Curly

Character

Gallery

Curly
Basics
Occupation	Captain of the Tulpar Freighter (formerly)
Gender	Male
Status	Alive, currently in cryostasis

Am I figured out? Is this all I'll ever be? Or do I take the risk and try something new?

—Curly

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For mobile users, see: Curly/Gallery

Curly is the original captain of the Tulpar, prior to the crash and Jimmy taking over. He was at the top of the ship's command chain and was primarily in charge of navigation.

Appearance

Before the crash, Curly was an average-built man with blue eyes, light stubble, and curly blonde hair formed into a middle part. He wore brown boots and Pony Express coveralls over a red and yellow tee.

After the crash, he is nearly unrecognizable; his hair, lips, and the majority of his features are burned away. He is wrapped in bandages, while still exposing subcutaneous flesh and muscle. He has no hands and feet and wears a hospital gown, which is heavily blood-soaked. His most prominent feature are his fully exposed mouth and eyeball, which are his only facial features not covered by bandages.

Personality

Curly is a promising and ambitious man and is said to have a large future ahead of him. Over time, he grows discontent with his position, wondering if the captain is "all [he'll] ever be." He reflects on having chosen the wrong career path. Regardless, he cares about his crewmates, who return respect for him, being called "great captain" by them. He has personal conflicts with his friend and co-pilot, Jimmy, who both admires Curly and envies him. He is responsible yet lenient, and his efforts to see the best in everyone lead to his overlooking conflicts on the ship. He tends to ignore inconvenient details to focus on the bigger picture, which is one of his most major flaws. This is shown both symbolically when he cannot see the dead pixel on the monitor in the lounge and when he does not act against Jimmy after learning he assaulted Anya.

History

Biography

Little is known about Curly's life prior to the events of the game. It can be assumed that he has been working under Pony Express for quite some time, having made his way to the "top rung of the ladder," as stated in Chapter 4 by Jimmy.

Relationships

Jimmy

Jimmy and Curly are presented as having been friends for quite sometime before the game's events. It is implied that Curly assisted in getting Jimmy the position of co-pilot. Curly appears to be lenient to his friend, ignoring his violent outbursts and not taking any serious measures after learning Jimmy raped Anya, assuring her that "he knows him." Despite Jimmy showing himself to be deeply resentful of Curly and dangerous to his crewmates, Curly trusts him to navigate alone.

After the crash, Curly grows terrified of Jimmy due to constant abuse. At first, Curly gets agitated when Jimmy gives him the painkillers, as the digestion of it causes him great pain. However, after Jimmy physically assaults him when he protests digesting the pills, Curly stops resisting Jimmy's attempt to administer the medicine despite the agony it causes him. Curly is heard sobbing and crying during it.

When Jimmy takes the gun out of the safe keeper, Curly laughs bitterly at their situation. His fear of Jimmy only deepens when he amputates Curly's leg and force-feeds it to him, surrounded by the corpses of their dead crewmates.

In the end, Jimmy brings Curly into the only remaining cryostasis pod before assuring him that he has finally fixed everything and subsequently ends his own life with the gun.

Swansea

Curly's relationship with Swansea is typical to that of a captain and his employee. There is mutual respect, and Curly trusts Swansea enough to let him keep the axe after Curly uses it to free Daisuke from the foam before the crash.

Swansea complains that everything goes through Curly, being discontent that he holds so much importance over them. When Jimmy takes over after the ship's crash, Swansea seemingly prefers their previous captain, mocking Jimmy's attempt to establish authority. It implies that Swansea might've held Curly in higher regard as captain than Jimmy.

Anya

They have a trusting relationship, spending time together on the ship. Anya is trusting enough with Curly to joke with him after his psychological evaluation and is distracted by the fact that Curly won't open up to her. Anya confides her problems in Curly, telling him about the dead pixel on the monitor distracting her and about being sexually assaulted by Jimmy. However, Curly appears to hold her in lower regard than his co-pilot, reprimanding her for hiding the gun safe and not taking any serious measures against Jimmy.

Despite the crew believing that Curly caused the crash, Anya still cares for him. She believes one's worst moment doesn't turn them into a monster, therefore not holding any grudge against her former captain. She is pained to a point of nausea to hear him in agony during medicine administration and sometimes asks Jimmy to do it.

When Anya commits suicide, she overdoses on Curly's painkillers, locked with him in the medical office.

Daisuke

Curly and Daisuke also have a typical working relationship, and very few personal interactions through the game. Despite this, it seems generally neutral, with Curly usually leaving Swansea to deal with Daisuke, as he's interned under him. He also mentions that he should've put up "more of a stink" towards the company for allowing Daisuke on a ship made for four people.

Trivia

• The only time the player sees Curly's face prior to the crash is in Chapter 20.
  • Curly was never supposed to be shown pre-crash until about a month before release, when the script for that scene was slightly rewritten.
• Curly's eyeball always tracks the player's movements.
• Unlike other characters, post-crash Curly's model consists of three pieces: jaw, eyeball, and body.
• Curly is his surname. His first name, only somewhat visible on his ID card, has not been confirmed.
  • From the texture of the card, it's possible that his first name is Grant or Glint.
    • If this is true, then this would mean that his full name is Grant Curly or Glint Curly.
    • It is also possible that his name could be Cole Curly.
• Curly appears as a character in How Fish Is Made, the previous game by the developers of Mouthwashing, Wrong Organ.
• Curly was initially intended to have a British accent, remnants of which are still in the script.
• Curly's favorite Pokémon is Pikachu.
• Post-crash Curly was one of the first things created for the game, as his appearance was always central to the story's identity.
• According to Wrong Organ, recording Curly's pill-feeding sounds was one of the funniest parts of the game to work on.
• At first, the player was meant to question whether they were playing as Jimmy or Curly more, but that quickly became more frustrating and confusing than compelling. Because of that, this idea was disregarded.
• An earlier concept of the game had the player give each character a psychological evaluation from Curly's point of view.
• The first pre-crash scene, where Curly goes from having his psychological evaluation with Anya to eventually the conversation with Jimmy in the cockpit, was the most difficult to write.
  • Initially, both conversations were much longer, and the player was meant to see some of the evaluations conducted. However, the question/answer format was way too tedious and made the conversations stilted, so instead, the development team used the fadeout to imply the test had been done and had Curly and Jimmy talk sort of around it instead.
• After Pony Express went under, Curly was set to receive both a commendation and exceptional references, while the rest of the crew would not.
• Curly doesn't like sweets.
• One of Curly's fondest birthday memories is his friends (including Jimmy) making him a cake out of chocolate and caramel whey protein powder one year, which collapsed under its weight and tasted like a chalkboard.
• Curly is into weightlifting. He spends most of his time on Earth around friends and family. Someone always has something interesting going on, and Curly enjoys trying new things when he’s not stuck on a haul.
• Winter is his favorite season because he's a "snow sports" kind of guy.
• Before sitting with Jimmy to do the assessment, if you check the locker in the cockpit, you can find dialogue about the generator. Here Curly refers to Swansea as "big Swans".
• "Curly" might be a reference to Laika (nicknamed 'Little Curly'), a Soviet dog sent into space. Laika was launched with no plan for her return, leading to her death in a slow, excruciating, and painful manner in space.

External Links

• Curly on Heroes Wiki