| The Crooked Man | ||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| Gender | Male | |
| Occupation | ||
| Age | 27 | |
| Status | Deceased (commited suicide) | |
| “ | I recalled the rhyme of the crooked man.
All he could do was live in a crooked house, with a cat and mouse just as crooked. I was the same way. Everything I wished for ended up crooked. My dreams, my love, even my family. |
” |
Duke McGahan (デゥーク・マクガーン Dukku Makugaan) is the tenant David Hoover has been looking for throughout the whole game. He committed suicide about a month prior to the events of the game and is the true identity of the Crooked Man.
Sissi, D, and Fluffy are fragments of his troubled past.
The Crooked Man []
The Crooked Man is an archetypal and abstract entity who symbolizes depression, and who was also pursuing Duke prior to his passing, leading him to become the next abstract incarnation of this entity.
As the Crooked Man, he generally goes after David Hoover, but if Sissi, D, or Fluffy are around, he prefers going after them and trying to kill them, much to David's confusion. After it is revealed that the three of them are facets of Duke, it makes perfect sense. Sissi has regrets over lost love, D has regrets over failed dreams, and Fluffy resents being abandoned in the hospital by his family. These are all the aspects of Duke (and David, as they were both so similar) that ultimately led to his eventual suicide.
Background[]
Duke McGahan
Sissi, D, and Fluffy are facets of his own past life, so their backgrounds told during the course of the story were actually representations of his.
Ever since he was a kid, he had wanted to become a Lawyer, but no matter how much he tried, he never passed the final exam, leading him to finally forget about chasing his dreams altogether.
Years later, his mother was hospitalized after being diagnosed with a brain illness, and subsequently passed away as a result, leading him to feel extremely guilty over the fact he had essentially abandoned her in the hospital to be cared entirely by the doctors. His mother's own resentment over being abandoned by her son manifests itself in the personality of Fluffy, but in a reverse and twisted manner.
Sometime after his mother's passing, his beloved girlfriend, whom he loved very much to the point of making her gifts and taking her to their "special place" in a hotel, decided to leave him due to his perceived lack of personality. This left him feeling very depressed.
Unable to take it any longer, he left the apartment he lived in and went to his mother’s abandoned house, where he committed suicide by hanging himself. He became a vengeful spirit some time after that.
The Crooked Man's Fragments[]
- Sissi - Sissi is the first fragment of the Crooked Man, or Duke MacGahan. Sissi represents his breakup with his girlfriend, and is modeled after her in terms of appearance, as well.
- D - D is the second fragment of the Crooked Man, or Duke MacGahan. D represents his dream to become a lawyer but failure in bar exams. His appearance is modeled after Duke's best friend, as revealed by the easter egg in the second playthrough for the Steam Version of the game.
- Fluffy - Fluffy is the last fragment of the Crooked Man, or Duke MacGahan. Fluffy represents the feeling of abandonment his mother experienced towards him prior to her passing.
Trivia[]
As shown in the 2nd Playthrough, Duke continues looking after David.
- The Crooked Man represents Duke's resentment and despair. However, during Stage 3 there is a note from an otherwise-unrelated man who killed himself in order to get away from... something. David also says that he's been hearing "voices" in his head, long before the Crooked Man started coming for him. The Crooked Man in the game is Duke's, but David apparently had one of his own for some time, which is part of the reason Duke decided to step in. It's even possible that the creature who tries to make David shoot himself in Stage 4 was David's own Crooked Man, and not Duke's.
- David affirms that Duke was beaten by the Crooked Man, which seems to imply he had his own version of the 'monster' to deal with.
- The Crooked Man's immensely bent neck was a result of his neck snapping after he hanged himself.
- It is stated in Uri's official twitter account that Duke's eyes are green. If you look closely on the scene where David shoots himself, his eyes become green.
- It was also stated in Uri's website/blog that Duke supposedly used Camel cigarettes, despite the fact that David gave him a pack of Marlboro.
The Treasure Hunt puzzle in Hotel Ruhenheim.
- If you look closely on the Treasure Hunt puzzle on Hotel Ruhenheim, the kid who drew it looks similar to a young Duke MacGahan due to his black hair.