| Gristol Malik |
–Gristol Malik
Gristol Malik, also known as Nick Johnsmith, is the son of former Gzar Theodore Malik and apparent heir to the throne of Grulovia. He is currently under observation in Psychoisolation at the Psychonauts headquarters.
Appearance[]
Gristol has lavender-pink skin and brown eyes. He has brown hair with bushy matching sideburns and is balding. His stomach is notably very round in comparison to his thin chest and limbs.
As the Gzesarevich, Gristol's regalia included a sizeable crown that looked like a combination of a Fabergé egg and a candelabra. The version of himself that resides in his mind wears the far larger Gzar's crown, as he already considers himself the rightful occupant of the throne. The version inside his mind is also noticeably thinner.
Personality[]
Gristol is a Grulovian nationalist to an extreme degree. He is also a narcissist with Peter Pan Syndrome[2]. He is egotistical and cunning, stopping at nothing to obtain things he thinks are rightfully his. Having been raised in the lap of luxury, he is also tremendously childish, displaying only a basic understanding of lower-class people's worries and no interest in thinking about such matters. However, Gristol is not entirely out of touch with reality, and he is at the very least a decent enough actor, having been able to fool all of the Psychonauts into accepting and even genuinely liking him as he played the role of senior mailroom clerk, Nick Johnsmith. He was also able to credibly impersonate Truman Zanotto in front of Truman's daughter Lili for at least a little while. Only Truman himself seemed to dislike Nick, describing him as an "obsequious little lickspittle". He is also shown to be a terrible singer, as evident by his off-key singing when singing the song that plays within “Fatherland Follies”.
Etymology[]
The name "Gristol" is likely a reference to the fictional island of Gristol, a part of the Empire of the Isles in the Dishonoured video game series. Gristol's last name "Malik" is an Arabic name meaning king or lord, a reference to his royal lineage.
Story[]
Background[]
Gristol Malik was the son of Gzar Theodore and Gzarina Rokel Malik, legally making him the crown prince or "Gzesarevich" of Grulovia. As a child, he lived a life of luxury, and spent most of his time eating caviar, riding horses, and giving presentations that also revolved around caviar. Gristol was largely unaware of the volatile political climate in the country he was meant to one day inherit, or the woes of its inhabitants. During the Grulovian War, Gristol at one point found himself under attack while out on one of his horse rides. Luckily for him, the young Gzesarevich was rescued by Lucrecia Mux, a Grulovian psychic specialized in hydrokinesis, who had returned to help protect the country. Lucrecia summoned a wave and washed the invaders away, which won her great favor with the public and the Royal family, and she was made Grulovia's new general of war.
Lucrecia was able to quickly turn the tides of battle, as Gristol continued his life in blissful ignorance. Once the war was over, he was entirely uninterested in the public's subsequent protests for equality. Even when a terrible flood caused the death of hundreds of protesters, Gristol was not particularly concerned. After Lucrecia spiraled into the genocidal monster known as Maligula, Theodore and Rokel told Gristol that they had to leave Grulovia, and they fled in a carriage, despite Gristol's protests.
The Grulovian Royal family ended up homeless, though still in possession of considerable riches, and ended up checking in to a very luxurious suite at the Lady Luctopus Casino. Gristol later learned that Grulovia was gone, drowned beneath a lake, and that Maligula had been killed by a group that was later named the Psychonauts. Assuming that it was the Psychonauts that flooded Grulovia, Gristol was confused why his father didn't help Maligula in her time of need.
Eventually, Gristol's personal stash of Grulovian caviar ran out, and he burst into tears. Only at this point, Gristol became aware of his situation, and he began to resent the circumstances that brought him here, assuming the reason why they abandoned Maligula was because his father was a weakling who was too afraid to fight for himself. Gristol swore vengeance on the Psychonauts, particularly Ford Cruller, who he personally blamed for the nation's downfall, and picked up books on Necromancy in hopes of learning how to revive Maligula back from the dead.
Years later, Theodore became ill and bedridden. Before he died, the former Gzar confided in Gristol that Maligula was still alive. Gristol became obsessed with the idea of finding Maligula and using her to restore Grulovia to (at least what he perceived as) its former glory. However, it wasn't for noble reasons, it was so he could become Grulovia's "savior" and outshine his father as revenge for ruining his life, and so he could reclaim the life of luxury he felt he deserved.
Convinced that the Psychonauts had Maligula captured, Gristol managed to track down Ford Cruller at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp to try and interrogate him about her whereabouts. However, Gristol discovered that Ford was not the man he used to be and could not get any useful information out of the old Psychonaut. Gristol simply assumed he had most likely snapped due to his guilt over Grulovia's downfall, and proceeded to set his sights on the rest of the Psychonauts.
Gristol took on the alias of "Nick Johnsmith" and eventually became a senior mailroom clerk at the Psychonauts' headquarters, the Motherlobe, while he lived in a luxurious room at the Lady Luctopus Casino, plotting his next move. Nick became genuinely well-liked by everyone in the organization, except their leader, Grand Head Truman Zanotto, who found his behavior to be excessively nice. Having access to the Psychonauts headquarters, Gristol eventually came up with a complex plan that involved swapping Truman's brains with his own so Gristol could access the Psychonauts' secrets and find a way to resurrect Maligula.
Needing help to complete his task, he went to Thorney Towers to recruit Dr. Caligosto Loboto, and gave him the location of an old abandoned Psychonauts outpost in the Rhombus of Ruin, Charlie Psycho Delta, to use as a base of operations. Sometime later, Gristol kidnapped Truman Zanotto and brought him to Charlie Psycho Delta, ordering Loboto to swap Truman's brain with his own. Before the procedure, Gristol hypnotically implanted the idea into Loboto's head not to tell anyone about his identity or else he'd send Maligula after him.
During the procedure, Gristol's de-brained body was shipped back to Truman's office at the Motherlobe to await his return. With practice, he readied himself mentally to play-act as the Grand Head of the Psychonauts. He handcuffed the lockbox holding Truman's unconscious brain to his wrist, then locked himself in a psilirium-lined cranial prison to await "rescue".
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin[]
True to his plan, a group of Psychonauts came to rescue Truman, including Truman's daughter Lili and her boyfriend Razputin Aquato, a new recruit he had not accounted.
As he expected, the Psychonauts attributed their inability to contact "Truman" along with his inability to use psychic abilities to psilirium poisoning. They "rescued" Gristol (in Truman's body), returning him to the Motherlobe.
On the flight back, Lili explained to him that Raz was her boyfriend, to which he reacted with shock. As this was not something he had planned for, and he did not know how the real Truman would react to being told this by his daughter, Gristol feigned going into a coma for the rest of the trip.
Psychonauts 2[]
Shortly after "Truman's" return to the Motherlobe, Razputin - who had been assigned as intern to "Nick Johnsmith" in the mail room - discovered Gristol's brainless body in a package, which Gristol mailed to himself (that is, to Truman) for safekeeping. On his body, they found the key to Gristol's suite at the casino. By now, the Psychonauts were aware of a mole in the organization. Thinking fast to avoid compromising his plan, Gristol - who was still inhabiting Truman's body - continued his comatose act even as Lili tried to nurse her father back to health. Her psychic plants - which should have thrived within range of a powerful psychic like Truman - wilted in the presence of Gristol's non-psychic mind. Lili blamed this on his psilirium poisoning.
Once Gristol was alone with Razputin, he tasked the boy with finding and summoning Ford Cruller. Knowing that Ford was still not of sound mind, Gristol commanded Raz to repair his mind. Once Ford was "repaired", Gristol would be able to learn the whereabouts of Maligula and bring her back. In the meantime, Raz inserted the brain of "Heptadome Harry" into Gristol's body as part of his quest to reach and repair all of the separate pieces of Ford's mind.
That night, Norma came to "Truman" to tell him what she found out during her attempt to locate the mole in the organization, and Gristol dispenses with his act and springs into action. Acting on her story, he stashes Truman's brain somewhere in the Motherlobe and proceeds to Green Needle Gulch, Lili close behind him and more suspicious than ever of his behavior. He found Raz and Ford in the Heptadome, where the duo had started up the Astralathe and ventured into Lucrecia Mux's mind to attempt to seal away Maligula for good. Shocked, Gristol recognized the old woman as Maligula. Just as Ford and Raz were about to face off with the genocidal being, Gristol snapped Raz back to the real world using smelling salts. He was also surprised to see his own body - now occupied by the mind of Helmut Fullbear - also present, but decided to focus on freeing Lucrecia from the machine. Lili then appeared, and as "Truman" was transfixed by the sight of his objective within his grasp, she and Raz realized that he was acting strangely. They decide to enter his mind and see for themselves if something was wrong.
Inside "Truman's mind", a large stone bust of Truman surrounded by disguises clued that something was not right, as Lili was certain her father was not this self-centered. When Raz broke open the bust, he found a gold bust of "Nick Johnsmith" inside, and they both realized the truth; they were in "Nick's" mind. They journeyed deeper into Gristol's subconscious and learned that "Nick" was actually Gristol Malik, the prince of Grulovia. With Lili's help, Raz made his way through Fatherland Follies, Gristol's propaganda-filled amusement park ride-themed mind, to find out more. Eventually, realizing the children were trying to foil his plans, Gristol briefly trapped Razputin in the gift shop. Raz was rescued by Lili, who beat Gristol with a metal plush doll.
Having learned the truth, they left his mind, but were quickly confronted by the Psychonauts. By now, they had figured out the mole was "Nick Johnsmith". Raz and Lili try to explain that "Nick" was really Gristol, and that his brain was in Truman's body, but the agents do not readily believe them. After the children escaped to find Truman's brain, Ford and the rest of the Psychic Six were thrown out of Lucrecia's mind, and Maligula awakened once again. Seeing "Gristol" (Helmut), she expressed her lasting fury against Gristol's father. Gristol - still in Truman's body - revealed himself and bowed before her, pledging undying loyalty to her in an attempt to recruit her for his mission to restore Grulovia. He did not get through to her at all, and, overwhelmed by all the familiar faces, Lucrecia conjured up a vortex to drown everyone present. After Raz and the other interns defeated her and restored Lucrecia Mux to her own mind, the Psychonauts locked Gristol away in the Psychoisolation facility that previously housed Compton Boole.
Gristol will supposedly be given therapy by Sasha Nein, though several characters comment on the possibly experimental nature of this treatment. While in the chamber, he still loudly sings the song that played in the ride inside his mind. Raz can speak to him to try and convince him that his point of view is completely warped, but Gristol is not receptive to his words at all, though he does express bitter disappointment at the fact that he did not get through to Maligula. He also admits to having been wrong about a lot of things, but refuses to apologize, believing that he could make everything all right if he were Gzar, which would mean never having to apologize. However, the mental version of Gristol that can still be found in Fatherland Follies is more contemplative, seemingly showing at least a hint of what may become actual self-reflection in the future, but he has begun to wonder: “if Maligula truly was a monster, then why did [his] father elect her in the first place?”, and he also muses that he would never let that happen if he were Gzar.
Relationships[]
Ford Cruller[]
Gristol resents Ford Cruller. He believes that Ford was responsible for the flash flood that damaged Grulovia. He thinks Ford is a monster, however a broken and incompetent one.
Gzar Theodore Malik[]
Theodore was Gristol's father, but neither is shown to care about the other at all. In fact, as soon as Gristol is slightly inconvenienced by the Maliks' flight from Grulovia, he begins to resent his father for giving up the throne. In the song that plays on the Fatherland Follies ride, Theodore is at one point outright described as "a dope".
Gzarina Rokel Malik[]
Rokel is Gristol's mother. Not much is known of their relationship: in Fatherland Follies, Gristol seems to be entirely indifferent towards his mother, as nothing about her is mentioned at all beyond her role in his "tragic backstory". Her status is also currently unknown.
Lucrecia Mux[]
While Lucrecia seemed to have simply saved Gristol's life as a child because it was the right thing to do, he believes that this was an act of total devotion, and that she would be willing to do his bidding if pandered to. Gristol at least wants to show "High Priestess" Maligula respect, bowing to her when they met again and calling himself her servant. That said, the Lucrecia dolls in his mind make it obvious that she is most likely just another pawn to him. Maligula, meanwhile, makes it clear that she is in reality only interested in the "little Gzesarevich" to see him pay for his father's sins.
Razputin Aquato[]
Gristol considers Razputin a mere puppet in his cunning scheme, as a part of Fatherland Follies literally shows as much. Raz is at least native to Grulovia, however, and is therefore allowed on the ride in his mind. In fact, the inner Gristol sees Raz as a fellow royal when Clairvoyance is used on him, and is willing to share some caviar with the child. Perhaps this means he bears no particular resentment to Raz, or perhaps he simply mistook Raz for another version of himself, as normally no-one except Gristol would be allowed on the Fatherland Follies ride.
Lori[]
At the start of the game, she worries about Nick and hopes he's okay. She wonders how he could have left everything like this since he's usually so organized. She thinks about telling someone but doesn't want to get Nick in trouble. At the end of the game, even knowing that Nick turned evil, she states that he at least kept the mail sorted. The way she talks about him implies that they were more than just colleagues and possibly friends.
Trivia[]
- Gristol/Nick is voiced by Elijah Wood, an actor most known for playing Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Wood also voiced Shay, one of the main characters in Broken Age, another game by Double Fine Productions.
- His title, "Gzesarevich", is a pseudo-Russo patronymic that means "son of the Gzar". As the Gzar is the Grulovian equivalent of a king or emperor, the title is equivalent to "prince".
- Due to having had his brain inserted into Truman's body, Gristol is occasionally referred to as "Gruman" in the game's filename system, a combination of the names "Truman" and "Gristol".
- When Raz uses Clairvoyance on Nick Johnsmith's body, he is seen as a fellow mail clerk. When he targets Gristol, or "Gruman", he is seen as a Grulovian peasant. The mental Gristol in Fatherland Follies, however, recognizes Raz as a countryman, and sees him as a fellow Grulovian royal.
- Gristol had freckles as a kid.
- Gristol loves cotton candy and considered the cotton candy machine in his childhood bedroom to be evidence of the prosperity of his entire country.
- Gristol is the only Delugionist who is explicitly named.
- Gristol's use of the phrase "Glory to Grulovia!", both in in-game dialogue and as the title of one of his Memory Vaults, may be a reference to the memetic phrase "Glory to Arstotzka." from the immigration simulator Papers, Please.
- In Cruller's Correspondence, a memory can at one point be heard that includes a young Gristol's voice. He is heard yelling, "I don't wanna go!", evidently annoyed to be forced to evacuate the country during Maligula's rampage.
- Also in Cruller's Correspondence, the stamp bearing Gzesarevich Gristol's likeness is worth 30₵—the highest price, beating the Gzar Theodore stamp, which is worth only 20₵.
- Frank, one of the Motherlobe's janitors, can be overheard saying he found a stash of caviar in the vents "again". Most likely, this was Gristol's doing as Nick Johnsmith.
- Gristol is the first, and so far only, main villain who isn't a psychic.
- Gristol's mind, according to Tim Schafer in an interview with TheGamer, came about as a combination of several ideas that came up during early development, including the idea to explore the mind of a narcissist, and of a person with Peter Pan syndrome.[3]
- His caviar, inside of his room in the Lady Luctopus Casino, is called "Little Prince Caviar".
- On September 30, 2022, DoubleFine posted a tweet saying "My name is Gristol Malik. I’m 33 years old. My house is in the northeast section of Grulovia, where all the villas are, and I am not married. I’m in bed by 11 PM, and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. After having a glass of warm milk and doing about twenty m".[4] DoubleFine, though, clarified it is not canon.[5]
- Strangely, even though Gristol normally speaks with an American accent, he talks in a European accent when revealing himself to Maligula.
- It is never mentioned how Gristol entered and left the Motherlobe. The only way to enter the building seems to be the tube that psychics with the Levitation ability can use. However, Gristol isn't psychic and therefore cannot levitate.
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See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Gristol was a young boy during the Battle of Grulovia, an event that took place 20 years before the events of Psychonauts 2.
- ↑ https://www.thegamer.com/tim-schafer-interview-psychonauts-2/amp/
- ↑ https://www.thegamer.com/tim-schafer-interview-psychonauts-2/amp/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/DoubleFine/status/1575838597479305217?t=WBdN4maMOf5j42t9ijY6fA&s=19
- ↑ https://twitter.com/DoubleFine/status/1575844905972555776?t=eyi54d4s_GmgXzcu8JGsUw&s=19