People have many questions about Barney, wondering if he’s an anomaly, a serial killer, what’s in the secret case, and why he needs so much coffee. I’ll get to those burning questions, but first, I’m asking what happens if you reject Barney in Animal Hospital.

After tormenting our moustached friend with rejection, I have the answer for you, and some potential lore implications…! Let’s get into it. (Spoilers ahead)

Before I start, I have covered Barney’s ordeal in my Animal Hospital Anomaly Storylines article.

What Happens if You Reject Barney in Animal Hospital

First showing up around Shift 3, Barney requests a coffee from the player. Similarly to the headbangers, you’re able to drink two sips and give him the final one to satiate him. But if you refuse him, close the shutters, or simply ignore him long enough for him to leave, he will say: “You better watch out… I don’t like being refused.”

Fortunately, despite this threat, he won’t return to harass or harm you, and simply takes his leave, closing his story chapter there and then.

Other interactions with Barney don’t change the story if you refuse him, until you reach the final confrontation where he asks to be hidden from Officer Duckman. If you close the shutters on him, Barney will eventually leave the hospital, concluding his story there.

That’s a little underwhelming, so let’s consider some flavour text surrounding his visitations.

Barney’s Story TLDR

Before curating fanfiction on what happens to Barney when he leaves the hospital without coffee, we need context for his story if we abide by his requests.

• First visit: Asks for a coffee, claiming to have had a long day.
• Second visit: Trusts the player to keep a red suitcase with “DON’T OPEN” written over it safe.
• Third visit: Asks for a picture of himself, revealing his anomalous form.
• Fourth visit: Asks for a Scalpel and leaves.
• Fifth visit: Hides in the reception whilst Officer Duckman asks the player if they’ve seen him.
  • If turned in: Barney will rush out of the Reception, scalpel in hand, to make Officer Duckman faint and require timed medical care, and Barney successfully flees.
  • If kept hidden: Officer Duckman will leave, and Barney rewards the player with a second coffee machine as thanks for keeping him safe.

This sums up and concludes his entire arc. But now I want to delve a little more into what I think is going on between shifts.

So, What’s Going On?

Barney’s storyline always left me with more questions than answers. Why does he pester us for our limited supply of coffee when he had a machine? Why does he ask for a photo of himself, only for Officer Duckman to find it and use it to track him back to the hospital? And why is he killing people?

Alright, enough rhetoric out of the way, let me spiral into theory delirium.

Theories Ahead!

I think, when Barney first visits, claiming to have had a long day, he had just killed somebody who turned him into an anomaly. It’s a pretty popular theory at this point that anomalies are created, and not naturally coexisting with the sane population of the game. On his leave of the crime scene, he took the DON’T OPEN case and fled.

Freshly anomalous and low on sanity, wanting to keep his wits, Barney enters the first corporation he can find, asking for coffee as a means to regain some autonomy and sanity. Consider the headbangers, who also want coffee, but are too far gone to express that desire. They also leave peacefully if you share. Sometime after, he trusts us to care for the suitcase, later opened to contain a second coffee machine.

When Barney later returns asking for a photo, he wanted to see if he were truly turning; potentially, between visits he attempted to reverse the effects to no avail. Somewhat let down, he takes his leave.

After this, he requests a scalpel, which we assume he used to kill somebody, earning him his serial killer status. By definition, a serial killer is someone who commits two or more murders in separate events. If Barney only killed someone after retrieving the scalpel from us, he would be a murderer, or mass murderer (if taking down multiple targets with one scalpel), not a serial killer. To me, this somewhat confirms he did indeed kill someone to get the case.

The Suitcase

But, if what I’m saying has any credibility, why does Barney give us the case after all that effort to retrieve it? I think the answer is pretty simple. Coffee was no longer satisfying him, and his desire to relinquish control and become anomalous was far more dominant than his desire to remain partially sane using coffee.

Either way, Officer Duckman happened upon Barney’s photo at some point, making him a wanted man. Knowing the machine no longer had its purpose, Barney offered it as a gift to the one person who attempted to support his endeavours before going on the run, far, far away from the hospital, so as not to inconvenience the one friend he made and attempt a getaway.

This also explains WHY the DON’T OPEN case would have a coffee machine, as the facility that turned Barney would use coffee to pacify him.

Does It Make Sense?

Everything I said doesn’t make much sense, but neither does Barney’s story. To be honest, his motivations and lore are full of plotholes, which is why I find it fun to explore his themes and try to make sense of things, even if I sound more nonsensical. Don’t take it too seriously; I’m not very good at theory crafting…

Barney leaving if we turn him away has one of two implications: either he finds a different establishment with coffee (maybe other hospitals from other campaigns?), or he fails to restore his sanity and succumbs to his anomaly desires before ever having the chance to fight back.

Start Playing Animal Hospital

Whatever you think of Barney, his story is definitely interesting. So, start playing for yourself to come up with your own theories via Roblox.

And thank you for reading!