The Narrator

The Narrator is the voice heard constantly in The Stanley Parable, who serves a general purpose of guiding Stanley. Depending on Stanley's actions, the Narrator can serve as the main antagonist, the deuteragonist, a neutral/misunderstood character, or even Stanley's friend.

The Narrator is a transcendental entity that exists independently from the game-world and manifests himself as a voice in Stanley's head. It is unknown what the Narrator truly is, but his powers, alignment, and motives vary per ending. The Narrator's personality depends entirely on the choices Stanley makes and may develop into several different personalities, such as sad, angry, obnoxious, happy, and confused.

In several endings such as the Freedom Ending or the Confusion Ending, the Narrator serves his role in the game as the player's guide and even friend (the "Freedom" ending is also ironic though, as it only happens if you never question the narrative and always follow all instructions to the letter). However, the Narrator can also display a cold, ruthless demeanor. This is showcased in the Explosion Ending and the Museum Ending, where he willingly lets Stanley slowly die. (However, in the Museum ending, he tried to warn Stanley about entering the escape route, which seems to suggest that in this route, his ruthlessness is caused by annoyance or some other exterior emotion.) The Narrator also displays a great deal of sarcasm; in the Serious Room, he exclaims that most rational people would say that the Narrator spends an absurd amount of time doing nothing but looking at tables. Also, in the Games Ending, the Narrator sarcastically remarks that he "doesn't need the validation of a man whose job is to push buttons". The Narrator is also impatient; if Stanley stays in the Broom Closet, the Narrator will get bored and angry quite quickly. He does the opposite of this in the Demo, where he says he'll wait for the player if they wait in the waiting room, and play the Eight game.

In some endings, the Narrator will also make fun of Stanley. For example, in the Games Ending in the original Half-Life 2 mod, he will call Stanley "fat, ugly, and really, really stupid". The same line is used to mock Stanley if he stays inside the Broom Closet long enough.