Simon Henriksson

Background Simon's life before the events of Cry of Fear is hinted through dialogue and flashbacks. Simon grew up in his hometown of Kirkville with his mother. Nothing is mentioned about his father however, and it is unknown if Simon even met him. Through Simon's introduction quote, he claims that he has felt alone his entire life, which indicates that he felt as though he did not have many friends and lived alone most of the time with the only company coming from his mother. It is hinted that Simon's mother is overprotective as proven by the text messages she sends him throughout the game, likely meaning Simon did not socialize often in his younger years.

During his lifetime, Doctor Purnell states that Simon has lived with mental problems for a long time, which has proven to be anxiety and depression, which Simon claims to be generated by his loneliness (in Simon's words from the IRL trailer he claims that "Anxiety and depression controls my life everyday"). Simon would occasionally take a train to Stockholm and take lonely walks around the city, most likely to help him take his mind off being lonely. Simon is shown to be an occasional smoker – seen clearly in his apartment where he has an ashtray on his table and in the cigarette easter egg, which might prove the stress he endures. From the appearance of Simon's bag it is implied that he is a fan of heavy metal music, and from the logo on the back of his hoodie he either has attended concerts, or instead it is merely a miscellaneous detail.

When Simon started college, he met a girl named Sophie who he became fond of. Simon became close to Sophie after helping her with the problems she had endured, going as far as to say that Simon was the only male at college who would help her through her troubling times, making her life "more bearable." Eventually, Simon became so attached to Sophie that he came to conclusion that he loved her and eventually built enough courage to confess this to her but she rejected him. Even after Simon insisted that he loved her, she backed away from him, telling him that she "had leave for somewhere." Sophie's rejection debilitated Simon hard and he went as far as to blame himself that she chose to reject him and was unable to move aside from the pain of her rejection. Depending on gameplay, Simon will either ignore his emotions, allowing them to fester to the point where it punished both Simon and Sophie, or despite being hurt, move on.

At some unknown point, Simon obtained a switchblade. It is unknown where he obtained it or his reason for wanting one, but it is very likely that he used the blade to cut his wrist, as seen throughout the game when Simon injects himself with morphine that he has scars on his wrist and in the Memories custom campaign he cuts his wrist with the switchblade in the beginning (although the Memories custom campaign is not canon), most likely due to the emotional turmoil that he felt from Sophie's rejection or the stress he feels from his loneliness.