Summary
Being thatAlan Wake 2follows a writer’s journey, it only makes sense for it to be filled with memorable quotes. The main character is not the only person with standout lines, though. The quotes below aim to showcase the range of emotions Alan Wake 2 delivers during its story.
The game has the unique ability to make you laugh out loud with its self-referential humor one second before shaking you to your core. Its plot can seem confusing at times, but there is an intense and clear sincerity in its themes about the power of art. The game itself proves this by how these lines stuck with us after the credits rolled.
Updated on June 23, 2025 by Christopher Padilla: We’ve taken a look at this list and added several more quotes that truly encompass what Alan Wake 2 really means. From funny quotes to moments that truly make you think of the depth of the game and its characters, check out even more iconic lines from Alan Wake 2.
Many local attractions have become fenced off by the government and that’s why at Koskela Brothers Adventures Tours, we say: F*** the government, we have bolt cutters. - Ilmo Koskela
Alan Wake 2 is a dark mystery, drawing heavily from classics like Twin Peaks, but like those classics, it can also be pretty funny. The game has an oddball sense of humor, whether it’s darkly funny or outright hilarious.
The ads for the Koskela brothers’ various venturesare (mostly) in the latter, and the most memorable one is also likely the first you’ll see, which is one for their guided tour service of the Cauldron Lake area. As a bonus, the quote above also tells you a lot about Ilmo, namely that he’s a can-do guy who doesn’t worry about things like “federal laws” getting in the way of his plans.
14An Enigma, Messing With Your Head
“Oh, mercy. Thousands have gone missing. Beyond the labyrinth of me. When you’re lost, you’re lost in your own company.” And cut! Oh… Nowthatis drama. - Thomas Zane
Thomas Zane is a mystery that never really gets solved, to an infuriating degree. Did he create Alan? Did Alan create him? Why do they look alike? Is he a poet or a director? What happened to the Diver? There are questions upon questions about the man that never get answered. Worse yet, answers about him raise even further questions!
Even something as simple as a retcon from him being a poet (and diver) to being a director, which was raised in Control and codified in the Alan Wake Remaster isn’t so cut-and-dry, since Alan Wake, Jesse Faden, and Cynthia Weaver still remember him as a poet.
So when he delivers his last line in the game, it’s a proverbial flick to the forehead, teasing you for thinking he’d do something as straightforward as dying. “What the f***,” indeed.
13Echoes Of Max Payne
Fans in the know know that Alex Casey– the detective in Alan Wake’s novel, not the FBI agent– is a stand-in for Remedy Games’ first famous character, Max Payne, whose series is owned by Rockstar Games.
Payne is a moody cynic who is surprisingly poetic if melodramatic. He often goes into brooding monologues about his situation, the city, the people he deals with, and life in general. This quote shows all that off, as well as really letting you know how terrible the circumstances of Alex-Casey-the-character is forced to endure. It also gives a nice bit of foreshadowing to the last confrontation of the game.
12Yes, They Know It Took A While For This Game To Come Out
“You Look Like You’ve Been Cooped Up In The Writer’s Room For Few Too Many Years” - Warlin Door
There’s no way not to look at this line as a direct joke at just how long it took this sequel to come out. Mr. Door says this to Alan Wake, who also has been stuck in the Dark Place for over a decade, so it makes perfect sense in the narrative.
The scene is the first time you see Alan Wake on the fake talk show, and it also includes Sam Lake’s making the iconic scrunched-up Max Payne face. You laugh, but it also feels unsettling since you know Alan is in the Dark Place and things can go haywire at any second.
11Alice Wake’s Grief
Alice Wake uses the image of a small child devastated over losing her balloon to relate the extreme grief of having lost her husband. It’s an interesting allegory to use since anyone would think that losing a spouse is dramatically more traumatic than letting a balloon float out of reach.
What is lost is not the point, though, and cannot be compared to the grand scheme of things. Alice Wake loved Alan Wake and now he’s gone. We are seeing someone dealing with the untimely loss of their spouse. The cosmic horror and reality-changing narrative that threatens to destroy existence doesn’t change the severity of that grief.
10Bright Falls Is Indeed A Small Town
“And That Wraps Up My List Of Favorite Park Benches In Bright Falls” - Pat
You overhear this while playing as Saga Anderson during one of Pat’s radio broadcasts. It perfectly encapsulates the small-town quirkiness so prevalent within Bright Falls. It’s as if Bright Falls is so ordinary and unexciting that this is what the townspeople find interesting and engaging.
Even when a string of murders and documented supernatural occurrences plague the woods and the surrounding areas, the residents of this town remain as wholesome as ever. It’s frankly admirable.
“I’ve Only Been Lost Once In My Life…The Years I Spent With My Ex-Wife” - Alex Casey
By itself, this is an outdated joke we expect to hear from a stand-up comic performing one-liners in Las Vegas in the 1940s. When coming from Alex Casey’s mouth it shows just how much of an archetypal middle-aged detective he is.
Three Alex Caseys exist in Alan Wake 2; Saga Anderson’s partner, the fictional character of Alan Wake’s novels, and the fictional character who comes to life in the Dark Place. Lines like this and the other bad jokes coming from Saga’s partner make us wonder how real this version is or how intensely fiction has changed reality by the start of the game.
8Gods Gave Rock And Roll To You, And Their Names Are Tor And Odin
“The Power Of Rock And Roll!” - Agent Estevez
After Saga Anderson discovers that a sincere piece of art can bring Alan Wake back from the Dark Place,she recruits the Old Gods of Asgard to write a new rock song. When they successfully play the song by Cauldron Lake, Agent Estevez shouts “The Power of Rock and Roll” with glee.
It sounds cheesy but it’s earned in the moment and is a perfect thesis statement for the game’s themes about the power of art. Rock and Roll does indeed have the power to move mountains and destroy the darkness.
7Alan Wake Can See The Humor In His Horror Story
“I’m My Own Deus Ex Machina, Really?” - Alan Wake
After Alan Wake receives a call from himself explaining how to progress through the story, he can’t help but point out the absurdity of the moment.
The books that shift reality have to abide by the rules of storytelling, which is why Alan cannot just write “We won, the end.” Deus ex machina is a storytelling technique as old as Greek theater and while it can be a copout, it does finish a story. The game points this out immediately as it happens in yet another moment ofself-referential humor.
6Alan Finally Confronts The Darkness
“The Hero Turns To Look Inside, Is Destroyed By What He Sees, And Is Redeemed.” - Alan Wake
This line sums up what could have been a very depressing ending to Alan Wake 2. Mr. Scratch is not necessarily another being but is still physically Alan Wake, only possessed. Both Alan Wake titles imply that Alan had a darkness inside of him exacerbated by the frustrations of his writer’s block.
While he would not murder people normally, it is easy to see the Dark Presence taking advantage of this. You could partly interpret the ending as Alan finally admitting his faults and sacrificing himself as a part of the book’s finale to save everyone else.
