Characters / Dark Tales

Recurring characters in the Dark Tales are few, but here they are.

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C. Auguste Dupin

C. Auguste Dupin

The OG Gentleman Detective. (Screenshot from Morella.)

A chevalier in the Légion d'honneur, he's a renowned detective who actually has his own page. These are tropes that apply to him in this series.

• Adaptation Personality Change: Dupin in the original Poe stories was reclusive, unwilling to entertain visitors or really socialize with anyone except the narrator, who was his housemate. Dupin in these games has many friends and is generally very amiable to everyone, except of course the villains (and even to them he's usually polite).
• Ascended Extra: Dupin only appeared in three of Poe's stories (Murders in the Rue Morgue was his debut), but has been in every game. He also counts as a Canon Foreigner in the games made from stories in which he didn't originally appear.
• Distress Ball: He picks this up more and more frequently as the series continues.
• Gentleman Detective: As noted on his own page, he's considered the Trope Maker.
• Great Detective
• Middle Name Basis: Our hero is usually called Dupin. Some of the characters in the games are close friends of his, however, and these will sometimes address him as "Auguste" instead. At no time do we ever find out what his real first name even is.
• Mr. Fanservice: As depicted in (about half of) these games, Dupin is a handsome man, with blue eyes, flowing dark hair, stylish dress sense, and a nice physique. The folder image gives an example. Even the older version of Dupin seen in many of the games is not too hard on the eyes.
  • The devs even played with this when they announced how Dupin would have his shirt removed in Masque Of The Red Death, as they knew the fans would have a field day. Of course, they didn't mention why his shirt would be removed.
• Nice Guy: He is almost unfailingly polite to everyone he meets, and is shown to be a good friend to many. The clients in some of the cases - Gold Bug being the first - reach out to him because he is a good friend and they trust him.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: You'd never know he was French.
• Older Than They Look: As old as some of the games make Dupin appear, he looks pretty good for his age. Judging by the timeline, he's got to be around eighty years old during the events of The Bells!
• Out of Character Is Serious Business:
  • Dupin remains calm throughout most situations. Even after being shot in the bonus chapter of Masque of Red Death, he's still patient and gentlemanly to the core. But twice in House of Usher (once in the main game, once in the bonus chapter), he becomes trapped and you must rescue him. In both instances he is quite clearly angry, and while his anger is understandable, it's still a rather jarring departure from the suave gentility of the previous games.
  • A more minor (but still noticeable) example is found in The Raven, after he gets killed and you use the Heart of the Void to bring him back. Some of his behavior, particularly his fighting ability, suggests that he Came Back Wrong, but it doesn't carry over to any of the other games and is therefore implied to have been a temporary side effect of the situation.
  • He freaks out a bit in the early stages of Morella, and nearly attacks you after you break into the house to rescue him. This one is justified, since he was literally dragged inside by malevolent spirits and he thinks you're another one of their tricks; once he realizes you're really you, he regains his equilibrium quickly.
  • In The Pit and the Pendulum, there's a long segment where Dupin's behavior is completely out of character—at one point, he outright shoots you in cold blood! This one is justified, too. You later learn that the Big Bad has him under hypnosis and you need to snap him out of it.
• Ship Tease: There's at least a little of this between Dupin and the player character in several of the games. He begins many of the early cases by remarking how happy he is to see you, he often boasts to other NPCs about your skills, and one piece of dialogue in Murders in the Rue Morgue has him suggesting that he take you to dinner at the fancy restaurant you're exploring. This has been dialed back somewhat as the series has continued, though the friendship is strongly presented in nearly every game; later games seem to suggest that the player character lives with Dupin.

  Dupin: Your presence gladdens me as always, my friend.

  • Nightfall contained subtle bits of this concerning Dupin and Anna. Of particular note was a timed mission in which Dupin is wounded. Once all was said and done, he urged the player to comfort Anna, who was deeply upset by Dupin's injuries. He was also clearly shown to trust and depend upon her, given how much he had her overseeing and assisting you, and her loyalty to him was indicated to be absolute. (Since we know that Anna is the player character at least once in the main series, the existence of Ship Tease makes sense.)
  • In Morella, where the character is quite blatantly female, we have the strongest indications of ship tease. During their earliest conversation, Dupin addresses her as "my dear friend" instead of merely "my friend." Later, he gives her the biggest smile of the entire series, and at the very end of the game, he takes her hand (which was a big deal for the time period - especially since neither of them are wearing gloves).
• Signature Headgear: Dupin wears an elegant top hat from The Black Cat onward. It's something of an icon of the series; the bonus chapter of Tell-Tale Heart is implied to show how he started wearing one.
• Undying Loyalty: He has this with both the player character in the main games and with Anna in Nightfall. Of particular note, he has killed exactly one other character in the entire series - and it's because your life was at stake. "It was him or you."
• Younger Than They Look: Nightfall claimed that Dupin's age is actually 24. He certainly doesn't look like it in any of the games, and most people assumed him to be in his thirties at least. Taking many details of the series into consideration (his large collection of interesting objects, his rank as a member of the French Legion of Honor, and his obvious years of experience), there are basically three possibilities: Nightfall took place earlier than the main games; 24 was a typo and his age should really have been 42; or Nightfall simply runs on its own continuity and isn't expected to necessarily make sense.

The Player Character

You

A relative unknown compared to the great Dupin, he nevertheless trusts and respects you deeply.

• Ambiguous Gender: One of the few details anyone has been able to determine about the player character is their gender... which is entirely inconsistent. In some games, it's left completely vague and unaddressed. In others, the character is definitely female. In still others, the character is definitely male. This then begs the question of whether it's been the same individual throughout the series or not; however, Dupin always interacts with the player character as if they are the same person every time, and the certificates in the character's office in Masque would suggest that it's been the same person in at least the first five games. The devs have yet to make an official Gender Reveal (and, given the apparent cancellation of the series, they probably never will), but this is what the fans have observed.
  • Male character confirmed:
    • Some characters' comments in Murders in the Rue Morgue suggest that the player character is male; Dupin calls you "sir" at the start of the game, while others address you and Dupin as "gentlemen".
    • Premature Burial leaves it almost entirely vague except for one observation - when looking at a tree at the end of an alley overlooking Renelle Fore's property, the player character makes a remark about "in my boyhood, I might have climbed the tree."
    • The bonus game of Marie Roget has a character addressing Dupin and the player character as "Gentlemen" and "guys." Additionally, when Dupin hands his friend the letter at the beginning, the hands and arms which hold it appear to be clad in a man's leather gloves and wool coat over a white dress shirt. Later, one puzzle requires assembling a fishing rod, and if you make a mistake, one of the comments the character may make is "Guess I haven't been fishing since I was a boy."
    • Characters in Pendulum repeatedly address Dupin and the player as "gentlemen."
    • In Ligeia, the player character is clearly seen for the first time in the entire series, and he's definitely a man. He wears a man's hat and coat, and has short brown hair. Seen here.
    • In The Bells, the letter from Jeffrey Lehman inviting Dupin and the player character to help him is addressed to "Monsieur Dupin and Monsieur Hello, [Insert Name Here]."
    • Devil in the Belfry manages to make the situation completely confusing. On the one hand, the player and Dupin are brought into the investigation because of the disappearance of their friend Simon Loyalle, who was first introduced in The Tell-Tale Heart. This suggests that the player of Belfry is the same character from Heart, and as noted below, that character was implied to be female. However, characters in the game repeatedly refer to the player as being male. Possibly this means that the player in Speaking really was male after all, and recognized Dr. Morris by reputation rather than personal acquaintance.
  • Female character confirmed:
    • In The Black Cat, when the player character and Dupin are standing just within the Davies estate in the very beginning of the game, the player's silhouette that shows up when the lightning flashes is of a woman in a long cloak. Oddly, during the cutscenes of the duo traveling across the lake by boat, the only visible character appears to be Dupin.
    • In The Gold Bug, Dupin and the player character's shadows are shown when standing in the junk shop. The shadow next to Dupin is very clearly female. She's wearing a dress, and breasts can be seen in the partial profile.
    • In the player character's study in House of Usher, there is a painting of two figures. One is clearly Dupin; the other, whose facial features are left considerably less distinct, is almost certainly intended to be the player character, especially as they appear to be standing in the player's study. Although the face can't be seen, the character is attired in a 19th century lady's dress, complete with hat and handbag. (As the main page notes, this is quite possibly an Early-Bird Cameo for Anna Fleurs.)
    • The Tell-Tale Heart doesn't give the character a gender in the game; however, the opening puzzles take place in an office the character shares with Dupin. This office has case notebooks with information about the events of Black Cat, Gold Bug, and House of Usher, indicating that the player of Tell-Tale Heart is the same as in those games.
    • The Raven doesn't give the character a gender in the game itself, but the bonus chapter of Morella shows that she was female - see below.
    • Morella has our player character speak for the first (and only) time, and she is indeed female; we also occasionally see her hands.
    • Speaking leaves the whole thing almost entirely ambiguous, except for one bit. When the player is assembling the torn photo of the jurors and finds the scrap depicting Dr. Morris from House of Usher, they immediately recognize him. This would indicate that the player character of Speaking is the same as the one from House of Usher, who was implied to be female. However, as noted above, it's equally possible (if not more likely) that the character in Speaking is in fact male, due to the details in Belfry.
  • The idea that the player character in the main games is female was supported by Nightfall when it was still playable. After entering your name and selecting a gender, you would meet Anna Fleurs, who introduced herself to you as Dupin's assistant. Such an introduction suggests that she may well be the player character of the main Dark Tales games.
    • According to the bonus chapter of Morella, Anna is the player character in the main series. A newspaper article found in there talks about how Dupin and his partner solved the mystery of the Raven Society (the plot of The Raven, although it has the wrong town name), and it has a photograph of Dupin and Anna. Seen here. This still doesn't clarify the games where the character is expressly indicated to be male, but it does confirm that Anna is the player character at least some of the time.
• Deadpan Snarker: On occasion, especially later in the series.
• Featureless Protagonist: Usually, the most we ever see of the player's avatar are their hands and arms, which are usually obscured by sleeves and gloves.
  • This is lampshaded at one point in Lenore, when the Crows League puts up wanted posters for both the player character and Dupin. The PC's poster has a question mark instead of a picture.
  • Averted in Ligeia, as noted above; the player character is shown in the car during the portion of the game when you play as Dupin.
• Friend to All Children/Friend to All Living Things: The player character seems to be this, as we see numerous instances of you being kind to children and various animals.
  • You get to adopt a Cute Kitten in Masque of the Red Death. It's not relevant to solving the main game's mystery (apart from luring it away from the clue on which it's sitting); it just starts living in your office, and as the game continues you can find toys and treats for it. Visiting the office provides optional Extended Gameplay in the form of giving the kitten milk and encouraging it to play with its toys.
  • You collect items for a fish tank in Marie Roget. Unlike the kitten, it serves absolutely no gameplay purpose and you can't interact with it at all; it's just an extra Collection Sidequest.
• Distress Ball: You get to be the one holding this for most of Morella, and also part of Pendulum and Ligeia.
• It's Up to You: Dupin is the hero, but you're the one doing all the work. One diary entry in The Gold Bug lampshades how the player character has do everything. Dupin notes that "we" must cut the shrubs in order to clear the path forward, and the diary snarks in response:
  But I must say that by we, I'm certain that he's most likely referring to me.
• Lovely Assistant: When female, you're this to Dupin, especially given the idea that the female player character is Anna Fleurs (who explicitly has this job in Nightfall).
• Protagonist Without a Past: We really never learn anything about the player character. This Featureless Protagonist of Ambiguous Gender never gives an indication of their background - unlike Dupin, who is often stated to be friends with people encountered in the cases, the player seems to have no friends except Dupin himself, and no known relatives either. They are, it seems, a professional detective, but that's really all we know.
• Ship Tease: As noted in Dupin's folder, your relationship with him is either this or Platonic Life-Partners.
• Suddenly Voiced: In Morella, the player character has a single spoken line for the first time. She's Not Even Bothering with the Accent, and even mispronounces Dupin's name.
• Undying Loyalty: You have this with Dupin.
• The Watson: You! Although as the player you're the one doing all the real legwork, you still play this role to Dupin's Mr. Exposition.

Pluto

Pluto

He's a dapper kitty.

Apart from Dupin and the player, Pluto has appeared in the series more than any other character. He debuted in The Black Cat, where he was the title critter in question, but has since evolved to become something of a mascot of the series.

• Call-Back/Continuity Nod: He's the biggest one of these in the series.
  • His first return is in House of Usher, although this is never remarked upon by either Dupin or the player character. He seems to be more corporeal in this game, and is shown being held by the Ushers' housemaid, Estelle.
  • Pluto shows up very briefly in Marie's room in The Mystery of Marie Roget, running out of her closet. If you look closely, you can see his ruby eye.
  • Pluto appears a few times in Metzengerstein, but never with any bearing on the plot; however, his appearance in the bonus chapter (complete with identifying name tags) is vital to the resolution of one puzzle.
  • Pluto has been made an official part of the opening of all of the games starting with Lenore. As seen in his folder image here, he appears on the opening screen where the player is advised that "For the best experience, please play with sound."
  • In The Oval Portrait, Pluto naps on a couch on the achievements screen. He does not appreciate being disturbed.
  • Subverted in Pendulum; early in the game we encounter a cat which looks like Pluto, but is expressly identified as female (whereas Pluto is male).
  • Pluto is an active character in the bonus chapter of Speaking With the Dead, although here it seems to be just a lookalike by the same name; the ruby eye is not present, with the red eye being a real eye instead.
  • He returns in The Bells, although not identified by name; it's clearly him, though, with the red eye, sitting outside of the police station. He's found in the same vicinity in the bonus chapter, and in each appearance he blocks the player's efforts to acquire a minor Plot Coupon. In both instances, the player has to find him a fish to eat to lure him away.
  • Pluto appeared in Nightfall; he was in one of the loading screens being held by Dupin. He also showed up as a living cat in the gambling hall, reclining on the piano.
• Cute Kitten: He has his moments of genuine feline cuteness.
• Inconsistent Spelling: In his original concept art, and in the "play with sound" screenshot above, Pluto's name is misspelled on his identification tags as "Pluton."
• Non-Human Sidekick: Whenever he appears as more than a mere cameo, he's genuinely helpful to the detectives. Arguably overlaps with Team Pet.
• Red Right Hand: Or in this case, Red Left Eye. It's a subversion, however - the glaring red eye (a ruby in his first appearance, inconsistent ever since) gives him the appearance of being an evil beast, but Pluto is anything but evil.
• Undying Loyalty: This is his defining trait in his initial appearance, where he is the staunchly faithful pet and ally of Sarah Davies.