Henry

"Warning This Page Contains Spoilers"

Henry M. (born 1949–1950) is the main character in Firewatch.

Summary

Henry is originally from Boulder, Colorado. His wife, Julia, is suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s. As a result, their marriage is rendered unstable due to his wife's illness. Henry decides whether or not to take care of her himself or put her in a home. She eventually goes back to Australia with her parents and Henry gets a job for the summer as a firewatch stationed at Two Forks Lookout in Wyoming.

He receives a message from Delilah, his witty and flamboyant supervisor and fellow fire-watch. The two strike up a close friendship over the summer, even though they have only ever communicated via radio.

History

Early life

Henry originally lived in Boulder Colorado. In 1975 one night when out drinking with friends, he would meet his future wife, Julia, a college professor of evolutionary biology. After an awkward first meeting, the two would hit it off and quickly develop a romantic relationship. After dating for over a year the two moved into an apartment together and adopted a dog.

They married in 1979.

In 1985 Julia begins to display symptoms of illness which is eventually revealed to be early onset Dementia. The stress of caring for Julia eventually drives Henry to begin drinking heavily. Julia eventually goes to live with her family back in Australia. This eventually leads Henry to accept the job with the forest service in an effort to get away from his problems.

Firewatch

Henry's Arrival: Henry departs his hometown of Boulder after joining the Forest Service's Firewatch program and is assigned to the Two-Forks Region. Upon arrival, Henry hikes for two days to his watchtower, where he is greeted over the radio by his supervisor Delilah. The two exchange pleasantries before Henry retires for the evening.

Day 1: Henry awakens late in the afternoon and is once again called by Delilah who begins to orient Henry on his jobs duties before she notices fireworks in the distance. Due to the present fire danger and a lack of any nearby ranger, she sends Henry to deal with the situation. Henry hikes towards Jonesy Lake. After a short tumble down a small shale slide, Henry arrives at the lake to discover a small campsite littered with liquor bottles and beer cans (that the player can decide to pick up). He finds a two sets of clothes, backpacks, and a campfire (which the player can stomp out). After confiscating the fireworks, Henry hears music in the distance and heads toward the lake, discovering two sets of women's underwear along the way. Once at the lake he discovers two teenage girls blasting music, skinny dipping. The two quickly notice Henry and accuse him of being a creep and pervert. After a brief verbal altercation the girls flee and Henry heads back towards his tower.

On his way back to his tower, Delilah apologizes to Henry for overstepping her boundaries the night he first arrived at his tower when she asked him too many personal questions, explaining that she was drunk the night she arrived. Henry later comes across a cave with a locked gate, reminiscing about his past caving experiences. Henry later climbs a set of nearby rocks to exit the cave where he soon comes across a shadowy figure shining his flashlight at Henry before leaving without saying a word. Henry reports to Delilah, concerned about what he saw. Delilah however, isn't concerned as hikers are usually out and about in nature. As Henry continues to hike back, Henry climbs up a huge cliff of rocks. When he climbs up to the top, he rests on a "trail closed sign", tired from all the rock climbing he's done. However, the sign breaks and he falls down against the sign. Henry reports to Delilah that the trail is no longer closed.

Trivia

• Henry is voiced by Rich Sommer, known for his role as Harry Crane on the TV show Mad Men.
• Henry is wearing his wedding ring when he arrives at Two Forks but over the course of the summer, the player may notice it sitting on his desk, indicating that his relationship with Delilah is growing more and more intimate whilst his relationship with Jules' is becoming more strained with each day that passes.
• Even though Henry is shown to not be very fit, Henry has displayed adequate skill in free rock climbing (in hiking boots as well rather than proper climbing shoes) as seen at the end of Day 1 when he free climbs up two sets of rocks before breaking the "trail closed" sign at the top. Henry may be a good free climber because of his past caving experiences.
• Although Henry has skill in free climbing, Henry is shown to wear out easily from strenuous physical activity as you can hear his heaving breathing, grunting and panting each time he climbs up a set of rocks. However, this does not affect Henry when he is running.
• Henry's wardrobe throughout the entire duration of the game stays the same as he never changed into new clothes at any point throughout the story. Throughout the entire game, Henry wears a white t-shirt, dark-colored cargo shorts, white socks and dark green-colored hiking boots. Throughout multiple instances, notably on Day 2 and Day 3, Delilah teases Henry about his wardrobe choices. On Day 2, during an optional dialogue conversation, Delilah teases Henry about wearing "ugly cargo shorts" in which Henry rebuttals "I like these shorts". On Day 3, when asked about what he looks like, Delilah once again points out Henry's shorts as a defining characteristic of his.