Principal of the Thing

Principal of the Thing is the principal of the Schoolhouse/Super Schoolhouse, depending on which Baldi's Basics game is played. He serves as one of the most cumbersome obstacles to the player.

Description

Principal of the Thing is a 2D photo of a man with his right hand pointing upwards. The photo has been heavily dithered to fit in with the game's aesthetics. He is seen wearing a gray sweater and pale blue pants. Some pixelated parts of his legs are erased. According to the creator of the game, Principal of the Thing wears a yellow bow tie, which has already been blended in with his neck due to dithering.

Principal of the Thing is in charge of making sure that the students follow the rules. As such, once he sees someone running in the hallway, he will take them to the Principal's office for detention. However, based on the posters hanging around the school, he is fond of making witty jokes.

Gameplay

General

Principal of the Thing begins in his office and later begins his walk around the school. He moves at a relatively quick pace and sometimes whistles while doing so. If he meets the player while moving around, he will pass by them unless they break a school rule. Since he is extremely fast, there is no chance for the player to outrun him; instead, they should wait until he disappears from their sight and continue running.

Unless the player is wearing the Faculty Nametag, the Principal of the Thing will chase after them as soon as he sees them running. There is no sound indicator except for occasional whistling, making it difficult for them to pinpoint his location. When he catches up with the player, he will teleport them to the Principal's office, making them stay inside this place for a certain amount of time as detention, unable to open any doors. Each time the player gets caught by the Principal of the Thing, the detention time will increase by five seconds, and after reaching 60 seconds, the time will go up to 99 seconds.

During this time, Baldi can enter the Principal's office freely, and he will eventually make his way to this place. Unless there is a noise with a value of 95 or higher, he will go straight to the room while the player is still under detention, ending the game immediately. To escape the detention, the player can make use of different items, such as the Principal's Keys, the Dangerous Teleporter, and the Portal Poster. They can also escape through the window if 1st Prize has already broken it beforehand. 

On the other hand, Principal of the Thing can be helpful to the player, as he can take them away from Baldi and Playtime. In addition, he will also take It's a Bully to the office if the latter tries to extort something from the player. To call him straight to the player, they can use the Principal Whistle.

Challenges

Principal of the Thing is the main obstacle in the Stealthy Challenge, and there will be six clones of him to patrol around the school and look for the player. If any of them see the player, he will scold them for being inside the school after hours and chase them for detention. 

Other Appearances

• Baldi's Basics Classic: In this game, Principal of the Thing walks around the map randomly. Every time the player receives a detention, the timer will increase by 15 seconds, and he always knows where the player is, so there is no chance to outrun him.
• Baldi's Basics Birthday Bash: Principal of the Thing has the same role as in the Classic version, except that he wears a party hat. He also joins the rest of the cast to surprise the player while saying, “No surprises in the halls.”
• Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered: With Hard Mode turned on in Fun Setting, the detention mechanic is the same as in the Classic version, and Principal of the Thing knows the player's location at all times. He is also the only character who can be seen from a long distance with Lights Out turned on.
• Baldi's Basics - Field Trip demo: Camping: Principal of the Thing can only be found behind a few walls, saying, "No breaking the fourth wall in the halls!"

Trivia

General

• The name Principal of the Thing is a wordplay on the phrase “the principle of the thing.”
• The whistle sound is based on the same sound made by Banana Joe (The Amazing World of Gumball).
• In the trailer of Yukon's Basics, a fanmade game based on Baldi's Basic, there is a line said by the Principal: “No making a Baldi's Basics fangame in the halls!” by the creator of Baldi's Basic himself.

Baldi's Basics Plus

• Before V0.1.2, it was impossible to lose him. Nowadays, the player can turn a corner and hide in a classroom (except for the Stealthy Challenge).
• It's a Bully wasn't sent to detention before V0.1.3. In addition, this version also marks his voice re-recording, except for a few lines and the whistling sound.
• The creator states that Principal of the Thing, along with Baldi, is the most important character in the game.

Baldi's Basics Classic

• From V1.3 onward, Principal of the Thing can detect the player breaking a rule based on his light of sight, which used to be a small radius.
• There are audio files that show the Principal of the Thing saying, "No stabbing people with pencils in the halls!" and "No looking in other people's lockers in the halls!" but they have yet to be seen. Later on, the creator revealed that the former was for a cut character named Pencil Boy, and the latter was for a scrapped game idea: the player could open lockers and look for items.