Harley Sawyer

Harley Sawyer

Audio

Harley Sawyer
Aliases	The Doctor Dr. Sawyer
Affiliation	Head of Special Projects at Playtime Co. Founder of the Bigger Bodies Initiative
Physical description
Status	Alive
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	Unknown
Hair color	Unknown
Appearances
Voiced by	Baldwin Williams Jr. Guilherme Briggs (Brazilian voice)
Appears In	Project: Playtime Chapter 3: "Deep Sleep" Orientation Notebook Chapter 4
Debut	Project: Playtime

“	My name is Harley Sawyer. I'm called "the Doctor." When I look at this company we've built, I do not feel proud. Declining profits, failed experiments, people are constantly seeing things they shouldn't. How is that anything less than complete failure on our part? It's pathetic.	”
— Harley Sawyer, VHS #1

Dr. Harley Sawyer, also known as The Doctor, is an overarching character in the Poppy Playtime franchise. He was the Head of Special Projects at Playtime Co. and founder of the Bigger Bodies Initiative. He first debuted in VHS #1 in Project: Playtime before appearing in Chapter 3: "Deep Sleep".

Personality

Judging by the VHS #1 tape, Harley wanted to solve the company's problems by creating living experiments in the shape of their mascots. This way the company wouldn't need to pay workers or spend money on fixes to maintain working conditions. He seems to have a superiority complex and a lack of empathy towards his subordinates. He also seems to only care about the company and would sacrifice anything to keep it afloat, even if it involves innocent lives. Sawyer appears to be grumpy and tired, likely hinting that he works very hard and/or long.

A noteworthy part of his personality is shown in the tape Your gift has finally arrived., where Sawyer found out someone was recording him and ferociously yelled at the camera to be turned off immediately. This contrasts his normally calm and stoic personality, which either shows it as a cover for his more aggressive personality or his temper is lost very easily.

In the Experiment 1188 Bigger Bodies Proposal, the person writing the proposal states that "Dr. Sawyer insists he handle the extraction himself.", indicating that Sawyer was very much dedicated to the Bigger Bodies Initiative and/or wanted to be credited for the extraction, either as an honor for his dedication to research or an arrogant way to gain recognition.

In the Prisoner Profile for Yarnaby, Harley Sawyer notes that it should be kept isolated, having only contact with him, saying: "By the time I'm done...I'll be its whole world. It'll know nothing else." This shows Harley to be manipulative and apathetic to the plight of his experiments, simply not caring for them in the least. It also shows him to be very merciless and cruel, as what Sawyer implies is him having total control on Yarnaby, which no doubt would involve torture in various ways.

In his youth, Harley Sawyer was a seemingly intelligent and bright kid who was accepted in the Young Geniuses Program held by Elliot Ludwig himself. However, even when he was young, he already had a relatively dark personality, with Elliot noting his lack of humility, only working in the name of science rather than humanity and even insulting Elliot by calling him soft and displaying anger when the latter encouraged him to be nicer.

Sawyer also appears to be notoriously picky; in the Sandwich Note, the writer tells their friend that Sawyer is fond of sweet pickles, and possibly only sweet pickles, warning them that if they take his order, they must pick out sweet pickles lest they get punished severely. Even if this is a joke from the writer, it provides a good insight of his personality.

In terms of his work efficiency, he seems to be very proficient, as he was ABNS-certified and was noted by the Lockehart Trait Recording to have years of practical experience as a neurosurgeon. Assuming he physically operated on the experiments himself, he was skilled at this, even managing to finally resuscitate and create the first living experiment; Boxy Boo.

History

Backstory

In his youth, Harley Sawyer joined and participated in the Young Geniuses Program, as indicated by Leith Pierre, which is presumably where Sawyer got his start in Playtime Co. However, Ludwig became concerned at his lack of humility and willingness to experiment simply for the sake of progress rather than for the "benefit of humanity". He tried to instil that humility in Harley, which only served to anger him. Seeing no other choice in the face of this, Elliot Ludwig regretfully ejected him from the Young Geniuses Program. Harley saw this as a betrayal, coming to see Elliot Ludwig as "soft", "small-minded" and a "backstabber".

Later on January 15th, 1990, Harley Sawyer was hired by Leith Pierre to work as a neurosurgeon at Playtime Co. and eventually became the Head of Special Projects, a secret division within the company. During his employment, he learned about the company's failed experiments and realized they would go bankrupt if they got sued, which seemed to be an eventuality. Determined to prevent this, Harley strove to find a solution for the toy company.

Can you hear us? Can you see this?

Harley approached the Playtime Co. executives with a solution for the company's ongoing problems. Incidents of lower-level employees witnessing confidential experiments and decreased profits were causing Playtime Co. to crumble. Harley proposed the development of large toys to increase the workforce and cut costs as a potential solution. He called this solution the Bigger Bodies Initiative and requested that he oversee and lead the project.

Archive 5b00 Transcript

Sawyer takes an interest in Quinn Navidson, upon noticing that Quinn appears to be holding back during tests. He personally promises to oversee Quinn's next test after telling him that he knew Quinn could achieve a good result.

Prisoner Profile

Following Quinn's transformation into Experiment 1166, Sawyer notes that 1166 lacks higher cognitive function, but he also observes that 1166 also displays an 'odd loyalty' to the security staff, something he finds "nauseating", comparing it to the manner in which domesticated cats and dogs behave. Realising this means that 1166 could be "bent", Sawyer orders 1166 to be isolated, coming into contact with only Sawyer himself. He expresses that he needs "protection" because of his importance to the Bigger Bodies Initiative, and that he might "get a good laugh" at the "pathetic" noises 1166 makes.

Cross-Department Report

In the Cross-Department Report released on February 20, 1991, Harley on behalf of Research talks about the difficulties of CatNap's procedure, and how he is extremely pleased about CatNap's behavior, even considering him to rival Experiment 1170.

Your gift has finally arrived.

Sometime after March 30, 1991, Harley visited Boxy Boo's containment cell. The angry hunter roared as the doctor revelled in his success, proclaiming the creature to be "the first of many" and its very existence opening many possibilities- some presumably leading to immortality. Harley then decided the creature's appetite must be attuned to human flesh. He asked a nearby doctor for an update on Rowan Stoll. When a phone started ringing, Harley noticed that someone was recording him, and yelled for them to turn off their camera.

Log 24459

In a log documenting the Prototype, Sawyer mentions that although the experiment was still stubborn and silent, he was able to make new discoveries about the Prototype. Before he could mention what he discovered, the Prototype makes an unintelligible noise that gets the attention of Sawyer. He ends the log but the conversation is still heard, with the Prototype asking a question while changing his voice. The Prototype asks Sawyer if he feels anything, although Sawyer does not understand the question. The Prototype clarifies by saying he harms the toys, asking if he feels it. Sawyer merely says there's a secret inside the Prototype that is "valuable beyond all measure". He states he harms him and makes more progress every session. He dares the Prototype to "speak, or don't. Fight, or give in", as regardless for Sawyer, he always learns new things of the Prototype, which he laughs about and says excites him. The Prototype thanks him, which Sawyer is surprised about. The Prototype then replays Sawyer's voice and cunningly restates his sentence about learning new things.

Incident Aftermath

Following a currently-unknown incident which resulted in the death of an unknown number of people, Gerad Lockehart investigated its cause and informed Leith Pierre, Stella Greyber and Eddie M.N. Ritterman that Sawyer was responsible.

CatNap Check-In

In a recording made in 1994, Leith Pierre mentions Sawyer and says he would normally be there to check up on CatNap but that he's "out" and needs to do his work until they find a replacement for Sawyer. It is implied something happened to Sawyer that had him unable to work for a period.

Experiment 1166 Weekly Check-Up

In a report made in October 1994, Dr. Carmine McKabe notes that 1166 had formed an attachment to Sawyer despite Sawyer's apathy towards him, and that with Sawyer's removal from his presence, 1166 has lost his motivation.

Trivia

• It's presumed that the person recording in VHS #2 was Rowan Stoll, calling back to the events recorded in Rowan Stoll's Computer Database. This event is when he finds out about Boxy Boo, leading up to his third recording.
• It's speculated that Harley Sawyer was the one who wrote the Experiment 814 report.
• His nickname, "The Doctor", references himself; a doctor wants to keep their patients healthy and alive by helping them combat issues with their bodies, just like how Sawyer wants to keep Playtime Co. alive by creating the Bigger Bodies Initiative to combat the current problems of the corporation.
• Since Sawyer is referred to as "Dr. Sawyer", he possesses a doctorate of an unknown degree.
  • Given that Sawyer started as a neurosurgeon, it is probable that he holds a Doctorate of Medicine or Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine.
  • In the Lockehart Trait Recording, it is said that Harley Sawyer is ABNS-certified, meaning he is certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery.
• He appears to have had some part in "extracting" something for the creation of CatNap, as seen in the second page of the Experiment 1188 Bigger Bodies Proposal.
• He is the first character in Poppy Playtime who speaks with a British English accent rather than an American English accent.
  • This may infer that he was born in England, or is an American person of British descent.
• It was theorized that Harley Sawyer may have been turned into DogDay because both characters share the same voice actor. However this does not have enough evidence to back up this theory.
  • The Orientation Notebook disproved this theory upon its release.
• Leith Pierre explains in "CatNap Check-In" that Sawyer is "out" and he is doing the interviews until a replacement can be found, leaving it unclear if Sawyer is dead or has gone rogue.
  • The Orientation Notebook also disproves the theory that Harley was dead, as he was still alive by May 1995; the check-in took place in 1994.
  • A weekly checkup document written about Yarnaby around the 16th of October 1994 also mentioned that Sawyer had been "removed".
  • This "removal" is likely related to the Theater Incident, which was caused by Sawyer.
• It is theorized that Harley Sawyer is the narrator for "The Story So Far" series.
  • This could be the Prototype due to his ominous laughter at the end of the Chapter 3 recap, and the Prototype has been shown to be able to replay or mimic voices flawlessly.