History Videogame / TheCrookedMan

* MeaningfulName: Sissi.

** When you fight the Crooked Man in the hospital roof [[spoiler: if you accidentally shoot Fluffy, you'll only hear him scream before the Game Over screen appears]].

An English translation can be found [[http://vgboy.dabomstew.com/other/crookedman.htm here]].

** The previous tenant and Sissi make mention of a hotel being their and their loved one's "special place". [[SilentHill2 Does that sound familiar?]]

** [[spoiler: It is revealed in VideoGame/TheHangedMan that the police never got reports about gunshots being heard and didn't found any gunpowder and bullets in Duke's house, meaning his battles have probably been [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind imaginary]] like his enemies.]]

** [[spoiler:Lampshaded by the preceeding 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.]]

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: The only way to [[spoiler:stop David from shooting himself while playing as Paul]] is to punch him in the face. Repeatedly. [[spoiler:In a variation, Paul is actually trying to punch the spirit posessing him, crossing this trope over with BeatTheCurseOutOfHim.]]

* 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 swifly 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.]]

* TheOneThatGotAway: Three - Shirley for David, Sissi's unnamed old boyfriend, and [[spoiler:Duke's]] unnamed old girlfriend. [[spoiler:Technically, Sissi's ex-lover is just a representation of Duke's.]]

A sequel, The Hanged Man, has been made available on Steam.

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

''The Crooked Man'' is a Japanese freeware horror adventure game, made in WOLF RPG Editor by [[http://2style.in/uri/thecrookedman/top.html Uri]], who also made ''VideoGame/{{Paranoiac}}'' and ''VideoGame/MermaidSwamp''.

** 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 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.]]

Riffed by The Real Golden Game and Bean Dude here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-pFp8ZjnaI

(Spoilers below, so seriously, play the game first.)

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

* [[spoiler: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.]]

* [[spoiler:DistractedFromDeath: 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.]]

* 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. 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.

** At one point you have to solve a puzzle and it involves ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDoctorJekyllAndMrHyde''. 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.]]

* BottomlessMagazines: You pick up a gun late in the game, and have to use it in two fights against the Crooked Man. Your ammo never runs out.

* AbandonedHospital

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

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: When HardWorkHardlyWorks, let it go. There are times when your best just isn't good enough, and sometimes the insurmountable obstacles in your way are beyond your control to change; in those moments, there's no shame in finding another dream.