Richard

Richard Tarkowski, (pol. Ryszard) also referred to as the Childeater, is an antagonist in The Medium. He appears in both Marianne and Thomas' stories.

Biography
Richard grew up in Poland during World War II. As a child, Richard befriended and fell in love with a Jewish girl named Rose, who he helped hide from the authorities. The two would often play in a hedge maze outside of Richard's home, where Richard would bring her food. From a young age, Richard enjoyed the arts and would paint portraits of Rose.

Much to Richard's distress, his father was called to active duty in the military and died in the war. His mother married a new man who moved in with her and Richard, and he physically abused both of them. In one instance of abuse, Richard responded by slashing his stepfather with his father's lucky knife. After suffering abuse for some time, Richard's mother retaliated by contacting the authorities to report that her husband had been illegally hiding Jewish people in their home. The authorities came to Richard's home and executed not only his stepfather, but also Rose, leaving Richard devastated. These traumatic events would shape the rest of his life and create a demon within him.

In his adult life, Richard continued to paint and worked at a university. He befriended a younger Thomas Rekowicz, who confided in Richard the visions he saw of the spirit world. Richard mentored Thomas's art and encouraged Thomas to explore his visions through artistic expression and to recount his visions in vivid detail. Richard also used the images Thomas described to fuel his own paintings. Over the years, the two became close and maintained a father-son relationship. Although initially jealous when Thomas found a wife, he eventually warmed up to her, and he supported Thomas in establishing the Niwa Resort even though he worried it might further drive him and Thomas apart.

Eventually, Richard was fired from the university and was invited to work at Niwa by Thomas. For a time, he taught art to children who stayed in the resort's Dayroom, including Thomas's daughter Lilianne, who reminded him of Rose. He also befriended Nurse Ursala, who fell in love with him, but whose love he did not return. He eventually wrote Nurse Ursala a note telling her that he could not be her lover.

The game's collectibles, Points of Recollection, imply that Richard sexually abused Lilianne, which in turn created the Maw, a demon within Lilianne. Thomas eventually learned of his daughter's abuse and confirmed it by ransacking Richard's apartment in Niwa, where he discovered Richard's hidden journal that was devoted entirely to recording his obsessions with Lilianne. Thomas waited in the apartment after discovering the journal, and upon Richard's entry, he attacked.

Richard pleaded for Thomas to let him go, saying that "something else was inside of him" when he hurt Lilianne. In a fit of rage and revenge, Thomas invaded Richard's mind and sent his spirit form to find Richard's spirit. Inside of Richard's mind, Thomas was taken back to Richard's house during World War II and witnessed the traumatic events of Richard's childhood. Thomas eventually found Richard's child self, the representation of his last remaining innocence, which was being held hostage by Richard's demon. Thomas freed Richard's child self from the demon but then forcibly sent it away, leaving behind only Richard's demon.

These events reduced Richard's physical form to a vegetative state and made him wheelchair bound. Having no relatives, Richard stayed at Niwa and was entrusted to the care of Nurse Ursula.

Richard's vegetative state caught the attention of the Security Service, whose operative were attempting to locate Thomas after he escaped their custody and experimentation years earlier. The Service noted that Richard's condition resembled injuries that Thomas had previously inflicted upon scientists who once experimented on him: a vegetative state despite no detectable brain trauma. The Service sent Henry Wilk to Niwa to locate Thomas and interrogate him about his abilities as a medium. As part of his investigation, Henry met an unresponsive Richard and confirmed his mental state. Soon thereafter, Henry subdued Thomas and, in an effort to force Thomas to reveal the secrets of his medium powers, he set Thomas's house on fire while Lilianne and Marianne were inside. This prompted Lilianne to release the Maw, which saved her and Marianne from the fire.

Freed from Lilianne's mind, the Maw targeted Nurse Ursula and took over her body. In this form, the Maw carried out the Niwa Massacre—and Richard was the first victim, dying in his wheelchair inside the nurse's office.

During the game's events, Sadness instructs Marianne to find Richard in the Dayroom. There, Marianne discovers Richard's wheelchair. Upon sitting in it, Marianne experiences a vision of the past, learning of how Thomas attacked Richard and invaded his mind. When Marianne wakes up from the chair, she finds that her spirit form has been restrained by tentacles from Richard's demon. Richard's demon claims he was all that remained of Richard's soul, and he begs Marianne to use her powers to "send him away" to the afterlife. Marianne is initially reluctant due to Richard's evil actions, but eventually she gives in as he tightens the bond around her. In his final words, Richard's demon asks whether Lilianne or Marianne herself could ever forgive him; Marianne replies she is not his judge, only his ferryman.

Personality
When he was a child, Richard was a normal boy, and had a close friendship with a girl called Rose. He brought her food modestly, and she entrusted her secrets to him - the fact that Rose was a Jew, seen when Thomas visits the three versions of the garden in Richard's mind, and the last garden fully uncovers the Star of David, lying on the bench. Richard would frequently draw detailed portraits of people. Eventually, though, Richard grows more bitter after Rose's death, portrayed by a wilting batch of roses in the third garden. He eventually ends up at Niwa, and sexually abuses children under his care, particularly Lilianne Rekowicz. Being depressed and sad, he grows fumbling and irresponsible, and his child self also loses his caring side for a more clumsy and desperate demeanor.

Physical Appearance

 * Demon - trapped in the spirit world, Richard assumed the form of an absolutely gargantuan creature with at least 4 arms. He has slimy, swamp green skin and the tentacles are either something he is sitting on, or are his appendages that he controls.
 * Child - Richard as a child wears a school boys uniform, with a red sweater vest, white dress shirt, and black tie. He also has glasses and black slacks and dress shoes. Finally, he also wears the telltale white, cracked mask of trapped souls.