Alex Winter is the human form (and counterpart) of the Arkn King Uriel. He was created to act as a vessel for the Hethian Scrolls of Creation.
He is the main protagonist of A Cry From Winter and Wayward_Winter, and a key character in the Arknthology.
History
Origins
Alex Winter came into being when the former Arkn King Uriel threw himself into one of the .Reality engines, along with the Hethian Scrolls of Creation. The act destroyed Uriel's body, but caused him to be recreated throughout the timelines of .Reality in data form as a human. One of these incarnations was Uriel's true counterpart, containing the Scrolls.
Background
Alex was the son of Marcus and Mary Winter. He had a sister named Elizabeth and a brother named Michaelis. Alex was a highly troubled child; he often heard voices and had strange dreams, and claimed to have visions of monstrous creatures. Because of this, he spent a lot of time alone in his room, talking to himself. On the rare occasions when Alex left the house, he would take his brother to the park to toss a ball around. It was here that Alex met his best friend, James. Alex was also strangely drawn to an odd-looking tree in the park; he once become violently angry after he saw a group of boys kicking the tree, and started fighting them.
Alex's family was mysteriously murdered when he was a child. The Winter Family Massacre became a notorious unsolved case, with no leads (aside from the possibility of a known serial killer, dubbed "The Wonderland Killer", being behind the murders). Alex spent most of his childhood after this in the care of guardians. He was also assigned an enigmatic therapist, Dr. Ellis, who tried to help him cope with his emotional trauma.
A Cry From Winter
Timeline A
Alex Winter, a troubled man, suffered from multiple disorders due to the murder of his family. He found himself in a "live or die" situation when supernatural entities connected to Dr. Ellis's medication began to stalk him. Leaving his tragic past behind, he tried to figure out what was going on with the help of his best friend, James.
Timeline B
After using The Traveller's Call (a technique he learned from watching the YouTube channel of Brian Lawrence), Alex was eventually transported to another .reality ("Departure 1"). His alternate in this timeline was found guilty of murdering his family at age 7, and ended up on death row. At first, James was confused with the dimension-travelling and the appearance of a second Alex Winter; however, after confirming that "his" Alex was still behind bars, he reluctantly accepted the new Alex's story. Realizing the danger they were in, the alternate James decided to help his new friend, and the two of them had to deal with LongNose and the rest of The Negatives.
The Reveal
In "Reality Runs Red, Pt.2", Alex addressed the audience directly, revealing that he was really Uriel and had been aware (and in control) of his situation the entire time. He revealed that everything that had happened to him so far, and every version of Alex that had been introduced (as witnessed by the audience), was a fabrication created by Uriel: recreations of the various lives of his counterparts, as part of his punishment in The Infernous. Uriel nervously left the Infernous, so that he and the real Alex could meet for the first time and begin on the road to convergence.
Wayward_Winter
The "real" Alex Winter appeared on camera for the first time in Wayward_Winter. He was a patient of Dr. Ellis, and was making a YouTube channel uploading videos of his medication reactions and his thoughts during the process. He also had a girlfriend named Sarah Kestler.
Alex described having nightmares involving things that he couldn't explain, including sightings of bird-faced people and angelic entities, and monsters and madness. All of these things began to actually happen to him as he made contact with a Dekn named Allastar, who claimed to be his temporary guardian (as his true guardian was off doing "important things"). In order to protect Alex from Ellpagg (who was under The Carver's control and was trying to kill Alex), he was brought to a safe pocket in the Infernous.
While in the Infernous, Alex was given the task of going through the notebooks and journal logs of other versions of himself that had been killed by Ellpagg. During this time, however, Alex was ripped from the Infernous and brought to another place of power, the Nexellium. Here, he met a Valkyrium calling herself Seraphina, who tortured and beat him for information regarding Uriel's whereabouts. When Seraphina realized that he didn't know where Uriel was, she gave him another journal from one of his alternate selves to read; she explained that it would help prepare him for his upcoming convergence with Uriel. Alex was then sent back to his own timeline, where he met with Allastar. After he informed Allastar of what had happened, Allastar suggested that they contact "higher authorities" for help. He summoned one of the shards of Malek, who took over Alex.
ACFW (Continuation)
Under Uriel's instruction, Alex used The Traveler's Call to return the original timeline experienced by Uriel (Timeline A0). He found his car parked at the end of a road (as it was in "Biding The Time"), and realized that he had returned not only to the original timeline (which, due to getting Uriel's memories and The Esragrath Effect, was now his timeline), but the year 2014. Uriel explained that this would give Alex a chance to "fix" everything. Uriel then stated that his power (which was already depleted from his time in the Infernous) was diminishing rapidly. He then departed from Alex, leaving him alone.
Alex later posted a new vlog ("Welcome To My Nightmare"), in which he explained that he'd realized that the was actually in the year 2017 after seeing a trailer for a new Thor movie; rather than transporting him back in time to 2014, the Call had pulled the events of 2014 forward to the year 2017. Alex explained that he had crushed his medication and diffused it into a water bottle, and that he was feeling exhausted.
Alex fell into a trance, during which his video filmed in black and white. He found himself face to face with a duplicate, dressed in a beanie, who seemingly did nothing but read the journals he acquired and stare out the window. This version of himself explained that he represented Alex's subconscious; he informed Alex that he had several choices at this juncture in his life: he could become him (i.e. a broken shell of what he was supposed to stand for), or he could walk out his bedroom door and discover what lay in store for him. When Alex asked his duplicate where he was, his double informed him that he was in The Vale.
Fate
Universe A
Alex eventually found his way out of The Vale, and continued on the path toward convergence. The Arkn-Dekn war eventually spread to the human realm, causing the nations to be divided as the entire world took sides. Alex was married to Sarah Kestler, the vessel of Seraphina (who may have converged with her Guardian), and joined her in the fight against the Dekn, while Uriel took the fight to the streets of the former New York City. Eventually, Alex converged with Uriel, becoming Uriel Alexander Winter. The act was apparently traumatic, due to the conversion being incomplete (as part of Alex was left un-merged). It is possible that the conversion temporarily gave them amnesia.
Sadly, Alex's fate was sealed when he split convergence with Uriel. Many ages later, during the Battle of the Arknza, Uriel Alexander Winter was killed by The Carver; at that time, Redgrave awakened Alex's true form as the Scrolls of Creation (with his permission), eliminating his vessel to give way to the base of creation for a new universe – destroying Alex in a heroic sacrifice.
Universe E
Due to the intervention of Azrael Michaelis Winter, the events of The Knight Shift never occurred (as Azrael took Ellpagg's place in the Infernous), and the creation of Alex Winter was averted.
Personality
Due to the fact that he was the sole survivor of the Winter Family Massacre, Alex suffered from multiple disorders, including Major Anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder. He tended to say "um" a lot when he was nervous.
Alex had a love of all kinds of media, and was an avid viewer and collector of movies. It was mentioned numerous times that he was a fan of the book series The Dark Tower.
Appearance
Alex appeared as an average-looking young man with a heavyset build. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, and often had some kind of facial hair. He typically dressed in jeans, logo tees, and sneakers, sometimes adding a jacket and knit hat. He has occasionally been shown to wear a black lurker's mask when controlled by Uriel.
Notes and Trivia
- Type0Negative (the character's creator) has stated that Alex Winter is essentially an "alternate personality" of Uriel (as he's the same individual in a different physical form).