Theo Walterson

Name: Theophilus “Theo” Walterson

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: Senior

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: Reading (especially in 19th century literature), anti-bullying, gardening (especially vegetable gardening)

Appearance: Theophilus is a 5'4" Caucasian male. He is relatively short, and combined with his thinness he cuts a very small figure. He has very pale, light blond hair, which he keeps short and tidy. He has a round face, with thin lips, somewhat thin eyebrows, blue eyes, and a pudgy nose. He generally dresses in either light pastel clothing or plain clothes, favoring simple, plainly textured pants and either t-shirts or polo shirts. On the day of the abduction, he was wearing a plain black shirt, matte grey pants, and slightly dusty white rubber shoes.

Biography: Theophilus “Theo” Walterson was born on the 12th of February in the year of 2000. His parents, Laurence and Evangeline Walterson, had moved away from New York City after the beginning of Evangeline’s pregnancy, to provide a more peaceful environment for their child, as well as move closer to his mother’s family, who had long resided in the city. Their unswerving devotion to their son remained a defining trait of their familial relationship. From the day of Theo’s birth, his parents did everything they could to provide for their child. Although his father, a law professor who now lectures at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was often too busy teaching lectures and studying case law, his mother, a successful romantic novelist, always had time for her son. They lived a busy social life, constantly hosting small dinners of 2-5 friends to discuss legal philosophy, literature, and the fine arts.

Theo, however, was a quiet and above all reserved child. Despite a comfortable childhood in a two-bedroom home in Frazier’s Glen and a never ending series of arranged playdates and other social activities, he remained shy. Although certainly curious, Theo always seemed more interested in the physical world around him than the social environments into which he was placed. Thinking that this was simply a natural childhood curiosity, his parents expressed little concern about Theo’s aloofness, even as he was brought into kindergarten.

When Theo graduated into elementary school, however, his mother, who had always been a social butterfly herself, began to grow increasingly concerned. Having noted her son’s lack of interest in social interaction, she decided to take a more proactive approach to her son’s social life. At first, Evangeline introduced him to the children of her various friends throughout the neighbourhood. Watching him however, she noticed his interests in the book collections of her various friends and realized that literature could be a way to get him to connect.

Theo proved to be an excellent writer, and his skill rapidly improved under the guidance of his mother and his father’s more literarily minded friends. Encouraged by his mother, Theo threw his energy into writing, and had, by the age of 10, produced several poems he felt satisfied with. Laurence and Evangeline, delighted by their son’s work, decided to show the poems to their various acquaintances throughout the neighborhood. Although Theo made a point of sitting elsewhere when his attempts at poetry and short stories were discussed, he was privately pleased by his success.

This continued happily for a time, until one of the parents, after roundly praising various technical aspects of the work, suggested that one of the poems felt “a bit stilted” at times, comparing his poetry negatively to his own mother’s early works. Theo, who had been eavesdropping in the next room, was deeply humiliated, shocked by what he saw as an intensely cruel act of betrayal, and a sign of the unforgiving nature of society. After this, he quietly asked his parents cease the presentations. Increasingly, he also began to notice that others had a tendency to notice his mistakes, but only try to tell him indirectly, something he saw as both dishonest and intentionally deceptive. Not realizing the depth of his emotion, his parents acquiesced.

It was only later, when he was twelve, and Theo continued to resist all attempts at making any of his writings public, that they realized that something had gone wrong. To this day, they remain unaware of the specific incident that initiated this. His mother tried to explain the need for some criticism and the need to consider the audience, but by this point, Theo had become convinced that his parents were simply trying to make him feel better rather than being honest. His mother still tries to encourage Theo to be more open with his work, but she increasingly realizes that Theo’s determination to keep things private makes her success unlikely. She has instead decided to assist Theo in improving his own work by offering general rules to allow him to find flaws in his work without outside interference. His mother has also encouraged him to read authors and poets from other periods, especially the Impressionists and Romanticists of the 19th century, to allow him to get a feel for the emotional depth and complexity of literature, in the hopes of guiding him indirectly to a more refined style of writing.

Another consequence of this incident was Theo’s decision to further remove himself from school society, as he increasingly saw others’ attempts to work with him or try new things, especially in group projects, as them imposing themselves on him. Although he had never been particularly close to any of his classmates, he became increasingly disinterested in even basic social interactions with them, quickly leaving classes and eating his lunches in private corners to avoid being watched. In order to prevent his parents from noticing and suggesting any more unwanted “social opportunities”, however, Theo joined the Gardening Club. Despite their desire for him to try and be more outgoing, he insisted on joining a club that would allow him to pursue most activities in the family yard rather than needing to be in school all the time. After joining, he developed fairly amicable, if distant, relationships with the rest of the members, which he retains to this day. He has developed an especial interest in raising vegetables, feeling empowered by his nourishment of and care for a partial environment.

He has also, rather reluctantly, tried to assist the anti-bullying club by privately reporting his concerns, although he remains too private to actually join such a large club. He makes a persistent effort to highlight bullying throughout the school to its members, hoping to prevent further incidents like the one that made him feel such deep sorrow. His lack of faith in the authority of the anti-bullying group to help others has made him extremely bitter towards bullies of all kinds, and his social isolation has made him unable to confide his anger to friends. Theo’s only way of dealing with this, currently, is occasional expressions of frustration with school life at home, which he often downplays to avoid further suggestions of action from his parents. That being said, his dislike for them remains strictly limited to the personal and private spheres, as he is aware that any public attempts to challenge the school’s bullies would bring very much unwanted attention towards him. Although he has found the recent election of Wyatt Carter to the post of anti-bullying club president deeply infuriating, he has made no public comments on it, despite his growing resentment at what he sees as a lack of seriousness and empathy on behalf of the student body.

This trend of isolation, with the bare minimum of social interaction needed to satisfy his parents’ desires, continued into high school. As much as possible, Theo keeps his relationships polite but distant. Although able to show some social graces as a result of observing his parents, he tries to steer conversations in such a way as to prevent other parties from becoming interested in talking further. This, along with his plain attire and unassuming demeanor, has served to turn Theo into someone people are aware of but indifferent to.

Theo generally gets As in most subjects, although he tends to get Bs in theoretically scientific subjects such as mathematics and physics. He continues to produce quality works of writing, which have received some attention from his teachers. He hopes to study literature at university, and is currently waiting to hear from Amherst College his top choice. He hopes to become a literary critic or professor in the future, as such jobs are unlikely to require him to actually publish (and publicize) any works of his own, while allowing him to critique other works with a politeness he felt was sorely lacking in critiques of his work, and has very reluctantly acknowledged the need to write publicly available critiques and works if he wishes to succeed in the future. At the advice of his parents he has begun to practice writing essays on what he feels are the most notable trends of today, although the prospect of having to share this with others for consideration continues to intimidate him. He does very poorly in PE, however, as private study and the occasional session of light garden work are not particularly conducive to the development of physical strength.

Politically, Theo is non-aligned, disliking both parties for their aggressive partisanship and what he sees as a lack of support for cultural programs. He mostly avoids political discussions and debates, and is indifferent to most of the events in the governmental sphere.

Advantages: Theo’s interest in vegetable gardening could give him an advantage in the case he finds any edible plants on the island. Moreover, his lack of a reputation means that others are less likely to target him, or notice him if he needs to be discreet. Should he encounter anyone from the gardening club, he may also be able to reach a rapport with them quickly enough to form an alliance.

Disadvantages: This indifference, however, could also lead people to ignore him when seeking allies, as fellow students are unlikely to trust someone they know very little about. His dislike for criticism and social interaction makes it likely that he might interpret suggestions from allies negatively, perhaps even breaking ties as a result. His short stature is also a hindrance, preventing him from running long distances quickly or holding his own in fights. Theo is not very brave, and may have difficulty mustering up the courage to kill someone, even in self-defence.

Designated Number: Male Student No. 74

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Designated Weapon: Color Guard rifle

Conclusion: Gardeners have an interesting track record, so I'd say try snapping quickly and keeping things interesting, but man. I just can't get behind a guy named Theophilus as any sort of credible threat. Also the unconvincing fake gun, but man. - Josh Baines

'The above biography is as written by Jan de Wit. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Jan de Wit

Kills: 

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Collected Weapons: Color Guard rifle (assigned weapon)

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Memorable Quotes:

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Theo, in chronological order.

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