Interview with Grubb

Grubb, the main boss of the dangerous Sunken City
Photo from ©wizard101central.com

You are very well known in the game because Sunken City is situated inside Wizard City. Have many wizards defeated you so far?
I don't know if many, not so many.

Really?
Yes, really.

Why's that?
Well, we are a very difficult dungeon.

So how many, are they countable?
52.

No way! I'm one of them.
Really?

So it is very difficult to defeat you. I was on level 30.
Level 30 is very low.

What level is normal?
50. And not many wizards are on fifty even.

I've noticed something else when I strolled the Commons of Wizard City.
Yes?

I think they have very high levels, the wizards there.
They are hackers, definitely. And they don't play at all.

So they don't even try to go into Sunken City.
That's right.

How are you feeling about being an evil creature in the game?
I like it a lot. I like it because I am interesting.

Yes, that's right. When you were approached to be in the game, did you from the start want to be evil as the character?
No, I was surprised at the offer.

Do you think it's more interesting than being a good character?
I don't know. I wouldn't like to be one.

So what is good about your life?
Oh, well, I get to live alone and I like that. I also, I also, I don't know, I like people I'm with, they are fascinating.

Like banshees?
Exactly.

Would you change anything about your role inside the game?
No, I wouldn't change anything.

So what does your everyday life look like?
I get up, I eat, I cook for myself and I love it, I meet with my friends from the Sunken City. We can spend lots of time talking, hardly anyone visits us.

Oh, of course, you are not visited often.
Yes.

Do you have a family?
Yes, I do, I have two children and three wives.

How old are the children?
Well, one is five and one is ten, and they were born both on the Christmas Eve. And it's always a magical time for me.

Are you friends with other evil characters of Wizard101? The main evil characters?
Yes, I'm very big friends with Mallistaire, I often visit him in Dragonspyre. I also like Morganthe, who is you. And Lord Nightshade, who is also you.

Yes, I was told about it already from the game, that I'm Lord Nightshade. That they were looking for him.
Yes, they were waiting, it was a prophecy.

Yes.
It was a prophecy that if you answer with the same death spell then you are him.

Yes, I answered with a Ghoul to his Ghoul.
So you are Lord Nightshade.

See, I don't think he was made upon my person in the game, they never approached me to be in the game.
Yes, that's true, they are from the future.

Morganthe and Lord Nightshade.
Yes, and many other figures, for example Merle Ambrose. He was already waiting for the company to make the game. As a cybernetic alter ego. They had his file on a disc drive, and they opened it, and he said "Hello, I was waiting for you". And they were very moved.

Characters of Wizard101 are all based on real people, so who are you based on?
I am based on somebody who was famous in every incarnation under a different name.

So, an example of a name?
Well, I would say, Dragon of Glastonbury, and Braveheart.

Oh, I find you more attractive outside of the game. You are very zombie-like in Wizard101.
I am a zombie, always.

Still your facial features are not the same as I remember.
They changed them, the hackers changed them.

That's too bad, nobody recognizes you.
Yes, but I can play my role more... betterly.

Are you friends with any positive characters of the game?
Yes.

Who in particular?
Merle Ambrose is my great patron, and I meet with him often. Also I like Sohomer Sunblade, he is a great millman, and we drink often.

That's good to hear. So coming back to the makings of this game, have you been downloaded already from William Wallace, or are you also from the future?
I am from the future too.

Your plan to overtake the world of Wizard101, does it have chances of success?
Not in the version which hackers present. It is much more intelligent. But I can not complete it, I can not materialize it. I am very limited by the hackers.

Are there any secrets of Sunken City, things nobody ever discovered so far?
Yes, many, many, and many are discoverable. Yet nobody discovered them.

So what are they, say, one that's discoverable and one that's hidden by hackers?
One that's discoverable - it's a secret of a lost maiden. I kidnapped her myself -

Right.
And I keep her locked up inside a tower. And it is possible to free her, if you do additional side quests inside Sunken City. And one that's hidden by hackers, it's a great side quest of a lost treasure, of rubies and gold. They are in the cellars of the dungeon, under entire ground, and the cellars have been completely locked up by hackers.

Right. Ok, so we know a lot now from you. So do you think you will be able to overtake the world - in this version?
No.

And generally?
Maybe one day. I am a great competitor to Lord Mallistaire. Actually, they wanted me to be that, the game makers. But now, with this version, I can not be. But he is not better in this version.

Well, I'm glad to hear that your life is not bad in Wizard101 still.
Yes, I'm glad so too.

Thank you, thank you for the interview.
Thank you too.

This interview took place on 16 August 2019, around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, over a radio.

Conducted by: Agata Borgia