History Videogame / TheCrookedMan

''The Crooked Man'' is a Japanese freeware horror adventure game, made in UsefulNotes/WolfRPGEditor by Creator/{{Uri}}. It is the first game in the ''VideoGame/StrangeMenSeries'', followed by ''Videogame/TheSandMan'', ''VideoGame/TheBoogieMan'', and ''VideoGame/TheHangedMan''.

* IronicNurseryTune: The plot of this game gives the "Crooked Man" nursery rhyme a whole new and more ominous meaning, especially after Fluffy adds a made-up second and third verse:

Why must I be crooked instead of being not?

* IronicNurseryTune: "There Was a Crooked Man".

* ApocalypticLog: Significantly more downplayed compared to other examples, but the various notebook sheets scattered throughout the locations are the remains of [[spoiler: Duke's journal, detailing his miserable life. They do have a use, however, as they contain subtle clues to keep you alive when you have to choose how to respond to the other characters...]]
* BeatTheCurseOutOfHim: When playing as Paul, you are given three options on what to do when you find David [[spoiler:possessed by the Crooked Man and about to shoot himself.]] One of the options is punching him; choose this option and Paul will punch David repeatedly until [[spoiler:it works. It's the only one of the three options that does work.]]
** [[spoiler:Lampshaded by the preceding image showing the situation in David's first person. Trying to reason with or wrest the weapon out of a man literally possessed is bound to backfire horribly.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The good ending. Duke can finally rest in peace, David is able to face life with renewed vigor and is on better terms with his friends, David's fiancee came back to him, and his mom's operation to remove the tumor in her brain successfully brought her back to her normal self... but she died a short time later.]]
* BottomlessMagazines: David picks up a revolver late in the game, and have to use it in two fights against the Crooked Man. It never runs out of ammo. It doesn't even have to be reloaded.
** [[spoiler: It is revealed in VideoGame/TheHangedMan that the police never got reports about gunshots being heard and didn't find any gunpowder or cartridges in Duke's house, meaning his battles have probably been [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind imaginary]] like his enemies.]]

* BrokenTears: David when he has a HeroicBSOD and [[spoiler:gets possessed by the Crooked Man and almost compelled into shooting himself.]]
* ChekhovsGun: At one point David makes an offhand remark about how Paul has an interest in the occult. [[spoiler:Paul sees dead people.]]
* CreepyChildrenSinging: David meets Fluffy by following Fluffy's voice when Fluffy's singing "I'm a Little Teapot". Later, [[spoiler:Paul]] encounters Fluffy the same way, except this time Fluffy's singing "There Was a Crooked Man", and it for some reason has a creepy extra verse tacked onto it now. It is after this second Fluffy meeting that the player learns [[spoiler:Marion can't see Fluffy, Sissi, or D.]]
* ContentWarnings: Right at the start of the game it says: "This game contains sudden surprises and harsh images. The weak of heart and those poor with horror should not play. The author takes no responsibility for any trouble that arises from playing the game".

* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:The Crooked Man briefly does this to David and tries to influence him to kill himself. Thankfully Paul snaps David out of it and drives the Crooked Man away.]]

* EatsBabies: A bit of an odd example. At one point you catch the Crooked Man eating a model of an embryo.
* ExpositionBreak: After his BigDamnHeroes moment and the revelation that [[spoiler:his interest in the occult is related to his ability to see/feel the supernatural,]] Paul ends up explaining to David--and the player--exactly why David's drawn to the previous tenant of his apartment, why the Crooked Man keeps attacking David, and even [[spoiler:what Sissi, D, and Fluffy really are.]]

** In an odd example, Bad End 2 foreshadows Bad End 4. In Bad End 2, you do the wrong thing trying to calm D down, [[spoiler:and D stabs David and then gets killed by the Crooked Man. As David is dying, the Crooked Man [[SuddenlyVoiced says "It wasn't me, it was you. You killed him, and then yourself."]]]] In Bad End 4, you do the wrong thing to calm David down [[spoiler:when the Crooked Man is compelling him to suicide,]] and this leads to [[spoiler:David killing Paul. And then himself.]]
** At one point you have to solve a puzzle and it involves ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde''. The fact that you have to encounter this book foreshadows [[spoiler:Duke's dual motivation of hating David and wanting him dead... and yet also having pity on David and wanting him to succeed where Duke failed.]]

** The apartment has a big, off-angle crack in the back wall, and David's sharing it with a ghost [[spoiler:who has four separate selves.]] ''And they all lived together in a little crooked house''...
** A very easy-to-miss example: when you find the scrap of notebook paper in the hotel, it refers to the hotel as having been the previous tenant's special place with his girlfriend, and he specifically refers to it as "our special place." [[spoiler:Later, when Sissi talks about her ex-boyfriend and why she is in the hotel, she also calls it "our special place." This foreshadows the fact that she is really a personality of the former tenant, Duke.]]
* FourIsDeath: If you're in a building with four floors, expect to find something awful there, especially in the hospital, where the elevator is trapped on the fourth floor. The room where [[spoiler:Duke's mother died]] was room 413, combining this trope with ThirteenIsUnlucky. The Crooked Man himself also counts as this, given that [[spoiler:he has four aspects.]]
* GameBreakingBug: In an early encounter with the Crooked Man you have to set him on fire. You're not supposed to leave the room. If you leave the room and set him on fire out there, the game will teleport you back inside the room for the cutscene, and when you leave the room again you will get a game over.

* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:Sissi]]'s death in one of the bad endings. [[spoiler: We just hear Sissi screaming and then see blood spilling out the door. We don't see what the Crooked Man actually did to her.]]

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: [[spoiler:The root of David's problems; he couldn't become a pilot because of his colorblindness and there's nothing he can do to cure his mother. Fighting an unwinnable uphill battle against things you can't change by simply working harder just doesn't work, and it's ultimately what drove Duke to suicide.]]

* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Enforced. When fighting the Crooked Man in the roof you must be careful of not shooting Fluffy instead.
* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:Paul saves David from shooting himself... if you decided to punch David instead of trying to talk him out of it or grabbing for the gun.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: David's mother is suffering from memory loss due to [[spoiler:a brain tumor]]. Because of this, she frequently forgets that David is her son, which causes her to say and do hurtful and aggressive things to him despite normally being kind and caring. [[spoiler:One particularly bad day, David just couldn't take it anymore and briefly lost control of himself, grabbing his mother by the throat until his best friend Paul came to pull him off]]. He deeply regrets this, and his recollection of it later in the game causes him to plunge into a HeroicBSOD and [[spoiler:nearly commit suicide]].
* NonstandardGameOver: All of the bad endings. [[spoiler:Tell Sissi not to cry, the Crooked Man kills her and then you. Tell D to keep going for his dream, he'll stab you and then be killed by the Crooked Man. While playing as Paul and having to confront a suicidal David, either try to talk him down which will result in him shooting, or grab for the gun which will result in him accidentally killing Paul and then freaking out about it and shooting himself anyway.]]
* NotSoDifferentRemark: [[spoiler:Turns out to be the entire motivator for the whole game. David is drawn to the previous tenant because the few things he knows about him are things David relates to. The former tenant is Duke [=MacGahan=], and is the Crooked Man who keeps following David... partly because he hates David and wants him dead because he reminds him too much of himself, and partly because he doesn't want things to turn out for David the way they did for him.]]

* TalkingDownTheSuicidal: [[spoiler:Subverted. While playing as Paul, you are given the option to try to persuade David to put down the gun. It doesn't work (because it [[PsychicAssistedSuicide isn't David holding the gun]]) and David shoots himself.]]
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: While David shoots at the Crooked Man multiple times, they don't work until the final battle. [[spoiler:At which point, David telling the Crooked Man that he'll continue on living, even if he has to face hardships or suffer, so he won't kill himself. Then the Crooked Man disappears.]]

* TooDumbToLive: David. Goes back into a basement where a monster tried to attack him. Insists on going to abandoned places and hanging around them even after scary encounters with the Crooked Man. Falls asleep in a place where he has already encountered the Crooked Man, even though the Crooked Man could come kill him any minute. Going right up to the Crooked Man to see what he's chewing on.

''The Crooked Man'' is a Japanese freeware horror adventure game, made in UsefulNotes/WolfRPGEditor by Creator/{{Uri}}. It is the first game in the ''VideoGame/StrangeMenSeries'', followed by ''Videogame/TheSandMan'', ''VideoGame/TheBoogieMan'' and ''VideoGame/TheHangedMan''.

* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Fluffy.
* AdultFear:
** David getting screamed at by his usually kind mother, who doesn't recognize him at all, will feel like an emotional punch for ''anyone'' who's ever had a loved one suffer from Alzheimer's.
** Paul finds himself in the situation of [[spoiler:having to stop his best friend from killing himself.]]
** Fluffy being lost [[spoiler:and seemly abandoned.]]

* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Turns out to be the entire motivator for the whole game. David is drawn to the previous tenant because the few things he knows about him are things David relates to. The former tenant is Duke [=MacGahan=], and is the Crooked Man who keeps following David... partly because he hates David and wants him dead because he reminds him too much of himself, and partly because he doesn't want things to turn out for David the way they did for him.]]

''The Crooked Man'' is a Japanese freeware horror adventure game, made in WOLF RPG Editor by Creator/{{Uri}}. It is the first game in the ''VideoGame/StrangeMenSeries'', followed by ''Videogame/TheSandMan'', ''VideoGame/TheBoogieMan'' and ''VideoGame/TheHangedMan''.

* InfantImmortality: Averted. When fighting the Crooked Man in the roof you must be careful of not shooting Fluffy instead.

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:David's mother in the good ending.]]

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Sissi, D, and Fluffy, as they all turn out to be "facets" of Duke...]]

* DistractedFromDeath: [[spoiler: During the true ending, David's mother sends him to fetch a glass of water for her so he doesn't have to see her die.]]

* GunStruggle: [[spoiler:When Paul has to stop David from killing himself, you are given the option of trying to grab for the gun. This results in them fighting over it for a few seconds until it goes off... and kills Paul. Leaving David so distraught that he shoots himself like he was going to.]]
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: [[spoiler: The root of David's problems; he couldn't become a pilot because of his colorblindness and there's nothing he can do to cure his mother. Fighting an unwinnable uphill battle against things you can't change by simply working harder just doesn't work, and it's ultimately what drove Duke to suicide.]]

* HeroicBSOD: David has one when [[spoiler:confronted by an image of his mother and recalling a particularly painful memory involving her.]] This leaves him vulnerable and [[spoiler:the Crooked Man takes control of him and tries to drive him to suicide.]] Luckily, Paul is able to save him.

* InvisibleToNormals: David is being haunted by the Crooked Man and can see [[spoiler:D, Fluffy, and Sissi]] just fine as a result. [[spoiler:Paul]] can also see them just fine since he [[spoiler:can see and feel the supernatural.]] Marion can't see them [[spoiler:and gets upset, thinking Paul's pranking her.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:In one NonStandardGameOver, D stabs David out of fury when the latter says the wrong thing to try cheer him up. So when D goes to leave the room, he runs right into the Crooked Man and is swiftly killed. Karmic, because if D ''hadn't'' stabbed David, David would have held off the Crooked Man and given D the chance to run for it.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: David's mother is suffering from memory loss due to [[spoiler:a brain tumor]]. Because of this, she frequently forgets David is her son, which causes her to say and do hurtful and aggressive things to him despite normally being kind and caring. [[spoiler:One particularly bad day, David just couldn't take it anymore and briefly lost control of himself, grabbing his mother by the throat until his best friend Paul came to pull him off]]. He deeply regrets this, and his recollection of if later in the game causes him to plunge into a HeroicBSOD and [[spoiler:nearly commit suicide]].

* PipePain: At various points David can pick up different weapons to use when he must fight the Crooked Man. One of these weapons is an iron pipe.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: What a lot of the game essentially boils down to. While the Crooked Man is indeed trying to kill David, the [[spoiler: part of Duke that pities him is trying to encourage him to change in order to avoid the same fate he faced. The only way for David to survive and avoid being killed in the Bad Endings is by being honest and ceasing to be the timid "yes man" he's been the entire time in order to move on. Essentially, he needs to learn to tell people the blunt truth and accept the blunt truth rather than only what people want to hear.]]
* ShoutOut: The main character's first name and the Crooked Man acting as an antagonist are both reminiscent of the novel [[Literature/TheBookOfLostThings ''The Book of Lost Things'']], as well as the idea of the general theme of coping and coming to terms with things like loss.

* SureLetsGoWithThat: When Marion thinks Paul [[spoiler:is trying to play a cruel prank on her by talking to the air to freak her out,]] Paul realizes [[spoiler:that she can't see Sissi, D, or Fluffy]] and simply apologizes to her and asks her to go outside and wait for him to return with David.

* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: While David shoots at the Crooked Man multiple times, they don't work until the final battle. [[spoiler: At which point, David telling the Crooked Man that he'll continue on living, even if he has to face hardships or suffer, so he won't kill himself. Then the Crooked Man disappears.]]
* TheOneThatGotAway: Three - Shirley for David, Sissi's unnamed old boyfriend, and [[spoiler:Duke's]] unnamed old girlfriend. [[spoiler:Technically two since Sissi's ex-lover is just a representation of Duke's ex-girlfriend.]]

* ViolationOfCommonSense: At a lot of points you have to do some [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption really unsafe things.]] At one point you have to fall asleep in a place that you know has a monster lurking around. It heals you thirty HP.

* WasOnceAMan: The Crooked Man himself [[spoiler:was the mystery tenant David had been trying to find.]]
* WhamEpisode: The two chapters taking place in the hospital are one long WhamEpisode. Fluffy's chapter ends with [[spoiler:a flashback showing that David once had a FreakOut and almost killed his mother.]] The chapter immediately following reveals that [[spoiler:Paul has some sort of sixth sense, Fluffy, Sissi, and D are DeadAllAlong,]] and at the end of it Paul has to save David [[spoiler:from killing himself.]]

* YouAreNotAlone: David suffers a HeroicBSOD after [[spoiler:recalling some very painful memories involving his mother,]] which leads to him getting [[spoiler:possessed by the Crooked Man and almost DrivenToSuicide.]] Paul and Marion then take out an entire day to drive to an abandoned area they've never been to before, just to make sure David's okay. Paul ends up saving David's life.
* YouMonster: Paul to [[spoiler:the Crooked Man]] when the latter [[spoiler:has David possessed.]]

* AFriendInNeed: Paul and Marion go out of their way to help David, even though some bickering between them you overhear early on indicates how much of a drain helping him is. [[spoiler: Late in the game a disturbing phone call prompts them to take an entire day out to drive to a secluded place they've never been to and into circumstances they have no knowledge of, just to make sure David's okay. It's a good thing they did too; Paul ends up saving David's life.]]

* TheAdjectivalMan: Right in the title.

David Hoover has just finished moving into a new apartment during a rough part of his life, but some incredibly odd happenings within the unit leave him shaken. When he tries asking about the former tenant, there's little information on the man in question. Curiosity piqued, David sets out to find him. Along the way, he runs into a terrifying monster known only as the Crooked Man, who is intent on killing David for some reason.

''The Crooked Man'' is a Japanese freeware horror adventure game, made in WOLF RPG Editor by Creator/{{Uri}}, who also made ''VideoGame/{{Paranoiac}}'' and ''VideoGame/MermaidSwamp''.

David Hoover has just finished moving into a new apartment during a rough part of his life, but some incredibly odd happenings within the unit leave him shaken. When he tries asking about the former tenant, there's little information on the man in question. Curiosity piqued, David sets out to find him.

'''(Spoilers below, so seriously, play the game first--if you dare.)'''

The first game in the ''Strange Men Series'', followed by ''Videogame/TheSandMan'', ''VideoGame/TheBoogieMan'' and ''VideoGame/TheHangedMan''.