David Hoover

David Hoover
Gender	Male
Occupation	Unemployed in The Crooked Man Clerk in The Boogie Man
Age	26 in The Crooked Man 27 in The Sandman and The Boogie Man
Status	Alive

“	...As much misery I encounter...As painful and bloody as it might be...I'll keep living!	”
— David

David Hoover (デヴィッド・フーヴァー Debiddo Hubaa) is the protagonist of The Crooked Man. He moves into a new apartment during a rough point in his life, and immediately strange things begin to occur which prompts him to search for the mysterious previous tenant.

At first he is plagued by his past failures and depressed about it, but in later sequels he seems to be getting over it. Since The Boogie Man, he's married to his fiancee Shirley Webber.

Appearance

David has dirty blonde hair, which falls down his face just above his eyes. His eyes are blue and his outfit consists of a dark collored unbuttoned blazer worn over a bright yellow shirt. He also possesses olive pants and black shoes.

Personality

David is a nice but troubled young man. According to his friends, he is sometimes too nice, which can result in him getting taken advantage of. He is kind, but gets attached too easily to people. He's athletic and strong, but a little slow. David is also scared of dogs due to a traumatic incident as a kid where he was chased by one for an hour. As Paul says, he is not always reliable, but gets it done.

David also suffers from depression due to his mother being ill and Shirley having dumped him. After the events of The Crooked Man, he has a more positive look on life and is happy with Shirley at his side, as shown in the sequel games. He's still very sensitive when talking about his family, though.

Background

David, alone with his ill mother

He met Paul in middle-school, where they became the best of the friends. In college he met Marion and Shirley, where he fell in love with the latter and they started dating. Their relationship lasted three years and they were making plans about getting married. David also tried to apply to aviation school, and even passed all the exams, but he was kicked out of there after the teachers found out he was colorblind. Also, due to their polar opposites attitudes, Shirley starting having doubts about marrying David and broke up with him.

His mother had a brain tumor, which caused her to lose some memories to the point where she did not recognize her own son. David had once attempted to kill his own mother, as he was sick of her calling him a stranger. He then moves into an old apartment in order to start a new life but mysterious things start to happen right after. 

Role

The Crooked Man

A depressed David moves to a new apartment next to his friends, Paul and Marion. However, there are strange things about his new home and there are some rumors about the previous tenant, so he decides to investigate because he has nothing else to do. David currently has a few problems, since his mother has a brain tumor and does not recognize him, and his girlfriend, Shirley, broke up with him because he was too nice. Even though he has good friends that care about him, he believes that they cannot understand his pain.

David found the body of the Crooked Man

First, David goes to the abandoned Hotel Ruhenheim, where he meets a girl named Sissi. She looks for a precious box her boyfriend gave her and for searching it, they encounter many dangers over the course of the stage. Also, David starts being chased by a strange monster with a terribly bent neck called the Crooked Man and no matter how much David attacks it, it always recovers. He is tortured by the Crooked Man with memories about his breakup with Shirley and realizes that he still loves her, but he is able to overcome it, realizing that he will always love her and does not wish to forget about her.

After being confronted once again by the monster only for it being burned by David, he finds a frightened Sissi blaming herself for what happened and wondering why she is bothering to find the box her ex-boyfriend gave her. David is given two options in order to console her. If he tries to console her, she decides to give up but she is later brutally killed off-screen by a recovered Crooked Man, who then kills David; and it is considered a Bad End. If David tells her that there is nothing wrong about crying over her lost love, because of his ex-girlfriend Shirley. Sissi thanks him and gives him an address to an abandoned law school she found in the hotel. They both part ways.

David get attacked from behind by the Crooked Man

Later, David goes to the abandoned Julius Stone Law School. There, he encounters a hot-blooded student called D, who is wandering around because he has fond memories of the school, since he studied there. D does not seem to like David and vice-versa, as David looks suspicious for wandering there. Meanwhile David is tortured by memories about his failed dream to become a pilot. He wanted to become one and even passed all the exams, but he was kicked out of there after the teachers found out he was colorblind. D gets trapped in a room leaking gas by the Crooked Man and is rescued by David. He later gives David an energy drink. Eventually D warms up to David and confesses that his biggest dream was to become a lawyer, but he has never passed the bar exam. He's tried so hard for it, but has always failed. Fortunately, his teacher, Professor Andrew always helped him.

The problem is that David found the diary of said professor, in which he revealed that he actually hated D. After David once again defeats the Crooked Man, D approaches him and takes him to the Infirmary. After David is feeling better, he walks away, only to find the diary page of Professor Andrew, in which D finds out that he did not have high hopes for him at all and secretly mocked him behind his back. D becomes angered and depressed, saying that he should give up already on his dream to become a lawyer. Depending on the choice, David can tell him not to give up on his dreams, only for an angry D to stab him to death and result in a Bad End; or tell him to give up already and stop being so idealist, because D's failure reminds him of his failed dream to become a pilot. With this D calms down. He later thanks David, comments that he wants to see him again someday and gives him an address to an abandoned hospital.

A possesed David

Later David goes to the abandoned hospital. There he meets a little boy named Fluffy who is wandering around because his mother told him to wait and she hasn't arrived yet. After finding him, he tags along with David. However, the Crooked Man kidnaps Fluffy and takes him to the hospital roof. Armed with nothing but a gun, David has to shoot at the Crooked Man enough times without shooting Fluffy. After he successfully saves Fluffy, the youngster complains and realizes his mother in never coming for him and walks away. In the confusion, the Crooked Man takes over David and forces him to take the gun and commit suicide. Luckily, Paul and Marion were worried for David and followed him to the hospital. Depending on Paul’s choice, he can save David or obtain one of the possible Bad Endings in which either David shoots himself or Paul and David fight over the gun, eventually David shooting Paul and David shortly committing suicide just the same.

Finally, David goes to the abandoned house of the former tenant. When looking in the belongings, he finds out the tenant’s real name: Duke MacGahan. Then The Crooked Man cries and realizes that David is watching him and screams. After shooting him enough times, David tells him to disappear, since he won’t take the same path as him. With these words, the creature disappears. David later enters the attic of the house, where he finds Duke's hanged corpse. David realizes that all the situations Duke put him in were in order to help him move on with his life and he thanks him before leaving. In the 2nd Walkthrough, David actually encounters Duke's spirit, re-encountering the time he is about to hang himself. Duke thanks him for coming and tells him that at least David has friends who care about him.

In the Good Ending, David (back at home) tells Paul about his encountering with Duke's corpse. His friend complains that because David is too nice, those things always keep happening to him. David then receives a phone call by the doctor, because his mother is about to get operated and he needs to sign the papers. After the difficult operation, David visits his mother and reconciles with her, but unfortunately she dies shortly after. However, David is without regrets, because his mother' final words to him were that she was happy in the end. After the funeral, Shirley visits David, much to Paul’s chagrin. Marion instantly drags Paul away. Shirley apologizes for breaking up with him and they get back together. David realizes that even though he lost his mother and he could not reach his dreams, he at least has Shirley back.

Shortly after, David visits Duke's grave and calmly says that they will see each other again in the afterlife. It should be noted that David now lives a happier life without regrets.

The Sandman

Lullaby disguised as David

It has passed one year after the Crooked Man events. He is a close friend of Sophie Grundler's and her unintentional crush. When everyone falls asleep, he seems to be fine and helps Sophie to search for other awake people around town. However, she soon realizes that this is not the real David, because the real one is spending the night at Shirley's house and this is actually Lullaby in disguise.

When Sophie is in the Fairy World, she recalls how she met David. She was getting ice cream and walking down the street. To make up for her ice cream, he took her to a cafe and bought her a cake and talked to her. He told her that if she ever wanted to talk to him, she would meet with him at the same cafe. However, when she saw him walking with Shirley, who is now his fiancee, she felt hurt.

In the Good Ending, after Sophie defeats the Sandman and returns to the human world, she decides to resolve her problems on her own. On the way, she runs into David and Shirley. He introduces Sophie to her fiancee and she tells them about her adventure with the Sandman. In the end, the three go to have dinner together.

The Boogieman

David on vacations

Half a year after the Sandman events, David and Shirley (now married) go vacationing at the Livingstone Castle. Paul and Marion were unable to accompany them, so they invited Sophie and her father Richard along in their place.

Trivia

• David mentions in the game he is color blind, hence why he failed to become a pilot.
• Duke and David have many similarities when it comes to their lives.
  • Both have been dumped during their love life.
  • Both failed the school of their dreams. (Duke failed to become a lawyer, David failed to become a pilot.)
  • Both lost their mothers. (Duke as a child, David at the end of the game.)
  • Both are smokers.
• David states he found the rhyme "The Crooked Man", too creepy.
• He appears to be left handed
• David is apparently 6 feet tall
• He hates anchovies and liver.
• He's voiced by Rou in The Boogie Man.