Brown

Brown
The Girl's Dear Friend
Aliases	Filthy Brown The Loyal Dog
Social Rank	N/A
Gender	Male
Age	Adult Puppy (Once Upon a Time)
Status	Deceased
Hair color	Light brown
Eye color	Brown
Occupation	Jennifer's companion
Voice actor	N/A

“

The nights were lonely and cold, but you’d always greet me in the morning... Only you greeted me warmly. Thank you so. —Jennifer, remembering Brown.

”

Brown is one of the main characters of Rule of Rose. He was Jennifer's pet Labrador Retriever and her loyal companion. He was very protective of Jennifer, helping her throughout the game and was essentially her only true friend.

Brown is also used as an important gameplay device. His sense of smell helps Jennifer find hidden items.

Appearance

As indicated by his name, Brown is a brown adult-sized Labrador Retriever with light brown eyes. He has a long tail and droopy eyes which reach his neck, and a black wet nose. At his neck is a dark umber collar bearing his name. In a flashback, he is briefly depicted as a puppy small enough to be held by child Jennifer.

Gameplay

Brown accompanies Jennifer throughout the game after she frees him from rope using scissors in the Sector 9 Turbine Area and returns his collar.

Jennifer can command Brown to track items by scent, "stay," and be called to her side. Brown cannot attack most enemies except for gnawing at Hoffman's leg for a minor no-damage stun. Brown will instead growl, which distracts some Imps and bosses. This allows Jennifer to retreat or land a few blows without fear of retaliation. Brown can not die; he can only be injured to the point of collapse, causing him to stop distracting enemies or tracking an item.

Brown getting a scent.

Brown's ability to locate items is an integral part of the game, used in every chapter of Rule of Rose to progress further. The same system allows the player to find health restoratives and other items which, while not essential to complete the game, can help the player. Players select an item from the inventory for Brown to locate, which is then connected to the "find" command until changed or removed. Every item selected this way can be used to find at least one type of item. When tracking items this way, Brown can lead the player through the game environments, scratching at doors in his way for the player to open. If he whines, it means he’s too far away from the item or something is blocking the way.

Most health restoring foods and all tradable items are hidden and must be uncovered by Brown, though the player can choose to avoid searching for these items in order to progress quickly. This thus gives the player a means to prepare for required fights by searching for items to trade in. Dogfood and other items can be used to restore Brown's health if he becomes injured.

Biography

Brown as a puppy.

Around July 1930, when Brown was still a puppy, he was found by a little girl named Jennifer. Feeling pity for the lonely animal, she decided to adopt him. Jennifer brought him to a nearby shed, which became his home.

Jennifer named the puppy "Brown" and eventually came to love and care for him as her best friend. Because of him, Jennifer considered him her best friend. She gave him a collar with his name engraved on it, and the bond between the two grew stronger as the girl visited him every day.

THIS MONTH'S GIFT: FILTHY BROWN.

Jennifer soon decided to introduce Brown to her only human friend, Wendy, another child at Rose Garden Orphanage. After which, she began suggesting both of them care for Brown together. Sensing that Jennifer loved the dog more than her, Wendy became angry and jealous. Wendy began to ask if she could get rid of the puppy, in hopes that Jennifer would forget about Brown and continue to have herself as her only companion. Wendy also said that such a "filthy dog" did not deserve to be Jennifer's friend. Despite this, Jennifer refused her request and continued to take care of him.

The princess then gave orders to the Red Crayon Aristocrat Club to make Jennifer suffer in order to make her abandon Brown, but Jennifer refused to abandon him. This is because she promised to protect Brown. At this, Wendy decided to make a final plan: to kill Brown.

Brown's corpse in the bloody bag.

One night in November 1930, the children took Brown and put him inside a bag. Because Jennifer's memories are fragmented, it is never explicitly shown how Brown died. One theory is that the children beat him to death with sticks, as Jennifer can notice Diana and Eleanor doing so past the orphanage gate. The bag is later buried in a coffin in the courtyard, so if Brown was still alive by that point, he would have suffocated. Diana, Meg and Eleanor are seen building this coffin in the introduction of the game. It appears Jennifer then dug up the coffin to discover her dead friend.

In the chapter "The Funeral", which is set during November in Jennifer's dreamscape of memories, Jennifer finds scattered papers addressed from the Aristocrat Club, reading "This month's gift: Filthy Jennifer." Brown's whimpers lead Jennifer to the attic, and on the door, she finds the message "This month's gift: Filthy Brown." Fearing what might have happened to her dearest friend, Jennifer hesitantly enters the room.

Brown's Death

Brown's death.

Inside, Jennifer sees Brown dead inside a bloody bag. Jennifer collapses to the ground as Wendy reveals herself to her. Enraged, Jennifer cries, sobbing angrily before standing up and slapping Wendy to the ground. She then sits on top of the collapsed Wendy and begins to slap her repeatedly, demanding that Wendy "go away" and shouting that she'll never forgive her. Jennifer then retaliates against the Aristocrats, stating that they are far from aristocrats, and are merely a bunch of fools for believing Wendy's lies. Wendy then runs out of the room, sobbing and humiliated.

Rule of Rose

Brown being tortured and tied with a rope.

In the introduction cutscene, Jennifer and Brown are seen at a local park together at a bench. As the teenager reaches towards him, he notices two girls playing together. He then suddenly vanishes as a silhouette appears in the sky. He also briefly appears sniffing around the orphanage such as in the hallways and girl's bathroom. Inside the airship, Brown wakes up an unconscious Jennifer. The duo then begin to explore. Brown is then tasked with finding the orphanage key. Finding it, the duo head inside the girl's bathroom. Brown suddenly begins to growl. The both of them distracted, Gregory grabs Jennifer and drags her inside a nearby stall as the labrador can only watch. The duo then appear one last time at the now-rainy park with the teen holding her beloved dog.

In-game, Brown will first be seen tied up at the airship. The rope both binds and blinds him. In order to free him, Jennifer has to return to the room where Joshua was to lower the scissors. After she rescues Brown from being tied with rope, Brown helps Jennifer survive in her dreamscape of childhood memories, helping her on the airship with the monthly gifts or healing items. During cutscenes, he will occasionally growl or bark when danger approaches.

Brown doesn't have a particularly strong role in most chapters until "The Funeral" chapter when he and Wendy disappear. A distraught Jennifer begins to hallucinate Brown's body all around the orphanage, eventually being forced to confront and accept her repressed memories of his death. His body is then found inside the aristocrat club room. As Wendy stands before the teen, Jennifer suddenly appears as her child-self and proceeds to slap her for Brown's death.

In the next chapter, when Stray Dog appears and assaults Jennifer, Brown reappears to help defend Jennifer. This gives her the strength to fight back against Gregory. If the player resolves to get the Good ending, the duo will run into a bright light representing Jennifer finally remembering. This then triggers the Once Upon a Time chapter. When the player is done exploring, they will head to the shed where a puppy Brown can be seen. There, Jennifer will briefly play with him and adorn him in a collar. She then locks the memory of him and the orphanage away, to make sure she will never forget Brown.

Etymology

Young Jennifer named him Brown because of the color of his fur. In a way, this is something typical a child would do, and Brown is a major part of Jennifer's childhood. It is also a common dog name in the Western world. Brown's simplistic name adds to the theme of the game concerning childhood.

The color brown represents wholesomeness and earthiness, as well as steadfastness, simplicity, friendliness, dependability, and health. So not only does his name Brown represent him literally, but also his nature and attitude. Furthermore, the term "to brown someone" means to depress or irritate. This could relate to Wendy's feelings towards him.

Trivia

Jennifer hugging Brown.

• The player can have Jennifer hug and pet Brown using the O button. Jennifer and Brown must be aligned, with Jennifer standing directly in front of Brown. A light tap on the button will result in a pet, while pressing the button down longer and harder will result in a hug.
• Brown has 4 unlockable costumes
  • A chair: Obtained via observing the wooden chair along the back wall in the Four-Leaf Clover Room.
  • Gothic Lolita costume: Obtained by getting the Good Ending.
  • Crab: Obtained via observing the October Ticket in the "Once Upon a Time" chapter.
  • Rag doll: Obtained by finding four Broken Robots in the "Rag Princess Sews" chapter.
• Brown can not die through enemy attacks. However, he can be wounded to the point where he won't follow commands and will struggle to follow Jennifer.
  • An unused game over scene involved Brown dying. This implies his health mechanic would have caused it.

The hanging dog on the cover.

• Brown's fate appears to be foreshadowed on the game's cover. Of the four prominent animals, the dog is bound in some sort of vine-like rope with a leaf, which could symbolize life. The dog is trapped in what appears to be a noose and has a tortured figure.
• When Jennifer wakes up in "The Funeral"'s opening cutscene, the floor around her is clearly empty save for a blanket. When the cutscene ends, Brown inexplicably appears on the blanket.

Story Concepts

• Originally not included in the game, Brown was added to add gameplay variety and to balance out Jennifer's "helpless and gloomy" personality.

Gallery

to see the gallery of Brown click on Brown/Gallery.

Navigation

Social Rank
Red Crayon Aristocrat Club	"Sovereign"	Princess of the Red Rose (Wendy/Jennifer) • Bear Prince of the Red Rose (Joshua Wilson/Wendy)
	"State"	Duchess (Diana) • Countess (Eleanor) • Baroness (Meg)
	"Bourgeoisie"	Poor/Miserable (Amanda) • Beggar/Irritable (Jennifer) • Susan • Olivia
Non-Members	"Proletariat"	Clara • Martha Carol • Headmaster Hoffman • Nicholas • Thomas • Xaviar
	"Stray Dog"	Gregory M. Wilson • Brown