| Woodsman | |
|---|---|
| Character Information | |
| Name | Woodsman |
| Alias | He Who Carries the Lantern (by Tavernkeeper)[1] |
| Gender | Male |
| Background Information | |
| Status | Deceased |
| Family | Woodsman's Wife , wife (deceased)
Anna , daughter (deceased) |
| Hair color | Grey |
| Eye color | Black |
| Character Type | |
| Position | Ally |
| First Appearance | Cast | |
| Cartoon Debut | Chapter 1: The Old Grist Mill |
| Comic Debut | OTGW Comic Book 2015 Issue #4 |
| English VA | Christopher Lloyd |
| International VA | Pietro Mário (Brazil) |
"One cannot trade the souls of children as though they are tokens." - The Woodsman, Songs of the Dark Lantern
The Woodsman is a supporting character in Over the Garden Wall. He is presumed to be one of the triantagonist of the series but later becomes an ex-follower of the Beast. However, the Woodsman only chopped Edelwood trees as the Beast told him to so that his daughter's soul would stay lit in the Dark Lantern. This did not mean that he was a villain, often helping the two boys. The Woodsman is voiced by Christopher Lloyd, best known for his role as Doc Brown in the Back to the Future films and the Necromancer Rasputin in Don Bluth's Anastasia (1997).
Appearance[]
The Woodsman has short grey hair, black eyes and a scowling expression. He has a rounder build, seemingly not originally accustomed to activities involving the outdoors. He wears a grey hat and trench coat over top of a white collared shirt and black suspenders. His trousers are taupe brown with the hems tucked into a pair of dark shiny boots. Strapped around his chest is a harness for attaching stacks of Edelwood branches onto his back. His right hand wields an axe for chopping them down while his left hand holds the Dark Lantern which he stole from the Beast.
Tome of the Unknown Concept:[]
The Woodsman went through a lot of changes throughout the conception of Over the Garden Wall. More can be found about his Tome of the Unknown Concept here.
Personality[]
The Woodsman is introduced in the Comics as an older man who depends greatly on his family for a sense of balance and security. Preferring a good book over the chance to explore the outdoors, the Woodsman is introverted and contently reserved. Once he and his family moved, he became wary of the Unknown's forest. He's fairly dependent and picky; previously relying on his wife to hunt, cook and tend to their crops while challenging the safety and edibility of the materials she brought home. When he lost his wife, he only became more paranoid of the forest; keeping his daughter strictly indoors. He prefers to abide to the safest route rather than taking risks to have a better outcome. When it comes to his daughter, he is determined and protective at any cost. He lacks compassion for strangers, quick to assume the worst until he can further assess their character. Upon his lantern bearing era, he became aggrieved and forlorn yet diligent in fueling the dark lantern's flame. Deep down he has a moral compass that makes him good at heart.
History[]
Before the events of Over the Garden Wall occurred, he was a municipal judge who made powerful enemies, forcing him out of the city and into a country house living with his wife and daughter. Although he was disturbed by the woods, they lived peacefully until his wife was injured by an unknown animal (possibly The Beast), and died of the wound. As winter approached, the Woodsman and his daughter began running low on supplies due to his lack of forethought and thorough organization. He woke up in the middle of the night to find that his daughter snuck out in an attempt to collect firewood. When the Woodsman finally made it to the scene, he found his daughter's cloak torn on the ground and the Beast looming over the evidence of an attack. Assuming the Beast killed her, the Woodsman fought the Beast and took the dark lantern as his own. The Beast made a deal with the Woodsman to put his daughter's soul inside the lantern and explained that her soul would live on as long as he kept the flame lit. To keep the lantern lit the Woodsman was required to chop down Edelwood trees as they possessed an oil secretly made from the souls of lost children.
"The Old Grist Mill"[]
As brothers Wirt and Gregory arrived in the woods of the Unknown, they were found by the Woodsman who offered temporary hospitality, pointed them in the direction of a nearby town, told Greg to give his pet frog a proper name and warned them of the beast.
"Songs of the Dark Lantern"[]
After Wirt, Greg, and Beatrice journey to a mysterious tavern, the locals warn the brothers of the Beast, an unholy creature who stalks the night and captures children who are lost. Once caught he turns them into trees of oil so they could feed his dark lantern, Wirt is confused saying that although the Woodsman fit that description for having a lantern he never douses and grinds edelwood trees to keep it lit. He states that the Woodsman had tried to warn them about the Beast and pointed them toward civilization to avoid him, but the Tavern Keeper retorts that the Woodsman must be the Beast, as he carries the dark lantern, and that his advice made them more lost than before. A scream is heard beyond the tavern, Wirt goes and finds an unconscious Beatrice right by the woodsman, at the foot of an edelwood tree, and deduces that he really was the Beast after all. He knocks the lantern out of the Woodsman's hand and runs off with Beatrice. The real Beast arrives and notes that the Woodsman is running out of oil and suggests that he take the lantern for a while, but he refuses and is willing to fight him again as he did before for the lantern, but the Beast states that violence isn't needed and asks him where the children went. The Woodsman demands the Beast to leave the children be not saying a word of which direction they went.
"The Ringing of the Bell"[]
The Woodsman arrives to warn Wirt and Greg that the beast knows of their presence and is hunting them as they speak. The woodsman tries to give the brothers useful advice but they immediately run off not heeding a word of his warning. The Beast comes to have a word with the Woodsman wanting to discuss the situation. Afterward, both the Beast and Woodsman watch as Wirt is losing hope of returning home. The Beast sees this as a blessing that the brothers had not heeded the warning. The Beast asks him why he had been trying to help the brothers saying he already had problems with keeping his daughter's flame from going out, but he says that one can not trade the souls of children as if they were tokens and believes there would be another way to keep the lantern left. but the Beast says that there was only his way and he would soon turn the brothers into edelwood trees.
"The Unknown"[]
The Woodsman is searching through his house to find spare edelwood to keep his daughter's light shining but to no avail. The Woodsman hears the beast's song and follows the music right to him. The Woodsman sees both the beast and Greg who is beginning to be transformed into an edelwood tree. The Woodsman refuses to allow this transformation to continue, stating that he didn't know the lost souls of children were where the trees came from; the beast asks, mockingly, whether it would really have mattered had he known. Saying that his daughter would not have wanted this, the Woodsman tries to free Greg and fights the beast in an attempt to save him. As soon as Wirt and Beatrice arrive, they find Greg and the Woodsman who has been overpowered by the beast. Knowing the Woodsman would no longer be of any use to him, the beast, saying Greg is too weak to return home, offers to put Gregory's soul inside the lantern if Wirt will become its bearer; Wirt, seeming at first to assent, turns the Beast down, noting the Beast's obsession with keeping the lantern lit, as if it were his own soul there. Wirt threatens to blow the flame out, causing the Beast to immediately scream "No!" and prove Wirt's suspicions true. Wirt then gives the Woodsman the Lantern back stating it was his problem and leaves after freeing his brother from the edelwood branches. The Beast tries to manipulate the Woodsman into killing Wirt and Greg so they could feed the Lantern, but he comes to his senses and willingly blows out the flame, ridding the world of the Beast once and for all. In the epilogue, the Woodsman is reunited with his daughter.
Relationships[]
Wife[]
Anna (daughter)[]
Trivia[]
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Gallery
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References[]
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