Ohh, hi! Looks like my prayers have been answered! Listen, you gotta help me! I was out on the sea with my friends and I crashed my boat! It was awful!... And my friends were all kidnapped... It was pretty bad, yeah... But you can help, right?Bucky at the beginning of the game.
Bucky Beaver is the main protagonist of the 2024 platformer indie horror game Shipwrecked 64. After a bad accident, Bucky and his friends have been scattered across the island of Nulla Terra under the supervision of the wolves who live there, and it's up to Bucky to save the day before time runs out and the volcano erupts.
In-universe, Bucky is the mascot of Broadside Animation, a fictitious multi-media company comparable to Disney. However, the company's shady dealings regarding its mascots have caused Broadside to shut down, once a well-known studio left to rot. If the player so chooses, they can force Bucky off the path of saving his friends and instead learn about the atrocities his owners have done.
When meant to be portrayed by Brandon Lester, he is voiced by WhizWillp0wer. When Bucky is acting entirely on his own, he is voiced by Squeaks D'corgeh.
Appearance
I feel really gross looking at my own reflection. Do I really look like that? I've never felt more discontent.Bucky as he looks at himself in a mirror in a hidden room.
Bucky is an anthropomorphic brown beaver wearing a white and blue sailor outfit. Bucky normally has a cat-like smile with buck teeth, but the smile understandably disappears during certain segments of the game.
Bucky's earliest depiction is far different, being slimmer, taller, and dressed in an orange and blue construction vest, as well as a hat with the same coloration. His fur was darker, he had notable freckles, and his eyes were blank white. This appearance has been dubbed as "Beta Bucky".
In the original legacy demo for Shipwrecked 64, Bucky had a far different appearance. His outfit was heavily simplified, instead just being a set of blue overalls and a blue cap. Bucky also wears white gloves, something not depicted in any of his other variations. Bucky's appearance comes from a scrapped plot point where the character models of the game weren't accurate to the designs of the characters. That being said, this design is used on the in-universe cartridge of the game.
Personality
Bucky is, for the most part, chipper and outgoing, often making. If his reaction upon seeing the player is of any indication, he seems to be quick to make friends. Bucky would do anything to rescue his friends, even if it means trekking through an island and doing everyone else's work, and isn't opposed to braving an active volcano if it means that everyone else on the island gets to live.
That being said, Bucky is not perfect, and is capable of holding grudges. Bucky has a strong distaste for his own creator for the living hell his earlier shorts put the beaver through, giving only a simple "Ugh" when confronted with a photo in his honor, despite Rex having no conceivable way of knowing that Bucky was a living being. Bucky can also grow to hate the player if they decide to go down the true ending of the 1997 version of the game, though in this case, the hatred is far more justified, as doing so means making Bucky abandon his friends and witness a killing spree done by someone in his likeness.
Bucky loathes himself, has major self esteem issues, and has been described as not exactly being mentally sound. Additionally, Bucky is at least passively suicidal, both being terrified of death but also wishing he was "buried too" upon seeing a poster of himself buried alive. Bucky's mental state takes a sharp nosedive as he goes through the monster-filled layers of the island and uncovers various recordings of someone in his skin systematically killing innocents. The guilt and self-hatred increased tenfold, pushing Bucky off the edge and to the point of actually going through with his suicidal urges, a sudden thought that would ultimately land him nowhere in the end.
Biography
Original Conceptualization
Rex Broadside was an early pioneer of the animation industry, making shorts based on his own character, Blot Bunny. However, during a deal between him and an unknown company, Rex failed to fully examine the fineprint and accidentally sold off the rights to Blot.
Devastated and struggling to create something to rival his earliest creation, Rex's life slowly turned for the worst as his life turned to poverty. However, Rex would strike gold yet again after making a new character, allegedly inspired by a waffle his mother gave him one morning. Being reminded of a beaver's tail, Rex would go on to create Bucky Beaver.
Many of Bucky's early shorts weren't the best for the beaver. Whether it be for a fascination of the macabre or utter contempt for a hasty replacement, Rex killed off Bucky by the end of every single one of his shorts, not knowing that his creation would come alive and hate him for it.
Early Animations
As Bucky's design and animations evolved, so too did his lore and world. Bucky was fortunately killed less and less, with other characters taking his stead. However, amidst all the chaos of the animated land he lives in, Bucky was given three friends to rely on: Olive Otter, the cheery and mellow best friend, Giovanni Goose, the high-strung and downright cruel world-renowned chef, and Walter Walrus, a timid but sweet little brother.
According to Room 103, a dubiously canon short story written by Squeaks, Walter was neglected when he was a kid, eventually leading to him wandering away from his home and getting lost. Bucky, seeing Walter, tried calling for help, but as it became clear that no one was looking for Walter, Bucky took the walrus in under his wing as a brother.
Not much information is given regarding most of Bucky's adventures prior to the conceptualization of Shipwrecked, an in-universe licensed game developed by Cogware Games for the now massive Broadside Animations. Through some unknown means however, whether it be through the ingenious coding of Connor Thomas, head of Cogware, through tampering with the Starlings, or anything else, Bucky and the rest of the cast seemed to grow sentient, and the game and all of its inhabitants formed a new world for them to live in.
Shipwrecked 64 (2023)
On one fateful day, Bucky, Giovanni, and Olive were out at sea (specified as a fishing trip in the legacy edition), when a great storm hit. Their plans to get around the storm failed, and the group crashed on the island of Nulla Terra, tearing their boat to pieces in the process. On the island was a group of wolves, with their leader, Chief Wulf, tasking Olive and Giovanni to menial labor for disturbing what little peace the island has left, as a volcano threatens to destroy their lives in five days time. Additionally, Walter decided to rush after the gang, only for him to crash on the island as well.
The last of the group to wake up was Bucky, all his friends already out to deal with their own problems. However, Bucky was not alone, as awakening alongside him was a tiny voice in his head, the player. Bucky, thankful that someone is around to help, lets the player control him on his quest to save his friends.
For each of his three friends, as well as putting his boat back together, Bucky needs to complete a short minigame based on the task each friend needs to complete. For Olive, who was tasked with gathering food, Bucky must scour the map for 30 coconuts during a time limit. For Giovanni, who was tasked with cooking for the wolves, Bucky must make sure that all of the stoves that are running don't catch fire, and must turn them all off before they get to do so. For Walter, who got his boat stuck in the island's dam, Bucky needs to traverse the waterways and avoid moving when the lights go out in order to get the boat back. Finally, Chief Wulf states that the pieces of Bucky's ship ended up in Slumber Woods, where the beastly Hornz resides. All Bucky needs to do then is to avoid getting caught by Hornz and collect the pieces, then Wulf can repair it for the team.
After completing all four minigames, Bucky can either leave the island or continue exploring for the little time the island has left. Choosing to leave has Bucky and his friends depart, leaving the inhabitants of the island to meet a fiery, molten demise. Choosing to stay, however, yields a far more interesting result.
In the town hall, Chief Wulf is gone, and a new character has emerged; Stumbler O'Hare. Although he has no arms anymore, he's been aching to make art for his crush, and needs Bucky's help to refill his ink tanks and keep his easel up. Doing so causes Stumbler to finish his work and leave, allowing someone else to appear.
Near where Stumbler stood is a tall, strangely dressed blue figure simply known as J.D.. The figure, not trusted by anyone on Nulla Terra, has enlisted the help of Bucky to retrieve a barge stashed away on the island, but blocked off by the island's volcano. On the player's behalf, Bucky can opt to brave the smoldering magma, grab the boat, and break it out of the cave it's stuck in. Right before the volcano erupts, Bucky, barge in tow, emerges with the vessel, saving absolutely everyone on the island.
Shipwrecked (1997)
None of this is making any sense... I wanna go back to the island. I wanna go back home!! Is that not why you're playing?! ...Look. We can do this. But. Whatever happens, that's on you. Am I clear? ...Good.Bucky to the player upon reaching Layer 3.
Shipwrecked was originally released in 1997, but was pulled off shelves due to disturbing content found within the game's files. As it turns out, Broadside Animations' owner, Mark Mullins, has had numerous shady dealings before the game's development, from embezzlement to zombifying employees and covering them up.
In order to access the secret content of the 1997 edition, the player has to intentionally force Bucky to fail each and every minigame. From letting the ovens of the island burn down, moving during the dark and getting hooks jabbed into his skin, to being forced to beat one of his friends multiple times just so the game's timer can go down faster, Bucky can only plead for the player to turn back and actually play the game how it was intended. Unbeknownst to him, the game was no longer simply a cheesy platformer, but something else entirely.
Failing each of the minigames "rewards" Bucky and the player with the sight of three murders, those being of the actors Olivia Finch, Nathan Stewart, and Gary Wilson, the voice cast for Bucky's friends. The culprit of these crimes was a man dressed in a Bucky outfit, the voice for Bucky himself, Brandon Lester. Additionally, a new segment of the island, dubbed as its second layer, can be explored, with a third of it opening up for each minigame failed.
Upon going through each character's segment of Layer 2, Bucky is taken to a sort of "hub", each one connecting further into the island's core. Despite Bucky's protests, the player forces him to continue on. Armed with nothing but a candle, Bucky is forced to continue walking down the darkened world before coming across a strange building, a testing room known only as the "Plaza", part of Layer 3. In this place he isn't alone, as monsters that look like his friends roam the labyrinth. In order to progress, Bucky has to find 20 golden monitors and activate them before powering up a different computer with three batteries.
By this point of the game, Bucky has started to hate the player for taking him off the path of helping his friends and instead seeking out whatever mysteries hide under the island's surface. After requesting a small break and noticing that files were downloaded on the player's computer, Bucky's dialogue slowly starts getting phased out.
After completing the tasks in the Plaza, Bucky escapes to the mythical fourth layer of the game, an old tech demo for the game back in 1995. The way forward is blocked off, so Bucky is forced to venture down into the sewers, the place where Brandon makes his home, and the place where Bucky needs to get caught in order to find hidden buttons all across the map, all so the player can get access to a different program named "Codebreaker". Heading to the floor above is an aquarium where a different Dweller, one made of the husk of his own creator, waits. After finding all the codes to proceed, Bucky makes it to the end of the map and finds one last familiar face, the beating heart at the core of the island, before heading back up to the top of Layer 4 where the exit is opened.
Upon reaching the end, Bucky is taken back to an abandoned Layer 1, nothing but the Dwellers are left residing in the land. A new Dweller, known as the Studiogrounds Husk, challenges Bucky and the player to find it ten times if they want to know the truth about absolutely everything. Bucky has to evade the Dwellers before completing his final mission. Upon completion, Bucky is taken to one final room with a giant monitor, showing the whole game was meant to be cancelled after a massive argument between the head of Broadside and the head of Cogware.
At the end of it all, Bucky is taken to the depths of an apartment building, tired and completely drained of any will to go on from everything he saw. There's nothing to do inside, with the only thing visible being the bright light coming from the balcony. With nothing left, Bucky asks the player for one last thing, to "just do it", as he himself has lost control of his body a long time ago. The player, unable to continue on, is forced to oblige. Bucky jumps from the balcony, and he's so high up that there is nothing but fog below him.
Hotel Investigation-09
Hello? Oh, Walter, it's you! I'm so happy to hear it! What happened? What do you mean you don't know where you are? C'mon! You have to give me something at least... Oh, Walter, what are you doing..? Look, I can help you, but you need to give me an exact location, okay? How am I supposed to find you then?! Look, I'll... I'll figure it out. Just give me time, okay? I'll be there, I promise. Okay, just... stay safe, alright? Bye.Bucky to Walter in the waiting room for Hotel Investigation 09.
While Hotel Investigation-09, an ARG follow-up to Shipwrecked 64, has not been released yet, the site's waiting room provides enough information to give a general idea as to what happened.
Bucky's suicide attempt failed, or more accurately, he was brought back after his death yet again. After countless loops of running through the game, a strange new hotel was found on the island. The friend group would check in at the hotel, only for each of them to suddenly disappear. Bucky, all alone, got a call from Walter, trapped in an unknown location, just about as lost and afraid as he was. In a determined bid to find his brother, Bucky set out to go through the hotel. It's up to the future to determine if he's a friend or foe to Howlz, the playable character of the new project.
Quotes
Where are we..? The smell's atrocious... We should leave. We should... save... -yeah! We don't gotta walk back. You can open a menu and hit "respawn" and we'll be on our merry way!Bucky upon reaching Layer 2.
Can you please listen to me? My friends are in danger and you think now is a good time to explore this dump? Hit the respawn button. Use your dam head, idiot.Bucky upon going further into Layer 2.
It's a photo of a man. "This is Rex. Rex was the founder of Broadside Animation. Rest Rex. You've deserved it." Ugh.Bucky upon seeing an image of Rex Broadside in a museum, revealing his thoughts on his creator.
...You're the bane of my existence, friend. Like, really. Really?! You got us thrown in a cell? What is wrong with you? ...Look, two options. Either, we use the respawn button, and go home, or you find a way to break us out. I'm not using my buckteeth to chew through the bars, so don't ask about that.Bucky upon being captured by a Dweller for the first time.
Let it be known, friend, I hate you. Genuinely. Remember when I asked you to take me home? Yeah, that. Whatever happened to that? Why am I even calling you that? You're not my friend, I don't even know you! ...Just keep going. I don't care anymore.Bucky breaking down upon getting out of the prison cell.
Friend? Can we stop for a second? Just.. need to relax.. We can check out the door when you're ready.Bucky after activating all 20 golden monitors in the Plaza.
...I recognize this place. Just keep going. It's safe in here.Bucky upon seeing the island's core.
It's a lovely day today. I could use some fresh air. Please just do it.Bucky in the true ending, forcing the player to kill him.
Trivia
- The game needs Bucky in order to function. The Dwellers can't kill Bucky for this reason, instead opting to throw him in a prison.
- As a beaver, Bucky spells the word "damn" as "dam".
- Should the player forcibly skip through Walter's dialogue, he calls Bucky "inconsiderate", though there's a chance that the dialogue isn't meant to be towards Bucky, but rather Connor Thomas using Walter to call out Mark Mullins.
- According to an interview with Squeaks D'corgeh hosted by underratedgrapejuice, Bucky's differing views on Giovanni and Rex come from how they present themselves. Rex, Bucky's creator, was someone who was proud of his success and many of the things he did in life, even if it came at the cost of Bucky suffering. Conversely, Giovanni is at least upfront about how cruel he is, and that quality is something Bucky can at least tolerate.
External Links
- Bucky Beaver on the Broadside Beach Wiki