Wallfacer Analysis in The Dark Forest

A Wallfacer is one of the four people chosen for the Wallfacer Project. The four Wallfacers are Hines, Tyler, Rey Diaz, and Luo Ji.

Wallfacer Quotes in The Dark Forest

The The Dark Forest quotes below are all either spoken by Wallfacer or refer to Wallfacer. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Communication, Cooperation, and Fear Theme Icon

Life needed smoothness, but it also needed direction. One could not always be returning to the point of origin.

Related Characters: Luo Ji

Page Number and Citation: 12

Explanation and Analysis:

“It’s all fascinating, but what would the axioms of cosmic sociology be?”

“First: Survival is the primary need of civilization. Second: Civilization continuously grows and expands, but the total matter in the universe remains constant.

[…]

“To derive a basic picture of cosmic sociology from these two axioms, you need two other important concepts: chains of suspicion, and the technological explosion.”

Related Characters: Ye Wenjie (speaker), Luo Ji (speaker), The Trisolarans

Page Number and Citation: 13-14

Explanation and Analysis:

“Real shrewdness means not letting any shrewdness show. It’s not like in the movies. The truly astute don’t sit in the shadows all day striking a pose. They don’t show off that they’re using their brains. They look all carefree and innocent. Some of them are tacky and mawkish, others careless and unserious. What’s critical is not to let others think you’re a person of interest. Let them look down on you or dismiss you and they won’t feel you’re an obstacle. You’re just a broom in the corner. The pinnacle of this is to make them not notice you at all, as if you don’t exist until the moment right before they die at your hands.”

Related Characters: Shi Qiang (speaker), The Trisolarans, Luo Ji

Page Number and Citation: 74-75

Explanation and Analysis:

“You’re one of the calmest people I’ve ever met.”

“The calmness comes from cynicism. There’s not much in the world that can make me care.”

“Whatever it is, I’ve never seen someone who could stay calm in a situation like this.”

Related Characters: Luo Ji (speaker), Shi Qiang (speaker), Frederick Tyler, The Trisolarans, Wu Yue

Related Symbols: Trisolaran Probe

Page Number and Citation: 75

Explanation and Analysis:

“For the majority of people, what they love exists only in the imagination. The object of their love is not the man or woman of reality, but what he or she is like in their imagination. The person in reality is just a template used for the creation of this dream lover. Eventually, they find out the differences between their dream lover and the template. If they can get used to those differences, then they can be together. If not, they split up. It’s as simple as that. You differ from the majority in one respect: You didn’t need a template.”

Related Characters: Zhuang Yan, Luo Ji, Xia Xia

Page Number and Citation: 92

Explanation and Analysis:

Rey Diaz wheezed […] while pulling his hand back to cover his eyes. When Allen drove over to him, he had fallen to the ground. With difficulty, Allen helped him into the backseat. “Sunglasses. I need sunglasses.…” He half-reclined into the backseat, his hands clawing at the air. Allen handed Rey Diaz a pair of sunglasses he found on the dashboard. After he put them on his breathing grew smoother. “I’m all right. Let’s get out of here. Quickly,” he said feebly.

“What on earth happened? What’s wrong?”

“It might be the sun.”

“Uh … when did you start having this sort of reaction?”

“Just now.”

The peculiar phobia for the sun that afflicted Rey Diaz pushed him to the edge of mental and physical breakdown whenever he saw it and kept him confined indoors from then on.

Related Characters: Dr. Allen (speaker), Manuel Rey Diaz (speaker), The Trisolarans

Page Number and Citation: 150

Explanation and Analysis:

He stood on the ice, his teeth chattering in the cold, a cold that seemed to come not from the lake water or icy wind, but from a direct transmission from outer space. He kept his head down, knowing that from this moment on, the stars were not like they once were. He didn’t dare look up. As Rey Diaz feared the sun, Luo Ji had acquired a severe phobia of the stars. He bowed his head, and through chattering teeth, said to himself:

“Wallfacer Luo Ji, I am your Wallbreaker.”

Related Characters: Luo Ji (speaker), Zhuang Yan, Ye Wenjie, Xia Xia, The Trisolarans

Page Number and Citation: 224

Explanation and Analysis:

Wallfacer Term Timeline in The Dark Forest

The timeline below shows where the term Wallfacer appears in The Dark Forest. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Strategy, Dishonesty, and Deception Theme Icon

...the stage. She announces that the PDC is ready to announce the start of the Wallfacer Project as well as the Wallfacer candidates. Secretary General Say explains that the Trisolarans’ sophons... (full context)

In the Wallfacer Project, four Wallfacers will be granted significant power to utilize the world’s military resources. Wallfacers... (full context)

The first Wallfacer is Frederick Tyler, who recently retired as the U.S. Secretary of Defense and wrote a... (full context)

At the UN building, Luo Ji stumbles to the stage after he’s announced as a Wallfacer. He’s too shocked to pay attention to what happens during the rest of the meeting.... (full context)

...bring in the assailant. Luo Ji tells the man that he rejected the position of Wallfacer, so the man wasted his bullet, and the ETO wasted an assassin. The assailant gives... (full context)

The Wallfacer Project and the Wallfacers have been announced to the world, so Luo Ji is now... (full context)

...No matter what he tells people, including if he tells people he is not a Wallfacer, people will not know if what he’s saying is part of his work as a... (full context)

...collect his thoughts and decides that he should make use of his power as a Wallfacer. He then goes to see the chair of the PDC, who is named Garanin. Garanin... (full context)

...world will feel unlimited. Garanin says that so far he’s been disappointed by the other Wallfacers’ efforts because it’s clear what their strategic intentions are. He said he prefers Luo Ji’s... (full context)

...of the Earth-Trisolaris Organization (ETO) meet. They say that they need to respond to the Wallfacer Project, especially considering that the Project plays into the humans’ strengths of deceit and deception.... (full context)

...from now is of no importance compared to today. He says to himself, “Screw the Wallfacer Project.” (full context)

Meanwhile, another Wallfacer, Rey Diaz, tours the Los Alamos National Laboratory where nuclear weapons are tested. The lab’s... (full context)

Another Wallfacer, Bill Hines, talks with his wife Keiko Yamasuki, who is a neuroscientist. Hines tells her... (full context)

Not long after, the Planetary Defense Council (PDC) holds its first Wallfacer Project Hearing. Hines, Tyler, and Rey Diaz arrive to detail their Wallfacer plans, but Luo... (full context)

...that he wants the casks for himself. He adds that it’s all part of his Wallfacer plan. Mr. Kent is reluctant to comply but has to do as Luo Ji says... (full context)

...taken aback. He thinks finding Luo Ji’s “dream lover” is a gross misuse of the Wallfacer Project resources. Shi Qiang says he doesn’t ask questions, only follows orders. How should he... (full context)

...Yan tells Luo Ji that Shi Qiang told her she would be helping with the Wallfacer Project, and she wants to know what her job will be. Luo Ji says he’ll... (full context)

...Yan, he understands love’s true meaning. He tells Zhuang Yan that her job for the Wallfacer Project will be to make herself as happy as possible. He says that he will... (full context)

...willing to give their lives for the cause. He assures the man that, through the Wallfacer Project, he’ll supply the man’s organization with anything it needs. The man responds by saying... (full context)

At the next Wallfacer Hearing, Tyler says that he wants his “mosquito swarm” to be able to toggle between... (full context)

Five years pass. In those five years, the Wallfacers have become messianic figures. In movies, they’re portrayed as superheroes, and many people think they’re... (full context)

...Tyler says at face value or whether it’s another example of him acting as a Wallfacer, meaning that he’s deliberately distorting the truth to throw the Trisolarans off the scent of... (full context)

Tyler then tells Luo Ji that because the PDC prohibits Wallfacer plans that pose a needless threat to human life, they wanted to try Tyler for... (full context)

The Planetary Defense Council (PDC) holds its 89th Wallfacer Project Hearing. The Wallfacer Project has come under closer scrutiny in the wake of Tyler’s... (full context)

...future, so Luo Ji must decide if he will begin working in earnest on the Wallfacer Project not just to save humanity, but to save his wife and child. She says... (full context)

General Secretary Say also tells Luo Ji that of all the Wallfacers, he may offer humanity the greatest chance of success because, out of all the people... (full context)

Luo Ji then asks if the reason he was chosen as a Wallfacer had anything to do with cosmic sociology. General Secretary Say tells him that it’s unlikely,... (full context)

...General Secretary Say was wrong about one thing. She said that his role as a Wallfacer and the Trisolarans’ interest in him was unrelated to cosmic sociology, but Luo Ji knows... (full context)

...able to haul himself back onto the ice. Once he does, he says to himself, “Wallfacer Luo Ji, I am your Wallbreaker.” (full context)

...the bunker where Shi Qiang first took him just before he was named as a Wallfacer. The bunker is 10 stories beneath the ground and has been recently refurbished. (full context)

...talks with Dr. Ringier, Luo Ji tells Mr. Kent that he wants to call a Wallfacer Hearing for as soon as possible and wants to attend it via video because he... (full context)

Two weeks later, a Wallfacer Hearing is convened. Rey Diaz and Hines are hibernating, while Tyler is dead, so Luo... (full context)

...happened, and General Fitzroy says it must be related to Luo Ji’s presentation in the Wallfacer Hearing four years ago, as it coincided exactly with when the Trisolarans sent the probes... (full context)

Hines brings up his proposal during the next Wallfacer Hearing. There is immediate pushback. The French delegate says that what Hines is proposing is... (full context)

...to go into the future. He says he has achieved all he can as a Wallfacer and wants to hibernate until the day the Trisolaran probes reach the solar system. Six... (full context)

...large, they must be tested in space to avoid catastrophic damage on Earth. At a Wallfacer Hearing, Rey Diaz proposes testing one of the bombs on Mercury. Members of the Planetary... (full context)

At the next Wallfacer Hearing, delegates of the PDC from the U.S., UK, France, and Germany call for the... (full context)

...crowd are angry that Rey Diaz has so wantonly jeopardized human life, both through his Wallfacer plan and through his recent threat to New York City. Ultimately, the crowd kills Rey... (full context)

...on Earth’s surface. Luo Ji then asks a doctor if he knows anything about the Wallfacer Project. The doctor says that it was a kind of ancient joke. He thinks one... (full context)

...to see Luo Ji. He sees he’s there to bring Luo Ji to the final Wallfacer Hearing. Luo Ji notices that Jonathan’s English is peppered with Chinese vocabulary. It seems that... (full context)

Just before the Wallfacer Hearing begins, Bill Hines and Keiko Yamasuki appear on a screen. Luo Ji tells Hines... (full context)

...the Solar Fleet Joint Conference speaks. He begins by introducing a motion to abolish the Wallfacer Project. He says that the Wallfacer Project has been a complete failure that violated every... (full context)

After the Wallfacer Hearing ends, Keiko says she has something to say. At first, no one pays attention,... (full context)

...explains that he also imprinted on himself the belief that everything he did as a Wallfacer was right. He believes that wholeheartedly and can’t change that belief, even now, 185 years... (full context)

...see Luo Ji because they’re the only people who understand the experience of being a Wallfacer. Hines says that he’s happy for humanity’s victory over the Trisolarans, but because he imprinted... (full context)

...glad Luo Ji is alive, he says he’s done participating in any of Luo Ji’s Wallfacer-like behavior. The two drive back to the city. When they arrive, they see a large... (full context)

Luo Ji asks if the reason the Wallfacer Project has been reinstated is because the star he cast a spell on was destroyed.... (full context)

...its location. Luo Ji then explains to Shi Qiang the spell he sent as a Wallfacer. He says that he sent images into the universe that would tell others the exact... (full context)

When Luo Ji attends the first new Wallfacer Hearing, he’s surprised to learn that Zhuang Yan and Xia Xia’s reawakening has been put... (full context)

...savior. Instead, people now see him as a fraud. In name, he is still a Wallfacer, but he doesn’t have any real power. (full context)

The Dark Forest

Cixin Liu

Wallfacer Term Analysis

Wallfacer Quotes in The Dark Forest

Wallfacer Term Timeline in The Dark Forest