Tym is a supporting character in The Lost Frontier. He is first introduced as an eccentric marooned on Brink Island who is struck with both amnesia and dementia, incapable of remembering even his own name, thus going by the nickname Castaway. He is later revealed to be the sage of dark eco and former chief scientist of the Aeropan Dark Warrior Program.
History[]
Before The Lost Frontier[]
At some point in his life, Tym developed an interest in dark eco, ultimately becoming a full-fledged sage. He was also a talented mechanic and scientist, likely serving his presumable home of Aeropa with such capabilities. He was eventually appointed the chief scientist of Aeropa's Dark Warrior Program, building the Aeropan barracks and successfully completing the program.
When Phoenix rebelled against the Aeropans, after discovering the nature of the program, he kidnapped Tym hoping to hide his work from the Aeropans. He marooned him on Brink Island, and in the scuffle Tym took a blow to the head, causing him to lose his memory. However, Tym's position on the ethics of the program was similar to that of Phoenix', as he had actually begun developing robots to try to take back the barracks by force. While on the island, his robots went haywire and became hostile, causing Tym to barricade himself with laser barriers surrounding his ramshackle treehouse.
With self-refined jet fuel, Tym once attempted to get off the island by building the Jaguar. The faulty fuel required him to scuttle the plane, however, leaving it in pieces scattered around the Brink.[1]
The Lost Frontier[]
Tym began declining into dementia, on top of his amnesia, which only got worse as he eventually forgot his own name. Upon meeting Jak and Daxter, he could not answer any personal questions, despite "knowing a lot". However, he still seemed to be attuned to dark eco, as he was able to tell Jak had "been touched by the darkness".[2] Despite his crazed and eccentric nature, Jak accepted his help with his crashed Hellcat, which the Castaway, as he was then known, had surprisingly already surveyed. The Castaway said that he needed a velonium power pod to finish repairing the Hellcat, but that there was only one on the whole island, belonging to the very dangerous Uber-Bot 888. Jak promptly agreed to confront the robot.
When Jak needed to land on Brink Island and search the volcano for the eco seeker, he used the Castaway's hangar in front of his treehouse. While Jak was in the volcano, the Castaway stowed away on Jak's airship as a means of getting off the island, so Jak took him aboard Phoenix' ship, the Phantom Blade.
Once on board, the Castaway did not recognize Phoenix, and when asked if he knew who he himself was, he responded with a simple "Nope!"[3] Despite Jak's impression that the Castaway could help with the eco seeker, he first refused, saying it was trouble he had been trying to avoid. However, Keira convinced him to try, at which point he noted that she was the prettiest face he had seen in a long time (though he still maintained the device was nothing but trouble).[3] The Castaway was able to recall his mechanical expertise to activate the seeker, revealing that it still needed coordinate "rune" spheres to operate.
Later in the game, the crew discovered one of the coordinate spheres lied inside the Aeropan barracks. However, the barracks was locked up, and Keira's efforts to unlock it were futile as it had a defense mechanism against her special device. The Castaway was peculiarly able to simply walk up to it, enter a pass code, and unlock the facility. Once they regrouped inside, the barracks caused memories to flood back to the Castaway (explaining his knowledge of the pass code). It is at this point that he reveals his past to Jak and Keira, and that Phoenix reveals his part in marooning him on the island, as well as his past with the Aeropans.[4]
Tym celebrating with Jak at the eco core.
The Castaway later recalled a transport gate he built for the Aeropans, which connects to Aeropa itself. However this time, while he remembered it needed an activation code, he was unable to recall it, though it was soon given to them by a "secret admirer" later revealed to be Chancellor Ruskin. At the end of the game, the Castaway helped Keira decode some of the symbols at the eco core, and noted on her developing sage abilities. At this point he was finally able to recall his name, saying, "They called me... Tym."[5][a]
After completing the game and replaying it, Tym will give Jak instructions concerning the aforementioned Jaguar airship, and offered to repair her should he collect all the pieces.[1]
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Concept art of the Castaway.
Tym is a frail, elderly man with a balding head, messy hair in the back, and a very long, pointed beard. He dons various mechanical apparatuses, including thick multi-lense goggles, a large glove on his left hand with metallic fingertips connected to tubes leading to his wrist, and a thick blue utility belt. His clothes are otherwise very tattered, with a simple sleeveless brown shirt and home-stitched pants.
Personality[]
Tym is a very eccentric character, related to his dementia, more often than not laughing manically to accompany his sentences and being very brief in interpersonal conversation. However, he did notably retain fragments of his former self, especially when interacting with Keira, or when he would recover his memory, or when dealing with what he perceived to be dangerous. This personality shift often saw a more compassionate and level-headed Tym, though he never sustained this state of mind for very long.
Behind the scenes[]
Leaked pre-production video #1.
An early version of Tym was featured in a leaked pre-production video of The Lost Frontier. In the video, he requires a "triflux component" instead of the velonium power pod, and instead of being eager to get off the island, he refused to do so after being offered to by Jak (saying he had inventions to tend to and that it was dangerous out in the wild). He also noted that he was confused as to why the programming of his robots kept going haywire, as, after all, he used his own brain as a model.
Notes[]
- ↑ This specific line is a nod to Monty Python and the Holy Grail's character, "Tim the Enchanter".