Blake

Captain J.F. Blake
Background information
Appearances	The Thing (2002 game)
Notable facts	Commanding officer, Bravo Team.
Portrayed by	Per Solli
Character information
Gender	Male
Role	U.S. Military Captain
Group	U.S. Military, Arctic Marines
Fate	Alive

Captain J.F. Blake was an American soldier and commanding officer of the Arctic Marines' Bravo team. The character is the main protagonist of the 2002 video-game The Thing, during which he investigates the fate of U.S. Outpost 31. He is portrayed by voice actor Per Solli.

History

The game begins at U.S. Outpost 31 in Antarctica, some time after the events of the film. A team of U.S. special forces have arrived to investigate both the American camp and the nearby Norwegian camp. Captain J.F. Blake is the leader of Beta Team, who are investigating the U.S. camp, whilst Alpha Team investigate the Norwegian camp under the command of Captain Pierce. Both teams are under the overall command of Colonel R.C. Whitley who is in communication with them via radio. Whilst investigating Outpost 31, Beta Team soon discover the small spacecraft made by the Blair-Thing in the film and the tape recorder with a message from R.J. MacReady, describing how nobody trusts anybody anymore and that everyone is very tired. They then find information detailing how the base has been infiltrated by an extraterrestrial lifeform that is capable of imitating the physical appearance and characteristics of any living organism. Whilst searching, they also find the body of Childs, one of the two survivors at the end of the film, who has died from hypothermia. The film's other survivor, MacReady, is nowhere to be found. Under orders from Whitley, Beta Team set up C-4 explosives throughout the facility, which are detonated remotely, completely destroying the outpost.

Whilst the rest of Beta Team are airlifted to safety, Blake heads to the Norwegian camp to locate and reinforce Alpha Team, with whom all contact has been lost. He discovers that Alpha Team have been attacked and scattered by an unknown enemy, which is soon revealed to be a hoard of "scuttlers", small limbs and appendages of much larger Things. Eventually Blake finds Pierce. However, Pierce doesn't trust anyone, believing everyone to be infected and demanding that Blake agrees to a blood test. Blake does so, proving himself to be uninfected, and he and Pierce set out to find a way to reestablish communication with Whitley. However, they are soon separated, and with no other choice, Blake continues on, finding the radio room, but discovering that someone has stolen the radio and fled into a nearby warehouse. En route to the warehouse, Blake encounters Pierce in the observatory. However, Pierce believes that he has become infected, and rather than allow himself to turn into a Thing, he shoots himself in the head. Blake continues to pursue the man with the radio, eventually discovering that he is a Thing. Blake kills him, and takes the radio. Moving on, he enters the "Pyron" sub-facility beneath the Norwegian base, learning of a company called Gen-Inc., who placed a research team under the command of Dr. Faraday. Gen-Inc. had been conducting experiments on the Things when their team was infected, and now only a few survivors remain within the facility. Blake rescues Faraday and attempts to leave. However, he then encounters Whitley, who shoots him with a tranquilizer gun.

Blake awakes in the now abandoned "Strata" research facility, and learns that his cells have a unique resistance to infection by the Thing. After escaping his confinement, he unearths a government conspiracy whereby Gen-Inc. isolated a form of the Thing dubbed the "Cloud virus", which was intended for use in biological warfare. Blake learns that Whitley was in charge of the entire operation and has injected himself with a strain of the virus known as "Cloud Virus B4" in an attempt to cure his terminal cancer. Blake fights his way through the research facility, battling numerous black ops under Whitley's command, as well as many Things. He learns that Whitley plans to distribute the Thing virus around the world using a fleet of airplanes, however, he is able to destroy them before they take off. Eventually, Blake confronts Whitley himself. He sets him on fire, but Whitley is undamaged. He explains that an airlift team is on its way and when its arrives, he will begin global exposure. Whitley flees further into the base, pursued by Blake. At the partly excavated site of the Thing's spaceship from the film series, Whitley transforms into a massive Thing creature. Blake encounters a helicopter pilot, who helps him defeat the Whitley-Thing. As the helicopter flies away from the base, the pilot reveals himself to be R.J. MacReady.

Abilities

• Blake is a mix all of the other teammates' abilities:

1. He can heal the team, however, the medic is recommended over your ability because you have a limited amount of Health Packs.
2. Blake can fix Basic Junction boxes, however, the Engineer can fix the basic ones and the Advanced ones, so an Engineer overcomes that ability.
3. Finally, Blake mostly suits the soldier class, nonetheless this field somewhat depends on the player, whether the player can really play so well or has aiming difficulties. The Soldier does a good job of actually shooting since he has best weapon accuracy and greatest courage.

Trivia

• During the course of the game it is implied that Blake is immune to assimilation by the Thing. According to notes left by Dr. Faraday, it is possible that he developed an immunity from coming into contact with the Thing.
• His full name is stated as being "J.F. Blake." His initials might be a nod at R.J. MacReady.
• Blake is the only team member able to speak Norwegian. This is, however, unused in the game, save for Blake being able to read computer journals and notes in the Norwegian outpost, which is implied, not overt. Either way, as some fans of The Thing franchise note, most Norwegians speak English perfectly and learn it since childhood, and researchers and scientists would most assuredly do so, meaning the language barrier the franchise implies between both outposts would be non-existent.
• There are many unused quotes by Blake in the game files. Some of them refer to his hatred of reading Norwegian, while others have him complaining about Norwegian locks. Many refer simply to gameplay needs, such as needing an Engineer, keys, access codes, etc.

Galley