Willem Clark

Dr. Willem Clark is the leader of the ghouls at the Reservation in 2253.

Background
What is a "savior?" The dictionary tells us it is "a person who rescues another from harm, danger, or loss." But this is a cold, heartless description. What Dr. Willem Clark has done for his ghouls at the Reservation is at least as Christ-like as another savior, at least that is what Willem would have his followers believe.

Dr. Willem Clark was a gifted nuclear physicist in his human days before the Great War. He worked at the Reservation as chief scientist in the nuclear research and development department on Sub-Level 3. Even then he commanded a loyal following of fellow scientists who were in awe of his scientific capabilities and his ability to bring out the best in his colleagues. So, when the bombs fell and everyone was too scared to move, Willem took charge and kept the survivors alive; alive with hope that one day they would all return to the surface and start life anew.

Unfortunately, not everyone made it to that fateful day of returning to the surface. Ten years passed since the bombs dropped when the survivors in the sub-levels decided to come to the surface. They were little more than two-dozen survivors out of nearly one-thousand stationed at the Reservation. But how lucky were they to survive as ghouls? Once on the surface, a dozen ghouls, including Dr. Clark, set out into the wastes to find other survivors like them, or at least similar. The thinking at the time was that all survivors would probably be ghouls, and it would be wise to organize as many as possible into one central location so rebuilding could start.

Days turned into months, and the months turned into a year. After a year of not hearing anything, the remaining ghouls at the Reservation started to give up hope that any of the original twelve would ever come back. But one did. Dr. Willem Clark not only came back, but he came back with two, possibly three dozen ghouls in tow. When he settled back into the Reservation, he told the others about the prejudice and mistreatment ghouls faced at the hands of smooth skin humans. He then explained to the survivors at the Reservation that they were given a gift - the gift of life and the ability to adapt to this new, Promised Earth. It became clear to Willem that becoming a ghoul was an evolutionary process in which the ghoul body could withstand, and in fact even prosper, in this scorched, radioactive Earth. He declared that he would guide his fellow ghouls into the next age of man - the age of ghouls. The Children of the Wastes would inherit the Promised Earth, and Dr. Willem Clark would guide them the entire way, protecting them from the cruelty of the smooth skins, but training them for their eventual uprising against their oppressors.

For nearly two centuries, Willem Clark brought ghouls from all over the wastes to the Reservation. Some stayed topside, happy to eke out an existence among the debris, while others took to the Sub-Levels of the Reservation. Those who went to the Sub-Levels enjoyed fruitful, meaningful work and much better accommodations than those who remained topside.

Willem reveled in his little empire, and his ghouls began to look upon Willem as their lord and savior. They worshiped him in such a way as to deify him. Soon, Willem eventually began to think of himself as a deity and became more reclusive over the last fifty or so years. He finally came to a point where he never left his room on Sub-Level 3 and only communicated to his fellow ghouls through computer screens placed throughout the facility. When he communicated, he would only reveal his mouth over the screen, for he felt should any of his followers look into his eyes, they would burn under his magnificence - such was his ego. When one did get the chance to speak with Willem, he would often refer to himself in the third person and put his sentences together in such a way as to sound like he was reciting scripture. Due to his high intelligence, no one was able to convince him otherwise of being a holy savior, and nobody probably could. He would continue to lead his people to the Promised Earth until his dying day, but no one knows when that will be, if ever.

Appearances
Dr. Willem Clark has not appeared nor is he mentioned in any published game. He was to appear only in Van Buren.

Behind the scenes
Clark was designed to be similar in mentality to Colonel Walter E. Kurtz from the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now.