Doctor Emil Hartman was a paracriminal psychologist from Bright Falls, Washington who was involved in the events of the Bright Falls AWE in 2010. Following the events of the AWE, the FBC imprisoned him and confiscated his property; while he was ultimately released, the loss of his life's work drove Hartman to taking the risk of diving into Cauldron Lake, where he was Taken by the Dark Presence. When he reappeared in his former Lodge, the FBC caught and imprisoned him once again, this time transferring him to the Oldest House for study. In 2017, Harman broke free and rampaged through the Investigations Sector, ultimately forcing Bureau staff to retreat and seal off the sector behind its firebreak. Later, during the Hiss invasion of 2019, he was additionally possessed by the Hiss, the two forces stretching him into a monstrous 'Third Thing'.

Biography[]

Early life[]

At some point in his life, Hartman moved from his former home in Vermont to Bright Falls, Washington, where he became the assistant of Thomas Zane, a poet who lived in the Bright Falls area.

Through Zane, Hartman discovered the power of Cauldron Lake to turn works of arts into reality, becoming obsessed with it. When Zane's lover, Barbara Jagger, mysteriously drowned in Cauldron Lake, it was Hartman who convinced Zane to use Cauldron Lake's power to write her back, with disastrous results; the Dark Presence possessed Barbara, and Zane erased himself and Barbara from reality.

Years later Hartman converted the Cauldron Lake Lodge to a clinic for the ostensible purpose of helping tortured artists recover from mental health issues but in reality it was a testing area in which he attempted to use the artists to manipulate reality using Cauldron Lake.

Alan Wake[]

Hartman was contacted by Alice Wake, who sought therapy for her husband Alan Wake. Hartman saw Alan as great candidate and invited them over.

When Alice and Alan Wake both disappeared Hartman was furious, realizing that Alan was already affecting reality. When Alan reappeared Hartman sent his lackey, Ben Mott to lure Alan back to Cauldron Lake by pretending they had Alice.

When Mott was killed, Hartman took matters into his own hands, kidnapping Alan and then claiming that Alice had died and that he was having a psychotic breakdown, but Alan did not believe him and escaped, destroying his facility in the process.

Control[]

After the events that just took place in Bright Falls, the Federal Bureau of Control investigated Bright Falls and discovered Hartman's research. While Hartman wished to form a partnership with the FBC, the Bureau found Hartman to be in violation of paranatural law, and detained him.

Hartman was eventually released due to being a low level risk, but all of his research and property were seized by the FBC. Seeing no other option after losing his life's work, Hartman - having seen people that looked like Thomas Zane and Alan Wake on the surface and concluding that way out of Cauldron Lake was possible - decided to dive into it, only to be Taken by the Dark Presence in the process, becoming The-Thing-That-Once-Was-Hartman.

The FBC quickly apprehended The-Thing-That-Once-Was-Hartman and brought it to their headquarters, the Oldest House. It was kept in the Bright Falls AWE area of the investigations sector until Alice was brought for an interview. The-Thing-That-Once-Was-Hartman then escaped, causing the whole sector to be locked down.

When the Hiss invaded the Oldest House in 2019, they met with the Dark Presence, which weakened from years spent away from its source and thus could not stop being corrupted by the Hiss. As the Hiss was of a similar nature, they were both amplified inside of Hartman, causing him to stretch into a much more powerful monstrous form, known as The Third Thing. Hartman was ultimately killed by FBC Director Jesse Faden.

Achievements and trophies[]

Two secret achievements and trophies are related to Hartman.

Icon	Achievement/trophy	Score	Rank
	C L A S S I F I E D Familiar Methodologies Fight off Hartman	15	Bronze
	C L A S S I F I E D The Third Thing Defeat Hartman	30	Silver

Gallery[]