Leslie Withers

Appearance

Leslie is a 25-year-old man with extremely pale skin and white hair, possibly the result of albinism. He has dark purple markings around his grey eyes, a possible consequence of sleep deprivation or insomnia. One of his front teeth is chipped and he shows clear signs of neglect by his caretakers, such as bruise-like stains around one of his eyes and the fact that he is barefoot. He is 172 cm tall and weighs 51 kg.

History

Leslie Withers is a supporting and crucial character in the plot of The Evil Within , The Assignment , and The Consequence . He is a mentally disabled patient under the care of Dr. Marcelo Jimenez and is a subject of the STEM program. Leslie had a normal childhood and was raised like any other child until one day his family was murdered in front of him, which "snapped" something in the boy's mind and sent him into a state of catatonic delirium. Leslie seems to live in denial about what happened to his family and dreams of the day he will be reunited with them, thinking he will take a train back home. As a patient at Beacon Psychiatric Hospital, Leslie underwent "treatments" that included constant experimentation. These experiments have made him extremely distrustful of people.

Personality

Leslie is generally seen as a very fearful person who is easily overwhelmed by his surroundings, and is prone to hysterical fits when presented with a trigger, whether visual or auditory. He has a tendency to repeat the last words spoken to him by anyone around him and appears to be very confused, if not disconnected from his surroundings, probably living in a world of his own. Despite his unstable mentality, Leslie is almost childlike and quickly develops a sense of trust in those who are kind and protective towards him; the "people" here are mainly Juli Kidman and Sebastian Castellanos who often hide behind them and help them when needed. Leslie appears to be aware of Ruvik and largely fearful of him, panicking when he is near. He views Ruvik as a hostile entity, as seen when he uses Kidman's gun to shoot Ruvik's manifestation in The Consequence. Despite this, he is seemingly conditioned to head towards the "source" at all costs, whether he realizes it or not, and increasingly breaks down the closer he is to Ruvik, and exhibits increasingly bizarre behavior as he arrives at Beacon. Leslie Withers is an INFP: introverted, intuitive, sensitive and perceptive. Leslie Withers is not materialistic, he is authentic, individualistic and does not want to lead or follow. He is loyal, responsible and hard-working, often anxious and seeking security and support. These traits shape his worldview and behaviour patterns and influence how he faces challenges, connects with others and pursues his goals. Their basic fear is that they will not have support or guidance, which leads them to avoid certain situations or behaviors that trigger this fear. Their central desire is to have security and inner support, which will guide their aspirations and actions toward fulfillment. This dynamic between fear and desire often shapes their life decisions and their developmental path.

Mindset

According to Ruvik's assessment, Leslie was found to have delays in psychological development and problems with communication, social cognition and repetitive behaviours. These gestures and traits are in line with those of autism or Asperger's syndrome. Further testing also revealed signs of synaesthesia and an increased susceptibility to external stimuli and an adaptability to patterns that were passed down through her family genes. Leslie shows signs of mental trauma and possibly an anxiety disorder, often wandering around mumbling to himself and paying little attention to those around him, though with a little coaxing he might learn to trust those who seem like father figures, such as Juli or Sebastian. Leslie has always compensated for his difficulty communicating by unconsciously emulating the thoughts of others. However, with the proper stimulation, Leslie would be instantly and painfully weakened, unable to do anything and reduced to a fit of agony that would lead to him screaming. In these cases, there is usually a Ruvik presence nearby that can be destroyed to calm him down, though this is not always the case. Despite this, however, Leslie seems "programmed" to involuntarily head to Beacon Mental Hospital, and by extension, Ruvik himself. While it is known that his mental disorders are hereditary and that he reached a very unstable state after witnessing the murder of his family, it is unknown if this was like his in-game disposition in the first place, or if his mentality was further harmed by the experiments done on him. Considering the nature of Ruvik's STEM and the fact that a more lucid version of him can be heard speaking in a flashback, the latter case seems to be more believable. The more exasperated her mindset is, the higher pitched her voice becomes, as her past self sounded much closer to her age.

The Evil Within

Leslie is first seen sitting in the back of an ambulance with Dr. Jimenez and Juli Kidman, panicking over the eventful ride and Dr. Jimenez trying to comfort him. He seems to know they are going to drive off a cliff, and when they crash, he and the others scatter. For most of the game, Leslie is only seen for a few seconds or a few minutes after Sebastian, Kidman, or Dr. Jimenez find him before he freaks out and runs off again, though it is unknown how he manages to survive alone, unarmed. Though it is possible that he was guided by Ruvik. There is also a short scene where Joseph and Sebastian watch Kidman guiding Leslie to the Cedar Hill church. At one point, Sebastian is locked in a room after becoming infected and attacking Kidman. A few seconds after she leaves, Leslie is heard repeating "Open it" over and over as she tries to open the door to Sebastian's prison. As soon as the door is open enough, Leslie starts screaming for help and leaves again, apparently knowing that there are enemies nearby. Dr. Jimenez is the one who mentions Leslie's special connection to Ruvik, who is the only one who survived being bonded to him, so Dr. Jimenez attempts to use him to find his way back (which seems to cause Leslie extreme pain), only to fail, but gaining the attention of Ruvik, who sends his Amalgam Alpha monster after Leslie, killing Dr. Jimenez in the process. Leslie and Sebastian are separated once again due to the beast. Leslie is later seen with Kidman, who, knowing that Ruvik is after him, attempts to shoot him and in doing so destroys Ruvik, but is confronted by Sebastian, who defends Leslie. Kidman attempts to shoot Leslie, but accidentally hits Joseph. Leslie is again seen attempting to take Sebastian somewhere, but is once again separated from him by Ruvik and later reunites with Seb in the engine room.

Relations

Julie Kidman In the DLC, Mobius tasks Kidman with finding Leslie and removing him from the system to use as a replacement for Ruvik's brain, as Leslie is docile and easy to manipulate. However, when she realizes that he is the only way for Ruvik to escape STEM, Kidman attempts to shoot Leslie twice, once at the church and once at the park. At the park, she realizes that it is not her fault and that she is innocent and apologizes to him before she is stopped by Sebastian, who is unaware of Ruvik's intentions. Kidman ultimately fails in her mission to either remove Leslie from the system or kill him to prevent Ruvik from escaping. Sebastian Castellanos Leslie sees Sebastian as someone she can trust, as does Kidman. In Chapter 15, Leslie hides behind Sebastian to protect herself from Kidman, who was trying to kill him to stop Ruvik from escaping. Leslie has been shown to help Sebastian in certain situations. In Chapter 11, Sebastian is locked in a room by Kidman and Leslie helps Sebastian out through the other door by pushing away the debris that was blocking it. Marcelo Jimenez Marcelo Jimenez was Leslie's second doctor. He took over the responsibility of caring for Leslie at an unknown time. Leslie seems to distrust him, though it is clear that she has some sort of attachment to him, given that she doesn't have much human contact. He is sometimes seen panicking when he is around and prefers Sebastian's company over his own. Marcelo has no qualms about using Leslie to prevent Ruvik from escaping. Ruvik Ruvik seems to share some sort of twisted empathy with Leslie, due to both of them having been damaged by the loss of loved ones. While Leslie clearly fears him due to his imposing powers and demeanor, Ruvik doesn't seem to actively want to harm him, due to the compatibility of their minds, and seemingly "programs" him to actively seek him out to fuse with.