by the player. This makes it difficult to describe his personality, as it can vary from each playthrough. At the beginning of the game, he is shown to travel to Greater Marrow in response to an advertisement stating "ANGLER WANTED".

Appearances

The Fisherman can be seen in many of Black Salt Games’ promotional materials. He is prominently featured in each of the DREDGE full-game and DLC trailers, as well as wallpapers available to download from the DREDGE website. He can be seen selling fish to the fishmonger, affixing equipment to his boat, and touching an obelisk. After touching the obelisk, the Fisherman gasps. This is the first and only time we have heard the Fisherman’s voice.

BSG_alex also posted some concept art of the Fisherman on Twitter in May 2021

Concept art posted by bsg_alex on Twitter @bsg_alex.

Story

While travelling to Greater Marrow, the Fisherman is enveloped in fog and crashes his boat at the base of the lighthouse. The Mayor gives the Fisherman a used boat as a loan before giving the player their first quest.

The following information contains spoilers regarding the story or ending of the game. Discretion is advised.

If the player selects the appropriate dialogue options, it can be revealed to the player that the Collector is actually a figment of the Fisherman’s imagination. The Collector is a manifestation of the Fisherman’s suppressed memories and desire to bring back his wife, Julie, from the dead.

Through the various notes in-game, some of the events prior can be determined or inferred. The Fisherman, aka Morgan, alongside his wife and the Old Mayor, dredges up the Book of the Deep inside a coffin. This event is the catalyst for evil to enter the world, leading to all other events in DREDGE. Julie and the Old Mayor beg him to throw it back, but he had grown obsessed and refused.

Later, Morgan and Julie were on the water when a creature attacked. This creature, whose exact identity is unclear, destroys the boat they are on, killing Julie. The Fisherman, or more accurately the Collector, has since been searching for a way to bring her back.

Speculation

The following information contains spoilers regarding the story or ending of the game. Discretion is advised.

It is speculated that the Fisherman is also the “last fisherman” referenced by the Mayor. Most characters, even those close to the Fisherman previously, seem to not be able to recognize him until very late in the game. It’s plausible that the Fisherman had previously worked in the Marrows, left, and is now returning with some kind of amnesia. This theory does not have a lot of information to support or refute it.

Trivia

• The Fisherman does not wear gloves in the original game trailer, but is wearing black rubber gloves in the Iron Rig release date trailer.
• The Fisherman’s name is never used in-game, but in July 2021 Black Salt Games posted a screenshot on Twitter in-which pre-release dialogue shows the Mayor addressing the Fisherman by the name Morgan. When BSG_alex shared the concept art of the Fisherman, he also captioned it saying this is the main character's name.
  • In the first prototype build of DREDGE, the Fisherman was known as Arthur.
• The Fisherman is the only speaking character that doesn’t have a front facing 2D image.