Professor Walden

Professor Walden
Full name	Unknown
Date of birth	Unknown
Age	Unknown
Gender	Male
Status	Deceased
Occupation	Biology Teacher
Appearance	ObsCure

"That's the antidote! Give it to me right now!"

— Walden confronting Herbert at gunpoint

Professor Walden was a biology teacher at Leafmore High. He appears several times; sometimes offering help, other times obstructing the main characters in a frantic manner. The player later discovers this is due to him recently obtaining knowledge of his employer's actions.

Backstory

He was the biology teacher of the main playable students, and he was a critical part of the Leafmore Incident; it's because of his actions that the monsters overran the school.

Prior to the events of ObsCure, Walden came across Friedman's secret laboratory under the school and somehow became infected which may have been caused by exposure to the Mortifilia spores, or the creatures. It likely wasn't Friedman, as he didn't know Walden was in the underground labs until the morning after. He managed to escape, but left the lab open in the process, resulting in many of the creatures escaping.

After this event, Walden tried to keep his composure for the sake of his students, but because he was exposed to the sunlight for too long, the spores began their mutation process, which put great strain on his sanity.

Leafmore Incident

Walden first appears just after the prologue, teaching a biology class which Josh, Shannon and Ashley are attending. He seems to notice the group discussing Kenny and tells Josh to sit down who quickly complies.

He is next seen saving the trio from some monsters by smashing the back window and letting the light kill them. He seems to have been injured, which he acts defensively about while keeping out of the light.

Walden is not seen again until the playable duo are investigating the file storage in the teacher's lounge. He appears more paranoid and confused as he is looking for information on Friedman in a drawer; Ashley and Josh will joke that Friedman's not in a drawer. Walden helps the duo by giving them a key to the auditorium against his better judgement before leaving to continue his search.

He makes his next appearance after the group leaves Friedman's hidden office and have found a map of the underground lab. His mutation seems to be quickly advancing, as he can be seen vomiting spores and his personality has changed completely. He then steals the map and locks the group in the infested library. He then makes his way to the big door where Leonard Friedman is located in hopes of finding a cure for his condition, only to be confronted by Herbert Friedman once the door opens.

Death

Walden confronts Friedman in his lab with a gun, not knowing that the monstrous form of Leonard is watching the exchange. Friedman tries to bring Walden to his senses by expressing sympathy and telling him that the cure isn't guaranteed to work for him due to his exposure to the sun and his current state of mutation. Unfortunately, the former teacher's mind had snapped and despite Friedman's warnings, he shot the headmaster down. Walden then proceeds to take the case containing the incomplete cure, and injects himself with it in the hopes of curing himself. It is unknown if the cure works, because an enraged Leonard impales the teacher on the end of one of his barbed tentacles for shooting his twin, before finally killing him by slamming him hard enough into the ground to shatter his skull, leaving his slumped body by the door to the horror of the surviving group of students, who have just arrived at the scene. In a way, Walden helps the teens by leaving behind some supplies to kill Leonard.

Trivia

• His first name has been circulated as Daniel/Danny/Denny online, however, this is never mentioned in any of the games, nor is his birth date. We don't really know where this fake name came from, but it's likely related to the fan theory that Dan was Walden's son.
• Walden might have been the one who killed nurse Wickson by brutally beating her to death. No monsters could have gotten to her due to the lights having been turned on prior to her death. Plus, Herbert had asked Wickson to engage Walden in conversation, in an attempt to gather more information about what he knows. At this stage, Walden was already in an advanced stage of mutation and had gone insane.
• It is unknown how he was infected, but it was more likely from one of the creatures due to Friedman's desperate attempt to convince him that the cure would not work for him. Friedman also seemed to not know that Walden was infected although he did know that he had been in the lab. It's possible that he wasn't infected when he entered the labs, but instead the day after, perhaps being bit by a Mordeur, as he has a wound in his arm. While the methods of transmission of the Mortifilia in this game aren't exactly known, it's likely that spores could have entered his blood stream through the wound and infected him.

Gallery

Artwork of Walden's death. Interestingly, he doesn't have any blood in the final cutscene. It's possible that it was removed to keep a lower age rating.

Walden, coughing spores after stealing the underground map