15 (Clock Tower)
(born 1981)
Determined by player (Clock Tower)
Clock Tower
Chinami Nishimura (Clock Tower Drama CD)
| “ | Open the door and show me the way! N-ha Ee Sh!
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Jennifer Simpson (ジェニファー・シンプソン Jenifā Shimpuson) is the protagonist of Clock Tower: The First Fear and one of multiple in Clock Tower. In both games, Jennifer faces the threat of Scissorman.
Appearance[]
Jennifer in The First Fear.
Jennifer has long, straight, black hair. She has brown eyes and slightly olive skin tone. Jennifer always wears her hair down loose with a side parting. She has somewhat thick eyebrows. Jennifer's appearance is undoubtedly based on Jennifer Connelly.
In Clock Tower: The First Fear, Jennifer wears a white long-sleeved shirt under a long dark blue pinafore dress. She has white socks and dark blue shoes.
In Clock Tower, Jennifer has two main outfits. The first outfit consists of a white turtleneck sweater, a dark brown skirt and brown boots. The second is a long red coat with a black turtleneck underneath and dark grey flat-heeled boots. She has two alternate costumes: a pink Anna Miller's waitress uniform and a sailor fuku. The former replaces her white turtleneck outfit, and the latter replaces her red jacket outfit.
Personality[]
Jennifer is an orphan who grew up without parents for most of her life. She had to cope with the loss of both of her parents throughout her childhood and the lack of normal guidance that parents provide for their children, forcing her to become more independent than usual.
Generally, Jennifer is polite and open-minded. She is also kind and is seen taking time out of her schedule to visit her friends out of kindness. However, she is also somewhat sheltered, innocent, timid and naïve. Director Hifumi Kono also once described Jennifer as "quiet" - is it unknown if this comes naturally or if Jennifer's quietness is a result of a lack of parental attention.
A decapitated crow.
In the first game, Jennifer is forced to witness her friends die and discover the dark truth of Ms. Barrows. She learns about the harshness about humanity and the evils of the world, and her sense of security and identity is shaken when her guardian figure (Mary) turns on her and attempts to sacrifice her and her friends. The First Fear is essentially Jennifer's loss-of-innocence. After the events of the first game, Jennifer suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has frequent nightmares. She is haunted by the images of her friends dying, and has dreams about being chased and attacked. In the game's novelization, it is revealed that Jennifer refused to eat red meat since the first incident at the Barrows Mansion, possibly due to seeing decapitated crows, her murdered friends and coming to associate meat with gore, violence and death. This could be a hint at her becoming vegetarian or vegan, although she eats fish at one point in the novel, so it could be her transitioning.
In the second Clock Tower game (particularly the novelization), it is suggested that Jennifer goes through her own rebellious teenager phase and begins to dislike how much Helen is controlling her life, especially regarding Nolan. Jennifer attempts to hide her relationship with Nolan from Helen, causing Helen to worry about what Jennifer is up to. Fortunately, the difficulties in Jennifer and Helen's relationship is mended by the end of the game, and she accepts Helen as a guardian figure. In the novelization, Helen slaps Jennifer's face when Jennifer defends her relationship with Nolan.
| “ | Why do you always think such horrible things? I didn't meet Nolan with THAT in mind, you know! It was that day - the one where you said that 'I'll be coming back late, so you should go ahead and eat alone tonight.' I met Nolan by chance that day. And we had dinner together! I met him that ONE TIME! And Nolan didn't report on it. Because he PROMISED ME - promised me that he wouldn't! And he KEPT his promise! All we did was have dinner! THAT'S ALL! What did you think? That I SLEPT with Nolan?! That I afterward blabbed to him about the Clock Tower case afterward while I was lying in his arms!?
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Jennifer may be interpreted as a bit dimwitted due to some of her actions. For example, if the player escapes using the car, she does not check the backseat to see if Scissorman is there, and she is willing to play a piano when Scissorman could be nearby. If the player examines a bookshelf, Jennifer mentions she does not enjoy reading. Despite this, she is seen reading a book in the manga adaptation of the first installment and is a visitor of Oslo's public library. This suggests that she reads not for enjoyment, but to pass time or when there is not much else to do. She says she's not very good at computers, even to the point where she thinks she may break a computer upon touching it. However, Jennifer does sometimes displays quick wits and intelligence when fighting off enemies or solving puzzles.
Hobby-wise, her bedroom walls are covered with sepia colored paintings and portraits, indicating a possible interest in vintage photography. Her bed also has a stuffed rabbit on it, suggesting that she likes cute things or likes to treasure memories.
Biography[]
Jennifer was born in 1981. The novelization of Clock Tower states that Jennifer's mother was a Barrows, and thus, Jennifer is also a Barrows descendant. In the novelization, it is mentioned that the women of the Barrows family, including Jennifer herself, have a special ability of being like a "door" to another dimension or higher power of sort, although the details of this ability are not clarified. This "door" is located in the wombs of Barrows women, and Bobby and Dan were born using Mary's special womb.
Jennifer is presumably Norwegian because this is where the series is set. It is unknown if Jennifer can speak any Norwegian languages or if she is bilingual. She does seem fluent in English, however.
In November 1986, her father, Walter, an obstetrician, went missing and then soon after, her mother became involved with another man and left her for unknown reasons. When asked about this, Hifumi Kono clarified, "Yes, Jennifer is "just" dumped by her mother."[1] This suggests Jennifer never had the best relationship with her mother.
Jennifer's mother apparently eventually died after Walter disappeared, though it is not mentioned how.[2] With no one to take care of her, she was sent to the Granite Orphanage. There, she became friends with Laura Harrington, Anne, and Lotte. However, it is suggested that Jennifer is closer to Lotte than she is Laura and Anne.
In the first game which was set in September 1995, she is 14 years old and Jennifer, along with her other friends Laura, Anne, and Lotte, were adopted by Mr. Barrows to live in his mansion called the "Clock Tower".
Clock Tower: The First Fear[]
Jennifer fending off Bobby Barrows
Jennifer, along with her friends Laura, Anne and Lotte, were all being taken care of by Mary Barrows, who at the time appears as a caring adoptive mother. They were to live in the Clock Tower, a mansion given its name for the predominant clock tower in it. Upon entering, Jennifer and her friends wonder where Mary went to, leading Jennifer to search, before being interrupted by the girls' screaming. She runs back to find the lights off and the girls missing. Jennifer, scared and wondering if it's a sick joke, runs about the mansion to find her friends being killed one by one (or just some of them depending on how the game is played). She also avoids her main pursuer, the brutal Bobby Barrows.
Jennifer finding her father's skeleton.
Depending on whether the player finds it or not, Jennifer either finds out Mary's true colors by finding her dead father in a secret room, or by Lotte, who is later shot and killed by Mary, leading Jennifer to a narrow escape. This latter method includes Jennifer nearly getting eaten by Simon Barrows, Mary's tortured and starved husband.
Jennfier discovers a secret passage leading to a cavern underneath a pentagram in an occultic room. After seeing a robed figure (Mary), Jennifer follows by using Mary's perfume to sneak past a vicious dog. Depending whether or not if Lotte died earlier, if she did not, then Lotte dies anyway with Jennifer by her side in her final moments. Jennifer finds out about the second son, Dan Barrows, in the caves underneath the mansion, in the form of a giant, deformed baby. She narrowly escapes, killing Dan by dropping a can of kerosene and burning him.
Clock Tower Snes All Endings
All endings.
Jennifer confronts Bobby and Mary at the clock tower, killing Bobby by making him fall off the clock tower, his assumed bane. Before Mary kills Jennifer, Mary dies in various ways, depending on how the ending is played out. Mary can either die by electrocution, being chased off a ledge by crows, or by falling off the ladder in the clock tower.
Canonically, Jennifer was the sole survivor of the incident; all of her friends, Laura, Anne and Lotte, along with Mary and Bobby, died, excluding Dan/Edward.
Clock Tower[]
One year after the events of The First Fear, Jennifer Simpson has been adopted by Helen Maxwell, the assistant of a renowned psychiatrist Samuel Barton, and is currently undergoing treatment in Oslo, Norway, to help her cope with her traumatic experiences in the Clock Tower case and possibly shed some light on the mystery that was the Scissorman.
Jennifer is incredibly psychologically traumatized, suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and has frequent nightmares and mental flashbacks. She is haunted by the images of her friends dying, and has dreams about being chased by Scissorman and attacked, and probably of Mary, Dan, and all the disturbing things she saw in the mansion. During the night, Jennifer would scream in her bed, prompting Helen to come and calm her down.
Like Helen, Jennifer does not particularly like Barton that much because she feels he thinks that everything she says is just the ravings of an ill lunatic. Jennifer repeatedly asks Helen, "Do you believe me?" to which Helen replies each time, "Of course!" Jennifer has kept her discovery of her father's body a secret from everyone, even Helen, because she feels the police would not believe her, she lost her father's memo in the mansion as evidence, and she is aware the part about an infant devouring her father's hand sounds silly.
In the novelization, it is revealed Barton has also been implanting a second personality within Jennifer during his therapy sessions that is an extension of himself, in order to help him fulfill his plans using Jennifer as a trump card. This second persona awakens near the finale and when Jennifer speaks, she refers to herself in third person. Barton intends on using Jennifer as a final sacrifice to the Great Father so that Bobby will be reborn. The two sons of the Great Father would become one, and when this conjoined form is perfected and complete, the true Ragnarok will begin, leaving humanity with no chance of survival.
Jennifer's Scenario[]
Jennifer having hypnotherapy for her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Note: This summary follows Ending A.
Jennifer is a playable character if the player, as Barton, talks to Harris Chapman twice in the beginning of the game, rather than once. After a seemingly pointless hypnotherapy session with Barton, Helen takes Jennifer home.
The player, as Jennifer, is given the option to explore Oslo before having both an "interview and a date" with reporter Nolan Campbell. Jennifer meets Kay Satterwhite, a teacher from her orphanage who is caring for Edward, a mysterious boy who claims he was involved in the Barrows Mansion incident but lost his memory.
Clock Tower Chapter 1 Jennifer Scissor Man Encounters
Jennifer running from Scissorman.
After walking home alone from her date, Jennifer suspects someone is following her. She runs to the university research building and encounters a security guard, but he is suddenly killed by Scissorman. Jennifer decides to flee into the building, but Scissorman traps her inside. Jennifer survives the ordeal by using the fire ladder and escapes.
The next day, Jennifer, Helen, and other people head to Barrows Castle. They are separated, though depending on the player's actions, they may be rescued. Jennifer is captured by Scissorman (who turns out to be Harris) who was told by the real Scissorman that if he caught Jennifer she would be his, but Harris is killed by the real Scissorman. Jennifer then looks for survivors.
Jennifer and Nolan encountering ghost children.
She finds Helen in a box and Nolan in a room with ghosts of children that were killed there. Jennifer then finds a Door Spell and gets it translated by either Helen or Barton. She also finds a dagger, then finds a room under the fountain and hears Kay begging Edward for mercy before she is then killed.
Jennifer then goes into the room with Kay's corpse and the Scissorman. The true Scissorman's identity is really Edward, Bobby's brother (Dan) that Jennifer blew up a year ago but survived because the giant body was merely a cocoon shell. Dan is looking to avenge his brother and mother, but before he can kill Jennifer, Nolan comes in and tells her to run. She then puts the statue in a hole and a door is revealed. Jennifer then casts the door spell to open the door. A vortex then opens, and Jennifer holds onto the rail but Dan or Scissorman holds onto Jennifer. She then stabs him in the face with the dagger and he falls into the vortex, dying as the door closes then Nolan pulls her up as the castle falls down, trapping Jennifer and Nolan.
Jennifer kissing Nolan.
Nolan wonders if they will die, although Jennifer hopes Helen will rescue them. Nolan comments that she's strong and Jennifer replies, "No, you're just weak." They kiss and it is implied they start a relationship (though the director of the game doubts their relationship would last very long). They are then rescued by Helen.
Helen's Scenario[]
While Jennifer doesn't do much in the Introduction nor Scenario one, she later appears after Scenario one at the police station, where Helen is taken and interrogated by Stan Gotts about the incident. Although Jennifer is worried about Scissorman, Helen reassures her that they'll find a way to get rid of Scissorman.
Jennifer later appears after Scenario two at the police station, after Helen went around town, as she is worried about Helen. She would already be informed about the Statue already retrieved (either by Helen or Gotts) as well the Barrows Castle. Like the other ten people going, she goes to England to visit the Barrows Castle.
Jennifer about to be crucified in the chapel.
In Scenario three, upon entering the castle with the group, Jennifer gets separated when the castle shakes. An unconscious Jennifer would then be later found hanging on the cross in the chapel area with Scissorman just about to kill her. If Helen fails to save Jennifer from Scissorman, Scissorman will successfully kill her, leaving the player in the path of Ending B or Ending C.
Luckily, Jennifer was saved by Helen, who shoots Scissorman, who is Professor Barton in disguise, with a pistol. After Helen takes Jennifer down from the cross, Jennifer regains consciousness as Helen goes to interrogate Barton about his motives. After doing so, Helen will tell Jennifer to go with Gotts while she'll find the real Scissorman.
Jennifer and Helen embrace.
As the castle crumbles down in the game's climax, Jennifer is caught in the debris. After the rescue crew came to find survivors, Jennifer was found alive and then pulled out by Helen, who assures her that "it's all over now".
Trivia[]
Corvino / Simpson comparison.
Jennifer Connelly as Jennifer Corvino.
- Jennifer's name and appearance were inspired by Jennifer Connelly's character, Jennifer Corvino, in the 1985 movie Phenomena. Jennifer Corvino mentions she is vegetarian, while Jennifer Simpson refused to eat red meat. Bobby Barrows is also likely inspired by Patua.
- Jennifer's voice actor, Rumiko Varnes, had also voiced Miku Hinasaki in Fatal Frame. Coincidentally, both protagonists are orphans and after the events of each game, they are taken in by a woman (i.e., Helen Maxwell and Rei Kurosawa) who involuntarily becomes involved in their previous endeavors (escaping Scissorman and fighting ghosts).
- In July of 2021, Clock Tower Preservation team, C.U.T.S. (Cradle Under the Star) contacted Rumikio Varnes and asked about any memories she had voicing Jennifer in Clock Tower 2: Varnes: "Surprisingly, Clock Tower (2) was recorded in a backyard of someone’s home. Typically, video games are recorded in a fancy studio, with a lineup of the latest recording equipment, but it was different for this project, so I figured it was a low budget scheme. And I think I spent about three hours recording all my lines. One scene I distinctly remember is when Jennifer sees a dead body and she is immediately overcome with nausea, so I made some vomiting reaction. Apparently, it sounded too realistic, and the director asked me to 'tone it down', which I found hard to do. It’s the first and the last time I’ve ever had to puke for any video game."
- Jennifer develops PTSD because of how traumatic her ordeal was. While more video games have touched on the subject since then, many survival horror games do not and basically end with the unspoken assumption that the protagonist and their mental health will be fine after the nightmarish events of their game. Clock Tower is notable in that it is one of the first (possibly the first) video game to show this concept, as it came out in 1996. A few other examples have appeared later; for example, Aya Brea can't sleep well after the events of the first Parasite Eve, as mentioned in the 2000 sequel. Miku Hinasaki has nightmares of ghosts trying to kill her after the first Fatal Frame, which is explored in Fatal Frame 3 (2005). After Resident Evil 5, Chris Redfield has PTSD and has a mental breakdown while Sheva watches concerned.[3] Resident Evil 6 begins with Chris trying to drink away his memories, which is seen in Vendetta.
- As seen in The First Fear, Jennifer can drive a car relatively well, despite likely not having any training.
- In Jennifer's Clock Tower Adventure Novel, in a corruption of the B Ending, both Dan and Bobby are reborn with Jennifer as their mother.
- Also in her novel, when Jennifer confronts Edward, she mentions she's going to survive and eat open-faced sandwiches at a restaurant with Nolan again. She also tells Edward "GO TO HELL!"[4]
- The 11 year age difference between 15-year-old Jennifer and 26-year-old Nolan was intentional, and is mentioned by Helen in the novelization who tells Jennifer that someone like Nolan can easily take advantage of her. It was also a controversial point of discussion, mainly because Jennifer is still a minor, and the age of consent in Norway is 16. However, Jennifer and Nolan did not do anything beyond a date and a kiss. The game itself doesn't mention any ages, however.
Jennifer on a poster in Clock Tower II.
- Jennifer makes a brief appearance in Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within in a Clock Tower poster which, upon noticing it, a shocked Alyssa Hale says, "This isn't a game!"
- Rooney Simpson in NightCry shares Jennifer's surname as a homage to her. However, if one considers NightCry to be in the same canon as Clock Tower as part of the "Hifumi Kono universe", it is possible that Rooney is related to Jennifer.
- Jennifer's name appears in Remothered: Tormented Fathers, a game inspired by Clock Tower and was originally envisioned as a remake of The First Fear. However, going into any more detail would spoil the plot. In addition, one of the characters in the game, Celeste, who is also the protagonist of the sequel Remothered: Broken Porcelain, shares the name Jennifer. Celeste was also inspired by another "Jennifer": Jennifer of Rule of Rose.
Gallery[]
Clock Tower: The First Fear[]
Clock Tower[]
