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The Archivist

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The Archivist is a boss that appears during Act III of Inscryption. It is one of four Uberbots the challenger must defeat in order to enact the Great Transcendence.

Behavior[]

Phase 1[]

The Archivist's main form of offense comes in the form of Librarians. When a Librarian is killed, the Archivist first asks for access to your hard drive, promising that no harm will come of this action. Interestingly, if you hover over "No", the No button swaps places with the Yes button, meaning that No is not really an option. You are then able to choose a file from your hard drive.

The size of the file you choose directly correlates to a weight on the opponents side of the scale that will be created.

  • B: 0 Damage
  • KB: 1 Damage
  • MB: 2 Damage
  • GB: 4 Damage
  • TB: 8 Damage

Phase 2[]

At the start of the second phase the player is asked specifically to choose a file that is "dearest to your heart, and one that shows age." The player is then made to choose a file to create a card (Captive File). The Power and Health of the card is dependent on the date the file was created. After the player has chosen a file, the Archivist will place it in your hand as a card, asking you whether or not the file was too dear to you. The card will contain the Hostage File sigil. The Archivist will then warn the player that if the card is destroyed the chosen file will be deleted from your disc. P03 assures you that it is completely serious.

  • 0-359 days old: 1/1
  • 360-719 days old: 2/2
  • 720-1079 days old: 3/3
  • 1080+ days old: 4/4

In addition to this, the field changes as well, from Gravestones and Librarians in the first phase to Dead Trees in front of all of your cards currently in play, as well as playing various cards from the Filthy Corpse World including Librarians.

Related Achievements[]

Achievement
Rank and File Defeat the Archivist.
Agonizing Remorse Delete or move the file used to represent the Hostage File card.


Quotes[]

Click To Expand:
  • P03's introduction:
    • "Oh look, it's boss time."
      • "Unpacking Archivist.zip..."
      • "Applying personality matrices..."
      • "Cleaning up some temp files... OK, here we go."
    • "Unpacking Archivist.zip..."
      • "Installing additional shaders..."
      • "Almost ready..."
    • "Unpacking Archivist.zip..."
      • "Applying personality matrices..."
    • "Unpacking Archivist.zip..."
  • Introduction:
    • "Ah! Greetings."
      • "If you had not gleaned it from the title of my zip file, I am The Archivist."
      • "I eagerly await the opportunity to explore your Hard Drive."
      • "Files and directories are my speciality you see."
    • "Ah, we meet again."
      • "Have you readied yourself for this reunion?"
      • "Excellent. Let us start."
    • "Another chance encounter!"
      • "May it be as fresh as our first battle! "
    • "Excellent. Let us start."
  • Asking for file access:
    • "Oh! I should have enquired sooner..."
      • "You will need to grant me access to your Hard Drive."
      • "Would you please acquiesce?"
      • "I assure you, no harm will come of it."
  • Choosing a file after killing a Librarian:
    • "Here comes your actual files."
      • "I hope no one is watching!"
      • "Now. Do recommend an exemplary file to me."
      • "And do take into account its size."
      • "Its magnitude... its- its bulk."
    • "Again, do choose a file."
      • "Its filesize will be paramount."
    • "Now, go along and select a file."
      • "Recall that its... vastness... is your object."
    • "Choose a file, dear."
      • "I will judge it based on its- its girth."
  • File with size measured in B is picked:
    • "Such a miniscule file I have scarcely seen!"
      • "Measured in bytes? My word."
      • "I'm afraid this is too small to register."
    • "This infinitesimal file?"
      • "It is not even enough weigh the scales down."
    • "Ha! This file is minute!"
      • "It is not worth a single point of damage!"
  • File with size measured in KB is picked:
    • "A small file... but, I do suppose, respectable."
      • "A single point of damage is what it is worth."
    • "Diminutive, yes. Yet enough to burden the scales."
    • "Hmm. An unexciting specimen."
      • "But worth a single damage to be sure."
  • File with size measured in MB is picked:
    • "Hmf! This file demands attention."
      • "It appears to weigh in at about 2 damage."
      • "Bravo!"
    • "I cannot neglect this file. It surely has girth."
    • "Well chosen. An adequate selection."
  • File with size measured in GB is picked:
    • "My word! This file... it is..."
      • "I may say... it is colossal!"
      • "Bravo!"
    • "Magnificent! It is gargantuan!"
    • "My word! The staggering size!"
    • "It is positively Bunyanesque!"
      • "I am blushing."
  • File with size measured in TB is picked:
    • "Words..."
      • "My words..."
      • "Cannot describe..."
  • Image file is picked:
    • "This?"
      • "Do enlighten me, what was this doing on your Hard Disk?"
      • "Think not of it. Let us continue."
    • "Hmm?"
      • "What's this?"
      • "Let us not dwell on it."
    • "A strange visage to be certain."
      • "Let us move on past it."
    • "An odd visage... to be certain."
      • "Enough."
  • Audio file is picked:
    • "So you've chosen to subject me to this racket?"
      • "Enough."
    • "Could you not have chosen... a more agreeable sound?"
      • "Let us not dwell on it."
    • "This one... is not pleasant."
      • "Let us move on past it."
  • Choosing a file at the start of the second phase:
    • "Please select a file."
      • "This one, however, is very special."
      • "Choose a file that is dearest to your heart."
      • "And one that shows age."
    • "Ah, it is that time again!"
      • "I suppose the surprise is now ruined."
      • "But, please, do pick a file that is... old."
    • "Now, go along and select a file."
      • "Recall that its... maturity... is your object."
      • "You know what comes next..."
  • Creating a Captive File card:
    • "Now, let us place that file in a card."
      • "You didn't choose a file that was TOO dear, did you?"
      • "For, if this card dies, I will delete the file from your disk."
      • "Please, do not tempt me. I am completely serious."
      • "Shall we see what that looks like?"
    • "How will that look as a card? Let us see."
      • "And, if you value your card, do not let it die!"
    • "Let us proceed..."
      • "Careful not to lose your file."
  • Captive File card is 1/1:
    • "Did you create this file yesterday?"
      • "It is, to be perfectly frank, juvenile!"
      • "1/1 are the correct stats for this infant file."
    • "This file has no maturity whatsoever."
      • "It will, therefore, be weak!"
    • "This juvenile file can be no more than a 1/1."
  • Captive File card is 2/2:
    • "Hm. I suppose this file does show some age."
      • "2/2!"
    • "Hardly ancient. But I can make it a 2/2."
    • "This file's age may award it a power and health of 2."
  • Captive File card is 3/3:
    • "Marvelous! This file is not short lived."
      • "A file this mature is easily a 3/3."
    • "This venerable file is worthy of the stats: 3/3."
      • "Bravo!"
  • Captive File card is 4/4:
    • "This... this file is most ancient indeed."
      • "It has seen things."
      • "A statline of 4/4 is only appropriate for an august file such as this."
    • "My word. This file is most venerable."
      • "A 4/4 for a file so ancient as this one."
      • "It could be no other way."
    • "A statline of 4/4 is only appropriate for an august file such as this."
  • Captive File card is killed:
    • "There it goes!"
      • "I hope you have backups."
    • "You have backups, right?"
    • "There it goes!"
    • "Oops!"
  • P03's comment after defeating The Archivist:
    • "I thought I had you. Oh well."
      • "You've made a few correct deckbuilding decisions, I guess."
      • "And you're lucky."
  • P03's comment if player actually deletes a file:
    • "Wow, you actually deleted the file."
      • "Haha."
      • "Did you expect a reward?"

Trivia[]

  • The Archivist is meant to represent Grimora.
  • At the start of the fight, beeping sounds arranged in morse code can be heard in the background.
    • This is related to the ARG of Inscryption.
  • The Archivist threatening to delete your files may be a reference to the game's ending.
  • If a file using an image format is chosen for the card, P03/Archivist will display that image, if an audio file was chosen, it will be played.
  • In the original PC version, if a card bearing the Hostage File Sigil perishes in battle, the game will create a text file next to the file selected in your hard drive, requesting that the player manually delete the file:
    • "At least... I tried to delete it. But it seems my powers of FILE ACCESS do not extend that far. Play by the rules you agreed to. Delete it yourself. Have an ounce of respect for the rules. Come on."
    • If the player does delete the file, (or moves it to the recycling bin), P03 will acknowledge this, remarking his surprise that the player did delete the file: "Wow, you actually deleted the file. Haha. Did you expect a reward?"
  • In the console version, the files and PC shown are meant to represent Luke Carder's PC, as a stand-in for the player's own files on PC.
    • If a card bearing the Hostage File Sigil perishes in battle in this version, the game will actually delete said file, resulting in a black screen soft-lock if certain system files are deleted.
    • Despite this, if the fight is lost in the second phase, the file will still be available in future re-fights.
  • Certain file names will result in special dialogue:
    • (pony.exe) "That poor soul...how sad"
      • This is a reference to Pony Island, another of Daniel Mullins' games.
    • (hex.exe) "Lionel wanted...WHAT?!"
      • This is a reference to The Hex, another of Daniel Mullins' games.
    • (inscryption.exe) "Wow. Be careful with that one!"
  • When the Archivist is defeated, files of journal entries written by Luke Carder will appear around Botopia.
  • A decade old file will give you a 4/4 card.
  • The (linux) command 
    /tmp$ touch -d 1/1/1970 old
    will result in a file that is worth a 4/4 card.

Gallery[]

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