#ryan gray

Those don't seem to be about antibodies though...

Content warning: Discussions of topics including conversion therapy, death, familial abuse, and ableism

Major spoilers for all of the games in the Another Code series

When I began playing Another Code: Recollection (2024)earlier this year, I knew the game would diverge from its source materials. The original Another Code games were developed for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii systems, so major changes were needed to reconfigure the puzzles originally designed for dual screens and motion controls. Even with these gameplay changes, the narrative of Recollection was nearly identical to my memories of the original DS game, offering a fresh perspective, and modern polish, on a beloved childhood classic. The adaptation of its sequel for the Wii was also a delight, providing me with the opportunity to finally experience a story that was never localized for North American audiences.

However, I was unaware that while Recollection is structurally very similar to the original games, the sequel game’s narrative received a major overhaul. Various story beats and character motivations have been changed, rearranged, or outright omitted, with some elements and characters reframed and reimagined. Among these changes, the most personally striking was the radical difference in one character: Ryan Gray, a neurodivergent-coded antagonist originally presented as an unambiguous villain, but reinvented as a nuanced, sympathetic figure in the remake.

My version of his backstory is a combination of both stories from Another Code R : A Journey Into Lost Memories, and it's remaster in Another Code Recollection, as his backstory is completely different from one game to another. So I decided to combine both backstories into one in my AU.

Decided to do that because in my AU/Headcanon, it's his birthday today ♥

Note : The writing is inspired by the official page from the Cing Wiki.

To see the original page, click here.

Full Name : Ryan Gray Fitzgerald

Race : Earthling (speculated)

Human (formerly)

Age : 27

12 (at "death" in 1992)

Gender : Male (Apogender)

Birthday : March 12th 1980

Zodiac Sign : Pisces

Blood Type : A-

Home : Lake Juliet, United States

Dislikes : Crying

Relatives : Judd Fitzgerald {Father} (deceased)

Unnamed Mother (deceased)

Occupation : J.C. Valley Employee

Affiliation : Ashley Mizuki Robbins (Sayoko & Richard's daughter)

Richard Robbins (Acquaintance / Now Colleague)

Sayoko Robbins ("Murder Victim")

Bill Edward (Former Coworker / Acquaintance)

Sofia Callaghan (Coworker / Acquaintance)

Rex Alfred (Superior / Acquaintance)

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"I think everyone has a grand design like that at one point or another. I suppose that's what they refer to as a dream. It's interesting to see how you think about the future. Your eyes may be your mother's. But on the inside, you're just like your father."

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Ryan Gray (born as Ryan Fitzgerald) is a major character in Another Code R : A Journey Into Lost Memories and its remake Another Code Recollection.

He is a scientist employed by J.C. Valley, and a scientific prodigy who has been working since his teenage years.

Background :

Ryan was a child of two scientists, his father being Judd Fitzgerald. His mother died when he was young boy, which emotionally broke him. It is explained that she saved Ryan from being hit by a vehicle, unfortunately she died doing so when he was three years old. This event occured around 1983. As said above, this left a deep emotional wound in his heart and he closed himself off, no longer allowing himself to feel happiness. He stopped speaking as well.

In 1992, Judd used the Another, which was still a prototype at the time to heal that wound. Judd wanted to erase Ryan's memory of his mother and her death. Plus, his son became the first test subject at the age of 12. Sayoko Robbins, Rex and Judd were there to see this experiment unfold. Sayoko was aware that the experiment was dangerous but Judd was obsessed with "bringing back his son". Richard Robbins and the other workers, except Bill Edward, whom Judd trusted blindly, and therefore told him about it, didn't know this because the experiment was conducted in total secrecy because of Judd's orders. Unfortunately for Ryan, he became paralyzed and later died (because the Another was incomplete). The experiment was a failure and Judd was emotionally hurt by this. Ryan's memories were extracted during that experiment. They were recorded through liquid memory and stored in a tank in the J.C. Valley's basement storage. After Ryan's death, his body was buried in an island and a gravestone was placed there. It is shown that he has the surname Fitzgerald on the gravestone. Ryan was then misled to believe that Judd was not his father, only his mentor.

Ryan was a child prodigy ; he attended university at the age of 10, and became scientist at 16. Ryan was recruited into J.C. Valley. He received a cherry blossom kaleidoscope as a gift from Sayoko when he was 9 around 1989 ; Sayoko's mother originally owned it.

At one point, Sayoko noticed that a "conscious life-form" was born from Ryan's memory data. A construct version of Ryan remembered that they had the feeling of swimming through a sea of memories and they read their memory, learned and slowly grew. Sayoko reported her findings but Judd quickly dismissed them. He states that self-propagation of memory data is impossible and he never tried to understand him unlike Ashley's mother. Once she left, he would glance at the tank every so often. One day, he started talking to it. He said "I'll find a way to revive you, Ryan". Judd continued developing the Another alone and he started a new experiment which involved overwriting memories using the Another. He began writing Ryan's memory data onto other subjects in an attempt to revive his son. Carrying out these experiments recquired him to create many copies of Ryan's data. He extracted his test subject's memories and accumulated them all into liquid memory. Judd's experiment was a failure since it wasn't possible to complete the Another without Sayoko. The ability to overwrite memory never came to fruition. He abandoned its development and sealed up the lab using the Another.

Six years prior, a "terrible" storm tore through Lake Juliet. J.C. Valley lost electricity and the building was destroyed. The tanks storing the liquid memory were damaged and they leaked into the lake. These are the ones that contained not only Ryan's memories but many others'. It became one with the water, so in a way it felt like that this lake had become their brain. Overtime, the construct of Ryan was able to access J.C. Valley's network, specifically in Judd's computer, this allowed them to access all sorts of informations, but nothing about Ryan's story itself.

At some point in time, Bill told Ryan the truth about his "death", his childhood memories being erased and of Judd's biological relationship to him. Enraged, Ryan then wanted revenge on Judd, and planned to use Bill as a tool to enact his revenge, pretending to ally with him. Ryan planned to kill all of Judd's successors, such as Sayoko, as his form of revenge. Ryan also orchestrated the funding disaster that befell M.J. Labs. It is also possible that Ryan had plans to murder his own father after.

In 2006, he sent Richard an anonymous e-mail, calling him a blissfully ignorant fool and claiming Sayoko's death was orchestrated and that there was more to it than he knows.

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Ryan first appears at the campsite, far from everyone at the back, and has a brief exchange with Ashley about her interests, why doesn't she want to be a scientist like her parents, what it's like to grow up with a scientist as a father, and memories of Sayoko. Once the conversation is over, Ashley briefly turns around and he disappears.

He is a trusting figure to Ashley Mizuki Robbins who enjoys having lunch with him. Unaware to her, he previously aided Sofia Callaghan in stealing Ashley's bag and can be seen briefly as the one driving the black car after Ashley gets off the bus.

Ryan appears at the Robbins cottage and tells Ashley she should not be friends with Matthew Crusoe due to the history between Crusoe Resort and J.C. Valley. He invites her to his cottage so they can discuss more about it. Matt, who overhears the conversation, comments that Ryan has a "cold" and "unfriendly" voice, although Ashley dismissed him as just being a calm scientist. Once Ashley arrived at his house, Ryan tells her more about the history. They talk more about Sayoko and how she helped Ryan when he was going though some "treatments". He also gives Ashley the kaleidoscope he received from Sayoko.

Once Ashley reaches J.C. Valley, Ryan is seen interacting with Sofia, revealing they have been working together on leaking information about the ANOTHER project. Ashley mentions Ryan to Ian and Gina, but none of them seem to know him despite supposedly being colleagues.

When Sofia is discovered and Richard confronts her, he sends Ashley to the exit through the elevator to ask for help. Ryan stops the elevator between floors and takes Ashley to the ANOTHER lab, which had been sealed off by Judd years ago.

Near the end of the game, it is revealed that Ryan is essentially the game's main villain. It will soon be discovered that Ryan is a cold-hearted manipulative lying sociopath. First, Ryan erases 17 years of Ashley's father's memories. When Ashley became visibly upset by crying, Ryan snaps at her to stop crying. He coerces Ashley into a memory overwrite experiment in which she will replace her memories with her mother's, but it fails when Ashley does not want to replace any of her important life memories, with the help of Sayoko's "ghost", who prevents this using the R.A.S.

Ashley awakes and find Ryan besides her. He first calls her Sayoko, thinking that the overwriting process has been successful, but Ashley corrects him and explains how Sayoko protected her and rejected her memories using the R.A.S., and that she doesn't want her daughter losing her memories to come back, causing Ryan to become frustrated.

Ryan reveals he intended to break a promise with Ashley and orders her to leave. When she becomes emotional again, Ryan taunts her but Ashley shouts at him she won't cry in front of someone who does not know how to feel and does not understand basic emotions. Ryan hears Ashley has her T.A.S. and claims he will use it to recover her father's memories, but Ashley refuses as he already betrayed her trust, prompting Ryan to hold her and Richard at gunpoint. The two are saved by Rex Alfred who tackles Ryan ; Rex ends up being shot in the shoulder before Ryan flees. Rex takes them to his office to reveal a series of things :

Judd had a son named Ryan, who passed away years ago. Judd used the Another prototype to try to erase Ryan's memories of his mother's fatal accident, which had traumatized him.

Judd erased Sayoko's memories with Rex's help when she decided to quit in order to focus on being a mother. Rex gave her the pendant with memories of the day Ashley was born.

J.C. Valley was responsible for the pollution of the lake. Years ago, there was a storm that badly damaged the labs. It broke tanks that contained mnemonic fluid and it filtered ro the lake, causing its contamination. Judd used Another through the security cameras to manipulate the residents of Lake Juliet so that they turned on Crusoe Resort and blamed them for the contamination, causing their bankruptcy.

Richard and Ashley give chase to Ryan on a small island in the middle of Lake Juliet. There, they discovered the source of the lake's water, and Ryan's grave. Upon being confronted, Ryan reveals he encouraged Bill to kill Sayoko and steal her research on Another back in 1994, and that he was the one who lured Richard to Lake Juliet. Ryan intended to manipulate Richard into completing Another, and then sell Another to a company Bill also dealt with. Ryan tries to kill himself by asking Richard to kill him and even passes Richard a gun and orders him to shoot, but Richard can not shoot Ryan as he is "not physically real".

Making Richard unconscious, Ryan explain how he was formed to Ashley, and to reveal that Sayoko knex about him. Ryan then reveals that the water from the island is cleansing the mnemotic fluid from the lake and that he and the other memories that were leaked to the lake during the storm will soon disappear. Ashley promises that he will be remembered and will be alive in people's hearts, much like she did with D. With peace and regret of mind, Ryan spended some time with the others as an act of repentance before he would eventually pass away.

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Personality :

Ryan is intelligent, but he is also essentially a sociopath, and perhaps a psychopath, who diminishes the value of human emotions. He is very bitter and resentful towards his father, and he mentions he has never really cared about Judd once in his entire life. He is also shown to be manipulative and able to hide his darker and very dangerous side, gaining the trust of people such as Richard and Rex, hiding behind a facade.

There is also a good amount of evidence suggesting Ryan is depressed, unable to find much hapiness or meaning in life, besides his work. He also appears to be quite lonesome with no evidence of any close friends. He lives in a modern-looking house with lots of gray walls and furniture. When Ashley asks him about his choice of interior decoration, he admits he does not care about any of it as he barely lives in it, showing he is far from being materialistic. However, this could also serve as a hint of Ryan not being attached to "earthly things" or the "human realm". Ashley remarks his house is eerily clean, but not in a "it has been cleaned" sense, rather a "it has not been used" sense. Ryan also appears to be a drinker as Ashley finds a bottle of wine in his kitchen. His house also lacks personal items, though it does have some abstract art and lots of science textbooks, as well as Sayoko's kaleidoscope.

Ryan can be somewhat condescending, although it is unclear if he is aware he comes off this way. For example, he makes some comments towards Ashley that can be interpreted as backhanded, as if he views Ashley poorly and a simpleton. When Ashley comments she is 16, Ryan explains to her, "Which means that thirteen years ago, you were three". He explains to her that flashbacks are sudden memories from one's past. He bluntly asks her if she has any traumatic childhood memories. When Ashley tells him she wants to be a musician, he attributes it to her young age, saying, "although it is rather unlikely to become reality, one is free to dream as one pleases". After a conversation about how brilliant Sayoko was, he says that while Ashley resembles her, she is just like her father. When Ashley asks what he means, all Ryan can initially say is a "hard worker", despite not asking Ashley about her work ethic. He later says, "He's the exact opposite of Sayoko and myself".

Ryan is smart and even manipulative since he was told the truth by Bill, and his vendetta against his father or Sayoko led him to the sociopath path that he is now, going as far as to orchestrate Sayoko's murder at a fairly young age. Ryan is not afraid of using others and even see them as tools (including Ashley), so he could finish the Another. Additionally, he had an existential crisis since he questioned his purpose and birth.

As a child, Ryan was seemingly a joyful person. However, he became emotionless, mute and closed himseld off after his mother's death.

Quotes :

"To this day, I have yet to meet someone that could even hope to surpass her." (regarding Sayoko)

"Honestly ? How can you say that ? I don't understand you, Ashley. I don't understand why you wouldn't be willing to turn your back on your father."

"Ashley...STOP CRYING ! NOW ! Don't make me repeat myself. i don't like seeing people cry. I believe that the emotions that trigger crying are unnecessary for humans. In fact, crying is more of a defense mechanism. Nothing more. When the weak believe they will be subject to emotional distress, they always resort to tears. They pour their stress into these eye secretions in an attempt to expel it from their own bodies. It is a defense mechanism, designed to protect people from their own feelings. And even if those emotions are misguided, these weak-hearted people justify them with tears. The foremost example is small children whining and crying. From this, it seems fair to conclude that tears are nothing more than a sign of weakness. And thus, I despise crying."

"Never. Not once in my entire life." (when Ashley asks if he has ever cried)

"This is unfathomable. You've rejected all of Sayoko's memories ? Ashley, I really thought that you were smarter than this. Hasn't it occured to you that the memories of your mother, a true genius, are more important than your trifling, pathetic recollections ?"

"That promise was made to be broken, Ashley."

"Ashley, I have no more use for you. Leave. Oh, are you going to cry again ? I wonder which emotion will overwhelm your heart this time. Sorrow ? Anger ? Regret ?"

"A drive for knowledge. I have always felt that, too. Why was I born ? What is my purpose ?"

"I've never encountered someone like you. Someone who wished to know me."

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Trivia :

Ryan's theme can be considered to be Spring of Memories due to it often playing whenever he appears.

Ryan can be viewed as Ashley's foil ; both have scientist parents and their fathers distanced themselves from their lives and fabricated lies. Their mothers died trying to protect them when they were only three years old. Ashley was said to be a crybaby after Sayoko died, while Ryan was severely affected when his mother died. They have also been quite lonely for most of their lives. Their hairstyles are also somewhat similar. The difference between Ashley and Ryan, however, is that Ashley learned how to forgive her father while Ryan sought vengeance.

Although not explicitly said, it can be speculated that Ryan's lack of emotions and sociopathic tendencies are the side effect of the experiment on the prototype Another. The formula affected Ryan's brain in order to make him forget, so it may have affected the region regulating emotions as well. If this theory is true, then Ryan could be viewed as a victim of a tragic upbringing due to matters outside his control, just like Ashley was.

It can be speculated that Ryan may have been the one who burned down Judd's villa recently, given Ryan' resentment of Judd, though the true cause of the fire is never revealed.

Not many places came to mind when I tried to think of someone who defined a place. The exampled of Mother Catherine is perfect in that the place she defined was large enough to be impactful, but small enough that you could see the impact made by her specifically. The most important thing for the Temple was that it provided sanctuary for those who had none in an oppressive society. People who define places like Mother Catherine do it best when doing things that may be looked down upon but in that way are memorable. In the 1920′s, Mother Catherine providing “A place in which charismatic women held the roles of leaders, and the importance of traditional nuclear families was minimized” (Gray, 108) was exactly something that the world around her wouldn’t support, much less provide.

I wanted to write about someone who, similarly to Mother Catherine, made a definitive difference in their place and, arguably, shaped it and attached it to who they are. She may not be an outcast of society, but in modern times I feel that Dolly Parton is a good example of someone who does this for her community (Tennessee). Dolly obviously did not create Tennessee, and it has a culture and history started long before her time. However, in her lifetime, Dolly has made a big impact on her state and positively changed the lives of many there. Her music career in the country music capital, as well as the theme park named after her has attached her image to the state. She’s contributed millions of dollars worth of philanthropy to her state, changing the literacy rate in Tennessee alone. She’s known to donate to families in her state after disasters and millions to multiple different hospitals in the state. Better than any modern person I can think of (in America), she’s an example of someone who attaches themselves to a place and defines it in important ways.

Dolly Parton appreciation post now over.

Ooh hell yeah

Oh really